Fear of God (Trials of Strength Book 1) (16 page)

‘
She comes
with us,’ he said.

‘
No!’ Paul
screamed.

‘
Now, Paul,’
Grace soothed. ‘Let them take her, she has no purpose for us, and
she may attack from within.’

Paul looked conflicted.
Before, he had been trying to figure out how to shut Grace down,
but he listened to her and grabbed Jane by the arms, pulled her to
her feet and pushed her to us. Anna moved forward and untied her,
taking the fabric from her mouth.

‘
She’ll kill
you all!’ Jane spat at the group, and some had the shame to
flinch.

‘
Come on,’
Chris said, leading us from the room.

As we walked, a shaken
Jane filled us in.

‘
As soon as
that woman got you Chris, Grace burst into her element,’ Jane
shook. ‘She changed her tune quick and she didn’t want them to
offer themselves to those monsters anymore. She said a sign from
God told her what to do. That you three worked for their
enemy.’

‘
What did
Bonnie tell them?’ I asked angrily.

‘
They heard
what she told me,’ Chris sighed, ‘everything. About you and your
connection to the enemy, and what Anna had done.’

Anna grimaced beside him,
her face red and sticky from tears.

‘
So now what?’
I said. ‘We can’t leave them to be killed with Paul and Grace. If
we don’t try then we’re as bad as the people who did this to
us.’

‘
We’re not
giving up, Lucas,’ Chris replied. ‘For now though we don’t have a
choice, not while their tempers are exploding, someone would have
gotten hurt. We need to lay low, come up with a plan.’

We wandered aimlessly
through the tunnels. Chris told us he wanted to stay close, just in
case. We settled in two adjoining rooms, small and dusty, with the
same pipes running along the walls that always did. I couldn’t help
but feel drained. I’d remembered asking myself what those pipes had
been for, but after seeing the room my father stood in, it was
obvious they powered his little base.

That meeting had asked
more questions than answered, and my head thumped in pain. A secret
rogue science division was using the town as guinea pigs, for God
knows what. They had been there for years, and my father was their
esteemed leader. The image of him driving the syringe into my neck
was never far from my mind, but I kept it from Chris and the rest.
It wasn’t the time to start breaking us apart, but I was
terrified.

After settling in, Anna
moved to the next room, intent on being alone, but I followed her.
I needed answers. I’d just scaled a towering crane to save her
after she had led me into a trap. Oddly I wasn’t angry, and part of
me knew her reason would trump any negative feelings. I thought of
her kiss, and made a point to ask about it. I entered the room and
Anna sat shaking in the corner, trembling with tears.

‘
Anna,’ I
whispered. ‘Anna, come on.’

I kneeled in front of her
and put my hand on her shoulder. She shook it off and looked at
me.

‘
I’m so sorry,
Lucas,’ Anna whispered. ‘I am so sorry.’

‘
Why?’ I
asked. ‘Just tell me why?’

Anna took a breath and
more tears surfaced. I moved my hand and wiped them as they
fell.

‘
When I told
you what had happened with my Mum and Dad,’ she answered, ‘I left
out my brother. I didn’t meet Chris right away. I heard the
screaming outside as my Mum advanced on me, but it wasn’t Chris who
saved me. It was Bonnie.’

I took my time swallowing
that, they had gotten to her before Chris had, and her
brother?

‘
Go on,’ I
said gently.

‘
She had my
brother by the arm,’ Anna cried. ‘She, she, she told me I’d meet
you, that I was to make sure you stayed alive, that when the time
came I was to bring you to him.’

‘
My father,’ I
spat.

‘
Yes,’ she
said. ‘If I did that, they would give me my brother back. I tried
to grab him, to run, but Bonnie was too fast, before I knew it, I
was on the floor and they were gone.’

‘
What age is
your brother?’ I asked, heartbroken for her.

‘
Ten,’ she
replied, ‘and the fear on his face Lucas, the fear on his
face.’

