Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two (6 page)

“I—no!” Christa narrowed her eyes at him.

“Then, get your goddamn hands off me,” Eli said firmly through gritted teeth. “I cannot close him up without cauterizing the wound first, or he will bleed out internally. Now, either hold that light still or give it to someone who cares more about Ty then they do about themselves!”

Christa’s mouth snapped shut, and she released his arm gripping the torch tightly in both hands. She aimed the beam of light directly at Ty’s leg and ground her teeth together. Angry tears rolled down her face freely.

“As I was saying,” Eli glared at Christa, and then turned to the rest of the group, “you need to hold him still.”

The rest of us pressed firmly against Ty’s body as Eli jammed the hot metal blade into the exposed tissue of his leg. The contact made a sizzling sound and Ty jerked sharply, his back arching up off the floor. He thrashed against our hold for just a moment before falling slack once again. The air around us filled with the sickening smell of burnt flesh and I fought against the lurch in my stomach.

This was my fault.

If I had paused to think for a moment, maybe the crazy gunman situation could have been diffused without bloodshed. But I was barely in control of my own body at the time, let alone my mind. The second I saw that gun pointed at Riley, something in me snapped. It was as if I were watching from outside my own body.

“Why didn’t you just leave?” The man was sobbing now. His body shook with the effort. “I told you he was dangerous. If you had just gone when I told you to, none of this would have happened.”

“Shut up,” Jake growled at him.

“He didn’t mean to hurt nobody,” the stranger said. “He was just trying to protect us.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Jake asked, shooting to his feet and looking around. “Is someone else here with you?”

“Y—Yes…my brother, Gabe,” the man simpered shaking as tears ran down his face. “But please don’t hurt him. He was only trying to—.”

“Where?” Jake cut the man off shining his flashlight beam around the area. “Is he hiding close by?”

“I—I can’t,” the man sputtered. “You don’t understand.”

Jake’s face tightened in anger. He picked up the discarded shotgun and pointed the barrel in the man’s face. He turned away from it pressing his face into the floor as if to hide. His shoulders were tense, and he cringed when Jake yelled down at him.

“Where the hell is he?” Jake growled pressing his foot into the man’s back. “Where is Gabe?”

“You blind, boy?” His voice took on that gravelly timber. A maniacal laugh ripped through the man’s chest as he lifted his head from the floor and glared up at Jake defiantly. “I’m right here.”

* * *

“How’s he doing,” Riley asked staring down at Ty’s limp form.

“The bleeding seems to have stopped, and his color is a little better, but his pressure is still lower than I would like to see,” Eli said. “We’ll know more when he wakes up.”

“You mean
if
he wakes up,” Jake muttered glaring over at the head case stranger.

“Don’t go there, Jake.” I narrowed my eyes at him and then jerked my head in Christa’s direction.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Jake said, grinding at his eyes with the heels of his hands before turning his attention back to Gabe (or whatever his name was). “It’s just…that crazy bastard shot Ty, Liv. Why are we letting him stay? We should just throw him outside and leave him for the leeches.”

“You can’t do that,” the man pleaded. “Please, just—let us go!”

The second he moved, Bella was on her feet, her teeth bared, snarling up at him. She had stationed herself in front of him hours ago and hadn’t moved from her spot once. Every time the man shifted or made a sound, she was there to remind him just how terrified he was of dogs.

“It’d probably be best if you get a grip on yourself, mister,” Falisha said nudging his shoulder with the end of his own gun. “Bella here doesn’t seem to like you much.”

“The feeling is mutual,” he grumbled meekly and closed his eyes.

“Why won’t he open his eyes?” Christa whined. “You fixed him, so he should wake up now, right? Can’t you just give him some medicine or something?”

“There’s no medicine for this, Princess,” Eli said patting Christa’s shoulder awkwardly.

“She’s right, Eli,” I said, swallowing hard against the helplessness rising in my chest. “There has to be something else we can do for him. Something we haven’t tried.”

“You know what? There might be one thing,” Eli said, digging through the med kit. He tossed aside bandages and gauze and pulled out a large needle. “Do any of you happen to know your blood type?”

