The Chosen Ones Read online

  “How many of us are here?”

  He shrugged again, looking thoughtful. “Probably around twenty-five. They come and go.”

  I rolled my feet, the boots I’d been given heavy and cumbersome on my weak ankles. “Come and go?”

  “Oh yes,” he said, nodding. “There are many groups out there, always on the move.”

  Many groups. Startled, I paused. Many chosen ones who had escaped? The realization that there were more of us shocked, but buoyed me. My mind began to spin slowly, like a rusty wheel desperate to work. “Jim, how much land is out there?”

  “Lots!” He pulled a small book from his back pocket, his face glowing. His interest was suddenly mine. “Look.”

  He settled next to me on my pile of ratty blankets and opened the book. But the picture made no sense to me. With an unsteady hand, I pulled the lantern closer, highlighting his dirty face.

  “I found this awhile back. It’s amazing.” He pointed to a circle on the page. “This is earth. The world where we live.”

  Leery, I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “This!” He pointed to the ground, his excitement almost tangible. For the first time in weeks I felt something stir within, something that felt oddly like life. “What we’re standing on is a huge ball!”

  I shook my head; it was utterly ridiculous and insane. “We live on a ball?”

  He nodded. “I swear, it’s true! And these…” He pointed to a variety of shapes. “Are different countries.”

  “Countries?”

  He nodded, but didn’t explain. “And this is the ocean.”

  He pointed toward the blue area surrounding the countries. I’d read about the ocean, although never seen it. Could it possibly be truth and not myth? A body of water so large that you couldn’t see land? Where fish bigger than humans swam? If vampires were real, maybe the ocean was as well.

  “We live here. Somewhere.” He pointed toward a large shape of land. “And somewhere out there is more land like ours. Other countries with other types of animals and people.”

  “You’re positive?”

  He shrugged, looking hesitant. “I think so. Will thinks so. We all think so.”

  The thought sent my heart hammering. “Can I read your book?”

  “Sure. Just don’t lose it. It’s my favorite.”

  I nodded, taking the small novel. How I understood. At one time I had also kept my prized books safe, when things like that mattered. “And there are other groups out there, in this world? Groups like us?”

  He nodded, scooting closer so his warm body pressed into mine. He smelled like dirt and rabbit stew, but I didn’t mind. The pressure of his form seemed to wake something deep within me, cracking the ice that had frozen around my heart.

  Slowly, I flipped through the book of maps. All these years I’d been right. Although it was almost unbelievable, I knew in my gut it was true. There was more to this world, so much more than our fenced-in compounds. So much more than I’d ever dreamt. The realization made me forget the darkness constantly tugging at the hem of my shirt, begging for attention like some crying child. I wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled or terrified. I settled on bemused.

  I took in a deep trembling breath and glanced around me, truly seeing the hall, the building, Jim for the first time. The corridor ran into a large, open room that was just visible in the distance, aglow with lantern light and crowded with people. We were in the bottom of the building, hidden deep within. No windows. To escape we’d have to go upstairs and back into that abandoned city. An entire world was out there…waiting to be discovered, yet we hid in the dark like worms.

  “So,” Jim said, drawing his fingers down the greasy pan and licking off the drops. “You okay now?”

  “Maybe.” As I responded, my mind betrayed and mocked me. The images from the castle came whispering back, taunting. Sally…blood. So much blood. I could feel it coming…the horror washing over me, sucking me down into the darkness. No. No, I wouldn’t let it.

  “Jane?” the boy called out, leaning close.

  If I didn’t stop the darkness, soon I’d be there again…drowning…drowning. I pressed my palms to my temples, trying to stop the enveloping numbness from sweeping over me.

  “Jane?” Jim called out again, a lifeline pulling me toward the light. “Are you okay?”

  His sticky fingers touched my arm, jerking me back into reality. For a moment I merely sat there taking in shallow breaths, trying to control the fear, trying to focus on Jim and his worried gaze. I was alive. I would be healthy again. At the moment, there was nothing to fear.

