Twisted World: A Broken World Novel (35 page)

A
fter lying
in the darkness for what felt like days, totally unable to shut my brain off, I crawled out of bed. There was no point trying to sleep. I threw some clothes on and grabbed the small bagged I’d packed before stumbling out into the living room. In it, buried under some extra clothes in the hope of hiding it from prying eyes, I’d stashed the gun.

Mom was up, sitting on the couch and so wide-eyed that it looked like she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. She smiled when she saw me. It was a sad smile that didn’t reach her eyes, but was enough to warm me all the way through. She patted the cushion at her side and I went over to join her, putting my bag at her feet before settling in. She slipped her arm around my shoulders and I rested my head against her chest. I tried to will myself to relax, hoping to catch a little bit of rest. I doubted it would work, but at least I didn’t feel alone. That in itself was a relief.

We couldn’t talk. Not with the threat that someone might be listening in on us hanging over our heads. Not that it mattered. Until we had more information, I wasn’t even sure what questions to ask anymore. There were too many now, the weight of them making me feel like I had an anchor around my shoulders.

Time stretched on, it’s passing marked only by the ticking of the clock in the kitchen. It was the only sound in the room other than our breathing, and even though it was quiet, I was afraid it would drive me mad if we didn’t get out of here soon.

Only it wasn’t even two o’clock yet. We had at least until seven before we could safely leave the apartment and not raise the alarm. Any earlier than that would seem off.

Somehow, against all odds, I eventually found my body relaxing and my eyelids growing heavy with the need to sleep. I exhaled and willed my body to drift off, embracing the floating feeling that comes just before exhaustion takes over.

That’s where I was when the knock rang through the apartment. It jerked me back to reality and I bolted upright while Mom jumped to her feet, and in an instant my exhaustion was gone. Our eyes met, but neither one of us said a word at first.

Finally, Mom whispered, “Who in the world could that be?”

I glanced toward the clock, my heart going crazy. It was four in the morning, which meant that whoever was on the other side of that door couldn’t be bringing good news. Maybe it was Al or Parv, but I doubted it. Charlie had definitely told them what was going on by now, and they’d never risk showing up here in the middle of the night.

The second knock was so loud it felt like it was echoing through the room. Mom jumped and my heart mimicked her. I slid my hand into my bag and wrapped my fingers around the gun. It felt heavy in my hands. Hot even.

“We need to get it,” she said, shooting me a worried look as she headed to the door. “It’s going to be okay.”

The expression in her eyes told me that she was as unsure about that as I was.

“I’m ready.” I tightened my grip on the gun, but left it in my bag. She didn’t know I had it, and I didn’t want her to.

Mom paused at the door, giving me one last look before easing it open. The safety chain pulled taut, stopping the door from opening more than a couple inches. Mom reared back when a face appeared in the gap.

I had the gun halfway out of my bag when a strangled laugh broke out of her. “Al! You scared the shit out of me.”

“Open the door.” My uncle’s eyes were big and round when they moved between Mom and me. “We have to go.
Now
.”

Al pulled back so Mom could shut the door. Her hands shook when she undid the safety chain, and only a second later the door was shoved open and Al charged inside.

“Get your stuff.” His voice was low, but urgent, and he couldn’t stop looking around. It was the same expression he’d had on his face when I’d shown him the note.

I was halfway to the door before I realized my uncle wasn’t alone. Charlie and Lila were in the hall, and behind them, Parvarti had her gun drawn. The sight of her standing in my hallway, armed and ready, wasn’t what had my heart beating faster, though. It was the sight of my boss standing behind her.

“Dragon?” I’d only taken one more step forward when Mom grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door.

We moved down the hall as a group, my feet stumbling over one another as we moved. Dragon was in the lead while Parv took up the rear. Her gun was still drawn, but I kept mine safely tucked in my bag. She was the JO, which meant she had a weapon permit. If I got caught with a gun Jackson would be able to do whatever he wanted with me.

Just thinking about it sent a shiver down my spine.

Mom stayed close to my side, and none of us spoke as we moved. Our footsteps echoed through the stairwell on the way down, matching the pounding of my heart, and my anxiety only grew when we stepped outside. The city was pitch black, and the now mostly abandoned shantytown deathly silent as we made our way past it. The normal sounds of people scraping by had been replaced by stillness, and the scent of garbage and urine could no longer overcome the smell of death that permeated the walls of the shacks.

The walk to the entertainment district seemed to take no time at all, but I didn’t even realize we’d made it there until the red door that led into Dragon’s Lair was looming in front of me.

My boss didn’t say a word when he shoved the door open, and even once we were all safely inside, I couldn’t calm down. Something happened. Something big, or he wouldn’t have come to the apartment in the middle of the night like this.

“What is it?” Mom was the first to speak, her voice echoing through the empty bar.

Dragon locked the door, then turned to face us. “Not here.”

He nodded toward the back as he hurried by, and we once again lapsed into silence as we followed. I knew where he was going, but everyone else was probably as confused as hell when he led us down the stinking hall and past the bathroom.

We stopped outside the basement door, my heart never slowing as Dragon typed in the code. A few seconds later, the door opened with a hiss and he headed down.

“Whoever’s at the back, be sure to shut the door behind you,” my boss called over his shoulder.

Unlike last time, the basement light was already on, but we didn’t stop in the pristine room either. Dragon kept moving, passing the tubs and barrels and shelves of booze, not stopping until he reached the door I’d noticed last time we were down here. Once again, he punched a code in and the door popped open. My boss walked on without looking back, his only statement a reminder that we should be sure to shut the door once we were all safely inside.

