Haley was with Page, curled up on the Breakup Couch as I liked to affectionately refer to it. She smiled at me when I walked over and patted the seat next to her. I sat down with a huge sigh and she shot me a sidelong look.
Page had fallen back asleep and rested against Haley’s side. Her breathing was even and soft and perfect. Haley stroked her freshly washed hair and seemed more relaxed than she’d been in weeks.
“I saw you talking to Hendrix earlier.” She gave me a sly smile.
This time when I sighed, it sounded like a cat dying. “Yep. He reconfirmed our breakup.”
Haley’s expression turned to disgust. “Oh. I thought he might have… I don’t know, I don’t know why I thought he followed you out there.”
“Yes, you do. And I had hoped for the same thing. But, no. We are still definitely broken up.”
Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “This is worse than when you ran Chris over with your mom’s car.”
“I know.”
“He’s a bastard. You’re better off without him.”
“Do you really believe that?”
She didn’t answer.
“Fine. But if you’re going to lie, at least tell me everything’s going to be all right.”
“Everything is going to be all right,” she echoed.
“You’re a terrible liar. And a terrible friend. The least you could do is be heartbroken with me.”
I laid my cheek on her boney shoulder and she kissed the top of my head. “Do you want me to breakup with Nelson so you don’t have to go through this alone?”
“Yes,” I told her. “No. One of us should be happy.”
“One of us should have s-e-x. Now you’re going to die a virgin.”
“Whatever,” I laughed. “I’ve seen how these movies go. I’m going to live a virgin. You’re going to die a horrifically slutty death.”
She snorted a laugh. “How does one die a slutty death exactly?”
“Shh,” Tyler scolded as she rounded the corner. “Page is going to dream bad words thanks to you two.”
We shared a look and rolled our eyes. “Page is too sweet for our bad influence to rub off on her,” Haley cooed.
Tyler and I shared an eye roll next.
“My brother’s a psycho,” Tyler spit out.
“I’ve been waiting for this. I thought you’d come at me with this days ago.”
She sank down on the other couch and put her nose in the air. “I’ve been trying to be sensitive. I know you’ve been through a lot. But I can’t hold my tongue any longer. If you so much as look lustfully at Kane, I’m going to scratch out your eyes, spin you in a hundred circles and send you on your way.”
“Yikes,” Haley mumbled. “Now I know where Kane gets it from.”
Tyler glared at Haley until we dissolved into laughter- even Tyler. Page jostled awake from Haley’s shaking body and blinked up at us with that same innocent confusion she had earlier.
She yawned widely and looked at the three of us again. “I missed you guys.”
“We missed you too, baby girl,” Haley promised her.
There was much more to say between us, but we quieted down when the sound of someone approaching caught our attention. One of the scientists came into view and walked up to us carefully.
Bobbi Jo, the only one of them I really knew, took careful steps and seemed more humbled than usual. She was a really nice person, but we couldn’t trust her. A lifetime of experience had taught us that. They didn’t really seem to trust us either though, so at least the paranoia went both ways.
“It’s great to see that she’s better,” Bobbi Jo greeted.
I felt Haley’s muscles tense and knew without having to look that she’d tightened her arm around Page. Tyler sat up straighter, too. We were all mama-bears around this little girl. Bobbi Jo needed to be careful.
“We think so, too,” I finally said.
The scientist shifted uncomfortably and looked back over her shoulder before returning her attention to us. Her short red hair bounced with the movement. “It was a Feeder bite, wasn’t it?”
We didn’t answer.
That was confirmation enough for her. She went on, “We have two survivors at the station. Well, that is to say, two people that have survived the infection. We’ve had several patients that can’t manage the infection even if they don’t turn. We’ve never seen one this young before, however. We’re all very… Impressed.”
“Thank you,” I managed.
