by Dia Cole
Reed’s gaze widened. “No way. That guy hates my guts.”
I shook my head. “He risked his life to save you.”
Reed let out a low whistle. “Never thought I’d see that day. Argh,” he growled while Darcy tugged on his bandages. “Are you trying to kill me, woman?”
Darcy let out an exasperated hiss. “Stop acting like a baby.”
His mouth pinched white.
I hated seeing him in pain. It brought back awful memories of him lying in a hospital bed after the first car accident. “There might be some pain meds in my backpack. I can grab it from the break room.”
Darcy stood up. “I’ll get it. I’ve got to check on Hillbilly anyway. Until then, try to get him to eat some of this.” She fished an energy bar out of one of the pockets of her cargo pants and tossed it at me.
I tried to catch it and missed.
Darcy let out a heavy sigh. “You’re hopeless, Hooker.”
“And you’re a giant bitch.”
She surprised me by laughing and clapping me on the back.
I had to brace myself not to fall over. The motion sent pain radiating up my leg. For a second I thought I was going to black out, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stay conscious.
Darcy chuckled as she walked out of the cubicle.
Reed shook his head. The movement sent his sandy-blond dreads flying across his face like a cheerleader’s mangled pom-pom. “I’ve woken up in the twilight zone. You and Darcy are buddies, and you and Dominic are playing tonsil hockey.”
Oh no. He hadn’t been awake during my hot moment with Dominic. Had he?
“The thing with Dominic wasn’t what it seemed.”
“Right? Darcy made it sound like you two had quite the time together.”
With a sigh of relief, I realized he’d only overheard Darcy and me talking.
He gave me a hurt look. “You told me you didn’t want to be with anyone that way. Was it just your way of letting me down easy?”
Damn, this is awkward.
The need to erase the devastated look in his eyes was overwhelming. My mind latched on to a story I knew he’d buy. I lowered my voice. “I saw a vial of liquid in Dominic’s vest. I’m trying to get up close and personal so I can get it without him knowing.”
“He has the serum on him?” Reed sat up quickly, and then moaned.
“Shh. Lower your voice.” I scooted closer so he could lean against my side. Immediately, his earthy scent washed over me. It reminded me of home and of the old versions of our lives that involved hopes and dreams beyond surviving the day. “What’s this serum? And how come this is the first time I’m hearing about it?”
Reed took a deep breath. “Promise you won’t be mad.”
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “How can I promise that?”
He pressed his lips together. He, like Eden, could be so stubborn when he set his mind to something.
“Fine, I’ll promise not to be mad, if you eat some of this.” I tore open the energy bar and held it up for him.”
He took a bite. “She made me swear not to tell you,” he said with his mouth full.
“Who?” I rubbed my lower leg, wishing the pain would go away.
Reed opened his mouth for another bite.
I held the bar out of reach. “Reed, tell me what the hell is going on or I’ll tell Darcy you have a crush on her. She’ll want to kiss you, and love you, and squeeze you, and keep you for her very own.”
“Okay. Okay. Eden was bitten.”
“Um, yeah. We all saw her get torn apart today.” A soccer ball lodged in my chest as the memory of her screams reverberated in my head.
Reed must’ve seen the grief on my face. “I’m so sorry, Lee. God, I’m going to miss her.” His eyes glistened. “She was the best of us. I’ve never met someone so selfless in my life.” His voice broke.
My throat constricted. “I can’t…I can’t talk about her now.” If I did I’d shatter.
Reed’s eyes flashed with fury. “It’s Dominic’s fault. He made us go today and Eden paid the price. I wish we’d never thrown our lot in with that bastard and the rest of his military grunts.”
I opened my mouth to defend Dominic, but realized it would fall on deaf ears. Reed was in the throes of the blame game, where objectivity and logic were in short supply. When he calmed down, he’d remember the role Eden played in all this.
