The Pale Rider Read online

  “I played roller derby and softball?”

  “Yes, and roller derby is pretty cutthroat. I knew when I handed you that bat, you’d be able to kill anything that came at you with it, even if it didn’t trigger any memories.”

  “How did you get my old softball bat? You said you were looking for something at that clinic. If you weren’t looking for me, why did you have my bat and know so much about me?”

  “I’ve got clothes from your apartment too, but that’s all I can tell you for now.”

  I was about to fire off a million questions, but my stomach twisted in on itself and let out this tremendous growl. I realized how hungry I was. When was the last time I ate real food, anyway?

  Aeron bolted to his feet.

  “Storytime is over. You need to eat something. I’ve still got deer I hunted in the freezer, and this cabin had a veggie plot when I found it. It was overrun with weeds, but I cleared it out, and I’ve got fresh veggies to feed you.”

  He dug around in his rucksack and pulled out a little baggy. He tossed it at me and headed to the kitchen.

  “That’s some deer jerky I made. Chew on that while I cook. We aren’t always going to have the luxury of me finding a place like this. We may have to sleep in the woods or a place with no power. I lucked out finding this place.”

  I followed him into the kitchen, chewing on the deer jerky. It tasted good, and I was so hungry, I would have eaten just about anything right now.

  “Did you put the castle fortifications outside, or did someone else?”

  “That was here when I found the place.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to this, but I asked anyway. I had to know who I agreed to travel with.

  “What happened to the previous owners?”

  “Someone must have gotten bitten on a supply run for gas for the generator. When I found this place, the generator was all gassed up, and there were three eaten corpses and a Rage Head looking for a meal. I gave him mercy and killed him. I buried them out back.”

  I just had this feeling he wasn’t lying about that. He wanted to kill the president, but he didn’t kill people for supplies. And he was cooking deer meat, so he wasn’t a cannibal.

  I wasn’t sure if I was on board for killing the President of the United States, but he seemed handy to have around during the apocalypse. And he knew more about me than I knew about myself. I decided I would follow him to Washington, D.C.

  Chapter 5

  A

  eron was such a strange man. I knew why he couldn’t talk about my past, but I tried to get him to talk about his as we ate, and he answered me in grunts. He even told me he didn’t have one when I asked him his last name. I tried to ask him more about the people we would be meeting. He said there were three, and they were all specialists in their field. They worked together at first, getting a picture of all of this, then they scattered. He was in Washington, one was in Mexico, one was in Florida, and the other was in D.C. monitoring the president.

  He said he had already alerted them he found me and would come to them, but that made little sense. He never left my side since he kicked my door down, and I didn’t see him contact anyone. Plus, I was pretty sure cell phones didn’t work anymore, and that laptop of his didn’t get Wi-Fi. He refused to answer when I asked how.

  I was still asking questions when he started clearing plates away. He finally turned to me.

  “This place still has running water. Why don’t you go take a shower and change into some real clothes? I’m sure you’re tired of that hospital gown.”

  I hadn’t even thought about the fact that my ass had been hanging out of this gown this entire time. Did I get embarrassed about that kind of stuff before? I turned on my heels to find the bathroom with my bare butt on full display, and I didn’t care at all. Should I? Right now, I didn’t give a fuck.

  Aeron must have cleaned up this place when he found it because I didn’t see a sign anyone had been eaten here. The bathroom was cozy but neat. I finally got to see what I looked like. I knew my hair was blonde with pink ends, and I had full Alice in Wonderland sleeves tattooed on both arms, but I also had blue eyes, and I wasn’t half bad looking.

  When I got the gown off, I found more tattoos. I must have been a big reader because they were all based on fairy tales. I had a scene from The Little Mermaid on one thigh and Little Red Riding Hood on the other. They were all pretty well done. I guess that was one bright side to this. I didn’t know a single thing about my past, but at least I didn’t have shitty tattoos.

