Outer Banks (10 page)

“They do remind me a bit of juice boxes,” she admitted.

“Ready to hit the road?” I asked after we had packed.

She nodded and looked around the parking lot as we made our way to the van.

She eyed the DHS logo I was legally obligated to display on the side of my van, alongside which was written RETREVAL AND CONTAINMENT. “Do you ever have people waiting at your van for you?”

“I generally try to park somewhere discreet. And if I think the person checking me in has any ideas, I change hotels. It was harder in the beginning. There were hardly any hotels open, so I didn't have a lot of choices. Sometimes I just stayed in the van.”

She nodded.

Once in the car she decided to drop the small talk and go straight for hardcore philosophy. “You said you think I'm human, right?”

“You are human,” I said. It was important for both us and them to remember that.

“What makes you so sure?”

“You're talking to me, aren't you?”

“But really, who is talking to you? Technically I'm in my second life cycle. I died, Dillon. My heart didn't pump. For over a week I wasn't breathing, while the alien fluid did its work. There isn't a single organ in me that could be transplanted into an uninfected human, so aren't I a different species?”

“I don't believe that. I'm sorry. I know I'm not a doctor or a scientist, but I know in my heart that you are human. You have the same feelings you had before. You are still
you
, right? That's human.”

“When I got out of that hole I was buried in, I was afraid I wasn't human. The first time the hunger hit, I knew it.”

“Humans have a pretty strong survival instinct. It isn't that different.”

“Well, I'm hoping to become a little more human,” she conceded but I could tell she in no way agreed with my analysis. We decided to agree to disagree on the topic of humanity, which meant she didn't have much to say.

She went through my CD case when the radio got fuzzy again.

“I really don't understand why the electronics are still messed up. I mean it doesn't make any sense.”

I debated on whether or not I should tell her the truth about what lurked at the edge of lunar orbit. She was a doctor, she needed all the information to find a cure. However, it was a secret. One I'd been trusted with, even if that trust had come at the end of a round of tequila shots.

“They say it's from their departure. It caused some kind of micro particles in the atmosphere or something like that,” I repeated what we were being told on the news.

“I know what they say. That doesn't mean it's the truth.”

I attempted to joke it off. “It's a disturbance in the Force,” She didn't laugh, apparently not a Star Wars fan. Nobody's perfect, I guess.

“They could be lying to us about everything.”

I took a deep breath. She was right. Hell, I didn't even completely trust the information Colonel Arder had volunteered. But I quickly decided my loyalty was with Emery, and that she needed to know.

“If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone else?”

“I promise.”

With a loud exhale, I let the truth about the beacons flow out like a dam breaking.

“Who told you this?”

“Someone who would know.”

“And these beacons wake us up every night?”

“It coincides with the pulse. It makes more sense than any of the other theories.”

She sat there in silence for a very long time. I began to worry I'd shared too much.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Sure. Just keep it to yourself, okay?”

“Yes. I will.” She shook her head. “Just when I thought I understood all this.”

“I hoped maybe it would help. Give you some new ideas.”

She nodded. “It does. Understanding what parts of the body are affected and why is a key issue. Thank you.”

She was quiet again for a while. I figured she was thinking, running equations in her head, thinking up experiments. She didn't seem angry or upset, just thoughtful.

I stopped for coffee at a convenience store. I was only inside for a few minutes, but when I came out all hell had broken loose.

There was a large, fancy pick-up truck parked two spaces away from my van. A group of men were peeking in the back, and someone had the passenger door open. Emery jumped out the driver's side when she saw me.

“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled as I hurried to her side. I held up my ID for them to see. Unfortunately my gun was under my seat. They backed away from my van when they saw my badge.

Emery stood next to me. Her breathing was fast, her eyes wide.

“Calm down,” I whispered and touched her shoulder. “Breathe.” I didn't want her to be afraid, but I wasn't entirely sure she shouldn't be scared. One of the men had a rifle in his hand, the other a chain. All I had was a badge.

“Why ain't she in the box, boy?” one of them asked.

“None of your business. Now back off. She's under federal protection.” Technically not true in this case, but they didn't know that.

“He's got her sitting up front 'cause she's purty,” the youngest said, grinning.

“You like doing it with dead girls, son?” the older man said as they herded us by the back of the van.

“Excuse me?” I expected them to be stupid, but to be stupid
and
vulgar in front of a lady. That really pissed me off.

“You like 'em all cold inside? That's just sick,” one of the others said.

“
That's
sick?” I looked at them in disbelief. “And I suppose you only had the best of intentions just now. What, did we time warp back a few centuries? Is killing innocent people because they're different from you okay again?” I knew I shouldn't push them, but I had to force them to see what was wrong with them.

“They ain't people no more, boy!” the older man said as he spat tobacco on the pavement.

“What if she was your wife or sister or your daughter? Because she could have been! They could have started in the rural areas first.” I reminded them.

“My daughter
was
one. I put her out of her misery. She didn't want to drink blood. She didn't want to be a monster. She thanked me.” The man's voice shook, the pain was still there.

Oh. Hell. The only thing worse than an ignorant and dangerous man was an ignorant and dangerous man who had to believe they were right—because admitting they were wrong would drive them mad. There would be no talking him down. We were in big trouble with only one way out.

I said nothing. I put my hand around Emery's cold arm and pulled her behind me. For once she didn't give me any trouble. She seemed to want to stand behind me.

That's when I felt what she'd brought with her from the truck. Clever girl.

Her one arm wrapped around my waist tightly while her other hand was seeking mine. Her head was pressed against my back between my shoulder blades. We were so close we were nearly the same person. It made it easier for me to hide what we were doing.

