State of Decay (Omnibus (Parts 1-4)) (12 page)

I dropped a zombie, but two more took its place before me. My chest hurt, my arms hurt, and I was so tired. We were fighting a fruitless war and we both knew it. Out of some perverse sense of preservation I had kept fighting this long, but I didn’t want to fight anymore. I glanced over and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jude still fighting, his arm moved so quickly I could barely make it out, his face was that of an avenging angel and I was instantly sorry we didn’t have more time. I sliced through the forehead of a girl in front of me and then … I just stopped. I watched in some sort of sick fascination as two zombies bumbled over the mound of bodies in front of me as I put my knife back in my boot.

“Melody! What the fuck are you doing?” Jude screamed at me, his voice full of terror. I blinked back tears, but I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t. I closed my eyes.

“I’m sorry, daddy,” I whispered. I’d been a survivor long enough.

W
hen arms wrapped around me
, I felt peace wash over me. I’d done enough, hadn’t I? Arms banded about my waist and jerked me back. I felt myself being pulled and I heard Jude yelling … but no bites came. When the shots came, I opened my eyes and found I was on the other side of the fence. Men in army fatigues had Jude on the ground, his face was in the gravel and his eyes bore into mine, accusingly. I went to move, but my arms had been pulled behind me and a large guy was there holding me in place. More shots echoed behind me.

“Let me go,” I said through gritted teeth. “I need to check on him.” The guy behind me snorted and held my arms tighter.

“Let’s get them inside, before these zombies work themselves into more of a frenzy,” someone ordered from next to me.

“You don’t have to treat us like criminals,” I snarled. The man who held me pulled me closer to his body and I immediately stiffened in his grasp.

“Sweetheart, no offense, but we don’t know you and you have to cleared of any bites before we let you free of restraints. Just be glad I know how to treat a lady and didn’t put cuffs on you like your boyfriend over there.” His southern twang caressed my cheek, and I shied away from his proximity, though I didn’t think he was trying to intimidate me. He was just stating facts. I nodded my understanding. “That’s a good girl,” he said approvingly.

“Good girl, my ass,” I muttered beneath my breath. I thought I heard the muscle head behind me chuckle, but I couldn’t be sure. I was still so weak-kneed from our run, almost death, and prompt rescue that I probably would have fallen into a heap on the ground if the guy behind me wasn’t halfway holding me up as we walked into the factory.

The inside of the factory was just what I imagined it would be—creepy. Unused machines sat collecting dust while broken parts of toys littered the floor and work spaces. Besides clowns scaring the bejeesus out of me, old dolls were a close second. Walking through an abandoned room with doll parts everywhere was going to seriously take some major therapy. I chuckled and felt everyone walking tense up. Wow, these guys needed to lighten up a bit. We were led into the back of the factory and then into what I could have only imagined used to be a small cleaning supply storage room. In the back of the room a door opened and we were shuffled down a small flight of stairs where we waited while a large door was unlocked. Down another flight of stair the next room opened up into a large holding area. Holding area with a few cells and two small, windowless rooms, that is.

“Put him in that room, the girl in the other.” Jude’s eyes met mine and I tried to smile reassuringly, but my heart was nearly pounding out of my chest. I didn’t have my gun and I was pretty sure my knife had been taken as soon as we were pulled into the fenced in area outside. I’d never felt so
vulnerable. Jude was shoved into a room and I heard someone grunt out an order for him to
strip down
. I swallowed back the fear rising up in my throat and only barely kept from panicking. The large guy I’d yet to see, led me into the small room and turned on a small light hanging above the room from a cord. The light swayed back and forth illuminating a chair and a drain in the floor. Along with a hose hanging on the far wall.

“This should be interesting,” someone said from the doorway. I shivered involuntarily and the man behind me stiffened.

“What should be?” he snapped out at the two men standing there with their eyes on me.

