"By complete accident. When I was defending myself."
Hacker didn’t seem grossed out, just fascinated. But the others showed some level of discomfort. “Can I see?” Hacker leaned forward.
Syd hesitated before holding out her hand but he waited patiently. Finally, she gave in. He examined each finger and fingernail carefully. He pulled back the pad of each finger until one finally let loose a few drops of fluid. He gasped excitedly. He sniffed it and even dipped a finger into it. “Hey!” She was keenly aware of the others watching.
“Sorry!” He only just seemed to realize what he was doing. “Have you scratched a human not infected?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?” He didn’t seem overly concerned. More curious than anything.
“Nothing.”
“At all?”
“I think the scratches might have burned. But, unless they can turn a human into a bigger asshole than they already were, then I don’t think anything happens.”
“This is amazing. I wish we could get a sample of this tested to see what it is.” Sydney yanked her hand out of his grasp. Realizing what he said, Hacker raised his hands. “Don’t worry! Even if I could make that happen, I wouldn't.”
Xander
“So,” Xander asked. “Why did you gather us all this morning? Just to get caught up?”
“No,” Hacker shook his head.
“Then why?” He watched Sydney pour herself more coffee and grab an apple. She seemed to be taking everything surprisingly well.
“I think we need to get out of here. We need to stay on the move.”
“You think the berserkers can find us?”
“Yes. As long as Sydney is with us.”
“Wonderful,” she muttered as she returned to the table.
“Shit. Where are we supposed to go?” Shay asked.
“We can go back to my house for now,” Zak offered.
“That would be good for a while. But we don’t know how to keep the berserkers away for good.”
“Why do they keep attacking people?” Shay asked. “And why do they want to hurt Syd?”
“Maybe they instinctively know I'm their enemy somehow.” Her words weren't distressed, just resigned. "And I think they attack everyone else because they are in pain. Confused. Berserkers are a good name for them."
“Well, let’s get the hell out of here then,” Zak stood. "We can come up with a plan there."
Syd limped downstairs to check on the berserkers. When Zak also left the room, Xander turned to Hacker. “I hope I don’t need to say this out loud, but I’m going to anyway. If you do anything to endanger Syd, or Shay, or even Zak and ET, I will gut you alive and watch you bleed to death.”
Hacker gave him a pained smile. "Fair enough."
After Hacker went upstairs to shower, Xander retreated to his bedroom to get his and Sydney’s few possessions. He heard her footsteps so he wasn’t surprised when Syd entered the room behind him. “Don’t touch my dirty underwear,” she joked.
“What do you mean? I was hoping to carry them around in my pocket.”
“Gross,” she crossed the room and he stopped what he was doing. When she rested her forehead on his chest he sighed and wrapped his arms around her, careful to not hurt her shoulder. “This really is all happening, isn’t it,” she snorted.
“Yep,” he started laughing and when she leaned further into him her body shaking with laughter he put a hand on his dresser to stop from falling over.
“I’m so tired,” she gasped finally getting herself under control.
“You need rest,” he kissed the top of her head.
“No—well, yes—but I’m also just tired of dealing with all of this.”
“Me too,” he muttered, kissing her forehead wanting to take away some of the worry that was etched there. He kissed her nose, then tilted her face up to kiss her lips. She tasted like coffee and he smiled against her mouth. It seemed so normal, so human, it was the best taste in the world right then.
Grabbing her by the butt, he lifted her onto the dresser and kissed her deeper ignoring the twinge in his still healing shoulder. She gasped against opened her mouth further. When she wrapped her legs around his waist his groin jerked. “Fuck,” he growled. “We can’t do this, we have to get out of here.”
“Then stop,” she grinned but didn’t pull away.
He pushed his hips into hers. “You sure?”
“Hell no,” she pushed back.
“Dammit.”
“I know,” she panted, but finally pushed him away with her good hand. “We do really have to go. Besides, my arm is fucking killing me.”
He closed the distance between them again and rested his head in the curve of her shoulder. “I’m going to try to get you some painkillers. And antibiotics.”
“From where?” she leaned back and pushed his face up.
“I’m going to see if Sherry or Jameson, from The Pit, can help. They don’t sell, but they know people.”
“Be careful,” he could tell she wasn’t happy he was dealing with his old friends.
“They aren’t active in the club.”
“Still. I know they are nothing to be worried about—especially considering who the real enemy is right now. Just don’t complicate things more by starting something with the wrong humans.”
“I won’t. In the meantime, smoke a lot of weed.”
She laughed. “That sounds like a damn good plan to me.”
“It’ll help with the pain.”
“Oh, I know.” She slid off the dresser. “When are you going to The Pit?”
“Now. I’ll meet you guys at Zak’s.”
“Can I go with you?”
“Hell no.” She narrowed her eyes at him and he held up his hands. “I don’t want to leave your minions alone with the others. And I can’t drag along a party to try to score drugs.”
“Oh. OK,” she relaxed.
