Mercury Striking

by Rebecca Zanetti

  “A cure?” Sami breathed, doubt wrinkling her forehead.

  “Yes, or maybe,” Lynne said.

  Sami nodded. “Fair enough. I’m going to teach a class on basic hand-to-hand. Tace, let’s meet up later to shoot before the next raid.” She crossed to the door and then turned. “If we get the generators to work, is there any chance we could use a computer?”

  “Maybe, but why? The ’net is down,” Lynne said.

  “I know. But what if we went to where the servers are?” Sami shuffled her feet. “Is it possible?”

  Tace shook his head. “I don’t see how we’d generate enough power, even with solar panels as well as generators.”

  Sami sighed. “That’s harsh, Tace.”

  “It’s the new harsh me,” Tace returned, the truth slamming him in the gut.

  Sami left without another word.

  Lynne glanced at him. “You’re still dealing with the aftermath of the most dangerous bacterial infection to ever attack humans. Give it time.”

  Tace eyed the woman he’d only known as Blue Heart until recently. Intelligence and weariness shone from her deep green eyes while dark circles marred the smooth, pale skin above her cheekbones. A dark bruise, purple striated with yellow, spread over her slender throat from the Ripper attack the day before. She moved carefully as if on alert and ready to flee at the slightest sound. “You’ve seen some shit,” Tace said slowly.

  She focused on him. “Who hasn’t?”

  Good point. “You know if we find positive results in those ten boxes of papers you brought, we might have to rig up a lab somehow.”

  She lifted her chin, resignation curving her pink lips. “I know.”

  “Are you ready to give blood if necessary?” He’d seen her arms and couldn’t even imagine how much blood had been already taken. She’d lined up the blue, green, and pink vials of different liquids on the counter even though they didn’t have refrigeration. Not all compounds needed to be cool, yet he didn’t like the idea of mutated Scorpius being so close. “I’m just a medic,” he said slowly, his gaze on the bright vials.

  “I’m ready.” She wiped grime off the table. “And you’re not just a medic anymore. Now you’re a medic, soldier, and lab tech. Like the rest of us.”

  He wasn’t like anybody else, not anymore. He might have survived the fever, and he might not want to kill anybody, but Scorpius still thrived inside him, turning him into somebody different. Somebody new. Who, he had no clue. But for the first time, he lacked the internal compass he’d used his entire life. What was good and what was bad?

  The line had disappeared.

  Jax finished training a group of girls in knife fighting and hustled across the road to the infirmary, his mind clicking possible raiding locations into order. He needed ammo and gasoline, and it was time to hunt. Although it was only midmorning, he’d given Lynne and Tace enough time to go through boxes.

  It was time to call the president.

  Lynne worked in the makeshift lab, where several pictures of Scorpius decorated one wall.

  The damn blue blob looked fucking harmless, didn’t it? “Pretty pictures,” he murmured.

  Sitting at a small round table, she glanced up from a stack of papers, her gaze slowly focusing. “You said you liked the blue.” Her voice came out scratchy.

  “I like the blue inside your body because it’s inside your body, and I like you naked.” He looked at the macabre artwork. “I do not like the bacteria.”

  She looked up at the pictures, her face pale and lines of stress tightening her pretty mouth. “You have to admire its strength. So small as to be invisible, it divides and conquers humans, who are so much more advanced and have heart and intelligence.”

  He didn’t admire shit. “All I see is the enemy, which I’m going to take down without mercy. There’s no time for admiration.” Striding forward, he dropped to his haunches. “Let me see your neck.”

  She batted away his hand. “It’s just a little bruise.” The hoarseness of her voice belied the statement.

  “Humph.” He ignored her movement and slid his fingers into her hair, gently tipping her head to reveal the bruise on her neck. The sight pricked his temper, so he softened his voice. “Looks painful.”

  “It’s fine.” She planted a hand in the center of his chest, slamming pain into his ribs, and he bit back a snarl. “How’s your injury?” she asked.

