Altered

by Kimberly Montague

  He nodded, and the corners of his mouth turned up a little, but it wasn't what I would call a "smile."

  Pulling my hair to the side, I exposed my neck to him, smiling innocently. "What do I smell like?"

  He chuckled under his breath as he pulled me to a stop. We had been walking faster than the main group of people, so we were relatively alone for a moment. Leaning down, he touched his lips to my neck running them against my skin up to my ear. "You smell incredible, actually. I could pick you out a mile away."

  "Mmm?" was pretty much the most response that could be expected from me under such conditions.

  He chuckled again; that cocky grin was on his face I loved so much as he kissed my neck. He lingered for one last moment before pulling me carefully by the hand. "Come on, the others are just behind us."

  When my brain regained full strength, it started rattling off thoughts at lightning speed. Who was following us? If it was Jay who was following, was he alone? Could Dev and the others tell if he was alone? What kind of plan could be formulated? If all the "infecteds" had this ability, perhaps it would be better if I separated from the group to keep them safe? Jay was clearly looking for me.

  I tugged on his hand to get his attention. "Do you know how many are with him?"

  He shook his head. "I don't even know that it's him. I could probably pick you out of a crowd because my uh, I uh, I react to the way you smell." He winked at me. "But I can't pick out anyone else."

  I raised my eyebrows at him, smiling and grabbed onto his arm again. "Oh really?"

  His only response though, was to put his arm around my waist and roll his eyes away from me.

  "Do you—" I continued seriously. "Do you think he knows it's me—uh, I mean, that I'm here with this group? Do you think he can smell me?"

  "Probably not. He hasn’t been around you in days, and even if he could identify you, there are too many stronger scents in this group that we think cover you up."

  "We?" It bothered me more than it should that the "we" he was now referring to did not involve me. Not that I wanted to be infected, but somehow, it felt as if I was losing him to the infecteds. He didn't answer me, but brought my hand to his lips for a gentle kiss. I tried to grow up a little and get over my silly jealousy. "Should we stop and attack or keep trying to run? I don't want the group to get hurt because of Jay."

  "Baby, we really don't know that it's Jay. Once we reach the next decently hidden area, Ted, Donald, and I are going to stay back and see if we can find out who it is."

  He had me shaking my head at "stay back." I knew him well enough to know that he would try to fight Jay all on his own. "Nuh uh. I'm staying with you with the gun—I'm not giving you the chance to play lone-hero."

  "It's not safe for you to be so close to him. It'll only confirm that you're with this group, making it more dangerous for you and everyone else."

  I stared at the third eye that had grown in his head. "And you don't think your presence will be noticeable? If he can smell me, he's more than likely to smell you. And that means he'll know you're with this group and know I'm with you. It does just as much damage as me going with you."

  He didn't say anything for a few moments, so I knew I at least had him thinking. Finally, he looked forward on the path as if he were trying to see through the trees ahead. "Maybe we could get high enough that we could safely identify who it is without having to get close at all."

  I felt like I could breathe again. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was better than his original plan. "I'd be much happier with that option."

  His brain was already off and running with the new plan. "It'd have to be overlooking a clearing." His eyes scanned the area.

  This didn't seem like much of a problem to me since we were still climbing higher, but as we walked on, the areas offering enough protection were fewer and further between. It was late in the day, the sun was getting lower in the sky, and my stomach was yelling at me that it had been several hours since our last meal. Dev and his "we" were afraid of the approach of sunset, so they decided they couldn't wait any longer for a perfect position.

  I managed to convince Kim that I was right about Dev's scent being recognizable to Jay, but her disagreement with the plan wasn't strong enough to sway the guys. It pissed me off, and Kim, that our strategy was thought to be so worthless. Unfortunately, they were in a very we're-going-to-protect-the-womenfolk kind of mood making it so that nothing would sway them.

  Dev pulled me into his arms before we continued on without them. "Don't worry, baby, I'll be right back."

