Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Colbie
We reached the bottom of the ladder. Marc’s breathing was labored, and I stared up at his face. His usually beautiful, bronze skin looked gray.
“You need to rest.” What he needed was medical help.
You’re all he’s got.
“Come on.” I slid my arm under his shoulder, wrapping it around his middle. “We’ll find somewhere to hole up and I’ll dress your wound.”
We started down the corridor. The walls were plain concrete and screamed “military base”.
I couldn’t believe we were in the Blue Mountain Base.
Home to so many survivors, and where the squads had operated from during the invasion.
A large number of people had sheltered here until the Gizzida had attacked it.
I knew most of the base was in ruins, but I hoped some of it had still survived.
Marc put more weight on me, and I gritted my teeth to stay upright. Worry wormed through me. He had to be really hurt for him to be leaning on me this much.
Broken glass and debris littered the ground. I glanced into an open doorway.
“Looks like some sort of lab.”
“No critters?” he gritted out.
Damn, I hoped there were no monsters nesting in here. “Not that I can see.”
“See if there’s anything in there that we can use. Especially for comms. We need to find a way to contact the others.”
I leaned him against the wall then stepped into the lab. Using the light coming from his armor, I scouted through the room.
The first thing I found was a portable lantern. My dad told me they’d often had blackouts because the power hadn’t been steady in the early days after the invasion. It probably wouldn’t work, but I tapped it anyway. To my surprise, it lit up.
“Yes.” I held it up. It showed benches covered in electrical wires and smashed parts. Most of the stuff around here was in pieces and covered in a heavy layer of dust and cobwebs.
I stepped on something, and almost turned my ankle. I crouched down to pick it up.
It was a pretty turquoise dice.
“Oh, I think this is Uncle Noah’s. This must have been his lab.” Noah had been the main tech guru who’d kept Blue Mountain Base running. He still collected dice to this day. “I don’t see any comms unit.”
I wracked my brain, trying to recall the old map of Blue Mountain Base that I’d obsessively studied as a kid. I bit my lip, trying to think where the infirmary was.
“Come on.” I slid my arm around Marc again, holding the lantern up with the other.
We managed a slow hobble down the corridor.
“Colbie…” His voice was raspy. “I need a break.”
“Okay.” I leaned him against the wall and watched him sag. I bit my lip. He was looking worse. “I think the infirmary is close by.”
If it was still intact.
He dragged a hand over his face and nodded. “I’m ready.”
He wasn’t ready. He looked even paler than before.
We moved down the hall again. Ahead was a pile of rubble where the ceiling had partially collapsed. I thought again of the people who’d sheltered here. Who’d made it a home in the middle of chaos.
They hadn’t given up. I wouldn’t, either.
We skirted the rubble and then took a right. The rooms along this corridor were all in shambles. A section of the wall looked like it had been eaten away by something. I knew that raptor weapons had held acidic poison.
“I think the infirmary is close. I know it had a backup power supply. Maybe it’s still functional?”
He just grunted.
It was a long shot. I prayed we could find comms as well, and contact someone to come and get us.
The corridor opened up, and this section appeared less damaged. The light glinted off a sign.
Infirmary.
Yes. My heart leaped. “Marc, there it is!”
We hobbled over to the door and I touched the control.
Nothing happened. Unsurprising, but a girl could hope.
Leaning against the wall, I set the lantern down, then gripped the door in the middle and pushed. I grunted, using all my strength.
“Come on, you piece of…” The doors opened an inch. I wedged my arm inside, then pushed and shoved. Soon, it was open enough that we could slip through.
I sensed Marc looking at me and I glanced up. Even though he was pale and in pain, I could see he was fighting a smile.
“Fierce,” he murmured.
“Motivated.” I grabbed the lantern, shoved it through the gap, and set it on the floor. The space inside was coated in dust. There were bunks, some overturned, and some things were smashed, but it looked like other items were undamaged.
“Come on, big guy.” I helped Marc inside.
I took a few seconds to pull a mattress off one of the bunks onto the floor. There was no way I’d be able to lift him up onto the bed. I found some blankets, shook them out, then threw them down on the mattress.
“Here we go.”
He dropped down onto the makeshift bed with a pained sound.
I quickly went back and wedged the doors as closed as possible. I didn’t want some monster sneaking up on us.
When I knelt beside Marc, he looked even worse. “You’re going to be okay.”
“The stimulant and painkiller are wearing off, Colbie.” He swallowed. “It’s bad. I—”
“No.”
His brow creased. “You need to save yourself. Get help. The squad will come back for me.”
