They dismissed him and shifted their attention to Jerkins. “What have you got there?” one of them asked.
“A head,” Jerkins said. The scientists all seemed bored by the answer, and they turned back to their work. “It may be infected with a virus.”
Everyone stopped and stared at the bag.
Chaos erupted in the lab, provoking a new level of concern in General Murray. Some of the scientists moved away from them. Others cursed Jerkins for bringing it up here, questioning if he was trying to kill them all.
General Murray remembered Jerkins’ question when he first saw the head. He asked Murray if he’d touched it. None of these scientific types had touched the fucking head, so why the hell were they so worried? How could it infect them?
General Murray hadn’t touched it, but Knuckles had. The blood had even gotten in his fucking mouth. Knuckles might be infected, and he would be down on Level Six by now—with Murray’s son.
Fear struck him deep in his gut. He needed to get to Martin before the virus did.
Ryder was starving.
As she walked along the trail, she looked for berries like the ones around the bunker. That was the first type of hunting that Ryder had done when she was first sent out, and it would come in handy for her now.
If she’d had time to enjoy the view surrounding her, she would have thought it beautiful, with the lush green grass beneath her feet and the young trees sprouting from the earth. It was amazing to think that this used to be covered with layers of snow. When the climate had changed, so had everything else.
People and animals that had never lived here before moved in. She could hear a songbird trilling nearby, and it reminded her of Terrier. When he wasn’t talking, he was whistling.
He was always happy.
She missed Terrier and wanted nothing more than to find a way to free him. Given the chance, he’d do the same for her and the others. Ryder forced herself to stop thinking about the bunker. Now wasn’t the time to be nostalgic. She had to survive before she could even think about anything else.
Ryder heard a whisper coming from the trees and wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her. She shook her flask. There was still water in it, so it wasn’t her mind.
“He’s going to step into it,” a low voice said. What did that mean?
She heard a rustle in the trees, and Ryder could see orange eyes—wolf’s eyes. They were the same eyes that had come to her rescue against the tiger. Is he here for his reward? For me?
Ryder got an arrow ready. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s fucking dinner. He was going to be her dinner. Wolf meat was bitter and gross, but it was still meat.
She stepped backward, and as she did, the wolf revealed himself. It was the white wolf that had saved her. He was moving toward her, and she backed away.
Then, the ground collapsed beneath her feet, and Ryder dropped into a hole. She hit the ground hard but got to her feet quickly. The trap into which she’d fallen came only to her shoulders, so her head was sticking out like a mole’s.
It was like whoever had dug the hole had gotten bored and given up. Dumb asses. Then again, it could be an animal trap, and I’m the dumb animal.
There was no one in sight except the wolf, and he was growling at the bushes. There was someone hiding behind them.
“Those donkey-chompers!” she cursed. A few of her arrows had snapped in the tumble. They were going to pay for this.
Ryder got into position and fired at the bushes, and she was rewarded by a high-pitched yelp of surprise. It sounded like kids, and it was confirmed when they emerged from the bushes. There were five of them.
She’d been ambushed by fucking kids. The wolf stopped growling when he saw them. It looked as if he were smiling, and then he rolled his eyes.
This pissed Ryder off. “What the fuck! Roll your eyes like that at me again, and I’ll beat them into the back of your head so hard that just maybe you’ll find your brain. You thought it was a threat as well!”
A deep voice came from behind her. “Don't swear in front of the kids.”
Ryder turned to see a man standing behind them with a rabbit slung over his shoulder. He had a long brown beard, and some parts had been plaited into small braids with colorful ties at the end. He had rings under his eyes, and his face was brown from either dirt or the sun, making his teeth look bright white and his brown eyes piercing.
The wolf growled at him.
“There, there. That’s a good little puppy. No need to get in a mood.”
The wolf growled louder and edged toward the man. He stepped back.
Not so cocky, now, are you? Ryder thought. “I wouldn't have sworn if they hadn’t trapped me in this damn hole.”
The man grinned at her. She knew she probably looked like an idiot with just her head sticking up, but that smug grin on his face was pissing her off. Ryder pushed her hands down on the edge of the hole to lift herself up.
“Not so fast,” the man warned, waving his knife at her.
The kids came to the man’s side. “Nice catch!” one of them cheered.
“Thanks, Carter,” another one added.
The man they called Carter gave the kids high-fives. The children looked to be aged between five and twelve. Their clothes were tattered, and some didn’t even have shirts on—not that they needed one in the heat. Their feet were bare, and their faces were mucky.
Ryder wondered if Carter was the leader. It would make sense. He looked like he had all the maturity of a five-year-old.
Ryder started to get out again. This time, the kids
