V-Day: (M-Day #4) (14 page)

“
I said to step away. Now,
”
Zee growled. The sound of a gun
’
s hammer being cocked caused panic to wash over me.

“
Didn
’
t you hear me? It
’
s Riley!
”

“
Not anymore, Vi. He
’
s infected,
”
Ty said.

“
So are you. It doesn
’
t mean
—”
I stopped short when Riley
’
s eyelids popped open.
“
No. He has a strain like one of you. He
’
s not an I-Man.
”
I wasn
’
t sure who I was trying to convince, me or my brothers. I was pretty sure all of us knew the truth though.

Riley
’
s possessive ice blue gaze locked onto me like I was the only person in the room, or quite possibly the world.
“
Viv,
”
he muttered my name, reaching for me.

“
Get out of the way, Vi,
”
Zee commanded.

“
No. No, you can
’
t shoot him. There
’
s been a mistake.
”
I choked back a sob, unable to stop staring at Riley.
“
He
’
s not infected.
”

“
I can
’
t believe it actually worked.
”
Riley scrubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw.
“
The group of I-Men I was tracking finally led me to you.
”

“
So that
’
s how he did it, and in the process got himself infected. Now you know. Time to step aside, Vivienne,
”
Zee grated, his patience wearing thin, obvious only by the use of my full name.

“
Riley?
”
I leaned forward, not caring anymore what he was, as long as he was still mine.
“
It
’
ll be okay. No one is going to hurt you.
”
I tentatively laid my hand on his chest.

Riley blinked dazedly, still riveted by just my face.
“
I can
’
t believe I finally found you.
”
He covered my hand with one of his, pressing it into his hard muscles.

It
’
d been so long since I
’
d seen Riley, let alone touched him. The small contact had me flinging myself at him before I made the conscious effort to, and I buried my face where my hand had just been. I inhaled deeply, searching for traces of Riley
’
s familiar scent beneath the grime that covered his body. Before I got a chance to find it, I was being dragged away by Ty, while Zee stalked forward, handgun pointed directly at Riley
’
s head.

“
NO!
”
I screeched, before setting in to biting and kicking at Ty.

“
Zee stop!
”
Max yelled, effectively halting him.
Thank God.
Max dashed over to his side, whispering hurriedly to my brother. He clenched his jaw, nodding once before lowering the gun.

Ty stilled his backward dragging of me across the floor.
“
What
’
s going on?
”
Before he could reply I took advantage of his diverted attention, really sinking my teeth into his forearm.
“
Fuck!
”
He let me go and I scrambled to get back to Riley
’
s side. I glanced over in time to see several of the raccoons emerging from their nest, very pissed off. The biggest one scuttled towards Zee, hissing and growling. He instinctively backed up, and raised his gun.

“
Don
’
t you dare!
”
Max exclaimed, jumping in front of him.

“
Max!
”
Zee rumbled with frustration.
“
They could have rabies.
”

“
Since when did you turn into Evo, shooting at everything? Besides, what
’
s rabies going to do to me?
”

“
We don
’
t have time for this if you want to secure Riley before I get it in my head again to try and shoot him. I
’
ll only wait to see if he might be like one of us if you get it done by the time I count to five.
”

“
You did not just say that,
”
Max growled, her voice changing.

The sound of my heart thudding in my ears drowned out the rest of Zee and Max
’
s fight. Everything had narrowed down to one goal: getting to Riley. He was on his feet by the time I reached him, a feral grin spreading across his face.
“
Viv
—
Vivvy baby. You
’
re mine.
”
He wrapped his arms around me, bliss engulfing me for a short moment before he picked me up, and tossed me over his shoulder, dashing out of the room.

“
VI!
”
Ty yelled at the same time that Zee made a very animal-like sound.

“
Riley! What are you doing? Put me down!
”
I didn
’
t know why I bothered, I realized in that moment how stupid
—
how pathetic I
’
d been. I was just like all the women in horror movies that didn
’
t back away from their zombie husband or child and ended up dead in the end. I always yelled at the TV, unbelieving that anyone would be so asinine. But the truth is, real life makes difficult decisions harder to make
…
because everything is real. It
’
s easy to read a book or watch a movie and feel like a genius, or a badass, or both when the right choices seem so easy. Chances are, a lot more of us would be
‘
too stupid to live
’
if we were thrust into some kind of real life horror
…
like being faced with the love of your life as one of the infected.

“
Riley, please.
”
My words were incongruent with my actions as I pummeled the wide expanse of Riley
’
s muscled back. It was akin to hitting a brick wall, the good it did me.

“
You
’
re mine. All mine,
”
Riley snarled, his fingers digging into my ass.

