by AJ Sinclair
Cody pushed inside, stepping ahead of Indie. “Hello?”
Quiet greeted him. The interior looked relatively undisturbed. A display of beer bottles had been knocked over and broken, permeating the place with a fermented yeasty odor. The cash register sat open and empty, and the TV behind the counter was still on, showing only flickering static.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” Cody led her to an aisle of wine bottles from all over the world.
Indie caught her breath. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it.” He wandered off, presumably in search of whiskey.
The group spread out, keeping in sight of each other. While Indie perused the wine selection, Jack and Eli examined their way to the back of the room, peering into still lit coolers. Austin strolled down the wine aisle behind Indie, no doubt guarding her while trying to do it casually. She stopped, pretending to study the labels as he caught up to her. A little squeal escaped her when she found her favorite brand.
The major’s eyes darkened when he spotted the bottle in her hand. “Ménage a Trois red blend. Interesting choice.”
Damn it, why’d he have to see that? “I like it.”
His lips curled. “I do too.”
Cody strolled by and snatched the bottle from Indie’s hand. “Mmm. Good stuff.” His eyes sparkled as he read the label. And then that impish grin took over. “Ever had one?”
Heat flashed over Indie’s face and pooled between her thighs. “The wine or the…ahem.” The word caught in her throat. Why can’t I say it?
Both men stared at her with varying degrees of amused lust. Ménage a trois. Household of three. What would that be like? Although the quarantine conditions were less than ideal for a happily ever after arrangement, the sexual aspects greatly appealed to her—on an experimental level, of course. The dynamics between her and these two men should be thoroughly researched. And then she could add Jack and Eli. Ménage a…lot? Woo…what am I thinking? I haven’t even had a drink.
“I love a good blend,” Jack murmured behind her then winked when she met his gaze.
He’s back.
Eli just smiled. He’d already opened the bottle of rum in his hand.
Noise in the back. Footsteps. “Out!” A woman charged them, holding a baseball bat high over her head. Indie and the men scrambled as she swung wildly, smashing into the shelf and sending bottles crashing to the floor. She slipped in the spilled wine then swung again, missing as she screamed in a language Indie didn’t understand.
“Stop!” Eli thrust his palm toward the panicking woman then spoke again, using a word she seemed to comprehend.
She glared at him then brought the bat around hard, smacking him in the ribs.
Bones crunched under flesh, and Eli grunted, staggering back. But he wrapped his arm around his side as he regained his footing, pain twisting his face. He spoke to her in a firm tone, but calming at the same time. “We’re not here to rob you,” he said in English, probably for their benefit.
She yelled back at him and raised her bat, charging. Eli grabbed the bat and wrenched it from her with one hand. She tumbled, and Austin caught her, twisting her arms behind her back.
Indie tripped over scattered rolling bottles to get to Austin. “Let her go. She’s infected.”
Austin stumbled backward, releasing the woman and pushing her away from him. She hadn’t reached the bleeding stage yet, but her skin was sheened with sweat, and fever shone in her eyes.
The woman snatched a broken bottle and pointed it at Austin. He grabbed his gun, nearly useless at this close range. “Put it down, miss.”
She blubbered, dropping the bottle as she collapsed in a heap on the floor. Indie knelt beside her, pressing her palm to the woman’s forehead. She could give her the cure. The woman wasn’t too far gone, but she’d have nothing left for her family—if it even worked. “Do you speak English?”
The woman replied in her language.
Eli translated. “She said her children are sick.”
Children. Oh God. Indie had only seen adults get sick and die, but of course, children would be affected too. She’d heard stories on the news about entire schools and daycares getting infected, but it hadn’t hit home until now.
“Where are they?” she said in English and waited for Eli to translate.
“Upstairs.” Eli glanced toward the stairwell at the back of the store.
Austin helped Indie to her feet and pulled her aside. “Can you help them? This family could be your test subjects.”
“Yes, but…” My family!
“But what?”
She shook her head and allowed tears to trickle down her cheeks, hoping he’d think she was overcome with emotion. True, but for her family, not this one. She wiped her face and turned to Eli. “Ask her what her name is.”
Eli repeated the question. “Sarmi. Her children are Aradhana and Shekar.”
No. Indie shuddered. She’d just wanted the woman’s name. Knowing the kids’ names made them real.
“Are you all right?” Austin pulled her to him on shaking legs.
“We need to get to the hospital.” Indie closed off her heart and started for the front door, but he held her back.
“What about these people?”
She shook her head, knowing he’d never let her go if she didn’t tell him why. “My family…is at the hospital.”
“And you can’t save both.”
Her lower lip trembled, and she bit down on it. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You have to choose between saving someone now and holding on to that medication for someone who may already be dead.”
She’d worked so hard, left her mother’s side and trapped herself in that lab so she could save her—only to be too late. But maybe not for her father and siblings. She could still save them! Not these people she didn’t even know. These children…could die horribly. Just like everyone else. “I can’t!” She clapped her hands over her face, trying to blacken the images of bleeding death.
Austin slid his arm around her shoulders while she sobbed against him. “You’re the only one who can.”
