Falling Darkness Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller - Books 1-3 Page 6

  Simon paced back and forth before he turned to them. “Well?”

  “Sorry, it took so long, but we got held up. There was a bit of a problem with a stray pack of The Unholy,” Ethan said.

  “Oh? I take it you are both fine? I knew sending my best two eradicators was a wise choice.” Simon looked back and forth between Ethan and Kate before settling his eyes on Kate.

  “We’re fine. It was a good-sized pack, we had to wait them out inside the storage,” Kate said.

  “Smart,” Simon said, bobbing his head up and down. “I’m glad you’re both safe and back home. Now,” Simon said sitting down in the chair across from them, “on to other business. Tell me about our little situation.”

  Kate inhaled, and as soon as she opened her mouth, Ethan started talking.

  “Your suspicions were right.”

  “I knew it!” Simon said, slamming his fists onto the armrest of the chair, so hard his hands shook. If he felt pain he ignored it. “That fucking bitch has been a thorn in my side since the day I sent her over there. I shouldn’t have given her that position. One of my biggest mistakes. What did she take?”

  “Several boxes. It was too dark to see exactly what she was taking,” Kate said, unable to take her eyes off of Simon’s hand where a droplet of blood oozed out near his knuckle.

  Simon started pacing. His shoes pounded harshly against the wooden floor.

  “I need to think,” Simon said gesturing for us to rise. “Thank you for your service, and it is likely that I should call upon you again soon.”

  Simon made the sign of the cross and lowered his head before walking them to the door. He opened it, and they quickly exited. Kate’s body jerked when Simon slammed the door behind them.

  The guards looked up as if they thought there might be a situation, but without orders from Simon, they didn’t act.

  “Go on,” one of them said when Kate and Ethan didn’t move. “You’ve been excused.”

  Kate nodded at him and turned to leave. She could hear Ethan walking close behind.

  “This isn’t going to be good,” Ethan said barely moving his lips.

  “What do you think he’ll do?” Kate asked softly.

  “Get some kind of revenge, but one thing I know for sure is that he won’t be the one doing it,” Ethan said gesturing toward the church. “Hungry?”

  “Nah,” Kate said. “Tired.”

  Ethan glanced at her and then nodded. “Want me to come with you?”

  “That’s okay, thanks,” Kate said. “I’ll see you later.”

  Kate turned toward the hotel where she normally slept but didn’t make it more than half a step before Ethan grabbed her and pulled her close. He breathed heavily as he looked down into her eyes.

  “Don’t leave without me,” he said, tightening his grip ever so slightly before releasing her. He turned and ran his hand through his hair as he walked away leaving Kate standing there with her mouth hanging agape.

  It wasn’t like Kate was just going to make a run for it and leap over the fence. When she left, it was going to be well thought out, a plan of some kind so she’d be sure it wouldn’t fail. She wouldn’t be able to stop moving, for fear that Simon would send someone after her.

  Kate entered the hotel and the guy behind the desk whose name she couldn’t ever remember eyed her. He smiled revealing his blackened teeth. She nodded and made her way to the end of the hall and took the steps two by two to the top floor.

  The hallways were littered with trash and junk, but the top floor was the least disastrous, and it was also the least used. Most people were too lazy to climb the stairs, and most people preferred to stick together more than Kate did.

  Kate entered the same room she always did and closed the door behind her. Some of the rooms had the doors ripped off the hinges, but as for the room Kate found, the door closed and the deadbolt still slipped into place. She still pushed a chair in front of the door to feel an extra sense of safety. At the very least if someone did manage to get inside, the sounds would wake her and lucky for Kate she had both a knife and gun to protect herself with.

  Kate stepped off to the side of the window and stared down at the town below. People moved about with a sense of security. They smiled and laughed… gathered in crowds talking to one another. Everyone seemed happy enough considering the world had ended, and Kate knew they all believed they owed everything they had to Simon.

  She could see the entire lay of the city from her vantage point, except for what was behind the building. The fence came up close to the hotel, and if she would have been in a room on the other side of the hall, she’d be staring into what looked like a jungle trying to swallow what was left of the town.

  Simon’s town wasn’t pretty, but no one seemed to care. People did what they could to chip in, but for the most part, people seemed lazy. They weren’t trying to make things better, they were simply trying to maintain what they had.

  The church was located across the street from the hotel, and Kate had a perfect view of everyone going in and out of the building. Simon made sure the church stayed in decent condition. The stained-glass windows seemed as though they’d been cleaned recently. They were still rather dull, but when the sun touched them, they would give off a slight sparkle.

  There were several other buildings, some looked like they’d been apartment buildings or office buildings, but now they were either not used, or off limits. Kate could see part of Simon’s office behind the church, and she could also see the building next to it, which was heavily guarded. There were guards at every door and window, making sure no one went inside except for Simon. Kate knew what was inside that building because Simon had taken her into it the same day he recruited her to join one of the eradication teams. It was filled with various guns, ammunition, blades, grenades and likely much more that she didn’t see.

