Annihilate Me 2: Omnibus (Complete Vols. 1-3, Annihilate Me 2)

by Christina Ross

  It took everything I had within me not to burst into tears. But I didn’t—I kept my emotions in check because I needed to be strong for him, regardless of how difficult it was. As much as I wanted to turn to Alex for support, I didn’t look away from Cutter. Instead, I released my hand from his, held the palm of it against the side of his cheek, and then kissed him on the forehead.

  “Cutter, whatever was said to you was said in kindness. But you don’t need to leave us now. You have the choice to stay with us. And we want you with us. In fact, we need you with us. I’m going to be really selfish right now and ask you to fight to stay with us, because I can’t imagine my life without you.”

  “You can’t?”

  “I can’t, Cutter. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I can’t imagine life without you. At some point, all of us will have our time with God. But right now? Right now, isn’t the time for you. You’re alive. And to be alive is a gift. You have to know that. So, I need you to fight for that gift. I need you to fight for yourself, for your parents, for your brother, and for us—your friends. Your dearest of friends. We can’t lose you, you know? Come on, love. How am I supposed to live without your protection? At this point, you know that’s pretty much impossible.”

  “God told me that Max was with him now.”

  I looked into his glassy blue eyes when he said that, and again, I had to work through the tears that threatened to ruin me when he needed me most. So, I did. And I didn’t lie to him because—as out of it as he was now—I knew that he knew that Max was with God.

  “Yes, Max is gone. And too soon. If he could be here now, I know he’d be.”

  “But he’s alone now. I should be with Max. I could keep him company. He needs me as much as you do.”

  “I need you to think differently. He’s not alone. First of all, he has God. Second, he has all of his relatives and friends who have passed before him. He is not alone. He is more than willing to wait to see you. I know in my heart that he would be happy to wait. If he were here right now, he’d be telling you to win. He’d be insisting that you fight, because life is worth fighting for.”

  “That’s the thing—I don’t think I can wait much longer, Jennifer. Look at me. I’m shivering. I’m so cold right now, you can’t even imagine how cold. I’ve seen this in the field. So has Tank. I know what’s about to come. I know that I’m about to slip away, and it’s fine. It’s OK. I’ve had a good life.”

  “But you haven’t had a full life,” I said to him, and when I said it, I was aware of the firmness in my voice—and where it came from. I had to reach him on his level, and pull him back to what mattered—getting well. I had to convince him that giving up was not an option. So I spoke to his military roots. “Stop this,” I said. “Just stop. Be a man and fight for your life, for God’s sake. Who trained you, anyway? Would they accept how you’re behaving now?”

  His eyes widened when I said that, and he seemed startled by the tone of my voice.

  “No,” he said. “They wouldn’t.”

  “Then why are you acting like this? As if it’s all over for you? When did you become the pussy who didn’t fight back?”

  His eyes started to droop, but then he shook his head in an effort to stay alert. But already I could see by the delirious look in his eyes that he was fading.

  “I don’t know, ma’am.”

  “You listen to me,” I said in an effort to reach him before he slipped into unconsciousness. “You will meet this head on. You will get better. You will use your mind to work through this. When you sleep, you’ll pound the hell out of this. And we will help you while you rest. We only need a day or two, Cutter. Don’t you dare tell me that you can’t hold on that long. It’s not acceptable.”

  “I’ll try, ma’am.”

  “Not good enough. I want to hear you say that you’ll do it.”

  “Then I’ll do it.”

  “That’s what I want to hear,” I said. “That’s the Cutter I’ve come to know as a man. That’s the Cutter who was raised to be a survivor, not some pussy who just gives it all up because of some bullshit infection. Are you really going to give up your life because your leg was cut? Seriously? Be a man about this. All right? Do you understand me?”

  His eyes started to flutter.

  “Do you understand me?” I said in a louder voice.

  “I understand, ma’am.”

  “Then do this for me. Do this for you.”

  Just as he said that he would, he slipped away into the fog of the unknown. Alex came up behind me, and I held onto his leg as I started to heave with tears in the face of a loss I knew in my heart was coming.

  “How is he?” I asked Tank. “What does the wound look like?”

  “We have one more dose of penicillin that we can give him,” he said. “That’s it. The plant mixtures you and Alexa were able to find on the island have good antibacterial properties. But they can’t fight this. This is taking over his body. If he’s going to survive, then he needs a major dose of clinical antibiotics. After listening to your conversation with him and assessing him now, I’d say he’s got one day left in him. Maybe two—at best. Otherwise, we’ll lose him.”

  “How can we save him?” I said.

  Tank reached for a box at his side, removed the final vial of penicillin, and shot it directly into Cutter’s wound. After he did that, he took one of the tiny bottles of vodka from the plane and poured it over the gash, and then smothered the cut with the paste Alexa and I had made from the plants we’d found on the island. When he finished wrapping Cutter’s leg in the fresh banana leaves Alexa had collected for him, he looked at me and at Alex.

  “Why don’t we start with your conversation with that woman who came upon you. We’ll take it from there.”

