Chapter 8
Saturday, October 29th, 1983.
1930. Thirty-two hours after outbreak
US Legion Base Fort Grove
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Lieutenant Colonel Gibbs was waiting on the brightly lit tarmac when they landed at Fort Grove. He wasn’t alone. Dr. Burke was there too, plus a couple of soldiers from the science unit. And a row of armed soldiers in protective suits stood behind him.
One by one they disembarked from the helo as it powered down. Ortiz hopped off with the three cases containing the antidote in hand. Jax assisted the woman and child Ice had rescued. And Hazard helped Ice to stand. He was moving better now, but occasionally he went still, his muscles locking up as shudders racked his tall frame. He must be in terrible pain, but he didn’t make a single sound of complaint.
The colonel smiled at them all. “Good work. I-.” He abruptly stopped, his bushy red eyebrows shooting up in surprise when he got a full look at Ice.
His shock was warranted. The alpha was barefoot, bare chested, and bald. And muzzled. He looked like an ill yet still dangerous beast they’d had to restrain.
“What happened to him?”
“Got bit,” Hazard said.
Ice snorted a laugh behind his gag at Hazard’s short and extremely to the point answer. Ortiz threw Hazard an exasperated glance before she explained more fully.
“Captain Anderson was bit at approximately nineteen hundred hours. He received a dose of the antidote twenty minutes post bite. It began reversing his symptoms almost instantly, but we took precautions to be safe,” she finished with a wave at the cloth covering his mouth.
Dr. Burke took notes while Ortiz talked, his pencil quickly flying across a battered notepad. He looked up with a relieved smile once he was done.
“It worked.”
“Yes, it did,” Ortiz replied. “Now you just have to get it to work on the people of Tulsa.”
“I will,” Burke said with a firm nod.
Ortiz handed the cases to one of the science unit soldiers. They and Dr. Burke left to get started mass reproducing the antidote.
“Logistics is coming up with a plan to corral and cure the infected,” Gibbs said. “We’ll save everyone we can. Your efforts retrieving the antidote and the lives you had to take will not be in vain.” His gaze moved to the woman and child they’d brought back with them. Gibbs smiled, clearly trying to put them at ease. “Speaking of saved. Who do we have here?” he asked in a friendly tone.
“Hello. I’m Cynthia and this is my daughter Stephanie. We owe our lives to your soldiers. Especially Captain Anderson.”
“Mr. Monster saved me,” Stephanie whispered.
The little girl had been an excited chatterbox on the helicopter ride to Fort Grove. Now she looked sleepy and shyly hid behind her mother.
“That’s wonderful,” Colonel Gibbs said to her before directing his attention back to Cynthia. “We’ll need to examine you both for infection,” he kindly explained.
“Of course. I understand.”
Cynthia thanked them all before picking up her daughter and following a soldier to the medical unit.
“What about the people in the bathroom at KVP?” Jax asked.
“An extraction team is being organized. They’ll get them out. Those folks are damned lucky you came across them. And Captain, I’m happy to see that you are recovering. But you understand we’ll need to secure you in quarantine lock up until we can verify that you are completely cured.”
Ice nodded his understanding.
Hazard didn’t protest either. He’d expected them to do as much. He just hoped he’d be allowed to visit Ice once they were officially released from the mission.
Gibbs signaled for three of the soldiers to break off from their line. They stepped forward to surround Ice and escorted him away. The few personnel who were around gawked at the alpha as he passed them.
Although Hazard hated to see his mate taken away, he had to shake his head in amusement. Ice’s legend as an elite soldier would no doubt be even greater now that he’d survived being turned into a zombie. Especially once they heard the part about him saving the woman and her daughter while he was infected. And Hazard definitely planned to tell any and everyone who would listen. He was proud of his mate and loved to talk about his exploits in the field.
“As for you three, get to medical for examinations. If the docs see one toothmark on you, you’ll be sent to quarantine along with Captain Anderson. The guards will stay with you until you’re cleared.”
Hazard nodded along with his squadmates. “Yes, sir.”
The decision to keep them under guard made sense. It would be foolish to risk one of them starting an outbreak on base when they were so close to ending this thing.
“Dismissed.”
