V-Day: (M-Day #4) (33 page)

“
And what are you going to do? Huh? I
’
m not letting you run off alone.
”

I quirked a brow.
“
What about Nyx. I thought you didn
’
t even want to leave her for five seconds.
”

He ran his hand over his head and flicked his gaze away.
“
I love you, you know I do. But Nyx
—
fuck, she
’
s my everything. It doesn
’
t mean that I would choose her over you
—
never. But she keeps me going, Vi. There is no me without her anymore. And you
—
well you always could take care of yourself. I don
’
t worry about you like I do her. I don
’
t expect you to understand. It don
’
t know if I can
—“

“
It
’
s okay. I do understand. Really.
”
I grinned at him.
“
Fast and hard, just like I said.
”
I turned to leave.
“
And I know I
’
m a badass. You don
’
t need to remind me. Go take care of her. I
’
m going to save my Riley.
”

“
Your Riley, huh?
”

I cocked my hip and crossed my arms over my chest.
“
Yeah. He
’
s mine whether he wants to be or not. This world doesn
’
t leave room for stupid games.
”

Ty laughed, his dimples denting his cheeks.
“
I don
’
t think he
’
ll complain
…
much.
”

My focus narrowed down to Riley. Getting to Riley. Saving Riley. Being with Riley. Removing any obstacles in my way to keep me from doing those things, which meant that I-Monster, if it wasn
’
t already a crispy critter.

I slowed my pace when I got close to the room where Riley was being held, and where I
’
d seen the I-Monster the last time. For a moment I didn
’
t hear anything, but then
—

“
Hold him down! Just hold him down!
”
Evo yelled with agitation.
“
Ow, the fucker nicked me with his teeth! He
’
s so going to pay for that one!
”

“
What are you gonna do
—
take his head off and burn him twice?
”
I heard X grunt.

I hurried into the room, my gaze going immediately to the cell in search of Riley. He was still intact, although looking quite a bit anxious and pissed off, not that I could blame him. On the floor, held down by Evo, Max, Zee, and X was the same I-Monster who
’
d been trying to make a snack out of us before. Its pale skin was covered in blood and gore, hopefully none from my friends.

I brandished the syringe containing my blood.
“
I
’
m going to inject it with this.
”

Zee glanced up briefly.
“
Your blood?
”

I nodded even though he didn
’
t see me.
“
Yeah. We don
’
t know if it will work though.
”

“
I don
’
t think it will,
”
Evo grated.
“
One of those things took a good chuck out of your leg before and it didn
’
t do a damn thing. I think you should stay back and let us finish him off.
”

“
Maybe they just need more blood than I-Men since it
’
s like they
’
re further gone or something.
”
Why the hell am I standing her disputing this with her?
“
I
’
m doing it.
”

Just as I took a tentative step forward, eyeing the I-Monster to see which way was the best to approach him, he threw Zee and X across the room, the two of them had been holding down its arms. He grabbed Max by the throat and she kicked and fought as it brought her arm to its mouth. She screamed when he bit into her bicep. Evo was already up and on his back, trying to wrench its head back.

I rushed forward, slipping on things I didn
’
t want to think about. I raised the needle and stabbed the I-Monster in its thigh, shoving down the plunger. Before I could get away, a fist clocked me in the side of the head. Dazed, I fell onto my back, scrambling to get back onto my feet. The slick floor kept me horizontal, my hands finding nothing of use to help pull myself up.

My vision cleared just in time to see the I-Monster hurtling towards me with Evo still hanging off its back. I rolled to the side as it lunged for me, its clawed hand scraping along the floor, inches from my face. I saw Evo
’
s mouth move but I couldn
’
t discern what she said, since the only thing I could hear was my heart pounding in my head. I kicked my steel-toed boot into the I-Monster
’
s knee, its mouth opening in fury, even though it didn
’
t seem to do any good.

I glanced over to see X unconscious in the corner, and Zee staggering to his feet. I kept praying that my blood would do something, slow it down at least, but it didn
’
t seem to have any effect. Max came out of nowhere, firing a pistol at point blank range into the side of the I-Monsters head. It swatted her away like she was an annoying gnat. Evo was next to fly across the room as it pried her hands off from around its next and tossed her.

I pressed back into the wall as it came at me, planning to move at the last minute to use surprise to help me evade it. I balled up my fists, my adrenaline pumping. Its filmy white eyes locked onto me. I couldn
’
t look away from its black gaping maw, terror surging through my system.
This is it. This is it.

