Chapter 5
Saturday, October 29th, 1983.
1845
KV Perkins Office Building
His heart in his throat, Hazard stared at the angry, red teeth marks on Ice’s pale face. The skin was broken, which meant the worst. Ice was infected.
“Are you sure?”
Hazard heard Ortiz’s question through a fog as his gaze moved from the bite to Ice’s dark eyes. He didn’t want to see those lovely eyes turn bloodshot and wild with rage.
“Hazard, are you sure?”
Hazard shook his head to break himself out of his trance to answer the repeated question. “Affirmative, Major. The bite mark is clear as day and the skin is broken.”
“Fuck,” Jax cursed.
Ice raised a gloved hand to touch his cheek. “I felt something, but I was so deep into the zone fighting I didn’t realize I’d been bit.”
Suddenly remembering Brigadier General Stone’s order, Hazard spun around to stand protectively in front of his mate, flinging his arms out wide to shield him. “I won’t let you shoot him, Major! This is Ice . Royce. He’s one of us. Our packmate. We can save him!”
“Calm down, Corporal,” Ortiz said. “We’re not killing Ice. I’m not killing any of you.”
Hazard frowned. “But the general’s orders -.”
“The general isn’t here, is he? He can issue all the orders he wants, but he’s not the one in the thick of this goddamn zombie shit.” She gestured toward the stairs with her rifle. “We keep moving. We get the antidote. We inject it into Ice’s ass or his face or wherever necessary to cure him. Then, we get the rest of the antidote back to base.”
“What if he...turns?” Jax asked.
Ortiz’s steady brown gaze moved to Ice.
“How you feeling, Royce? Got the urge to bite our faces off?”
“Not yet.”
“We’ve got about ten minutes before you do. So let’s move . Hazard. You’re in charge of keeping an eye on him.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They got moving again to floor thirty-two. Unsurprisingly, after the wave that had come down to the prior level, it was empty save for a few lone infected that they easily took out.
Hazard stayed alert, carefully aware of his surroundings. But he was also aware of Ice. Both because he’d been told to watch him for signs of turning and because he was always aware of his mate. Except now his mind was clogged with worry and fear and regret.
What if they didn’t find the cure in time to stop the infection from taking root? What if they did find the cure but it didn’t actually work and Royce became one of those bald, drooling monsters for good? Could he put his mate down? Could he stand by and watch Ortiz or Jax do it?
It had barely been a year since he and Ice had mated. He didn’t want to lose him already.
“You good, Corporal?”
At Ice’s question, Hazard shook himself out of his thoughts. “I should be asking you that.”
“I’m fine. A little warmer than usual but no other change.”
“Good.” Hazard looked him over. “You look the same. Eyes still beautiful and brown.”
Those eyes crinkled slightly at the corners with the hint of a smile. It was nice seeing all of Royce’s face and expressions during a mission. Hazard just wished it wasn’t under these circumstances.
“You think my eyes are beautiful?”
“I think all of you is beautiful. You know that,” he answered softly. He told his mate often how gorgeous he was and how he loved everything about him. He’d spent many hours in bed with his lover, warm and sated as he pressed gentle kisses to the face he still felt privileged to see.
“Don’t make me blush, Corporal,” Ice said as he lightly chucked Hazard under his chin. “I’ve got a reputation to keep.”
Despite his worry, Hazard had to smile at the alpha’s teasing.
“Knew I could get a smile out of you. Now let’s keep going so we can finish the mission.”
Hazard nodded and picked up his pace.
They’d nearly reached the next staircase when the now familiar sound of the infected drifted toward them. Several of the bald, gray-skinned infected walked out of a room up ahead. They hadn’t caught sight of the team yet, which gave them a momentary advantage.
“It’s just the five of them,” Ortiz said. “We can pick ‘em off from here before they have a chance to attack us. You and me, Jax. Ice, Hazard keep an eye out for any others.”
Jax raised his rifle. “Ready when you are, Major.”
The two of them fired simultaneously, bullets whizzing across the distance to drop the first two infected. The others turned, but two more dropped before they had a chance to move. The last zeroed in on them. But he only managed a single step before he was eliminated too. In less than fifteen seconds, the infected were sprawled dead on the floor, the sound of their raspy snarls silenced.
“Clear. Keep moving,” Ortiz ordered.
Once again, they quietly pushed forward, hustling up the staircase. They got lucky, there didn’t seem to be any infected on floor thirty-three. It was silent. No raspy breathing. No snarls. But then Hazard heard an unexpected noise. The whisper of a woman’s voice.
“Help!”
Hazard froze. “Did you guys hear that?”
“Yeah,” Ice agreed with a frown creasing his brow.
“Help!” the whisper came again. “Over here!”
They scanned the area looking for the source of the voice. Hazard found it first. Down the hall, a bathroom door was cracked open and a woman’s small brown face peered out at them from behind it.
