Twisted World: A Broken World Novel (17 page)

The third guy barely said a word. His age was hard to determine because he was big and bulky, but had a baby face that was nearly hidden by wisps of pale, blond hair. It took some time to learn his name since he didn’t even try to get a word in—plus Ticker seemed to like hearing himself talk—but I finally discovered that it was Jimmy. True to the stereotype of the maintenance crew, Jimmy seemed to be a few cards short of a full deck, but he was gentle and had a friendly smile.

“How long have you worked here?” Ticker asked, his shoulder jerking as he took a drink, and his constantly blinking eyes never leaving my cleavage.

“Just this week.”

Matt lifted his eyebrows. “Do you have a death wish? You get a job on the maintenance crew one week, and a job in this dump the next. Aren’t there enough ways to get killed these days?”

“You have to do what you can to survive,” I said.

“Can’t argue with that,” Matt mumbled into his drink.

I tapped my toe on the floor while Ticker rattled off some story he’d heard about a zombie attack that supposedly happened outside Dayton last week. This wasn’t what I wanted to talk to them about, but now that they were in front of me, I was having a hard time figuring out how to broach the subject of my dad and his untimely—and suspicious—disappearance. It didn’t take long for me to decide that I just needed to be upfront about what I wanted. If I wasn’t, I may never find a good opportunity.

“What do you know about my dad?” I blurted out, cutting Ticker off mid-sentence.

The words died on the guy’s lips but he didn’t shut his mouth. It hung open as he looked back and forth between Matt and me. Jimmy stared at his hands.

Matt didn’t look at the other two guys as he leaned forward, his gaze holding mine. “You keep running around asking questions like that and you’re probably not going to like what happens.”

I slammed my mouth shut as Matt’s warning rang in my ears. What the hell was going on? First Mom started having a mental breakdown, then Al freaked out when I showed him that note, now this. Had the whole world gone insane?

“What do you know?” I said again, not caring if the whole bar heard me at this point. People around here knew something, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Matt exhaled and shook his head, but he leaned closer. “You sure you want to go down this road?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“Point taken.” He leaned back a little, taking a look around before turning his gaze back to me. “I don’t know a whole lot, but I know the story they’re throwing around is bullshit. Never happened.”

“What?”

That didn’t make sense. Dad went out with a group and they were overrun. He was cut off from the others and they never found him. It happened sometimes. It wasn’t that farfetched.

“There was no run that day,” Ticker spit out.

“No run?” I blinked and looked between the three men.

Jimmy’s eyes were still down, but the other two were staring at me, waiting to see my reaction. Only, I couldn’t wrap my brain around it all. It just didn’t make sense or seem real. Why would they lie unless they needed to cover up what had happened to Dad?

“Here’s what I know,” Matt said, drawing my gaze back to his. “Your dad was second in command of the enforcers. He’d been in the city from almost the beginning, was a good shot, and people trusted him. Knew him. They don’t send guys like that out on guard duty. It would be a waste.” He paused, letting that little bit of information sink in before saying, “Plus, no groups left the city that day.
None
.”

“How do you know?” I whispered.

Matt leaned closer to me again. “Because I was working and I remember hearing about your dad the next day and wondering how the hell he disappeared on a run when there were
no runs
.”

The air in the room grew thicker and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to wrap my brain around the whole thing. If there were no runs like Matt claimed, then there was no way Dad disappeared outside the walls. Which meant he never left the city. Which meant he could very well still be
in
New Atlanta. Alive.

“What the hell is going on?” I muttered, my eyes still closed.

I opened them to find all three guys staring at me. They were strangers. Until today, I’d only seen them at work in passing. Had never even spoken to them. Could I trust what they were saying?

Normally, I probably wouldn’t, but right now the evidence mounting up around me was too damning. Between the note and what Donaghy had overheard at Jackson’s, as well as this little morsel, it all pointed to one thing: Someone was trying to cover up something big.

“That’s all?” I asked when no one spoke.

“If there’s more information out there, I don’t have it.” Matt shrugged. “I’m not going to pretend I’m more important than I am, I just know that when they started spreading around the story that Axl James disappeared on a run, it was a lie.”