With the armed escort at their back, Hazard, Ortiz, and Jax went to medical. A med staff officer directed them to the contamination ward, which was a large open room. There were cots, but they weren’t told to lay down. The officer ordered them to strip naked, then left them alone to wait for the doctors.
After stripping out of his gear, mask, and uniform, Hazard stood there with reluctant patience, toes curling against the cold tile floor.
As soon as the doctors arrived - one for each of them - they immediately got to work with the exams. Using a headlamp, Hazard’s doctor examined him from head to toe. She even had him raise his arms so she could look at his arm pits. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Ortiz and Jax were receiving the same thorough treatment.
Hazard tried not to flinch when the doctor examined his penis with gloved hands. He’d never expected anyone but Ice to touch him there after they’d mated.
“If I’d worn a protective cup during the mission, would you still be handling my junk?” he grumpily asked.
“Unfortunately, yes, Corporal Mitchell. Don’t want to miss a bite mark because of your modesty and have that be the reason you end up running around snacking on your fellow soldiers’ faces.”
Hazard laughed at that. She had a point.
“Let me just check your hands to finish up.”
Hazard held his hands out, fingers splayed. The doc examined each one. When she didn’t find any tooth marks, she turned off her head lamp.
“You’re all clear. Once you’ve hosed off in the decontamination shower, you’re free to go.”
Ortiz and Jax were also cleared and given the same instruction. The three of them padded barefoot over to the bank of decon showers while the most senior doctor dismissed their guards.
Hazard got in one of the showers and stepped on the pedal to start it. A thorough rinse would ensure that any saliva or other fluids from the infected were removed from his skin. As he stood there under the tepid, chemical smelling water, the adrenaline started to drain from his system, leaving him exhausted. He usually crashed after a mission, but he had a feeling that this come down was going to hit him especially hard.
When the flow of water stopped, Hazard grabbed the towel on the hook next to the shower to dry off. Their gear had been collected to be decontaminated and would be returned later. They couldn’t strut back to their barracks naked as jaybirds, so a soldier handed each of them a pair of standard issue Legion sweats and hospital grippy socks.
“I’m ready for food and eight hours of sleep,” Jax said as they exited the contamination ward.
“Me too,” Hazard agreed with a yawn. Unfortunately, his hopes for food and rest were dashed when he saw that Gibbs’ aide was waiting outside the ward’s exit.
“Don’t suppose you’re about to tell us to have a good night’s rest?” Ortiz tiredly asked him.
The aide shook his head. “Brigadier General Stone wants a debriefing right now instead of in the morning.”
Hazard sighed. He was weary down to his bones. But he trooped along with his squadmates to their briefing room where Stone and Gibbs were waiting. Both men sat at the conference table.
The 448 stood at attention and saluted the officers. When Stone didn’t release them to sit, Hazard knew they were about to be called on the carpet. He didn’t need to guess why. They’d disobeyed Stone’s order.
“Mission report, Major Ortiz,” Stone briskly said.
Ortiz gave the details of the mission, including an estimate of turned civilians they’d had to kill. She finished up with their short casualty list.
“Captain Anderson was bit by one of the infected but there were no other injuries.”
There was a moment of tense silence before Stone spoke.
“Was he bit before or after the antidote was retrieved?”
Ortiz didn’t respond.
“Your lack of answer is an answer itself, Major.” Stone planted his fists on the table and leaned forward. “You jeopardized the mission!” he shouted.
“I did not, sir. Yes, Captain Anderson was bit before we secured the antidote. But we locked him in an empty room and proceeded on without him,” Ortiz calmly explained. “Once we had the cure, we got it to the pilot for extraction. Only then did we go back for our squadmate. Retrieval of the antidote was our first priority and every decision was made with that in mind.”
Stone continued to glare at them for several long moments before he relaxed and sat back in his chair. “If you hadn’t made it possible to save an entire goddamn city, I’d have all of your ranks. But you did.”
The general paused again.
Hazard sucked in a breath and held it, too tense to let it out. He exchanged a quick glance with Jax, wondering if there would be any consequences for their decision not to kill Ice. He’d accept the consequences without protest if there were. Disobeying orders and saving his mate’s life was worth whatever punishment Stone might dish out.
