Zocopalypse (Death Fields 1)

The elevator trip to the top is quick and the doors open directly into the reception area of an office. Sleek leather chairs line the walls. Crisp magazines sit on the spotless coffee table. Once again I’m struck by how normal everything is.

A secretary sits at the desk. She’s older, with graying hair. I blink, taking in her familiar face and ask, “Josie?”

The receptionist from my father’s lab, the one that checked me in and out each week was here. Working at PharmaCorp. A sense of uneasy dread rose in my stomach. “Alexandra, I’m so glad to see you.”

“How did you get here? What…where’s my dad? Do you know where he is?” I ask. My stomach clenches with nerves—both excited and scared. I can’t believe she’s here. Why is she here? How did she get here from Durham?

“I know you’ve had a long journey to get here. Come with me. They’ve been waiting.”

“Who? Who has been waiting?”

Again, she doesn’t answer—what the hell is it with the no answering thing? She starts toward a door behind her desk, but I push past her, wrenching the door open.

Inside is a small seating area. A couch and two chairs. A plate of food sits on a coffee table in the middle. Fresh fruit, cheese, meat. My mouth waters just looking at it but I dart past it, toward the large desk positioned before a wall of glass windows, where two people stand in front of it, looking at what I can only assume is the battle below.

“Dad?”

My father turns wearing a wide, relieved smile, his arms stretched wide. “Alexandra!”

I move toward him—eager to touch him. To make sure he’s real. He pulls me into a tight hug and as excited I am to finally see him, dread fills the pit of my stomach. I have to tell him about Mom.

“Dad, we waited for you but you never came,” I say. The other person shifts in my direction and I look ove

r his shoulder. I gasp, dropping my arms. My sister is here.

“Jane?”

Her hair is short and tidy. Professional looking. Her makeup understated but perfect. I look between her and my father. They’re both clean. Both safe. Both living in this tower of luxury. While I…a lump forms in my throat. I can’t even begin to comprehend the things I’ve had to do to get here. Who I’ve lost, who died. The hair on the back of my neck tingles and out of instinct, I reach for the handle of my hatchet. “What are you doing here?”

“Alex,” she says coming in my direction. “It’s so good to see you.” Her dark eyes flick downward at the weapon. “You don’t have to be scared.”

“I don’t understand.” Suddenly I’m hyperaware of how filthy I am. How out of place I am in this room. I look around, searching for an out—an escape. Something. A glint of gold catches my eye on the desk. It’s a nameplate.

Jane Ramsey, CEO PharmaCorp.

“You?” I ask. “You’re PharmaCorp?”

“Just figured that out?” she asks tossing her short hair back. She’s proud.

“You did this then,” I accuse. I look at my father. “And you. You did this. You brought this on all of us.”

“No, Alexandra,” my father says. “We saved everyone. We’re not the bad ones here.”

Jane nods her head in agreement and walks toward me. I go for my hatchet but strong hands grab me from behind. Hale overpowers me easily, although I fight against him out of sheer rage. “You’ve lost your mind,” I say to my sister, who is now inches away. She reaches for my neck and finds the string holding the pouch around my neck. She yanks it off with a snap.

With all my strength I lift my legs and manage to kick her with both feet in the gut. She stumbles backwards, off balance, but manages to recover before falling completely. I’m not surprised when she charges back over, palm open and slaps me hard across the face.

“Jane!” my father shouts.

She ignores him and grabs me by the stinging cheeks. “I’ll throw you back outside these walls, Alex. Don’t test me.”

My head is spinning and not just from the slap. Who is this woman? She’s certainly not the sister I grew up with and fought to find. “Don’t test you?” I spat. “Trust me, I’ve been tested. I was tested when I left home with Mom, with nothing but the bags on our back. I was tested when we watched our friend get murdered by the military. I was tested when I killed my first Eater.” She rolls her eyes but I keep going. “And yes, I was tested when I shot our mother, your wife,” I shout in my father’s direction. “In the head after she’d been infected. You left us out there to die.”

My father doesn’t blink, which tells me he already knew about Mom. Once again, I’m the one left out of the loop here.

“No, honey,” Dad says. “We never wanted this to happen. For your mother—” He swallows hard. “I can explain. Just give me a chance to explain everything.”

“Screw your explanation!” I shout, once again struggling away from Hale. I manage to slip out of his grasp and lunge in Jane’s direction. He catches me before I get to her, tackling me to the floor.