Free This Would Be Paradise (Book 2) by N.D. Iverson Page B

the room, and plunked him down. Tim didn’t resist, but I was sure he had something up his sleeve. Maybe more of his buddies were out there, waiting. Just to be on the safe side, I zip tied one of his legs to the chair.
    “Those guys you were talking to, they’re part of that gang?”
    No answer.
    “I’m really tempted to let Roy go after you.” I tsked . I hardly recognized the cold voice emanating from my lips.
    “What do you want me to say?” Tim said, redirecting the conversation.
    “I want the truth, not what you think we want to hear.” I looked him dead in the eyes. “I have a pretty bad head wound, and I had to kill a man thanks to you, and a little girl saw a person die in front of her. So I think you owe us a fucking explanation!”
    With every word, I was getting angrier. A hand rested on my shoulder, and I turned to see Elaine. She signaled toward the corner of the room.
    Once we were out of earshot, she said in a hushed voice, “Okay, you’re getting a little emotional. Maybe we should have someone else try.”
    I went to run my hand through my hair, only for the bandage wrapped around my head to stop me, and a flair of outrage surged through me. Maybe I was too close to this.
    “I think we should let Roy at him,” I said, and Elaine leaned back.
    “I thought you said that was a bad idea,” Elaine said.
    “Yeah, that was before he made my blood boil,” I said through clenched teeth.
    He was playing coy.
    “Let Roy go,” I barked to Mac.
    “What?” Mac asked, confused. Even Roy stopped struggling, appearing surprised.
    I looked at Tim. “I honestly thought you’d have a backbone, but I guess my people-reading skills aren’t very good. Maybe you’ll grow one once Roy questions you.” I glanced at Mac. “Let. Him. Go.”
    He opened his arms and Roy took a hesitant step. Then he regained his composure and almost ran to Tim.
    “Where’s my wife you motherfucker?” he spat in Tim’s face.
    Tim steeled his expression and remained silent. Roy wound up and let his fist fly again. Tim’s head whipped back from the impact, and he gurgled, blood dribbling from his lips. Slowly, he brought his head upright again and let the fresh blood trickle from his mouth to his lap.
    Roy’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears. His clenched hand trembled. He looked like Bruce Banner struggling to contain the Hulk.
    “We know it was you.”
    Another hit, this time to the gut.
    “My little girl is dead because you brought them here!”
    Tim wheezed from the next punch Roy landed.
    “What about Kyle, Linda, Elijah, José, Bernice!”
    José and Bernice were dead? I turned to Elaine.
    “The two men who broke in tonight shot them when they tried defending the place.” Elaine looked to the floor.
    My arms trembled as my mind struggled with this new information. This was too much. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “You have a concussion. That was the last thing you needed to hear about when you woke up.” Her nurse’s tone had returned.
    No wonder I hadn’t seen them. I felt like a fool for wondering where they were, when all the while, they were dead, killed by those would-be kidnappers.
    The infected are supposed to be the enemy!
    This wasn’t fair. People were killing each other for no reason while the real bad guys were terrorizing us in undead droves. This new world disgusted me.

Chapter 11
    “Stop!” Karla screamed as she shoved the older lady guarding her to the ground.
    Karla reached for her weapon, so I reacted fast and ran up to her. She turned to me, ready to fight, but she hadn’t been expecting my elbow to connect with her face. I made sure to use my good elbow too. She fell to the floor on her back. Her gun skittered to the floor, and I kicked it out of her reach, placing a knee on her chest to stop her from getting back up. Karla looked shell-shocked and didn’t put up a fight.
    “Look, you can either stay or I can have someone take you elsewhere.”
    She tentatively touched her eye,