***
Xander loaded their stuff into Zak’s truck and climbed into his mother’s hybrid. Xander waited until Zak had driven the others out of view before he went back inside to get what he needed. They were only in the beginning stages of making a plan and he knew they may have to do things no one actually wanted to do. He wanted to make sure he covered as many bases as possible and they were going to need help to do it.
Sherry was the only one at the bar when he arrived. “Hi, hon. It’s a bit early to start drinking.” Her cigarette-graveled voice warmed his heart a little.
“I’m not here to drink.”
She raised a heavily plucked eyebrow. “No?”
“Nope. I need painkillers and antibiotics.”
The other brow shot up to join the first. “What have you gotten into now?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“Does it have anything to do with a certain brunette?”
He smiled guiltily. “Of course.”
“You finally got her to want to stay?”
“Something like that.”
“And you need drugs to do it?” she barked her little hehe’s.
“Not like that.”
“I know, hon. I’m just teasing you.”
“So, can you help?”
“Well, I can call some people. The painkillers will be easy. Any particular kind?”
“Nope, whatever you can get.”
She nodded. “The antibiotics will be harder.”
“But you can do it?”
“Most likely. There are plenty of junkies looking to sell whatever they can. I just have to find someone who knows one with something infected. It’ll probably take a couple of hours.”
“That’s fine. I’m going to need something else too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s that?”
“Something that will take a little longer than a few hours.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Sydney relented to letting Shay carry her and Xander’s bags inside
Zak’s. She gave her a small, but grateful smile as Shay sat her bag next to the air mattress in Zak’s study.
“Do you really trust Hacker?” Syd asked her.
Shay took a few moments to respond. She leaned against the desk and crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess so,” she finally shrugged. “But, I don’t think we have a lot of options here. We are about to have drug dealers, government agents, and maybe two different kinds of aliens hunting us down. They probably already are. We need all the help we can get. He seems to be in the same boat we are."
“I guess,” Sydney sighed.
“Stupid question,” Shay smiled. “But, how are you holding up? Really?”
She let out a loud sigh. “You know…not as bad as I would have expected.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I had to pretend to go along with Moreno and act like I wasn’t afraid for so long…I think I just figured out how to work through it. I just kept remembering there were bigger things at stake than me. It’s kind hard to curl up in a ball and cry when you know a whole lot of people—some you love—are relying on you.”
“I get it,” Shay crossed the room and hugged her carefully. “But you aren’t the only one fighting this.”
“I know,” Sydney gave her a genuine smile. And she did. “I think I would have lost my mind if it were not for you guys.”
“Especially Xander?” Shay raised a cheeky eyebrow.
“Hah! That’s not fair!” Sydney laughed and it felt so good her entire body warmed. “All of you.”
“I’m just messing with you. I’m…I’m just so happy for the both of you.”
“Thanks.”
“I mean it. You two need each other. Even if neither of you would admit it.”
Sydney narrowed her eyes at Shay but didn’t argue. “Yeah. I’m not going to say you’re right…”
“But you know I am!”
“Harumpf.” Sydney watched Shay leave and felt a surge of love for her best friend. It was impossible not to love her. She was so good at pretending to be fun and carefree, but the woman was fierce. She was serious and rock solid when she needed to be. Sydney didn’t think she would ever be able to tell her how much it meant to her to be able to rely on that.
Syd jumped when she heard something bang from downstairs. “Sorry!” she heard Hacker call.
She found him standing awkwardly in the foyer have knocked over some kind of decorative statue. “Hi.”
“I've been here ten minutes and I'm already breaking things," he wrinkled his nose.
“Its fine,” she assured him. "Zak comes off more difficult than he really is. He’s not going to mind"
“Where is everyone else?” Hacker looked around uncomfortably.
“Upstairs. Getting settled. I want to talk to you though.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Let’s sit down.”
Sydney led him to the sofa and they sat. It took a few minutes for her to find the questions she wanted to ask. "In all your research have you come across anything that that gives you a clue as to where these aliens could have come from?"
"No. I found a report on damage to satellites. I can't dismiss that."
"Xander said he saw that too."
"You have a theory about how the Dyians got here?"
"I think they gave been here a long time. Maybe longer than humans."
"Pyramids?" Hacker smiled.
"I doubt it,” she chuckled.
"What about these others? The ones who took you?"
"I think they are here because the Dyians have resurfaced."
"How do they know about them?"
"The hell if I know. Maybe that's where the government comes in." She was silent for a while. “Why do you think I’m different?”
“I really don’t know,” Hacker gave her a kind smile. He looked like someone’s dad. Or their favorite uncle. She found it easy to trust him.
“No guesses?”
“I wish I had some. Then maybe I would be a little less clueless.”
“Same here. Do you think I'm dangerous?"
Hacker considered her carefully. "No?"
Syd snorted. “Are you sure.”
“I can't say I'm sure of anything anymore," he sighed.
"I am sorry about your wife."
"Thanks," his voice broke on the word.
"Are you looking to avenge her?"
He shrugged. "Is vengeance even possible? Who's responsible? Who do I blame? If it's the government, how can I take them all on? If it is an alien race, how can I stop them all alone?"
