Flash Series (Book 2): Immune

by Gomez, Jessica

  “Yes.” Panic crawls up my spine. They’re coming. My entire being vibrates with the warning.

  “It’s only a dream.” The words are spoken, but hollow. Not even he believes they’re only dreams. Leaning in he touches his forehead to mine. “You’re not leaving my sight…ever.”

  My compressing heart is now climbing up my throat, clogging it with emotion. I want so badly to believe him. “I love you.” Breaking my silence almost releases the flood.

  “Don’t,” he growls. “Don’t ever say good-bye.”

  Somehow, I know our time is dwindling. Agreeing with him is parallel to lying, so silence becomes my answer.

  Loud throat clearing pulls us back to the people surrounding us. I wipe my eyes clear as Mason stares down at me in concern. “You all right?”

  “Yes.” His head tilts at the unsteadiness of my voice.

  “What is it?” He scans the caves, as if the threat will present itself.

  “Lillie’s dream…” Ian answers for me. “She saw us floating someone. We all assumed it was Quinn.”

  Mason’s eyes widen. “It’s Dane and Rosie. With everything going on, I didn’t consider…” He closes his eyes tightly, and runs his hand roughly through his hair. Determination seeps from him when he focuses his attention on me. “What’re we going to do?”

  “She and Azami are not leaving our sides. I’ll have them with me at all times. If for any reason I can’t be with them, I’ll personally trade off. Our precaution for the cave is our main defense. You’ll have to build the floater without me. I’ll say my good-byes before you take them out.”

  “Ian…you can’t miss their funerals,” I protest.

  “Yes, I can. They’d understand. It’s not safe outside. We have less control of any given situation.”

  I open my mouth to object again.

  “The subject is not up for discussion. They can handle it without me.”

  “I’ll make sure everything goes smoothly, respectfully,” Mason assures us.

  Ian clamps a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, brother.”

  Mason nods, then turns to me. “Don’t try to be a martyr. Let us protect you.”

  “Okay,” I whisper.

  “Good. Now that that’s settled, I was coming to tell you we’re heading out, but I’ll let the rest of them know what’s going on.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “You’re welcome.” Mason leans in and hugs me to his side. “Remember what I said. You’re extremely important to this family.”

  Family.

  I hug him back. “I love y’all, too.”

  “Stay in the main cavern. You’ll have more ways to escape.”

  James returns Azami before he and Mason walk away.

  “They’re all on edge.” Ian rubs my shoulders.

  “They should be.”

  Each minute that ticks away, I savor with my daughter. We spend the day in the kitchen, helping with meal prep. Ian sits at the table, watching us and smiling approvingly at Azami when she shows him her latest creations, but underneath the surface, he’s restless. He’s bouncing his knee, constantly checking the exit, and shifting his body frequently. He’s practically vibrating with anxiety. The coming events have me scared shitless, waiting for the inevitable to happen. I wish I could read the timeline in my dreams, but then knowing the when is probably worse than guessing.

  I find myself wiping my hands on my pants and moving to sit on his lap. His jitters settle immediately as he wraps his arms around my waist. “Quit with the frowny face.” I push my index finger between his eyes, straightening out the lines.

  His features soften. “I’m going over every scenario possible in my head. We’re ready for them.”

  I cup his face with my palm and tell him what I know he needs to hear. “I know we are.” I want so desperately to believe my own words, but they ring false.

  “Momma! Daddy! Look!”

  “What is it, Angel?” I ask her with the same enthusiasm.

  “Sawah says it’s a taco.” Sarah laughs behind her. “What’s a taco?” Azami looks at the meat wrapped in kale, confused.

  Sarah laughs louder. “It’s the best taco I can make, dammit!”

  A long needed smile cracks our lips as we laugh along with her. “It works. I love tacos. Can I have a bite?” Ian asks, but doesn’t wait for the reply. Instead, he snatches the rolled up food and bites into it. The look on Azami’s face is priceless, shock, and then anger.

