Shattered World (Broken World Book 2) (2 page)

“This is James,” Hadley says. “He worked for the company that built this place. Hitched a ride here with the helicopter pilot right at the end to make sure everything was ready for inhabitants. Of course, the pilot got sick and couldn’t get him back out…” She shrugs like it’s no big deal, but her eyes give her away. They’re full of sadness and pain. She’s not that great of an actress. “Well, I guess I should give you all a tour. Feel free to leave your things here and come back for it later or take it with you. Whichever you feel more comfortable with.”

I can’t fight back the smile that spreads across my face when I grab my stuff and sling it over my shoulder. I don’t bother with the guns and other supplies I carried down. We can fool with them later. After we’ve all had a shower and a little rest.

Hadley leads the way, talking over her shoulder as she heads toward a set of stairs that descend even further underground. “There’s plenty of space for everyone since most of the condos are empty. There are one, two, and three bedroom units, so we’ll just split people up as we go down. Luckily, James was able to locate the master key. They’re all stocked with food from the company and clothing from the owners, so I guess it’s finders keepers now.” She pauses for a moment and shrugs without looking back. I’m right behind her, and even though her voice is even and steady, there’s a slight droop in her shoulders. This is affecting her more than she wants to let on.

Al’s right on Hadley’s tail and I’d be shocked if his eyes weren’t glued to her ass. But when we step into a much nicer room that has a few desks and computers, Al actually manages to rip his eyes away from the walking wet dream in front of him. The kid was a computer nerd or something in his school, so he’s been dying to get his hands on one. Looks like he’s in luck.

Hadley pauses long enough to point toward one of the computers. It looks expensive, not that I would know anything about that. The trailer park I grew up in didn’t have Wi-Fi, and when I ran out on my dad, a computer wasn’t really a priority.

“This is the media center that has all the computers and stuff,” Hadley says. “Not that it matters much anymore, there’s no Internet or anything.”

Al’s face falls and he stares at the computers like his puppy just died. He doesn’t even move when Hadley starts walking again. Poor kid. Guess he’ll have to find something else to occupy his time. Maybe Angus can give him one of his
Penthouse
magazines.

Hadley heads down a poorly lit hallway that ends in a decked-out common area. There’s a fully stocked bar to the right and a pool table in the center of the room. Couches and chairs are arranged on the other side, gathered around a few coffee tables. Everything is sleek and modern. Expensive. It’s decorated in bright reds and blues that were probably intended to combat the gloom of being underground.

“Here’s one of the shared spaces. The theater is through that door over there.” She waves across the room to a set of double doors. They’re open and the room is dark, but I can just make out a few cushy-looking leather chairs. “There’s a pretty decent selection of movies, it looks like. Plus, I’m sure you’ll find more in the individual condos. People brought all the necessities for the end of the world.” Her tone is biting and she rolls her eyes just a little when she says it.

Hadley sounds oddly sarcastic for someone who bought one of the condos. Maybe she’s just bitter? Or maybe she never really thought she’d need the place and reality is a lot scarier than she’d expected it would be. It could be dozens of things. The end of the world brings about a whole range of emotions. It’s not like I can really blame her for being upset about the turn of events.

She shakes her head and turns toward the stairs. There’s an elevator, but no way we’d all fit inside. I follow her without a word. Not that I could get one in. She doesn’t stop talking for even a second.

“The next level is split in two. Half is a clinic and the other half is set up as a classroom. You’ll be able to find books there too if you need something to read. Levels three through eleven are living quarters, you’ll find the pool and gym on twelve. Thirteen is where the gardens are. There’s some crazy aquaculture thing set up so they can grow fresh vegetables and fruit down here. I’m not even going to pretend to understand it.” She reaches the next level and stops, then turns to face us. “The bottom level is storage. Extra diesel and any supplies you may need. There are also weapons down there, although James has the key to that. I know you have your own, but they’re there just in case.”

