Broken World (Book 3): Mad World (6 page)

“Nathan said he was going to come. Let’s just wait a few minutes to see if he shows up.”

I nod even though I ain’t too happy ‘bout Nathan comin’. Every man helps, but I’m still pissed at him for makin’ Vivian strip. I guess he’s probably tryin’ to make it up to us. It’s gonna take a lot.

A few minutes before six, Nathan comes walkin’ in with his wife clingin’ to him. I can’t remember her name. She don’t look like she’s very happy to see him go. It reminds me of when we was in Sam’s Club and she freaked out just ‘cause he was goin’ to the front of the store without her. I didn’t really get it at the time, but I kinda do now. Not sure I’m ever gonna let Vivian outta my sight when I finally get her back.

And I will get her back.

There’s nobody ‘round to back us up when we go outside this time, so Angus and me head on over to the fence while everybody else climbs in the car. The zombies come chargin’. They’re pretty rotted, but they ain’t slowin’ down like you’d think they would. It ain’t gonna be easy to get out.

Angus pulls the gate open as soon as Winston’s ready. Every muscle in my body tenses when the zombies head toward us. I got my knife in one hand and my gun in the other, but I don’t do a thing ‘til they’re closer. Winston pulls through, runnin’ over a handful on his way out. I hack away at the nearest zombies, takin’ out the two bodies that managed to make it inside the fence before runnin’ out after the car. Angus shuts the gate, then comes over to help, and we fight our way to the Explorer. It’s surrounded, and Trey has to roll down the back window so he can take a couple out from inside.

A zombie in camo grabs my arm with his bony fingers and pulls me closer. His grip is strong, and I gotta fight to break free. But I stumble on a lifeless body at my feet and slam back against the car. The zombie’s rotten mouth is only inches from takin’ a bite outta my arm when Angus stabs him in the head.

He grabs my shirt and jerks me into the car. I climb in, rubbin’ the place on my arm where the bastard’s fingers dug in as Angus gets in behind me.

“You get scratched?” Angus growls once we’re both safely inside and Winston is on his way.

I shake my head but flip on the overhead light to get a closer look anyways. Nothing.

I let out a big breath. “I’m okay. You saved my ass, though.” My voice shakes. Damn zombies.

Angus nods and looks the other way, pretendin’ he’s starin’ at Darla’s tits. But I know him better than that. Things are gonna get pretty bad for everybody in the shelter if something happens to me.

5
Vivian

“TELL ME YOU HAVE A PLAN for getting us out of here.” The silence is starting to be too much. Jon dragged me into this. Now I want to know what he plans to do to get me
out
.

Jon shakes his head and stares at the carpet like it will somehow give him the answers. “No. I needed to figure out where my sister was first.”

I suck in a deep breath and hold back the dozens of names I want to scream at him. “Nothing? No plan at all?”

Did this guy seriously drag Hadley and me into this without even a thought as to how we were going to get out? What little bit of sympathy I had for him and his sister disappears. This guy put me in danger. I don’t have to feel bad for him.

Jon shakes his head again and starts pacing the room. After a few minutes, he stops and rubs the back of his neck. He’s clueless. I can see it written in every move he makes.

Which leaves it up to me to get us out of this mess.

There’s a raw spot on the inside of my cheek like I bit it while I was sleeping. It stings when I gnaw on it, and the sharp coppery taste of blood fills my mouth. I chew harder as I think. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up with a big, gaping hole where my face used to be. Then I’ll fit right in. I’ll be able to walk down the Strip and the zombies will think I’m one of them.
There’s
my way out.

I grind my teeth and push the ridiculous thought out of my head. I need to get my shit together. It’s going to be up to me to save our asses. If I wait for this guy to figure it out, we’re all screwed.

So what are my options? I could tell him where to find the others, but that would mean telling him where the shelter is. How much can I really trust him? He didn’t rape me, but he did help kidnap Hadley and me. Obviously, he’s willing to do anything to make sure his sister is safe.

So what other choice do I have? There’s no way we’re going to be able to break out of this casino on our own. Megan is too damaged to be of much help, and Jon seems pretty useless. He acted like a tough guy in the van, but that person has vanished. Now he just looks lost. Lost and confused. Hadley and I are only two people. We don’t stand a chance against this hotel full of men. I
need
Axl.

