by AJ Sinclair
“Fucking looters,” Cody muttered.
Austin rolled his eyes. “Enough complaining. What are our options?”
“Cannibalism.” Cody’s eyes lit with something dirty. “I could nibble on the doc all day long.”
Indie giggled, much to Austin’s surprise. But maybe she’d laughed at Jack’s reflexive slap upside Cody’s head. Either way, he’d been thinking the same damn thing Cody’d said. He collected his thoughts and snarled at the bunch of them. “Other options.”
***
CODY
Cody had gotten used to Jack smacking him around. In fact, he often provoked the chief just to get a love tap out of him. He knew Jack didn’t mean it, just as Cody knew someone needed to keep him in line. But not a single thought about Jack had been in his mind when he’d made that crack about eating the doctor. Indie. Would she let him call her that?
Dating outside his race had been strictly forbidden. His friends and family had explained why, repeatedly, but it had never made sense to him, and rebel that he was, he’d done it anyway. His first girlfriend—the one he’d lost his virginity to—had been Native American. She’d been the hottest woman he’d even seen. Straight black hair, dark eyes, glowing skin. She could make him laugh like no one ever could. Damn, he missed that right now. He’d loved her—a lot—but their parents broke them up. Fuck that shit.
He’d never gone out with an African-American. The black girls he knew didn’t like him. Called him good ol’boy without giving him a chance to prove he wasn’t. Heck, he was an equal opportunity appreciator of womankind.
But even with all her brains to tell her otherwise, the doctor still seemed to like him. He liked her too. She laughed at everything he did. Wait. Is that a good thing? He needed to come up with a viable solution to redeem himself. And then he’d see about getting a chance to nibble on her.
“Check out that office building.” He nodded toward a fifteen-story structure looming over them from across the street. “Maybe there’s a cafeteria no one thought to loot.”
“Excellent idea, Sergeant.” Austin smiled. “Let’s go.”
Jack smiled at him too, and Cody gave him a high-five.
Now if I could just get some praise from the good doctor. He ran to catch up with her, but the moment her gaze met his, the charming line he’d planned to lay on her melted out his ears. “Um, hi.”
“Hey.” She smiled, and all the blood and death surrounding them went away. “Cody, right?”
She wasn’t sure of his name? Well, he’d have to fix that. “Yes, ma’am. Master Sergeant Cody Taggert, here to protect you.”
She stiffened. “I don’t need protection.”
“No, of course not.” He shook his head, scrambling for something to say that this strong woman would appreciate.
“If anything, I’m protecting you.” She drew herself up another notch, her eyes turning sharp. “I’m immune, and if any of you get sick, I’m the only person on this planet who knows how to save you.”
“Yes, that’s true.” A brainy beatdown from any other woman would’ve sent his confidence into hiding like a frightened turtle, but damn if this woman didn’t make his pecker perk up. “Excellent point, Doctor. I stand corrected.”
“Call me Indie.” She shrank back some and bit her lip. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
“I don’t mind.” She could do it all day long—whatever it was. “Doing what?”
“Flaunting my science in your face.” Her brown cheeks tinted a lovely shade of dusky pink as she swept her hair behind her ear. “It’s a defense mechanism.”
“I see.” He curled his fingers around the stock of his weapon to keep from touching her. “What are you defending against?”
“Falling for you.” She stated it flat out, no girly hesitation, no flirty fakery. Just a fact.
He’d never seen anything like her chocolate brown eyes. “Well, shit, you don’t need to fight me on that one.” His insides melted. God, I feel like a mushy schoolgirl.
“All of you.”
Well, that hardened things up. Oddly enough, he didn’t mind being one of her many.
They crossed the street and strode across the building’s parking lot. A dozen or so cars remained. Jack nodded toward the upper floors. Blinds parted, revealing eyes watching them. A sign reading ‘help us’ disappeared, replaced by one reading ‘go away.’ Another sign appeared. ‘We don’t want Army.’