The hallway we’re standing in is small and there’s a door right in front of us. It’s crowded with all seventeen of us standing around, and when I glance over my shoulder, I notice some people are still standing on the stairs.

“Okay. So I’m on this level and I’m all alone in a three bedroom condo. It’s ridiculous and lonely, and I think a roommate would be great. Any volunteers?”

I look around and my eye catches Axl’s. It hadn’t occurred to me that we wouldn’t be together until now. We’ve been sleeping side by side for what seems like years. Would it be presumptuous to think he wanted things that way? We’ve only kissed once, back in San Francisco when Emily was with us. He wasn’t too thrilled about it the next day, though. He even said some harsh things about women attaching themselves to him just to get through a rough patch. I don’t want to be that woman. I’m stronger than that. At least, I always thought I was.

I tear my eyes away from Axl and step forward. “I’m alone. A roommate sounds nice.”

Hadley smiles, and my stomach does a flip flop. Yikes. I’m going to be living with a movie star. No. She’s not a movie star anymore. She’s just like me now. Only she may not know it. What if she’s a bitch? Guess I can always move out.

With Axl…

“Great! You can go on inside and make yourself at home if you want. I’ll be back as soon as everyone is settled in.” The smile lights up her green eyes and her shoulders ease a little like she’s relieved.

Maybe living with her will be okay. How bad could it be? She seems friendly enough, and she sure stuck out her neck for us with Mitchell.

My insides settle just a tad. “That sounds great.” The words come out in a whoosh, along with a relieved exhale.

She gives me one last smile before heading further underground. Almost as an afterthought, she calls over her shoulder, “The door’s unlocked. My stuff is in the first bedroom. Take any of the other two.”

People smile as they walk by and pat me on the back and the arm. Everyone is so much more relaxed than we’ve been since…Well, since we met. All the tension is gone, replaced by exhaustion. We’re all going to sleep soundly tonight.

Axl hangs back, and I shift from foot to foot while the others disappear down the stairs. My heart is in my throat as I wait for him to talk. Is he going to ask why I’m not coming with him? Doesn’t seem like something he would do, but it’s possible. Do I want him to? Yes. Yes, I do. I want him to admit he has feelings for me so I can finally get mine out in the open.

“You doin’ alright?” he says once we’re alone.

He’s referring to Emily. My stomach tightens and the hole where my heart used to be aches. I have to look away for a second. Talking about this sucks. Why can’t we just forget the past?

My daughter. She was such a brief part of my life, in and out almost before I could adjust to her being here. Why does it hurt so badly, then? Oh yeah, because I failed to protect her when she needed me the most. She was the first casualty in our group, the first one to get bitten by one of the dead and turn. Axl held me back while his brother, Angus, shot her in the head. He had to do it. I know he did. If he hadn’t shot her, she would’ve attacked us. Knowing that didn’t make it any easier to watch, though.

“No,” I whisper, trying to blink away the tears that sting at the back of my eyes. “Maybe I’ll never be, but I’m going to try.”

He purses his lips like he always does when he’s thinking things through. The fluorescent lights are bright, and the scar on his face is more visible than usual. It goes from the bottom of his chin almost all the way to his bottom lip. A mark left behind by his abusive mother. One of the many things we have in common. Trailer parks and abuse, abandonment and rough lives. We’re so alike, he and I.

“Get some sleep,” he finally says, drawing the words out. There are miles and miles of space between those words.

I nod and swallow against the lump in my throat. It isn’t easy, and it reminds me of when I was sick not that long ago. My throat was so swollen from strep. Axl was so gentle when he took care of me. My body aches for him. Not for sex—although I have to admit that doesn’t sound bad—but for his company, his closeness. Too bad those are the very things he was angry about the first time we kissed. So even though I don’t want to walk into the condo without him, I don’t ask him to come with me.

He turns away. “See you in the mornin’.”

