All The Broken People (The Dread Series Book 2) Read online

  He had been persuasive, promising her it would be worth it. He told her how Taylor had killed the force of Reckoners. He said he might be able to unravel the secret of her powers if he had more time with her.

  His story was accurate. Valery had come across a few of the fleeing Reckoners, adding them to her ranks during the night. In the end she had chosen to accept his suggestion. She moved through the nighttime blackness passing Taylor and her party.

  Her new abilities as a member of the Dread were impressive. She could move for days without tiring, cover long distances quickly, and food was now only a memory. The way the Dread ruled her now was a feeling not unwelcome. She now understood her place as the apex predator so well.

  Valery and the rest of the Dread were meant to rule. It only made sense that humanity, being the weaker species, was destined to submit. Before she had made the change, when she still lived inside the Ark as a worker bee, she had imagined the Dread’s goal was the total eradication of the human race. She couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  The Dread only sought to control the majority of the Earth’s population. Now that it had, the ideal scenario was to rule those who remained. Sure, slaves would be needed as phase two of the Dread’s plan came to fruition, eventually controlling a viable human species was within the master plan. It made sense. What good was absolute power if there was no one over which to exercise that power?

  Valery and the rest of her party moved over the uneven terrain efficiently, for now giving Taylor and her party a wide berth. When they reached the Vault, they would lay their trap.

  ***

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Lu looked at her with a scowl.

  “You’re in the front with me,” Taylor said, motioning to the passenger side seat in the SUV. “You can travel with us, but we’re far from trusting you. You’re right up front where I can keep my eye on you at all times.”

  Lu stared at her for a long minute before he obeyed, climbing into the shotgun seat beside Taylor. She could practically sense the animosity he held. His teeth were clenched so tight a muscle twinge vibrated at his jawline.

  Captain Martin and Jason, who appeared to be back to his normal self, were driving the heavy-duty 4x4 truck. While the vehicle had seen better years, the tires were in good condition, and under the flaking rust colored paint the frame was solid. They had packed the bed of the vehicle with supplies ranging from foodstuffs to ammunition.

  The SUV was in a similar state. At one time it had been a shining black, though that time had since passed. Now it was a dulling ebony.

  Taylor was in the driver’s seat, with a silent Lu beside her. In the back Frank, Melissa, and Cidney were quietly talking amongst themselves.

  Taylor turned the key in the ignition, receiving a guttural humming in response. Frank had gone over the vehicle quickly. The SUV, like the truck, was solar powered so the dials were different and something about the gauges. Taylor’s eyes had glazed over after the first explanation of how solar power worked.

  A dull headache pounded in the deep recesses of her mind but she ignored the pain and focused on the road in front of her. Their morning was quiet. With Frank poring over a map, Taylor led the caravan, following an uneven trail through the forest until it emptied them out on a main highway. They were in luck. She had half expected the roads to be lined with abandoned vehicles, perhaps even felled trees or boulders from rogue landslides. So far their path was clear.

  As the miles ticked by Taylor checked her rearview mirror over and over again to make sure the captain and Jason followed safely.

  “You check any more often you’re going to break that mirror from use, Push.”

  “What did you call me?” Taylor snapped.

  “It seems like a good nickname, the way you threw those Reckoners through the air back there,” Lu said, keeping his eyes on the road.

  “My name’s Taylor, not Push.” Remembering the other name Lu had used for her when they had first met she added, “Not boss either.”

  “Whatever you say, Captain,” Lu said with a grin.

  “You’re not going to get a rise out of me if that’s what you’re trying to do.”

  Lu shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I can see the fire in your eyes. It’s there. You just have some voice in your head that won’t allow you to fully let go, not yet. You haven’t seen enough, soon you will.”

  “What are you talking about?” Taylor asked, taking her eyes off the road for a moment to send a scathing glare at her passenger.

  “Well, let’s call a Dread a Dread and a Reckoner a Reckoner,” Lu said. “I mean, you’re using your ability to block incoming danger and send your enemies flying when you should be killing them on the spot. Just like you saved the leader of the Reckoners from me yesterday. She deserved to feel more pain before she died.”

  Taylor was beginning to think she’d made a mistake in letting Lu travel with them. “What’re you saying? You want me to start torturing prisoners? Oh wait no, you want me to kill everyone so there are no prisoners, is that it? Not everyone is a monster like you, Lu.”

  “Don’t do that,” Lu growled. “You don’t get to judge me. Not all of us were safe behind walls for the last year and a half. I’ve seen things—I’ve had to do things to survive. And I would do them all again. I will do them all again before this is over.”

  The silence in the SUV was deafening. All chatter from the three in the rear had ceased. Taylor found herself thinking on Lu’s words longer than she would have liked. Although he did have a point, she refused to let herself wander too far in that line of thinking. Sure, she had killed her fare share of humans infected by the Dread, but they were already lost, all semblance of humanity gone forever. The Reckoners were different, they were still people. If she killed without discretion, what would be the difference between her and those infected by the Dread?

