Shattered World (Broken World Book 2) (20 page)

Angus is waiting for us by the car. He’s so pissed that the vein on his forehead looks like it’s going to pop at any second. “Let’s get this shit over with.” Angus heads toward the fence. “You drive, I’ll get the gate.”

Axl nods and climbs in the driver’s seat.

“I’ll cover you,” I call after Angus, who waves over his shoulder like he can’t be bothered with even looking at me.

Hadley watches Angus for a second, then looks at me. Her eyes look like balls of terror in her pale face. “I can do it, if you want.”

Her hands are so shaky that I doubt she’d be much help. I have to give her points for volunteering, though. It takes a big person to offer to do something that scares the shit out of you. That’s real bravery.

“Go ahead and get in the car. I’m good.”

Hadley nods and turns toward the Nissan, almost bumping into Victor in the process. He blinks like he doesn’t know what’s going on. Hadley sighs and grabs his arm. She has to drag him to the car.

Shit. We are in real trouble with this guy.

I head after Angus just as the rumbling engine of the tanker comes up behind me, and I know without having to look that Brad has arrived. The urge to give him the finger is overwhelming. That or shoot him, which might be even more enjoyable. Why are all Brads such assholes?

Angus doesn’t even look back. He unlocks the gate and shoves it open. The dead immediately go for the opening, but Brad moves forward. He plows them down before they have a chance to get through the gate. Axl drives through once Brad is clear, and Angus and I run out into the street. I hold off the undead while he gets the padlock back in place. This time, I use my gun. We’re on our way out, so who gives a crap if we draw attention our way? I want to keep my distance. Luckily, I only need to take two down before Angus is ready to go.

“Let’s hit the road,” he says as he jogs to the car.

He shoots a couple just for the hell of it as I climb in the passenger seat, and when he gets in the back next to Hadley, he has a big smile on his face. I think he actually enjoys killing them.

22

“HEY VICTOR, WHAT DO YOU THINK the chances are we’ll find the stuff we need at the medical supply place?” I ask as we head to Vegas.

He’s sitting in the back by himself, and he looks startled by the sound of his name. He stares at me with blank eyes, blinking a few times before he says, “Maybe everything but the meds?”

Why does it sound like a question? This guy needs to snap out of it or we’re screwed.

Hadley twists around so she’s facing him. “But the urgent care should have those things. Right?”

He clears his throat and shifts around in his seat a little. “No. But if we pass a pharmacy, that would be better than the hospital. Assuming it hasn’t already been ransacked.”

He seems to snap out of it a little more with each word. Some of the light comes back into his eyes, and he bites down on his lip between sentences like he’s really trying to concentrate. I want to keep him talking so he’s more alert. Keep him from getting us killed.

“Okay, so we should hit a pharmacy first and then check out the medical supply warehouse. Between the two you think we’ll be able to make it work?”

Victor nods his head slowly. “Most likely.”

Hadley glances at me and raises an eyebrow. She’s as worried about him as I am. Only she doesn’t know all the stuff about his zombie wife, so she doesn’t know how deep his depression—or insanity—really goes.

“You doing okay, Victor?” she asks.

He glances at her and narrows his eyes like he just noticed she exists. “I miss my wife.”

“Shit,” Angus mutters. He shakes his head and leans forward. “Is this for real? They sent this bastard to help us out?”

“He’ll be fine,” Axl says. But when his eyes meet mine, I can see that he’s just as worried as the rest of us.

When we reach the outskirts of Vegas, Angus directs Axl through the city from the back seat. After our last attempt, I don’t even try to look at the atlas. I guess map-reading isn’t my thing.

We’re a couple of blocks from our destination when Axl slams on the brakes.

“Pharmacy,” he and I say at the same time.

He pulls into the CVS parking lot and parks right in front. Too bad the windows on the door have already been smashed in. Obviously, we’re not the first ones to come here. Hopefully, the pharmacy is intact and people just came for the food.

“We all going in?” I ask, glancing back at Hadley. She’s shaking so hard she looks like a Chihuahua.

“Better that way,” Axl says. “We gotta stick together.”

I know he’s right, but I hate to drag her in. Of course, leaving her in the car by herself might be worse. She’s pretty jumpy.

“Knives first.” Axl shoves the door open and hops out of the car.

We all climb down, and I help Victor out of the third row while Angus and Axl head up to the door to stake out the store. Hadley stands next to me with a knife in one hand and her flashlight in the other. She’s chewing on her lips so hard that they’re bright red.

