Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two (38 page)

“You don’t know?” Tessa narrowed her eyes at me.

“Just give her a minute, Tessa,” Zander said, shooting her a look.

“I’m not sure a minute is gonna cut it, boyfriend,” Tessa said locking her fingers behind her head.

“Back off, Tessa,” Zander said, his jaw clenching as he wiped the blood from my bottom lip. “You’re alright Liv. I’ve got you.”

“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need your protection,” Tessa scoffed at him. “If anything, she is—”

“Don’t,” Zander growled at her.

“Zander?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Tell her,” Tessa wheeled on him.

“Tessa, please,” Zander said his eyes pleading. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Tell me what?” I asked. “What’s not a big deal?”

“It’s nothing, Liv.” He turned away and glared at Tessa as he bent down to pick his weapon up from the ground.

“This was not
nothing
.” Tessa lunged at him tugging the bottom of Zander’s grimy t-shirt up over his head. Two deep gashes formed a bloody X across his shoulders. He looked like a fallen angel, stripped of his wings.

“Tessa!” Zander spun away, tugging his T-shirt back down. His eyes shot to mine, desperate, pleading. “Liv, it’s okay. You didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”

“You
attacked
him,” Tessa said, her jaw set.

“No.” My stomach dropped to my feet. “I wouldn’t.”

“But, you did,” Tessa said, stepping toward me.

“It’s not her fault, Tessa,” Zander said then turned back to me. “She wasn’t in control.”

“That doesn’t make her less dangerous, does it?” Tessa snapped.

“I don’t blame you, Liv. You have to know that.” Zander’s face tightened. “You didn’t know what you were doing.”

“Oh, god,” I gasped, the weight of it suddenly crushing my chest. “I can’t…I don’t remember.”

“Your eyes,” Tessa’s face looked haunted. Her gaze drifted over the bodies scattered around us. “They went dark, black as night, and it was like something else took over.”

“No.” I backed away.

“Zander tried to pull you off of that…
thing
,” Tessa pointed to the pile of gore at my feet, “and you turned on him. You would have killed him if Devon hadn’t knocked you over the head.”

“This can’t be happening,” I back pedaled, desperate to get away from them. “I have to go. I can’t be here.”

“Liv, please,” Zander reached out to me. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” I shouted, shoving at him. “You’re telling me I went completely ballistic, tore through a pack of monsters twice my size, shredded their leader like kindling in a chipper, and then I attacked you. And I don’t remember
any
of it. I could have killed you, Zander.”

“Liv, don’t.” Zander looked pained.

“Nothing about this is okay.” I turned my back on him.

Chapter 34

Sleeper

Bang, bang, kick…Bang, bang, kick.

“It’s them!” Jake’s panicked face appeared in the small window of the emergency door. “Hurry up. Let them in.”

Locks and barricades clicked and banged. The second the door creaked open, Devon rushed through it and unburdened himself. He passed off the crate of ammunition he’d barely managed to carry back. Zander slid his duffle of guns over his shoulder shielding me from the blood that had already soaked through the back of his shirt.

“Go on ahead.” Tessa handed me her bag of weapons and gave me a nudge through the door. The corners of her mouth quirked but her eyes were tight, and the smile was forced. “I’ll close up here and be right behind you.”

The chaos of our return had drawn a crowd. Keith was there with his trusty clipboard barking orders at people as they relieved us of our pilfered armory. He handed each of us a small bottle of water, then wandered off to direct the munitions inventory. Mason wandered with Caleb in his arms and Bella at his side. I laid Louie across a chair and hid the bloodstained blade as best as I could beneath my pack. It was a futile gesture. My clothes looked just as bad.

“Holy crap, Liv!” Riley dove at me, nearly knocking me off my feet.

“Hey, Ry,” I said, hugging her back while Bella trotted circles around us whimpering for attention. “Good to see you, too.”

“You’ve been gone for hours,” Jake said over Riley’s shoulder. “We thought something had happened to you. I’ve never been so worried in my life, and that’s saying something considering the week we’ve had.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“He’s right, Liv. It was horrible. Things got really—” Riley stopped short and held me at arm’s length scrunching up her nose. “Eww. Liv, you smell like lighter fluid and rotten meat. What happened to you out there? You are covered in blood and…what
is
that? Are you hurt? Collin!”