“Oh, come on, Tex. You’re not going to keep all that to yourself are you?” The guys leered from where they stood and I could feel the shame of what they were insinuating wash over me. I also felt Tex vibrating in barely-repressed anger near me.

“Get the fuck out,” he growled over my shoulder. I shivered and a small sound of fear escaped my lips. One guy turned and left immediately, but a tall, pale skinned guy with shaggy blond hair curled his lip and stood there a moment longer, staring daggers at us before turning and muttering curses beneath his breath. Tex let go of my arms and walked over to the door to lock it. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair before turning back to me. His eyes found mine and they looked apologetic, but I still didn’t trust him … not even a little.

“Look, I’m sorry about this, but it needs to be done.” He walked over and stood in front of me. “Please strip down to just your bra and panties.” I flinched and he sighed. “I really am sorry. But, believe me, it’s better me than
one of those other guys. I won’t hurt you. I just need to run some water over you and make sure you haven’t been bitten before we take you any further into the compound,” he explained. I stared at him a moment longer and then glanced over at the door. “They won’t be coming in. I don’t think any of them would hurt you, but taking advantage of your situation doesn’t set right with me. We don’t get many women coming into the city,” he said.

I nodded and grabbed the hem of my shirt. Get it over quickly. Don’t think about it. He was right … it could have been a lot worse … especially if that slimy-eyed guy had been the one in the room with me. I was shocked when Tex turned around to give me some semblance of privacy. Shocked and grateful. I pulled my dirty, gore-splattered shirt over my head and then unbuttoned my jeans with shaking fingers. I moaned from the stiffness in my arm when I picked up my clothing from the floor. Tex swung around, his eyes wide and his hand going to his gun. I froze and tried to smile, but failed miserably.

“Sorry, my arm feels like hell right now,” I said softly. His body relaxed a bit and he let out a breath.

“I thought there for a minute …” I winced.

“Sorry,” I said peevishly. He grinned and I found myself smiling back at a guy I didn’t know while standing in bare room in my panties and covered in filth and rot. I straightened fully and sat my clothing on the only chair in the small room. I walked toward the center of the room and met Tex’s eyes. His jaw clenched and he ran another hand through his hair before he walked over and removed the hose from the wall and turned it on.

“Please hold your arms out. We’ll start there,” he said softly. I nodded and did as I was told. The water was frigid and I gasped when it hit my skin.

“Sorry,” he murmured. He grasped my arm and ran his rough palms up and down my arms, rubbing away the muck, to find clean skin beneath. His eyes searched my arms and then my hands for any broken skin. He inspected my hands, running his fingers over my right palm gently. “You’ve roughened your right palm from using your knife and gun often,” he said as he met my stare. I tilted my chin and raised a brow.

“I have taken care of myself for a long time now,” I answered. He smiled with a look of admiration.

“This is going to be cold,” he said as way of apology. Then he held the hose over my head. I squealed.

“Holy shit, that’s freezing,” I gasped. He chuckled and let the stream of water run over me to wash away the worse of the gunk that coated me. Pretty soon the water felt good. “I’m pretty sure I have zombie in my hair,” I moaned. Tex laughed loudly, making me jump. I opened my eyes and met his shining ones.

“Nothing sexier than zombies chunks in a girl’s hair,” he said with a wink. I laughed and did my best to get it all out. “Here, let me.” His hands ran through my hair and he felt my scalp, I assumed to check for lacerations.

“If you had some soap and shampoo, I just might marry you,” I said with a laugh. Tex stiffened and I was sorry for saying something so stupid to someone I didn’t even know. “I was joking,” I said softly. Tex smiled sadly and then ran his hands along my shoulders and back and then had me lift my legs to check for bites on either one.