Austin ignored the welcoming committee and bounded up the steps, yanking the heavy glass doors open and striding into the deserted lobby. He studied the building directory. “Café on the second floor. Stay away from the elevators.” One car stood open, its doors propped apart by a bloody, decaying corpse.
Jack opened the door to the stairwell, and Cody stepped inside, muzzle first. He peered through his scope, finger on the trigger. Lights flickered, wreaking havoc with shadows. Nothing moved. Nothing human, at least. “Clear!”
He stepped back as Austin led them into the stairwell, smiling as Indie’s soap and sweat scent wafted over him as she passed. He grinned at Jack, the last to enter. “I like her.”
“I do too.” Jack stated it as matter-of-factly as the doctor had.
Cody followed him up the stairs. “I’ll fight ya for her.”
“No.” Jack stopped on the landing and glared at him.
Cody slung his weapon over his shoulder and hopped around the platform, taking jabs at him. “C’mon, pussy. Take me on.”
Jack rolled his eyes and punched him square on the chin, knocking Cody flat on his ass. “Who’s the pussy now?”
He groaned, rubbing his throbbing jaw. I should’ve seen that coming. “Fuck me.”
“We just might.” Jack winked then turned and took the stairs two at a time.
We? Cody scrambled after him. Hell, he’d try anything once. And often had.
He pulled open the heavy fire door and stepped out into the second floor hallway. Austin’s voice carried from the café, arguing with someone. Cody followed the sound, but stood in the doorway unnoticed, watching and listening.
“And there’s nothing left?” Austin glared at the chef in apparent disbelief.
She crossed her arms over her food-stained jacket. “Nothing for you.”
Eli rolled his eyes. “So that’s what it is. More anti-Army bullshit.”
The chef’s gaze darted from Austin to Eli and back again. “I’m responsible for feeding the people in this building. No one knows when this quarantine will end.” She swept all the men in uniform with a heated glare. “I need to make the food supplies last.”
“We just want breakfast.” Indie stepped forward. “A donut or a muffin. Even a box of cereal to share would be enough.”
Cody spotted the door to the pantry standing slightly ajar. As you wish, doc. He slipped inside while the others argued and pleaded. The place had been picked nearly bare, but he managed to find a bag of powdered mini donuts, a muffin wrapped in plastic, and a box of Lucky Charms. He grabbed a bag of ground coffee, knowing genius Eli would find a way to make a percolator. The café had gone quiet, and Cody peeked through the gap in the pantry door. Austin and Indie walked by, followed by Jack and Eli. Cody stepped out and blended in with the camouflage-wearing group like he’d been there all along.
Austin stomped down the stairs. “Is it worth the trouble to search the rest of the building?”
Eli shook his head. “I only saw one restaurant on the directory.”
They spilled out of the stairwell into the lobby, gathering around Indie as had become their custom. “Options,” Austin snapped, the snarl on his face revealing he was fresh out of ideas.
Cody pulled the box of cereal from his backpack. “Let’s eat.” He handed the box to Austin then presented the muffin to Indie. “As ordered, doc.”
She gasped. “Did you steal this for me?”
“I’d do a lot worse for you, Indie.”
She smiled and her fingertips brushed his scruffy cheek. He closed his eyes, an
d his lips found hers, sweet and soft, and oh-so melty good. Just like he’d imagined she’d feel. Her hand slid into his hair, and he slipped an arm around her waist, her warm body curving into his. Lord, how he’d love to sink into this woman. Slow, hot, and simmering.
“Ahem.” Jack cleared his throat. “Gonna share that with the rest of us?”
Cody pushed back and blinked. Jack eyed the muffin.
“Oh.” His face heated. Shit, am I blushing? “I’ve only got one muffin, but I nabbed a whole bag of donuts.” He pulled them out of his pack.
“I’m not going to ask how you acquired those, Sergeant.” Austin stuffed a whole donut in his mouth. “Well done.”
“And I’m hoping you can work your magic with this.” Cody handed the coffee to Eli.
Eli’s eyes lit up. “I need water, heat, and a pot.”
“Go,” Austin ordered.
