9

Arkers and Monsters

Alicia watched in awe as the high gate cracked open and a girl emerged carrying a semi-automatic rifle. The girl fired into the space behind their car, quickly and efficiently taking out four wandering infected Alicia hadn't noticed were following them.

"All clear." The girl hollered over the barbed wire and the gate slowly rolled open wide enough for their car to slip through.

"Nice car, Commander." The girl called to Elyza with a laugh as they rolled past her.

"Shut up, Emm." Elyza called back, pulling the car into the parking lot of a ginormous church.

"Commander?" Alicia asked, her eyebrows lifted, trying not to smirk as she climbed out of the car.

"It's a stupid nickname." Elyza replied, slamming her door shut. Alicia's smirk grew to a grin at the sight of Elyza blushing.

But her grin fell immediately at the sight of the girl now pointing her rifle straight at Alicia.

"Who are you?" The girl asked, distrust written in the crease between her eyebrows. She had a sharp jawline, hazel eyes, and dark hair pulled back with a number of intricate braids running through it. Alicia figured she was probably beautiful when she wasn't snarling. Poking out from behind the girl's shoulder Alicia could see the handle of a long blade, some rectangular hybrid between a sword and a machete. Alicia got the distinct feeling that this was not a girl to be messed with. She threw her hands into the air in submission.

"Whoa." Elyza spoke. "Back off, Emm. I can vouch for her. Alicia, this is Mary, wall-guard, all around smart-ass, and weapons enthusiast. Emm, this is Alicia, a girl who needs a little help."

"Nice to meet you?" Alicia said tentatively as Mary slowly lowered her rifle. Mary just rolled her eyes at her.

"Where's Ricki?" Elyza asked casually, digging her key into the trunk lock.

"Inside, making me lunch." Mary answered with a smug smile.

"Send him out, would ya?" Elyza asked, popping the trunk open. A low moan met their ears. "I could use his biceps."

"We shouldn't bother Ricki when he's in the kitchen." A deep voice called. "You never know what he might set on fire." Alicia looked up to see a tall, handsome young man strolling across the parking lot towards them with a grin beneath his dark curls. "Maybe my biceps could be of some assistance."

"Rob!" Elyza smiled as the boy wrapped his strong arms around her. The hug lasted a good three seconds and by the time they parted, Alicia was frowning, confused by the strange, unpleasant feeling flooding the pit of her stomach. It took her a second to recognize it as jealousy and she couldn't explain it or the irrational dislike she suddenly had for this boy.

"Hey," The man held a callused hand out to Alicia, still wearing his boyish grin. "I'm Rob."

Clearly. Alicia thought to herself, forcing a smile as she took his hand. "Alicia."

"Welcome to the Ark." He smiled. "I see you already met my charming little sister."

"Bite me, big Bro." Mary half-snarled, half-laughed.

"Careful what you wish for, Sis." Rob laughed. "Maybe someday I will."

At the sound of another low moan, Rob turned to Elyza, shaking his head. "Why am I not surprised you have a body in the trunk? What mess did you get us into now?"

"Hey, I don't get us into messes. Messes find me." Elyza argued. "I'm the one who is always fixing the bloody messes, remember?"

"Yeah, OK, Commander." Rob gave one last sarcastic laugh, before erasing his grin. "Seriously, though... Why is there a boy tied up in your trunk?"

"I'll explain later." Elyza replied. "Just help me drag his ass inside."

...

"Let's go in through the back." Elyza suggested. "We don't need everyone asking questions just yet."

"By everyone," Rob grunted as he shifted the semi-conscious Jakey in his arms to get a better grip. "Do you mean your mom or Henrian?"

"I mean, everyone." Elyza answered him with a glare.

Alicia followed them around the side of the church, the artist in her immediately drawn to the gigantic mural of Noah's ark painted along the entire length of its wall. The mural depicted a long line of animals making their way onto the ark two by two: lions, giraffes, monkeys, kangaroos, deer. And above them all, smiling with his arms outstretched in welcome, was Noah, bearded and robed and slightly glowing, as if he were God, himself. Alicia wondered if Noah had any real clue what kind of hell he was about to go through, just what kind of storm his God had planned.

...

They dumped Jakey in an underground room inside the church, an old classroom that had been converted into a makeshift jail cell. Then they snuck into the kitchen, where a massive, muscled man was hunched over a giant pot simmering on the industrial-sized gas stove. He had dark eyes and dark skin riddled with even darker tribal tattoos that snaked up his muscular arms and disappeared into his shirt-sleeves only to re-emerge from his collar. The man was downright intimidating. That is, until his eyes fell on Mary and Alicia saw nothing but soft adoration in his smile. Mary slinked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waste. He twisted in her embrace and planted a tender kiss on her forehead.

