Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, Book 2) (21 page)

Alessa nodded. “Our mission was just
to find the base, right? No one ever said to clean it
up.”

Isaac sighed a long breath of relief.
“Great. Let’s get out of here, then.”

They went back up to the barracks on
B2 to search for the security officers’ living quarters in hopes of
finding more record books. The dormitories stacked with bunks all
appeared unused, but eventually they found a rec room that someone
had dragged three beds into. The entertainment center seemed well
used, with playlists of music and old TV shows loaded onto the hard
drive, a half-finished game of billiards on the pool table, and
empty cans and snacks bags scattered across the floor and
couch.

“
I’m going to venture a
guess that Harris, Johnson and Davis were bachelors…” Alessa
laughed. “This place reminds me of the common room of an ESU
frat.”

She sat down on one of the unmade
beds, the heel of her foot knocking into something underneath. She
peered down to find a neat stack of notebooks. “I think I found the
journals,” she called to Isaac.

Isaac sat next to her on the bed,
cracking open a bag of chips as they pored through the journals
together.

“
Looks like these three
were on weekend duty when the company gave the orders to go into
lockdown,” Alessa reported. “Most of the security personnel balked
and went home to their families, but these three didn’t have anyone
close by, so they decided to stay, figuring it’d be safer here than
out there with the widespread reports of sickness.”

Isaac continued, summarizing the
volume he was reading. “For the first year, it says they monitored
the radio and internet every day, sending out messages looking for
other survivors. But after a while there were no responses, no new
broadcasts, not even anything from the company. They were just…
abandoned here.”

“
Does it mention anything
about the beasts? You’d think they’d have seen something with all
those security cameras.”

“
Nothing,” Isaac
replied.

Alessa flipped to the next book. “I
don’t see anything here, either…” She trailed off, flicking through
the pages. “This book is from year three after the outbreak, and it
looks like they were all getting restless. They considered leaving,
but Jamal convinced the other two that they were better off
staying.” She read further. “Hmm, apparently the company had
contracts with the government to use the campus as a backup
emergency survival unit for high level officials – it’s equipped to
house hundreds of people with everything they need to live
comfortably for 10 years or more, and it’s all entirely
self-contained and self-sufficient. But no one ever showed
up.”

“
Well that explains the
living quarters, and the food,” Isaac commented, crunching on a
handful of potato chips.

“
It sounds like there was
some serious weapons research going on in some of the restricted
areas, too. It was all top-secret, which is why they have all the
guns and stuff – they needed to be able to protect the information
in case an enemy ever invaded.”

Isaac nodded. “I
did
think it was odd
that an office building would be armed with motion-sensing
automatic weapons…” He brushed the crumbs off his hands and paged
through another notebook. “These guys seemed pretty bored – only so
many reruns a man can watch before he goes insane, I
guess.”

Alessa grabbed the second-to-last
notebook, the one before the sad conclusion they’d found in the
security office. “Yeah, after a while Davis and Johnson just
couldn’t take it anymore. Jamal’s notes say they went out to scout
for survivors in the city, planning to return to the campus that
night. But the day came and went, and they didn’t show up. Jamal
would sit on the rooftop every day, watching for them. But they
never came back. And when he realized they weren’t going to, he
couldn’t deal with the prospect of living alone for the rest of his
life.”

“
Poor guy,” Isaac
muttered.

Alessa stacked the books neatly in
order while they each reflected in silence on what had happened
here. Alessa was flooded with gratitude that she hadn’t found
herself alone even once throughout this ordeal. She’d always had
Janie, or Joe, or Isaac to help her through the tough times, to
keep her going when she was ready to give up. She couldn’t imagine
what it must have felt like to be truly and utterly alone. She
wondered if she would have made the same choice as Officer
Harris.

“
One thing’s still bugging
me, though,” Isaac commented. “How come they never mention those
monsters we keep running into? I kind of assumed they had something
to do with the virus, but considering how widespread the epidemic
was, I don’t really understand how everywhere isn’t overrun with
them…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t seem like Jamal here even
knew about their existence.”

“
I was thinking the same
thing,” Alessa agreed. “I can see these guys getting careless with
the roof hatch if all they were worried about was the virus – after
all, how could it spread here if they hadn’t seen another living
person in years? But if those beasts were around, it would be
pretty reckless to leave any entrances open.”

“
Yeah, I certainly shut
that hatch tight when
we
came in,” he shrugged. “But who knows, maybe the
creatures just never realized there was someone in here, so they
never came around.”

Alessa was puzzled. She still couldn’t
figure out what those creatures were, or where they had come from.
But she didn’t have long to think on it before her concentration
was broken by a churning growl from Isaac’s stomach. “I guess those
chips aren’t going to cut it,” he laughed. “Should we make
dinner?”

Alessa smiled. “Dinner sounds
fantastic.”

The kitchen was better stocked than
Alessa could ever have dreamed. Granted, she wasn’t exactly a
master chef – the only cooking she’d really done was during meal
duty in Paragon’s cafeterias and over the fire pit in recent weeks.
But she knew enough from those experiences to appreciate the wealth
of ingredients that lined the vast stainless steel shelves and
counters of Raptor Defense’s immense kitchen space.

Isaac pulled a thick vacuum-sealed
steak from the super low-temp freezer while Alessa prepared a
colorful medley of canned vegetables and wild rice scented with
dried garlic and herbs. In less than an hour, they found themselves
sitting down to the most mouthwatering meal they’d had in ages.
Isaac had even cracked open a couple beers and set a cozy table in
the rec room, with soft music crooning in the
background.

They finished every morsel on their
plates and sat back in their chairs, Isaac rubbing his stomach
contentedly. “One more thing,” Alessa smiled. She dashed off to the
kitchen and returned a moment later carrying two small plastic
containers. She handed one to Isaac.

