Shattered World (Shattered #3)

Chapter Three

Rainer

T he sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed throughout the empty room. I couldn’t bring myself to feel remorse as the man’s head fell forward, his nose dripping blood.

Warner gripped the back of the man’s neck, tilting his face until his eyes met mine. Warner’s gaze collided with mine as well, darkness in them that I knew matched my own.

Something uncomfortable swirled in my gut as I stepped toward the man. I could no longer convince myself that we were the good guys of this story, not after this. And yet, still, the remorse didn’t come. Not when this man was our only chance.

“When do the next trains leave?” I asked for the tenth time, my voice filled with grit.

The man groaned in pain, attempting to shake his head, but Warner’s firm grip halted his movements.

Kneeling before the man, I rested my arms against the chair, getting right in his face. “When do the next trains leave?”

The man’s eyes met mine, slightly swollen, and I clocked the moment the fight left him. Slumping against the chair even more, Warner slowly released his grip, coming to stand behind me.

“They leave in two days,” the man croaked, his voice hoarse. From the information back at the camp, we already knew this. But I wanted to make sure we weren’t caught off guard with new information.

“But it doesn’t matter,” he continued. “No civilians are allowed.”

Warner let out a humorless laugh, crouching down until he was level with the man. “You think that matters to us?”

“Are you getting on that train?” I asked and the man slowly nodded.

He opened his mouth, probably to throw out more excuses as to why we weren’t allowed on the train. Too bad for him, I didn’t give a shit.

Standing back to my full height, I looked down my nose at him. “Start thinking of a plan, I expect one the next time we come in here.”

And then I turned on my heel, leaving the man behind, Warner’s steps right behind mine. The door shut with a loud thud, echoing throughout the rest of the home.

It had been harder than usual to find an abandoned building after the chaos of the train station. All of those that had been left behind had scampered into the streets, trying to find cover for the rest of the night. If I had to guess, most of them were biding their time, hoping to get on the next train.

But I wasn’t one to bide my time. And if beating an answer out of some poor unsuspecting man was the only solution, call me fucking proactive.

“Think he’ll have a plan?” Warner asked as he dropped onto the couch in the small living room. Based on the copious amounts of beer bottles and the tiny stature of the place, I figured this was campus housing, the university Mina attended not far from here.

Slumping down on the opposite end of the couch, I shrugged. “Who knows? If he also wants to get on the train, he better.”

“And if he decides to screw us over?” Warner tilted his head towards me. His face was blank, making it hard for me to read what he was thinking.

I knew my face gave away the same amount, but my mind was in overdrive. If this didn’t work, I didn’t have another plan. We didn’t know where the trains were headed. Had no clue where the others were at.

Even if I thought walking all the way to the destination was a reasonable solution, we wouldn’t have a destination. And the likelihood of walking cross country successfully was slim to none.

When Warner realized I didn’t have an answer, he asked no more questions. The two of us fell into companionable silence. We didn’t have much to say to each other. I didn’t know the man before me anymore than I knew the man in the locked room. The only thing tying us together was her.

Closing my eyes, I tried to envision what she and Murphy were doing right now. I knew he would take care of her. Comfort her through whatever hardships they were facing. But fuck, I wanted to be there with them.

My fists clenched, hating the situation we were in. It wasn’t just Alessia that was causing this pain in my chest. For over twenty years, Murphy had been by my side. My best friend through it all. Being away from him, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, was like being stabbed straight through the heart.

Apparently, I wasn’t doing a good job of concealing my emotions, because Warner’s voice sounded beside me. “They’ll all be fine. They’ve got two doctors, Sasha’s smart as a whip, and Murphy knows how to handle a weapon.”

“And the others?” I questioned skeptically, noting how Warner left them out.

I may have been tough, hard on the outside, but I wasn’t heartless. I cared for all of them more than I wanted to admit.

“They’ll all be fine. And so will we,” Warner reiterated, his tone final.

Neither of us spoke the rest of the night, except to wake the other when it was our turn to take a watch shift. Maybe it wasn’t necessary at this point, but old habits died hard.

Even when it was my turn to sleep, I was restless. Staring at the ceiling, trying too hard not to think about what I could have done differently. If there had been any way for all of us to get on that train.

The next two days passed by in a blur. Time ticked by in seconds, my patience wavering as each minute lapsed. But today, the waiting was finally over. According to the man, Declan, he had told us was his name; the trains were set to leave this morning.

I knew better than to assume it would be as simple as hopping on the train and being whisked away to the others. Thankfully, it seemed Declan had taken our threats to heart and had constructed a plan.

I worked on untying Declan from the chair as Warner loaded two bags filled with ammo and food. Tossing one of the bags over his shoulder, he threw the other at me as Declan stood up from the chair.

