Killshot (Icarus Series Book 1) (14 page)

              Tara refused to hear reason and the twins were following her blindly like orphaned pups. Though he looked completely heartbroken, Zack remained firm in his determination to leave. As we watched them make the last of their preparations, the reality of our situation settled into my chest like a lead weight.

              Real life was not like in the movies; things didn’t just magically work out for the best. There would be no last minute, heartfelt speeches. We wouldn’t have some pivotal moment of understanding where the two sides kissed and made up, emerging on the other side of a disaster as best friends.

              In the end, all we could do was offer them as many supplies as we could spare and hope for the best. Surprisingly, Tara did not fight me much on that. I insisted they take as much water as they could carry between the four of them. She shoved the bottles into her bag and walked over to the door without as much as a backward glance. Mike and Andy slugged behind her, their shoulders sagging under the burden of their supplies, as much as their fear. Zack, who was struggling to zip his backpack, was the last to follow.

              “Hey,” I said as I approached his hunched form.

              “Hey,” he said, finally slinging his loaded pack over his shoulder.

              “Take these,” I said, holding a bottle of ibuprofen out to him. “For Tara. I have a feeling she is going to need them sooner than later.”

              “Got it,” Zack said, his eyes locking on Falisha as he slipped the bottle into his pocket.

              “You should really talk to her, Zack,” I said, following his line of sight.

              “Jesus,” he whispered, turning away from her and digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I can’t, Liv. She’s just—I love her, you know? It’s not….”

              “
Zack
,” I said, my brows knitting with confusion. “If that’s true, if you love her like you say you do, the least you could do is say goodbye.”

              “No, you don’t understand. Goodbye is just too—Liv, if I say it out loud,” he croaked under his breath. “I just can’t, okay?”

              “Zack, you don’t have to do this,” I said, grabbing his forearm.

              “Watch out for her, will you?” He placed his hand over mine. “You are the only one I trust to get her through this.”

              “Zack—” My chest tightened.

              “
Promise me,”
Zack said, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Promise me you will keep her safe.”

              Once again, I was speechless, as he stared me down with a distant hope reflecting in his pale green eyes. I had no idea where his sudden faith in me had come from, but it was misplaced and unwanted. Still, his jaw was set and firm. 

              “Liv?” Zack’s gaze darted back and forth across my face. “Liv,
Please
?”

              “Fine,” I said, my shoulders slumping under the responsibility of yet another weighty promise.

              “Oh, God,” he said, sighing with relief. “Thank you, Liv. Thank you so much. I owe you— everything.”

              “Zack, let’s go!” Tara swung the door open so hard it banged against the concrete wall behind it.

              “I have to go
,”
Zack said, flinching at the harshness of Tara’s tone. His eyes met mine, and the severity of his words hit home. He spun on his heel and made his way over to the door. Before he ducked through it, he turned back to me and nodded. “Stay safe.”

              I stared numbly at the door, as it clicked into place behind them. I had tried everything I could think of to convince them to stay, but in the end it hadn’t been enough.

              “You think they’ll be okay?” Riley slid her hand into the bend of my elbow.

              “I don’t know,” I said, looking down into her tired brown eyes. “I hope so.”

              “So, what happens now?” Riley asked, releasing her grip on me and turning her back to the door. “We need a plan.”

              “She’s right,” Falisha said, suddenly appearing next to her. “As much as that sucked, and it did...we can’t really afford to just stand around here being sad and hope everything works out.”

              “Agreed,” I said, taking a deep breath. “We should get to work.”

              “Reporting for duty, Sarge,” Falisha said squaring her shoulders.

              “Yeah,” Riley agreed. “What do you need?”

              “Okay, you three,” I said, pointing to Riley, Falisha, and Micah, “grab anything you can find that will hold water. Set the full containers against the wall in the bathroom. I am hoping they will stay a little cooler in there.”

              Riley nodded, grabbed Micah by the hand, and the three of them took off towards the storage closet. I slid the hair tie from my ratted ponytail and raked my fingers through my hair. It was so tangled and sweaty, I didn’t get far before my nails got stuck and the tugging made my eyes water. My brush was in my backpack on the other side of the room, but at the moment the distance seemed insurmountable and my appearance beyond unimportant, so I quickly whipped the gnarled mess into a twist and tied it away from my face. No way I was putting a brush anywhere near that gash on my head, anyway.

              “It’s so damn hot,” I muttered to myself, frustrated that there was no way to escape the cumbersome heat.

              “I think we need to insulate,” Zander said, stepping forward.

              “Brilliant! I’ll just hop in the car and run over to freaking Home Depot, real quick,” my internal monologue spilled from my mouth, unfiltered by my stressed brain. “Shit, Zander, I’m sorry. I am just a little on edge, I guess.”

              “Don’t worry about it.” The corner of Zander’s mouth quirked up, as he reached over and slid a loose hair behind my ear. His eyes locked onto mine and I felt my face heat.

“No,” I shook my head. “That wasn’t cool. None of this is your fault. I shouldn’t have bitten your head off like that.”

“Given our current situation, Liv,” Zander tilted his head, “I would be more concerned if you weren’t at least a little bit cranky. It’s all good, promise.”

              His smile was warm and genuine and as his thumb slid lightly across my cheek, I suddenly forgot where we were and what was happening around us.

              “Rubber,” Jake said, rushing over to us.

              “What?” I shrieked, stepping away from Zander as if I had been caught in a crime.