“So I’ll just say good job,” Stone finally said.
Hazard released the breath he’d been holding. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jax’s shoulders loosen from their tight spot up around his ears. They weren’t going to receive a punishment for their insubordination. Ortiz thanked the General and Jax and Hazard echoed her words.
The barest hint of a smile crossed Stone’s face when he nodded at the three of them.
“Get some rest, 448. You’ve earned it.”
* * *
After leaving the briefing room, they returned to their barracks and scrounged up something to eat. Once he’d eaten his fill, Hazard parted ways with Ortiz and Jax and went to the brig where they’d taken Ice. It was the best place to keep him in case he reverted to mindless rage and violence. Ice couldn’t hurt anyone from behind bars.
Inside the brig, two military police sat at the guard station. One was Sergeant Gallo, a beta wolf that Hazard had worked out with a few times.
“Evening, Sergeant Gallo. I’m here to see Captain Anderson.”
“Do you have permission?”
Hazard gave the beta his friendliest grin. “Didn’t know I needed it. Don’t I get special mate privileges or something?”
Gallo rolled his eyes. “Funny. You don’t, but I’ll allow you thirty minutes to visit him. He’s in lockup number nine.”
He pointed Hazard in the direction of Ice’s cell.
Hazard gave the sergeant a smile of thanks. Following his direction, he walked down a wide, brightly lit hallway with cells on either side. He stopped at number nine.
Ice was there, laying on the cell’s single cot. He was dressed in a pair of fresh sweats and the makeshift muzzle was no longer around his face. He sat up when Hazard arrived.
“Hey, how are you?” Hazard quietly asked.
“Better now that you’re here,” Ice answered in his deep voice.
Hazard laughed. “Are you flirting with your subordinate, Captain?”
“Mmmm.” Ice hummed a yes as he came over to join Hazard at the jail cell bars.
Up close, Hazard saw that the whites of Ice’s eyes were mostly clear and the grayish cast to his skin was gone. He was still bald but the black veins had already faded to purple. Hazard sent up a silent prayer of thanks to Mother Wolf that the antidote had worked.
Needing the reassurance of skin to skin contact with his mate, Hazard reached through the bars. Ice brought his hand up too and laced their fingers together.
“I should be released in the morning.”
“Good.”
Hazard moved to sit on the floor, tugging Ice down to join him on his side of the bars. They talked, Hazard filling his alpha in on everything that had happened after they’d separated. Then Ice took his turn explaining the physical exams and tests he’d been given. His reflexes and strength were returning to normal levels and other than the body aches, he appeared to have no side effects from the bite.
After that, Ice sat quietly while Hazard chatted. Hazard leaned against the cell bars, determinedly holding back his exhaustion in order to keep Ice company while he was locked up.
At precisely thirty minutes into his visit, Sergeant Gallo came to get him. Hazard turned to the beta with a pleading expression, prepared to beg for more time. But before he could say anything, Gallo turned around and walked away.
Ice and Hazard looked at each other. Ice shrugged and Hazard resumed their conversation.
A few minutes later, Gallo returned with a bedroll.
“Can’t let you in there with him, but if you’re going to stay for a while you might as well be somewhat comfortable,” he said as he held out the Legion green bedding.
Hazard accepted the bedroll with surprised gratitude. “Thank you, Gallo. I appreciate it.”
The sergeant waved off his thanks and went back to his station.
Hazard spread out the bedroll and sat back down. A storybook princess would turn her nose up at how thin it was, but it was better than the hard concrete floor directly under his ass.
Ice looked at him, a frown turning down the corners of his mouth.
“You should get back to barracks and sleep in a real bed.”
Hazard shook his head. “Rather stay here with you.”
Ice’s lips curled in a tired but pleased smile.
“In that case...”
Ice got up and went over to his cot. He pulled off the thin, lumpy mattress and brought it over to drop on the floor across from Hazard’s bedroll.
“You need to rest,” he whispered.
Hazard nodded. He did. By this point his eyelids were as heavy as lead weights.
They lay down facing each other. Bars separated them, but he would be able to spend the night near his mate. Satisfied, Hazard finally gave in to his post-mission crash and drifted off to sleep.