Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1)(100)

“But my momma’s husband? Well, he was a man like you. Enamored of the past. Stubborn. He returned home after things had settled, as the Years of Discord came to an end, as something like that order you speak of was restored. And he brought with him all the fear and turmoil of that time.

“He had the idea that he was still the master of the plantation, that the old ways should hold sway. He beat anyone who stepped out of line. He sent children out on patrols. People died needlessly, and he counted it the price of progress. He had it in his head to build something like your Summerland right there on Rose Hill, and damned if anyone was going to stand in his way.

“So one night, after he had gotten a bit drunk and more than a bit violent, I snuck down to my momma’s study and stole her gun. And the next morning, while he was still abed, I shot him twice in the head, the way my momma had taught me to put down a shambler.”

The pastor’s eyes go wide with terror and I shrug. “See, the problem in this world ain’t sinners, or even the dead. It is men who will step on anyone who stands in the way of their pursuit of power. Luckily there will always be people like me to stop them.”

I stand and resettle the sheriff’s hat, now my hat. “That horde will be coming through town soon enough, and if you ain’t already dead by then, the shamblers will surely oblige. As for me, I’ve got quite enough stains on my soul, so I hope you meet your end quickly.

“Either way, when you get to hell, give the man who fathered me, Major McKeene, my regards.”

I head into the armory. Katherine stands there, open-mouthed. I don’t know how much she heard, but it seems to have been enough. I can’t meet her gaze.

“My momma is passing light, just like you,” I say, because she deserves to know. “She was a slave. When her mistress died on the road to meet her fiancé, my momma pretended to be her, and that’s how she came to be the mistress of Rose Hill. It near drove her mad, all the lying and subterfuge, but she did it to save her family. To save everyone. When I was born, it was only a matter of time before her secret was compromised. She should’ve killed me, and one time she tried, but I survived.”

“Jane,” Katherine begins, but I hold up my hand.

“I know what I asked of you, and I’m eternally grateful. You helped to save my life,” I say. “Now, we might not survive what comes next, and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you.”

Katherine grabs me up into a hug, her tears hot against my face. I pat her awkwardly.

“Not now, we got a horde bearing down on us. I reckon we’ve dawdled long enough.”

She gives a hollow laugh and releases me, then steps forward and grabs a pair of Mollies, twin swords as long as a woman’s forearm and wickedly sharp on either side. Of course, Katherine would naturally grab the flashiest weapons available.

Our moment of confession is over, and now there is only work. Katherine catches me watching her as she straps the swords across her back. “These are quality blades, Jane.”

“How can you even tell? I can barely even see anything in here.”

She crosses her arms and taps her foot. “That is not something I want to hear after you just shot a man who had been standing right behind me.”

“I suppose you’re right. Now, let’s see if we can’t generate a few more miracles between the two of us and save some of these miserable people.”

Katherine nods, and we head to the door. I pause on the threshold, my hand on the knob. “Kate?”

“Yes?”

“Take off that damned corset. We’re going out to face down a horde, not to a ball.”

“It’s isn’t a full corset; it’s a half corset. It’s the newest style. Besides Jane, the day I cannot take down a few shamblers wearing something fashionable is the day I turn in my rifle.”

I grin at her and say nothing, just tip my hat in acknowledgment.

I’m almost out the door when I look down and pause. A few inches from the toe of my boot is my penny, looking just the way it did the day Bill took it from me. I lean and pick it up. It’s clean of blood, and the leather thong looks new. In my hand it’s warm, and a sense of rightness heats me from the inside out as I drape it over my head.

“What’s that?” Katherine asks.

“Just a bit of luck.”

She purses her lips. “Good. We’re going to need it.”





Hopefully this letter finds you, although none of my other letters have been answered. I love you, my darling daughter, and the news I share is grim. Rose Hill is gone, Jane. I have been betrayed by a pretty face, my secret writ large for the world. Those of us who are left have fled. We travel west, to California, and the promise of a new life.

Find me, Jane.





Chapter 38


In Which We Reach the End of Our Tale


Katherine and I stand in front of the entrance to the sheriff’s office and survey the chaos. People yell at us, a hundred questions at once, spittle flying as they work themselves into a fine fit.

“We should probably tell them something,” Katherine says.

A scream pierces the air, so loud and fraught with fear that it gives me a chill despite the heat of the day. And like an angel on high delivering a message from the Lord Almighty, comes the shout, “SHAMBLERS! THERE’S SHAMBLERS IN TOWN!”