"I will not," Meaghan yelled. "Don't be so fucking dramatic." She lifted her finger and pointed at me. "I only want her dead."
I kept the gun trained on the psychopath. "Are you forgetting you tried to shoot Brodie? The one you're 'supposed' to be with? That's reason enough for me to kill your ass right this second."
"No!" Larissa begged again. "Brodie, how can you—you're willing to trade Meaghan's life for this—this girl you hardly know? You've known Meaghan her whole life, how can you—"
"Larissa," Brodie started, angrily. "I know you're upset, but yes, I will do anything I have to to protect Risa, including kill your daughter."
"You—you wouldn't," Meaghan cried.
Brodie put his hand on my waist then took the gun from me, still aiming it at Meaghan. "We've been friends your whole life. I've been there for you through a lot of shit, Meaghan, but I'll never be your boyfriend. I'll never love you the way I love Risa or want you the way I want her. Now, I've never seen a psycho Infected stand and have a conversation before, so I think you might be able to fight this and be okay. But if you so much as look at Risa the wrong way again, I'll put a bullet between your eyes faster than you can blink. And no one, Larissa, no one will stop me. Do you understand?"
She stared at him, tears falling down her cheeks and nodded slowly. "But I've always loved you."
"How you feel about me—that's how I feel about Risa, only magnify that by a hundred. I don't love you, Meaghan. I never will."
"How can you be so cruel?" Larissa squealed. "She's just a child."
I turned to scowl at her, but Grams did me one better and smacked her right across her mouth. "She's old enough to fire a damn gun at my grandson. You know what, get out. Go take your demented child and find somewhere else to hide. Sammy, let her go."
Larissa ran to Meaghan and cradled her in her arms. "Come on, baby."
Brodie lowered the gun, but kept it cocked. He kept me behind him as his body turned with their movements.
Larissa was crying. "At least give us the gun. We'll die out there."
Seriously? Were they both demented?
Brodie's voice was the angriest I think I'd ever heard it. "Get out before I lose my fucking temper and hit a woman."
Sammy followed them out of the building to make sure they left. I wrapped my arms around Brodie and could feel him shaking.
"She could have killed you." His voice trembled as much as he did.
I rubbed his back as comfortingly as I could. "She didn't. I'm fine. We're both fine." I lowered my voice and pressed my lips to his ear. "You can still get me pregnant someday."
He squeezed me tighter and didn't let go for several minutes. When we finally joined the others in the room, Grams was pacing back and forth.
Brodie put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm okay, Grams."
She pulled him into a firm embrace. "I should have known she was infected. I can't believe I almost got us all killed."
"What are you talking about?" Brodie stepped back to look at her. "How could you have known?"
"Larissa said she'd been cut by an Infected. I read about that only it sounded so absurd. And it was just one thread. And I was looking for something to help you three, so I didn't really pay attention to it. I'm so sorry." Her voice sounded tortured. "I should have picked up on it."
Brodie hugged her again. "It's okay, Grams. We're all okay, but what does the cut have to do with the infection?"
"It's how it's transmitted. They said something that sounded ridiculous about sap or something growing underneath your fingernails. When it enters the bloodstream, you get the infection."
I looked down at my nails. So that was what made them look dirty all the time.
"Fucking government!" Grams yelled so loudly we all jumped. "If they'd just release the real information about this pandemic, we'd have a fighting chance." She hugged Brodie close to her for a few more minutes before looking more composed.
I was yawning, and Brodie looked as beat as I felt. All adrenaline had faded after Meaghan's little attack, so I gave in to curling up in Brodie's arms to close my eyes. Despite the continued screams and gunfire, I fell asleep quickly.
"Shit! Shit! Everybody up!" Sammy yelled.
Brodie sat up beside me. "What is it?"
"Someone's running toward the building," Sammy explained quickly. "And they're being chased."
"National Guard?" Lara asked.
"I don't think so, but it's hard to tell."
Brodie locked eyes with me for a second before heading toward the window. "One, two, three, four—is that, five, no six. Shit, six. We need to hide. They won't know we're here if we can—"
"Grams, Brodie, help!"
I didn't recognize the screams, but Brodie pounded his fist against the wall and cursed. "Larissa."
I ran to the window, looking out.
"Damn it." Brodie cursed right behind me. "Only ten bullets left. I wish we had more weapons."
"I grabbed those knives," Sammy said as he jogged toward his backpack. He came back a moment later and handed me two large knives.
