“Mind if we take a break?” I asked, my voice raspy now even though I’d just drunk some water. Water that scorched down my sore throat as if it were acid.
Nate gave me a concerned look. “You crashing?” I replied with a jerky nod. That excuse would have to do, for now. He glanced at his maps briefly. “We have to find a place to camp for the night, anyway. Just pull over, I’ll get out to coordinate with the others. If you want me to drive on, just move over into the passenger seat.”
I brought the car to a halt with a jerk that seemed to jar every muscle in my body, exhaling slowly as I watched Nate undo his harness and get out. Grabbing the wheel hard, I let my forehead sink against my hands as I watched through the side window as Pia joined him, talking and gesticulating wildly. Oh, someone was pissed. And probably would get even more angry a few minutes from now.
Sagging back, I let my head hit the seat. Reaching up, I flipped down the sun visor and stared at my reflection in the mirror for a moment. Bloodshot eyes, sweat on my brow, that weird, feverish look in my eyes—there was no doubt. That I started coughing the next moment, spitting up blood was just one more indicator that I didn’t need, but it helped letting the finality of what was going on settle in.
I barely managed to get the door open before I was violently sick, hurling up water and bile, but also clumps of congealed blood. Shit.
It took me a while to get my bearings, but as soon as the worst of the nausea receded, I undid my belt harness and pushed myself out of the car, never minding my own puke that I inevitably landed in. My left leg felt like a lump of dough, too weak to support my weight any longer. That didn’t matter as I could very well lean against the car as I made my way around it. My poor, shot up Rover, looking like someone had abused it for target practice. Well, that made two of us, I guessed.
Looking around the back of the car, I let my eyes roam over what was left of our merry band. None of us had gotten away unscathed. There was dirt and blood everywhere, Martinez already busy patching up Taylor, his own left arm not quite working as it should. But no further casualties from what I could tell. Even if I might hate myself for what I’d done, it hadn’t been in vain. I’d gotten my people to safety, and that was all that counted now.
A few hopping, dragging steps and I fell into the lush, green grass at the side of the road, the slight slope letting me look not just straight up into the sky overhead but take in the blazing sun as it set over the plains in the distance. Probably the last sunset I would ever see. Even if I was still breathing tomorrow at this time, I knew that my mind would be too far gone to still marvel at the beauty of it. And it was beautiful, same as the endless green fields all around me.
Didn’t matter anymore. I’d done my best, and for once, it had been good enough. I could relax now. Let go. Just breathe in. Breathe out.
“Hey, you needing some help over there?” Martinez called out as he came sauntering over to me. “Nate said you got grazed by a bullet or some shit.”
Exhaling forcefully, I rolled over onto my side—my right, because the left hurt too much. How was this even working with the nerve damage? My fingers closed around my backup gun and I pulled the Glock out, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember if there was even a magazine in the gun. Should be. Didn’t matter. I didn’t actually intend to shoot anyone, but seeing me point it straight at him made Martinez pause and raise his hands placatingly.
“Wow, wow there,” he said, but he was still grinning. “He also mentioned that you’re high as a kite right now. Just be a good girl and drop the gun. If you want to just look at the pretty sunset, that’s okay. I can check on you later.”
A lie, obviously, as he made no attempt to step away. The gun wavered in my hand—and if I’d had to shoot, I wasn’t sure which of the three Martinezes in front of me I should have aimed for—but I forced it to become steady.
“Back the fuck away from me, Martinez. I’m not kidding. The booster was a convenient excuse while it lasted, but I’m serious. I’m not going to lose anyone else today.”
Against the backdrop of the sunset it was impossible to see whether he actually blanched, but I could tell the exact moment when the message sank in. Under different circumstances, the utter look of horror on his face would have probably made me laugh. As it was, hawk up more bloody phlegm was what I did, my gun way off-target now. I should probably have dropped that before that fit hit me.
I didn’t get to remedy that because the next moment, Nate was there, easily prying my weak fingers from the Glock, dropping it in the grass next to me. The look on his features was pinched as he scanned my face, trying to find an answer there that I knew I couldn’t give him. Whatever he saw made his eyes go wide, and he dropped into a crouch by my side, his knife already cutting through the tape I’d secured the bandage with. I reached for his hands to stop him but he just batted mine away. Careful, and with obvious trepidation, he eased the gauze off the wound, the bandage coming away with a sick, sucking sound. It didn’t hurt, though—a small mercy. What lay below looked even worse than when I’d last seen it. The glue might have done a good job staunching the blood loss, but now everything was swollen, pus seeping out around where glue met flesh. My nose was too full of snot to still scent anything but I was sure that it must have started to stink already.