Silence settled over us that wasn’t just heavy, but disturbing.

We were still quiet when Donaghy came out of the back room. His gaze moved across the bar, not stopping until he found me, and as he headed my way, his eyes stayed locked on mine.

“Everything okay?” he asked when he stopped in front of us.

“Yeah.” Matt let out a deep sigh. “Nice fight by the way, man.”

Donaghy glanced the other man’s way, his icy eyes raking over him like he was seeing him for the first time even though technically they’d met earlier. Well, not met exactly. Ran from the dead together was more like it.

“Thanks.” When the fighter finally spoke, it didn’t sound the least bit sincere.

“Sit down,” I said, nodding toward the empty chair at my side.

Donaghy complied, not saying a word. His body was stiff when he lowered himself into the chair across from Matt. With him here, we were squeezed in so tightly that the fighter’s leg was touching mine. The small table wasn’t big enough for five people, but with Donaghy practically pressed up against me, I couldn’t complain.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Ticker asked me, his shoulder jerking up like it was punctuation the words.

“The busy part of the night is over. It’s not like Dragon is paying me by the hour.” I glanced over my shoulder to find Helen and Glitter talking with the few men still sitting at the bar. Less than ten of them. Nothing they couldn’t handle without me.

“So what’s your next move?” Matt asked when I turned back to face him.

Next to me, Donaghy stiffened, and suddenly his leg was pressed more firmly against mine under the table. I didn’t know why, but again I couldn’t complain.

“I don’t know.” I exhaled. “I need more information, but no one seems to have anything but theories.”

“I’m going to be useless,” Donaghy said, and when I turned to face him, the intense expression in his eyes made me shiver. “Jackson revoked his invitation. I’ve been sentenced to a cot in the back room.”

“There goes the only edge we had,” I said.

“Maybe you should try to make up with him…” He stretched out the sentence in a way that made me turn on him with narrowed eyes.

“What exactly do mean
make up with him
?” Was he telling me to sleep with Jackson? If so, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Nothing like that,” Donaghy said. “I just overheard him last night. He was pissed about something that happened between you two.”

“Who’s this?” Matt asked before I could respond.

I looked up to find him watching me. Ticker’s eyes were glued to my chest, and Jimmy was back to staring at his hands.

“The Regulator’s son,” Donaghy said, once again speaking before I could utter a word. I was starting to feel like I didn’t need to be here.

“Shit.” Matt whistled between his teeth. “Are you telling me you pissed off the Regulator’s son, but were shocked when you got sent outside?”

“It’s not like that,” I said, sitting up straighter, which only pressed my leg more firmly against Donaghy’s. “Jackson and I have been best friends since we were kids. We had a fight. That doesn’t mean he wants to have me killed.”

“You’re fooling yourself.” Ticker tore his eyes away from my chest long enough to meet my gaze, pointing his glass at me to emphasize his point. “That dude is nuts. Ticker knows him from school.” His eyes went back to my chest the second he was done talking.

“School?” I asked, shaking my head.

Ticker tore his gaze from my cleavage once again, and his beady little eyes focused on my face. “Yeah.” The guy’s shoulder jerked as he nodded. “School. The regulator’s son tortured Stevie. Beat the shit out of him.” He kept nodding as he tried to take a drink, but the alcohol sloshed out of his glass.

“Stevie?” Even though it didn’t make sense, I had a feeling he was referring to himself.

Ticker just nodded in response.

“Jackson Star,” Matt said slowly, “is the very definition of a sociopath. If you think otherwise, you’re fooling yourself. Or he’s been fooling you. Not sure which.” Matt jerked his thumb toward Ticker, who was back to staring at my chest, his shoulder twitching more than ever. “Ticker isn’t the only person that asshole tortured, although I’d say he’s the worst case—that we know of. Head injury.” Matt tapped his finger on the side of his own head. “He spent a month in the hospital, almost died. After that his mom wouldn’t let him go back to school. He’s never been the same.”

“Ticker…” I mumbled, trying to place him. He was probably about the same age as Jackson and me, but I didn’t remember him, which was nuts because, there weren’t a lot of kids in school when we were growing up. I should have some recollection of this kid if he’d been around. “I don’t remember any of this and I’ve known Jackson forever.”

