Eat the Ones You Love (The Thirteen Book 2) Read online

  “Declan?”

  “Yeah?” he said, his voice far away, like he was barely there anymore. Jenny watched him lick his lips, still glaring at the two men advancing on Jenny.

  “You hungry, baby?”

  Now Declan was smiling too, and even the behemoths seemed nervous. Just as Jenny was about to run at them, there was another rumble in the air, this one even louder than the trucks. She turned to see a dune buggy sending up a cloud of dust as it skidded to a stop.

  “What the fuck is this shit?” Gretchen said, stepping forward again.

  “Looks like the cavalry,” said Trix.

  A stocky guy with pale blond hair emerged from the buggy's dust. He grinned around him like he’d just arrived at the party of a century. He was soon joined by a tall, wispy woman, the ropes of hair piled on her head the same color as her companion’s. She looked around sternly, wary. They were joined by a lanky, morose-looking man with limp brown hair that hung in his eyes, and a woman with dark red lips and mahogany skin who huddled next to him.

  “Is that bitch wearing fucking makeup?” said Trix.

  “Well!” said the blond guy, stepping out into the crowd, smiling around him like it was Christmas. “So I was minding my own business, just checking out all the goodies Expo has to offer,” he said, smoothing back his hair like James Dean, “and what should I hear, but a bunch of Heathens talking about The Thirteen.” He turned to look at Jenny then. The smile faded from his face, but his eyes remained manic.

  He walked over until he was less than a foot away from her. Declan watched him, his fingers white-knuckling the axe.

  “You can certainly imagine my confusion,” said the blond guy, staring at Jenny as if she were the only one there.

  “Yeah, why’s that?” said Jenny.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” he said. “You’re not The Thirteen.”

  “What makes you say that?” she said. She looked around her. The Righteous looked just as confused as she felt. These newcomers weren’t Righteous. So who were they?

  “Because,” he said and grinned again. “You can’t be The Thirteen. We’re The Thirteen.”

  FIVE

  “What the fuck did he just say?” said Trix.

  “He said he was The Thirteen,” said Jenny, keeping her eyes on the crazy bastard walking around and grinning at all the Righteous who had them surrounded.

  “I don’t fucking care who these bitches are,” said Gretchen, glaring at the newcomers. “It doesn’t change anything. We still outnumber you. Give us the Prophet or we’re going to kill the whole lot of you.”

  Declan was clenching his jaw, and Jenny wondered if he was seeing red. His eyes kept flicking down to the heads on the ground.

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said the blond guy. He swaggered over to stand between Jenny and Gretchen, blocking Declan’s view. Declan shook his head as if he forgot where he was. The blond ringleader looked at Jenny and winked. “I’m Faron, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Charmed,” said Jenny, not taking her eyes from Gretchen and her two flunkies. The other newcomers were watching the other thumpers through wary eyes.

  “She’s not getting my friend,” said Jenny. “I’ll die first.”

  “Oh, you’re not going to die,” said Faron cheerfully, smiling at her.

  “The fuck I’m not,” said Jenny. “You think you know something I don’t?”

  Faron replied by reaching behind his back and pulling out a gun that looked straight out of a blood diamonds documentary. Without missing a beat, he squeezed the trigger once, then a second time, the gun letting out a jarring ratatat ratatat, like machine guns in the movies. Within seconds the two hulks sank to their knees, then crumpled to the ground, screaming. Faron rounded on Jenny, waving the gun around like a party favor. He laughed.

  “I will never get tired of that sound,” he exclaimed. “Fuck yeah! Let’s get this party started!”

  Jenny looked back at the others. Trix and Declan looked as stunned as she felt. The three who had come with Faron were holding guns identical to his. Theirs were pointed at the thumpers coming out of the trees.

  “That’s a fucking Uzi,” said Declan. “Where the fuck did you get Uzis?”

  “It’s a secret,” said Faron, putting a conspiratorial finger to his lips.

  “I don’t even know what’s fucking real anymore,” said Trix.