Chapter 4

Jekyll and Hyde

“We’ve done all we can do for him at this point,” Eli said taping a gauze pad to the crook of my arm. “The rest is up to Ty, now.”

“And God,” Riley whispered, crossing her chest.

“Someone get her a snack and some juice.” Eli pointed at me. “Sit down before you fall down, would you?”

“He’s gonna pull through, Liv,” Zander whispered as he helped me over to a chair.

I hoped to hell that he was right. I had given him who knows how much blood in an effort to help save him, but he wouldn’t need saving if it hadn’t been for me in the first place. The poor guy survived a solar storm, a leech attack and two days as a military prisoner with barely a scratch to show for it. Less than twelve hours in my presence and he was struggling for his life. If Ty didn’t make it, there was little chance I was ever going to forgive myself.

“Hold on, Ty,” Christa whimpered clutching his hand. She laid her head on his chest. “Please.”

“Is he going to be okay?” The stranger leaned as far forward as his restraints would allow. “Please, I—I have to know.”

“You almost killed him, you crazy son of a—,” Jake spat as he stormed in the man’s direction.

“Take it easy, Jake,” Zander stopped him with a hand on his chest but quickly pulled it back and rubbed it against his pant leg. “He can’t hurt anyone, now.”

After the man’s Jekyll and Hyde routine earlier, we had all decided it best to restrain him completely. Jake and Falisha dragged a heavy wooden chair over from the Renaissance Era display and held him down. Zander secured his hands and feet with wire he had pilfered from the museum’s overhead speaker system. We’d taken turns guarding him ever since. The guy was a bomb waiting to explode, and none of us wanted to be there to see the timer hit zero.

“Calm down, sir,” Riley said making her way over to the man in the chair. “What is your name?”

“My—what?” He looked up at her, genuinely confused.

“I thought he said his name was Gabe,” Falisha said.

“No,” the man shook his head and sighed. “Gabe is…he’s my brother.”

“But earlier—.” Falisha began.

Riley held up her hand and shook her head. This man had tried to kill Riley just hours ago, and her proximity to him set my nerves on edge. Despite how weak I was feeling from my recent donation, I couldn’t sit idly by and watch my best friend put herself in harm’s way.

I struggled to my feet and made my way over as quickly as my shaky legs would allow, just in case he decided to have another go at it. Zander was at my side ready to catch me should my blood-deprived body fail me. He did not attempt to thwart my efforts. He knew better.

The man was twitching and obviously unstable, but Riley was completely calm as she approached him. If she had an ounce of fear, her voice never once betrayed her. The tranquility that surrounded her was disarming.

“I am not interested in Gabe,” Riley smiled at him. “I want to know more about
you.
”

“Me?” He seemed taken aback. “But Gabe is…”

“Gabe isn’t here right now,” Riley said matter-of-factly. “It’s just us.”

He looked around as if to confirm she was telling the truth. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he seemed much calmer and relaxed. As calm as one could be in his position, that is.

“It’s okay.” Riley placed her hand on his shoulder. I tensed nearly as much as he did at the contact.

“I’m—my name is Tim,” he said his shoulders sagging against the hard wooden chair back.

“Hello, Tim,” Riley said.

“Is she serious, right now?” Jake muttered setting Ty’s hat next to him on the floor. “What is this, speed dating?”

“
Jake.
” I glared back at him, willing him to shut up.

He crossed his arms over his chest and shot me a dirty look but clamped his mouth shut and made his way over. When he reached my side, I raised a brow at him. He nodded grimly, letting me know he would keep himself under control. For the time being, anyway.

While I wasn’t sure what exactly Riley was trying to accomplish by engaging this lunatic, after what happened back at the hospital, I thought it best not to question her intuition.

After all, those instincts had saved our lives. The building had been crumbling around us, and still I refused to leave. I was determined to find Jake and Falisha even if it killed me (or us). Riley had insisted that both of them had already gotten out. She hadn’t the slightest idea
how
she knew, but she did. If she hadn’t gotten through to me, we would have been inside the building when it blew.

“Nice to meet you, Tim,” Riley smiled. “My name is Riley, and that is Falisha.”

