Resurrect

by Amy Miles

  “So you think they are just trying to protect you? Like you are doing for them?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Or it could be something else entirely. Maybe they were held at a different facility and were transferred here later. Something could have happened to them there that they can’t or won’t talk about.”

  “Could be.” He purses his lips as he thinks it over. “That might make sense but why risk the manpower for a move like that?”

  Glancing at the storage room around me, my gaze falls on several lab coats with names written on with a black permanent marker instead of stitched on. I think back to Brian’s words and something bothers me.

  “Brian said that they showed signs of a mutation they hadn’t seen before, right? What if that was partly due to some previous form of testing? What if they were brought here because I was located and they wanted to see if the progression they had shown in their initial testing phase was accurate? They could have been the next step toward hybridization, just like what Dr. Wiemann, Iris and Brian and working toward.”

  When he starts to speak, there is a knock at the door and Flynn moves to answer it. He doesn’t allow the door to crack open any further than he needs to stick his head out. I can hear him whispering but catch none of the details as I lie down on the cot and close my eyes.

  I am tired, soul weary, and scared. The only thing keeping me going is my rage toward Iris and Brian but as I let my mind expand and search, I feel something new. An awareness that wasn’t there before.

  “Avery?”

  I look up to see Nox standing just inside the door. Flynn is gone but I suspect that he hasn’t gone far. “What the hell do you want?”

  “I know that you’re angry and you have every right to be, but I’m not going to make excuses for my actions. She was my soldier and I don’t leave anyone behind, ever.”

  I snort and shove my hair back out of my face as I sit up. “Does that ‘proud to be a soldier’ crap actually mean anything? You just killed that girl.”

  “I know,” he whispers and his Adam’s apple bobs. “But I had to hope that it would work.”

  “No! No, you didn’t!” I push up off the bed, wobble slightly but then regain my footing. “What you needed to do was listen to me, to trust me for once.”

  Nox lowers his gaze to the floor. “I was wrong.”

  “You’re damn right you were.” I cross my arms and stew for a moment. “Did she suffer?”

  He swallows again and when he refuses to meet my gaze I know the truth. “Well, that’s on you too.”

  “I know.”

  Turning away, I flex my hands, needing to punch something. Instead, I grab hold of a cabinet and yank it off the wall then chuck it against the door. The wood splinters and falls to the floor. A considerable crack in the door has appeared at the site of impact

  “How did you—”

  “I don’t know!” I scream and turn on him. “I don’t know what is happening to me and that should have been enough for you to listen to me! I’m unstable, Nox. Don’t you get that?”

  I hold no illusions to the fact that the people outside of this room can hear my ranting as I take hold of a cot and toss it. Nox ducks and narrowly avoids taking a metal bar to the forehead.

  “Avery, you need to calm down.” He steps closer with his hands raised in surrender. “I know that I messed up, but that is no reason to start destroying this place. It may be the only safe haven we have for a while and people need something to sleep on.” He glances over at the twisted metal bed. “We can figure this out. We just need time.”

  “I can’t!” I rage and tear down another cabinet. My chest rises and falls as I pant. My thoughts darken and I see red when I look back at him.

  “Avery, this isn’t you.”

  Chucking the cabinet aside, I suck in deep breaths, trying to calm down but my anger continues to rise. With a scream, I turn and slam my fist into the wall. “I just feel so angry!”

  Even as the words escape my lips I fall deadly still and turn to Nox in a panic. “Oh, God, you’re right. This isn’t me. Something is really wrong.”

  “What do you mean?” He instantly closes the gap between us, placing his hands on my arms as I sway in place. I close my eyes and stretch out my mind and instantly recoil. I drop to my knees under the weight of so many voices in my head.

  “Tell me what’s going on.”

  “There’s going to be another breach.”

  “Where?”

  I lift my eyes to the ceiling. “They are heading for the walls! Oh, God. They will hit every quadrant at the same time. The soldiers will be overrun!”

  He grabs hold of my hand and rushes me out into the room. Flynn glances up from where he’s kneeling beside a girl not that much older than him. Her arms are a patchwork of bruising just like my own and she looks frail. Whoever she is she’s been here a while.

  “Nox, stop.” I yank on his arm and force him to stop. Fletcher looks up from where he stands bent over a figure draped in a sheet and I feel my chest clench as I look away. “You need to think.”

  “Our people are about to be killed. We can’t just sit down here and let that happen.”

  “I agree,” I say, squeezing his hand. “But for once just shut up and trust me. The breach isn’t internal like the last one. The Flesh Bags have come over the walls in large numbers. I’m not talking about a small scouting party. This is a war.”

  “That’s not possible,” Cyrus says, walking up behind me. “The walls are heavily manned and high. No Flesh Bag could climb it without being seen.”

  Closing my eyes, I feel another swell of rage and fight to keep it at bay even as the sounds of the heartbeats around me make my mouth begin to water.

  “Nox, I’m telling you this is different. They are communicating with each other and they are highly organized. You can’t just run out there with a single gun and hope to win.”

  “So what do you suggest?” Nox asks.

