Jack teased his mouth over hers, ignoring the bitter taste of ash clinging to her lips. She was alive and willingly in his arms. He couldn’t ask for more than that.
Emma clutched at his chest, her desperate need for touch and reassurance overwhelming her. Jack’s tongue dipped between her lips as he kissed her with the same urgency she displayed. His thoughts returned to the wild lovemaking they had shared with Max. He had experienced such a connection to Emma and wanted to nurture it, to watch it grow into a real relationship.
Jack eased his mouth from Emma’s and smiled down at her. He gathered her loose hair in one hand and stroked her face with the other. “Better?”
She nodded and offered a small smile. “A little. More of that kissing would help.”
He laughed and pecked her forehead. “Later, Emma. I promise Max and I will make all this up to you.”
“Max,” she whispered, her face screwing up in distress. “God, I spoke so awfully to him.”
“He’s tough. He’ll get over it.” Jack traced her lower lip. “Believe me, he’s heard worse.”
“Still,” Emma said, her voice soft. “It was wrong of me to lash out at him like that and accuse him of burning down my house.”
“So tell him that,” Jack replied matter-of-factly.
“I will.”
Glad they had made it through their first argument, Jack guided Emma away from her home and toward the slowly gathering group of men. They were streaming in from the pits they had dug overnight to incinerate the zombie bodies. Max had put them to work downwind from the house, sparing Emma from the awful stench of accelerant and burning flesh. Not that Emma hadn’t performed the same gruesome task many times on her own. Now that she belonged to them, they both hoped the horrors she had endured would never need to be repeated.
Jack left Emma near the edge of the group while he sought out the pilot and spoke to him about readying the craft for takeoff. He was heading back to Emma when he picked up a partial transmission from Max.
…no need to share that information. Let’s keep it locked down tight.
As if sensing his unintended intrusion, Max glanced back from his position near an aircraft and frowned at Jack. He engaged a mental block, and Jack was thrust right out of Max’s thoughts. It wasn’t uncommon for Max to be given classified information beyond Jack’s clearance level so he didn’t give much thought to what he had heard.
A short time later, Max pinged him with a private transmission. Is she still mad at us?
No. She’s coming around. Be nice to her, Max.
I’m not a child, Jack. I don’t need your reminders to play nice.
Jack didn’t want to argue with his old friend. Their gazes met across the field. Max stalked toward them, his drooping shoulders betraying his exhaustion. Jack hated that Max wouldn’t get a rest once they reached the Outpost. His position and rank would keep him busy for hours, especially once the general got ahold of him.
Max’s frown pulled Jack from his thoughts. He glanced over at Emma and saw her talking with two of the younger human soldiers. She looked almost at ease with them, not completely comfortable but not terrified either. Jack hoped Max wouldn’t go all possessive on Emma. The last thing they needed was his jealous streak getting in the way.
Emma’s face brightened as Max drew near. She stepped away from the two soldiers she had been conversing with and walked straight toward Max. His frown melted the second she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his broad chest. She wrinkled her nose. “Ew! You stink!”
Max made a throaty noise before chuckling. “I missed you, too, Emma.”
“I did miss you, Max,” she said and leaned back to look up into his eyes. “I’m sorry about what I said to you last night. I totally lost my shit out there and just blew up.”
Max stroked her hair. “I won’t lie, Emma. It…bothered me to be yelled at by you. Especially in front of my men.”
Jack noticed the way Emma seemed surprised by the last part. Realization dawned as she made a guilty face. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Max assured her, even though it really wasn’t. Anyone else would have been severely disciplined for addressing Max in that way. “You’re not used to our style of life. You’ll adjust. But,” he said carefully, “you have to respect my position. I don’t doubt that you and I are going to continue butting heads.” He glanced at Jack who smiled knowingly. “I’m not the easiest person to live with.”
“No, really?” Emma asked sarcastically. “I never would have guessed.”
