Forty
Simone
Ifroze, the darkness settling on me like a weight I couldn’t shoulder.
Could I shoulder anything anymore?
With Rubin, you wouldn’t have to.
That thought had me slumping down to the floor.
I really was a tradhtare. In this moment, after everything Rubin had done, I could admit that I wanted him. That I needed him.
It was pathetic, shameful.
It was true.
Rubin hated me, had sworn to see me dead, and I’d never felt safer with anyone in my entire life.
God…
I just wanted—needed—for this to stop, knew that nothing would be better than lying on that cold filthy concrete floor and not moving an inch, come what may.
Even though my skin crawled at the thought of the rats that would scurry over me, that revulsion wasn’t enough to make me want to stay upright.
I heard a foot sliding against the floor to my left. Kane and Veronica running to safety. If I’d had the ability, I would have laughed. Safety had always been a lie, no matter how I might try to convince myself otherwise.
“Miu just like your daughter,” Damian spat. Then I heard what could only be a fist slicing through air. Aaron’s whimper pierced the darkness and my shock and my self-loathing.
No one would save me. But someone had once. In the next breath, I was moving toward the source of that sound, my focus singular in pursuit of it.
I held my hand out in front of me, in darkness so complete that it felt alive. I forced out the sounds of the chaos around me and moved toward that pitiable sound.
I almost screamed when my foot bumped something I realized felt human.
I dropped down, groping in the darkness, my palm sliding over the rough, familiar canvas of the jail uniform.
The man grunted in pain when I touched his arm, and I pulled back instantly, sorry for hurting him but so glad I’d found him.
“Aaron,” I whispered.
I didn’t need to. Between the screams, moans, and gunfire, my voice would have been lost.
“Moni…”
He sounded weaker than I’d ever heard him, in more pain than he had been when Nana died.
“We gotta go.” I reached for him, trying to be mindful of injuries I couldn’t see. Aaron still flinched at my touch, and I gentled my hands more but didn’t leave his side.
“Moni, I…”
“Can you stand up?”
“Yeah, I can—”
There was a piercing shriek of an alarm and a sudden burst of flashing red lights that made my eyes cross, allowing me to see Aaron. He kneeled on one knee, his broken arm hanging uselessly at his side, his other pressed against his ribs like he was trying to hold them in place.
I’d been wearing the bulletproof vest long enough that it felt like a part of me.
Now I ripped it off, the Velcro straps muted in the chaos of the room. I threw it over Aaron’s head and carefully worked his injured arm in, then strapped it in place.
I gingerly lifted his uninjured arm and pulled it over my shoulder, then pushed off the ground and pulled us both to standing.
It was a shocker I’d held my balance, but there was no time for celebration.
I looked around frantically, ignoring Rubin who was tangled up with two COs who’d stormed in with about twelve others.
I started to move toward the opposite corridor but stopped dead in my tracks when more bodies spilled in.
Dead ones.
Dozens of them. And I instantly knew the barricades hadn’t held.
Aaron was dazed beside me, both of his eyes swelling and a huge lump growing by the second on his forehead. I risked tightening my hold on him and turned toward the C block door. I didn’t know what I’d find there, but I knew what was here.
I took one step and then let out a muffled scream when a hand closed around my elbow.
Though defenseless and holding Aaron, I whirled, ready to face the CO or zombie—or Rubin that had grabbed me.
It was Kane. “Come on, this way.”
He gestured for me to move and grabbed Aaron. I followed behind him, looking frantically for threats.
Looking for Rubin.
I found him.
Three feet away from me, a statue in the brutal ballet that was unfolding.
“Why, Simone?” He was focused completely on me, like the literal end of the world didn’t matter.
“Come on, Simone!”
It was a frantic Veronica, but I ignored her, my gaze locked on Rubin.
A moment passed, another, and just before I ran, I whispered, “Familja eshte e shenjte.”