I can’t force any words out, so I go into the condo. Alone.

2

THE CONDO IS THE MOST luxurious place I’ve ever set foot in. Odd how it took the end of civilization to get me out of the low-class life I’ve always lived. Away from trailer parks and run-down apartments. It doesn’t seem right. Or fair. Of course, I was never under any delusion that life was fair.

My curiosity wins out over my exhaustion, and I walk through the condo to check it out. The entire building is circular, so the outside walls are rounded. It almost feels like a dream. Like the tunnel vision that sometimes accompanied my dreams of Emily.

Just like the common area, the furnishings are fashionable and modern, but the decor in here isn’t as bright. The condo’s decorated in warm, neutral colors. Hardwood floors run throughout the living room and kitchen, which is equipped with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Something I’ve only seen on TV.

I find the first bedroom and peek inside. Hadley’s stuff is strewn about the room—she’s clearly not a neat person—but it still looks rich and expensive. The second bedroom is just as nice, but much smaller. I don’t care, though. I’m exhausted, and all I want to do at this point is shower and crawl into bed.

I strip down, right in the middle of the bedroom, and stand there naked for a moment while I try to decide what to do. All my clothes are dirty. Hadley’s comment about clothes in the condo comes back to me, and I open the dresser. It’s full and everything still has the tags on. Bras, underwear, and silky pajamas that no one could possibly need when the dead are banging on your front door. All there just waiting for me. Will Hadley mind? My fingers brush against the elegant lace thongs, and I shrug. Who cares? I’m filthy and all I want is to put on a clean pair of underwear and get in bed.

So I grab a pair, along with a pink nightie that is a lot less over-the-top than the other stuff in the drawer, and head to the bathroom to get clean.

***

When I open the bathroom door after my shower, I almost bump into Hadley.

“Hey,” she says with a friendly smile. “I realize I didn’t even get your name earlier.”

“Vivian.” I play with the lace hem of the nightie I’m wearing and bite my lip. Is she upset I took it? She doesn’t seem to be. The smile on her face is warm and open, and she’s barely even glanced at the clothes. “I’m sorry. I borrowed some things from the dresser. I hope it’s okay. All my stuff was dirty.”

She shrugs and slouches against the wall. It isn’t casual or relaxed, though. It’s more like she’s exhausted and finds it difficult to stand up straight. “It’s no big deal. None of this is mine.”

My eyebrows shoot up and I wait for her to continue. There has to be a story behind that statement. There’s no way she happened across this place accidentally.

For a few seconds she’s silent. She leans against the wall and stares at the floor. Her lips are pulled into a hard line, and her eyes blink rapidly. “Jennifer Swanson was my best friend.”

The name has a familiar ring to it, but I can’t quite figure out why. Swanson…right! The blonde, curvy actress who was constantly on the cover of tabloids. She was a paparazzi favorite.

“She bought this place and this is all her stuff.” Hadley laughs a little, but it isn’t a happy sound. It’s sad and strained. “She was convinced the world was going to be destroyed by global warming. Damn zombies… Anyway, when she got sick I stayed and took care of her. My family was already gone by then. Ohio got hit pretty early on, so I didn’t have anywhere else to go. When she got close to the end and realized I was going to make it and she wasn’t, she told me the code and who to call for a ride. I was the last one here. The helicopter pilot was already sick when he picked me up. I was terrified he’d die before we made it.” She lets out huge sigh, and I imagine it traveling through the halls of the condo, filling the rooms with her pain.

“I’m sorry.”

I am sorry. Not just for her, but for everyone. For myself and women like me who lost children. For Sophia and the baby growing inside her who will never know a world without fear. For Jessica’s lost fiancé, and Parvarti’s and Trey’s dead families. For all the bodies mindlessly walking the earth at this moment, searching for food or peace or who knows what.