              “Rubber,” Jake grinned, gesturing around the room. “It’s an awesome insulator and it doesn’t conduct electricity.”

              “Of course!” Zander patted Jake on the back. “That’s brilliant, Jake.
You
are brilliant.”

              “Yeah, well,” Jake blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as he took a step back. “The answer was, literally, right under our noses the whole time.”

              “Okay, I’m lost,” I said, shrugging at their excitement.

              “The floor mats, Liv,” Zander said, gesturing down to our feet. “They are rubber, so we can use them as a thermal barricade on the exterior wall, to reinforce the windows, and fill in the cracks under the door. It will go a long way toward keeping out that insane heat.”

              “Awesome,” I said, smiling as I wrapped my arms around Jake’s slender shoulders. “He’s right, Jake. You really
are
a genius.”

              “Obviously,” he said, prying himself awkwardly from my embrace. “Anyway, we have lots to do and we are running out of time. If you guys have anything that need to be charged, now would be the time to do it. Once your gadgets are all juiced up, shut them down and take out the batteries. You know, just in case.”

              “Why,” I asked, honestly curious. “Will they, like, blow up or something?”

              “No, I don’t think the pulse will affect our mobile devices as directly as everyone thinks,” he said, “I mean, ground communications, yeah— we are basically screwed there. They depend on satellites and electricity, both of which will be non-existent soon, but cell phones function independently.”

              “So we might still be able to use our cells?” I asked.

              “Not for communication, unfortunately,” Zander said. “Once the grid goes down, all of the cell towers will be inoperable, which means our phones will not be connected to a network. Plus, we will be limited to the charge in their current battery— assuming their cores survive the surge, that is.”

              “Okay, so you are saying my iPhone will be a high-res paperweight?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

              “I guess you could look at it that way,” Jake laughed, shaking his head, “but try to remember that your phone does have more than one function that could come in handy at a time like this.”

              “Psshhht, yeah,” I said, suddenly upset at the loss of a phone I rarely even used. “Like what?”

              “Like pretty much any phone produced after 2010 has a flashlight function,” Jake asked, putting his hands on his hips. “I don’t know about you, but I would rather not spend the next few hours in this stinky hell-pit sitting
in the dark.
”

              “I guess that’s true,” I relented.

              “Yeah, and I have like a thousand songs on mine, maybe even a couple movies, that could help us kill time,” Zander offered.

              “How often did you use your phone to make calls, anyway? I used mine as an alarm clock, music player and a camera more than anything else. This thing is full of pictures of—” Jake’s smile fell and he looked suddenly stricken. “Liv, my mom, my little sister. What if they didn’t—?”

              “Stop right there,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t even think like that.”

              “But, what if—?” Jake’s chin trembled.

              “No, Jake,” I ground out. “We can’t afford to lose our shit right now, okay, so let’s just focus on what needs to be done. I promise you as soon as it’s safe, we will go find them, okay?”

              “Okay,” Jake sniffed, swiping at his eyes as he cleared his throat. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

              “Don’t be sorry, Jake. Just be brave and be your genius self,” I said, patting him on the back. “We’ve got your back.”

              “We are all in this together,” Zander agreed, chucking him lightly on the shoulder. “Besides, if your mom and sister are half as smart as you, I am sure they will be just fine.”

              “Thanks,” Jake said, sniffling as he squared his shoulders, “but it’s not likely that
anyone
is half as smart as me.”

              “Smart-ass,” I said, laughing as his sarcasm force field slid back into place.

              “Okay,
enough of that,” Jake said, sniffling. As he walked away, he yelled over his shoulder at us. “I am going to go plug in my phone, that dinosaur laptop, and the iPod I snaked from locker room. Throw your phones on the floor by the pile and I will swap them out once the others are charged.”

              “I like that kid,” I said, shaking my head as he trotted away.

              “I think he likes you, too,” Zander laughed, bumping my hip lightly.

              “Shut up,” I laughed, smacking playfully at his chest.

              He clamped his hand down on top of mine, lacing our fingers together against the soft cotton of his t-shirt. After hours in this maddening heat, the fabric was completely saturated, the dampness causing it to cling to the solid curvature of his muscles. His heart pounded rapidly beneath my hand, his amber eyes drinking me in as his tongue absently moistened the contours of his lips. My legs felt suddenly heavy; my head felt inexplicably light, as he closed his eyes and leaned closer.

              Part of me really,
really
wanted him to kiss me. That normal seventeen-year-old girl living deep inside of me wanted nothing more than to lower her defenses, close her sad blue eyes, and just let it happen. She might have even wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and run her fingers through that wild hair of his as his soft lips finally pressed against hers.

              My eyes closed of their own volition and I felt myself leaning closer until his warm breath whisked across my face. His fingertips lightly brushed against my cheek. I opened my eyes at the contact and suddenly found myself pulling away.

             
Not part of the plan!

              “T—tape,” I stammered, forcing an awkward smile. Our hands were still joined and my arm stretched out between us as I stepped back. “That is, umm. I’m going to go see if I can dig up some tape. Like, duct tape…you know, for the mats.”

              “Sure,” Zander smiled, gently squeezing my hand before releasing it. “Good idea.”

             
Damn it!

              “I’ll be right back,” I said, back-peddling, as he continued to smile at me. “Why don’t you see if you can figure out how we are going to peel up these rubber tiles? Be careful with your hand, though okay?”