Max smiled and swept hair from her eyes. “I would appreciate it if we keep our arguments and shouting matches confined to our home. Last night, there were special circumstances, but it wouldn’t be good for me or Jack if we have those kinds of scenes on the Outpost.”
“I understand.”
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, they were getting somewhere. He sensed the issue of open communication would be an ongoing one in the household. “Your guys ready, Max?”
He nodded. “As soon as the relief crew gets here, we’ll load up and go. They’ll cement the bodies and cordon off the site.”
“What about that other team?” Emma asked, her concern clear. “The scary ones? The guy who was poking fun at me?”
“Rafe?” Jack guessed. She nodded. “They’re part of the Zed squad. They’ll find their own way back. Why?”
“They aren’t going to harass people are they? Because I’m telling you,” she glanced at both of them, “my people aren’t going to take kindly to a team of cyborgs sniffing around their homes. And when I say that, I mean, remember my arsenal? Yeah, multiply that by ten, and that’s the kind of firepower your men are going to be up against if they try to trespass.”
Jack frowned at her description. “I wish you’d told us that earlier, Emma.”
“Yeah, well, I was kind of wrapped up in my own fresh hell all night so you’ll have to excuse me for not putting everyone else first.”
Max grinned almost evilly and didn’t even try to hide his amusement. No doubt the bastard loved that Jack was the one getting a taste of Emma’s waspish tongue.
Max stepped away to find a radio. “I’ll take care of it.”
“That reminds me,” Emma said and pulled her radio from her waistband. She inhaled a steadying breath and started to broadcast in Morse code. She waited almost a minute before a response filtered across the airwaves. Smiling, she lifted the radio and spoke. “Knox in box.”
“Fox in socks,” replied an unfamiliar female voice. Young like Emma, Jack supposed, and not the same girl she had spoken to last night. “Oh, god, Emma!” The young woman was crying. “I’m so happy to hear your voice.”
Emma’s throat worked up and down. “I’m glad to hear yours, Avery.”
The arrival of the relief crew and their helicopter interrupted Emma’s radio conversation. She said something Jack couldn’t hear over the thud of helicopter blades. When the helicopter moved on to its landing spot, Jack picked up the conversation again.
“The Hills put out a blast to everyone with your message last night,” Avery said. “The Keatons were heading your way, ready to make war, but they ran into some problems on the road. Skin traders and zombies, apparently. People are going crazy worrying about you.”
“I’m fine, Avery. I’m okay. The house,” Emma paused as she looked at the smoldering ruins, “the house is gone. The farm. The animals. Everything. Gone.”
“Emma,” Avery said sadly. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m alive and that’s what matters.”
“Yes! Absolutely. So—what are you going to do? If you want, we’ll come get you. Or I can get ahold of Leila. I’m sure they’d be happy to pick you up and bring you to New Town or Borden’s Crossing.”
Emma glanced back at Jack. He tried to keep his face impassive and not betray how desperate he was for her to say no. Beside him, Max stiffened. He had obviously been eavesdropping even while communicating with Butle
r about keeping away from the human settlements unless specifically asked for help.
“Thanks, but I’ve made other plans,” Emma said finally.
“Other plans? What do you mean?”
“I’m heading to Outpost Nine with the cyborgs who saved me.” Her gaze never left Jack’s. She made her announcement loud and clear, her voice calm and assured.
“You’re what? Emma, you can’t do that! I know you’re scared and you’ve just survived a trauma but this isn’t the answer.”
“Avery—”
“Wait, Emma, do you remember the time my sister, Kate, wanted to go the Rio Grande?”
Emma laughed and shook her head. “Avery, you don’t have a sister, and I don’t need to use the codes we were taught to use if captured. I really did make this decision on my own. I want to go. I’m ready.”
“Emma, I don’t know.” Avery’s voice quavered. “You’re my best friend in the whole world. What if I never see you again?”
Emma shot a worried look at Jack. He hurriedly calmed her nerves by promising, “You’ll be allowed to keep your radio, and Max and I will find you a bigger, more powerful transceiver. You can have guests too. It won’t be a problem.”
