"I don't know."
"Is it the something you don't want me anywhere near?"
A drop of blood dripped from the gash on Glynn's forearm onto my hand. Blood from Del's wound saturated the cloth I pressed against her. Glynn's hands shook around the oversized sticking plaster.
He ripped the patch open and stuck it next to the wound. "Painkiller, antibiotics, stimulant. Got to get her to base." He added another two patches. "Out of date, but it's all we've got."
I squeezed his hand. "Let me try."
"You're not—" He shook his head at me. "You're not good at healing. And you’ll hurt yourself."
I hadn't used my healing wand in months, and then, bloody hell, it hurt so much. I wasn't a natural healer, but what else did we have to try. My arms tingled as a gentle breeze cooled the beads of sweat forming on my skin. "Look at how much she's bleeding. How do you think the two of us will carry her to your army base? All we’ve got are bicycles. We won't get her back in time. You know that."
His hands stilled in his lap, his head dropped back.
Death energy spiraled in me, not helpful for healing, but it’s all I had. I shoved him out of the way, pulled the wand from my satchel and leaned across Del's body.
"Don't touch me." Del jabbed my hand away.
"Do you want to bleed to death before we find Aidan?"
She flinched, switched her gaze to Glynn's face. "Quick-clot gauze Captain B."
"None left." Glynn straddled Del. He laid his gun on her chest and gripped her elbows to her sides. "Hold still and let Meagan do her thing."
Del wriggled. "You said she is no good—"
"I meant it's not a natural strength. She has to work at it, and work at it she will."
"I'm not happy about this, sir."
"Noted." He nodded at me. "Go for it. If anything comes through that grass, it's getting shot."
I wasn't happy about it either. The bullet had gouged a straight trough across her collarbone and cut into a vein or artery. The bones could wait, but I had to stop the bleeding. The wound from the cutting wheel on her arm had already clotted, her body striving to heal itself. Good, I needed all the help I could get. I didn’t have to fight it, and I could just help it heal itself.
New cells wanted to mend the rips in Del’s muscles; bone wanted to knit together again. The severed veins sought each other out to repair connections. I pulled in raw clean power from the earth. Dear Haebeth, it churned a furnace in my abdomen. I let it climb and swirl with the death energy in my chest, my breaths hitching as I struggled with the pain.
The worst was yet to come.
With the wand in my hand I focused the energy inside me and pushed it into the crystal. A moan escaped my mouth. I felt Glynn’s gentle touch, heard my name from his lips, but I couldn’t react.
The crystal amplified my energy and concentrated pure healing power into Del’s wound. But it tossed concentrated death essence back at me, a series of razor blades into my gut, each one deeper than the last.
I leaned deeper over Del’s body, the wand gripped in both hands. I had to heal her just enough. Just enough to get to a hospital and doctors, and operating rooms.
11
I couldn't do any more for Del. The wound was sealed against infection and I'd stopped the bleeding but her search for Aidan was over. We had to get her to the army base and its hospital. I slumped against the old shed, the rusted metal coarse against my back.
Gray smoke still drifted from the twitchers’ warehouse but luckily a soft breeze moved the foul-smelling smoke away from us. Glynn tore off another piece of his shirt, moistened it and dabbed it against my forehead.
He pushed a bottle of water into my hands. "Drink."
A surreal saffron hue bathed the entire landscape. "What time is it? How long—"
"You worked on her for about twenty minutes. It's almost 9pm. We can rest a few moments more." He kissed my cheek, gently touched his lips to mine.
I curled against him. His touch soothed some of the throbbing aches.
"It felt longer." I guzzled a mouthful of the warm water. "Your arm. Let me look."
"I've bandaged it. It's fine. If you still want to play doctor, heal yourself."
I resisted an urge to rip the bandage off, check for myself, get the healing wand out and use it. Who was I kidding. Even if he let me, I'd struggle to find the energy to continue to the tunnels let alone perform another healing. Not for him, or me. I nestled back against his chest, he leaned into me and rested his forehead gently against mine.
