Dark Justice

Chapter 2

Two

Daniel Zarb rolled to a stop in the middle of the hallway, blocking Miranda’s path.

‘You’ve been to see Kyle again. Why do you keep torturing yourself?’ His brown eyes coursed over her face.

‘It’s none of your business, Zarb.’ Miranda brushed past his wheelchair. He grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him.

‘It is my business, mine and every other warden. “No warden shall suffer a freak to live.” That’s the law, and there’s never been a freak like Kyle.’

‘You think I don’t know that?’

Zarb gazed up at her, expression grave. ‘I think you’re so blinded by the man he used to be you’ve lost sight of what’s right in front of you. Jackson Kyle is a high-functioning freak. He’s got the rage, the hatred, the unending need to inflict violence on humans and wardens, but he’s kept all his faculties. He can reason and he can wait. Right now, he’s sitting in his cell plotting how to escape and kill us all.’

Tears pricked her eyes, remembering the way Kyle had taunted her. She shook her head. ‘No, I won’t accept that. He’s not a freak, not completely, and he can be cured. You said you were close to figuring out how.’

‘Not close enough to save Kyle. Every time I think I’ve got the virus locked down and a vaccine ready to go, it mutates and I have to start again. You must kill him, before it’s too late.’

‘Don’t tell me what to do. You’re not in charge here anymore, Zarb—I am.’

‘Then start acting like it. Kill Kyle before he hurts the wardens beyond repair.’

‘He can’t hurt anyone while he’s locked up, and he’ll stay locked up until you find that cure.’ She wrenched her arm out of Zarb’s grasp, shoved his wheelchair aside, and fled down the corridor.

Each time she visited Kyle, she felt stained so deeply that it could never be washed clean. But she couldn’t stop going any more than she could stop breathing. He was strong, stronger than any warden she had ever known. He’d be able to hold on to his humanity until Zarb found a cure.

She reached her quarters and stripped off. Seconds later she stood under the shower spray, scrubbing at her body so hard it hurt. It was a good pain, better than the one tearing her up inside. The wounds Kyle inflicted on her each day were invisible to the naked eye and yet far more painful than anything she had ever experienced.

Tears flowed down her cheeks to be washed away by the cool, clear water. Memories of happier times flooded her as she turned off the taps and reached for a towel. Eight years ago, she’d been reassigned to the Brimfield Ward and put in Kyle’s patrol, and she’d fallen in love with him the first day.

Three years older than her, Kyle had distinguished himself in the field countless times and his promotion to captain when Daniel Zarb lost his legs surprised no one. He’d never given any sign he returned her feelings, but she had held on to the hope that one day he would come to love her as much as she loved him. Then a freak took him away from her.

And it was her fault. She’d gotten separated from her patrol and ambushed by three of the infected. Kyle had rescued her, but he’d been bitten by one of the freaks in the process.

Dreading the thought of a future without him, she climbed into bed and cried herself to sleep.

A shrill alarm wrenched her back to wakefulness.

She bounded out of bed and pressed the talk button on the intercom set in the bedroom wall beside the door.

‘This is Captain Wilson. What’s the situation?’ The strident alarm drowned out her words and she missed the operator’s response.

‘Shut down the alarm,’ she yelled into the mic.

Silence fell. She drew in a lungful of air and steadied her breathing before repeating her question.

‘Kyle has escaped.’

Miranda froze. She must still be asleep, living a nightmare.

‘Captain, are you there? I said Kyle has escaped.’

‘I heard you.’ She closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall. ‘I want this place searched from top to bottom. Have all wardens within headquarters on alert and armed with stun guns. Kyle is not to be killed. Understood?’

She drew a shaky breath. ‘Order all patrols to concentrate on the area around headquarters in case he’s already on the streets. I want him found and I want him found fast.’

She signed off and dressed in fresh armour, begrudging the time it took to splash water over her face and brush tangles out of her hair. But the wardens needed their leader to look as well as act the part, even if inside she was falling apart.

She headed down to the lower levels. Blood was splattered on the floor of the guardroom. She stepped gingerly to avoid walking in it as she crossed the small room on her way to the open inner door. She saw two guards at the far end of the corridor, lights blazing now the cell block’s single occupant had fled.

Inside the cell, one of the medical staff kneeled over the still forms of the two guards assigned to watch Kyle, the same guards Miranda had ousted from their posts so she could visit in privacy hours earlier. No blood had been spilled here. The two men lay on the ground, pale and unmoving.

Miranda held her breath as she stared at them. She exhaled in a rush, almost sagging to her knees when she saw the slow rise and fall of their chests.

‘They’re alive.’ Relief made her lightheaded.

The medic didn’t look at Miranda. ‘He used his chains. Strangled them until they lost consciousness.’

‘How…?’ Miranda swallowed down bile before continuing. ‘He was locked in the cell, chained to the wall. There is no way he could have taken out two guards.’

‘Maybe he had help.’ The medic stood, stepping aside as his assistants came into the cell with two stretchers.

‘Who would let him escape?’

The medic looked at Miranda, grey eyes cold. ‘Perhaps Matthews will be able to tell us.’

‘Matthews?’

The medic led the way to the guardroom and pointed at the blood on the floor. ‘He’s banged up. Zarb has him in the infirmary.’

The infirmary was one level above the cells. Miranda and the medic strode into the room where Zarb leaned over a man lying on a table that had been lowered to allow the former captain easy access. Tim Matthews lay motionless, bloodstained bandages covering the top of his head and his torso.

He tried to sit up when he saw her. ‘I’m sorry, Captain Wilson.’

‘Shush, Matthews. We’ll talk about it later, when you’re feeling better.’ Miranda pushed him back down. His features were unrecognisable in the ruin Kyle’s fists had created. The rest of him had fared even worse.

‘I know I shouldn’t have let Sergeant Grahams leave the cellblock, but he insisted he couldn’t wait for the shift change to use the bathroom,’ said Matthews, voice weak. ‘Said he’d be real quick, nobody had to know he’d left his post.’

Matthews’ pained expression eased as the medication took effect. ‘I never heard a sound when I opened the door to let him back in so I thought everything was okay. Half an hour later he said he had to go again. I opened the door, meaning to tell him to wait it out. Kyle was on me so fast I didn’t have time to call for help. Next thing I know, the shift change was there.’

Miranda remained silent, a hollow ache settling in the pit of her stomach.

‘I’m going to be all right, aren’t I? You won’t have me reassigned?’ Matthews’ eyes pleaded with her. ‘I don’t want to leave Brimfield Ward. If you give me another chance, I promise I won’t fail you again.’

Miranda looked at Zarb, an unspoken question in her eyes, relieved when he gave a quick nod. She plastered on a smile. ‘Everything is going to be fine, Matthews. You just concentrate on getting better.’

‘Are you going to have me reassigned?’

‘No, you’re staying right here.’ Miranda gave him a final pat on the shoulder before turning away and heading for the door.

In the corridor, she stopped when Zarb called her name.

‘Kyle didn’t infect Matthews, but his next victim might not be so lucky. You must kill him before he attacks anyone else. He’s too dangerous to be left alive.’

Miranda turned away, unable to face the accusations in Zarb’s eyes. Hearing them in his voice was bad enough.

‘I know.’ Her faint whisper hung in the air. ‘I know.’