  * * *

  When we left the hut, everyone was waiting with anticipation on their faces.

  “How is he?” Blackwell asked.

  “Not well,” Tank said.

  “Why don’t you break that down for me.” she said.

  “He could be dead by tomorrow.”

  “We can’t allow him to die.”

  “Do you have anything you’d like to offer to keep him alive?” he said sarcastically. “Because if you do, we all need to hear about it before it’s too late. So talk, Barbara. Tell us what all of your years in fashion and at Wenn can do to help Cutter now.”

  That was the first time ever I’d heard Tank snap at any of us, especially Blackwell. But we were all under a lot of pressure, and he was only human—and could only take so much.

  All of us needed to talk about this. We needed to let it all out—all of our fears, all of our anger, regardless of whether we offended anyone. My Uncle Vaughn used to call it “putting everything on the table, and choosing what you wanted to eat.” I knew at my core that the more we talked, the more we could work through what would come if Cutter did pass.

  So, let it be, I thought. Everyone needs to voice how they’re feeling—even if it becomes heated. Especially if it becomes heated.

  And it did get heated. But nestled in that heat was the love for a human being who meant a great deal to all of us. Bound to that was the frustration that came from knowing that none of us could help him, and also knowing that there were hundreds on this island who absolutely could.

  In the end, tempers cooled. And when they really chilled, Tank walked over to Blackwell, put his arms around her, and said that he was sorry for talking back to her—and more importantly, that he loved her.

  * * *

  “It’s time for us to eat,” Alexa said when Tank stepped away from a teary-eyed Blackwell. We all needed a change of subject, and Alexa, being the sensitive young woman that she was, deftly did a one-eighty on us by turning our attention to food. “I fished while you were with him. Lisa and Daniella helped. It’s harder than I thought it would be. We didn’t catch as much as we’d hoped, but it’s something. We would have done better if we’d had Jennifer.” She looked at me. “None of us have your sk
ills, though Lisa came pretty close.”

  She held out three skewers to me, which each held five fat red snappers. “You did beautifully,” I said, looking at her catch. “In fact, you did brilliantly. You’ve got fifteen fish there, Alexa. All of you did well.”

  “Now, we’ve been waiting hours to hear what you and Alex went through with that woman,” Blackwell said. “Would you mind telling us before we eat?”

  “I’d like to hear it as well,” Tank said.

  Alex and I told them everything.

  “You never saw her?” Tank asked.

  “Not once. She concealed herself behind the brush. She made it very clear to us that she didn’t want us to see her.”

  “And she was cool toward you?”

  “Actually, I’d say that she was rather hostile. Icy. Once again, the sentiment was there—they don’t want us here.”

  “How old do you think she was?”

  “Not young. Given the sound of her voice, I’d say middle-aged. Alex?”

  “Agreed. Fifties?”

  “That sounds about right,” I said.

  “Initially, she may have balked at your offer, but I can tell you this—that offer already has been presented to their people,” Tank said. “And right now? Those who are in charge of this island are weighing their options. We’ll need to wait to see where the balance tips. Ten million in cash is nothing to ignore. Ten million dollars can keep them here until they’re dead, and until their children and grandchildren are dead. That is, of course, presuming that they actually need the money. But even if they don’t, it would be a difficult sum to turn down. You suggested that she might want more. Fine. If they want more, Alex can and will provide more. I’m certain of that.”

  “Of course I can,” Alex said. “And I will. I’m only sorry that I didn’t think of bribing them sooner.”

  “Each of us is trying to do our best,” Tank said. “At least you thought of it when you did—and presented the options to her. We only met them yesterday. I was too concerned about Cutter to even consider it.”

  “Same here,” Blackwell said.

  “And neither did I,” I said. “Alex’s offer might just save us. Who knows what we’re dealing with here?”

  “That’s the issue,” Tank said. “You mentioned trust funds and inheritances, which in this case are valid—how else could they have lived here for so long without a stream of money to sustain them? Someone here—or several here—come from wealth. They couldn’t have done this otherwise. They have means to do what they did. But after so many years, how much money is left? That’s the question. After living here for decades, it should matter. That is, unless we’re dealing with an extremely wealthy person who still has access to significant sums of cash—which is possible if it was invested properly. Even still and as much as this island offers them, there’s never really such a thing as too much money, is there? Because of that, I’m betting that they make a deal with us.” He looked at Alex. “And by the way, plan on paying more.”

  “I’ll pay whatever it takes to get my wife and Cutter the medical treatment they need—and to get the rest of us off this island. It isn’t an issue. I’ll give them whatever they want.”

  “When should we approach them?” I asked Tank.

  “Tomorrow,” Tank said. “Alex and I will go back to their compound. We’ll go above that woman. We’ll talk to the men. We’ll make every effort to strike a deal. If you’re able to come, Jennifer, it wouldn’t hurt. You shared with that woman what you’re going through, but you didn’t share it with the men. I want you with us for that reason. I want them to hear you talk about your situation. Unless they’re a bunch of cold motherfuckers, somebody should sympathize with your situation. That—and the money—might be enough to get them to act.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  In the morning, I was the first to wake, and not by chance. I woke because I could hear them outside our hut again. I could hear them moving in the brush, and their presence unnerved me to no end because of our run-in with that woman yesterday, and because, as far as they were concerned, our time here was even closer to being over.