"Why aren't they running this way, the twitchers I mean."
"They've run to the river and cover of trees." Glynn pointed back the way we'd come. "No reason to expose themselves here on the roads."
"How far away is the base?"
"Not far, but the fastest way is via the tunnels." He shook his head.
"Is it close to the city?"
"Right on the outskirts."
"You don’t want to go through the tunnels even now?"
"Nope. But I’m not leaving you both here while I get a medic." He rubbed his hands across his face. "I’ll carry Del and we’ll make our way back to the city. From the station, I’ll run to the base and organize a medic to collect Del and take you home."
I jerked away from him. "I'm not going home yet."
"I meant to Del's place." He pulled me back close to him, kissed the gash on my forehead. "Have to keep you away from the base."
"Why? It's the addicts, isn't it? Something to do with catching them alive or arisen?"
Glynn leaned back against the shed. "I've got suspicions. No real evidence yet."
"Stop holding back." I touched his cheek. "Tell me what you know."
His face tightened. He squirmed as he brushed his hands down his thighs. "The medical equipment the army used to rely on is running out, and we've lost the skill to make more. Asher and the doctor on base came up with an idea."
Del moaned quietly. I reached for her wrist. Her pulse beat a little fast, her skin felt clammy, but her shoulder wound continued to heal. She wriggled and fell back to sleep.
I slid back to Glynn. "Go On."
Glynn settled into a comfortable position. "They've been testing the drugs and the addicts to see if we can use anything for rapid healing. What a waste of time. All twitch does is wreck immune systems and destroy the ability to heal. They decided to clean them up instead."
"You mean rehabilitate them?"
"No. Kill them." He held up his palm to cut off my gasp. "There's nothing anyone can do to help them. Which led to phase two. They chased a group of twitchers into the underground railway system, and discovered some undead. Something different about them. Living corpses that didn't act like any other undead we've ever come across."
I sprung onto my knees, swallowed a shout of excitement. "In the warehouse, I felt something not right. Something I've not come across before."
"A living corpse?"
"Nothing like a corpse. But definitely a living dead."
"How? Why now? What's going on?"
"Can't explain it. Is it true? Is the army killing the addicts, deliberately trying to catch a living dead? An arisen as the skinny guy called it?"
"Yeah, that's the bit I don't have any evidence for. I knew Asher before. He was always pedantically by the book, but now he is different, crueler. And I don't want you anywhere near him." Glynn kissed the gash on my head again.
"The bearded man maybe, not the skinny guy, he's alive." Or at least he was alive when we escaped from the burning warehouse.
"And you are my brave, clever, skinny chick with a bag." With a grin spreading across his face, Glynn wound his hand around my waist.
"I'm not skinny. I could do with losing a few pounds—"
"No, you're perfect as you are." He pulled my head against his chest.
"My bum's not perfect." I blew a soft breath against his neck
"You are wrong on so many counts." He planted warm, soft kisses on my cheeks, my mouth,
my eyes and my mouth again. "Everything perfect, from each tiny toenail to every glowing red hair."
I wriggled closer to him, took a deep breath and savored his scent. So much for getting to bed early, spending time entwined around one another, getting answers to my questions. He hugged me and I snuggled into his chest to enjoy a few precious moments together before we raced off again. I had no desire to be anywhere else, felt no need to try and talk above the singing of what sounded like a million cicadas. I smiled as the amulet pressed against my cheek. Whether he liked it or not, the amulet swung at the bottom of his throat, attuning to him, casting its magic around him.
Del stirred with a long low groan. "I'm giving you a D minus for guard duty, Buckley. Lucky for us the rabble didn't stream through here. Son of a bitch, that hurt." She curled her knees to her chest.
"I'm watching from the corner of my eye." Glynn let out a long breath, squeezed my hand. "You had us worried. How does it feel?"
Del snorted. "Bloody wonderful. How do you think it feels?" She lifted onto her elbows and stared into my face. "I felt you inside me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"You mended me. That's all that matters."
