Kick at the Darkness (31 page)

“Maybe you should get a good night’s sleep,” Angela suggested weakly.

“I can’t sleep knowing Adam is being experimented on.”

“I don’t blame you. But Andrew won’t hurt him. I know he won’t,” Angela insisted. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat?”

Parker was about to reply that no, he’d somehow lost his goddamned appetite, but he stopped. “Maybe. At least I’ll be doing something. Can I go get leftovers?”

Ramon was opening his mouth, but Angela glared at him and replied, “Of course. Help yourself to anything, Parker.”

“You can’t get to the lab from the kitchen, so don’t bother trying,” Ramon said softly.

Parker nodded, doing his best to keep his heart rate steady as he skirted tables and made his way to the kitchen. He thought of how Adam breathed to calm himself, and Parker counted his inhalations and exhalations so they matched.
One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four
.

The kitchen was empty, with only a small overhead light remaining on in the corner. Parker went to the fridge and rummaged around in it loudly, still breathing as steadily as he could as his gaze darted around the room.
Come on, come on. There has to be
—

The carving knife Chef had used on the prime rib stuck out of a wooden block. Whoever had done the dishes hadn’t slid it all the way back into its holder, and the thick part of the blade gleamed. In a heartbeat, Parker snatched it and tugged up the leg of his jeans. He tucked the smooth handle into the side of his thick sock, then pulled up the wool over the blade. The sock reached the top of his shin, and had a tight elastic.

Praying it would hold—and that he wouldn’t have to use it—Parker quickly unwrapped some leftovers from the fridge and slapped them on a plate. Back in the dining room, he forced himself to take a few bites, acutely aware of the cool blade against the side of his calf.

After a few minutes, he spoke as calmly as he could. His throat was raw. “I want to go back in there and check on Adam.”

Ramon shook his head. “Dr. Yamaguchi will get us when it’s time.”

Angela stood and straightened her pencil skirt. “Adam and Parker aren’t yours to command, Ramon.” Her voice was steely. “We don’t keep prisoners at the Pines. Andrew can do his tests, and then they’re free to go. And Parker is free to stay close to Adam in the meantime. I’m in charge, and don’t you forget it. Parker, go ahead. I want to speak to Ramon for a minute.”

The silence stretched out, sixties music from the movie the only sound. Then Ramon smiled. “Whatever you say.”

Parker quickly left them behind before Ramon could change his mind. He needed to get Adam the hell out of there. Of course the door to the lab was locked, and he rattled the handle impatiently, knowing they’d hear that inside.

When Neil opened the door, he glanced anxiously over his shoulder. “I think you should wait outside. We’re just—”

Pushing past Neil, Parker rushed to the cot. “What are you—stop!”

Yamaguchi stood over a pale, unconscious, and half-naked Adam with a jar in one hand and a bloody knife in the other. “He heals so quickly. It’s absolutely remarkable. The practical implications are numerous, and—”

Parker grabbed him by his lab coat and shoved him to the floor. The jar went flying, smashing on the tile in a mess of blood, glass, and chunks of Adam’s flesh. There were already three other jars on the nearby table, labeled
Arm
,
Leg
, and
Back
. Parker’s stomach roiled. “You’re cutting him up? Jesus Christ!”

“But he heals so easily!” Yamaguchi pushed himself up on his hand. “Like there was never a wound at all.”

“He still feels pain, you psycho!”

Yamaguchi scoffed. “He’s under sedation. When animals are tested in labs—”

“He’s not an
animal
!” Parker trembled with rage. He snatched a jagged piece of glass from the floor. He didn’t want to pull out the carving knife just yet—Ramon could disarm him easily when he returned. “You’ve got your pound of flesh. If you try to cut him again, I’ll cut you.”

“Okay, everyone needs to calm down.” Neil still stood by the now-closed door. “Dr. Yamaguchi, I think Parker’s right. Surely we have more than enough samples now?”

Yamaguchi grunted and heaved himself off the floor. He returned to his microscope and opened one of the jars without comment.

Adam was shirtless, his Henley and leather jacket discarded on the floor. His jeans were pulled down to his knees, and blood stained his skin where the wounds had healed on his body. Blood had dripped onto the top of his briefs from the last cut on his belly, stark red on the white cotton. Parker tried to bite back his fury.
Just play along. Get Adam out
. “Neil, can you help me?”

