Alive Like Us

by Quinn Hallows

  Too late. The hinges squealed as the door opened. Theo squinted through the narrow crack. “Oh—hey Sanna.” The door widened. “Do you need something?”

  “Is the Outsider with her?” A female voice asked from inside cabin. “Move, Theo.”

  Haven shoved Theo aside. She was shorter than Kai remembered, no more than five-one, but he was sure the fire in her hazel eyes more than made up of it.

  Sanna stiffened beside him. “I told you to stay out of this.”

  “I’m here to help.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  “It’s the truth.” Haven assessed Kai, her gaze lingering on his aching face. “You look awful.”

  “You should see the other guy.”

  Haven’s face paled, her gaze snapping back to Sanna. “You didn’t kill Raj, did you?”

  “What do you think?” She pushed past her, into the clinic.

  Kai limped after Sanna, Frankie trotting alongside. Theo shut the door. The harsh scent of disinfectant clung to the chilly air as the four of them squeezed into the clinic’s dark, drab lobby.

  “The guard will be doubled as soon as they find out he’s missing,” Haven said. “What’s your plan, exactly? Or have you even thought this through?”

  “Why would I tell you?”

  “I just want to help.”

  “I’ve had more than enough of that.”

  The air crackling between them. Kai longed to sit but they were blocking the few chairs and he knew better than call attention to himself when two predators were squaring off.

  “So, um,” Theo cleared his throat. “Why is the Outsider bleeding in my clinic?”

  Sanna’s expression softening. “I need a favor. He needs stitches before we go.”

  “W-wait a minute,” Theo adjusted his glasses. “You’re going with him? Where?”

  “She’ll fill you in,” she shot Haven a cold glare. “Just make sure she doesn’t leave anything important out.”

  Haven rolled her eyes. “You’re making a big mistake.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sanna brushed Theo’s arm. “I know it’s a lot to ask. I’ll only be gone for a little while. And I owe Kai. He saved my lives.” Her gaze slid back to Haven. “Both our lives.”

  Light flickered outside the clinic’s window. A kerosene lamp was bobbing across the yard. The clinic guard must’ve returned. “Better decide doc, unless you want him to do it for you,” Kai said, nudging his throbbing head towards the glass.

  Theo jammed his hands into his tightly curled hair and made a frustrated sound in his throat. “All right. Fine—”

  “Thanks.” She threw her arms around him, squeezing tight. “I knew I could trust you.”

  “That’s what...friend are for, I guess. Lying to people with the power to arrest you.”

  Sanna pulled away, turning to Kai. “Get some rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  She strode out of the clinic and into the morning light, shutting the door behind her.

  “Oh God.” Theo maoned. “There’s no way this is going to work. We’re going to get in so much trouble.”

  “I’ll handle the Outsider. Find a place to stash the dog and act normal. Or...as normal as you usually do.”

  Great. Kai followed Haven down the narrow hallway. She’ll probably pop out his eye while she was at it.

  She paused outside a door and turned the knob, a set of golden bracelets tinkling on her wrist. Beckoning Kai inside, he entered a small exam room dominated by a metal table. A hard, rectangular support was on one end and the whole surface was slanted towards a hole at the base, where a stained bucket waited. A collection lethal-looking instruments gleamed on top of a nearby table.

  This wasn’t an exam room. It was an autopsy room.

  The door clicked shut behind him. Kai whirled around, wincing as pain burned up his side. His left eye had swollen to a crack but through his right he could see she was trembling with...rage?

  “What are you doing—

  “Who’s Iris?” Her pretty, coquettish mask had fallen away, revealing the hardened woman beneath. A scalpel glinted in her hand. Small and lethal, like it’s owner. “And what does she want with Sanna?”

  “She’s a lady. She wants to help her. I think.”

  “You think?” Haven advanced, her sweet perfume eveloping him.

  “W-we barely know each other.” Kai staggered back, the hard edge of the gurney hitting his thigh. He was in no condition to fight. Especially in such close quarters. “I- I’m doing this as a favor.”

