Alive (The Crave) (20 page)

Willard moved over to the stall next to them. “Hey, there Eteslle. You miss me, baby?” He was talking to the bloated gurgh in the stall next to them.

Gage had known who had taken them hostage the moment he laid eyes on her. He’d never seen one like her before, but he had heard the stories from the addicts they’d taken in at Eden. He had been present while the town doctor had interviewed the two men for hours. The stories they shared were terrifying to say the least, but he would never forget what they did with the humans they captured.

At first, they had claimed they would eat them, cannibalism as a form of survival, but once they’d started eating the gurghs things had changed. Something about the decaying forms of the infected was addictive. It didn’t turn the consumer into one of them, like Gage expected. Instead, the two men claimed that the flesh, the organs, that everything tasted better than a perfectly cooked filet mingnon. They claimed it was like heaven, that no food in the before could even compare to the succulent taste of dead gurgh.

Once they tried it, they became ravenous for more. They started to need it every waking moment and were a part of a group that dedicated their time to catching the gurghs and eating them. They had started capturing, not just gurghs, but humans to—to feed to the undead—because a well-fed gurgh was a tastier one. Better in every way.

The gurgh, Estelle, who was being led from her small prison, was one that had been fattened up, and now she was going to be dinner. Her obese state was a positive situation for him and Eve since they weren’t going to be fed to her, but who knew how long that would last. They needed to get the hell out of there.
Now.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Olive had never hated anyone in her life. In fact, hate was a sin. That’s what her momma and daddy always told her. She didn’t hate Eve, even though most of the time she wanted to. She didn’t and she never would though, hate Eve that is. But things were different now.

The last twenty-four hours had changed her life more than it had been changed in a long time and it wasn’t because Laney was dead. No, Laney’s death really had nothing to do with it. Olive didn’t cry for the woman. She had no tears left in her body to waste on another dead person. Death was the only constant in life and even that was tentative at best with all the jenks everywhere.

What changed her life the most was the hate. Yes, the emotion that was blasphemous—wrong in every way. She could feel it for the first time in her life, though she swore she never would. And it wasn’t for Rose, like she expected. It wasn’t for the woman carrying the child, lumbering behind her right at that very moment. Olive’s hate was for the man who walked ahead of her. Reno seemed to have extra pep in his step. He moved more quickly than he ever had, though she could barely make him out in the looming darkness.

The rain had finally stopped, though his movement hadn’t slowed for any of it. Usually they would stop and wait out the rain, but not today. Today, he hadn’t even looked behind him. Hadn’t said a thing to either of them. Not since they had stopped and things occurred earlier. Things she would be forever trying to wash from her mind, body, and soul.

“
God has a plan for you. For all of his good children.”
Her mother’s words traced their way through her mind and were the only thing that kept her feet moving in spite of the hot rain that had poured down and the now impending darkness that they didn’t typically move through. The three bags on her back weighed her down causing her back to ache in terrible pain and her hands, tied behind her back, were totally numb. Olive wanted to ask Reno to stop, wanted to beg him, but she didn’t. She kept her mouth shut in fear of what he would do.

A low moan sounded behind her. Olive glanced back at Rose who was moving slowly. In the fading light she could see the woman clutching her belly, her face in a grimace of pain. Rose met her gaze and shook her head fervently, as if to beg her not to tell Reno.

Olive glanced at Reno’s form in front of them. Part of her that desperately wanted to say something. Even though she hated Reno, she was dying. Dying for his attention and to be back in his good graces. He was mad at her. She knew as much based his treatment earlier. He’d done nothing to Rose. She’d stood by, silent as always while Olive had suffered.

Olive wouldn’t be silent, not even for the pregnant woman. Out there, it was survival of the fittest. And she was going to survive. God had a plan for her and she wouldn’t let anyone mess that up. The decision made, Olive opened her mouth to call for Reno.

“Where are Joseph and Maddie?” Eve nearly choked on the words when she spoke them. She had all but forgotten about their new companions since she’d woken up in an even worse version of hell. The two disgusting looking men hadn’t left too long before, taking the gargantuous jenk, Estelle, with them.