His face lit up. “Cheesecake?!” he
exclaimed.

Alessa giggled. “Well,
cheesecake-flavored pudding,” she admitted.

Isaac laughed with glee. He jumped out
of his chair and scooped Alessa up in his arms, wrapping her legs
around his waist and twirling her in the air. “Did I ever tell you
that I love you?”

Alessa smiled brightly, draping her
arms around his strong shoulders, and planted a gentle kiss on the
tip of his nose. “Once or twice.”

Isaac laughed again and whisked Alessa
over to the couch, the pudding cup and spoon still clutched in her
hand. Standing behind it, he plopped her down on the back cushions
and stood between her legs, his hands resting on the small of her
back as he gazed down upon her, the blue of his eyes smoldering
like the depths of fire. “Feed me,” he commanded, a wicked grin
crossing his face.

Alessa laughed and peeled back the
foil on the cup, dipping the spoon into the thick cream and
bringing it to Isaac’s parted lips. Isaac locked his eyes on hers
as he ate the first blissful bite, moaning quietly.

They shared the rest until only one
spoonful remained and Alessa scooped up the final dollop, holding
it between them. The smell was sinful – the sweet honey of vanilla
mingled with the faintest hint of cherry. She danced the spoon in
front of his mouth, teasing, but pulled back when he went in for a
bite. Instead, she wrapped her own lips around the spoon, ever so
slowly licking it clean, a teasing look in her eyes.

Suddenly he looked hungry for
something other than dessert.

Isaac sighed in the back of his throat
and kissed her deeply, sliding his hands down her backside and
pulling her close to him as he searched her mouth with his own.
Alessa’s limbs tingled as her hips thrust forward, crushing the
space between them. She wrapped her free hand around his back,
digging her nails into the muscles of his shoulder. Isaac growled
deep in his throat and reached for the empty pudding cup and spoon,
never breaking their kiss as he tossed them on the
floor.

He pressed her gently back, and the
two of them tumbled over onto the couch, a tangle of limbs and
desire.

Isaac ran his fingers over Alessa’s
body, tracing the curve of her hip and her waist up underneath her
shirt, cupping her with a firm but gentle grip. Alessa gasped and
threw her head back as his lips locked on her throat. She burned
from head to toe.

Pressing her hands against Isaac’s
chest, she pushed him back, forcing him into a seated position
against the opposite armrest. She shirked her shirt over her head
and shrugged off her pants, Isaac licking his lips in anticipation
as he watched. She crawled on top of him, straddling his narrow
waist as she trailed her fingers up over his abs and stripped off
his t-shirt.

Reaching down, she fumbled with the
button on his jeans with one hand and fingered the soft tumble of
hair at the back of his neck with the other, scraping her teeth
against the softness of his earlobe. “Isaac,” she whispered, her
voice rough with longing.

And for the first time in weeks,
Alessa lost herself in pleasure, hoping finally that everything was
going to be all right.

24. HESITATION

That first night at Raptor, Isaac had
truly believed that they’d turned a corner. Their mission was back
on track, Alessa’s spirits were high, and they were both more
content in each other’s arms than they had been in weeks. All they
had to do now was lock down the building and report back to
Regina.

They’d turned off the sentry guns and
motion lights, secured the roof hatch and stowed the fire ladder.
They’d combed every open room on every accessible floor, and
checked that whatever entry points they could find were locked.
They’d resupplied their packs with food and water and weapons, and
most importantly the security cards that would let them in upon
their return. It’d taken two days, but they were finally ready. It
was time to head back to Paragon.

For the past 48 hours, Isaac had been
relieved to find Alessa more relaxed – and more herself – than she
had been since they’d set out from Paragon. She smiled often,
laughed warmly, and seemed to glow from the inside out. She was
happy again.

Or at least, she had been, until
they’d woken up that morning and she’d realized it was time to
leave. The past couple hours some of the light had gone out of her
eyes, and those smiles he loved so much became suddenly harder to
come by. Even his touch couldn’t seem to bring her back – she’d
already rebuffed his advances twice.

At the moment, she was intently
wedging energy bars into every available crevice of her pack, her
lips drawn tight below a deeply furrowed brow. The tension was
practically radiating off her. Something was wrong.

“
So…” Isaac began
tentatively, “You almost ready to head out?”

She didn’t even look up. “Yeah,” she
grunted. “Just. Let me. Get. The rest of these. In
here.”

“
Babe.” Isaac knelt next
to her chair and reached for her hand. “I think you have enough
granola bars.”

Alessa sat back. “I guess so,” she
sighed, her face defeated.

Isaac eyed her warily. He
didn’t understand. They’d accomplished exactly what they set out to
do – found a perfect base, re-equipped themselves for the journey
ahead, managed to
survive
. And they were about to make
a triumphant return. What could be bugging her?

“
Hey. Less. What’s up?
Talk to me,” he urged.

Alessa shook her head. “I don’t know,
Isaac. I’m just… I’m not ready for this, I guess.”

“
Ready for what?” he
prompted.

She looked up at him and
shrugged. “For all of it. For what comes next. To go out there –”
she motioned towards the walls, “– to deal with those
things
following us, to
lose control of my feelings again, to face Paragon, to
fight
. I just,” she
shook her head. “I want a break. I don’t want to be constantly on
guard, constantly afraid, constantly looking over my shoulder. I
just want to feel safe for once – like we did here.”

He gazed at her face
earnestly. “But that’s the point, right?” he encouraged. “We found
this place so we can be safe, so
everyone
can be safe. We’re going to
get Janie and Josephine and all the rebels, and we’re going to come
back here and be safe together – from Paragon, from the virus, from
everything.”