“We won’t judge you.” Jack had slipped over to them and apparently heard every word. “In situations like this, you have to make impossible choices.”
“We’ve all been there.” Cody joined them, and Eli nodded from where he crouched beside Sarmi as if he understood the conflict Indie was facing.
She pressed her face into Austin’s chest and inhaled deeply, drawing strength from his solid warmth. “Do you really think my family is dead?”
“I have no idea.”
She didn’t either. And suddenly, it didn’t matter. Indie straightened and strode over to Sarmi. “I’m a doctor. May I see your children?” She should just walk away. She needed the formula for her father, Dallas, and Montgomery. But kids. She had no idea how old they were or if they were too sick to save. She just had to do something, even if she couldn’t do anything. “I have medicine that could help you all.”
Eli translated, then Sarmi nodded and Indie helped her up, not allowing the men to touch her. She led them up the stairs to a small apartment above the store.
A weak breeze filtered in through the open windows, but it did little to ease the stifling heat. A young girl lay on a couch and—oh no—an infant slept in a bassinet by the bedroom door.
Indie turned and rushed toward the stairs, but Austin caught her arm while Sarmi spoke to Eli. “Where are you going?” Austin snarled in her ear.
Indie’s breath caught in her throat. “The baby. I can’t.”
“Is he dead?” Austin peered toward the bassinet.
“No. Not yet.” Indie tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. “I can’t give the cure to an infant. The girl will be okay, but the baby…” She shook her head. “It could kill him.”
Eli walked over. “She wants you to give it to the children first.”
Chapter 5
AUSTIN
Austin would r
ather face an impossible choice than none at all. Having options, even terrible ones, was better than not being able to do anything. Doing was his life. He’d never been able to sit back and watch things happen. He had to be involved. But now, a child was going to die, and he couldn’t do a goddamn thing. “We can’t give it to the baby.”
“Too young?” Eli gritted his teeth. “I was afraid of that.”
“Can you explain it to the mother?” Indie placed her hand on his arm.
“I’ll try.”
Eli said the words, but Austin could tell by Sarmi’s high-pitched protests and violent head shaking that the message wasn’t getting through.
Dr. Jones stood by Eli, giving him reasons and explanations. “If I give him the medication, Shekar will die.”
Sarmi shook her head and argued. Eli translated as fast as he could. “She won’t take it. You have to give it to the children.”
“If she doesn’t take it, she’ll die, and the children won’t survive without her.”
Sarmi pondered that for a moment but refused again. “My life doesn’t matter. My children must live.”
“I’ll give it to her,” Dr. Jones started.
Eli translated too soon, and Sarmi waved her hand, cutting him off.
“And then she can nurse the baby. There’s a chance the medication will be transferred to him.”
Eli translated then he and Sarmi both looked at the doctor like they hadn’t understood.
“It’s the only way I can treat Shekar.”
Sarmi sighed, then nodded. “Give it to Aradhana. I want to see my daughter better before I am treated.”
“All right.” Dr. Jones nodded and dug through her bag for the syringes.
Aradhana cringed and cuddled close to her mother while the doctor administered the shot.
“How long will it take before you know if it works?” Austin hoped the mother really didn’t understand English.
Dr. Jones pressed her hand to the girl’s forehead. “Her fever should start coming down in a couple of hours.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “By morning, she should be recovering.”
“You’ll need to monitor her?”
“Yes, and document the results.”
Jack appeared next to him. “There’s no food. The water is brown. They won’t survive even if the cure does work.”
The chief had assessed the situation just as Austin had known he would. “You and Cody go back to the restaurant. Gather all the supplies you can find. If you’re not back in an hour, we’re coming after you.”
Jack nodded, signaled Cody, then disappeared down the stairs.
Austin took a post near the door while the doctor watched Aradhana and Eli talked to Sarmi, translating out loud to no one in particular. They learned that Sarmi’s husband had left before the quarantine was ordered and hadn’t been heard from since. She didn’t know if he was dead or alive, maybe stuck outside the fence. He’d been the only one who spoke English, so Sarmi couldn’t ask for help. She’d driven away looters with the baseball bat, an entire set of golf clubs, and Molotov cocktails thrown through the liquor store’s gated front door.
A grim smile twisted Austin’s lips. “Sign her up.” They couldn’t take Sarmi and her family with them, of course. Obviously, they were in good hands right here.
Jack and Cody returned fifty-nine minutes later with bottled water, bread, cheese, and cases of jerky they’d scrounged from somewhere Jack wouldn’t mention. Austin knew better than to question him too much.
Another hour later, after they’d eaten, Aradhana asked Eli if she could pet the doctor’s rat.
Dr. Jones swept her hand across the girl’s forehead. “Cooler.” She pulled out a thermometer and checked her temperature. “It’s going down, but she still has a way to go.” Then she allowed Rizzo to crawl out of her pocket and nuzzle the child’s cheek.
Sarmi smiled for the first time since she’d cracked Eli’s ribs.
The doctor gave Sarmi the remaining medication, instructing her to wait an hour then nurse Shekar. Sarmi spent the night in the bedroom with her baby while Aradhana slept on the couch with Dr. Jones close by.