It keeled over right in front of me, its ginormous head landing in my lap. I screamed, rolling out from under it to crawl away. I expected it to come after me, but it didn
’
t.

“
It
’
s dead,
”
Zee confirmed, astonishment coloring his tone.

“
Are you sure?
”
Max croaked.

“
Positive.
”

I peered up at Riley who was reaching his hand out to me through the bars of his cell. My fingers clasped around his and he yanked me to my feet. I slid my arms through the bars and around him, closing my eyes. I pressed my nose as close to him as possible, inhaling. His fresh scent surrounded me, calming me.

“
I think her blood did it,
”
Evo said.
“
Its eyes are clearing up. Well, I
’
ll be damned.
”

I tilted my head to look at the I-Monster and stared. Its pale skin filled with color and its eyes cleared. But it was still dead.
“
I guess they
’
re too far gone,
”
I mumbled.

Evo kicked it and then spit.
“
That
’
s what you get for fucking with us!
”
She kicked it several more times before X took her in his arms and she sobbed against his chest.

I turned back to Riley, tears of my own welling in my eyes. I wasn
’
t sure what I felt exactly, not quite relief. There wasn
’
t a word big enough to describe the emotions moving through me at the moment. We had a way to kill I-Monsters and cure I-Men.

Maybe a new beginning was finally going to be possible.

Men-V changed the world. Monsters had been created, and not all of them had been the infected. Maybe what was left of humanity needed to be reminded of the atrocities it was capable of so that we could strive to be better. The truth of what lay beneath society
’
s pretty veneer was shattered and people
’
s masks crumbled at the advent of M-Day.

Sometimes it all made me wonder how wrong Doctor Greensley had been about us humans. Maybe genius and crazy are only truly a hairsbreadth away. Although, crazy is as crazy does, and what kind of person starts the apocalypse and then sets it up so that one person
’
s blood is the key to the cure? I could never quite decide if Doctor Greensley actually did care about me like he claimed
…
or hated me. Or maybe it had nothing to do with me at all. Maybe underneath all the insanity was a shred of want to preserve humanity and I
’
d merely been at the right place and time to be made important by a madman. It also made me think: If one person could cause such chaos and destroy the world as we all knew it, then maybe the whole butterfly effect theory is true. And maybe I could turn the tide back to good all by myself. Sometimes all the world needs is one person to be strong enough to do what
’
s necessary.

But I tried not to think about things that happened before M-Day. It was pointless.

My blood being the key to the cure to Men-V gave me a chance at absolution, but it didn
’
t erase my past. The hardest part of moving forward is not looking back. Some days were harder than others.

Armed with the cure, the cleansing didn
’
t need to happen. People preferred to not kill the planet in our attempt to survive, since there was always a chance that the specialized bombs would fry everything. It made rebuilding a hell of a lot easier anyways. But nothing instantaneously became simple.

You see, my blood cured most symptoms in I-Men, meaning that the virus was still in the system, but no longer caused the swelling in the brain that caused the rage and hypersexual aggression that I-Men exhibited. It
’
s why Zee, Ty, X, and Riley were still stronger, faster, etc., but not crazed. It actually worked out nicely. No one new would be infected that hadn
’
t been already, but I-Men could be fixed, and I-Monsters put down permanently.

People like Evo, X, Zee, Max, Ty and Nyx, found their calling in the new world by being the ones that hunted down the infected to administer the cure. Eventually when their job disappeared they
’
d serve as protectors for people like me
…
and my baby. Although Max, and Zee would be settling down sooner rather than later since Max was carrying my little nephew or niece. Evo was pissed, but the rest of us couldn
’
t be happier. We were rebuilding
—
and repopulating.

A lot of things still needed to be worked out, but I was doing the best I could as the new world leader. After Martha had advocated her position, I found myself suddenly being the most important person in more than one way, thanks to my new job and my blood.

And of course there was Riley. I
’
d learned from my time apart from him that I was more than capable of surviving on my own
…
but I didn
’
t want to. He was my partner in every sense of the word
…
and my heart.  And even though it looked like I might never get that white picket fence, I
’
d at least have the family I
’
d always wanted, and the man I loved. As it turned out, even in the new world, life could still surprise with its depth of possibility.

I
’
d never been happier.

Boy, my acknowledgements are super redundant. *lesigh * But just because I write practically the same thing in all of them doesn
’
t mean I love or appreciate anyone any less than authors with kick ass acknowledgements. It just means that by the time I finish a book my creativity is temporarily spent. Apparently that includes thinking up unique things to say here.  Sooo
…
without farther ado
…