“It’s this or bring your brother in,” she said, even though she knew she should keep her mouth shut.
“Axl?” James shifted so he was facing her. “Why?”
He’d been here for a year and she’d be a fool to think that he hadn’t picked up on things along the way. He had to know by now that they weren’t using his blood to create a vaccine, and he had to know that his immunity was something special.
“He’s immune too.” It was too much information and she knew it, but what could he do with it? He couldn’t leave, and everyone who came into his room already knew that Axl was immune to the virus. James would gain nothing from the information, but it might give her something. It might make him more willing to please her the next time she came to him.
“Shit,” James said again.
They were once again silent.
Dr. Helton lowered her legs and pulled the sheet up to her chin. She should leave, but the stiff cot was oddly inviting, as was the warm body of the prisoner at her side.
“What’s goin’ on out there?” James asked when he realized that she had no intention of leaving.
“Atlanta is starting over.”
“Don’t bullshit me. I ain’t as dumb as I sound and I know you and whoever you work for got no intention of lettin’ things go back to the way they was. You did this, didn’t you?”
“How do you mean?” she asked even though she knew what he was asking.
What she didn’t know was how he had figured it out. How did he know that she and the team of doctors she was working with had started this? Had someone said something in front of him that they shouldn’t have? She certainly hadn’t. Until now, she had barely spoken to Angus James.
“The virus. The zombies. You’re responsible for it all, ain’t you?”
“Not me directly, no, but I’m part of the team that released the virus.” She licked her lips, wondering how much she should say or if it would even matter. She couldn’t see how. “We planned it, but there was a glitch we weren’t expecting that prevented us from accomplishing our goals. That’s where you come in. We needed to study someone immune so we could move forward.”
“And now you’re hopin’ to make a baby that’s immune too. Shit.” He pushed himself up and stared down at her, but in the darkness of the room he was little more than a shadowy outline, making it impossible for her to read his expression. “It’ll be yours too, you know that. Your baby. You gonna let them poke it with needles and inject it with the virus? You gonna stand by and watch them torture it the way they been torturing me?”
Heat flared through her that was a mixture of shame and anger. She shoved the sheet away and got to her feet. “I’ve never been very maternal.”
Dr. Helton stood with her back to James as she pulled her clothes on, her face hot and her body shaking. She breathed slowly in and out of her nose, but it didn’t calm her and she was still angry when she was finally dressed. She didn’t look back at James as she headed for the door, too shaken by her sudden feelings to acknowledge him. Good. Hopefully she had gotten the asshole out of her system.
She made sure he was drugged when she visited him the next day, and the day after that. She kept their encounters brief and clinical, keeping as much of their clothes on as she could. Between her visits she did her best to avoid his cell altogether, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she wanted to see him. To talk to him even. It made no sense considering her position, but the desire was there and she couldn’t make it go away.
Day four of her breeding experiment found her busy in the labs, and even though she felt the urge to go to him, she continued with her work instead. They had copulated five times now, and despite the fact that she knew her chances of conceiving would go up if she continued to visit him every day, she also knew she needed distance from this man. And she needed the drugs. She needed him to be out of it when she finally did visit him.
Over the next several weeks she visited Angus James nearly every day. Each time she made sure he was in twilight sleep before she went, and each time she made sure it was over quickly.
The last time she went to see him her monthly cycle was two days late. Although she knew with almost certainty that she was pregnant, she hadn’t yet gotten a blood test. Once she did she would no longer have an excuse to visit Angus James in his cell, and although she knew it was the best thing for her, she wasn’t ready to walk away yet. She wanted one more night with him before she said goodbye. One more night when he was totally with it.
She went in the middle of the night again, slipping into his room shortly after three o’clock and stripping down just as she had before. This time when she slid into bed at his side, she woke him with a kiss. He responded, just as she had hoped he would, still half asleep but leaning into her like he’d been waiting for her arrival.
She undressed him as they kissed, removing all of his clothes for the first time and allowing their bodies to fully appreciate each other. James appeared to understand that this was the last time, and like her, he seemed to want to savor it.
They took their time, exploring one another the way they hadn’t been able to before, and when he finally pushed inside her, the act was slow and deliberate. They never said a word, not from the second she slid into his bed to the moment of his climax, but there was something sweet about the silence.
When they were done James rolled onto his back and she found her head resting on his chest. His heart beat against her head, reminding her that he was a living, breathing person. It wasn’t something she liked to think about, but it was true. He was a prisoner here. He was her prisoner.
“What can I do to make your time here easier?” she said after a few minutes of silence.
“Books would be nice. Maybe some cards or some other kinda game I can play by myself.”
“Crossword puzzles?” she asked, thinking that there had to be hundreds of old crossword puzzle books just lying around.
“I’d try anything once.”
She nodded. “What else?”
“I wanna know what’s going on with ‘em. I wanna know if they’re okay and if they’re happy.”