I shook my head wildly. “I didn’t think you were a quitter, Marc Jackson.”
He growled. “Fuck, you’re stubborn.”
“I know.” I got a pillow behind him. “Now, I get to play doctor.” I circled the room, opening drawers and cabinets.
I found some bandages. They were old and deteriorating, but better than nothing. I moved back to him and shoved his shirt up. It was soaked in blood. The gash in his side was ragged and nasty. I pressed the bandages against it.
He made a sound, but eyes stayed closed.
“Don’t give up,” I whispered.
He opened his eyes, then raised one hand and cupped my chin. “I won’t.”
“Don’t leave me, Marc.”
“Promise.”
My body locked. I heard the lie in his voice. His chest was rising and falling slowly. I knew he’d lost a lot of blood and needed fluids. My worry was starting to turn into full-blown panic.
“Dove…” He stroked my jaw. “I liked the kiss.”
My chest squeezed. “Be quiet.”
“Wanted to kill that Spencer guy for holding your hand.”
My heart squeezed even more.
“I…don’t want to leave you.”
“You aren’t leaving me.” Rising, I did another loop of the room, pulling out drawers, yanking the doors of cupboards open.
I found some water bottles and some food rations. Yes. They were old, and I hoped they wouldn’t kill us.
I gave him a drink, and he gulped the water down.
Then he grabbed my hand. “Just…stay here for a bit.”
His voice sounded so weak. I shifted so his head was resting on my lap. I stroked his hair.
“I was so afraid when I heard you’d crashed.”
His quiet confession made my heart squeeze. “I was terrified when it happened. But the thing that kept me going was knowing you’d be on the way.” I cleared my throat. “That Hunter Squad would come for me.”
He nuzzled his face against my thigh. “Can’t lose you.”
I closed my eyes.
“Life is so fucking dangerous. Losing people…it tears you apart.”
I wasn’t sure how conscious he was of what he was saying.
“Saw what losing my uncle did to my dad. Still hurts him so much, to this day.”
I sifted my hands through his hair. “I know. But it’s balanced by having your mom, and you and Zeke, his friends. That’s life, Marc. There are ups and downs, wins and losses.”
He made a sound. “I…when Zeke got taken with Amaia, I was so fucking afraid.”
I wanted to hug him.
“Loving someone so much…” He shook his head. “If he hadn’t come home, I wouldn’t have made it.”
God, I’d never realized how deeply the loss of his uncle, and almost losing his twin brother had affected him. He never showed it. No, he hid it all behind a joke and a smile. “Yes, you would have. You’re strong.”
He shook his head. “Can’t take the risk. Can’t. Can’t.”
I realized he was perspiring. I pressed my palm to his forehead. His skin was hot. “Damn, you have a fever.”
He shifted fitfully and my stomach twisted. I had to help him.
“There must be more stuff here.” I slid out from under him and circled the room.
There were a couple of empty offices with nothing useful, and one more door in the corner.
When I wedged it open, I saw a bathroom with grimy tiles that had once probably been white.
I moved to the sink and tried the faucet.
Water splashed out.
“Yes.” Finally, something was going our way. Then I spotted an electrical panel on the wall. I yanked it open and fiddled with the controls.
A second later, emergency lights came on, lighting the room with the low glow.
“Look at that, Marc. The solar power is still functional for the emergency system.”
There was no response.
I raced over to him. He was lying unconscious on the bed, and when I touched his skin, he was fever-hot.
“Marc? Marc, no.”
I tried to get a lock on my panic. I glanced up, searching for something—anything—to help. That’s when I realized one cabinet that I hadn’t noticed before was now glowing. I raced over to it and yanked it open.
I saw an injector and sucked in a breath.
Nano-meds.
Thirty-year-old nano-meds. They were ancient, and hadn’t been stored correctly. They could just as likely kill him as cure him. I rubbed my face with a shaking hand.
He was already dying.
I carried the injector back to him.
“Marc, I found some nano-meds.”
He made a sound and one of his eyes cracked open.
I shook my head. “They’re old. It’s too risky to give you—”
He grabbed my wrist. “Do it.”
“Marc—”
“Don’t…want to leave you alone. Whatever…happens. Not your fault.”
Emotions clogged my throat.
“So pretty, dove. Love your red hair.”
God.
“And your ass. You have a fine ass.”
A laugh escaped me. Only Marc could make me laugh at a time like this.
“Really liked when you kissed me. Was an asshole because…”
“Shh. Be quiet.”
His head tilted to the side, baring the side of his neck. “Do it.”
Dragging in a breath, I pressed the injector to his skin and depressed it.
He let out a low groan.
Please work.