“A hive,” Jake said, his eyes going wide. “A goddamn hive!”
“What?” Riley and I shrieked together.
“This parasite, virus, whatever…I think it creates a hive network within the infected,” he said.
“A hive,” Falisha said, “as in like bees?”
“Essentially, yeah,” Jake nodded. “Each hive member has its own mind, its own consciousness— autonomy. But at the same time, they are all just cogs in a machine, dependent on a central force. Hive members can sense each other. Their instincts drive them seek one another out. These same urges are what guide them to protect and serve the hive and its members.”
“Okay,” Zander sounded as confused as I was. “So, what does that mean?”
“A hive mentality is communication on a level beyond language,” Jake said. “This pull, as you call it, you say feel it when one of the infected—um, when a leech is close, right?”
“Well, yes and no,” Zander said as I nodded. “I feel it with the others, yes, but it’s different with Liv. It’s more like, well, it’s like I feel what she is feeling.”
“Whoa,” Falisha said, her brows rising. “For real?”
“I mean, it’s not all the time or anything,” Zander said, his response timed perfectly with my instant anxiety. “It’s just when it’s a really strong emotion. Like the fire at the Tates, I could practically feel the heat and taste the smoke. I have never been so scared in my life. One minute I was about to pass out, and a second later my body started vibrating with this weird energy. It was like my nerves were on fire. The next thing I know, I’m covered in broken glass and looking down at her face as she is laying on the ground.”
“That was crazy,” Falisha said, shaking her head.
“I barely remember running to her,” Zander said, his gaze drawing me in, “but I’ll never forget the moment she opened her eyes.”
“Probably because she puked on you,” Falisha snorted, earning Riley’s elbow.
“Liv, do you realize what this means?” Jake said, but as usual blank stare confirmed that I didn’t. “Your instincts and heightened senses, Zander’s drive to protect you and your connection to each other, not to mention to the others that were infected?”
“Get to the point, Jake.” My head beginning to pound again, and I felt sick to my stomach.
“I think Micah’s mom submitted to you, Liv. That’s why you couldn’t hurt her,” Jake said. “When Gunther asked you to end his life, you felt like you didn’t have a choice—you felt compelled to end his suffering, right?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak thanks to the bile rising at the back of my throat.
“He trusted you, a perfect stranger…a damn teenager, to take care of him?” Jake threw his hands in the air. “Liv, a man you had never met trusted you to end his suffering.”
“What the hell are you getting at?” My heart was beating in my throat.
“Liv, you’re an alpha,” Jake said, meeting my stare. “A queen.”
Before I could process what he had said or raise protest, Jake’s body slammed into the floor at my feet. Micah was sprawled on top of him punching wildly and without direction. His blows connected haphazardly with Jake’s face and shoulders. Jake thrust his arms up attempting to shield himself, but Micah outweighed him by a good thirty pounds.
“You killed her, you son of a bitch,” Micah howled, punching and kicking the open air as Zander pulled him off of Jake. “You killed my mom!”
“Micah,” Zander yelled as he wrestled his cousin off of Jake. “Micah, calm the hell down, please?”
“It’s going to be okay, Micah,” Riley sobbed, pushing against his chest as Falisha helped Jake up from the floor. “Please just stop!”
“No, it’s not going to be okay,” he screamed, elbowing Zander hard in his already tender ribs. “That little fag killed my mom!”
“Micah!” Riley gasped, stepping back in horror as the terrible word left his mouth.
And I snapped.
The second Micah broke free of Zander’s grasp, my fist connected with his face cutting him short as he dove after Jake again. His head snapped back and he sank to the carpet at Jake’s feet. Micah curled into a ball and began sobbing. Riley tried her best to comfort him, but I could tell he had broken something in her and her heart was no longer in it.
“Are you okay?” I said, gently touching Jake’s arm with my now throbbing hand.