Once Victor’s down, we head over to where the brothers stand. They both wear the same tense expression on their faces. It’s times like this that I wish Axl didn’t look so much like his brother. It’s too creepy.

“You okay?” I whisper to Hadley as we walk.

She nods, but she doesn’t look it. Her skin is pale, and she has beads of sweat on her upper lip. This is Vegas and the sun is pretty hot, but we were just in an air conditioned car. There’s no real reason for her to be sweating. Other than fear.

“The place smells clear,” Axl says when we join them by the doors. “Stay alert anyways. Angus, you and Hadley head over to the first aid shit and load up. Vivian, the doc, an’ me’ll hit the pharmacy.”

Angus nods and jerks his head forward as he steps through the broken doorway. Hadley follows, and I go next, being careful to avoid the broken glass that juts out from the metal frame of the door. Victor comes in behind me, and Axl takes up the rear.

Victor appears a lot more alert than he was at the trucking yard. More determined. He even holds his flashlight up as he walks, shining it on the merchandise as we go through the store. I don’t know what snapped him out of it, but I’m glad.

The floor is littered with bottles and trash that we have to be careful to step over as we head back, but Axl was right. It smells clear. There’s a faint scent in the air that’s sickeningly sweet, but I have the feeling it has more to do with the rotting food on the other side of the store than anything dead.

I pass a display of reusable shopping bags and grab a handful. They’ll come in handy not only here, but at the warehouse and hospital. It’ll be a lot easier to carry the bags than a heavy box full of supplies.

Axl and I are tense and silent as Victor leads us toward the pharmacy. Hadley and Angus must not be talking either, because the entire store is as silent as a tomb. I can’t see them, but I can follow their progress by the beam of their flashlights. They bounce across the walls as Angus and Hadley make their way through.

When we reach the pharmacy, Axl hops over the counter. He doesn’t open the door right away, though. He heads back through the shelves, sweeping the area for anything dangerous while I stand tensely next to Victor. My skin is moist with sweat. The store is stuffy, and I’m nervous as hell. I just want to get this over with. I can’t wait to get back to the shelter.

When Axl comes back, his knife is in its sheath, and his face is a little more relaxed. “It’s clear.”

Axl swings the door open, and Victor heads off. He moves through the rows of pills like a man on a mission. So different from how lethargic he was at the truck yard. I follow behind him and hold open the bag so he has somewhere to put the drugs he finds. It’s clear we aren’t the first people to come here looking for meds. There are bottles of pills knocked over on the shelves and scattered around on the floor. Shit.

My eyes land on a familiar label. Birth control pills. I picked the same ones up when we stopped at Walmart, after we first got Emily. They only had a few packets, and even though I haven’t really started taking them consistently, it wouldn’t hurt to have a few more.

There are four on the shelf. I grab them and toss in the bag, then hurry after Victor who’s already on to the next aisle.

“There isn’t a lot left,” Victor says.

Even though I already knew it, my heart still sinks. I was hoping we’d be able to find everything we needed between here and the medical supply store. But it’s clear from the frown on Victor’s face and how little he’s put in the bag I’m holding that we won’t be able to.

“So we’re gonna hafta go to the hospital?” Axl asks.

Victor nods, and Axl swears. I squeeze the canvas bag tighter when my hands start to shake. A feeling of dread squeezes my insides. Everything these days feels like it’s going to be the end of the line for us.

“Well, this isn’t good at all.”

I turn at the sound of Victor’s voice and find him staring at a tall cart on wheels. It has rows of drawers with locks on them. Most of the drawers are open and now empty.

He shakes his head, and the more he does it, the more my stomach hardens. “What’s that?”

“This is where they keep the controlled drugs. The stronger stuff. Pain killers and things like that. Whoever came here cleaned them out.” Victor shakes his head even harder and looks up at us. “We’re done here. Unless we want to drive around and find another pharmacy, the hospital is our only option.”

“Shit,” Axl says. “We could look for a pharmacy, but odds are it’s cleaned out too.” He spits and looks at me like he’s waiting for advice.

“Hospital?” I say meekly.

Axl nods and runs his hand down his face. He looks exhausted. “Well, let’s get the hell outta here, then.”

We find Hadley and Angus strolling through the aisles. They have a few bags, which are overflowing with first aid supplies. There are also several boxes of condoms in Angus’s bag, as well as more chewing tobacco and a few cartons of cigarettes. He looks like he’s preparing for one hell of a party.

I’m glad Angus took my advice and got the condoms, though. Last thing I need is a little brother or sister running around. What would that make me if Axl and I end up getting married? Sister or aunt?

