Broken World (26 page)

“Hell if I know,” Axl says. “Whatever we
do, we ain’t goin’ near a city.”

28

WE’VE
BEEN DRIVING THROUGH THE DESERT for almost an hour, passing nothing but sand
and rocks. We have to be getting close.

Axl drums his fingers on the steering
wheel. “We’re runnin’ low on gas.”

“We’re screwed if this guy leads us out
there for nothin’,” Angus grumbles.

Anne, who is sitting in the second row
with Angus so Jake can sleep, leans forward. “We need a backup plan. Where do
we go if this doesn’t work out?”

I stare out at the passing desert. This
conversation is getting old. And exhausting. Right now, I just want to pretend
that Mitchell is a decent human being. That this shelter does exist and we’ll
be safely inside sometime in the next twenty minutes. That Emily is asleep in
the back of the car.

“Farm,” Axl says. “That’s all we got so
far.”

“What about a hotel?” Anne asks. “We
could clear it out and take over. It would have a generator and rooms for us.
Could be okay.”

“We did that in San Francisco. It was
alright,” I say.

“Problem is, it’d have to be a
good-sized hotel to have a generator, and that means goin’ into Vegas. Not
ideal. Then you’re gonna have to worry about runnin’ outta fuel.” Axl sighs and
shakes his head. “A remote area would be better.”

Anne sits back and exhales. She has even
fewer answers than we do.

“So what did you do for a living?” I ask
Anne. I need a distraction.

“I was a cop.”                                                        

“No shit,” Angus says. “I always loved
me a lady cop.”

I glance over my shoulder. He’s raising
his eyebrows suggestively, checking her out. I laugh and shake my head. One
thing Angus is good for, comic relief when things get too tense.

Anne’s probably his age, although she
looks several years younger, but she’s way too classy-looking for him. She’s
small and thin, with chin-length brown hair and brown eyes that crinkle in the
corners when she talks. She isn’t beautiful, but she is cute.

“So where’s Jake’s father?” Maybe if I
keep her talking I can save her from more suggestive comments. Angus has to
have quite a few bouncing around in that empty head of his.

“Both his parents are dead. He isn’t
mine. I found him wandering around the streets the day before you guys saved
us. Poor kid, he’s been through a lot.”

The smile disappears from my lips.
Emily. It’s like someone has poured hot lava into my stomach.

“There it is,” Axl says, saving me from
torturing myself. For now.

There’s a small square building in the
distance, surrounded by a six foot chain link fence. The building is gray and
plain. No windows, a flat roof, only one door. There’s nothing remotely
interesting or special about it. Next to the building is a concrete landing pad
with a small helicopter sitting on it. That must have been what was supposed to
go pick Mitchell up. Bet he’ll be ticked it’s sitting there.

Off in the distance is a wind turbine.
It’s outside the fence, probably about a football field’s length away. The
turbine’s three blades spin at a rapid speed as the wind sweeps across the
desert.

Axl pulls up to the fence, and once the
car has come to a stop I hop out and run over. It’s shut with just a simple
latch. No lock or anything else to keep intruders out. I push it open and run
back to the car, and Axl parks right next to the building. There are no other
vehicles in sight. Either everyone hitched a ride on the helicopter before the
pilot got too sick or ran out of fuel, or no one else is here.

Everyone gets out and butterflies start
flapping around in my stomach. All eyes are on Mitchell as he walks to the
door. He’s holding his gun and he has a smug smile on his face.

“Thank you for getting me here safely,”
he says when he stops in front of the building. He smiles and scans the group.
“I truly appreciate it. I only wish I could do more. Unfortunately, when I
bought the condo I signed an agreement with the company that forbids me from
allowing anyone else in.”

“You son of a bitch!” Winston snarls.

“So that code was a bunch of bullshit?”
Axl steps forward and pulls out his gun.

“Of course it was. You think I’m
stupid?” Mitchell shakes his head. “I didn’t become a billionaire by accident.”

