Jenny Undead (The Thirteen: Book One) (22 page)

“Something's wrong,” said Abel from the backseat. Beacon was driving
slowly in front of Jenny's car, so slow in fact that she had to
slam on the brakes a few times so she wouldn't hit the back of his
Honda.

“Yeah, like who high-grades a Honda in the
apocalypse?” said Trix. “At least cheerleader has a
weird Mustang.”

“No,” said Abel. “Why are
there so many rotters?”

Jenny frowned. There had been a few that both
cars had to swerve around, but that wasn't unusual. All of them had
been headed the same direction. That was odd. Rotters didn't
usually all travel in the same direction unless they had somewhere
to go. And that meant either herd mentality or a huge food source.
Since they were so far apart, it couldn't be herd mentality. Jenny
peered out Trix's window. Rotters were shambling along the lake,
some alone, others in groups of three or four.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jenny
said.

“This is bad,” said Abel.

“Why?” said Jenny. “They won't
hurt us.”

“But they will hurt anything remotely
living,” said Abel.

“Fuck that,” said Trix. “It's
Casey.”

The rotters got thicker the longer they drove,
clotting up the road with their numbers. Jenny glanced at Abel in
the rear-view mirror.

“What Zeke said...” She
hesitated.

“You went to see the freak without
me?” Trix said.

“It was an emergency,” said Abel.
“And he's not a freak.” He met Jenny's eyes in the
rear-view mirror. “In my experience, you can't change it,
Jen. I know you want me to tell you otherwise, but Zeke has never
been wrong.”

“So sending Declan away,” she said,
“it wouldn't change anything.”

Abel shrugged. “I don't know.” He
sounded tired and there were deep bruises under his eyes. “He
said something to me that –“ He stopped, seeming to
search for the words. “I don't know if I'm going to make it
to the end of this.”

“He said that?” said Jenny. Trix
stared fixedly out her window, uncharacteristically silent.

“He said enough,” said Abel.
“I want you to know that I was never going to force you to do
anything you didn't want to do. Including seeing your mother. I
don't even know if I could force you to do anything.” He
closed his eyes. “I just wanted to do something good. One
good thing. I thought bringing you back was it. Finding a cure,
right?”

“You wouldn't have had to force me,”
said Jenny. “I was going to go with you.”

“I don't know,” said Abel.
“It's all fucked up. Nothing's what it seems.”

“Why do you say that?” said Jenny
slowly.

“Your mom, she's not...well, Jen. And from
what I know, she's the only one who can figure this out. This grand
cure. If it exists.”

“You don't think it's real?” said
Jenny.

“I think,” said Abel, “that
there's a lot going on. And even I don't know the half of
it.”

“What's going to happen to her?”
said Jenny.

“Your mom?” said Abel, meeting her
eyes again. “I don't know. I really don't.”

“Where is she?” said Jenny, her
voice soft. “Will you tell me?”

Abel was quiet for a long time, and Jenny
thought he wasn't going to answer. But finally he opened his mouth,
his words nearly a whisper. “She's in New York.”

The Honda braked and then stopped and Jenny did
the same. Trix got out of the car without a word and headed for the
other car. Jenny and Abel followed. A rotter was clawing at
Beacon's window, his hands greasy with rot. Jenny slid her knife
under his skull. A female rotter in a pink dress climbed on top of
the car, banging on the roof of the Honda. Beacon cracked his
window.

“You can't go any further,” Jenny
said. “Let us go. The rotters don't bother us.”

“No,” Declan said from the back
seat. “Jenny, don't. This is how you died the first time. I
can't go through that again.”

“It's just one guy,” she said.

“Jen,” said Veronica, “just
give it a minute. This is a trap, babe. It reeks of it.”

“I've got some shit in the trunk,”
said Beacon. “Give me a few minutes and we can maybe blast
through this shit. I brought all the shit we've been hoarding.
Bullets, guns, I even have a grenade back there.”

“Which building is it?” said
Jenny.

“Jen, come on...” said Veronica.

“
Which building
?” Jenny said, her voice rising.

Beacon pointed at a clean, square brick building
down the block.

“Jen, please don't do this,” said
Declan.

“Come and find me,” Jenny said,
trying to smile at him. “Just come find me.”

Abel bashed a rotter in the face with his elbow
and the thing went down.

“We have to find Casey,” said Trix,
looking toward the building. She looked at Declan over Jenny's
shoulder. “Give me your ax.”

“Take care of her,” said Declan,
handing the ax out the window. Trix looked at Jenny like she'd
forgotten she was there.

“Sure,” said Trix.
“Okay.”

“It'll be fine,” said Abel, though
he didn't sound very confident. “It has to happen this
way.”

