Текст книги "Through the Zombie Glass"

Автор книги: Gena Showalter

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

Chapter 25

Who Stole the Poisoned Tarts?

My spirit was dragged to my body, the collar removed by one Hazmat while several others forced the two halves of me to join. At the moment of connection, I jolted into motion, determined to fight these people with everything I had. Some of the Hazmats were not in spirit form, however, and one of them managed to slam a hard fist into my temple.

Dizzy...

Slowing...

Still I fought.

I heard a whoosh of air, felt a sharp stab of pain in my arm. I patted blindly at the spot and dislodged a small dart.

The dizziness spun out of control, helped along by...a drug? I swayed, bones liquefying, knees buckling. When I hit the ground, I was roughly hauled to my feet, my hands tied behind my back, and there was nothing I could do about it. A black hood was draped over my head, and I was stuffed into a vehicle, driven I don’t know how many miles. Time ceased to exist. There was only here, now. Darkness, rising panic. Where was Kat? Reeve?

I listened for movement—or whimpers—but heard only the wet slosh of tires, the zoom of passing cars and the soft hum of the radio.

Stay calm.

Easy to think, so difficult to do. Tremors racked me, and sweat beaded over my skin. The blood in my veins was somehow a dangerous mix of too hot and too cold.

After we parked, I was towed outside with the kind aid of two guards. We ascended a flight of steps and entered a pool of warmth. A heated building? I heard footsteps. A ding. We stopped, and the world around me jostled. We were in an...elevator?

Another ding. Again I was towed forward. We stopped several more times, and I imagined my surrounding went far beyond grim. A dungeon, like Mr. Ankh’s. A torture chamber, with wall after wall of deadly weapons once found in the Middle Ages.

We entered a room with a deluge of new sounds. Moans, groans, rattling metal.

Other prisoners?

Can’t stay here. Act! Gathering every ounce of strength I possessed, I struggled for freedom. I managed to head-butt one of my captors and trip another, and we all tumbled to the floor. Before I could run, someone fisted the back of my shirt and lifted me to my feet. The ties were cut from my wrists, and I was thrust forward. As I tripped to my hands and knees, I thought I heard Kat and Reeve gasp. Hinges groaned, and a door slammed. Trembling, I ripped off the hood and blinked as the bright light in the room stung my eyes.

We were in a laboratory. There were computers, strange equipment I didn’t recognize and a handful of humans wearing lab coats. There were also cages, with collared, frenzied zombies locked inside.

Locked inside—like me.

And in the cage next door to ours was a girl I’d thought dead. Jaclyn Silverstone.

She was dirty, her hair in tangles, her far-too-thin body stretched out on a cot. But she was alive, and in that moment, she stopped being my enemy and became my best ally.

“They’re not allowed to talk to or look at us,” she said weakly. “Mr. K is too afraid they’ll start feeling guilty and set us free.”

The horror of the situation struck me, followed by rage, and I lumbered to my feet. I had to know if she was right, and threw myself into the bars, shaking the entire cage. “Let us out!”

As Jaclyn had promised, everyone ignored me.

“Hey!” Kat called, stepping up to my side. There was a tremor in her voice. “She’s talking to you. You better listen or you’re gonna regret it.”

Again we were ignored.

Soft sobs echoed behind me. I turned to see Reeve standing in the center of the cell, her arms wrapped around her middle. Tears streamed down her cheeks, little pink track marks left behind.

“He betrayed me,” she said with a sniffle. “I caused this. I talked to him, told him everything I discovered. I just... I never suspected he already knew what was going on, that he was pushing me to find out more for him, that he was using me. Using me.”

Kat raced to her side.

I threw one last look at the lab coats—no one met my gaze—before striding to my friends. Reeve verged on the edge of a breakdown; I recognized the signs.

