Bone

by Ainsley Cole

  Bad feeling.

  Wolf’s warning slammed into his mind. Yeah, bad feeling all right. This was going to turn into a shit storm.

  Small huts formed on the horizon and Bones shifted in his seat. He didn’t know what kind of people this tribe was. Whether they were militia sympathizers or not. They didn't know if they had weapons. The four of them could step out of the Humvee and be dead before they’d even managed a hello.

  Bones turned back to the doctors in the back of the car. “Do either of you speak the native language?”

  Their blank faces told him no.

  “I thought they would speak English,” came Andrews’ reply.

  Bones blinked, trying to figure out how an educated man could sound so dumb.

  “No, Doctor. This is the heart of Kenya. Some of these people haven’t even seen a white man, let alone spoken white man’s words.” Bones inhaled, looking at Apollo. His hands were tight on the steering wheel, and he knew what the man would be thinking.

  How could a company be so incompetent in not sending in someone who knew the language? One more person, an interpreter. That’s all they needed.

  “So, what do we do?” Abigail asked.

  Bones looked back to her, shrugging. “I suppose we go with the flow.”

  * * *

  Bones and Apollo seemed popular with the ladies.

  Andrew? Not so much.

  The women of the tribe were gathering around the two military men. Jabbering at them in their native tongue. Bones chuckled when a couple of the younger women fawned over him. Their hands went to his beard, and Abigail had a sudden attack of jealousy.

  Don’t touch.

  Blinking, she turned, seeing Andrew standing off to the side, not even getting a look in his direction. She didn’t blame them. He wasn’t anyone’s cup of tea.

  “They’re popular.”

  Abigail looked back to the men, smiling. “The women see them as virile, able to produce strong offspring. They are pretty muscular.”

  Flashes of Bones over her, his body hard against her, and hips ramming came to mind and her face heated. She turned away, seeing an old man shuffling toward them. Turning, she looked back to their security. “Bones.”

  The dark-haired man looked up, his blue gaze meeting hers and her heart skipped a beat, as it slid past her to the old man. He stepped away from the women and came toward her, stopping at her side. “Do as I say.”

  * * *

  The little hut they had been crammed into was cooler than the air outside—but only just. Bones sat on a small handmade stool, next to Abigail, across from the man who had come to them outside. Apollo and Andrew had been left outside with the villagers.

  “Tumekuja kuona ugonjwa huo.” Bones spoke and looked at the elder, tilting his head to the side a little as the man rattled off a reply.

  “Ugonjwa huo umekwenda.”

  Bones frowned.

  “What did he say?” Abigail asked, leaning closer to him and he had to keep his mind on the task, not the woman’s arm touching his.

  “He said the disease is gone.”

  “Gone? Gone where?”

  “Doctor, please,” Bones said, holding up his hand. He turned to the man. “Wapi?”

  The man lifted his hand, pointing toward the east side of the village and Bones looked back to him.

  “Nionyeshe.”

  The elder nodded, standing, and Bones did the same. Abigail was close behind as they left the little hut. Apollo and Andrew were near the Humvee, entertaining some kids. They had a fascination with his brother’s golden curls.

  Bones lifted his hand, touching the small mic at his throat. “Apollo, we’re heading east with the elder. Stay put with Dr. Grant.”

  Apollo’s hand came up. “Roger that.”

  Bones and Abigail followed the older man, a smaller group following them.

  Bones’ alert level was high. Any one of these people could be with the militia.

  “You didn’t tell me you could speak Swahili.”

  Bones turned his gaze to Abigail, before looking away. “You never asked, and well, someone had to communicate with them.”

  “Where did you learn?”

  Bones’ jaw clenched as memories came flooding back. Bindings and stinging lashes. “School.”

  “You learned Swahili in school?”

  Bones didn’t answer her, hearing her grumble under her breath. He wasn’t about to have a discussion with her on where he learned to speak Swahili. He didn’t even want to remember where he learned.

  They were past the edge of the village now, the buzz of flies picking up.

