It hadn’t been safe to go outside yet, so resources were scarce. There was little Collin could do to soothe Claire’s pain. They could barely even treat her wounds. She thrashed and screamed for hours on end, begging someone, anyone, to help her. Claire was dying. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when. According to Tamsen, Claire’s eyes turned an inky-black just before her body finally went still. They had all assumed the girl had succumbed to her injuries and the infection that had surely followed. They were wrong.
By the time Tessa finally managed to put the creature down, four more members of their group were dead. Claire, or what was left of her, had torn the poor people to shreds like a rabid wolf run amuck in a flock of sheep. It had taken four bullets and a blow to the head to end the massacre.
“Her eyes went dark, and it was like her soul left her body.” Tamsen stared at the floor, absently playing with the ends of her red hair. “I don’t know how to explain it. Claire wasn’t Claire anymore. She was just gone.”
“We all knew she was going to die,” Tessa said. “Seems we should have just helped her along.”
“How can you say that?” A blonde woman scowled at Tessa. Her hair was pulled back into a severe knot at the nape of her neck. Everything about her screamed self-appointed judge and jury. “What if we had killed that poor girl and found out later there was a cure, a treatment. What if—?”
“Tessa’s right,” I said meeting the woman’s stare. “There’s no coming back from that.”
“And you’re, what, sixteen years old?” The woman scoffed at me. “Unless I missed the part of your little fairy tale where you went to medical school, I’d say you are hardly qualified to make that call.”
“I’m qualified because I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” I glared at her. “I’m qualified because I’ve survived it.”
It was hard, but I told them the story of Gunther and his research. I may have left out the tiny detail about how I had managed to find him in the first place. I glazed over the part where I buried my blade in the base of his skull. I skipped ahead to the part of the story where we first saw Eli held at gunpoint amid the convoy of military vehicles with the black stars painted on them.
Tessa grew restless and rose to her feet. She paced back and forth along the luggage belt where the food was stored. Doyle had wandered over at some point but stayed on the outskirts of the group. He looked frazzled and twitchy and his eyes following Tessa back and forth like a pendulum. Squints hovered nearby, watching us as a child would a busy anthill; his head cocked to the side with curious fascination.
Worried murmurs echoed about the carousel as my friends and I recounted the atrocities we had seen in Byron. Mason covered Caleb’s ears, and Riley lowered her head in prayer when I told them of the bodies piled in the middle of Main Street. Those poor people had been slaughtered in the middle of town and discarded with as much respect and dignity as the empty luggage they had left behind.
“They enacted the Darwin Protocol,” Tessa muttered fisting her hands behind her head. “Son of a bitch. This is bad.”
“Darwin Protocol?” Zander’s eyes narrowed.
“Whoever these guys are, they are playing God.” Tessa’s hands fell and balled tightly at her sides. “They are hoarding resources for the strong and eliminating those they deem weak or expendable.”
“Yeah, or anyone they see as a threat,” Zander growled, staring down at the petrified flesh on his arm.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not how survival of the fittest is supposed to work,” Jake shook his head.
“This ain’t got nothin’ to do with evolution,” Ty said, scrubbing his hand down his face. “Them bastards are just thinning the herd so they can keep more for themselves.”
“Liv, if these are the same people who have your little brother you need to get him out of there, now.” Tessa’s brow furrowed. “As soon as they figure out he’s not healthy—.”
“Oh, come on, Tessa. Why would they do that? He’s just a child,” the judgey blonde crossed her arms. “Look, I know you said the soldiers at the refugee camp were dangerous, but how do you know? Have you ever considered that maybe they aren’t the bad guys? Maybe you are just being paranoid.”
“I don’t do paranoid, Vivienne,” Tessa glared at her. “I’ve seen what these men are capable of.”
“What if you are wrong?” Vivienne asked her hands on her hips.
“I’m not,” Tessa said.
“But what if you are?” she shrieked. “We trusted you. We hid in that damn luggage chamber for hours while they searched the airport for survivors.”
“They weren’t looking for survivors,” Tessa said. “They were raiding for supplies.”