“You couldn’t have known his plan,” I said, doing my best to sound calm, rational. But when my words registered, I realized I’d lied. She could have known—if I’d told her what was going on when she’d first expressed interest. “Your dad has cameras everywhere. He will have seen what happened in that forest. He’ll find us.”

He had better find us.

Kat nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’m so sorry, Ali, but Ethan helped us disable all the cameras. He said he didn’t want anyone to be able to see or stop us from rescuing you.”

The brightest hope I’d had died a quick death, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was bad. Really, really bad.

But I had three small hopes left. The first, Emma. She could warn Cole. The second, the message I’d left him. The third, Justin. He might know the truth about what had happened to us. But...was he truly on our side?

I did my best to keep my expression neutral as I urged the girls to the back of the cage and onto the cold, concrete floor.

“What are we going to do?” Reeve whispered.

“Yeah, Ali, what?” Kat asked, her usual bravado gone.

“Right now we’re going to rest,” I said with a small smile. I glanced over at Jaclyn. “I’ll think of something. Promise.”

* * *

Hour after hour ticked by with agonizing slowness. I summoned Emma, but she didn’t appear. I studied my surroundings, taking in every detail. The same glow I’d seen in the forest, when I’d tracked the spy, streaked the floor and walls in here. Zombie toxin, maybe?

There was a camera posted at the top right corner of our cage, recording our every move and word.

There were no beds for us, no blankets and the toilet was out in the open. The number of lab coats thinned out in an unhurried but continuous stream, until only two people remained. The others would be back, though. I knew they would.

I stepped up to the bars blocking me from Jaclyn. Up close, I could see the gauntness of her cheeks.

“How long have you been here?” I asked.

“A little over a month, I think. I lost track of time.”

“We thought you were dead.”

“Only in my favorite dreams.” She shrugged, the action weak. “Mr. K wanted a way to control Justin, to force him back to Cole...to you. Rather than tell him I was a prisoner, and risk him spending his time searching for me, he told my brother Cole killed me.”

Mr. K. The guy running this show. Ms. Wright’s replacement. The man whose daughter was sick—the girl I was somehow supposed to help.

“I’ve tried to escape,” she said. “I think that’s why they keep me undernourished now. So I stay pathetic and feeble.”

Good plan. Fatigue had added weight to each of my limbs, and my eyelids felt as if they’d been replaced by sandpaper. Blinking was a terrible chore. Can’t allow myself to fall asleep. An opportunity to do something, anything, might present itself.

“People come in, but they never walk out,” she continued. “Mr. K likes to experiment on cancer patients. I think maybe he’s trying to cure them, because he’s always upset when they die, but he’s sucked it up worse than a Hoover. The patients are now the zombies that you see here.”

He’d made an army of zombies out of cancer patients? The man was seriously unbalanced.

“What kind of security does he have?” I asked.

“There are always guards outside the room, monitoring us. I don’t know how many. And they’ve got their version of the Blood Lines all over the place, even the bars, so our spirits can’t leave and alert another slayer.”

No wonder Emma hadn’t shown.

Another hope withered.

At 7:58 a.m. the doors at the far end of the room slid open, and the grinning man from the forest entered. Two tall, armed men flanked his sides, and the group approached my cage. Kat and Reeve were huddled together, leaning on each other, their eyes closed and their breathing even. Their adrenaline had crashed, I think, and when sleep had finally come, they’d been unable to resist.

“You’re coming with us, Miss Bell.”

Jaclyn reached through the bars and squeezed my wrists. “It’s going to hurt. I’m sorry.”

Metal rattled against metal as the cage door was unlocked. The armed men pounded inside, and my heart beat in tune with their angry steps. I wouldn’t leave my friends easily and threw a punch. My knuckles connected with the nose of the guy on the left. Blood spurted, and he howled with pain. Before I could do the same to the other guy, he grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, pain exploding through my shoulder.

Cuffs were slapped on me and I was shoved out of the cage. That. Easily.

“Hey! What are you doing? Let her go!” Kat called, the commotion having roused her.

