The Road to Wolfe (The Sanctuary #4) - Nikita Slater Page 0,2

throat, kills me. Death is more common than turning anyway. And since I can't turn, I want my death to be a quick one.

This is as close as I've ever come to killing myself, just standing and waiting to die. Truthfully, I think about it all the time. It would be a release from the daily hardships and the constant pain of losing my family. So, instead of running, I close my eyes and brace myself, waiting for death in the form of sharp teeth and claws as they sink into my flesh. I’ve earned this. I have travelled for too long, lost too much, and now I’m done. I want to go to sleep and never wake up.

Eventually, the god-awful sounds coming from the corner stop and I know that the Primitive has finished his meal. Which means I'm next.

I feel a shift in the room, the air rushing around me as the zombie launches itself at me. I hold still, though the instinct to run is still strong. There’s no point in running now. I can't outrun a zombie and there's no one left to save me.

Something whistles through the air and I hear the dull, wet thunk of something sharp sinking into flesh and bone. I frown, feeling nothing. Is this death? Should death feel this empty and painless?

I open my eyes and the sight before me makes me gasp out loud and stumble back a step. Standing between me and the zombie is a huge man with dark, bushy hair, an unkept beard and piercing aqua eyes. An Outsider. At his feet is the body of the Primitive, its head severed from its body.

My heart speeds up in trepidation and gratitude. This man saved my life, but he's also an Outsider. Outsiders can be nearly as dangerous as Primitives. They take what they want, even if it means killing a settlement of people to get it. I've been in groups that were attacked by Outsiders, and it's never a pretty sight. We have enough problems with Primitives, without adding human on human violence.

I try a conciliatory approach, assuming he’s helping out of kindness. "Th-thank you," I stammer.

He turns swiftly, facing me directly. He’s a large muscular man with icy dead eyes. His gaze travels up and down my body in an impersonal survey that makes me want to sink back beneath the floorboards.

He jerks his head to the doorway and grunts, "Come on."

He leaves and I don't have much choice but to follow him out. There's nothing left in the room except for the body of a child and the body of the Primitive. Outside I see the other three children safe and well. I attempt to walk over to them where they sit huddled in a group together, but the Outsider catches my arm and forces me to his side.

I look up at him, my brow furrowing in question.

"You're coming with me." His voice is cold and impersonal.

I spot a car on the road and assume it must be his. Excitement blossoms inside me at the possibilities. Having a vehicle is so rare that I've only been inside one a few times in my life. My family never owned one, and the groups of travelers that I've gone with have only ever managed to get their hands on a few. Vehicles make travel so much faster and safer, but they're extremely hard to come by and they break down easily. Very few people know how to fix them anymore.

"I'll get the children," I say hopefully.

I know better though. What would an Outsider want with three traumatized children? Still, I have to try. If they’re left here unprotected, they won't live through the night. Though I'm a long way from feeling empathy for anything anymore, my conscience still pricks me. If there's something I can do for them, I will.

"No children." He opens the passenger side door and shoves me in then slams it shut.

My heart starts pounding in fear and another adrenaline spike hits me. I'm about to be kidnapped by an Outsider and there's nothing I can do. In the space of one day I’ve been attacked by a horde of zombies, watched a young child die, nearly died myself by zombie attack and now I’m being kidnapped.

Still, this isn't the worst day I've ever had.

I throw the door open and try to climb out, but he's faster. He gets in the driver’s side and reaches over to yank me back. Without a word,