  The water was cold, but it would be way too much to ask to have a hot shower considering everything that was going on. I washed my hair and body with a green bar of soap that I was pretty sure was Irish Spring. Soap was probably a huge luxury right now, and I was grateful for anything to wash with. I didn’t know how long I’d been in that hospital, but at most, I’d probably gotten a sponge bath, and that was it.

  The idea of just sponge baths for who knew how long made this shower a precious thing. And who knew the next time I would get one. I hadn’t been awake for that long, but I wasn’t taking anything for granted. Even the man who cooked me dinner and was sharing all this with me. He might be secretive and grumpy, but he could have left me there to starve. I knew that might change. I wasn’t sure I altogether trusted him just yet, but I was happy to have a hot meal and a place to sleep tonight. And he gave me a little about my past and explained what was going on with the world.

  I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around myself. When I stepped outside, Aeron had left another rucksack by the door. I peered inside, and there were girl clothes in there. He mentioned something about going to my old apartment, and I had fifty million questions about that.

  It had to mean something. I meant something. He said I wasn’t bad, but I was involved in this somehow. Someone put me in that remote research facility, and I was in a coma for a reason. These four people wanted me in D.C. for something more than just killing the president. Aeron would not tell me until I had my memories back, and who knew when that would happen?

  I wandered around the cabin until I found a bedroom that looked like Aeron wasn’t sleeping in. I dumped the clothes on the bed. What kind of person was I? I liked tattoos, but what kind of clothes did I like? I pawed through them to find out.

  Lacy lingerie and leather if these clothes were any indication. Was there anything to sleep in? I just got the feeling I was the type of person who slept naked before, but during these times, that probably wasn’t safe anymore. You couldn’t have that much exposed flesh if a Rage Head broke into the house, and if humans broke in, you were just asking to get raped. Would I even have pajamas at my old apartment?

  I pulled a lacy pair of boy shorts on and found some yoga pants. There were some T-shirts in there, but I had apparently altered them. Most of them were band T-shirts like I used to go to a lot of concerts. I’d cut the neck out of the shirts and altered the sleeve, so all the shirts ended up being off the shoulder.

  I yanked a shirt over my head, and when it settled, I broke into goosebumps and got a flash. I was with a girl at a concert. It was the band on my T-shirt. I knew the girl. We were friends. Everyone called her Pokey, and I knew her from roller derby and softball. She played first base, and we worked well together as a team with me playing shortstop.

  We loved this band. This was our fourth time seeing them. We saw them every time they came to California. Los Angeles. I lived in Los Angeles before. What was I doing in Washington State?

  Just like that, the memory stopped. I went barging out of the bedroom to find Aeron. Maybe if I told him what I remembered, he’d tell me more about myself. I needed to know. It was killing me, not remembering anything. The lights outside of my bedroom were out.

  Aeron’s bedroom door was shut, and his light was out. I realized he was probably sleeping. I knew he would be happy I remembered something, but he was also a grumpy fuck, and I didn’t know how he felt about his beauty sleep. I wasn’t a
bout to go barging in his bedroom and find out either. What if he slept naked too? He was hot, and there was a part of me that wouldn’t mind getting a peek, but what if he was one of those prudish people that didn’t enjoy showing off?

  I needed this. I needed Aeron for now. I would not risk it. I turned and went back to my bedroom to sleep.

  Chapter 6

  I’

  m five years old. I’m at a sterile white facility. I don’t want to be there. Two people in lab coats are restraining me. A man is walking away from me, but I don’t want him to leave. All I can see is his back. He’s dressed in an expensive suit, and his shoes are just so shiny.

  “Don’t leave me here!” I shriek.

  He doesn’t turn back. I love this man, but it’s like he doesn’t love me, or he wouldn’t leave me or would come back and explain to me why I had to stay here.

  “Please, come back!”

  The men restraining me start to pull me towards a set of white doors. I fight. Pain is behind those doors. I’ve been before, and I don’t want to go back. I will fight to the death to not have to go back. I bite the man closest to me, but he’s so much bigger than I am.

