Page 4 of The Forever (When the World Fell #3)

Liv

D arby Downs was the largest regional city we’d visited on our trip, and the last one we’d see before we reached the coast.

There’d been some high-level rioting and looting in the business district before everything crashed—worse than any other place I’d seen. Shop windows were caved in and ominous phrases like The End is Here had been sprayed on walls. Cars were burnt out and shopping trolleys overturned on footpaths. The dead wandered in aimless, endless paths throughout the destruction.

Black smoke billowed from a rooftop a couple of streets over, and the sight immediately put me on edge. Any sign that humans were in the vicinity wound my body tight, and my leg jiggled with nervous tension.

I pointed at the growing cloud of smoke, and Cruz nodded.

He’d seen it, too.

With Willow crammed in beside me on the passenger seat, I rested my elbow on the console to steady myself. We’d run through our plan on the short drive here, and she’d told us about a spot where we could hide her while we covered the rest of the distance on foot.

“The shed’s two blocks away,” she said, “and the car park’s just behind the buildings over there on the left.”

A blue sign marked the entrance to the rear parking area. Cruz slowed and took the turn while the rest of us kept our attention on the shopfronts. Anyone could have been watching us from countless vantage points— multiple anyones—and not necessarily the small number of men we were targeting.

“What are their names?” I asked to distract myself. “Your aunt and sister?”

“My sister’s name is Ellie and my aunt’s Rowena, but everyone calls her Ro.”

“I’ll lock that away for later,” I said. “Remember what we discussed on the way here? Stay in the car, keep quiet, and cover yourself with the blanket. Don’t leave, no matter what.”

She nodded quickly.

Cruz pulled up on the far side of the lot, disguising the car amongst a bunch of other vehicles.

After we jumped out, Willow climbed in the back and stretched out along the rear seat. Jonah handed me the blanket I’d tossed in before we left the house, and while the twins took off with Cruz to make sure the nearby cars were empty, I tucked it around her. “Try not to worry,” I said, handing her the key fob. “We’ll be as fast as we can. It could be an hour, but I promise, no matter what happens, at least one of us will come back for you.” I partially covered her head to make her blonde hair less obvious. “Press the lock after I get my backpack out—and don’t open the door for anyone but us.”

“Okay. Just… hurry.”

Hearing the quiver in her voice nearly made me change my mind about leaving her, but I steeled myself and patted her foot. With nothing more to do, I grabbed my backpack from the boot and slipped it on my shoulders. After I heard the click of the lock, I left her there and fell into step beside Jonah.

“All good?” he asked as we headed off to catch up with the others.

“I don’t know. I think so.” My brows pulled together. “Are you good?” I slid him a sideways glance. “You’ve been thrown into this a day after losing your mum. It’s a lot.”

Just saying it out loud hit me like a punch, a sudden reminder that a member of our group would forever be missing.

His lips flattened into a grim smile. “I feel shitty saying this, but having something different to focus on helps me forget. Not totally,” he added, as if I might think he was heartless. “Just enough that it doesn’t feel like it’s going to wreck me.”

I linked my arm through his and pressed my cheek to his shoulder. “It’s okay,” I said. “We all understand. Every one of us has been where you are now. No one’s ever going to judge you for how you get through it. Grief is weird.”

“So fucking weird.”

Armed with our weapons, we joined the others and walked the next block together, scoping out roof lines and windows, stopping here and there to take down clusters of the dead.

Cruz and I remained at the rear, and the farther I got from Willow, the more my concern for her grew. “Do you think she’ll be safe back there?” I asked, keeping my eyes ahead.

“Safer than she would have been alone at the house or walking with us now.”

Not exactly comforting, but the truth didn’t always ease my concerns. Sometimes it made them more real.

I pictured Willow lying on the back seat thinking about her family; a young girl alone. Did I do enough in our short time together to build her trust in me?

“I hope this doesn’t take long.” I kicked a discarded shoe off the footpath. “I’m worried about her. I really don’t like the idea of her being by herself.”

“Yeah. I picked up on that.”

When I looked up, his eyes were warm with affection, and my gaze narrowed. “Are you laughing at me?”

As we approached a clothing shop with smashed doors and windows, an infected woman in business attire stumbled out and headed for Jonah. Barely slowing his stride, he grabbed her dirty, sun faded blazer and drove his blade straight into her eye socket. She dropped to the concrete in a pile of withered bones, and we continued on our mission.

“Not laughing.” He stroked his hand down my ponytail. “Just enjoying this big sister, protective side of yours. I’ve never seen it before. It’s adorable.”

I side-eyed him and bit back a smile.

