The Killin' Fields (Alexa's Travels Book 2) (24 page)

“Billy says we’re not leaving on time, no matter what the boss says.”

Edward pulled a face. “And who gets to tell her that?”

Jacob shrugged. “All of us, I assume.”

“And it still won’t be enough to keep her here if she decides to go,” Edward pointed out. “You know that.”

“I do, but Billy was pretty sure.”

Edward ran a tired hand over his face. “Might as well nail her on the bite too, find out what we’re in for.”

“Agreed,” Jacob gave his support eagerly. “There’s gotta be something we can do for her.”

“I also think, if we’re gonna do this, that we should do it all the way.”

Jacob’s brows drew together in confusion. “I’m not sure…”

He followed Edward’s line of sight to where Paul was curling up in a bedroll under the wagon next to Alexa’s tent. She’d gone out quickly and all six of her men had denied Paul entrance to the canvas. She hadn’t asked for him or anyone else, and unless she woke with a…”

“Ahhhh! No, you won’t!”

Alexa’s roar disturbed the entire camp and brought their animals to panicking alertness.

“Damn,” Edward cursed their oversight, grabbing a mule’s lead as it tried to get by. “Get someone in there!”

“I’ve got it!” Daniel yelled between Alexa’s hoarse shouts and screams.

He ducked into the tent and used the method she’d taught them to wake her when she was dangerous. He talked to her, keeping his distance.

“Alexa, Safe Haven waits for us.”

Alexa’s shouts ceased and her lashes slowly opened.

Daniel sighed in relief and eased down onto the bedroll with her. “You were…”

“Screaming,” Alexa finished.

She shut her eyes and the preacher was horrified to watch tears roll from beneath her lashes.

“Alexa?” Daniel was lost. He hadn’t thought she was capable of crying!

Alexa’s tears were a waterfall, and the biker instinctively gathered her into his arms and held her. He couldn’t think of anything else to do.

Daniel came from the tent a bit later and waved Paul inside. “Feed her.”

Paul did as he was told. Her screams had been blood-curdling and he never wanted to hear them again for as long as he lived.

Daniel joined the small group of shaken travelers around the fire, waving off their concern. “She had a nightmare. Who doesn’t have those in afterworld?”

The travelers understood that all too well and returned to their beds to wait for sleep’s second visit.

8

Daniel waited until they were the only ones awake, and then gestured to his teammates. When they were all gathered close enough to hear, he put them into Alexa’s back-to-back watch formation for the conversation.

“She’s said she’s changing, inside,” Daniel told them. “She’s weaker during the day, stronger at night when she’s fed. She needs to have a transfusion, something only the government can provide now.”

“We could break into a bunker,” Billy suggested after a minute of thought. “Maybe find a scientist who knows how to get it done?”

“Too risky,” Edward stated. “And even if it succeeded, we’d never get her back out.”

“What about keeping her fed and accepting the fact that she’s now a fucking vampire!” Mark hissed lowly. “We’re can’t cure her and I’ll strangle any man who says we have to kill her. Nothing else to do.”

There was a thick silence for a long time as they stood watch and contemplated those awful words. They’d only had her to themselves for a short while and the effects of the quest were already interfering.

“There has to be something else,” Daniel complained lowly. “We just don’t know about it.”

“We don’t, “David said suddenly. “But we know someone who might.”

Edward frowned. “If you mean the troll, how would we contact him? We don’t have her…skills.”

“Do you suppose getting rid of the infant…killing it, would cure her?”

That question earned Billy five nasty glares that only resumed sweeping the landscape after the driver lowered his head in shame for suggesting it.

“Sorry,” he muttered. He was. He didn’t like the idea either.

“I don’t know,” Edward forced out around the need to strike his teammate. Alexa would leave them if she found out they’d thought of something like this, let alone discussed it. “But I do know it’s not that way. Who else?”

The six men stayed close as dawn slowly approached, coming up with ideas and then shooting them down until each of them was weary beyond more words.

When daylight came, the mule drivers took up guard positions without being asked or told, and Alexa’s men all piled into the tent with her for a few hours of much-needed rest. They hadn’t settled on an idea. They didn’t have a clue what to do for her, other than make sure she got the food she needed. Right now, that seemed to be Paul’s blood. Later, when she needed something harder, they would talk again. Leaving her side wasn’t discussed, despite the dangers she would pose to each of them. They’d been risking their lives with her all along. It was a part of the job and inside, each of them knew they would die on this quest. She’d as much as told them so upon picking them, and yet, they were all here. It was fate and there was little point in fighting what each of them had secretly hoped for in the first place. Men without a death wish wouldn’t have signed up for this quest.

Lincoln

1

Lincoln, Nebraska was a welcome sight to only a couple of the travelers.

The wind that had haunted them for the entire trek fell silent as they stared at the skyline. Grand Island had been something to view, but these towering buildings and deserted overpasses were impressive. The feats of the old world were easy to marvel at when facing structures that rose into the green haze.