“Calm down, Ry. I’m okay, really. Most of it’s not even my blood,” I said my eyes drifting to the crimson stains on Zander’s back.

“You guys look like a crime scene,” Jake said narrowing his eyes at me. “What happened?”

“Collin,” Riley yelled across the carousel. “Someone, please go and get the doctor.”

“I’m fine, really, but Zander and Devon could use a checkup,” I said doing my best to still her worried hands. “What about Ty and Ballard?”

“They haven’t come back yet,” Jake lowered his eyes to the floor worrying at his bottom lip. “Listen, Liv, something happened while you were gone. Something bad.”

“I feel like maybe that’s an understatement,” came a familiar voice from the back of the crowd. The people immediately parted, and Falisha limped forward. Her hands were shaking, and she was covered in blood.

“No, no, no!” Tessa howled. She brushed past me taking off at a dead run. “Megan, no!”

“Tessa, wait,” I yelled, but she was already gone.

I took off after her and caught up to Tessa quickly. I gave her some distance but kept pace as she wound her way through the carousel. Rhiannon peeked up at us from behind the food counter as we rushed past, concern etched across her tired face. Tessa raged on with no regard for anything standing between her and her kin. People yelled and moved from her path with terror in their eyes, afraid she was running from something rather than toward it.

When we reached the edge of the infirmary, Tessa stopped short. She clapped her hands over her mouth. Eli and Collin were hunched over Megan’s makeshift cot, spreading a bloody sheet out. Like Falisha, the two of them were covered head to toe in blood and muck. Two small feet dangled from the end of the bed. Crimson dripped onto the floor.

“No! Please, no,” Tessa sobbed burying her face in her hands. “Oh, God.”

“Tessa?” Collin shot to his feet. He ran to Tessa and lifted her into his embrace. Tears rolled down his face and into the creases around his mouth. “Tessa, it’s okay. Shhh.”

“It’s not okay, Collin,” Tessa cried, pounding her fists against him. “How can it be? My Megan is…I can’t.”

“Gran?” A gravelly voice echoed from behind us. “Gran, is that you?”

Tessa froze and slowly turned around. Tamsen was there, helping a girl in tattered jeans, low-rise boots, and a ratty, black skull t-shirt as she hobbled toward us. “Megs?”

“Hey.” The girl waved awkwardly, a wad of pink fabric clutched in her hand.

“Megan!” Tessa ran past me, tore her granddaughter from Tamsen’s grasp, and wrapped the girl tightly in a hug. “Oh, sweet girl. I thought I’d lost you. Oh, Megs.”

“Easy, Gran,” Megan croaked, her chin pressed into her grandmother’s shoulder. “I’m okay.”

“She woke up about thirty minutes ago. I tried to convince her to stay in bed, that she needed to rest, but she wasn’t having it.” Collin stood at my side with his arms crossed smiling down at Tessa and Megan. “The stubborn girl tore out her I.V. and demanded I let her change clothes, immediately.”

“Sounds like my girl,” Tessa laughed, tears streaming down her face as she pressed a kiss to Megan’s forehead.

“Yeah, about that.” Megan dropped the pink fabric to the floor at her feet. “Whose brilliant idea was this disgusting kitten nightgown, because seriously?”

“Alright, young lady, that’s enough,” Collin said firmly. The girl’s lips clamped shut, and Tessa smirked her approval. “I held up my end of the bargain, now it’s your turn. The I.V. is going back in, now. Tessa, please get Megan situated over in triage so I can get her hooked back up to some fluids.”

Tessa nodded, led the girl over to the bank of chairs, and lowered her into the first one. Megan closed her eyes and lay her head on her grandmother’s shoulder. Tessa smiled up at me and mouthed,
thank you.
I nodded, but her gratitude wasn’t sitting right in my stomach.

“You saved her life, you know.” Collin nudged me with his elbow.

“No, Collin. Riley saved her,” I said watching as Tessa fussed over her granddaughter. “If it had been my choice, I would have kept the medicine for one of my own. She would have probably died, or worse.”

“It
was
your choice, Liv.” Collin put his hand on my shoulder. “There is nothing simple about the decisions we have to make, now. You may have struggled with it, but in the end, you did the right thing. Give yourself some credit, kid.”

“Maybe,” I said forcing a smile as Zander joined us and slid his hand into mine. A pang of guilt shot straight through my heart. I released his hand and dropped to a knee to scratch Bella behind her ears. “You need to have Collin take a look at your back.”

