V-Day: (M-Day #4) (13 page)

“
Of course there fucking is,
”
Evo grated.
“
Well, lay it on us
—
what did you do, make a deal with the devil too?
”

“
Hey!
”
Ty growled.
“
Leave my sister alone!
”

“
She just told us she could have prevented all of this!
”
Evo waved her hands around wildly.
“
Sure, I love taking out I-Men but if I could go back
…”
Her gaze snagged on X. A silent conversation passed between them as he inched forward to intertwine Evo
’
s hand with his. When she looked back in my direction her expression had softened for some inexplicable reason.
“
But I guess there
’
s no point to crying over spilt milk. We
’
re all here now and there
’
s no going back. Maybe I wouldn
’
t, even if I could.
”

Huh.
Evo made me wonder what kind of pre M-Day hell her and X had been living in. Did they even know each other or did they come together because of the apocalypse? I swept my gaze over both of my brothers and wondered if they would have met Max and Nyx if things had been different. Did any of that really matter?

I shoved all my emotions back down again, hating that I
’
d let them out even for a short period of time.
“
Evo
’
s right. There
’
s nothing any of us, even me, can do about what
’
s already happened. All we can do is move forward.
”
I sighed heavily, meeting Ty
’
s gaze. He nodded encouragingly.
“
Men-V swept the entire world, not just the US, but I
’
m sure you
’
ve all probably guessed that.
”
More tension filled the air. I could tell by everyone
’
s expressions that they
’
d hoped otherwise and I
’
d just confirmed their worst fears.

I hated having to be the bearer of such bad news. I continued on anyways.
“
But it
’
s not that simple as you
’
re all finding out. The virus has been mutating, more and more of those I-Monsters are going to start showing up. It seems as though the virus has broken off into different strains, or quite possibly, Doctor Greensley released different versions, I
’
m not really sure. I do know that all I-Men won
’
t just turn into I-Monsters, but some I-Men have already been infected by the virus that will cause the I-Monsters. There could be other strains out there that we don
’
t even know about yet.
”
I rolled my head, my neck cracking.
“
As much as I know
…
there
’
s more that I don
’
t.
”

“
Ummm
…”
Ty interjected.
“
I
’
m pretty sure there are more strains out there.
”

“
Okaaaay,
”
I drawled.
“
What have you seen?
”

Ty turned away from me and cupped the back of his neck, fidgeting.
“
Are all of the strains I-Monster causing?
”

Anxiety knotted my stomach.
“
Hopefully not, but since I don
’
t know anything about these other strains
…”
I bit my lip, studying my twin
’
s tense back.
“
Tell me, Ty.
”

“
We
’
re all infected,
”
Evo said matter-of-factly.

I blinked rapidly, staring at Evo
’
s bland expression.
“
All of you?
”
My mind was reeling. Women could be infected too? I
’
d thought their immunity was a certainty.

“
Yep, we
’
re all infected means
all
of us.
”
Sarcasm dripped from Evo
’
s tone.
“
Or would an actual list make it easier for you to understand? Me, X, Zee, Max
…”
She ticked off everyone
’
s name on her fingers.

Tuning out Evo, I pulled myself to my feet, wincing as I hobbled over to Ty.
“
What are your symptoms?
”

Zee came to stand in front of me, letting Ty slide down to sit against the wall with Nyx.
“
I
’
d wager a guess that each of us have different strains by the information you just gave us, or each couple does.
”
He motioned to Max, his face stoic.
“
I infected her with whatever I have.
”
He dipped a finger in his eye, popping out a contact, causing me to gasp. It was ice blue.
“
One blue, like a regular I-Man, and the other normal.
”

Max motioned to her own eyes.
“
Mine have a ring of ice around the outer edges. We
’
re stronger, faster
…
a lot of the same symptoms the I-Men exhibit.
”

“
And more aggressive,
”
Zee tagged on.

“
Yeah, that too.
”
Max nodded.

Evo sniggered.
“
You don
’
t want to leave out the best part
—
Zee came back from the dead. With him being only partially infected, we
’
d thought he was going to stay dead. Turns out he
’
s our little groups very own zombie
—”

“
Evo!
”
Max snapped as she leaned over to smack her on the back of the head.
“
One thing at a time!
”

“
What?
”
She rubbed her head, glaring at Max.
“
And don
’
t ever hit me again or I
’
ll cut off your goddamn hand.
”

Max crossed her arms over her chest.
“
No. You won
’
t.
”

“
Wanna bet?
”

“
Guys! Stop!
”
Nyx yelled, her face flushing with anger.
“
I
’
m sick of the two of you fighting!
”

“
I didn
’
t start it,
”
Evo growled.
“
Max obviously needs to get laid.
”

“
I swear to God
—”

“
Enough!
”
I bellowed, effectively shutting everyone up for the moment.
“
I need to know everyone
’
s symptoms
…
please.
”
I was trying not to think about the part where Evo had said my brother had died
…
and came back to life. Emotional bombshells were exploding everywhere and even I could only ignore so much for so long.

