Mercury Striking

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Dead silence, filled with tension, spread from one end of the room to the other.

  Lynne remained perfectly still and tried to keep her expression clear. Her lips wanted to tremble, so she tightened her jaw until her teeth ached.

  A redheaded guy with a long scar down his face stood in the back. “How do we know that’s her?”

  “It’s her, Red,” Jax said.

  Manny, the guy who’d driven the car the other day, nodded. “I saw her heart. She’s Lynne Harmony.”

  The big blond guy who’d covered Jax’s back in the fight stood. “I’m staying.”

  Sami jumped to her feet. “I say we talk about this. The woman is not only a carrier, but the distributor of a virus that killed billions of people.”

  Lynne stood. “Bacterium.”

  Sami whirled on her. “Excuse me?”

  “Scorpius is a bacterium, not a virus.” Lynne lifted a shoulder. “There is only one strain of Scorpius, no matter what rumors you’ve heard. I didn’t create the strain, nor did I spread it, but I have survived it when others haven’t.” She kept her voice level.

  “You seem all cut up about that,” Sami spat out.

  Lynne smiled. “You don’t know anything about me.”

  “I know you’re a carrier,” Sami returned.

  “I am.” Lynne glanced around the group as a whole. “Anybody who has been infected and lived through the fever is now a carrier, and that’s the truth. About one-third of the population before the illness carried staph or MRSA, and only people with wounds or weak immune systems caught those.”

  The blond guy smiled, his gaze warm. “Do you think there’s a cure for Scorpius?”

  Lynne faltered. She didn’t want to lie or give false hope. “If there is, it’ll be a long time before we figure it out.”

  A murmur fluttered through the room.

  Jax cut a hard look over his shoulder. “There might be a cure, and we’re going to keep looking.”

  “Absolutely,” Lynne said softly.

  Sami shook her head. “There’s a reward on her head. We could get more vitamin B, guns, and food if we turn her back in to her own people.”

  “No.” Jax crossed his arms. “She’s our best chance for a cure.”

  Lynne tried to remain calm. If there had been a cure, it would’ve been discovered at the CDC months ago. She’d tried everything. The best they could realistically hope for was a way to ameliorate the effects of the disease. “As far as we can tell, the only sure way to be infected is to be bitten.”

  Sami hissed. “Looks like you have a good set of chompers.”

  “I have no interest in biting you,” Lynne said dryly.

  Sami’s gaze turned sly. “Since you’re sleeping with our leader here, he has a good chance of being bitten, and we wouldn’t know it.”

  More murmurs.

  The blond guy glanced at Jax and lifted both eyebrows.

  Jax settled his shoulders. A vein swelled along his neck, and his stance widened. “I’ve already survived the fever.”

  A small roar whipped through the crowd. Several folks reached for weapons.

  Jax’s two pals in the back of the room whipped out guns, pointing them at the ground, clearly preparing to defend him.

  “Hold on.” Jax held up a hand. “There will be no shooting. The first person to lift a gun gets shot by me.”

  Nobody even twitched.

  Whoa. So he could get to his gun and shoot somebody first? Lynne scanned the crowd. The people believed him, because not one raised a weapon. Even so, the tension grew so thick the air seemed clogged. Her heart sped up and adrenaline flooded her system.

  The redheaded guy’s mouth gaped open. “You never said a word.”

  Jax lowered his chin. “Have I infected anybody?”

  “Well, no,” Red said.

  “See? If I don’t bite you, you don’t get infected. I’d bet more than a few of you have been keeping the same secret.” He turned to the blond guy, who just shrugged.

  Was he the main medical doctor? Lynne pursed her lips. “Even when a patient survives the infection, Scorpius remains in saliva, blood, and semen. Keep those to yourself, and you won’t spread the disease.”

  Jax crossed his arms. “We’re done talking about this. You have tonight to decide whether you’re staying or going.”

  Sami pressed both hands on her hips. “I say we vote.”

  The air changed. The atmosphere grew heavy, and tension emanated from Jax Mercury.