“Stevie.” Ticker rocked, his shoulder jerking harder. “Stevie Jones.”

“Stevie Jones?” My mouth fell open as a memory clawed its way to the forefront of my brain.

I remembered him now, only I didn’t remember anything like that ever happening. He’d been in our class one week and gone the next. I’d honestly had no idea what had happened to him, but that was also around the time that Margot died, so it made sense. I’d had other things to worry about.

“I didn’t know…”

I shook my head, totally dumbfounded. How could Jackson have done something like this, and how had I not known? It made me think of all the comments Dad had made about Jackson wearing a mask. Hiding who he was. Especially from me. But why? Why go to so much trouble?

“I’m sorry, Stevie,” I said, feeling like I was somehow responsible even though I’d played no part in it.

“Ticker.” He shook his head. “Not Stevie.
Ticker
. Jackson killed Stevie. Did it after school in a dark alley. With a bat. Stevie is dead. I’m Ticker now.”

“Holy fuck,” Donaghy muttered at my side.

Matt’s jaw clenched as he nodded. “Yeah.”

Jackson had been my friend for years and I’d always trusted him, but
this
… This made me see him in a whole new light. All the excuses I’d made for him. All the times I’d convinced myself that Jackson was just misunderstood. That he was better than his father. That I was the only one who saw the real Jackson Star. Had I been kidding myself all this time? Was he really no better than his father? It seemed that way.

There was no denying the fact that if the Regulator had his way, he’d rule the country for the rest of his life and we would never again be a democracy. But was Jackson a part of all that? Was he planning on following in his father’s footsteps as some kind of dictator of this new zombie world?

Had he been playing me for a fool?

I looked at Ticker, whose shoulder hadn’t stopped jerking. It was hard to deny the truth when it was staring you in the face.

Jackson was a monster.

Tears filled my eyes and I pushed my chair away from the table. “I’m sorry. I really am.” I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to get a hold on my emotions, but it was no use. “I have to go,” I said as I turned away.

M
eg’s sniffles
were the first thing I heard as I approached the back room, and when I stopped outside the cracked door, everything inside me was at war. She was upset, struggling, and I wanted to go to her. If Patty were the one crying in the back room of some rundown bar, I’d want someone to be there for her.

Then again, getting involved with Meg would be the dumbest thing I could ever do. I was only here for a few more days, and the chemistry between us was getting out of hand. The last thing she needed was for me to make her life more complicated.

I started to turn away, but had only taken one step when my gut clenched. Shit. Turning my back on Meg after saving her in that bathroom just didn’t feel right.

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open, knowing that doing this was probably going to end up being something I would later come to regret.

The back room was dark, making the outline of the zombie cages just barely visible in the black shadows, but the stench of death left little to the imagination. She wasn’t in the holding room, so I moved farther into the darkness, toward the room with the cots. When I pushed the second door open, her sniffles got louder.

“Meg.” My voice seemed unnaturally loud in the small space, but when she turned to face me, she didn’t seem surprised that I was here.

“I’m sorry.” She sniffed again. “I like to think I’m stronger than this, but the truth is, I don’t think I’m handling this all that well.”

“You’re strong,” I said, closing the space between us so I was standing in front of her. “This is a shit show you didn’t see coming.”

When she looked up, a wisp of a smile was just visible through the darkness. “You say that a lot.”

“What?”

“Shit show.”

“Oh.”

Her smile faded, and she wiped her hands across her eyes as she let out a big sigh. “This whole thing just keeps getting worse and worse, and I’m not really sure where to go from here.”

“You just have to keep looking for clues.”

She nodded, but a second later shook her head. “It isn’t even that. Not totally. Jackson had me fooled. All these years I trusted him. Finding out that it has all been a lie has me questioning everything in my life. I always knew his dad didn’t give a shit about anything other than getting his hands on more power, but I never realized just how deep this all runs.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if they really did have my uncle as a prisoner, I can’t help feeling like there’s more to what the CDC is doing than just finding a vaccine. I mean, if they were willing to do something as drastic as keep a man against his will for
years
, lying to his family and the whole world that entire time, there has to be something they’re not telling us.” She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed on it, her eyes turned to the floor as she thought it all through.