With Neil’s assistance hefting Adam’s dead weight, Parker was just finishing redressing Adam and zipping up his leather jacket when Ramon and Angela entered the lab. Angela gaped at the bloody mess on the floor.

“Good lord, what’s this?” she demanded. “Andrew, this has gone far enough. These are our
guests
.”

“For God’s sake,” Yamaguchi spat. “Take your head out of the sand! This is a new world. You’ve heard what people are saying on their ham radios. The chaos is global, and only getting worse. Governments and infrastructures have crumbled already. The virus is spreading incalculably every day. Every hour! This is Armageddon—the old rules don’t apply. We need to do whatever it takes. Don’t you understand how important this work is?”

Angela’s face creased. “Of course, but you don’t have to hurt anyone to do it!”

“Um, I think he’s waking up,” Neil said. He backed away, his eyes on the cot.

Parker turned away from the rest of them and squeezed Adam’s hand. “It’s me. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Adam blinked blearily, and Parker sighed in relief to see those golden hazel eyes again. Adam tried to speak, but could only groan softly.

“I know.” Parker brushed Adam’s hair back from his forehead. “I know.”

“He shouldn’t be waking up yet.” Ramon frowned.

As Adam struggled to rouse himself, his eyes began focusing, and he turned his head to take in their surroundings.

Parker kept his tone soothing and calm with great effort. “We’re in the lab in the basement. Dr. Yamaguchi just needed some of your blood. We’re leaving soon. You need to cooperate. Okay?” He tried to tell Adam everything he couldn’t say with his eyes.
I won’t let them hurt you again. Don’t fight or I think they might chain you up. Play along
. “You understand?”

Adam nodded, only a small movement, but it was enough. Parker hoped to God Adam did understand. He kissed him gently. “It’ll be okay.”

Someone made a sound of unmistakable disgust.

When Parker turned his head, he found Ramon grimacing down at them. Anger whipped through him, and the words flew out. “Oh, fuck you.”

Pain exploded in Parker’s jaw, and he sprawled onto the tile. The blow had come so fast he hadn’t even seen Ramon raise his hand. He tasted blood and touched his jaw tentatively. It didn’t feel broken, at least. On the cot, Adam growled, his eyes glowing, claws and fangs extending. But he was clearly still too weak from the tranquilizer to move.

“Ramon! What is the matter with you?” Angela stared, aghast.

“Seriously, this is not cool,” Neil added. “I’m not comfortable with this. Any of this.”

Yamaguchi said nothing, hunched over his microscope as if they weren’t even there.

Adam growled again, and Parker took his hand, mindful of the claws. “I’m fine.” He spat blood on the floor and wiped his mouth. “I’m fine,” he repeated.

Slowly, Adam transformed back and closed his eyes. His chest rose and fell rapidly.

“Wow,” Neil breathed. “I’ve never…I can’t believe I just saw that.”

Parker focused on Adam, caressing his hair and touching him lightly. He ignored Ramon, who still loomed nearby.

“He shouldn’t be polluting himself with you,” Ramon gritted out.

Parker kept his gaze on Adam. “Okay, you’re homophobic. Got it. Thanks.”

“I don’t care about that. It’s
you
. He should be with his own kind.”

“Apologies—you’re just racist.” He shot Ramon a snarky smile. “My bad.”

Ramon’s nostrils flared. “This is about
survival
. Our numbers were already dwindling, dying out because of breeding with humans.” His tone softened. “You’re a kid. You don’t understand. We need to stick together. Adam needs to be with his kind. My family will make their way here, and we’ll build a new pack. We’ll find other survivors, and we won’t have to hide who we are ever again. Adam will be a leader. He’ll help us create a new generation.”

“A new generation? What, like he’s a werewolf stud horse? Fuck that.”

“We need a new bloodline. I couldn’t believe it when he showed up here. Don’t you see? It was meant to be.”

“Ramon.” Angela’s tone was icy. “You can’t force him to stay. That’s not how we do things.”

Ramon faced her. “Maybe it’s time for a change in management. Sometimes you have to put the good of the many above the good of the few. Adam needs to think about the future of our kind.” He motioned to Yamaguchi. “And if this quack can actually create a vaccine that will protect humans from this infection, isn’t that worth it?”