  “A favor? For a stranger?” Her scapel brushed his throat in a deadly kiss. “Try again.”

  Kai swallowed, the sharp edge biting into his skin. “Not a favor then. A deal. My sister is sick. Iris agreed to take care of her while I went after Sanna. I think Iris is worried about someone—someone powerful, like her—who wants Sanna dead.”

  There was no hint of softness in Haven’s green-gold eyes. “Explain.”

  “You know Sanna’s different. The whole town does too. This place is a powder keg. They’re just itiching for a chance to be rid of her.”

  “But she’s safe with you?”

  “She has a chance.”

  Haven glared at him a moment longer, her expression inscrutable. Kai was about to grab her wrist when she drew away, the scapel disappearing into the folds of her apron.

  “Stupid hicks. This place is ful of them.” Haven scowled, shaking her head. “I told her to leave. To get a fresh start someplace new. She wouldn’t listen. She just...takes it from them. Like she deserves it.”

  “Haven?” Theo shouted down the hall. “I hope your done stitching him up because we got company. Two guards are coming. They look...pretty determined.”

  Kai started, the blood icing in his veins. He scanned the room. There was no way out. He should’ve never come here. He should’ve taken Sanna and run the second he got out of that dungeon.

  His gaze locked with Haven’s. Dying of exposure out in the Deadlands was far better than being at this girl’s mercy. “You’re not turning me in, are you?”

  “Looks like you’re just gonna have to trust me.” Her ruby lips curled in a feline smile, and he never felt more like a rodent. “Outsider.”

  SANNA SLUNK ALONG ERLING’S, alley a cold wind knifing through her coat. She’d slipped past the clinic’s guard and melted into the alley’s dense shadows when two familiar soliders marched past. Friends of Raj’s. The hunt for them had begun.

  She had to get supplies and get out of here fast.

  She rounded a corner and peered out onto the main street. Groups of people shuffled on either side; Their faces were thin and lined with exhaustion. It’d been a hard winter for everyone. If it weren’t for Kelsey’s miraculous hunt yesterday, they’d all be facing starvation.

  She drew her hood up and headed for home. Her parents would be gone by now—either looking frantically for her, or at their daily meaning with the Lieutenant. Either way, there’d be enough food and clothes for her and Kai, as well as a stash of weapons in the clammy basement.

  A cold, hard point jammed into her side, drawing blood. She gasped.

  “Hello, Sanna.” Kelsey appeared in her periphery; her eyes strangely flat. The dagger was tucked into her long, plaid sleeve. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “What do you want?” Sanna raised her palms. “I can pay you—”

  The words died on her lips as a cruel smile spread across Kelsy’s face. She leaned in, whispering a single word that drove a spike of dread into Sanna’s heart.

  “Justice.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Hey guys...how’s it going?” Theo boomed from the waiting room. “To what do I owe this pleasure? Wait—you’re not allowed back there without an appointment. Haven? Haven! Some SOLDIERS are COMING!”

  “On the table.” Haven shoved Kai backwards. “Hurry.”

  Boots clunked down the hall. Kai stretched out on the cool metal surface. A white sheet was unfurled over
him, smelling of stale sweat. Kai refused to think of what else the fabric had been in conact with.

  “Try not to breathe,” she whispered, and pulled the shroud over his head.

  Fists pounded the door. This was a terrible mistake. Kai never should have agreed to come here in the first place. Haven loathed him. She was going to serve him up on a damn platter, he was certain.

  “Uh...Haven? These...gentleman would like to search the room.” Theo’s voice was reedy.

  Kai sucked in a deep breath as the door whined open. Boots clunked across the floor, spurs rattling.

  “Dr. Martin,” Haven sniffled. “You’re too late—he’s...gone!”

  “Uh...sorry?”

  “The patient—it was awful. Just awful. I...I couldn’t save him. I tried...everything.” Haven sobs became muffled. Kai imagined the nervous doctor patting her back as she drenched his shirt with crocodile tears.

  Theo cleared his throat, sounding painfully guilty. “You two...uh...shouldn’t be in here without a mask. It isn’t safe.”