  “Daddy!” She scolds him. “Dat was mine! I made it all by myself.” She stomps her foot to drive her point home.

  “Yeah, daddy,” I concur. Ian glares at me for taking sides. I stick my tongue out at him, teasing.

  “I’m sorry, pumpkin.” He begs her forgiveness. “Can I make it up to you by making another one? I can eat this one for you.”

  “Yes. Dis one’s gwoss now.” She holds her hands up, warding it off. Sarah and I are hiding behind our hands, laughing.

  Ian promptly moves behind the counter, showing off his taco skills. Azami follows, watching from the stool next to the counter, making sure he’s doing it the way she wants. She actually corrects him a couple of times. Each time she objects, he huffs, pretending annoyance.

  “There you go!” He hold out his perfect creation to her. Azami’s eyes bug out of her head. Absolutely nothing is different between the two tacos, but she looks on this one like it’s made of solid gold.

  “Do you want a small salad too?” Sarah asks Azami as she sits down.

  “Yes, pwease.”

  Sarah gathers greens onto four separate plates and throws some seasoning and oil onto the leaves. She brings one to Azami and pats her head as she walks by, and then sets the others on the table so we can join her.

  “Thank you.” Each of us say in turn.

  The salads are a great appetizer before lunch. The mouthwatering aroma draws others to the kitchen shortly after. Spirits are running low, but laughter can still be heard throughout the kitchen. The last to enter are James, Mason, Zack, Luke, and Michael. They’d spent the entire morning building Dane and Rosie’s resting place. They look cold and exhausted.

  “I’m going to cut up extra wood for the night. The snow’s coming down hard. I don’t want to do it later,” Luke says.

  “I’ll come down in a few minutes to give you a hand,” Mason offers.

  Luke holds his wrap up in salute, then takes another big bite. “Fanks.”

  Azami giggles at him. He winks and smiles at her before turning and heading out of the room. She continues to keep herself busy, playing with her food.

  “How are things going?” I ask James.

  He wipes his forehead and the back of his neck with a small towel.

  “Good. We’re almost finished. Luckily, we left a few trees cut down. We used those as planks. The ground is pretty solid. So are the trees for that matter. Cutting into them is tiring.”

  We focus the discussions on our normal day to day. Azami cooking, how the garden is progressing, and how Quinn is recovering. We plan on visiting him after lunch. Deagon, Sophie, Neeva, and Gabe have been with him all morning. I wanted to give them space to enjoy their own small group. Michael’s popped in on him throughout the day, checking to make sure both kinds of infections aren’t present. The chemical weapon caused the mutation in the beginning, but at this point, we’re not willing to chance another member turning without us knowing.

  After lunch, the crowd disperses, going back to their daily duties. Mason collects our plates, moving to the sink and washing them. When we’re alone in the kitchen, he glances up at Ian.

  “Hey, man. If you want to go say your good-byes, now would be the time. We’re just about done with the pallet, and then we’ll send them down river. Figured you’d want to go down before we did that.”

  “You should go,” I tell him. “This is your last chance. I’m inside, and Mason can stay with me so you and James can go down together.”

  He finally concedes. “You’re right.”


  “When aren’t I?” I tease.

  “Never.”

  “Right answer,” I laugh.

  He and James stand from the table, both leaning down to kiss Azami before leaving the room. Azami remains seated, playing with the little food she has left on her plate. I move to help Mason with the remaining dishes. The group has an unwritten rule that we never allow Sarah to do the dishes. Sometimes she’d sneak a turn, but she cooks, so we’d always do the cleanup.

  While washing a plate, he bumps my hip with his. “You holding up?”

  One question relates to hundreds of answers. “Freaking out. Trying to have confidence.”

  Soapy hand and all, Mason wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. We hadn’t spent much time together lately, both busy with the upcoming winter duties, and now I regretted it. We may never get to hang out again.

