"Emma, are you listening to me? You can't keep acting like this. You have to try to not act like a psycho."

I block him out, trying to formulate a plan. I need a plan. He can yell at me later, I need something. I sit on the bed, covering my face with my hands and rock slightly.

"What are you doing? Have you lost your mind? Do you need some time in the bunker hole too?"

I block him out and get up from the bed.

"EMMA!"

I turn back to him, "You wait here. I'll be right back."

He tries to yell at me again, but he starts coughing. I leave him there. "Nan, he's sick. Lungs are infected, I think. Make him soup and get a ton of fluid into him. I'm sending the doctor there now."

She looks at me, startled, "You sure?"

I nod, "He's burning up and cantankerous, so be careful. I don’t know if it's contagious. The house should empty. We need Anna out of here, in case though."

I leave the house. Star is in the barn door, talking to Mitch up in the loft. They stop talking to look at me. I walk across the dusty grass to the platform. I shout up into the dark, "Nick, can I ask you a favor?"

"You got some balls, Em."

I sigh, "Shut up, Jake. Nick, I need your help." I remember his legs and sigh, "Jake, help him down."

I hear Jake chuckle, "She's always this pleasant; it's not you. Trust me."

Chapter Fourteen

Star passes me a piece of dried meat. I take it without taking my eyes off of the village. There are far more than twenty men, but they are mostly not men. They're teenagers; I would imagine Michael's little army of doom is made up of Gen babies. Irrational little bastards like me and Star.

"Nick said Will has three or four days before we know if he's going to make it without medicine."

Star nods, "I bet Michael has some."

I look over at the gate, where Sully's head is mounted on a stake, and wonder how angry she is. I didn’t even trust him and I'm pissed. Staking someone's head on a gate is sick and twisted.

"We can go in tonight, pretend to be one of them."

I point at the grounds, "How many women do you see?"

She glances around the whole village and scowls, "Misogynistic piece of shit."

I nod and chew the meat. Leo whines from the ground. I glance behind us to see a scout. I pull an arrow and take a breath as I sight it in. I release it, dropping him instantly. Star is out of the tree instantly. She takes his weapons and drags his body under a log before she climbs back up into the tree, without really making it sway.

I grin at her. She winks, swinging the gun over her shoulder. She pulls out a couple grenades with a grin like she found a candy bar.

I take one and leave her the other.

I chew the meat and tap my fingers against the tree, "We sneak in on the west side where the bombs are in the woods; they'll be more scared to go over there. That side door we went in last time, we go in there, and silently kill our way to him."

She nods, "Okay. Soon as it's really dark."

"I'll go tell Jake and Mitch."

She smirks, "Make sure Jake stays far away from here."

"Yup." I climb down the tree and make my way through the forest with Leo. Jake is sitting on the far side of the woods with the four horses.

He smiles when he sees me. He doesn’t look behind me to make sure I wasn’t followed, or even look around himself. He has a gun to keep him safe from the infected, more though, he has Mitch.

"We're going in when it gets quiet and everyone goes to bed."

Mitch nods, "I'll come with you."

I shake my head, "No. You need to keep him safe."

Jake rolls his eyes, "I'm not tits on a bull, Em. I can help. That’s a lot of dudes, let us help."

I give Mitch a look. He nods. I turn and walk back into the woods.

We wait until the dark of night has settled in, and the camp has completely died down, and then make our way into the woods. I have double blades, handguns, my bow and quiver, and a rifle. She has the same, minus the bow. It's almost the last of the weapons from our camp.

I follow her perfectly through the bomb path. I'm sure Bernie made her run it many times.

We stop at the weapons hold to see if even a few things have been left there. She finds a couple protein bars, some ammo, and a bigger knife.

I eat the protein bar too fast and burp it the whole way along the woods. I hear the guard in the trees shifting as we get closer, and I pull an arrow silently. The only sound that we hear is the release of the arrow as it whips through the wind, and then slices into his head. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but as he falls from the tree without making much noise, I know I hit the right spot.

Star takes his weapon, staying low. No one comes, even with the little bit of rustling that occurred.

We sneak along the new log house, hearing the people sleeping inside. The door at the side of the house opens without a sound. Star sneaks in and moves to the side, so Leo can get ahead of us. He waits in the hallway as I make my way into the first room on the right. I can hear the sleeping people.

