Love and Decay, Volume Eight (Episodes 9-12, Season Three) (7 page)

Fresh tears pooled in my lashes and I didn’t
have the strength to wipe them away. I couldn’t stop my quivering
lip or the reluctant compassion I felt for all of those men.

I hadn’t wanted to kill them. If it had been
left up to me, I wouldn’t have ever killed anyone!

I would have remained a pacifist.

I would have remained innocent.

The walk into the bungalow was a blur of
passing out and sickness. I hated being moved. I needed this bullet
out of my freaking leg and I needed someone to glue my arm back
together because it felt like someone had ripped it apart with
their bare hands.

Hendrix laid me down on one of the couches
and helped prop my arm so I wouldn’t pass out again. I watched Joy
walk around the room, deciding where to start.

I was surprised when she chose Diego over
Luke. Vaughan and Nelson dumped Diego directly on the rug, so she
had to push the coffee table out of the way to reach him.

“Luke?” I rasped, unable to find more of a
voice than that. Nobody heard me at first, so I asked again. “Luke?
Where?”

Joy glanced at me over her shoulder and wiped
away a single tear. “He’s bad, Reagan. But not as bad as you. Or
Diego.”

I let out a reluctant breath of relief and
said a quick prayer. Luke hadn’t died. Thank
God.
I couldn’t
see him from where I tried not to move, but I trusted Joy.

After a long time, of which I wasn’t sure
that I was entirely conscious for the whole thing, Joy walked over
to me.

“What’s wrong?” She asked in a low voice.

Hendrix answered for me. “Gunshot to her
thigh and I think she has a broken forearm.”

Joy tsked. “Sounds like she had a good
time.”

Hendrix grunted a bitter laugh. “He’s dead,
so she better not die too.”

“You did good,” Joy smiled.

“It’s all this girl,” Hendrix confessed. His
hand squeezed my good one gently. “She’s the real reason we’re
still alive.”

It was right after he said that so sweetly
that I blacked out again.

Chapter Four

I regretted opening my eyes again. I should
have slept forever.

Was that an option?

Pain.
Pain everywhere
!

The aching, the throbbing, the stinging, the
burning… they melded together into a giant super pain that
threatened to take over the planet. I wanted to be sick, but there
was nothing in my stomach to lose.

I tried to wet my dry lips, but my mouth felt
like someone had stuffed it with cotton balls. My skull threatened
to split in two from the force of my headache and every muscle
inside of my body felt beaten and battered.

Then there was the broken arm. And the
gunshot wound.

I closed my eyes again and reevaluated my
will to live. I wasn’t sure I still felt as strongly about survival
as I once had.

“How are you feeling?” Hendrix’s roughened
voice slid over me like balm. I struggled to breathe deeply before
opening my eyes to meet his beautiful blue gaze.

“Like hell,” I croaked.

He lifted a glass of water to my lips and
helped me sip slowly. I thanked him with tears in my eyes.

Morning had come. The bright sunlight
streamed through the open windows of the bungalow in contrast with
yesterday’s volatile storm. I heard bugs buzzing outside and the
wind rustling Joy’s wind chimes.

Today was a new day. I had left the majority
of my problems in yesterday. Even though I didn’t want to imagine
trying to get off this couch ever again, even though a lot of
people had died and I had nearly lost my life and those of my loved
ones, even though I still had the Zombie Apocalypse to deal with,
yesterday was over.

And today was a brand new beginning.

“Here.” Hendrix held up two white pills.
“Tylenol. Joy is hoping it will at least dull the edges.”

I opened my mouth and let him feed them to
me. He followed the pills with another sip of water. Only one of my
arms had been tied tightly in a makeshift tourniquet, but I let
Hendrix do all of the work. I couldn’t find the energy to lift my
head, let alone an entire arm.

“You look good,” I huffed. “How come you
didn’t get shot?”

His eyes twinkled with humor. “It could be
because I’m faster.”

All of my feminism flared to life. “That’s so
not it.”

“Then it has to be because people generally
hate me less than they hate you.” He leaned down and brushed his
lips over my forehead.

