by Cara Coe
We ran down the floor and into the stairwell. Alex was breathing heavily and his eyes were wild with adrenaline. They found mine and narrowed.
“That was incredibly dangerous,” he scolded when he had some of his breath back. “You could’ve been hurt.”
My mind whipped around for a hot retort to his lack of gratitude but before I could let loose some choice words, he was gripping my shoulders with his mouth urgently covering mine. His kiss was desperate and filled with the relief of firming up a hold on something that had been slipping. We were constantly slipping, the two of us, first emotionally and now quite physically. The reunion each time had been bursts of this kind of relief, but as I kissed him back just as feverishly, I realized the explosion behind this one was different. Hurt feelings could be healed with time and seeking each other out after the heat evaporated. These latest threats could have resulted in a more permanent separation.
When we broke apart, he kept his forehead pressed to mine and panted heavily. “Next time there’s any kind of danger, you leave me.”
I shook my head. “Let’s get out of here. There won’t be a next time.”
I should really stop trying to predict the future. I royally suck at it.
Next time was here.
Chapter 37
Him
The first floor sounded like the stirrings of warfare. Rapid fire guns spitting bullets in a spray of destruction filled my ears. The floor held the emergency bays and waiting rooms. Not much else. Whoever was here had no plan except to bully their way into more lucrative rooms. Flashes of firefights like this in the early days of The Sweep seized my body. I worked enough of my muscles free to press Tasha behind me. A pure display of empty testosterone since I had no idea where the assault was coming from and even if I did, a small firearm is all we had between the two of us.
“Who are they even shooting at?” Tasha hissed in between rounds. Another volley sent a rainfall of sheet rock down on our heads. We were low to the ground behind the counter and out of sight.
“They’re raiders. I’ve seen this before. They cause a big ruckus to draw out the vamps that inhabit a place. Likely these raiders have quieter friends above searching for loot.”
My mind flicked regretfully to Vince and Jade but there was nothing I could do about it from here. Not without leaving Tasha downstairs with these madmen and there was more of a chance a luck dragon straight out of the Neverending Story flying in to save us rather than that happening. We covered our ears through another round. We were going to have to wait them out and hope we didn’t get hit.
I craned my neck around the counter to get a better look. The annoying vamp was sitting in a waiting chair, his knee slung over the arm rest. He was lazily shooting off rounds into the ceiling now.
“Give me the gun,” Tasha said quietly as soon as he stopped to reload. “I can take him out.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I’d rather come up with a plan that doesn’t kill my girlfriend.”
“Technically, I’m not your girlfriend. We never had the talk.”
Another volley of bullets had more shards of the counter flying around us and I cursed. “Can we please hash out the particulars at a later time?”
A flash of red caught my eye from down the hall and I saw Ike’s tall form gesture to us. Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared around the corner that led to the garage. Pulling Tasha with me, I followed. Her hand was shaking in mine and I squeezed it tighter.
When we reached Ike, I squatted down next to him and Tasha followed. He had a hard look on his face and an angry bruise on his temple. Had he already engaged one of the raiders? I wanted to ask, but we remained silent and still until we heard the sounds of the attack move to the second floor.
Ike looked grim. “It looks like we were followed by raiders. Most likely related to one of the factions.” he said and I raised my eyebrows in a sarcastic No shit response.
Tasha looked confused.
“Factions?”
“Groups refusing to follow the ration rules,” I explained. “They attack organized vamps in cities to get to stores of the juice. It would be nothing to take us on. Vince must have thought his small group meant that anyone watching would not be interested.” In an effort to erase the continuing confusion from her face, I explained further, “Small groups usually means an insignificant amount of juice. A lot of raiders wouldn’t bother.” I glanced at Ike. “It looks as though one of them already clocked you,” I commented, training my eyes on the purpling bruise.
Ike pointed a finger at Tasha. “No, that was her handiwork.”
“What?” I exclaimed, remembering to keep my voice lowered.
Tasha balked. “He told me to!”
“And boy did she deliver,” Ike quipped.
The sounds drifted further away. They’d bypassed the lab. They had eight more floors to go before they came back down. I looked at Ike in hopes that the entirety of the group was prowling around on the floors above us looking for my serum. His face depleted my hopes as he read my unvoiced question in my face.
“Three more in the garage by the vehicles,” he said. “This isn’t their first raid.”
I was almost scared to ask. “Vince? Jade?”
“They’re fine. We got to your lab right after you two slipped out. I had to distract them as you guys went into the stairwell. Vince, Jade, and Xavier stayed behind locked in your lab with guns aimed at any intruders if they get past your code. They were too worried about the current situation to care that you handcuffed Trent and escaped. Not so occupied though to remember that it was my mistake while watching Tasha that resulted in your release. So naturally I was voted to assess the threat and come up with a plan.”
“So what have you cooked up then?” I asked.
“Good ol’ fashioned distraction. Basically the same thing they’re trying to do. You and I draw away the three by the garage. She hides in the cab of the truck. I keep leading them away while you circle back around and get the hell out of here.”
