Surviving Hell (Hell Virus Book 2)

by Kit Tunstall

  I shuddered at the words, my back going straight. “You must know you repulse me.”

  He snorted. “You weren’t exactly my type before all this shit went down either, Vargas. I’ve always preferred short, blond women with big boobs, but there’s a marked lack of women around now. I’ve already been through the few that were here on the base, and none of them were a keeper. You’ll just have to do until I find something better.”

  I strained my neck to turn to look at him, meeting his cold gaze. “When you put it like that, I think I’d rather be dead.”

  He didn’t tighten his hand around my throat any further. He just sneered at me. “That could be easily arranged, but you have more to lose than I do.” He stabbed his finger at the circled spot on the form he’d brought with him. “You should be motivated to protect your spawn.”

  I was highly motivated to do just that, but somehow maintained a calm façade. “You can at least take the zip ties off my hands if you expect me to do something for you. They’re uncomfortable, and the doctors didn’t bother to remove them when they took blood or anything else.”

  A hand on my neck started caressing my skin instead of squeezing, and I almost preferred the pain. Having him stroke me in the mimicry of a lover’s touch was repulsive.

  I was surprised when he stood up and walked away, going to the door. I cautiously embraced the hope that he was leaving, at least for now, but it was simply so he could bang on the glass. The door opened a moment later, and he conferred with an armed guard standing outside my room.

  When he returned, he left the door open for a moment, and he had a large knife in his hand. I swallowed thickly, trying not to show any fear when he lifted my hands and used the knife to cut the zip tie binding them. As he walked back to the soldier, returning the other man’s knife before closing the door again, I rubbed my wrists. As he got closer, I realized he’d come in the room unarmed this time. He must have left his sidearm and any of his other various weapons, along with his security badge, outside before entering. Apparently, he’d learned something from our last encounter. Dammit.

  His hand fell heavily on my shoulder, gripping with more force than necessary as he pulled me from the chair. I assumed he wanted me to go to the bed, but instead, he just bent me forward over the desk. I could have cried happy tears at the position he’d chosen, because it gave me an advantage. During my examination, I’d managed to palm a scalpel.

  He was focused on pulling down the annoying white scrub pants they had provided for me in the lab. It’d been impossible to change shirts, and I hadn’t even attempted it. I wouldn’t have bothered with the scrub pants, but they’d made it clear they were going to do a full exam, and if I didn’t cooperate, I’d be leaving the lab naked.

  The pants slipped past my hips and downward, and my natural inclination was to grab for them, but instead, I slipped my hand into the waistband of my underwear before he could tug those down. I winced slightly when I pulled out the scalpel I’d managed to pilfer from the lab, raking the sharp edge against my hipbone in the process. I could feel blood oozing from the spot, but I didn’t have time to evaluate how deep it was.

  I turned so quickly that Briggs didn’t even have a chance to realize what was going on. He was still unbuckling his pants when I drove the scalpel as deeply as I could into his left eye.

  He froze for a moment, and then he reeled backward. His hand went up to the scalpel, and he pulled it free with a scream. I looked away as the blood blossomed, losing the battle with nausea and vomiting all over the floor. As I’d expected, I felt better as soon as it was out. As much as I hated to, I had to look back at him to make sure he was incapacitated.

  He’d fallen to the floor, and his heels were twitching against the flooring tile as his body seized. I was certain I’d hit the brain, and I was surprised he’d even been able to wrench out the scalpel. It hadn’t been enough to save him, and I watched impassively as the seizures slowed and then stopped completely.

  As much as I didn’t want to, I had to be certain he was dead though. I inched carefully closer, making a wide circle around him and trying to avoid his hands, just in case he was waiting to grab me. With a deep breath for courage, I bent down and forced myself to feel for a pulse on his neck. There was nothing. Travis Briggs was dead, and a wave of euphoria swept through me. I had eliminated the person who’d meant to do me the most harm, and I had done it on my own. I was feeling proud of myself, if more than a little repulsed by all the blood.

