Knight Awakening
Rebecca Zanetti
Copyright © 2020 by Rebecca Zanetti
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.
Published by RAZ INK LLC
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Website: www.RebeccaZanetti.com
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Acknowledgments
Links-Also By Rebecca Zanetti
READING Order of Series
FREE Short Story - Scorpius Syndrome
1
When the pandemic comes, we can only hope we remember we’re human and not allow ourselves to descend into the madness.
—Dr. Lynne Harmony, Notes from the CDC
2 months ago
It was time to kill and then die.
He sat in his cell, bleeding from deep cuts along his neck and arms, his legs having gone numb. For months, he’d been used as a lab rat. Cut, burned, shot and other forms of torture had been inflicted upon his body and his mind. He was done fighting and he was done caring.
He’d stopped caring so long ago, he couldn’t remember the feeling.
Not that it mattered.
Whoever came through the dented metal door would die, and then the scientists would put him down like the rabid dog he’d become. His hands clenched, his nails shredding his already wounded palms. The throat. He’d go for the throat, and it’d be quick. For his victim, anyway. There was no doubt the scientists would take time killing him.
Movement sounded down the hallway and soon the lock released on his door.
Adrenaline poured through his veins, thrumming louder than any drumbeat. His strength increased, deep down, as it had done since he’d been infected and then had survived the sickness. The bacteria that had taken out most of the human race. He might be human, or some new variation of the form, but he’d lost his humanity.
The door opened, and an unfamiliar scent froze him on his bunk.
Raspberries. Sweet and wild.
He salivated, lifting his nose to get a better angle. When was the last time he’d smelled something fresh? Something good and sweet?
Then she walked in, wearing a white lab coat over jeans.
The animal he’d become quieted deep down.
Her eyes widened and she moved toward him, struggling with a canvas bag but not letting it stop her. The thing was nearly as big as she was. “What happened to you?” Her voice was soft with distress, yet educated.
“That’s irrelevant.” Dr. Ramirez walked behind her, a tranquilizer gun in his pale hands. Too close. Way too close to the woman. “Just patch him up, Dr. Kim.”
The woman fumbled and set the pack on his metal bunk next to him. “I don’t understand. Why is he in a cell? What’s happening here?” Her eyes were dark and concerned, a clear honesty glowing in them that didn’t belong in the horrible cell. Her hair was black and cut bluntly around her shoulders, smooth and silky, and a true temptation. Her heritage was at least part Korean, her skin a dark golden glow that entrapped his gaze. “What’s your name?” she asked.
His name? He blinked, and the injuries along his arms began to hurt. Just a hint of kindness, and he lost his edge.
“We call him Five,” Dr. Ramirez said, keeping the gun pointed at him.
“That’s ridiculous.” The woman pulled a file out of the pack and flipped through it, reading quickly. Her hands began to shake, and she looked up, swallowing. “Marcus Knight. They’ve been using you for experiments.” She said the words as a statement, but shock burned deep in those stunning eyes.
Marcus Knight. Yeah, that was who he’d once been. He’d forgotten. Not much remained of his past in his brain, but that was all right. It was hard to miss something you couldn’t remember. Chances were he hadn’t had a good past, anyway. Otherwise he wouldn’t be here, being punished like this. “Do you believe in God?” The words dropped out of his damaged throat, surprising him.
Her dark eyebrows rose. “I do. Why?”
“He must hate me.” Marcus eyed the distance to Dr. Ramirez. He could make it in a second.
Then she touched his arm, above the deepest cut. “God hasn’t done this.” She looked over her shoulder at Ramirez. “We’re a research facility here to cure the sickness, not become monsters ourselves.” Releasing Marcus, she stood and faced the doctor, her body visibly trembling. She was frightened and yet didn’t back down. “This is unacceptable, and you’ll lose your license and go to prison. I’ll make sure of it.”
Dr. Ramirez laughed. “There’s no medical board left, Dr. Kim. We’re all that remains. You’ve been gone for a while, and we caught up with you, so this is where we are now. You’re all that’s left in the medical arena in this facility, and it’s your job to patch him up so I can continue my job.”
“Your job?” The woman put her hands on her hips, widening her stance. “Your job is to find a cure in the lab and not do things like this. Nothing that has been done to his man will help us find a cure.”
“No, but we’ll need soldiers when we do find the cure, and we’re creating the best of the best,” Ramirez countered. “Do your job, and be careful. You’re one of the few people alive who hasn’t been infected. One ounce of his blood mixing with yours would end that, and it’s doubtful you’d survive the fever.”