Even if I did tell Jon where the shelter is, I’m not sure it would matter. Axl definitely went back to the shelter for backup—he’d be stupid not to—but there’s no way he’d stay there long. He’s on his way back to Vegas now or will be soon. Either way, that means two things. One, I don’t have to reveal the location of the shelter. And two, I have to think like Axl so I can figure out where they’ll be.

“What?” Jon’s eyes narrow on my face. He knows I’m coming up with something.

“I have friends,” I say. “They can help you.”

He jumps to his feet. “Where are they?”

I shake my head and stare at the carpet. “I’m not sure, that’s the problem.”

I flip through the memories in mind, thinking about all the places Axl and I have been in Vegas. He’d want to go somewhere familiar so I could find him if I got away. I’m sure of it. So there’s really only one place that really makes sense.

“Paris,” I whisper. My head snaps up, and I get to my feet. I twist a strand of blonde hair around my finger and pace. “Can you see the Paris casino from the Monte Carlo?”

“Yeah, it’s across the street a few casinos down, but it’s not far.”

Now I’m even more certain that’s where he’ll go. “That’s where they’ll be. He’ll want to be able to stake the place out until he can come up with a plan. Axl isn’t impulsive.”

I say the last part with less certainty. Usually he isn’t impulsive, but who knows how he’ll react to this situation. He could have lost it. Lord knows it’s in his blood. Look at Angus.

Jon frowns and takes a step back. “What do you want me to do? Just stroll in there and tell them I’m the guy who kidnapped you? Sounds like a good way to get myself killed.”

“Axl won’t kill you. The most he’d do is beat the shit out of you. If he killed you, he’d never find me.”

Jon rolls his eyes and rubs the back of his neck again. He looks nervous. Good. I want him to be.

“Still doesn't sound good for me,” he says.

I press my lips together and suck in a deep breath. Is this guy kidding me? My face heats up as I take a menacing step toward him. “I don’t give a shit. You brought me here, and it’s not like you have a plan. You do this or we’re all screwed!” He still doesn’t look convinced, so I take a step closer and lower my voice. “They’re not going to let your sister just lay around forever, you know. Eventually, she’s going to have to earn her way.”

He glares at me, but I meet his stare with a vicious one of my own. This guy will do whatever it takes to get us out of here or he’ll be sorry.

“You do it or I tell the men in charge what you’re really doing here. What do you think they’ll do to you? To your sister?”

His eyes flash. “You wouldn’t.”

“I didn’t survive a zombie apocalypse just to live out the rest of my life as a whore.”             

Jon’s face hardens, and he looks away. I don’t say anything. I want to give my words time to sink in. He needs to know who he’s dealing with. That I won’t just roll over and die. I’m a survivor. Always have been. Maybe that makes me better equipped to deal with this situation or maybe not. I don’t know. All I know is nothing brought me down before zombies showed up, and there’s no way in hell I’m ready to give up now.

“Fine,” Jon finally says, looking up. His eyes aren’t hard or angry, just resigned. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

I swallow and nod, trying to keep the hope swirling around inside me down. Letting it out now would be pointless. There’s still a long road ahead of us, and getting out of this isn’t going to happen overnight. As much as I hate to admit it, we could be here for a few days.

“Go to Paris. To the pool on the roof. That’s where they’ll be. Ask for Axl James.”

“Axl? Who is he?”

I bite down on my bottom lip and struggle to come up with a word for who Axl is. Boyfriend? That seems too childish. Lover? Too casual. Axl’s mine. That’s the only way I know how to describe it. But Jon wouldn’t understand.

“We’re together,” I finally say. “It doesn’t matter. All you need to do is find my friends.”

“What then?”

I don’t have a clue, but I’m more than confident Axl and Winston will be able to come up with something. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past Angus to be able to find a way out of this. He’s a racist moron, but he’s resourceful. “Come up with a plan.”

Jon scoffs and squeezes his head between his hands like he’s trying to crush his own skull. “You might be underestimating the men running this place just a little.”