  The footsteps drew nearer. Kai spotted the worn leather tips of the guards’ boots on his periphery. The silhouette of a hand floated into view, directly over his face. His lungs burned for air. Don’t breathe.

  “What are you doing?” Haven snapped. “Didn’t you hear Dr. Martin? It’s highly contagious!”

  Kai tensed, waiting for the sheet to be ripped off.

  “She’s right,” Theo’s voice cracked. “It’s a new strain of the virus...very virulent. If you touch that sheet, I’ll have to quarantine you indefinitely.”

  The shadow stilled, the boots shifting to Theo.

  “How did the corpse even get here?” One of the guards demanded. “That’s a clear violation, Dr. Martin.”

  “Excuse me.” Theo shuffled between the soldiers and Kai. “It’s my job to research the strains in this area. When a prime specimen arrived at the clinic yesterday fresh from the Deadlands, it was my duty to study him.”

  “So, is he gonna come back to life or something? Infected the whole town? I’ve got kids here, man!”

  “Of course not,” Haven said crisply. “I took care of him, myself. His brainstem is completely severed.”

  “C’mon, Dan, you really aren’t buying this are, you?” The other guard asked. “Look, we can’t leave until we see the body.”

  “But...um—” Theo started.

  “Fine.” Haven said. Kai felt as though his lungs were about to explode. “But I hope like the inside of a cell because you’ll have to stay in quarantine for a minimum of eight weeks. This strain may be airborne, and we can’t have spread it to the whole population.”

  Dan whistled. “Is it really that bad, Dr. Martin?”

  Theo coughed. “Uh-huh.”

  “There’s no way,” the other guard said. “Bea will murder me and the kids if I’m gone that long.”

  “Welp,” Dan clapped his hands. “In that case, I say we search the place and leave the good doctor alone. Raj can quarantine himself if he wants to see it.”

  “Make sure I’m there before you tell him. I wanna see what shape your face gets punched into.”

  Kai winced. He knew firsthand the power behind that Raj’s fists.

  “Follow me, then,” Theo said eagerly. The door whined open. “Right this way, gentleman. Uh...Haven, why don’t you finish taking samples? I’d like to get them sent to the CVC by tomorrow.”

  “Yes, doctor.”

  Heavy footsteps followed Theo out into the hall.

  Kai gasped, yanking off the blanket. Haven swung to him; her face covered in an old-fashioned gas mask. She held a finger to the respirator. They weren’t in the clear yet.

  “Everything looks good, Doc,” Dan’s voice trailed to the lobby. “Sorry to bother you. Raj was in rare form when we found him. Thinks Sanna was the one who pummeled him, even though he didn’t see her face.”

  “Of course, she was,” his friend said. “That freak is the only one who’s ever gotten the jump on him like that, cept’ Iron Tooth himself. That’s why Raj was spitting nails.”

  “Okay, okay.” Theo laughed nervously. “See you later, gentlemen. Actually—no stay away. We’re extremely busy.”

  “Hey, doc,” the other solider’s voice neared the autopsy room. “Do you think you could look at a mole for me before I leave?”

  “Nope...uh...you’ll have to make an appointment with Haven. Bye, now,” the front door whined open. “And remember, don’t come back!”

  The front door clicked shut. Moments later, Theo burst into the small room. “They’re gone,” he gasped, pressing his spine to wall. “Oh Go. Did you guys see that? No, of course you didn’t.” He dragged his hand down his face. “That was close.”

  Haven tugged off her gas mask and glared at him. “Quit telling people to make your appointments with me. I’m not your secretary. And you’re lucky those guys have two brain cells to share. If it were anyone else, they’d have torn this place apart.”

  “You’re right,” Theo’s gulped and straightened. “I’m not very good at lying.”

  “Well get better at it. And get out there. You have another appointment, remember?” Haven’s gaze widened and she stomped her foot, a frustrated squeal ripping from her throat. “Dammit! I shouldn’t have to remind you. I’m not your secretary!”