“You might have a point there. But at least
those people are dead now.”

“And you’re alive,” he whispered, kissing me
again on the corner of my mouth.

I closed my eyes in a useless attempt to keep
from crying. I was alive. And so was he. The magnitude of that
miracle weighed down on me in a way that I knew I would never
forget it. How could I?

We both could have died. So easily. Or lost
someone else we loved.

And yet…

“Hey, by the way! What happened to staying by
your side? You completely disappeared on me!” I pinched his thigh
lightly where it sat pressed against my side.

He winced, “That will never happen again,” he
promised. “My idiot brothers nearly got themselves killed. Of
course, when I left you for a minute, I didn’t expect you to throw
yourself in front of Matthias either. You’re lucky I caught
up.”

“Not luck,” I whispered. “I knew you
would.”

His expression softened. “Yeah, you’re right
about that.”

We stared at each other for a few more
minutes. I just loved watching him look at me. I loved knowing that
he was alive and uninjured and next to me.

People bustled quietly around the rest of the
small house and I could hear others outside, but nobody disturbed
us for a really long time. They let us have this little
reunion.

Eventually I couldn’t be quiet anymore. I had
to know the damage. “Okay, Parker, how bad is it?”

Hendrix’s fingers trailed over my jaw. “Your
arm is broken. Joy said it was a clean break though and she’s
hoping that it will heal okay. She wrapped it up and told me how to
care for it. As long as you go easy on it, you should be fine.”

“And my leg?” I felt some relief about my
arm, but that wasn’t the worst of my damage. I held my breath while
Hendrix explained.

“She said you also got lucky there. The
bullet didn’t hit an artery or bone, but it didn’t go straight
through either. She’s not a surgeon, but the bullet stayed intact
and she was able to dig it out. It hit the outside of your thigh
where there’s mostly muscle.”

“So…? What does that mean?”

Hendrix shook his head and his blue eyes
shuttered with his effort to hide his emotion. “We’re not sure
yet,” he confessed. “We’re going to have to see how you heal. Joy
said you could be fine. Your muscle could mend nicely and your leg
might not have any problems in the future. But… but there’s a big
possibility that your leg won’t heal correctly and that you might
have issues with it in the future. We’re all just going to have to
wait and see.”

I let out a stunned breath and tried not to
let my brain run with all of the negative possibilities. If my leg
healed correctly. If my arm healed properly. If… if… if…

There were too many variables and this world
was not on my side.

Hendrix’s hand cupped my jaw. “You’re going
to be okay,” he whispered. I watched tears shimmer in his bright
blue eyes and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down while he
struggled to swallow. “You’re alive, right? That’s all that really
matters. We’ll figure the rest out as it comes.”

I nodded, too overcome with emotion to speak.
Two tears slipped from the corners of my eyes and landed on his
fingertips. He looked more rugged than ever. His beard needed a
trim badly; his hair had been washed, but neglected ever since. His
eyes looked a hundred years older, as if yesterday had aged his
soul by a century.

Maybe it had.

Maybe my soul had aged just as much.

“How about everyone else?” I whispered when I
could finally talk.

His lips pressed into a frown before he said,
“Most everyone is okay. King dislocated his shoulder, but he’ll be
alright. Miller’s burns are the worst. You and I have some too.
Luke is… Luke is in bad shape. The gunman shot him in the shoulder.
Joy got the bullet out, but it’s a pretty brutal wound. He came
down with a fever last night. He’s alive for now, but…”

Nausea churned my stomach. “What does Joy
think?”

Hendrix cleared his throat and said, “She’s
doing everything she can.”

Hendrix slid his hand over my mine and
squeezed. “I thought it would be worse,” he admitted with a
sorrowful tone. “I really thought it would be worse.”

I pressed my lips together. I didn’t tell him
what I had thought would happen. Hendrix had expected to lose more
people, maybe one of his brothers.

I had gone into yesterday expecting to lose
everyone.

I didn’t know how we would survive Matthias
and all of his vengeance. But somehow we did. We had been given a
second chance, one that was free of the Colony and the evil it
spread.

