Twenty
sadie
“Did you see it?” Theo ripped off his mask and jacket the second he got through the door, sparing the TV a glance as he strode toward me.
I nodded from my position on the edge of the couch. My hands hadn’t stopped trembling, and the weight on my chest made it hard to draw a deep breath.
He tossed his jacket over the back of the armchair, his eyes a little wild as he pulled me to my feet. Then he dragged me against him and wrapped his arms around me in the longest, tightest embrace.
One minute I was troubleshooting how to find Ava with no idea where to look, and the next, I had a solid, dependable man slowing my chaotic mind.
I clutched his waist and rested my cheek on his chest, the cotton of his shirt brushing my skin. “It’s exploding all over the world,” I said with a tremor in my voice.
“I stuck around upstairs long enough to catch a report out of America.” He cradled the back of my head and rubbed his thumb over my scalp. “They cut to a tank rolling down a street in Chicago. A tank. Soldiers were picking off the infected one by one. Just shooting them where they were standing.”
“I saw it, too.” The thought of culling people went beyond anything I could have imagined. “But I don’t think it’s basic rage anymore,” I said. “I think they’re reanimating after they've died. They only stopped moving when they were shot in the head. Did you see that?”
Theo’s cheek moved against my hair as if he were nodding. I waited for him to laugh, but he pulled back and met my eyes, cupping the side of my face briefly. “Laura thinks so, too. It’s the first time I’ve seen her rattled.”
Great. If Laura was losing it, we were all in trouble.
Everything that used to make sense had been shattered, and people were turning into monsters right before our eyes.
I couldn’t even let myself entertain the thought that my sister might become one of them.
I’d rather never set eyes on her again and make up some alternate life for her in my mind than see her like that.
“No doubt we’ll find out more by the end of the day.
” Theo’s hold on me loosened, and I caught the tic in his jaw as he stepped away.
He paced the room a couple of times, flicking glances at the mayhem on TV.
A beat of silence passed, then he said, “We should have acted faster. Made better decisions.”
“How? We didn’t know anything.” Our shopping spree was a spontaneous decision based on the shortage of supplies, not because we thought people would come back from the dead.
Every step we’d taken made sense at the time.
“What would you have done differently if you knew this was coming?” I asked. “Would you have left sooner?”
Theo took a moment to answer, which was an answer in itself. He sighed and looked away. “Maybe.”
My throat ached, my fingers clenching into fists at my sides. “Are you annoyed with yourself for staying and taking care of me?”
Please say no. Don’t break me into pieces when I was just starting to feel whole again.
His attention snapped to me. “Never,” he said, his gaze clashing with mine. “When you got sick, leaving wasn’t even an option. You know that. Nothing's changed.”
My fingers uncurled, the queasiness in my stomach settling a little. “What do you regret then?” I asked, catching sight of a mob on television attacking an infected person on the street in Christchurch, New Zealand.
“Not leaving sooner—with you. Before you got sick. We should have taken off for the farm. The city was already a shitshow. Imagine how bad it’s going to get now.”
“I’m trying not to think about it,” I said, running my hands down my face. “Ava's going to be right in the middle of it in a matter of hours.”
We stared at each other as a reporter’s frenzied voice drifted from the television, the information spilling from her so fast, she stumbled over her words. I faced the TV, my mind whirring.
“Paris appears to be ground zero… rage occurrences are multiplying beyond our ability to track numbers… stay inside… do not approach…”
We’d seen the beginning.
How would it end?
And would we live long enough to find out?
The two of us stood together in silence, taking in the images for the longest time.
We must have been rooted to the spot for half an hour absorbing our new reality.
Violence and rampages were occurring on every part of the planet, the reports coming in thick and fast. People were fleeing major cities everywhere, including Melbourne, causing congestion on highways and freeways.
“Shit.” Theo’s ominous tone caught my attention, and he cupped my shoulders from behind.
The anchor crossed to an urgent press conference headed by the Minister for Emergency Services and the acting Police Commissioner.
Whenever we watched members of the State Government gather to deliver updates, fewer officials stood behind the speaker. Today, there was no one.