  Yeah, okay, no problem. I won't worry. Hello! Did he have any idea how stupid that request was? Before I could once again assert my extremely perturbed disagreement with the plan, he placed his hands on my cheeks and fiercely pressed his lips to mine. The possibility that something could go wrong and I might not see him again overtook my anger at not being listened to. I threw my arms around his neck and my body savored the kiss memorizing every millimeter of his lips and mouth. When he finally pulled away from me, I was so weak-kneed all I could do was look up at him with glazed eyes.

  He rubbed his thumb across my cheek. "I love you, baby."

  "I love you too," I said quietly.

  He pulled away from me and patted Butcher on the head, gaining his full attention. "Take care of our girl, Butchie." Butcher nosed his hand before Dev looked back up at me already walking backwards in the direction we had just come from. "Stay with Butcher. I'll be right back for you, I promise." Then he was gone.

  The waiting was nerve-wracking. Kim stayed with me and was now pulling me back up to follow the group, but I was reluctant to say the least. How were they going to defend themselves against the psycho brigade? They would be vastly outnumbered. And while the theory of this plan seemed relatively sound, nothing in this entire fiasco had followed a reasonable path. My steps became heavier and heavier. Kim was literally yanking me along the path, until finally I couldn't go any further.

  "We have to help them." Kim was already shaking her head and tugging on my arm, but if she were going to force me, she'd have to carry me. She didn't, which told me she knew I was right. I pushed on, hoping to get her help. "Jay's going to smell him just as strongly as he would me. You know I'm right. They need help, Kim."

  She stared at me for a moment with those eerie green eyes looking right through me. I had nothing to hide, she knew that, and I could see it on her face—she wanted to protect them too.

  Her chin dropped to her chest and she let out a loud sigh. "Okay, but we stay back. We don't get as close as them, and if they need our help, we'll hear it. Do you promise?"

  I was already nodding my head like a freaking bobble-head. "I promise, I promise, now come on!"

  Kim threw her hands up in the air. "Dev is so gonna kill me for this." She ran to catch up to Butcher and me.

  Thankfully, we were both on the track team, or we might have missed our window altogether. As it was, we got to them just as shots started firing… at them, not from them. When we got close enough to hear what was going on, beyond the gunfire that is, I could also hear shouts of "US National Guard! Stay where you are!"

  Panic like no panic I had ever felt before swept through me. They were going to kill Dev, Donald, and Ted! There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever. They would have been equipped with technology—with high-powered sniper rifles—and several, if not all of them, would be well-trained marksman. They wouldn't take the chance on a green-eyed target; they'd shoot them then ask questions. I ran like I had never run before, flying through the trees. Ted, Donald, and Dev were defenseless, cowering behind a rock.

  "Stop! I'm not infected! Help!" I yelled and screamed as I ran closer to the group.

  I could hear Kim yelling, "Piper, no!" But I was the only one who was going to save them. I was the only one not infected.

  "Help! Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I burst through the trees toward the group. The gunshots stopped around me as I ran in front of where Dev and the
guys were crouched down. Red laser scopes were trained on me. "Look at me!" I shouted. "I'm not infected!"

  "Step away from the targets!" One of them yelled, but I sure as hell was not going to be doing that; they'd just open fire again.

  I stepped forward, instead, still blocking them. "They're—they're not evil!" I yelled, trying to choose my words wisely. "They haven't killed anyone! They've protected me! Please, listen to me." I kept my eyes as open as I was humanly capable of to show them I was not infected, to prove that I was unharmed. "Look at me! They would have killed me by now! They would have attacked you back by now! They're different!"

  "Step away from the targets." They repeated.

  I knew the next step—they'd tackle me and open fire again. There was no reasoning with the National Guard when danger like this presented itself.

  I shouted behind me, "Dev, run, now!" as I darted in Dev's direction trying to block the path of bullets. But the bullets never came. I ran, following Dev and the guys as they ran for their lives. I expected at any second for the gunshots I was hearing to go straight through me or through Dev and Ted, but it never happened.