The thought of Axl and I getting married creeps into my head and catches me completely by surprise. It’s a strange thought, since I never intended to get married to begin with. Now that things are so screwed up, it seems even crazier. Will people even bother getting married anymore? What would be the point?

“You got everything?” Angus asks.

His hard, gray eyes meet mine, and I try to picture what it would be like to have a half-sibling fathered by him. To be honest, he’d probably do a better job than my own father did. Angus was actually pretty good with Emily. For the short amount of time she was with us, that is.

“Nope, but there ain’t a whole lot left,” Axl says.

Angus adjusts the bag on his arm and stares at the tobacco like he’s just dying to rip into it. Probably is. “We ready to go, then?”

“Yup,” Axl says.

I stare at the bag in Angus’s hands, but I don’t focus on the tobacco. It’s the condoms I’m thinking about. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to grab some while we’re here. Who knows when we’ll get the chance again, and I doubt Angus intends to share. I have the birth control pills, but they won’t last forever. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

“Just a second, I need to grab something.”

I dash across the store with my reusable bag slung over my arm, panning my flashlight around. Axl doesn’t come after me or yell for me to be careful, but I can feel his eyes following my every move. It takes me two seconds to find the right aisle, and when I do I grab a handful of boxes. Enough condoms for everyone. Axl and I aren’t the only ones sleeping together, and we’ve got enough to worry about without a pregnancy epidemic.

When I make it back to the group, we head out. Axl only glances down at my bag once. He doesn’t talk and he doesn’t ask questions, but he grins. Guess he’s looking forward to getting some use out of them when we get back.

***

The parking lot of the medical supply store is crawling with the undead. Dozens of them stagger around the empty parking lot, walking back and forth aimlessly. Seeing it still makes my skin crawl.

“Why are there so many?” Hadley asks anxiously

“Who the hell knows,” Angus says.

He’s armed once again with an empty Coke can. He spits into it, and I cringe. Every time he runs out, I hope he’ll just decide to get off the stuff. Eventually he’s going to run out for good. Why not get it over with now?

A zombie lurches toward the car as Axl slows in front of the medical supply store. He slams his entire body against the passenger side, right outside my window. The thump echoes through the car, and Hadley screams. I almost jump out of my skin.

Axl speeds up. “I’m gonna drive ‘round back, see if it’ll be easier to get in that way.”

The bodies come alive when we pull into the parking lot. They go from strolling aimlessly to charging the car within seconds. Axl rolls over them without slowing. I grip the door handle and bounce in my seat as the tires thump over the bodies. He takes the turn so fast I slam against the window.

“Sorry,” Axl mutters.

I rub my head. “Forget it.”

He’s driving too fast for them for them to catch up. The tires squeal when he slams on the brakes at the back of the building. There’s a door, and it’s wide open. Someone’s been here too.

“Looks like we weren’t he first people to have this idea,” Victor says. He’s now sitting in the second row with Hadley and me. He’s even more clear-headed now than he was at CVS.

“The hospital is going to end up being our only option,” I say. Shit. The thought of going there makes me sick.

“Should we just call this a loss and head to the hospital anyway or risk it?” Hadley asks. Her eyes are wide and scared-looking, and she’s once again chewing on her damn lip. She glances out the window. The bodies haven’t made it back here yet, but it won’t take long.

“We’re here,” Axl says as he grabs his pack. “And the less we gotta get at the hospital, the better off we are. I don’t wanna be there any longer than we hafta be.”

I agree, as much as it sucks to have to make an extra trip. “Okay,” I say, grabbing my stuff. The first couple zombies round the corner only ten or so feet away. We have to move fast. “So what’s the plan?”

Axl looks out the window and purses his lips. “Gotta make a run for it.”

“That’s your brilliant plan?” Angus grumbles.

“Can’t kill ‘em all now. We’re gonna hafta fight ‘em off when we come out. Might as well make it easy on ourselves on the way in,” Axl snaps as he opens his door. “Let’s fuckin’ go already.”

Hadley and I look at each other, and I roll my eyes. Brothers. I hop down and run after Axl. Angus grumbles but follows his brother anyway. We sprint toward the already open door. Axl is inside by the time the rest of us get there, and we manage to make it in without having to kill a single zombie. Of course, Axl is right. We’re going to have to fight them to get out.

We find ourselves in a back room where the walls are lined with shelves. The whole place reeks of death. Axl is already checking things out. He shines his flashlight in every corner in search of the stench. My heart pounds faster and faster the farther away he gets. I don’t like the idea of him being off by himself and possibly getting attacked without any backup, so I hurry after him.