The Zero Trilogy (Book 3): End of Day (9 page)

Smarter than everyone. She could trust Bravo, she knew that. It was her advantage over everyone else – she trusted someone completely, and she wouldn’t be betrayed.

“We should leave,” Elle said at last. “Staying with Cheng and Luli is going to get us killed. It’ll drag us into drama we don’t need.”

Their priority was to stay alive. Period.

Bravo didn’t respond.

“I know it’s hard,” Elle went on. “It seems like every time we make friends – even though I don’t exactly consider Luli a friend – we have to leave them behind. But it’s better this way. We can stay alive if we’re alone.”

Bravo suddenly sat up.

We’ve made it this far. We’re doing okay
.

Elle pressed her forehead against Bravo’s.

“I know. But we have to be smart.”

Elle stood up.

“Come on. Let’s go get our stuff from the lodge,” she said. “And then we’ll go. They don’t need to know where we’re going.”

Bravo huffed.

How would they know when
we
don’t even know?

Elle ignored the obvious sarcasm and they began walking toward the lodge. Her chest felt tight. The exhilarated flutter that she had experienced earlier was gone, and in its place was stalwart determination. Cheng was charming, yes. But he was only human. And so was Elle. Basic survival instinct would win this battle.

She shuddered.

No
, she thought.
I’m not attached. Just let him go
.

Bravo’s presence by her side made the walk back to the lodge easier. She felt calm as she walked up the steps, entered the lobby, and climbed the stairs to the second floor. The building was silent, now. Most people were asleep. The last bit of daylight winked away and the hallway was dark.

Elle stood in front of the door to Cheng’s room.

She took a deep breath. Bravo looked up at her, encouraging her. She knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again. This was the right door, wasn’t it? She stepped back. Yes, last door in the hall. Bravo’s nose confirmed it, too.

She knocked twice more, but there was still no answer.

She turned the knob, and the door opened. Elle grabbed the handle of her katana and slid it from its sheath, her vision narrowing. Something was wrong. She sensed it, and Bravo did, too.

Elle pushed the door open with the toe of her militia-issued boots and flicked two fingers forward. Bravo slipped into the room. She waited. He barked once.

All clear
.

Elle walked into the room. The curtains had been drawn. Elle pulled them back, shining gray light into the room. The beds looked
untouched. Her backpack was nowhere to be seen. Everything was gone.

“Why would they leave?” Elle whispered.

And then it dawned on her that maybe Cheng had felt the same way as Elle – that the kiss had been a mistake, and they should go their separate ways.

Strangely, this made her sad.

“Come on,” Elle said, shaking herself.

Her backpack contained valuable items. Food, water and first aid supplies. And Cheng and Luli had taken all of it. She stormed out of the room, angry and disappointed – although she didn’t want to admit it – and Bravo followed her. She marched downstairs, through the lobby, and stood on the deck. The large, gray mastiffs prowled through the darkness. They were terrifying and beastly in the night.

Bravo barked. He growled, then barked again, tail down, shoulders hunched, fangs flashing.

“Bravo,” Elle said. “Quiet.”

He continued to bark and growl, tensing up. He was insistent, and Elle raised her sword
up. What could he see that she couldn’t? What did he smell?

“What is it, boy?” she asked. “Bravo, show me.”

She noticed then that the silhouettes of the mastiffs had vanished, and there was an unearthly, guttural growl coming from the shadows. One mastiff emerged from the bushes, then two more. Elle’s breath caught in her throat. The creatures were massive, the size of a small horse. Her fingers twitched. Her gun was in the waistband of her pants. She could maybe shoot one of them if she had too, but what about the others? What about Bravo?

Oh God, no. They wouldn’t be brought down by guard dogs.

Not after all this time.

“Bravo,” Elle warned. “Do
not
attack. Listen to me. Stay with me, boy.”

Her voice sparked the mastiffs into a volley of warning barks and growls as they crept closer. She dared a sideways glance at Bravo. He was dangerously close to springing forward, but his common sense kept him glued to Elle’s side.

“All right, child,” a gruff, crackly voice stated. “Set your weapons down. And get rid of the gun in your pants.”

Elle peered into the darkness.

“I’m warning you,” the voice continued. “Keep this up and my puppies will tear you and your dog into bite-size pieces.”