The acting police commissioner stepped up to the lectern first, his tie askew and features drained. He opened the conference by detailing efforts to contain the violence across the state, but it quickly became clear it was a hopeless battle.
Theo’s fingers tightened and loosened reflexively on my shoulders. “Hang in there,” he said, and I had a suspicion he was talking to both of us.
I imagined Ava confronting one of the deranged, feet planted, shoulders squared, just like the time she faced up to Nathan over his treatment of me. But her fearlessness was no match for infected people who couldn’t even register pain.
Theo rubbed the back of my neck as the acting commissioner ended his update and backed away from the lectern.
As the minister stepped up and kicked off her intro, I tried to grasp what was happening to us, and the impact it would have on our lives.
When she began delivering instructions, I snapped to attention and tuned in.
“…fill every bath, sink and bucket with water. If you must leave home, wear sturdy shoes and protective clothing.”
And here I stood, quivering in my loungewear and sock-covered feet, feeling anything but prepared.
“Do not engage with people displaying signs of aggression.”
I tilted my head. Theo’s attention remained locked on the television, his jaw set in a tight line. I caught the pulse thudding double time in his throat and yanked my gaze away.
“Check your local emergency station for urgent updates,” she said. “Over the coming days, we will lose power for the foreseeable future. If you have a medical condition…”
It was the end of days. I couldn’t draw a deep breath. “I can’t listen to any more of this.”
“I know. But do it anyway.”
“Lock your doors. Check in on your elderly neighbours, and if you become trapped by an enraged person…” She faltered. “Target the skull with lethal force.”
The words hung in the air, such a violent thought delivered with clinical precision.
I clenched my hand into a fist as if wielding an imaginary weapon.
A government minister had given us permission to kill people.
This couldn’t be happening—but she stared directly down the barrel of the camera, her features set in a mask of dread and concern.
“Take your safety seriously,” she said. “In time, we hope to restore order, but for now, save yourselves… and God bless you all.”
There were no questions. No camera flashes or uproar. Just pure, terrifying silence.
My heart slowed to a dull thud.
The press conference ended, and the broadcast returned to the wide-eyed anchor. A sheen of sweat clung to her upper lip, and her mouth opened and closed. She paused for a beat too long, then yanked off her microphone and shoved her chair back from the desk.
Without another word, she rushed off the set, leaving an empty chair and the tap-tap of her fading footsteps.
It took a few seconds for either of us to move. “She just… left.” I turned to Theo as a breath jerked from me. I’d barely made it through a life-threatening illness, and now I had to dive straight into this? “Is that it? Are we on our own now?”
“I don’t know what’s going on. I think we need to talk to the others. Get everyone together in the foyer.”
I blinked. The rooftop had always been our place. “Why the foyer?”
“Dustin.” He hooked a piece of my hair with his index finger and lifted it back from my face. “He needs to hear our plans,” he said. “Security’s more important than ever now, and we should all be on the same page.”
The memory of Dustin talking about masks and what they were hiding suddenly held more weight. I pictured him lurking in the halls, free to roam without consequences. “He could be even more dangerous now he doesn’t need to worry about laws,” I pointed out. “Not just here, but anywhere he goes.”
Theo’s expression turned to steel. “He should be coming to the same conclusion about us right about now.”
The hard edge in his voice made me shiver, and I gazed up at him while my thoughts flew in every direction.
Our world was changing faster than I could keep up with, and before I could mentally prepare myself for the next step, a fist pounded on the door, sending shockwaves through the apartment.
“Meeting downstairs in fifteen,” Owen yelled.
I flinched and pressed my hand to my chest. “My God, I didn’t live through Ultimus just to be killed by a heart attack.”
With a slow breath, I side-eyed the TV.
After the anchor had abandoned her post, they’d resorted to showing endless footage of the rage and attacks across the world.
Even if I’d been back to a hundred percent health, it would have been too much. “I’m not sure I’m physically up to this yet,” I said.
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
Theo looked me over, no doubt noticing my haggard appearance. “Want me to carry you down there?”
The glimpse of humour in his eyes made me ache for the old version of him, the one who’d been all about teasing and fun. “Thanks, but my dignity couldn’t survive another trip like that.”