  “Oh, God.”

  Bones flicked his gaze to Abigail, her hand coming to her mouth. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a bandana, and handed it to her. She took it, bringing it to her face.

  “Thanks.”

  Bones nodded, turning to where the elder had stopped. “Huko.”

  He stepped past the old man, leaving Abigail behind, and went to the pit.

  Through the blanket of flies, Bones could see the white-orbed stares of the dead. Some had been scavenged by wild animals. One body was halfway up the bank of the pit—something had tried to drag it off during the night. “Fuck…”

  Bones turned, looking back to Abigail. She stared at him, wide-eyed, and he shook his head. She started toward him, and he stepped forward. His arm coming across her, barring her way.

  “You don’t want to look.” Blinking, Abigail looked up at him. “Trust me.”

  “That bad?”

  “Worse,” he murmured, pushing her and she stepped back. “I doubt you’ll get viable samples from that mess.”

  Abigail turned, looking back to the elder who had led them to the pit. He was standing back, his dark eyes watching them. “Why didn’t you bury them?”

  The elder’s head tipped to the side.

  Bones stepped forward, asking the man the question in his native language.

  “Mapepo,” the man replied, lifting his hand. It touched his heart, then his forehead and Bones frowned.

  “What did he say?”

  “Demons.”

  “Demons?” Abigail turned back to the pit and Bones grabbed her arm, stopping her from getting closer. “Let me go. I need to see.”

  Her voice was hard, and he sighed, letting her arm go. He turned his head, watching her stomp to the side of the pit. She stopped, swaying, before she turned, hand coming to her mouth again. He shook his head, turning to her and walked to the side of the pit. “I told you.”

  “How… what…”

  “Most likely scavengers. Hyena, even a lion. They would have left the bodies out like this to deter them from attacking their cattle.” Bones took her arm, leading her back toward the elder. “They were viewed as demonic, because they bled out like they did. So the villagers left the corpses out of the ground, in case they contaminated it somehow. Cultures around here are very superstitious.”

  The elder turned and started to walk back to the village, swallowed up by the crowd who had kept at the edge.

  “I can’t get samples from them. Their blood would be too degraded. It won’t be carrying the disease. I’d be looking for markers that shouldn’t be there. But there’s no base line to take it from in the first place. What am I supposed to do now?” Abigail asked, and Bones let go of her arm as they walked.

  “Hope for another case?”

  She stopped, and he frowned, knowing he sounded like an asshole. “Hope for another…? Are you serious?”

  Inhaling, he turned back to her. She stood, with her hands on her hips again, staring at him. “What else can you do, Doc? Go home and waste all the money your company paid to bring you here? Go back and say sorry, there’s nothing left, we did our best? My guess would be to stay a little longer and hope to hell there’s another case. Then you can get to the body before it ends up like those.”

  The look she gave him was murderous, but it wasn’t something he was alien to. He had a way with words whe
n it came to missions and what the best options were.

  “You’re a piece of work. You know that?”

  Stomping forward, she shouldered past him hard, making him sway. Head tipped back, he groaned. This was not what he signed up for. In and out of Kenya with a bunch of doctors and their specimens. Not deal with a woman who drove him nuts and corpses they couldn’t use.

  Turning and following her, Bones didn’t even lift his gaze to her behind. He wasn’t in the mood to lust after a woman who would be happy slicing him into ribbons with the very scalpels of her profession.

  Moving through the village, he lifted his head for a moment to survey the area. A young man stood near one of the huts.

  He stared at Bones, eyes wide. He’d be able to see the pistols which sat against Bones’ ribs. The mic and pack, linking him to Apollo. The assault rifle casually slung across his back, ready to use at any moment.

  Bones stopped. Something about this young man was off. All the other kids were fawning over them. This one was keeping his distance. Was he a militia spy?

  “Uko salama?”

  The boy blinked, swaying, and Bones stepped forward. Now he was getting closer, he could see the kid didn’t look too healthy. Bones’ hand went to his stomach, rubbing it as he walked toward the kid.

