Vengeance (Twenty-Five Percent Book 3) (19 page)

“Larry is an amazing surgeon,” Hannah said, seeing Alex staring at the aftermath of the operation. “I’m sure Leon will be fine.”

Alex nodded, but he couldn’t help feeling scared at the sight of all the blood.

Hannah wheeled the portable x-ray machine to the other end of the room, away from the mess.

“What happened at Omnav after I passed out?” she said as she began the process of x-raying Alex’s face and torso from every possible angle. “How did you get away?”

Alex recounted the events of nine days previously, from how he and Micah had tried to get to Boot as he escaped in the helicopter, to having to leave her after she turned, to their narrow escape from the hundreds of eaters inside and outside the building. Reliving the whole episode was less difficult than he thought it would be, now he knew Hannah was alive.

With the x-rays completed, she uploaded the images to a laptop, studying them as Alex pulled his t-shirt back on. “I can’t see any breaks.”

“Let’s hear it for my tough Survivor bones,” he said, relieved.

She began to shut everything down, not speaking again until she’d finished.

“You were upset when you thought I was as much as dead?” she said finally, not looking at him.

He felt as if he should say something that encompassed how devastated he’d been, but all he came up with was, “Yeah.”

“I saw you at the hotel in Cambridge,” she said. “You were at the foot of the fire escape. I was in cuffs and three of the guards were taking me to the helicopters. I wanted to call out to you, but Simmons told me he’d shoot you if I did. I didn’t want to risk you being hurt.”

Alex remembered hearing something that night and wished he’d gone to check when he’d had the chance. He took a few steps towards her.

She didn’t seem to notice his approach. “And when we got to Sarcester, they didn’t have time to drop me off before coming after you when you lured the horde away from those soldiers. When you shot the pilot of the other helicopter...”

“That was you,” he said, realisation dawning. “The helicopter that did all that weird stuff, that was you.”

She grinned, shrugging. “I may have gone a bit crazy when I thought they were going to shoot you. I have to admit, I’m loving how strong I am now. By the time they managed to stop me, all they could do was fly to the hotel for repairs.”

“You weren’t hurt, were you?” he said, suddenly concerned.

“No. To be honest, they’re all kind of scared of me.” She laughed. “It’s so cool. Every time any of them have to come near me they look terrified. Maybe I shouldn’t be proud of that.”

Alex grinned. “Oh, you should.”

Her smile disappeared. “I’ve been trying to get away from Boot since I was well enough to fight back. That little bastard, pardon my language, makes me want to slap him. And not a normal girly slap; a Survivor slap that can break things.”

A wave of guilt tightened Alex’s chest again. “I didn’t want to leave you there. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done...” He trailed off, looking away in embarrassment as his eyes unexpectedly burned.

A soft touch on his face turned him back to her. “Leaving me there saved my life,” she said, her fingertips still resting lightly on his cheek. “You would have died if you’d stayed and I would have died if you’d taken me, and I might have hurt someone. Leaving me there was the only thing you could have done and it was the best thing. Please don’t feel guilty. You saved me.”

“By accident.”

She huffed out a breath, planting her fists on her hips. “You’re determined to keep beating yourself up about this, aren’t you?”

The expression of frustration on her face made him want to smile. “Well...”

She poked his chest gently with one finger. “Stop it. You need to let it go. Repeat after me, I will let my misplaced guilt go.”

Alex chuckled then winced. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

She flattened her hand onto him, the warmth of her palm radiating through his t-shirt. “You had to leave me there, you had no choice. None of it was your fault.”

He was having trouble concentrating on anything other than her touch. “Actually it was Micah who made me leave. I would have stayed if he hadn’t.”

She laughed softly, the light sparkling in her pale eyes. “Then I really ought to thank him.”

Alex’s heart stuttered in his chest as she gazed up at him. He took a step closer and lowered his voice. “It tore me apart when I thought you were gone.”

She tilted her head up, her eyes dropping to his mouth. “I would have felt the same about you.”

He drew in a breath. “Hannah, I...”

The rest of his words vanished as she pushed onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. For a moment he was too stunned to move.

Kiss her back, you idiot.

His brain only halfway in gear, he closed his eyes and slid his fingers into her hair. She wound her arms around his waist, pressing against him.

And when she held him a little too tight, he didn’t notice the pain at all.

“I still think a full assault is the best move, now, before Boot has a chance to regroup.”

Alex and Hannah walked into the lounge to find their own little slice of the military had arrived. It was Dent who was speaking. She sat at a table with Ben, Ridgewell and Collins, taking sips from a steaming coffee mug. Porter and Hudson were at another of the tables with Sam and Claire. Rick and Ben, along with Micah, occupied a third. Alex’s stomach grumbled at the sight of the plates of sandwiches they all had in front of them. He tried to remember when he’d eaten last. Breakfast? What time was it now?