Houses passed by in a blur, the upside down view making me dizzy and nauseated. My body had been through a lot lately, and now my mind was revolting as well. Raw sobs tore from my chest as all the emotions I
’
d been trying to keep locked away overwhelmed me. I was happy I
’
d found my brothers in one piece, but I
’
d hoped
—
I allowed myself to hope for a happy reunion with Riley as well. I wasn
’
t sure I
’
d even admitted it to myself, but the deep seeded optimism had been there all the same. Realizing that Riley was forever beyond my reach made me feel as if he
’
d ripped my heart out and crushed it in his bare hands.

“
Mine. Mine. Mine. You
’
re mine, Viv. Always have been and always will be.
”

“
Where are you taking me?
”
I mumbled, not really caring if he answered.
What will I do when Ty and Zee come for me? They could be minutes away. How can I let them kill Riley? He might be infected but he
’
s still him
—
he
’
s still Riley. Sort of.
Fresh tears tracked down my cheeks.

“
I
’
m taking you home.
”

I snorted.
“
Yeah, home.
”

The steady rhythm of Riley
’
s fast gate lulled me into a trance for the remainder of the journey. I watched numbly as buildings blurred by my mostly unseeing eyes. When we finally stopped, I wasn
’
t sure if I finally slept or merely passed out from exhaustion. The last thing I saw was Riley
’
s beautiful face, which was why it followed me into my dreams. Or more like nightmares.

I awoke in a hyper aware state, my heart thrashing against my ribcage, and every tiny sound exploding against my eardrums. My eyes widened and then slitted at the brightness cast on my face by a nearby fire. I
’
d been placed on my side on a pallet of leaves, my hands tied behind my back. The awkward angle caused my shoulders to scream in agony when I moved them.

“
Riley?
”
I croaked. When no answer came, I rocked onto my back, gritting my teeth as I pushed up into a semi sitting position. I appeared to be in a clearing in the woods. A small fire blazed within a circle of stones, with large branches situated over the pit in preparations to cook something. At least that
’
s the way it looked to me.

When my eyes finally adjusted, I scanned the clearing looking for signs of Riley. I knew he had to be nearby. Sure enough, the heavy tread of his boots thundered against the ground as he drew near. He emerged from a line of trees carrying several dead bunnies in one hand.
Huh. I
’
d thought Cujo and the raccoons were anomalies. Looks like maybe most animals are just hiding and not all dead.

Riley
’
s muscles rippled with each step he took, and I couldn
’
t help but admire his streamlined physic. He
’
d always been toned, sporting six pack abs even back in high school, but now he was absolutely ripped. Each muscle was clearly defined as if they
’
d been etched out of stone. A sick twisted part of me wondered what it would be like to trace the indentations in his abs with my tongue, down
…
down
…
down
…
I shook my head and forced my gaze to his face, or more specifically his eyes
—
his infected ice blue ices. I shuddered.

While I
’
d been studying Riley, it was obvious he
’
d been studying me. When our gazes collided he finally spoke.
“
What happened to your leg?
”

Was that concern in his tone? Was it possible for an I-Man to feel any kind of compassion? I hadn
’
t thought so, considering them like feral animals, but Zee and Ty
…
“
I was bitten.
”

“
By what?
”
he snapped, stalking to my side to loom over me. The scent of blood and raw meat slammed into me causing bile to rise in my throat. I turned away since I couldn
’
t cover my nose or mouth without the use of my hands. Strong fingers pinched my chin and forced my face back in Riley
’
s direction.
“
What bit you?
”

“
Get those away from me before I
—”
I wrenched away from him and dry heaved since there was nothing on my stomach. But without the support of my arms I ended up toppling over on my side. My nostrils flared taking in more of the acrid scent.
“
Please, the smell.
”

Riley glanced down at the rabbits in his hand as if he
’
d forgotten about them. With a grunt of acknowledgment he tossed them near the fire.
“
Are you sick?
”
He crouched down beside me, using the back of his hand to feel my forehead. It was a tender gesture that again was in opposition to what I knew about I-Men.

“
Maybe. I don
’
t know. I think
—
I think I
’
ve just been through a lot lately.
”
I wriggled my fingers, pins and needles shooting up my arms.
“
Untie me, please.
”
I was also wondering if it was me, or the dead rabbits didn
’
t smell quite right. Maybe the virus had affected animals and we just didn
’
t know it yet.

“
You promise not to run?
”

“
I don
’
t think I could even if I wanted to.
”
At least not outrun him in my condition.

“
I want your promise, Viv.
”

I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering if my promise meant anything to someone who wasn
’
t really Riley anymore.
“
Fine. I promise,
”
I muttered, deciding that my word was only good to my Riley, not a facsimile of him created by Men-V.

He produced a small knife from his pocket, the blade burnished gold by the firelight, and leaned over me. With one quick motion, the pressure on my wrists was gone. Riley stayed where he was though, and my breathing became exponentially more difficult by his proximity. There was some kind of disconnect between my body and mind. My body didn
’
t want to accept a change in Riley even though my mind knew what he now was. My hormones forced memories on me of the two of us together
—
rumpled sheets and his smooth skin sliding against mine. I ached with the need to forget everything but him, even though I knew I couldn
’
t.