Dead Days: The Complete Season Two Collection by Ryan Casey Page A

out a hand. “Rodrigo. Pleasure to meet you.”
    Riley stared at his elongated hand for a few seconds before fighting through the pins and needles to shake it.
    “Sorry about my friend,” Rodrigo said, walking to the foot of the bed that Riley was propped up in. “He can be a little bit of a cocky shit when nobody else is around. But you’ll be bossing him around like everyone else in no time. Even the kids use him as a punchbag.”
    Riley blinked. This man, Rodrigo, despite his…‌well, curious appearance, seemed surprisingly amicable. He’d make a terrible John Wayne. Terrible.
    “I suppose you’ll have a lot of questions. You aren’t the only one. Oh, would you look at that.” He tilted his head at Riley’s leg and grinned. “Sophia’s stitched you up so nicely. Some of the swelling’s gone down too. I’d say you’ll be clear to walk in no time.” He looked at Riley in the eyes again. Smiled.
    “My…‌‌my friend,” Riley said. “Pedro. He’s‌—‌”
    “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled. “Pedro? Free to come in.”
    The door at the side of the caravan opened up and in stepped Pedro. He looked like he’d shaven. In fact, he looked healthier than Riley had seen him in a long time. And he had a smile on his face. A smile for this Rodrigo guy, and a smile for Riley.
    “How you holding up, bruv?”
    Rodrigo answered for Riley. “Well, his leg’s looking a lot better. Still a little slurry on the old speech, but he’ll be good again soon enough. He’ll be back on his feet, chatting to all‌—‌”
    “How did you…‌‌How did you find us? Where the fuck is this place? What am‌—‌”
    “Woah, woah,” Pedro said. He placed a hand on Riley’s shoulder. Riley’s heart pounded. He saw flashes of Ivan’s freezer room. Flashes of the smiles and the normality and the happiness back at the barracks.
    He saw flashes of Ivan’s knife against Ted’s neck, and the blood pouring out of his jugular.
    “It’s okay,” Rodrigo said, backing away from Riley. “Natural to have questions. I get that. We’ve all got questions. But just as long as you know you’re safe. Right here and right now, you’re safe.”
    “Nobody’s safe,” Riley said. “Nobody.”
    Rodrigo held eye contact with Riley then smiled. “Good answer, Riley. Good answer. I’ll…‌‌I’ll give you two lads a moment.”
    He stepped over to the doorway and went outside. His silhouette was still right there in the doorway when he closed the door.
    “Pedro, we can’t trust these…‌‌these people,” Riley said. He pulled himself up from the bed and grabbed Pedro’s chest. Strength flowed through his body again. He needed to get out. They both needed to get out.
    Pedro pushed Riley away. “You haven’t seen what I’ve seen, bruv. You haven’t got the first clue what this place is like until you’ve seen it‌—‌”
    “I’ve seen enough,” Riley said, raising his voice. “I’ve seen a leader. A leader who…‌‌who others serve. A situation I’ve seen before. A situation I…‌‌A mistake I made already. Large groups, they don’t work. You know this better than anybody. Eventually, somebody gets hungry. And then when food supplies run low, they get hungrier and hungrier until eventually they…‌‌they just have to eat. When supplies run low, you know how it is. And us, we’re…‌‌we’re new here. We’ll be first on the list. Just like‌—‌”
    “Not everybody’s an Ivan,” Pedro shouted. “And we couldn’t have stayed on that boat forever, as much as you fucking wanted that, bruv. Besides, you haven’t seen this place. You haven’t seen the setup here. We’re just down the road from‌—‌from where we washed up‌—‌”
    “Where we washed up? What, the place crawling with fucking creatures?”
    Pedro smiled and shook his head. His breath was minty, actually. At least this place had toothpaste. One positive. “You don’t