  I moved away from him to the other side of the room, putting as much distance between us as I could. I knew the door could open at any time, and I wasn’t certain what they would do when they discovered I had killed the captain, who was the senior ranking officer. If the scientists had any influence, I doubted they’d do anything to me, other than continuing their experimentations. If the military held more power, they might put me before a firing squad. It was a daunting prospect, but I’d rather face that than allow Briggs to touch me in a parody of the way Ben and Joshua had.

  I spent more than an hour sitting on the bed, surprisingly close to falling asleep even with the dead body in my room, rendered that way by my own hand. My eyes kept blinking, and my head slumped forward onto my chest once or twice, but I always jerked awake. When the door opened, I held my breath and prepared myself to face his comrades.

  Instead, it was Ben stepping through the doorway. He had a laceration on his face that was still bleeding, along with a bruise around his chin, but he was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. I slipped from the bed and stumbled across the room toward him, throwing myself in his arms. I kissed him deeply for a moment before just clinging to him in a tight embrace. “I knew you’d come,” I said, my voice full of confidence.

  “Of course. We couldn’t leave you here.” He eased away from me a little bit, turning briefly to look at Briggs. “Did you do that?”

  I nodded, meeting his gaze without a hint of guilt or doubt. “The bastard had it coming.”

  He grinned at me. “I’m sure he did. Good job, honey.”

  We kissed again, and then he pulled away with clear reluctance to be parted from me. “We need to get out of here. I think everyone’s pretty well incapacitated or dead, but I want you away from this place as quickly as possible.”

  I took his hand in mine, leading him toward the door. “I want that too.”

  I let him take the lead into the hallway because I didn’t have a weapon, at least not until I reached the first fallen soldier nearby. I bent down and retrieved his sidearm, a little disappointed to find he wasn’t carrying something more substantial, like a machine gun. Compared to my usual gun, this one felt clunky and unnatural, but it was certainly better than no protection at all. I flicked off the safety, carefully averting the gun away from my body and Ben’s direction as we moved through the corridors.

  We came across a few people, and they were either already dead or in the throes of dying. Some had succumbed to gunshots, and some were in the final stages of hemorrhagic HLV. Either way, we encountered no resistance as we exited the base, and I was startled at the sight before me.

  We had certainly made new allies at the right time. They must have raided the armory, because they had come in a tank of their own, along with several military trucks and a couple of Humvees. One even had a machine gun bolted to its roof, and one of Collier’s soldiers stood with a deceptively casual pose, though his hand was clearly positioned to squeeze off another round at a second’s notice.

  As soon as we cleared the building, Collier made some kind of gesture with his hand. Ben took my hand in his, urging me to break into a run, and we joined the group. He pushed me gently into a truck, and then everyone backed away and started driving.

  I wasn’t prepared for it when there was a sudden loud boom. I jerked in my seat and turned around, shocked to see a fireball where the base had been. “What happened?”

  “Collier wanted to ensure there was no coming back from our standoff. He felt it best t
o ensure Fort Glacier is wiped off the map. I feel safer with them gone.”

  I hesitated for a moment, feeling a brief flash of regret at all the lost research, though I didn’t think they were going to be able to solve the answer to curing or preventing HLV with what they had in their lab. If so, it would have taken them years and likely an untold amount of test subjects, all of which would have been acquired through unethical means. It seemed like a waste of a resources to destroy the whole structure, but I couldn’t deny it felt better knowing it was unlikely anyone was going to survive that inferno.

  Back at Camp Utopia, Grace checked me over and declared there was no reason for me to stay in the infirmary. I’d expected to see Joshua on a cot in the corner, but he wasn’t there. Grace’s only patient was Lila, and I paused to check on her. I swore she had gained a few ounces since I’d last seen her just yesterday, and she looked better than ever. “How is she doing?”

