The Renegades (Book 5): United (8 page)

“Don’t listen to him. Guards, take him away.”

“For what?”

“An assault on a leader is a punishable offense.”

I piped up. “When was that law brought in?”

Sebastian ignored my question. “Go ahead and take in Ben and Elijah as well.”

I cast a glance over my shoulder. Ben stared on in utter disbelief. Guards pushed through the crowd until they reached them. Within a matter of seconds, they had them cuffed with zip ties

“What is the punishment?” I asked but again he ignored my question. I was beginning to grow tired of his bullshit. I couldn’t believe they were doing this. I bolted up the stairs that led to the stage to confront him. “What is the punishment?”

“That will be determined. For now, they will be held until further notice.”

“You can’t do this.”

“No? Watch.”

I went to grab the megaphone to speak to the people but he pushed me back. Big mistake. I swung at him and cracked him right on the jaw. He went down and the megaphone let out a garbled sound as it hit the ground.

Before I even had a chance to do anything further I found myself thrown to the ground and zip tied.

“Take him away with the others.”

“Sebastian, don’t do this,” I heard Ethan say.

“It’s already done. And you are no longer a leader.”

“This is not what we agreed on when we founded this place.”

“No it’s not but we must evolve if we want our people to survive.”

Ethan tried to have a few final words but he too found himself being hauled away by guards. “You can’t do this.”

“I can and I have.”

P
aradise didn’t have a prison
. There was no jail, so to speak but there were holding areas that were used by the four police officers. It was a cargo box from the back of a large truck. A steel container that had sections removed at the sides to allow air and light to seep in. In hot weather it was pretty much like a torture chamber. A person would literally sweat their balls off. More often than not people would only be in there overnight until they sobered up.

“How ironic,” Ben said as he slumped down.

With the steel doors sealed tight, we each handled incarceration differently. Baja beat on the side with his foot. And at the rate he was smashing it, he was liable to break a toe.

“Let us out.”

Ethan still thought he could negotiate. He pressed up against the side and was speaking to a guard who’d been posted outside. Elijah was moaning about how he should have never left Salt Lake. Ben agreed. I just paced back and forth trying to make sense of Sebastian’s actions.

Frustrated that he wasn’t getting anywhere with the guard, Ethan smashed the side of the container with the palm of his hand.

“I knew he would do this.”

“Really? If you knew why didn’t you get him removed?” I replied.

“It’s not as easy as that.”

“He sure made it look easy.”

He took a seat on the ground. “You told me when you came into Paradise you didn’t like rules and yet you have seen how important they are. But with rules and power there is the opportunity to abuse them.”

I lay back against the side unable to grasp that it had come to this. On one hand he was right. Without rules to govern a society, chaos would occur. With rules, people could turn into dictators. It was a fine line and one that I wished we didn’t have to walk.

“We should have stayed at the Fortress,” Elijah said.

“Now you agree with me.”

“Okay, I admit I’m a sucker for a warm bed, safety and food. But who isn’t?”

Logic would tell a person that once you were safe, why would you want to walk away from that? In this new world where everywhere you turned danger was lurking behind a corner, you tried to make anything work. We’d spent so much time on the road searching for a safe zone that when we found it, we had just resigned ourselves to stay even if it wasn’t an ideal situation. But that’s the thing. It’s hard to domesticate those who don’t wish to live by rules.

“Were you aware that large sections of Manhattan had been cleared by this group?”

Ethan shook his head.

“Whose decision had it been to expand beyond the walls?”

“Sebastian’s.”

“Perhaps he wants to move back into the city.”

“And you think killing seventy-five people was his way of convincing people? We are missing something here. I don’t think Sebastian knew about those men. I do think he was an idiot for sending us out after them but smart enough to arrange a coup against the rest of the leadership? I highly doubt it,” Ethan said.

“Maybe not. But let’s face it, if you are playing a game of chess and you want to win, you can’t immediately go for checkmate. You start taking out the pawns.”

“I’m not following you,” Ethan replied.

“I’m just saying. You take the route with the least amount of resistance. Where is the real danger for them? Our numbers. The armory.”

Ethan shook his head. “I think you are overthinking this, Johnny.”

I blew my cheeks out.

“How is Annora getting on with her testing?” Ben asked.

