by Coralee June
“And, Ash?” she said with a sob. “Josiah’s old violin is still in his room. I know we stopped allowing him to play long ago, but I think Payne would enjoy learning the instrument. When things settle, can you give it to him?”
She nodded as if realizing the camera wouldn’t be able to answer her back. “Thank you,” she whispered one last time, and with that, the video feed cut and the time capsule started humming. I took a step away from the pod and watched as the door lifted up and a fog fell in icy cool waves onto the floor. A hand on my shoulder pulled me back as another icy blast of air hit me in the face.
“Have you ever seen something like this?” I asked Patrick who had stepped in front of me like somehow this pod was going to start shooting Heat at all of us. Payne was hooked up to so many wires and monitors that I didn’t know where to look first.
“I’ve heard of them but never actually seen one in action. They’re very expensive and somewhat temperamental. Some of them can cause permanent memory loss.”
A cough filled the air, and Huxley surged forward to check on Payne. “You okay, kid?” he asked. I followed after him, sidestepping an overprotective Patrick.
“Payne?” I could have sobbed at the sight of his pale skin. His lips had turned blue, and his breathing was so shallow that he looked dead. For a moment, I doubted Mistress Stonewell and this technology. What if we hurt Payne? What if he never woke back up?
“Maybe we should call Maverick?” Patrick asked, but his voice faded. “I don’t know what the protocol is for this sort of thing. What if there’s some special way we’re supposed to wake him up?”
“We don’t know if Maverick is able to talk right now,” Huxley replied in a dark tone. He lifted his hand up and brushed Payne’s blond hair out of his eyes. It made my heart swell to see Huxley care for the boy so tenderly. They had a lot of bonding time back when we were stationed in the deadlands, and Hux was just as relieved as I was to see that he was okay.
I refused to think of Maverick as anything but okay. I grabbed the tablet Kemper slipped into Jacob’s backpack and called them. Maverick answered on the second ring. He looked clammy, and his lips were pale. “Did you find him?” he asked. His voice was still the same, but he blinked a few times as if to force himself to focus.
“I did. Mistress Stonewell put him in a time capsule. The door opened, but he’s not waking up. Is there something we’re supposed to do?”
Maverick let out a sigh. “It could take up to twenty-four hours for him to wake up fully. The time capsule works by hooking them up to an IV that gives the patient a twenty-four hour serum that freezes cell production and the organs’ processes. It’ll take at least a day for all of that to get out of his system.”
“Fuck, we just can’t get a break,” Jacob’s mindspeak said. I took a moment to look Maverick in the eye, committing to memory the warm way he appraised me.
“Can I take a blood sample now?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“It’s tainted with the serum. We’ll have to wait the full twenty-four hours. Payne will wake up, and when he does, you can get started with the vaccine.”
“I think you mean to say you will get started,” I choked out. My throat felt like it was closing up. Every piece of me was aching to hold Maverick. He looked down at the floor before looking back up at me.
“Cyler’s waking up and asking for you. Why don’t you have Huxley watch over Payne and come back?” I heard the plea in his words. He wanted me there while he still had his sanity. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted nothing more than to spend every waking second wrapped up in Maverick’s arms.
I swallowed down my emotion, hating myself for being so vulnerable. The only way we’d survive this was if we kept our heads on straight and didn’t give in to all the fear that kept getting tossed at us. “Okay. I’ll be there soon. I love you, Mav.”
“I love you, too, Ash.”
When the call ended, I looked to Huxley who was standing with his legs spread apart and his arms over his chest, watching Payne like it was his job. I saw the way he carried his emotions in his shoulders, the tension seeping from every damn muscle as he looked over the sleeping boy. Like all of them, he cared for his makeshift family. He was just as worried as I was. “You going to be okay here?” I asked.
“I’ll keep him safe. You go see Maverick and Cyler. I’ll bring him to you when he wakes up. We’ll see you soon.”
