“What the hell happened back there?” Gemi asked. He eyes were trained on him, glistening with moisture that gave away her worry, even if she wouldn’t admit to it.
“They came out of nowhere.”
“No. Not that. When the place burst into flames, Sann and I looked back, and you were just gone. What were you thinking?”
“I went back for Jefferies.”
“No, man, Gemi ran back for Dr. Jefferies. I found you headed farther in and nowhere near him.”
“Do you want me to admit that I fucked up? That I got distracted and let it all happen?”
Sann dusted the soot off his pants. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Just not like you to run blindly anywhere. You’re always the one saving us, remember?”
“Well, it was about time you paid me back then.”
Jaxton closed his eyes, too tired to let the conversation continue further.
He sipped on the water, appreciating the cooling sensation as it flowed down his throat. The fuzziness in his brain receded with every oxygen-rich breath he took. It still had the scent of smoke lingering in it, but with a fire of that magnitude, he assumed the air would smell that way for miles.
Jaxton stared at the sky, watching it turn from night to hazy morning. A sight he would never take for granted again. The sun’s rays did their best to brighten the world around them, but it was dampened by the smoke billowing out from the forest. If there was ever an omen to be had, he feared that he was staring at his.
Gemi helped Dr. Jefferies off the ground and then turned to him. Her hand slid into his, caressing the skin around his wrist as she hoisted him to his feet. Her face was smudged with soot, mirroring his to a lesser extent. But even with her features partially hidden, she had never looked so beautiful. Throwing his avoidance for large shows of public affection out the window, he took her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. Her body stiffened in shock before melting against his.
He didn’t care who was watching and judging. Or where they had to be. He was alive and she was in his arms. That’s all he could ask for. If she would have listened to reason and left with him then and there he would have walked away from everything without hesitation. If only she would have.
With firm pressure to the chest, she pushed him a few inches back, severing their kiss. The parts of her skin that were clear flushed red as she peered over at Sann and the doctor who were busy trying too hard to pretend that there weren’t watching.
“We only have a few miles left. Save it for our victory party tonight.” She put a few more feet between them, as if needing the distance in order to think straight, and pulled the straps to her backpack so that they sat snugly on her shoulders.
He fell in line behind the others as they set off. This time, however, his attention was focused solely on keeping a lookout.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
They stopped at the edge of the forest facing the wall that housed the secret tunnel. Just around the corner would lead them to the desolate city and if their hunch was correct, Dagmar. Jaxton’s hand found Gemi’s and squeezed. He couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with the fear inside him that was saying they were walking into a trap. Especially now, staring at their destination.
“Okay, the plan is simple. Get Dagmar and get out alive.” Jaxton gave a weak smile when the faces gawking at him didn’t pick up on the fact that he was seeking to make light of the situation. “Okay then. Dr. Jefferies is going to hang back. We don’t want to give him away too soon otherwise Dagmar might pull out. Sann will part to the left and Gemi and I will go right. He’s going to come at us with all he’s got. Kill only if you need to.”
His three companions nodded their heads in agreement.
“Seriously. We get him and get out. If the people act anywhere close to how those other two did, then they should dissipate quickly and give us a clear shot.”
With nothing left to say, Jaxton began his ascent up the hill the base stood on with Gemi in tow. The others followed close behind. Once they had rounded the structure and the crumbled town came into view they split, leaving Dr. Jefferies hanging back in the shadow of the building. He would be in eyesight and could deploy early if needed.
They entered through the front part of the town. Or what was left of it. The stone archway that housed the metal fence lay in ruins like the rest of the town, leaving chunks of rock blocking their path. Jaxton peered to the side. The fence still stood despite the blast that knocked down the archway.
They had no other option but to go over it.
He gripped Gemi’s hand tighter, letting her use him as leverage as they climbed over the debris. His gaze darted in every direction, wary of any movement. They were so out in the open, a free target like a giant red bull’s-eye was painted on their backs.
Gemi slid down on her butt and grimaced as a few pieces of stone chased after her making a considerable amount of noise. Sorry, she mouthed as she stood back up.
Sann motioned for them to go ahead and pointed to the other side of the rubble where Dr. Jefferies waited. The poor man didn’t seem too athletic.
Jaxton nodded his head and turned to face the looming town. He stepped out in front of Gemi, forcing her to trail behind him. The last thing he wanted was for her to be the first target once they were discovered.
“It’s too quiet,” she whispered close to his back.
It was.
Jaxton shoved a fragment of roof out of his path as they squeezed between two wrecked cars. There had always been activity in the town. Long before the initial attack and especially after. Something just felt wrong. They expected a fight. But the stillness that surrounded them felt far more unnerving than a sea of angry people. He couldn’t shake the thought of lab rats being funneled through a maze.
Sann closed the distance, accompanied by Dr. Jefferies as their surroundings became too crowded with junk, leaving one path to walk down. Right in the middle of the street. As if someone had cleared it for them.
They rounded the last corner that lead to the town square and froze. They found what they had been searching for. With one drastic difference. Instead of a few scattered tents and occupants, they were met with a mob. An actual scare-the-piss-out-of-you mob so dense there was hardly space between people. Dagmar had done more than hit them with everything he had.