Austin posted Cody and Jack in the stairwell and Eli just inside the door. He sat at the kitchen table, dozing off a few times during the night. Every time he opened his eyes, he saw the doctor writing in her notebook or checking the girl’s vitals. “How’s she doing, Dr. Jones?”
“Call me Indie.” She scribbled across the page without looking at him.
“Indie.” His smile became a yawn. “Is she going to be all right?”
“Yes.” She laid her pen on the paper and walked over to the couch again. “I think she will.”
“And the baby?”
“I don’t know.” She glanced toward the bedroom door. “Mothers always pass antibodies to their babies through breastmilk. That’s probably how he got infected. I just hope he gets enough.”
Austin nodded, and the next time he opened his eyes, sunlight streamed through the window. He stood and stretched, bones creaking and crackling like ice on the lake he used to fish as a boy. Aradhana lay sleeping on the couch with Rizzo curled in her hand. “What’s the verdict, Doctor? Indie?”
Indie smiled. “The conclusion is that the cure works on humans. I just checked on Sarmi. Her fever is going down.”
“And the boy?”
“Shekar still has a high temperature.” Her flatlined mouth indicated worry. “We should go.”
“To the hospital?” Austin frowned. “You don’t want to stay and monitor the baby’s progress?”
“I have all the data I need.” She collected her notebook and pen then brushed past without looking at him.
Austin caught her arm. “That’s awfully cold, Doctor.”
“I can’t watch a baby die.” Her lower lip trembled, and he wanted to bite it.
What am I thinking? Focus. “But what if he doesn’t?”
“Then he’ll be with the people who love him. He doesn’t need to be my experiment.” She pulled away from him and jammed her notebook in her backpack.
Aradhana was sitting up on the couch, petting Rizzo and giggling as he nibbled on her fingertips.
“You can keep him.” Indie smiled and sat next to her.
The girl blinked.
Eli translated, and Indie added, “If it’s okay with your mother.”
Sarmi had come out of the bedroom, looking weary but less pale than yesterday. Eli explained that Indie had given the rat to her daughter, and she smiled.
Jack and Cody wandered in, searching for food, but Austin directed them away from the kitchen. “We’ll find something to eat after we leave.”
“We’re still going to the hospital?” Jack arched an eyebrow.
“That’s what Indie wants to do.” Austin glanced at her, and Eli giving instructions to Sarmi.
Cody smirked. “We’re calling her Indie now?”
Shit, he hadn’t meant to let that slip. “I am,” he growled at the sergeant.
“Don’t worry about feeding Rizzo,” Indie said, and Eli translated as Austin approached. “He’ll find his own food.”
“Time for us to go.” He spoke to Eli. “Tell Sarmi thank you for allowing us to test the medication on her family.”
Tears gathered in the woman’s eyes and she nodded, then spoke to Eli.
Eli grinned and patted her shoulder. Indie hugged the girl and her mother then followed Jack and Cody downstairs.
Austin closed the apartment door behind them and caught up to Eli. “What was that about?”
“She apologized for cracking my ribs.”
“How are you feeling?”
Eli shrugged. “I’ve been worse.”
Jack, Cody, and Indie had stopped on the sidewalk and waited for them.
“The doc says we’re going to the hospital.” Cody frowned as Austin and Eli approached.
Indie spoke up before Austin could question her. “Under the circumstances, I think it’s the safest place to be.
You all may have been infected, and the hospital will have the supplies I need to make more of the medication.”
“You heard her, Sergeant.” Austin smiled.
“And my family may be there.” Indie blinked back tears.
A dull ache thudded in his chest. “Do you think they’re still alive?”
She gaped at him as if she hadn’t considered the possibility, gathering her strength for a fight. “They have to…” But her shoulders slumped as her mind raced to conclusion he’d already come to. “I don’t know.” Her jaw set and her eyes hardened. “But I have to know. Wouldn’t you?”
I do. Pain knifed through his heart. It doesn’t help. “We’ll find them.” Austin put his hand on Indie’s shoulder, and they all moved in close, surrounding her, sharing a moment of unity before they moved on.
“We need to find food soon.” Jack clutched his weapon. “There’s nothing left at the restaurant.”
“What about the grocery store?” Austin scanned their surroundings.
“We didn’t have time to search it, but it doesn’t look promising.”
The floor to ceiling sliding glass doors of the store had been shattered, and rotted produce littered the entrance. Austin debated whether to waste time exploring the place or try to find something else.
“There’s a delivery truck parked behind the building.” Jack tipped his head in that direction.
So that’s where he got the jerky. “Anything useable in there?”
“We grabbed the first thing we saw,” Cody volunteered. “We couldn’t carry everything.”
“It’s worth checking out.” Jack waited for orders.
“Lead us to it, Chief.”
Jack cut through the parking lot and around the end of the store. The semi-truck sat behind it, back doors open and the trailer dark. Jack climbed up and pointed his weapon. “Damn it.”
“Empty?” Somehow, Austin wasn’t surprised.
“I thought people were supposed to stay indoors.” Indie peeked into the empty trailer.
“There’s no one left to enforce that rule,” Eli grunted, wrapping his arm around his ribs.