His legs wobbled slightly, his right hand circling his left wrist, rubbing at the skin that had been restrained with rope. His shaky demeanor didn’t instill much confidence in me, but this was only plan A. Warner and I had discussed plan B, although we hoped it didn’t come to that. The truth was, the odds of us shooting our way onto the train without getting killed were close to zero.

“Not a word to anyone on the street,” I began, stepping into Declan’s face, my gun hanging loosely at my side, not yet tucked away. “You try to run? You won’t make it two feet. You try to yell for help? You won’t get out more than one word. Do you understand?”

If possible, Declan’s skin paled further, his eyes widening as he nodded his head vigorously.

“Then let’s go.”

Warner took the lead, a stumbling Declan following behind, while I took up the rear. Stepping out onto the streets, I wasn’t surprised by the vacancy. Most people were still hidden inside given they didn’t know the trains were arriving today.

But I knew the empty roads wouldn’t last long. The second the trains arrived, someone would spot them, and the news would travel like wildfire. Eventually, the station would be filled to the brim yet again with thousands of people.

The three of us moved efficiently through the downtown area, Declan giving directions every few blocks. Finally, we reached a building two blocks from the train station. From the outside, it didn’t look like much. Four brick walls, one singular door, no signage.

“This is it?” Warner confirmed, and Declan answered yes.

“And no one will be inside?” I checked, grabbing my gun before he could respond. The last thing we needed was to walk inside a room with a bunch of Declan’s armed buddies.

“No. They will all be at the station already.” Declan didn’t elaborate, but I filled in the blanks. They wouldn’t miss their opportunity to leave this place.

Warned looked at me over Declan’s head and with a nod, he opened the door, scanning the interior before waving us inside. As Declan had promised, no one was in the building.

Shutting the door behind me, I scanned the area, taking it all in. To put it simply, the place was cramped chaos. Dozens of beds scattered the area, clothing and food wrappers thrown about. Clearly, Declan hadn’t lied about the fact that nearly three dozen men and women had been living in these quarters.

This was their version of the guards at the camp Vex had been in charge of. The only difference, all of them knew what was happening. And all of them had been gifted the opportunity to get to the bunkers.

“Now what?” I asked, turning toward Declan.

He had told us about the building, assuring us that once we arrived, we would be able to borrow clothing that matched the other guards, ensuring our spot on the train. But if my eyes weren’t deceiving me, there wasn’t a singular shred of clothing that matched what he wore.

Warner must have realized the same thing as me because in the next instant, Declan was against the wall, Warner’s forearm pressing against his throat.

“What did he tell you would happen if you screwed us over?” Warner spat, pressing harder until Declan’s face began turning red.

Declan opened his mouth, but he couldn’t speak. Lightly touching Warner’s shoulder, I told him to ease up. We needed the man able to speak.

With Warner’s pressure gone, Declan gasped in lungfuls of air. “I thought there would be. I had no idea.”

I wanted to believe him. To think he wouldn’t be that stupid to deceive us. But if I had learned anything in the past year, after Emmanuel had sold us out, it was that there were few people you could trust.

My mind scrambled for a solution, for a way for us to sneak onto those trains. We had Declan’s uniform. But that meant only one of us would get on that train. I met Warner’s gaze once more, a silent conversation passing between the two of us.

But before we could decide on who would be the lucky bastard getting on the train, a door somewhere else in the building alerted us to others.

Immediately, Warner and I shuffled out of the way, ducking behind a dresser in the room. Two stocky men walked into the main area, their voices happy with chatter until they spotted Declan.

“Declan! Holy shit, where have you been? We need to be at the train station like five minutes ago.”

The two men walked up to Declan, clapping him on the shoulders, their grins slowly fading as their buddy stayed silent, his eyes wide.

I didn’t give them a chance to ask him what was wrong. To inquire more about where he had been. Stepping out of the shadows, I placed myself behind the man, the sound of the safety clicking off audible in the silence.

Two sets of shoulders tightened at the sound, their heads slowly swiveling until they saw me. Holding up their hands, the braver of the two spoke.

“We don’t want any trouble. Anything in here is yours.”

A dark chuckle sounded at my side, and I knew Warner had joined me.

“Take off your clothes,” I instructed, eyeing the name badges hanging off their shirts. The badges were like a beacon, our golden ticket out of here.

“We can’t do that,” the other man stuttered, but I stood my ground.

I was getting my hands on those uniforms and badges one way or another, and I knew they realized that when they both swallowed roughly.

“Please. Don’t do this,” Declan finally begged from behind his two friends.

Sliding my gaze to him, I cocked a brow. “It’s you or them. That’s the only option here.”

It didn’t take long for Declan to make the decision and within minutes, Warner and I were dressed in the uniforms, Declan at our side as we left the building.

And an hour later, as Warner and I sat inside a train, easily sliding past the pleading crowd of people begging to get on, I tried not to think of the two men whose spots we had stolen. Or the thousands of people who had been left behind.

It was us or them. And every time I had to make that choice, it was a fucking easy one.