“You’re nothing now,” I say. “You think
all that money you have in the bank means anything? You may as well use it to
start a fire. It’s worthless!”

“But it got me here when it was worth
something, and that’s all that matters.” He sighs and shakes his head, trying
to look sympathetic. He doesn’t. “I’m willing to be reasonable, though. I’m
sure some of the people who bought condos didn’t show up. I’m willing to take
in a few people who have proven that they’d be useful to have around. Joshua,
you’re more than welcome to come. Having a doctor would be helpful.” He turns
and looks at Al next. “The Asian kid seems like he’d be a good person to have
around as well. We can always use someone in the control room. I’d take you,”
he says, tilting his head toward to Axl. “You’ve proven that you have some very
useful skills, I just don’t think you could take orders.”

Axl clenches his hand tighter around his
gun and takes a small step forward.

“Screw you,” Al says. “I’m not going in
there to live with you. I’d rather take my chance with the zombies!”

Joshua nods. “I agree.”

Mitchell frowns. “I would consider it a
personal favor to me. I really want to be sure there’s a doctor in case I get
sick.”

“Are you for real?” Joshua says with a
laugh. “Who cares what you want?”

I bite my lip and consider the
situation. We don’t have anything to bargain with. We could try to overpower
him, but there’s a good chance someone would get shot in the process. If
Mitchell gets killed, we’re all screwed. No one gets in if he dies. But if we
let him go some of us will make it at least. That’s better than nothing. Maybe someone
can even convince whoever else is inside to let the rest of us in.

“You have to take Sophia and the kids,”
I say.

Mitchell laughs. “I’m not taking a woman
and two kids. I want people who can help me survive, not burdens.”

Anger builds up inside me, but I clench
my jaw shut so I don’t say something I’ll regret. “Sophia’s pregnant. You can’t
just leave a pregnant woman and two children in the desert to rot. Even you
have to know that’s wrong.” I don’t look at Sophia. I’m not sure whether or not
she’ll think it’s a betrayal, but I had to take a chance. Maybe deep down
Mitchell is human.

Mitchell swears, but before he can say
anything Joshua steps forward. “I won’t go unless she does. If you want a
doctor, you’ll have to let her in too.”

“And Arthur,” I say. “He’s sick. He
needs to be with a doctor.”

Arthur tries to argue but I ignore him,
looking everyone else over. There has to be someone else I can plead the case
for. Someone who possesses a skill Mitchell would find useful. But I can’t
think of anyone. Unfortunately, most of us are useless in this kind of
situation.

“Fine,” Mitchell says. “They can come. I
can always use a maid.”

“I can’t just leave you all out here,”
Sophia says. “It wouldn’t be right.”

“You have to go,” Jessica tells her.
“For the kids, for your baby. We’ll be fine.”

Sophia’s eyes fill with tears as she
looks us all over. No one looks at her with anger or malice.

“Okay,” she whispers.

Mitchell lifts his gun. He turns it on
Sophia. “No one else. If you try to stop me, I’ll shoot her first.”

“Bastard,” Axl mutters.

“Get your shit, we’re going,” Mitchell
barks at the others.

Sophia runs by me, and Joshua and Arthur
follow. My chest is tight, but knowing they’ll be going in helps ease the
disappointment.

Mitchell looks at me with an evil sneer
on his face. “I could always use a little entertainment. Strippers are useful
even after the world has ended. What do you say?”

“Fuck you,” Axl growls, stepping in
front of me.

“What he said,” I say.

Mitchell glares at us. “This is why I
was rich and you were poor. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.
Do me a favor. When a zombie bites your face off, remember that I offered.”

I look away and bite my tongue.
Literally. We can’t piss him off. He could change his mind.

Sophia comes back with her things. She’s
crying and she stops briefly when she goes by me, leaning forward to kiss me on
the cheek.

“Don’t go. We will get you in,” she
whispers.

I want to tell her to be careful, but
I’m afraid to give her away.