  “Mgonjwa?”

  Bones turned his head to the doctor, seeing her perfect hips swaying as she stalked back to the Humvee. He called out to her. “Doctor…”

  She turned, hands going to her hips as she glared back at him. “What?”

  He looked back to the kid in time to see a thin dribble of blood slide from his nose.

  Bones raced forward, rushing to the kid’s side, catching him as he fell to the ground. “Abigail!”

  The doctor was by his side in an instant, leaning against him. “Shit! Get him back to the car!”

  Bones turned and ran back toward the vehicle. Blood was coming thicker and faster from the nose of the young man in his arms. Abigail took off ahead of him, barking orders to Andrew and Apollo.

  Andrew stood motionless, like a zombie, ignoring the woman as he stared at Bones.

  Apollo went to the back of the Humvee, opening it, and Abigail scrambled in.

  People were starting to gather. Women started wailing in the crowd.

  Bones placed the kid on the floor of the Humvee, turning to Apollo, ignoring the fact the blond would be better in this situation than him. “Keep them back!”

  Apollo turned, pushing at the men and women who were starting to crowd around the car. He would do as he was told. Keep a perimeter of space around the vehicle.

  Bones looked at Abigail. “What do you want me to do?”

  Pulling on gloves and a surgical mask, she looked up at him. “Gloves. Mask. Now.”

  Pulling them on, the mask sat wrong over his beard, and he looked at her.

  “Keep his head tipped back. Otherwise he’s going to start choking.”

  Bones tipped the young man’s head back, keeping it still. Abigail lifted a flashlight, shining it in the man’s eyes.

  “Dilated pupils. Slow response time to stimuli.” She moved her hand, opening his mouth. “Thick tongue with a thin coating of blood.”

  She moved the boy’s head, looking into his ear.

  “Thin covering of blood in the ear canal.”

  The boy coughed, his chest heaving, and Abigail moved back as a fine spray of blood lifted into the air. A gurgled sound started and the boy’s chest convulsed as if he was having a hard time breathing. “Shit. It’s in his lungs.”

  “What?” Bones asked, ignoring the blood now coating his skin. “What’s in his lungs?”

  Abigail moved, a long, thin syringe coming out of the pack to her left. She pulled the plunger out of the end and discarded it. Her brown eyes lifted to his face. “Blood.”

  Bones blinked, watching as she moved her hand down the boy’s ribs. “What are you doing?”

  “I have to release the blood. If I don’t, he’s going to drown.” She pushed the tip of the needle in between her fingers. The thin tube slid into the man’s dark skin, a hissing sound following. “I’d let go and move back.”

  Bones did as she suggested, and not a moment too soon. Blood flowed from the end of the open syringe and out onto the stretcher. “Fuck me dead.”

  It flowed too fast, and Abigail frowned. “It’s so thin.”

  She shoved a canister under the flow, catching some for a sample, and moved back.

  “It’s not going to stop,” she turned, digging into her pack, “I don’t have any blood thickeners.”

  The boy convulsed again, and Bones lifted his gaze to his face. “Abigail.”

  She turned, looking at him. “Oh, God.”

  The boy’s face was bloodied. It oozed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Thin and flowing fast. The boy convulsed once more—before his body stopped moving.

  Bones blinked. “Is he…?”

  Abigail lifted her hand to the boy’s neck, her hand shaking. “He’s gone.”

  Bones sat back on his haunches, staring at the mess, as the women outside the vehicle continued to wail.

  * * *

  Abigail crouched in the dirt, watching Bones and Apollo. They zipped the body bag holding the young man’s corpse and laid it in the back of the Humvee.

  Blood dripped off her gloved hands, and she turned her gaze to the drips as they hit the dirt. They didn’t soak in like water would have, instead pooling into the yellowed dirt, attracting flies.

  “Abigail.”

  Lifting her head, she looked up at Andrew. He was standing over her, shuffling his feet. Sighing, she lifted herself and looked at him. His clean shirt and immaculate pants. He had frozen in place when he had seen the kid’s body.