I handed her the water bottle. "The bleeding has stopped."
Del took a long gulp, her hard gaze didn't leave my face. "Why didn't you grab the gun and use it, girl?"
"I didn't even think of it, until you reminded me."
"And then?"
Del and Glynn treated guns as natural appendages at the ends of their arms. They'd never understand how one of their weapons felt alien to me.
I shrugged. "I couldn't let them get my athame—"
"Your what?"
"It's a knife, largely ceremonial. But important to me."
"She did her own thing and got us out of there when our guns failed. Saved your life." Glynn stroked my back. "She never has to touch a gun ever again as far as I'm concerned."
My aches melted away. I turned my face into Glynn’s chest and wound my arms around his body.
Del seemed to consider Glynn's words. She rolled onto her knees and stretched her back. "Okay. I accept it takes all kinds."
Not a rave review from Del, but probably the closest thing to praise I'd get.
"We have to use the train tracks now," Del said. "What have we got, six hours before your attack launches?"
"Slow down. You just got shot. A little over six hours." Glynn glanced at his watch, settled back on his haunches. "It's too tight, you need treatment. I want you at base hospital and Meagan safe at your place."
"You know I'm not gonna do that." Del pushed herself to her feet. "I've had worse and survived. Meagan? What do you say, onward or go home?"
Glynn was right. Del needed treatment, but we had to go through the tunnels anyway. Hard to imagine her getting any further before she realized she needed the hospital.
I squeezed Glynn’s arm, hoping he understood. "We haven't found Aidan yet."
Del flashed a quick smile at me.
Glynn let out a long sigh, glanced at his watch again then back toward the narrow track. He looked at Del then me, his face grave. "We better get moving."
We scrambled to our still waiting bicycles.
I arranged my satchel around my chest. "It's lucky for us the addicts didn't strip the bikes for anything to sell."
"No luck involved. The weapons are worth a great deal more than old bicycles." Del stifled a groan as she gripped the handlebars. "Not far ahead, the track curves to the right then dips into the beginning of the underground loop. An old walking track runs alongside it."
Glynn checked his gun and thrust it back into the holster. He found a small torch in one of his pockets and flicked it on for a few seconds. "Stick together. Follow me. It will be bloody black in there. We'll hug the tunnel wall. Ready?"
He didn't wait for an answer. Glynn climbed onto the bike, stood on the pedals and cycled ahead. We rode for ten minutes in silence. The underground loop appeared ahead like the hungry open mouth of Hell. Moonlight and twinkling stars from above, absolute blackness within. The lights on our bikes cast bouncing yellow circles of light as we moved.
At the entrance to the tunnel, Glynn switched on the torch. He grabbed my hand and guided me to a step about a foot high. "Stick to this narrow concrete ledge right next to the tunnel wall." He lifted the bicycle onto the ledge. "Climb onto it and stay on the path."
Narrow was too generous a description. My feet and the bicycle just fit. Pushing the bicycle along, I scraped my knuckles, my knees, or my shoulders or everything at once. No one else complained, so I kept quiet too.
With every step my body quivered. Maybe it was just the death energy draining away. Tingles fired across my skin. I didn’t sense anything dead or undead close by, but if twitcher undead hung around these tunnels how would they feel to me? My head burst with more questions than answers. Del wanted her son, Glynn wanted both of us safe, and I wanted to understand what the hell was going on. I shook the tightness from my shoulders, nothing for it but to press on.
Speed was impossible. I followed Glynn as closely as I dared. Del followed me, hunched over the bike, her front wheel often bumping mine.
"Stop here." Glynn stopped suddenly, I bounced off his back wheel, Del smacked into my heel.
"I don't want to waste the torch battery." Glynn’s disembodied voice echoed around the tunnel. "We'll know when we get to the platform, the wall will disappear. Don't move too far from the opening."
He edged forward. Del and I followed.
"These bike lights are useless." I thumped the front tire into the ground. "I wish we had another torch."