"What's for lunch?" Mary asked.

"Boxed Mac and Cheese, extra creamy, the way you like it, Mademoiselle." The man answered in a terrible impression of a french chef. "With chopped chunks of beef jerky, set aside just for you."

"Yes!" Mary exclaimed. "My fav! O Boy, O Boy, Oberto!"

"And wait..." The man added. "It gets better." He reached for a bottle of something on the counter, being careful to conceal it within his thick hands.

"I found this in the back of the cupboard. Don't tell Adeena I jacked it." He presented the bottle with a dramatic flourish and Mary practically squealed.

"EZ Cheez?! No way! God, I love you!" She quickly wrapped herself around him again before snagging the bottle from him and uncapping it.

"God, you've spoiled her, Ricki." Rob laughed.

The man looked at Rob and the rest of them as if only just noticing there were any others in the room with him and Mary. "She was already spoiled." He laughed. "Long before I got a hold of her."

"Wonder who's fault that was, big Bro." Mary mumbled through a mouthful of artificial cheese.

Rob shook his head in mock disgust at his sister. Ricki turned his gaze to Elyza. "You're back." He said with a kind smile. "You and your friend hungry?"

...

"We can't go to war with the Under-Grounders, Elyza." Rob argued, dropping his head into his hands and massaging his eyes with his fists. "We wouldn't stand a chance. And even if we did, its not worth the casualties over one guy. He's not even part of our crew. No offense." He added, turning his eyes towards Alicia.

"Its not just her brother." Elyza answered. "I heard them talking about Chelsea."

"You think they have Chelsea?!" Mary cut in.

"Chelsea's not that uncommon a name. It could totally be a coincidence." Rob argued.

"They said she had 5 knives on her when they claimed her." Elyza argued. "Coincidence?"

"If those bastards have Chelsea," Mary cut in again. "Maybe they have Devin and Kris too. Maybe they've got Jared."

"Or maybe..." Rob interrupted. "They don't have any of our crew. Look..." He let out a sad sigh. "I know we don't like to admit it, but with the dead walking around we take a risk every time we step out of the gates. Chelsea, Devin, Kris, Jared... They all knew that risk. There's no reason to believe the infected didn't get them. The chances that they are still alive..."

"Yes." Elyza interrupted. "The chance is slim. They are probably all dead. But what if they aren't? What if they were claimed? What if they are still alive right now, being held by the Under-Grounders? Don't we owe it to them to do something?"

"Something like what?" Rob asked, his voice tinged with doubt and frustration. "We don't even know for certain if they have our guys. And if they do, how do we get them back? We have no leverage. We can't trade one of their guys for all of ours. And we don't have the resources or numbers for a war."

"We can't just abandon them, Rob." Mary pounded a fist on the table, making the spoons in their empty bowls rattle. "What if it was me who was claimed? Would you just sit around and do nothing?"

"What do they do with those they claim?" Alicia cut into the conversation, finally asking the question she had been dreading.

There was an awkward silence while everyone avoided meeting her eyes. Finally, it was Ricki who answered, his deep voice soft and sad. Up to this point he had sat amongst them in silence, staring at his hands and listening. Now his chocolate brown eyes fell on Alicia. "If they decide you are 'useful,' they put you to work."

"And if you're not 'useful?'" Alicia asked, fearing the answer.

"They..." Ricki hesitated, searching for the right words. "Well, lets just say the Under-Grounders like their meat, and they don't have a lot of beef jerky down in the tunnels."

"Are you saying... They eat people?" Alicia replied, horrified.

"They can't exactly grow potatoes or raise cattle down in the tunnels." Ricki answered. "They come up to the surface for supplies all the time, but they have a large population down there and hunting humans is the easiest way to keep fresh steaks on their plates."

Alicia felt sick. The mac and cheese was churning inside her.

"Are you sure?" She asked, unable to wrap her head around such a disgusting, messed up idea. "I mean... How do you know this?"

"Because..." Ricki dropped his gaze to his hands again. "I used to be one of them."

"What?" There was a collective gasp and outbreak of questions from the group. "You used to be an Under-Grounder? Why didn't you ever tell us?"

"It's not something I'm proud of." Ricki answered. "The President and his crew found me early on in the outbreak. They seemed like good people. They offered me shelter, safety, food, if I joined them and worked for them. My job was just to help recruit others. You see, in the beginning they didn't claim people. They just recruited them. They told us we were free to leave anytime we wanted to. But none of us wanted to. Like I said, they gave us food, shelter, safety.