“That sounds reasonable,” she said even though she knew Star wouldn’t like it. Of course, Star wouldn’t like what she had just done either, and telling Angus what was going on with his family was nothing in comparison. “Lila and Al have a baby boy, they named him Luke, and Joshua is working here at the CDC as a doctor. Axl and Vivian are raising Megan as their own. She’s a little over a year old now and absolutely beautiful. Green eyes and dark hair.” The image of the little baby flashed through her mind and Dr. Helton’s heart constricted painfully. She ignored it and went on. “They’re just trying to get on with life.”
“That it?”
“Pretty much.” She hesitated, thinking about The Church and its growing popularity, and after only a second of hesitation decided to tell James about it. “A new religion has sprung up since this all started, they call it The Church. It started small but it’s gaining momentum. It’s centered around the savior of the apocalypse, a man who was immune to the zombie virus and died saving the world. They say he gave his life coming to the CDC, but one day he will come back and save everyone again by wiping the walking dead off the face of the earth. They worship you, Angus James.”
His chest shook under her head as a chuckle rolled through his body. It grew in strength until Dr. Helton had to sit up, but still James didn’t stop. He laughed so hard that tears, barely visible in the dark room, slid down his cheeks, but even then he couldn’t get the laughter under control. It was a deep chuckle that came from deep within him and shook the entire bed.
“Well, ain’t they gonna be shit out of luck. I sure as hell ain’t comin’ back to save nobody, and even if I did, there’s nothing I could do to get rid of the fuckin’ zombies.” He laughed harder.
Dr. Helton found herself smiling, and then laughing too. Thinking about the absurdity of the people in this settlement who wasted their time praying
to this man. Angus not only wasn’t dead, but he would definitely not be coming back to save them.
“There’s a statue of you and I hear they’re building a second shrine on the other side of town.”
“A statue?” Angus wiped the back of his hand across his face. “Of me?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “Don’t that beat all.”
His laughter died down, but Dr. Helton didn’t rejoin him on the bed. Instead, she stood, knowing she needed to leave.
“I’ll be sure to get you some books and things, and I’ll let you know if anything significant happens in your family’s lives.” She pulled her underwear on, then her pants, but she was still topless when she turned to face him. “I have to get going.”
“You pregnant?” he asked, still sprawled out and naked on the bed.
“I have to take a test, but I think so.” She pulled her shirt over her head, thankful for the excuse to look away from him.
“So I’m gonna be a father after all this time. Didn’t think it would ever happen.” He snorted. “You gonna tell me when you find out?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It ain’t what I want, but it’s the way it is.”
She understood. “I’ll keep you informed as much as I can.”
“You gonna raise it?”
“No, of course not. It will be property of the CDC. We have a nurse on our team, she’s been around since the beginning and I trust her implicitly. I’m sure you’ve met her. Helen.”
James nodded.
“I plan to make her the baby’s guardian.”
James said nothing.
“I have to go.”
She turned her back to him but had only taken one step when he said, “This mean you ain’t comin’ back?”
She knew he meant like this, slipping into his bed in the middle of the night, and it warmed her to know that he actually cared. It probably had more to do with sex than with her, but that didn’t matter. He wanted her, which was something that neither one of them could have predicted.
“No.” She said the word with as much authority as she could muster, but it was weak and unconvincing. “That wouldn’t be appropriate.”
He didn’t respond, and a second later she was out the door and headed through the dark hall. It was nearly five o’clock now and she knew that in two hours time the labs would be bustling with activity. It was time to get her blood drawn so she could confirm what she already knew.
Angus James
He had only a vague sense of time, but it was aided by Dr. Helton’s growing waistline. She kept her word after their last meeting, sending him books and crossword puzzles and even a deck of cards, but she also kept her word about not coming back to see him. There were nights when he would lie awake, long after the lights had been turned off and the guards had gone to wherever they called home, hoping that she would come back, but it never happened.
The question of why he wanted to see her was something Angus didn’t want to focus on too much. It had to be sex, plain and simple, and the fact that it gave him something different to do in the otherwise monotonous existence he now had. He should hate the blonde doctor, and a part of him did, but there was another part that just wanted someone, anyone, to talk to. Even the bitch who had used and tortured and entrapped him.
As the weeks passed and the doctor’s stomach grew in size, his anger began to overshadow even his need for company. She was carrying his child, a child that had been created to serve these assholes. One who would spend its life in captivity like it was no better than a rat in a lab. It was almost too much to take.
Angus had never thought he wanted to be a father, and even now the paternal feelings radiating through him had less to do with his desire to bring children into this world than the knowledge that he was going to whether he wanted to or not. He liked kids, girls especially who he imagined had a chance of not growing up to be assholes or pricks the way most of the men he knew were, and he hated the idea of any child of his—girl or boy—being tortured.