  I reached over for Alex’s hand and squeezed it in my own. When he woke, he looked at me, but before he could say a word, I pressed a finger against his lips, then held that finger to my ear, and then swept it around the hut.

  Listen.

  It was just before dawn, which was when they generally left because they knew we’d be waking soon. Ever since we’d been here—eleven days now—that had been the pattern.

  But this was different.

  Throughout the night, I’d heard them hovering around us—as I’m sure the others had. But hearing them now was unusual. Usually, they were gone before the sun rose. The other thing that struck me was Cutter’s breathing, which was even more labored than it had been when we went to bed last night. I was lying on my right side about ten feet away from him, and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew from the liquid filling his lungs that today might be it for him. His breathing sounded thick and clotted to me, almost as if he were drowning in his own fluids, which hadn’t been the case when we went to sleep last night.

  Quietly, I moved closer to Alex and said in his ear, “Why are they still here?”

  He shrugged at me.

  “Maybe we don’t need to go to them at all,” I whispered. “Maybe we should just confront them now, and see if we can make a deal with them.”

  “Are you able to wake Tank,” he said in a low voice. “We’ll need him.”

  Lisa was sleeping beside me. Tank was on the other side of her. I feared that, if I startled any of them, the people outside of the hut would know that we were awake. And what would happen then? Would they leave? Had something changed since we’d spoken with that woman? Were they simply waiting for us to step out of the hut so they could confront us? Were they prepared to challenge us?

  I wasn’t sure, but I had to act.

  As quietly as I could, I turned onto my side and gratefully saw that Lisa was on her side facing me. As gently as I could, I nudged my legs against hers, which caused her eyes to shoot open and stare at me as if she’d never seen me before. That initial moment of panic passed quickly, but not quickly enough for Tank, who slept lightly. He quietly sat up and turned to me, and I pointed to my ear again. Then I took my hand and motioned around our hut.

  Listen.

  That was all that he needed to see from me. For a moment, he just sat there in silence. Sunlight slanted through the canopy of palm leaves above us. By the concerned look on his face, he also knew that something was off. This wasn’t their pattern. They shouldn’t be here now.

  With a deft hand, he woke Blackwell, Daniella, and Alexa with such tenderness that none of them made a sound. He leaned down low and said something to them, and then they all nodded in agreement. Tank then kissed Lisa on the lips before standing and stepping over her to crouch beside Alex and me.

  He spoke in such a hush, I had to focus on what he was saying: “They’re here for a reason. We three need to leave the hut, wait for them to approach us—which I think they will—and see what they want. I have a feeling all of us know what this is about. The others will remain here.” He looked at Alex. “Give me your knife.”

  “Why?”

  “No questions.”

  Alex gave it to him.

  “Let’s go,” Tank said.

  * * *

  When we left the hut, we did so as casually as we would on any other day. Not that that mattered. Almost at once, we were greeted by the same four men that had brought Cutter back, all of whom were standing just outside the hut with their rifles trained on our chests.

  I recognized all of them, especially the eldest man, the one with the graying hair and the white beard. This confirmed for me that he was the one who led this island. He wouldn’t have shown up twice otherwise, especially in the face of two defining moments. I looked for a woman somewhere behind them, perhaps down on the beach, but there were only men here.r />
  And they looked serious.

  So much for equality, I thought.

  “Good morning,” Tank said to them.

  “Is it?” the older man asked. “I guess that depends. We heard about your offer. We’ve discussed it. And we’ve decided it was worth it to explore it with you today.”

  “Thank you for considering it. May I ask what you’ve discussed?”

  “That we want you off this island.”

  “I believe you know that we want the same.”

  “Trouble is, it’s going to cost you more than the ten million you initially offered.”

  “Ten million dollars is a lot of money.”

  “And we’ve done our research.” He nodded at Alex. “We know who he is now. He’s all over the Internet. People think he’s dead. Some are still holding out hope that he’s alive, but that’s fading. Lots of prayers out there—and also lots of despair. Also, there’s plenty of talk about the crumbling of Wenn Enterprises, which apparently is on the verge of going into the shit can without his leadership. You know—that sort of thing.”

  “You have access to the Internet?”

  “Are you deaf?”

  “If you have access, why haven’t you helped us?” Tank asked.

  “We helped your friend.”

  “From what we heard, you brought him to us because, as far as you were concerned, he was a lost cause.”

  “Was I wrong about that?”

  “He’s still alive.”

  “For the moment.”

  “You’re right. As we speak, he’s near death. But you have medications on this island that can help him. So, why not help him?”

  “Those supplies come at a steep cost to us. There are hundreds of us here. You can imagine how much we need access to them. He’s not one of us, so, as far as I’m concerned, I could give a shit about him, or how he came to us. Because he’s not one of us, he didn’t receive what he might have otherwise.”