But after a while I started to notice that a lot of the people I recruited were disappearing. The President said they were leaving of their own accord, but I had never heard anyone talk about wanting to leave. I had never seen anyone try. I started to realize it was the weak ones, the fat ones, the old ones who were disappearing, the ones who had zero chance of surviving out on their own, the ones who had no reason to leave. More and more of them were disappearing. And we were sent up to the ground to recruit more and more often. Soon we weren't just supposed to invite people anymore. We were told to bring people back. We were told that if people resisted, we should force them to come... for their own good, their own safety. The President said we were saviors, rescuing people from themselves.

I believed them. I believed I was helping people, saving lives. And I tried to ignore the disappearances. It was easier not to wonder, not to question. Then, one day... I found..." He paused, running his fingers along the strip of short buzzed hair running down the center of his otherwise shaved head. "I found... I found a tooth in my stew. And I finally figured out why people were disappearing and why the 'beef' and the 'pork' and the 'chicken' always seemed a little off."

"Right away, I wanted to leave." He continued. "But only then did I realize how hard that would be. There were always guards posted at every exit from the tunnels. I'd always assumed they were there to protect us, to keep the dead out. Only now did I realize they also kept the living in. The policy was that to leave you had to have an official reason to give the guards. And, for our own safety, no one was ever permitted to leave alone. We had to be in groups of at least four, and accompanied by at least one 'soldier.' That's what the President calls the men closest to him, the ones who always carry guns and keep order in the tunnels, the ones who have the authority to punish rule-breakers, the ones who make the rules. The rest of us were only given weapons when we were cleared to leave and we were required to return them to the guards whenever we returned from the ground. We had 'no need' for weapons inside the tunnels. We were 'safe' there.

I knew my only chance to get away would be during my next assigned recruitment run. So for three days I pretended everything was alright, and joked with the other recruiters, and tried to eat my BBQ pulled pork, and my beef stew, and my chili con carne without puking. And I thought about telling the others, but the more I started watching everyone... the soldiers, the other recruiters, the builders and the guards... the more I started wondering how many of them already knew.

I didn't know who I could trust. So I trusted no one. On my next recruitment run, we ran into a mob of infected and I snuck away in the chaos. I couldn't take any extra supplies with me 'cause I didn't wanna raise suspicion. Luckily I ran into Adeena and her crew hiding out in a warehouse the next day and they took me in. I didn't tell them I was an Under-Grounder. I didn't tell them the things I had done. I didn't tell them I was a monster."

"Babe..." Mary reached out and pressed her hand against Ricki's cheek, lifting his chin with her thumb. "Hey... Ricki... look at me."

Ricki's eyes met Mary's. Alicia could see the pain, the regret, the sorrow and shame in them. Mary stroked his cheek with her fingertips. Alicia looked away. She felt like an intruder watching this tender moment between the two of them.

"You are not a monster." She heard Mary speak, her voice soft, but firm. "You are not a monster."

"Mary's right." Elyza spoke. "You're not a monster, Ricki. In fact, we're the monsters for giving you so much flack for being a veggo. I get it now. And I take back every stupid bacon and carrot sticks joke I made." She chuckled.

No one else laughed at Elyza's attempt to lighten the mood. An awkward silence ensued.

"Alright..." Rob broke the silence with a sigh. "If this is really going to go down... If we're really going to make a move against the Under-Grounders... We have to be smart about it. We can't just march up to the tunnels, guns blazing."

"You're not wrong." Elyza said, the excitement growing in her voice. "Rob's right, we don't have the numbers or resources to try to invade the tunnels from the outside. They are prepared for an attack. We'd never even get past their outer guards. It would be like trying to get at a fox hiding away in its den. So it seems to me, we can either figure out some brilliant way to smoke 'em out and try to take them out in the open. OR we could find a way to sneak our friends out without even starting a war."

"What are you suggesting?" Asked Rob, skeptically.

"First, we need a whole lot of information. Details. We need to know how many of them there are. Where they're positioned within the tunnel system. Where our mates are being held..."

"Assuming they have our friends." Rob interrupted.

"Right..." Elyza continued with the tiniest of eye rolls. "What kind of weapons supply they have. Possible exit routes, the works."

"We have one of their men." Mary piped in. "I'm sure we could get him to talk."

"He's an Under-Grounder." Ricky said. "I wouldn't trust a word he says."

"Too right." Elyza replied. "We can't trust a damn thing that bloke tells us. What we need is someone reliable, trustworthy, on the inside." She paused, eyes wide and innocent, scrunching her lips to one side like a child waiting for her mother's permission. She eyed each person at the table, as if hoping one might raise their hand and jump up yelling "I volunteer!"

