Dead Set - Book 2 of a Zombie Reverse Harem

Chapter Twenty Nine

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

JACKSON CARTER

Pushing Blake through the compound at a leisurely pace was hard. For the most part, nobody suspected anything. We had made it through the checkpoints and made our way underground where I knew the medical facility and holding cells were. I could feel the tension rolling off Blake the deeper we ventured inside.

Once we made it to the wing where they held their captives, I began the arduous task of checking through the small windows on each door one by one. Sure, I could have asked one of the guards on the way in which one was hers but I was here for a patient drop off and asking around about other patients -especially for the docs daughter- was going to draw a type of attention to us that we just didn't need. Ideally I would like to get us out of here without a single shot fired, although, the realist in me knew that would be an impossibility.

I briefly paused my search when footsteps sounded at the junction at the end of the hall. They were hurried and not like the relaxed, uniformed steps of the guards which instantly had me teeth on edge. Blake's hands tightened on the arm rests as I slipped one of my hands down the back of his chair and palmed one on the sawn off shotguns hiding there, ready to yank it free and start shooting at a moment's notice.

A shock of familiar wild red hair shot past the end of the hallway being pushed by a middle aged woman. I didn't have time to think or process as I took off down the hallway, leaving Blake where he was. Now in hindsight it was a dick thing to do because if he moved he would reveal the small armoury behind him leaving us almost weaponless should anything happen to us after he left the chair. Plus the guards knew him here well. Someone who evoked as much fear as Blake did would not easily be forgotten, especially after it only being a couple of weeks since he was last here. Fear alone would have them shooting first and asking questions later and that's a risk we couldn't afford to take. So as he stayed in place, I took up pursuit of the flash of red that was now being pushed away from us at an alarming rate. I broke into a sprint, skidding round the corner so low to the ground that I had to put my hands to the floor to help stabilize me and then push myself back up to my feet in order to continue the chase. The next hallway was a straight run, allowing me to catch up to them with ease. Reaching out I placed my hand onto the woman's shoulder, pulling her to a stop before grabbing the arm of the chair and whirling it around to face me.

"Agnes!" I gasped at the slumped form in front of me. The woman straightened, a calculating look in her cold eyes told me she was ready to flee under any measures necessary. Kneeling down in front of the chair, I brought my hands to her face and gently lifted her head to see if she was okay. What looked back at me absolutely floored me. My mind struggled to make sense of what I was seeing. It wasn't Agnes, but it was. Just an older version of her. Mid forties, I would say. Her hair, her face so much like our Agnes that my chest filled with such a yearning to hold her it was almost a physical pain. My eyes darted to the woman in silent accusation. What was she doing with a woman that was quite obviously related to our girl -even if we weren't in Agnes's dad's facility, it would have been obvious, they were that much alike- and why was she running with her.

"You're one of her guys, aren't you?" Surprise filled me that she knew who I was, our girl must be behind this. "She made me promise to get her mom out of here, she cured her then took her place in her cell to buy us time to escape before the guards realized she was missing." Fuck! That sounded like our girl. She's only been here for a day and she was already sacrificing herself for others. But I suppose it wasn't a surprise seeing that this was her mom and at least now part of her can rest that she has some answers to why her parents weren't there for her growing up. But why would this woman risk everything to help her, she hadn't been here long enough to form alliances. Suspicion filled me as I thought back to the women's cold and calculating demeanor only a few moments ago.