“Go back outside without me.”
She bent down to find her boots. One was on its side under the blond-wood table.
“Of course, I did,” she said without apology. “That’s where the zombies are. Now get dressed and I’ll show you exactly what Sebastian is up to. Believe me Luke, once you’ve seen this, nothing will be the same. Then you’ll understand.”
Chapter Thirty-two
Why the hell they called it a shack, Luke didn’t know. It was far from that. In fact, the building was a little bit too big for his tastes and he pulled their car up slowly. On the plus side, it wasn’t a built-up area, and he couldn’t see any zombies, so he had to take the points where he could. He eased off the gas, applied the hand brake, and grabbed his ax. His gun was digging into his back and the sweat wasn’t helping any. For a moment he imagined the cool air of the north, but then he remembered the zombies and he imagined it no more.
“Security check?” he asked and Jackson beamed at him.
“Exactly what I said when we came here. Sebastian doesn’t have a fucking clue about security. But I think he was right about one thing. I don’t reckon they’d be able to get in here. It’s all locked up pretty tight.”
“What’s it for?” he asked. “You’ve been extremely tight-lipped.”
She shook her head. “Nuh-uh, like I said, you gotta see.”
He sighed. “If it’s locked up tight, how are we going to get in?”
Jackson lifted her hips and pulled a small key from her jean pocket.
“Sebastian gave me this. Seems like I’ll need it in the future.”
Luke took a deep breath and shook his head. “Jesus, the more I think about it the more I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”
She smiled and planted a quick kiss on his check. His skin tingled all around the spot.
“Let’s do a perimeter check and then we can get started.”
They saw nothing out of the ordinary as they walked around the building, apart from the fact that it was all perfectly quiet—which in itself was a little unusual. No groans or grunts or howls or signs of anything not quite alive. Luke took everything in as he walked, almost enjoying the somnolent air of the area. The birds chirping in the trees, the smell of fresh grass, not to mention the company.
Despite his anger and his worry, and hell, his nerves, it was almost a relief to be back out with Jackson. Even though he couldn’t quite believe that she’d proved Pete right already. How long had she lasted, a few fucking hours? His mind grabbed at the thought and batted it back and forth but he pushed it away. It might not mean anything in the long term. Pete could well be wrong. And besides, it had not escaped his notice that Jackson clearly thought that she needed to be doing this, and it pleased him in a strange sort of way to see her happy—well, as happy as Jackson seemed to get. And then there was the fact that whatever she was doing with Sebastian didn’t sound like it had to do with protecting the community, so maybe he’d just have to suck it up and take the good with the bad. Yes, she’d be out of the camp getting her slay on, but at least it would be here in this quiet field…
“Feels like old times,” Jackson said, dragging his thoughts back to her.
“Old times being yesterday?”
She laughed and twirled Mandy in her hand. “Seems like ages ago. Maybe my mind’s making it sort of distant so I’m not traumatized.”
Luke shook his head slowly at her tone. “You? Traumatized?”
“Yep.”
“Jack,” he began. “There’s no doubt you’re that, but you’ll never admit it, so it doesn’t even count. Yesterday we barely survived and yet here you are out again in the thick of it.”
Despite his own internal reassurances he wanted to say more. He wanted to tell her what Pete had said but he didn’t even know how to start. She’d be angry. Worse, she’d brush off his concerns, and when it came right down to it he didn’t know which idea he hated more: that she might pull away from him or that she’d be indifferent.
She waved a hand around. “We’re fine here, and I’m going to ignore that comment. You’ll see why in a minute.”
“Right.”
She stood in the shadow of a large tree and he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. She looked so damn pretty. Her hair was spiking up wildly around her face. Her beautiful face. And she looked more rested than he’d ever seen. Yeah, okay, her hand was clamped around Mandy and she had “the look” in her eye, but she was grinning at him. Plus there was the fact that at least now he didn’t have to spend his time worrying about what she was up to or what she might be plotting. Here out in the open was like their default mechanism. They’d spent so long on the road together it felt oddly normal and in that brief moment he had a little flash of what being in the camp might be like for Jackson.
Not normal at all. And she probably didn’t even realize.
“Come on,” she said.
They made their way back around the building and Jackson opened up the small front door, ushered him, and turned to lock it behind her. “To keep them out when we’re in here,” she said before pocketing the key. “Though they’ve never actually come here before, according to Sebastian. Maybe they know what this place is.”
Luke was not shocked by what he saw. The size maybe, but not the actuality. Of course, it made sense. Hadn’t he thought the doctor was some sort of kook? But as Jackson tugged him forward and began to point out various things on the shelves Luke realized exactly what was going on. Realized and felt his heart sink all the way down to his shoes. Kook didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Where is it?” he asked. “Or maybe I should say they.”
Jackson’s jaw dropped and she gaped at him. “How did you know?”
“It’s obvious.”
She heaved Mandy and gestured forward. They walked to the door at the far end of the room and Luke took a deep breath, the smell of old lemons settling on him. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen such a lab. In the very early days scientists all over the world had searched for a cure. They’d given up after a couple of months though, mostly because they’d been eaten. But they’d tried and he remembered seeing one on TV—before it too had died. So it didn’t surprise him now to see that someone was still trying, and Sebastian was just the type to give it a go.
“Lemons,” he said and Jackson nodded.
“Zombie defense, at least for the ones that haven’t smarted up yet. It’s the citrate, like in aftershaves. How did you know they didn’t like aftershave?” she asked and he shrugged.
“I don’t remember. Someone knew and it just…” He paused. “It became a sort of fact I guess, like the heat.”
Nodding, Jackson unlocked the second door, with the same key, and pushed it open. Luke turned his head slightly from the stench, which was suddenly overpowering in such a small space, taking shallow breaths.
A hand settled on his and Jackson spoke. “Meet Two-h-ee,” she said and though he didn’t really want to, he shifted and he looked.
The zombie, a male in life, was strapped down on a long wooden table. It actually looked like a dining room table and he frowned. Clearly Sebastian had been short on supplies. The table was secured to the floor by dint of the fact that it was surrounded by concrete a good half a foot higher than the surrounding floor. This had the advantage of both stopping the zombie from lifting itself up with the table and putting him at about the right height for whatever Sebastian was up to. Thick lengths of rope were secured around its middle, legs, and arms, which were positioned outward, like some sort of sacrificial victim. Which, Luke guessed, it kind of was.
Handcuffs added another layer of security as did the metal chain links around the thighs. Yep, it was wrapped up properly all right, but Luke knew it wasn’t safe. He knew this because he and Jackson wouldn’t be here if it was.
“So,” he said, after a moment. “What has this got to do with you?” He suspected, of course, but he wanted