Jack and Cody searched nearby empty offices and brought back a coffee maker, a bottle of water, and five mugs. They sat down in the lobby chairs and shared their contraband food and invigorating coffee.
“All right.” Austin polished off his coffee and stood. “We’ll go to the hospital and kick this virus’ ass.”
“Yeehaw!” Cody raised his mug.
Jack scowled at him. “We’re not in Texas.”
“Sorry. Felt like a yeehaw moment.” Cody stood and held his hand out to the doctor.
She smiled and took it, her warm flesh sending a happy thrill down his spine.
They gathered their newly obtained supplies then cut through the parking lot on their way back to the street. Cody lagged behind, randomly pulling on car door handles until one opened. “Hey!”
All three soldiers spun in unison, weapons pointed in his face.
“Whoa. Not that.” Cody held up his hands and retreated a step. “I got us a ride.” He slid over to the driver’s seat and cracked the under panel, all too easily remembering how to hotwire a car. Strip, cross, and go. Sparks crackled, and the engine roared to life.
“I’m not going to ask about that skill either,” Austin grumbled as he held the back door open for Indie.
Jack chuckled and slid into the front passenger seat while Eli crawled into the back.
Cody smirked at the doc as she fastened her seat belt. “Expecting a wild ride, doctor?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then I won’t disappoint you.” He stomped on the gas and squealed out of the parking lot, tearing down the empty street like he was running with the devil. He’d stolen food for the doc, stolen a car. Would killing be next? That’s quite a leap. He’d do it to protect her. Whether she needed it or not.
Chapter 6
INDIE
Indie had expected Cody to be the first to kiss her. She’d seen it coming. Yet a shock had sparked her senses when his soft lips touched hers. The other guys had stood and watched, patiently allowing them to finish. Waiting their turn, perhaps? Could she kiss them—or more—one after the other? A delicious thrill ran down her spine, followed quickly by a clamping together of her quivering thighs and clamping down on her wayward thoughts. No, she couldn’t pursue them all. She shouldn’t pursue any of them. They had a mission to accomplish.
Cody spun the car around a corner, racing up an on-ramp to the interstate and screeching to a halt, narrowly missing the car ahead of him. “I hate rush hour.”
But the traffic jam didn’t move. Rows of cars sat dead, all signs of life long since abandoned.
“Tread carefully, Sergeant.” Austin gave orders from the back seat.
Cody directed the car through the traffic maze, driving on the shoulder until someone who’d had the same idea had ditched their car where it stood. He drove around it and back onto the road, dodging the vehicle obstacle course.
An ambulance and a fire truck blocked the far right lanes behind four blackened and twisted cars. Bodies lay on the pavement, some burned, but many more soaked in blood. Had they been trying to escape the quarantine? Indie thanked whatever being might’ve been in charge for the accident.
“Is this our exit, doc?” Cody guided the car toward an off-ramp.
She spotted the blue and white hospital sign. “Yes.” A sigh of relief escaped her. Dr. Indiana Jones would find her family and save the world. Just like her mother always knew she would. What a joke.
Traffic obstacles cleared as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. One ambulance sat deserted at the emergency room entrance, its doors hanging open and a bloody corpse lying on a stretcher inside. Red numbers. Unit 327, the same ambulance she’d seen the last time she’d been here. Indie’s heart raced. Oh my God.
Cody parked beside it and left the engine running while they waited. Indie hesitated, her fingers curled around the door handle. No one came to greet them. No one rushed out to assess their situation.
“This is weird.” Cody’s knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.
Goose bumps crawled up Indie’s arm. “I expected the hospital to be bustling with activity.”
“It’s a ghost town.” Jack tightened his grip on his gun and he turned to frown at her. “Are you sure your family’s here?”
“This was the last place I saw them.” Her mother bleeding in the hospital bed. Her father terrified and weary. “My mother died here. The quarantine was ordered shortly after that.” Had they gone home?
“Do you want to go in?” Austin lowered his voice, his lips close to her ear so she alone could hear him. “No one would blame you if you didn’t.”