“You can’t know that,” Vivienne said. “You never even gave them a chance. What if they really were here to help us, Tessa?”
“She has a point.” A man in a green football jersey stepped to Vivienne’s side. “This is the military we are talking about. They are supposed to be the good guys, right? What if you screwed us out of—?”
“Are you people kidding me?” I rose to my feet, cradling my ribs. “Were any of you even listening?”
“You said it yourself, kid,” Jersey guy glares at me. “The refugee camp has food, water, and medicine. It’s a pretty safe bet they have real doctors, too.”
“We have all of those things here, Ethan,” Tessa said.
“Hardly.” Ethan laughed bitterly. “What we have is a knocked-up hairdresser cooking soup-kitchen garbage, an eye doctor that can’t stand the sight of blood, and a couple of mall cops who couldn’t piss on the broad side of a barn from six inches away.”
“Excuse me?” Tessa cocked her head to the side and stepped toward him. “Did you just call me a mall cop?”
“No, of course not.” The man took a step back, his hands raised. “I’m just saying. You can’t do it all, Tessa. Ballard is barely out of diapers and Doyle…I mean, where the hell is he right now? Do you even know?”
“Exactly,” Vivienne said, crossing her arms victoriously. “If it really is as bad as these kids say it is, maybe we’d be better off with someone that can protect us from what’s out there.”
“Are you serious?” Jake asked, throwing his hands up in frustration. “What was it about our story that made you think these guys would be on your side?”
“Was it the part where they harvested survivors from the streets, promised them help, and then locked them in a building rigged with explosives?” I asked. “Maybe it was the when they fired into a crowd of innocent people. Oh, I know. It must have been the massive pile of bodies they left rotting in the middle of the Main Street, right?”
“How do we know you aren’t just making that all up?” Ethan shook his head.
“We don’t,” Vivienne narrowed her eyes at me then glared at Tessa. “What we do know is that those soldiers have been responsible for exactly zero of us dying, which is far more than I can say for some people.”
She spun on her heel and stormed off, the guy in the jersey trailing after her. No wonder I wanted to claw her eyes out the second she opened her mouth. She reminded me of Tara. Her arrogance was an irritant festering beneath my skin. The woman wasn’t just defiant for the sake of opposition. Her mutiny was grounded in fear and an over-inflated sense of importance. In my experience, that kind of hubris got people killed. She was a threat.
“Stop.” Zander hissed, stepping in front of me.
The tip of my blade rested less than an inch from his hand. I hadn’t even realized I had grabbed my knife, let alone made attempted to use it. Thankfully, neither had anyone else. They were far too distracted by the gauntlet Vivienne had just thrown down. Noisy chattered that filled the room as the meeting adjourned and people slowly disbanded.
“What the hell was that, Liv?” Zander narrowed his eyes at me. “You went after that woman.”
“We need to go,” I said through gritted teeth, pocketing my knife as I spun toward the exit. “These people are useless.”
&
nbsp; “Whoa, hey,” Zander grabbed my hand and pulled me gently towards him. “Slow down, Liv. Just take a moment.”
“No, Zan,” I said. “We’ve already wasted too much time here. These people can’t help us. Most of them are in denial. The rest of them are afraid of their own shadows.”
“You want to take on a small army with nothing but a handful of crappy steak knives? Fine, great. I’ve got your back,” Zander said. “But, Liv, if we are really going to do this we need to know what we are up against.”
“He’s right, kid,” Tessa said, walking over. “This isn’t a pack of Cub Scouts you are going up against. These people are a highly trained military unit. If you want to get in and out of there in one piece, you need a plan.”
“And preferably more firepower,” Jake added.
“I c-c-can m-maybe h-help you w-w-with that,” Devon stuttered, tapping his chest as he slunk out of the shadows. His eyes stayed fixed at my feet when he spoke. He pulled a folded Polaroid out of his pocket and held it out to me. “M-might be m-m-messy, th-though.”
Chapter 28
Mulligan
“And you’re sure there are weapons on that plane?” Zander asked Devon.
“Like, one hundred percent sure?” I stared down at the toffee-colored personal jet in the picture he had handed me.
