The Dead Saga (Book 3): Odium III (30 page)

BOOK: The Dead Saga (Book 3): Odium III

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I understood Nova’s actions now. It wasn’t just about giving in and sacrificing yourself. It was about protecting those you cared about. No matter what. That little boy needed someone to look after him, and it couldn’t be me, because I only ever got people killed.

“Don’t.” Mikey breathed out the words, his eyes filling with terror, like he’d read my mind. Adam began to cry, his quiet sobs turning to wails.

“I’m sorry,” I said to both of them. “Look after him, Mikey.” And then I slammed the door of the truck shut. I mouthed
I love you
as Mikey reached for his door handle, and then I turned and ran.

I ran away from Mikey, away from our truck, and away from my freedom. I ran back through the employee entrance, ignoring the sound of Mikey shouting and begging me to come back, knowing that he wouldn’t—couldn’t—come after me because he had to look after Adam. Adam who was wailing loudly.

I ran back down the dark and death-filled hallway toward the main mall entrance. I pushed open the door, stepping over Nova’s bloody body with my gun raised high, hoping to take them by surprise, hoping I wouldn’t die, but knowing I possibly would. But it would be worth it. Because no matter what, Fallon would continue to kill innocent people that didn’t deserve his judgment, and someone had to stop him—someone had to try. Because it wasn’t fair, it was cruel and wrong, and life was hard enough as it was.

So I stood up for every innocent person that he had harmed, because I wasn’t running from it anymore. I wasn’t running and hiding, I was facing up to him, and be damned the consequences. Because those innocents didn’t have a voice, and like Mikey had said, I did. So let my voice ring out nice and clear that I wouldn’t stand by anymore, that I wouldn’t let those people die for nothing.

And if I died? So be it. Like Mikey had said, ‘your loved ones are worth both living and dying for.’ And Mikey was worth every beat of my heart and every drop of my blood. I’d protect him, the way I failed Emily, the way I failed Ben. They all died, and though it was illogical, I blamed myself. So I would protect Mikey the only way I knew how.

Because I knew I’d see him again one day, in this life or the next.

ODIUM IV

The Dead Saga

COMING WINTER 2015

(Read on for a sneak peak)

Sneak Peak of
‘Odium IV The Dead Saga’
, Coming Winter 2015

ONE.
MIKEY.

The truck rumbles along with as much gusto as it had previously, yet now it feels empty. Everything feels empty. Nina went back inside. She left me with Adam and Joan, knowing I wouldn’t be able to leave them. She had wanted her vengeance no matter what the cost to herself or anyone else.

I hate her.

My shoulders shake as I try to contain my sadness, as I try to ignore the ache of despair that bubbles away in my stomach. Adam cried himself to sleep at some point in the last hour, and Joan is still staring numbly out the window like she has been for several hours. It’s the quietest she’s been since I met her, and I wonder how much of her so-called craziness is actually real. Because the look on her face makes it clear that she fully understands the importance of what just happened.

We won’t get much further before the gas runs out. We’ll need to stop soon, find somewhere safe to spend the night. But nowhere is safe. I can’t run away from my past anymore. It’s all caught up with me, and now I’ve lost everything and everyone. How many more times can I do this? Run from it and them? Hide and hope that I can escape the memories of friends and family that have died because of my selfishness and stupidity? I slow the truck, wanting to turn around—and not for the first time—but then I think of Adam and Joan, and how they rely on me now, how Nina has put their safety in my hands.

I hate her.

Rubbing away the tears that have trailed down my dirty cheeks, I grit my teeth. My anger will be my fuel—my anger at her and at them, but mostly at myself. I look in my rearview mirror, seeing the setting sun behind me, slipping below the tree line and buildings that we’re passing, and I panic again.

We’ll need to stop. They need to eat, and I’m pretty sure one or both of them has pissed themselves. I can’t care for them; I can barely care for myself. Damn her! My hands grip the steering wheel tighter, my calloused knuckles going white.

I hate her.

All she had wanted was to help people. Even in her bitchiest moments, that was all she had wanted. She covered her kindness with attitude, but she wanted the world back to how it was, when we helped one another, when we cared, and felt, and loved, and we survived as a human race and not as selfish individuals.

I have never regretted anything in life, not until this moment. Even my fucked up past I haven’t regretted, because to regret it was to change it, and if I changed one damn thing, I may never have met her. And to never have met her would have been my biggest regret yet.

I love her.

And now she’s gone. She went back to do what I had been running from—what I had been hiding from. She went back to end this fight. And it cost her everything, it cost me everything. She was brave and beautiful, and I lost her.

What the hell am I going to do now?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Claire C. Riley
is a
bestselling British horror writer whose work is best described as the modernization of classic, old-school horror. She fuses multi-genre elements to develop storylines that pay homage to cult classics while still feeling fresh and cutting edge. She writes characters that are realistic, and kills them without mercy. Claire lives in the United Kingdom with her husband, three daughters, and one scruffy dog.

www.clairecriley.com

www.facebook.com/ClaireCRileyAuthor

Other books written by Claire C. Riley

The Obsession Series

Limerence

Limerence 2

The Dead Saga

Odium 1

Odium Origins 1

Odium 2

Odium Origins 2

NUMEROUS ANTHOLOGY CONTRIBUTIONS