"Can't you flick your wrist and create light from the end of your wand?" Del sounded curious.
"If only I could." My library lived far away; little chance I'd find a spell for creating light anyway. Could I ask a spirit to light the way for us? I let out a deep laugh.
"Share the joke!" Glynn called out.
"Maybe a spirit could help..."
"That's the last thing we need." Glynn harrumphed. "More undead."
"Most spirits are friendly—"
"Maybe to you." Del barked out a laugh. "Not so much for the rest of us."
"Careful, we're here." Glynn stopped again.
I dragged my fingertips along the tunnel wall, around a sharp corner and stretched out my hands. I found Glynn's bike leaning against a wall. I held onto the seat and waited next to it. Del gripped my elbow and came to a stop next to me.
"The staircase at the other end goes up to the street level platform, I think." Glynn switched the torch on and shone a feeble light into the distance.
"We can all look—"
"No. You two stay there. I don't want anyone falling onto the tracks or getting lost."
Del groaned, blew a raspberry through her lips. She leaned back against the bike seat and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm counting to sixty."
"You can keep counting to six hundred. Just don't move." Glynn moved quickly even though the torch only lit a few feet ahead of his steps. "Got it?" His tone deepened. He was used to calling out orders. Used to having them obeyed. "Keep talking."
"One. Two. Three. Four. Five...." Del drawled out each number slowly, her voice full of sarcasm.
In the almost-dark, with Del’s voice droning on, a distinctive odor wrapped itself around me. A funk of stale air, dust, grease, and something vaguely metallic.
At the count of thirty, Glynn headed back to us. "Found it. We'll leave the bikes here." He fumbled for my hand and gripped it tightly. "Hold on to Del."
I grabbed Del's hand and we set off together like a trio of school kids. At the stairs, I gripped the handrail and lifted my feet slowly from one step to the next. Two flights took us to a huge cavern. Drafts of stale, cool air lifted damp hair from my neck, raised goosebumps and set my skin shivering.
"This is the main station, Westmead." Del sniffed as if she recognized the smell of it.
Glynn p
ulled on my hand. "One more set of steps—"
"And street level is next if we've got our bearings right." Del jolted to a stop.
"Glynn. Stop. Del—"
"I'm okay." She blew out a long sigh. "Just a spasm."
Glynn pulled us into a circle. "You need to rest."
"Yeah I know. Thanks to your friend here, the wound is twanging like it’s a few days old."
Glynn nudged Del to the front and helped her up the steps. I followed behind. At the top of the steps moonlight cast a gray sheen across a broad tiled area. Del leaned heavily against me as we crossed the tiled platform, a huge dusty sign was still legible— ‘Piriam West Plaza.’ It had been a grand place once.
We'd made it to street level in the old city.
Glynn led us to a bench under the sign. "You two wait here."
"No." Del thumped his arm. "The Edwards building is across the road. We’ve got this close, I am going in."
Glynn muttered but led us to an alleyway that ran alongside the towering office building. A few steps along he pointed to a ramp leading down. "This is the car park."
Del lurched forward, gripped the handrail and ran down. Glynn shot after her, hooked his arm around her waist and supported her into the depths. A pang of jealousy stabbed into my belly. They'd been friends for a long time. Relied on one another through training and battles. I gritted my teeth and forced the green monster out of my head. It wouldn't help to find Aidan. I ran after them, senses alert, scanning the deserted car park for any signs of Aidan.
Glynn shone the narrow flickering beam around us. The pale-yellow light barely broke through the enveloping blackness. "Where to Meagan?"
"It's this floor. Can't explain, but I'm sure of it. Give me the torch."
With the torch I edged onward, my arms stretched out as in my vision. A draught wafted refreshing cool air across my arms. Cool, but tinged with a metallic, stale odor. My fingertips touched one of the square pillars that dotted the empty space. Just as I'd seen in my vision, no windows, no doors. Aidan had been in the corner of this enormous and completely dark room. The metallic odor hit the back of my throat, oily dust tickled my nose.
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