Bobbi Jo’s face grew more serious, and I watched her visible struggle with her thoughts and next words. “It’s just that… Well, we’ve been so grateful for your hospitality so far. We haven’t been able to take a few days off since we left the station and we desperately needed to recoup.”
I smiled a little easier. “Glad we could help. Haley and I know exactly what that’s like. Until we met the Parkers, I thought I would die of a stress headache just trying to survive the day-to-day stuff.”
“Exactly,” she laughed nervously. “And well, we heard you earlier. Er, in your discussion. We decided we would wait here for one more day and then head out. We have a lot of ground to cover, and we’d like to head back south before the winter truly sets in.”
“Right,” I agreed. Winter. We were safe enough this far south but if Hendrix and Vaughan chose to head north instead of any other direction, we would have to get creative to survive the cold months. The only good thing about winter in an era without technology or electricity was that the Feeders were as hampered by the snow and ice as we were. But staying warm and finding food enough to feed our large group would be nearly impossible.
South, to where it was warm enough to avoid snow and below zero temps, was our only option at this point. But that was also where the Zombies clustered.
Bobbi Jo hovered around us even though we didn’t try to engage her in any more conversation. I could tell she had something to say, but I could also tell, by her nervous behavior, that I probably wasn’t going to like it.
“We could use her,” she suddenly blurted out. “We could use her blood. To work on a cure and a vaccine. She would be very valuable to us. If we could just study her and-”
“She’s not for sale,” Haley snarled.
Bobbi Jo blanched. “No, of course not. I didn’t think she was. I mean that’s not what I was implying at all. You would all be welcome. We would find a place for all of you.”
The four of us shared a look. Even Page seemed skeptical.
“Tests, right? And drawing blood? Poking and prodding her until she’s nothing more than a science project? That’s what you mean, isn’t it?” I felt my blood boil under my skin. Sure, I’d entertained thoughts about me being part of the solution, but not Page. It was different if I was the one helping humanity. But at eight, Page hardly owed the epic decline of civilization a single thing.
“Not exactly. Her blood is… She’s priceless. She is immune to a disease that kills or turns more than ninety-nine percent of humans. Can you comprehend what that means for us? She could be the solution. She could have the code to our survival written in her body. She would be more than a science project. She could be the solution.”
“But you said you already had two other patients. Why do you need her, too?” Tyler demanded.
“Well, the more test subjects we have, the more information we can gather. This is an involved project. It takes time. It takes dedication. And our patients don’t have infinite supplies of blood as you can imagine. Most of our work is interrupted by the limitations on the human body.”
“And you want to test those limitations on this little girl?” Haley asked scornfully.
The scientist shook her head quickly, and her bob whipped around her face. “No, of course not. We wouldn’t push her more than she could handle. She’s obviously too valuable for us to damage. We would treat her with the utmost respect and care. But that’s the thing. She’s valuable. She could easily be the answers to the holes in our research.”
/> “Why do you say that?” I asked, genuinely curious.
Bobbi Jo looked back over her shoulder again before admitting. “The other two patients both underwent chemo and radiation therapy. They had cancer previous to the outbreak but went into remission. We’re unsure if this is a phenomenon or related to their immunization somehow. Where their bodies should be compromised and weakened by their old illnesses, their treatment has somehow fortified them against this particular disease. It’s also compromised their blood. We can’t trust our research one hundred percent. Unless she’s also gone through chemo or radiation, then we have to assume, she’s unique.”
Before Bobbi Jo could go on with her argument, Page spoke up. “My mom went through chemo.”
Bobbie Jo looked a little shell-shocked but gathered herself quickly. “But you didn’t go through it with her, did you?”
Page shook her head. “No. But I would cuddle with her until she felt better.”
Bobbi Jo frowned and considered Page’s words. I had to admit the coincidences between the chemo-exposed immunities were bizarre. Did it somehow protect someone from changing? Or was it somehow all related?