“Of course you’re worried about him.”

The sarcasm in Gage’s voice had Eve spinning on her heel to look at him. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he muttered, not looking at her, but examining the wooden door that stood between them and freedom. His body was stretched to the end of his chain. “They have a lock on the outside of the door. I bet you could wiggle out of the top, but they bolted that door on the outside and I don’t see any other way out. No windows. Nothing.”

She already knew this. They’d discussed it minutes before. “I know. Duh. Don’t try to avoid the subject.” He didn’t say anything in response. Just continued to look over the door, while staying as far away from the wall on their right, where five jenks were reaching for him through the bars. The muscles in his shoulder bunched underneath his dark skin. “Umm, hello?”

He stopped and looked back at her. “What?”

“You heard what I said. Why did you make that comment about Joseph and Maddie. You aren’t concerned about them?”

He narrowed his eyes and turned completely around, facing her with his exposed chest heaving. “I
am
concerned about them. I’m only wondering why you are, Miss doesn’t give a shit about anyone but herself. Looks like someone wormed his way under your cold little shell.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?” Eve cocked her head not understanding what he was getting at. “We are stuck in a fucking Lurker dungeon and you want to argue with me about being a cold bitch? Seriously?”

He mumbled something and turned away from her.

“What?”

“I said, it’s not a dungeon. It’s a barn.”

“Well—wait, what?” Eve frowned.

“It’s a barn, Eve. A f—”

“No, I heard you the first time. I just never considered that we were in a barn.” The wheels were turning in her head. “If we’re in a barn, then we aren’t in a basement.”

“Obviously, Eve.”

“Then we aren’t underground!” She all but shouted before biting down on her lip. “We can get out of here easy! It’s just getting into the house and getting our stuff that will be tricky.” The wheels kept turning in her head as she tried to figure out a potential plan.

“No, Eve. When we get out of this place, we aren’t going to go hunting for our stuff.”

Panic gripped Eve’s heart. “Uh, no.”

“Yes.” His face was blank of emotion. “We are less than half a day away from Eden. There are plenty of provisions there.”

“No, I need
my
Craftsman.” She fumbled over the words, her tongue feeling foreign in her mouth. “I have to have it, Gage! We can’t go out there unarmed.” She shook her head back and forth and waved her arms in the air. “We’ll be eaten alive.”

He jerked his head once. “We won’t. Why do you think that we didn’t see any gurghs while out on Tim Pistol? It’s because these Lurkers have trapped them all. They’ve cleared out this area. More than likely we won’t encounter any on our way there. And if we do…well, we will just have to figure it out.”

Eve clenched her fists repeatedly.
I won’t leave my money!
That’s what she wanted to scream, but she didn’t. She kept her mouth shut about her pack, knowing he would never agree if that was her reasoning. “No. I refuse to leave here unprepared to face the world. I’ve had that Craftsman since the beginning. I need it.” Eve looked down at her feet, at the rusted link that tethered her to the wall. Her mind raced to come up with a good way convince him.

“This isn’t about your pry bar is it?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You just want to get your little bag full of money, don’t you?” The accusatory tone in his voice sent a spark of anger down her spine, making her even more agitated.

“Think what you want. I just don’t want to die at the hands of a jenk.” She didn’t look him in the eye as she spoke but stared down at his feet, which were bare like her own, hoping he didn’t notice the weakness in her mannerisms.

“Oh, but you want to die at the hands of a Lurker? Cause I guarantee that it’s not going to be any prettier. At least out there it will be on our own terms.” He took two steps forward, the eroded chain making a clanking noise. “If we stay in here and try to get our stuff, then it means certain death. Out there we have a chance.”

“I don’t care, I want my—”

The sound of squeaky door hinges successfully shut Eve up. A good thing, because Gage was running on empty when it came to the exasperatingly beautiful woman. She was more hard-headed than any person he had ever met. He couldn’t grasp her need and attachment for her weighted down pack, full of money that couldn’t be used anywhere. Yet here was she was, trying to risk both of their lives to retrieve the thing. He didn’t want to leave Hilda behind, but he damn sure wasn’t going to put his life on the line to retrieve her.