Gemi shot him a nervous glance and then craned her neck to check on the doctor. The crowd in front of them didn’t move, but the restlessness permeated off of them. They wanted blood. Their blood. And like a shark closing in on its prey, they sensed it.
Sann whistled and pointed to the far corner of the group. Dagmar leaned against a tree—the only one still standing in the square—separated from his people but close enough to view all the action. With a slight wave of his hand, a motion that could pass as a friendly greeting, the mob rushed in their direction.
Jaxton forced Gemi behind him and slid his rifle off his shoulder. It would have been nice if the doctor had a supply of weapons at the facility.
A grenade could have come in handy.
Dr. Jefferies ran up to their side. “I will need to be a lot closer to make sure it hits everyone.”
“Wait until they are almost on us. It will give us time to get to Dagmar in the confusion.”
They were clearing the distance quickly. Wild eyes flitted between their intended victims as if they couldn’t decide who they wanted to go after first.
“Press the button,” Gemi urged.
Jaxton held his finger up. “No wait.”
“Jaxton!”
“One…two…now!” He swung his rifle toward the chaos and braced himself.
A few feet from impact the majority of the crowd stuttered to a stop. It looked as if they had run into an invisible wall. The others, who he guessed were anti-chippers, crashed into the stilled bodies with a burst of anger and curse words.
Just like the men at the facility, they reeled back as they took in their surroundings. After a single breath of silence, a wave of scr
eams and cries filled the square. Some people ran away, but most remained rooted in place, immersed in utter confusion.
Jaxton grabbed on to Gemi once more and pulled her through the sea of people. At first they were in tight quarters, making it hard to navigate through. But as sense seemed to return, they dissipated. It left gaps for them to slip into, the movement of the crowd helping propel them forward.
They forced their way through and headed in the direction Dagmar was last seen. If he was a smart man, he would have run for the hills, but Jaxton had a feeling his ego was far too large. He would assume it was a momentary glitch and stay until control was reestablished.
Jaxton was counting on that.
“Wait. I know you!” a voice cried next to them. “This…this is all your fault!”
Faces turned in their direction, recognition dawning on them. All at once the crowd came alive, buzzing and flowing toward them.
People screamed and spit at them, hollering words that would make his mother blush, but it remained nonphysical as they forced their way through.
Jaxton was still surprised at the number of people who remained. Their loyalties to Dagmar must have been embedded deep.
Gemi could be heard behind him attempting to plead her case. Her movements slowed until he was practically dragging her. She yanked on him until he stopped and spun around to face her.
“I can distract them, try to reason…something. You go find that son of a bitch.”
“Don’t you dare.” But it was too late, she had already ripped her hand from his and was making her way to the outskirts of the mob.
It was a strength he hadn’t seen in her for a while.
Gemi climbed onto a car topped by a huge slab of cement, elevating herself over the crowd of screaming, confused people. They may have had the signal disabled, so they weren’t exactly feeling homicidal, but the chip wasn’t back on so it left lots of leeway for anger to work its way in.
Jaxton maneuvered through the people. Dagmar was there, no doubt about it. He wouldn’t miss out on the carnage.
“Listen!” Gemi’s voice broke though the chatter, reaching him at the center of the chaos. “I know everyone’s confused. I can explain…I just need you to—”
Gemi staggered back as a rock thrown by one of the people in the crowd hit her in the chest and clattered to the ground. The small show of violence was just what the people needed to fan their internal fire. Before she had time to jump down she was being pelted with rocks of various sizes.
The crowd cheered and screamed. They had found an outlet for their emotions and it wasn’t long before the majority joined in.
Gemi turned her back to them and squatted down using her arms to cover her head.
“What are you doing?” Jaxton called. He reached for the closet person next to him, a man with a sizable piece of debris in his hands and shoved him to the ground.
The man fell, bumping into another person and knocking them off balance. It caused a ripple effect. The person who was bumped into turned to the nearest woman, thinking she was the cause and shoved her. Soon enough the people were going at each other and had completely forgotten about Gemi.
It wasn’t an elaborate plan, but it worked.
The people were so easily swayed in their current state. It was as if they were all on one frequency setting that could be tuned to a different channel with the littlest nudge.
Jaxton sidestepped as two women fell to the ground in a heap and started swinging at each other. The swelling of the crowd was making it that much harder to find the person he was looking for. He knew Dagmar would be enjoying himself. The maniac loved chaos.
He spotted Sann on the opposite end, his eyes searching as well. He had seen Dagmar before Dr. Jefferies deployed the device. There was no way he could have slipped away that easy. Even if he had, he couldn’t have gotten that far. Without his throng of guards, he would be an easy target. The man was smart enough to know that.
He had almost made his way to Sann at the opposite side of the crowd when a familiar face stopped him in his tracks. Kai stood no more than ten feet from him. She had her gaze fixed on him, but she was far too calm to have been affected by the chips. She barely seemed to notice the people around her even as they thrashed and bumped into her.