“Worth what, exactly?” Angela raised her eyebrows. “You’ve got Adam’s blood. You’ve got his tissue. What more do you need?”

Yamaguchi spoke up. “Ramon, I need your samples to compare.”

“Of course.” He rolled up his sleeve. “I put my money where my mouth is. We could be able to save you all. We’ll have the power. We’ll build a new society.”

“Then we need to infect the subject and take more samples,” Yamaguchi added.

“Infect? Infect Adam?” Parker shot to his feet. “How are you going to do that?” He followed their gazes to the mystery door. “I fucking knew it. You have creepers in there, don’t you?” He shook his head. “With soundproofing up in there too so we can’t hear them, I bet.”

Neil shivered. “That sound they make is the worst.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if it was a fluke that Adam didn’t get infected when he was bitten? I won’t let you do this. No way.” Parker squared his shoulders, his fingers itching to reach for the handle of the carving knife.
Not yet
. “No fucking way.”

“We’re not taking a vote. This is for the good of everyone.” Ramon held out his arm to Yamaguchi, who stuck in a needle and removed a vial of blood. “You should all wait outside. I’ll take him in.”

“Remember, let them bite him, and then get out.” Yamaguchi pulled a set of keys from his pocket. “Without the facilities to cultivate the virus properly outside a host body, we need them alive.”

“Andrew, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Angela said sharply. “I’ve sent the residents to their rooms and told them there’s a plumbing leak down here. Let’s all take a breath and go sit down and talk about this. We need to agree on a plan.”

Parker glanced at Adam, who struggled to sit, shaking with the effort. He cleared his throat. He needed to stall. “This is a bad fucking idea. What if Adam does get infected? Then you’ll have creepers with werewolf strength and speed, and trust me when I tell you that won’t end well. We all want a cure or a vaccine, but this is out of control.”

“I agree,” Neil said. “I think cooler heads should prevail. We’re all tired and stressed, and—”

Before any of them could react, Ramon had hauled Adam to the interior door, holding him up by the back of his jacket. “I’m doing what needs to be done.” He grabbed the keys from Yamaguchi.

As the door swung open, a cacophony of chattering reverberated through the enclosed room, sending a chill down Parker’s spine. Inside the other room, a padlocked storage cage held a female and male creeper, their eyes bulging as they screeched and rattled their container.

Oh, Jesus. This is it! Do it!
Parker reached down for the knife, snatching it out of his sock as he lunged for Ramon’s back. At the same time, Adam kicked out Ramon’s feet, sending him crashing to the tiles.

With a high-pitched scream, the creepers ripped the door off the cage and launched themselves forward, sinking their teeth into Ramon as the room exploded into chaos.

AS RAMON ROARED and transformed into his werewolf form, Parker grabbed for Adam and caught his hand. Adam stumbled, struggling to stay on his feet. He slammed to the floor when the female creeper clutched his boot and gnawed at the rubber sole.

Parker slashed his blade into the creeper’s face, hitting bone with a sickening jolt. She still twitched and clawed, and Adam connected his heel to her nose and sent her spinning back into the cage, where Ramon ripped into the other creeper with a feral growl.

Parker hauled Adam up, supporting as much weight as he could. They staggered past Yamaguchi, pressed against the wall, frozen in gaping horror. Neil blocked the door, his skinny arms spread.

“Wait! We have to contain—”

“Move!”

“Let them go!” Angela commanded, backing away from where Ramon grappled with the creepers, tearing the head clean off the female, the carving knife still embedded in her eye socket. “We won’t let the infection spread.” She winced as the creeper made a last screech. “I don’t think they’ll be the problem. I’ll try to stop him from coming after you.”

“Thank you!” Parker shouted back as they escaped and Neil closed the door behind them. In the sudden silence, they lurched down the corridor, careening into the stairwell door. Parker shoved at it and started on the stairs, his shoulder screaming as he tried to get a better grip on Adam.

“Leave me,” Adam mumbled, stumbling.

“Oh my God, shut the fuck up and run!” Parker jammed his shoulder under Adam’s arm and heaved him up the stairs, reeling under Adam’s weight, fear powering every step.

In the lobby, Christy with the blonde curls and bright smile looked up from behind the polished reception desk. “Hey, guys. Were you downstairs? There’s a leak or something.” Her smile vanished. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”