Quiet footsteps followed the squeak of the door, and instantly Gage knew that it was neither of the two men who’d previously been to see them. He stood on his tip-toes to peer over the heavy wooden door when a head covered in white hair appeared. The cherubic face of a young woman stared back at him. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, as if she was afraid.

“Hi,” Gage said quietly, and flashed a smile, a plan forming in his head when the girl blushed. She looked surprisingly young for a Lurker, but he had never seen a woman Lurker before. “What’s your name?”

“What are you doing?” Eve’s voice was like a knife slicing through the air. The girl jumped, alarmed.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about her. What’s your name, beautiful?”

The girl smiled, revealing teeth as white as her hair, shocking Gage again. “Landry.” Her voice was as soft as her features with twang of an accent.

“Landry, that’s a pretty name. How old are you?” Her cheeks heated further and Gage thanked his lucky stars that he still had some charm left in him.

“Seventeen.” Her eyes darted back and forth between them again, an uncertain expression ruffling her features. “I brought y’all dinner.” She bent down out of sight and slipped a tray under the door. “Y’all should be able to reach it.” She took a hesitant step backward.

“Wait! Wait. Don’t go. Can you talk to us, Landry, please?”

She halted her footsteps, but didn’t come forward again. “I’m not supposed to. I—”

“Can you tell us anything about our friends?” Eve blurted from behind him.

“Uh—” she shook her head. “No. I can’t.”

“What are you going to do to us, Landry?” Gage asked calmly, not wanting the girl to be scared away. If there was one hope for escape, it would be through her.

“I’m not doing nothin’ to you.” Her expression was one of horror.

“Okay, not you, but them. The other people, what are they going to do with us?”

Landry’s eyes flickered to the gurghs reaching through the slats before coming back to meet his. They were the lightest blue he had ever seen.

“They’re going to feed us to them?” Gage motioned toward the gurghs.

She gave one quick nod and turned around heading for the door.

“Wait, no, don’t go! Please let us out of here,” Eve said frantically trying to reach the door. “Don’t leave us down here to be dinner.”

To Gage’s surprise the girl turned back around. “It’s gettin’ late. I will be back later to get the
tray
.” She let the last word roll from her lips and her eyes locked with Gage’s, when the door opened behind her and Bubba emerged.

“What’s taking so long, sister?”

“Nothing, Bubba. Just lookin’ at the new ‘un’s.” And she followed him out the door.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Before

In Eve’s dreams, things changed after that Thursday he drove her home and held her hand. He sat next to her class, he stopped seeing the horrid Sally McCallister. He even ditched her in the cafeteria in front the whole school. Amazing didn’t even begin to cover it. Of course, that’s why it was a dream.

Reality was far from amazing, in fact things seemed to be worse than before. He didn’t break up with Sally. Every time Eve turned around they were there on display before her, with Sally draped across his body or his arm around her shoulders while he laughed at something she said or high-fived his best friend, Noah. Gage’s hand was always secured in hers. The hand that had held her own only days before.

He didn’t sit next to her in Physics again. He continued to sit next to Allison and rarely even glanced back in her direction. On the Friday after he held her hand, they had even had to break off into partners. He hadn’t even glanced her way and became Allison’s partner instead. Eve did the whole assignment by herself. No one wanted to be her partner, which wasn’t a change from normal. No one had ever wanted to be her partner, not until Gage. The reality of it all made her realize just how shitty her life had been before Gage took notice of her. Being alone was something she had accepted before and now…now she ached for him to glance her way, to flash her the lazy smile she had come to love.

Pathetic
. Yes, that was a good word for what Eve had become.

Over the course of the week Eve had cried herself to sleep most nights. She’d gone through several different phases. At first she was appalled, shocked, perhaps a little in denial. She just knew that Monday would be better. It wasn’t. So she became weepy and sad, avoiding Gage like the plague for fear another glance in his direction would splinter her heart into a million pieces and she would just die there in the middle of the floor. But by the time Thursday rolled around, a new emotion blazed to the fore.
Anger.
In her heart she knew that he wouldn’t be waiting to pick her up. She was angry because she didn’t know why.