Page 1 of The Pale Rider
Chapter 1
I
awoke to nothing but death. And a horrible smell. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know who I was. When my eyes fluttered open, I was dressed in a hospital gown in a white room. There was dust on the nightstand. I noticed that first. The place gave the appearance of some sort of long-term hospital room, but it didn’t look like anyone had checked in on me for a while. And what was that smell?
I swung my legs off the bed and gently took the IV out of my hand. I didn’t feel like I was in any type of pain to be needing drugs. Why was I here? Was I in some sort of coma? I tested my feet. I could stand. I was a little shaky, but I could walk. I made my way to the door. Where was everyone, and why was there dust in a hospital room? Could someone here tell me my name and why I was here? And for the love of God,what was that smell?
I managed to make it to the only door in the room. Locked. No one checked on me, but why did they lock me in this room? I pounded on the door and started screaming for someone, anyone to come to get me out of here. I didn’t know how long I’d been in this room, but it was starting to feel tiny now that I knew they locked me in.
I pounded and pounded. My throat was parched like I hadn’t drunk any water in months, but I kept screaming for someone to come get me. Was I alone in here? If this was a hospital, why wasn’t there a nurse on duty?
Finally, I heard it. Footsteps in the hallway. I heard a muffled voice through the door.
“Stand away from the door!”
I stepped back, and whoever was on the other side started trying to kick the door in. I was so confused. What kind of hospital was I in, anyway? Was there something wrong with the key? Or was there something horrible going on beyond the other side of the door that they had to lock me in and not check on me for so long? I was getting bad vibes about the entire situation.
The door flew open, and I saw a man in a beige hazmat suit.What the fuck was going on?He held his hand out to me.
“Come with me if you want to live.”
That line seemed so familiar, like I should know it, but at present, I didn’t even know my own name or what I looked like. I could see on my arms that I was fond of tattoos at some point, and the ends of my hair were pink like I was a bit of a rebel, but I couldn’t remember doing that. And if this guy really worked for some sort of search and rescue, why was he holding a baseball bat?
I shrunk back. I was noping all over this. I might not know much right now, but I knew not to trust strange men with their faces covered holding baseball bats. My eyes darted around the room, looking for a weapon that would beat a baseball bat or a place to hide. There wasn’t even an empty tray in here I could beat this guy over the head with.
My fight-or-flight instincts were kicking in from somewhere unfamiliar. I had no idea what in my gut wanted me to fight this guy. He was much bigger than I was and may have known more about me than I did about myself. The logical part of my brain was saying to run and not look back, and my instincts were telling me to boot up and beat the shit out of this man.
He held his hands up in surrender, then offered me the baseball bat. I just started at it. It was baby blue, and there was something etched on the end. Why was this man offering me something to bash his head in with? What kind of day was it today that I wake up to crazy men in hazmat suits gifting me with baseball bats?
“Are you insane?” I hissed.
There was nothing I could say to him other than that, and if he was a crazy mother fucker, we should probably clear the air about that upfront.
He whipped his helmet off, and I was shocked at what I saw. He was actually good looking, and when a crazy guy is offering you a baseball bat when you don’t even know your name, you probably shouldn’t be checking him out. His hair was such a pale color of blond, it was almost white, and his eyes were a startling shade of gray. He looked like some sort of angel.
“What do you remember?” he demanded.
“Not a damned thing. The only thing I know is that an insane man is trying to give me a baseball bat in the middle of a hospital.”
“Take the bat and see if you remember anything. It used to be yours.”
I didn’t take the bat. I wanted to know what the fuck was going on.
“Do you know me? What is my name, and what is going on in this hospital?”
He thrust the bat at me harder.
“Just take the bat.”
“Not until you tell me my name.”
He looked so irritated with me I wanted to take that bat and smack him upside the head with it. But then, I’d never find out my name.
“Your name is Ariel, but everyone calls you Speedy. Now, take the bat. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Why does everyone call me Speedy?”
This big brute of a man just straight up grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the hospital room. Now I knew where the smell was coming from. I knew why there was dust in my room. All the staff was dead. It looked like something killed them and ate them in the hallway. The smell hit me even harder in the hall, and I dry heaved.