The zombies erupted into a flurry of motion and sound. Grunts, groans, shuffling footsteps.

Hungry...

Feed...

Soon...

Now...

As the whispers reached my conscious, making me tremble, I was led into another room. There was a chair; something usually found in a dentist’s office. Beside it was a padded stool, a table with different-sized blades and syringes strewn across the surface and some kind of machine that looked like a car engine.

As I was strapped to the chair, I fought for freedom.

“Calm down, Miss Bell,” Forest Guy said. “We’re going to talk, you and I.”

“Screw you.”

He ignored me. “I’m Kelly Hamilton. I don’t usually share my name—I prefer the anonymity of Mr. K—but you and I are going to be closer than most. You, my dear, may call me Kelly.”

Hamilton. Like Ethan Hamilton. Kelly had to be his father.

More of a betrayal than I’d realized.

And oh, glory, I wasn’t meant to leave this laboratory, was I? That was why he felt so comfortable sharing his full name, his link to Ethan. It had nothing to do with closeness.

He sat on the stool and tugged on a pair of latex gloves. “I must admit, you have been a difficult girl to find. Just when I decided you could help me, you disappeared.”

“For good reason.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m dangerous.” You better believe it, jerk.

“Yes. I was told you’d developed a few zombielike tendencies. The fact that you’re still alive, your body healthy and whole, intrigues me.”

I snapped my teeth at him. “If you aren’t careful, I’ll show you those tendencies firsthand.”

He gave my shoulder a comforting pat. “I know you’re scared, and I’m sorry for that, but you can rest assured that what happens in here is for a very worthy cause. My daughter is dying, Miss Bell, and I must find a cure.”

Ethan’s sister. Leukemia. “Exactly how do you think I can help?”

“Unless you slayers use your fire to ash, the zombies possess the ability to live forever. It is my hope to harness that ability for humans.”

“That’s ridiculous. The zombies live, in their way, but they never stop rotting.”

“And even that, in itself, is a miracle, Miss Bell. Think about the possibilities. If we can figure out how, and why, the rotting occurs, then we can figure out how to eliminate it as a side effect and save human beings from death.”

“Zombies are death, in every sense of the word. Those tendencies you mentioned make me want to kill people.”

“A small price to pay for eternal life.” He held up an empty syringe and waved the needle in front of my face, making sure he had my attention. “Just think. Your actions in this laboratory will help save countless lives.”

Maybe. One day. But what about the countless lives lost in the meantime?

He wanted to save his daughter. I got that. I did. I’d want to help Nana, Cole, Kat and all of my friends if the situation were reversed. I’d be desperate to help, actually—I already was. Watching Kat’s decline was a true horror. But this wasn’t the right way.

“You love your daughter,” I said, “and I’m betting she loves you. Would she want you to do this? To hurt people in order to help her?”

His lips compressed into a thin line. “This is going to sting, but I’ll be as gentle as I can.” Leaning over me, he wound a tourniquet around my upper arm and stuck the needle in the soft tissue of my inner elbow.

I cringed, watching as crimson filled the belly of the tube.

“We’re going to figure out what caused your body to embrace the zombie toxin, and yet not actually kill you or even cause you to rot.” He removed the tourniquet and bandaged the puncture wound.

He’s too determined. You’re not going to talk any sense into him. Gotta work with what you’ve got. “You don’t need the girls for this. Let them go. They have nothing to do with our war.”

“Your concern is admirable, but we actually do need the girls. We want to keep you malleable, and they are our insurance card.”

I knew that wasn’t all Kat and Reeve were to him. They were witnesses.

I had to get them out of here.

“I’ll promise malleability if you let them go.”

“You’ll give it anyway. Now, are you light-headed?” he asked. “I’ve got a cookie with your name on it if so.”

I would have preferred evil straight-up, with no dash of kindness.