His already black eye and his nose were starting to swell, his lip was bleeding, and his tears ran unchecked down his face. Jake slowly backed away as he stared down at Micah’s sobbing form.
“Don’t. I’m fine,” Jake said, flatly, jerking away from my touch. “We should go.”
***
“Oww! Jesus Liv.” Jake swatted at my hand.
“Come on, Jake, just let me see it,” I swatted back, trying to get a good look at his bloody nose and swollen eye.
“Trust me, Jake,” Zander said. “It’s easier if you don’t fight it.”
“Glad you think so, tough guy,” I said, shooting a look over my shoulder, “because you’re next.”
As much as we didn’t want to leave Micah alone with his mother, none of us were able to stomach the gruesome scene in the bedroom any longer. We had all gathered in the hallway. Zander’s hand rested softly on my lower back. His warmth steadied me but did little to chase away the reality of our situation. Micah’s mother had lost her life tonight and her memory deserved more time than we had to give. The sun would be up in a couple of hours and we needed to get moving.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked Jake, as I fussed over the angry swollen mess that was the right side of his face. “I thought you were going to stay home and wait for your mom and sister?”
“The Dell,” he said, wincing when I pressed the bridge of his nose.
“What?” I said, not wanting to tell Jake it was broken.
“You forgot the stupid laptop,” he grunted. “All of the information from the NWS is on that hard drive and we need to get it into the right hands.”
“All that over a stupid weather balloon?” I scolded him, as I gingerly felt the shift in his septum.
“Yeah,” he winced.
“That was stupid,” I said, as I cradled the bridge of his nose between my thumbs. “And dangerous.”
“Obviously,” he said, hissing through his teeth as I squeezed tight.
“This is going to hurt,” I said, biting my lip.
“Wait—,” Jake’s eyes shot wide, as I jerked his broken nose back into place. His head hit the wall behind him and he slid against it and sank heavily to the floor. “Damn it!”
“Sorry,” I said, staring down at him. “I warned you.”
“Jesus Christ, Liv!” Jake’s hands cupped his bloody nose, his eyes watering uncontrollably. “That hurt!”
“I said sorry,” I shrugged.
Zander helped him to his feet, clapped him on the shoulder and handed him one of the towels we had stolen from the bathroom. I leaned my shoulder against the wall, once again forgetting my bruises. My body shook, as I came down from the adrenaline and my legs were starting to feel weak.
“I’m coming with you,” Jake sputtered around the towel. “My mom left that note the day of the flare, which means they didn’t make it home, Liv. Maybe— maybe they are still at the hospital, but if they’re not…”
“I got you,” I told him. “Like I said before, we’re in this together.”
Finally, the door opened, and Riley emerged alone. Fresh shadows dulled her puffy brown eyes and her shoulders sagged under the strain of Micah’s loss. She looked all cried-out and exhausted—utterly defeated.
“He wants a few minutes alone with her before we go.” Riley closed the bedroom door behind her and rested her forehead against the wooden surface. She stood there for a moment, holding onto the doorknob as if it were the only thing keeping her afloat.
“Are you okay?” I asked, like a total moron.
“Not really,” she said, shrugging past me towards the stairs. “I just can’t.”
“Go,” Zander said, nodding towards Riley’s retreating form. “Broken heart trumps broken ribs, any day of the week.”
I squeezed his hand and rushed down the stairs after Riley, wishing (for once) I had more answers than questions. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, her arms crossed over her chest, shuffling her flats through the soot on the floor. Falisha stood silently at her side looking worried, while Bella walked anxious circles around their feet. The dog’s brown eyes darted back and forth between Riley and me. Jake followed a few steps behind me, still holding the towel to his nose. He nudged me with his elbow, urging me on, and headed for the kitchen.
“Hey,” I said, poetic as always.
“Hey.” Riley’s eyes stayed fixed on the floor, her tears splashing in the black dust on its wooden surface as the awkward silence stretched out before us.
