Page 77 of Once Upon an Apocalypse

I’ve found my purpose at The Valley in more ways than one. I’m a daughter again. A wife. A friend. And a warrior. I will fight until my dying breath to protect everyone and everything inside The Valley. And it just so happens that I have what Doctore wants. I am his weakness. His first gladiator. He will do anything to get me back.

As I look out the window of the car moving against the autumn backdrop of Central Pennsylvania, I take a deep breath, settling my anxious nerves.Fight. Survive. Live.My mantra resurfaces after months of feeling safe. It holds more weight now than ever before because I have so much to lose, not just my own life.

Amos places his hand on my thigh, grounding me to this moment with him. His other hand, a mechanical one that Norman had built for Amos, casually steers the wheel of the car. The sight of it makes me nervous. When Amos first showed me his new arm, I was happy for him. Happy because he was happy.

“I’m whole again,” he had said to me. Even though he was always whole to me, I kept my mouth shut. He felt like his old self again. He can play the piano with two hands again. How could I take that away from him? But I don’t trust Norman, not after the stunt he pulled by throwing me into a zombie-filled obstacle course. Something Doctore would have gladly done to me without blinking twice.

I know Amos still holds a grudge against Norman for what he did, which is why it makes me so nervous that he accepted this new arm so easily. Perhaps this is Norman’s way of making amends, trying to do the right thing. I hate it, but I believe his story. That he has broken ties with Doctore.

“This is it,” Jonah says from the back, sitting between Olivia and Kyle. He folds up the map he’d been studying, a smaller version of the one Amos has hanging in his office. With help from Matthew’s intel, we’ve narrowed down the area where Doctore’s satellite lab in this region could be.

It took us three hours to drive here and we didn’t have to drive through The Wall. Knowing that Doctore and his goons are this close to The Valley makes my blood boil and my stomach wrench. All I can do now is hope that everyone back home is okay. That the fortifications are strong enough to hold back an attack.

Amos slows down the car to a stop, scanning the trees surrounding us. If this was any other day, I would say the endless trees changing their colors are freaking gorgeous. But one of Doctore’s labs is somewhere out there. We are entering unknown enemy territory filled with danger at every turn. Traps. Zombies. Super soldiers.

“We are not splitting up. Got it?” I say for the millionth time.

“Aye, aye, captain,” Amos says in a joking spirit.

“I thought I was your captain,” Kyle mock-whines.

“You’re my lieutenant.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Kyle says as he opens the door. Jonah and Olivia hop out after him, readying their weapons for battle.

Amos and I join them, huddling one last time to go over the game plan. There’s an old mining village we suspect is near the lab we are searching for. Since we don’t know the exact spot, it could take us hours to find it. We’ll need to find shelter before the sun goes down, even if that means we have to sleep in the car.

So we plan a path in several directions, walking thirty minutes before changing course. After four hours and changing direction eight times through the thickening woods, Olivia spots an overlook tower. Kyle checks our bearing before turning us toward the tower. This will have to be our last stop before turning back to the car. The sun is already sinking down low in the sky, warning us of the impending night time.

My skin tingles, a warning sign, as we approach the lone tower. But there’s nothing I can see that tells me danger is afoot. Doesn’t mean there isn’t danger out there, lurking in the shadows of the trees. Amos slides a hand around my waist, pulling me to his side. He places a hard kiss on my head, shaking the lingering fear from my body.

“Kyle and I will head all the way to the top. Olivia, scout from the middle. Lori and Jonah, stay at the bottom ledge,” Amos commands.

“I thought we agreed to stay together.” I look up at the face of my husband, his golden eyes fixed on the top of the tower.

When he looks down at me, a smile tugs at his mouth. “We are not separating. But we need visuals at different heights.”

I press my head into his chest, afraid to let him go. So silly when we will literally be climbing the same freaking tower. He will just be a hundred or so feet above me. I can do this.

Amos kisses my head again then whispers into my hair, “I love you, Copperhead.”

He doesn’t wait for me to respond, turning abruptly to climb the stairs on the lookout tower. Kyle follows him, then Olivia, then Jonah and me. My heart feels like it rips in two when Amos continues up the stairs as Jonah and I remain on the bottom ledge. I fight through the ridiculous emotions tearing at my heart with every step Amos takes away from me, and focus my attention on the ominous woods surrounding the tower.

Some of the leaves have already fallen from the trees, giving us a partial view into the woods, even from the bottom ledge. I aim my rifle, looking into the scope, and scan the scattering of trees to my left as Jonah does the same on my right. We walk slowly around the ledge, meeting on the other side.

“Hey, Shortcake,” Jonah says.

“Hey, pal.” I offer him a cheerful smile, which fades when I see the misery on Jonah’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I need you to promise me that if anything happens to me, if I die, you won’t let me turn.”

“You won’t turn—”

Jonah interrupts me, saying, “Do you remember me telling you how the Praetorian Guard are dosed with the virus? Just enough so that if we die, we will come back. Doesn’t matter if we die from a bite. I will turn into one of those monsters and I need you to promise me you won’t let it happen.”

I try to keep my voice as confident as I can, even though dread threatens to annihilate every shred of hope. “I promise. But, Jonah, we are going to be all right.”

“I hope so, Shortcake. Just remember, sever my spinal cord.”

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