Blood Type Infected (Book 2): Fallen To The Flame

by Matthew Marchon

  “Asshole’s got a gun?” Shane grumbles. “Isn’t that just lovely?”

  “Is it too late to run?” Kristen asks quietly, eyeing the barely recognizable car they arrived in. “Your crazy bus driver called us, he said not to get on, no matter what.”

  “It’s dead,” Shane whispers over the sound of the rain beating down on us. “Their body parts are all up in the engine. Can’t see shit out of the windshield. We’d have to go on foot. Noah, we have those two guns we found. Do you think we can take control of the bus, force them off?”

  “No. I want to say yes, believe me I do, but they’ve both fucking lost it. And I mean lost it. We’ll just end up in a shootout and get everyone killed. We’ll have to do it when they least expect it. We can’t let them know we have the guns.”

  “Are those two a thing now?” Doug asks, out of the blue, nodding towards the bus where Tyrone is helping Caylee into our seat. The seat that we share. Me and her.

  “No,” I say, rather confused. “She’s with me.”

  “Wait?” Kristen laughs, brushing her wet hair from her face. “Noah, you said you asked her out this morning, that doesn’t automatically make you a couple.”

  “Trust me, we’re together.”

  “So,” Shane nudges me, “is the Puerto Rican princess everything you thought she’d be?”

  “No,” I say with a slight shake of my head, staring at her through the bus window as she gets situated. She notices me looking at her and smiles while pressing her hand to the glass. “She’s amazing, like, more than I could have dreamed.”

  “You don’t think he hit his head, do you?” Doug asks the others, loud enough for me to hear. I know they’re joking but it’s kind of pissing me off. They don’t know half the shit we’ve been through.

  “Alright, it’s been long enough,” Mr. Buckley yells, not willing to step out in the rain to bark his orders, the impatience showing in his voice. “Get those weapons and let’s go.”

  “We’ll get him,” Kristen says sweetly, “you guys get the weapons.” With Doug’s help, she gets me to a fully vertical position and leads me to the bus, rain pounding off our faces. I want Felecia’s hand there to block it. I swear I can feel it pressed against my forehead, shielding me, her gentle breathing in my ear. I miss her already.

  Marty jumps from his seat and helps me up the steps, paying no attention to the gun Buckley has aimed at him. Something happened. He must have caught Marty trying to make a run for it. He may not like the guy but he’s going to need him if he wants this bus to continue moving. I just wish I knew what this prick has planned.

  “Wait, where’s Felecia?” Neil asks, looking around frantically as if he simply missed her entrance. “Where is she? Noah, I swear to god if you let anything happen to her!”

  “She didn’t come back?” I ask, my voice cracking. I knew she didn’t. Part of me was still hoping she made it out through the back and returned to the bus where they held her captive at gunpoint. That’s the kind of thing psychopaths do. “I tried,” I whimper, not wanting to break down right here in front of them. “The ceiling came down on us. The fire was everywhere. It burned through the floor.”

  “No,” Neil stutters, eyes welling up. I don’t know if his black eye, practically swollen shut, is even capable of producing tears. Or his black heart.

  “The hole was too big,” I continue, fighting to keep my composure. “She couldn’t jump across. Then it just, it all came down.”

  “You were supposed to protect her,” Neil cries.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I tried, I tried to save her.”

  “You didn’t try hard enough,” he shouts, cupping his face in his hands. “I would have saved her. I would have protected her with my life. You should have just let her come with me,” he yells at his father. “But you always have to be teaching some sort of lesson. Well your lesson got her killed!”

  “Dial it down a notch son,” Mr. Buckley says calmly in the most unsympathetic manner imaginable.

  “Felecia Harmon,” Paul asks, quietly, “is that who we’re talking about?” My silent nod as I choke back tears must be enough of an answer for him. “Why are we sad? I don’t get it. It’s Felecia. Shouldn’t we all be rejoicing? Ding dong the bitch is dead.”

