The Safe Zone (The Dead Zone Book Two)

Chapter 12

 Victor sits on his back porch, sipping his tea as if he'd never even left the spot since the last time Paige had seen him. She slaps Bryson's note on the table, rattling his fine china. He glances at it dismissively, not bothering to read the words as he turns to her.

"Is something bothering you, Paige?"

She glares at him, nearly shaking with rage.

"Why don't you find out for yourself?"

She motions toward the note, noticing when Victor's body stiffens as his eyes scan it. He knew he'd finally been caught. He pushes the piece of paper away, sipping his tea as he tries to think of something to say.

  "Paige, dear. Please take a seat. There's a lot we need to discuss."

"Damn right there is! Where is he? Where did you send him away to?"

She doesn't sit, instead, she towers over him, letting her rage be known. Who the hell did he think he was to lie to her? To stomp all over her heart by making her believe the man she loved had abandoned her for no reason? She felt ashamed knowing she'd ever doubted Bryson. All along, she'd known there'd been something off about this whole situation, but she hadn't known just quite what it was.

"Bryson possessed the necessary skills needed for a special team I created. This team was tasked with clearing the neighboring city of biters, making the surrounding area much less hostile."

He'd sent him straight into a zombie filled city?

"Why did he go so willingly? After we fought so hard to get here to safety?"

Victor sighs, looking as if he'd aged considerably in the last few moments.

"We made a deal of sorts. Bryson would leave immediately with our departing team to spare you and his brother. It was an easy choice for him to make." This, of course, sounded exactly like something Bryson would do.

"And why did you lie about it?" Victor looks unremorseful as he slaps her with the truth.

"Health care professionals are highly sought out and coveted during these times. When I heard about your skills as a nurse, I knew we needed you to stay. Doc is great at his job but he can't do everything by himself. And if something happened to him, we would be doomed."

"Well, too bad. I'm leaving to go find Bryson. I'll be gone by nightfall."

She turns to leave when he chuckles darkly. "Bryson's dead, Paige. His whole team was slaughtered by those wretched biters. No one survived."

She swings at him, her fist connecting solidly with his jaw with a loud pop. He was lying, of course. This was just another ploy to get her to stay. At least she hoped it was. She knew Bryson was alive out there, somewhere. She'd feel it if he were dead... right? His laugh followed her as she stormed off. What a freaking psycho.

Evie jogs over to her on her way back to the house, her blonde curls bouncing all around. She was about to go pack her shit and then they were leaving. Bryson was out there, and she was going to find him. It had been too long since she'd seen him.

"What's going on?" She asks, obviously sensing something was off.

"Me and Zach are leaving. Like, right now. Are you coming with us?"

She hadn't seen much of Evie since they'd arrived; the girl had been spending most of her time with their neighbor Elle. The two were inseparable.

  "Why? What's happened?"

  "They lied to us about Bryson. He didn't ditch us. They sent him away."

"Maybe they had a good reason to, be rational about this Paige. You don't really want to go back out there, do you? You're safe here. We're all safe here."

Paige turns on her, stunned. It was as if Evie hadn't even heard a word she'd just said.

"Did I not make myself clear? Bryson is out there somewhere. We have to go find him."

Evie looks nervous when Paige finally gets a chance to study her. It isn't until she pulls a gun out that Paige realizes just how wrong this situation had gone. Evie presses the barrel against her back, digging the metal into her skin.

 "Walk. Don't make a scene or I'll do it, I swear to God I will."

Stunned, Paige follows her orders, heading toward the house, although much more slowly this time.

"What are you doing?"

"I won't let you ruin this for us. Zach and I are safe here."

"Zach already knows what Victor's done. He wants to leave with me."

"We thought you'd say that."

"We?" Paige asks in confusion as they walk through the front door. Jason is seated in her living across from Zach, a gun held out between them. Evie and Jason are in on this together?What was going on here?! Since when are the two of them even friends?

"Sit down." Evie shoves her onto the couch next to Zach, earning her a disgusted look.

"We saved you and this is how you repay us?"

"I'm returning the favor. If you go out there you'll die! We're all safe here."

"You're delusional." Zach hissed, staring at his friend as if she's a stranger.

"Just after you left my house," Jason interjects, giving Evie a silencing look, "Victor radioed down to me what was going on. I ran into Evie on my way down here and explained the situation, and she agreed you should stay. Bryson's not coming back, and you're not going anywhere."

She eyes the walkie-talkie strapped to Jason's belt.

"So what? You're just going to hold us prisoners here?" Zach asks, baffled. "Sound familiar, Evie?" Evie shakes her head.

"This is different. We're doing this for your own good."

"No, you're not. They only want me because I'm a nurse. They need someone to take care of the people here, in case something happens to Doc. But I won't do it. You can make me stay but I refuse to help you monsters."

Jason smiles, a dark smile that causes her stomach to churn.

"You will if his life is in danger." She couldn't believe he would actually threaten to kill Zach if she didn't help Doc out.

"This is going to end really badly." She says.

"Only if you let it. All you have to do is cooperate. It's that simple, Paige."

"I'll find a way to escape. If it takes months or years, I'm not staying here."

"Well, for the time being there will be guards around you until you can be trusted. Your access to weapons will be restricted, and you will be on house arrest until your services are needed."

She glanced out the window to see several armed men surrounding the house. "We have eyes on every exit, doors and windows. My advice would be don't do anything stupid."

He rises then, motioning for Evie to follow him out the door. She gives them an apologetic glance as she leaves the room, and Paige gives her the most hateful glance she could manage. In the course of a day, everyone she'd known here had turned on her. Except Zach, that is. They make eye contact, both knowing they had to think of a plan, and fast.