Page 65 of Such a Feral Little Lamb
“Why?”
“Aside from Autumn, we’re all pretty senior. I can count the number of times I’ve worked with Dane on one hand.”
“Why else?”
“It’s too far. Cut off if we did clear it because there are so many towns between here and the Citadel that are still crawling with the fuckers. And…”
“And?”
“And…” She hesitates, then blows out a breath. Autumn is silently crying, one hand pressed against her lips. “I had a strange meeting before I came here. With the higher-ups. They asked what I knew of the outbreak, where zombies come from, things like that.”
“What did you say?”
“What we all know. What I remembered. They dismissed me after that and told me to expect the job the next day.”
I sigh, drawing one knee up and resting a booted foot on the pew. They were fishing, then, and whatever they were fishing for, they found it in Dane.
Maybe Blake? My eyes alight on him when he walks down the aisle, and he shakes his head. “Nothing?”
“Otto’s dead,” I say, and Blake comes to an abrupt stop, eyes widening when I indicate Otto’s war hammer with a wave of my hand.
“Where’d you find it?”
I explain the town hall, the bag that Mason is holding. The strangeness of it all.
“You really found nothing else in there? No sign of Dane?”
“Nothing at all.”
Blake sighs. He drops onto his sleeping bag and studies the three of us, and that same banked fear I see in Rae’s gaze is reflected in his, too. “What now? We just wait around for one of us to be taken?”
“No,” Rae says. She leans forward and Autumn watches her with rapt attention. “Now we watch each other’s backs. Eyes on each other at all times and tell each other where we’re going.”
“Otto wasright there,” Autumn says in a small voice.
“Yeah, and Isaac keeps fucking off to fu—”
“Enough,” Rae snaps. “Both of you. This is what we’re going to do, all right? And all si—five of us will be back on that train.”
Blake glares at her, but I’m not certain it’s necessarily out of malice. The three of us, at least, know it isn’t that simple. Dane didn’t take food or water with him, and Otto was taken after him, so if he’s dead, then—
“Isaac,” Nia says from the stairs. Emma stands just behind her, and when I glance at Mason, he looksfurious. “Could I have a moment, please?”
Rae grabs my sleeve. “Be careful,” she murmurs.
I nod and she lets go. The three of them watch every step I take as I cross the church, and I’m not at all surprised that Mason is half a step behind when I reach Nia.
“Both of you, then,” Nia says. Fury sparks in her eyes, too. Clearly, Mason wasn’t supposed to tell me anything at all.
We descend the steps in silence. Mason puts his hand on my lower back as we follow Nia through the tunnels, never going in the familiar direction of Mason’s room. There’s far more space down here than I expected, and it isn’t long before I realise it would be difficult for me to find my way back out again.
Mason would help. I think.
Nia pushes open a dark wooden door at the end of one of the tunnels. The room inside is small, crowded with a heavy desk and chairs, as well as a large cabinet in the corner. Emma doesn’t follow her inside. She ushers us past instead, then reaches over to close the door behind us.
Not ominous at all.
Nia takes a seat behind the desk. She gestures at the other two. “Sit.”