  He yanks his arm away from me and curses. He backhands my tiny face, and I crumple to the floor. The other man just leaves me there while I sob.

  “Watch it. You know we are not to leave marks on this one.”

  “Then, drug her. He could at least give us the courtesy of giving this brat something to calm her down before he brings her here. I’m tired of her fighting us.”

  “This brat pays our salary, and he said no marks. Deal with it.”

  “Then, drug her. If she bites me again, I will hurt her bad.”

  I feel the pinch of the needle as it goes into my thigh. I’m still whimpering from the throbbing in my cheek as my vision goes black. I tell myself before I passed out that one day, I will be big enough to fight them off so they can’t do this to me again.

  I bolted to a sitting position with tears streaming down my face and phantom pain in my cheek. Was that a nightmare, or did that really happen to me? Who was that man, and why was he paying people to hurt me? Did it have anything to do with the research facility I ended up in?

  I had no idea what time it was, but there was no way I was going back to sleep now. I padded into the living room, and Aeron was already awake. He was in the kitchen cooking eggs. I peered over his shoulder.

  “The eggs are powdered. It’s not fancy, but it’s hot. I’ll be using the last of the deer. I have turned the rest into jerky. We’ll be setting out tomorrow. We should make a supply run later today. Do you think you can handle yourself if I take you to town? It’s pretty basic. Stay quiet and bash the head of anything that comes close to you.”

  “Yeah, I think I can manage that. I don’t think I’m a picky eater. I don’t care if the eggs are powdered. I’m sure it’ll taste great. We won’t have that luxury when we leave here, right?”

  “Correct.”

  “Need any help? I feel bad you are doing all this work, and I’m not helping at all.”

  “The only thing you need to worry about right now is staying alive and getting your memories back.”

  “Was I at another research facility when I was a child?”

  “Why do you ask that?”

  “I had a nightmare. A man dropped me off at a scary hospital. I didn’t want to be there, and they were hurting me. He left me anyway and didn’t look back. I tried to fight, and one man straight-up hit me.”

  “That was a memory, not a nightmare, Speedy. Don’t fight it when they come. Not all of your memories are happy softball games.”

  “Why was I at a research facility as a child, then again as an adult?”

  “All I can tell you was that your father was an asshole. I’m sure you gathered that from your dream.”

  “But I could feel that I loved him from the dream. I wanted him to come back and save me. Why would I love him if he did that to me?”

  “Everyone wants to love their father no matter how much of a dick they are.”

  I asked, even though I knew I would probably get a grunt in return.

  “What about you? Do you love your father?”

  Aeron grunted, and I didn’t think he would answer.

  “You could say they programmed me to love my father no matter what he does or doesn’t do.”

  “Did your father do anything as bad as mine did?”

  Aeron got up and stormed out the room.

  “Yeah, he created me,” he snapped on the way out.

  What did that even mean? I knew why Aeron couldn’t tell me more about my past, but why was he so secretive about his? There wasn’t much we could talk about right now. It wasn’t like I could ignore him and binge watch TV. I clearly enjoyed reading based on my tattoos, but I had nothing to read on, and the previous inhabitants of this cabin didn’t leave a single book behind.

  I wasn’t taking this. If he wanted this to work, he would have to be honest with me. How could I trust him that he was telling the truth about all of this if he couldn’t even tell me about himself?

  I followed him out of the room. He slammed his bedroom door in my face, and I just kicked it right open. He spun around panting when he realized I was in his private space.

  “Get out!” he roared.

  “No!” I yelled. “You ask me to trust you with your crazy tale. You tell me you have the solution to all of this and can end it. How am I supposed to believe anything you say when anytime I ask you about yourself, you just grunt at me?”

  “Believe me, Ariel, if you think the story I told you is ridiculous, you will think my past is totally insane until you get your memories back! Be patient!”