  Not pausing to look back, I was completely confused. Who were they shooting at because it certainly wasn't us?

  Dev was suddenly at my side. "It's Jay," he spit out between gasps for air, "his group—they're attacking them."

  I slowed down, but Dev grabbed my arm and started pulling me as Kim had done earlier. "But they'll be killed." I was so sick to my stomach, so upset over the fate I knew those National Guard soldiers were going to suffer. I couldn't even speak thinking about them being Harm. The soldiers were just trying to protect their country, protect innocents from danger, protect me from being hurt, and they were about to die at the hands of Jay and his psycho brigade. "We have to do something."

  "We can't, Evie. We just can't. Both groups want to kill us. Please, come on, we have to keep running." He was begging me, pleading not only with his voice, but with his eyes that looked bluer than they had all day. "Harm would want you to run. Please."

  "I—I—" functioning legs were not on my list of appendages in that moment. I just couldn't get myself to accept leaving them to their fate. I knew I had to, I knew Dev was right, and I knew Harm would want me to run, but I couldn't get myself to move. Dev finally took the choice away from me and pulled me up into his arms, hardly breaking his pace as we ran farther and farther away from the battle that was raging behind us.

  I'd like to say that my strength reasserted itself immediately leaving me once again able to run instead of being carried to safety by some big strong guy. But the truth of it is that I hid my face in the crook of Dev's neck and let a few tears quietly fall before regaining my guts. It didn't take us long to catch up to the group. Of course, when we did, we still couldn't slow up. As quickly as possible, we spread the word through the adults of what was following us, leaving everyone in panic. Resuming a breakneck pace with Dev, Ted, Donald, and Kim carrying younger kids so that we could move faster, we all trudged our way north.

  Exhausted would be an understatement for how I felt. I couldn't imagine how the older adults were feeling. After all, I had been training nearly everyday for track, but they were stay-at-home moms, hard-working moms and dads, normal, busy people—stamina training really wasn't likely to be in their daily schedule. Somehow, everyone found it in them to keep going.

  After only a few short breaks, and hours of hurrying through trees and rocks, slippery footings, and higher elevations than any of us were used to, the sun began to set making it impossible to continue. Dev assured me that night-vision was not in his list of infection-acquired abilities, making it a little easier to calm down. No one would be relaxing, but at least we were able to rest our aching, weary, over-stressed muscles for a few hours.

  It was much colder this high up, so a fire was a severe necessity. Without the availability of sleeping in the truck and camper, the families had to make do with the few sleeping bags we had carried with us and far too many small fires for any of us to really be comfortable with our location.

  It was decided that we would set up a rotation for night-watch. With so many of us, one person only needed to stay on watch duty for a half hour, making it possible for everyone to get some sleep. Most people paired up so that they weren't awake alone, this included Dev and me.

  I wouldn't have thought it possible with all the stress we were under, but the second I lay down in Dev's arms, I was able to relax. Staring into the fire with Dev running his fingers through my hair lulled me to into feeling incredibly warm and safe. I couldn't help but worry whether I was getting too used to falling asleep next to him. What would I do when things turned back to normal? But it seemed pointless to worry about that when the possibility of normalcy seemed to vanish more and more with each passing hour. Instead, I focused on the comfort of Dev's very solid and loving arms and pushed those thoughts aside enough to fall asleep.

  It must have been several hours later that Sonya shook my shoulder, waking me.

  "Hey." Her voice was so quiet and calm and comforting. She had been my sister for so many years, I couldn't help but want to let my sleepy mind believe that she was just waking me up in the middle of the night to go sneak some ice cream or rearrange Gabriel's precious NBA collectibles. Sitting up though, I was confronted with the view of several of our older group members huddled around fires. Scared, worried, or simply blank faces were lit in orange shadows. It was tough to tell how many dark under-eye shadows were cast by the light from the fire and how many were from sheer exhaustion. It was impossible not to be stricken with the gravity of the situation when faced with the sight before me.

