Free After The Apocalypse (Book 2): Church of Chaos by Gen Griffin

was born in the Burroughs.”
    Seth stepped in between Lola and Gauge. “You said you found a lead?”
    “You're from the Burroughs?” Gauge's voice was thick with disbelief.
    “I was born in the Burroughs.”
    “I've never seen you there,” Gauge said.
    “I haven't lived there in a long, long time.” Seth rubbed his hands together casually. “But where I spent my childhood really doesn't matter. We'll have all the time in the world to chat about the miserable, roach infested hellholes we grew up in after we've found Pilar's parents.”
    Gauge chewed his lip for a minute and then shrugged. “You said her parents were taken by Bud Moon, right?”
    Seth nodded.
    “Something Pilar said earlier gave me an idea,” Gauge jerked his chin in my direction. His dark blue eyes were focused entirely on me as he spoke. “You said your mother would have been completely terrified by the city and the meat market. Do you think she would have been hysterical?”
    “Yes,” I said with a nod. I didn't need to think about the question. Mom had gone hysterical at the sight of sunlight and open doors since before I was born.
    “I thought so. I remembered you saying that she hadn't gone outside in more than 20 years.” Gauge rubbed one hand against the back of his own thick neck. “It got me thinking, what if they couldn't sell her?”
    “Huh?”
    “You mean if she failed a safety check?” Lola interrupted abruptly. Her eyes were bright and her expression thoughtful.
    “A what?” I looked to Seth for an explanation but he just shrugged.
    “The meat market has gotten a little more health conscious since the last time you lit it on fire- I mean visited.” Lola quickly corrected herself as she focused her attention entirely on Seth. She hurried on with her explanation. “All the people who are sold for their flesh in the meat market have to meet a certain health standard now. Someone sold a couple of contaminated girls last year. Infected the family of one of the king's personal advisers with the zombie virus. The adviser, his wife, all four of their kids and his mother-in-law had to be euthanized. It was ugly. The king passed a law that requires every person brought into the meat market to pass a health check before they can be sold.”
    “What kind of health check?” Seth asked. “I mean, what are they looking for?”
    “No cuts or open wounds anywhere on the body. They have to be able to perform an assortment of basic physical activities.”
    “Perform physical activities?” Seth raised one eyebrow skeptically.
    “They have to walk and talk coherently. Sometimes they're asked to perform a few basic exercises. Pull ups or jumping jacks. Something that proves they have human coordination.” Gauge crossed his hairy arms over his broad chest. He was watching Seth intently now.
    “Clever.” Seth didn't look impressed.
    “Do you think your mother would have passed the tests?” Gauge refocused his attention onto me. “No one I've talked to remembers seeing her in the meat market. Not one soul. It makes me think that she might not ever have made it onto the sale lot.”
    “I don't know,” I admitted reluctantly. “There wasn't anything physically wrong with her, but she panicked every time she even thought about stepping foot outside the Cube. Dad couldn't even get her to go out into the garden with him. She'd freeze up and start crying every time she got within 20 feet of the outer doors.”
    “Sounds like it's possible that she wouldn't have passed the health check,” Lola tapped her index finger against her chin. She turned back to Gauge. “What do the flesh brokers do with the people who don't pass the health check?”
    “Rumor has it that Bud Moon houses them in a bunker on his family's property.” Gauge leaned back against the nearest wall.
    “You think my mom could still be on Bud Moon's property?” I scarcely dared to hope that she might still be alive.
    “She's not in the meat market. She's either at