  He met her gaze and released her hair. “Surface damage with no problems breathing.” If he could breathe, he could fight, and that was all that mattered. He pointed at the stacks of paper. “Find anything yet?”

  “No, but all of it’s out of order, so I’m flying in the dark here.” She tapped the nearest pile. “This is research I actually sent to Myriad, but they made notations in several areas, so I’m reading those.” Several more boxes lined the floor by the far counters, and she pointed at them. “I’m hoping Myriad printed hard copies of all their research, but we don’t even know that for sure.”

  He glanced around, restless with tension. “We’re under a time crunch.”

  “Yes. The box of vitamin B won’t last long, and people like Tace really need a full six months of shots as Scorpius goes to work in their bodies. If we don’t find more B or a way to help the body produce the vitamin in larger quantities, we might lose Tace.”

  Fuck. Jax couldn’t put down an insane Tace. His heart thumped at how hard Lynne was working for people she didn’t even know. He set his hand on her thigh, wanting to touch. “I’ve always liked smart girls.”

  Her eyes lightened with a smile. “Have you, now?”

  “Yep.” Seeing the genuine amusement in her eyes warmed him, and he stopped worrying about her bruise. She’d heal.

  She shuffled papers in front of her, her gaze catching. “Wait a minute.”

  He stilled. “Huh?”

  She scrambled for a page toward the bottom. “Oh my God.”

  His breath caught. “Explain.”

  She reached for a pencil and began scribbling quicker than he could read. “They found something.” Her voice rose in pitch. “They have a formula for synthesizing vitamin B in the human body.”

  He blinked. “A cure?”

  She lifted her head, her eyes focusing. “No, not a cure. Not yet, anyway. But the formula includes simple compounds mixed with my blood—heated and mutated. Ingredients we may be able to find . . . and my weird blue blood from squid.”

  His heart thundered. “Is it doable?”

  She chuckled, joy in the sound. “I think so. I mean, if their math is correct, and once we see if any of this new lab equipment works, I may be able to create an injection that synthesizes vitamin B. It uses the actual Scorpius bacterium, which we can obviously easily get, mutates it with heat, mixes with my mutated blood, and creates a new form of the bacterium that interacts with our cells.”

  “No more injections?” he breathed.

  “No.” She blinked and looked back down at the papers. “The interaction, if it works, makes the body produce B like it would with antibodies and vaccines. Our kidneys and liver actually take over. We really found something at Myriad. It’s here. I can do this.”

  “Good.” His tone of voice must’ve alerted her, because she leaned back and focused on him. “I want to contact Lake and Atherton now to set up a rendezvous. When Raze and I go to meet with them, if something goes wrong, and we don’t make it back, Tace is taking command.”

  Her eyebrows lifted.

  “I know, but even infected, he’s the best I have right now, and I can’t leave Raze here.”

  “Why not? You still don’t trust Raze?”

  “No, I don’t.” Jax shook his head. “I like the guy, and I have to believe he’ll have my back, but I don’t know him, and he has his own agenda.” Part of the reason Jax was allowing Raze on the mission was to keep an eye on him. “I trust Tace, even with Scorpius haunting him. He’ll protect you if it comes to that. The bacteria changed me, too, and I’m still fighting for the righ
t side. I think.”

  Her gaze softened. “You are. I’m sure of it.”

  “Good, because it’s time for me to go call your ex and arrange a meeting.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Surrender is never an option.

  —Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony

  Jax left a pale Lynne reading documents in her lab and hustled down to the closet where Ernie fiddled with dials.

  “I want to call Lake and Atherton,” Jax said. It’d just stress Lynne out to listen, so he wanted to call out and make a plan while she kept busy, although he’d had to warn her out of fairness.

  The older man was pale, and his right hand trembled.

  “You okay?” Jax asked, shutting the door.

  Ernie twisted another dial. “Yeah. Ran out of my heart medication about a month ago, and I’ve gotten the shakes.” Even his voice quivered.

  A knock sounded on the door, and Byron poked his head in. “Are you calling out soon?”

