Killshot (Icarus Series Book 1) (40 page)

              He pushed himself off the wall of the house and slowly made his way over to us. He had hardened his features, but I could tell he was in a lot of pain. His breathing was labored and his skin hung loose on his bones. He took a deep breath, gave me a slight nod and fashioned a scowl.

              “You are being an idiot,” Micah spat at Zander. “Jesus Christ, Z, Liv is infected. She’s one of
them
, just like you.”

              “Go to hell, Micah,” Zander said, glaring back at him.

              “Lie to yourself all you want but the truth won’t change,” Micah snorted. “If you send her to the hospital, you are signing her death warrant. When those guys catch her, and they
will
catch her, she will end up in quarantine with the rest of the gamma virus victims and anyone else they decide to take out. Better yet, maybe they will use her as a test subject, poking and prodding, and testing her into a hole in the ground. Great freaking plan, Cuz.”

              “You don’t know what you are talking about,” Zander said. “Liv is smart. She will—.”

              “She’ll what, Z?” Micah said, shoving against Zander’s chest. “If you think there is anything that any of us can do about any of this then you are an even bigger idiot than I thought. Tara was right. If any of you were smart, you would get as far away from all of this as possible.”

              “It’s not that simple, Micah,” Riley said, stepping towards him. “Not all problems can be solved by walking away.”

              “Maybe not, Ry, but this one can,” Micah said, stripping his black sweatshirt off and throwing it on the ground. “Fuck this, Z, and fuck
you
.”

              “That’s enough,” Jake said, stepping closer as if to defend Zander. Micah gave him a disbelieving look, then laughed, and rolled his eyes.

              “You know what? Fuck all of you. I am
done,”
he said, kicking the sweatshirt across the dusty ground.

              “Micah, wait,” Riley said, reaching out to him.

              “No! I am done waiting,” he said. “In the last three days, I have been baked alive in that dump of a school, nearly electrocuted, physically attacked by my own mother, and forced to watch her die at the hands of a so-called friend. And now…
now
you want me to invade a heavily armed military outpost, with nothing but a goddamn steak knife? And for what? You can’t possibly believe I would want to have anything to do with saving Jake’s precious mommy after he
killed
mine?”

              “Micah,” Zander growled, stepping between him and Jake.

              “I can’t do it, Z and more importantly, I won’t. I did not sign on for any of this super-hero crap you are spouting,” Micah said meeting Zander’s stare. “I’m out.”

              “You can’t just leave!” Riley said as tears filled her eyes.

              “Why?” Micah said, wheeling around to face her. “Because we went to homecoming or because you lost your virginity to me and think that should
mean
something? Maybe you just want to keep me around until something better comes along.”

              “I—” Riley’s voice cracked, her eyes pleading with him. “Micah, we—.”

              “Come on, Riley. You know this was all just high school bullshit, right? What we had was fun, but it wasn’t real. Look around you, baby.” Micah flung his arms wide and spun in a circle. “People are dying, people are sick, and nobody— not even the fucking government, has any answers. There’s no help, no cure, and no hope.”

              “No,” her voice barely came out.

              “This…
us
?” Micah gestured back and forth between them. “None of it matters anymore, Riley.”

              “You don’t mean that,” Riley choked, her hand clutching her necklace

              “Trust me, I do,” he said, stiffening his jaw as he took a step back.

              “Micah, wait,” Zander said, stepping toward him, but Micah continued to back away. “Don’t go, we can work this out, man.”

              “No, Z. There’s nothing to work out, this time. It’s over. Best of luck on your little suicide mission but I think I’ll find my dad on my own.” Micah turned away.

              “Micah, please?” Riley said, running after him. Tears spilling past her long lashes. She grabbed his arm; he stopped but didn’t turn around. “I— I love you.”

              “Sorry, Ry, but it’s just not worth it,” Micah said, his back still turned. “
You
are not worth it.”

              Micah yanked out of her grasp and stumbled off into the shadows.

“No!” Riley collapsed into a sobbing pile on the ground and Falisha and Jake quickly closed ranks to offer her comfort.

I could still see Micah’s lumbering form deep in the shadows. When he reached the end of the block he finally turned to face me, tears streaming down his face. He held his finger to his lips, a final reminder of the oath I had sworn to him. It was far better for Riley to hate him than to spend the rest of her life grieving his death. I knew better than most the strength in anger.

              So, instead of stopping him, I watched him go. I barely held back my tears as he limped away out of view with his arms clutched tightly around himself as if they were all that held him together. When I could no longer see him, I sank to the ground at Riley’s side and let the dam burst.

The world was never going to be simple again. His words had been cold and cruel and he willingly abandoned her. I stayed silent while Micah ripped Riley’s heart right out of her chest and stomped it into the ground. He had been so cruel, and yet my hart shattered for him, even as my best friend was falling to pieces before me. Destroying Riley love for him had been the kindest, most selfless, thing Micah could have ever done for her.

***

               It was decided.

              Falisha and Jake would head to the hospital on recon while the rest of us stayed behind and found a way into Zander’s house. Riley had insisted on staying with me and I didn’t have the heart to fight her on it. Though her tears had dried, she still looked lost and broken after Micah’s angry departure. Jake and Falisha would station themselves on the hill at the baseball diamonds across the street from the hospital. Their one and only objective was to observe from afar and ascertain a safe entry point.

              They were not, under any circumstances, to engage.

