The World Without a Future (The World Without End) (23 page)

Ren clears her throat, and I twist to look at her. She's got that foul expression again. "I need you to do one thing, Ren," I say, and she visibly flinches. She's not used to her nickname on my lips.

"What?" she asks warily, and I wish I could do something about that. I wish I could ease her distrust—but I can't, and my priority right now is to just get us out.

"Trust me?"

I wait, perfectly still, not even breathing. Behind me, Lissel is fidgeting, and in front of me, Nurrin is staring at me with her big green eyes. Finally, she nods. Something tight and tense loosens in my chest, and I give her a grim smile.

Then I yank off a length of silver duct tape and wrap it quickly around Lissel's wrists.

"What the hell are you doing?" She shouts, jerking away. I yank her back, the tape cutting into her skin. Nurrin steps up, her gun in her hand. I give her a tiny nod, and the barrel of the gun presses into the soft skin of Lissel's throat, skin I so recently kissed.

I can't think like that. Not right now. I finish securing Lissel's hands, Nurrin's gun holding her steady. Then I stand up and stare at her. "Now. Here's what's going to happen—you are going to get us out of the Haven. And if you do it without any trouble, I'll let you go. If you don't—it'll make my life messy."

"You wouldn't dare kill me," she spits.

I smile, lazily. "You didn't think I'd fuck you and tie you up, either. Keep betting on what I don't have the balls to do."

Lissel's mouth snaps shut and I nod. "Good. Let's go."

I shove her into the back of the truck, and Ren slides in, her gun still pointing directly at Lissel's head. She glances at me curiously. "What's the plan?" she murmurs.

I arch an eyebrow, and she rolls her eyes. "Asking a question is
not
a lack of trust."

"Just wait," I mutter.

"You don't know, do you?" Ren asks, as horrified as she is amused.

She's wrong. I do know. It was the plan from the beginning.

The gate is sealed. Two dozen guards are milling around it, their weapons pointed at the ground as they talk to each and wait, bored, for the change of watch. I'm about to throw a kink into all of their plans.

I park the truck and stalk around the front. The soldiers surround me, almost instantly. "You need to clear out," a particularly brave one says. I glance at him, and the poor kid wilts, falling back a few steps. Until I drag their lovely Alderman out by her bound hands.

Then their guns snap up and train on me.

"Put those down," Lissel snaps, furious. "The idiot wants outside."

"The gates are sealed. No one in or out, sir. And abducting our alderman is punishable by quarantine."

"Or being put outside the Walls," I add. "Which you’re welcome to do."

The soldiers look confused, and I take a deep breath. "Why are the Walls sealed?"

"Infection. We can't risk letting it inside," the guard says promptly.

I stab the needle deep into Lissel's arm, making my motions clear. You couldn't miss them if you were blind—and she screams, loud enough to wake the dead. Outside, the zombies scream in response.

I hear Ren's tiny gasp, but she doesn't do anything to step in. She doesn't scream at me to stop. "Let me out," I say, keeping my finger on the plunger. "Now. Or I'll infect her and you'll be facing a breach." The guards hesitate, and Lissel is hyperventilating in my arms, fighting tooth and nail to get away from me. I clamp an arm down over her throat until she sags against me. Look at the guards. "It's your choice."

The guards hesitate, and she screams, "Shoot the motherfucker. Now!"

"She's already been exposed," one guards says, quietly. That's all it takes—the whispers spread like wildfire. Within a few seconds, they're reaching for the gate lift. "You have to be quick," the captain orders.

I nod. "Nurrin. Take the wheel," I order. She's staring at me with wild, wide eyes. I tug Lissel into the truck, almost in my lap, and snarl, "Drive!"

She does. Lissel falls into me with a yelp, and I jerk the needle free. "Sit still."

"Fuck you," she snarls. I don't have time to pay attention because Nurrin shouts my name and we slam into the horde. The truck shudders as the razor wire slices through the undead. Blood and gore explode from the front of the truck. From all sides, bodies slam into us, the screams shaking the air.

"Get in the back, Lissel." I snap, reaching for my crossbow. "Nurrin. Keep her steady and moving. We're dead if we stop."

She nods, and from the corner of my eye, something slams down toward my temple. I move without thinking, my blade swinging up and cutting across Lissel's belly. Her eyes go wide, shocked. Ren screams, a shocked noise she chokes off almost immediately. The scent of blood fills the tiny cab. For a moment, there is only silence and the rasp of the dead outside. I curse and shove the little crawlspace open. The dead scream, furious at the scent of blood. "What the hell are you doing?" Nurrin shouts, more furious than scared.

"Saving our lives," I answer and grab Lissel's shoulders. Her hands are gripping me, causing me to stumble. Around me, the razor wire shakes as the zombies pummel it, and it occurs to me this is probably the stupidest thing I've done in forever. Then I don't think. Nurrin guns the engine and I throw the body—it's only a body—out. Blood sprays in a glittering red arc, and the zombies whip around, following the scent of it. Nurrin slams the gas down, and we shoot away as the infects feast.

It's been hours. She's quiet—lost in her own thoughts—and I don't push. I don't want to see distrust in her eyes, or disgust, so I turn away.

I never turn away from the truth, but this time I do. There's no way to accept what I did. I can't ask her to—it's hardly a fair request.

