V-Day: (M-Day #4) (29 page)

The excitement was palpable but no one said a word until Evo got a good look at some of the guns on the boat.
“
Daaaamn,
”
she drawled before whirling around to punch X in the arm.
“
See, I bet that
’
s why that plane crashed a while back, remember? I bet they have a no fly zone because of these bad boys, so no one, especially I-Men can get close without their approval. I bet that
’
s why we couldn
’
t find any planes.
”
She turned back to study the ship
’
s guns again.
“
Seriously, what
’
s a girl got to do to shoot one of those? Or who?
”

We all burst into laughter at Evo
’
s outburst. After everything we
’
d been through, me not even knowing the full scope of it for everyone else, it felt almost wrong to be so cheery
—
so happy. But it was born from relief. It was like we could breathe for the first time in forever. Or at least that
’
s what it felt like for me.

Once on the boat, everyone in our group was given new clothes, time to shower and eat, and then shown to their new living quarters. I was escorted, by several men I
’
d never seen before, ranks unknown, to be debriefed. I wasn
’
t sure ranks were even being used anymore, since there were military and operatives from all over the world. I didn
’
t know how any of it was going to work in the long run, but since I
’
d been gone I decided to just roll with it.

I waited in a small room with table and chairs, fidgeting nervously. I couldn
’
t decide when would be the best time to reveal the fact that I
’
d just brought a bunch of infected people on board.
Maybe I should hold out to talk to the scientists.

Flanked by two armed guards, Martha, our new leader, at least for the time being, entered the room. She smiled warmly at me, her aging face more drawn since the last time I
’
d seen her. About a half inch of grey hair showed at the base of her blonde locks and yet somehow still perfectly coifed hair. She
’
d been the Prime Minister before M-Day, and since the other world leaders had been men, it only made sense for her to take the position of power being that we were facing a virus that until recently, we thought only affected men.

She sat down across from me and folded her hands neatly.
“
Vivienne, I
’
m quite relieved to see you again. Please, tell me what you observed whilst on your mission.
”

I didn
’
t want to consider how close we
’
d come to getting washed away in the cleansing. Although no one had mentioned it at all since we
’
d gotten back, which was niggling at me. I
’
d at least expected Martha to. I also wasn
’
t sure if I should be bothered by her not mentioning the rest of my team not returning. I decided not to worry about it for the time being.
“
It
’
s worse than we thought out there. The infected, or I-Men as I
’
ve learned to call them, are everywhere. We came across very few survivors that weren
’
t past the point of no return
…”
Images of abused woman flashed across my mind, and I ground my teeth together, barely keeping the memory of my own rape at bay for the moment.
“
We did what we could.
”
I thought about Tasha, Emily, Tams and the rest of the women that had been monsters of a different sort.
“
There are still people that need evacuated out there.
”

“
Yes, well, we can
’
t save everyone. It was agreed upon to do a limited sweep of all countries, to do as much as you could, as you put it, before the cleansing. We can
’
t risk all of humanity for a few more innocent lives.
”

She had a point, and I knew it, but I didn
’
t know if I could stand to live with any more guilt.
“
I understand, but
—”

“
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and all of that rot.
”
She waved her hand at me, essentially dismissing the rest of my argument.
“
Now, tell me anything else that could be useful to us.
”

I fidgeted in my chair, flicked my gaze away. I had to give her something.
“
Riley, one of the uninfected men that I brought back with me. He was becoming an I-Man, he was infected
—”
I glanced up to see Martha
’
s eyes widen with alarm.
“
But something cured him,
”
I blurted.
“
We need to get him to the scientists to figure it out. The cure for everyone could lie with him. Maybe we won
’
t need to cleanse after all.
”

Martha cleared her throat and steepled her fingers.
“
Cured? Are you sure?
”

No.
“
Yes. I wouldn
’
t have brought him here if I wasn
’
t.
”
I bit my lip and met her gaze head on.
“
And Martha, Ma
’
am, he
’
s very important to me. I know it doesn
’
t matter to you or in the grand scheme of things
—
but I love him.
”

“
Why are you telling me this?
”

Images of some of the
‘
volunteers
’
that Doctor Greensley had used flashed across my mind. I knew what the military and scientists were capable of.
“
I just thought it bore mentioning.
”

Martha stared at me a moment before standing.
“
Very good. I
’
ll send someone to retrieve this Riley shortly. We
’
ll do a standard work up on him
—
blood etc., and go from there.
”
She turned to leave but paused.
“
And you
’
re welcome to join him if you want.
”

“
Thank you.
”
I blew out a relieved breath as she left.