Elle slowly set her katana on the ground and pulled the Smith and Wesson out of the waistband of her pants. She set it on the ground, too, and kept her hands up where they could be seen.

“Good, good. Thank you for your cooperation.” A tall, bulky man emerged from the woods. He wore a floppy brown hat and sported a thick, tangled beard. “You’ve made my day a lot easier.”

Elle didn’t move.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

He laughed. Loudly.

“I’ll ask the questions, thanks,” he replied. “Down, boys.”

The mastiffs stopped their slow progression toward Elle and Bravo, pulling back
to their tall, broad owner. The man hoisted a heavy, archaic shotgun into his arms.

“Now, don’t you be touching those weapons,” he warned, “or I’ll just have to shoot your German Shepherd.”

Elle swallowed.

“Stay down, Bravo,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”

Bravo angled his body between Elle and the man, ever protective.

Two more men scurried out of the woods and scooped up Elle’s katana and handgun. It was like a kick in the chest. Those weapons had saved her life many times. They were like old friends.

“What do you want?” Elle asked.

“What’s coming to me,” the man answered.

More men emerged from the woods. Elle’s throat constricted. They were everywhere. She lost count at fifteen. What was this?

“Tell your dog to behave,” the tall man said, “and it will all be okay.”

Elle didn’t believe him, but she warned Bravo into inaction anyway. She spoke to him in low, soothing tones. Two men took Elle’s arms and twisted them behind her back. There were shotguns and men everywhere, and the mastiffs were still standing next to the tall man.

Three men snapped a muzzle over Bravo’s snout. He howled and whined, fighting violently, but they held him down.

“DON’T TOUCH MY DOG!” Elle screamed. “Let him go!”

“Now, now,” the tall man said. “Don’t be yelling at your host. That’s no way for a guest to act.” He rubbed his hands together. In the dull light, Elle could see that one of his eyes was missing, a hollow, black hole in his head. She shuddered.

“Come on,” he told his men. “Back we go.”

The men that took Bravo and Elle were ragtag and filthy. Many of them were missing teeth or fingers. They muttered and cursed amongst themselves, shoving Elle and Bravo through the forest. Elle’s face scraped against
branches and hands, drawing blood from her cheeks and neck.

Her mouth was parched and dry. Her feet hurt and her head throbbed. Every moment was filled with a waking terror – were they being dragged to their deaths? If they were, what could they do to stop it?

She heard Bravo yelp as someone shoved him forward, scraping his face against slick granite. Elle jerked furiously against her captors, enraged.

“Don’t you hurt my dog!” she hissed. “Don’t you
dare
hurt my dog!”

Snickering. Laughter. Muttering.

They kept going, stopping for nothing. Elle’s muscles burned and her vision was blurry. She was dehydrated and exhausted. She stumbled and fell. The arms dragging her along let go and she hit something hard – a rock? – with a crack.

She saw a burst of color, and then everything went dark.

Chapter Six

When Elle came to, her head was bursting with a splitting pain. She blinked a few times, then rolled to her side and vomited. Her head spun. She placed her hands on the ground. It felt like she was bobbing up and down, up and down. She sat up, wincing at the excruciating pain, and peered ahead.

She was inside. The walls, floor and ceiling were made of wood. It smelled damp. Lanterns illuminated the room, which was filled with wooden crates and metal shipping containers. It was shadowy and cold. The stench of her own vomit made her sick, and she scooted away.

“Bravo?” she whispered.

Nothing.

Panic gripped her. Where was he? What had happened to him?

“Bravo!”

Still, nothing but silence. The room continued to bob. Elle attempted to stand, but a swell of dizziness brought her back to her knees, and the room kept rolling. Water droplets dripped onto the floor.

A boat? She was on a boat?

Elle held her head in her hands. When she had fallen, she’d felt something crack. Who knows what she’d done to herself?

Minutes passed – possibly hours.

Where was she? Why was she on a boat?

She heard footsteps and voices in the distance, and then a door opened. The footsteps grew louder. She was sitting up against the wall, rivulets of sweat sliding down her face. The tall man with the floppy hat marched down a row of rickety stairs. Behind him, more men filed down the steps.

