“Back where?” I stare up at highest point of one of the taller rocks. If I can get up there, maybe I can get a better view of where we are and where the city could be.

“Back to The Colony.” Maci takes my hand. “Back home.”

I cringe. I might not know how we got out here, or what we’re doing here, but I know we probably can’t go back there.

“Does anyone remember anything at all? Besides an Angel?” I ask. “Maci, do you remember what happened to you after you left the hospital?”

She nods zealously. “They took me to the room of fire.”

The Infirmary. “Who took you there?”

“The man in the white coat.” She pauses, sweeping her hair out of her eyes. “Your dad.”

Monarch. “But Maci, I don’t understand. Why would Mon… I mean, my dad take you there?”

“Because I was dead,” she replies, tracing circles in the sand with her boots.

“I think Maci hit her head or something,” Bernard says.

“I didn’t hit my head,” Maci protests, putting her hands on her hips. “I know what I saw.”

“Yeah, an Angel.” Bernard’s sneers. “Whatever the heck that is.”

“Kayla, tell Bernard I’m right,” Maci says. “Tell him the Angel saved us.”

I blink at the girl who said she was dead and I recollect my last few visits to the hospital. I couldn’t hear Maci’s pulse. Worse, I suddenly become painfully aware of something.

Either my ability to detect heartbeats is defective. Or all three of us stand here walking, talking, and breathing without a heartbeat.

Chapter 10

I once had to run for over three hours during a surprise attack while out on a raid. I was with two other Bellators and decided to use myself as a decoy, so they could get away. There where so many vampires, it took me forever to find a way back to The Colony. But that day I discovered something remarkable. I’m fast. And I mean fast. I also have a never-ending endurance.

I decide the best thing to do is figure out a plan. It’s getting late and if there are vampires prowling around, they'll be out as soon as dark possesses the sky. I tell Maci and Bernard to wait where they are, while I run up to the top of the highest rock and scope things out. I make it to the top in no time, but my breath catches at what I see. Miles and miles of red rock stacking the golden desert land. There’s no sign of life, water, or food. No buildings. No people. To add to the bad situation, hundreds of caves carve into the sides of the red rocks, which means there are hundreds of places for vampires to hide. The clouds are starting to shift, deepening in color. Darkness is rapidly approaching.