Page 19 of Chaos Destiny
The driver started the SUV and ambled out of the woods. Once we reached the road, I allowed Tayler to lift Thandie off my lap. Thandie, apparently not ready to be away from me, started to cry, so I took her back into my arms and repeatedly kissed the top of her head.
“You hear that, baby girl? Mommy’s alive, and we’re going to see her.”
I snuggled her close, and I was pretty sure that, had it not been for my present company, I would have shed a tear or two.
8
TAYLER
“Tayler, we have to talk.”
I quickly slipped out of my wet clothes and searched the drawers in the filing cabinet that doubled as my dresser. Although it was humid outside, the fan in the room sucked up the remnants of moisture that remained on my damp skin. As “President” and unofficial “First Lady” of the camp, Allen and I had “earned” the right to use the extra energy to keep our quarters cool during the warmer nights.
“Tayler, I’m serious. What you did tonight was stupid, senseless, and dangerous.”
I pointed in the general direction of our infirmary. “Senseless? Me saving a man and hisbabyfrom a walking corpseanda fire is senseless?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Allen, I saw something. I got out to take a closer look and saw him. Plus, he’s who we went looking for in the first place.”
I’d spotted the golden hair in the rising glow from the flame. Plus, there’d been something odd about the way he’d held the jacket over his midsection. There was no reason to obscure a weapon from those who were infected. Once the symptomsset in, humans lost every faculty that made us sentient. Those infected didn’t know the difference between a weapon and a banana.
“Do no harm,” I continued, slipping into a T-shirt and pair of shorts that had seen their share of use over the past several months. “I went out there to try to save a life or two. So, don’t stand there and tell me anything was stupid and senseless when both of those lives are safe behind our walls tonight.”
“I don’t meanyouare,” he clarified.
I took a step closer to him. “Allen, I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to save people, okay? I lost too many before everything went to shit. Too damn many. If there are survivors, and I can do something, I’m going to help. Now, excuse me. I have patients to check on.”
He stepped aside.
Yet, before I could walk through the door, he grabbed my arm, pulled me up against him, and held me close.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I removed myself from his embrace, left the room, and hurried down the stairwell to the first floor. Many of the upper floors were classrooms, along with some offices.
Allen and I shared what used to be a break room, which we turned into our living quarters. I had one side, and he had his own. To the outside world, we walked through the same door at the end of the day. Whatever happened or didn’t happen behind that door didn’t matter; appearances had to be kept for the stability of the camp. According to Allen, most people needed a leader, and most competent leaders needed a strong figure by their side.
Had our circumstances been different, I wouldn’t let him hold or touch me in any way, but outside of Omar, I had no one else. When I first showed up, I’d shucked his advances.Eventually, I craved enough intimacy and closeness to give in to hugs, strokes, and forehead kisses.
Once downstairs, I slowed to a steady pace before entering the woman’s room. Gage sat beside the bed, wearing only a pair of drawstring shorts. Thandie, dressed in only a diaper, was tucked against his chest, one of his arms wrapped around her like a security blanket.
Seeing them together caused an unexpected jolt of emotion to manifest adjacent to the cavity where my heart lived. It was beautiful to see someone this devoted to his family after all that had happened.
“She doesn’t sound good,” he said. “Ari, I mean. The way she’s breathing...it doesn’t sound good. But she doesn’t have a bite. I checked—back then and just now.”
I joined them at Ari’s bedside. “I know. I examined her, too. It’s pneumonia.”
“Do you know how she might have gotten it?”
“A myriad of ways. I mean, trying to live through an apocalypse might be a factor. Do you remember when she started showing symptoms?”
“Not really, no. Every day just kind of...”
“Blends into the other,” I finished.
“Basically. She started running a fever maybe two or three days ago and had some weakness, fatigue, and muscle aches, but,” he motioned around, “I chalked it up to our circumstances. Once the cough started, I realized something else was going on.”