“Very well. We’ll move on. What comes next is going to be far more painful for you, and I’m sorry for that, but I need to know what your body can take...and what it can’t. Your strengths and your weaknesses, if you will. I also need to know what happens to the zombie toxin when your body is placed under tremendous stress.” He held up another syringe; this one had a thick green liquid swirling inside the tube.

My bonds stretched taut as I tried to scramble away. “What’s that?” I demanded, unable to mask my tremble.

“An isotope of adrenaline and other goodies meant to speed your body into a fight-or-flight response, to put you under that tremendous stress I mentioned. My hope is that you’ll recover swiftly, and the toxin won’t be able to overtake you and harm you.”

I had nowhere to go, no way to twist, as he jabbed the needle in my arm and injected me with fire. Molten lava spread through me, burning me up, melting all of my organs. Sweat suddenly poured from me. Maybe blood. I couldn’t tell—my vision hazed. Muscles I hadn’t known I possessed jerked painfully, and both of my hearts kicked into a dangerously swift rhythm. Boom, boom, boom, boom, no pausing, no slowing, just pound after pound against my ribs. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

“Stop it,” I gasped out, my lungs squeezing tight. “Stop it right now.”

“Don’t worry. It won’t last long. Just a few minutes.” He smoothed a hand over my brow. “I’m not a terrible person, and I don’t like to see you worked up. But I’m also a determined person. I have to save my daughter, Miss Bell, and if that means destroying the world and everyone in it to do so, I will.”

“Criminal,” I managed. “Deserve...prison.”

“That’s the pain talking. I take no offense.” He stood and taped electrodes to my temples, neck, wrists, belly and ankles. “We’re going to keep track of what happens to your spirit, too.”

He grabbed another syringe of green liquid. Before I could protest, he’d injected me a second time. Another stream of lava blazed through me.

My back bowed of its own accord. This time, my heart thumped with so much force I expected to hear my ribs crack. I couldn’t stop my screams. They came, one after the other, scraping along my throat, until fists seemed to wrap around my neck and squeeze.

“Interesting,” Kelly said, pressing his fingers into my carotid. “Your body and spirit are weakening at a rapid rate, and yet there’s something inside you that’s strengthening.”

My eyesight blurred, but I think I saw Zombie Ali standing in the corner of the room, watching me.

“Why won’t you die?” she snapped.

Yes. She was here. Was she the thing that was strengthening?

One step, two, she approached me. Floated, really. Pale hair tangled around a face now completely smudged. She grinned, revealing teeth still stained with blood. “It’s just a matter of time now.”

I closed my eyes to block her image.

“There, there,” Kelly said. “That’s enough. We’ll take a break.”

I felt another sharp sting in my neck, though this one was accompanied by ice rather than fire. My heartbeat slowed, and I sagged into the chair, a wet, soggy mess.

“I must admit,” Kelly said, as he made a notation in a notebook, “I was hoping to see the red fire. I was told it hurt the slayers and the zombies, yet not you. And that makes me wonder...what did it do to you?”

Z.A. stood just behind him, and I was careful not to meet her gaze.

“What would you have done if you’d seen it, huh?” I panted. “I would have burned the chair and, fingers crossed, you.”

“There’s an extinguisher in the ceiling, directly above you.” He motioned to it with the tip of his pen. “With the press of a button, I would have you doused.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.” He tapped the pen against his chin. “I know. We’ll see if the red fire makes an appearance when I introduce more zombie toxin to your system.” He set the notebook aside and held up another syringe, this one filled with black goo.

What? “No!” I struggled against the leather straps. They tore into my wrists and ankles—held steady. Blood dripped onto the chair, the floor.

Z.A. clapped. “You’ll never be able to stop me now!”

“You’ll kill me,” I said, snubbing her, “and you won’t learn anything new. Won’t help your daughter.”

Kelly shook his head. “I’ve done this to others, Miss Bell. I know what I can give, and what I can’t, and still keep a person alive.”

He didn’t understand. The words rushed from me, desperate. “I’m different. Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this.”

