Wisteria (Wisteria Series) Read online

  “Relax. This is my job, right?” Wisteria responded with a laugh. “Besides, I know you and Andrew have my back.” She picked up her tranquilizer rifle and strapped her wakizashi sword over her shoulder.

  “Make sure you have a clear line of sight to me.” Andrew grabbed her arm. “The moment you can’t see me, forget them and get back here.”

  “Sure.” Wisteria kicked the door closed and jogged to the shop. The stench of the undead surrounded her as she pulled the door open.

  Melissa was busy sorting through a clothes rack, and didn’t notice Wisteria approaching.

  “Come on Melissa, this isn’t a great idea,” Amanda begged. “All the runners have left us behind.”

  “Take it easy, Mandy. They wouldn’t let us come out here if this place was dangerous. Norton has been safe for years,” Melissa disagreed.

  Wisteria crept up behind them while swinging the rifle back and forth between them, just in case.

  “I haven’t been out of the island for years. Can you believe this place? It’s practically untouched and has all the stuff I’ve been dying for. How is that possible?” Melissa blurted.

  “Because, biters don’t use Penelope Rose foundation,” Wisteria retorted from behind them.

  “Wisteria.” Amanda hurried over while looking relieved. “What are you doing in here?”

  “What am I doing? Are you out of your mind? No one was supposed to leave the agreed route,” Wisteria replied. “Seriously, what are you thinking?”

  “I just needed some—whoa.” Melissa stopped shopping, shocked to find Wisteria pointing a weapon at her face.

  “Both of you, in the car now,” Wisteria ordered.

  “Yeah…No,” Melissa sneered. “Wisteria, it’s a freedom run. The operative word is freedom. Norton is fine. My mum gets the status reports. They wouldn’t let us out if it was dangerous, so I’m going to get what I need and we’ll go when I’m done.”

  “Melissa, we shot a biter here just days ago,” Wisteria declared.

  “First of all, don’t point that gun at me. It was over a month ago and nothing has been seen since.” Melissa laughed and continued selecting makeup. “There’s no one here, stupid. There’s been no one in this forsaken hell hole for years.” She dropped a tube of peach lip-gloss into her shopping basket. “And second—I’m not done. I just need to get a few things. I’m not going to be here forever.”

  “Melissa,” Amanda pleaded. “We should go.”

  Melissa walked off with her shopping basket in hand.

  “Amanda, get back to the car,” Wisteria called out to her while she tailed Melissa for a few feet, but stopped just before Andrew left her line of sight. “Melissa, I’m going. I assume you know the way to the bridge?” Wisteria asked bluntly.

  “What? No, you’re not leaving me!” Melissa was busy trying on a shoe. “Let me get the other shoe. Then, we’ll go.”

  “You want to go into the dark store room—in the back, and look for the other shoe?” Wisteria’s mouth dropped open.

  “What? You’re completely mental!” Amanda exclaimed.

  “Oh right, probably not. I’ll grab some perfume, and then we can go,” Melissa said.

  “Shh,” Wisteria whispered. “I heard something.”

  The sound of scuffling feet came from behind them.

  “Ha, you must think I’m thick.” Melissa laughed and put her old shoes on. “I heard Steven really scared you during the drill.”

  Glancing back, she saw the SUV was out of sight. Moving back to the storefront, she stopped when she saw two short heads of hair that were weaving from the storefront through the clothing racks, toward the three girls. “Amanda, we need to move, now!”

  “We can’t leave Melissa,” Amanda protested.

  Two little boys, about seven years old, in gray school uniforms emerged from racks. The boys’ faces were vacant. Their eyes were blood red, their fingertips stained with blood.

  “They’re just kids.” Melissa stared at them.

  “No, those are the fleshers of children.” Amanda was backing away.

  One of them groaned while spewing rotten blood from its lips.

  Blood this dark meant they hadn’t fed in months. The hungrier the biter, the more desperate it would be.

  “Wisteria!” Melissa wailed as three more flesher children descended on her.

  “Run.” Wisteria bolted as Melissa’s screams filled the air.