But I’m also exhausted. My legs are like half-cooked noodles, and there’s a deep ache in my bones that makes it difficult to breathe or stand or focus. “I need to get some sleep.” It’s all I can say, because everything is suddenly just way too heavy and painful to bear.

“I know. I just wanted to say hi and make sure you had everything you needed. Help yourself to anything.”

She’s so insistent when she says it. So sincere. Who knows if her fame and money had made her selfish before all this bullshit, but it’s certainly gone now. She isn’t like Mitchell. She knows the end is here and everything has changed. And I like her for it.

“Thank you.”

She smiles one last time before heading back to her room.

I drag myself into my new bedroom and crawl into the king size bed, pulling the blankets up to my chin like I’m snuggling into a cocoon. The sheets are soft and warm and probably the best thing I’ve ever experienced. Even better than the shower, because in this bed I can drift off and pretend everything is okay and nothing hurts. I can imagine Emily didn’t come into my life just to shatter my world, and that all there is in my future is sleep and relaxation.

***

When I wake up, the first thing my eyes focus on are the green numbers announcing it’s 10:23. A clock. How strange to know what time it is again. It doesn’t feel even a little reassuring or normal, though. Too much has changed for that.

How long did I sleep? It had to have been late by the time we got into the shelter. By the time we got away from those monsters on the surface. It felt like we were up there for days. If I had to guess, I’d say it was close to midnight when I crawled into this bed. Although, it could have been much earlier. That means I got at least ten hours of sleep.

If only my body wasn’t still tingling with exhaustion. Sleep didn’t bring me peace or comfort the way I’d hoped it would. All it brought me were images of the dead and Emily.

I shiver and stumble out of bed, suddenly desperate for company. Hopefully, Hadley’s here so I don’t have to go looking for it. If only Axl were with me. But I don’t even know what floor he ended up on. That’s something I need to find out.

I exhale when I step into the kitchen. Hadley sits at a small round table with a cup of coffee in front of her. She’s already dressed for the day, and she smiles when I walk in. “Morning.”

I nod and mumble a few sounds that are supposed to be a greeting. They’re nothing but gibberish, so I close my eyes and take a deep breath before trying again. “Coffee.”

She laughs and gets to her feet, banging around in the kitchen as she makes me a cup of coffee. She’s loud and cheerful, and every sound she makes pounds against my temples from the inside out. It’s like I’m hung over or something. Probably from all the stress.

“Thanks,” I say when she sets the cup in front of me. I pick it up and wrap my hands around the ceramic. It’s hot and stings a little, but I don’t loosen my grip. I need to wake up.

“I take it you didn’t sleep well.”

I shake my head and take a big sip of coffee. It’s bitter, but rich. So much better than the Folgers I always had to buy. “This new reality has done a number on my dreams. Try getting a good night’s sleep after fighting off a horde of the undead.”

She laughs, but it’s tight. “I can’t imagine. God, when Mitchell showed up down here screaming about zombies, I thought he was insane. I was sure he was playing some trick on me. You know, because of that movie I was in.”

I vaguely remember a movie about zombies she was in years ago before she really made it big. I think it was called
Zombieworld
. She looked different then, not as thin. What is it about female celebrities that makes them think they need to waste away to nothing once they become famous? She did it, and I remember a few others. They usually looked better before the weight loss. Hadley did.

“Anyway, Joshua and Sophia convinced me he was telling the truth and then the sirens went off. We all ran up to the control room, and there they were. Zombies, right outside the fence. That bastard Mitchell just wouldn’t give in! What kind of a person leaves others to die when they have the ability to save them?”

“You’d be surprised,” I mutter. “I grew up with a mom who abandoned me and a father who beat the shit out of me whenever things didn’t go his way. The shitty things people do doesn’t really surprise me a whole lot.”

Hadley’s mouth pops open in surprise. She’s going to ask questions. It’s obvious by how tense her shoulders are and the way she tilts her head to the side. Not a road I want to go down right now.

