Thicker Than Blood (Thicker Than Blood #1)(107)

“Leisel!” I screamed, only to find her right next to me, wedged between me and Alex. I tossed her my gun. “The guard at the gate! You need to kill him before he turns the fences back on!”

Gripping the gun, she took hold of the roll bar above our heads and pulled herself upright. Though tears were pouring down her cheeks and her chin was trembling violently, she aimed and pulled the trigger, letting loose a flood of bullets. Her aim was off, not helped by the violent rocking of the quickly moving Jeep.

The guard must have realized his life was in danger, that we were going to hit the gates whether electricity was flowing through them or not, because I wasn’t stopping, not a chance in hell. Instead of attempting to turn them back on, he went running in the opposite direction. We flew past him and barreled straight toward the fence.

“Duck!” I screamed, pulling on Leisel just as we hit the gate, our tires spinning only slightly as the Jeep went headfirst into it. Groaning and creaking, the metal tore easily from the ground, the section we hit ripping away from the rest of it, then flying up and over our heads.

Gripping the steering wheel, I turned the Jeep in a wide, tire-squealing arc toward the road. As I spared a glance in my rearview mirror, I saw E running after us, his large form gradually growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

I looked across at Alex, at my poor Leisel cradling his head in her arms and sobbing. His blood was everywhere, covering him and Leisel, and the entire interior of the Jeep. The bitter tang of death hung thickly in the air all around us.

The now-familiar scent that seemed to follow us everywhere.





Chapter Thirty-Nine



Leisel

“Help me with him!” I cried, unable to bear Alex’s weight as he began falling from the open door of the Jeep. Evelyn rushed around the vehicle to my side, and lifted up Alex’s arm, slinging it across her shoulders. I did the same, and together we managed to pull him somewhat upright.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, blood and spit spraying from his lips. “I’m sorry…Lei…”

We’d driven as long as we could, until it had become clear that Alex was losing far too much blood, and we had to stop to try to dress the wound. There had been nothing for miles, just long, empty stretches of wheat fields and overgrown grass. Finally we came to the edge of a small town, where we happened on the shell of a gas station and an old rundown motel situated behind it.

I waited in the Jeep with Alex as Evelyn checked the place out, finding that the rooms had been picked clean long ago. There was no furniture remaining, and the structure was full of rats and insects, but thankfully free from infected.

Using her shoulder to push the already open door even farther open, Evelyn helped me settle Alex onto the dirty carpet. I kicked several cockroaches out of my way before dropping to my knees beside him.

“We shouldn’t stop here,” Evelyn said, her eyes darting toward the open door. “What if they’re following us? We can’t be all that far, only a couple miles at best.”

I shook my head, unconcerned if they found us, only caring about Alex. He wasn’t going to make it, not if we didn’t treat the wound. “Let them come,” I said bitterly.

Evelyn looked uncertain, but she didn’t voice her feelings. “I’m going to see what’s in the Jeep,” she said, turning away. “See if there’s anything we can use for him.”

As she hurried out, I gingerly lifted Alex’s blood-soaked T-shirt away from his skin. On his bruised and battered abdomen, the small wound was still bleeding profusely. Beneath the blood covering nearly every inch of him, his tanned skin had turned a sickly shade of gray, growing cold to the touch, and his breathing was beginning to slow.

“Oh God,” I whispered, my eyes blurring with tears. “Oh God, not again, not again, please, God, not again.”

Alex’s one good eye opened, focusing on me as he tried to raise his arm. He couldn’t seem to manage enough strength to do so, so I gripped his hand and brought it to my face.

“I’m so sorry,” I sobbed, my tears falling faster, spilling onto his chest. “I’m so sorry, Alex, I’m so sorry.”

“Lei…” he croaked, attempting to turn his head. “You don’t… nothing to be sorry… for…”

“Don’t try to talk,” I mumbled, brushing my hand over his hair, pushing the fallen strands from his eyes. “We’re going to get you better, you’re going to get better, and everything will be fine.”

A single tear that had welled in the corner of his eye slid free down the side of his broken nose. I bent forward and kissed it away, softly kissing his battered cheek, his bloodied chin, and then finally, brushing my lips across his.

I hardly knew him, yet losing him was every bit as painful as losing Thomas was. Alex, the hope he’d given me, the unexpected love, it had brightened my ever-darkening world. Now that small slice of sun that had only just begun to peek through the dark clouds was dimming, fizzling out, leaving me like everything else had.

And it was all my fault. Another consequence. He saved me and because of that, he was dying.

“Worth…it,” he struggled to whisper, his breath coming in short puffs against my lips. “You were…worth it.”

Pulling away from him as more tears formed, clouding my vision, I shook my head, knowing full well I wasn’t worth it, I wasn’t worth this much death and destruction. No one was worth this. “I love you,” I cried softly. “I love you, Alex.”