Day Zero (The Zero Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  “The probability of that scenario is slim,” Pix piped up, pulling her red beanie around her forehead. “More likely than not, Omega launched chemical rockets at the city that killed the population with Sarin gas. It kills on contact with the skin, but it doesn’t linger in the air.”

  “One and done,” Georgia deadpanned, pulling a cigarette out of her jacket pocket. She lit it with a match, took a drag, and puffed the smoke into the air. “Omega knows what they’re doing, you can’t argue with that.”

  Elle nodded.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Besides, Omega wouldn’t have come back to the city if they were going to be poisoned by their own weapons.”

  “You sure about that?” Jay asked.

  “Pretty sure.”

  “Maybe we just haven’t been affected yet.”

  Elle rolled her eyes. “I would be dead by now if that was the case,” she said. “Come on. Follow me.”

  “Three cheers for Follow the Leader,” Georgia drawled.

  Elle led them away from Nadia’s Market, two blocks backward. The sky was cloudy today. It looked like it might rain again.

  “Where do you live?” Jay asked.

  Elle gave him a look.

  “Okay, okay.” Jay threw his hands up. “I was just asking a question, kid.”

  Elle didn’t like being called kid. In fact, she didn’t like talking to Jay at all. He didn’t seem to relish being given tips by a girl that was about half his size. But he needed her to survive, and that gave Elle a little bit of satisfaction.

  “There,” Elle said, stopping. “We’re here.”

  They followed Elle into an alleyway. She paused at a garbage can halfway down the street. She pushed it aside, revealing a small door. It was rusty and looked abandoned.

  The kids looked confused.

  Elle opened the door.It creaked. She stepped down. It was cold and damp. She descended down a flight of steps, stopping in complete darkness. She grabbed a flashlight from her backpack and flicked it on.

  “That looks dangerous,” Flash whispered.

  He wore wiry round glasses that balanced on the tip of his nose. He pushed them up and looked at Elle. “Is this secure?” he stated from the opening.

  “It was the last time I was here,” Elle said. “Come on.”

  “What is this place?” Jay asked. None of the kids were moving.

  “It’s a cache.” Elle shined the flashlight in Jay’s face. “Are you going to make me do this alone, or do I have to drag you guys down here?”

  Jay grimaced. He hesitantly climbed down the steps. Georgia, Flash and Pix followed suit. Elle handed Jay her spare flashlight.

  “Stay quiet,” Elle whispered.

  The room was wide, packed with stacks of pallets on which werecanned goods and packaged containers of food, like ramen noodles and fruit cocktail.

  “Oh, my god,” Georgia muttered. “How did you find this place, shortstack?”

  “A few weeks ago,” Elle explained. “It was somebody’s hidden cache, and I’m guessing they’re dead, because they haven’t been back.” Elle paused. “I’ve been adding to the supplies myself. I won’t eat anything unless I can replace it.”

  “Is it safe?” Pix asked.

  Elle gave her a look.

  “Of course not,” Elle replied.

  Elle slid between two rows of pallets, next to Flash. The boy was staring at a pile of canned vegetables.

  “Why do they call you Flash?” Elle whispered. “Are you a fast runner or something?”

  The boy touched one of the cans, a glazed expression on his face.

  He was starving. Elle could see it.

  “No,” he replied. “Flash. Like the flash drive for a computer.”

  “You’re good with computers?”

  Flash grinned slightly.

  “Yeah. A little.”

  The silence was cut by the sound of Georgia’s piercing scream.

  Chapter Five

  Elle’s head echoed with Georgia’s shriek. She sprinted to the other side of the basement storeroom. The girl was pressed against the wall, grabbing Jay’s arm. They were staring at something on the ground.

  It was a dead body. A woman. A puddle of dried, pungent blood had pooled beneath the base of her skull. She’d been shot in the head. Her body was just beginning to smell.

  “What the hell kind of a place is this?” Georgia breathed.

  Elle spun around and held a finger to her lips. Hadn’t she told these idiots to be quiet? But did they listen? No.

