Took Me Yesterday (book 2 of The Tomo Trilogy)

Stay Crazy

I hobbled as fast as my sliced leg would take me, trying not to think about Edmeah's yellowing eyes, trying not to question if the water in our tea was poisoned, trying not to worry about the militia running around on a goose chase for "others" that didn't exist. I tried to pretend someone around me wasn't entirely insane, but my lies were impossible to believe when I found the dog compound.

Inside a derelict cabin, dozens of pens, some stacked on top of others, were crowded, broken, rusty. Food scattered across the floor, smelling of rotting meat, and bones poked out from the scraps. But they didn't look like animal bones. They looked—human.

I held back vomit as I reached up and pinched my nose shut. "Argos!"

He barked. The other dogs stayed silent, blinking back at me from behind bars. Each looked eerily similar to my elkhound-husky mix. If I wasn't Argos' owner, I doubted I would've been able to tell them all apart.

I tore my eyes from their various faces, their furry coats and dark eyes, and found Argos toward the back. He danced on his paws, whining and half-barking. I whispered to him to calm down as I searched the cage for a lock. I cursed when I found it. This was Lily's specialty, and if she was smart, she was long gone by now. Of course, that would also require her to be selfish, and Lily was anything but.

Two bright lights flooded over the cages as a Jeep rolled up. Numerous dogs began to stir. I leapt behind Argos' cage before the headlights hit me, and the cabin rocked into chaos. The hounds growled and leapt and tore at the cages, and Argos—my dog for four years—let out a slow, guttural growl. I reached through the cage, touching his fur, and his growl dissipated. He trusted me. I trusted him. I wouldn't leave him now, not when I was so close. But I hadn't expected to see what else was in the cabin.

Dolls. Hundreds of china dolls. Some eyeless. Some armless. Some without faces.

I swallowed my fear and pressed further into the crevice. Spiderwebs clutched to my face, and I ignored the itching sensations that took over. Hopefully, the cold weather had killed most of them off. Hopefully, the cold weather would cause this soldier to leave. If not— I clutched my knife, hoping I wasn't as worthless in a fight as I was against Edmeah, but my hopes were crushed.

A young man stepped out of the Jeep, enlarged by his heavy military gear and semi-automatic rifle. He fed a round into the chamber and stepped inside. "Shut up, you mutts." When he spoke, his eyes flashed yellow. Cat eyes. Tomo. That's why the dogs were going crazy. That's why he knew I was already here. "Come on out, Gray."

I stayed where I was.

"Name's Jack," he introduced himself, swinging the gun dangerously up on his shoulder. It shot off into the ceiling. The noise rang my eardrums, and the dogs yelped, but the boy stood still, as if he hadn't heard his mistake. He stared straight through the darkness, the dogs, and the dolls to me.

I put my knife back in my boot and then shoved my hands out in the open, little surrender flags.

"Well, that can't be comfortable, can it?"

He was crazy, too. I could hear it in his tone. His jumbled up words, his inconsistent stride.

Still, I crawled out. He was in love with Penelope, right? He stole a Jeep, too, according to Edmeah. He was here to help. He had to be.

"I need Argos," I said, but the blond didn't look at me. His eyes were already on my dog.

"Sure thing, scrappy," he said, and before I could question his nickname for me, he kicked the lock and it fell off. It wasn't even real. "You can follow me as thanks."