“Umm…hey?” Falisha said clearly uncomfortable with her gunpoint introduction.

“This is Liv,” Riley said pointing at me, “and that’s Jake, his sister Christa, Zander and Bella, of course.”

Bella snorted her disapproval and nudged her way in between Riley and Tim. She growled up at the man and leaned her weight against Riley’s leg until she finally took a step away from him.

“And Eli is over there taking care of our friend, Ty,” Riley said pointing. “Ty’s hurt pretty badly, Tim, and your brother is responsible.”

“I know. I really am sorry about your friend,” Tim said dropping his head and shaking it back and forth. When he raised it again, his eyes were rimmed with tears. “You have to believe me. I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt. Gabe is just…he’s very protective.”

“I can see that,” Riley said. “You are very lucky to have someone who looks out for you like that, Tim, but Gabe is dangerous. You understand that, don’t you? He could have killed one of us. He could have gotten
you
killed.”

“No. He would never.” Tim lunged against the cables that bound him. Bella snapped at his leg and bared her teeth at him, growling low in her chest. Tim sighed and sank back into his seat. “Gabe loves me.”

“I don’t doubt that he does,” Riley said, “but look around you, Tim. All of this…the blood, the restraints, the dog growling at your feet? It’s all because of what Gabe did. Choices
Gabe
made.”

“He was trying to protect me,” Tim’s face fell.

“But at what cost?” Riley asked.

“I know, damn it. I know.” Tim began sobbing again, his shoulders sinking in defeat. “You don’t know what it’s like, Riley. He’s the only one that has always been there for me and protected me. I know he’s a cruel, sadistic bastard, but Gabe is all I have left in this world. I owe him my life.”

“But?” Riley moved in closer.

“But, he’s done things. Things I can’t even speak of,” Tim sniffled. “Jesus, all those people. There was nothing I could do, I swear!”

“What people?” Falisha asked raising the gun back to Tim’s neck.

“The people from the viewing,” Tim said as tears ran unchecked down his ragged face.

“Oh, God,” I said my heart sinking into my stomach.

“Gabe knew something bad was going to happen,” Tim said. “He said we needed to get somewhere safe, being that our place didn’t have a basement. I worked at the sweet shop there in the lobby when I was seventeen. Me and this girl Jenny used to sneak down here on our breaks and make out. She had the prettiest green eyes I’d ever seen. Like the color of new leaves in the spring.”

“I need you to focus, Tim,” Riley said. “What happened when you got here? What happened to the people?”

“We left daddy’s old truck in the lot and snuck in through one of the boarded up doorways out back. They didn’t even hear us because they were all up on the roof gaping at the sky like a bunch of idiots,” Tim shook his head, his eyes sad. “We grabbed a bunch of food from the cafe and made a beeline for the museum. The door was unlocked and everything, so we let ourselves in. Pretty soon the lights started flickering, and it got really hot.”

He shook his head back and forth as if to break something loose.

“I thought we were safe, but then they came…those people. They were hollering at us, banging on the door, trying to get in. I have never been so scared in my life.” Tim’s wide eyes focused on Riley’s face as he spoke. “Then, Gabe wedged this board up against the door and told them to go away; that this was our place, and they needed to leave.”

“Murderer,” Jake hissed, and I held him back as he lunged toward him again.

“Their screams,” Tim sobbed. “God forgive me, I can still hear their screams.”

“There were children out there, you monster,” Jake said. “Those people all died because of you!”

“I know!” Tim shrieked, spittle flying from his clenched teeth. “You think I don’t know that? I can’t fight him. Gabe is stronger than I am. There was nothing I could do.”

“You’re wrong,” Riley said. “If that were true he would be here now, wouldn’t he?”

“What are you talking about?” Tim glared at her his jaw clenching.

Zander took a cautionary step closer, rubbing at the back of his neck while he bore holes into Tim’s forehead. I reached for his hand only to have him pull it away to scratch fervently at his arm.

“It’s alright, Z,” Riley said stopping him short.

“Be careful,” Zander ground out.

“You say that Gabe is your protector, right?” Riley’s eyes looked sad. “If that’s true then where is he?”