“What are the chances?” Bobbi Jo muttered to herself. She took a few more moments to think that over before she said, “Well, in any case, we would like to extend an official invitation to Colombia. The trip is dangerous, but I don’t think I need to remind you how incredible it would be to save humanity. How incredible it would be to be part of the solution. You’re smart, capable people that I believe could make it down there. In fact, people like you are the entire reason we came up here. We were sent to recruit whomever we could find and send them back to Colombia to help with this task. And not only could you add many benefits to life in the station, but like I said before, Page’s blood is invaluable. We would be that much closer to eradicating this horrific plague.”
“Thank you for offering us this opportunity,” I answered her politely. “It’s definitely an offer we will carefully consider.”
Bobbi Jo didn’t look convinced. “Really, you can’t imagine-”
“We said we’d think it over,” Tyler interrupted. “And we will. We have to find a new place to go anyway. And putting a horde army between me and my father sounds like the perfect plan. But it’s not up to us alone. We talk things over as a group. You’ve made your case now be on your way.”
Sometimes I loved that girl’s spunk.
I smiled sweetly at the scientist, even while she shot Tyler a nasty look. “Well, that’s all I can ask, I guess. That you just consider us. At least head that direction. I’ll leave this with you.” She handed me a wrinkled map of Bogotá with a specific route highlighted in yellow. The place where I had to assume the station sat was circled in red.
“Thank you,” I told her. I was honestly impressed by her efficiency. Especially because not one of us spoke fluent Spanish and we could probably live our entire lives in the capital city of Colombia without ever stumbling upon the research station.
“Alright,” she cleared her throat and looked for a way to politely excuse herself. “I wanted to thank you again. We would have died that day had it not been for you all. Whatever you think our intentions are with Page, please know that we owe you our lives and we want to honor that. Thank you again for your hospitality. Your kindness and generosity are a rarity these days. Those people you’re going after tomorrow, I mean, I don’t know the specifics of the situation, but I do know that they’re lucky. They’re fortunate to have you fighting for them.”
We were all a little overwhelmed by her compliments. In sporadic intervals, we mumbled our thank you and watched her walk away.
Once we were relatively alone again, Haley said in a bemused voice, “By listening to her you’d think we’re modern day saints.”
Tyler grunted. “Yeah, modern day saints that dream about murdering my parents in their sleep.”
I laughed, surprised by her comment. “Isn’t there an assassin branch of sainthood?”
“Ha, assassin!” Haley elbowed me in the ribs. “You wish you were that cool.”
Page came to my defense quickly. “Reagan is that cool. She killed like a hundred Feeders one night. And she saved my life. Lots of times.”
“See?” I raised my eyebrows and dared the other girls to doubt my awesomeness again. “Page gets it.”
“Yeah, well, you should have seen the way I handled those Feeders the other day. I showed them what was up,” Tyler bragged.
Haley snort-laughed again. “Vaughan told me you threw up all over a Zombie that decapitated itself.”
“Goddamnit, Vaughan,” Tyler hissed.
“Cuss jar!” Page squeaked and my heart swelled with that familiar phrase.
I reached across Haley and pulled Page into my lap. It was no easy task and Haley got kicked in the stomach twice. Finally, I had Page situated between us and I wrapped my arms around her as tightly as I could.
“I’m so glad you’re better,” I whispered into her hair. “I missed you like crazy!” She was still cold and clammy and nowhere near completely healed. The bite wound on her back was slowly healing and she could manage a baggy t-shirt from one of her brothers to wear over it. She wasn’t all the way better, but she would be soon. We had Page back. She’d survived a Feeder bite and lived to tell about it.
I ran the numbers Bobbi Jo gave us again in my head. They only knew of two other people that had survived the infection.
Two.
Of course, they didn’t have access to the entire population at large. They had one small research station in one huge town that half the population of the town probably didn’t even know about.
They didn’t have consistent or far-reaching data. They had a few facts that they wanted to base an immunization on.