“Wait until this clears a little, then use
all you have on these fuckers,” said Jenny. “We're
going in.”

“Jen!” Declan yelled as she turned
to leave. Jenny met his eyes. “Don't you fucking die
again.”

Jenny looked at him hard for a moment.
“It's not the end. It can't be.” If Zeke was always
right, if there was nothing she could do to change it, then she
still had to save Declan. She felt that odd feeling of not being
able to get enough air. “They can't hurt me this time. I
promise.”

“Be careful,” said Veronica.
“I don't want to have to take care of Munro again. He's
really annoying when he goes all crazy.”

Jenny nodded, then followed Abel and Trix into
the throng of stinking, rotting undead.

It wasn't like the parting of the Red Sea as the
three of them made their way through the roiling crowd of the dead,
it was more like they weren't even noticed. To the rotters, Jenny,
Trix and Abel were the same as they were.

“What the fuck is this?” Trix
shouted over the moaning and yelps coming from the rotters.
“Why are they here?”

Jenny frowned. Over the concentrated noises of
hundreds of rotter noises, she could hear other noises. And she
felt something else too.

Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump.

“Do you feel that?”
said Jenny, being jostled along with the crowd.

“There's more than one,” Abel
shouted. “Listen. I can hear them screaming.”

He was right. It wasn't a rotter type of scream,
either. It was a living scream. Jenny made out at least three
voices, and it was getting louder the nearer they got to the
building. After getting closer, she understood why.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” said
Trix.

“They're still alive,” said
Jenny.

Poles had been driven into the ground in front
of the building, some standing upright, and some leaning with the
weight of what each supported. Jenny counted six, and on each a
woman had been nailed at the wrists and ankles. And each of the
women was being ripped apart by rotters.

“I can't be here,” said Jenny,
blinking away red. The smell of blood was overwhelming and made her
ache with hunger. She watched the rotters descend on the women like
insects, ripping at each other to get at the writhing, screaming
bodies. There were sounds like ripping fabric that Jenny could hear
above the din.

“Suck it up, cheerleader,” Trix
growled into her ear. “This is for Casey. You have to fight
it. Just walk.”

Slowly, they made their way through the crowd of
the frenzy. “Why are they here?” she shouted.
“Why put the women here?”

“Because it's a trap,” said Abel.
“But we're going in anyway. And we're going to win.”
Jenny glanced at him. His face was set with a grim expression.

“You don't know that,” said Jenny,
grinding her teeth against the waves of hunger that were assaulting
her. She wanted to join the rotters and leap onto one of the women.
She licked her lips.

“Eyes front,” Trix said, not
unkindly. “Push it away. We have to save your
brother.”

“Why are you helping me?” said
Jenny. “You don't have to do this, you know.”

“It's not about you, bitch,” said
Trix.

Jenny narrowed her eyes at Trix. They were
nearly to the front of the building. She could see the opening
where the door used to be. “Then why are you doing
this?”

“Casey's one of us.”

“Bullshit,” said Jenny. “You
love him.”

“Fuck off,” said Trix. “I
don't love anybody. I'm fucking dead.”

They squeezed through the last of the rotters
and were finally standing in front of the door.

“Can you feel it?” said Jenny.

“Yeah,” said Trix. “Living
inside.”

“Feels like more than one,” said
Abel. “Sully has help.”

“Just to be clear, we might not save my
brother,” said Jenny. She looked at Abel. “But if we
do, Sully is mine.”

Abel nodded. “Okay, Jenny.” There
was something dark about his expression.

“Something's wrong,” said Trix,
looking at him. “Do you know something?”

“I think I know why he put the girls out
here,” said Abel, staring through the doorway and into the
dark hallway beyond.

“To tempt us,” said Jenny. “A
distraction.”

“No,” said Abel. “I think
Sully knows that we could get through.”

“You think it was to keep the living
out,” said Trix.

“I think he was trying to keep Munro
out,” said Abel.

“Why?” Jenny said.

“Because he's afraid of Munro,” said
Abel. He frowned at Jenny. “I think everything he has done
has been to keep Munro out. Away from Jenny. Convincing her to go
into the Underground alone, getting the creepy girl with the
dreadlocks on board... He wants Jenny to himself. And he's aware of
what Munro is capable of. It's all about you, Jen.”

“We already knew that,” said
Trix.

“Why take Casey then?” said Jenny.
“Why not take me and get it over with?”

“Maybe it's a game,” said Abel.
“Maybe the bitch was telling the truth, and Casey is
practice. Or maybe he wants you to come willingly.”

“Why would I come willingly?” said
Jenny.

“To save your brother's life.”

“That's fucking wonderful,” said
Trix. “What can we do? How do we get Casey back?”

