Chapter Five
“ A lessia, you need to wake up.” A firm hand shook my shoulder.
I tried to peel my eyes open, the voice hurried, but they were laden down with weight. As I came to, I assessed my body, a shiver wracking through me. Clenching my teeth, I tried to sit up, but I barely moved.
The same hand from before touched my forehead, a curse spilling from his mouth. “Fuck, Rainer, we have a problem,” the voice said, who I now recognized as Aiden.
Even in my dazed state, I knew what this was. The infection had spread and a fever had taken me. And if my struggle was anything to go by, it had come on fast and strong.
“Make that two problems,” Rainer said from faraway, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Aiden’s comforting hand left my head and I heard the crunch of broken glass under his feet as he presumably went to Rainer. I was too far away and they were too quiet for me to hear anything.
Frustrated with being in the dark, literally and figuratively, I finally managed to peek through my lids, the motion similar to sandpaper against skin. Blinking rapidly, I sat up in the booth, my head dizzy.
Black spots dotted my vision and when they cleared, the bright sun stunned me, my eyes closing once more. Tilting my head to the side to not be bombarded by the light, I fully opened my eyes.
Rainer and Aiden stood across the room, hunched behind a flipped over table. Their eyes were trained out the windows and I followed the direction with my own. It could have been the fever, but I knew as my stomach roiled, it had everything to do with the three uniformed figures traipsing outside.
They were across the street, their steps languid as they peeked into empty buildings. Through the cracked windows and smashed door, I could hear their jovial laughter and my stomach clenched even tighter.
Unable to hold it back, I bent over the booth, heaving quietly onto the floor. Twin footsteps rushed over to me and then Aiden’s hand was back on my head, feeling the heat underneath.
“We’ve got to move before they decide to check this side of the street,” Rainer said, glancing behind him.
When he turned toward me, the worry in his gaze was prominent. I didn’t need a mirror to know how I looked. I had seen the effects of fever far too often. Sallow skin, sunken cheeks, a sweat dotted brow.
The wheels turned in Rainer’s head as he struggled to come up with a plan to get us all safely out of here. Obviously, we couldn’t walk out the front doors, right into the path of the guards. And due to the sun that told me it was midday, there were no shadows for us to sneak within.
Nodding his head once, Rainer pulled the gun from his waistband. “You know how to use one of these?” He looked toward Aiden, whose face looked as ashen as mine.
“Not as well as you can, I’m guessing.”
“Grab your sister. There was a back entrance through the kitchen.” Rainer waited for Aiden to scoop me into his arms, and then the two men walked silently through the restaurant and out the kitchen door.
The crutches were left behind, but I knew it didn’t matter. If we managed to escape the town unnoticed, and I didn’t succumb to this fever, I’d ask Warner to make me another set.
As we moved stealthily among the buildings, I turned my head into Aiden’s shirt, the sun causing my head to throb. Rainer stood at our back as we moved forward, alert to any oncoming threats.
We had only walked for several minutes when Rainer cursed softly under his breath. There was no fear in his voice, only anger. “Hide her. Now.”
Before I could string together the words to ask what was going on, my body jostled in Aiden’s arms as he ran toward another abandoned building. I didn’t hear Rainer’s footsteps following and I tried to lift my head to see where he was, but I lacked the energy.
“Hey! Stop!” An unfamiliar feminine voice called out, but Aiden kept running until he stepped over the threshold of a building.
Quickly, he laid me gently on the ground, nudging my limp body until I was hidden behind a couch. When he stood up, I held out my arm, pleading with my eyes for him not to leave me. He was unarmed, he couldn’t go out there.
“I’m only going to keep watch. I won’t leave you alone,” he promised, shifting along the wall until he could peer out a slat in the blinds. Differing voices sounded outside the building, low enough that I couldn’t make out words, but I recognized the timber of Rainer’s voice.
“Aiden, what’s happening?” I whispered, my throat achy and dry.
He didn’t respond, his eyes still trained on the unfolding scene I couldn’t see. “Aiden.” I tried again, but still no response.
The voices got louder as Aiden stayed silent and I couldn’t take it anymore. Using every ounce of strength I had, I pushed my body up, crawling around the couch and getting to my knees. My head only reached the bottom of the window behind the couch, but it was enough.
Slipping a finger into the blind, I pushed it up, my eyes taking in the scene outside. One woman and two men stood shoulder to shoulder, their stern mouths facing me. Rainer’s back was all I could see of him, and my heart thundered at the unfairness. Three against one.
The woman mouthed something to Rainer, her brows arched, the only one trying to reason with the man before them. But I knew Rainer. He wouldn’t go with them willingly. And truthfully, I didn’t think he would go with them alive.
In an instant, the atmosphere changed. Rainer’s shoulders bunched as the three attackers pulled their guns. I couldn’t see Rainer’s hands, but I’d be an idiot to assume his weapon wasn’t drawn as well.
I had never been more useless than I was in this moment. Even if I wanted to do something, the weakness spreading from my wounds held my body prisoner.
“Aiden, do something. Please.” My brother’s eyes met mine, filled with indecision and fear.
Before I could beg more, Aiden grabbed a lamp from the table nearest to the window. In a second, the lamp was crashing through the glass, the shattering noise echoing in my ears.
My eyes were trained on Rainer as the crash sounded, three heads swiveling toward our hiding spot. It was a split second. No more than a blip of time. Three shots went off in succession and I squeezed my eyes tightly, unable to watch the aftermath.
I didn’t know whose gun had gone off. I didn’t know if Aiden and I were now on our own, lost in a town swarming with guards. I didn’t know if any chance of surviving had just shattered as the glass window did. All I knew was that the most heartbreaking outcome would be a world in which Rainer was no longer alive.