“Major,” Hazard softly called out. When he had his squad leader’s attention, he nodded toward the woman. Hazard led the way as they cautiously made their way over to her.
“Hang back,” Ortiz ordered before she moved forward alone to check out the situation. “Ma’am.”
“Thank God!” she cried out. “We’ve been in here since yesterday and didn’t know how we were going to get out.”
Ortiz raised a finger to her lips, signaling for the woman to talk softly before she spoke again. “We?”
The woman pushed the door open a little wider. To the team’s collective surprise, there were about twenty-five traumatized looking people crammed into a women’s restroom.
“We ran in here when that nightmare out there started. We were all too terrified to come out but when we heard gunfire, we realized rescue must have arrived.”
“Is anybody in there bitten or scratched?” Ortiz asked.
The woman vehemently shook her head. “No. None of us.”
Ortiz nodded. “Give me a second,” she said before she fell back to speak with the team.
“Fucking hell,” Hazard swore. “I can’t believe there’s survivors in this place.”
“Do we take them with us?” Jax asked.
Ortiz’s answer was immediate.
“No. It’s too risky. That many people moving will attract another horde. And we can’t be worried about defending them when we’re trying to get to the antidote.”
Jax flicked his gaze toward the woman anxiously waiting. “They aren’t going to like it.”
“Too bad,” Ortiz said with her typical pragmatic gruffness.
She returned to the bathroom to speak with the woman again.
“Sit tight. Our mission isn’t to rescue survivors. But we’ll send the calvary to get you out. Stay back from the door and keep
quiet . Understand?”
The woman’s eyes went huge with horrified shock.
“You’re leaving us here?”
“If you leave that bathroom now a lot of you will probably die. There’s too many of you for the four of us to protect from the infected roaming the building. Stay, wait for a rescue team, and you’ll live. You’ve got water and toilets. You couldn’t be in a better place to ride this out.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Hazard spied Ice restlessly shifting his shoulders. “Clock is ticking, Major,” Hazard reminded her. They needed to get that cure, preferably before Ice turned.
Ortiz stepped back. “Close and lock that fucking door,” she ordered the scared woman. “Now.”
Tears spilled down the woman’s cheeks, but she obeyed Ortiz’s order, slowly shutting the door.
“Jax, mark it so the rescue team knows where to find them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ortiz activated her comm link while Jax took a small can of white spray paint from his pack and sprayed a white X on the door.
“Major Ortiz to Gibbs. How copy?”
“Good copy, Major. How’s the mission?”
“We’re progressing. Came across a group of approximately twenty-five survivors. They’re locked in a bathroom on the thirty-third floor. Need an extraction team to get them out. Location is marked with a white X .”
“Copy that. We’ll send in a rescue unit as soon as possible.”
General Stone’s voice suddenly came over the line.
“You’re close to the lab. Any trouble with the team?”
Hazard’s eyes flew to Ortiz’s. The major was looking directly at Ice.
“Negative, sir. Team is all good.”
“Excellent. Go get that cure.”
“Rog. Out here.”
Hazard grinned at Ortiz’s bold-faced lie. It was a relief to know that in the field, their major had her squad’s back.
“Move your asses, boys.” She checked her watch. “Eight minutes have passed since Ice was bit and we’ve got three more floors until we reach the target.”
Moving with renewed urgency, they went up the steps to floor thirty-four. Unfortunately, it was another level thick with infected. They crouched down to strategize.
“Hazard, you eliminate the ones on the left,” Ortiz ordered. “Jax take the -.”
Ice cut her off. “Save your ammo. I’ve got this.”
“Ice-.” Hazard started to protest. But Ice held up a hand to stop him.
“Watch,” he said with a cocky grin.
Ice tightened his grip on his service pistol and pulled a knife with his other hand. Then he strode forward, heading directly for the pack of infected.
Hazard did as ordered and watched. Ordinarily Ice wasn’t just fast for a big man, he was fast period . But today he moved so quick that Hazard could barely keep up with his movements. While the infected flailed with wild rage, Ice cut through them with methodical swiftness. He fired his Colt one-handed while slashing the blade of his knife across the throat of any infected that got within range.
Hazard was in awe of his mate. He’d never seen anyone move like that.
“Gibbs was right,” Jax said from where he was crouched down next to Hazard. “That enhancer really could be used to create super soldiers. Look how fucking fast and accurate the captain is right now.”
Accurate was right. Every infected Ice encountered dropped dead from either a single bullet to the skull or a severed carotid artery.
Ice stopped moving only when the infected were no more than a swath of corpses carpeting the floor. He stood with his back to the 448, shoulders heaving from exertion. Then, he cracked his neck, a quick, sharp pop on each side before he turned to face them.
“Clear,” he drawled out rough and low.
Hazard’s usually comfortable uniform pants were suddenly too tight in the groin.
Ortiz rose and started for Ice as did Jax. Hazard hung back for a heartbeat, too stunned to move. Thankfully, he was too well-trained to remain still for long. When he caught up to Jax, he whispered in his ear. “Jax, tell me I’m not crazy and that was hot.”