“Shit, Riley, I’m sorry,” I blurted. “I don’t even know what to say to make you feel better at this point. I just plain suck at this love and feelings stuff. Is there anything I can do?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s just…I don’t know. He’s just so damn angry. I tried to help, but he just keeps pushing me away. And what he said to Jake? I just can’t.”
“Maybe he just needs time?” I said though that argument didn’t sound convincing even to me.
“Yeah, well, that seems to be in short supply these days, doesn’t it?” Riley’s face fell.
“Give him what you can then and take a step back.” Falisha put her hand on Riley’s shoulder. “I understand you want to help, but sometimes that means not helping. You have to be willing to let him figure this one out on his own.”
“But I love him,” Riley sniffled. “I can’t stand to see him in pain.”
“I know you do, but who we are in the face of pain—that person we choose to be amid our struggles? That is what defines us,” Falisha whispered. “Riley, Micah needs to decide what kind of man he is going to be, and I am sorry, but that is not something you ca do that for him. All you can do is be there and hope he makes the right decision.”
“Hope.” Riley said the word as if it were foreign to her and wiped a tear from her eye. “Seems, I’m running short on that, too.”
“Well!” Falisha smiled and slid her arm through Riley’s. “We’ll just have to lend you some of ours, then, won’t we, Sarge?”
“Damn right,” I agreed, sliding my arm under her other elbow.
“Turn that frown upside down, Tinkerbelle,” Falisha said. “We need your sparkling personality to keep us sane.”
“Cheerleader,” Riley snorted, but the corners of her mouth tilted in a faint smile. She bumped each of us with her hips and squeezed our arms against her sides.
“Midget,” Falisha said, bumping her back.
Bella sensed the shift in the emotional tide and began dancing a three-legged cha-cha at our feet. She stumbled and twirled, wagging her tail as she snuffed and snorted at us for attention. Bella’s clumsy performance was undeniably awkward but profoundly adorable, and she kept at it until we all broke down and showered her with affection. We giggled and cried together while Bella licked at our faces. All of our compounded emotions poured out in one cathartic mess of paws and ponytails.
“Don’t let me interrupt the party,” Micah stomped down the last half of the stairs. Zander was behind him, carrying an arm full of blankets and an apologetic grimace.
“Micah,” Riley gasped, rising to her feet. “We were just—”
“Don’t, Ry.” He cut her off, stomping down last few steps. “Just, don’t.”
“I was just…” she whispered, her eyes pleading with him. “They were trying to cheer me up.”
“Yeah, I can see that you were real torn up. Here,” he said, thrusting a pair of pink tennis shoes and crisp white socks into Riley’s hands. “It’s not like my mom needs them anymore.”
Micah flung the front door open and stormed through it into the night. It banged hard against the wall behind it and knocked down a picture frame. Riley bent to pick it up, choking back a sob as she cleared away the broken glass.
Micah was maybe five or six in the photo. His sandy blond hair formed a messy halo around his head, as his mother pushed him high on a swing. A huge smile lit up his tiny face as he soared through the air— a smile that matched his mother’s. Riley ran her finger along little Micah’s face, slid the picture from its frame and tossed the broken pieces aside. She carefully put the photograph into her pink backpack, kicked off her ballet flats, and quietly slid her feet into the new footwear
“Riley, you can’t let Mic get to you,” Zander said, from a couple stairs up. “He’s just upset. I’m sure he’ll come around.”
“It’s okay, Zander,” she said, sliding her backpack over her shoulders. “Falisha was right. This is his decision.”
She took a deep breath, stuck out her chin, and stepped out through the door. I was worrying over Zander’s ribs when Jake sauntered in from the kitchen, a few minutes later. He looked sullen but much less bloody, as he handed me a bag of half frozen peas.
“Found these buried in the freezer,” he said. “Got one for my face and figured Zander could use one for his ribs too.”
