Thicker than Blood Read Free Page B

it all, to eat a
bullet, finally shutting the world out. Then I would think of her,
and would be unable to go through with it. In a way, I guess you
could say we were constantly saving each other.
    We’d promised each other—back when this all
had begun, when the world crumbled right before our eyes, taking
with it everything we’d ever known, everyone we’d loved—that we’d
never give up. That we’d survive no matter the cost, that we would
always stay together. Always. Those promises had been hard ones to
keep, and Leisel especially had suffered more than I. Daily, I
hated myself for what she’d been forced to endure, for not being
able to do more to protect her.
    Reaching the dark foyer, I flipped the lock
and pulled open the door, quickly backing away as Angela barged
inside. She seemed frantic, a sheen of sweat glistening on her
wrinkled forehead, and I began to fear that there’d been a breach
in the walls. It had happened once before, during the first year
when the walls had yet to be completed. A large group of the
infected had managed to find their way inside, and were freely
roaming the streets. But it had ended nearly as soon as it had
begun. Our soldiers had controlled it, quickly and efficiently.
Still, we’d lost people.
    That had been three years ago. Three long
years spent in this infection-free…prison.
    “It’s Leisel,” Angela said, and my rambling
thoughts came to a crashing halt. Grabbing the short, stocky woman
by her shoulders, I lowered my face to hers.
    “Where is she?” I demanded, the quiver in my
voice laced with worry.
    “She’s—they took her!” She started to sob,
hiccupping sobs that I didn’t have patience or time for.
    Still gripping her shoulders, I shook her
hard. “Where is she?” I yelled. But Angela was still crying. I
frowned down at her as annoyance and worry wormed their way into my
panicked state. It wasn’t as if Angela and Leisel were close, yet
the woman was behaving as if they were.
    “Stop crying and tell me where the hell she
is!” I shoved her backward, slamming her back against the door.
    My body, that only moments ago had been
heated by lust, was now humming with anger. Leisel was a mouse, a
quiet little mouse who had never done a damn thing to anyone. She’d
never once caused trouble in Fredericksville, always keeping to
herself, barely speaking to even me because of that bastard husband
of hers. She was a broken and beautiful ghost, my sweet
Leisel.
    “I swear to God, if he’s hurt her again…” I
cursed under my breath, releasing Angela to begin pacing the length
of the room.
    Lawrence Whitney, Leisel’s husband and our
oh-so-enigmatic leader, was outwardly charming and charismatic,
everything a leader should be. He was what the people of
Fredericksville had needed in the beginning, someone to put their
broken world to rights, and they’d followed him blindly. But
privately, with Leisel, he was a monster. Beating and abusing her,
using her in every horrific way possible, simply because he could.
Because he knew that no one could or would stop him.
    “I’ll kill him this time,” I mumbled. “I
will.” Tears began to form as a sense of helplessness washed coldly
over me. Angela and I both knew I was full of shit; we both knew
that I wouldn’t do a damn thing. Because I couldn’t touch that man
without bringing hell down on both myself and Leisel.
    Knowing how helpless I was made me hate him
as much as I hated the infected that plagued the world beyond our
walls. He was a monster, and no better than they were.
    “He’s dead, Eve. Lawrence is dead,” Angela
said, her eyes huge.
    I scowled at her. “What?” I cried. “How?”
    And then suddenly I smiled, because I
didn’t care how. What did it matter? He was dead and Leisel was
free of him, free of his torture. Whoever she was passed on to
next, they couldn’t be any worse than Lawrence. So I continued
smiling because this was a good thing, as good as life could get
inside a