We reached the second block where the mechanic workshop was located, and my humour died.

Almost there.

“Ready?” Remy asked over his shoulder.

We stopped at the curb and took our time scrutinising every window, every rooftop. I swept my gaze over the buildings on the opposite side of the road, searching for anything that might complicate our situation.

Our plan would kick off with me heading over there on my own and finding a place to wait and watch the premises. As soon as I saw two men leave, I’d cross the street and approach the shed.

A couple of them may have already been out looking for Willow, or their entire group might be inside working out what to do about their missing captive. Either way, I needed to confirm, and I hoped it wouldn’t take too long. “I’m ready.”

Cruz cupped my chin and slid his thumb over my jaw. “Stick to the plan,” he said, pressing a soft kiss on my mouth. “No unnecessary risks, remember? I’ll be close by if you run into trouble.”

I nodded and rubbed my lips together to savour his kiss, staring past him at three of the infected as they headed in our direction. “Incoming.”

Stepping away from him, I gave myself a little warm up, swinging my sword and taking the dead down in three easy strikes.

It felt good to be active.

Determination mixed with my nerves, my confidence building with each passing minute.

The last time I took on a male enemy was at Dawn’s house, and although it hadn’t gone too well then, I was a different person now.

Stronger, more resilient.

“We gonna do this?” Jonah asked when I rejoined them.

“Yep.” I pulled my shoulders back and prepared myself for the next step. “Let’s take down these pendejos down.”

The butcher shop opposite the shed was structurally sound and free from the infected. Perfect for a stakeout. Dust covered every surface, but no damage had been done to the interior, and the lingering scent of stale meat was tolerable compared to some places I’d been.

I sat on a stool behind the display case and kept my head just above bench height, watching the street through a big, wide window.

For the first fifteen minutes, only the occasional infected person shuffled past, and a cat skulked amongst some rubbish. Faint smoke from the burning building seeped under the door, and the wind blew a dried up ball of weeds down the street.

The calmness had the opposite effect on my nervous system, but I ignored the hammering of my heart and reminded myself the others were waiting in separate locations. We were well equipped to extract the women with none of our people getting hurt.

Ten minutes later, someone from inside the shed pulled the roller door up and my spine went rigid. I held my breath as two men on bikes rode out and headed off to the left. We hadn’t asked Willow for a physical description of Tae—an oversight on our part—so I didn’t know who I was watching leave, and who remained behind.

Before I could take in any details of the interior, the door closed again.

I released a breath and squared my shoulders. It didn’t matter. I had all the information I needed to complete my job.

The moment I lost sight of the men on bikes, I left my stakeout position and stepped outside into the sunshine.

The scent of smoke and charred flesh clung to the air, and I paused at the curb, wondering if the men were using the building as a walk-in crematorium. If so, it was the first sensible thing I’d seen them do.

Before I crossed the road, I leaned out to ensure they were truly gone, and glimpsed their bikes just before they rounded the corner. Several of the dead were nearby in two separate groups, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if some of them followed me.

Mentally readying myself for the next step, I made my way over to the shed. My role was to play a lost, confused woman searching for somewhere safe, keeping at least one man talking while the guys took out the other and freed Willow’s family.I surveyed the laundromat on the left and the takeaway food shop on the right, searching for signs that Cruz and the others were close. Wherever they were hiding, their cover was perfect because I felt completely, utterly alone.

Sunlight glinted off the side mirror of an old car on the property, and a few stacks of tyres had been stored against the left boundary fence. The steel gate on the right-hand side kept the home at the rear separate from the business.

A white truck with Dunstall Towing on the side had been parked on the gravel near the roller door. I sidestepped the bumper and approached the window, leaning in close enough to look inside without touching the grimy glass.My gaze landed on the rear view of a blonde woman with a ponytail, sitting on a ladder-backed chair with her hands tied behind her.

Another blonde with loose, shoulder-length hair had her wrists secured with a rope that someone had looped through an overhead beam. Her arms were extended, her back to me. Although I couldn’t see either of their faces, the positions of their bodies, the uprightness of them, told me they were conscious.

Both women were fully dressed, which in their current predicament gave me hope that we’d made it here in time.

As I looked them over again, my heart nearly punched a hole in my chest. Until now, they hadn’t been real to me, and now I wanted to kick the door down and go on a killing spree.

A shuffling sound came from behind me. I turned away from the shed to find three of the dead closing in on me, a rangy man flanked by two women.

Leaving my weapons in my belt, I committed to the role of vulnerable woman, and as the front runner reached for me, I screeched in a way I hadn’t done since I killed my very first one in the beginning.

