Read Jason Frost - Warlord 04 - Prisonland for Free Online Page B

I’m never telling anyone what it is. That’s my name, my secret name, only they would know. If they’re still alive somewhere, they’ll be the only ones who’ll use it. I’ll never tell anyone else what my real name is.” She was silent a moment, then forced a gruff laugh. “Besides, this is a new world. Everyone has a nickname here, a made-up name. Even you. I heard Dodd refer to you as the Warlord. Kinda catchy, huh?”
    “Where is Dodd?”
    “Gone.”
    “Where?”
    She shrugged. “He left me tied up here about five or six hours ago. Took me a while to gnaw through the damn rope.” She flashed her perfect white teeth at Eric. “Over $4,000 worth of orthodontia. Dr. Gruber would be proud of me now, eh? Chewed right through that sucker.”
    “Which direction did Dodd go?”
    D.B. leaned back in the grass, cupping her hands behind her head, and stared into the dark sky. “He sure was scared of you. Tried to act mean and tough, but I could tell. He was terrified you’d catch up to him. I think he was going to try to jump my bones, but he was afraid to take the time. He’d stare at the crossbow of yours as if it was you. I think holding it made him feel safer. But not much. Poor bastard.”
    Eric tried again. “Which way did he go?”
    “You know, he left me tied up knowing I’d get out of it. Told me to take off the moment I broke free and run as fast and far as I could. Told me if you ever caught up, you’d do worse things to me than Krimm and his buddies did. Hell, that didn’t leave much.”
    “He just wanted you to leave another set of tracks for me to follow.”
    “Yeah, I figured. See, he didn’t know that I’d seen you before at the university. Not that that meant much. I’ve met some people since the quakes, doctors and lawyers and ministers, people you’d think could hold themselves together in a crisis. Shit, they’re out there killing and stealing with the rest of them. My dad, he said people’s true nature comes out under stress. Well, he and Mom took care of me and never hurt anyone else doing it.” There was a catch in her voice but she swallowed and toughed it out, changing the subject. “What about Studebaker and Teasdale? Last time I saw, you were tied to a tree.”
    “They felt bad about that. Let me go.”
    “They dead?”
    Eric nodded.
    “Dodd said they’d be. Said you’d talk ’em into letting you free and sooner or later you’d kill both of them.”
    “Speaking of Dodd—”
    “Christ, you got a one-track mind.”
    Eric waited for an answer.
    She didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes. Eric could tell she was gathering her courage. Finally, she sat up and said. “You gotta take me with you.”
    “No.”
    “Then I won’t tell you where he went.”
    “I’ll find it for myself.”
    “Maybe. But he’s pretty careful. I saw him putting down all those false trails back there. What if he shakes you?”
    Eric considered that. He didn’t think Dodd was good enough to shake him entirely. Sure, he could send him down the wrong trail once or twice, but not for long. Eventually, Eric would catch up to him. But time was precious. Every day Tim spent in the company of Fallows was dangerous.
    On the other hand, D.B., or whatever her name was, would only slow him down. He felt sorry for her, even admired the strength with which she’d managed to endure her ordeal, but he had an obligation to Tim, not her. She wasn’t his responsibility. Cruel, but that’s the kind of world it had become. The kind of man he’d become.
    “I’m sorry,” he said.
    “All right then. You take me along, I’ll throw in screwing privileges. Anyway you want it. I think Krimm and company showed me about everything there is, maybe even a couple of things you don’t even know.” She tried to smile seductively; it made her look even younger. Sadder.
    “How old are you, D.B.?”
    “Eighteen.”
    “How old?”
    “Eighteen next month.”
    Eric took a deep breath, spit out the blade of