Page 16 of The Girl Who Broke Free (Death Fields 5)

“To torture her? To use as bait? Or even leverage?”

“Any idea what happened to Cole?” I ask. “Things must have gotten pretty bad when she realized he wasn’t a Hybrid under her control.”

Paul eyes shift to the side and he rolls the shaker across the table, spilling salt. He says, “We’ll figure out a way to get Alex out. Erwin has been plotting a course of action since we got here.”

“Where is her new headquarters?”

“Asbury College in Lexington. It’s a small campus. Lots of land. Easily defensible with the number of soldiers she has.”

“When do you think you’ll attack?”

“Soon,” he replies, but I hear the hesitation in his voice, fully, and I’m sure it’s not the first time since we’ve been talking. I catch his dark eyes and he attempts to move from the table. I grab his arm, sloshing the stew to the table and pin him to his spot. His bicep bulges, fighting against me.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask, ignoring the searing pain at the back of my head.

He pulls back but I hold tight, and we’re at a standoff even though I’m not sure how much longer I can do it. Paul flicks his eyes between my face and our hands and he says, “There are wheels in motion. We’re not going to let her get away this time, but that also means we aren’t rushing. We have Chloe exactly where we want her—she knows we’re here but she doesn’t know how big we are, and what our assets look like. That’s the real reason she took Alex. She’s desperate.”

I release my grip. “Then let’s go get her and the others.”

“I told you,” he says slowly. “The wheels are in motion. Everything is clicking into place and although it may not happen right away, it’s going to happen. Our way, risking as few of our men as possible. We’re going to end this once and for all.”

I lean back in my seat and run my hands through my hair. “What if she dies before we get there?”

“Tell me, Wyatt, do you think Alex would rather us save her before we’re ready or would she want us to destroy Chloe and the Hybrids? We’re only going to get one shot. Once we storm the gates, the final battle of the Hybrid-Human-Mutt war will begin.”

“How long?”

“It may be a few weeks. Or months.”

“Months?” I barely contain my rage. “Do you know what they could do to her? To all of them before then?”

“It’s a risk we’re willing to take.”

It’s a risk the Mutts are willing to take. But I’m still human and so are Jude and Green. But I’m aware that three recently injured men do not make an army, particularly up against genetically-modified super soldiers. “Tell me why? What does Erwin have that he’s so sure he can beat Chloe?”

He gives me a funny look, eyes narrowed in semi-amusement. “How do you think you survived that attack the other night?”

I thought it was a fluke or at best dumb luck. I suspected I had an angel or maybe even the devil sitting on my shoulder, unwilling to let me escape this hell in exchange for one last shot at taking the bitch down.

The look on Paul’s face tells me it wasn’t luck at all.

“How?” I ask, accepting the odds of me, Green, and Jude all surviving was impossible.

“We’ve infiltrated her army.”

Chapter Twelve

I sleep like the dead, literally crashing onto the twin bed, asleep before I can fully process the information Paul gave me. I wake with a knife still clutched I my hand—my brain may not be ready to accept that I’m safe behind walls, but my body had endured enough.

No one comes to get me and the silence of the apartment makes me nervous. Not the dreaded apocalypse quiet Alex refers to, but the calm of not having to be anywhere. No fights, no sharing beds, no emergency busting down the door. From my bed I see the food Paul or someone left in the small kitchen. A small loaf of bread and thick butter with a hint of honey. A small container holds boiled eggs and within minutes of getting up I eat everything, making my stomach ache. I haven’t had anything unprocessed in weeks.

On the counter I find small strips of paper that look like hand-printed tickets. I pick one up, it’s purple and in thick handwriting says “Voucher.” There’s one for food, another for clothing, and another for miscellaneous to be used at one of the shops we passed the night before on Main Street. I discover another sheet tacked to the back of the apartment door with a list of services and facilities in the town. Library, school information, church services. It all seems like a little much, but that’s probably just my skepticism. It’s nice here, and now that I’ve arrived, it’ll most likely be blown to hell.

Voices sound in the street and I grab my gun off the table and move quickly to the window. Down below, are people walking and laughing. Two more are across the street and one of the shop keepers sweeps the sidewalk. I spot one of Paul’s resistance Mutts patrolling near the theater. I press my forehead against the window and feel strangling anxiety tighten across my body and my palms sweat.

Behind these walls I’m safer than I’ve been in months, but for some reason I feel nothing but trapped.

*

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