“She bites,” the second man said, laughing nervously. “Claws, kicks, and spits too. Drew had to hit her a few times just to get her to calm the fuck down. You sure you want her in the Cave?”
Giving the man a menacing smile, I moved aside to let them pass. “Give her to Dori and don’t make me say it again.”
Alone now, I glanced down at my hands. Caged as I felt, they were all I had left, my hands and the chaos they could cause, the punishment they could bring.
And the destruction they could rain down on whatever was in my way.
Chapter Two
Autumn
Their calloused hands on my arms hurt. I wanted them to let go, to stop squeezing so much. But every time I tried to fight them, the tall one hit me. It was best to keep still, to play helpless and useless. That was how I’d survived this long, out here all alone. Play dead, hide, stay away from others, and avoid the biters. Hush, hush, must keep quiet or they’ll hear you.
I didn’t normally venture so close to people, always keeping my distance from others, dead or alive, but I’d been so hungry. My traps had been empty for the third day, the horde of biters that had recently passed through had scared all the animals off, and now I was starving. I’d gone in search of food and while chasing a pair of chipmunks gotten too close to the noisy people who talked too much and still laughed like they hadn’t lost everything.
People were bad—violent, aggressive, and greedy. I couldn’t stay here, and I wasn’t going to work here. I was going to kick and scream, determined to fight anyone who tried to touch me.
The tall one dug his fingers into my arm, looking down at me with a sick and twisted smile on his face, a look that told me he was enjoying this, reveling in hurting me. He was angry that I’d hit him, but I wouldn’t have hit him if he hadn’t touched me, if he’d just left me alone. I only wanted to go home, back to my cave, back to the darkness and the safety of solitude.
The men dragged me up the steps, refusing to be gentle. People weren’t gentle anymore; they used to be, though. I remembered how they used to be, but everyone else seemed to have forgotten.
Inside it was cooler and darker, and as my eyes adjusted, my heart began to pound in my chest. There were people in here, too many people, all of them in such close confines. I swallowed hard, my mouth dry and my stomach empty and burning. Feeling dizzy, I squeezed my eyes shut.
It smelled in here. It smelled of something that I remembered, and yet something I’d forgotten. I didn’t like it—the smells, the people, and the noise. It was dangerous, all of it, and would attract the biters. The horde would come back again, and these people wouldn’t be able to hide forever. The biters would come and they’d kill, and I didn’t want to be here when it happened.
I don’t want to be here at all.
My captors paused and I opened my eyes, immediately wishing I hadn’t. A nearly naked woman in a wheelchair loomed before me, her legs missing.
Where am I?
“What am I supposed to do with that?” she asked, her soft voice full of annoyance.
The tall one laughed. “E said to bring her to you. You’re supposed to put her to work.”
Work.What an odd word choice considering they’d kidnapped me and dragged me off to this horrible place. I wasn’t doing any harm to them, wasn’t bothering them, yet they’d cornered me, taken me, even beaten me.
I want to go home.
Home. Was that what I was calling my cave now? Home wasn’t what it used to be. It wasn’t a two-bedroom brick house with yellow rosebushes lining the driveway that I had planted with my mother. It didn’t have a swing set in the backyard that my father used to push me on so high that I thought I could fly. And it no longer had a fully stocked pantry and a working bathroom; it didn’t have a television or a comfy peach sofa with three cream-colored cushions. Home wasn’t any of those things anymore. Home was a small cave, hidden deep within a ravine. Home was safe. Home was something I could trust. I couldn’t trust this place or these people. And I didn’t belong here.
The short man was talking now, but I was suddenly shaking so hard my teeth were chattering, and I couldn’t make out a word of it. I couldn’t be here; I couldn’t stay here around these awful people, these loud, noisy people. I couldn’t be here when the biters came back and killed them all.
“What good is she?” the woman shrieked. “She’s disgusting! My God, she’s growling!”
“Clean her up,” the tall one said. “Who knows, there might be a whole lot of good under all that shit.” Glancing down at me, he grinned. “After a week in the Cave, she’ll have all that fight fucked right out of her.”
“No!” The woman looked horrified. “You can’t leave her here! What in the hell am I supposed to do with her?”
The short one groaned and released my arm. “Aw, come on, Dori.”
My body slumped to the ground, leaving me leaning at an awkward angle. The tall one hadn’t let me go, his fingers were still curled around my bicep, his jagged nails digging painfully into my skin.
“There’s shit going down out there, and we need to get back to it or Liv’s going to have a fit. Ain’t nobody wants to deal with her. Cut us some slack, would ya?”
The woman—Dori—sighed. “Fine,” she snapped, her anger and irritation twisting her features. “Put her in one of the back rooms, and lock her up until I can find someone who’s willing to clean her up.”
Gripping the armrests on her wheelchair, she leaned forward as she looked me over. “You try anything,” she said in a low, vicious voice, “anything at all, and I will cut you. You got that?”