"Just clarifying... You want to send someone into the tunnels? Intentionally?" Rob asked.

"With someone on the inside, we could find our mates and figure out a way to get them out quietly." Elyza argued. "Or, if they can't get them out, they could at least help us find the Under-Grounders' weaknesses, a vulnerable place to attack."

"It's suicide." Rob answered.

"I'll do it." Mary said, rising to her feet. Ricki's face fell, but he didn't seem surprised.

"No... I'll do it." It was Rob who spoke.

"You just said, 'it's suicide.'" Mary argued.

"It probably is suicide." Rob answered. "But the Commander's right as usual, it's the smartest plan we've got. And you two can't do it," He nodded at Elyza and Alicia, "cause that jackass you shot this morning has seen you and will recognize you. Probably a ton of them would still recognize Ricki, so he can't do it, either. That leaves me."

"Or me!" Mary practically shouted. "I said I would do it. I can do this! I'm not afraid!"

"I know you're not, Emm." Rob answered, his voice tinged with sadness. "But I can't let you. You're my sister... My responsibility."

"Not anymore." Mary answered stubbornly, the anger flooding her cheeks. "I'm not a little girl anymore. It's not your job to protect me!"

"Rob will blend in better, Mary." Ricki's soft voice interrupted the siblings' shouts. "When I left there were at least three times as many guys in the tunnels as girls. Trust me, the minute your pretty face showed up, every guy within a hundred feet of you would notice. But if Rob puts on a hat and keeps his head down, no one's gonna look twice at him."

Mary frowned down at her boyfriend like he had just betrayed her, but it seemed she had run out of arguments. She flopped back down in her chair and crossed her arms in silent fury. Rob gave Ricki a small smile of gratitude. Ricki did not return it.

"I can get you in." He said, darkly. "But, you're right... This may be suicide."

"Right." Rob answered in mock cheer. "When do we get started?"

"Now." Alicia answered.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Now, now?" Ricki asked.

"Now, now." Alicia answered. She turned her gaze to Elyza. "We need to do this right away, while we have the opportunity. The President is expecting us tomorrow. He knows if he doesn't deliver my brother that we threatened to attack... Now is the perfect time!" She finished, her voice full of urgent excitement and even a tinge of hope. The answer was obvious.

Ricki, Rob, and Mary just stared at her, clearly not following her logic. But Elyza's blue eyes widened with understanding. "Whether or not he delivers..." she explained, "The President's eyes will be on us, on the outside, on the ground."

"And that's exactly where we are going to keep them." Alicia nodded. "With an army on the outside to distract them, no one will be looking on the inside."

Now it was Elyza's voice that was full of urgency. She turned to Rob. "You're going to need a radio."

"I'll talk to Crow." He answered, rising to his feet and heading for the door.

Then Elyza turned to Ricki. "You're deadset sure you can get him in? Without being seen?"

"All the entrances to the tunnels are guarded." Ricki answered. "But some less than others. I know which are the most vulnerable. Still, we're gonna need to create a distraction. I'll think of something."

"Think fast." Elyza answered.

"I'm coming with you." Mary huffed at Ricki. "If you end up having to fight, I'm fighting with you. We fight together."

"No." Elyza answered. "I need you to stay here, Emm."

"Like hell I'm staying." Mary spat back. "I don't take commands from you, Elyza."

"Please, Mary." Elyza pleaded. "I need you to get people ready here. We might not be going to war, but we need to make it look like we are. Alicia and I need to go find her group. I need you to stay back and organize a group here."

Mary frowned at Elyza, but she didn't argue.

"You're going to have to do some convincing." Elyza continued. "My mum's probably not going to like this idea. But if you can talk Henrian into it, he can talk her into it. And together, they can talk anyone into it. Let's face it... Henrian likes you better than me anyway. He listens to you."

Mary put her hand on her hips, her lips puckered into a beautiful pout. "Fine." She huffed. "I'll see what I can do. Come on, Babe."

She and Ricki rose to leave the room, holding hands as they walked towards the door. Elyza suddenly jumped from her chair.

"Hold up!" She called, jogging after them. "One more thing."

She stood up on her tiptoes and whispered something into Ricki's ear. He gave her a quick nod. "Give me five minutes. I'll meet you in the lot."

Elyza turned back to Alicia as Ricki and Mary disappeared through the door. Her brilliant blue eyes were alive with excitement, with hope. "This is going to work, Alicia." She announced with a smile. And Alicia could not help but smile back.