A dark-skinned man gave her the wig back, then held the IR thermometer up to her forehead. As he did so his thumb flipped a switch and the red LED on the front died. He looked her in the eyes, pulled the trigger, then thumbed the switch again. The light came back on. He turned to his partner and nodded. "No fever," he said.
She got dressed and was escorted back into the cage. Her mom breathed a sigh of relief, and Ani collapsed to the ground, mentally exhausted. I'm alive. Alive! Well... Sort of.
* * *
ZV was easy to diagnose because it killed and reanimated so fast. Six hours later no one was symptomatic, so they were released. The military personnel loaded up and left. Aside from the ashy remains of their landscaping, at three in the morning it was hard to tell that much of anything had happened.
They canceled school, of course. Ohneka Falls was under general quarantine for the next eighteen hours just to be safe.
Chapter 29
Ani rushed into the hospital room, her left foot dragging worse than ever—her mom hadn't had the opportunity to assess the damage from the night before. Mike lay on the bed, wrapped like a mummy over his hospital gown. Off-white canvas straps cinched his biceps, thighs, wrists, ankles, chest, and head to the mattress. Gauze covered his right hand, and a wire bite guard encased the lower half of his face.
She let out a low whistle. "You're way past the danger window. Not taking any chances, are they?"
Mike's eyes—one of the few body parts he could move—turned toward her, and a smile lit up his face. "Ani, hey, it's good to see you."
She stepped forward to hug him and heard a throat clear. She looked up to find a camouflaged guard standing in the corner, an assault rifle slung on his back. "Sorry, miss, no physical contact until the all clear."
Ani smirked and took a step back. "Really not taking chances." I can't blame them.
Mike's hand twitched. "Neither was your mom."
Ani clenched her teeth. "Yeah, that sucks." But I can't blame her for saving your life.
"It could have been a lot worse," he said. "That was quick thinking." And years of experience.
"Yeah, Mom's pretty sharp." And ruthless. Maybe psychotic.
"She bring you here? I want to thank her."
Ani nodded. "Yeah, she'll be up in a few minutes." Delayed at my request, if only for a few minutes.
Mike chuckled. "I never thought I'd want to thank someone for lopping off a body part."
"I never thought I'd be glad my mom mutilated you." Holy crap you need to change the subject. "Hey, I never got a chance to thank you for the rose."
Mike smiled, then schooled his face to a careful blank.
"What rose?" Devon said from behind her. Speaking of psychotics....
Ani widened her eyes at Mike, then stepped to the side so that she could face them both. She opened her mouth, but before she could think of a reply, Mike spoke.
"I went to Ani's house yesterday to apologize."
Devon's mouth twisted in distaste. "Is that why?"
"Yes," Mike said. "That's why."
"What would you possibly have to apologize for?" Devon flicked her fingers at Ani. "Be someplace else, Cutter. You're not wanted here."
Mike scowled. "I want her here."
Devon turned crimson. "Do you want her here, or me here, lover?" She stepped toward him, hand stretched out to touch his face, and the guard cleared his throat again. She dropped her hand but didn't step back. She lowered her voice. "And if you want this later, you'll choose your next words very carefully."
Mike closed his eyes. "Okay, Devon. Okay."
Ani wanted to tear the triumphant smile off Devon's face. And eat it. Anger and hurt boiled in her gut, and she lost her breath.
"Ani," Mike said.
No, Mike, don't do this.
"Would you please..."
No.
"...please... "
NO!
"...punch me in the face if I ever talk to that stupid bitch ever, ever again?"
A laugh escaped before she could stop it. Devon's face darkened to purple, and she started to shake. Incoherent syllables escaped from her lips. Ani laughed harder, catching herself against the wall. Devon growled in rage and stormed out of the room, grinding her teeth.
Mike's smile vanished. "Ani, you've always been there for me, for as long as I can remember. Even when I didn't deserve it. Especially when I didn't deserve it." Ani's heart soared even as her laughter died. "When I thought that maybe I'd die, I lay here, thinking about what I'd miss most, and I thought of you."
