Page 47

Norman is still working for Dr. Tuwile.

Jonah had told Amos his suspicions about Norman after seeing him for the first time at The Valley.

That’s the big secret Amos has been hiding from me for months.

I didn’t suspect a thing.

I collapse into the armchair in the corner of Amos’ office, processing everything he just explained to me.

We all knew he’d worked for Dr. Tuwile in the before, but Jonah claims Norman was working with him until a few months after the outbreak.

It would make sense as Norman didn’t show up at The Valley until the walls were nearly complete, according to Amos.

As they were organizing their leadership, Norman was an easy choice for leader having exclusive knowledge about the virus that destroyed the world.

The community needed someone to head their education system too.

Norman showed up just at the right time.

Without him, The Valley wouldn’t be the safe haven it is today.

It wouldn’t be a thriving community devoted to spreading knowledge and remembering human history.

Sure, Norman is a vile asshole.

He’s a scientist first. Human second.

Just like Doctore. But I’ve seen him with the kids here.

He treats them like gems, nurturing their knowledge and coaxing them to grow into future leaders.

I think of the orphans in the bunker.

They were starving. Had no one.

Doctore could have easily provided for them.

Instead, he used them as an experiment, turning them into monsters.

If Norman was working with Doctore, why didn’t he just turn me in right away?

Why let me live in peace at The Valley for a year?

Why let me fall in love?

And if he knew exactly where I’ve been, why attack those other communities to look for me?

Something isn’t adding up here.

I push myself off the armchair and begin pacing the length of Amos’ office.

He just stares at me, waiting for me to respond with words.

Patience is one of his strongest virtues.

Amos could stand at his desk like a statue for days waiting for me to say something.

Jonah storms into Amos’ office, halting my panicked pacing.

Olivia enters shortly after, catching her breath as Jonah says, “He told me everything.”

A huge grin spreads across Amos’ face.

“Tell me.”

Jonah doesn’t answer Amos right away as he looks me over for a moment.

“You all right, Shortcake?”

I nod as Amos explains that he told me about his suspicions of Norman.

Jonah pinches his mouth together before opening to say, “Norman might be innocent. At least Matthew didn’t have any intel on what Norman is up to or what he was working on with Doctore.”

“What did he say?” Amos asks, pushing off his desk to walk over to me.

His warm, solid hand slides across my back until it reaches my hip.

Anchored to Amos’ side is my personal safe zone.

I melt into him, laying my head on his shoulder as he moves me to the armchair, sitting me down on his lap.

Jonah and Olivia hop up on Amos’ desk, getting comfortable as Jonah reveals everything our new captive let spill.

“I knew Doctore would move around sometimes. I never knew where he would go though. Until now. Matthew was one of Doctore’s most trusted guardians. His personal bodyguard, traveling everywhere Doctore would go. And Matthew has given me all of Doctore’s lab locations. The reach he has is more than we could have imagined. If we are to take him down, we need the military to help us.”

“They don’t really help us. We help them,” Amos sighs.

“They provide us safe passage inside The Wall and pass on intel to keep the survivor communities safe. But they don’t leave their posts to actively help us if there’s no direct threat to them. Taking down Novus Seclorum was a rare occasion. Going on a wild goose chase to maybe find Dr. Tuwile?” Amos pauses, looking up at me before saying, “We should still go to The Wall and at least talk to General Greene.”

Jonah nods.

“There’s more.” Before Jonah continues, he looks at me with so much sadness, making his brown eyes look muddy.

“Doctore has been successful in creating more gladiators. Lori isn’t the only one.”

Amos squeezes me against him as I shout, “What? How many?”

“Matthew said there were at least a dozen successful gladiators from his other laboratories. Not all of them achieved the same mutations. None of them can heal as quickly as Lori. Half of them died when he ripped their bodies apart. The others took months to heal and months more to recover. Some never recovered mentally and had to be put down like animals.”

My body temperature plummets, turning my skin to frost as Jonah’s words wash over me.

Amos’ hold on me is the only thing keeping me grounded.

“So what Doctore did to me, he’s done to a dozen others?”

Jonah nods again, looking away from me as if ashamed.

“In different arenas all around the country. He lied to me when he said he needed your DNA. He already created other gladiators. According to Matthew, they aren’t as strong as you.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You are also inhumanly strong.”

“I am?”