A low male voice came from inside the shed, mixing with the muffled higher pitches of the women as they presumably tried to get my attention.

My pulse galloped, and I gripped the ripped shirt of the infected man to maintain a barrier between myself and the others. With the pressure mounting, I knew if I failed to draw the men outside before their friends returned, we’d be in trouble. Cruz was convinced they’d use the women as shields if we couldn’t separate them.

As the door swung open at my back, I let the infected man’s weight drive me closer to the building.

Bracing myself for impact, I collided with a live body and nerves exploded inside me as he pushed straight past me. Before I could say a word, he jammed his knife into the ear of the dead man I was holding, and as the body dropped from my grip, he took down the remaining two members of the trio, moving faster than necessary given their deteriorated state.

When the last body thudded on the gravel, I made my eyes wide as I faced him. “Thank you,” I said, breathless. “Thought I was a goner for a second there.”

My gaze landed on a young, attractive Asian man with dark brown eyes that were full of concern. His black hair had grown to a length where it probably annoyed him, and he shoved it back from his cheek as if to confirm my assumption. “Run,” he hissed. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re getting into here. Dane’s in the back room. If he sees you, you’re in deep shit.”

He didn’t care who I was or what I was doing here. He just wanted me gone.

Only a decent guy who’d got tangled in a messy situation would warn me off. Adrenaline pumped through me, and I went back and forth over my options, undecided on what to do next. I wasn’t supposed to let on that I knew anything about the occupants of the shed, but a deep-down instinct took over, and I went with it.

“Tae?” I whispered.

His eyes narrowed, his body turning rigid. “Who are you?”

“A friend of Willow’s.”

Relief flooded his features. “She’s okay?”

I nodded as another male voice came from inside the shed. “Yo! Tae! Where’d you go?”

The door had swung shut behind him when he came outside, so his location wouldn’t be immediately obvious. My stomach flipped as I glanced at the shed window. “I need you to trust me,” I whispered.

“I don’t even know you.”

“I know that—but I need you to trust me, anyway.” Keeping my ears attuned to noises behind me, I locked eyes with Tae as my new plan formed. “Run to the car park behind the shops two blocks from here. There’s a red SUV there with Willow hiding inside.” He stared at me like I’d lost my mind, but I had no more time to convince him. “I have four people waiting close by. As soon as the other guy—Dane?—comes outside, they’re jumping him. I need you to protect Willow while we break her family out of here.”

He shot another look over his shoulder.

We’d officially run out of time.

If he stayed, he could sink even deeper into something he’d never escape from. If he didn’t do this one thing to prove his commitment to keeping Willow safe, the others wouldn’t want him in our group. “Tae, this is how you earn your place with us—this is your ticket out of here. If you don’t go now, I can tell you with absolute certainty, you’re choosing the wrong side.”

Tension buzzed off him, growing thicker by the second.

My stomach churned as I held his gaze. “ Now,” I repeated.

He ran. Straight off the property and down the road in the direction I instructed.

I sighed with relief, hoping Cruz and the boys had overheard enough of our conversation to know not to chase after him.

The door to the shed flung open, and the man I could only assume was Dane stepped outside. He looked to be a few years older than Tae, with dark hair pulled into a ponytail and the top few buttons on his flannel shirt left open. This time, there were steely blue eyes in place of soft ones, and a wiry body that looked well attuned to fighting.

“Who the fuck are you?” He gripped my shirt and yanked me toward him. “Where’s Tae?”

“I’m Alison,” I said, giving him my mother’s name. The urge came over me to swing and find out how much damage I could do before he fought back, but I smiled in a sweet, uncertain way that went against everything I knew. “I’m alone, and I’m trying to find a group to join. Do you take new people?”

“I asked where Tae went.” His teeth were yellow, with a gap where an incisor used to be.

He tightened his grip and surveyed the dead bodies nearby. It was obvious his friend had been out here, so I needed to be smart about how I played this to avoid tipping him off.

Dane shoved my chest with his bunched fist before letting me go.

“I don’t know where he went,” I said. “I don’t even know if that was Tae. There was a man here, but he pushed me out of the way and ran. Somewhere down there.” I pointed in the opposite direction to the one he’d headed. My pulse raced, and the heat creeping up my neck would make my nerves obvious if we didn’t wrap this up soon. “Will you let me in? Please?”

The women had gone quiet. I mentally begged them to stay that way until we were in a better position to help them. Once this man caught onto the fact that I knew there were captives inside, all of us would be in danger.

His eyes dropped to take in the sword on one side of my belt, the knife on the other, and I immediately realised my mistake. Two weapons made me look capable and confident—a direct contrast to the helpless picture I’d been trying to paint. When his gaze lifted to mine again, something shifted in his expression. His eyes darkened, and a chill moved through me.