Ani's mouth opened. Nothing came out.
"I love you, Ani. I always have. When you changed, I was all mixed up in my head. My priorities sucked. I don't care what other people think. I don't care how you dress, who your friends are. I care what you think. I want—"
"Ani," her mother said from the doorway. "It's time to go."
"Hi, Mrs. Romero," Mike said.
"Michael." She didn't smile but grabbed Ani's arm.
"I wanted to thank you for—"
"You're welcome," she said, dragging Ani to the door. "I'd hope you'd do the same for me." Ani walked backward until her mom spun her by the shoulders and pushed her out the door.
"Bye, Mike!" she called out behind her. Her feet barely touched the ground. She couldn't stop smiling.
"I know that look," her mom said, propelling her down the hallway. "Every girl on the planet gets that look when she's gone boy-stupid. You know the rules. You will follow them, for your safety and his."
"Yeah, Mom, I will." He loves me. He said it, he meant it. "Of course I will." He loves me.
* * *
The spring concert had been delayed a day for the zombie quarantine. They packed the gym; the town turned out in droves in a celebration of life and rebirth. And love. And severed fingers.
* * *
The next day Ani floated through school. Alone in the crowd, she wasn't lonely for the first time since she'd died. Devon lunged at her in the hallway, but Rose restrained her until Mrs. Slocombe intervened and escorted her to the office. Ani laughed. She'd probably just realized that she didn't have a date for the prom on Saturday.
The school buzzed with rumor, but this time the story mirrored the truth. Most people left Ani well enough alone, but she threw a bone to Jake by giving him a few details. She ignored Fey, who returned the favor with a sullen pout. Keegan approached her after Trig, acknowledging her with a tiny lift of his chin. "Mike's out," he said.
"Oh, good," Ani said. "Is he home already?"
"On his way. They left the hospital about twenty minutes ago. He wants you to stop by after school."
Ani beamed. "Thanks!"
He looked at her a moment, his lips twitching in the barest hint of a smile. "Sure." He walked away.
She took the bus home, but when she got off, she turned around and crossed the street. She glanced at the empty windows in her house. Stay in the basement, Mom, just for a while.
She rang the doorbell. As the door opened her stomach lurched. Devon, fastening her bra. She shook away the image and smiled at Mike's mom. "Hi, Mrs. Brown. Is Mike available?"
"Hey, Ani!" he called from the kitchen. He came around the corner and his dazzling smile weakened her knees. "Thanks for coming over." He scratched the side of his face with the back of his hand, the bandage abrading the skin raw and red, then sat on the couch. "It's going to take some getting used to." He patted the seat next to him as his mom made herself scarce.
Ani sat down on the far side of the cushion, not daring to get too close. Not yet. "Just as well you play soccer and not football, huh?" So lame. But he smiled.
"Sure." They sat, smiling at one another. A minute stretched to two. "I'm glad you're here."
"Me, too." Her desire was like hunger, only beautiful instead of horrific. Her eyes traced his jaw line, speckled with stubble, and flitted to his mouth. She forced herself to look out the window. Phew! "So will you be back in school tomorrow?"
He shook hi
s head but inched closer to her. Now less than a foot separated them. "I'm seeing a psychologist tomorrow." She raised an eyebrow. "You know, nightmares."
She'd been euphoric for two days, and it hadn't occurred to her how the attack might have damaged Mike. "I've had trouble sleeping, too," she said. Nightmares. The word felt strange to her. She hadn't slept in two years, and had forgotten what it was like to dream.
"I'm sure," he said. "I can't imagine watching my mom do... what your mom did." He shifted his weight. Six inches between them, maybe less.
"I'm just glad she did." Ani swallowed. Her mouth was dry, and it was hard to concentrate.
"Ani?"
"Yes?"
"Will you go to prom with me on Saturday?" The universe exploded in bliss. She couldn't bite her lip and smile at the same time, so her mouth hung slack. He leaned in and she stopped breathing, her lips inches from his. An inch. Less.