  About an hour later, Ian and James return, both red-faced. I’m glad he took a moment to say his good-byes. He would have regretted it if he hadn’t. Mason left to cut wood with Luke, and then finish up the pallet. The group was notified when they were ready to head to the river. Some left with them to pay their respects, and some wanted to remain in the safety of the caves. Sophie, Naveen, and the baby stayed behind with Deagon, not wanting to risk being outdoors. They remained with me in the main cavern, finishing up the gardening chores for the day. Not much else required tending. We’d pulled most the crops earlier, but wanted to water and keep the ground soft for replanting.

  It’s then that I hear it, a low rumbling, like a dog ready to attack. Sophie is the first to notice. She screams so loud it echoes off the cave walls, sending the infected that she spotted into a frenzy. It snarls and heads straight for her. Deagon’s quick to pull out the gun he carries and pulls the trigger, hitting it in the head on the first shot, hitting the floor like a sack of rocks, dead in his tracks, but another is there to take its place as soon as he fell. Catching glimpses, I realize there are several of them already in the caves, beginning to surround us.

  Ian pulls his gun from the back of his pants, aiming and firing. Some fall with the first shots, while others continue their relentless pursuits. Deagon is fending off two of them, hitting them with a crowbar, too close to them to get off a shot. Sophie and Naveen are backed into a wall. Gage’s crying is only rousting the infected, exciting them for their next meal.

  “Go help them!” I scream at Ian. “You have to do something!”

  Ian looks from me to them, weighing his options on leaving me alone. “Take this.” He throws me the gun, and I hold it awkwardly. “Use it. Go to the storage room and wait for me there. If they come in, shoot them.”

  I nod.

  “Go!” he shouts, startling me.

  I pick Azami up and head toward the storage tunnel as fast as my feet will carry me. Azami’s crying silently, face planted in my shoulder, scared as hell. “Everything’s going to be all right, Angel,” I assure her.

  We’re almost there when we hear the growling and grunting. “Momma,” she whispers the warning.

  I stop in my tracks and step into the darkened cave wall, attempting to hide. “Shh…don’t make a sound.”

  Her small head nods up and down against my chest, then we wait.

  We don’t wait long, as one of the infected appears and sniffs the air only a few feet from us. Azami is trembling in my arms, matching the rate of my heart. The infected is drooling, enjoying the scent. Its skin is pealing, eyes sunken in and whited out. The stench of death fills the halls.

  Suddenly, his head snaps straight, locking his eyes on us. Faster than lightning, he’s pulling Azami out of my arms. I manage to hang onto her feet as she screams at the top of her lungs. I can hear shouting from the main cave, gun shots still echoing in the background. Gun! I still had the gun Ian gave me, but in order to use it, I would have to hang onto Azami with only one hand. Taking the chance, I grip her pant leg with one hand and pull the gun out with the other. Just as I start to pull the trigger, I’m slammed into the cave wall, my head bouncing off the rock like a rubber ball. The gun flies from my grasp, and I lose my only weapon. No matter how hard I try to hang onto Azami’s pant leg, my fingers slip and lose purchase.

  Azami continues to scream, drawing more attention. Quinn stumbles into the tunnel from the medical wing. He can barely move, and is holding onto the large cuts that still remain fresh on his body. Quinn uses the little strength he has to ram into the infected, hard enough for it to drop Azami. My heart soars at his release, only to be shot down again when another one snatches her up and makes a run for the pool room.

  The infected that Quinn hit is back on his feet seconds later, and all over Quinn. My heart is torn. Saving my daughter is the only option, but I’d leave Quinn alone and injured. Dread overwhelms me, but I turn and run toward the pool.

  When I enter the room, my worst nightmare is in a line of dead and rotting flesh against the far wall. One of the large boulders that took several of us to move into place is shoved to the side, revealing a large gap in the pool wall. The infected that abducted Azami drag her kicking and screaming over to Jeff, who stands at the head of their group. Behind him are six more twisted figures, all in different stages of decay. The infected hold Azami up by the back of her neck until she’s face to face with Jeff. Jeff studies her curiously, then looks past her to me, tilting his head, silently assessing my reaction.