Emma relayed the information to her friend, but she didn’t sound convinced. “Well, Emma, if you’re sure this is what you want.”
“It is. It’s time, Avery. Four years, and this is what it took to get me off my land.”
Avery laughed. “Only you, Emma, would need a horde of zombies, cyborgs, and an explosion to push you toward a fresh start.” There were a few seconds of silence before the girl spoke again. “You better radio me, like every day, Emma. Or, I swear, I’m going to round up Leila and some other friends and we’re going to come bust you out.”
Emma grinned. “I promise, Avery. I’ll radio you every day. It just might take me a couple of days to round up the equipment I need to fix that thing.”
Jack knew immediately what she meant. She had admitted last night to scrambling signals to keep her Chain off the Outpost’s radar. To transmit from inside the wire, she would have to either disable the scrambler completely or send and receive her transmissions through a descrambler. She had obviously choose the latter, even though it was more difficult. He knew enough of Emma to believe she would go the extra mile rather than put her friends’ transmissions at risk.
“Oh, right. The thing.”
“Will you send my news up the chain? And tell people to stay away from my house and the woods. It’s not safe. Something’s not right. After what I witnessed last night, I think we need to be more careful. There’s something bigger than trained zombies going on out there, Avery.”
“Agreed,” her friend answered. “Everyone’s talking about it today.” She snorted. “Apparently, the Hills had a run-in with some cyborgs chasing down those zombies who attacked you. They let their dogs loose on them!”
Emma’s jaw dropped. “They didn’t!”
Jack glanced at Max who nodded grimly and motioned toward his radio.
“It seems like cyborgs aren’t fans of dogs. Ran like a bunch of scared babies and flew away in their helicopter.”
Emma chuckled. “Well, to be fair to the cyborgs, I’m not sure I’d classify the Hills’ pets as dogs. They’re big as horses and meaner than coyotes.”
“Regardless, they’re good cyborg deterrents. Maybe I’ll trade for a couple of them and keep them with me on the convoy. Last thing I need is a cyborg trying to grab me and haul me back to the Outpost.”
“But then we could have a sleepover!” Emma giggled and grinned, her infectious smile causing Jack’s lips to curve upwards. He was starting to like her silly streak.
“You always see the silver lining, Emma.”
“It’s a good survival strategy.”
“Boy, ain’t that the truth.”
Emma’s gaze flicked to Jack and then back to her radio. She looked a little sad. “All right, Avery. I think the team is ready to leave.”
“Be safe, Emma.”
“I will, Avery. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’m holding you to that!”
Emma ended her transmission and switched off the power on her radio. Jack walked over, took the radio from her hand and tucked it into the small front pouch on her backpack. He clasped her hand and led her to the waiting helicopter. The rotors were kicking up dust and grass as they spun faster and faster. Jack put his hand on the top of Emma’s head, keeping it down and out of harm’s way. It was a silly and overprotective thing to do considering Emma was only an inch or two over five feet but it made him feel better.
When they reached the wide open doors, he grasped her by the waist and handed her up to Max. Jack jumped in after her and directed her to one of the chairs behind the cockpit. After helping her out of her backpack, he strapped her in with the harness and slapped a pair of headphones over her ears to dampen the loud noise. He gave her a thumbs-up that she mimicked with a silly grin on her face. He ruffled her hair and moved over to the door where he hooked a safety harness around his waist.
One of the cyborg soldiers handed him a rifle. Jack clipped a tether onto the rifle as an extreme precaution to keep it from falling out of the helicopter and slipped into the safety harness. As the helicopter lifted from the ground, Jack glanced over at Emma. She had an almost envious look on her face. He decided then and there he would find a way to sneak her onto a helicopter some day and let her go sky hunting with him. She would love it.
The flight was uneventful. Jack split his focus between scanning the ground for zombies and watching Emma. She seemed to be handling the shaking and speed of the flight well. Sometimes people got sick during their first helicopter rides. The longer they traveled, the more her eyelids drooped. She needed hot food, a hot shower and a comfortable bed.
