Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Ike doesn’t turn, just side-eyes me from over his shoulder. “We can argue about this later, OK? You can call me every name in the book. You can accuse me of anything you want. Hell, I’ll even stand still and quiet and let you do it. But we need to go, Clover. Right now.”
I wilt here. Because I’ve got no choice and I hate that. But I do want to live. So I rally and nod. “Deal.”
“Stay right behind me and no talkin’ now. Don’t say anything. Look at your feet and if anyone confronts us, make some pathetic sniffling noises or something. Like you’re afraid of me.”
I look up at him. “I am afraid of you.”
He smiles. “Woman, I am a fuckin’ saint compared to these Colony people. Look down, sniffle, and shake a little if anyone talks to us. Got it?”
I nod, then look down at my feet.
“I’m gonna be a little rough with you, so don’t take it personal.”
He starts pulling me over to the door, but I resist. “Wait! What about Riggs?”
“They’re gonna kill Riggs, Clover. That’s why we gotta get outta here.”
He pulls me towards the door, but I lean back, planting my feet. “I can’t leave him behind.”
“You don’t understand—”
But just as he says that, the door comes crashing open again. Hattie appears, apparently alone, and she just stands there for a moment, trying to sort out what is happening. She’s just about to open her mouth and start asking questions when Ike grabs the bolt cutters from the table and hits her in the side of the head with them.
She goes down like a fuckin’ sack of flour. I’m talking crashes to the floor, banging her head on the side of the door as she falls.
“That’s gonna hurt, no doubt about it. And I’ll pay for it in the end. But it can’t be helped.” Ike looks at me and grins. “And anyway, she’s a bitch.”
“Who are you?”
Ike side-eyes me. Like he’s angry. But then his eyes soften. “Not what everyone thinks. Let’s just stick with that for now. When we’re back up top, I’ll tell you everything. But for now, if you wanna save Riggs, then you gotta trust me. Let’s go.”
He turns his back on me, ending the conversation, and then he steps into the hallway, looking both ways. It’s empty and silent, like this is some secret, unused section of the underground city, and I start to get the feeling that he’s maybe not supposed to be here.
We go left. Ike’s grip on my upper arm is very firm. He’s very tall and walks fast, so I have to practically trot to keep up with him. I look down, like he told me to, and concentrate on his boots. They make a deep thudding sound on the concrete floor, while my bare feet slap along beside him.
Suddenly, there are voices somewhere up ahead. They are faint, but with every step, they get louder. Which tells me these are people to be confronted, not avoided, and my heart skips a couple of beats.
We come around another corner, and I take a peek up and see two large men halfheartedly guarding a steel door. They look up as we approach, both of them snapping to attention when they realize who it is.
“Ike?” one calls when we’re still down the hall a ways.
“Don’t look up,” Ike says, his words a low growl meant only for me. And then he greets them. “Hey, Mouzer. Hey, Bills.” He jerks my arm. “I’m taking this one to the pile.” His words are light and happy now, but in a scary way. “Either of you wanna come along and watch?”
The pile? Pile of what? Dead bodies?
The two guards chuckle. “Wish we could,” one says.
“I’d hit that,” the other one adds.
Which leads me to believe it’s some other kind of pile and my whole body begins to shake.
“But we can’t.” The first one sighs. “The general’s here. You shouldn’t either, Ike. He’s an asshole.”
“And that bitch of an attack dog he brought with him?” the other one says. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t take her to the pile if they paid me.”
“Hell, I would.” The first one laughs. “I’d fuck her hard, and then shoot her in the head as I was blowing my load inside her.”
I look up, forgetting my number one directive, and recoil. What the hell? Did I just hear that correctly?
Ike yanks my arm so hard, I yelp. “Look at your feet, bitch. You don’t need to see their faces.”
I look down and all three of them laugh.
What if he set me up? What if he really is taking me to some place called ‘the pile’ where, apparently, they go to rape women before they kill them?
“Well, I gotta go,” Ike says. Then he looks at his watch. “I’ve got an appointment with the general after this.” He snickers. “He ain’t gonna be mad. She’s my reward for a job well done.”