Read Online Broken World (Book 3): Mad World by Kate L. Mary - Free Book Online Page B

silence.
    Jon throws himself on the bed. He’s far away from me since it’s a king size mattress, but it still makes my stomach lurch painfully. I stand up and lean awkwardly against the small desk.
    “Pilot,” he says. “I flew helicopter tours over Vegas and the Grand Canyon.”
    I cross my arms over my chest, tapping my toe nervously on the floor. I want to get out of this room, but I’m stuck here all night. “Family? Other than your sister, I mean.”
    Jon turns his head toward me but doesn’t stand up. “Yeah. Wife and a baby.” He swallows, and I suddenly feel bad for him despite how much I don’t want to.
    “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
    He turns his gaze toward the ceiling. I look away when a tear escapes the corner of his eye and slides down his cheek. Emily’s face flashes through my mind, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block it out.
    Instead, I focus on Axl, remembering his lips on my skin, the way his calloused hands felt on my body. How amazing that night on top of Paris was. Being left behind was horrible, but being up there, away from the Strip, we were able to pretend it was just us. That there was nothing in this world to fear and all we had was each other. I’ve never felt as safe as I did that night.
    Even those memories aren’t a comfort, though. It hurts because I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again.
    “What about you?” Jon asks, startling me.
    I open my eyes and find him watching me. His eyes are red, and for the first time since I stepped into this room, he looks slightly guilty.
    “I was a stripper. Had a daughter.”
    “This Axl guy, he was the dad?”
    I shake my head and tap my toe even faster. “No. We met after all this started.”
    He nods and goes back to studying me silently. The longer he looks at me, the more the hair on my scalp tingles.
    “You can trust me,” he finally says. “I swear I won’t hurt you. And I promise to do whatever it takes to get you out of this.”
    I shake my head. “I don’t trust anyone.”
    The response is automatic. It’s how I’ve felt my whole life, but it’s not how I feel anymore. I do have people I trust now. I’d trust Axl with my life. And almost everyone else back at the shelter. Maybe even Angus. We’re a family now. A new kind of family created by this mad world we live in.
    “You can trust me,” Jon says again.
    “We’ll see.”
                 
                 

 
     
    6 Axl
     
    IT TAKES THREE TRIES TO FIND A CAR with an alarm. Soon as it goes off, the zombies come runnin’. We’re only one street away from the Strip, but this time we’re behind Paris. We’re gonna get in through the back door.
    Winston speeds away from the shriekin’ alarm and heads toward the Paris hotel. The fake Eiffel Tower is right in front of us. I stare out the window as it gets closer, searchin’ for an alley or some other way to get in the back. There’s gotta be an employee entrance or something.
    “There!” Trey yells from behind me.
    Winston slams on the breaks, and I almost hit my head on the back of his seat. I woulda missed it if Trey hadn’t pointed it out. The street is mostly blocked by a burnt-out car.
    The alley leads to a narrow street that runs behind the casinos. We turn the corner, and the employee parkin’ lot for Paris is right in front of us. There are zombies back here, but it ain’t nothin’ like out on the Strip.
    “Can’t be more than thirty of ‘em,” Angus says.
    “Better than the Strip,” Nathan says from the passenger seat.
    “I told you there was a back road,” Darla calls from behind me. She’s grinnin’ so big I wouldn’t be surprised if she patted herself on the back.
    Angus gives her one of his stupid-lookin’ monkey smiles. His lips all puckered and his jaw tight. I look away. Makes me sick to my stomach. But Angus don’t know she’s Vivian’s mom, and I try to convince myself he’d care if he did. It don’t really work.
    Winston parks the car and