  Simon had let her choose her preferred weapon and chuckled when she picked the most plain knife of them all. It was similar to what she’d been using before Simon, and his people found her. The blade was what she was good at using. Simon gave her a belt that held both the knife and the gun Simon insisted she carried.

  It was less than a week after she’d been in his town that Simon ordered that she learned how to use it. A short, but broad man with a thick beard who requested she called him Mr. Reeves, trained her. Every once in a while, she’d cross his path, but he never gave her a nod or a hello. Apparently training her hadn’t ranked very high on his list of outstanding memories, which was fine with Kate, the more she went unnoticed, the better.

  Kate sighed as she looked down at the street below. So many people and for so few of them had she even bothered to learn their names. It wasn’t their fault, though, it was hers. Simon’s town never felt like a home to her, and even since the moment she arrived, she’d had one foot out the door. The only problem was getting her entire body out.

  Kate being on the eradication team was something she’d ended up liking. It wasn’t that she liked killing The Unholy, she liked being away from the town. Out there on the other side of the fence, Kate could breathe.

  Ethan stepped out of the church and looked up and down the street. Kate pulled herself even further back from the window not wanting to be seen. Then again, she was worrying for nothing because she was four stories up, it wasn’t likely that Ethan would spot her anyway.

  She’d bothered to learn Ethan’s name because he was on the team she joined. He had led it, but once Kate had proved herself and moved up in rank. Simon put her in charge, and the only thing Ethan had said about it was a seemingly happy congratulations.

  Ethan walked across the street toward the hotel, and Kate stepped back to close the curtains, pausing when something down the street caught her eye. Several guards were roughly leading a man down the street.

  The man looked weak. As they pulled him along, his feet practically bounced against the cracked roadway. His head was down, but Kate could see his long hair and beard. She didn’t miss the oval-sized,
dark stain on what had once been a white t-shirt. Kate was sure it was blood.

  Someone new to the town. It brought back memories of the way she’d arrived. Kate had been frightened and hadn’t trusted any of the eyes that watched her as she was dragged through the streets.

  The man below was probably feeling all the same things. Maybe he was just as suspicious about the people inside the town as she had been.

  She watched as they turned the corner and headed straight for Simon’s office where he’d be judged. Maybe he’d be placed in the community, given a job like Kate had been. Or maybe he’d be sent away to the east to work for Rosalie. There was always a chance she’d never see the man again depending on what Simon did with him.

  Kate sighed and closed the curtains to block out Simon’s world. If she didn’t see it, maybe for a short amount of time, she could pretend it didn’t exist.

  She glanced toward the door to double check the lock and then sat down on the bed. Kate yawned as she kicked off her shoes. Her eyes closed before her head even hit the pillow.

  9

  It was dusk when the church bell started ringing. Kate’s eyes popped open, and she gripped the bedsheets tightly in her hands. She’d been woken during a dream, rather a nightmare, about the day the disease spread through the city she’d lived in. Only the dream was different. Just as she was about to make it inside her home and lock herself inside, something grabbed her.

  Kate sat up and looked around the darkening room wishing she would have lit a candle before she’d laid down. Luckily there was enough light for her to see her way to the window.

  She looked out at the street below, watching everyone as they hustled to get inside the church. Sounds of people moving around outside her door and running down the steps echoed through her room.

  Simon would know if she wasn’t there. Kate glanced at the bed tempted to pretend she didn’t hear the bells, but Simon wouldn’t believe her. The church was far too close to the hotel, and the noise was far too loud.

  The Unholy were probably heading for the fence unless they’d realized to fear the bells. Whoever was out there guarding the fence would be busy. Kate wished it would be her at least then she wouldn’t be required to attend the impromptu mass.

  She strapped on her belt, slipped into her shoes and pretended she wasn’t exhausted. Not to mention the fact that her feet were killing her from her adventure to the storage facility.

  Kate looked out of the peephole. Her fingers hovered over her gun as she opened the door and stepped out into the empty hallway.

  The door next to hers popped open, and a man and a woman burst out into the hallway, giggling as they ran past. Kate pressed her back against the wall and let out a heavy breath.

  “Dammit,” she muttered under her breath as the couple noisily made their way down the stairs. If people weren’t more careful, they’d end up getting their heads blown off.

  Maybe Ethan had been right about Kate being twitchy, but really who could blame her? It wasn’t her fault. It was the town.

  Kate walked slowly as she made her way to the church. The crowd thinned, and she was one of the last to enter. She stood at the back of the room, her arms crossed as she looked between the small space between the two tall men in front of her.

  Simon was at the front of the church, his hands gripping the lectern tightly as a woman with gray hair played the out of tune organ. He was fully dressed, wearing a rather nice black suit with his clerical collar tucked in perfectly around his neck. He wore a purple and gold Stole with embroidered golden crosses at the bottom.

  Kate didn’t miss the look on his face. Instead of the fakes smiles and peaceful head nods, his lips were pressed together, and his eyebrow slanted downward. He wasn’t going to be delivering good news.

  “Stop!” he shouted abruptly holding his palm up to the woman playing the organ. Her body jerked, and she quickly pulled her hands away from the keys as if they’d been on fire. He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Maureen.”