“Calm down. This is an engineered version of the toxin, made not to infect you permanently but to burn through you in about half an hour. You won’t even need the antidote to improve.”

“No, you don’t understand. I—”

He stuck me with the needle.

Chapter 26

All the Monsters Want to Play

Many times, as a little girl, I’d looked at the home my father had built and considered it a prison. Only twice had I fought my forced incarceration, screaming and yelling at my parents about the unfairness of it all. Not just for me, but for Emma. She had no life, no friends.

And maybe that was why the two of us had been so close. We’d only ever had each other. We understood each other, because we’d been trapped in the same boat, in the middle of the same storm.

Then my dad had begun to train me in the art of self-defense, and I’d discovered I had a talent for it. It had given me something to do, something to think about, something to look forward to. But when it had come to the zombies, he hadn’t known many tricks.

Those I’d learned from Cole. Under his tutelage, I’d begun to feel confident, maybe, at times even undefeatable. But none of that training helped me now.

Though I struggled with all my might against the hold of the guards, they managed to drag me back to the cage.

HUNGRY!

NEED!

SOON!

MINE!

No longer whispering, the zombie thoughts now shouted through my mind—an echo of my own thoughts. I could smell the sweetest, purest perfume in the air...wafting from the guards, from Kat and Reeve, from Jaclyn.

Mmm...so good...

Z.A. had stepped back inside me, and I could feel her hunger. Why she hadn’t attacked Kelly while she was out of my body, I didn’t know. Unless she couldn’t. She hadn’t gone after Cole or Gavin, either. Maybe, as long as she was tethered to me, she was bound somewhat to my will.

“Stand at the back wall,” one of the guards yelled. Kat and Reeve had rushed to the bars upon spotting me. “Now!”

The girls obeyed, probably desperate and willing to do anything to get to me, and the door was opened. I was thrust inside, the door slammed behind me. Strength had long since abandoned me, and I fell to my hands and knees.

The girls rushed to my side, the sweetness of their scents so strong I had to be drooling.

“Get away,” I croaked. “You have to get away.”

“Do what she says,” I heard Jaclyn demand. “It’s for your own good.”

What would one taste hurt?

“What did they do to you?” Kat demanded.

“Oh, Ali,” Reeve breathed.

“Now!” I crawled away from the girls and huddled in the far corner of the cell. I wrapped my arms around my middle, my entire body trembling from residual pain. From cold and weakness and fear and dread and hunger...oh, the hunger...

I banged my head into the brick. Can’t think about the girls. Can’t think about how easy it would be to overpower them, to hold them down and work my teeth past skin and muscle and into—

No! Can’t think.

I banged harder, faster. So much harder. Black spots appeared behind my eyelids, and I smiled with my first wave of relief. The end of my torment was coming, sneaking in...would soon arrive... I sighed happily as I sank into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

When I woke up, the world was, strangely enough, a much brighter place. I hadn’t hurt my friends. I’d been at my worst, hunger-ravaged and desperate, but I’d kept to myself.

Some part of me—my love for Kat and Reeve, maybe—was stronger than Z.A.

I could do this, win this. I could fight and overcome.

This time, I actually believed it.

I put together a new to-do list. Do whatever’s necessary to escape with Kat, Reeve and Jaclyn. Come back with Cole and the other slayers. Destroy Anima—start with Kelly.

To escape, I needed strength.

For strength, I needed food.

We were each given a small, dry sandwich and told to make it last—it was supposed to be our breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Amendment. First convince someone to feed us.

A little while later, I was escorted to Kelly’s chamber of horrors and strapped to the chair, electrodes taped all over me.

Kelly sat beside me. “See. I told you the toxin wouldn’t kill you.” Grinning proudly, he patted my hand like Pops used to do. “Now, let’s talk before we begin today’s testing.”

“Let’s not. I’m too hungry.”

