Lost World (30 page)

I listen harder and realize she’s right. Two, maybe even three vehicles. I can’t tell where they’re coming from at first, then out of nowhere they’re here. Turning into the parking lot from the main road. Headed our way.

“Shit,” I say, looking back and forth between the approaching cars and the Costco.

Parvarti doesn’t hesitate. She runs back to the store and sticks her head inside yelling, “We have company!” Her voice echoes through the warehouse, making her sound ten times bigger than she is.

I have my gun up, and the trucks are only twenty feet away when the others come running out of the store.

“Shit!” Angus says, spitting as he pulls his gun from his waistband. He moves forward, stepping in front of me. “You girls get on back now.”

Normally, I’d hear a comment like that and assume Angus was just being a sexist asshole, but after Vegas I can’t ever assume that again. Plus, I’m pretty sure he’s thinking of my mom as much—if not more—than he’s thinking about Parvarti and me.

Axl and Winston step forward with Angus, all three of them with their guns raised. Three trucks come to a stop only ten feet away from us. They’re decked out with metal plates under the windows for added protection and a gun mounted on top of one. Even spikes, which remind me of something you’d see in some futuristic TV show.

The driver’s side door opens, and a man in his twenties jumps out with his hands up. He’s grinning, but the man in the passenger seat has a weapon pointed at us.

“We come in peace!” the driver says, flashing us a smile.

He’s beefy, like someone who played football or spent hours in the gym every night after work. His blond hair is cut short, and his light blue eyes seem almost too pretty for such a strong, masculine face. He can’t be older than thirty, but he carries himself with an authority that makes him seem older and more powerful than even the muscles do.

“The name’s Dax,” he says, his eyes sweeping over us slowly, his smile not faltering for even a second. “I promise we’re not here to hurt you. We’re not interested in the supplies you’ve gathered, either. You have as much right to them as we do.”

“What you want then?” Angus calls, not lowering his gun.

“Came to load up on supplies just like you, but we’re always on the lookout for other survivors. Not sure if you have a safe place, but we do. Hope Springs, you heard of it?”

Winston glances toward Axl for a second, leaning closer and keeping his voice low. “That’s the college town Brady mentioned?”

“Sure is,” Axl says out of the side of his mouth.

Dax smiles and his eyes move past the men to where Darla, Parvarti, and I stand. Axl’s shoulders tense.

“Well, let me tell you a little bit about us then,” Dax says when none of us answers him. “We’ve taken over the college and are working on clearing the town out, one street at a time. With any luck, we’ll have a working city by spring. We have a handful of doctors and other professionals, but we’re taking new people in every day.”

Doctors. I immediately think of Sophia and the baby, and how we may need help one day. Then I think about Hadley…

“How many people do you have there?” I ask.

Dax looks my way, and his smile grows wider when his eyes sweep over me. Axl’s shoulders stiffen even more and he swears under his breath.

“Over a hundred,” Dax says.

“A hundred?” Parvarti has more emotion in her voice than I’ve heard in a really long time, and when I glance her way, she’s shaking her head.

A hundred people? Together and in one place. Parv’s eyes meet mine, and I’m shocked by the hope shimmering in them. Maybe Hadley and Jon found their way there. It sounds too good to be true, but it could happen. These people seem like they’re okay to me. They aren’t trying to attack us. Not trying to steal our food or throw us in the back of an unmarked van. They’re just talking to us.

I look past Dax, trying to get an idea of how many people are with him. There are five that I can see, and two are women. They look relaxed and clean. A couple in the back whisper to each other, smiling like they’re sharing a secret. It’s slightly unsettling, but also…exciting.

When I look back, my eyes meet Dax’s. They’re friendly and not the least bit threatening.

“We lost some people a few days ago,” I say, making Angus and Axl look back toward me. “A guy named Jon, and Hadley Lucas.”

Dax’s eyebrows shoot up, and every other pair of eyes turn my way. Even the two women stop gossiping.

“The actress?” the man standing on the passenger side of Dax’s truck says. He’s older—probably in his fifties—but just as beefy as Dax. Somehow though, he’s even less threatening. Something about the way he carries himself.

“Yeah,” I say, my eyes moving over everyone there again. None of them look scary to me.

“I think I’d remember if Hadley Lucas came walking into town,” Dax says with a chuckle. “Sorry, I haven’t seen her.”

I let out a deep breath and shake my head, all the hope I felt a second ago dropping to the ground until I feel like I’m trampling on it. Damn. I was really hoping they found her.

“She could still show up, you know,” Dax says, almost like he can sense how much I need someone to reassure me. “You could come. Wait for them. We have room.”

Every time he looks my way or speaks directly to me, Axl shifts. Almost like he’s trying to block me from view.

“We got a place, but thanks for askin’,” Angus growls.

“I understand your hesitation,” Dax says, holding his hands up. “I’m not telling you to come now. Talk about it. Winter has just started and things are likely to get rough. We got the water running last week and right now we’re working on getting the power on in the entire city, which will make things a lot more bearable. You’re free to come at any time. This is an open invitation.”

“It’s something we have to talk to our people about,” Winston says.

“Of course.” Dax grins and looks us all over again. When his eyes meet mine, he winks.

Axl takes a step to the right, blocking me from Dax’s view. “We gotta finish up here so we can be on our way,” he says, louder than necessary. “Not that I don’t trust you or nothin’, but we’d like for you to move your trucks ‘cross the parkin’ lot ‘til we’re done.”

I look around Axl to see Dax puckering his lips. Then he nods once. “I guess that’s reasonable. Do we have your word that you won’t try and overtake us?”

“Ain’t interested in nothin’ but gettin’ home,” Axl says.

