Page 16 of Zombie

As I looked through the mass amounts of paperwork, Sarah began to explain how all of the buildings were utilized. From safehouses, “product” holding, and general property. After Sarah went over the logistics of how they ran things, she stood up, wheeling the IV pole with her. “Now it’s time to see if you have what it takes to actually be part of the family business.”

My stomach sank. I had a feeling I was not going to like whatever happened next.

Sarah and I walked to one of the back rooms of the warehouse where fluorescent lights lined the hallway. It was vastly brighter here than in the rest of the building. On either side of the aisle were cages.

It took all of me to not throw up when I saw women and children inside, looking petrified. I quickened my pace, not wanting to meet the eyes of the innocent. I scanned the cages, trying to find Ryann and Callie but they were nowhere to be found.

I will save you and stop this, I thought to myself, wishing I could send them a telepathic message of comfort.

As we got to the end of the room, there was another door. This one, however, had a keypad. Sarah put in a code and I heard it unlock. We entered what looked to be a torture chamber. In the middle of the dimly lit room was a man bound to a chair, battered and bloody. At the sound of our footsteps, he looked up with fear in his eyes.

He was young, maybe mid-twenties, with ashen blond hair and dark eyes.

“Who is he?” I asked Sarah.

She waved a hand. “Just someone who was trying to be a martyr and save his girlfriend.”

I looked at the terrified man and my heart sank. I had a feeling I knew where this was going. Alarm bells rang in my head as Sarah continued to speak.

“You have an hour to kill this man. Everything you need is over there in the corner.” She pointed to a rack of tools, knives, and chemicals.

I looked at her pointedly. “And if I don’t?”

She gave me a sadistic smile. “Then you will take his place, silly, and I can promise you it will be the worst pain you’ve ever experienced.” She paused. “Have fun.”

I heard the door lock behind her as she left. I had never taken an innocent life before. In fact I had never actually done the act of taking a life before. I always had been the recipient of the dead after my team had taken out a target. But this time, I was doing the killing. I was taking away this man’s future. For what? Because he wanted to save his girlfriend?

The young man looked at me with wide terror-filled eyes. “Please help me,” he begged.

I wasn’t sure I had it in me to kill this man.

“Don’t do it, Z!” Arrow yelled in my head. But Cassie and Ryann flashed in my brain, followed by all of Ricci’s other victims. If I was dead, I would never be able to stop this madness.

I closed my eyes and took a breath before walking over to the tools. The man began to whimper and cry as he saw me grab a scalpel. A tool I used every day would now be tainted.

I walked over to the man, my body trembling as I got closer. I would make this as quick as possible for him. Cutting his throat would drain him quickly enough to satisfy Sarah’s deranged mind and give him a quick enough death that he wouldn’t suffer long. I had to make it look like killing didn’t faze me. I needed to do this for my daughter and Cassie, and for my team.

“Please! Please don’t do this! I just wanted to get my girlfriend. I won’t say a word! Please!”

“I have to,” I whispered.

I tuned out his pleas as I came to a stop in front of him before hesitating.

Was I really going to do this? Was I really going to take an innocent life? Bile rose in my throat as I weighed and calculated the pros and cons. After once again coming to the conclusion that I had to do this for the greater good of taking down the Ricci Empire, I brought the knife to the man’s throat.

“Please, don’t. I’m begging you!” he cried. The smell of urine permeated through the small area. I would have pissed myself too, if I were in his shoes.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered before slashing his throat.

The contents in my stomach sloshed before heaving out of me. I had just killed someone innocent, going against my oath to do no harm. I told myself it was for the greater good, and that this man would be known for his sacrifice. But nothing made me feel better. My brain was spinning from everything that I had learned tonight. I had a child. Somehow, I was processing killing someone better than having a child. That seemed insane, but I knew, logically, that the reason I was handling the killing better was because of my experience with the dead. It helped detach me from their lives and situations.

Sarah walked into the room with a pleased expression on her face. “Nice work, brother. You passed the test. Now it’s time to get to work.”

I had just signed my soul with the Devil and there was no going back now. The manila folder with my true identity that sat on the passenger seat of my car would now be a distant memory of what could have been.

TEN

LENNIE