  I see movement just behind him and realize that that other survivors have circled around us. Some look barely able to stand while others appear to be itching for a fight.

  “You can’t be serious,” Fletcher says, pushing off from Kenzie’s deathbed. “You’ve seen what she is capable of and now you want to take orders from her. How do we even know that she’s on our side? She could be leading us right into their hands.”

  “You’re wrong. You haven’t seen what I’m capable of yet, but I’m the best shot you’ve got at surviving this,” I say before Nox can reply as I step around him to face off with Fletcher. “I can sense them from here and I know exactly where they are. Now if you want to run through the halls and get yourself killed, by all means go ahead. But if you want to live and stand a chance of avenging Kenzie, then shut the hell up and let me tell you how to do that.”

  “Is she always this bossy?” Flynn asks behind his hand to Cyrus.

  The soldier chuckles. “Oh, yeah, she definitely is.”

  “Anyone else want to bitch at me or do you want to plan out an attack instead?” I turn in a slow circle, feeling adrenaline course through my veins, giving me the strength that I need to get this job done and focus on what is happening right here inside this room.

  No one says a word.

  “Good. We are going to need weapons and manpower. Nox, I need you to lead our group to whatever armory this place has. Cyrus, I need you to gather men you can trust and meet up with Nox.”

  “What about me and the big guy?” Flynn pipes up, jerking his thumb at Fletcher.

  “I need you to get to Cap’s office. You said you saw blueprints. Maybe there are more that will show an underground escape route. We need to get as many people to safety as we can.

  “Anything else we need?” Nox asks.

  “Yes.” I nod and stare straight at doors that will lead us back into my waking n
ightmare. “We need me.”

  FIFTEEN

  As soon as the cleanup crew heads out to clear a path to the exit, I cross the room and aim straight for the drawer that Nox left partially open earlier to begin removing handfuls of syringes still sealed in their plastic wrappings.

  “What exactly did you mean by that?” Nox asks, walking up to survey my stash.

  Instead of taking the time to answer him, I begin tearing apart the wrappers with my teeth and making a new pile. Nox places a hand on my arm. “Avery, stop. Tell me what you are thinking.”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Fletcher says from where he and Cyrus stand at the opposite end of the room counting rounds of ammunition. At least they didn’t waste any time preparing for battle. “She’s finally gone crazy like I warned.”

  Ignoring Fletcher’s remark, I press my hand to Nox’s cheek and turn him so that he’s looking at his soldiers instead of focused on me.

  “Do you see that tiny pile of ammunition they have? It won’t be nearly enough. None of you have faced Flesh Bags in these numbers. The voices in my head...they are staggering. We can’t win this war until you and your group reach the armory, and even then, you might not have enough to make a dent.”

  Placing my arm on the countertop and rolling it over, I hand Nox a roll of IV tubing. “Flynn proved that my blood can kill them. So let’s dose them up and give us a fighting chance.”

  “You’re serious? You want me to drain you right before an attack and expect me to be okay with this?”

  “No,” I shake my head, “but I expect you to still do it.”

  “This is crazy.” Nox shoves the tubing away.

  “It’s not.” I duck my head so that I can get his attention. “Do you remember what I told you while we were trapped back in that room? The reason I let you in is because you accepted me for who I am. Do that now. Prove to me that you can trust me now, instead of forcing my hand like you did with Kenzie.”

  “But it will weaken you,” he protests, holding onto my hand to stop me from shoving the needle in my own arm.

  “Just take enough to give these people a fighting chance. That’s all I’m asking.”

  From across the room, I hear a magazine lock into place and see Fletcher shaking his head. Everyone knows the chances of surviving this are slim but his negative attitude isn’t helping.

  “These people are scared,” I whisper, forcing Nox to draw nearer to hear me. “Give them hope.”

  “Don’t ask me to do this.” Nox closes his eyes. “I can’t risk your life. I won’t.”

  Placing my hand gently over his, I wait until he lifts his head to look at me again. “And I refuse to risk yours, especially if there is a way for me to help. Please, Nox. Let me do this for you and them. You overruled me before but I need you to stand by me this time. Show these people that there is hope.”

  Nox looks around him and notices that our conversation has not gone unnoticed. Several of the survivors are staring. Others are pacing and muttering to themselves. A few have shrunk down into the corner to hide.

  “We are asking them to risk their lives to save the very people who have tortured them and then left them for dead.”

  “I know,” I squeeze his hand. “But some will help us if they think there’s a chance to save lives. They were innocent. Let’s show them that not all of you are evil. Let’s prove to them that there are still some of you who are human.”

  “Us.” He rolls his hand over to take mine in his. “You said you but it should have been us. You are one of us still, Avery. I won’t let you think anything less.”

  “I am not the same person that I was before and—”

  “But that doesn’t have to mean dangerous,” he insists. Drawing my hand up to his lips, he presses a kiss to my fingers. “I’m sorry for how I behaved earlier. It was uncalled for and you’re right. I do need to trust you.”

  “Then let me do this,” I whisper and gently place the tubing back in his hand.

  Nox swallows hard as his fingers close around the tubing. “I’m only agreeing to partially filled vials.”