Dax nods again, then turns his back to us like a man’s word actually means something these days. He’s lucky he ran into us and not some of the other people out here.

“Okay, let’s give these people some space!” he calls, waving to the trucks behind him.

He hauls himself up on the side of the truck, but just before he ducks into the cab, he shoots me one last wink.

Axl lowers his gun and swears. “Asshole. Don’t trust him for a second.”

“I don’t know,” Winston says, scratching his beard as he watches the trucks drive off. “He didn’t try to take anything. Didn’t ask where we were staying or try to dig for any information about our people and supplies. He seemed to genuinely want to help us out.”

“Bullshit,” Axl says. “Somethin’ ‘bout that guy was off.”

“You’re only sayin’ that ‘cause he was tryin’ to put the moves on Blondie,” Angus says, grinning back at me.

“Shut up, Angus,” Axl and I say at the same time.

Angus throws his head back and laughs so hard it echoes across the parking lot. “Let’s get back to work,” he says, heading for the store. Still chuckling.

He’s taken two steps when a gunshot echoes across the silence, making all six of us jump. I raise my gun and spin around just as a second shot rings out. A zombie headed our way drops to the ground, and the guy standing on top of the truck from Hope Springs waves. They’re helping us out.

Axl swears and turns away from them, but I grab his arm when he walks by me. “They seem trustworthy.”

His stormy eyes flash when they meet mine. “You sayin’ you wanna go there?”

“No, I’m saying it’s good to know there’s another group out there not too far from us if we need help. They have doctors, Axl.”

He shakes his head, then heads back into the store, following his brother. He’s jealous or insecure, I’m not sure which it is. Dax is a good-looking man, but Axl’s nuts if he thinks I’d ever be interested in someone else.

After we’re done at Costco, we all pile into the trucks and head back toward the thrift store I saw when we first got into town. The cars and the truck are pretty stuffed with supplies, but we need the clothes almost as much as we need the food. Before we left this morning, I got the kids’ sizes from Sophia, and I’m hoping to find some old snow boots and coats for them.

As soon as we’re halfway across the parking lot, the group from Hope Springs takes off toward Costco. They have a couple big trucks, meaning they’ll be able to get a lot more than we did.

“We should come back tomorrow,” I say, watching the other vehicles stop outside the store. “Load up again. Not just here, but at Wal-Mart. If we don’t, they’ll take everything and we’ll be shit out of luck. They have a lot more people, so it will take them less time to clear the stores out than it will take us.”

Axl nods, his lips pursed as he keeps his eyes focused on the Sam’s truck in front of us. “Good point.”

He seems preoccupied or mad, I’m not sure which. I put my hand on his knee and lean closer. “You okay?”

“Just thinkin’ ‘bout that group. Don’t seem good to me.”

“They weren’t threatening us, Axl.”

His eyes move my way, and they do a quick sweep over me. Almost like he’s checking me for injuries. It makes the hair on my scalp prickle uncomfortably. It reminds me of the expression he wore on his face for more than a week after we left Vegas. Every time he looked at me it felt like he was trying to turn back time. To erase my pain and what had happened. To make it all better.

Maybe he wasn’t jealous when Dax checked me out. Maybe there’s more to it.

I don’t bring it up again because I can tell by the way he’s stubbornly tightened his jaw that he’s not going to listen to what I have to say. Not right now, anyway.

When we pull up outside the thrift store, I hop out and head to the door. My gun is drawn, and I narrow my eyes, trying to get a good look at the inside of the store despite the glare on the glass. The racks are just visible, stuffed full of clothes. Shoes line the walls by the hundreds, but there doesn’t seem to be any movement.

“Who’s coming?” I say, barely looking over my shoulder.

“I’ll stay outside,” Parvarti replies.

No surprise there.

“I’ll keep her company,” Winston says next.

I nod without looking back, then push the door open when the sound of footsteps crunches across the snow behind me.

The air inside the store is thick with dust and dirt and the stench of decay. I step in and move off to the side, waiting for the others. Axl is next, followed by Angus and Darla. Once the door’s shut, I glance Axl’s way. He nods, then lets out a loud whistle. It echoes through the room for a second before fading away, leaving the place silent once again.

“Looks like nobody’s home,” Angus says.

“Let’s check it out real quick anyways.” Axl moves toward the back.

The rest of us follow, staying in a straight line with our guns raised. The store is big—probably the biggest thrift store I’ve ever been in—and the further back we go, the darker it gets. With the exception of our footsteps, it’s utterly silent.

Three quarters of the way in, Axl stops and nods toward the floor. I look down to find a corpse so rotten it barely looks human. The skin covering the face has been torn or eaten away, revealing startling white teeth set in black gums. The thing almost looks like it’s smiling up at us, which gives me the creeps.

I shiver and nudge Axl forward. “Keep going.”

He nods and walks on, but still nothing moves. I’m starting to think the body we just found is the source of the stench. I turn toward Axl, all ready to say as much, when something rushes toward us from the back room.

Axl curses and shoves me back just as the thing slams into him. Knocking him to the ground. I go flying, my arm slamming into the clothing rack at my side. The whole thing falls over. Shirts and hangers litter the floor, and my gun flies from my hand. It skids across the room and hits the wall. I catch myself before I hit the ground, then spin around to find Axl on the floor. There are two zombies right on top of him, the one literally inches from his face. Angus has his gun out, but he can’t get a good shot. They’re just too close. He slams his gun into his waistband and rushes forward, jerking the first monster to his feet. Before he can stab the zombie on top of Axl, it reaches out and grabs Angus’s ankle. He falls next to his brother, and Darla starts screaming her head off as the two brothers’ struggle with the zombies on the floor.