I followed, staying close to Mom and keeping my hand on the gun. Unlike the basement, the hall we walked through wasn’t pristine. Cobwebs and dirt clogged the corners, but the corridor was so dark that I couldn’t get a good sense of where we were headed. It seemed to go on forever, and when it finally stopped it was so abrupt that I almost slammed into Dragon’s back. He opened yet another door, this one not locked, and climbed a rickety set of stairs that creaked under our feet with each step. The air in here was stale and dusty, tickling my nostrils when I inhaled.

When we finally emerged at the top of steps, we were in a dark and filthy room. The windows had been boarded up, allowing only slivers of moonlight in through the cracks, and along one wall sat a cot similar to the ones in the back room of the bar. There was also a table and two chairs, a few candles that were scattered around cast a soft glow across the dark room. In the center of the table sat a pile of prepackaged meals.

Someone was living here.

“Where are we?” I asked, finally breaking the silence that had settled over us.

“On the other side of the wall.” Dragon turned to face us, his eyes moving over my family slowly before stopping on me. “They took Donaghy.”

I blinked, then shook my head, unable to believe his words. “What? No.”

“Who’s Donaghy?” Mom asked.

“The fighter?” Al looked at me. “What does he have to do with this?”

“Who took him?” Parv asked calmly.

“We—” I swallowed, having a hard time talking through the lump in my throat. It was a ball of tears, and they were trying to choke me, but I had to keep it together. No matter how much it hurt, and it did hurt. So much more than it should have considering we’d just met. “He and I have gotten close. He was helping me.”

“Shit,” Al muttered. He shook his head, but his face was distorted thanks to the tears in my eyes.

“Who took him?” Parv asked for the second time, her gaze on my boss.

Mom slipped her hand into mine and I tried to absorb some of her strength so I didn’t fall apart. She was the strongest person I knew, despite the horror we’d been through since Dad’s disappearance. I had to be strong like her. Had to focus and not lose control.

“Jackson,” I said, answering for Dragon.

My boss nodded. “That’s right.”

“Took him to the CDC probably.” Helen’s gravelly voice echoed from behind us.

I spun around to find her standing in the shadows on the other side of the room. Glitter was at her side, wearing more clothes than I’d ever seen her in, and next to her stood the gray man. His hair had been tamed since the last time we talked, and his beard was gone, but it was him for sure. Even in the darkness of the room, his smoky gray eyes stood out.

Mom’s hand slipped from mine and went to her mouth. Her eyes were huge. Terrified or shocked, I wasn’t sure. She took a step forward, her legs slightly shaky as her head moved from side to side. She wobbled and I reached for her, afraid she might faint. The recognition on her face matched the expression in the gray man’s eyes, and I looked and forth between the two, waiting for someone to finally tell me who he was. It was obvious Mom knew him.

“Angus?” she finally said, the name a scratch whisper. “Is that you?”

The gray man smiled, but it was sad and made his eyes look even stormier than they had before. “Hi there, Blondie.”

“Oh my God,” Lila whispered.

Angus? The gray man was my uncle? I couldn’t believe it, but it had to be true, because Mom was crying and she was running toward him. She threw herself against him and the gray man—Angus—wrapped her in a hug. Her body shook with silent tears, and above her head my uncle’s eyes shimmered as well.

Lila, Al, and Parvarti were right behind Mom, each of them as shocked as she was at the sudden reappearance of my uncle. They all hugged, their arms around each other and their bodies shaking with pain that was two decades old. Angus kept one arm around Mom while he hugged Lila, then patted Uncle Al on the shoulder. When he got to Parv, he called her Rambo and engulfed her in a one-arm hug that swallowed her small frame.

It all made sense, now. Why this man saved me, and why he reminded me of Dad. He was my uncle, and even though they looked different, there were so many similarities between him and his brother. His eyes, the way he puckered his lips as he looked everyone over. Even the way he spoke to me. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before, but I should have. It should have been so obvious.

Charlie slipped her hand into mine and shook her head. “I can’t believe this. Twenty years. He’s been alive all this time?”

“In the CDC,” Dragon said, crossing his arms. “We got him out a few months ago. It took years of planning and recon, but thanks to Helen, we figured out who we could trust and how to make it work. That’s why they took your dad.” He turned his gaze on me. “They needed his blood once Angus was gone. If we’d known he was immune, we could have foreseen it. But we had no idea.”

“He’s alive then?” I asked, suddenly unable to hold in the tears. Charlie gave my hand a little squeeze. “He’s alive?”

“He is, and we have a plan, but getting Axl out is going to mean the end of our time in New Atlanta. We won’t be able to stick around the way we did with Angus.”

“I don’t care. We have to do it,” I said. “We have to save him.”

“It ain’t gonna be easy to get him.” My uncle’s voice boomed through the room. His arm was still around Mom, who was still crying and shaking her head. “You done it twice already, and they’ve changed things up since then, made it tougher. But we can get him out. We gotta.”

“Twice?” Lila wiped tears from her cheeks and Uncle Al gave her a squeeze.

“Who else did you sneak out?” Parv asked.

Angus’s gaze moved to Glitter, who was hugging herself and staring at the floor. Helen slipped her arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“My daughter,” Angus said.

The girl ventured a look at my uncle, her expression was shy, but affectionate, and Angus beamed at her.

“Daughter?” Mom shook her head as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. “How do you have a daughter? And Axl is immune? None of this makes sense!”

“It’s a long story.” Helen exhaled as she leg Glitter across the room. Both waitresses sank into chairs, and the older one nodded to the empty ones. “You should all sit. There’s a lot to tell you, and a lot to think about. It’s going to be a long night.”

We obeyed, silently taking seats around the table. As a whole, we were in shock. Angus was alive. All the rumors had been true and somehow, against all logic, my uncle had come back from the dead like that crazy prophecy of The Church’s had been true all along.