Free The Undead World (Book 5): The Apocalypse Renegades by Peter Meredith Page A

his flesh with a couple of bruises, however Grey had injured himself in the fight. At one point, Dixon ducked a punch and instead of receiving Grey’s blow flush on the nose, the fist struck him on the hard knot on his forehead, breaking a bone in Grey’s right hand.
    Now his hand was swollen and he couldn’t ball it into a proper fist, a fact he did his best to hide from the other cage fighters. If they found out, it would make staying alive that much harder.
    The River King was delighted with the injury. “Excellent! You were making the fights look too easy. It makes making any money near impossible. Do you know what the Vegas line was on you for the Dixon fight? Thirty five to one!” He looked to Grey to share in the sadness of it all, but Grey just sat in his cage wearing a weary look.
    “What a pity,” was all he said.
    “It is a pity that you don’t seem to understand your role here. Your one job is to make me money. If you can’t do that then you’re useless. Now let’s see.” The River King turned to look at the other fighters in the cells. There were an even dozen of them; most sported bruises or ugly jailhouse stitches. A few looked large and tough. The king didn’t choose one of them. “Ben, stand up, let me have a look at you.”
    Ben was tall and slim, much like Dixon had been. Grey shook his head. “Too small.”
    “Don’t be so quick to judge a book by its cover,” the River King admonished. “Ben here is a scrapper. He used to wrestle and he’s got some of the same ju-jitsu moves you do.”
    “No,” Grey replied. He had seen too much of Ben to want to fight him. He was a young and pleasant man, cordial and respectful of others—not the kind of man who deserved to die with Grey’s hands around his throat. “Styles make a fight. No one is going to want to watch the two of us rolling around on the ground.”
    The River King considered this, nodding his head gently. “Maybe you’re right. At least this early. It’s too bad Monroe died. That would’ve been a good fight.”
    “Maybe you should consider an alternative to fights to the death. You could have the winning fighter look for a thumbs up from the crowd just like in Roman times. You would be able to keep a larger retinue.”
    “Nope. Wouldn’t work. You’ve seen the crowd; all they want is blood and more blood.”
    “Then maybe the winning fighter should look to you,” Grey suggested. “It would cement your authority over life and death.”
    “Ha!” the River King exclaimed, smacking his hands together. “I like it. Excellent idea, Grey.”
    “I’m glad you like it. Now, do me a favor and let me see Sadie.”
    The king ran a hand through his black hair and eyed Grey closely. “Why?”
    “Because I want to see that she’s being taken care of properly. I won’t fight unless I see her with my own eyes.”
    The king considered this for a time and then shrugged as if he didn’t care. “Fine, but don’t think for a second I’m oblivious to your true motivations. You’re hoping to escape. You’re hoping that Jillybean will come through with some sort of silly rescue plan. Maybe I should put your mind at ease. I know exactly where Jillybean is. Even as we speak, she’s heading right for Cape Girardeau, leading all sixty of the escapes right back to me.”
    “What?” Grey asked in a whisper. This news hurt worse than anything he’d felt in the arena. “Jillybean wouldn’t…she wouldn’t do that.”
    “Oh, yes she would. You seem to forget, Grey, that she’s just a kid. Maybe she’s got some natural intelligence, but beneath that, she’s just a kid and thus very predictable. Too bad for Neil and the rest that they put so much faith in her, but lucky for me. By this time tomorrow, I’ll have my prisoners back, and thanks to you, I have taken care of most of the riff-raff around here who could’ve challenged my authority, and in three day’s time I’ll fetch my new bridge and cement my power forever. Not