He ignored me, saying, “We know where each of your friends lives, but what we don’t know is if they possess any unusual abilities, like you. More specifically, I’d like to know if any of them are able to heal supernaturally fast.”

“I’ll trade answers for food.” False answers.

His expression hardened. “I admire your spirit, Miss Bell, but it’s going to get you into trouble. I told you I would do whatever was necessary to help my daughter and I meant it.”

“Cheeseburger. Fries. Chocolate shake.”

He stickered me with more electrodes, these attached to the funny-looking machine, and flipped a switch. Volts of electricity shot through me, sharp and hot and carnivorous. I opened my mouth to scream.

The pain stopped as swiftly as it had begun.

Desperately trying to suck oxygen into deflated lungs, I glared up at my tormentor.

“Now, I’m sorry I had to do that, but you brought it on yourself. Thankfully for you, I’m willing to try again. Do any of your friends possess the ability to heal supernaturally fast?”

“Pizza,” I rasped.

Frowning, Kelly flipped the switch.

The pain lasted longer this time, my heart actually stopping in my chest before restarting on its own.

On and on we continued. He would ask a question about the slayers and their abilities, and I would name a food—if I could speak. I was pretty sure my brain had turned into a cherry Slushie.

“Pay attention, Miss Bell.”

My head rolled in Kelly’s direction. He thought to break me, and with my body, he was succeeding, but he was only strengthening my resolve.

“If you don’t want to talk about the slayers right now, we won’t, but we’re not quite done with today’s session. You see, I sent a man to capture you. He shot Halim Bendari, and someone else shot his driver. I haven’t seen or heard from him since. Do you happen to know where he is?”

“Try looking...up your butt.”

He popped his jaw—and flipped the switch.

The chair shook with the force of my shudders, the pain acute, gut-wrenching and soul-zapping. Kelly was going to kill me. How could he not? After a while, even my skin began to vibrate, and it didn’t stop when he turned off the machine. My bones felt brittle, as if they would break at any second. My lungs had to be filled with glass rather than air. Every breath was agony.

I...came to as Kelly tapped my cheek. I must have passed out.

“That’s enough for today,” he said with a sigh. “We’ll pick this up again tomorrow. I hope you’ll be in a more agreeable mood.”

I think he’d pushed me harder than he’d intended.

“Lasagna. Spaghetti. Garlic bread.”

He scowled. “I don’t want to do it, but I’ll strap your friend Kat to the table. I’ll make you watch as I infect her. Will you talk before I inject the first needle?”

Monster! I bared my teeth at him, wishing so badly I could do more.

He smoothed the soaked hair from my forehead, knowing he’d reached me on a level the machine hadn’t. “Tomorrow we’ll have another chat. If you fail me as you’ve done today, I’ll use the already sick Katherine Parker.”

He knew. He knew she was sick, and he was still going to use her.

I was unable to support a single pound of my own weight and had to be carted back to the cage. I wanted to assure Kat and Reeve I was okay, but the moment the guards dumped me on the floor, darkness swallowed me.

* * *

“—so sorry,” a male was saying. I recognized his voice. It made me angry. Angry enough to force myself out of my deep sleep, the only thing preventing me from feeling the pain still lingering in my body.

I blinked, looked through eyes glassy from the strain they’d endured. Ethan stood at the bars of our cage, pleading with Reeve to forgive him for the part he’d played in our capture.

The anger magnified, giving me strength. Snarling like the very animal I might be becoming, I launched myself at the bars. I reached for Ethan, intending to choke the life out of him—and laugh while doing it.

He reared backward, out of reach.

Two of the lab coats rushed toward him, to protect and shield him, most likely, but he held up his hand and they stopped, quickly returning to their stations. He tugged at the collar of his sweater, keeping enough distance between us to prevent a repeat of what had just happened.

“You did this,” I shouted, surprised at the sound of my voice. I’d shouted, but only a whisper could be heard. “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you so dead.”