I stared at them, remembering the night before, remembering Dad on the ground and all the blood on my hands.
Brodie touched his fingers to my chin. "Take Grams and Lara and go hide somewhere."
I pulled my chin up as high as I could. "We discussed this already."
He nodded once and threaded his fingers through mine. "Grams, Lara, you two hide in the corner back there." He pointed behind us. "Don't make a sound. Sammy, be ready for them to head your way. I'll try to pick off as many as I can with the gun, but I'm only shooting once each. It should slow 'em down enough for us to kill 'em with the knives."
Larissa's stupid screams continued as Brodie and I stood in the doorway facing the stairwell. It seemed to take forever for them to get to our floor, but when Larissa came bursting through the opening, I almost asked Brodie to shoot her.
"Grams, help, please!" She ran straight for us. "Brodie, ple—"
"Shut the fuck up and get out of the way, you stupid—"
His voice died off as the Infecteds came flooding in. He opened fire, hitting the first in the head. It staggered and fell backward. The second, he hit in the chest, and it came at us. I watched him hit the third in the chest and fire twice at the fourth before hitting it in the head. When the second got within ten feet, I pulled out the knife, took a deep breath and lunged for him. He was too strong, and had me in a chokehold before I could get the knife anywhere near him. When blood splattered across my face and his hands relaxed around my throat, I realized Brodie must have shot him.
Just as I shoved him off me, another infected pinned me to the ground, but she didn't know I had a knife. I brought it up, forcing myself not to think about what I was doing and stabbed her in her back as many times as I could until she fell to the side. I got up and surveyed the situation. Brodie fired at the last Infected that came through the doorway, but just hit its stomach. When he fired again, the Infected ran to the side and put his claw-like hands to Brodie. Panic pushed me toward him before he could get Brodie, and I stabbed at him from behind. He dropped to his knees, and I stabbed him three more times before he fell forward. It was like I was on auto-pilot. Run, stab, stab, stab, look for more. And it had gone way more smoothly than the previous night. Maybe I was getting better at it, but I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
The last Infected reached me as Brodie grappled with an Infected he'd shot, but wasn't fully dead yet. The others had been fairly easy, so I didn't really think too much of it when he charged at me. Before I knew it, I was launched in the air, smacking into the wall with my head. I crumpled to the ground, trying to pull myself up again, but everything blurred. He came at me again, but thankfully, Sammy intervened, snapping his neck from behind as the Infected showed me his bloody teeth. I stayed on all fours on the floor, trying to regain my balance.
"Risa!" Brodie shouted, and I looked in his direction to see him throw off the Infected he was fighting.
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I tried to crawl in his direction as a swarm of men with guns came flooding onto our floor. I stumbled, still trying to regain my footing, but the room spun horribly, pitching me forward.
"Risa!"
I wanted to get to him. Tears streamed down my face. Please let me die by his side. Please, I begged anyone who was listening in my head. I looked up and guns were everywhere in front of me.
"We're not armed," Sammy yelled. "We're not psycho!"
Several soldiers spread out into the room where Grams and Lara were.
"They're not infected!" Brodie cried out, but one of the soldiers smashed the end of his gun into Brodie's head.
"No!" I screamed.
A big solider, easily the biggest of the group came closer to me, his gun pointed at my forehead.
"Don't hurt her! Please!" Brodie crawled in my direction
The big guy turned and aimed his gun at Brodie. "Stop where you are!" he commanded.
I stayed as still as I possibly could with three guns pointed at me.
"Let her go." Brodie begged. "She's not psycho. Please, don't hurt her. Please, I'm begging you."
Big guy's mouth moved, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. Two more military guys came from the back and walked closer to Brodie with their guns trained on him. They moved around him, looking him over then they stepped back to where they were.
"You're both infected," big guy stated.
"Yeah, we're well aware," Brodie spat back at him.
Big guy looked between me and Brodie again. "And you don't want me to hurt her?"
"Hell no!" The fear and anger in Brodie's voice made me need him all the more. If they were going to shoot us, they could at least let us be together.
"What's she to you?" big guy asked as if having an everyday conversation about the weather.
Brodie looked at him like he was nuts, and I was wondering what this had to do with trying to kill us as well. "She's my girlfriend. Just, she won't hurt anybody. Please, I'm begging you. Please, let her go."
Big guy titled his head. "You love her?"
"Hell yes I love her! Now leave her the fuck alone!"
Big guy turned back to me and took a step forward.
"No, don't!" Brodie yelled in panic. "I'm sorry. I'll shut up, just don't hurt her. Please, God, don't hurt her."