  “Look,” said Gretchen, raising her hands and smiling. “This is a misunderstanding. We don’t have any problems with you. Let’s just talk.”

  “Let’s not,” said Faron. Ratatat and Gretchen’s chest exploded. Faron laughed maniacally. “Did you see her face? So surprised!”

  Gretchen was still moving and Jenny licked her lips. Declan was moaning from the smell of blood.

  “What are you waiting for?” Faron shouted to his companions. “Shoot these sorry motherfuckers!”

  The noise was deafening and Jenny plugged her ears with her fingers. When the smoke cleared, all of the thumpers lay bleeding on the ground. Some were still alive, and for the first time Jenny noticed the three with Faron eyeing them just as hungrily as Declan and Trix. A moment passed and then the blonde woman dropped her gun and made a beeline for a screaming woman whose knees were shot away. Without stopping, she had her face buried in the woman’s abdomen and the sound of tearing and ripping replaced the screaming. Jenny watched her rip the thumper apart, and it was a moment before she noticed that Declan and Trix had followed suit. Jenny spotted them, their backs arched like wild animals as they tore flesh from the Living. Jenny had never seen Trix eat before—she was very private about it—but Jenny knew for a fact that she hadn’t eaten in days, maybe a week. She made growling sounds as she attacked the thumper, the wet, tearing noises combining with the sounds of Declan ripping into human flesh.

  The other two who had arrived with Faron seemed reluctant, but after a moment, even they did the same. Faron looked at Jenny.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?” he said. “I know what you are.”

  “I don’t think you do,” said Jenny irritably.

  “You were dead, but now you’re alive,” said Faron, then smiled. “We’re the same, Jenny.”

  Jenny glared. “How do you know my name?”

  “Oh, right! Where are my manners?” he said, shaking his head. “We were sent to take you to your mother.”

  Then Faron knelt beside the dying Gretchen and began to eat her face.

  Jenny carefully picked up the heads of her friends, Declan’s friends, cradling them in her arms. She looked to Declan, but he had forgotten about Beacon and V. Jenny looked down at the heads, into their unmoving faces, and felt something that wasn’t grief or sadness or regret. It was envy.

  “You’re the lucky ones,” she said. “You get to sleep now.”

  She carried the heads into the woods to bury them.

  SIX

  When Jenny returned, her friends and the newcomers were still feeding on the Living. She felt dizzy from the smell of the blood and the confused mess that her mind had become. She snapped out of it when the car door squealed open and Zeke fell to the ground as he tried to get out. Jenny ran over to help him up, letting him lean on her.

  “Oh my God,” she said. “You’re dying, Zeke.”

  “No,” he said weakly. “It’s just a little cold.” His eyes rolled back then and Jenny almost dropped him as he went limp. She managed to get him back into the car, then stared at him.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  Jenny turned to see the tall, lanky man push dirty brown hair out of his eyes. He had sad, kind eyes that were barely turned white. She thought of Abel, who ate every chance he got. He had looked as human as the Living. The man turned his eyes to her and gave her a gently questioning look.

  “I think he’s dying,” said Jenny.

  “He’s not one of us.”

  “No,” said Jenny. “He’s my friend.”

  “He’s alive.”

&nb
sp; “Not for long.” She bit her lip. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “I think I do,” he said. “I’m Benji.”

  “Jenny.”

  He almost smiled. “I know.”

  “So you guys were…at the lab? When we were there?” she said.

  “I guess so,” said Benji. “To be honest, I don’t remember much. I was pretty young.”

  “I mean, I knew there were more of us, but I didn’t expect you to be in a group,” Jenny said.

  “You think you’re the only one curious about who you are?”

  “I guess it sounds stupid when I say it out loud,” she said. “How would you help Zeke?”

  “Oh,” he said. “There are supplies nearby. At your mom’s old bunker.”

  “You’ve been there?” she said.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Yesterday.”

  “And you know where my mom is?”

  “Yes.”

  “In New York?”

  “How did you know that?” he said.

  “My friend told me,” she said, looking down.

  “Abel Cruz,” he said. “He disappeared. He was one of us.”