He could have checked his watch, but that would have required him to let go of Hannah’s hand and he didn’t want to do that until it became absolutely necessary.

“He doesn’t need to regroup,” Micah said. “He has three heavily armed helicopters and close to twenty men guarding him. Unless every one of us went, including Bates’ people, we’d be outgunned, and even then I’m not sure. And everyone back here would be left vulnerable.”

Larry was at the kitchenette counter. “Hannah!”

She let go of Alex’s hand and ran over, laughing as she threw her arms around him.

“I almost didn’t believe it when Dave told me,” he said, drawing back to look at her. “How do you feel? Have there been any side-effects from the cure? We’ll need to do some tests, get blood, tissue and urine samples. Maybe we can use your anti-bodies to synthesize more of the eater cure.”

“Good to see you too, Larry,” she said, smiling.

He chuckled. “Sorry, you know what I’m like. I am glad you’re back. Very glad. We all missed you around here.”

“Leon’s awake,” Micah said to Alex, “if you want to go in and see him.”

Alex looked towards Hannah, his stomach performing a shimmy around his abdominal cavity when she smiled at him. It was a few seconds before he realised he had a huge grin plastered across his face. Wrestling it into submission, he headed for the door.

Leon was lying on one of the beds when Alex reached the infirmary. Pat was sitting in a chair next to him, holding his right hand. It reminded Alex of the time he’d spent in this same room three weeks before, sitting and waiting for Micah to regain consciousness after he’d been bitten. Except he hadn’t held Micah’s hand.

Okay, maybe he’d held it once or twice, when no-one else was around. Just briefly. In a manly, I’m-here-for-you-bro’ kind of way. He didn’t cry or anything.

Emma and Katie were sitting on the bed with Leon, both of them holding onto their father’s left hand. Leon looked exhausted and pale, but he was smiling at his daughters.

When he saw Alex, his smile grew. “You look terrible.”

Alex grinned. “Look who’s talking.”

Leon began to laugh then grimaced. “Don’t. It hurts when I laugh.”

“Tell me about it.” Alex dragged a chair next to Pat’s and sat. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got shot. You?”

“Like I got beaten up by fifteen ridiculously large men.”

Leon frowned up at the ceiling, appearing to consider the situation. “I think I win.”

“Did I mention how large the men were? You know Brian and Ben? Imagine fifteen of them.”

“Yeah, but I got
shot
. With a
gun
. There was an actual
bullet
inside me.”

“He wants me to have it made into a necklace,” Pat said. “I told him I’d consider it.” She shook her head at Alex and mouthed ‘No’.

Alex clamped down on a laugh as his ribs protested.

“Is there anything wrong with wanting my woman to wear the evidence of how I took a bullet trying to protect my family?” Leon said.

“Baby, you know I love you and I’m beyond proud of you.” She raised his hand to her lips and kissed the back. “But a bullet on a necklace is going just a little bit overboard.”

“I’ll wear it, Dad,” Emma said.

He grinned. “That’s my girl.”

Pat rolled her eyes as she stood. “I can see I’m not going to win here. Come on, let’s go and make Daddy something to eat so he will get better.”

Emma and Katie kissed Leon’s cheek in turn then climbed from the bed and came to hug Alex. He wrapped an arm around each of them, feeling a little overwhelmed. He may not have had any blood relatives in the city, but he did have a family.

Pat leaned down to kiss Leon, lingering with her forehead resting against his as he touched one hand to the side of her face. Then she left the infirmary with the girls in tow.

“I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d lost them,” Leon said when they’d gone, his eyes shining with moisture. “You and Micah, what you did, I don’t know how to begin to thank you.”

Alex shook his head, somewhat embarrassed. “You would have done the same for us.”

Leon nodded and cleared his throat. “So, I hear Hannah is here.”

The smile Alex felt coming whenever he thought of her sidled back onto his face. “I almost can’t believe it. She’s a Survivor now too.” The smile grew. “She looks so beautiful with white eyes.”

“You have got it so bad.”

Alex waved a dismissive hand. “We hardly know each other yet.” He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “Although she did just kiss me. With tongue.”

Leon laughed then stopped abruptly, pressing a hand to his side. “I told you not to make me laugh.”

. . .

The hours passed. Alex and Micah stayed at the lab.

Janie, Bates, Brian and those who weren’t in hiding for the invasion had returned to East Town. After what happened with the smaller horde getting in, extra spotters had been posted on the roofs of buildings all around the city. Everyone was on high alert.

What remained of Boot’s horde had been pulled back to the very edge of the city soon after they’d detonated the buildings. Since then, no movement had been spotted from the invaders. No-one had seen any sign of the helicopters.

