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“Don’t you think I fucking know that?” Cole snaps, then he looks at me with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry I have to do this.” He grabs a pair of plastic cuffs, turns me around roughly, and draws my hands behind my back. Once my wrists are secured, he throws me onto the bed.
“This might take a while, but when I get back, we’ll have us a talk.”
After he leaves, I twist, looking around the room for anything I missed, my eyes landing on something new.
His hunting knife fell out of his coat pocket.
I breathe a sigh of relief, because somehow, the sun and stars aligned, and I might actually get to see my kid again.
But first, I need to escape.
Getting to the knife is easy, but opening the blade and sawing through the plastic cuff is arduous. I consider just leaving and trying to free myself along the way, but with the dead coming onto the farm, it’s too risky.
Once my wrists are free, I scour the tent, taking a flashlight, some food, and a pullover from a bag. Unfortunately, there are no other weapons. The hunting knife is less than ideal. But I don’t have a choice.
I exit the tent with no issue, heading south through a field. I hear a ruckus to the north, and while I should be thankful for the opportunity to escape, I feel bad for Russ’s people. I never got a chance to meet them, but from what I’ve heard, they’re a lot better than the Reavers.
My gut twists when I think about them. The monsters that took me captive. They were my salvation. Until they weren’t.
I met them shortly after the dead rose. They were cutting across the land, and they found me and Seth when we were desperate and near death.
They nursed us back to health, and I was relieved, because, at the time, I thought the dead were the enemy. I learned real fast how bad the living could be.
Gunther only allowed his most trusted to claim me, and they did so relentlessly. But I had Seth to keep me sane.
I make it to the tree line and begin to jog, keeping an easy pace because I have a few miles to cover. Dark is closing in, which means I’ll have to slow soon, because the last thing I need is to fall and twist my ankle.
I’ve never been a big runner, but the thought of seeing Seth again keeps me moving, through the brush, over fallen trees, and across a tiny stream.
They’re just a little further. In an old mine shaft Gunther discovered that had electricity. Apparently, it’s connected to a nuclear power source, and even though it’s creepy as hell, it’s safe and fairly comfortable.
And right now, it holds Seth. Or at least I pray it still does. Gunther can be cruel.
I rush forward, gaining speed, needing to see my boy, but the area confuses me. Most of the time, I was inside the mine, and with it growing dark, it’s easy to get turned around.
But I know I’m close. The steep rock wall which holds the shaft lies in the distance. It’s got to be somewhere.
I cup my hands together, desperate. “Gunther!” I call out. “It’s me, Amber.”
I hear something. Twigs breaking. But no one calls back. It could be a rager.
I move closer to the wall. “Gunther!” I call, because if I’ve already been spotted, there’s no point in playing coy. “Gunther, I need—”
CRASH!
I slam against the forest floor. It feels like a Mack truck hit me and laid itself right on top of me.
“Gu-gu-gunther?” I gasp.
“Shut your mouth, you little bitch, or I’ll shut it for you.”
13
SETH
COLE
Staring down at the blonde-haired angel that played me for a fool sends waves of fury coursing through my veins.