Reed let out a deep breath. “Anyway, what I was starting to tell you was that Eden was bitten weeks ago.”
“What?” I turned quickly, and he nearly fell over. My hand fell on my own bite. I could feel the heat of the wound through my jeans.
He let out a groan, and put his right hand over his bandaged shoulder as if the move would hold the pain in. “Remember when she went on the vehicle parts supply run with Mike, Trish, and Jared.”
“How could I forget? I nearly lost my damn mind when she and Mike didn’t come home until the next morning.” The ill-fated trip had ended the lives of two civilians in our group. They’d been overrun by Biters in an auto body shop. Jared was killed, and Trish had been separated from Eden and Mike. Unfortunately, she’d come back with a nasty bite on her shoulder and Dominic had dispatched her with the same efficiency he’d shown Roger.
“Well, Eden was also bitten and Mike gave her a serum to counteract the virus. By the time they got to the school, her bite was healed and she was fine.”
I absorbed his words for a second. Then my lid blew. “What the hell? Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Calm down. She didn’t want you to worry. But you’re missing the point. There’s a cure for the Z-virus. And the military has it.”
I shook my head in confusion. “Then why didn’t Dominic offer the serum to Trish or give it to Roger today?”
Reed shrugged. “I guess Dominic didn’t care enough about Trish and Roger to save their asses.”
I chewed the inside of my lip. “Do you think he’d give it to me if I told him I was infected?”
Reed shook his head. “No. He’s looking out for numero uno.”
I lowered my voice. “But I think he cares about me.” As I said the words, I realized I believed them. And despite my misgivings, I cared about him too. Almost too much. My gaze slid over to the desk where a few minutes ago I’d been all too willing to demonstrate that.
“No. Listen to me, Lee. Dominic will kill you the moment he knows you’re infected. Remember rule number two?”
“All infected must die,” I said in a wooden voice.
Maybe Reed is right, and Dominic will shove a blade in my skull before I even finish telling him I’ve been bitten. And then what will happen to Reed? He isn’t on the list.
Dominic had made it clear he thought Reed was deadweight and Darcy had already left him for dead once. The only reason they were keeping him around was because of me.
If I die, so will Reed.
My stomach became a ball of writhing snakes.
Reed’s breathing became labored. “Promise me you won’t tell him.”
I grabbed his hand. “Okay. Okay. Shh. I promise. Just take it easy and don’t you dare try to stand up.”
Reed sagged back against me and interwove his fingers with mine. “I don’t like you having to use your…assets to distract him. But it’s a brilliant idea.” His eyes narrowed. “As long as things don’t go too far.”
I flashed him an innocent look. “When have I ever let anything go too far?”
He winced. “Good point. I think I still have blue balls from that night when you and I…”
Damn. I’d walked into that one. I tried to pull my hand away. “We both had a lot to drink that night.”
He refused to let it go. “Maybe now’s not the time to talk about it. But I want you to know that I meant what I said that night.” His striking blue eyes gleamed with an emotion I didn’t want to see.
My gaze locked on the rectangular ceiling panels above us. With a shudder, I realized the water stains on the panels lo
oked like blood. “Reed, I—”
“Remember the time when Steve Collins and some of the other second-graders bullied me at the bus stop?”
“What?” I said, drawing a blank.
“You made them give me back my Chewbacca backpack, and you threw them all into a mud puddle. You said that if they ever hurt me again, you’d come find them and—” he made air quotes with his one hand “—make it hurt.”
I frowned, dimly remembering that day. “You were just a kindergartener. They had no business picking on you. Did they ever bother you again?”
Reed shook his head. “Are you kidding? I think they feared for their lives.” He squeezed my hand. “I fell in love with you that day. I’ve been love with you ever since. I know you thought the scars were the reason why I never dated. But the real reason is that I was waiting for you.”
Reed’s words floored me. I didn’t know what to say.
This time when I pulled my hand away, he let go. I took a deep breath. “Reed, you know that there can never be anything between us. Not the way you want.”