“
We
’
re like some kind of weird monster mash, sis.
”
Ty grinned, his eyes still managing to twinkle, of course.
“
Zee and Max are the zombies, Evo and X are vampires
—
no joke. The two of them grow fangs and bite each other, and then Nyx and me are like werewolves. I mean, we don
’
t get furry or anything but I kind of get claws and fangs, but only
…”

I clutched at my chest, my lungs struggling to get air. Whatever else Ty was saying was lost in the buzz that had taken up residence in my head.
Zombies? Vampires? Werewolves? What the fuck?
I mean, I guess it was plausible to draw the parallels, but it was still a bit much to process all at once.
“
Stop!
”
I raised my hands.
“
I need to think. I need to understand
—”
I hobbled across the room, heading for what appeared to be the only way out, a ladder.

“
Vi! You need to
—”
Ty started but I didn
’
t let him finish.

“
Five minutes. I just need five minutes of fresh air.
”

“
But you
—”

“
I just found out that my older brother was dead and came back to life.
”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat.
“
And my twin is infected with a strain of virus that I don
’
t know what it
’
s going to do to him. Five minutes.
”

“
It
’
s not safe out there. You need to
—”

“
And it
’
s all my fault!
”
I screamed, losing my cool for a moment.

“
Five minutes,
”
Zee rumbled.
“
Five minutes and if you
’
re not back, I
’
m coming to get you.
”

I nodded once before making my way up the ladder one grueling rung at a time. And to think: I hadn
’
t even talked about everything I needed to share yet. More bombs were about to be dropped, and some of them weren
’
t figurative, that was kind of why the clock was ticking.

I lifted the hatch after unlocking it, and peered into a dilapidated kitchen. It looked like the owner of the shelter put more effort into it than the rest of his humble abode, not that I was complaining. I tilted my head and listened for any noise. After a moment I was satisfied that the coast was clear so I meandered into what used to be the living room. Currently a family of raccoons were making a cozy home in and around the couch. It comforted me for some reason, to see life, even if it wasn
’
t human life.

A wave of sadness crashed into me as I thought about Cujo. She
’
d been with me such a short period of time, but I missed her. She
’
d been fierce and protective of me, dying to make sure I made it away from the I-Monsters. Dogs are loyal to a fault, and you can
’
t help but love them unconditionally. If you asked me, the relationship you can develop with man and woman
’
s best friend is the only kind of real love at first sight. I
’
d fallen hard and fast for Cujo, loving her like a child I never had. I swiped at the corners of my eyes as they burned with unshed tears. No matter how hard I tried, my emotions kept springing to the surface.

A hand slapped over my mouth, gripping my face hard, and yet not painfully.
“
Don
’
t scream. I won
’
t hurt you,
”
a male voice rasped against my ear. A sharp inhale of breath, followed by a long exhale caused goose bumps to erupt along my skin. I trembled with fear, memories of being on the bathroom floor, ice blue eyes looming above me, playing across my mind. Despite the terror that caused me to quake, I was done being a victim. Once was quite enough.

I bit down on the fleshy palm of the assailant, kicking my leg back at the same time to connect with hopefully something soft and vulnerable. The man grunted, letting me go. I whirled around to face my would-be attacker, adrenaline easing all of own pain. I prepared to
—

“
Riley?
”
Disbelief froze me in place. There in front of me, clutching his groin was the love of my life. He wore nothing but a pair of camo fatigues, and a shit load of weapons. His face was dirty, and his body covered in both dirt and grime. He
’
d been out doing God knows what for the past few weeks, all of it because he
’
d left to look for me.
“
I
’
m so sorry,
”
I croaked.
“
I didn
’
t realize it was you.
”
A part of me wondered if I
’
d collapsed again and was merely having a wish-fulfilling dream.

“
Step away from him slowly,
”
Zee
’
s voice came from behind me.

“
It
’
s Riley! I didn
’
t know it was him either. He didn
’
t mean to
—”

“
He
’
s infected, Vi,
”
Ty choked out.

“
No. No he
’
s not.
”
I crouched down beside Riley, reaching for his face tentatively.
“
I
’
m sorry, Riley. I didn
’
t know it was you
—
plus you scared me.
”