Hero for Hire (14 page)

Her body stiffened under my arm, but she nodded. One of the other scientists scurried to a mini-fridge where he drew up a syringe. He rushed over to Gwyn and jabbed it in her neck, pushing the plunger all the way down.

We all waited, staring at Gwyn.

Five minutes ticked by, then ten.

“Why isn’t she responding?” I asked, leaning in, ready to push the plunger.

“Careful!” Miriam hissed, betraying her first hint of panic. “It’s not meant to act immediately. It may take a while. If you remove the needle from my neck I can check her vitals, draw some blood, see if there’s been any change in her condition.”

It was tempting. She was a doctor after all, and since I had no medical training whatsoever, I was helpless to do anything for Gwyn. But I didn’t trust Miriam. The instant I removed the needle from her neck, I removed my advantage. When it came down to it, I was certain she’d never purposely do anything to help Gwyn. In the end I’d have to kill her anyway, so I just depressed the plunger emptying the entire syringe into her neck.
 

“Okay, needle’s out.”

I let her go. She spun to face me, her face frozen in shock. A wail started in her throat, erupting into a full-fledged scream. She lunged for me, clawing at my face, but when the first spasm hit, her hands went to her neck, digging as if she could get the drain cleaner out. After that, she dropped to the floor in a writhing, gurgling heap.

“Come on, Doc, we need to split,” I said. Hoisting Gwyn up over my shoulder, I ran for the door.

Miriam’s scientist friends had gathered around her at first, but when it was clear they couldn’t do anything for her, they turned their attention back to us.

“Wait,” Doc said, hurrying to the mini-fridge. He rummaged around, crammed a couple of bottles in his pocket. We ran for the door.

A few of Miriam’s more loyal colleagues tried to stop us, but after I shot the first one, they backed off.
 
But by this time, the noise had attracted a lobby full of zombies, too.

“I am so done with this place. How about some fireworks to send us off?”

I put a bullet through the glass separating the lab and the lobby. Doc lobbed a couple of grenades into the waiting zombie crowd. We sprinted for the exit at the back of the lab. The subsequent explosions rocked the building, scattering the lab with glass shrapnel.

Halfway down the stairs to the first floor Gwyn groaned.

“Hang in there, Princess,” I said, grinning. A groan was a step in the right direction in my book.

At the first floor Doc peeked out the door.

“The place is crawling with zombies,” he said.

“So open the door and shoot them. We’re almost home free. What’s a few zombies?”

“Take a breath, there, chief. Let’s reason this out. Aside from your guns blazing option, what other choices do we have?”

I wasn’t in the mood for contemplation. I just wanted to plow a path through the zombies and go home, but I took the breath Doc recommended before considering other escape options.

“We could go down one more floor to the basement and out the window like I did the other night. It might be difficult to get Gwyn out, but we’d avoid all the zombies out there.”

“Is there a back door?”

“Yeah, out that door and down the hall.”

Doc did an inventory of his grenades, then took one from the bandolier. He pulled the pin and chucked it into the hall. Slamming the door shut, he shoved us down to the landing halfway between floors. Following the muffled boom, he charged for the door and pulled it open, gesturing for us to follow.

Out in the hall it looked like a war zone with charred bits of zombie clinging to the walls and a blackened crater in the floor. Doc made steady progress, picking off zombies as he went. A few feet from the door an injured zombie grabbed me from behind a fallen chunk of wall. The blast had blown off his other arm, blood gushing from the wound, spraying everything in his path. He didn’t seem too worked up about it, though. His face was set in a feral snarl. He looked determined to rip out my throat if he got close enough.

I spun out of his grasp and brought my pistol up, but he dodged out of range. He came back for another go, this time seizing hold of Gwyn’s ankle in a death grip. Leaning back into a tug-of-war, he tripped over debris from the explosion and fell, still holding onto Gwyn. The extra weight pulled her down. I clenched my hands around her, knowing that if we made it through, she’d be carrying marks from my grip. It’d be worth a few bruises, if I could get her out of here alive. I kicked at the zombie’s knees, then at his gut, all the while moving for the front door, dragging the hanger-on behind. I didn’t really want to shoot him and risk infected gore splattering me or Gwyn, but I didn’t have much choice. I pulled the trigger, hoping for the best. His head exploded and he collapsed into a heap. We avoided the majority of the zombie mess but his grip still didn’t loosen.

Doc was out the door, hopping over the corpses we’d littered the yard with on the way in. He took out zombies as he made his way to the car. I shoved the door open, dragging the dead zombie behind us.

“Hey Doc, a little help here?” I yelled.

He spun in place, assessed our situation, and ran to meet me as I trudged in his direction. I took out another zombie coming at us when suddenly the extra weight on my shoulder was gone. Doc ran for the car. I hurried after him, glancing over my shoulder as I went. Doc had just removed Gwyn’s boot and the zombie’s grasp slid off with it. The man was a genius.

At the car I threw Gwyn into the back seat and flung the door shut. Jumping into the driver’s side, I slammed the car into gear.

“Can you do anything about obliterating the building?” I asked Doc.

“Gladly,” he said as he scrambled to the back. I pushed the auto-open button for the back hatch where Doc had set up a smaller version of the launcher we’d used at home. As I circled the block to give him better vantage, he blasted the building with explosives. It did my heart good to see the place go up in flames.

