What Remains: Untainted

by Kris Norris

  Abby darted back, skidding to a halt at Colby’s feet. “It’s a parasite.”

  Both men turned to stare at her, identical frowns gracing their faces.

  Barrett glanced back at Colby. “What do you mean, it’s a parasite?”

  “That’s what’s making him sick. He’s picked up some kind of parasite. Most likely while you three were hauling ass out of Afghanistan based on his illness shortly after returning. Shit, why didn’t I see it before? Other primates have similar infections. Damn, I’m losing my edge.” She pushed past Darcy, kneeling beside Colby again. “Colby.”

  She shook his shoulders, pressing down on his sternum when he didn’t respond. He groaned and opened his eyes, rolling his head from side to side as a low growl of pain hissed from between his clenched teeth. She ignored the mournful sound, needing to see if her hunch was right.

  “Colby. I need you to look at me.”

  He blinked several times, finally focusing his gaze on her. His eyes were glassy, the usual gleam noticeably absent. He swiped his tongue across the lip, groaning again before trying to curl into a ball.

  She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. “I need you to talk to me, or at least nod. Darcy says he thinks you had a fever when you got back from your last tour. Did you have some kind of parasite that your doctor treated?”

  He growled this time, nodding his head as his muscles contracted.

  “Was it malaria?”

  He shouted Barrett’s name this time, lashing out again as another wave hit him. Darcy and Barrett held him down again, waiting for the relapse to pass.

  When his body eased, she gave him a hard shake. “Answer me! Did you have malaria?”

  His eyes shifted toward her, and he murmured a weak, “Yeah,” before drifting off again.

  Abby’s heart pounded in her chest as her stomach heaved. This was bad. Very bad.

  Darcy grabbed her shoulders, turning her to face him. “You can fix that, right? The malaria?”

  Her gaze skirted to Barrett before landing on his face again, and she knew Darcy could see the truth written in her eyes. “I don’t have the right medication. There are very specific compounds, each somewhat unique to what strain of the virus he has. That’s why I caught him searching through the drugs. He was looking for whatever the doctor gave him before, but I don’t have anything remotely useful, just some generic brands that treat other parasitic infections.”

  Darcy looked at Colby. “How can you tell what strain he has without testing to check? You just said you didn’t have the equipment to run blood samples and shit.”

  “I don’t.” She gasped when he shook her again, placing her hands over his. “You’re not helping by shaking me.”

  His focus fell to his hands, and he yanked them back, stuffing them in his pockets as he rose and walked to the other side. Shame hunched his back before he glanced at her across his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I never meant—”

  “I’m fine. And while I can’t test for which strain he’s infected with, the fact he’s had a second attack nearly a year after returning limits the possibilities. That coupled with the severity of his current condition, I think it’s safe to say he’s infected with the vivax strain.”

  Darcy huffed. “What the hell is that?”

  “It’s a kind of malaria that can lay dormant inside the host for months, even years, before initiating another attack. It also means that your doctor didn’t have the right kind of medication to destroy the latent cells the first time round.”

  Darcy scowled, turning to face her. “Great. So you know what he’s got. What good does it do us if you can’t treat it?”

  Barrett sprang to his feet, moving between her and Darcy. “That’s enough. It’s not Abby’s fault Colby got sick a year before she met him. And if the man had been honest with us this morning, she would have had more time to prepare…make sure his fever never got so out of control. So cool it, Darcy.”

  Darcy slammed his fist on his leg, looking as if he wanted to punch it through the wall. “You’re right. And again, I’m sorry. I just hate feeling so damn helpless.” He snared her gaze. “Will he die?”

