Disarming by Alexia Purdy

‘surprised’ was not even the right word for what he felt about his discovery. He was stunned.
    He couldn’t ever tell Katrina about the girl. She would have them hunt her down and drag her against her will into the underground. He prayed she never came looking for him again. If she knew about the underground, it would be a death sentence for her, or at least a definite life imprisonment.
    The underground city of Vida was the most boring and ordinary place on earth. It was inhabited by humans and hybrid humans alike. It had been the last place in Las Vegas left unaffected by the viral epidemic, the last stand. This made him smirk and almost laugh out loud. He’d never believed that. He couldn’t believe it was the last place on earth that was safe, especially now with April roaming around as proof of life above. He could feel deep inside him that there were others out there, somewhere. This knowledge crept in his mind and surged through his bones like a sixth sense. One day he was going to find them. With or without Katrina’s help.
    The thoughts of the city’s dictator made him groan. The plain, thin woman had claimed leadership of this underground, prison-like facility. She had run the place before the outbreak and God forbid someone else run the place in the wake of the epidemic. She was ruthless, with dozens of loyal followers. She was pretty close to being some sort of cult leader. Waco, Texas had nothing on her. She didn’t hesitate to punish those who disobeyed. He’d had a taste of her wrath before, though she could’ve been harder on him. He believed she was wary of him, and maybe even had a soft spot for him. However, she kept tabs on all twelve of the hybrid humans living among her human followers. She barely tolerated their presence, and they knew this well. She would not let them forget it.
    Elijah knew she was scared of them, of him, of their differences and their strengths. She used them as her ultimate soldiers but never forgot to let them know that they were not quite human anymore. She never neglected to remind them of their place beneath her, beneath the others, not once extending much courtesy toward them.
    In fact, if Katrina could, he’d bet she would have thrown them all into a prison cell until they rotted. But they had their uses. So, until they became unnecessary, she used them for every little task which needed to be done. Elijah was made the leader of the twelve, mainly because they listened to him. And he did what he was told. Her hold on them was wrapped with the threat of being thrown into the unknown world, a world that was dismal and barren. That or death.
    They had chosen to serve as her top security detail. It’s not that they couldn’t have overthrown her if they had so wanted to. But it would have been bloody. With all her faithful supporters, it would have been an all-out civil war.
    It was best to avoid any confrontation with Katrina. Elijah couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something off about her. It made his skin crawl to be near her, and he didn’t even know why. She emanated power as though it leaked from her pores. Whatever it was that was different about her, he didn’t ask. He didn’t really want to know.
    He never looked forward to seeing her, and despised her more than anything. For now, he kept it to himself. Just like the existence of April, it was all kept safely in his mind. Katrina would never find out about her, he would make sure of that. For now, the task of annihilating the zompires, as the Vidians had begun to call the wild vampires above, was her obsession. The half-zombie, half-vampire crazies were all that remained of civilization. This was a job he dreaded but he was satisfied that it kept her attention for now. He gritted his teeth the entire way to the debriefing room, wishing to be anywhere but here. As long as there was a “task” for the twelve, Katrina would let them remain in Vida undisturbed.
    That was all he wanted,