  Dev sat up beside me as Gary and Sonya threw their tired bodies back down on the sleeping bag they were sharing. Dev put his arm around my shoulders, squeezing lightly. "I don't think Butcher slept at all while you were resting. His ears were on alert to every noise in every direction."

  I patted Butch's head affectionately. "He's protective of me."

  They say dogs don't smile, but I swear Butchie smiles when he looks at me. He gets this happy open-mouthed, bright-eyed expression that you don't see on most dogs.

  Dev poked at the fire we shared. "I guess it's our turn to watch." Using a long stick, he managed to bring the fire roaring back to life while Kim, Donald, Ted, Gary and Sonya were laid out on the ground around us appearing restful, if not asleep.

  "Did you get any sleep?" I asked softly.

  He didn't look sleepy, but the way he scrubbed his face with his hand made him look very weary. "I slept a little." He quietly watched the fire before continuing, "I don't seem to need as much sleep as I used to. Maybe that's just because we're all on high-alert. Maybe the adrenaline is too strong to let me sleep."

  I chewed on my bottom lip. What else was going to change in him? "Maybe you'll sleep even more when we're out of this mess."

  "Evie." His tone was cautious, as if he were talking to a child and wasn't sure what to say. "I don't think there's a cure for this. If there's not…" His voice trailed off leaving my mind to wander to the possibilities.

  Would he be thrown in some hospital somewhere always trying to find a cure? Would he be able to have a normal life?

  "Baby, I don't think there's such a thing as 'out of this mess' for me and Ted and Donald and Kim."

  Shaking my head violently, I turned my body so that I could wrap my arm around his waist. "No, they—you can't—they might—there could be a cure. You resisted it—your body resisted it, there must be a cure. And even if there isn’t a cure, who's to say it won't leave your system or you might grow out of it or something." I was babbling, knew I was babbling, and I knew I was grasping at straws, but I couldn't stop. "We don't know that anything bad will happen. It could be fine…" I finally caught hold of myself and took a deep breath, keeping my arms wrapped around him tightly. I just couldn't accept that we wouldn't be together in some way. It may not be "normal" or back to how it was, but I just had to believe, had t
o have some hope. "We'll make it through this—you and me—it'll be okay."

  He smoothed my hair, running his hand down the back of my head softly before kissing the top. "Yes." His voice was so sad and so quiet, I wanted to cry. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

  I could hear him try to put some confidence behind his words, try to keep the sorrow and defeat from his voice, but it edged every syllable. He didn't believe things would work out, but I was determined to believe enough for both of us. As selfish and self-centered as it may sound, I had been through too much. I could not accept the fact that the people I loved would keep being stolen from my life. I couldn't accept that my parents were gone, Harm was off training somewhere, and Dev would be taken from me one way or another. Fate wouldn't be so cruel, I had to believe that.

  I pressed my hand to his cheek, savoring the warmth of his stubbly skin. "Let's pretend, just for tonight, that we're camping. That we're just out having a fun camping trip, no infections, no murders, just camping together."

  "Okay." He was indulging me, but I would take what I could get.

  "There are so many things I don't know about you. Let's play twenty questions." I threaded my fingers through his as I thought about a question. "If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?"

  "Anywhere but here, as long as I'm with you."

  I nudged him with my shoulder. "Come on, that's not a real answer. Really think about it, where would you go? Disneyland? Paris?"

  He sighed, but finally gave in to my little game. "No, those are full of people and tourists. I'd take you to some remote tropical beach somewhere where we could just be you and me and not have to worry about what others think."

  "Mmm, that'd be nice. What's your favorite color?"

  "Color?" The smile in his voice warmed my heart. "Is this like middle school?

  "No, I'm an awful girlfriend. I don't even know your favorite color."