Those tall, slowly eroding buildings were a symbol of a world gone, yet still longed for. Most of the group understood it was dangerous even after all this time, and braced for trouble as they topped the last miniscule rise and saw the way into the city.

The path was long, allowing those in the city a clear view (shot), and Alexa motioned her fighters into the same formation and cover they’d used when she collected David and Jacob from River City.

The path was narrow dirt, kept clear of weeds and corn by being used as a garbage dump, and Alexa waved at the drivers to walk alongside it instead of trying to force the mules to ignore all the rotting scraps. It clearly drew a lot of wildlife, the scat was abundant, and Alexa admired their hunting grounds, even as she hated it being so close to the city gates. Garbage encouraged diseases and there were few doctors left.

“Bring him up,” Alexa ordered.

Mark brought the thief to the center of their formation, ignoring the mapmaker’s protests. He did shove the thief to keep him rolling and prevent their line from being broken.

As the path wound down the tiny incline, it gradually widened and connected with two other small dirt and garbage roads. All three paths led into different areas of the city.

Alexa surveyed the thief as they reached the intersection. In the distance, the city was still and silent, foreboding in its absence of expected chaos.

“Straight ahead for Roscoe,” the thief answered her silent question. “Left for black, right for white.”

Alexa and her men didn’t like those words, but race issues were still as ugly as they’d always been, and desegregation was becoming more frequent.

Alexa led them straight, not ready to fight either side of that war. She had both black and white among this group, along with Chinese and Mexican. This group probably wasn’t welcome at all.

“We’ll get to Roscoe Street about half a mile in. You’ll know it when we get there.”

“Traps? Guards?” Mark questioned.

“Soldiers?” Edward asked.

“No, to all three,” the thief answered. “Roscoe wants people to come into the city. He trades with everyone and then sends them on their way.”

“So, there will be soldiers,” Edward pushed, not liking their guide one bit.

“No. He makes them come in on foot, in pairs. They have to camp outside the city limits, like any other armed group he deems to be dangerous.”

Alexa and her men immediately began examining the terrain for the best vantage point to camp at when Roscoe declared them unsafe to bed down inside.

“So what’s the plan for me?” the thief demanded of Alexa, moving to her side.

Daniel shoved him over and stayed between them.

“Where are my other messages?” Alexa asked, slowing but not stopping.

The thief slowly took a roll of faded, wrinkled papers from his pocket. His thin face was covered in fear and mistrust.

“You’ll save me from him?”

Alexa’s voice was cold. “Yes. Roscoe will not kill you, nor will his men.”

The thief was happy. Her kind wasn’t allowed to lie. “Here then and good luck. I don’t know that code.”

Alexa stopped to scan the papers, uncaring that they were in plain view of all three roads. She didn’t want to kill anyone here except Roscoe, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t.

Paul knew the code and a quick glance over Alexa’s shoulder gave him inside information on the second letter that she opened as they walked. The third missive she tucked into her cloak, disappointing them all.

“Any idea what that means?” the thief asked curiously. “I’ve read a lot of codes, broken a lot too, but never saw one that used so many full words for each letter.”

Alexa had recognized it immediately. It had taken her years to learn it. “The government was making first contact with Lincoln. They wanted to know who had control, how things were being run and they were requesting a full city inventory. Its dated before the destruction order.”

“Wait ‘til he hears that!” the thief crowed. “Just what he wanted.”

Alexa understood the thief knew a lot more than he’d let on and chose his future right there. “He’ll pay for you; lock you up for the night. We’ll get you out.”

The thief frowned. “He might kill me as soon as he spots me.”

Alexa didn’t change her plans. “I’ll handle Roscoe.”

The thief didn’t argue further, but it was obvious from his face that he didn’t like her plan.

Alexa was counting on that, as she was counting on Roscoe not being what everyone said he was. She wasn’t going to promise to kill a good man to save a thief, even if he was useful. Alexa had little doubt that the thief was guilty of everything he was wanted for, and she would always take something like that into account. He’d lied to her, to her face, and she wouldn’t forget it.

When he didn’t think it would be noticed, Edward took Paul’s arm and slowed them a bit. “What was it?” He and the others were slowly learning the code, but Alexa refused to have them write it down except for teaching moments in the dirt. It was taking them all longer than they were happy with.

Paul shook his head and Edward tightened his grip until the scientist’s face turned red.

“Fine!” Paul snapped lowly, jerking away to rub his newest bruise. “It’s a bounty order for Alexa Mitchel, daughter of the most wanted fugitive on American soil!”

“But he isn’t here anymore,” Edward said, confused.

“No shit,” Paul agreed sarcastically. “Now get us into place before the eyes in the back of her head open up and I get blamed for this too.”

Surprised, Edward did as he’d been told.

As they neared the signposts, it was easier to detect the racial divide that waited inside for them. The sign on the white side had a skeleton hanging from it. The black sign had the same, only there was a pile of old bones beneath it.