  Grace came to stand beside me, putting a light hand on the baby’s tummy. “She’s doing really well. She’ll be in here for a little while longer yet, but I’m confident Maisie will be able to take her out of the infirmary within two or three weeks. I think she’s going to make it.”

  I nodded, relieved to hear it as I left the infirmary. I wasn’t at all surprised to find Ben waiting for me just outside the entrance, and when he put his arm around my waist, I leaned against him gratefully. I wasn’t ill enough to require constant supervision in the infirmary, but I certainly wasn’t ready to run laps around the field either. I needed some rest and food, though not necessarily in that order.

  Ben led me back to our tent, and that’s when I discovered where Joshua had taken up residence. He wasn’t in our bed, but he was lying on a cot someone had squeezed into the corner I paused at the sight of him before looking at Ben, certain my expression revealed my confusion.

  “I wasn’t sure how things stood with the two of you, so that’s why he has a cot. I don’t want you to feel like you have to take him back, but I want you to know it’s an option if that’s what you want. We all just want you to be happy.”

  I didn’t really commit to an answer yet, because I wasn’t completely sure myself, so I just put my hand on his cheek and gave him a soft smile. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been here with you.” My stomach picked that moment to rumble, and it broke the slight tension. I giggled. “And apparently, I’m also starving. Would you mind finding me something to eat?”

  He shook his head. “I’d be happy to, but make sure you lie down. You need to rest.”

  I nodded my agreement as he turned and left. I started to turn to the mattress, which beckoned my sore, aching, and exhausted body to stretch out on it, but paused.

  Instead, I turned to Joshua in the cot, approaching slowly. I wasn’t even entirely sure what I wanted to do or say, or what I wanted to hear from him. When I stood at the side of his cot, I was looming over him, and it felt like too much of a distance between us. I got to my knees and put my hand carefully on his hip. I wasn’t certain if he had internal injuries, though I doubted it. If he’d been bleeding inside, or had required surgery, I doubted Grace would have allowed him to leave the infirmary.

  His eyes opened at the first touch of my hand, and he gave me a small smile, though it looked more like a grimace with his swollen lip and battered face. “You’re back,” he rasped.

  I nodded. “They rescued me, but not before I got the chance to kill Briggs.”

  His grin widened, and then he grimaced when the split on his lip pulled from the motion. “Good. I’m proud of you.”

  I snorted softly. “What a messed up world we live in now, where killing someone is a source of pride.” I shrugged. “I’m proud of myself too though.”

  He shifted slightly, though it clearly cost him a great deal of pain. He took my hand in his, and his expression was full of sorrow. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. I know I had an agenda, but I never faked it. I always loved you, and I think I fell for you the minute our eyes met. I didn’t know what to do when I realized how I felt. I was trapped between taking care of my sister and taking care of you.” Tears appeared in his eyes, and he blinked rapidly for a moment. “In the end, I couldn’t do anything to take care of Julia though. The virus took her just like everyone else I loved, except you.”

  “I love you too, Joshua. I was hurt and angry, but time helped me calm down a little, along with Ben’s words of wisdom. I understand the position you were in. I wish you had told me the truth sooner, before I had to discover it for myself, but I do understand.”

  He squeezed my hands. “Do you think you could give me a second chance?”

  I nodded, surprised by the lump of moisture that appeared in my throat, combined with the urge to start crying. It must be the pregnancy hormones. I squeezed his hand in return. “And a third and a fourth, etcetera. I’m sure there’ll be times we hurt each other again, but I want you in my life. You and Ben mean everything to me, and our baby will make us feel like a real family again.”

  His expression softened. “I already feel like we’re a real family, though I’m probably going to apologize at least a thousand times in the coming days. Words aren’t enough for what I did, but they’re all I have to make up for it.”