I thought back to my dream of Matthias and
how he had challenged me to take over America. What would happen to
my home now? What would happen to all of those people united under
the Colony? Would they be free as well?

Or would someone else take over? Someone just
as dangerous and sadistically inclined?

There were still Zombies to deal with after
all. Matthias was only a small portion of the problems this world
faced.

“Oh!” Hendrix grinned at me. “Diego is still
alive. He made it through the night. Joy cleaned him up and got his
infection under control. He actually might live through this.”

“I’m not sure I’m happy about that,” I
laughed lightly. It was a lie though. I
was
happy about
that. Diego wasn’t exactly a friend, but we’d bonded through this
whole deal in a strange way. I didn’t necessarily want him to live…
but I didn’t want him to die either.

Hendrix lifted his gaze, distracted by
something behind me. When he looked back down I could see the
lightness that surrounded him. Hendrix had shed something dark and
heavy since last night. His smile came easier. His eyes brightened
with hope.

We were different people now that we weren’t
being hunted. Now that there wasn’t a death sentence following us
around.

Zombies were our only threat these days and
after surviving the last year, even they didn’t seem so bad.

“Are you ready for some visitors?” he asked
gently. “There are some people that would like to see you.”

I smiled at him, even though it hurt.
“Please.”

He leaned in again, careful to avoid my
injuries, and tenderly trailed his lips over my jaw. “Make me a
promise first?”

“What’s that?” I asked breathlessly. Even
injured and out of commission, Hendrix’s nearness ignited something
warm and fluttery in me. He distracted my body from its constant
scream of pain and my mind from the cluttered thoughts that needed
to be sorted through. He made me focus on him and only him. He made
it just easier to breathe.

“Promise not to make any more enemies? I
don’t think my heart can survive another day like yesterday.” I saw
the conviction in his blue gaze, felt the power of his words. This
man cared about me… loved me… wanted to keep me safe above
everything else.

“You have my word,” I told him. “From this
moment on I’m a complete pacifist. I won’t engage in conflict of
any kind.”

“Let’s not get crazy,” he murmured. “Just no
more archenemies. Or nemeses. Or men willing to hunt you across
continents. Let’s stick to killing Zombies from here on out.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I smiled
innocently at him.

“I’m trying to believe you,” he murmured as
if it were the hardest thing in the world.

I needed to distract him before he locked me
up somewhere. “Didn’t you say I had visitors?”

“I’m going to get you something to eat,” he
relented. To the person behind me, he ordered, “Be gentle with
her.”

Page bounded around the corner of the
couch.

“Was he talking to you?” I asked her.

“I think so,” she said. “He thinks if I touch
you, you’ll break.”

I tried to look less miserable. “I won’t,” I
promised her. “He’s just being overprotective.”

“Aren’t they good at that?” she smiled
sweetly at me.

I was pretty sure she had heard me say
“protective” instead of “overprotective,” but the little girl was
blinded with love for her brothers so I decided not to argue.

“They are the very best,” I told her. “How
are you feeling? You okay?”

She glanced over to where the bed was. I had
a feeling Luke was over there and that was who she was looking at.
“I’m okay.” Her voice trembled and tears filled her eyes.

I sucked in a deep breath and reached for her
hand. Moving any part of my body proved challenging, but holding on
to Page erased all of the pain and replaced it with something more
important. “Luke is strong, Page. He’s stronger than what happened
to him, yeah? He’ll be all right.”

She nodded with a trembling chin. “It’s not
just him. I’m worried about you too.”

“Me?” I tried to laugh. “I’ve never been
better!”

She burst into tears. Apparently that was the
wrong thing to say.

With my good hand I pulled her forward and
urged her to bend down so I could hug her. She buried her face in
my neck and sniffled. I patted her shaking shoulders and let her
see that I was okay.

That I was still alive.

“Page, I’m okay,” I whispered to her. “These
are just a few bumps. I’ll be better in no time.”

“I didn’t think I would ever see you again!”
she wailed. “I-I-I was so afraid!”

“Me too, baby girl.” I found myself crying
right along with her. “Me too.”