  I turn around and grab Paul by his shirt. Before he knows what’s happening I’ve slammed him to the floor of the bus. I raise my fist to punch him in the face without even realizing what I’m doing. But now that I know, I’m able to stop myself.

  But I don’t. I bring my knuckles down across his face. Shane and Doug struggle to pull me off and I decide to let them. I can’t be fighting my own friends. If I keep this up, I won’t have any left.

  “Let’s get one thing clear,” I shout, breaking free of their grip, “if it weren’t for Felecia, I wouldn’t be here right now. None of you would either. She put her life on the line time and time again for all of us. That includes you,” I say, pointing at Blake in the back. “And you,” I yell, directing my attention to Mr. Buckley. “She cleared a path for you to leave that building because four grown men apparently weren’t man enough to do it, but she was. She put her life on the line to gas this thing up so we have a chance to maybe, with any luck, make it to safety. We’re here because of her. In the past 24 hours she’s had my back more than anyone has in my entire life. And yes I’m counting you, Dad,” I snarl at my father. “From here on out, anyone speaks about her in a negative way, I’ll fucking kill you.”

  My friends are looking at me like I’ve lost my mind but I haven’t, I’ve lost my heart. I can tell they’re confused because they just found out Caylee is my girlfriend but my words sure are making it sound like I meant to say Felecia. Last they knew, I hated her with a passion. Which in the course of the last day just turned into passion. A day. One fucking day. That’s all I got to spend with her? The thought of it makes me want to punch more people. I find myself hoping someone says something derogatory about her just so I can come through on my promise.

  “Noah,” Caylee whispers, wiping tears from her eyes, “we have to find her body. I can’t leave her out there. I know it sounds stupid but, we have to bring her back.”

  “Oh I don’t flippin’ think so,” Mr. Buckley snorts. “No, no way. It’s about time we get the hell out of dodge.”

  “Go for it,” I say, “leave. We’re gonna go find her.”

  “Like hell you are. Look, Britton, it pains me to say this but you are an asset to this team. From what I’ve seen, possibly the biggest. And I am not about to let you out there to risk your life to bring back a dead body.”

  “Dad,” Neil whimpers, “I need to know she’s actually gone.”

  “Son, he just told you, he watched her die.”

  “No I didn’t,” I sigh. “I jumped out of the way of a burning beam that crashed down between us. I took my eyes off her for one second and never saw her again. I didn’t see her die. Neil, I need to see it with my own two eyes as well.”

  “Me too.” Caylee stands up, having some difficulty on her injured leg, but she looks majestic anyway. “I don’t know how but she was my friend. And she was amazing. Noah, if there’s a chance she might still be alive, if she could be down in that basement, we have to go find out. I can’t leave her. She’d come back for me, and you, she’d say she wouldn’t but she totally would,” she says with a hint of a smile. “We have to be sure.”

  The gun clicks behind me. I can tell by the sound, even over the raindrops pounding off the roof, Mr. Buckley just took the safety off.

  “I said, no one’s getting off this bus. I don’t know what was going on around here before I got on but it sure does sound like one giant orgy and I’m not having it. I don’t know if you were all in love with her or what but it’s time to bury those emotions and move on. No one’s leaving until I say so. I make the calls around here.”

  “Dad, please, if there’s a chance she’s still alive…”

  “If she’s still alive it doesn’t change a god damn thing,
she’d still choose him or them or whatever the heck was going on, over you, son. Now I’m sorry to say that but it doesn’t take a genius to see that she was in love with him. Not you. So forget about her and move on.”

  “No.” Neil tries his best to sound strong but his frail voice falters. It doesn’t change the fact that he stood up to his father, finally.

  I make eye contact with Paul for the first time since punching him and instantly feel bad. He didn’t know how I felt about her. How could he, he wasn’t here? Yesterday I thought about leaving her hanging out of a second story window to die. I can’t be mad at him for assuming I still feel the same way. But before I can apologize, he mouths ‘sorry’, as if he’s the one who did something wrong. I reach out and give him my hand while the Buckleys have their little debate.