  He was the senior doctor and he had frozen. “What?”

  “Are you okay?”

  Blinking, she peeled the gloves from her hands with a slick snap, making the man jump. “Am I… Am I okay? I’m pissed off. We lost a kid, Andrew, how the fuck I am supposed to feel?”

  Bones stopped, turning back to them, eyebrows furrowing, but she continued at the man.

  “What the fuck happened to you? You’re supposed to be the doctor. You could have helped and saved his life, but instead, I had to get help from the security. You’re fucking useless.”

  She pushed past him, smearing blood onto his shirt, and stomped to the Humvee. She knew there was no way in hell the kid would have survived, but she had to show the man how pissed off she was with him. Since the moment he had turned up at the company, he had made it perfectly clear that he was senior in age and rank to her. But when it came to taking charge… he’d balked.

  She stopped to the side of Bones, frowning. “Are we ready to go?”

  Bones’ gaze shifted from her to the man behind her. “Everything okay over there?”

  “It’s fine. Are we ready to go?”

  “Sure, if you don’t want to stay any longer.”

  “No. the sooner I get the kid’s body back, the sooner we can check it out and do our tests.” She went to the door of the vehicle and climbed in, slamming it behind her. She needed to get the corpse back to Chris. He would be able to check it over and see what the hell was happening. Why the kid had bled out so damned quickly.

  The back of the Humvee slammed, and Andrew climbed into the car as Bones and Apollo did too. The blond started the engine, and they left the village, heading back to the camp. For Abigail, she hoped it would bring some answers.

  * * *

  The villagers had refused to have anything to do with the body. They had zipped it up and put it in the back of the Humvee to take back to the base camp.

  Bones turned, looking back to Abigail and Andrew in the back seat of the Humvee.

  The pretty brunette was ignoring her colleague, her jaw set in anger.

  The birdlike man was leaning against the door, looking very glum. After the very public down-dressing the man had gotten from her, he didn’t blame him for sul
king. Bones had never seen anything so hot in his life. Such spirit.

  Even covered in blood, it had been spectacular.

  “That was intense,” Apollo’s voice sounded in his ear and Bones turned back to him.

  “Yeah, tell me about it.” He looked down, seeing the fine droplets of blood on his arms. He’d already promised Apollo that he would detox the moment he got back to the base camp. He’d already washed his hands and made sure none of the blood had gotten into his eyes or mouth. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “It can’t be viral.”

  Bones looked at his friend. “What?”

  “Viral disease can’t ruin your blood like that. It was thin, almost translucent. A virus usually attacks the respiratory system. Attacks the lungs, causing trouble with breathing. Whatever that is attacked the blood itself.”

  Bones pursed his lips together, looking out the window. “Manmade?”

  “Could be. Though I don’t know what would cause mass bleeding like that—”

  “We’ll know once I get the sample into the lab,” Abigail replied, and Bones turned to her. “But Apollo is right, nothing viral could have caused what happened to that young man. It has to be something manmade.”

  “What then? A chemical? Are they encountering something left behind by accident? Or is it something intentional?” Bones asked, and the vehicle fell silent.

  He didn’t know, neither did the medical staff sitting around him and that was what worried him. The government needed to know. Especially if someone was leaving deadly chemicals around for people to find and become exposed to.

  The camp came into view in the distance and Bones lifted his hand, pressing the mic. “Wolf, incoming. We have a cadaver. Bring a stretcher.”

  “Copy that. Reaper saw you almost ten minutes ago.”

  Of course he did. Reaper was one of their best in security, he would know what was around for at least ten kilometers, so they knew what to expect. Tilting his head to the side, Bones looked out the window and up into the air.

  There, hovering—only a small speck in the sky—was a drone.

  “Queenie has eyes on us.”

  “Wonderful,” Apollo replied, shoving his hand out the window, flipping the drone the bird. The drone dropped closer to the car until it was almost on the bonnet. It hovered as Apollo drove and Bones heard him mutter, “Child.”