She put a hand on his chest and turned away. "I can't. There's no way my mom would allow it."
"Why not?" He looked hurt.
She shrugged. "It's the rules."
Mike smirked. "She doesn't have to know."
Ani bit her lip. "How could she not know?"
Mike smiled. "I gave my dad tickets to the Journey concert in Buffalo this Saturday."
A laugh escaped her mouth. That's happening a lot lately.
He leaned in again, and she put her finger to his lips. "Not too fast." He frowned. She smiled. "We've waited a long time. We can wait a little more." He returned her smile.
She dragged herself away from him, shambled to the door, and blew him a kiss. "See you Saturday," she said.
"I'll pick you up at seven," he replied.
* * *
As Ani came down the basement stairs, her mom looked at the clock. Blond wig on the floor, her bald head hidden under a Bills cap, she had an ink smudge on her nose and bags under her eyes. She looked back at the chemical equipment in the lab. "You're home late."
"It's nice out. I walked now that it's safe." Ani strangled a pang of guilt.
Her mom turned the stopcock on a burette, and fluid trickled into an Erlenmeyer flask set on a magnetic stirrer. "You're supposed to avoid sun exposure."
"I wore a hat," Ani said. "A big hat."
Her mom sucked some of the solution into a transfer pipette and dripped it onto a microscope slide. "Come here, sweetie." As Ani approached she picked up a scalpel. "Arm." Ani put out her arm and her mom grabbed her wrist with her left hand.
She drew the knife across her arm, expertly removing a nickel-sized flap of skin almost down to the muscle. Ani winced, but she endured much worse on a regular basis. Her mom sliced a vertical section out of what she took, placed the skin on the slide, put on a coverslip, and slid it into the incubator. A digital stereoscope displayed the images on the computer screen. "Don't go anywhere." Ani waited five minutes, then ten, then twenty, then an hour while her mother stared at the monitor. Without looking up, her mom crooked a finger at her.
As Ani approached, her mom stepped out of the way, eyes ablaze. "What do you see?"
Ani looked. She recognized the cell membrane and the nucleus. Some of the nuclei looked funny, barbell-shaped, with smeary nuclei. "Mom, are those cells dividing?" She looked up, mouth open. "They're alive. Those are my cells, and they're alive."
They hugged, and Ani's heart felt fit to burst. Her mom pulled back, and she wasn't smiling. "Don't get too excited. It's a huge step, but the division is way too fast, faster than anything we've ever seen, and we don't know what it will do uncontrolled. I'm going to let it grow overnight and then test it for ZV."
"What then?" Ani asked.
She ignored the question. "It might take a while to iron out the kinks. Either way, I have some big news for you." What does 'a while' mean? And what could be bigger than this?
"Rishi—that's Doctor Banerjee, the man from the other day—has been sharing our data since I had to tell him about you. He's been very careful and hasn't shared our identities. One of his colleagues, Doctor Bhim Raychaudhuri, developed this serum. He's invited us to his lab to continue this research."
"For what, like, the summer?" She'd miss Mike, but it'd be worth it. "That's awesome!"
Her mom shook her head. "Indefinitely." Ani's stomach lurched. "Someone needs to look after you when I'm gone."
"Uh..." Ani couldn't put her thoughts together. "Um... Where is his lab?"
"Tempe. It's just outside Phoenix."
Ani sat. "Arizona." Her heart died, but the machine in her chest kept it pumping.
"You'll like it there. They've agreed to all my demands. Your secret will be safe. You'll go to school, be a normal girl."
"But my friends..." Mike. You can't take Mike. Not now.
"You don't have friends, you have cover. You can make friends out there, and they can be real friends, Ani. You won't have to pretend anymore. These people are going to cure you."
She realized then how much she missed Fey. Petty, vindictive, angst-filled bitch that she is. "I do have friends, Mom. Fey and Mike are my friends."
"Regardless," her mom said. "Done is done. This is necessary and we're doing it."