  Intending to circle back to the front door, Wisteria ran around the makeup counters and clothes racks. She checked if she was still being followed. There was no one behind her, no biters, and no Amanda. She desperately looked around for her.

  Amanda was heading up the stairs, deeper into the building, with two little biters hot on her heels.

  Wisteria’s instinct was to run away, but Amanda was unarmed and no match for the two biters chasing her. Praying, she took a deep breath and ran to the stairs. She aimed her rifle at the one of the biters and fired. The biter dropped.

  “Ah,” wailed Amanda. “Wisteria, help me!”

  Wisteria sprinted toward the girl’s panicked screams, heading up another flight of stairs. She cured the second biter by the time Amanda reached the fourth floor. Out of breath, Wisteria found Amanda, crouched in the fetal position, sobbing and hidden in the electronics section.

  “We need to go.” Wisteria tried to help Amanda to stand up.

  “We’re going to die.” Amanda didn’t move.

  “Maybe.” Wisteria crouched next to her. “But my mother and Lieutenant Andrew are outside. We’ve got a chance as long as we’re quiet.”

  Amanda wiped at her eyes.

  Wisteria helped her up and noticed the puddle of urine on the ground where the weeping girl had sat. This was a mad time.

  “We’re going to go down stairs and head straight out the front door.” Wisteria reached for her radio, but it was gone. She’d dropped it.

  “Okay.” The frightened girl sniffled.

  The coast was clear, so they silently crept back to the stairs.

  “Argh.” A full-grown man staggered toward them.

  “Oh!” Amanda squealed.

  Wisteria shot him with a dart rifle and he dropped, but four more children biters appeared.

  More howls and snarls came from the floor below.

  “No, no, no,” Amanda bawled. “Wisteria, shoot them!”

  “I can’t. There are too many.” Wisteria seized Amanda’s hand and started back up the stairs. She stopped at the sight of six biters ambling down toward them.

  “Wisteria!” Amanda screeched.

  They ran back through the music section. Weaving through the shelves, the girls made it to the fire escape.

  Wisteria kicked the door open and they ran in. She closed the door after them, but the door had no lock. It was a fire escape. “Go,” she yelled at Amanda.

  The girls raced down the stairs and the biters soon followed.

  Almost reaching the ground floor, Amanda tripped, falling on Wisteria. The girls tumbled down the last flight of stairs.

  The biters were less than three flights behind them. By the chorus of groans, there were more than two or three.

  “Let’s go.” Amanda sprang up and dashed to the door.

  Wisteria attempted to get up, but found her right ankle was hurt badly. “My ankle’s sprained.” She hobbled as she tried to walk. “You’ll have to help me. If we barricade them inside, once we get out—”

  Without a word, Amanda grabbed Wisteria’s rifle and sword. She turned and ran away.

  “Amanda! Are you joking?” She limped out onto a fire exit.

  There was no sign of Amanda.

  Her mother and Andrew could still be parked out front or circling the High Street, so she staggered through the alley and saw Amanda fleeing down some steps.

  The moans of the biters became louder as they got closer. Wisteria moved as fast as she could, but each step on her right foot was agony. Coming to a long flight of stairs, she stopped. This
was the way back to the High Street and to where the SUV was, but in her state, the biters would reach her before she was halfway down.

  The fire door opened and shut.

  Glancing back, she saw six biters advancing. Looking around, she saw her sword lying at the bottom of the steps.

  There was only one option. She’d try to jump down. The fall might paralyze her or worse, but it might buy her more time. Closing her eyes, she prayed, counted to three—and leapt.

  * * * * *

  Bach leafed through the CDs on the shelves in the Terran shop called Cunningham’s. Felip wanted a CD of a Law Abiding Citizens album ‘Bring the Rain’ and Bach travelled almost eighty miles to get it.

  Normally, Bach wouldn’t have travelled this far to look for music, but he did this for three reasons. Firstly, Felip was still recovering from his journey home and music helped the Family regenerate. While the Family couldn’t naturally produce music, they loved it.