* * * *

When we pulled into the portico at the mansion, the boys clustered around the vehicle, cheering and celebrating. I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet. Gwyn was still unconscious and there was no guarantee when she’d wake up. Or if she’d wake up, but I wasn’t going to even think about that.

“Okay guys, we’ve got her back, but she’s sick, so we need to do everything we can to help her get better.”

“Is she infected?” Rufus asked.

“Kind of,” I said as I pulled Gwyn into my arms. “Miriam infected her, but Gwyn found the cure, just like she said she would. We gave her a dose. Now we just have to hope it works.”

“It’ll work,” Randy said. “It’s got to. She’s the bravest person I’ve ever known.”

“Me too, Randy,” I said, carrying her into the house.

Doc went to the kitchen to fetch some water for Gwyn while I assigned the boys different jobs. Rufus trotted along with me as I took Gwyn to her room. He helped me with her remaining boot. Once he finished, I kicked him out so I could undress Gwyn and clean her up.

Rufus settled on the other side of the door with a thump, but left it open a few inches so we could still talk. “So Gwyn can fix all the zombies in the world? She can make them all people again?” Rufus asked while I worked.

“I think so. Doc grabbed some of the solution when we left,” I said. When I unbuttoned her pants, I was surprised to find one of her journals crammed into the waistband. It looked the same as the one I’d found at Paragon with lots of indecipherable scribbles.

I added, “And she brought back a journal. Maybe she kept it hidden because it’s got important notes in it. With the equipment we scavenged from her lab, she should be able to make more of the cure so everybody who’s sick will get better.”

Finishing up, I pulled the blanket over Gwyn and opened the door again for Rufus.

He grinned up at me from his spot against the doorjamb. “Good. I knew she could do it. But you know what?”

“What?”

“I’m just glad she’s home.”

I ruffled his hair, but it wasn’t enough so I pulled him into a hug. “Me too, buddy.”

She hadn’t been part of our lives for long, but now I couldn’t imagine our lives, or my life, without her. More than anything I wanted her back.

I tucked the covers more securely over her. There was nothing left to do but wait.

* * * *

By the evening of Gwyn’s sixth night home, the seeds of doubt had taken root in my heart. I’d been with her the whole time, keeping vigil, as if I could pull her back to me by sheer force of will alone. But my desire to have her back wasn’t enough. I’d gone from worried to terrified.

All signs of the infection were gone. She seemed fine in every way, except she was still unconscious. I climbed into bed and gathered her into my arms, wishing I wasn’t so damn helpless. I wanted her to just wake up already. After everything we’d gone through to find each other, I refused to believe I’d lose her now. Settling back on the pillow, I brushed the hair from her face and stroked her cheek.

“Come back to me, Gwyn,” I whispered, kissing the top of her head. “We need you.” I closed my eyes, anchored by the weight of her warm body against mine, trying to convince myself that her breath was a promise that she’d wake up, as long I was there to make sure she breathed.

* * * *

The next morning, I woke to warm lips on mine. Sweet, soft pressure brought me up from the depths of sleep, but grogginess clung to my brain. I’d been awake well into the night worrying about Gwyn. Now my exhaustion had me hallucinating. When a timid tongue tested my lips, I couldn’t stop the groan that started in my throat. I reached out and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her on top of me. Hallucination or not, I’d take what I could get, I missed her so much.

Snickers cut into my consciousness. When I heard a whistle, I realized even at its worst, my brain wouldn’t hallucinate catcalls in the middle of this kind of kiss.

I opened my eyes. Gwyn lay on top of me, her eyes glittering with unshed tears, a happy smile on her face.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” she said.

For the first time in my life, I was speechless. I just hugged her close, unable to believe she’d finally come back to us. Back to me.

I heard Doc clear his throat.

“You really gave me a scare,” I whispered in Gwyn’s ear. I rolled out from under her, planting a kiss on her lips as I placed her next to me.

“When I came to check on Gwyn this morning she was awake, but you were dead to the world,” Doc said. “When the boys found out Gwyn was awake, I couldn’t keep them away.”

“It’s okay,” Gwyn said. “There’s nothing I’d rather wake up to than my family gathered around me.”

The boys scrambled onto the bed with us, giggling and bouncing just like normal kids. It did my heart good. I reached for Gwyn to pull her into a hug, only to find Rufus and Rusty snuggled between us.

“Hey, you two, outta the way,” I said, giving them a playful shove. They tumbled out of the way as I pulled Gwyn to my side. “I’m not letting anything come between us again.”

She wrapped her arms around me and rested her head on my chest, where it felt perfect.

Rusty kneeled down beside us. “See, Gwyn? I told you. If Rafe promises something, he’ll do it, no matter what.”

She smiled at me. “You did promise to keep me safe.”

“And I always keep my promises, Princess.” I dropped a kiss on her lips. “Guaranteed.”

Margaret Madigan and Merissa McCain

My name is Merissa McCain. I grew up in the African bush, without TV, and often without electricity. I now live in the deep South, with my very own superhero, and my three minions. Together, we attempt to take over the world.

When not otherwise occupied with planning world domination, I love to read, write, drink strong coffee and eat dark chocolate–not necessarily in that order and sometimes all at once.
 
I'm a voracious reader, and will devour any type of good fiction I can get my hands on, but I'm particularly partial to happy endings.

I write with a partner (Margaret Madigan) and on my own. We love to hear from our readers, so please shoot us an email at
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