I sure hoped so. Time was something we just didn’t have.
Chapter Eighteen
I was physically exhausted from the day. My legs were a shaky mess by the time we made it back to the clinic where Maverick, Cyler, and Kemper were. It felt like the weight of the day was sitting on my chest.
My entire body seemed to give out from the exhaustion of the day. Everything that had happened was crashing into me, and it was hard to stand up. I couldn't remember the last time I ate, and running all over the empire, trying to save my men and Payne, was finally catching up to me. Not to mention, I’d endured a severe accident and had fought off an infected Walker.
When I walked through the door, I noticed that everything had been cleaned up. Kemper made quick work of fixing what equipment was left and making the space usable. My eyes immediately went to the quarantine room, where Maverick was sitting on the floor, his eyes closed as he slept. I watched his chest move up and down in shallow breaths. My eyes grazed over him, and it didn’t seem like more boils had formed in our short time away. But his skin looked almost green, dark circles were under his eyes, and each breath was low and slow.
"Babe?" a voice croaked. I turned my attention to the healing pod. Cyler was sitting on the floor with his back resting against it. His long legs were thrust out in front of him, and he was cradling his now healed arm while rocking. One of the downfalls of using a healing pod was that it left residual pain for a couple of hours afterward. He looked good though, despite the bloodstains covering his shirt.
I swayed as I walked, knowing that if I didn't eat and drink water soon, I would be in no better position to help than Maverick. Slinking down to my knees, I wrapped my arms around Cyler and squeezed him tight as the other guys started helping Kemper with the last bit of cleaning. "I was so worried about you," I said in a soft tone while resting my head on his shoulder. Cyler grunted while propping his arm up on my shoulder. We held each other there for a moment, and all the unspoken tension just lingered between us.
After a while of just sitting together, I twisted to look into his deep, brown eyes. "How is he?" I asked, not sure that I wanted to hear the answer.
Cyler swallowed before answering. "I'm not sure. When I woke up, he was asleep. Kemper filled me in, though."
Every case of X was different. Some lost their mind quicker than others. Some lost their ability to stay awake. Some got boils faster than others, and some died almost instantly. It scared me, not knowing what kind Maverick would have. We still had twenty hours before Payne would wake up and the time capsule serum would be out of his system.
Cyler stared at the glass door of the quarantine room with trepidation. “I’m going to try to be strong for you, Babe. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared shitless right now.” He trembled before squeezing my shoulder once more.
“You don’t have to be strong for everyone all the time, Cyler Black,” I whispered.
“Neither do you,” he replied. I closed my mouth and stared at the quarantine door with him, watching the steady rise and fall of Maverick’s chest as he slept. After a while, I turned to face Kemper who was working on a small, handheld machine he found in a locked cabinet.
"Did Maverick write down the instructions?" I asked.
Kemper gently set down the machine before lacing his fingers together and staring at me. "He did. I'm trying to make sure all the machines we need are working. I might have to run out tomorrow to find some more materials. For the most part, we have everything we need. I just need a couple more things.”
Jacob’s mindspeak immediately b
roke through the tense conversation. "Make me a list, and I’ll go out tonight."
Patrick interrupted as well. "I'll go with him." We were all eager to feel like we had something to do. The waiting game was getting to us.
I'd be lying if I said it didn't terrify me for all of us to split up, but I knew we had to work in tandem to get everything we needed. “Maverick assured me that it’s a fairly simple process,” Kemper choked out. “It’s a good thing he’s had time to research while we were searching for Payne. I don’t understand all of it, but the machines do most of the work. Once we have his blood sample, the machine will know what to look for and will extract it.”
I was thankful that we had the Galla clinic and that Maverick had the foresight to research beforehand. I swayed once again and rested my forehead on Cyler’s shoulder. "When was the last time you ate anything?" he asked.
"I don't know. I feel weak, but it's the least of our worries right now."