  “He died.”

  “Oh,” he said. “That sucks. Any others?”

  “Yeah,” said Jenny. “Fisher and Grayson.” She hesitated, determined not to show emotion. “And my brother. Casey.”

  He didn’t respond for a moment, but when he did his voice was soft, barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry, Jenny.”

  Declan came out of the woods, wiping blood from his mouth. She met his eyes.

  “Yeah,” she said to Benji. “I’m sorry, too.”

  Benji followed her line of sight.

  “He’s one of us, too?”

  “He wasn’t,” said Jenny. “But he is now.” She looked down at Zeke who was sleeping. “Is Faron okay? I mean, is this going to be a problem?”

  “It’s mostly an act,” said Benji. “Mostly. His sister takes care of him when he gets…overwhelming.”

  “His sister? The blonde girl?”

  “Angel,” he said.

  “And the other one? With the lipstick?”

  “Rayanne,” he said.

  Declan stepped up beside her, looking at Benji strangely.

  “Benji knows where the bunker is,” said Jenny. “He’s going to take us there to get medicine for Zeke.”

  Declan shook his head. “No, we need diesel first.”

  “There’s diesel at the bunker,” said Benji. “I mean, you can go to Expo if you want, but there’s a bunch of Heathens that aren’t too happy with you.”

  “Huh,” said Declan. “You seem to have gotten out okay.”

  “No one knew who we were,” said Benji, shrugging. “You guys have a little more publicity. I heard about the Righteous in Chicago.” He looked at Jenny. “Doesn’t seem to have hurt you too much.”

  “Don’t be so sure about that,” said Jenny. She looked away. Faron and the blonde girl Benji called Angel were talking in hushed voices. Angel reached up and wiped a lump of something red from Faron’s forehead and he pushed her hand away, looking annoyed. Rayanne came staggering out from the trees. She looked toward Benji, but stopped, unsure what to do. She looked like a lost child.

  “Hey, Jenny, I think we should split,” said Trix. “I don’t know about these bitches.”

  “I’m going to go help Rayanne,” said Benji.

  “Yeah, you do that,” said Trix.

  “They said they want to help us. They know where the bunker is.”

  “They just happen to know where the fucking bunker is?” said Trix. “Seems pretty convenient.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” said Jenny. “But they knew Abel.”

  “Abel who worked for that big bad corporation? Abel who came here to kidnap you? Or worse?”

  “But he didn’t. I don’t know what to do, Trix. Zeke is dying and they say they can help him.”

  “I don’t trust them,” said Trix.

  “Neither do I, but they’re the same as us,” said Jenny. “They’re the other members of The Thirteen. If they're telling the truth, including everyone, that makes ten. We could use some allies.” Jenny and Trix, as well as Casey, Grayson, Fisher and Abel. If Faron, Angel, Benji and Rayanne were really in the lab, there were only three of them unaccounted for.

  “You're including the dead,” said Trix. “The dead can't help us.”

  “They can't hurt us either,” said Jenny.

  Jenny looked toward Zeke, dying in a car that would soon be completely out of fuel. They couldn’t go to Expo without Declan going into a bloodthirsty frenzy. Jenny was more afraid of what Declan would do to himself when he realized what he’d done than what he would do to the Heathens. She felt a pang of guilt.

  “Abel said they were holding your mother prisoner,” said Trix. “Don’t you remember?”

  “Yeah, I fucking remember,” Jenny snapped. “And my mother deserves to be locked up. My mother deserves to fucking die for what she did to us. For what she did to all the kids. I don’t even know how many she killed. I don’t know how many labs she used, or how many experiments she did. I don’t even know if she’s still doing it. You know what I do know? Zeke is fucking dying. I can feel it. And if Benji says there’s medicine at the bunker and he can take me to it, I’m going to fucking trust him.”

  “Jen, she’s just saying that we need to be careful,” said Declan. “Remember Sully?”

  “Don’t ever fucking ask me if I remember Sully,” said Jenny, feeling the anger welling in her chest. “He opened me up, Declan. He had his fingers inside of my body. And then he did this to you. He fucking killed you. Don’t ever say that to me again. You have no right.”