  “Maybe you’re right,” she conceded, surprising even herself with the admission. “Maybe there will come a time where we fight, kill, maim, and torture like our enemy, but that time hasn’t come yet. We have to be better than they are, or our fight has already been lost.”

  Lu was shaking his head. “You’ll think differently with a few weeks out in our new reality. You’re one death away from seeing the world through my eyes. One person close to you dies, and you’ll be me.”

  Taylor was torn. Half of her wanted to argue with the man, the other half sensed something in his voice. Something that said he was speaking from experience, that he had lost someone close.

  The silence lengthened. Her headache was growing in strength, now pulsing in her temples. She rolled her head around her shoulders trying to relieve some of the pain.

  The day passed mostly in silence. Breaks were taken when nature called and lunch was a meal of canned goods provided by the Reckoners. It wasn’t until the sun began its decent that conversation picked up again.

  “So what did happen?” Melissa asked. “You’re right, we were in the Ark for a year and a half. What happened to the world?”

  Lu’s voice shifted from raw and violent to regretful, almost sad. “The world…it slaughtered itself.”

  ***

  “I know you all got to see it from the front lines with that drug Vanidrum you told me about. You all knew what was happening and why.” Lu began his story staring out the car window as if he were relaying the tale to the passing scenery. “For the rest of us it was sudden, a nightmare.

  “You have to remember I belong to a faction of Elite humans who have resources in every field, every corner of the world. For years we’ve heard whispers, rumors of something coming. We looked into every lead; demons, cults, even members of our own species. There are monsters out there of course, but nothing like the Dread. When we figured out what was happening it was already too late.

  “The Dread was spreading faster than we could contain it. They were smart, they took out communication first, then destroyed any idea of a military, starting with the lea
ders and working their way down.

  “To ensure the survival of our people, the Elites relocated to an island to which only we have access. From there many of us, including our leader, went out to gather information, help humans where we could, and figure out a way to kill this thing once and for all.”

  “And have you?” Frank blurted out a little too eagerly. “I mean, that would be huge.”

  “No,” Lu said, arching an eyebrow and turning in his seat. “I’ve defeated hundreds of their number to no avail. The more I kill, there’s always more that keep coming. I started in New York and worked my way across the country, always searching for a way. About six months ago these evolved members of the Dread started appearing everywhere. They call themselves Dread Lieutenants. They have powers, kind of like Push over here.”

  “My name is not—”

  “I know, I know, keep your pants on,” Lu said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Anyway, some are capable of manipulating sound, others disappearing, some can shift their form, you name it. If that wasn’t bad enough they started opening up their ranks to humans who want to work for them. You met the Reckoners, they’re only the tip of the spear. More will come.”

  “I thought when we got out of the Ark it would be humans against the Dread,” Cidney said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t think we would be fighting our own kind.”

  “The world has become an ugly place.” Lu squinted through the front windshield into the distance. “I think we’re about to get another reminder of that right about now.”

  ***

  Taylor’s headache was turning into a full-blown migraine. On top of that she was sweating. Had the landscape around them not changed so drastically she would ask Melissa or Frank to take the wheel for a while.

  It was midday. Thus far, their journey on the road was nothing shy of simple. Here and there Taylor maneuvered around a broken down vehicle or natural wildlife where it grew into the street. However, something had happened to the stretch of road they traveled through now. A fire of some kind in the not to distant past was responsible for ravaging, trees, and bushes on either side of the road. The road itself was cracked and streaked with ash.

  “A week ago maybe,” Lu said tensely. “This was recent.”

  “What’s that up there?” Melissa asked with a hint of worry in her voice. “Is that a—a tree?”

  In the middle of the road, not one but two dense trees blocked their way. The path on either side was thick with the black husks of burned brush. Nothing still smoked yet the smell of ash was thick in the air.

  “Someone wants us to stop here,” Lu said. He raised his hand to the sword hilt that poked up over his shoulder. “This is no accident.”

  “Can you push it out of the way, Taylor?” Frank asked.

  “Sure,” Taylor gritted out through the pain she was feeling in her head and now body. The lancing discomfort traveled from her skull and now pulsated in her hands and legs.

  Despite her mysterious onset of discomfort Taylor knew they couldn’t stay put. Lu was right, this had all the signs of some kind of trap. Calling on her willpower to focus past the pain Taylor commanded the burned trees out of their path…and nothing happened.

  Again she focused on lifting the tree trunk, this time even extending a hand to mimic the motion she wanted from the trees. Still, nothing.

  “You okay, Push?”

  “I’m fine,” Taylor said with irritation. “Stay in the vehicle. I just need to get closer or something.”

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Cidney said worriedly.

  “I’ll be fine,” Taylor said. The agony she felt was warping her sense of logic. She stumbled out of the SUV before any other objections could be raised. Why weren’t her powers working?

  She walked over the soot-streaked road to the barricade. The landscape was eerie in every way. Blackened trees dotted either side of the road as far as Taylor could see. Husks of bushes and undergrowth were bleak and ebony black, their gnarled branches reaching to the sky like blackened skeletal hands. If this wasn’t enough, she got the distinct feeling she was being watched.