  Secondly, Bach felt guilty over asking Felip to journey in the first place. Thirdly, this region was known for making a certain sweet that Felip liked… salt water taffy. Bach hoped he would still be able to find some which was edible and since he was in town, he decided to check for the CD in one of the local shops.

  After searching unsuccessfully for a while, Bach picked up some other CDs he hoped Felip would like, and several games for the Medusa games console. As he prepared to leave, he was shocked to hear women arguing in the shop. He tried to ignore them, but the voices continued. Against his better judgment, he walked over to the stairwell to see what was happening.

  Three girls were apparently scavenging. Stupid Terrans, they have no idea what might be inside this store. He’d already sensed over twelve infected in the building.

  Leaving the girls, he went into one of the storage rooms. Maybe there was more music in the back. He didn’t make it very far when he heard the screams of the Terrans. They ran into trouble, but it was their fault for being so dumb and greedy.

  The screams continued and this began to aggravate him. He hated the sound of screaming, especially Terran screams. He put his supplies in his messenger bag and moved out of the storeroom to see what was going on. He watched as several of the infected shuffled toward the fire exit. It seemed the girls decided to go down there and the infected caught their scent.

  When he reached the fire exit’s stairwell, he saw several of the infected plodding down the stairs. Looking out of the window, he saw one girl in a red dress limping away from the nearing swarm, while her friend with the golden hair escaped.

  Bach got what he came for and had no interest in getting involved with Terrans. This was the Terrans’ realm. They had to deal with their own problems. Besides, her friend would be able to help her.

  The other Terran girl was sprinting toward a black vehicle. She got in and the vehicle sped away. He looked back to the girl in red. She wasn’t going to make it.

  That was her problem. Bach exhaled heavily as he paused. He knew he was going to regret this decision. He smashed the window leading out to the alleyway and leapt out, landing on one knee. He moved through the infected just in time to see the girl glance at him, and then hurl herself down the brick steps. “Wisteria!” The words escaped his lips before he could think. He never saw this girl before, but somehow, he knew her. “Are you mad?” he yelled as she hit the pavement. He rushed over to her, but not in time to break her fall.

  She was unconscious.

  He looked over at the swarm, now only a few feet away. He picked up the unconscious girl and realized she was heavier than she looked.

  One of the male infected groaned loudly as he reached out to touch the girl.

  Bach could tell he hadn’t fed for months. “Sorry, you need to find your own.” Bach backed away and ran like the wind.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Back in the Hunter Tower, Bach laid Wisteria down on his bed. How was it that he knew her? He grimaced.

  Felip entered. He looked better, but still pale. “Explain this to me. If she is from the settlement near Norton, why did you not take her there?”

  Bach didn’t answer. He didn’t want to get into an argument with him about Wisteria, because Felip was still weak. How could he explain when he couldn’t even understand it himself?

  “So, you have changed your mind about Terrans?” Felip asked.

  “Wisteria got hurt and I…”

  “You know her?” Felip looked shocked.

  “Yes, but I have never met her before and she has not spoken since she fell.” Bach knew he sounded crazy. “But I know she is called Wisteria.”

  “Could it be from your time at RZC?”

  Squinting, he shook his head. He remembered every face and every name of the beasts from his months in RZC’s care, and she wasn’t one of them. “Wisteria was not there,”

  “And you call her by her name. Interesting, since you have never referred to any Terran by their name. You call Piper Enric’s Terran. You do not believe in the naming of animals, remember?”

  “I am just as confused as you are.”

  “And she is not your Thayn?” Felip asked.

  He shook his head.

  “I guess you should talk to Enric. He might have ideas why you—”

  “No, do not discuss this with Enric,” Bach interjected.

  “You know that he will think she is here for him. He asked you for another Thayn and three days later? Here she is.”

  Enric appeared in hall outside Bach’s room. He was followed by a redheaded Terran girl.

  She stood timidly behind him with a red bruise on her cheek. She was bleeding a little.

  “What happened to your Terran?” Bach asked.

  “I do not know.” Enric inspected her cheek. “Piper, what happened?”

  The girl shook her head.