  Lynne swallowed and barely kept her knees from buckling. Why had she stood?

  Jax settled his stance, threat and violence in every line of his hard muscled body. “If you’re under the impression that this is a democracy, get the fuck out now. I’m in charge, and you’ll follow my rules if you want to stay.” His gaze swept the entire room. “Tace and Wyatt have already decided to stay with me. If any of you decide to go, you’ll be given a backpack of provisions to take with you.”

  As he concluded, the blond guy and the broad black guy maneuvered toward the front of the room to flank him. Must be Tace and Wyatt.

  Lynne found herself behind a wall of muscled men, their message perfectly clear. She peered around the side of the blond to see reactions.

  The sound of milk crates scraping against concrete filled the silence, and soon people filed out. A seriously hot Native American guy was the last to reach the door, his movements graceful, his gaze not leaving her.

  “That’s Raze,” Jax told her quietly as the man left. “I think he’s on our side. Maybe.”

  Finally, the three men turned toward her.

  “Tace Justice,” the blond said with a Texas twang, holding out a hand. Sizzling blue eyes sparkled in a rugged face. “Former military medic and current only doctor with combat experience here.” He frowned. “Of course, that’s changing. More and more combat, you know.”

  She shook his hand. “Lynne Harmony, former head of the CDC division of infectious diseases and current carrier of Scorpius. Only one with a blue heart, however.”

  The other guy held out a hand bigger than her greatgrandma’s apple-patterned roll platter. “Wyatt Quaid. Second soldier in command, I guess.”

  She smiled and shook his hand, appreciating his gentle touch. Had he been a soldier, too? “Nice to meet you. What did you do before all this?”

  He blinked.

  Jax chuckled, and Tace full out grinned.

  Crap. “Not that it matters, I just—”

  “He played football,” Tace drawled. “Not well, but . . .”

  “Super Bowl champ, asshole,” Wyatt snarled. “Well, before I went to the Niners.”

  Oh, so he was famous. Lynne tried to smile. “I didn’t much keep up on sports, to be honest, but I’m sure you were really good at the game.”

  He lifted one dark eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

  “Dude, you’re huge,” she burst out. Heat climbed into her face. “I mean, you move gracefully, and—”

  Jax took her arm. “Quit while you’re ahead.”

  She closed her lips.

  “Did you watch any sports?” Wyatt asked, his lips twitching.

  “Um, water polo,” she admitted.

  The three men all looked at her with identical expressions of surprise.

  Jax coughed out first. “Water polo?”

  She crossed her arms. “I went to Pepperdine as an undergrad, and water polo was big there. The combination of grace and muscle needed to play is impressive.”

  Tace snorted.

  Wyatt grimaced. “Does Pepperdine even have a football team?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Geez.” Wyatt turned and headed for the door. “When are we telling the medical personnel and civilians about our water-polo-lovin’ scientist making her home with us?”

  Jax sobered. “Tomorrow. I want a count of how many soldiers are staying before we tell the rest.”

  “Water polo,” Wyatt muttered, disappearing out the door.

 
Lynne rocked back on her heels. “I can tell, your people love me.”

  Jax rubbed his whiskered chin. “They’ll do as I tell them. Well, most of them besides Wyatt. I think you’ve blown it with him. He’s a great soldier, and a good guy, but his ego and Super Bowl ring make him think everybody should know who he is. Or rather, was.”

  Tace chuckled. “I knew who he was, but I was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. Took my nearly getting shot by a Ripper for him to like me.” Tace jerked his arm toward the door. “How about we retire to the medical room, go through the records you requested, and talk shop?”

  Lynne wavered. “Don’t tell me. You’d like to take blood.” It had been months since somebody had stuck her with a needle, and she’d enjoyed the reprieve.

  Tace shook his head, his smile charming. “Gotta be honest in that we don’t have the facilities to do anything with your blood. But I thought maybe you could catch me up on everything you know.”

  Jax pivoted to face them. “What about a cure?”

  Tace sighed. “I’ve told you, pard. There’s no cure at this point. There’s the bacteria, the illness, and then the recovery. No cure.”

