Paradise Lost: Wasteland (Sons of Destruction MC Book 2) Read online

  The three of us belt out the lyrics sounding horrible but enjoying ourselves all the same. Well I am attempting to have fun.

  I pull onto Green’s Construction and my tires bounce over the bumps in the worn dirt road. I hope I don’t get stuck. Ideally, I should have let Brad drive his truck, but I want to be able to go home whenever I want to. I make it to the clearing where everyone is hanging out but park a bit further back, so I can get out easier. Our trio exits the car and Brad puts an arm around me and tries to kiss me with his beer breath. I grab his lips and push him away. “No way. You know I hate the taste,” I tell him.

  He lets out a heavy sigh but doesn’t press it. We navigate through the cars and squeeze into the circle around the fire. Brad takes a seat on an old log and pulls me down to sit in front of him on the ground and Abby takes the seat next to him. The ground is cold on my ass, but I appreciate the fact that it hasn’t snowed recently. There is a mix of high school kids and people who stuck around town to go to community college. My boyfriend drapes a protective arm over my shoulder as Judson Meyers walks past us clad in his black leather jacket and white t-shirt. His dark hair is slicked back, and he reminds me of Johnny Depp in the movie Cry Baby. He’s so James Dean. So retro. A rebel with an old school Hollywood vibe that says I’m a loner. Don’t fuck with me.

  I recognize him because my GiGi thought he was good looking when she took her car in for an oil change at his uncle’s garage. She said he looked like my type and I remember laughing it off. I don’t know him personally, but I can’t look away as he takes a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and slides one between his lips. Judson pulls a lighter out from his jean pocket and flips the top open. The flame flickers as he lights up and takes a hard drag looking too cool for the rest of us as he blows out a smoke ring.

  A hand waves in front of my face. “Earth to Lana.” Abby snaps her fingers at me.

  “What?” I turn to look at her.

  “I’m going to get Brad a beer. Do you want something?” I lick my teeth wishing I had brought a water with me. I think I have one in my car.

  “I’m good but thanks.” I shoot her a strained smile. I so don’t want to be here. This isn’t my scene. These are not my people. I get up off the cold hard ground and take up the spot on the log Abby previously occupied. She navigates through the crowd gathered around the keg, flipping her hair long dark hair over her shoulder.

  Brad grins at me. “Happy Valentine’s Day, gorgeous.”

  “You too,” I say dryly, hating that I am in such a foul mood.

  “What’s with you? You act like you can’t stand to be around me tonight?”

  I let out a sigh. My breath visible in front of me. “It’s cold and you know I don’t like drinking.”

  “Well maybe if you’d get the stick out of your rear and drink a beer, you’d warm up that frigid ass.” He scoffs, and Abby returns with his red solo cup. His fingers brush over hers and I pretend not to notice the unspoken flirtation between them. Brad chugs his beer, the liquid spewing from the sides of his mouth.

  “Take it easy there, cowboy,” Abby says with a giggle and I roll my eyes at both of them.

  “I’ll be back, I forgot something in the car,” I announce, getting up from the log. I shove my hands in the pocket of my black hoodie, locking my fingers together. I feel Judson's dark eyes on me as I walk past him. My gaze meets his briefly. He wipes the corner of his mouth with his thumb and winks at me.

  A coy smile crosses my face as I pick up my pace.

  I don’t bother waiting for a response or seeing if Abby wants to walk with me. I need a break from them both. The fire crackles as someone tosses more dead branches on the pile.

  I walk into the dark of the night away from the glow of the fire. Looking back at the group, I see Abby and Brad leaning in close, talking and smiling. Part of me has always known they share a connection. I just always thought that bond was me. Now as I am on the outside looking in that link that they have doesn’t have a damn thing to do with me. I make it to my car and debate leaving, but I don’t want to leave them stranded. I’m sure they could catch a ride with one of Brad’s friends but I’m not that kinda girl who takes off wordlessly as much as I wish I could be.