“D-deh…mmm…d-deh-defin-neh-neh,” he sighed and nodded once. “Y-yes.”
“You wanna help me out here, Devon?” Tessa swiped the picture from my hand and tapped it violently with her index finger as she spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it scraped through the silence like a howl. “The plane in this photograph isn’t even on airport grounds. You haven’t been out of the carousel since this whole thing started. How did you know about this? Where did you get this picture?”
Riley tugged on my arm and the three of us slowly backed away to give them some distance. Whatever these two were to each other, there had been a certain level of trust there. The wounded look in Tessa’s eyes said that bond was delicate.
“I…I—.” Devon shuffled his feet and looked around at us, tugging anxiously on the neck of his tee. “It, umm.”
“Enough, Devon.” Tessa shoved the picture in his face. “No more lies.”
“Take it easy, Tess,” Collin crooned softly, reaching for her empty hand. “Give the kid a chance to—.”
“No, I’ve already given him a chance,” Tessa spat and jerked her hand away. “I want the truth. Now.”
Thankfully, most of the inhabitants of Carousel F had already wandered off in a daze, struggling to process our tales of the outside world. A few, like that judgey blond woman, had loitered about with more questions than there could ever be answers. Eventually, even she slunk off to gather her thoughts.
“I w-w-was a ruh-runner,” Devon’s shoulders sagged, and he took a step back. “B-before.”
“A runner?” Tessa scowled and moved toward him, closing the gap he had created. “As in a drug runner? You know how I feel about drugs.”
“N-no d-drugs,” Devon stammered wide-eyed, his eyes shifting to Tessa’s scar. “Y-you g-gotta believe me.”
“Do I?” Tessa forced a laugh and roughly swiped a stray hair out of her face with her wrist. She cocked her head at him, her eyes narrowed in accusation as she poked him in the chest. “You a smack-head, Devon? You chasing the dragon or something?”
“N-no!” Devon dodged to the side and flung his hands in front of his face. “N-no drugs, T-tessa, I ssswear. M-mostly ssstolen t-tech or suh-sometimes g-g-g-guns. Neh-never drugs.”
“Damn it, Devon,” Tessa spun away with a stomp. Devon flinched. She paced back and forth a few times before storming back toward him. “You should have told me.”
“I f-figured you’d f-find them on www—wuh-wuh,” Devon ducked past her. His hand banged against his ribs, and he swallowed hard, “on one of y-your mmmed hunts. Yuh-yuh-you’d check the p-planes and ffffind the g-g-guh…the g-guns, and I wwwouldn’t have to b-be puh-part of it.”
“Six days, Devon.” Tessa sighed, her chin hanging to her chest. Her fists were clenched at her side. “I’ve gone out there every day for almost a week with little more than a stick to defend myself. I’ve scouted that refugee camp, broken into almost every business within a five-mile radius, and raided countless houses. I’ve fought and killed lurkers. I nearly died four separate times while trying to find a way to protect all of you. Now you are telling me that there was an arsenal sitting right outside our walls this whole time?”
Devon nodded and bit his lip.
“Why would you keep something like that from me?” Tessa fumed stepping toward him.
“I—.” Devon began, but swallowed his words and stared down at the floor.
“Why, Devon?” Tessa shoved him.
“I’m s-sorry, T-tessa,” Devon said, his eyes brimming as he backed away.
“I saved you.” Tessa’s voice caught in her throat. “I risked my own life to save yours. I brought you in, gave you food and shelter, and took care of you as if you were my own. I trusted you, and you lied to me. Sorry doesn’t undo that.”
“I w-was…” Devon’s eyes darted back and forth as if searching for an answer. “I was, uhh.”
“You were what?” Tessa crossed her arms.
He rocked slightly on his feet, tugged at the hem of his t-shirt, and dug his fingers roughly into the skin of his arm. His feet shuffled restlessly, sending a loose pebble across the slick tile floor. His thick brow furrowed, throwing shadows over his sullen eyes. A war waged behind them, and heavy lines trenched their way across the young man’s forehead. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to have the words but not be able to set them free.
“I…I’m not g—” Tears brimmed in Devon’s eyes.