  “You won’t even tell me your last name! You lied and told me you didn’t have one!”

  “That’s because I don’t!” he yelled. “None of the four people you will meet have them, so don’t bother asking us.”

  “Are you related?”

  “In a way. We have the same father.”

  “And he didn’t give you his last name?”

  “He doesn’t have one either.”

  Aeron had this slight accent that I couldn’t place. Was that common where he was from? Since he was finally answering questions a bit, I decided just to ask.

  “Where are you from, Aeron?”

  His mood instantly changed. He got this smirk on his face and pointed to the sky.

  “Up north, you could say.”

  “Canadians have last names, Aeron.”

  Aeron fell out laughing. He had to sit down, and he was clutching his side as tears ran down his face, he was laughing so hard.

  “I will tell my brothers you think we’re Canadians.”

  “The North Pole?”

  Aeron just sat there, giggling.

  “If you mean further north than the North Pole, I will not believe you if you say you’re an alien.”

  Aeron lost it again.

  “Humans are so strange,” he wheezed.

  “Wait, you’re seriously claiming to be an alien?”

  “I’m not an alien, Ariel.”

  “Then why won’t you tell me where you are from?”

  “Because you’d leave. You need more of your memories back before you learn more about me, or you’ll run.”

  “What if I run because you are keeping secrets?”

  Aeron just shrugged.

  “Ask me something that isn’t my last name or where I’m from, and I’ll answer it if I can.”

  I crossed my arms and glared at him. What was so bad about his past that I would run? And how was it weirder than me thinking he was an alien? I just needed to be patient. He promised me answers, just not yet. I would eventually get them. I may get tired and leave before I got them, but for now, I could wait.

  “Favorite food. Go.”

  “Chinese food for the meal, Indian food for the dessert.”

  “How do you manage that without going to two restaurants?”

&nbs
p; “Magic.”

  “What’s my favorite food?” I asked.

  “Cheetos. It’s always been Cheetos.”

  How did he know that? Would he even tell me if I asked? I might as well try since he was finally not grunting at me.

  “How do you know all this about me? Have we met before, and I don’t remember?”

  “No, Ariel. You’ve never met us before. But you’ve been on our radar for a very long time.”

  “Okay, then. Tell me about your team. You said you all had a specialty. Can you tell me about that? How exactly are the four of you experts in stopping the end of the world?”

  Aeron puffed his chest out and got a little swagger in his step as he walked over to the bed. He flopped on his back and stuck his hands behind his head.

  “We are exactly who you want on your side at the end of the world. Leif specializes in diseases. Dice is a master of justice. Asher can come up with any battle strategy. As I said, we can do this.”

  “What’s your specialty?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  Aeron’s mood totally darkened. He hopped off the bed and stalked out the room.

  “The only thing I’m good at is death. Question time is over.”

  I sighed. At least I got a little out of him.

  Chapter 7

  A

  lmost as soon as this grumpy fuck stormed out the bedroom, he just came stomping back in. I went to follow him and ran straight into his hard chest and ended up on my ass. Did I mention he was huge? He didn’t even apologize or help me to my feet. He just glared down at me.

  “Get dressed. We need to go on a supply run, and since you’ve never been on one before, it will take longer than usual. We have to be back before it gets dark and we have to avoid Scooter’s gang. They’d love to get their hands on a pretty girl. I don’t think I need to graphically explain to you what that means. Go put some clothes on, Speedy.”

  Asshole. I shoved him out of the way as I made my way back to my bedroom. If I didn’t need him for now, I would have kicked him straight in the balls. I dug through the clothes in the rucksack. I would say this for myself before I lost my memories. I had good taste in clothes. I pulled a pair of well-worn leather trousers out that felt like butter and fit me like a second skin. I pulled a shirt on and grabbed Smurfette from the side of the bed. I didn’t remember much, but I felt a lot safer with that baby blue bat resting on the pillow next to me while I slept.