“Liv, you have to stop blaming yourself. None of this was your fault,” he muttered, tucking his empty hand into his pocket. “It’s okay.”

“No, Zander. It’s not.” I glanced up at him, and then quickly turned away, burying my face in Bella’s neck.

“Liv, please,” Zander reached out to me.

“Don’t,” I said, pulling away.

“Clearly…I need…to do more…cardio,” Jake panted as he and the others caught up. His eyes bounced back and forth from me to Zander. “Everything…okay here?”

“Just fine,” I said through gritted teeth. I could feel Zander’s eyes on me but studiously avoided them.

Collin had already set to work reattaching the I.V to Megan’s arm. Tessa hovered close by, watching over the doctor’s shoulder. She paced back and forth as he worked. On her third pass, she stopped suddenly as realization struck. She shot to the foot of Megan’s old cot and peeled back the sheet. A slight woman with a severe knot in her hair lay mangled at Tessa’s feet.

“Jesus. Vivienne.” Tessa gasped, her eyes locked on the bloody, blonde mess. “Collin, what the hell happened here?”

“Doyle happened,” Eli said, shaking his head in dismay. “He killed her.”

“You expect me to believe that Brenton Doyle did
this
?” Tessa shook her head in disbelief. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he hurt her? I want to talk to him. Where is he?”

“Dead,” Falisha said, her voice hollow.

“I don’t understand,” Tessa said.

“It’s not that complicated,” Falisha said. “I shot him in the face. He died. The end.”

“You k-k-killed D-Doyle?” Devon’s eyes went wide. “F-for real?”

“She didn’t have a choice,” Eli said. “He turned.”

“It’s true. We didn’t know he was infected until he attacked that blonde lady,” Jake said. “We found the bite mark on his shoulder after Falisha— after it was over.”

“Tessa, he got Brenda, too.” Heavy lines settled across Collin’s forehead. “I tried to stop him. He tossed me aside like a ragdoll and pulled her into the washroom. I can’t get her screams out of my head.”

Crimson streaks led from the infirmary to the unisex bathroom a few yards away. Judging by the pattern of the blood and the claw marks on the outside of the door, Brenda was still alive when he dragged her away. My stomach dropped, and bile rose up into my throat.

“Jesus.” Tessa sighed, grinding her palms into her eyes. “What about the kids?”

“They’re okay,” Collin said. “Well, physically, anyways.”

“All of the kids were down at the cook station making snacks with Rhiannon when it happened. As far as we know, none of them saw anything.” Riley said. “I will go and check on them for you, okay?”

“I’m coming with you,” Jake said following at her heels. “I need to check on my sister.”

“Tessa, the kids. We can’t let them see—” Collin’s voice caught in his throat. He shook himself and squared his shoulders, storming off toward the bathrooms. “We have to get these bodies out of here.”

“I can’t let you do that, Collin,” Tessa stepped in front of him, laying her hand gently on his chest. “You focus on taking care of the living. Let me worry about the dead.”

“Okay,” he sighed brushing his thumb along Tessa’s jaw, “but please, be careful.”

“Of course,” Tessa smiled at him. “How about you go and check on my girl.”

Megan sat cross-legged on one of the chairs, fidgeting with one of her bootlaces. The poor kid had been through a terrible ordeal, and it had clearly taken its toll on her. Her cheeks were gaunt, and her skin had a sickly pallor. The black tendrils that lurked beneath her skin had begun to fade, but their presence was still visible. Her wispy thin hair fell in a limp curtain around her face, barely obscuring the shadows there.

Her head snapped up as if I’d spoken my thoughts aloud. The silver band that surrounded her pale green irises flashed like a beacon in the night. She cocked her head to the side, her brows knitted in confusion. I smiled at her and nodded, my chest tightening with nervous energy. After a moment of consideration, she dipped her chin, shrugged, and then returned her attention to the fascinating string dangling from her worn out boot.

A commotion drew my attention from the surly girl with the rock-n-roll t-shirt to the other end of the carousel. A crowd was gathering near the food prep area. I shrugged it off as Rhiannon’s dinner rush until I saw Riley and Jake running toward me. Jake was waving his arms like a maniac. I took off at a clip and met them near the lockers.

“They’re back.” Riley’s eyes were bright. “Ty and Ballard are back!”