Between the men, she saw Cheng and Luli. Their wrists were zip-tied together, and the right side of Cheng’s face was bruised. His lip was bloody. Luli looked relatively unharmed, but there was darkness in her eyes.

They’d been taken, too.

“Well, now,” the tall man said. “You’ve finally awoken. How nice for you to grace us with your presence, little Elle Costas.”

Elle raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, I know who you are,” the man continued. “But you don’t know who I am, do you?” He chuckled. He wore a long, ratty jacket. His shotgun was strapped across his back. His one eye glittered with malignant intent.

Cheng and Luli were shoved against the wall.

Cheng stared at Elle, but she looked away.

“I’m the captain of this ship,” the tall man said. “Captain Matthias. And these are my men. I know what you’re thinking, little girl. We’re nothing but pirates. Vagabonds. Aimless Slavers hunting for children.”

Elle shuddered.

“Give us some credit,” he continued. “I wouldn’t stoop so low. There are other ways to make a profit in a world as damned as this one.”

“Let the girls and the dog go,” Cheng suddenly said. “I’m the only one you need.”

Elle looked at him.

“Not so, little prince,” Matthias guffawed. “I’ve a mind to do what I want, and no boy will dictate my decisions.”

Elle bit her lip. Cheng was speaking as if Bravo were still alive, and that gave her a flicker of hope. Her headache still raged, but she said nothing.

“Cap, don’t you think you should check the boy for the mark?” one of the men said. He wore a black sock cap. Two gold teeth sparkled in the front of his mouth. “Just to be sure?”

Matthias shrugged.

“Well, now, that’s not a bad idea. Remind me not to kill you next week, Kilmer.” He stepped forward and pulled a bowie knife from his belt. He snapped through the zip-tie around Cheng’s wrists and gestured to his men. Cheng’s eyes were full of hate and resentment, but he was smart enough not to act on his feelings. Several of Matthias’s men pulled off Cheng’s jacket and flung it aside. They stripped his shirt off, too, leaving Cheng bare-chested. He was toned, cords of thick muscle wrapping around his arms and torso.

But it was the markings on the right side of his chest that caught Elle’s attention. An intricate tattoo of a snake curled across the right side of his chest and flooded over his shoulder. Matthias forced Cheng to kneel forward. The tattoo carried over to his back. His shoulder blade was swirled with black and brown ink, and in the center of it all – a large, intricate O with the continents of the world within it.

Omega.

Elle’s heart turned to ice.

“Cheng?” she said. Her voice was raspy and broken. “What does that mean?”

Matthias shoved Cheng back to his knees. Cheng’s eyes were hooded.

“Cheng?” Elle demanded, louder this time.

“Ah, they didn’t know?” Matthias mused. “You didn’t tell them about you?”

Cheng glared at Matthias.

“I will kill you,” he said softly. “All of you, slowly.”

It was a calm, controlled rage, and it frightened Elle. It was very unlike the Cheng she
had gotten to know at Bear Mountain and Falcon Point. Luli looked just as stricken as Elle.

“Cheng, what are you?” she whispered.

He remained silent.

“Let me clear things up for you,” Matthias rumbled, chuckling again. “Harrison Klaus, son of the most powerful woman in the North American continent. The Chancellor’s son, to be exact. And your mommy will pay a pretty penny to get you back – do you know the bounty on your head, boy? Millions. And salvation – an escape from this hell world we’re living in.”

“Harrison?” Luli echoed, a horrified expression on her face. “Your name isn’t Cheng?”

With every word, Elle felt a cold stone drop into her stomach. A detached, hollow anger encapsulated her body, numbing the pain in her head. She looked at Cheng, long and hard.

“Explain this,” she stated, low and dangerous.

Her hands trembled.

Cheng raised his head and met Elle’s accusatory gaze.

“My real name isn’t Cheng, no,” he said quietly. Painfully. “I am Harrison Klaus. My mother is Veronica Klaus, the High Chancellor of the West Omega Strategy – that is, the takeover of the North American countries like the United States, Mexico and Canada. I am her only son – her prized possession.” He said this with a tinny sneer. “She would do anything to bring me home. To make me understand.”

“You’re a born and bred child of Omega?” Luli screeched.

“I ran away from my home,” Cheng replied. “After the collapse. I could no longer stay with her and condone her actions. I left. I have survived, just like everyone else.”