  Several minutes later, I sit on a chair applying pressure to the bandage placed in the crook of my arm. Nox kept his word and took only enough to provide three syringes per person but our group of volunteers now number in the high teens and the blood donation has left me temporarily weakened, just as Nox feared.

  He paces in front of me as I rub out the ache in my head while Flynn sits on the counter beside me, banging his shoes against the cabinet.

  “We can’t wait any longer.” Fletcher takes Nox’s arm and forces his commander to stop pacing. “Cyrus and the others have cleared the path to the exit and found a small stash of guns. We need to move now if we want there to be anyone left alive up there to save.”

  “I agree.” Slipping down off the table, I fight very hard not to show the wave of dizziness that attacks me. Flynn instantly jumps down and loops his arm through mine to lead me away before Nox can get a good eyeful of my pale face.

  “Thanks,” I whisper as he easily takes on a bit of my weight when I lean into him.

  “You bet,” Flynn grins but it quickly fades when he looks back over his shoulder, “but I think you might have to do the next part on your own. Your boyfriend doesn’t seem to like me helping you.”

  “He is not my boyfriend.”

  Flynn rolls his eyes. “Well, then someone should tell him that!”

  He leaves me standing at the metal door to wait while the others gear up. Cyrus’ search of the facility on his trip back from patrolling the halls gained us an extra four weapons, which we distribute through the group, but it won’t be enough. Working on a buddy system in these conditions is hardly ideal but it’s the best chance we have of making it to the armory.

  “Take this.” When Nox hands me a gun I start to protest but one glare from him silences me. I’ve obviously pushed my limits with him for the moment.

  With Willow and Poppy left in charge of those who refuse to join us, I feel a sense of urgency coursing through me and I’m unsure if it stems from within me or this newfound connection that I have with the Withered. They are here for a reason but I can’t get a grasp as to why that may be. Their voices sound as one, a roaring tide that crashes time and time again in my mind and the closer I come to them the harder it becomes to separate my thoughts for theirs.

  What I sensed from the Flesh Bags that tore through these halls was more chaotic and individual. The ones tearing apart the hotel over our heads are far more organized and driven.

  Flynn hurries on ahead of me, eager to remain close by in case I need him after my bloodletting but he is also none too eager to antagonize Nox as we exit the Flesh Bag holding room and out into the ward. Cyrus and a few of the patients worked hard to clear the way and although we have to skirt around several puddles of blood, all of the bodies and parts have been removed from sight.

  Glancing over at Nox I know that he’s thinking of Zoey again. I wish that I could have spared him this pain but it was not my doing. Iris and Brian have proven to be rotten to the core and I look forward to getting my hands on them.

  Flynn glances down at a broken syringe that lies pressed against the crack between the floor and wall near the nurse’s station and kneels to push it over. “If I’d known we would be racing into another battle so soon I would have saved a bit more of your stored blood.”

  “It’s good that you used it all, Flynn,” I say. “Now there’s nothing left for them to experiment with.”

  Flynn nods and rising to move on again. From time to time, he glances into the darkness behind the curtains and I can’t help but wonder if he is reliving those initial moments when he was forced to fight on his own. It must have been terrifying for someone so young, and yet I suspect that he has seen far more than most living within these walls.

  From what little he has told
me about the Charleston Safe Zone, bad things happened there and he found a way to survive it all.

  Above our heads, a battle is waging that we don’t stand a chance of winning. I don’t tell the others that. If I do, I fear far too many of them would happily secure the door to the topside and let everyone perish, just as they themselves had been left to a gruesome death,

  But I know something that they do not. There will be no survivors if we do not act now. Nearly fifteen hundred people, innocent women, men, and children who had no knowledge of Iris and Brian’s plans, will die at the hands of the horde that has swarmed the building. The Withered numbers have grown at a frightening pace and the soldiers are ill-equipped to hold the line.

  I am tired of letting fate rule my destiny. I want to make my own path and it is leading me straight into the fiercest battle I have ever known. Even though I know my chances of scraping by again are slim, I feel a sense of excitement all the same.

  “You really think you can do this in your condition?” Nox asks as he jogs beside me, keeping a slower pace than I know he would like so that he doesn’t leave me behind.

  “I will be fine. I’m feeling stronger already.”

  It was only a partial lie. Never before have I given in to weakness. I have pushed myself to the breaking point, beyond more times than I can count, and somehow I’m still alive and kicking. I just pray that I live to see the next sunrise so that I can prove to Nox that I’m not a girl who needs to be coddled. I’m someone to be respected.

  As I jog ahead, I try not to think about how much I hate the heavy weight of the gun in my hands or the sickness growing in my chest. I understand the need to put distance between these monsters and me, but guns make me nervous. I’d rather have an ax or knife in my hand instead.

  “We will get through this. I have to believe that,” Nox says to no one in particular but I know that everyone heard him. He is a natural born leader and even those who have only just met him gravitate to him.

  Glancing over at Nox as the group bunches up when we reach the base of the stairs that lead topside, I grab onto his arm and pull him back. Several of the stragglers push past us until we are alone.