  I pressed a finger to his lips, very careful of the split. “Why don’t you save the sorrys for something more important later? What happened happened, but it’s over now. I forgive you, and I hope you forgive me for the way I made you leave and refused to listen. I think we both hurt each other that day, and I’d like to move on and forget about it. Can you do that?”

  With barely a hint of hesitation, he nodded. “I’d like that. It’s more than I deserve—”

  I let out a small noise of frustration. “You’re not exactly moving on with stuff like that coming out of your mouth, Joshua.”

  He nodded, and his tone changed when his gaze moved lower. He couldn’t possibly see my stomach from the way I was kneeling on the floor and pressed against the cot, leaning over him, but I was certain his gaze had drifted lower because that’s where his thoughts had gone.

  “I’m still kind of shocked we’re having a baby.”

  “Me too. Grace told me the condoms probably expired.”

  He winced. “I didn’t even think to look.”

  I shrugged. “Neither did I. Like I told Ben, I kind of feel like our baby was meant to be, and though I’m scared of giving birth without the modern medical system we had, I feel better about it since Grace managed to save Maisie and her baby. As far as the baby itself, I’m excited. How do you feel?”

  “I feel the same way. I’ve lost all my other family, so now it’s just you, Ben, and our baby. I’m scared too, because I can’t stand lose you again, but I’m also excited.”

  I brought his hand to my mouth and kissed his knuckles gently, wincing at the bruises there as well. “Does it bother you not knowing who’s the father? Ben told me he’d rather not know, but I don’t know how you feel about that.”

  He hesitated for a moment, clearly gathering his thoughts. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Part of me would like the idea of him or her coming out with a clear resemblance to me, so I’d know, but I honestly don’t think it will matter either way, even if the baby is a spitting image of Ben. I love you, and I care about him, and I’ll love our baby. Biology doesn’t really matter anymore, does it?”

  I shook my head. I was starting to feel tired, and I just wanted to lie down. “Are you able to move?”

  He frowned in confusion. “Do you want me to leave?”

  I shook my head, clinging tighter to his hand. “No, never that. I just wondered if you wanted to move to the more comfortable bed. There’s a place for you there if you feel like transferring.”

  It clearly cost him a lot, and I provided some assistance as he slowly got up from the cot, and we shuffled to the bed. He fell down heavily, with obvious relief, and I climbed in from the other side and curled up in his arms. I laid my head carefully on his chest, and I was s
tarting to doze off within a few minutes.

  I barely stirred when Ben returned with food, deciding I was more tired than hungry. The mattress dipped a moment later, and Ben spooned me from behind, his arm around my waist. As I slipped into sleep, cuddled between, and protected by, the two most important men in my life, I was optimistic about our future. It was sure to be bleak and harsh at times, but there were also moments like this to mitigate the worst parts to come. As long as I had my men at my side, I could face anything and come out stronger.

  Bonus Excerpt

  Here are the first two chapters of “Catching Hell,” the first book in the Hell Virus series.

  The HLV virus, dubbed Hell Virus by the survivors, wiped out ninety percent of the population. Running low on supplies, Alyssa has to leave the safety of her sanctuary to find food. She’s ill-equipped to deal with a SHTF situation, and she’s nearly raped on her first run. A small squad of military men save her and take her in, with the stipulation she becomes a fully functioning member of their team. She wants to learn how to take care of herself, but she also finds herself wanting to take care of ALL the soldiers in creative and unexpected ways. Life without pleasure is pointless, but when she’s already lost everything else, can she risk losing her heart to the group?

  This is the bundled collection of the completed serial. Alyssa is learning about her own boundaries, survival, and how to love more than one person. If the idea of a polyamorous relationship with multiple men bothers you, this probably isn’t the series for you. If you enjoy sex with your survival, and you’d like to indulge in the fantasy of having a group of hot military men at your command, you’ll probably enjoy this story. Be aware this is definitely on the steamy side and appropriate for 18+ only. It’s a new adult title and not intended for young’uns.