  “This is crazy. We could be...” Theo stroked his neck, lost in thought as he headed for the back of the clinic. “Hanged.”

  Haven closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll do your stitches now, while we have a minute. Raj really did a number on you, didn’t he? And I thought Inferno knew how to fight.”

  “It’s a bit harder when some put you in a cage,” Kai bit off.

  “I deserved that.” Haven shut the door and locked it. She turned to the cabinet and started collecting an assortment of bottles, pausing to double-check each label before she set them down on the counter. “What are you waiting for?” Her gaze flicked to Kai, then the gurney. “Sit.”

  Kai did, his body aching. The knot of flesh above his eye throbbled like a second heart. “Thanks, for handling those guards. If it was up to Theo—"

  “You’d both be arrested.” Haven set the tray on the small table next to the gurney and wheeled over a small stool. “I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Sanna. I should have told her a long time ago. About her blood. Her mother wanted to find answers first. She said we were protecting her. But now Sanna blames herself for everything and we still don’t know what she is.”

  “You care about her?” Kai flinched as she probed the cut on across the bridge of his nose.

  “I owe her. I basically barged in her on her life five years ago and she just...accepted me. No questions. Not many people do that.” Haven reached into a jar and smeared some sour smelling paste over the wound with surprising gentleness. She threaded a needle next, bringing it under to his swollen eye. “Hold still.”

  Kai dug his fingers into his thighs, bracing for pain, but felt only a dull tug. Her movements were smooth and efficient. Within moments, she’d snipped the thread. “You’ll need to take these out in a few days.”

  “I couldn’t feel a thing.”

  Haven’s chin dipped, her lips quirking into a small smile that faded quickly. She doused a cloth with liquid, filling the air with the sharp scent of alchohal, and pressed it to his freshly closed wound.

  Kai jerked away. “That burns like hell.”

  “I thought the Inferno liked burning things. Or was that just people?”

  “I never met to hurt anyone.”

  She moved onto another cut. “Tell that to the village of Broken Creek. I was nearby when it happened. I saw the smoke. I thought the whole forest was going to burn.”

  Broken Creek. The name sent him sprialling inward. He stared down at the knots in the pine floorboards, while the screams from that horrible night rose up and wrapped around him, dragging him down into a slew of dark memories.

  “Done.” Haven scooted away on
her stool, taking the tray of used guaze and bottles with her. “I know that table isn’t very comfortable, but you should get some rest while you can.”

  Kai blinked away the dark thoughts. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll bring you some tea to take the edge off. And some food. If there is any. I’m pretty sure Theo derives his sustenance from reading.” Haven headed for the door, pausing at the threshold. “Sanna’s a good person. No matter what anyone else says.”

  “I know. Iris will help”

  “She’d better. Because of this is all some big lie to get her out of Erling, or kidnapped, or whatever, Sanna will tear you pieces. And if she doesn’t,” Haven shot him a menacing glare over her shoulder. “I will.”

  She left the room, leaving him alone with with her threats.

  Kai heard the lock slid back into the place. He laid out on the gurney, carefully tucking his arm under his head, and stared at the blue patch of sky shining through skylight.

  I was nearby when it happened. Haven’s words haunted him more than her causal threats. He’d done the scouting for Broken Creak, along with a few other inferno members. The only thing near the research outpost was a government-run iron mine and an illegal flesh market. All three were places where human spirits were broken long before their bodies gave out. No wonder she was so mean. She’d have had to be that and more to survive.

  Kai pocketed the gold bracelets he’d managed to slip from her wrist unawares and wondered if he’d just made a powerful ally, or a very dangerous enemy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Sanna climbed the watchtower’s ladder, bracing herself for what might be waiting inside. Kelsey had referred to him like a god on their way there. Sanna had a hunch it was actually the embodiment of the voice who’d been tormenting her since Nico died. Whatever it was, if she destroyed it, perhaps the Infected gathering in the forest would disperse.

  “Keep moving!” Kelsey shouted from down below.

  Sanna pushed open the heavy wooden hatch and crawled inside. It was empty. “I thought you said he was up here.”