Her body jolted with sobs
and I put my arms around her.

‘
Where is your
brother?’ I said.

She shook her head, guilt
and pain in her eyes. They never gave him back, it had been a ploy,
and her brother was missing.

‘
They said
they were taking me to him,’ Anna whispered. ‘But then I woke up
dangling from the crane.’

I sighed and swallowed my
anger. I asked Anna for her mobile and threw it against the wall. I
was done. The initial shock of my father leading this group was
gone. The pain of him taking my mother away had turned into fire,
and I wasn’t angry at Anna. She wasn’t to blame, she was played
like the rest of us and if it had been me in her position, I would
have done the same.

I sat next to her, my
next question making my heart pump faster.

‘
Anna,’ I
whispered, my breathing ragged. ‘When you kissed me…’

I couldn’t finish it, and
Anna looked at me. The same emotion was in her eyes, the same as it
had been when we first kissed: A burning intensity.

‘
No, it wasn’t
a lie,’ she replied. ‘It wasn’t a part of my plan. Along the way I
just felt connected to you, to your pain, it was like mine. How you
could keep your humanity, even when all hell was breaking loose.
How you could feel guilt and not let it get the better of
you.’

I scoffed and shook my
head.

‘
I’m serious,’
she pressed. ‘Then you became strong, stronger than I ever was. You
climbed that tower even though I had betrayed you. You took that
gun from Chris without blinking and you became
strong
.’

I thought
about it too. I noticed the change, I
wanted
the change. I couldn’t hide
anymore, and the tipping point had been my mother. The way she had
tried to get me out and even when she was turning, she was still
protecting me. Then she became one of them, a creature with speed
and strength. I had clung to the hope they still had something of
their former selves inside. But my mother, my sweet warm mother
would
never
have
tried to hurt me if she could help it. I knew it beyond the shadow
of a doubt.

‘
We have to
live,’ I said. ‘That’s all it’s ever been about, surviving.
Nothing’s changed now we know who’s behind it, and we just have to
bring the group back together. My Dad can’t get away with it, not
after everything.’

Anna nodded and wiped her
eyes.

‘
We’ll find
your brother, Anna,’ I said. ‘We won’t stop until we find him, I
promise.’

She took my hand and
smiled. I couldn’t bare it, so I tugged her arm, and pressed my
lips to hers. There was no resistance, and like last time, we both
wanted it. The kiss became more heated and my head spun. I put my
hand on her back and pulled her close, breaking from her mouth and
trailing my lips down her neck. She moaned.

Everything seemed to
speed up. My top came off, Anna making her own trail of kisses down
my chest. Back up to my mouth, and I lifted her top off and pressed
against her hard. It was a different kind of fire, passionate,
painful and hungry. Together we could keep any other emotions at
bay, together we could become a team, and light the way through the
darkness.

Together, we could fight
back.

The
Bloodlust

Anna snored softly beside
me, a warm glow radiated between us. After we had gotten dressed,
we had settled down for the night. I couldn’t sleep, part of me
still marvelled over Anna’s strength and all we had endured. The
tunnels were unnaturally warm, and I wondered absently if my
father’s plan was to make us combust. Eventually I stood, making
sure not to wake Anna and moved into the other room.

Chris sat against the
wall cleaning different parts of his gun. He smiled knowingly and I
shifted uncomfortably as heat rushed to my cheeks.

‘
So you and
Anna are okay, huh?’ he chuckled, his teeth bared in a
smile.

I stuttered and Chris
waved his hand.

‘
It’s nice to
see something work out compared to everything else,’ he said,
dropping the subject.

‘
They have her
brother,’ I whispered, clenching my fists.

‘
I thought
it’d be something like that,’ Chris nodded. ‘They like that, using
family to get what they want.’

‘
I noticed,’ I
replied. They had used my mother and father, before the latter
revealed himself as a liar. Chris’s wife and Anna’s brother, there
was no low they wouldn’t go to.