  Slowly, I gave him a trembling smile. The numbness faded, the world coming sharply back into focus. I’d won this time, but I could feel it there, lurking in the shadows, just waiting for that moment of weakness. “I’m okay.”

  He grinned. “Good, because I have more books and—”

  A bell clanged from somewhere in the main room, the sound echoing obtrusively down the hall. Jarred, I stiffened, my heart slamming wildly against my ribs. “What is that?”

  Jim scrambled to his feet, accidentally kicking the pan across the floor, his movements frantic and hurried.

  “Jim,” I reached out, grasping onto his arm before he had a chance to bolt. “What is it?”

  He turned toward me, those innocent eyes wide with fear. “The beautiful ones, they’re here! Run!”

  Chapter 2

  “You want to live?” Suddenly Will loomed over me, sword in hand. His appearance jerked me from my stupor. He tore Jim from my grip and shoved the boy down the hall. “Get off your ass. You don’t, you’ll die under their hands.”

  The sound of terrified screams startled me. The noise was too much like the killings that had happened at the castle, the shrieks I’d heard when I’d lived in the compound. Fear held me immobile and all I could do was stare down that dark hall, waiting for the beautiful ones to appear and destroy me for good.

  Will shoved a sword into my hands. “Jimmy, find Kelly and gather the kids.”

  I fumbled to grasp the cumbersome, unfamiliar weapon. “Wh…what do I do with it?”

  “Cut off their heads,” Will explained. “It’s the only way to make sure they’re dead.”

  I stared unblinkingly at him. “Cut off their heads?”

  The words made no sense to me. Before I could ask him to repeat his command, because surely I’d misheard him, he spun around and raced toward the great room, into the fray. I wondered, for a brief moment, if I would ever see him again. It was an odd disconnected thought, like wondering if it would rain that day, and not really caring either way.

  “Run!” someone cried, the high-pitched scream raising the fine hairs on the back of my neck.

  Slowly, I lowered my gaze to the sword. It might as well have been one of the computers I’d read about in my books, for it made about as much sense. I didn’t know how to fight. I, apparently, didn’t know much of anything. The absurdity of it all had me laughing for the first time in weeks: a harsh, dry cackle that made me sound more like a witch than a human.

  Shaking my head, I tried to clear my muddled mind. I wasn’t sure which terrified me more, my crazed, wayward thoughts or the idea of the beautiful ones arriving. One thing was clear…I needed to move or I would die. Somehow I managed to tuck my feet underneath me, and using the wall for support, I stood. The sword began to slip from my damp hands. I caught it just before it clanged to the floor. But I didn’t have time to breathe a sigh of relief. The screams and shouts of those in the great room echoed like an endless nightmare down the hall, rolling toward me and vibrating against my skull. The attacks were happening all over again. But this time, I had a feeling I wouldn’t survive.

  “Run!” a nameless human cried out, a shadow that darted by me.

  Run where, I wanted to scream back. Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut, and tried to pretend I was anywhere but there in that crumbling building. Why couldn’t that mind-numbing darkness come now? But no, I was left with only cold
, harsh reality. I gripped the hilt of the sword tighter. I’d hide until they left. They wouldn’t make it down here, this far into the building. Will would stop them, wouldn’t he? Another cry echoed down the hall. I cringed, sweat breaking out across my forehead. The scream was closer. Too close.

  The beautiful ones had arrived, and they were headed my way.

  The sudden pounding of footsteps had me pushing away from the wall, sword gripped tightly in front of me. Jim burst from the darkness, followed by five other children.

  “Hurry, Jane,” he panted, the look of terror in his innocent eyes almost my undoing. “We’re headed to the children’s ward to hide. Come with us!”

  But he was gone before I could question him further, the other children following his lead, melting into the shadows toward some unknown destination. They’d done this before, they knew where they were going. I knew nothing.

  “Wait!” I called out, but my cry was lost within the screams of those from the great room.