  She scanned Colby’s body. While the vivax strain wasn’t generally lethal, she had no way of knowing the severity of his first attack, or if he’d been treated for any of the more serious complications. She released a weary breath, scrubbing her hand down her face. “Honestly, I don’t know. Malaria’s tricky. It affects people differently. The vivax virus can have some deadly side effects if left untreated. So yeah, under these conditions with no anti-malarial meds, he could die.” She snorted. “That’s if he’s even got that strain. There have been a few cases of the more deadly form, falciparum, recurring, though it’s not generally the case. They were just starting to do more in-depth studies on it. Either way, he needs medication, and he needs it soon.”

  Barrett nodded. “Fine. Then we pack him up and take him back to the compound. If the doctor treated him once, he can treat him again.”

  Darcy scoffed, walking over to one of the windows and yanking the blanket back. “Have you seen how many of them there are? With all of us healthy, we might have been able to make a run for it live to tell the tale. But as strong as I am, bro, I can’t climb up a rope and rappel down the other side with Colby slung over my shoulder—not with the amount of time we’d have. I’d be putting both of you at risk.”

  Barrett took a step closer, his hands fisted at his side. “Then I’ll go. I’ll get the Hummer and drive the damn thing through the fence. All you have to do is get him down to the ground.”

  Darcy walked over to him, grabbing his shirt. “Are you fucking nuts? All that noise would bring a hundred Gray our way. We’d never make it.”

  Abby stuck her arm between the men. “Would you two stop arguing? It’s not helping, and quite frankly, you’re freaking me out.” She palmed each of their chests, giving them a shove. “Darcy’s right. There’s still too many of them for us to make it out of here dragging Colby all the way. We’ll be swarmed before we reach the first building.”

  Barrett growled. “So what? We just sit here and watch him die? Is that what you’re suggesting?”

  “Do you really think I’d be able to live with myself if I let that happen? I might not have known the three of you for that long, but it doesn’t change the way I feel.” She shook off the hand he tried to place on her shoulder. “Besides, though I don’t have the medicine, I can get it…or at least something close enough to help.”

  Darcy frowned. “Get it? Where? There’s nothing here but warehouses and an empty terminal, not to mention a shit ton of zombies between us and any of that.”

  She held Darcy’s piercing gaze. “There’s a refrigerated railcar in one of the warehouses. It was a relief effort bound for Africa, but it obviously didn’t get shipped before the end of the world reared its ugly head. There are boxes of medications, many of which I had no use for, so I never bothered bringing any over. Malaria is prevalent throughout Africa. There’s bound to be some Quinine-based therapy in one of those boxes. All I have to do is run over and grab what I need. I can be back in twenty minutes tops.”

  Darcy glanced at Barrett, nodding when the man shook his head and stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.

  Darcy marched over to her, looking as if he was going to grab her, but then thought better of it. “You expect me to just let you skip off by yourself to grab some meds with hundreds of those fuckers walking around? Are you crazy?”

  “If I don’t get the right medication, Colby could die. We all know it.”

  “And if you go out there alone, you’ll die. So I suggest you think of something else.” He waved at her supplies. “You said you have stuff to keep the fever down. Maybe that’ll be enough.”

  “The fever isn’t what’ll kill him. It’s the anemia, the ruptured spleen, the fucking acute respiratory distress syndrome that’ll kill him. And if it’s the falciparum strain, we’re looking at possible cerebral malaria, coma and an ex
cruciatingly painful death!” She cringed when tears streaked down her cheeks, but she was too angry to bother wiping them away. “If we had other options, we could be choosy, but we don’t. And I won’t stand here, watching him die when I know I can save him.”

  Darcy took a few deep breaths, sighing out the last as he moved over to her. “As much as you want to save Colby, he’d never want you to risk your life to do it. I’m sorry. We’ll need to figure something else out.”

  He reached for her, but she backed up, shaking her head as she stumbled to the far side of the room. Pain tumbled through her gut, reviving all the reasons she’d stayed on when everyone else had either left or died. Images flickered through her mind, and she knew she’d rather die trying to save Colby than live knowing she’d failed. Again.