Marcus backed away from her, sliding farther down his bunk. “Get out.” He was bleeding profusely, and surely she’d be infected.
“No.” She turned and drew surgical gloves from her bag, putting her back to Ramirez. “I don’t have any cuts, and you need stitches.” She leaned toward him, pulling out supplies. “I’ll give you something to numb the pain before I begin. Don’t worry.” Then she leaned in, even closer, her mouth moving but no sounding coming out. “I’ll get you out of here,” she mouthed clearly, her dusky pink lips holding his attention stronger than any grip could.
<
br /> He paused, his chin lowering. Was this just another game? Another test of his will? Show him an ounce of kindness and then try to finish destroying him? “Get out, Dr. Kim.”
“Penelope.” She slid a syringe into a bottle of clear liquid. “Dr. Penelope, if you have to use the title, but I prefer Penelope. I had just finished medical school when the Scorpius bacterium hit, but I’m all you’ve got right now.” Her hands were gentle as she administered the liquid, and soon a warm numbness filtered through his right arm. “I’ll help you. Don’t worry.” Her gaze caught his, her eyes glowing with the double meaning.
If he still had it inside him to feel sadness, he would for her.
There was no way out.
All hell had broken loose. Penelope sat back on her haunches, staring at the prone man on the floor. The Bunker had been infiltrated. She couldn’t believe it. But the blaring alarm, soldiers fighting, and her former acquaintance kneeling on the other side of the huge unconscious blond man proved it true. “Sami?” Penelope whispered. “What is happening?”
“I’m with Vanguard and we’ve taken the Bunker,” Sami said, her hands on the guy’s chest.
The soldier at the door, a mean looking guy with bronze skin and a lot of guns, watched them carefully.
Vanguard? Weren’t they the bad guys? Of course, the Bunker people were the worse. The alarm suddenly shut off.
Sami’s brown eyes lifted to the standing soldier, and her eyebrows rose. “Jax?”
Jax breathed out. “Either Raze took command of the control room, or we’ve lost enough men the Bunker no longer wanted the alarm.”
A speaker crackled in the far right corner. “Attention, Bunker. Stand down, and you’ll be escorted to the cafeteria on level B. If you resist, or if you are armed when found by Vanguard soldiers, you will be killed immediately,” a low and controlled voice ordered.
Jax turned and grinned at Sami. “Looks like we’re in control.”
Sami shook the unconscious man’s shoulders. “Wake up, damn it.” Tears pricked the backs of her eyes.
Promise jolted. Oh, God. Marcus and George. They were the only two prisoners still alive in the cells. She’d promised to get them out. She jumped up and typed quickly on the main keyboard until the corridor came into view on the screen. No. Dr. Ramirez ran in from a door at the far end, a gun in his hands and two Bunker soldiers behind him. “We have to open the cells,” she screamed. “They’ll kill everyone.” She pointed to a keypad next to the overlarge doors. “I don’t know the code.” Panic heated her voice until her throat hurt.
Jax turned, pointed, and fired at the keypad. Metal and keys rocketed out. The door snicked open. “Stay behind me.”
Penelope yanked a gun from Tace’s hip and jumped up. “Hurry. They’ll kill Marcus.”
Jax stopped cold. “Marcus?”
Penelope shoved by him and ran for the door, ripping it open. “There are only two men in the cells. We have to save them.” Then she’d somehow get them free of the Bunker and these Vanguard people. They could make it on their own.
“Marcus?” Jax launched himself into motion and shoved Penelope behind him, entering the long corridor, already firing. “Sami—hack the cell doors.”
The soldier was coming in handy.
“Are you sure?” Sami yelled at Jax’s retreating back.
“Yes,” he bellowed back.
Penelope skidded to a stop as she reached the three men facing them with guns. Dr. Ramirez and two soldiers she didn’t know. The doctor wore white, the soldiers blue. The guns all looked the same.
“We seem to be at a standstill,” Dr. Ramirez said, his gaze going to Penelope’s right. “Sami. How good to see you again.”
Penelope’s finger twitched on the trigger, but if she lifted the gun, she’d be shot. She’d have to be fast. “Leave and you live, Dr. Ramirez,” she said, her voice shaking.
“Not a chance,” Ramirez said. “There are more soldiers behind me.”
A metal cell door was shoved open, and then all hell broke loose. Marcus barreled out, and Ramirez turned to fire at him.
“No!” Penelope yelled, jumping in front of Marcus out of instinct. A bullet hit her bare shoulder, and blood sprayed. A second later, raw pain exploded down her side.
Marcus roared in a sound of fury and death.