"That's what we have to figure out." Sydney knew she should wait for the others to come back to start planning, but it was a nice change to talk to someone who could be more objective. Someone who didn't have any emotional ties blocking reason.
"You have a plan?"
"Well, an idea," she admitted.
"What is it?"
"I agree that we need proof. If we had proof we could try to get our story to go viral. Right now, the media, the internet, is our best shot at taking on the government. Or, if we can find enough proof to get mass media behind us they can't shut us up forever. If we can get online and go viral…"
"This is true. So...what do you want to do?"
"We need to use me as bait."
Hacker watched her silently for a while. "Have you told Xander or the other about this?"
Sydney snorted. "No."
"I didn't think so. So, why are you telling me?"
"Because you know I'm right. The real evidence can come from me."
"The physical evidence?" For the first time Hacker looked apprehensive.
She blew out a noise gust of air. "No. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. I guess eventually it will. I mean, if we can capture as many berserkers, or Dyians, as possible we will have our evidence. We can either save, or put them out of their misery. The thing is, I'm not sure if I'm going to end up posing a danger to my friends at some point.” Hacker waited for her to continue. Eventually, she found the words. "Do you think you have what it takes to kill to protect others? Not just us, but everyone I mean. The whole world?"
Hacker took a long time to answer. "I think most everyone is capable of killing under the right circumstances."
Chapter Forty-Five
Sydney sighed. "I need you to promise you will do whatever needs to be done."
Hacker stared at her for a long moment. "If you are asking what I think you're asking, I'm not sure I like it too much.
"I'm sorry. I know it’s a shitty thing to ask. But, I can't be sure anyone else will be able to do it if it needs to be done."
Hacker didn't speak for a while, but he gave her a small nod. "I would expect you to do the same,” he said finally.
"Of course," Sydney told him, her voice tight and low.
"I would never want to be one of those things," he muttered, more to himself than to Sydney.
"Not everyone ends up like them,” she said, thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?"
"Doc—Robards—said that a lot of the first hosts died."
"Why?"
"He said they figured out that the more advanced the prefrontal cortex, the better the chance the Dyian would survive. There was better nourishment. That's how he ended up kidnapping me." She felt her insides wilt a little. She still hated the thought of Robards tricking her. "A lot of the first people he tried to implant were low-skilled laborers or drug dealers. He didn't have any success until he implanted an accountant." Sydney froze, just putting two and two together. The accountant Robards had been talking about was ET’s father. Fuck.
"So, basically, the smarter the person, the better host?"
"God, that sounds terrible. I don't think it’s that simple though. I think it depends on the type of intelligence or skills one has."
"So, what about all the berserkers? Are you saying they all have more advance brains?”
"Pre-frontal cortices."
"Yeah."
Sydney
shrugged. "I don't know. If that is the case, whoever is implanting them are following Robards' footsteps. Selecting specific people."
"What if it isn't a group or person doing the implanting?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Hacker leaned forward. "Nature can identify weaknesses in others. Whether it is to identify the easiest to kill and eat, or if it is for breeding purposes. Supposedly, that is why symmetrical beauty is favored in all animal species. Even humans. It is supposed to be a sign of health."
"So, if there is a Dyian infecting people, it can probably tell who is an optimal host?"
"Yeah."
"That actually makes sense. But, it still begs the question where this Dyian is. Is it just running wild? Or does someone have it using it to infect people?"
Neither of them had an answer and they fell into silence. Sydney's arm throbbed terribly and she worried she was going to get sick from the pain and anxiety. Her head felt tingly and she wondered if she was developing a fever. Probably. The tingling from her head melted until it covered her back and caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. "I don't think we can stay here for long," she whispered.
"You're right," Hacker nodded. "I—"
A high-pitched squeal from upstairs caused them both to look up then look at each other. Under normal circumstances Sydney would have assumed Shay or Zak or ET just opened a drawer or moved something. Anything harmless and non-worrying. But, circumstances were not normal. She swallowed a heavy lump in her throat. "Did you hear that?" she asked Hacker.
"Yeah."
Sydney debated on calling out to see if everything was OK, but at the last second she stopped herself. If something was wrong, there was no point identifying their presence. "I'm going to get Darren and Jake and go check out upstairs."
"That's not a good idea," Hacker warned her.
"You stay here and make sure everything is OK."
"No."
"It's probably fine."
"It's probably not. Here," Hacker stood and pulled something from his pocket.
When Sydney realized it was a gun, she shook her head. "No. Keep it. You might need it. I'll have the berserkers."
Sydney tiptoed into the kitchen and opened the door to the basement. She jumped back a step when she found Darren and Jake crowding the landing at the top of the stairs. “It’s berserkers, isn’t it?” she whispered. Jake only stared at the ceiling, but Darren nodded silently. “Come with me. Quiet.” She turned and didn’t need to look back to know they were following her. Back in the living room, Hacker watched her through wide eyes.
Show No Fear (The Dyian Series Book 2) Page 26