  “Yeah.” Ernie kept his gaze on the buttons. “The sun disappeared a week ago, and I haven’t been able to charge the batteries with the solar panels, Jax. If you want power, we’re gonna have to use one of the generators and gas.”

  Jax scrubbed both hands down his face. “How long will it take?”

  Byron straightened. “Not long at all.” He loped inside and went behind the desk, messed with a bunch of wires, and ignited the generator. The thing hummed like a quiet bird. He grinned. “I tweaked it yesterday.”

  Jax nodded. The kid was impressive. “Get to it, Ernie. We want to cut off the generator as soon as possible.” Shit, he hated using gas like this. “You’ve got their frequency, right?”

  “Yeah. High frequency and it will bounce off the ionosphere.” Ernie fiddled again. “This is Ernie Baysted, NS789 calling Greg Lake, UT980 near Las Vegas.”

  Static echoed, and a voice came over. “This is President Atherton. I don’t know the call sign bullshit, but we’ve been waiting for you. Is Jax Mercury there?”

  The hair on the back of Jax’s neck stood up, and fire rushed through his gut. He was about to speak with the man who’d harmed Lynne, if it really was Atherton. Jax dug deep for training and took the hand-held microphone from Ernie. “This is Jax Mercury, Mr. President. Are you ready to meet?”

  “Yes. We’ll meet at Franco’s Casino along I-15 on the California-Nevada border at three this afternoon,” Atherton said.

  “Affirmative. Fifteen hundred hours at Franco’s,” Jax said. He needed to get moving.

  “How many will you bring with you?” Atherton asked.

  “Just me,” Jax lied easily. That afternoon worked for him—the sooner the better. “Our forces are down and the gang wars have continued, so I can’t afford to bring any men.”

  “Understood,” Atherton responded. “We have reports that Lynne Harmony, the woman known as Blue Heart, is heading toward California. Have you made contact with either Dr. Harmony or anybody who has had contact with her?”

  “Negative,” Jax said, his heart thrumming. “Your lieutenant mentioned before that Harmony is infected with an even stronger version of Scorpius. Can you confirm?”

  “Yes. The blue took over her heart, mutated, and created an even deadlier form of the bacteria. She’s gone crazy and is trying to take out the human race.” Atherton cleared his throat. “How many people are in your, ah, community?”

  Jax leaned back. “We’ll discuss my people in person.”

  Silence crackled. “I’m the president of the United States,” boomed over the line.

  Jax lifted an eyebrow. “So you say. I’ll believe you in person.”

  “Very well. At that time, Master Sergeant Mercury, I expect you to cooperate and bring your people into the fold.”

  “Fair enough. See you at fifteen hundred hours. Mercury out.” He took great pleasure in hanging up on the president. “Hell.” He might have to kill the bastard. He glanced over at Byron. “What are you still doing here?”

  The kid’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I have a compact ham radio for traveling—created it from a damaged radio and a bunch of old parts. I think I should go with you, just to call out, in case.”

  Good damn idea.

  Ernie shook his head, sending wispy gray hair across his shoulders. “I’ll go. You need to stay here with your girl.” He kept his gaze down, and his shoulders trembled.

  Jax clapped him on the back. “Are you sure? You don’t look so good.”

  Ernie nodded. “I’m sure. I don’t have a lot of time left. The kid stays here to protect his own.”

  Fair enough. Jax stood. “Be ready in half an hour. I want to get there early and scope the place out.” The drive should take about four hours.

  “If it’s really the government, do you think they have medicine and food?” Byron asked, his eyes wide behind the wire-rimmed glasses.

  “I hope so,” Jax returned. “Find Raze for me, would you? Tell him we leave in thirty.”

  “Yep.” The kid disappeared.

  Jax loped out of the closet and jogged through the rooms to reach the lab, where Lynne was once again hunched over documents, her back to him. Blue glowed from beneath her thin T-shirt, and he had the oddest thought of wondering if the glow would go out if she passed. Would her heart still be blue? His shoulders went back. No matter what, he wouldn’t let Atherton hurt her. If he had to take the guy out that afternoon, he’d do so after determining the status of the military.