But it would happen and there was nothing he could do about it. Dr. Helton had spoken of the baby like it wasn’t even a living thing, let alone her own child. She was a cold woman, emotionless and heartless as she went about her daily duties, disregarding human life in her pursuit of science.
Except Angus knew she wasn’t as emotionless as she wanted to seem. He’d seen a different side of her, here in his bed. Had sensed that there was more to this woman than she was letting on. She’d come to him to create a new subject for her experiments, but she had come back for other reasons.
Their last night together had made him forget that he was a prisoner and she was responsible. When they were together, they had been two different people living in a different world, and it had been good. For both of them.
But she hadn’t returned, as much as Angus knew she wanted to. He could see it in her eyes as she watched him through the glass, knew that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Knew that it was difficult, almost impossible, for her to stay away, and yet she did. Night after night, week after week, month after month.
She was six months pregnant by the time she gave in. By then he’d given up waiting, and that night when she slid into his bed, he was so surprised that he almost pushed her onto the floor. Her hand was on him before he’d even had a chance to open his eyes though, and when her lips touched his, all his loneliness and anger disappeared in the blink of an eye, replaced by the need to feel another person. To feel like he was a person.
They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. The sex was slow and needy, and he felt greedy and sick in his desire to touch every inch of her, but he couldn’t stop. Going day after day with no physical contact was driving him mad, and who knew how long it would be before she gave in again. Who knew how long he would have to wait to once again feel the warmth of another person.
It wasn’t until they had finished that he remembered the baby. She snuggled close to him and her round stomach touched his hip. The feel of it turned his body to ice and made the last thirty minutes they’d spent together seem evil and twisted.
He pushed her away, not caring that she fell, and then jumped to his feet. “Get out!” The words were so violent that it felt like they’d ripped their way out of him.
She looked up from where she was sprawled out on the ground, naked and blinking in confusion. “What? Angus, what are you—”
She’d never called him by his first name before and hearing it now felt like a lie, and he hated her for it. Hated her for making him feel like someone else when he knew exactly who he was. He was Angus James. He didn’t take shit from anyone, least of all a woman who didn’t give a damn about him.
“Whore,” he spit at her. “You lyin’ whore!” His voice echoed through the room. “I don’t want you comin’ back here, you understand? You used me and you’re gonna use her—” He pointed at Dr. Helton’s round belly, barely registering that he had called the baby a her. “That’s my baby. Mine. You can’t do what you’re gonna do then crawl into my bed at night the way you just did.” He took a step toward the doctor, who stared up at him with terrified eyes, and leaned down so their faces were only inches apart. “You come back and I’ll kill you, consequences be damned. Understand?”
She nodded as she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her clothes in the process. She didn’t even bother putting them on before running from the room.
Then she was gone and Angus found himself alone once again. Only this time it was so much worse because he knew it was permanent. She would not come back to him, and neither would anyone else. Not anymore.
His stomach lurched so violently that he barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up.
The next three months went by faster than Angus would have thought possible. Dr. Helton never came back into his room, but he saw her through the glass nearly every day. Her round stomach was a constant reminder of the hell he was living in. The bigger she got, the harder he fou
nd it to sleep at night. Soon his baby would be born. Soon he would be a father.
When her time finally came, her absence was physically painful for him. He went through his normal barrage of tests in a daze, barely noticing it when they took his temperature and blood pressure, barely feeling it when they drew blood. The day passed and he was brought lunch, but he couldn’t eat, and then it was time for dinner. He touched nothing even though his stomach growled. Instead he sat on the couch and waited for the moment that would inevitably come.
A part of him hoped the baby died.
She was more disheveled than he’d ever seen her when she finally showed up. Her blonde hair was a frizzy mess, barely contained in its ponytail and hanging down around her face. The lights in the hall, which would have normally been turned off by now, were still on and bright, highlighting the puffy skin under her eyes. She stopped at the window and watched him for a few minutes like she was unsure of what to do, but finally, having decided it was safe, she opened the door.
Dr. Helton stayed in the doorway. “It’s a girl.”
He nodded as a mixture of sickness and pride twisted his insides. “Healthy?”
“Very.”
“Name?”
“They will call her Test Subject 06.”
He turned his gaze to the floor. “Pretty.”
“I promised I’d tell you.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
He expected to hear the door shut, but there was no sound, so he lifted his gaze. She was still standing in the doorway watching him, and to his surprise, there were tears shimmering in her eyes.
“She won’t be hurt.”
“There are lots of ways to hurt a person,” he replied.
“I guess that’s true.” She crossed her arms. “Have you changed your mind?”
“No.” There was so little venom in the word that it didn’t sound convincing, but he knew she wouldn’t come back unless he told her it was okay. He had to bite down on his bottom lip to stop from saying it. The idea of company, of feeling the warmth of another human being, was almost too intoxicating to resist.
Twisted World Series Box Set | Books 1-3 & Novella Page 54