The sun is dropping, and I glance at her. "Stop or keep going?"

Nurrin gives me a slightly startled look, like she forgot I was even here. We're in a deserted strip of the Wide Open, nothing but scraggly trees and sand to keep us company. "Keep going. We'll hit the Hole around midnight if we keep going."

I nod. "Want me to drive?"

She shakes her head, staring out the windshield. Her fingers tighten, briefly, on the wheel. "Why did you have the virus?" she blurts out. "How could you threaten someone with exposure like that?"

I don't answer for a few minutes, staring at the little vial, now neatly capped. Without letting myself hesitate, I stab it into my leg and decompress the plunger.

Nurrin hits the breaks so fast and hard, I'm thrown around. She falls out of the truck, and even before she's clear, the gun is trained on my head. Her whole body is shaking, but that's steady—the barrel doesn't waver at all.

I drop the needle and lift my hands, a gesture of surrender. "It's a saline solution," I say. Nurrin doesn't seem to register I spoke, so I repeat it, louder. "It's not the virus, Nurrin. It's a placebo. I just needed them to believe it was ERI-Milan."

"I believed it," she shouts.

"You trusted me enough to get in the truck. I swore to get you to your brother, Nurrin. I will. Don't doubt me now."

"You fucked her today!" she says, her voice shrill. "And then you killed her, fed her to the damn horde. How can you expect me to keep trusting you?"

Frustration boils in me, but I shake my head. Lean my head back. "You have to decide that, Ren. You can decide I did it because that's what it took to get you out of 18. Or you can decide I'm a monster. Eventually, you have to quit hiding behind your anger and make a decision." I throw the empty needle aside and slide into the driver's seat. "Now. Are you coming with me?"

It’s pitch black when we reach the Hole. I park the truck and lean over to shake Nurrin’s shoulder a little. She blinks sleepily, and it’s a struggle to force myself back to my side of the vehicle.

"We’re here," I say. She nods and yawns.

There aren’t any infects around—strangely, I haven’t seen any in hours. But I’m not into taking unnecessary chances. "Got your stuff?" She nods, shrugging her bag onto her back.

"Can we go down in the dark?"

I hand her a flare stick. "Crack that when we get out. And move quick—we’re alone for now, but you know how that goes."

She nods, and eagerness slips across her face. "Ready?" I ask, grabbing my knife.

We scramble out of the truck in perfect synchronization. She’s at the side of the canyon, the pink flare sparkling at her side, and I nod at her. "Go." She doesn’t wait or argue—apparently we have made progress since leaving. She edges down the cliff face as I glance around.

My blood runs cold as I take in the empty cliff. Something is wrong.

I push aside the sensation, the stomach-curdling fear, and follow Nurrin down the canyon.

Nurrin’s pack is in the entry, and I step over it and her burning flare. Toss it and mine out over the cliff. They flare brilliant and bleeding as they plummet to the canyon floor. Behind me, Nurrin is moving around the little cave, lighting candles and calling Dustin’s name.

I can taste the stale air. No one is here. No one has been here. Blood is on the ground, pooling on the low couch. It smells old and coppery. I close my eyes and face the open canyon, into the midnight sky, and listen as she gets more and more panicked. Until, finally, she’s at my side, and I know how upset she is.

Nurrin doesn’t cry. Not in front of me. She never has, not in the years I have known her brother. But tears are standing in her big eyes now, and her expression is furious and disbelieving. I draw her into my arms without thinking, and stare into the night as she buries her face in my chest and says, her voice muffled, "They aren’t here. Collin is gone."

The End.

As always, there are a host of people to thank.

First—my readers, who followed me from University of Branton to this crazy world I’ve imagined. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

The Indie Ignites—gosh, you ladies are so awesome. Thanks for the cookies and talking me down from the ledges. I couldn’t ask for a better group of friends and colleagues.

My family—Mom, for listening to me ramble, Lester and Kathy for not minding too much when I say at dinner ‘I have a new book idea!’ and my amazingly awesome sister in law and brother in law, for being amazingly awesome.

Thanks to my wonderful beta readers—Melissa, JC, Cameron, Heather and Felicia. Y’all have helped so much bringing this all together. Big hugs and lots of cookies for you all!

Pandora and I Heart Radio, which makes writing so much easier.

The Infects, who spread their excitement like good little zombies should.

My crazy awesome cover artist, who has made this book one of my prettiest. And also, something I could hang on my walls. (Don’t judge me!) And my wonderful editor, Rachel Bateman, who amuses me with her notes, and keeps my em dash usage in check. You ladies make me so much better at this. And any mistakes in editing—those are all on me.

Chanteé. Dear gracious, you and Nathan deserve a whole paragraph. Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. The videos and formatting and just general crazy amounts of support, not to mention handling the crazy texts, all of it makes you the best EVAH.

Bri—you have been Finn’s longest standing, biggest fan. You rock, lady! *gentle tackle hugs*

My amazing publicist, Jessica. You don’t even
like
zombies, but Finn converted you and the ideas you’ve had for this book have blown me away. I—and this book—would be lost without you.

Finally, always, my kids and Michael. For picking up the slack when I drop it when on deadline, to the patience when I’m ‘one more minute, honey, Mommy’s writing’ to the sweet encouragement and excitement when you see my book and show your friends at school—you four are my world. I love you. <3