Thanks to Banks and Fletcher, we already knew the hospital would be overrun by military. We had to play it smart and find a quiet way in and out. As soon as we retrieved what we needed from Zander’s dad’s office (whatever that may be), we would join them and reassess the situation together before attempting any type of search and rescue.

              “Please, just be careful,” I said, hugging Jake so tight he grunted. I looked over his shoulder at Falisha and locked her in a stare. “You better keep him out of trouble, Soldier.”

              “You got it, Sarge,” she laughed, saluting as she clicked her heels together. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to his scrawny ass.”

              “I’m sorry, but we gotta go, Liv,” Zander said.

              “You guys remember the rendezvous point, right?” It felt wrong letting them walk away.

              “We only went over it, like, a hundred times,” Falisha said, tossing her robe to the ground.

              “Okay, fine,” I said, finally releasing Jake. “You two! Don’t do anything stupid.”

              “Psssht…we got this.” Falisha rolled her eyes, hooked her arm through Jake’s, and dragged him along, her ponytail swinging behind her as she walked away. At the end of the block, she turned and waved. “See you soon!”

              Minutes later, we were back beneath the carport, watching as Banks lit yet another cigarette. Our plan was, at best, half-baked. It was rash and hastily thrown together, but given the time crunch we were under and our lack of resources, it was the best we could hope for.

              “How do I look?” I asked, smoothing my hair back.

              “Wait,” Riley said, grabbing my arm. “It should be me. I should go. ”

              “I thought we agreed I would do it,” I said.

              “Hear me out,” she said, holding her hands up. “You are stronger, faster, and smarter than me. This whole thing with Zander’s house, I have no idea what to even look for, Liv, or what this Salvation Army craziness is even about. I won’t be any help in
there
, but this? This I can handle. I mean, how hard can it be to flirt with a guy, right?”

              “Riley, no,” I said, crossing my arms. “It’s too dangerous.”

              “What if there are more soldiers inside the house? What then? Am I going to
cute
them to death?” She batted her eyelashes at me and then scowled with her hands on her hips. “Zander needs
you
in there, not me. I’ll only slow him down.”

              “Liv, she kind of has a point—no offense, Ry,” Zander said, reluctantly. “Besides, after what she did to Tara, I have no doubt that Riley can handle the likes of Banks.”

              “Please, Liv?” Riley begged. “I need this. Let me do this?”

              “Liv?” Zander said, urging me softly.

              Two sets of eyes locked on me. Both reflected the glow of nearby flames as they pleaded with me to see reason and both had too much power over me.

              “Fine,” I said, throwing my hands up, “but you had damn well better be careful. If anything, and I mean
anything,
goes wrong, you get the hell out of there, understood?”

              “I will. I swear,” Riley said, crossing her broken heart as she started stripping off the extra layers of dark clothing.

              “I can’t believe I am going along with this,” I said, raking my hair out of my face.

              “I’ll be fine, Liv,” Riley shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. “The guy can’t leave his circle, remember?”

              She smiled over at me, but the grin fell short of her eyes as she stripped off the cardigan and tossed it to the ground. She smoothed back her dark hair, hiked up the hem on her T-shirt, and tied it in a knot behind her back creating a very tight half-top. It exposed not only her perfectly flat stomach, but also a belly-button piercing I was not aware she had gotten.

              “Umm,” I said, arching a brow.

              “I got it done on Friday while you were at work. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing,” she shrugged. “I was gonna tell you, I swear. I guess it slipped my mind, what with the exploding sun thing and all.”

              “God, Riley,” I said, lunging at her and wrapping her in a tight hug. “Please, just be careful, okay?”

              “Always,” she said, patting me lightly on the back. “Now, let go of me. I have a big hunk of stupid to seduce.”

              My heart was beating in my throat as I watched her sashay off in Banks’ direction. I felt every step she took like a blow to my already aching chest. As soon as she was close enough, she started singing softly. I recognized the tune right away. It was their song—hers and Micah’s.

              “I didn’t know Riley could sing,” Zander whispered, clutching my hand tighter. “She has a beautiful voice.”

              “Yeah,” I gasped, suddenly remembering I needed to breathe, as her soft lilting voice drifting on the breeze through the empty streets.

              “Hello?” Banks shouted. He tossed his cigarette to the ground and stared down the darkened street. “Is someone there?”

              Riley kept singing, her sweet voice echoing against the abandoned houses that surrounded us. The melody grew louder and more determined as she made her way across the street and stepped into the beam of a porta-light affixed to a nearby pole.

              “Who’s there?” shouted Banks. He raised his gun across his chest and trained it on Riley as she rounded the end of the hulled out van across the street. “Put your hands where I can see them and step slowly towards me.”

              “Oh, thank God,” Riley said, pouring on the innocence as she put her hands in the air. “I thought I would never find you.”

              “Who are you and what are you doing here?” Banks kept his gun still but raised his head away from the sight.

              “My name is…Tara,” she said, holding her hands up. “I ran into some soldiers just south of here and they told me to come here, ask for someone named Banks, and that he’d help me.”

              “Who?” Banks said, looking confused. “Who sent you?”

              “It was, umm…” Riley said, biting her lip.

              “
Come on, Riley,
” I growled under my breath, willing her to think on her feet.

              “Lincoln,” she shouted, her eyes brightening. “It was Private Lincoln. Wait, are you Banks?”