“Out with it, goddamn it!” Tessa shouted at him.
“I-I’m not g-g-good,” Devon blurted, clenching his fists.
“What?” Tessa sighed, and her anger visibly deflated as she slowly made her way toward him. She reached out to him, but he flinched away. When she finally spoke, her words were soft. “You gotta help me out here, Dev, because I really want to understand.”
“Y-you were nice to m-me, Tessa.” Devon’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Y-y-you t-t-treated me luh-like a puh-person. L-like I m-m-mattered.”
“You do matter,” Tessa said, exasperated. “Why would you think otherwise?”
“N-no one h-h-has ever…I thhhh….I th-thought if y-you knew—.” Devon took a deep breath and cautiously raised his eyes from the floor. “I d-didn’t w-wanna be that g-guy anym-more. I t-told them I w-w-wanted out. I w-w-wanted to ssstart over, and—.”
Tessa cut him short, smothering him in a hug. Devon hesitated but only for a moment, and then quickly wrapped his arms around her waist. When she finally released him from the embrace, she took with her the weight of his burden. Relief flooded his eyes, smoothing the lines in his face and making him look almost child-like.
“A new beginning comes with a price, Devon. I paid for mine,” Tessa said running her fingertips across the scar on her cheek. She shoved the picture back into Devon’s hands. “You will, too.”
Chapter 29
The Sword in the Stone
“You must have hit your head harder than I thought,” Jake said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I thought we agreed to stick together from now on, Liv.”
“This is different,” I said, tightening the laces on my boots.
“We’ll be back before ya know it.” Ty clapped him on the shoulder and walked past us toward the pile of weapons, which Squints had laid out on the table.
“Famous last words,” Jake rolled his eyes, unsuccessfully masking the worry they held. He lowered his voice. “You know, I could go with you, Liv. You might need me out there.”
“I need you here, Jake. You are the only one I trust to guard the emergency exit,” I grunted. My ribs protested wildly in my chest, but there was little I could do about that. I forced a smile. “Remember, you keep t
his door bolted until you hear the password.”
“Liv, this is stupid,” Jake said, his eyes burning. “I can help. Send me with Ty and Ballard. I will make sure they don’t miss anything.”
“You know better,” I shook my head. “You don’t send the brains of the operation out on recon. You are way too valuable for grunt work, Jake.”
“That’s total crap,” he whispered, his eyes drifting back and forth from me to Ty. “You just don’t think I can do it. You don’t think I can handle it.”
“Jake, come on,” I sighed cradling my ribs as I rose to my feet. “It’s not—.”
“You know what? Don’t bother trying to stroke my ego,” Jake said, raking his fingernails through his hair. “Just do me a favor and don’t get yourself or anyone else killed, okay? And hurry up out there, please. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this storm, Liv.”
“If it’s not one storm, it’s another,” I muttered under my breath as he walked over to Ty.
“Here,” Jake said, handing Ty the notebook and pen he had liberated from my brother’s desk. “Get to the look-out point Tessa told you about, sketch the layout, note the guards, and get the hell out. This is recon, not rescue, got me? Don’t be a hero, and don’t do anything stupid.”
“I under—,” Ty began.
“Don’t. Do. Anything. Stupid,” Jake repeated, jabbing Ty in the chest with each word. Ty nodded, and his smile fell. Jake spun on his heel and walked away in a huff.
He wasn’t the only one that was unhappy with our plan, or with me. Riley had made it perfectly clear that she, too, was tired of being benched. I didn’t doubt her ability to handle herself. She had more than proven herself over the last few days. In fact, her help would have been more than welcome, but I had a gut feeling that Tessa’s people were going to need Riley far more than I would in the coming hours.
A muffled grunt and a tug at my arm pulled me from my thoughts. Squints pointed at me and cleared his throat, nodding as he placed the handle of a shiny, new wooden Louisville Slugger in my hand. There were strips of multicolored fabric around the base of the bat forming a grip. An eight-inch circular saw blade was embedded in a vertical slot at the end of the bat. It formed a halo of razor sharp teeth. A massive bolt held the assembly in place and jutted out the other side another three inches.
Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two Page 25