Ani tried to speak through her broken heart. "When?"
"The movers will be here Monday."
"Monday." So soon. Ani couldn't wrap her brain around it. Ohneka Falls was the only place she'd ever known. "So tomorrow's my last day of school?"
She shook her head. "No, tomorrow you're staying home with me to pack up the basement ahead of the movers. One day either way makes no difference to your education, but we need this place looking normal."
Chapter 30
Friday morning the printer hummed, and her mom snatched the paper from it. Ani raised her eyebrows and she handed it over. Ani had seen something like it before, when they'd tested her saliva. The markers for ZV were absent. The sample was clean.
They hugged, danced, and packed, giant smiles plastered on their faces the entire time. The Zombie Virus could be cured. Dead flesh could be reanimated. Sure, they weren't quite there yet, but they were close enough to taste it. It felt weird to hope.
* * *
That afternoon Ani managed to escape the endless packing while her mom took a quick nap. She went to Fey's house to say goodbye. She rang the doorbell and Mrs. Daniels answered the door. "Ani, what a surprise!"
Fey sat on the couch watching TV, a bowl of chips perched on her stomach. "Tell her to go away," Fey mumbled. Ani stifled the hate she still felt when she looked at her. Let it go, Ani. Let it go.
"Tiffany Michelle, you get over here and greet our guest like a civilized human being!" This is starting off on exactly the right foot. Fey rolled her eyes, set the chips on the coffee table, and grumped her way to the door, arms crossed.
"What do you want, Ani?"
Fey's mom rolled her eyes and stole Fey's spot on the couch. "I'm moving," Ani said. "I wanted to say good-bye."
"Good-bye," Fey said. Ani stopped the closing door with her foot.
"I'm sorry things went so sour with us. I only ever wanted to be your friend, even if you are an insufferable bitch."
Fey smiled. "Not for nothing, but you can be quite the bitch yourself." I'm the walking dead. What's your excuse? They looked at each other a moment. Fey broke first. "So where are you moving to?"
"Arizona. We leave on Monday."
"Mom get a new job?" Something like that.
"Yeah, some research position at a big hospital."
They stood in companionable silence for a minute, then Fey said, "Well, get a freaking cell phone and we can keep in touch. I've missed you."
"I will," Ani said.
* * *
Ani snuck across the street to Mike's house and peeked in his bedroom window. He sat in his jeans on the bed, topless and barefoot, playing Xbox. He was all tan skin and lean muscle, the angel of her paintings in the flesh. It hurt to look at him, to want him, crave him so much.
She tapped on the window. He looked up and
smiled, paused the game, and tiptoed to the door. With a furtive glance down the hall he closed it, then opened the window. His face darkened when he saw her expression.
"Hey," he said through the screen. "Who died?"
"I did," she said. "Or I may as well have."
"What happened?"
"We're moving. Mom got a new job."
He leaned against the windowsill. "Moving? Where?"
"Arizona."
Tears sprang to his eyes. I wish I could cry for you, too. "At the end of the school year?"
"Monday."
He squeezed his eyes shut. "Ah. God. This can't be happening." His house phone rang. He looked at the screen, then showed it to her. 'ROMERO'.
"I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Okay," he said. "Bye, Ani." Not goodbye. Not yet.
When she walked in the door her mom was still on the phone.
"Ah, okay then. Thank you very much. Good-bye." She hung up and slammed the phone into the charger, her voice turning accusatory. "According to Jennifer, Mike and Devon are no longer a couple."
"So I heard," Ani said. "It's about time they broke up."
"And yet Mike is still going to the prom." Shit.
Ani tried to look blasé and crestfallen at the same time. "Oh? Did she say who with?"
"She did. And you're a terrible liar." I can fool everyone but you, Mom.
"Mike asked me. I didn't say 'yes.'"
"You apparently didn't say 'no' either, so you're either lying to me or leading him on, and neither is acceptable." Nothing but complete honesty ever was, but it's always been a one-way street.
"Aren't we packing tomorrow night anyway?"
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