“Let me explain,” he said, expression as tormented as his tone. “Please.”

“Save your words. There’s no explanation good enough.”

His gaze slid to Reeve for a second, as if seeking some kind of softness. “The man who runs this place is my father. He’s worked for Anima for two decades and was finally promoted to one of the top positions.”

A family legacy. How sweet. “I’m going to cut out your eyes, stop you from ever doing this again! You were the one in the forest that night, spying on Trina and Lucas.”

Ethan’s head dropped. With shame? He nodded. “My dad and I can’t afford failure, not if my sister is going to survive. So we wanted all the bases covered. That’s why he sent me to Reeve and why I agreed. That’s why he sent Justin to the slayers.”

“You used me,” Reeve said quietly. “And you expect me to forgive and forget?”

Reminded of her presence, I turned to her. I waited for the scent of her to hit me, to unnerve and obsess me, but encountered only a soft waft of the expensive perfume probably embedded in her skin. The darker urges were at bay.

I squeezed her hand in reassurance, and she offered me a small smile of thanks.

“I didn’t use you,” Ethan said with a shake of his head. “I mean, at first, yes, I did, but even then I was attracted to you. The more time I spent with you, the harder I fell. You were never supposed to get hurt.”

“With your dad, everyone is expendable,” I said hotly. “You should have known that.”

Ethan popped his jaw. Ignoring me, he said, “I love you, Reeve. I never lied about that.”

She raised her chin, and I knew her stubborn side was about to kick in. “I never said those three little words back to you because I never felt the same. I still don’t.”

He closed his eyes, released a heavy breath. “I don’t care. I think I love you enough for both of us. I won’t let them do anything else to you.”

“Like you’ll be able to stop them. They’re already starving us. And one day, when I’ve outgrown my use—” or died “—your dad will kill her and you know it.” I knew I was scaring her, but I considered the results worth it. If Ethan feared for her life, he might aid in our escape. And with his aid, food was of little consequence. “She knows too much, has seen too much.”

“No,” he said, again shaking his head.

“Oh, yes.”

“I’ll talk to my father.”

“And you’ll believe whatever he says? You’ll believe the man who’s already betrayed you and locked up the girl you love?”

Ethan’s mouth opened and closed, and I knew he was searching for a response. When he found none, he turned on his heel and marched out of the laboratory.

“Good riddance,” Kat muttered.

I turned and found her in the spot she’d occupied for the past several hours. Her skin was pale—too pale—and her body shaky. Her eyes were glazed, as if she were in tremendous pain.

“Kat,” Reeve said, concerned.

“I look terrible, I know. I got myself a set of bad kidneys. Sorry I never told you.”

“What?” Reeve rushed to her side.

“What can I do?” I asked.

“I’m okay,” she assured me. “Really. I’m just so hungry I’m considering having Paula Deen tattooed on my stomach when this is all over. She makes these scallop sliders I’d stab my dad to have.”

She needed dialysis, like, now, and I knew it. From this point on, she was only going to get worse. And with kidneys, there was no recovering from the damage. I’d checked.

“This is my fault,” Reeve said with a trembling chin. “I never should have trusted Ethan.”

“We all made mistakes,” Kat said, and with a confident smile added, “But Frosty will come. He’ll save the day. He won’t let anything happen to me. Or us. Mostly me.”

Reeve played along, saying, “Maybe he’ll bring Bronx and I can beg for his forgiveness.”

“Beg while naked,” Kat suggested. “He’ll agree to anything then.”

I patted Kat’s hand. It was limp, cold. I couldn’t wait for Ethan to grow a conscience or a pair of balls. Couldn’t wait for the boys to find us, or food to strengthen me. I had to act now.

How?

I moved to Jaclyn’s side of the cage and studied the lab, searching for things I might have missed. Anyone coming or going had to flash an ID badge over the box on the door. There was a glass case on the far wall with several tranq guns inside. I’d seen the lab coats use those weapons on the collared zombies.