“I’m going through this door and into
the building. If you follow me, if anyone even opens the door, I will kill
little Ava.” He gives us an evil smile and looks straight at me. “Don’t think
anyone wants to see another dead little girl today, do they?”

Axl swears and starts to step forward,
but I grab his arm and stop him. I lace my fingers through his and stare up at
him, shaking my head while the storm rages in his eyes.

Mitchell and the others go inside. My
eyes are closed, so I don’t see it. When the door clicks shut, it’s like a punch
in the stomach.

“Now what?” Jessica asks.

“We wait.” I open my eyes. “For the
night at least. Give them time to talk to whoever else is inside. Maybe there’s
someone with some decency, someone who will let us in.”

“If not?” Parvarti asks.

I look over toward Angus and Axl. “We go
back to our original plan.”

“We got ‘nough gas for one car to get
back to Vegas,” Axl says. “If it comes to that, we’ll have to send a car out to
get more before we can all go.”

“In the meantime, let’s rest and get
something to eat. Maybe we can get a fire started,” Winston says.

There isn’t a lot around since we’re out
in the desert, but we manage to find enough sticks and tumbleweeds to use for
firewood. It’s still warm, but the sun will be going down soon, and then the
temperature will drop.

I work quietly, lighting the fire
without help from anyone while the men bring boxes of food out of the car. With
nine of us, the food we have won’t last long, but no one wants to wander too
far away from the building. Just in case the door does open.

People sit around the fire or in the
cars, too dejected to really talk. I sit next Axl, staring into the flames and
eating a peanut butter sandwich made from the last of the bread.

“How’d you learn to do that?” Axl asks,
tilting his head toward the fire.

“My dad. Things were never good. He was
always a hard ass, but before my mom left they weren’t awful. That was before
he started using me as a punching bag.”

Axl purses his lips. “What was his
weapon of choice?”

I shudder, remembering the dreams from
when I was sick. Roger standing over me with a leather belt in his hand. “Belt,
most of the time. If he couldn’t find that, he’d just use his fists.” I
preferred the belt, but I don’t say that out loud. The leather stung and it
left huge welts on my body. But the feeling of bone hitting bone…I’ll never be
able to get that out of my mind.

“My mom liked to slap me around,” Axl
says. He frowns into the fire. “‘Til I got bigger. Guess she thought a simple
slap was too good for me. That’s when she started chuckin’ things at me. Books,
plates, full beer cans.” He points to the scar on his chin. “That there was an
ashtray. Broke when it hit me, left a big gash.”

“Why you talkin’ ‘bout that shit?” Angus
asks.

Axl shrugs and sits back in his chair.
“Just somethin’ to do.”

“God, this sucks,” Al mutters, tossing
an empty wrapper into the fire. The plastic sizzles and melts. It’s gone in
seconds.

“You coulda gone,” Axl tells him.
“Nobody woulda faulted you.”

“No way. That guy was a prick. What if
he’s the only one in there? You think I want to be stuck with that guy for the
rest of my life?” Al shakes his head.

I stare at a tiny piece of black
plastic. All that’s left of the wrapper. It looks how I feel. Burned and
shriveled. Discarded. “At least Sophia and the kids are safe.”

Axl gives me a half-smile. When he gives
me that look of approval, it makes me feel like I’m ten feet tall. “Yeah, that
was good thinkin’ on your part.”

A loud moan fills the night sky and
everyone stops talking.

“Was that a zombie?” Jessica asks,
jumping to her feet.

“It can’t be,” I say. “We’re in the
middle of nowhere.”

We all sit quietly, huddled around the
campfire as we stare out into the desert. The sun is setting and the sky just
above the horizon is painted a brilliant shade of orange that gets darker as it
reaches into the sky. Makes it difficult to see very far. My heartbeat echoes
through my chest, a steady thumping that keeps me on edge. I strain my ears,
hoping against hope that the sound was some kind of animal. Deep down, I know
it wasn’t.