  “It is not important. Piper tells me you brought a stray home?”

  Bach looked over at Piper who was hidden behind Enric.

  “You do not have to beat the girl.” Felip looked concerned as he moved toward her. “Are you all right?”

  “Don’t touch me,” Piper hissed.

  “Whoa,” Enric exclaimed angrily. “Piper, you do not ever—ever talk to him like that, you Terran rat!”

  “She was only acting out of loyalty to you,” Felip angrily defended her, as she crawled away from him. “Piper, I am not going to hurt you.”

  “Please stay away,” the girl whimpered like a wounded dog.

  “Leave her.” Enric grabbed Felip’s arm. “She has to learn how to behave.”

  “Enric, this is why Bach will not renew anyone for you.” Felip sounded annoyed.

  “Because of a little blood? Please, she will clean it up when she is done sulking!” Enric laughed. “Now get away from her.”

  Felip ignored him and tried to comfort Enric’s Terran.

  “No!” She scurried away from Felip. “Stay away from me.”

  Felip looked upset. “Bach, he is torturing this girl. Renew her, so you can control her and stop this—”

  “Never,” Bach stated. The concept of having a Terran as close to him as Piper was to Enric revolted him.

  “Then get Enric to free her mind,” Felip pleaded.

  “That’s impossible. Undoing the renewal will make her insane,” Bach reminded him. “But Enric, right now, I would be happy if you treated her better.”

  “She is a Terran, dirt girl, and practically a virus. How am I supposed to treat her?” Enric glanced at Piper who sat at his feet. “Piper, leave us.”

  The girl nodded and scurried out of the room.

  “You are going to kill her one day, Enric!” Felip exclaimed.

  Enric gave him a cold smile. “I want to talk to the Sen-Son. This is a private conversation and you have to leave.”

  Felip’s pale face became red.

  “Give us a moment please,” Bach said to Felip.

  Felip nodded and left.

  “If this is supposed to be a lesson you are teaching me abo
ut taking care of Thayn, before you renew the new one, then I promise I will not hurt her.” Enric grunted. “But I would prefer you did not use Felip to teach me.”

  “Felip is sick from his journey home and he needs to recuperate. The longer he is ill, the longer you will have to do his tasks,” Bach pointed out.

  Though Enric was a dear friend, he was extremely lazy.

  “It upsets him when you treat your Terran so poorly, so stop doing it and he can focus on his regeneration, or I will have to start sending you on the errands I send him,” Bach continued.

  “You are not looking so well yourself.” Enric pointed to Bach’s forehead. “You’re sweating.”

  “I want you to send your Terran away. Take her to the Terrans’ island at Norton and tell her to stay there until it is safe enough to go back to her family.”

  “What?” Enric laughed, and then nodded. “Fine and I will even apologize to Felip. So, can I see my new Thayn now?”

  “She is not here to be renewed.”

  “Huh? You refused to help me get a Thayn, but you bring one in here to live amongst us freely? No, renew her Bach, even for yourself. Terrans do not live among us, they serve us or they die.”

  Enric was right, only Terrans who were turned into Thayn were allowed to live among the Family. Bach could barely stand Thayns, why did he think he would feel differently with a free Terran?

  “Unless—she really is for me?” Enric let out a loud laugh.

  Bach scowled.

  * * * * *

  The next morning, Wisteria woke up in complete darkness. She lay back on her pillow, trying to recall what had happened. The bed felt different. She reached for the rechargeable flashlight she kept by her bedside, but couldn’t find it, and the bedside felt strange. What was going on? As her eyes adjusted to the light, she discovered she was lying on black satin sheets, on a strange bed, in a huge room. Quickly, she threw the covers off and hurried out of bed.

  “Ah,” she growled as she landed on her sore ankle. Looking down, she was surprised to find her ankle bandaged. Was this Doctor Hindle’s house? She knew some of the residents on the island lived quite comfortably, but not this nicely since the outbreak. The room felt air-conditioned. She limped to the massive window and pulled back the curtains. She was astonished to find herself in a tall building overlooking a city. Big Ben stood in the distance.