“What about you?”
“You first. You have two sets of vamps out for your hide. I can handle these goons.”
I narrowed my eyes in disbelief as he set to preparing the weapons.
“I’m ex-military,” he said without hesitating in his work. “Special forces.” He paused and then added, “very special forces. I can take them out quickly but with this ammo it needs to be one at a time. We’ll split directions at the elevator. Once I’ve eliminated mine I’ll take out yours so you can get to the truck.”
Tasha swiveled her head back and forth between us, her eyes clouding heavier with anger at every word. By the time Ike and I were trading sardonic grins about the level of threat these machine gun wielding vamps posed, she was pacing our small patch of hallway and steaming.
“I am not going to sit in the truck while you and Jolly Green Giant here get shot at! What if you never make it? You expect me to drive away? Without you? If you think that’s gonna happen, you are a bona-fide world class idiot!”
I leaned over to Ike while she went on and said quietly, “That’s Tasha-nese for I love you.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to learn the language. Her telling me my plan to bust her out of here was a ridiculous act of self sacrifice was my thank you,” he whispered back.
“Eventually she translates it into English, just let her finish ranting first,” I told him, patting him on the arm.
“…and then I have to carry the guilt of both of your deaths on my head!” she was yelling as I turned back to look at her. “No, no no!”
She was huffing and her eyes were bright with concern and scared. She sighed, walked over to me, and punched me on the shoulder to vent her frustration. Hard. Twice. The second one kind of hurt a little. “I only get this upset because love you,” she sulked and I smiled, loving the fact that I could read her so well.
She glanced over to Ike. “And thanks for getting me out of that room,” sh
e added. “It was a risk you didn’t have to take. Like this one. Now let’s come up with a new plan.”
I denied her with a shake of my head. “In the truck.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? I know how to shoot, Alex. Give me a gun. I can help.”
“You get shot, you die. I get shot, it hurts but I regenerate.”
“Not with these weapons! You’ll be showered with bullets. It would take you weeks to recover and that’s if they don’t lodge into certain brain parts.”
“Your concern is noted. Stand aside.”
She opened her pie hole to rant again but we didn’t have time for a round two so I cut her off with a deadly serious glare and she returned it with a glare of her own but shut her mouth.
“Listen,” Ike said to me. “We’re going to open this side door like we don’t know they’re there and then retreat. Girly here,” he glanced at Tasha and gestured as if there were several females to choose from. “She’ll duck behind this corner here. When three vamps run by… all three,” he said, turning to emphasize that important bit to Tasha. “-you get in the moving truck.”
“You wait seven minutes, no more,” I added, pinning her with an authoritative look.
“What an arbitrary number,” Tasha muttered.
“She always like this?” Ike asked, handing me one of his guns off his hip.
“Pretty much.” I cocked it and motioned for her to move. “Do not hesitate,” I warned her.
Scowling, she darted to the side of the door and waited for Ike and me to draw the fire.
Ike turned back to her quickly before opening the parking garage exit door and said to her, “When you get to where you’re going, it would be helpful to know that I love Elvis. I’m an Elvis freak. Except for the song Suspicious Minds. I’ve always hated that song.”
Tasha eyes him like he had two heads. “How is that helpful?”
Ike just flashed her a grin then looked turned to me all business and cocked his head towards the exit.
We edged out of the doorway, me trailing Ike in between a line of parked cars.
He stayed low, stopping at the fender of a silver town car. His look back to me radiating one question. Ready?
I nodded.
Like carnival game pieces, our heads popped up from behind the town car and shot off a few pitiful rounds. We were met with a hailstorm of fire, crouching down by the rear tires and waiting for them to end their assault. Ike kept a gun trained on their feet under the car in case they started advancing on us while they shot.
When they paused, Ike popped back up again to shoot a few more arbitrary shots then pushed me on the shoulder and we ran. We could hear the footsteps of the raider vamps behind us.
I hoped they were idiots that would get caught up in the chase, leaving their getaway car post.
When we blew past the corner where I knew Tasha crouched out of sight it was all I could do not to pause to check on her. Instead I kept pumping my legs, splitting off in the waiting room to veer left as Ike veered right. As predicted, the raider vamps did, too.
I’d been in a few scuffles, more of them after The Sweep than before. I never enjoyed them and tried to inflict as few injuries as possible to get the job done. I gritted my teeth and steeled my mind to prepare myself for what needed to be done.
My mind raced as I ran, trying to remember routes that would double back on themselves but not so early that I’d end up face to barrel at the end of his AK47. I actually kept one of those weapons as a precaution but I’d gotten lazy. It’d been almost a year since I’d seen another person and I stopped operating in survival mode and focused on my work. My own weapon was several floors up stashed away in a break room locker. It wasn’t an option to make my way there. Ike wouldn’t know to leave this floor and there was no way I was putting that much distance between myself and Tasha.
I was faster than him. While I’d never seen an overweight vamp, there were still different degrees of physical fitness. I could tell this one spent more time lounging than using his muscles because I was barely winded and he was losing ground.