He smiled. “I know you’re not ready for any kind of romantic relationship right now. But, I’m a patient guy. I’ll wear down your resolve eventually. You’re the one for me.”
He still doesn’t get it.
I rubbed my sweaty hands on the worn denim of my jeans. I needed to shift the conversation fast, before I broke Reed’s heart. “Look, the only resolve that needs wearing down is Dominic’s. Apparently, it’s against the rules for the soldiers to fraternize with civilians. Not that we’d know that the way Mike and Eden were all over each other.”
Reed’s smile wobbled. “Dominic won’t be able to resist a taste of Heaven.”
I winced, wanting to forget about my stripper act. Twirling around the pole in nothing but a G-string and fluffy wings was not one of my finest moments. “What if I can’t get the serum?”
Reed arched a sandy-blond eyebrow. “Seriously? The guy can’t take his eyes off you. Flash some cleavage and he’ll be so distracted the zombie horde could come through and he wouldn’t notice.”
“Thanks for the ego boost. But seriously, what if it doesn’t work? Should I just come out and tell him then?”
His expression turned fierce. “No. If it comes down to it, we’ll just take it.”
Shocked speechless, I could only stare at him.
Is he implying what I think he is? When had Mr. Peace, Love, and Happiness morphed into someone who can talk so casually about hurting other people?
This world was changing him and I didn’t like it.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not suggesting we kill the guy. We’ll knock him out or something. In any case, we need to get that serum and quickly. You don’t have much time. When were you bitten?”
I swallowed hard.
He’s right.
The sand was shifting through the hourglass of my life by the second. “Right after I went out the window at the animal hospital.”
He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “If you’re careful, you’ll probably be able to hide the infection until tomorrow afternoon. You need to get the cure before then.”
“Right.”
Damn. That didn’t give me much time.
Reed reached over and grabbed my hand. “Don’t worry. You’ll get the serum. Dominic won’t know what hit him.”
A tremor ran through me as I remembered the feeling of Dominic’s body pressed against mine.
This is one mission I might actually enjoy.
6
Intense nausea ripped me from sleep. Waking to darkness sent a bolt of panic through me. I reached for the flashlight Dominic gave me last night and clicked it on.
Reed shifted at my side. His dreads fanned out around a face too pale for my liking.
I reached over to feel his forehead, but the movement intensified my queasiness. If I didn’t want to hurl all over the guy, I needed to leave. Moving slowly, so as not to wake him, I crawled out from under the lone break room table.
The beam of light illuminated the cluster of tables and chairs pressed up against the break room windows. It would at least slow down zombies if they attacked from the courtyard.
Hopefully, we won’t need the barricade.
The sound of heavy rain beating against the windows had me shaking my head. It seemed like the world was conspiring against us. At least the periodic rumble of thunder muffled the sound of Grady’s snoring.
He and Darcy were lying over by the snack machines.
I didn’t like the fact that he was in the same room as Reed and me, but Dominic had ordered us all to gather in the break room. No amount of arguing had changed his mind. In fact, he’d made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me since Darcy interrupted us last night. Every time I’d tried to speak with him, he went to check a different barricade. Finally, I’d given up and gone to sleep.
Sergeant Pain in the Ass himself was sharpening knives by the door to the hallway. His hair looked wet, and his face was clean of soot and blood.
He must have cleaned up in the rain.
That’d be a great idea, if I wasn’t feeling like hurling my guts out.
His eyes tracked my movement like a predator. “You don’t look so good,” he said as I used the table to pull myself to standing.
I swayed from side to side like a toddler stepping off their first Tilt-a-Whirl. Strangely, numbness had replaced the pain. The weird pins-and-needles feeling running up and down my leg was similar to the Novocain shot I’d once gotten at the dentist’s office.
Is the virus doing that?