I took a few seconds to register how nice that felt, waiting until someone, any of them, made a move. The man farthest to our left took a step to advance closer to my back.

I pulled the gun Emery had brought out of the truck, twisted and fired, shooting the encroaching man in the foot.

His screams cut through the darkness.

The group collectively took a step back but no one moved to help the wounded man. I aimed at the old man with the rifle, the most immediate threat.

“I've got sixteen rounds left. There are six of you standing. The next person to come closer is not going to get it in the foot. Anyone interested?” I waved my Glock at them.

The older man, the one who had killed his own child, twitched his fingers on the rifle he was carrying.

“Don't do it. You'll be dead before you get it up, old man.” I clenched the grip of my gun.

The old man glared as the fat guy to his right snickered.

“All this for a cold piece of ass. Let's go, guys. We'll take care of her at the Outer Banks.” He laughed as they turned to leave.

I kept my stance between the men and Emery.

For a moment I thought they would leave the wounded and wailing man on the ground, but one of the younger boys grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the truck.

When they pulled away, spattering stones in our direction, I patted Emery's arm which was still wrapped tightly around me. I could feel her trembling.

I secured my gun in my jeans and turned to face her.

She was still clinging to me so I just held her and rubbed her back.

“It's okay. They're gone now. You're safe.” I repeated as I stroked her hair. Slowly she calmed. I felt her take a deep breath and then she pulled away from me.

She looked up into my eyes.

“You stood up against your own kind to protect something…other.” Maybe she finally understood I didn't like it when she referred to Haunts as inhuman. However, the word
other
didn't set well with me either.

“Could you please not call those assholes
my own kind
? It's insulting to my DNA.”

She chuckled.

“I'm sorry. Thank you for protecting me.”

“Thank you for bringing me my gun.” I'd gotten sloppy on this job leaving the gun in the truck, or maybe I just hadn't wanted Emery to see that I carried.

A few hours later we needed to stop again, this time for gas. I wanted to run inside to get coffee and gum.

“Can you stay out of trouble for a couple of minutes?”

“Yes.” She looked around at lights and security cameras. Surely no one would try anything here.

I made my purchases as quickly as possible and left the store expecting a problem.

When I got back to the van she was standing by the passenger door, looking up at the moon. It reminded me of the pictures I'd taken for her during the day.

“Oh yeah! I took these for you today.” I held out my phone with the photo of the sun reflecting off the parking lot.

She took a quick breath of surprise as she looked at the first photo. She flipped to the next. The one of the clear blue sky. Then the video I took, giving a slow 360 of the area.

“You got up to take these?”

It wasn't a big deal.

“Thanks.” She flipped through the rest of the pictures with a smile on her face, then smiled at me.

She was beautiful when she smiled like that. Like I'd just handed her the sun itself. Even with the pale skin and the black eyes. There was a warmness about her that penetrated all that.

Without thinking, I leaned in closer to kiss her. Nothing had ever felt so easy. I wasn't expecting her to gasp and jump away from me.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, her brows creased.

“I was going to kiss you.” I thought it was pretty obvious.

“Why?”

“
Why
? Because…I thought we had a moment there. Besides, it feels nice to kiss someone.” I'd never had to answer this question before. “Sometimes it leads to other things that feel nice.” I shouldn't have said that. That wasn't smart.

Her eyes narrowed in anger.

“You're pathetic! First you act like a boy scout, all noble and caring, now you're trying to make the moves on me? How desperate are you?”

She stormed off angrily toward the edge of the parking lot.

I was angry too. I didn't appreciate being called pathetic or desperate. I stupidly went after her.

“Hey!” I yelled as I caught up to her. She was facing away from me looking out over the highway. “An ‘I'm sorry, I'm not interested' would have been enough, you know. I misread your signals, but don't make me out to be some kind of freak just because I find you attractive. It's perfectly natural.”

“
Natural
?” She spun on me. In the dim light I could see her eyes glistening with dark tears. “I survive on
blood
, Dillon! My insides are full of black slime! There is nothing natural about me!” She covered her face with her hands. “I'm disgusting.”

With an exasperated sigh, I realized what was really going on. A pity party. Surely she deserved one, but I just couldn't play along.

I tugged her hands away gently and looked at her face. I put one hand on her pale cheek and smiled. She shook my hand away.

She was an amazing person. I'd known that since we first talked. She'd gone through the worst a person could endure and had not been broken by it. She was strong and brave, not to mention funny, and…

“You're beautiful,” I told her honestly.

“My eyes—”

“Sparkle when you laugh,” I cut her off. “I can still see every human emotion behind them.”

She looked at me doubtfully, but she wouldn't see a lie, no matter how intently she studied my face. She
was
beautiful. That was the truth. She didn't look like the girl in the picture anymore, but she still was a beautiful person.

I smiled wider. “You are a beautiful person. Inside and out. And I'm sorry if I came on too strong just now.”

After a long moment while she finished examining my expression she slowly smiled back. It was an approval.

When she didn't pull away, I decided to try again. One hand on her cool face, letting my thumb trace along her jawline. Her eyes held mine as I leaned down to kiss her. This time, she let me.

My arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer as our lips moved together. I backed off before I got carried away.

“How was that? Did you feel human?” I asked with a grin.

“Very.”

“Good.” I winked, happy to finally prove my point in the most pleasant way. “We should get going.”

“Okay.” She nodded and got in the van.

After I turned the ignition she leaned across her seat and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you for the pictures and for…seeing me inside all this.”