I closed my eyes as big guy stood a foot in front of me, his gun only inches from my face.
"Do you love him?" he asked seriously.
I opened my eyes and stared at him. "Of course I love him. Who—who are you people?"
He lowered his gun and kneeled in front of me, speaking softly. "My name's Devlin Vaughn. I'm sorry about this—really, I'm sorry, but I'm just following orders and trying to get back to the girl that I love."
My jaw dropped open in confusion and surprise at what he'd said and how much he'd meant it.
He gave me a sadly sympathetic smile and pressed his fingers to a black button hanging from his vest. "Tranq 'em," he said as he stood up and stepped back. A soldier moved forward, aiming a smaller gun at me. My eyes went to Brodie where a soldier had a similar gun pointed at him.
Brodie's eyes were full of tears, and he stretched his hand out to me even though we were at least twenty feet away from each other. "I love you, sunshine, always."
I wanted to shout how much I loved him, but my own tears were falling too fast, and the lump in my throat strangled me. I reached my hand out to him and mouthed the words, "I love you" as the simultaneous sound of gunshots went off.
The bullet hit me in the chest, but as I looked down to see the blood, I found a metal stick poking out of my chest. My brain just barely registered the big guy's last words, "Tranq 'em" before I was enveloped in complete darkness.
Acknowledgements
A big thank you goes out to the following people for their help and support:
Tricia Homer and Ted Montague, who make it all possible and keep me sane—well relatively speaking.
Kim Steele, who always gives me her nod of approval before a book heads out to the world at large.
Krystal Zitek and Farida Mestek for making the time in a busy world to read through my books.
To those who have given me so much support and encouragement that I just cannot begin to thank any of them: Nguyen Vong, Gary Walter, Farida Mestek, Tyra Coils of www.book-snobs.blogspot.com, Rachel Marchant, and Liz Kaulfuss.
Finally, thank you to the music group Train, whose song "Drive By" could have easily been written by Brodie.
About the Author
Kimberly Montague was born and raised in the Bay Area of California before moving to North Carolina with her husband where they now live with their three dogs and oversized cat. When she's not reading, gardening, spending time with her family, or antagonizing her pets in creative and loving ways, she can be found with some form of electronic device mounted on her fingers as she tries to keep up with the large conference of characters battling for individual dominance in her brain.
This is one of the many novels set in the Setenid Blight world. If you haven't read the story of Dev and Evie, you may be interested in checking out Altered: Setenid Blight Book One along with the sequel, Divided, and coming soon, Uncontained. If you're interested in hearing more from Risa, particularly what it was like to join Harm and Dev's Special Team fighting Infecteds across the country, please let Kimberly know by contacting her using one of the many methods below. Kimberly also has a contemporary adult romance novel called Racing Outside the Line: A Love Story at 190 mph and an adult paranormal romance titled Until the Morning Sun.
Contact Kimberly Online:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kimbermontague
Website and blog: http://www.kimberlymontague.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKimberlyMontague
NOW AVAILABLE
Deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains there lies a cave that has been the source of local legends for centuries. Purported to be the home of an ancient deranged and vicious animal, many have gone in seek of it, but what lies within is far more dangerous than a mere creature.
17 year-old Piper “Evie” Kenly’s life has been anything but calm, however, the turmoil of losing almost her entire family is nothing compared to the difficulties she is about to face.
Robbed of all other alternatives, she moves in with her boyfriend and his family only to be tempted beyond reason by the tall, athletic, and ridiculously popular Devlin Vaughn- Captain of the football team. The attraction and connection they share make it impossible for her to deny her true feelings. But just as she begins to feel her life is in order, one camping trip and a testosterone-driven dare involving a cave with a deadly and contagious secret will send her entire world into complete chaos.
Table of Contents
An Infamous Man-Whore
Goodbye Peacefulness
Use It
Roomies
Snap Out of it
Fitting Into the Puzzle
I've Kissed Plenty of Guys
Sleep With Me
The New Flavor of the Week
Like Jumping Off the High Dive
Keeping Me Around
Who Did That to You?
Another Chance
Risa Likes it Like This
Permanent Damage
Get the Things You Want
Natural Looks the Most Natural
Commitments and Green Circles
Did That Hurt?
Easier to Believe the Bad Stuff
The Only One You'll Give In to
Experiences
Quarantined
Scared as Hell
I'm His Daughter
Pointless
Don't Hurt Her, Please!
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