“Yes,” Amos says.

I turn to him, his face so close to mine I can feel his breath against my cheek.

“You’ve bruised my ribs before and come close to fracturing my bones. You can also take a lot more than you think. Your skin is tougher.”

Amos’ golden eyes glimmer with lust as he looks me up and down, likely recalling how rough he can be with my body and I never complain.

In fact, I always beg for more.

I nudge him in the ribs, bringing him back to this moment.

“Ow,” Amos shouts in jest.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I bruise your ribs again?” I pout at him, pushing out my lower lip, which causes a reaction I instantly feel beneath my ass.

“You can bruise any part of my body, Copperhead,” Amos whispers so that only I can hear him.

Jonah clears his throat, reminding us that we are not alone.

We pull back from each other slowly, and I adjust myself enough to cause a quiet moan from the back of Amos’ throat.

“Oh, I will get you for that later.”

“Promise?” I smile up at him before turning my attention back to Jonah and Olivia, who are doing their best to look anywhere else but us.

“What should we do with this information? We can’t just sit here and wait for Doctore to send his goons here. If we know where his other labs are, let’s destroy them.”

“Lori,” Amos says, likely about to say something I don’t want to hear.

“We can’t do that. If there are others like you, other super soldiers…we need to know who we are up against and if we can fight it and survive. And we still don’t know what Norman’s part in all this is. If he has a part to play. We could be walking into a trap.”

I know Amos is right.

I know we are safe here.

But I don’t want to be a sitting duck waiting for the Praetorian Guard to find us.

“Did Matthew say anything about me? What Doctore still wants with me?”

Jonah winces as he says, “You’re his gladiator. He created you. He thinks you belong to him.”

Amos growls, clenching his fist. “I can’t wait to kill this fucker.”

I lay my head on Amos’ shoulder, hiding my fear in the crook of his neck.

He holds me tight against him as if telling the universe to try and take me away from him.

“Who’s going to The Wall?” Olivia asks, just as impatient to do something as I am.

The vibration of Amos’ voice soothes me a little, but I hate the words that come out of his mouth.

“I will go later today. Kyle and Lucas will accompany me.”

Olivia sighs.

I can tell she wants to tell him “no” just as I want to chain him to me so that he won’t be able to leave.

But it has to be Amos.

He is our general. Even though it’s not an official title, that’s who he is to this community.

Since he’s fully healed now, I cannot stop him even if I begged him to stay.

Which I will attempt to do later.

“You should bring Kelly,” Olivia suggests.

“One of the soldier boys has a bit of a crush on her. Maybe she can sway him to get General Greene to help us.”

Amos nods, brushing his chin on the top of my head.

“Give them their orders. I want them ready to depart in an hour. And tell Anna to pack our car with enough supplies for a week.”

After Jonah and Olivia leave the office, I lift my head off Amos’ shoulder.

“Please don’t go, Amos. Please.”

“I don’t want to leave you, but I have to go.”

“I know, but Amos…what if something happens to you? At least let me go with you.”

“No.” Amos’ face hardens, not with stubbornness but fear.

“There could still be spies at The Wall. And General Greene doesn’t know you are at The Valley. He knows of you though. If he sees you, makes the connection, he wouldn’t hesitate to take you from me.”

“Why? I thought we are allies with The Wall.” My voice shakes at the raw fear on Amos’ face, making my fear spread like wildfire inside my chest.

“You are one of Dr. Tuwile’s super soldiers. A gladiator. The gladiator. General Greene would kill to have a super soldier under his command.”

“Fuck that. I would never follow his orders.”

“He would make you listen.” Amos presses his head against mine, breathing deeply.

“Lori, love of my life, please trust me when I say that you can never go to The Wall. General Greene might be on our side, but he isn’t that much different from Gabriel Tuwile. We all become monsters when our survival instincts take over. Some of us have better control of these monsters. Some of us still cling to our inner humanity.”

“The world has always been full of monsters, Amos. It just took the end of it to see them.” My head falls against Amos’ shoulder, feeling utterly defeated.

“Does that mean you won’t fight me on this?” Amos asks.

I sit back up, adjusting my legs so I straddle his.

“If you aren’t back in three days, I’m coming after you. Three days, Amos.”

“Three days.” He kisses me to seal the agreement.

I want to feel his love and confidence.

But all I can feel is ice-cold dread.