“So you had no idea about the dead coming back until we got here?” I ask.

Hadley shakes her head, and her body relaxes. Odd how talking about the dead coming back to walk the Earth is less stressful than talking about my crappy childhood.

“No. I was the last one here, and that was a week ago. We kept waiting for someone else to show up. All these condos, and only three of the owners were able to get here. It seemed nuts.”

“Who else is here? We met James last night, but what about the other two people?”

“Lila Quinton was the first one here. She’s seventeen and a spoiled rich kid who called the helicopter the second the virus got bad. She was here two weeks before me.”

“Where are her parents?”

              “They were in Europe and couldn’t get a flight home since all travel was suspended. The last time she talked to them, the virus had just broken out there. That was right before I got here, before the Internet went down.”

“So she has no idea if her parents are alive or dead.” My stomach clenches yet again. Must be awful to be a teenager at the end of the world and have no idea where your parents are.

“Nope. But she doesn’t seem all that torn up about it. She says she rarely saw them anyway.” Hadley lets out a bitter laugh. “She actually seems to be having a good time. She’s really been enjoying the bar and the pool.”

Great, more snobby rich people.

I take a sip of coffee before asking, “Who else?”

“Victor Gates. He’s a doctor from Beverly Hills, only not the useful kind like Joshua. A plastic surgeon to the stars. He’s the person everyone went to when they needed a little Botox or a face lift. He’s a nice enough guy. But his wife died, and I think he’s a little depressed.”

“Who isn’t?”

She lets out another big sigh. “I’m glad you all showed up, to be honest. I would have let you in regardless, but the thought of being stuck down here with these people for the next five years was starting to make
me
depressed.”

I laugh and shake my head in amazement. Just give her a few days with Angus and we’ll see what she has to say then. “Maybe you should get to know us before you say that. We’ve got some interesting people.”

Hadley leans forward like she’s telling me a secret. “Like the redneck brothers? The older one offered to keep me company if I got lonely. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t even a little tempting.” I start to laugh, but it’s cut short when she says, “The younger one though…”

My insides twist, but I try not to react to her words. I force out another laugh. Hopefully, it isn’t obvious how hot my face is, or how much I suddenly want to hurl. The laugh comes out strained and too loud, though. Hadley must have noticed, but she doesn’t even blink.

There aren’t a lot of women who could make me feel insecure, but Hadley does. How could she not? She was famous and widely lusted after by most of the men in America. I never understood what the big deal was, but I don’t have a dick. Axl does.

The urge to get away from her is suddenly so strong that I jump to my feet, almost knocking my coffee cup over in the process. “I think I’ll head back and get myself dressed. Um, I’m probably going to have to borrow some clothes. Mine are all dirty.”

She waves her hand in the air dismissively. “Whatever you need. And if you want to throw your clothes in the washer, we can do that too. Seriously, make yourself at home.”

I do my best to return her smile. I like Hadley, I really do, but the fact that she’s already thinking about jumping Axl’s bones makes me want to bitch slap her.

After I’m dressed, I throw myself on the couch in the living room. Hadley’s reading a book and I briefly consider going upstairs to get one, but to be honest, I’m just too tired. There are way too many stairs between me and the common area.

Hadley looks up from her book and gives me a hopeful smile. “You want to go to the pool or something?”

I lay my head back and close my eyes. “I’m exhausted. Maybe later.”

She doesn’t answer and I’m just too tired to open my eyes, so I let it go. Instead, I try to relax. My mind is buzzing but my limbs are heavy, and it doesn’t take long for me to get that weightless feeling that proceeds sleep. I exhale slowly and give into it.

I’ve just started to drift off when there’s a small knock on the door that makes me jump. My eyes fly open and I bolt upright, letting out a little yelp that sounds like a frightened animal more than a person. Hadley arches an eyebrow, and my cheeks grow warm. I’m jumpy as hell. Side effect of the dead walking the Earth, I guess.