  “Give her back!” I scream, stepping toward him.

  The monsters around him crouch, ready to attack as low growls fill the air. An evil smile tilts Jeff’s lips. His finger draws down the side of Azami’s crying face. The infected holding her is drooling in excitement.

  “Please!” I beg. “Give her back. Take me instead.” After the words leave my lips, this is how I realize it happens. They don’t steal me unaware. I trade my life so my daughter can live. Suddenly, I’m okay with my fate. Her surviving is all that matters.

  Jeff’s creepy smile stretches. This is exactly what he wanted. They came specifically for me, I realize. Luring me into this, taking what is mine to get what he wants.

  Pounding footsteps echo toward us. Ian’s voice bellows my name moments before he bursts onto the scene. As soon as he steps foot into the room, Jeff flicks his head and two infected go for Ian at his command. A moment later, James and Mason step into the room, and two more infected attack.

  “They’re everywhere!” Mason calls out, pointing his gun in their direction.

  The room vibrates with noise. The growls of the infected blend with my family’s cries for us, but my attention remains on the infected holding Azami. Gun shots sound, some catching their marks, and the others ricochet off the wall.

  Jeff doesn’t flinch, only cocks his eyebrow in question. Her or you?

  “There’s too many of them, I’m almost out of bullets,” Mason yells.

  “I’m out,” James says seconds later.

  They want me. They came for me.

  “Me! Take me,” I scream, no hesitation.

  Ian, James, and Mason’s pleas increase in volume, but I still can’t decipher their words. Instead, I step forward, showing Jeff the seriousness of my offer. Getting the infected out of here is the best thing for my family’s survival.

  “Let her go first,” I demand.

  After Jeff signals to let her go, the infected holding Azami throws her hard to the side. Her tiny body sails through the air, landing with sickening crack as she hits the ground.

  “No!” I scream, running to her.

  Jeff lunges forward and takes out my legs, slamming me to the rocky ground. “Let me go you piece of shit,” I scream, fighting to free myself.

  Jeff is climbing over me, pinning me down, excitement covering his face. “Mine,” he growls, just like in my dreams.

  “No!” Ian screams. He’s looking back and forth between Azami and me, still not able to get past the infected.

  “Mason, get Azami!” I yell.

  Jeff begins to drag me through the darkened h
ole.

  Mason’s features are torn. He wastes no time jumping into the water and pulling Azami to his chest, but in doing so and saving her, he knows what fate he’s dooming me to. James’s infected screeches in death as he finishes it off. He immediately heads in my direction, set on facing Jeff himself.

  His voice is frantic as he yells my name, a plea and cry wrapped into one. “Lillie!”

  Jeff locks eyes with me and laughs. He’s abducting me, and there’s nothing they can do about it. He breaks his stare with me to watch and torment my family with his cold and calculated smile. Flipping to my stomach, I try to army crawl away. Pointless. He grabs me easily and drags me back under him in one swift movement. I meet Ian’s wild eyes, defeated, just as he lays the final blow to the infected he’s fighting. With his sixth sense to read me, I send all my love to him. He shakes his head no, not excepting my good-bye.

  “I love you.” The words are silent on my lips, but he reads them anyway.

  “Lillie!” He sprints toward us, determination in every step.

  Jeff gives one last yank and I’m scraped across the threshold. Immediately after, the boulder is pushed back into place, effectively sealing our exit. The bruising knots and scraps from the cave floor are soon replaced by the grating fire of the snow as they drag me across the ground faster than I could run. My skins flaying from my body, burning with no flame. Turning to my side to alleviate the pain, my head hits a rock. My consciousness is fleeting, but I swear I can hear Ian’s voice roaring my name through the trees.

  Help me.