Chapter 39 #2
He flinches and nods. “S-since the second day, yes.”
I rake a hand through my hair and take a step back away from the man, just to remove the temptation to attack him. “Is Kevin, his doctor, in on this?” Please say no.
“No. I’m the only one who knows at the medical centre.”
I blow out a breath. Okay, well, at least that’s something.
But now we have problems because there’s a chance Andy isn’t dying from the zombie infection, but from a normal infection.
Although whoever is behind this wants it to look like he’s turning, but why?
This has to be connected to the traitor. There’s no way it isn’t.
“Who asked you to do this?” I demand.
The nurse shudders and shakes his head. “N-no. I-I can’t tell you,” he whispers pleadingly. “Please, I can’t.”
“Why not?” Alex demands gruffly as he flexes his hands.
“They said they’ll kick me and my family out of Haven for the Scourge to take us. I-I have a wife and two kids, two little girls—” He cuts off with a choked sob. “Please believe me.”
Fucking hell. That’s no idle threat, especially if it’s the same person who’s working with the Scourge.
Alex, however, isn’t swayed by the man’s sob story.
He crouches down in front of him and gets right into the man’s face, tremors running down his back from how hard he’s having to keep himself contained.
“And we’ll do much worse if you don’t start bloody talking,” he snarls before slamming his fist into the wall beside the nurse’s head.
The nurse yelps and huddles into as small a ball as he can get as he stares at Alex in abject terror. But he says nothing, practically retreating into himself.
I blow out a frustrated breath. This isn’t helping. We need him to trust us, not fear us, and Alex is too far gone to be of any use in this conversation.
I place a heavy hand on Alex’s shoulder, stopping him from saying anything else. He turns his head to me, his brow furrowed. “I need you to go find the doctor and tell him what we know. Andy needs antibiotics immediately.”
Betrayal and annoyance flash across Alex’s face. He knows a dismissal when he hears one, but he can’t argue because I’m right. Kevin needs to know as soon as possible if we’re to save Andy’s life.
With one last glare aimed at the terrified nurse, my best friend ambles to his feet and stalks down the corridor to find the doctor. I wait until the door slams shut behind him before turning to the nurse.
“Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush.
Whoever is behind this is absolutely capable of handing you over to the Scourge.
In fact, they’re probably planning on doing that to you regardless of whether or not you say anything.
You’re a loose end, someone who can connect them to their crime so they’re not going to just let you go. ”
The nurse flinches, his face paling even more at my words as the reality of the situation he’s in hits him.
“So we really need to know who forced you to do this, otherwise we won’t be able to protect you and your family.
I know there’s no way to trust that we won’t turn around and do the same, but I don’t think you have much of a choice.
At least with me and Alex, you have a chance of saving yourself and your family from a fate worse than death.
” He doesn’t need me to tell him how horrific life would be if he and his family fell into the Scourge’s hands.
It takes a moment for his fear-addled mind to process what I’m saying. When his brain finally kicks in, he raises his gaze to meet mine. “How do I know you’re not just going to throw us out the moment I tell you?”
“You don’t, but I encourage you to remember everything that Alex, Rhys and I have done for this place. How we risked our lives to go after the Scourge to save the people they’d taken. Not to mention that I got shot defending Haven. Are those the actions of people who’d go back on their word?”
I let him stew, hoping he’ll make the right choice because I really don’t want to resort to the same tactics as the traitor. But I will for Ollie and Rhys. There’s not much I wouldn’t do to bring them back safely.
The nurse swallows hard and finally nods. “Okay, I’ll tell you.” His eyes flick nervously towards the door at the end of the corridor. “It’s Elsa. She’s the one who forced me to do this.”
You could have pushed me over with a feather. I stand there, staring at him in shock and horror. Elsa is the traitor? What the fuck? Why? While I wasn’t convinced that our culprit was Adam, he was the most likely out of the group. Elsa didn’t even really factor as a threat to me.
I was so wrong. We all were.
The door at the end of the corridor slams open, causing both me and the nurse to startle and jerk our gazes towards it.
Kevin and Alex are hurrying down the hallway, Kevin looking like he’s aged ten years since I last saw him only ten minutes ago.
Alex still looks like a pissed-off bear that’s about to attack anyone who comes close.
“I've got a name,” I announce, causing Alex to stumble slightly as shock and relief crash across his face.
Kevin, who has no idea what is going on, marches straight past us and hastily unlocks the door to Andy’s room. “I’ll see to the patient,” he says before narrowing his gaze in disgust at the nurse. “I want him gone.”
“Done,” Alex says, also pinning the nurse with a glare.
“Stay with Andy, Kevin. We’ll grab someone from the security team to guard his door,” I say as I hobble towards Alex.
Kevin’s lips tighten in disapproval at the obvious pain and discomfort I’m in, but he thankfully doesn’t comment. Instead, he nods curtly and disappears into Andy’s room, the door shutting and locking firmly behind him.
“Let’s go,” Alex orders the nurse while wrapping an arm around my waist to help support my weight.
The nurse scurries down the corridor behind us as we make our way to the exit. First order of business; find Anthony.
He’s easy to find, sitting in the security office inside the main building with stacks of papers littering his desk. He pauses when we barge in, his confusion clear when he spots the terrified nurse behind us.
“What’s going on?” he asks cautiously, eyeing the nurse.
“It’s Elsa,” I blurt, urgency riding me hard. “She’s the traitor.”
His eyebrows shoot upward and Alex gapes at me in shock.
“You’re sure?” Anthony asks.
I nod. “Very sure.” I highly doubt the nurse is lying; it’d be a death sentence. Besides, what are the chances that he’d name a councillor when we’re already looking for a corrupt one?
“Alright, I’ll get the entire security force looking for her. There’s no point being discreet.”
“Get one of your guys to guard Andy’s door in the isolation ward. There’s evidence to suggest she’s trying to have him killed,” Alex says, shooting daggers at the nurse. “Also, lock this one up when you have the chance and put his family under surveillance.”
The nurse flinches but stays quiet.
“Consider it done,” Anthony says, standing up from behind his desk and striding over to us while relaying information into his radio. He grabs the nurse’s arm and leads him out of his office to escort him to where the rest of our prisoners are being held.
“Come on, let’s see if we can get started on this search,” I tell Alex, nudging him to move. Even though my injuries are killing me, there’s no way I can sit back, not when every second counts.
Alex doesn’t argue, understanding my need for action since he’s probably experiencing the same thing.
We emerge into the cold air and set about hunting down Elsa to make her pay for everything she’s done.
But as the minutes turn to hours and the sun gets lower and lower in the sky, Elsa is nowhere to be seen.
Every member of the Council says they haven’t seen her and her cabin is empty.
None of her friends have seen her either.
But what’s most alarming is that her room looks ransacked, like she left in a hurry.
My gut tightens with dread, and angry frustration bubbles in my chest. My thigh and ass are a throbbing mass of agony, and I want to cry and scream and lash out at everything, but I keep a hold of myself.
Alex isn’t faring much better, practically growling and snarling at anyone who comes close, and is wound so tight he feels like he’s about to explode.
Night descends on Haven when we finally give up our search and come to terms with the reality of our situation.
Elsa is gone, along with our best hope of finding Rhys and Ollie alive.