  Barrett called her name, walking over to join Darcy in the middle of the room. He gave her a sympathetic smile taking a step toward her when she spun, grabbing a gun off the counter and pointing it at them. The man stopped, a frown curling his lips as he glanced at Darcy then back to her.

  He raised his hands slightly, holding them palm up as if hoping the simple gesture would calm her. “Abby. Put the gun down.”

  She shook it, needing him to see how serious she was. “I’m going to get that medicine. And I swear to god I’ll shoot either of you if you try to stop me.”

  Barrett sighed as he lowered his hands. “No. You won’t. Because as much as you love Colby, you love us too. And I know you’d never trade one life for another.”

  Anger flared to the surface, and she stomped her foot on the floor, not caring if the action made her look childish. “Then why are you asking me to do just that?” The sob she’d been fighting broke free, and she had to swallow hard to stop herself from throwing up. “I can’t do this. I can’t fail him. I won’t. Not again.”

  Darcy raised his brow, closing half the distance between them. “When did you fail any of us before?” He cocked his head. “Or are you talking about someone else?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Not to us, but it clearly matters to you. Enough you’d commit suicide just to keep the memories at bay. This is why you wake up screaming. Why you don’t sleep for more than an hour at a time. Why you fought your feelings for us.” He took another step, close enough he could have grabbed the gun if he’d wanted, but he kept his hands at his sides. “Who do you think you failed, Abby?”

  “I don’t think I failed him, Darcy. I know I did.”

  “Who?” He gave her a tentative smile. “Was it on your way here? Is that why you couldn’t leave once you found yourself alone? Were you afraid to revisit your decision?”

  She bent over, holding her stomach as it heaved in protest at the pictures racing through her mind. Darcy wrapped one arm around her back, rubbing soothing circles down her spine. She thought he’d take the gun, but he just stood there, comforting her.

  She sobbed twice, leaning against him in an effort to stay on her feet. “I couldn’t do it. I promised him I would. That I wouldn’t let him become one of those…those things. But every time I looked in his eyes, I saw the boy I’d grown up with.”

  Barrett joined them, kneeling in front of her until he captured her gaze. “Your brother?”

  She clenched her jaw. “Matt should have been the one to survive. He was always stronger. Smarter. He got us all the way up here from Santa Fe, dodging the bands of Gray and keeping me alive. He thought the mountains would be safe. That the cold might stop them. If only we’d known…

  “He was like you. A soldier. A hero. He’d spent ten years in the Forces, mostly as a Ranger, and I thought he was invincible. Then this group stumbled upon us while we were sleeping, and he kept himself between them and me, pushing me forward, never letting them get close. We ran for miles, but they were everywhere. Then we found this old truck someone had wedged against a tree. He shoved me inside, blocking the other door with his body, keeping them from breaking through the window. God, there was so much blood.”

  Barrett cupped her chin, wiping at the tears streaming down her face. “You don’t have to go on if you don’t want to.”

  She shook her head, pulling away from them, finding her way to the counter. She didn’t want their forgiveness. She didn’t deserve it. “Don’t you see? I should have helped him. I had a couple of rounds left in my gun. I should have broken a window or, shit, fired through one—taken the motherfuckers out. At the very least suffered the same fate. But I didn’t. I just sat there, begging him to let me out, watching him kill every last one of them before collapsing on the ground.”

  She glanced at them. “He lasted several hours, the entire time asking me to kill him. To end it before he became what he’d despised most. And I told him I would. That I’d put a bullet through his head when the time came. But even after he’d turned, he looked at me, and all I saw was the man who’d given his life to save mine. After everything I’d faced—the others I’d killed. Matt was the only one who deserved to be spared from this.” She shook her head. “But I was too selfish. He could have helped you fight. All I’ve done is watch people die then kill the monsters they became.”

  Barrett crossed over, stopping just shy of her. “That’s not all you’ve done. You kept those people alive when a simple infection would have killed them. But even you can’t heal the dead. And you saved us. If we hadn’t found you…” He sighed. “I don’t know how much longer we could have gone on. Fighting with nothing to live for. I know it doesn’t ease the pain, but…”

  She drew a deep breath. “Then let me help Colby.” She placed the gun on the counter. “I’m begging you.”