  Terror gripped me in its icy clutches and wouldn’t let go. It took all the strength I had to move, my legs shaking so badly I thought for sure I’d trip and impale myself on the sword. I didn’t know where the children’s ward was located and could no longer hear their footsteps over the cries of those dying down the hall, but one thing remained first and foremost in my mind…if they were headed into a room here with no windows and only one exit, then they were as good as dead if the beautiful ones broke through Will’s defense.

  “Go!” Kelly suddenly appeared, grabbing onto my arm and pulling me down the hall. She looked as frightened as Jim, and her terror disturbed and terrified me all at once. I had counted on them to lead the way, to know what to do, but I was left with the disheartening realization that Kelly, Will, all of them, weren’t any more prepared than I was.

  “We have to hide with the children.”

  “But, Kelly…”

  She ran too fast and my weak body couldn’t keep pace. My hand slipped from hers. She didn’t look back, but raced ahead after the children, assuming I’d follow. Using the wall as support, I somehow managed to stumble forward, moving in a daze. But my muscles trembled from disuse, and my mind was beginning to shut down, the light fading, that blissful numbness calling to me.

  I turned the corner, hoping my legs wouldn’t give out. The group was gone. Two long, dark halls remained. Panting in indecision, I merely stood there, the sword hanging heavily from my fingertips. I could hide. It would be easy…so easy to fall back into that world of nothingness, a world without pain, without fear.

  Shouts rang out, startling me. The noise came from nowhere and everywhere at once. Left and right, it echoed against the stone walls so I wasn’t sure which direction they were headed.

  Dropping the sword with a clang, I pressed my palms to my ears and squeezed my eyes shut. “No, no, no.”

  A place to hide. Rationally, I knew I needed somewhere to hide. Shoving aside the numbness, I scooped up a lantern in one hand and the sword in my other. There was still a tiny kernel of fight left within me. I needed to try, at least, to live. I shuffled down the hall, searching the darkness, hoping to find some hidden door where the real world couldn’t penetrate. The further into the bowels of the skyscraper I traveled, the softer the sounds became, giving me hope. Maybe the children were right to come this way, maybe they would be safe deep within the earth. Holding the lantern high, I turned a corner and paused. There, on the ground, a body lay sprawled across the corridor. I recognized him as one of Will’s men, but didn’t know his name.

  “Hey,” I called out in a harsh whisper. “You need to get up!”

  He didn’t move.

  Gingerly, I inched toward him, his pale hair shimmering in the lantern light like the golden necklaces I’d seen the beautiful ones wear. Surely he couldn’t have been sleeping through the attack. I knelt and reached out, pushing on his shoulder. No movement. Strange. I grabbed the lantern, bringing it closer and it was only then that I noticed the dark red pool of blood surrounding his head and shoulders. Surging upright, I tripped over my own feet. The beautiful ones had made it to the children’s ward.

  My heart leapt into my throat, my mouth going dry. Frantically, I searched the area, attempting to decipher man from shadow, to hear the sound of unwelcome footsteps over the rapid beat of my heart. But I could barely hear anything and my mind refused to think.

  Go! Run! My instincts screamed at me.

  Stumbling, I stepped around the body, not daring to give it more than a glance. Some sort of metal desk blocked the hall. Clutching my sword, I sat on the discarded furniture and scooted over the top, making sure not to cut myself on the rust. One cut and the injury could become infected. I’d seen it happen more than once. Not that it would matter if a beautiful one found me.

  Where had the children gone? Were they already dead? The sound of laughter, a merry chuckle, floated down the hall. A beautiful one. The constant fear I’d felt fled. I had to find Kelly and Jim before it was too late.

  Like the very world mocked me, a high-pitched scream rent the air, a terrifying wail that sent chills over my skin. Searching for Kelly and Jim would be suicide. Stupid. And I’d never been stupid. I slumped down against the wall, hidden behind the desk. I would survive this. I had before. I would hide here until they left. Besides, even if I wanted to leave, I couldn’t. My body was trembling so badly I wasn’t sure if I could move, let alone run or swing the sword. Still, I clasped the hilt like it was my only link between life and death.