“Looks like you’re good to go,” he said after a moment. He walked over to a small cabinet and pulled out a towel, white tee, and drawstring pants that would barely fit me. He grabbed my filthy clothes off of the chair. “I’ll be sure you get these back,” he promised with a wink. “Go ahead and dry off and get dressed,” he said, turning his back to me once again. I dried and dressed quickly, wondering if I should push my luck and ask Tex about what was going on in the compound. Would he tell me anything? I wasn’t sure and even though he seemed like a decent guy, I still couldn’t trust him just yet.

“You’re not old enough to be military, but the way you handled yourself out there …” Tex trailed of and I froze as I was tying the pants around my waist.
Keep to the truth as much as possible
, I reminded myself.

“My dad was military. He taught me well,” I said after a moment. Tex nodded his head, accepting that. It was the truth after all.

“And your friend out there?” he asked softly. My heart sped up. Tex turned to face me, his eyes assessing and searching my face.

“Jude? Jude was army for two years before the outbreak,” I answered with a shrug. That’s the story we came up with. It was believable … saying Jude wasn’t military at all just wouldn’t fly. He
was
a soldier and anyone would be able to see that. We just had to make them think he had nothing to do with any military anymore. Tex stared at me a moment longer before he turned and put a hand on the door knob.

“What’s your name?” he asked with his back to me.

“Melody,” I answered quietly.

“Let’s go, Melody. Hope you’re ready for this,” he muttered cryptically. I followed Tex back out into the hallway. Jude was there wearing the same nondescript clothing I was, of course his pants fit him better than mine did. He strode to my side, his eyes never leaving Tex’s.

“You okay?” he asked harshly. I nodded and moved closer to him. Jude turned to face Tex and they squared off, each one sizing each other up, Jude clearly making it known I was off limits and he better not have tried anything. Jude looked ready to rip Tex’s head off, but Tex just stood there, his bulk speaking for him and his eyes bored with Jude’s show. I put a hand on Jude’s arm and squeezed.

“I’m fine, Jude. He didn’t hurt me or get out of line,” I whispered. His arm stiffened beneath my touch and then his entire body relaxed, but just barely.

“If you’re ready now?” Tex drawled with a raised brow. He turned and walked to another door. Jude reached an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his side.

“We need to talk,” he whispered next to my ear. I nodded as we both followed behind Tex into the compound. We walked through a series of corridors with metal, industrial-looking doors until we came up to a large door that Tex had to open with a series of numbers entered into a keypad, much like the smaller, hidden, underground base we’d come from. The door opened and I was once again bombarded by the beautiful sound of living, breathing humans instead of death gurgles.

We entered on a small metal platform above a large, open room filled with people. A metal staircase led down into the room. The four other men began making their way down the stairs and Jude stepped forward, a look of surprise on his face, reflecting my own. There had to be close to a hundred people in this room alone. How many did the compound hold then? Two hundred? More? How many prisoners did they hold and where? My mind spun in twenty different directions. Tex came up close to me and leaned in to whisper a warning near my ear.

“Be careful, Melody. Don’t ask too many questions and keep a low profile,” he whispered just before stepping back. Jude turned around and eyed Tex, who was now a foot away and whistling a little tune.

“Well, how about we get you folks a little food?” Tex drawled as he walked toward the stairs. We followed him down the stairs, noting how everyone got quiet as we approached. They must not have had many newcomers. Where they were located, I wasn’t surprised one little bit. This place took “keep your enemy close” to a whole new level. We followed behind Tex as he led us across the room and down a hall to enter another large room ... their mess hall. Another thirty people were in the mess hall eating and joking around when we entered, it didn’t take me long to realize how few women of children were living in the compound. I probably passed five in the common area, two were eating lunch, and four working in the kitchen area. A short, blading guy wearing glasses came up to our group.

“
Germain wants to see you,” he said in clipped tones, his eyes barely flicking over to me and Jude. I glanced up at Jude, but he gave nothing away. Tex eyed me before pointing over to the line for food.

“They should take care of you there. I’ll be back to show you both around as soon as I can.” He nodded at us both before turning and heading back
through the door with the little guy trying to keep pace with his long, sure strides.