One of the people next to Jaxton fell backward into him. He caught the man before he hit the ground and help him to his feet. The man mumbled a thanks as he made his way past him on his way out of the chaos.
At least one of them seemed to have come to their senses.
Jaxton turned back toward Kai and saw that she hadn’t moved, but instead had a gun trained on him with a wicked grin on her face. In one swift movement she swung it to the pile of rubble and Gemi, still absorbed in her efforts to calm the frenzied crowd. The gun kicked back as an explosion briefly muffled the screaming of the people around them.
He watched it in slow motion as he raced toward Kai. He shoved people out of his way, no longer caring about their safety. About Dagmar. About anything other than the gun pointed at his wife.
He was too late. Too late to save Adaline. Too late to stop Dagmar the first time. Too late to protect Gemi and their baby. And moments too late to protect her as the second shot from Kai’s gun rang out in the square.
She never saw it coming. Gemi stumbled, her eyes finding his before she was hit by the second bullet. She collapsed on top of the cement slab before the echoing dissipated.
Jaxton swung his leg, nailing Kai square in the gut. She flew back, hitting the ground in a puff of dust and tangled limbs. Then she was swallowed up by the crowd. Jaxton was dragged away from her as people fled in every direction.
Anger raged inside his body stronger than he had ever felt. He ached to finish her off, but the sudden surge of the crowd after realization set in, and the fact that Gemi hadn’t moved forced his legs to leave Kai where she lay and make their way to Gemi, but not before stooping to grab her gun.
He only hoped she was trampled to death in the frenzy of feet.
Jaxton searched for the doctor and Sann, but they had been absorbed into the sea of people now running and shoving to get away from the gun blasts.
With a final push he broke free of the surging bodies and sprinted toward where Gemi lay. His limbs grew cold as he collapsed beside her. Her hand clutched her stomach as blood, too much blood, seeped out between her fingers. Jaxton pulled off his jacket and lifted her hand long enough to press the fabric onto her skin. He put her hand back and placed his over the wound on her shoulder.
“You…were right, you know.”
He would have laughed if part of him wasn’t breaking. Her life was literally gushing out of her and she saw the need to let him know his fears from the get-go had been correct. As if it was some kind of triumph for him. He would have liked to have been wrong a hundred times over if it meant it would save her.
She was pale, her breathing so shallow he could barely see it. Jaxton searched the dwindling crowd once more, but couldn’t seem to pick out a familiar face. He blinked the tears out of his eyes and forced himself to look at her face. Her eyes were trained on him. They glistened with tears as well and somehow weren’t as bright. The blue was graying each second she lay there as if her very being was draining from them.
“I can’t…there’s something wrong with my legs.”
“Your legs weren’t shot they—” Jaxton ground his teeth together. “You’re going to be fine.”
Gemi nodded her head, but from the expression on her face and even in her state, she didn’t believe a word he said. “Tell me something good,” she choked, blood sputtering out of her mouth as she struggled to breathe.
Jaxton leaned his forehead to meet hers. It was cold and clammy to the touch. Now that he was so close he could plainly hear how difficult each breath was to pull into her lungs. Each time her chest shuddered he felt it like a kick to his stomach.
Something good? He searched his brain, but his train of thought froze, stuck on the sadness
that tore at his heart. Image after image of her dying bombarded him, a reminder that nothing he ever did was good enough to keep her safe. It was always her destiny to die. But now that he was facing the reality of it, knowing everything, he wasn’t ready. There was nothing but fear.
The lullaby his mother used to sing to him came to mind and he hummed it under his breath. Jaxton leaned back. Her eyes were bleary, staring up toward the sky. She tried her best to smile, producing only a slight twitch of the lips as her arms fell limp at her sides.
“We won, didn’t we?” Her voice was airy, barely a whisper.
“Yeah. We won.” He slid one hand from her shoulder and placed it over the soaked-through jacket on her stomach. The pressure made her wince, but even that was barely noticeable.
“I…l-love you.”
“Don’t say it like that. You’re saying it like some kind of goodbye. We still have so much to do in this world. Together.”
“Mmm…” Her eyelids fluttered close as her head lolled to the side.
“Open your eyes, Gemi. You open your damn eyes! You don’t get to walk out on this, it’s not your time.”
Dr. Jefferies appeared at his side, tossing his bag on the ground as he dropped to his knees. His fingers found the hollow of her neck just below the jaw and pressed down. His eyes flickered to Jaxton’s for a split second before he pushed him back, forcing him to remove his hands from her wounds.
They were sticky and caked in drying blood. The band that sat on his left ring finger was no longer silver in the light. Jaxton watched detached as if he hovered above them. A voyeur witnessing a heart-wrenching moment in someone’s life instead of the person the moment had broken. A moment that could turn any man into a hollow shell.
From where he sat he couldn’t tell if she was breathing any longer. If that was the case, he didn’t understand why the doctor continued fussing over her. Jaxton knew whatever he was doing was pointless. No amount of triage could bring her back from where she had fallen. They would need an actual medical team and a miracle to save her.
Paroxysm (Book 2): Paroxysm Aftermath Page 18