Zocopalypse (Death Fields 1)

“Think outside the box,” I say. “What can we do?”

“Short of overpowering Walker and Richardson we’re screwed.”

“Then that’s what we should do.”

He looks at me with both eyebrows raised. “Are you kidding? We’ll get killed. We have no weapons. No real physical skills that match up to their guns. You’re dizzy all the time from blood loss…”

“Maybe there’s another way to overpower them,” I suggest.

“Like what?”

I study his unruly blond hair and deep blue eyes. The sharp curve of his cheekbones and shadowy stubble on his chin. “You’re cute—maybe Walker thinks so too.”

He laughs. “Yeah right.”

“I’m serious.”

“I could tell you to do the same with Richardson,” he says eyeing me. I shift uncomfortably and the mattress moves beneath us.

I take a breath and admit. “Already planning on it. I’m not sure he’ll be swayed but maybe I can throw him off for a minute.”

After a moment of silence Cole says, “This is a bad idea.”

“Do you have a better one?”

He looks away devastated. We’re screwed and we both know it.

***

The plan is set for the morning. We’ll divide and conquer—get one or both to lower their guard and then make our move. From there things get sketchy. Grab a gun. Incapacitate them. Free Wyatt and Chloe.

It sounds like a fantasy—but what about the last two months doesn’t? Neither of us has been on a rescue mission before. Neither of us had something so important to lose. I haven’t told Cole, but I’m putting my eggs in his basket.

“Tell me about Africa,” I whisper after lights out. We’re huddled on the lower bunk, backs pressed against the wall. Normally we keep our distance but not tonight.

“Africa was hard. And beautiful. And scary,” he replies. I can only see the outline of his face from the small light in the bathroom.

“Sounds familiar.”

“Yeah, it really does. I worked mostly at a clinic on the border of several small villages. They had been ravaged by the disease.”

“Did anyone get better?”

“A couple of patients made it through but it was rare. There was so much distrust between the locals and the medical community. Rumors that we’d brought the disease to them. The cultural differences in how to care for the dead—it added a layer of complication to our jobs.”

“You’ve been surrounded by death for a long time then.”

He leans his leg into mine and we’re joined. I like the feel of it. The feel of him being so close. “I have to assume now that’s why your dad hired me. I guess maybe he thought I could handle what was coming. Little did he know I’d get his daughter captured by the very people he warned me against and now she’s talking about seducing a soldier to get us out of here.”

“Cole,” I say fighting back a laugh. The absurdity is too much.

“It’s not funny, Alex. I am an absolute failure in the apocalypse.”

“I’m not laughing at you…just, I mean, we’re all pretty screwed here. We all got caught. Chloe and Wyatt had a head start and they still tracked them down. These guys have been on our tail since the beginning. And if anyone is going to fail my father it will be me. I’ve got no choice but to give Erwin what he wants.”

“You can’t,” he says. “Our plan will work.”

“What plan? We don’t really have a plan, Cole, and you know it. That seduction talk was ridiculous. There’s no way in hell I could pull it off.”