Kemper must've heard our conversation, because he stopped working to rifle through his backpack. Within moments he was stalking towards me and handing me a canteen of the deadlands water and a protein bar. The liquid burned while going down; we had sourced it from a river deeper in the deadlands than usual. I could taste the tangy acid on my tongue, but I still drink all of it.
"Eat. You won't be able to help if you pass out." Cyler’s words were gruff, and I sensed that he was on edge. All of my men cared so deeply for one another, and not knowing if Maverick was going to survive was getting to us.
I slowly ate the protein bar while threading my fingers through Cyler’s hand. Kemper had a list made up and, within minutes, had sent Jacob and Patrick on their way.
"Maverick’s awake," Kemper said after a while. I stood up after squeezing Cyler’s hand and went to the quarantine door.
"Maverick, let me in," I said before banging on the glass. I didn't worry about catching the infection, I was immune after all. And I'd be damned if I let him go through this alone. I stared at the look of indecision on his face and found myself thinking how odd it was that we’d come full circle. I couldn't help but remember being in the Dormas clinic with him when we first met, easing that Walker woman to her death with grace and compassion. Maverick cared so deeply for humanity, but if this was his last night alive, I was going to make sure that he was given the same courtesy.
Maverick’s movements were slow as he stood. I could see the way his muscles were weak as he pulled himself up and staggered towards the control panel. He gave me one look, and I saw the indecisiveness in his face. I could tell that he didn't want me to see him this way, but his love for me overruled that fleeting insecurity in the end. He loved me too much to not spend whatever time he could with me.
Once the door opened, I quickly went inside and allowed him to shut it. There was a boil on his arm that had started to bleed, but I didn't care. I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, making him cough at the force of it.
"How do you feel?" I asked. I guided him to a chair in the corner and helped him sit down. I was about to go back to the door and asked Kemper for more water, but he wrapped his fingers around my wrist before pulling me to his lap. He cradled me, pressing his feverish skin against my neck as he moaned.
"You're really here, right?" he asked. I could hear the cracks in his voice as he spoke, and it broke my heart.
"I'm really here, Maverick. Tell me what I can do."
It was killing me, seeing this disease claim him like this. I wished that I could just wake Payne up and get the ball rolling on this cure. There was so much that hung in the air. What if his blood didn't work? What if the instructions weren't clear? What if we didn't get him the cure in time?
"Just stay right here with me," he said. "Don't leave me. Tell me a story."
He rocked a little back-and-forth, and I felt his blistered lips touch my skin. We were sweaty, exhausted, and he was covered in blisters that were starting to bleed, but I let his sickness seep into my clothes. I didn't care. Love didn't crave perfection. It desired the connection.
"You want to hear a story?" I asked. It was an odd request, and I found myself filtering through my memories as a child. Nothing seemed to measure up. It was almost like my life began when I moved to Dormas. Every cherished thought, every meaningful interaction happened after I met my men.
“You’ve been a part of all my best stories, Maverick. Sometimes I wonder if my life began when I moved to Dormas.”
Maverick gave me a soft smile. “All my favorite stories began when you moved to Dormas, too,” he whispered. “I wish I had one of your chocolate cakes right now,” he added while licking his lips.
“Once we’re out of this hell hole, I’ll make you all the chocolate cake you can eat. I’ve been craving chocolate,” I replied wistfully. “That’s one pleasant memory. Josiah used to sneak me little chocolates when I was a girl. I developed quite the sweet tooth.”
Maverick moved my legs a little bit so that he could reach into his pocket. I heard the crinkling of a wrapper, and he pulled out a tiny peppermint. "I don't have chocolate."