  Maybe I am seeing things that aren’t even there. Looking for any excuse to breakup with Brad and to be mad at Abby. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Shaking my head, I huff out a breath as I unlock my car and grab the bottle of water that I have in the center console.

  When I get back to the gathering, Brad and Abby are talking to Chris Schafer. I narrow my eyes on my boyfriend. I know Chris deals drugs and Brad knows I can’t stand the guy. I watch the exchange happen in front of me. Brad slaps some twenties in Chris’s palm, and he drops two pills in Brad’s hand in return. Disgust ripples through me. I take the lid off my water to take a drink but Brad jerks it out of my hand and swallows one of the pills. He holds the other out to me and all I can do is motion my head no.

  He turns to Abby and she greedily accepts the offer as he drops the white pill on her tongue. I look to my left and see Judson leaning against a tree watching the scene sharing the same look of repulsion as me. He gives me a lift of his chin and my lips twitch into a faint smile.

  When I turn my attention back to Brad and Abby, I am both horrified and somehow not surprised when I see the two of them sucking face. “Un-freaking-believable!” I shout at them. Abby bursts into tears and Brad pushes her away.

  “It’s not what you think,” he tries to explain. I’m not even mad at them. Part of me feels relieved.

  I shrug a shoulder. “I’m out of here.” I start toward my car and they both follow after me.

  “Can you at least give us a ride?” Brad asks, shoving his hands in his pockets. Abby is sniffling behind him afraid to face me.

  “Please, Lana. You can’t just leave us here.” I look past him at Abby and as much as I want to tell them both to go screw themselves, I just feel numb. “Please.” Black tears tinted with mascara fall down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” Her head falls into her hands and Brad gives me a pleading look.

  I should leave them here, but I don’t.

  “Fine. But you can ride in the back together and don’t either of you dare speak a word to me.” I don’t know what I am supposed to feel but I am so confused. I slam the door shut a little too hard afraid I am going to bust out the window but don’t. The traitors slide into the backseat together. I start the car ready to forget this night. I wanted to breakup with Brad. I guess I am simply hurt that neither of them could be honest with me and I wonder how long they have been going behind my back.

  The moment the car comes to life, the radio blares with an emergency broadcast signal. I figure it is a test and try switching the station, but the alert seems to be playing across every channel I try. All three that will pick up. Giving up I switch the stereo off and start down the road. Brad and Abby are both quiet and I can’t stand the tension.

  “Listen, I’m not mad that you guys are whatever. I just wish that you had respected me enough to be honest, but I wasn’t honest either. Brad, I was planning on breaking up with you tomorrow so if you and Abby like each other, it’s whatever.”

  I glance back at them through the rearview mirror. Neither of them say anything. Brad chugs the bottled water he ripped from my hands and Abby jerks it from his grip to finish it off. I guess whatever they took made them thirsty. I start hearing weird noises coming from the backseat when Abby suddenly screams. I slam on the brakes and twist around to see what the hell she is yelling about. Brad has her pinned down in the backseat. His face is to her neck and her eyes are wide with terror as her arms beat against his back.

  “What the fuck, Brad!” I curse at him, but he doesn’t stop whatever in the hell he is doing. I turn the overhead light on, and everything happens simultaneously. Brad turns to look at me and I feel like I am going to vomit. Blood and bits of what appears to be Abby’s throat is dripping from his mouth. He ripped her throat out a
nd he is looking at me like I am his next victim.

  He starts over the console and I grip the door handle, releasing it, and falling out of the car backwards. Slamming the door in his face before he can grab me, I let out a shuddered breath as a tear runs down my face. He killed Abby. “Oh my God,” I breathe the words out as the realization hits me. What the fuck did they do, take bath salts or something? Brad is beating against the door, trying to get out of the car and I scramble to my feet as the initial shock wears off.

  I start back toward the party afraid to open that door, afraid that Brad will get out and come at me next. I need to get help. I stumble over the rocks and dips of the dirt road as I walk in the dark. I’m cold and I can’t stop the tears as they run down my face. Headlights shine, and I hope that whoever is behind the wheel can see me standing in the middle of the road waving my arms frantically.