  “Lynne?” Jax touched her shoulder.

  She gasped and jerked around, eyes wide.

  “It’s okay.” He kept his voice low, soothing. “You’re safe.”

  She settled down, green eyes softening. “Sorry. I was lost in research.”

  He leaned over and kissed her, going deep. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Okay now?”

  “I’m good.” She reached up and ran her palm along his unshaven jaw. “How are you?”

  He leaned into her touch. “I’m good. Raze and I are leaving shortly for the border to meet with Atherton.”

  That quickly, the peace fled her eyes. “He’s crazy, Jax. Don’t trust him.”

  “I won’t.” Hell, Jax wasn’t even sure he was dealing with the real Atherton. “Tace and Sami are in charge until I get back, and if anything happens, follow their lead. We have escape routes in three directions.”

  “I know.” Lynne pushed papers out of her way. “We’ve already had drills.”

  Good. His people were doing their jobs. “I’ve left you two guns on the counter in our apartment, and I want them with you at all times. You stick close to Tace or Sami for now.”

  She nodded. “If you get the chance, Bret has my research somewhere. All of my notes and formulas, as well as Nora’s, I hope. We need them—just in case the Myriad research isn’t as complete as it looks.”

  “My guess is that he won’t bring much but guns and men to meet at the border.”

  She looked both delicate and delicious in her own environment with lab equipment and documents surrounding her.

  There was so much he wanted to say, but he couldn’t find the words. He’d always been much better with action than with speech. “I need you here and safe for when I get back.”

  She smiled, her lips settling into an enticing curve. “You mean a lot to me, too.”

  He didn’t have time for emotion, and he didn’t have the need for somebody in his life, but it was too late. Here she was, and he wasn’t letting her go anywhere. “I’m not good at this.” Taking her hand from his jaw, he pressed it against his heart. “You’re in here. Stay safe.”

  A shudder wound through her body. “Sounds serious, Mercury.”

  He met her gaze evenly. “It is.”

  “Me too.” Her hand remained over his heart. “This doesn’t mean I need to get your name tattooed on my ass, does it? With the former gang affiliation, with the military, and the new group, I’m unaware of the protocol.”

  His heart lightened as a laugh rumbled through him. “You’r
e a smart-aleck, aren’t you?” He leaned in and kissed her again. “I’ll mark your ass later. For now, just promise you’ll stay safe.”

  Color fused her cheekbones, and desire hinted in the air. “I promise I’ll stay safe and be here when you get back. You be careful and don’t trust anybody.”

  “I rarely do.” Releasing her, he stood. “Weapons at all times.”

  “Yes, Jax.” She reached for a different stack of papers.

  He strode toward the door and turned around, his muscles bunching. “Last time I left, you were attacked by Red and Joe.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him. “And I shot them both and protected myself.”

  Good damn point. Many of the group had accepted her, but fear still lingered about her blue heart. He didn’t like leaving her. “Don’t hesitate if you need to shoot again.”

  “Go on your mission, Jax. You get extra points if you somehow find chocolate out there.”

  Extra points. “Now that’s a deal.” He exited the room before striding through the compound and finding Raze loading a box van near the main exit. A minivan had already been moved to the side, leaving a path between two downed Mack trucks. Raze was helping men load empty gas cans into the back.

  “I figured we’d fill as we went,” Raze said.

  “Definitely.” Jax scrutinized the van. Bare tires, rusty metal, dented sides. An emblem on the side proudly proclaimed SNIDER’S BREAD as the best in the city. The scent of yeast and sourdough wafted around, and his stomach growled.

  Raze tossed him a granola bar. “Figured you’d missed breakfast.”

  Jax caught the bar. “Are we bonding now?”

  “No.” Raze slid his hand through his thick hair, shoving it off his face. “We need to raid that cereal place when we get back.”

  “One thing at a time, but I agree.” They needed food. The sun shone down as he crossed to the cab of the truck to see a collection of guns and knives already in place. What he wouldn’t give for an explosive or two. “I see we have provisions.”