Since he hadn’t pulled a weapon yet, I drew my sword and aimed the pointed end at his chest, almost making contact, but not quite. “Don’t do anything stupid.” I pushed the blade close enough to inflict a sting, letting him know I had no qualms about using it on him. “I don’t care about you. I’m just here to help the women. No one needs to die.”

“Die?” A corner of his mouth lifted, as if he found my threat amusing. “How’d you find this place?”

“Just lucky, I guess.”

An ear-splitting crack came from somewhere behind me, reminding me of the noise the farmhouse had made before the roof caved in. I’d bet anything the frame holding up the burning building had just given way, but I refused to take my eyes off Dane to find out.

He looked over my shoulder, but his expression didn’t change. No unease, not even a flinch.

He couldn’t grab the sword off me without getting closer to reach the hilt, and he couldn’t lean in without impaling himself on the blade. His only way out was backwards, and I had him trapped against an outward opening door. All I needed to do was keep him there until my backup arrived.

My pulse hammered as I gripped my sword, ready to do whatever it took to get out of this unharmed.

Dane didn’t say a word. He’d already assessed the situation and come up with a solution, but his smirk tipped me off a second too late. He crouched without warning and used a fast, sweeping kick to knock one of my feet out from under me. I lost my balance and tumbled backward, landing hard, with my elbow and backpack taking the brunt of the impact.

Recovering quickly, I kept my sword extended between him and me, raising my voice to make sure the guys heard me. “Stay the fuck away from me!”

“Oh, we’re about to get so much closer,” he warned with a slow smile. “You’re gonna know me real well by the time this is over. You, me, and those ladies in there… we’ve got some work to do.” He bent to reach for my boot, presumably to try dragging me inside to add to his collection. I kicked his hand away and kept my feet in a defensive pose until I could get my breath back.

When he pulled the knife from his belt and descended again, Cruz came out from the side of the shed, creeping up without a sound. I didn’t look in his direction, but just having him close by while I was trapped eased some of my concern.

Jonah and the twins should have got to the women by now.

In minutes, we’d have this under control.

I tipped my head back, and when I glimpsed more of the dead approaching, I suddenly wished I hadn’t made so much noise. After a quick calculation, I counted nine. It wouldn’t be long before we were surrounded, and here I was laid out on the ground like a meal on a platter.

Dane flicked a look at the infected, and a sense of urgency took hold of him, too. He reached for me again, but Cruz ploughed into his back before he could grab my ankle.

Expecting the fall, I tossed my sword aside to roll out of Dane’s way. Gravel grated the skin from my elbows and dug into my shoulder, but the pain barely cut through the pressure building inside me. The smell of the dead intensified with their approach, a dire warning we were about to be outnumbered.

With a grunt, I got to my feet and scanned the ground for my sword.

The infected were already too close. I couldn’t reach it without putting myself in danger.

Instead, I yanked my knife from my belt and trusted Cruz to control the situation behind me. With a fortifying breath, I gripped the jacket of the first infected and shoved it like a battering ram into the others. They weren’t packed in tightly enough for me to knock them all down with one move, but I took four of them off their feet and bought myself some time.

“What’s going on?” I called out to Cruz while my attention stayed on the dead.

“Don’t worry about me.”

Okay then.

A loud metallic bang came from the back of the shed, but I heard nothing more from Cruz—only Dane’s stupid, taunting comments.

The lack of visibility worried me, but I needed to keep the dead from surrounding us. I grabbed the closest one and drove my knife into its ear, then pushed it as hard as I could before I released its body. It landed on another, and they both went down with a satisfying thump.

As I transferred my attention to the next contender, a movement on the side street next to the butcher shop piqued my interest.

The two missing members from the gang were coming our way, one of them limping heavily while the other supported his weight. When the activity in the background registered, my stomach lurched. Dozens and dozens of burnt, mobile bodies were in pursuit, only a handful of steps behind the men.

Humans could make the strangest decisions when the lizard brain kicked in, and in this case, the lizards were fucking idiots. The men were leading danger straight back to where they lived because they saw this place as a safe haven.

A tremor of fear went through me, and I took out the final two standing infected in quick succession. more remained on the ground, but only one of them had made it back to its knees.

I swept up my sword from the gravel and shoved it back in its sheath. “Horde!” I yelled, turning to Cruz.

He punched Dane in the face so hard it made me wince, sending him sprawling across the ground with an audible thud. It didn’t knock him out, but it stunned him enough that when I ran past, it didn’t occur to him to try grabbing me.

