Fear (Gone #5)(81)

“Keep walking,” Brittney said, actually stroking Justin’s face with the stone. “Please.”

It was not Drake. The distant figure Brianna had seen was not Drake. It was Dekka. And Brianna had raced up within shouting distance with her machete out before she realized.

She skidded to a halt.

Dekka was covered in blood from hand to elbow, with sprays of it across her face.

“Where have you been?” Dekka demanded without so much as a hello.

Brianna sheathed her machete and decided against answering. “What’s with the blood?”

“It’s your boyfriend’s,” Dekka grated.

“My what?”

“Jack. He went after Drake by himself. Drake cut his throat.”

Brianna stared at her. “Are you nuts? Jack went after Drake? Jack doesn’t do things like that.”

“He does when there’s no other choice,” Dekka said.

Dekka kept looking past her. Brianna kept doing the same. The world was ending, Jack was hurt, maybe dying, maybe dead already, and they were being awkward.

“Drake has Diana and Justin. He’s heading toward the mine shaft, toward the gaiaphage.”

Brianna shook her head, feeling like she was missing something. “Who is Justin?”

“Where were you? You were supposed to be within earshot. Sam shot off some rounds and no Brianna.”

“I was looking for Drake,” Brianna said defensively.

Dekka glared pure fury at her. “You don’t love Jack. You don’t even care about him, do you? You haven’t even asked how he is.”

Brianna actually took a step back. “Why are you hating on me?”

Dekka’s jaw actually dropped. It would have been almost funny, if it wasn’t Dekka. “Are you that clueless? How do you not understand how irresponsible you are? Right now Orc is running back to the lake with his hands barely holding Jack’s blood in. And Drake is probably whipping Diana across the desert.”

Brianna shook her head violently. “That’s not my fault! That’s not on me! I was out looking for Drake.”

Suddenly Dekka’s bloody fist was flying straight for Brianna’s nose. Brianna easily sidestepped and Dekka stumbled forward.

Brianna was too astonished to hit back.

Dekka wasn’t finished. She actually kicked at Brianna. This unbalanced her completely and she fell heavily on her side.

Suddenly Brianna found herself in a column of floating sand. She tried to run but there was no solid ground beneath her. Gravity was suspended.

That did it. Brianna yanked out her sawed-off shotgun and leveled it at Dekka. “Put me down or I’ll shoot you!”

Dekka had gotten to her feet. “You would do it, too, wouldn’t you?” She waved her hand angrily and Brianna dropped two feet back to earth.

“Do you ever think about anything besides yourself?” Dekka yelled. To Brianna’s amazement there were tears in Dekka’s eyes. She wiped them away so violently it was like she was slapping herself. She left a smear of blood, like red paint.

“Hey, I’m sorry or whatever,” Brianna said hotly. “What do you want me to say? I hope Jack’s okay. And I’ll kill Drake if I get the chance. What do you want from me?”

Dekka’s face was an ugly mask of emotion, unreadable to Brianna. Aside from it being obvious that Dekka was mad about something.

“Four months and you haven’t even said anything to me,” Dekka said.

“I’ve talked to you,” Brianna said. But she looked away as she said it, suddenly even more uncomfortable. She could deal with anger. Need was something different.

“I told you—” Dekka began before her voice choked off. She took a few seconds to master it. Then, unable to meet Brianna’s eyes, she said, “I thought I was done for. I mean, I don’t scare easy. The pain…” That stopped her again; then she shook her head angrily, like she was pushing through it. “It was bad, that’s all. And I was dying. I should have died. But I didn’t want to die without telling you.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Brianna said, shifting from side to side and just about unable to resist the desire to go tearing off at a hundred miles an hour.

“I told you I loved you.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And you said nothing. Nothing. For four months.”

Brianna shrugged. “Look, okay, look.” She swallowed hard. “Look, besides me you’re the bravest, toughest chick in the FAYZ,” Brianna said. “I mean, I always thought we were like sisters, you know? Like badass sisters.”

Dekka’s eyes, so hot and furious, went blank. For a long time she just looked at nothing. At the space beside Brianna. Finally Dekka sighed. “Like sisters.”

“Yeah, but like rocking-the-tough-chick-thing sisters.”

“But … you don’t…”

This was a Dekka Brianna wasn’t prepared for. She looked smaller. She looked like a big rag doll with half the stuffing gone. Darkness was coming on fast now. Shadows were deeper, and the shadows were just shadows of other shadows.

Dekka squared her shoulders. Seemed to be arguing with herself. Finally: “You’re not gay. You don’t like girls.”

Brianna frowned. “I don’t think so.”