Even though I didn’t know for sure what this government was up to, I had to admit she had a point. And it answered the big question I’d had about this whole thing: If they were just trying to find a way to stop the zombie virus from spreading, why wouldn’t they be upfront about it?

“Maybe they’re the ones in charge of the mutations.”

Meg lifted her head, her eyes narrowed on me. “What?”

“Think about it. Every few years this thing seems to change, and we’ve all been told that the virus is mutating on its own. But how do we know that’s true? What if the CDC is responsible for all of it?”

She shook her head, but even in the darkness, I could tell that she thought I might be right. “Would they do that?”

“I have no idea what they’d do for sure, or why, but I know this: The conversation I overheard in the Regulator’s house made it sound like they had motives that went way beyond finding a cure.”

A shiver shook her body and she crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself. “Shit.”

I nodded, unable to talk with my head spinning the way it was. The theory seemed crazy, but so did half the things I’d seen over the last year. All those prisoners in DC, crammed together like rats. Most of them were scum and the world would be better if they were just killed, but for some reason this government was holding onto them. They liked to talk big, saying executions were common, but it was a total lie. It rarely happened, and usually only with the men they didn’t seem to be able to contain. No. It was almost like they wanted to keep all those prisoners alive. Like they were saving them…

I shook my head to get rid of the thought. It was even more insane than any of the things Meg had suggested.

She was still hugging herself when she said, “This whole thing has me feeling so alone. I’m not used to that, you know? I’ve always had people to watch my back. Now though, it feels like the world is about to fall on my head.” She swallowed. “I always knew Jackson’s dad was no good, but I had to hope that the government wasn’t totally corrupt. If all this is true, though, it means they have been lying to my family for years. They’ve stolen everything from us. From me.”

The urge to drop my baggage at her feet slammed into me, but I didn’t know why. It sure as hell wasn’t going to make her feel better—not with how fucking depressing it all was. Maybe, though, it would help her feel just a little bit less alone. Knowing there were other people out there who had been screwed over by this government.

“You’re not alone in all this.” Meg nodded like she knew where I was going with it, but I shook my head. “I mean, being screwed over by the government.”

Meg’s gaze held mine while she waited for me to elaborate, but for a second I couldn’t. Not when the memories of the past year came screaming back. It had been a nightmare. Even worse, I didn’t have a fucking clue how Patty was holding up back in Dayton.

“I have a sister,” I said finally, still in the grasp of Meg’s gaze. “Patty. She’s seventeen. After Mom and I got settled in Dayton, things were normal for a while. We had an apartment. We got over the loss of Dad and tried to make a life. Mom worked, I went to school. The world started to feel normal. Even this dumbass government made it seem like things were looking up. Someone was in charge and we had hope that the country might recover.

“We’d been settled in for about a year when Mom got remarried. A man named Kurt who was quiet, but nice. I liked the guy, and when my baby sister was born it made the whole thing even better. Made it seem like things could be better.

“Patty was only six when the flu took Mom, along with a shit ton of other people. Kurt had always been there for us, but I guess that was too much for him. Losing his first wife to the virus, then Mom to the flu. Afterward, he started drinking. Just checked out. Seven years later, another flu swooped in and took him. It sucked, but Patty was thirteen by then and it wasn’t like my stepdad was contributing all that much, so we forged on. I was twenty-one and had a good job with the enforcers, and for the next few years things were okay.

“The end came for us a year ago. Patty was sixteen and had gotten to know the JO’s son. Not only was he nineteen and too old for her, but he was an entitled prick. I couldn’t stand the guy. No matter how many times I told her to stay away from him, though, she wouldn’t. He had this hold on her…” I swallowed. “A little over a year ago, he raped her. Patty wasn’t ready to sleep with him, so he took it anyway.