  Barrett looked at Darcy. “I’ll go with her.”

  Darcy cursed, shaking his head. “I’ll go. Alone.”

  “No way. I have to go.” She held up her hand when he looked ready to argue the point. “I need to see what medication they have. While I’m flattered you guys think I’m some kind of medical genius, I can’t tell you every possible drug that might prove effective in treating Colby’s condition. Contrary to popular belief, my intimate knowledge of anti-malarial drugs is somewhat limited. But I’ll be able to tell by the name if it’s viable or not.”

  Darcy growled, pacing the room one more time. “Colby will kill me if I let anything happen to you. Hell, I’ll kill myself.”

  She walked over to him, taking his hands in hers. “No one’s going to die. I know this place intimately. There are always alternate routes if one gets blocked. It’s not that far. Just west of the main terminal. We’ll sneak in, grab what we need and haul ass back.”

  Darcy scoffed. “It’s never as simple as you think.” He motioned to Colby. “What about him? Will he be okay if you leave him like this?”

  She glanced over at the man in question, her heart clenching as he moaned in pain, rolling onto his side before his body went limp again.

  “I’ll give him a shot of Valium to keep him calm and help him rest. There’s not much more I can do without the proper meds. As long as he can’t hurt himself when he gets delirious, he should be okay until I get back. With any luck, the fever medication will keep him from seizing in the short term.”

  Barrett stepped up. “The longer we stand here worrying about it, the longer it is before Colby gets what he needs. And I should be the one to go.” He looked at Darcy. “You’re better with the sniper rifle than I am.”

  “But I’m also faster, especially with your leg still healing.” Darcy cut the man off with a wave of his hand. “I’m going, Barrett. And I’ll bet my life against your sniper skills any day.” He moved over to the window again. “All right, Abby. Show me where the hell this place is.”

  She joined him by the window, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing his cheek. “Thank you.”

  “You might want wait until after we survive to thank me.” He gave her a smile. “But mark my words. We’re going to have a chat later about this stubborn streak of yours, and I guarantee Barrett will have something special in mind. So I
suggest you watch your ass while we’re out there.”

  She spared a quick glance at Barrett. “You get me back alive…with the medicine…and Barrett can do whatever he wants to my ass.”

  “I’ll hold you to that. Now, show me what I’m up against.”

  Chapter Ten

  Darcy stood beside one of the lower windows, surveying the landscape, plotting the movement patterns of the different bands of Gray in his head. He’d originally scoffed at the thought that a bunch of vehicles could provide any decent form of cover in and out of the tower, but now that he was eye level with the setup, he was surprised at the ingenuity of it. But despite the clever placement, he wasn’t convinced it’d be enough to keep them completely hidden before they had to race across the open pavement—not with the numbers still milling around.

  “Fuck!”

  He hated the fact he wasn’t able to leave Abby at the tower, keep her where he knew she was safe. But she had a valid point. He couldn’t pronounce half the drugs she’d mentioned earlier, let alone know if another one would have similar attributes. And there was no sense taking the risk if there was little chance of success.

  “Still trying to figure out a way to leave me behind?”

  He turned at the sound of her voice, catching his breath at the sight of her. She’d changed into cargo pants and an olive-green tee, topping it off with a thick jacket. She’d slung a small backpack over her shoulders and had a variety of weapons strapped to her body.

  His mouth curled into a smile as he swept his gaze back to her face. “While this probably isn’t the time or the place, I’d be lying if I didn’t say you look hot. That Tomb Raider chick’s got nothing on you, darling.”

  She snorted, closing the distance. “Barrett wanted to make sure I was properly outfitted. He went on about how my choice in weapons could use some education. I just asked him to give me something that wouldn’t knock me down when I fired it.”