  Again, Taylor brought her hand up in front of her and mentally strained to lift the object. Nothing moved, but this time she felt warmth and her hand glowed a dull white. Taylor blinked, staggering to hold herself erect. Was she hallucinating? Again she extended her hand, again a white glow surrounded her palm.

  “That’s far enough,” a young voice said to her left. “Tell your friends to get out of the vehicles and put down your weapons.”

  Taylor felt so lightheaded she wondered how much longer she was going to remain standing. She raised her hands in the air and turned toward the voice. A handful of children, soot streaked and thin, looked back at her. The oldest couldn’t be more than a few years into his teens, the youngest about the same age as Cidney. They all carried some kind of firearm, pointed at Taylor.

  Fear showed on nearly every face.

  “We aren’t here to hurt you,” Taylor said, doing a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn to show them her lack of weapons. “I’m not carrying any kind of—”

  Car doors opened as Lu and the survivors from the Ark exited the vehicles. Captain Martin, Jason, Frank, and Melissa all hesitantly aimed automatic weapons at the group of children. Lu moved the closest, his saber drawn.

  “Easy,” Taylor said, positioning herself to stand between the two factions. “We aren’t doing this.”

  “They don’t look infected, PJ,” a young red haired girl said to the first boy who had spoken.

  “Shut it, Susan,” the boy said. “This is our turf. We want your weapons, food, and the cars.”

  Taylor could see through his mask of bravado as if it were translucent. He was as scared as the rest of the kids he led. His handle on the stock of his rifle was shaking, his grip slippery with sweat.

  “Taylor,” Jason said from his spot behind her, “I think we should go.”

  “Wait.” Taylor looked at Jason and moved back to the band of youths with open hands to show her submission. The motion was a mistake. Tensions were too high. Frightened by her sudden movement, PJ’s rifle went off. The bullet struck her before she even heard the blare of the firearm.

  ***

  Whether on accident or by skill, PJ’s bullet smacked Taylor two inches from her heart. The feeling that should have knocked her off her feet at such close range felt more like someone flicking her with their forefinger.

  She looked down at her torso. No blood pooled from a wound, no searing pain other than the head and body aches she was already enduring.

  By some miracle, the two stalemated groups didn’t open fire once the initial shot rang out. As one they collected themselves from the shock of Taylor’s miraculous save from death and readjusted their sights on one another. The scene erupted in a cacophony of shouts and orders to stand down.

  “Taylor, Taylor!” Cidney was screaming from behind Melissa.

  “I’m okay,” Taylor said, making sure to move slower. “I’m okay, there’s no reason anyone has to die. PJ, do you hear me?”

  The use of his name drew the frightened boy to readjust his view on Taylor.

  “We’ll lower our weapons but I need your word you’re done shooting people,” Taylor said with a firm, even tone. “I mean it. We can all live through this but I need your word.”

  The shouts died all around as eyes from each group looked to PJ to see what he would decide. The boy swallowed hard then nodded. “Okay, put your weapons down. We won’t shoot.”

  Some of Taylor’s team were eager to obey like Frank and Melissa. Lu was a wild card, and Cidney wasn’t holding a weapon. The captain and Jason were harder to control.

  “This is a bad idea,” Jason said, moving the sights of his firearm from one child to the next. “I didn’t sign up to kill kids but they already shot you. What’s going to stop them from killing us all once we lay these down?”

  “Captain?” Taylor said, ignoring Jason’s outburs
t for the time being.

  The aged veteran licked his dry lips, weighing his odds. A moment later he lowered his weapon. “I’m with you. I’m not killing kids.”

  All eyes turned to Jason, who still held his rifle with the stock pressed against his shoulder. “We aren’t all bulletproof like you are, Taylor. If that’s what happened here.”

  “I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Taylor said. “Bulletproof or not, there’s no reason we should have to be. They aren’t going to murder us, right, PJ?”

  PJ nodded, lowering his rifle until the barrel was pointed to the ground. “I thought you were going to make a move to attack us like he did before. He had this dark stuff he could shoot from his hands.”

  “They aren’t the Dread,” Susan said. She also lowered her weapon and motioned for the other children to do the same. “This feels wrong.”

  Taylor raised an eyebrow and looked in Jason’s direction. With a shamed face he dropped his gun.

  Satisfied they were in no immediate threat, Taylor looked to PJ. “Who did this? Who burned the forest?”

  “He did,” PJ said with a shudder. “For no reason. He burned the forest when he moved through with his army.”

  “Army?” Lu asked siding up to Taylor, “What are you talking about?”

  “We should get off the road,” Susan said, her large, frightened eyes roving around the landscape. “We’re out in the open. That’s rule number one, never be out in the open.”

  “Right, right,” PJ said, looking over the SUV and truck with hungry eyes. “We can show you where to park your cars where they won’t be seen from the road.”

  “We have food,” Melissa said, also stepping up. “We can share what we have if you know of a place we can go.”

  Taylor approved of Melissa’s actions. She was planning to say the same thing herself.

  “You guys have food? I knew it!” Susan crowed. “Come on, PJ, you have to let them come back to camp with us.”