Jax looked down at him, an eyebrow raised and laughter dancing in his brown eyes.
“Please don’t ask me to validate whatever freaky shit gets you going.”
Hazard huffed a laugh. But when he reached his mate, his humor instantly dried up. His fingers spasmed and clenched on his weapon as he noted the changes in Ice’s appearance. The alpha’s hair was falling out. And on his throat, pale skin was marred by a single black vein. Hazard’s heart squeezed painfully tight at the signs that the infection was progressing. They were running out of time.
“Ice, your hair.” Hazard reached up to brush clumps of loose blond hair off his forehead but Ortiz grabbed his hand and yanked it back.
“Don’t get close to his face,” she cautioned.
“It’s Ice. He wouldn’t...”
Hazard stopped when Ice’s lips peeled back from his teeth to reveal his fangs.
“It’s starting to happen,” he said, his voice rough and raspy.
“Here.” Hazard pulled off his glove. “Bite down on this. If you drop it, I’ll know you’re zombie Ice.”
Ice accepted the glove, but he didn’t put it between his teeth.
“Dylan, it’s too late for that.”
“I agree,” Ortiz said quietly. “I’m sorry, Royce. But it’s too risky for you to stay with us any longer.”
“What does that mean?” Hazard asked.
Ortiz looked at him, her brown gaze tinted with sympathy. “We have to leave him behind.” She turned back to Ice. “We need to get you somewhere you’ll be safe from the infected but you won’t be able to easily get out and follow us. Once we have the cure, we’ll come back for you.”
Hazard wasn’t on board with that plan. “C’mon, Major, we can make it. There’s only two floors left,” he said with dogged determination.
“And we have no idea how long it will take us to get through them. Or how long it will take us to access the antidote once we reach the lab. Or how long it will take the antidote to go into effect once we administer it. It’s too dangerous to have Ice at our back when he’s this close to turning.”
Hazard shook his head, refusing to believe that they were out of time. “Royce, you can make it right? Stay with us. Stay with me.”
“Dylan.” Ice started to reach for him but dropped his hands before he made contact. “The major is right. It’s too dangerous for me to stay with you.”
Hazard stood there unmoving. As he stared into his mate’s eyes, he noticed red creeping into their corners. He knew they were out of time. Cursing, he turned away. “Fuck. Fuck!”
“C’mon, Ice. Let’s find a place to lock you in,” Jax quietly said.
They followed Jax, the infected alpha deliberately hanging back so he wasn’t close to them. Jax went up to a set of double doors and pulled them open. He checked inside, making sure the room was empty. “This should work, Major.”
After Jax gave the okay, they all went inside. The room appeared to be where they created product designs, packaging, and labels. There was a big board of color swatches on the wall, several drafting tables, two desks cluttered with product samples, and ad posters clipped to easels.
“You can finish some of their projects while you wait,” Jax joked.
Ice snorted. “I’d rather shift and chase my tail for an hour than help this company with anything.”
He went over and leaned against a desk. By now, most of his hair had fallen out and his skin was starting to take on a grayish tinge.
“You don’t have to do this.” Hazard tried one last time to convince Ice to continue on. He didn’t quite trust in the strength of the antidote. He feared that if they left Ice behind and went after the cure, the infection would be too far advanced for the antidote to work by the time they got back to him. “I don’t believe you will hurt us. Hurt me.”
In his soldier’s mind, Hazard knew it made tactical sense to leave Ice behind. But his heart didn’t give a fuck about tactics. He didn’t want to abandon his mate.
But Ice shook his head.
“I’m not willing to take that chance. I want you safe, Dylan.”
Hazard swallowed past the thick knot of emotion in his throat. “Fine. But before I go, I wanted to tell you-.”
“Sssh.” Ice held a hand up, cutting him off. “You’re going to come back with the cure, right?”
“Absolutely.” Hazard emphasized his word with a firm nod.
“Then tell me whatever it is you want to say when you return.”
“I’ll come back for you, Royce. I promise. I’ll get you out of this just like I did when those mercs had you.”
Ice gave a short, quiet laugh. “I know you will.”
Jax and Ortiz turned to go. After a last, lingering look at his mate, Hazard forced himself to follow them. Behind him, the doors closed, locks clicking from the other side. Ortiz took out a set of Flexi-Cuff restraints.
“Let me do it,” Hazard said.
Ortiz silently handed over the restraints.
Hazard took them and looped them through the door handles. He threaded the ends through the locking tabs, cinching them closed tight. The infected wouldn’t be able to open the doors from this side and even if Ice unlocked them from his side, he wouldn’t be able to get out.
Hazard looked at his squadmates. They didn’t look happy about leaving Ice behind either, but they all knew it was the right thing to do.
“Two floors left,” he said, his jaw firm with resolve. “Let’s fucking go.”