  Lynne blew out air, her foot tapping. She had to get to those documents. “Maybe. We never found a cure, Jax. Containment and treatment are the paths we ended up finding.”

  Jax and Tace shared a look Lynne couldn’t decipher. “What?” she asked, her stomach roiling.

  “We’re out of B,” Tace said softly.

  Lynne gaped. “There are four research facilities near L.A. that were ordered to mass-produce B the second we discovered its importance.”

  Jax’s head jerked back. “We raided Hyroden Labs, and Cruz raided Phillip Labs. Those are the only two we’ve known about.”

  “In the L.A. area, the CDC also contracted with Philter Drug Company and Baker and Baker Incorporated,” Lynne said.

  Tace’s eyebrows lifted. “Baker and Baker was a shampoo company.”

  “Their parent company was Washington Pharmaceuticals,” Lynne said quietly.

  Jax ran a hand through his hair. “We need the location of Baker, as any place with drug in the name was raided almost instantly. What do you know about Baker?”

  Lynne shook her head. “Just a name on a list. They had an impressive research and development program, and we ordered them on B immediately. I don’t know how much they created or how much they shipped before shipping stopped. There may be nothing left.”

  “We have to try. Find out the location,” Jax said, lips tightening into a white line. “You two do your thing in the lab and update me later. We go at midnight.”

  Tace shook his head. “We won’t know who’s with us until tomorrow.”

  “Small group, then. Wyatt, me, and Sami, if she stays. I’d like to take Raze and see what he can do.”

  “What about me?” Tace asked.

  “Can’t lose you, Doc. You’re too important.” Jax sighed. “We need to get a few more medical personnel somehow.”

  “No problem. I’ll order a couple up on the Internet,” Tace said.

  “Asshole,” Jax muttered without heat, moving toward the other corridor. “And, Lynne?” he asked, turning.

  She turned her head. “What?”

  “I have neither the time nor manpower to keep a guard on you at all times. Promise me that for at least the next twenty-four hours, you won’t try to make a break for it.” His eyes darkened to the color of warmed whiskey.

  Her shoulders went back. He trusted her? “What makes you think I’ll keep a promise?”

  He lifted one broad shoulder. “Gut feeling.”

  She breathed out, her chest heavy with a sweet warmth she didn’t want to examine. “I promise.”

  His grin flashed a dimple she hadn’t noticed before. “Thank you.”

  With that dimple, with that trust, she suddenly felt bound to Jax Mercury with stronger ties than when he’d been thrusting inside her.

  Chapter Eleven

  The inevitable conclusion for our species doesn’t mean we won’t fight—and fight hard to survive the unsurvivable.

  —Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony

  Jax jogged into the combat infirmary, his gut swirling. Three new victims had succumbed to Scorpius somehow, and right now they thrashed uncontrollably in makeshift beds in the inner hospital. They had to get more vitamin B, stat.

  Darkness climbed across the sky, and his nerves settled as he planned the midnight raid.

  He hustled around the corner to see Lynne and Tace in the makeshift lab, papers and graphs spread out before them. Discarded paper plates and bowls showed they’d spent all day working.

  His mind had gone to her several times during the day, and he needed to knock that shit off. When he’d first found her on the deserted highway, so brave and alone, he’d instantly been drawn to her, but he hadn’t considered that he’d genuinely like her.

  If she was lying to him, if she was playing him, she was a master at it.

  And she’d pay.

  She glanced up from a graph, and her pretty green eyes focused on him. “What’s the frown about?”

  Tace reached for the gun at his side to check the clip. “That’s Jax’s normal expression. Haven’t you noticed?”

  She shrugged.

  Jax settled his stance. “Tell me you found Myriad.”

  “Not yet.” Lynne pushed back from the table and shoved hair from her eyes.

  Damn it. He glanced at Tace. “Update me with what you do know.”

  Tace gave a mock salute. “Of course. We’ve mapped out known B manufacturing plants in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Some are under the radar, but Lynne knew about them, and if they still have stock, we have a chance to replenish our coffers. Baker and Baker still looks like the best bet.”