  The truck doesn’t seem to be slowing down and I scream, “Hey!” The driver slams on the brakes at the last minute. The passenger side door swings open and Judson Meyers orders me to get in. He doesn’t have to tell me twice.

  The radio is blaring that same warning signal. “What the hell is happening?” I question as he speeds down the road and swerves to miss my car that is stopped in the road, still running.

  “Where’s your friends?” he asks, not answering my question.

  “Tell me what’s going on? Brad, he…he bit Abby, tore out her throat…he killed her,” I choke on the last part.

  “Zombies,” Judson deadpans and I laugh.

  “Be serious.”

  His eyes narrow on me in the dark cab of his old pickup truck. “I never joke about Zombies.”

  “You’re telling me that Brad, the guy I have known for years is a zombie?”

  Judson doesn’t get to answer me. The announcer on the radio starts to speak finally.

  Attention! This is an announcement from the Emergency Broadcast Service. There have been several confirmed outbreaks of a new virus resulting in cannibalism. All residents are advised to stay indoors. Seek shelter immediately. If you notice any friends or family members acting strangely, quarantine them, and immediately call your local authorities. This is not a test. This is an announcement from the Emergency Broadcast Service.

  The message plays on a continuous loop.

  “This can’t be happening,” I whisper as Judson lowers the volume on the radio and idles at the end of the dirt road.

  “Look, I don’t want to believe it either but after you took off from the party, mayhem broke out. I saw shit I only read about in comics and saw on the TV screen. I barely made it to my truck alive.”

  “What made you stop for me?”

  He shrugs a shoulder. “I liked your grandma. She was nice to me.”

  “You remember her?”

  “That’s not important. Where do you live? I’ll get you home.” His mention of the word home has me remembering my Mom is home all alone.

  “What about Brad?”

  “You want to go back?”

  No. I don’t want to go back but I think I owe it to Brad to get him help. “Yeah. I can’t leave him like that. Don’t you think we should call the police?”

  “And tell them what?”

  “I don’t know.” I struggle with my conscience. I know I shouldn’t just leave Brad back there in that state but going back could mean my life and Judson’s.

  “I’m taking you home. Rule number six of the apocalypse. Never go back. Keep moving forward.” He smirks and I give him a tight smile as unease settles in my belly. He can’t really mean that Brad is a zombie. Zombies aren’t real, are they?

  ——

  Present Day

  This can’t be happening again. I know the signs. My father is going to turn just like my mother did. Just like Brad and all the others who have died since the outbreak spread across the world. He’s going to die and there is nothing I can do to stop the process unless I kill him. I’ve thought about doing the deed, but how can I look into my father’s eyes and end his life? I don’t know how anyone does it—killing. I guess if it came down to my life or someone else’s I would choose my own, but I am one of those people who usually freeze in stressful situations. Placing another wet rag on his forehead, I don’t know what to do to make him more comfortable. Times such as this is when I really miss my Mom and my sister. They’d be better at this. They’d have him laughing and Lenny wouldn’t be so frightened. He does good to hide it. Always volunteering to handle any task, but I know my brother. He never has been one for being idle.

  I thought Salvation would be a safe haven. I’m the one who convinced Dad that it would be our best chance at survival. Then there was Felix and his bitch of a sister, Magon. They sunk their claws into my older sister, Lizzie. Our folks had a thing for naming us with names that start with the letter L. Anyway, Lizzie fed into the bullshit Felix was singing about his zombie brother and agreed to some crazy plan to marry the monster behind our father’s back. By the time we found out it was too late and then Felix turned his attention on me. Told me things that all girls want to hear. That I was special and meant for great things. I knew it was all bullshit but Magon was threatening to kill my brother if I didn’t do what they wanted. I’m ashamed to confess that I did anything they asked of me but what choice did I have and now look at us. I’m going to lose my father. Lenny will be all I have left.