  “Fire!” someone yelled.

  Fire? For a brief moment my confused mind couldn’t process the thought. Then it hit me…they were going to smoke us out. Tom had done it before with the rabbits when they were eating the crops. Sure enough, moments later I smelled the telltale scent of smoke drifting down the corridor. Clutching the sword, I lowered myself to the ground where the air would remain fresh. There was no choice, I had to find a way out. Gingerly, I slid the sword into the back of my shirt, using it as a makeshift sheath, the cold blade resting against the skin between my shoulder blades. On my hands and knees, I started crawling away from the desk, hoping there would be an exit ahead.

  “Leave her alone!” Jim’s voice pierced through the surge of cries, a tiny voice within a sea of monstrous growls.

  “Jim?” I whispered.

  “Help!” the boy screamed, as if sensing me. “Help us!”

  I glanced back, hoping to see Will charging through the smoke, but I was alone. Utterly alone. I forced my legs to hold me and stood, pulling the sword from my shirt and stumbling toward Jim’s cry. As much as I was loathe to admit it, the cowardly part of me wished I could run the other way. But the children were being attacked and no one was coming to their rescue. Racing down the hall toward Jim’s scream, I realized in the deep recesses of my mind that I was most likely running toward death. My footsteps slowed. Sally had died alone because I’d been too much of a coward to help her—I would not make that mistake now.

  At the end of the hall I paused for a brief moment to catch my breath. The smoke, at least, had not reached this hall yet. Taking in a deep breath, I peeked around the corner and studied the children’s ward. Not quite as big as the great hall, but it was a wide, open space with cots and lanterns for the children. They’d done their best to make it a home. And now it was a trap, a coffin.

  Kelly stood in front of the children, a useless dagger in hand as she tried her best to protect them. A tall man with long, dark hair and clothes of colorful silk had them cornered. My fear gave way to anger. What had Will been thinking to send one person to protect a group of little ones?

  “Please,” Kelly whispered, her wide eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “They’re just children. They aren’t ripe. You have no use for them, let them go. Take me instead.”

  I pulled back, hiding behind the wall, and staring up at the dark ceiling in indecision. Could Kelly and I take the man together, or was he stronger than even the both of us combined? I closed my eyes, su
cking in a reassuring breath. They had saved me. They had brought me here. Fed me. I owed them.

  “Shut up, cow,” the beautiful one growled.

  I opened my eyes, my hands tightening around the hilt of my sword. How I hated him. Hated that perfect face and fine clothing. Hated that he controlled whether we lived or died.

  “Not today,” I whispered.

  Today I’d save Kelly and Jim even if it meant giving up my own worthless life. I swiped the sweat from my brow. If I raced into that room and attacked, he would most likely end up killing us all. My body was too weak to fight him. But maybe…just maybe I could lure him away until Will and his friends got there.

  I focused on the area around me. Something. I needed…

  A piece of cement lay only a few feet away, a chunk that had fallen from the decaying walls. Determined, I drew back my leg and kicked the small rock. It went skittering across the floor, hitting the wall with a ping. Not loud, but loud enough for the beautiful one to hear.

  I didn’t wait around to see if he followed. If I wanted any chance at all to survive, I wouldn’t have time. Using what little energy that remained in my body, I raced down the hall, into the darkness. The sound of my own exhausted pant made it impossible for me to hear if he followed. Part of me hoped he did, the other part, the cowardly part, hoped he hadn’t.

  As I turned the corner I dove into a wall of smoke. Lanterns that had been left behind gave the corridor an eerie yellow haze, only adding to the nightmarish atmosphere. I coughed, covering my mouth and nose with the neckline of my shirt. At the end of the hall I turned left, away from the smoke burning my eyes and choking the air from my lungs. Seeing that familiar desk, I dove over it and fell to the ground. The body of Will’s friend lay just a few feet away.