Page 43 of The Black Rider
“You can thank Dice and his toys for that. He sent a lot of the bombs that were dropped off course, so they didn’t kill people. It saved a lot of lives. I think your father knew that it would happen. He knew people would survive, even if countries tried to bomb each other to oblivion. That’s why he had you in that secret lab.”
“I kind of want to meet Dice, but I’m still not fucking him in the Oval Office.”
Aeron just laughed.
“You might change your mind. I think Dice is your kind of crazy.”
“No way. I swore off dating crazy after some guy showed up after one date with a poorly tattooed portrait of me on his ass and swore we were soulmates.”
“Be honest. You dumped him because he got a shitty tattoo.”
“It looked like he had a six-year-old draw me in permanent marker on his ass. I offered to cover it up when I kicked him out of my apartment.”
“Dice doesn’t have enough free space on his body to tattoo even your name anywhere. He has more tattoos than Leif and I combined. Asher is the only one of us without tattoos. I will bet you a full body massage you give him his first tattoo.”
“I’m not taking that bet because I won’t try to win it. If Asher doesn’t have tattoos, it’s because he doesn’t want any. I won’t force him to get something permanent on his body just to win a bet. I didn’t always tattoo everyone who came into my shop. I talked many people out of them, too, even if it lost me money.”
“The lab is just up there. I’ll vouch for you.”
This wasn’t just any lab. Armed guards were swarming the place. I could see a massive greenhouse in the back and an entire variety of farm animals in pens. And yes, there were a lot of chickens. It looked like they were pasture-raised chickens, but they had shelter.
The soldiers recognized Aeron, but they pointed their guns at me. Half my hair was still pink, so I kind of stood out in San Quintin. Aeron held up his hand.
“She’s with me. She was helping Leif. Leif had success, and now we just need to make sure we need not find supplies for mass production.”
“We’re pretty well stocked. We haven’t had to go on a supply run in a few weeks. Valentina is in her lab, but she’s in a foul mood. Her last batch of trying to eradicate the Rage Mutation was a disaster. She’ll be a lot nicer if you bring her pleasant news. Don’t forget your suits, or she’ll shoot you.”
Aeron led me through the front doors.
“He’s not kidding about the suits. Valentina takes germs in her lab very seriously. She might not shoot you, but she punched me in the face once.”
He said that so casually like he didn’t mind Valentina breaking his face, but he was paranoid about chickens. Angels were so weird. Then again, so was I. That’s probably why we were dating.
I was reminded of my fear of compact spaces when I pulled that suit on and put that helmet on. I started hyperventilating. Aeron grabbed me and squeezed me.
“Just breathe and make it to the lab. I’ll take it from there.”
I gripped his hand through the material of the suit and walked next to him on shaky legs. Valentina’s lab was different from Leif’s. There were fewer computers and surveillance equipment. Valentina herself was short and curvy. Aeron towered over her, and even I was a lot taller than her. Still, based on the look on her face, I didn’t want to piss her off because she was just the right height to sucker punch me in the vagina.
“What is it, Aeron?” she snapped.
“I have good news, and I need a favor.”
“I owe you shit. I still haven’t forgotten you came in here without a mask and sneezed on my samples.”
Well, no wonder she punched him.
“Leif has a vaccine and a serum that will kill all the Rage Heads. He’s synthesizing it now so he can get you the formula. My friend here was instrumental in all of that, and she has horrible claustrophobia. Would it be okay if she removed her mask?”
Valentina narrowed her eyes at me.
“Onlybecause I’ve incinerated my samples for today, and there’s nothing to contaminate. Very well.”
I collapsed on the nearest stool and yanked my helmet off. The air felt cool on my face, and it smelled like disinfectant in here. It took a few minutes, but I could finally breathe again.
“This delicate flower managed to figure out how to end this?”
“I just helped. Leif is the one you want to thank. He wants to know how stocked up you are on eggs and antibiotics that aren’t penicillin. Is it enough for a vaccine for the entire world?”