We made an arrangement when we arrived, no one would be spared, regardless of what we found in those rooms.

I don’t think as I slide my blade against the first throat I find.

It's just like the breeder farms; these are the ones who are against us. It's us and them. It always was.

Star takes the left and I take the right. We meet at the end of the hall, both looking haunted and hollow at the same time.

We slip into the kitchen and the shelter but no one is sleeping down there.

Leo takes the stairs. I hear a noise and a crunch, and see his yellow eyes glistening in the dark. We creep upstairs into the first room, the one I always slept in. I know the door has a creak. I open it quickly, the creak is there, but only for a second. Star hurries into the room, making the slicing sound, and the wet noise fills the darkness. Leo makes his crunching sound once. He's not eating them, just tearing the throat out in one fast bite. It isn’t his first time killing without sound.

Sweat coats my face. I wipe it with my shirt and continue to the next room. Star opens it slowly. I creep past her, almost tripping on the person on the ground, sleeping on the floor. I take a knee and feel for their breath. I reach my hand for their throat, wishing everything were different. I'm loosing my edge. Star is done both people on the bed and someone on the floor, and I still haven’t killed the person breathing on my hand. Leo senses my hesitation and finishes the job for me.

The next two rooms are the same. I don’t have the fury and vengeance Star has. The man I love is dying, but his head is not mounted on the gate of this village. She kills without thought or feeling. She has become numb to the pain of others. I almost envy her that; I miss that feeling a little. I miss turning my back on them and being responsible for me and Leo.

I don’t know how to get that back.

We tiptoe to the back room that used to be Bernie's. It is the place that mine and Star's niece or nephew was created. It is the place where my best friend lost her virginity the right way, to the man she loved.

I can only assume Michael is in there.

Star looks at me in the dark; I see her eyes glisten with hatred and pain.

She nods once and creeps into the room. I follow her in, letting Leo take the lead though. We sneak to either side of the bed, moving perfectly, even without speaking. Who knew we would be the perfect assassination team. I suspect Michael did. I suspect he made us to be what we are.

The moon shines in the window slightly, making it easy to see the two women in his bed. He is in the middle of them, sleeping like a baby.

I grimace and glance at Star. She has the same face as me. Star slices the throat of the first girl. I can't. I know that. She doesn't look older than we are.

Star comes to my side and ends the girl for me, giving me a dirty look.

I shake my head and walk to the far side of the wall. I slide down it, Leo comes and sits next to me.

Star sits in the chair against the wall next to me, and we wait for him to wake and realize he's being bathed in the blood of the two girls he, no doubt, just took advantage of. I know what women will do for protection. It makes me sick.

The night is silent. No one in the house stirs or realizes that the whole main house has been murdered.

Michael moans and stirs, sliding his arm across the wetness of the body on the right, He lifts his hand and his face, sitting up abruptly. Star switches on the light next to her.

"Sleep well?"

His jaw drops and then his lips curl into a tight smile. He shakes his head, "The first ones were the best ones. There is no doubt. We used the best DNA from the top scientists and athletes in the world, making a cocktail of excellence. Of course, when they found out why we were doing it, they all backed out. Such a waste of talent that was."

Star lifts a gun from her lap, "We don’t need your 'why I'm so evil and genius' speech. We just wanted you to know it was us who murdered you."

He laughs, as if either buying time or not believing us capable. "All the greatest have died for their beliefs or because they made their creations too amazing. You girls are prime examples of that. Think of the world you can create from the ashes of this one."

Star steadies her hand, "We aren’t you. We don’t want to make anything."

He puts his hands up, "I can give you anything and everything. It'll only be a matter of months before we are rebuilding the next city." His eyes sparkle, "Did you meet your brother, Nicholas? He is my prodigy, in every way. I sent him to see how you were doing."

My insides tighten.

His smile widens, "You have met him. You weren’t foolish enough to let him in, were you?" He shakes his head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Emma. I expected more from you. Star here had a privileged life, what with Bernie being my right-hand man and all."

Leo bares his teeth. I almost bare mine.

Star fires the gun, "Not too privileged. I still learned how to shoot a gun, Dad." Michael jerks back from the bullet. I stand up, terrified and angry in a whole new way. If Anna, Jake, or Sarah are hurt because of Nick, I will never find my way back to the good place in my mind.