She’d already bailed out once. She couldn’t leave her family behind again. “I would.” Indie shoved the back door open and stepped out, staring at the apparently abandoned hospital over the roof of the car. Is anyone alive in there? She wouldn’t find out just standing here.
Austin rose to his feet beside her, and the other men climbed out of the car in silence, guns clutched to their chests and their faces grim. They moved as a group with Indie in the center, surrounding her with their vulnerable bodies.
Damn it, I’m immune. I should be leading them. She tried to push past Austin, but the solid mountain of man would not be moved.
“No, Doctor. I’m in charge.”
“Fat lot of good that’ll do if you get infected.”
“We haven’t so far.” Jack stepped forward and pulled her back. “We might be immune.”
“Or extremely lucky.” A tight grin stretched across Cody’s face.
“Let’s move.” Eli grunted, holding his ribs. “Assess the situation.” He eyed the abandoned ambulance. “Then get out quick.”
“Quit stalling,” Indie said to herself more than anyone else. She broke away from Jack and swept past Austin, marching toward the hospital entrance. The doors slid open, beckoning her toward the unoccupied reception desk. Her footsteps echoed like the cries of patients who’d once filled the waiting room, now empty, chairs overturned, charts scattered. Dried blood stuck to the touchscreen directory. No amount of anti-bacterial wipes could get her to touch that thing again.
She stared at a security monitor showing her soldiers following, carrying large automatic weapons. That should’ve caused a commotion, raised an alarm, but they were met with unnerving silence.
“My mother’s room was on the fifth floor.” She turned a sharp left and strode down the hall, ignoring the elevators. Intermittent power surges could leave them stranded. As soon as she found her family, she’d get the hell out of here. Why wouldn’t they have done the same thing?
Austin caught up to her. “It’s a good thing you tested your cure on Sarmi’s family. I don’t think you’re going to find any patients here.”
“They must have evacuated.” Cody frowned at the abandoned nurses’ station.
“What could drive a hospital to evacuate?” Eli cringed, either from pain or something worse, Indie wasn’t sure.
No one wanted to answer that.
Jack stopped in front of a patient’s room and peered past the open door. “Not everyone got out.”
/> They didn’t have to look. They knew they’d find a bloody body in the bed.
“The entire hospital is a biohazard zone.” Austin clutched his gun tighter to his chest, as if that would help.
Indie stopped at the stairwell door. “You guys need to get out. You could be infected already.”
All four of them shook their heads, and Eli swore. “Fuck that. We’re not leaving you alone in here.”
“I’m immune. I won’t get sick.”
“That’s not what we’re afraid of.” Austin brushed past her and headed up the stairs.
Then, what? Indie’s mind refused to acknowledge the implications. She didn’t know without evidence. Concrete proof of the conclusion her brain struggled to reach.
She was panting slightly when they reached the fifth floor. Austin pushed the door open and held it, indicating for Jack to go first, then Indie followed with Cody and Eli close behind.
Fluorescent lights flickered, buzzing and popping over their heads, casting a horror movie pallor throughout the hallway. Blood. Everywhere. Smeared handprints on the walls. Sticky pools on the floor. Spatter on the ceiling. Indie’s stomach lurched and she barely kept her stolen breakfast down.
“Which room?” Jack’s voice cracked.
“Five thirty-seven.” Indie searched her memory. “At the end of the hall.”
“Great,” someone muttered behind her, but she didn’t care who because she was thinking the same damn thing.
Jack and Austin led the way, side by side as they crept past room after room of death and decay. Patients had been left to die in their beds. They skirted around a nurse lying dead on the floor.
Indie wrung her trembling hands. They’d get to her mother’s room and find her father, Dallas, and Montgomery safe. Tired, probably hungry, maybe sick, but alive. They had to be.
Jack stopped in front of a closed door. Five thirty-seven. “Are you sure you want to go in?”
Indie swallowed and nodded.
“Let me go first.” Austin reached for the doorknob.
Indie caught his arm. “Don’t touch anything.”