  Jax straightened. “If they don’t?”

  “We’re screwed,” Tace said simply.

  Lynne fumbled through a stack of papers to give Jax a handwritten list. “Here’s a breakdown of natural foods with heavy vitamin B content. I heard you say yesterday there’s another food depot around here.”

  “Yeah, but I doubt we’ll find greens or even meat,” he said slowly.

  “What about wild game?” Lynne asked. “Aren’t you planning to move north at some point?”

  “Not for a while unless we’re forced to move. Right now, we’re in the safest place to wait while Scorpius does its thing.” By infecting the rest of the population and either killing, turning, or changing them. “I don’t want to mess with the Mercenaries to the north, either.”

  She paled. “I see.”

  He wanted to reassure her, to appease the guilt flitting across her expressive face. But really, what words existed? While she’d been trying to cure the infection, the CDC had allowed the bacteria to spread. Accidental, sure. But his words wouldn’t appease her guilt. Only survival would. He bent to look at the location of Baker and Baker. “One problem.”

  Tace winced. “Just one?”

  “Yeah. According to this, Baker and Baker is located on the other side of Twenty territory.” Jax stretched his neck, hissing as his vertebrae popped.

  “Of course it is,” Tace muttered. “Any chance they’ve already raided it?”

  “Sure, but it’s in the business portion of town, and they probably haven’t gone raiding for shampoo. If we didn’t know about the B, Cruz doesn’t either.”

  “Probably,” Tace said with a grimace. “If you’re heading through or around Twenty, you need every trained soldier, and that includes me. If something happens, we have another doctor now at headquarters.” He tilted his head toward Lynne.

  Jax blanched. “No one knows or trusts her, Tace. Can’t leave her as the doctor, and the doctors in the middle of the compound are overworked.” Plus, he didn’t know for sure she’d stay, now did he? If something happened to Jax, Tace would have to take point with her.

  The idea of anybody else with her, in her bed, punched him squarely in the chest. Not that she’d sleep
with Tace. Even so, the intensity of his reaction gave him pause.

  He needed to get himself under control and now. “Any other news from the CDC files?”

  “Not yet.” Lynne gestured toward several boxes of papers lining the far wall. “We’ve just started going through the research. It’s entirely possible you’ll find some good information if you raid Baker and Baker. I can’t imagine the labs were this close in proximity and didn’t at least communicate with each other as well as with the CDC. To share supplies as things went bad, at a minimum.”

  Tace slammed his clip back into his gun. “Did you feed Marvin?”

  “Yes.” Jax tossed the paper back onto the table.

  Lynne lifted an eyebrow. “Marvin?”

  Amusement he didn’t have time to enjoy tickled Jax’s lips. “Marvin is a lion that apparently escaped from a zoo somewhere. We leave him meat around the perimeter, and I’m fairly certain he’s eaten more than one Ripper trying to get in.”

  Lynne frowned. “A lion. Wow.”

  Running boot steps echoed in the hallway outside, and Jax turned to see Red Dolan barreling toward him. He half pivoted to protect Lynne.

  Red lurched to a stop, his face flushed, his eyes wide. He’d been a redneck bar owner until Scorpius hit, but the guy could shoot and had good knife skills. “The Snyder kid has gone into a fever and convulsions.”

  The world narrowed in focus. Holy shit. The girl who Cruz had taken. “Cruz infected Haylee?” Jax spat out.

  Red gulped. “Looks like it.”

  Holy fucking damn it. Jax moved and launched into a run, acutely aware of Tace and Lynne on his heels. “Where is she?”

  “The soldiers scouting the interior didn’t have time to get her to the main hospital, so they just put her here in the room by the back door,” Red coughed out. “They went back to patrolling.”

  The makeshift triage area was usually used for wounded or ill soldiers. The main containment area for recently exposed victims was several blocks in, but he didn’t have time to take the kid there. Jax ran down the hallway and hustled into a room on the left.