Edge of Mercy (Young Adult Dystopian)(Volume 1) (The Mercy Series) (22 page)

Before we slipped out the doorway though, I stopped him and turned back. “I can’t leave her like this.” I didn’t have to explain who I meant.

“She’s not your mother anymore.”

“I know, but she wouldn’t want to be…this.”

He sighed heavily and pulled me into a hug. “For now, leave her here. Don’t give up on a cure. Maybe someday we can make her better.”

I didn’t think he was being realistic or even smart about the danger these creatures posed, but I nodded in his arms and let him pull me free of this horrible prison. Maybe there was hope for a cure. “Are we going to Quillen?”

He led me through darkened hallways like he knew where he was going. I, on the other hand, grew more and more lost with each twist and turn he took. “No, why?”

“He said he could make a cure with Star’s blood. I thought maybe we should give it a try.”

Without breaking his stride, he explained over his shoulder, “Quillen can’t really cure anyone here. He doesn’t have the resources. He told me as much. Our only hope is to get you and Star to Mercy.”

“Why is that our only hope?”

“Quillen told me he’d planned to send Star’s blood to a group of scientists there. They have the means to possibly create a cure in the labs there, but I don’t think he was able to get any to Zeke. Now, you’ll have to get her to them yourself. It’s the only way the world will ever see a cure.”

After a few more twists and turns, we stopped in front of a closed door, and Thomas twisted the knob, flung the door wide, revealing a familiar person waiting inside.

“Zeke? I thought you were gone?”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and I got the feeling he was actually happy to see me. “I couldn’t leave without my partner-in-crime.” He turned and showed my sister strapped to his back, her legs working up and down the minute she saw me. “Oh, and you too, of course.”

I laughed and rushed to hug him and Star, loving the feel of her chubby fists grabbing my hood and pulling me toward her for slobbery kisses. It was the best feeling in the world.

Thomas cleared his throat and said, “Daylight’s wasting. You better leave.”

I turned and met his pained gaze. “You’re coming too. We can’t go without you, Thomas.”

He shook his head. “No, I have to stay here. I can’t leave now when the place is turning upside down. Besides, Jonas will try to send guards after you. I have to be here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

I looked at the wall and worked to catch my breath. “I don’t care what’s going on here. We need you with us. You’re going, and that’s all there is to it.” I met his gaze and tried for my mother’s don’t-dare-argue look, but a sad smile was in his eyes and on his lips.

“Zeke will take care of you. If anyone can, he can. Right, Zeke?”

I felt Zeke’s hand on my shoulder. “Thomas will be okay. The community is going to need a strong leader. No one else can do it as well, and the people will listen to him.”

I pulled free of Zeke’s hand and crossed the room to stand in front of Thomas. My hand wrapped around his, and I stared at his chest, quiet as I gathered my thoughts. I hoped I was wrong, but this could be the last time I saw him, and I wanted to get it right.

Finally, I looked up at him. “I thought I hated you.” He rolled his eyes and tried to pull free, but I held tight. “No, wait. Let me finish. You made me feel weak at first. I didn’t realize it was your way of trying to protect me.”

I swallowed hard at the intensity in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to argue, but I forged on, “Then you made me feel strong. You helped me take charge of my fate and taught me I could stand up for myself. You showed me there are good people around me, helping me…caring about me.”

“Charlie, I…”

I eased my fingers over his mouth to stop him. If I didn’t say it now, I’d never say it. “Thomas, I need you to come with us because…because…I care for you. Maybe I even love you.”
Ugh!
I should have said it better. I shouldn’t have let my insecurity garble my words all up.

Zeke shifted uncomfortably behind me, but I didn’t dare look away. “I’ll give you two some privacy. But, we have to go soon, Charlie, so don’t be long.” A door opened, and daylight flooded the room. Still, I looked at Thomas only.

What would he say? Would he completely reject me? Probably, but I’d had to say it.

“I love you too, Charlie. I think I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you. That’s why I have to let you go. You deserve better than this. I want you safe behind the walls of Mercy. I don’t want you scratching out a pitiful existence here anymore. Better things are out there for you.”