Without wasting a second, Cruz snagged my elbow and pulled me toward the door. As soon as we were inside, he slammed it shut and engaged the lock.

“Are you injured?” he asked, looking me over.

“No. You?”

He shook his head.

Breathing hard, I scanned the interior. There were car parts on shelves, tools scattered across the floor, and two vehicles parked inside, one still up on the hoist.

Remy and Jonah were removing the women’s gags and untying them, while Gabe performed a sweep with his knife drawn.

The open door along the rear wall showed glimpses of the backyard and the house behind the business.

Our way out.

If we didn’t get moving, we’d be inundated in a minute or two.

“Is everyone okay?” I called out to the room.

“They’re not hurt.” Jonah gave me a reassuring look as he helped Ellie from her seat.

She turned to face me, an older version of Willow with eyes the same shade of blue. “What’s happening?” she asked, kicking the loosened rope off her ankle. “How did you know we were here?”

“It’s all right,” I assured her. “We’ll explain as soon as we can get you somewhere safe. Let’s move.”

A bang came from behind me, followed by another. I spun to find a man’s face pressed to the window, his expression panicked. Not Dane, but still one of his crew. “Open the fucking door!” he screamed. “They’re here!” He planted one of his hands on the glass as the other smacked the metal panel beside the window, creating a reverberation through the building.

If we didn’t run soon, he might try to make it through the side gate and create a whole new set of problems for us.

Cruz turned away from the view, meeting my eyes briefly before his attention shifted to Willow’s family members. “Can you both walk?” he asked the women.

Ellie nodded, still wary.

Ro flung aside her bindings and yanked her denim shirt into place. “I don’t know who you are or why you’re helping us,” she said, rolling her shoulders after being in one position for too long, “but I’m thankful as hell you came.”

I gave her a quick smile, eager to keep moving. “I’m Liv, and I’ll introduce you to everyone else later. The dead are coming. We need to get out of here before we’re surrounded.”

As we rushed to the back of the shed, I stuck close to Ro and Ellie. “We’ve got Willow,” I said, as Jonah and Remy passed through the door first. “She’s with your friend Tae.”

Ro’s entire being seemed to sigh with relief, and Ellie’s eyes shot to mine. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “It’s how we knew where to find you.”

“Come on.” Cruz clasped my shoulders from behind. “We can talk more later.”

We exited the building and ducked through a gap in the fence where several palings were missing.

When everyone had emerged on the other side, we crowded together in a deserted alley that backed on to the mechanic business. With no infected in the immediate area, it looked like we had a clear run to the car park where Willow and Tae were waiting.

“Let’s go, everyone,” I said.

As we hurried away from the scene, a male scream filled the air, the type of scream I’d heard before and exactly the kind I never wanted to hear again. Whenever humans were surrounded by the dead and the biting began, they let out a particular in human, gut-wrenching sound that went right through you.

I swallowed my revulsion and tried to block it out, but my heart was beating too fast, and I could hear my own breaths.

We didn’t have time to exchange small talk with the women or get caught up on what had happened while Willow was gone. The pressure was on, and it would be until we’d reunited them with their missing family member.

I’d been through more adrenaline rushes in the last few days than I’d experienced in the previous two years, and brief moments where I desperately didn’t want to do this anymore would catch me off guard.

Cruz clasped the side of my head and touched his lips to my temple. “It’s going to be okay,” he said. “You did good back there.”

He never used empty words to placate me. If he said them, he believed them, but I wondered when it would be okay. With the state of the country and the uncertainty of our living situation, it was hard to picture a time when life would feel settled again.

I nodded as Ellie walked in front of us with her aunt; the image reminding me to be thankful that we’d achieved something positive, even if three more people had died around us. Our numbers kept growing, and during all the time I’d lived in the city with Haruto, I hadn’t so much as hit another living person.

Remy and Gabe moved a little farther ahead, with Jonah several steps behind.

Each of us scoured the area while we moved.

My pulse quickened as we closed in on the car park, and a sick feeling I couldn’t explain filled my stomach. Maybe knowing people had just been torn apart back at the shed was the cause, or the unknown of what awaited us when we returned to the car. Either way, I wouldn’t feel secure until I knew Willow was exactly where we'd left her.

We walked the last few metres in silence, and when the twins reached the car park before us, I immediately knew something was wrong.

Gabe’s body tensed, and Remy lifted his hands in a what-the-hell gesture.

Jonah rushed forward to join them.

“What’s up?” Cruz called as the rest of us broke into a jog.

As soon as I reached the entrance, I spotted the problem on sight.

The car was gone.

Tae and Willow, too.