  With Paul’s hand wrapped around mine, I bring him to his feet. The commotion must catch Mr. Buckley’s attention because he turns away from his son mid-sentence in order to point the gun at me once again. His defenses go down when he realizes I’m just helping him up. But apparently Paul has something else in mind. He does it so discreetly I don’t even realize it’s happening, not until the cold steel is pressed against my palm.

  Paul is giving me a gun. I didn’t even know he had it on him. I knew they had two of them but I guess I didn’t think about where exactly they were located.

  Paul slides into a seat, opening a clear pathway between Buckley and myself. By the time he’s out of the way, I have the barrel pointed at Neil’s lunatic of a father.

  I can tell Buckley had no clue what was going on because he jumps a little when he sees that he’s not the only one with a gun.

  We stand on opposite ends of the bus in a standoff. Barrels trained on one another.

  “Dead or alive, we’re finding her and bringing her back.”

  “No, you’re not. I’m starting to lose my patience. Don’t make me do it kid.”

  I smile at him.

  I’m not really sure why but I do. Maybe I’ve lost my damn mind as well.

  “I’ll gladly take a bullet for Felecia,” I say through my sinister smirk. “Can you say the same about yourself?”

  CHAPTER 19

  Fuck it, I’m pulling the trigger.

  Before my finger squeezes, Neil steps in the way. Not to shield his father, but to stop him from shooting me. He stands with the barrel to his chest.

  “Dad, we’re going out there, and we’re gonna find her. I’m bringing her back. If there’s a chance she’s alive, it means there’s a chance I can win her heart. But I can’t do it alone. I’m not a fighter, not yet. I’m not Noah. Which is why he’s coming with me. I need his help to get her back. So if you’re gonna shoot him, you gotta shoot me first.”

  “Neil, this is the most idiotic stunt you’ve ever pulled. You’ve got five minutes. You got that? Five. With or without her, you get your ass back here.”

  “You’ll wait as long as you have to,” I answer for him. “Because we’re going to take as much time as we need.”

  “Kid, you’re really starting to test my patience,” he hisses through gritted teeth. “I don’t know where that play pistol came from but if you don’t hand it over right now, so help me god.”

  I keep it aimed at him. Not even pretending I might lower it, let alone hand it over. He’s lucky I’m not letting bullets fly right here. The only reason I’m not is out of respect for this bus. Not the people in it, no, for the bus itself. This is our home right now and I wouldn’t do anything to damage it. We’re relying on this thing to keep us safe and shooting off rounds in here would definitely be detrimental to its integrity. When Neil shot the ceiling while we were wrestling for control of his gun, it wasn’t a big deal at the time. But now that it’s raining, there’s a stream leaking from the roof, directly on one of the seats. What if it was a window? I can’t risk shooting him on the bus but he’s gone completely mad if he thinks I’m handing over this gun.

  “Come on Neil, let’s go.”

  We make eye contact as he trudges towards me, more trepidation with every passing step he doesn’t want to take but knows he has to. If he knew what I know, he wouldn’t bother. If by some miracle she is still alive, nothing he does will make her fall in love with him.

  “Caylee, I can’t let you go out there again,” I whisper, wrapping her trembling body in my arms.

  “I have to, I can’t leave her. Who’s gonna watch your back?”

  “Sweetie, you can’t even walk. I swear to you, I’ll find her.” I kiss her temple gently and squeeze her tight. “We won’t come back until we do. For better or worse. Thank you so much for offering, but I can’t let you do it. You have nothing to prove. You’ve already proven it. We’ll bring her body back and have a proper funeral, I promise.”

  She kisses me on the lips which I think means she accepts the fact that she’s not going. I can’t risk losing her again. Last time was way too close for comfort. She can handle herself, what she just did out there proves that, but she’s safer here, where she can rest her ankle. I’m no doctor, nor have I played one on TV, but I can tell by the swelling it’s more than a sprain. And I don’t know what to do about it. I’m just hoping Paul does.

  “I’m coming too,” Tyrone asserts, still hoarse from the battle we endured. “I don’t trust his bitch ass as far as I can throw it,” he says loud enough to be heard not just by Neil but everyone on the bus.