  Elle took a cautious step forward and peered at the woman’s head. She was middle age, salt-and-pepper hair cut to the chin. There was a small red dot in the center of her forehead. A perfect kill shot.

  “Somebody’s been trying to steal my stuff,” Elle whispered.

  “I say we get out of here,” Georgia replied.

  “And do what? Let whoever shot this lady take all of this food?” Elle shook her head. “No way. I need this food to stay alive – and so do you, now that you’re here.”

  Something rustled at the far end of the basement. Elle dropped to the ground, behind a pallet stacked with food. Flash and Pix huddled close to her, with Georgia and Jayright behind them.

  “What is it?” Jay hissed. “Elle?”

  Fear coiled in the pit of her stomach.

  “Someone’s inside,” she whispered.

  She nodded toward the other side of the basement, where she’d heard the noise.

  “Let’s go,” Pixsaid. Her tiny voice was trembling. “Please.”

  “And leave the food to someone else?” Elle demanded.

  “Is it worth dying over?” Jay pointed out. “We should go.”

  But Elle was already moving. She crawled on the floor, hiding behind pallets. She drew her bowie knife from her hip sheath, keeping a firm grip on the handle. She flicked her flashlight off, listening, controlling her breathing. The kids still had their flashlight on, illuminating a shred of the basement. She saw a flicker of a shadow on the far back wall.

  Ah, there you are.

  Whoever was inside was trying to stay hidden, too. At some point Jay recovered from his shock and realized that his flashlight was like a beacon, leading the invaders in the basement straight to their position. He flicked the light off, and all was dark, silent.

  Elle didn’t move. She strained her ears for a noise, a tiny indication of human presence. She sat there for several tense minutes, sweat running down her forehead. She heard a shuffling noise, like someone was slowly moving around the far side of the pallet a few feet in front of her. She gripped her knife.

  Bam!

  The stack of canned vegetables collapsed next to Elle’s shoulder, toppling over her head. She covered her neck with her hands as the tower rained down, leaving bruises. The metal cans hit the cement. It sounded like something had exploded inside the basement. Elle felt her body being shoved aside. It took her just a split second to realize that someone was touching her.

  She instinctively grabbed at the figure. She couldn’t see anything, but she felt a leg. She tightened her fingers around the material of a pant-leg and slashed up with her knife. There was a yelp of pain, and the figure collapsed on the pile of scattered cans. Elle slashed again. Whoever it was – a man, Elle guessed – kicked back, slamming Elle’s small body against another pallet. More cans fell down.

  From inside the basement, someone screamed.

  It sounded like Pix.

  Elle rolled to her side, her ribcage throbbing from the impact of the kick. The silent fight continued as the man grabbed her by the hair and yanked her forward. Pieces of hair tore out of Elle’s scalp. She lifted her knife and shoved it forward, sinking into flesh. There was a strangled scream as the hands released her hair. She fell, pulling the knife toward her, feeling it glide through bone and cartilage.

  Elle backed away, feeling her way toward the struggle in the back of the basement. The flashlight had been flicked on again, and it was lying sideways on the floor. Elle
glimpsed a shadow of Jay struggling against a bigger man. It was impossible to make out faces, but she guessed the man was middle age. Georgia ran forward and pushed off the wall, snapping her boot into the man’s shoulder. He bent over with the hit and Jay shoved his fist into his face.

  There were three more people in the back of the storeroom, and the basement door had been opened. More were coming inside.

  The cache had been completely infiltrated.

  Elle was furious.

  “We have to go!” she told Jay. “Now!”

  They were sorely outnumbered.

  “Alright, kiddies!” someone yelled. It was a male voice, deep and raspy. “Time to stop with the playground antics. One of my men is dead, and that’s not something I’m willing to overlook.” A pause. “Why don’t you just walk to the front of the room and surrender? We won’t hurt you, I promise.”

  Sure, they won’t hurt us, Elle thought. They’ll only kill us.

  She knelt and grabbed the flashlight, flicking the switch off again. The only light in the basement was the stream of sunlight coming in through the entrance. Three people were standing on the steps.