I ran into Nyx on the way back to my room, she was skulking around as if looking for something, or as it turned out, someone. Her eyes lit up when she saw me.
“
Just the person I need to talk to.
”
She grabbed my arm and pulled through a nearby door.

“
This is my and Ty
’
s room,
”
she said in passing.
“
We
’
ll have some privacy to talk here.
”
She motioned for me to sit on the cot next to her.

“
Where is Ty?
”

“
Trying to find someone who will listen to him about his virus and cure theories.
”

I tilted my head, studying her.
“
Okay, so what
’
s this about? You seem
…
anxious.
”

Her leg bounced up and down, illustrating my point.
“
If you want us to keep the fact that we
’
re infected a secret for the time being
…
you
’
re going to have to get us a few things.
”

I raised my eyebrows in confusion.
“
Like what?
”

“
Well, me and Ty don
’
t show any physical anomalies most of the time, and we
’
ve both learned our triggers. Same for X and Evo. The real problem is with Max and Zee.
”
She motioned to her eyes.
“
As you know, Zee has one ice blue eye, and he
’
s down to his last brown contact lens to hide it. And Max has the ring of ice blue that, well, isn
’
t as obvious, but it
’
s going to raise some red flags if noticed.
”

“
If they can just hold tight for a little bit, I
’
m hoping their infected status won
’
t be a big deal.
”

“
Okay.
”
She nibbled on her thumbnail.
“
I just wanted to keep you apprised of the situation.
”

I leaned over and squeezed her shoulder.
“
Don
’
t worry. I
’
ll take care of everything.
”
I hope.
I smiled down at Nyx as I rose to leave.
“
Seriously, I got this.
”
Her expression relaxed as mine tightened.
“
I
’
ll talk to you guys later. I have some things I need to take care of now.
”

“
Thanks.
”
Despite how I
’
d seen Nyx carry her own in a battle with I-Monsters, she seemed so small and childlike curled up on the cot. I had to resist the urge to hug her.

“
No problem.
”
I left without a backward glance, hurrying to my room to make sure I was there with Riley when he was taken to get his tests done. I couldn
’
t shake the irrational fear that if I wasn
’
t with him, something horrible would happen.

I jogged past two men heading in the direction of our room, one wearing a lab coat. I picked up my pace, bursting into our tiny room, out of breath from almost hyperventilating.

“
Viv?
”
Riley jumped to his feet, wariness marking his expression.

I waved my hand at him as I bent over to catch my breath.
“
It
’
s nothing to worry about. I just wanted to make sure I was here when they came for you
—”

A sharp knock sounded at our door, before it swung open to reveal the two men I
’
d passed in the hallway.
“
Martha informed you of the
—”

“
Yes, how long do you think we
’
ll be?
”

“
Hard to say,
”
the scientist murmured, his eyes twinkling excitedly as he looked at Riley. He was tall and thin, thick glasses perched on his large nose. He fulfilled almost every physical stereotype associated with a scientist, or at least the ones I
’
d come to know.
“
I
’
m looking forward to getting started. Shall we?
”
He motioned for us to follow them.

Riley quirked a brow, snagging my hand within his, and tugged me along after him.
“
I told them how you were infected. They want to take some blood samples and stuff. You could be the key to finding a cure.
”

“
Sure, no problem.
”
He sidled up closer to me as we walked.
“
The sooner we get it over with though, the sooner I can have some alone time with you.
”
His fingers trailed along my waist and dipped to skim my ass.

I couldn
’
t help the giggle that escaped from me. When the scientist glanced back at me I bit my lip and tried to appear contrite. The problem was being with Riley made me kind of feel like I was sixteen again. It was like M-Day had wiped away all of the hurt between us and given our relationship a fresh start
…
sort of. I still remembered our past, it wasn
’
t like it
’
d just disappeared, but after almost losing Riley for good, it all seemed insignificant.