  “Yes, I fucking do have a right,” said Declan. “I was the one who was supposed to die, remember? It’s not just you, Jenny. It’s all of us. He did this to all of us. He killed your friends and then he killed me too. Like it or not, it’s not all about you.”

  “Well, I mean, he did cut her open and experiment on her for like a week,” said Trix.

  “Shut up, Trix,” said Declan, glaring at Jenny. “This isn’t your business.”

  “I don’t want your fucking drama, asshole,” said Trix. “But as you can see, everyone else is fucking staring at you, you dumb shit.”

  Jenny looked around. Benji and Rayanne were looking right at them. Faron, standing with his sister Angel, was watching them gleefully. Zeke was snoring.

  “I just don’t want to talk about Sully,” Jenny whispered. “I know he messed your life up too.” Without waiting for Declan to answer, Jenny walked over to Faron. She heard the car door slam as Declan got into the passenger seat.

  “Lover’s quarrel?” said Faron.

  “Shut up,” said Jenny.

  “Jesus, Danny, shut the fuck up,” said Angel. She looked at Jenny. “Sorry,” she said. “My brother’s a dick.”

  “It’s part of my charm,” said Faron.

  “Your name’s Danny?” said Jenny.

  “Faron is our last name,” said Angel.

  Jenny nodded. “Benji said you know where the bunker is.”

  “Yep,” said Faron. “Bet you want us to take you there.”

  Jenny nodded to Zeke’s feet hanging out of the backseat. “My friend is really sick. Benji said there was medicine. Do you think there’s something that can help him?”

  “Rayanne’s kind of a genius about that shit,” said Angel.

  Jenny looked over at the girl, who was whispering with Benji, looking terrified. She was clutching his arm. Jenny thought she had some kind of neurosis. She’d seen others act like that after the Collapse. They went crazy when there was nothing but chaos left.

  “I know she doesn’t look so tough,” said Angel, “but she’s smart as fuck. Reads whatever we give her and remembers everything.”

  Trix came over and stood beside Jenny.

  “When do we go?” said Trix.

  “How’s right now work for you?” said Faron, grinning at T
rix.

  Trix looked at Jenny. “I still don’t trust these bitches.”

  “We don’t trust you either. Bitch,” said Angel.

  Trix shrugged. “I kind of like her, though.”

  SEVEN

  It wasn’t far, but with the heavy silence in the car, Zeke's stink, and the task of following the dune buggy zig-zagging down a tiny dirt road, the trip seemed to take forever. Declan sulked in the passenger seat as Jenny weaved in and out through Faron’s cloud of dust, as he veered into the ditch, around potholes, and through puddles of water.

  “The sick guy fucking stinks,” said Trix. “He smells like death.”

  “You would know,” said Jenny.

  “Whatever, cheerleader.” Jenny looked at Trix through the rearview mirror. Her eyes were notably less cloudy. They almost looked like a normal color.

  “Guy drives like an asshole,” Declan muttered.

  “He is an asshole,” said Trix.

  “This is a bad idea,” said Jenny. “I don’t like this.”

  “What? Trusting other people?”

  “Trusting those people,” said Jenny. “I mean, I know we have to, just for the chance to help Zeke, but fuck.”

  “Yeah,” said Trix, “we trusted someone new once and bunch of us ended up dead.”

  “Are you talking about me?” said Jenny.

  “Yeah,” she said shrugging. “The truth hurts.”

  Jenny glared at the road. Her teeth felt on edge. She should have eaten with the others, but she just couldn’t eat those people. They might have been thumper assholes out to kill Zeke, but they hadn’t known any better. Everyone did what they had to do. For some, that meant join a freaky cult. She had to remember that not all of the Living were bad. She thought of her friend, Lily, dying while nailed to a post, her baby ripped out of her stomach. Jenny blinked until the urge to cry had passed. She didn’t have time for tears. Zeke was dying. She had to follow these new people to the promise of help, whether she trusted them or not.