The sign for Roscoe Street was a simple wooden board with that exact title scratched across it. It gave a feeling of being neutral that only Alexa’s men didn’t fall for. The other travelers were murmuring and chatting softly in excitement at reach their destination alive, and even their animals perked up.

Alexa drew one gun and let it hang along her hip. Her men did the same and the travelers behind them all tensed, scanning for the trouble.

“You won’t need those,” the thief informed them. He was now out ahead of Alexa, swaggering cockily through the first decaying buildings. “I told you. He wants people here.”

“All people?” David asked.

“His crew is a mix of everyone here, plus blacks and whites who don’t want to fight anymore,” the thief explained. “Everyone stays to their side of the lines. We don’t have problems.”

“The bones back there say otherwise,” Daniel commented sarcastically. “Keep lying, dead man. She sees right through you.”

The thief flushed scarlet and turned to protest to Alexa.

Alexa’s cold expression discouraged him and the thief shut up. They had a deal. She wouldn’t break it.

“No eyes on us yet, boss,” Mark commented, staying close to her. He was the middle, right spoke on the wheel, and he didn’t intend to leave Alexa’s side while they were in here.

Alexa didn’t comment on his words or thoughts. She liked it that her men were protective. It was a result of their bond. They cared for each other, respected each other. She would do the same for them that they did for her, and they knew it. She pitied any woman who fell in love with one of her men. That female would never be able to live up to what these men needed. Only her kind would ever be enough for them now.

“How does he handle groups who cause trouble?” David asked quietly, watching garbage roll across the broken street ahead of them. The dirt was about to become concrete, but it was full of ruts and holes and weeds.

The thief pointed to a small rise where a large prison sat in glorious abandon. “He has them locked in the prison until they agree to follow the rules.”

“Or he sends them on their way?” David continued to get details.

“No. He keep them until they agree,” the thief confided eagerly. “A year in a cell will settle anyone down.”

None of Alexa’s men liked hearing that, but it was hard to argue with. As long as the people were fed, it wasn’t exactly right or wrong. And it miles ahead of simply killing them.

“So, they can’t leave?” Paul asked, worried.

“No one wants to. Roscoe has a great setup here. You may not to want to leave either.”

“Tell us about it,” Alexa directed, sweeping the tall buildings, dark alleyways, and dead streetlights. There were abandoned, rusting automobiles and all the other debris they’d come to associate with the apocalypse, including fading bloodstains, casings, and bones.

“He uses the river for power. His street even has running water.”

“Hot water?” Mark asked. He hadn’t had a hot shower in years. A used bath in grimy, tepid water was usually the best to be found in any ton now.

“Yeah, it’s heaven,” the thief stated, turning around to examine them as he walked backwards. “He serves a nightly buffet with steaks and burgers, and corn that you can eat.”

Alexa’s men felt the draw, but resisted asking any more questions. Alexa also stayed silent, willing to let the man ramble on with his lies. Steaks and hot water were only memories in most of the places she’d been, and even the few who’d had them, couldn’t sustain them for long. There was no wealthy class anymore.

Clop. Clop. Clop.

The sound of a horse echoed and Alexa motioned them to keep going. If they had a welcome party waiting, her men would handle it.

The sound came from in front of them and the fighters tensed at the sight of a large wagon rolling around the corner and into their path. It only took a minute to discover that it was piled with fresh garbage and the travelers made their way to the side of the cracked, weedy street.

The garbage wagon was being pulled by two oxen and driven by a heavily bearded old man who stared curiously at them as he passed.

“Good day, folks,” the man called, eyes sliding to Alexa’s Colts and then to her men.

“Good day to you, sir,” Alexa responded. “Where can we find a town merchant?”

Almost by them, the driver had to swivel around to point. “Straight ahead to that old church and go left. Can’t miss it.”

“My thanks,” Alexa called loud enough to carry to him and then turned toward the downtown area. She didn’t look back and her men didn’t either. If she wasn’t worried over it, they needn’t be either, was a rule they were adjusting to.

“I told you where to go,” the thief complained to Alexa. “I’m not lying.”

“Then why do you mind if I verify that information?” Alexa asked tonelessly.

“It’s my honor, that’s why,” the thief sputtered.

“And do you have a lot of that?” she responded dryly.

The thief flushed and snorted before taking a place by Paul.

Mark and Edward exchanged amused glances and then sent their attention to the ominous landscape. The buildings above them implied they could crumble at the slightest vibration and while both men knew it was an illusion, it didn’t stop the worry. These old structures might have been built to last a lifetime, but they hadn’t been designed to withstand a war.

As if to prove the pint, several roof tiles dropped heavily to the ground in front of them, throwing up clouds of dust and dirt.

The men stepped over the rubble, staying in formation. They’d already been worse places while fighting with Alexa, but most of them had been in worse areas even before joining her quest.

“Questions, my pets,” Alexa intoned. “Everyone ready?”

It was fascinating to watch her men brighten as if suddenly filled with life. Their heads rose and strides became lighter, faces easing into eagerness like rain sweeping across a thirsting landscape.