I’d given blood in a less brutal way than what I had experienced in Rikers. As it stood they had found a way to inject people who had been bitten by a Z and in turn keep them alive but it was temporary. Anyone who got bit needed to be injected on a weekly basis otherwise they would turn. She’d been searching for a permanent solution. We still hadn’t discovered what that was but the answer was to be found in us, the anomalies. With only six of us in the camp immune to a bite, there had been a lot of pressure on Annora to find a solution fast.

“She’s still working on it.”

“And if she finds it?”

“Well, then we can turn the tide on this whole thing. It would still mean wiping out those who have turned. For them there is no hope. But for us, and future generations, it would help.”

“I still can’t get over that they managed to clear the streets in the middle of Manhattan,” Elijah said looking dumfounded.

“I don’t think they have. Flamethrowers or not. There were thousands of infected in the city.”

“It’s possible that they have moved on.”

“True but I don’t think they migrate like birds,” Baja chuckled.

I stood up and looked out the slatted openings. “We need to get out of here.”

“And then what? He’s just going to throw everyone back inside.”

The frustration could be felt by all of us. None of it seemed to make sense. Why go through all of this just so a person could oversee two sections on an island? Sure, power could go to a person’s head but this was insane.

“Whatever happened to the warden? James Fritz?”

“No one has seen him since we pulled you all out.”

“Annora must be curious as to where her father has gone.”

“She’s focused on the task at hand.” Ethan snorted. “She’s the only one who’s not vying for power like that idiot Sebastian.”

“What’s his deal anyway?”

“We used to work together. Let’s just say that he had trouble climbing the ladder and has always been looking for a shortcut to get what he wants.”

“But what’s he gaining here? I mean, sure he gets to rule over section A. But that just seems more work.”

“I don’t think he just wants section A. He wants all of the districts.”

“Let him have it. I’m getting the hell out of here and leaving behind this shithole,” Elijah said.

That was easier said than done.

We spent the night in there. Though it was warm in the day, it was freezing at night. Sometime in the early hours of the morning, I awoke to the sound of a bang on the side of the metal. I jolted awake. My eyes drifted over the others. I staggered to my feet and glanced outside. It was silent.

Then, the back doors opened up. Standing beneath the light of the moon were Wren, Jess and Rowan. “Anyone order a wake-up call?”

Baja rolled over and stared up at them. He glanced at his watch. “Five in the morning?”

“Better now than never.”

My muscles ached from the hard floor. Hopping out, I noticed the guard on the ground was unconscious.

“Time to get out of here.”

“We won’t be able to get out the main gates but we have another option.”

“Please tell me it’s not via Shelter Island?”

“Problem with that?” Wren asked.

“Baja is not too keen on boats.”

“It’s not that. I just don’t like the water.”

Jess had an empty expression. She looked as if she was just going through the motions. The death of Izzy had torn her apart. It had affected all of us in one way or another.

Rowan directed us towards a cluster of trees about a hundred feet away. “We have a jeep waiting.”

“I can’t go,” Ethan said from within the truck.

I turned sharply. “Are you insane? If you stay here, you will become his bitch.”

“The people need me.”

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Um, maybe you were not at the same meeting as me, but I’m pretty sure every bloody person on this island voted you out. It’s time to let go, Ethan.”

“I can’t do that. I have to believe that there is another way to turn this around. Help him to see reason.”

I stepped closer to him. “Trust me. Men like Sebastian don’t listen to reason. They never will. They only understand one thing — a bullet in the skull. And hell, I would like nothing more than to be the one who pulls the trigger but we are outnumbered. There is nothing more we can do here.”

I went to leave.

“And the cure? What about that, Johnny?”

I spun around. “What about it? I’ve given my DNA. They have more blood samples from me than they could ever use. I’ve done my part, now for the first time I’m thinking about us. Call it selfish, I don’t care. We have stuck our neck out enough times and look where it’s got us? My brother’s dead, trying to help. Izzy’s dead, trying to help. I won’t lose anyone else.”

“But…”

“No. No buts. They have five other immunes. That’s more than enough to continue research.”

“Go then. I’m staying.”

“Suit yourself.”

Under the cover of darkness, we shuffled away from our hellish prison towards what had to be better than this place. What we once thought was freedom was slowly becoming what I imagined life in North Korea was like — everyone under the rule of one insane lunatic.

It took us just over forty minutes to get to Shelter Island. Rowan had a small fishing boat down on Sunset Beach. It would take us across the Peconic River to Conkling Point. From there we could take 25 over to 25A and that would take us to Throgs Neck Bridge and on to the mainland far out of the way of Manhattan.