I walked over and took a
seat beside him, watching while he put his gun back together. Jane
was a little to his right, back against the wall and eyes closed.
My heart went out to her, she had tried exceptionally to bring the
group back to sanity, and to repay her they had tied her up and
condemned her. It made me angry, but I understood their fear. I
rubbed the sweat on my forehead and swallowed.

‘
You okay?’
Chris asked.

‘
Yeah, just
heating up like hell, you don’t feel it?’ I replied, breathing
deeply.

Chris shook his head but
smiled, he put it down to something else.

‘
So,’ I said,
before he could say what was on his mind, ‘any new plans forming
yet, man with a plan?’

‘
No,’ he
sighed. ‘With Grace there sprouting her crap and Paul now their go
to guy, it’ll be hard to get their trust back.’

‘
Yeah, what
the hell is Paul thinking?’ I said exasperated. ‘He started off an
angry guy but now it’s something else.’

‘
Fear,’ Chris
stated. ‘He thinks he’s doing what’s right, he thinks he’s handling
everything well. He isn’t. I think whatever drug he must be taking
isn’t helping.’

I nodded. Paul and Grace
weren’t the only people they put in danger. The rest of the
survivors were looking to them, waiting for them to get them out,
but they wouldn’t. They couldn’t comprehend what they were up
against, not in their state of minds.

‘
Maybe I could
help with that,’ a voice came from the doorway, and a woman with
violet hair and piercing eyes entered the room.

Anger flared in my chest
instantly.

‘
Where is
he!?’ I shouted as I lunged to my feet, my fists clenched
tight.

‘
Careful,’ she
warned. ‘I don’t like being charged at, and you won’t like it
either. I did what I was told, and I’d do it again. I don’t know
where he is, I was just the messenger.’

I wanted to rush her, to
cause her the pain she had caused Anna, caused us. Her casual
nature only fuelled my anger and Chris put a hand on my shoulder.
Shaking his head he turned to Bonnie. Jane had roused from her
sleep, and was staring at our new guest with narrowed
eyes.

‘
What is it
you want?’ Chris asked.

‘
For you guys
not to die, first off,’ Bonnie smiled.

‘
Why?’ I
spat.

‘
I told you
before, my business not yours,’ she replied.

I felt a hand at my back,
and the gun there was pulled from me. Anna marched out from behind,
her face dark with fury, her finger on the trigger.

‘
How about you
make it my business,’ Anna hissed. ‘I want my brother,
now!’

Bonnie was fast, the gun
was knocked from Anna’s hand and her legs swiped from beneath her.
Chris raised his own, but Bonnie moved close, took the weapon
straight from his hand and tossed it across the room. Her palm
smacked Chris on the jaw. He staggered back, and Bonnie stood ready
for anymore advances.

‘
I told you to
watch it,’ she chided. ‘I’m here to help, and I’ve saved your asses
a few times now, so how about you chill. Wouldn’t want those
stitches opening now would we?’

I narrowed my eyes at
her, ready to fire questions, but she cut me off.

‘
You can thank
me for that too,’ Bonnie grinned.

‘
Thank you?’ I
growled. ‘
You
shot
me?’

She nodded and dropped
the conversation, Chris’s hand tightened on my shoulder.

‘
Help how?’ he
asked, massaging his jaw.

‘
I know a
little thing you might be interested in, something that could help
get the group back in your favour,’ she said and pushed out her
chest proudly.

‘
Spit it out,’
Anna said. She got back on her feet, but kept her distance from
Bonnie.

‘
I know a way
out,’ Bonnie whispered, and winked.

*

For an hour Bonnie filled
us in. One of the dirt roads wasn’t rigged to blow as Richard, my
father, needed a safe route to have things brought in. More
supplies, more manpower. She told us how he had anticipated Chris
would take the fastest and easiest way for a group of people to
escape town. Chris had bristled at her jab, and hissed through his
teeth why we should trust her. Bonnie had just waved him off, as if
all she had done was proven why.