“Thanks, Jake— for everything,” I said. “Don’t torture yourself over what happened. You did what you had to do.”
“Sure, I did.” Jake shook his head as he reached for the front door. “How do I explain that to Micah…or to his Mom?”
He raised his makeshift ice pack back to his face and left the house. There was nothing I could say that would erase the pain in his eyes. Like his broken nose and black eye, this wound would just have to heal on its own and both would leave a mark. I finished wrapping Zander’s ribs, two of which were very broken and stuffed the frozen peas under the ace bandage to hold it in place. He swallowed down a couple Ibuprofen tablets and we made our way to the front sidewalk where the rest of our friends were waiting. Micah closed the gate behind us.
“Can you?” Micah handed Zander a glass bottle with a rag hanging out of it. “I— I just can’t.”
“You’re sure?” Zander looked down at the bottle in his hands.
“There’s nothing left for me here.” Micah flicked his lighter and lit the cloth that dangled from the mouth of the bottle. “Please, Z, just do it.”
“Bye, Aunt Julie,” Zander whispered, as he took aim and launched the bottle into the air towards the house.
A trail of flames sliced through the darkness, as the firebomb sailed towards its target. It shattered through the window on the second floor and within seconds, the room was completely engulfed. The fire spread quickly, belching angry black smoke into the sky as it devoured the house. Micah’s face was completely void of emotion, his eyes reflecting the blaze that raged before us. The bright amber force erased his home, his mother and any chance he may have had for a normal life.
As we turned our back on fire and headed east, I found myself hoping that white picket fence would burn to ash with the rest of the house. Its existence in this world seemed like a sick joke at this point.
Chapter 30
Patients and Patience
“Jesus!” Falisha jumped at a loud clap of thunder. “I hope that means it’s going to rain.”
“I don’t know,” Jake said, staring up at the sky as he caught up to her. “I really don’t like the look of those clouds, though. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Green clouds at night?”
“It’s pretty much creeping me out,” Falisha agreed.
They looked like thick tufts of cotton hanging in a low curtain. A solid band of black sky stopped them just shy of the horizon, like an invisible barrier. Their jade-gray masses twisted and swirled against the night sky, like heavy cream in a cup of steaming black coffee. Even through the blue filter of my new enhanced vision (which, yeah, still weirded me out), the churning colors above were enough to give speed to my
tired feet. Even if the rules of the universe had changed since Solar Storm Icarus, green skies would likely always mean trouble in the Midwest.
“How long till sun-up?” I asked, yanking my pack higher.
“It’s hard to tell with all these clouds,” Zander said. “Maybe two hours…tops.”
“There’s no way in hell we are making it to Morrison before then, you guys,” Riley groaned, her short legs barely carrying her at pace, as it was. “It’s, seriously, like fifteen miles.”
“We should head for Junker’s.” Jake pointed ahead, down Route 30. “It’s maybe another mile and a half from here, at the most. If Johnnie is there, I’m sure he’d let us stay.”
“And if he isn’t?” Riley asked.
“Then, he won’t be there to say no, will he?” Jake shrugged.
“Hold up,” Falisha scrunched up her nose at Jake, her brows knitting together. “You are not seriously suggesting we stay at Junker’s Farm, are you? As in that uber-gross garbage dump of a giant red barn, in the middle of a cornfield?”
“Don’t be such a diva,” Jake said, lowering the bag of peas from his swollen eye. “J.J.’s place is actually really nice. The yard is a real hoarder’s paradise, sure, but unless you have a better idea….”
“Yeah, right,” Micah muttered under his breath. It was the first time he had spoken since we left his house.
The air around us was starting to crackle with energy. The clouds folded in on themselves like carnival taffy on an old puller. Suddenly, the hair on my arms stood on end. I brushed at it absently, trying to calm my nerves. Something ominous was brewing in the skies above and we didn’t have time to argue about it. We needed to get inside, and fast.
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