When I was sure I’d disappeared from his line of sight, I dropped below a bank of waiting room chairs. I didn’t know how long Ike was going to be and my seven minute window was closing fast. I loathed adding another death on my rap sheet, but I was running out of options.
I could hear his footsteps run hurriedly into the room then slow as he tried to sort out which direction I’d gone. When his calves passed by my face, I rolled out and tripped him. His gun dropped and I used my foot to kick it away as he scrambled frantically to recapture it.
We went fist to fist.
Each blow he landed on me sent pain reeling through my body, but though the stings were sharp, they were short. Adrenaline washed them away and I delivered my own blows. Stronger, heavier ones by the way his were weakening.
I landed a square hit on his jaw and his eyes rolled back into his head. For good measure, I threw an uppercut into his exposed chin which was jutting upward and his bloody face went slack.
I let out a relieved breath as I realized I could spare this one. It was during my relief when I felt a hard blow to my back. The force sent me sprawling over this vamp and onto my back. Another vamp, the third one by the car that I hadn’t even thought to account for, stomped a foot on my jugular and pressed. He was thick. Black angry tattoos circled his arms and his eyes were wild with hunger. He pulled out a handgun and trained it to my forehead.
My fingers wrapped helplessly around his boot as I tried to breathe.
“Where’s the serum?” he demanded in a hard voice.
I couldn’t have answered him if I wanted to. My voice was choked off by the pressure. He cocked the gun and loosened his step a little. I coughed with the sudden onslaught of air.
“Where?” he demanded again.
Before I could say anything, two hands came up behind him and pressed on either side of his face. A loud crack filled the air, jerking his head to the side before his eyes went still and his body went slack. I rolled out of the way as it fell.
Ike was revealed behind him as the vamp fell, standing tall and grim. He rolled his shoulders and his eyes squeezed shut in pain for a minute before he regained his control and looked at me. He extended a single hand to help me up. He glanced at the vamp I took out minutes before on the floor.
“Is he dead?”
I shook my head. “Knocked out. You’ll want to secure him before he wakes. There’s rope in the storage closet or tranquilizer darts in the room where the dog cages were.”
“We’re at nine minutes.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Thank you. For everything you’re doing for her.”
His gray eyes appraised me thoughtfully. “Just finish it. Okay? I gave her a map to a human colony,” he said. “Drew it out for her. Get her there. But do not go any further than the lake. No vamp has ever crossed into that colony. Not even me and that’s my aunt and sister in there. You get her to the lake and you leave.”
I looked at him solemnly. He was asking me to give Tasha up. To take her to this colony and then walk away.
I loved her. I loved her so much I knew I would do exactly what he was asking.
“Understood,” I told him without hesitation.
And I could tell from the look that flitted across his face that he believed me.
Chapter 38
Her
Nine minutes.
Damn it, Alex.
I sat in the passenger seat. I was coming out of my skin. I knew the waves of nerves were radiating from me. I could hear my dogs whining in the cargo hold.
“We’ll go,” I hissed to them out the window. “We’re just going to wait one more minute.”
Ten minutes.
I lied. I couldn’t bring myself to take the truck out of park. I knew if I didn’t see his face, my fate was going to play out here at the M.D. Anderson Medical Center.
Eleven-
Sweet Jesus Almighty! I never thought Alex
’s face could look any more desirable but I was wrong. Seeing it twisted in worry and hurrying through the parking garage was the best vision I could possibly have right now.
He ran up to the driver’s side yanking the door open and I quickly scooted over to the passenger side to give him room.
I frantically pulled on my seatbelt as he threw the gear in drive and peeled out of the garage. The sunlight hit my eyes and assaulted my vision as I struggled to clip myself in.
“What took so long?” I yelled as he simultaneously yelled at me, “I told you to leave!”
Sweat dripped in rivers down his temple. His knuckles were painted red in blood. I swallowed thickly at the sight of him.
“You knew I wouldn’t leave,” I said in lowered tones. All the frustration I had in me bubbled away. Whatever transpired on his end looked far worse than my extra four minutes waiting in the silent truck.
I felt him glance at me, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his hands. He followed my gaze then quickly wiped them on the front of his shorts. “It’s worse than it looks,” he muttered.
“Is it?”
“I didn’t have to kill anyone. So that’s a start.”
“Is Ike okay?”
Alex nodded. “More than okay. He wasn’t kidding when he said his military training made him ready for stuff like this.”
I rubbed my hollow chest, trying to catch up to a shit ton of new realities. Since I woke up with a start this morning, everything I’ve known has been bludgeoned over the head and returned to me in a huge, pulpy, confusing mess. “How can everything be so different in just a few short hours?” I murmured, mostly to myself.
Alex reached out a hand to me but his eyes caught on some missed blood and he quickly withdrew. I caught it on the seat in between us and held. Everything around me may have changed, but he was still my vamp. I wondered if he would miss Houston the way I missed Tucson. He’d apparently traveled around a lot but I could still sympathize leaving the place you grew up.