  “Come out, come out wherever you are,” the man drawled.

  Elle felt Georgia’s hand in the darkness. She leaned close to her head and whispered, “We have to draw them into the basement, then we’ll dash for the door.”

  Georgia relayed the message to the others.

  “I know you’re in here,” the man said. “Let’s not make this harder than it has to be. We won’t hurt you. We’ll give you a home. A place with food and water. How does that sound?”

  Elle wanted to show him how that sounded, but she knew better.

  She rounded the back end of the basement, tiptoeing around pallets. The kids followed suit. Elle silently instructed them to separate across the storeroom. She stayed where she was, almost directly in front of the basement steps.

  The man kept talking, trying to draw the kids out of the basement, to the front of the room. Elle knew what he was doing; he was lulling them into a sense of false security, weakening their defenses. She slowly unzipped her backpack and reached inside, feeling for the right object…yes, there it was.

  “If you come out now, we’ll give you a nice home at the Pits,” the man said.

  At this, Elle froze. A chill ran up her spine.

  “You’ll be taken care of.”

  You lying dog, Elle thought. The Klan will never take me again.

  Elle dug for the lighter in the bottom of her pack. She found it. Her hands were shaky; she willed them to cooperate. She flicked her thumb along the roller and the flame ignited. She was holding a box in the other hand – a box with a fuse.

  Elle threw the package toward the steps, dropped the lighter back into her pack, and covered her head. The box exploded, sending sprays of fiery color into the basement. The men on the steps dove for cover, and one of them was knocked off his feet. The colored balls of fire kept popping, rattling the basement, creating chaos.

  Firecrackers. One of Elle’s favorite post-apocalyptic weapons.

  Elle sprinted toward the exit, climbing the stairs with lightning speed. She charged into the alley, the daylight burning her eyes. She glanced behind her. Jay was next, and then Georgia. Elle fixed her gaze straight ahead and kept running. They needed to hide.

  The screams of the men in the basement didn’t fade until they were two blocks away. Elle slowed her pace a bit, but she didn’t stop until they were safely on the other side of the city, near Santa Monica Boulevard again.

  She placed her hands on her knees, breathing hard. She was hidden behind an overflowing garbage can in the alley near an abandoned Mexican restaurant. Jay and Georgia came to a halt beside her. Elle reached up and touched her shirt. She was dripping in blood – not hers, but the man who she had stabbed inside the basement.

  “Flash, where’s Pix?” Georgia gasped.

  Georgia’s hair was mussed and her shirt was torn. Jay’s knuckles were bloody; Elle could see a piece of white bone protruding through the skin.

  Flash leaned against the alley wall, struggling for breath. His glasses were sideways. “She was…right behind…me,” he panted.

  Elle stood up. Pix was nowhere in sight.

  “Did she make it out of the basement?” Elle asked.

  “Yeah, I saw her come out,” Jay replied. “I didn’t check afterward, though. I was…running…” He seemed embarrassed. “I thought she was with Flash.”

  As Flash regained his breath, it seemed to dawn on him that his sister was missing. “Pix?” he called.

  “Shhhh,” Georgia hissed. “Dummy! Do you want the whole posse to come down on us again?”

  Elle frowned.

  They had no idea what had just happened.

  ____________________

  Elle waited. Her heart rate slowed. Her fight or flight instinct vanished, and she crouched low, watching the street. They all watched, hoping Pix had just fallen behind and that she would catch up.

  Elle counted the minutes. One, two, three….five…seven.

  Too long.

  “She’s not coming,” Elle stated. “They got her.”

  “Who got her?” Jay demanded. “Whatwas that, anyway? A basement full of food and thugs? We almost died down there, Elle!”

  “Welcome to the city,” Elle replied.

  “We can’t just leave her behind!” Flash said, eyes wide. “She’s my sister!”

  “We can and we will,” Elle replied. “Do you know who that was in the storeroom? The Klan. We can’t mess with the Klan.”