My stomach twisted violently. “Need to pee,” I mumbled. Then I limped to the bathroom down the hall.
I got there just in time to lift the toilet lid and puke my guts out. As I flushed the toilet, I realized too late that I’d used the last of the water in the tank. I should’ve used a trash can or something.
Old habits die hard.
I peeked under the bandage and wished I hadn’t. Black veins trekked from my ankle to mid shin. I touched the darkened skin around the bite noting with a sickening fascination the absence of any feeling or sensation. It was as if the virus was destroying all nerves as it moved through my body.
I fought against the despair threatening to drown me. I had to stop its progression and to do that I had to get the serum from Dominic. With a renewed sense of determination, I pulled myself to my feet.
I set the flashlight on the sink and winced at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was a rat’s nest, my eyes looked sunken into my skull, and my skin was disturbingly pale. There was no way I was seducing anyone in my present condition.
Needing to avoid the mirror, I took stock of the walk-in-closet-sized room. From the lavender potpourri in the basket over the toilet to the fuzzy blue bathroom rug, it was clear that someone had gone to great pains to give it a homey feel.
The white-and-blue-checkered curtain covering the wall near the sink unnerved me. “Never look behind the curtain,” Reed would scream during the B-horror movies he’d make Eden and me watch.
Cursing irrational fears, I swept the curtain aside to find plastic shelving filled with cases of bottled water, toilet paper, and rows of wicker baskets. The baskets were labeled with mostly female names. They contained gym bags and all manner of toiletries, makeup, and hair products.
Jackpot!
Half an hour later, I’d finger-brushed my teeth with some toothpaste I’d found in Debbie’s basket. I’d also washed my hair and given myself a head-to-toe sponge bath with some of the bottled water and the lemon-scented body wash from Rachel’s basket. Free of the grit and blood, I felt almost human again.
Thanks to Miriam, I was dressed in a clean black thong, sports bra, and yoga pants. The outfit fit like second skin and left nothing to the imagination. “All the better to seduce Dominic in,” I muttered under my minty fresh breath.
Deciding not to stop there, I pulled out Debbie’s makeup kit and went to town. Applying mascara, eyeliner, a
nd lipstick felt decadent. It’d been ages since I’d indulged in something so frivolous.
I couldn’t help smiling when I saw my transformation in the mirror.
Dominic won’t know what hit him.
Turning to leave, I was hit with a wave of vertigo so strong I gripped the edge of the sink to stay upright. Behind me, the bathroom door opened.
I glanced up into the mirror and into Dominic’s glowering face.
My mouth fell open in shock at the sight of him. “What are you doing?”
And why the hell hadn’t I thought to lock the damn door?
He closed it behind him. “You’ve been in here a long time.”
“I was cleaning up.” I motioned my hands up and down my body.
His pupils dilated as he took stock of the new me. “I can see that.”
Taking my hands off the sink was a mistake. I stumbled and had to make a desperate grab for the porcelain basin.
He studied my face in the mirror with narrowed eyes.
“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice sharp with suspicion.
“Nothing,” I said, flipping my long wet hair back like I hadn’t nearly fallen on my ass.
He didn’t crack a smile. “Is there something I need to know?”
“My favorite color is purple.”
He took a step forward. “This isn’t the time for jokes, Lee. Were you bitten or scratched today?”
My fingers dug into the side of the sink. Technically, I was bitten yesterday. “No.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
I didn’t like where this conversation was going. My stomach churned, the nausea rearing her ugly head again. “Because you always expect the worst in people. I just witnessed my sister die in the most horrible way imaginable. Then she came back as a super zombie and tried to eat us. And now we are all stranded in the most dangerous part of the city. Reed is seriously injured, Grady attacked me, and our odds aren’t looking so great.”
Dominic’s lips thinned. “You’re acting strange. I’m doing a bite check on you. Before you protest, you should know that I’ve already done a check on Grady. Darcy looked over Reed when she was patching him up.”