  “Tyrone,” Darius pleads, “what are you doing? She’s not worth it. Come on man, you saw that fire, you stood right next to it, she’s not alive. And if by some miracle she was, you know those things would have eaten her by now.”

  “If you think that,” he says, looking down at his best friend with disdain, “then you don’t know my girl Felecia. You can sit here and be a pussy all you want, I’m gonna go do what needs to be done. Because that selfish, snobby, stuck up bitch would do the same for me if our roles were reversed.”

  “What in the hell happened while we were gone?” Kristen asks out loud but more to herself. “Does everyone love her now?”

  “Some more than others,” Tyrone throws in my direction with what I think is a smile, “but if you were here, you’d more than understand why. Trust me when I tell you, that girl is a fighter with more heart than all of them combined,” he says, pointing at the back of the bus without actually looking in their direction. “And if it’s her body we bring back, she ain’t getting a gravestone, we’ll make a whole damn monument. Come on guys, let’s get this over with.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.” Mr. Buckley speaks his command calmly but with enough force to make it clear he won’t waiver on this one. “I see what you two are doing. Two against one, I don’t think so. Neil, do not let Britton out of your sight, and do not for one second take your gun off him. They’re trying to set you up and doing a piss poor job of it if you ask me. Yeah, I saw it coming from a mile away. So you can sit your black ass down or get your black ass shot but mark my words, you are not getting off this bus. Not until I see fit. Now sit down and shut up.”

  “Felecia was right,” Tyrone mumbles, “we shoulda never got back on here with him. Shoot him Noah, just do it.”

  “I can’t, not on the bus,” I whisper. “We gotta get him off of here first. You see an opening,” I say, handing him the gun, “take it.”

  “Neil’s got a gun man, I can’t let you go out there without one too.”

  “Yes you can, Neil’s not gonna shoot me, he needs me.”

  “Yeah but what happens when you find her body, when he doesn’t need you anymore?”

  “I’ll do what I have to do,” I say loud enough only for those around me to hear, grabbing the morningstar mace from the seat.

  Tyrone nods and tosses some chainmail at Neil in the most unpleasant of manners. “Put this on, it might save your life.”

  “Fuck that,” he says, tossing it back. “I don’t need nerd jewelry to protect me.”

  “Alright you stupid son of a bitch, have it your way.”


  “Noah,” Shane says from a few rows back, “I swear to god you better make it out alive. She’s not worth it.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  “How long do you want?” Marty asks.

  “Give us thirty minutes. If she’s in the basement, we’ll need to find a way down. Figure out how to put out the flames.”

  “Well, that rain is certainly helping. Noah, don’t risk your life to extract a body, I know what she means to you, but you’re no good dead. We need you here son. Whatever you do, be safe out there, good luck.” With that he salutes me and opens the doorway to hell.

  I step off the bus, Neil right behind me, two enemies, one common goal. They say your enemy’s enemy is your friend but I’ve found out the hard way that’s not always the case. Neil and I share a common enemy, we all do, but that didn’t bring us together, it only strengthened the divide. We should be working together, instead we argue, we fight, we kill each other. We’re men, so naturally it’s a girl that brings us together. It’s also what tears us apart.

  “Neil, I swear to god, if you don’t point that thing somewhere else I’m going to kill you before we even make it to the building.”

  “I’m the one with the gun, stupid.” I can tell by the weakness in his quivering voice, he wishes he had the strength he pretends to possess. He had me fooled. For years I thought it was real. But in this moment he has no choice but to drop the charade. “I have the gun, I make the rules.”

  I stop walking and readjust my medieval weapon in my hand. “You think that really matters? Or will I stick these spikes through your skull before you have a chance to pull the trigger?”

  Without so much as turning to look over my shoulder, I can tell he’s lowered his weapon.

  “Where are we going anyway?”

  “That building right there,” I yell over the pouring rain, pointing the morningstar at the nonexistent storefront. The good news is the downpour is dousing the flames. Slowly, but it’s working. I think.