“This is the only way,” Jenny said,
her voice so low the other two had to lean in to hear her.
“The prophet said the only way out was straight through. This
is what he was talking about. He was so sorry.”

“The prophet told you that?” said
Trix. She looked at Abel, who nodded. “We have to save
him.”

“If he can be saved,” said Abel.

“Of course he can be saved,” said
Jenny. “I'm not backing out of this.”

“We could try and kill all these rotters
so Munro can get through,” said Abel.

“There's too many,” said Jenny.
“We have to go now. We don't know what they're doing to him.
He'll trade me for Casey. That's how this is going to work. That's
how this will play out.”

“It's been nice knowing both of
you,” said Abel.

“You don't think we're going to make it
out?” said Trix.

Abel smiled, the disarming whiteness of his
teeth brighter somehow in the gloom. “I think it's been an
interesting life. And it'll be worth it.”

Trix snorted. “Whatever.”

Jenny watched Abel. He met her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said.

Abel smiled. “Let's go.”

As soon as they entered, the smell of hot blood
grew stronger. The scent was so strong, Jenny could taste it. A
short way down the hall, she understood why. They heard the
footsteps coming from an intersecting hallway ahead to their left,
and as they rounded the corner, Jenny saw a girl running toward
them. She wore a long dress, her hair wrapped up in tiny braids on
top of her head in the Righteous style. The front of her dress was
covered in blood. She froze for a moment when she saw them, then
came rocketing toward the three of them, holding her wrists out to
them.

“
Take it, take it
!” she screamed, thrusting her bloody arms in Jenny's
face. The blood was so close that Jenny could feel the heat of it.
She felt the world go red just for an instant before she was pushed
back. She shook her head and realized that Trix now stood between
her and the girl. The thumper girl's face fell as she looked between the three of them.
“No,” she whispered. “You have to. You have to
take it.”

“Take what?” said Abel.

“Me,” she said.
Tears sprang up in her eyes. “You have to,” she said.
“He said I'll burn if you don't.
I'll burn in
Hell.
”

“You think you'll go to Hell if we don't
kill you?” said Abel.

“He said I won't and he always knows. He
always knows. He always knows.”

“Shut up,” said Trix, making the
girl jump. “Go hide somewhere, bitch. Somewhere the rotters
won't find you.”

“No,” the girl said. She thrust her
arms at Trix. “Please. You have to kill me. You are the
rotters.”

“Do we sound like rotters?” said
Abel.

She looked uncertain and lowered her arms. She
looked past them toward the door. Toward the sounds of ripping
flesh and groans and growls and yips. The women weren't screaming
anymore.

“What do I do after they're gone?”
she said, a quaver to her voice. She had a pretty face and big
hazel eyes. She couldn't have been more than fourteen.

“Run,” said Jenny. “That's all
anyone can do.”

The girl backed away from them to let them pass.
They walked down the hall past her, Jenny clenching her fists until
the smell of her blood had lessened. She turned at the sound of
receding footsteps to see the girl running down the hall. Running
toward the entrance. Toward the rotters.

“No!” Jenny yelled, but it was too
late. The girl ran out the door. Only a heartbeat passed before
they heard her screams.

“What the fuck is
this?” Trix said. “Why are all these Righteous bitches
here? The ones strung up outside were thumpers too. Did you see their dresses?”

“It would appear that Sully may have made
some friends,” said Abel. “He probably had help with
Grayson and Fisher.”

“This is so bad,” said Trix.

“You want out?” said Jenny.

“Fuck you, cheerleader.”

“Is that a no?” said Abel.

“You know he's going to kill you,
right?” said Trix to Jenny. “If he gets you he's going
to hurt you.”

“Then I won't let him get me,” said
Jenny.

The smell of blood was still strong. They circled around the labyrinthine halls, looking for the
stairs. They just had to get to the basement and everything would
be okay. Jenny pushed everything else out of her head. If they just
got to the basement, to her mother's office, to her lab, Casey
would be saved and everything would be okay. Another bloodied
Righteous girl came hurtling toward them in a different hallway.
They ignored her, stepping around her, ignoring her screams
to
take me, take me, take me
.

“Jesus, how many of them are there?”
said Jenny, another girl coming around the corner and falling to
her knees in front of them. She was praying, her lips moving, her
eyes shut tight, her bloody arms raised toward them like she was
some kind of gift for them. They stepped around her.

“Why the girls?” said Jenny.
“If we were to bite one, it would make us stronger,
right?”

“I don't know,” said Abel.
“Maybe they're dosed with something?”

Jenny frowned. “I don't think so. This is
really fucked.”

“What was your first clue?” said
Trix.

“Come on,” said Abel. “I think
those are the stairs up ahead.”