Nate continued to stare at the wound for several seconds straight before his eyes snapped up to my face, confusion and pain shining there. “Why didn’t you say—“
“It doesn’t matter,” I offered, wrapping my fingers around his forearm just above where his knife was all but forgotten. “I didn’t even feel the bleach anymore when I dumped half of that bottle on it. And that was at the most five minutes later. I was bleeding to death, so I patched myself up. I knew there was nothing I could do anymore for myself. But I could still get you out. Get the others out. Make our sacrifices count for something. Do you understand?”
He didn’t move but I could tell from the way he kept looking at me that he understood. That it didn’t matter anymore was a different thing.
“It’s okay,” I assured him, but the next coughing fit probably ruined that. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not—“ he started but had to cut himself off there.
I held his gaze as I smiled, continuing to stroke his arm.
“It’s okay, Nate. But that doesn’t change anything. I know that, and you know that. I’m infected. And there’s nothing in this world that can save me now.”
To be continued in Green Fields #5 - Resurgence
(Coming Early Summer 2016)
Acknowledgement
Ha, a cliffhanger, what a lovely surprise! Makes me wonder if I should apologize to you, gentle reader, for leaving you like that—but depending on when you are reading this, you’ll just have to wait a few weeks or can jump right into the next book. Also, we writers are sadists, only happy when we’ve tormented our characters to the point of breaking them—and, by extension, our readers as well. So rather than saying that I’m sorry I’ll assure you that I’m working hard on book #5!
There are two books left in the series, as it is. Book #6 will have a clear ending as it is, but I might continue writing in the same world after that. I already have ideas for two books that demand to be written, so maybe “the end” won’t be as final as it seemed when I set out on this journey. But it is an end to the overall plot arc that started in book #1, so if you feel like taking a break from my mad ramblings, this is where you can catch your breath.
Writing this series is a truly wonderful experience, which, considering what is up ahead in the next book should make me cringe. At least a little. Excited to find out? Feel free to hound me on facebook or via email in the meantime!
As always, I have my share of people to thank. Foremost, the guy in my life, who never complains when I end up looking more like a zombie than human at wrapping up a book. I wouldn’t know who else I’d have discussions with about whether an RPG is launched from a rocket or grenade launcher. Also my edito
r and cover designer, because they make this madness look downright professional. And, as always, you, dear reader, for not strangling me because I ended this book the way I did.
About the Author
Adrienne Lecter has a background in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, loves ranting at inaccuracies in movies, and spends increasingly more time at the shooting range. She lives with the man and two cats of her life in Vienna, Austria and is working on the next books in the Green Fields series.
You can sign up for Adrienne’s newsletter to never miss a release and be the first to know what other shenanigans she gets up to:
http://www.adriennelecter.com/newsletter
Email: [email protected]
Website: adriennelecter.com
Twitter: @AdrienneLecter
Facebook: facebook.com/adriennelecter
Books published
Green Fields
#1: Incubation
#2: Outbreak
#3: Escalation
#4: Extinction
#5: Resurgence (Early Summer 2016)
#6 (Summer 2016)
Thank you!
Hey, you! Yes, you, who just spent a helluva lot of time reading this book! You just made my day! Thanks!
Want to be notified of new releases and updates? Sign up for my newsletter:
http://www.adriennelecter.com/newsletter
If you enjoyed reading the book and have a moment to spare, I would really appreciate a short, honest review on the site you purchased it from. Reviews make a huge difference in helping new readers find the series. Seriously, they do. Wanna make a difference? Now you know how you can!
Or if you’d like to drop me a note, or chat a bit, feel free to email me or hit me up on social media. I’ll try to respond as quickly as possible!
Email: [email protected]
Website: adriennelecter.com
Twitter: @AdrienneLecter
Facebook: facebook.com/adriennelecter
Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Summary
4-1
4-2
4-3
4-4
4-5
4-6
4-7
4-8
4-9
4-10
4-11
4-12
4-13
4-14
4-15
4-16
4-17
4-18
4-19
4-20
4-21
4-22
4-23
4-24
Acknowledgement
About the Author
Thank you
Green Fields (Book 4): Extinction Page 33