Page 21 of Once Upon an Apocalypse

Jonah gives me space for the next few days. He even takes his meals at a different time to avoid seeing me. Good. As I walk the busy halls of the bunker that have been my home for what feels like forever, people stop and stare at me. The unkillable gladiator. Doctore’s favorite lab rat.

These past few days have been…peaceful. I’ve been left alone. No escorts. No tests. No fights. When Jonah knocks on my door, for a moment I think I see the boy I fell in love with. When I look around him, there are two guards. The two guards who are my usual escort to the arena. This is a first. Jonah has never been to the arena to see me fight. At least, not since we were forced to fight together and then against one another.

As I follow Jonah down the long hallway leading to the staircase, I can’t help but ask, “Are you going to actually watch me get torn apart this time or go back to your corner like a good little pet and pretend that everything is okay?”

Jonah doesn’t respond, staying focused on the task at hand. But one of the guards behind me punches me in the back of the skull, making me fall to my knees. Someone pulls on my braided hair, lifting me back up to my feet. Just when I’m about to throw punches, I feel a soft touch on my arm. Jonah.

He pulls me behind him and addresses to the two guards who attacked me. “Were you ordered to subdue the test subject? Or escort her to the Colosseum?”

My head snaps up to look at Jonah’s rigid face.Did he seriously just call me a test subject?

“No, sir. But she spoke out of turn and—”

“I don’t believe I asked you for an explanation. You are dismissed. As are you, Georgie.”

The two guards answer with a “Yes, sir,” and turn to walk in the opposite direction like good little soldiers.

“Are you okay, Lori?” Jonah asks, letting go of my arm.

“Oh, am I Lori now? Not test subject?”

Jonah’s face softens as he answers, “I’m sorry. That is what you are here and how I must treat you.”

I nod, trying not to care. My heart has already shattered. There’s nothing more to break. “Why did they call you sir?”

“They are my command. I have a small legion of men now.”

“Congrats,” I say dryly. Then remember what Doctore said. How he thought I would ask for him to give Jonah a promotion. Is that what this is?

“Yeah.” Jonah drags a hand over his head, pulling his thick, brown hair between his fingers. “Let’s go.”

We walk in silence the whole way upstairs, all ten flights to the surface. There’s an elevator, but I’ve only been taken up that way once. When we reach the exterior door, Jonah pulls out a key. A key. Jonah has a key to this place now. He can get us out. I want to say this to him, but then I remember what Jonah has become. He doesn’t want to leave this place. He has become this place.

Jonah opens the door and ushers me through. As my eyes adjust to the harsh sunlight, I notice Jonah didn’t have the same reaction. Perhaps he’s allowed outside more often than I am.

Making sure I’m secure in the back seat, Jonah slides into the driver’s seat of the black SUV that is parked just outside the exterior door of the bunker. The chariot that will bring me to my death. And yet, death never sticks around long enough for me to die.

“Are you not afraid I might jump out of the car?” I ask, staring at him in the rearview mirror.

“I’ve got the child locks on,” Jonah locks his eyes on mine for a second before turning his attention to the dirt road. The Colosseum is only a five-minute drive away, but it’s much safer by car. Another reason only the powerful and cunning can go to the games. The poor and unfortunate would not have the means to get there.

We park in front of the back entrance to the Colosseum. An old high school football field converted into a gladiatorial death pit. I wait for Jonah to open my door. When he does, I don’t take the hand he offers, but I wait for him to close the door before walking toward the stadium.

Jonah brings me all the way into the armory where I choose a weapon and silently wait for my entrance to be announced. A spear is my weapon of choice today. Not my favorite, but I don’t have plans to last long in today’s fight. I only hope that my pseudo death will be quick.

“I wish I could give you a different world, Lori.” Jonah breaks the silence, a silence I thought I had to myself. “But this is the one we have.”

There are so many things I should say to Jonah. He was my friend, my boyfriend. Hell, he was so much more than those things. But that was so long ago. Today, I am angry with him. I don’t know if I will ever not be angry with him. He needs to feel that anger. He needs to understand. I want him to feel my pain.

“And I wish I could still love you for who you were and not hate you for what you’ve become,” I say, before turning toward the arena.

My eyes immediately find Doctore’s as I walk onto the arena’s floor, the compact sand squishing between my toes. He rises from his seat in the VIP section where a platform has been built close to the walls of the pit, just like a Roman emperor. As I stare into Doctore’s dark eyes, he smiles at me again, lifting his arms to signal for the doors to be opened. I don’t need to turn around to know that there’s a horde of freshies behind me. But there is something odd about the sound of their groaning. My grip on the spear tightens when I turn around to see that all eight freshly made zombies are from the group of orphans I have taken care of in the bunker for the last few years.

I know my scream will lead them right to me, but I don’t care. I won’t die. But Doctore will. As I lift my spear, his smile fades. I throw the spear with all my strength. Just before a set of teeth sinks into my arm, the spear sinks into Doctore’s stomach. I smile. Even as more teeth tear at my skin, I smile through my screams because I got him. I put fear into the eyes of a fearless man.

Chapter 16

“Lori!”TheechoofJonah’s voice rings in my ears as I try to remember where I am. Gun fire. Chaos. Zombies. Orphans.

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