Free Thirteen Roses Book Four: Alone: A Paranormal Zombie Saga by Michael Cairns

and Bayleigh was about to scramble onto the beds and grab her when she turned and sat amongst the sheets.  
    ‘I’m leaving. Some of my sisters are coming with me.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘You know why.’
    ‘Harriet, where will you go? You can’t go back to the soldiers, please tell me you aren’t going back there?’
    The girl kept her eyes down cast and Bayleigh hissed. ‘They’ll rape you. You know that, right? They kidnapped you using drugs and kept you unconscious while they unleashed a plague that killed pretty much everyone on Earth.’
    She ran out of breath and realised she was panting. ‘Tell me you aren’t going back there.’
    ‘Where else is there? You just said it, there’s nowhere else that’s safe.’
    ‘It’s safe here.’
    ‘HE’S THE DEVIL. Don’t you see that? He’s lying to you, it’s what he does. Whatever he’s told you, it’s a lie—’
    ‘He saved my life. And he saved it before that, too, just in a different way. He’s not the devil, he’s an angel who got a bad reputation.’
    Harriet snorted and Bayleigh only just resisted the urge to slap her. ‘He can save as many people as he likes, it doesn’t change what he is.’
    ‘I don’t… I don’t understand you.’ Bayleigh replied.
    ‘Well then, it’s probably a good thing I’m going because I don’t understand you either.’
    ‘Stop saying I. How many of you are going?’
    ‘Why does it matter?’
    ‘Because we need a certain number to repopulate and I don’t fancy the chances of you being allowed to live after they’re done with you.’
    Harriet paled and shook her head, lips pressed together in a line. ‘I bet he told you that as well.’
    She didn’t say anything else. She shuffled forward until her legs hung over the edge of the bed then pushed past her and out of the door. Bayleigh watched her go, grinding her teeth together. This was ridiculous. Luke was going to be so pissed off. She was pissed off. How could they be so blind and ungrateful?
    She stepped out into the corridor and Alex came racing up, panting. ‘He’s gone.’
    ‘Already?’
    ‘I followed him down to the car park. He wouldn’t listen, just grabbed the back door device and headed straight down the tunnel.’
    Bayleigh was about to speak when Alex glanced over her shoulder and, muttering ‘see you’, brushed past her. She spun, already knowing what she’d see but still moaning in frustration when she did. Harriet was half-in and half-out a doorway, beckoning to him with a dimply smile that made Bayleigh want to punch her. They spoke for a moment before disappearing into the room together.  
    Bayleigh squeezed her eyes closed and blinked back the tears. She should feel tired, but she didn’t. Her brain hurt but her body was still on that weird high. She could run to the river and back right now and not break a sweat. Luke had warned her it might run out and to be ready for the comedown, but there were no signs of it yet.  
    Where was Dave? Did it matter? He wasn’t good for much either way. She just wanted Luke to come back and take control. She hated thinking that, hated the weakness in her. But she wasn’t weak, not really. This was something she’d never imagined before. No one person could handle it, not alone. Why did she feel alone?  
    She pushed through the door into the private room. Ed stood at the window, head resting on his folded arms. She joined him watching the zombies come and go. That was when she spotted the van.  
    ‘Where did the van come from?’
    ‘Dunno. Been there since I came back in here.’
    Bayleigh frowned. She watched it for a while before deciding no one was getting out.  
    ‘How’re you doing?’
    ‘M’okay. Bored. You?’
    She sighed. ‘Frustrated.’
    ‘Worse things to be.’
    She glanced down at the top of his head and smiled. ‘That’s very true. I could be dead—’
    ‘Or a zombie.’
    ‘Or a zombie. Small mercies, huh?’
    He nodded and watched and she watched with him. She