“When she told me, I wanted to kill the bastard, but instead I went to his dad. I honestly thought there was real justice in this world. I thought the guy in charge would be sure to make his son pay for what he’d done to my sister. But his dad told me it was Patty’s word against his son’s, and that no one would believe her. They’d been seen all over the settlement together, and everyone knew she was trying to sleep her way to a better life. He told me to go home and forget about it.

“When I realized this kid was going to get away with what he’d done, I snapped. I didn’t think about my actions or how they would affect my sister, I just hunted him down and let out all my rage. I barely remember it, really. Everything was red, and hitting him felt amazing. He would have died if people hadn’t pulled me off him, and I wish he had. Now I’m a convict who has to treat every single day like it could be my last, Patty is all alone, and that asshole is free. I saw her when I was in Dayton. Just from afar, but she snuck into the bar the last night I was there. She looked… Younger. Thinner. Scared and broken. It made me hate myself even more.”

When I finished talking, I kept my eyes on the ground. My fists were clenched from the memory, and if that little shit had been in front of me, I would have finished the job I started back in Dayton.

Meg stepped closer and I didn’t flinch away when her hands touched my arms. She ran them up over my biceps, tracing my tattoos briefly before moving her hands to my shoulders. She kept going, though, until my face was between her palms and I was forced to tear my gaze away from the floor and look her in the eye. The heels she was wearing made her taller, but she was still short. Tiny. Her head barely reaching my shoulders.

God, I wanted to protect her. From Jackson and the zombies, from what was happening with her dad and mom. From the whole, fucking world. Only I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything because I’d fucked up my life so bad that I was a prisoner. I was scum. Nobody.

“You deserve better than what you got,” she whispered.

“We all do,” I said, squeezing my fists tighter when the urge to pull her against me hit.

Meg’s gaze moved to my lips, and I found myself leaning toward her. She lifted herself up on the tips of her toes, and my hands were on her hips before I even realized it, and then I was pulling her against me.

“When I saw you in that bathroom,” I said, my hands gripping her hips like I wouldn’t ever let her go, “it was like Patty all over again.”

“You saved me,” Meg said.

She rose up higher, her breasts flush against my chest, and she was so close that when she exhaled I could feel her warm breath on my lips. That was all it took for me to let go. To lean down and meet her halfway, pressing my lips against hers.

Meg’s body melted into mine as she returned the kiss. I moved my hand up, over the bare skin of her back. It was warm and soft under my palm, and inviting. Her lips opened, and I followed her lead, plunging my tongue into her waiting mouth. Meg’s hands were still on my face, pulling me closer like she couldn’t get enough of me, and I wanted so badly to drag her across the room and throw her onto one of the cots so I could rip her clothes off.

That would be an asshole thing to do.

The words were nothing more than a faint idea in my mind, but I couldn’t push them away. I was leaving in a few days. There was no future for me, especially not here.

When I pulled back, a gasp broke its way out of Meg. “What?”

“I’m an asshole.” She shook her head and I tried to step back, but extracting myself from her arms wasn’t as easy as it should have been. “I’m leaving, and doing this would be me taking advantage of the situation.”

“No it wouldn’t, because I know you’re leaving and I don’t care.” Meg held onto me when I tried to pull away again. “There’s nothing wrong with grabbing a little piece of happiness when you can.”

Shit. When she put it that way, it was hard to say no, and all I could think about was grabbing a piece of her and how good it would feel. How right.

But then I’d leave and it would probably tear me in half, and who the hell knew what it would do to her. She was already feeling abandoned, and adding my name to the list of people who had left her would be the shittiest thing I could ever do.

“I’m sorry.” It took all the strength I had inside me to pull away, but this time I managed it. “I’ve been the asshole enough in my life, but just this once, I need to be the good guy. Need to do the right thing.”

Saying it that way seemed to get through to her, because she nodded. “Okay.”

“You going to hate me now?” I cringed, realizing how much the idea of her hating me hurt.

“No.” She gave me a shaky smile, then hesitantly stepped closer. When she put her arms around me this time, there was a difference in the embrace. It still felt amazing to have her body against mine, but it was comforting, too. “You’re not an asshole, Donaghy. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

I hugged her back as memories of other hugs hit me. Mom and Patty, and all the years when the world had looked good and promising. It seemed like so long ago now.