“Whatever. Just get there.” I don’t want a debate. I just want him to get over to the casino so Axl knows I’m alive. “Just get there.”

Jon sits on the bed, and I want to scream. “What are you doing? Go!”

He shakes his head and leans back. Like he’s ready for a nap or something. “Can’t. It would be pretty suspicious if I ran out of here in the middle of the night, especially when I have you here.”

His eyes move down my body, and I’m suddenly very self-conscious. I’m not exactly dressed, plus I trust this guy about as far as I can throw him. I squirm on the bed, trying to scoot further away from him.

One corner of his mouth turns up. “You don’t trust me? I haven’t even tried to touch you.”

“How could I trust you? You dragged me and my friend here.” I roll my eyes. Why do we even need to have this conversation?

He nods but doesn’t look the least bit guilty. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t have a choice. I was told to go out with those guys. I didn’t volunteer. I had to prove my loyalty or they would have thrown me out. My sister’s just a kid.”

I probably should feel bad for him. Megan is young, and they didn’t ask to be in this situation. But I can’t. Sacrificing me for his sister doesn’t exactly make him the most sympathetic person.

“Well, don’t expect me to get over it anytime soon.”

Jon gets up and walks to the other side of the room. He dramatically lowers himself into a chair. “Better?”

I give him the finger. What an ass. The sooner I can get out of here and he can be on his way the better.

I glance toward the clock on the bedside table. It isn’t even nine! We probably have a good twelve hours to kill before the linebackers show up to get me. Then he can go. If he can get away undetected, that is. What if something happens and he can’t get there right away?

I tug on the hem of my ridiculously long shirt. “You going to head over to the casino in the morning?”

Jon leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “I’ll wait until after dark. I don’t want to risk anyone seeing me. Plus, the zombies seem to be a little less active at night.”

That’s news to me. Doesn’t make much of a difference as far as I can tell, though. There are so many zombies out there that “a little less active” is as reassuring as telling a diver there are only fifty sharks instead of a hundred.

We sit in silence for a while, but Jon can’t stay still. He gets up and paces for a few minutes before sitting back down, only to start pacing again. He’s making me nervous.

“So what’d you do before all this?” I finally ask, just to break the silence.

Jon throws himself on the bed. He’s far away from me since it’s a king size mattress, but it still makes my stomach lurch painfully. I stand up and lean awkwardly against the small desk.

“Pilot,” he says. “I flew helicopter tours over Vegas and the Grand Canyon.”

I cross my arms over my chest, tapping my toe nervously on the floor. I want to get out of this room, but I’m stuck here all night. “Family? Other than your sister, I mean.”

Jon turns his head toward me but doesn’t stand up. “Yeah. Wife and a baby.” He swallows, and I suddenly feel bad for him despite how much I don’t want to.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

He turns his gaze toward the ceiling. I look away when a tear escapes the corner of his eye and slides down his cheek. Emily’s face flashes through my mind, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block it out.

Instead, I focus on Axl, remembering his lips on my skin, the way his calloused hands felt on my body. How amazing that night on top of Paris was. Being left behind was horrible, but being up there, away from the Strip, we were able to pretend it was just us. That there was nothing in this world to fear and all we had was each other. I’ve never felt as safe as I did that night.

Even those memories aren’t a comfort, though. It hurts because I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again.

“What about you?” Jon asks, startling me.

I open my eyes and find him watching me. His eyes are red, and for the first time since I stepped into this room, he looks slightly guilty.

“I was a stripper. Had a daughter.”

“This Axl guy, he was the dad?”

I shake my head and tap my toe even faster. “No. We met after all this started.”

He nods and goes back to studying me silently. The longer he looks at me, the more the hair on my scalp tingles.

“You can trust me,” he finally says. “I swear I won’t hurt you. And I promise to do whatever it takes to get you out of this.”

I shake my head. “I don’t trust anyone.”

The response is automatic. It’s how I’ve felt my whole life, but it’s not how I feel anymore. I do have people I trust now. I’d trust Axl with my life. And almost everyone else back at the shelter. Maybe even Angus. We’re a family now. A new kind of family created by this mad world we live in.

“You can trust me,” Jon says again.

“We’ll see.”