There was a dead girl on the landing as they
descended. Blood pooled on her dress and the floor around her. Abel
nudged something out of the red puddle with his boot. It scraped
against the tile. It was a small knife.

“They're doing this to themselves?”
said Jenny.

“Looks like she cut too deep,” said
Abel. “Someone probably told them to.”

“Sully?” said Jenny.

“Or whoever he's hooked up with,”
said Abel.

Another girl met them at the bottom of the
stairs. She was crying so hard she could barely stand. Trix pushed
her out of the way. Trix saw Jenny looking at her.

“What? I don't like crying.”

The basement was just that. A regular basement.
Dim light shone in through tiny windows set near the ceiling around
the large cellar. Something furry grew on the brick that made up
the walls and the floor was dirty concrete. It was oddly tidy.
Usually it was hard to walk ten feet without tripping over a body
or a skeleton or piles of rubbish or weeds, but this room didn't
have any boxes stacked or old furniture. It was completely empty.
One wall was windowless, and had a metal door set into it. Jenny
looked at the others before walking over and putting her hand on
the knob. She gripped her knife in the other hand. She saw Trix do
the same with Declan's ax, and Abel pulled two wicked-looking
hunting knives out of his belt, holding one in each hand.

Jenny turned the knob. It wasn't locked.

It wasn't blood that filled the room, but a
dozen heartbeats. Jenny could feel the living even as she opened
the door. She could feel the blood, could still smell it, but it
wasn't as strong. She gripped her knife tight as she shoved the
door open, but what she saw was not what she expected.

“Fuck me,” said Trix. “Was
there a fucking sale on virgins today?”

The women here were tied up, unlike the willing
bleeders from the halls. They looked up, eyes wide and quaking with
fear. A few started sobbing. They were all bound together in the
corner. There were close to a dozen of them, all sizes, different
hair colors, but all young.

The office itself was clean and orderly. Jenny
imagined that it looked much the same as when her mother had worked
here. A desk on one side of the room, a large whiteboard on the
other, some kind of scientific diagram still faintly visible. There
were file cabinets across from a large, wooden bookshelf.

“So where's the lab, do you
suppose?” said Abel.

“That's your question?” said Jenny.
“Not, 'What are all these women doing here bound and
gagged'?”

“One crisis at a time,” said Abel.
“At least we know we're in the right place.”

Trix was eying the women, her jaw clenching and
unclenching. “We should let them go,” she said.

“To do what?” said Abel. “To
run out and get ripped apart by rotters?”

“To have a choice,” said Jenny. She
stepped forward. The women shrank back as one when they saw the
knife. Jenny lowered it slowly and slipped the blade between a
blonde woman's wrists, quickly slicing the binds. The woman blinked
at her, the rest of the hostages going silent and still. Trix
stepped over and helped her until they were free. Three ran out of
the room as soon as they were able, streaking past Jenny. The girl
who had been tied up on the end frowned at them.

“I don't understand,” she said, her
voice soft and high. Just a girl, Jenny realized. All of them were
little girls. Younger than she had been when she had been forced
into a lab with Casey. And they had been left to die.

“Nothing to understand,” said Jenny.
“You're free. You should probably hide out in the building
until the rotters ease up outside.”

“But,” the girl said, her hands
shaking as she rubbed her wrists, “you're dead, aren't you?
You're all dead.”

“We're special,” said Jenny.

“Like snowflakes,” said Trix in a
sarcastically upbeat voice.

“So,” a girl with curly red hair
said, seeming very confused, “you don't eat
people?”

“It's a gray area,” said Abel.
“Where's the lab?”

The girl shook her head. “I don't know. We
drank some tea and woke up like this.”

“You didn't volunteer?” said
Jenny.

“Why would we volunteer to die?”
said the girl on the end.

“Just stay put,” said Abel.
“Run when the rotters leave.”

“Where are we supposed to go?” said
the girl. “We don't even know where we are. How do we
survive?”

“Just like everyone else,” said
Trix. She nodded to the bookcase. “What about
that?”

“What about it?” said Jenny.

“The lab is probably somewhere else in the
building,” said Abel. “We need to search every room in
this place.”

“I don't think so,” said Trix. She
moved forward, touching the books, sliding a finger along the
shelf. She showed it to the others. “No dust. You know who
doesn't like dust?”

“Those books shouldn't be there,”
said Jenny. “Casey said they were in a pile on the floor when
he was here. It's where he found the list.”

“Look, there are tracks,” said Abel,
pointing to the floor. Trix tapped them with her boot. Then she
stepped to the side and pushed. The bookcase slid aside easily and
Jenny had the feeling of not being able to breathe again. In front
of them, was a metal slab. And on top of the slab was Casey.

He was lying face down and naked. And he wasn't
moving.