Sami fired at Ramirez, who jumped behind the already-firing soldiers. Blood burst from Ramirez’s white coat, and he tripped behind the soldiers, fumbling for the door.
Marcus reached Penelope as she went down, but he didn’t touch her. Her whole side hurt, and the corridor began to waver.
“Marcus?” Jax’s voice shook, and his gun lowered.
Sami fired at one of the soldiers, and he went down, his eyes wide in death. The other soldier turned and disappeared behind the doors with Ramirez.
“We have to hurry. They’re just getting backup,” Sami hissed.
How did Jax know Marcus? They were about the same size, and that Jax guy had a similar bone structure and the same straight nose as Marcus.
Penelope tried to push off the floor, noting that she hadn’t had time to stitch Marcus up yet today. His chest was bare with raw cuts bleeding freely. “I, ah, need supplies,” she whispered, her head swimming.
A shadow covered Marcus’s jaw, and anguish his face. “Penny?” he croaked, his attention fully on her, not seeming to have heard Jax.
“Marcus.” Jax seemed frozen or in shock. His mouth dropped open, and his gun hand lowered.
“Jax!” Sami shoved to her feet, her shoulder bleeding. “We have to run.”
Running footsteps echoed from the other side of the doors.
A metal cell door opened and George ran out of his cell and straight into Sami. She fell back and then landed on the floor with a loud thump. He grabbed her gun and backed up. Blood matted his blond hair, and scratches covered his blistered face. The expression in his eyes was haunted to the point of madness.
“Wait. George. Stop,” Penelope whispered, reaching out to him.
Marcus tried to step in front of her and fell to his knees. Blood poured off him to coat the cement floor.
George looked around with wild brown eyes. Scars marred his body where it was not bandaged. He lifted the gun to his chin.
“No!” Penelope yelled.
George looked at her, and peace settled over his face. He smiled. “Finally.” He pulled the trigger. His brains splattered across the wall, and he fell in death, still smiling.
Penny jerked back.
The doors burst open.
“Retreat,” Jax yelled, dragging Sami up with one arm while already shooting toward the doors, his gaze remaining on Marcus.
Penelope stood and shoved her bleeding shoulder beneath Marcus’s arm and tried to lift him.
“No!” he yelled, shaking to dislodge her. “You’re not infected.” His blood flowed all over her chest and the new bullet wound.
“Run, Marcus,” she yelled, trying to drag him. He took a look at the soldiers opening the door, half lifted her, and ran after Jax. The world spun around her, and she closed her eyes, letting Marcus lead the way. Her limbs were going weak, and they had to get out of there. Now.
They reached the lab room and kept going.
Jax released Sami to lean down and haul the blond dude over his shoulder while Sami ran over and unlocked the closet to let out imprisoned lab techs. They all ran into the corridor just as a bunch of Vanguard soldiers hustled up.
“Enemy soldiers are coming—keep the computer room secure and take them out,” Jax ordered, not pausing in his stride. “Where’s the infirmary, and is it secured?”
“One floor down to the south, and affirmative,” a tall guy with piercing blue eyes and longer dark hair said, yanking open the door to the computer lab. “Greyson has the control room secured in the center of floor B.”
“Everyone move,” Jax ordered, cutting a quick glance at Marcus and Penelope. “We need bandages.”
With that, Penelope finally
passed out.
2
Science will only get us so far if the worst happens. Humanity and kindness are the only way we’ll survive as a species.
—Dr. Lynne Harmony, Notes from the CDC
She’d passed out from only a flesh wound. If the world hadn’t just exploded, Penelope would just let herself sink to the ground in the Bunker’s infirmary out of embarrassment. After all the destruction she’d seen, all the pain Marcus had experienced, and she’d fallen unconscious from merely getting grazed by a bullet. Her wound had only taken two stitches and a bandage. She stitched up Marcus’s chest as he lay on the bed, her face burning.
In fact, her entire body was burning.
“You let me infect you, Penny,” Marcus rumbled, his voice raw as he remained perfectly still for her administrations.
She finished the stitches and gently placed a bandage over the wound. “I told you I’d get you out. That’s all that matters.” Sweat dripped into her left eye from her forehead, and her hands shook a little.
The guy in the next bed lifted partially up. “Where are we?” His accent sounded Southern. Well, Texan.
“We’re in the Bunker infirmary, Tace,” Sami said, her eyes glistening and her curly hair all around her face. “The command center and all of floor B is secured, while we’re still fighting on A and C.”
Knight Awakening (The Scorpius Syndrome Book 6) Page 1