Right now it was all about survival and less about helping anyone else. We had spent our entire time since Castle Rock risking our necks for others. It was time to move on.

A small rowboat tied to a mooring post bobbed gently. We moved fast not knowing if we had been followed. As we piled into it and it rocked from side to side, Rowan and Jess stood on the edge of the dock.

“You’ll find some weapons wrapped up in that blanket.”

“You’re not coming?” I asked. My eyes met Jess’s.

He shook his head. “No, we’re going to stay.”

I was in no mood for hearing some story about how the people needed them.

“Why?”

He held on tightly to Jess’s hand. She looked a shell of her former self. Once strong, and confident, now she didn’t protest.

“There is nothing for us out there.”

Wren got back out of the boat. “I’m not staying here, Rowan. Whatever you think this place is, it’s changed and I’m sure it’s going to change even more.”

“That’s to be determined,” he replied.

She looked at him despondent and unable to comprehend that he would let her go. She sighed and looked back at me. “I’m staying.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake. Not you as well.”

I pulled myself up out of the rickety old boat.

“Please tell me you haven’t changed your mind?” Rowan asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Trust me. I’m not staying.”

I pulled Wren to one side. “Come with me.”

She cast her eyes down. “He’s my brother. He’s all I’ve got.”

“And what about us?”

She looked back at Rowan as if contemplating the situation. There was no easy way through this. Both ways didn’t hold much hope. If they left, they would have to face whatever existed beyond the walls. The undead, the insane and whatever else had mutated.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.”

With that she walked over to her brother. He looked more than pleased. The guy was holding the winning lottery ticket. Not only did he have my ex, he now had both of them. Love was a strong motivator but after a year inside the wall I was ready to move on — with or without them.

“So be it. Take care of yourselves.”

I got in the boat, grabbed up one of the oars. Ben grabbed the other and we pushed out into the dark waters. I didn’t look back. So there we were, Ben, Elijah, Baja and myself rowing away from all we had known towards the unknown.

When we finally made it to the other side, the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. As a warm band of orange spread across the sky and birds were trilling in the treetops I finally felt free even if I didn’t have Wren or Jess.

We were pretty certain that Sebastian would send men out to search for us so we used the morning to our advantage and got as many miles as possible between us and the eastern shore. We had made it to the town of Riverhead when we heard trucks. Exhausted and with my thighs screaming in protest we sought shelter inside an abandoned home and waited for them to go by before we decided to venture out.

“What about the men in the city?”

“What about them?”

“Are we going after them?”

I stared at Baja. I knew where he was going with this. He wanted revenge for what they did to Izzy. As much as I would have liked to see them all dead, it would have been suicide to attempt to take on such a large group. Besides, we had done our time. What could be gained by going after them? Izzy was gone. That would never change.

“No.”

Baja stopped in his tracks as we continued a few feet ahead of him.

“No? That’s it? You are just going to let it slide. You lied to me.”

I came back fast keeping my eyes the road behind him.

“Look, things change, Baja. We need to think about ourselves for once.”

“I’m not going, Johnny.”

“Oh c’mon! I don’t think I can handle someone else bailing. What about you Ben, Elijah? Do you want to stay behind too?”

They shook their heads. They weren’t suicidal.

“Use your head, Baja. We are four people. And you want us to go up against, God knows how many of them? That is suicide.”

“If it was Dax you would have done it.”

I blew my cheeks out. “Well, it isn’t.”

“Oh, so what you are saying is that Izzy’s life meant less than his?”

“No.” I tossed my hands up in the air. “I don’t know what I’m saying.”

With my rifle in my hand I slumped down on an old dilapidated couch. The undead could be heard outside groaning. For once it was actually good to know they were out there. At least some things didn’t change.

As we sat there in the quiet of the home chewing over what direction to head in, a noise like a can being overturned was heard below us. My eyes darted between them.

“You hear that?”

I got up and started looking around for a door that led down to the basement. There wasn’t one. We ventured into another room and that’s when we saw a trap door on the ground. I yanked at the metal handle and lifted. It creaked, groaning for oil. Below, steps led down into darkness. Ben pulled out a flashlight and aimed it down.

“Probably a Z.”

None of us were in the mood for endangering our lives. We closed it and were about to leave the house when we heard it again. This time it sounded as though it had been done on purpose. Three times it occurred. I tossed them a look.