I wrapped both my hands around one of his and pulled it against my chest. “Come with me. We would be happy together. You can always keep me safe.”

The air between us thickened, and his gaze dropped to my lips. I knew what he was thinking because I was thinking it too. He pulled his hand free from my grip and eased both his arms around my waist, pulling me into a loose embrace. He lowered his head toward mine, slowly closing the space between us until he hovered, bathing me in warm, rapid breaths before covering my mouth with a gentle kiss. It felt good and right, and I reveled in the touch, not at all afraid of the strong feelings swirling inside of me. The whispery trace of his lips seemed sweet and hesitant, and a strange excitement filled me when he increased the pressure, completing the soft caress. Seconds felt like minutes as we continued to cling to each other. Finally, he pulled away and placed one more light kiss on my forehead before taking a step back, putting a little distance between us.

He shook his head back and forth slowly. “I have to stay here. It’s my duty. It’s for the best.” He took another step backwards. “Then, when everyone is ready, I’ll lead the community to the city. Will you wait for me there?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold back my tears. A few escaped as I nodded. “I don’t want to leave you. What if I never see you again?”

“You will, but if you truly care for me, you’ll go. You’ll make sure Star and you make it to Mercy. Now, go. Wasted daylight is not a joke. You’ll need all you can get.”

With a swipe of my hand, I wiped away a few teardrops and turned toward the open door. I slogged toward the exit and gave one last look over my shoulder. “I’ll wait for you.”

“You better.”

I stepped into a densely treed area behind the building and heard the soft thud of a door closing behind me. I’d run through this exact spot during nightwatch duty, but never noticed a door before. As I looked behind me, I couldn’t find a trace of the door I’d just exited. Instead of moving on though, I stood still for a few moments, unsure of my decision. I looked toward Zeke standing beside an open trapdoor built into the back of the shockwall. He stared back at me and gave an impatient motion to follow him.

A close look at the building behind me revealed the slightest outline of misshapen bricks, but I didn’t see any handle or button to access the door from the exterior. Would I go back inside, if I could? If I stayed, at least I knew what awaited me. Inside, I faced a future of constant fighting to keep my freedom. I looked toward the fence. Out there, I could go with Zeke and Star to an uncertain future, but one over which I had some control. In the end, I made my hard decision. The question was, could I live with it?

As I ran to catch up to Zeke, I felt as if each step I took was a step toward a better world. Not a perfect world, but a better one. Some might say where I was headed held more danger than where I was leaving, but as I took one last look at the crumbling, monstrous edifice behind me, I knew better.

We crawled down into the trapdoor and emerged on the other side. I didn’t know what awaited me out here, but I’d chosen an unknown future, and the hope growing inside me was the mercy I could give myself.

Hope you enjoyed
Edge of Mercy
, the first in the Mercy Series.  Please, if you have a minute, leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or another bookseller’s website.  If you send me a link to the review, I’ll happily share an e-book copy of
Heart of Mercy
when it’s published in July 2013.  Oh, and don’t forget to tell all your reader friends.

Sneak Peek of
Heart of Mercy

Book Two in the Mercy Series

Death would come sometime.  It was an inevitable part of life.  But running for my life in the middle of the Dead Forest was
so
not how I wanted to die.  It wasn’t how I was going to die, if I had anything to say about it.  I didn’t escape Jonas Bannon, a monster if there ever was one, to be clawed apart by the Draghoul tonight.  I didn’t disguise myself as a boy for months, just to turn into one of the creatures edging ever closer as the sun traveled through the sky.  Yeah, I had issues.

My lungs burned, my thighs ached, but I pushed past the pain and did my best to keep up with Zeke and not slow him down.  Other than occasional glances at the map in his hand, he didn’t ease his pace much, but I refused to fall behind.  My sister Star was strapped to his back, and if we didn’t make it to Mercy tonight, we were all as good as dead.

“You okay?”

I looked up and met his worried, brown-eyed gaze.  He’d paused a few feet ahead of me and stared down from the mid-size hill we were climbing. My chest heaved as I worked to catch my breath.  I bent at the waist and rested my hands on my knees.  He looked barely winded.