I didn’t want Page to be a part of such a rudimentary study. And I highly doubted her brothers wanted her to be either.
However, some of what Bobbi Jo said rang louder in my ears than other things. Did we have a responsibility to humanity? Did we owe it to modern civilization to try to save them?
Or were the rest of them just a bunch of dictatorial douche bags like Matthias Allen that wanted to exploit our weaknesses and turn us all into mindless slaves?
That was the most disturbing thought of all. Matthias was one battle to fight, but if we went south, we would have to go up against ex-cartel and men who allowed the Feeders to organize into armies.
Essentially, we would be trading one monster for a country full of more monsters.
What was the right way?
Miller found us next and sat down by Tyler. He didn’t say anything at first, he just watched Page with enough intensity that I was convinced he thought she was going to disappear right in front of him.
“You look better,” I told him after a few minutes of strange silence.
He shrugged. “But tomorrow we’re going back to him, so I’m sure he’ll have me looking just like I did in no time.”
“Miller,” Tyler chastised. “If we see him, we’re going to kill him. It’s not going to be like last time. That’s the point.”
He shrugged again. “You can’t kill him. He’s invincible.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have laughed and thought Miller was making a joke, but something in his tone made his words very unfunny.
“He’s not invincible,” I promised him. “He’s a man, like any of us. We just have to get close enough so that we don’t miss.”
Miller shook his head. “He won’t die. He won’t ever die.” For a moment, Miller’s eyes looked dead, not in the least bit alive. A chill snaked over my skin and I forced myself to look closer, to see the carefree, gutsy boy Miller used to be.
I had been recently dragged through hell, too, so I could relate to Miller’s hopelessness. I didn’t like that he seemed so dismantled when he talked about his dad, but I could understand where he was coming from.
It was scary how vacant he seemed though. He seemed as lost as the Feeders I
killed daily.
Tyler had wrapped her arms around his shoulders, but he didn’t seem touched at all by her comfort. He seemed to fight the urge to pull away actually. Haley and I watched on sympathetically, but it was Page that moved to action first.
She hopped up from the couch and dropped to her knees. She just had to crawl a few feet to pop up again between Miller’s bent legs. She put two frail hands over his much larger one, but still only half-the-size-of-a-full-grown-man’s hands. Hers were so delicately white and pale compared to his extra-tanned ones.
“Miller,” she coaxed. “You have to trust my brothers. They saved you from him twice now. And they saved me from him, too. If they want to kill him, they will.”
Some light returned to Miller’s expression and he looked down at the glory of Page Parker. “Promise?”
She nodded quickly. “I promise. And I always keep my promises.”
“I missed you,” he suddenly blurted out. His cheeks darkened a deep shade of red and he fidgeted beneath Page’s too-wise gaze. “I mean when I was locked up. I missed you.”
I pressed my lips together and let the adorableness that was these two kids unfold before me. I wasn’t sure Miller was in the best place to be confessing that to an eight-year-old, but I also didn’t need a reminder that he was a traumatized kid that had to deal with his own parent’s abuse. Page was one of the only good things in his life. And I had no doubt that he missed her every second he was away from her. It didn’t have to be weird or overly affectionate. It just was. They were feelings and he couldn’t help but have them.
I should have known that better than anybody.
“I missed you, too,” she told him back. “I don’t ever want you to go away again.”
“I won’t,” Miller told her with every ounce of will in his small, beaten body. “I won’t ever go away until you want me to.”
Page beamed at him with her thousand-watt smile and huge blue eyes. “Good,” she said. Then she threw her arms around his neck.
He jumped at the contact and patted her back awkwardly while she continued to squeeze him. Eventually, Miller got uncomfortable enough that Tyler laughingly separated them. Page rejoined Haley and me on the couch and grinned at us. She seemed completely recharged after cheering Miller up. And Miller seemed more lifelike after that as well.