He placed the peppermint in my palm, and I laughed. That was the difference between my men and Josiah. My men wanted to give me what little they had. The empire was ending, but they were worried about still finding little luxuries to sneak into my palm. Hell, Maverick was dying, and he was still finding little ways to treat me. "I want to give you a lifetime of chocolates, Ash," he said. My heart was breaking. "Can you tell Cyler to go to the door? I want to tell him something," Maverick then said. His words had started to slur, and I wondered how long he would be coherent. It seemed like the disease was taking his mind faster than the rest of his body. The boils on his skin were still at bay, but the fever was making him delirious. I quickly got up and pressed the button for the speaker, beckoning Cyler closer.
Cyler went to the glass and slid down it, resting his back against the door while looking over his shoulder. "You okay brother?" he asked softly. His voice was full of emotion, and I saw unshed tears in his black eyes.
"I don't know," Maverick replied. I adjusted the settings on the intercom to pick up his soft voice.
"This is such a shitty deal," Cyler whispered. He wasn't wrong. Nothing about this was fair. Why was the most compassionate man who dedicated his life to saving others suffering such a gruesome fate? I hated thinking that he was already dead, but the odds were stacked against us. I walked back over to Maverick, and he pulled me to his chest. It was a weak movement, but I gingerly sunk into his comforting embrace. Maverick let out a choking cough and covered his mouth. I noticed when he pulled his hand away that there was blood staining his palm. I quickly grabbed a nearby napkin for him to wipe it.
"When you see Jules, will you tell her that I'm proud of her?" At his seemingly harmless request, it felt like someone had just taken a knife and drove it through my chest. He was preparing for his death.
Kemper stopped working in the distance, and I saw him move to sit next to Cyler. Kemper propped his arm on Cyler’s shoulder. "Don't talk like that, Maverick. We're gonna get the cure done. You're gonna be okay," Cy said, his voice nearly a whisper.
Maverick chuckled. "I thought I was supposed to be the optimistic one in our group," he said. "You're the realist."
"And you're too good for this stupid shit," Cyler grumbled.
"When you see Ash, can you tell her I loved her?"
His voice seemed far away. I pressed a hand to his forehead as he closed his eyes. He was burning so hot it was uncomfortable to touch his skin. "I'm right here, Maverick," I soothed. Maverick grabbed hold of me tighter, as if making sure I really was.
"I love you so much. I don't have adequate words to express just how much you mean to me. I'm not sure if it's the disease talking, or if I really just can't put into words how much I deeply love you." It felt like he was talking in confused circles. The disease was working fast.
I cupped both his cheeks just as I heard Cyler let out a sob. It wasn't fair. This
family had already lost both their parents and had given their lives to their people.
Maverick's head started to roll like it was too hard for his neck to hold it up. I quickly got off of his lap and helped him to a nearby pallet I found in the corner of the room. Carefully tucking him into the scratchy blankets, I kissed him on the cheek before sliding under the blanket next to him. I was so thankful that I had immunity to X. I didn't know how I would've survived if I wasn't able to comfort him like this. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he flinched in pain, drawing my attention to his abdomen. After a quick inspection, I noticed that more of the sores were starting to form there. "Maverick you have to hang on." I glanced at the clock. Fourteen hours. He just had to survive a little more than fourteen hours.
I wasn't exactly sure when we fell asleep. His raspy breath was alarming, but my body was too exhausted. I closed my eyes while clutching his hot body and prayed that he was strong enough to make it through the night.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ash, wake up,” a voice said through the intercom. My entire body felt like it was on fire. It felt like my skin was burning as beads of sweat traveled down my spine.
When I opened my eyes, I gasped at Maverick. X boils had spread all over his body, and I scooted away when I realized that some were starting to burst. “Ash, are you okay?” I looked at the glass partition. Cyler was standing there with Jacob, Kemper, and Patrick.
“Yeah,” I replied in a sleepy voice before stretching. I was so sore from running all day yesterday and sleeping on a thin pallet. “What time is it?” I got up to grab a washcloth and started wiping my body. Once some of the blood splatters were gone, I got another cloth and started washing Maverick off, trying my best to avoid the painful blisters.