  “But they’ve got Pix!”

  And she was as good as dead, if Elle was right.

  Chapter Six

  They were hiding out in a tiny, single-level apartment living room. The curtains were drawn and they spoke in whispers. They had backtracked as far as they dared, searching for Pix. There was no sign.

  “Is she…dead?” Flash breathed.

  They were sitting on the cold, damp floor.

  “I heard that big guy in the basement say something about ‘The Pits,’” Georgia said. “He said he wanted to take us there. What is that?”

  “Is that where they took Pix?” Flash asked, a spark of hope on his face.

  “If it is,” Elle replied, “she’s dead.”

  Jay demanded, “ Why? Have you heard of the Pits?”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard of them.”

  “What are they?”

  Elle grimaced. “It’s a Klan game,” she said. “They throw prisoners into big pits in the ground and make them fight. To the death. Klan members bet against each other – not with money, but with gold, guns or supplies. It’s bad. Very bad.”

  “They’re taking my sister there?” Flash whispered. He was trembling. Jay and Georgia looked equally distressed. Elle just stared at them, thinking.

  “They round up anyone they can find,” Elle answered. “Men, women and children. If you get taken to the pits, you’ve been given a death sentence. Nobody survives for very long.”

  “What’s the point of that?” Flash sniffled. “Why do they do it?”

  “Because they can,” Elle replied. “This is the world we live in, now.”

  “You don’t seem too concerned about this,” Georgia snapped.

  Elle shrugged.

  “Sorry, but Pix is gone.”

  “No. We have to rescue her,” Jay cut in. “We can’t let her die.”

  “You have to,” Elle told him. “The Klan has her. There’s nothing you can do now.”

  “Where are the Pits?” Flash asked quietly. His eyes were red, but he hadn’t shed a tear. Not yet. “Do you know where we can find them?”

  “You don’t want to go to the Pits,” Elle stated, “unless you have a death wish.”

  “We’re not leaving Pix to the Klan,” Jay answered.

  Elle was dumbfounded. These kids would really go on a suicidal rescue mission to save one person from their group? Didn’t they know any better?


  She was annoyed, but deep down, she was impressed. Something deeper than mere survival instinct held this group together. Something stronger.

  “The Klan outnumbers you a hundred to one,” Elle pointed out.

  “We have to try,” Jay replied.

  “You really are clueless,” Elle answered.

  “Please, Elle,” Georgia interjected. “You don’t have to come with us. We’re just asking you to tell us where it is…if you know.”

  Elle met Georgia’s piercing blue eyes. She weighed her options. She could take off right now and leave these kids behind her, never thinking about them again. She had already wasted enough time trying to teach them how to find food – and look what had happened. They’d almost gotten killed.

  Or she could tell them where the Pits were, and they would leave. Of course, they would die, because the Pits were in Klan territory and a group of naïve bunker survivors didn’t stand a chance of pulling off a successful rescue. Either way, Elle didn’t have to worry about them anymore. They’d be out of sight, and out of mind.

  But as Flash stood there on shaky feet, Jay’s strong arm around his tiny shoulders, something grabbed her heart. For the first time since she’d come to the city, she felt sympathy. It had been a long time since she’d felt anything for anyone…even herself. Her world was cold and dark. Unfeeling.

  “I can show you where it is,” Elle said at last. “But don’t expect to come out of this alive.”

  She wasn’t being cruel. She was just being honest.

  “Thank you,” Georgia breathed. “This means a lot.”

  Elle shook her head.

  Georgia had no idea.

  ____________________

  The Klan’s territory spread through Hollywood, Culver City, Santa Monica and Malibu. Elle had spent months exploring the abandoned segments of the city, the parts that weren’t under Omega’s strict control. She knew every street, every building. She knew where the Klan spent most of their time, and she knew how they thought. How they operated.

  “How far?” Georgia asked.

  They had been walking for a long time. Elle shook her head.

  “A while,” she answered.

  Georgia sighed.

  Flash hadn’t said a word since they’d left, and it was late afternoon.