  She nodded, as she folded her hands in her lap, her lip quivering ever so slightly.

  “Welcome,” Simon said, his eyes moving across the crowd. He was probably mentally taking attendance. “I apologize for calling you out at this hour as you were all probably settling in for a relaxing evening in my safe, peaceful town, but something very important has come to my attention, and I need your help.”

  Murmurs erupted from a small group of women off to my right. I couldn’t see them, but Simon almost seemed pleased at their worried sounding reaction.

  “Do we need to worry about our safety,” a woman patting her round stomach said.

  “No, no, no!” Simon shook his head to the side with each word. “I will keep you, your baby, and this town safe. You do not need to worry about that.”

  “Then what is it?” the man just in front of me asked.

  Simon’s lip twitched ever so slightly when his eyes connected with mine. A sour taste filled the back of my throat.

  “It has come to my attention, that those who we thought were our friends are in fact betraying us.” Simon straightened his spine. “They are stealing our food and our supplies, and they must pay for their trespasses.”

  The angrier Simon got, the louder the crowd’s mumbles, and murmurs became. They echoed his anger without even knowing the details of what was going on.

  “We must do something about this. We must protect what is ours,” Simon said as he held up his hands as a signal to hush the crowds.

  They quieted, but their heads bobbed in agreement. The man in front of me took a small step forward.

  “What can we do, Father Simon?” he asked.

  “How can we help?” asked another.

  Simon clasped his hands in front of his middle and grinned. “What do you think we should do?” The man shook his head, and Simon scanned the crowd. “Anyone?”

  “We have to stop them,” a shaky woman’s voice said.

  “Let’s show them what we’re made of,” someone else called out.

  Simon hadn’t even told them exactly who was to blame, but even if he had, the crowd would without a doubt, side with whatever Simon instructed.

  “My dear, dear people,” Simon said blinking his eyes several times. “I have a plan I am going to put into place.”

  “What can we do?” a man grumbled as he twisted in the pew.

  “For now, I want you all to be patient.” Simon paced back and forth at the front of the church with his hands folded behind his back. “I called you all here tonight so that I could share this information with you. Together we are stronger. I do not want to keep our troubles from you. Being honest and upfront is how we will rebuild everything we have lost.”

  “Amen!” a woman shouted from the other side of the church.

  Simon smiled at her. “I may call upon you again soon for your help in attending to this matter. Before I let you go, I’d like for you all to join me in prayer.”

  Everyone lowered their head, except for Kate. Her eyes quickly scanned the crowd, but mostly all she could see was the back of everyone’s bowed heads. Everyone followed Simon’s lead, most everyone mumbling along in prayer.

  As Kate’s eyes were about to settle on her feet, she locked eyes with Ethan. He stared back at her wearing a blank expression Kate couldn’t read.

  “Amen,” Simon said, and the crowd echoed him.

  Ethan’s eyes were still on her. Oddly she couldn’t look away from him.

  “Amen,” she muttered a second after everyone else, and Ethan looked away.

  “Go on,” Simon said. “Enjoy the rest of your evening. I will keep you abreast of the situation as it develops.”

  A woman wearing a tight red top stood and curtsied as she thanked him. The smile on Simon’s face as he looked her up and down made Kate’s stomach turn. She turned and weaved between the people, trying to make her way out of the church ahead of the crowd.

  Kate made a sharp left out of the church. She looked up when her shoulder bumped
into something she hadn’t expected.

  The guy she’d seen dragged through the streets was standing next to one of the guards. His bright pale blue eyes focused on her so tightly it was hard for her to look away.

  “Sorry,” Kate mumbled as she stepped back.

  The guy opened his mouth to say something, but the guard jabbed his elbow into the man’s side. Kate ran across the road back toward the hotel hoping to reclaim her room.

  She shot a glance over her shoulder back toward the new guy before stepping inside the building. Kate could feel something when she’d looked into his eyes, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Out of all the people she’d ever met, the new guy was the only one she actually wanted to talk to. He’d been living outside, maybe he knew things that could help her with her plan.

  Kate walked down the hall and headed toward the stairs. The hotel was empty. Everyone was still outside or in the church liking discussing what had happened. They were all wondering what was going on… asking questions, speculating… it was likely all part of Simon’s plan.

  Kate was halfway up the first staircase when something grabbed her arm. She swung her body around and raised her leg up into the air with all her strength. Her foot connected with something quite solid.

  She blinked several times and watched the look of surprise wash over Ethan’s face.

  “Jesus Christ,” he said as he doubled over.

  “Oh shit, sorry,” Kate said leaning forward. “I didn’t know it was you.”

  “I should hope not,” Ethan said in a low raspy voice.

  “Why are you following me?”

  Ethan closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them as he exhaled. He straightened his spine.

  “It’s not like I was secretly following you or anything, I was trying to catch up to you so we could talk.”

  “Talk? About what?”

  “Let’s go up.” Ethan looked behind him, but I could tell by the lack of sounds inside the building that it was still quite empty. “Please?”

  Kate chewed her lip for a second before slowly moving up the stairs. If she hadn’t just kicked Ethan in the stomach, she probably would have moved faster.