  I can’t take just sitting here and waiting. Prissy is busy loading the truck with our supplies and Lenny took off a while ago with Asher to scavenge. My father appears to be sleeping now and I grip the extra pillow I brought him from one of the bedrooms between my fingers. If I were to smother him would he simply die, or would he come back to life as a zombie? I wish I knew the answer. Might make this decision easier if I did. I stare down at the man who raised me knowing that these breaths he is taking may very well be his last. A sleep grin twitches on his thin lips and I wonder if he is dreaming of my mother. Will she be waiting for him with open arms when he passes? No one really knows what happens to us when we die.

  I watched my father drive a screwdriver through my mother’s ear to protect me when she turned. I watched the life leave my sister’s eyes when Phillip ate off half of her face. Did she go to Heaven like all good girls do or did she go to Hell for sacrificing herself to a monster?

  The front door of the old farmhouse swings open. I drop the pillow to the floor and run to the chair I was occupying earlier and grab a book, pretending to read, hoping the guilt of what I was about to do isn’t showing on my face. Priscilla and Asher come in with a starving dog. I keep to myself for fear of confessing my dark thoughts. Would they think me a sick individual or would they both agree with me? Killing him would be the humane thing to do but he’s my father. I don’t want to see his spirit snuffed out behind his eyes.

  Prissy is busy tending to the dog and I am lost in my thoughts. Wondering if things would be different if I had died in place of Lizzie. I ache for my sister and at times I ache for Brad and Abby too. I try not to think about Judson Meyers. The broody boy who saved me. The last time I saw him he was driving away in his old truck to check on his Uncle. He promised he’d come back but he never did. I don’t know what happened to him, but I like to tell myself that he’s out there somewhere living his best life.

  Lenny comes in the door followed by the worst smell. He has crap all over him and I start gagging. Asher tells us that they found the farmer. Or well that the farmer found my brother and his guts sort of exploded onto my brother. I’ve never smelled something so rancid in my life. Four showers and he still smells terrible. Asher is eager to get on the road. Says he thinks a bad winter storm is on the way. My father is in no shape to travel. I feel selfish in wanting to leave with them but there is nothing here. Lenny and I’d never survive on our own.

  I’m tending to my father as he calls out for my mother. He says he can see her waiting for him. He is staring off past me and I guess in his mind she’s really here. “Kill me and go,” his words are meant
for Asher and I can’t stop the sob from tearing from my throat.

  “No!” I cry although I know he’s right. We should kill him and leave this forsaken place.

  Lenny surprises us all when he takes the gun in Prissy’s hand. I move out of the way having already said my goodbye. My brother looms over our father fighting what he knows he must do. He needs to give our father peace.

  And then in an instant everything goes to hell. My father sits upright and attacks my brother and Prissy does what I am not able to. She gives them both peace by way of a bullet to the head. I can’t watch. I know the outcome. I’ve seen it one too many times. Shrinking into a corner I just want to die right along with them. I’m all alone now. I have no one left who will care if I live or die. There will be no one to remember me when I’m gone. There will be no one left to remember any of us in the end. Because in the end everyone dies. No one lives forever.

  Chapter 3

  —Stitch

  Damn, the snow is really coming down now. I don’t know if I am going to make it to this place called Salvation. I don’t want to give up the search for Priscilla and Asher, but I don’t want to freeze to fucking death either. I’m torn between turning back home or pushing just a little further. It’s late and I should pull over and get some sleep but then I see a figure in the road up ahead. I have a handgun in the passenger seat next to me. I stop a few feet away. When the person throws a hand up over their eyes when they stare into my headlights, I am surprised to find anyone living and out in this weather no less. They approach the driver’s side and as he gets closer, I can’t believe my eyes. It’s fucking Asher West. Just the man I have been looking for. I roll down my window and ask, “Ash, that you, brother?”

  “Stitch! What the hell are you doing out here in a snowstorm?”

  “Prez sends me out every few weeks to look for you and Priscilla. Is she okay? Is she with you? He’s been worried sick.”

  “Asleep in the truck. Got a kid named Lana traveling with us and a dog too.”