“Heh.  Just peachy.”

His eyebrows scrunched together.  “Are you sure?”

I straightened and rolled my eyes.  This was going to get real annoying real quick.  My mother and I dragged ourselves to the wall of the community barely ten months ago, and it was Zeke who pulled us through the gate.  I’d disguised myself as a boy then, and since I’d told Zeke the truth days ago, he’d treated me like something breakable.  It was time to set him straight on the subject.  “I’m still the same Charlie who worked the fields beside you day after day, even if I’m a girl.  You know that don’t you?  I’m stronger than you think, so stop asking if I’m okay.”

His pursed lips told me the issue wasn’t resolved completely, but he nodded his head and turned his gaze toward the crest of the hill.  He glanced back at the map in his hands, a pained look on his face.

“Can we move on?”  It wasn’t just impatience that motivated me to ask.  The sun was already overhead, which meant we only had about seven or eight more hours of daylight.  And we didn’t want to be in the forest at night.  We’d be easy prey for the Draghoul, and safe places to hide were few.

“Something’s wrong.  We should be headed north, and the map says to head up this hill to the other side.”  He raised his hand to point ahead of us.  “But the sun’s making its way to our right which means we’ll be pointed south.”

Telling him
I told you so
should have been satisfying, but considering the cost of a mistake like this was our lives, it just felt alarming.  “You used Victor’s map, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.  Why wouldn’t I?  He’s been to Mercy and made it back alive.”

I dropped my gaze to my feet and shook my head back and forth slowly.  “I tried to warn you.  The evening before Jonas locked me up, I went to Victor’s room for information.  I wanted to know how he’d made it.  I planned to pass what I learned along to you.”  I looked up at his expectant face.  “He didn’t stay alive because of any great skill or sense of direction.  He used the survivors he came across.  I don’t know how many people he killed to draw the Draghoul away from himself, but I know he wanted you dead, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“On the way back from Mercy, he drew the Draghoul close to hidden bunkers with survivors inside.  He’d leave the victims to the monsters and run on.  Truth is Victor wouldn’t give you a map to safety.  He’d lead you straight into the monsters’ den if he could.”

“Why would he do that?”

I climbed up to stand next to him.  “From my experience, he wasn’t right in the head.  He was furious at the community and the Council for reasons I can’t even begin to explain.”  My mind drifted back to that night and the heartbreaking story that tumbled out between his sobs.  Jonas had murdered his father, had sent his mother and sister to die on the other side of the wall.  His emotional pain had been palpable.  Then the confession of his own murderous survival tactics had sickened me, and I knew I had to get away from him.  Victor attacked when I reacted with horror to his revelation.  I’d barely escaped by punching him in the nose. 

Thank goodness, Thomas, Zeke’s cousin and my protector, had taught me how to defend myself. 
Thomas. 
My mind conjured the last bittersweet image of him urging me to go, all the while, I’m sure, fighting the instinct to follow.  He refused to leave when he felt responsible for the remaining men and boys. 

I touched my lips for the hundredth time today.  His sweet goodbye kiss lingered there.  God, I missed Thomas and hoped he could handle what we’d left behind.  I wouldn’t put it past Victor to sabotage the communities’ security and laugh while they all died.  “I think Victor has given up on being human.”

The truth was none of us would be human ever again.  The infection lay dormant inside all of us.  With one scratch or bite from a Draghoul, or the minute we took our last breath of life, the dormant virus would take over and against our will, turn us into monstrous creatures with vicious teeth and claws used to infect and kill every human remaining.  It wasn’t a pretty sight, and not what I wanted for Zeke, my sister, or myself. 

Zeke ran a weary hand down his face, and then wiped the sweat from his brow.  “What do we do now?  We’re dead at sundown.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”  With a glance around the terrain, I thought it looked vaguely familiar.  I’d lived in these hills all my life, but it’d been almost a year since I’d ventured out of the safety of the community.  Maybe if we looked down from the crest of the hill, we could get a lay of the land and find a few identifying markers to give us an idea of where exactly we were.  “Keep going up.  We might be able to spot something from there we can use to find our way.”