They all knew the plan for the defence and each person’s role in it, but they discussed it again, more to reassure themselves than because they really needed to. Alex knew they were all ready, as much as they could be. He couldn’t completely banish his nerves though.

The lack of any movement from Boot was putting him on edge. Why wasn’t he coming? Had he given up? Alex didn’t believe for a second that was the case, but it didn’t stop him dreaming. If only Boot would just leave, take his eaters with him, and never come back. They could go back to clearing up the city, organising supplies, preparing for whatever the future held.

Most importantly, he could get some quality alone time with Hannah. She’d been working with the other doctors, keeping an eye on Leon in between analysing whatever was in her blood and the other samples they’d taken. Since his x-rays and the quite frankly phenomenal kiss, Alex had barely seen her.

He was dying to kiss her again.

“What are you doing?”

Alex looked up as Micah sat down next to him on the steps outside the front entrance.

He shrugged. “Just wanted some fresh air.”

It was an unusually clear night for the beginning of October. He drew in as deep a breath of the chilly air as his still aching ribs would allow and looked up at the stars. Now the streetlights weren’t working, there were so many more of them.

Micah followed his gaze. “Wouldn’t it be nice if Boot had just given up and gone home?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“He won’t have though.”

“No.”

They sat in silence for a while. Alex knew something was on Micah’s mind; it was practically radiating off him. But he decided to let his friend tell him in his own time.

Eventually though, after a few minutes, Alex got tired of waiting for whenever that time would be. “Spill it, what’s bothering you?”

Micah leaned his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands, and stared out into the darkness of the street beyond the gates. “It’s the cure.”

“You’re bothered about the cure?”

“I don’t mean I’m not happy there is one. Lucy has a chance now. My sister has a chance to live. I can’t begin to describe how happy I am about that.” He sighed, dropping his gaze to the ground.

“But?” Alex prompted.

“It’s just, there’s a cure now. All the eaters we’ve killed, all the
people
we’ve killed because that’s what they are, I’ve got through it like you have, by knowing they would die anyway and that I was helping them by ending it. But now I know there’s a cure for them...” He shook his head. “Alex, how can I go back out there and kill any more? How can I decide who lives and who dies? I know I need to, to stop Boot and protect the people here, but I don’t know how. I need a way to keep going and I can’t see one.”

Alex was silent for a while, collecting his thoughts. It wasn’t the first time today he’d considered the fact that they were now, and had been without knowing it, slaughtering people who could be saved.

“I asked Hannah about the cure,” he said eventually. “She said she’s sure Boot doesn’t have more than a handful of doses. She also said that even if they had the facilities to start manufacturing massive amounts of it now, they’d still have to reverse engineer the drug to find out what’s in it and that could take weeks or months. These eaters, unless the new virus works differently, they will be dead in a month unless they feed. So that’s our choice: either the eaters live by killing the ones who aren’t infected, or they die anyway, whether they starve or we kill them.”

Micah breathed out a long sigh. “Those options suck.”

“I know.”

They sat in silence for another few minutes. The temperature was dropping and Alex shivered, pulling his jacket tighter around him. His mind wandered to the coming winter and whether they’d be left to survive the freezing temperatures without any help from the outside world. Would eaters die of hypothermia?

“I think I’d like to go for option C,” Micah said.

“What’s option C?”

“That I’ll wake up with a terrible hangover and realise this has all been an epic, booze-induced dream. I’m not averse to there being a gorgeous, naked woman in bed with me when I wake up too.”

Alex affected an offended look. “What, you’d give up our friendship in exchange for a naked woman and not having to fight for your life every day?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Okay, maybe not just one naked woman. But if she had a friend with her...”

Alex nodded. “Fair enough.”

There were a few seconds of silence during which he pondered the idea.

“That happened to me once you know,” Micah said.

“What, you woke up in bed with two gorgeous, naked women?”

He nodded, smiling. “This was when I was still drinking a lot. I was maybe twenty-one. Had no idea who they were or how they ended up in my bed, but I can’t say that bothered me overly.”

“So you...” Alex waved a hand vaguely, “...with both of them?” He was trying not to be jealous.

Micah’s smile disappeared. He stared up into the sky. “Not exactly. I mean, I was all for it, obviously, but it turned out there was still quite a lot of alcohol left in my system.” He cleared his throat.

Alex stared at him. “So you couldn’t...?”

Micah sighed. “Little Micah just wasn’t playing ball.”

Alex burst into laughter.

“I don’t think you’re truly appreciating how distressing that was,” Micah said.

His ribs were hurting, but he couldn’t stop laughing.

Micah stared into the distance, a haunted look on his face. “Ever since then, I’ve been waiting for it to happen again, but it never has.”

Alex wrapped his arms around himself, gasping, “Please, stop. You’re killing me.”