As they crossed into Outpost territory, Jack allowed his arm to relax. He noticed movement by Emma and watched as one of the human soldiers sitting near her feet tapped her bare leg and offered her a granola bar. She stared at the packaged bar suspiciously before opening the wrapper and taking a tiny bite. She made a face and shuddered before trying to hand it back to the soldier. He just laughed and pushed it back toward her mouth. He made an eating gesture and then unscrewed the lid from his canteen. Emma reconsidered his offer and gave a little nod. She ate the granola bar and sipped water from the canteen for the rest of the ride.
When they started to descend, Emma returned the canteen to its owner and mouthed the words thank you. The young kid winked back at her, rubbed her thigh and returned his canteen to his pack. Jack’s gaze slid to Max’s face. Sharing his supplies with Emma was one thing but winking at her and touching her leg had crossed one of Max’s lines. Jack figured the boy was in for an earful when they set down. Human males competed with the cyborgs for female affection. They tended to be more successful than cyborgs, a fact that would set off Max’s insecurities.
Max was out of his seat the second the helicopter touched the landing pad. Jack started to rise, worried Max was going to approach the young soldier right there in the back of the helicopter. He was pleasantly surprised that Max crouched down in front of Emma and unbuckled her from the seat harness. While the rest of the team jumped out of the helicopter, Jack weaved around them to reach Max and Emma.
“I can’t believe you guys eat those things,” Emma was saying. She made a disgusted face. “They’re awful. Seriously, they taste like sawdust. Is that what all of your food tastes like?”
Jack smiled and shook his head “No, Emma. Those are just battle rations. The food here on base is just as good as what you served us.”
“Thank goodness! I thought I was going to starve to death if that was typical of the food here at the Outpost. I didn’t want to be rude to the guy who gave me his ration so I just choked it down.”
“I wanted to choke him,” Max muttered as he lifted Emma to her feet.
“Why?” Emma frowned up at him. “Because he touched me?”
“Yes.”
Max ground out the word angrily. “No one should touch you but me or Jack. You’re not some plaything for the other men to put their hands on.”
“Are you jealous, Max?” Emma stroked his arm. She smiled sexily at Jack and touched his chest. “Honestly, after last night, the two of you don’t need to worry. I’m not interested in having anyone else touch me but you two.”
Heat sizzled through Jack’s groin. Emma’s impish smile and the way her fingers walked up and down his chest made him hard. How easy would it be to sneak a few kisses in the back of the helicopter without getting caught? She made him crazy with lust and need.
“Captain Stillwater? Major Cardwell?”
Max growled and stalked toward the open doors. “What?”
“Uh, sir, I think you’ve got a problem.”
Jack didn’t like the sound of that. He grabbed Emma and slid her behind him. He reached back and put his hand on her hip. “What is it, Max?”
“I don’t know. Stay here.” Max hopped from the helicopter and disappeared from view.
“Jack, what’s—”
“Sh, Emma,” Jack admonished. “I need to listen.” He engaged his enhanced hearing and heard the smooth roll of tires and the squeak of brakes. Boots hit pavement. Irritated voices snapped back and forth.
Quarantine, Jack. They want to lock her up for seventy-two hours and do a proper intake.
Max’s message hit Jack like a punch to the gut. “Shit.”
“What?” Emma’s fear radiated through his chest. “What is it?”
He spun around and clasped her face between his hands. “Listen to me, Emma. We’re going to be separated from you for a few days.”
“What?” She recoiled in terror. “No!”
“Emma,” Jack tried to quell her panic but it was no use. “It’s standard procedure when there’s been a big incident like this. They’ll put you in a hospital room, run some tests and then let you go.”
“No!” Tears filled Emma’s eyes. “Please, don’t make me go. I don’t want to leave you or Max.”
Emma: Part Two (Outpost Nine Book 2) Page 3
