Chapter 5
DIANA
Returning to warm buildings and steady heat is a luxury I’ll never take for granted.
Our vehicle was right where we left it, taking us home to the Enclave, where we walked through the checkpoint gates and settled back in the southern quarter—our little slice of home where the more experienced nurses live.
The undertone of bleach might not be the most calming smell, but it does wonders for me.
It means I’m safe.
No Dominion.
And better yet, no sign of Dogma’s bike. Thank god. For now, it’s as if nothing ever happened. Maggie was understandably angry that Dominion was a bunch of dickbags, but that’s the most we chatted about it.
It’s been a week with us keeping our heads down and working, pretending like everything is fine.
Flurries drift now and then, but the rain stays cold and soaking.
It’s late October, though the records say the northern foothills of the Appalachian mountains were never this bitter, never this snowbound.
And yet, we make it work because healthcare is a lifeline.
People always help keep the Enclave alive—chimneys and fireplaces patched together.
Crops are tended to nearby by locals in a greenhouse that’s been renovated and outfitted to function in the winter.
We even have a stable master to help with horses.
It’s a true communal space, one where gangs don’t bring their wars.
At least, that’s the intention. With Dominion’s shadows trenching closer, it feels like only a matter of time before they claim the Enclave too, social codes be damned…
I think back to the image of the Black Mirage, of how I should seriously take this winter to consider my options.
I’ve heard that people can go there and strip their omega scent.
I don’t know how they do it, but I know it’s real.
Possibly rip out my scent glands? The thought is overwhelming yet reassuring.
One day at a time.
That evening, after a double shift that left my gloves soaked from sweating and my mind half-frayed, Selene bumps her shoulder against mine as I’m nearing the covered, scaffold path between two towers.
It’s something built after societal collapse, which makes this reclaimed small hospital more traversable for our purposes. “Hey, there you are! Did you hear?”
I push open the old infirmary door with my elbow. “Hear what?”
“Oh, boy… Okay, let’s start from the ground up. Judge got hurt.”
I stop halfway down the stairs, fluorescent light flickering over stones covered in peeling paint. I whip around as the door slams behind us like a gunshot. “What?” I whisper after flinching. “Was it New Bunker? Did someone finally fight back?”
She scrunches her nose and shakes her head. “Oh, no. No, it was something else.” She motions to the stairs going down, hand on the rail, as she looks at me like she has delicious gossip. “He went into the blight. The one east of us.”
I blink, my hand finding the rail like I’m about to fall off a cliff. “What?” Even for Judge, that’s reckless. “There are insane echoes in there. What the hell is wrong with him?”
Everyone knows that story. After the bloom, the labs went dark, and animals got out—twisted things with too many teeth and not enough fear.
You don’t see them unless you’re stupid enough to wander into the wrong stretch of unclaimed earth, where blight has consumed normal foliage.
Darker, almost black, plants sprout in its place.
The creatures inside are called echoes because they’re an echo of what they’re made in the image of, including the forests themselves. The only good news is that nothing that survives in there can leave it, like a fish trying to leave its bowl.
I’ve never heard of anyone going in there willingly.
Selene nods again. “Have no idea why he was in there, but all I know is Judge made it out practically half-dead.” She lowers her voice like someone might be around the corner. “I’m glad you’re okay. I thought maybe you went into hiding or something.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “Half dead?”
I don’t respond to going into hiding. It kind of makes sense, given who I am. Although I’m not sure why I’d do that when I’m here, but again, my mind can’t get over Judge being injured like that.
“They say he bled out half his weight and still kept killing whatever damaged him—can’t tell if it’s one of the human echoes or not. He even brought back one of their heads.”
I exhale a short, nervous laugh. Not because it’s funny—because I don’t know what else to do. “Did he go in by himself? Why would he bring back a head?”
“That’s just what I heard.”
I rub my brow, suddenly cold despite the warm air. “So what does this mean? You said he got hurt… Is he, like, really hurt?” I ask, almost hopeful. “And hey, why would I go into hiding? Is he nearby or something?”
She stops at the bottom of the stairs, hand on the door handle as she looks at me with a heavy rise and fall of her shoulders. “He’s here.”
“You’re shitting me.” I get closer, every fiber in my body spinning into fight or flight. We’re a healing space—it could be true…
“He got here on his bike. Have you even looked outside?”
“No,” I say, my bones exhausted. “I was busy cleaning the bed sheeting. And then had to clean up so much vomit, and then more sheets.” The laundry room doesn’t face the front, and is loud from all the handwashing against metal.
It’s also a great way to hide omega scents with all the vinegar and scented oils we use. “Why, what’s outside?”
“There are a dozen Dominion bikes at the front, and like six cage-jeeps. Judge is conscious and has a bag of blood being given right now.” She stops and looks around before leaning in. “I was worried for a second when I didn’t see you.”
The world seems to narrow. My ears ring. I look around like his shadow might be lurking in the alley. He’s here. “We can’t give him blood. That’s a serious resource of ours.”
Selene’s eyes widen. “Diana, don’t talk like that when they’re here.”
I scoff because the sentiment is still just as real.
We all donate blood once every few months.
We found piles of blood type cards and are able to determine who has what, but it’s such a limited resource that we save it mostly for births or severe trauma.
Especially since the tubes have to be reused, which always runs a risk of infection if we don’t sterilize properly.
The Os are given more fresh cuts of red meat since we drain them like vampires every chance we can get, and they’re always eating liver pies.
Selene nods, exasperated. “I know. But it’s already done.
O-neg from Alice, I think. Maggie authorized it.
Him being here is how I know all of this,” Selene says, her voice low before she sighs, hand still on the handle.
“Maggie is sending people around to check on, you know, people like you that are here. She wants you all downstairs in the boiler room.”
“So we can all be taken?” I ask with a crack in my voice, trusting none of this. “How convenient that Judge is here and we have to help him?” I start to pant, thinking about how fast I need to go to get out of here.
Fuck! Judge is here!
I start pacing like I’ve just realized I sat in a pile of ticks.
“Diana, it’s okay. Maggie is handling this. We’re going this way. You’re the last one to be called so it’s not too obvious.”
I follow in silence, feeling the threat to my safety mortally punctured, but some part of me trusts Selene, and I cling to it.
It’s all a blur as I mostly follow the back of Selene’s head while we navigate our way down to the boiler room, my mind racing with any and all opportunities to run—where do I go? I can’t hit the mountains without a car, and they’ll notice me stealing one.
West, maybe?
The next time I’m aware of my surroundings, we’re in the boiler room, and I make eye contact with Maggie, then with the four other omegas who work here. This is the same feeling I had when I fled home all those years ago… It’s only a matter of time before they all know.
“Let’s go, girls,” says a voice that brings some calm to me. Maggie is the head healer with wiry, red curly hair. It always frizzes out on the humid or rainy days, and it’s a symbol I didn’t expect to mean quite as much as it does right now.
She’s the one who took me in when she knew what I was. Who has taken us all in. Maggie ushers us both into the room with the stern dignity she’s known for, and Selene says from behind, “I’ll keep an eye out. I’ll start whistling if any of Dominion are here.”
“Thank you, Selene.” The other omegas seem just as skeptical as I, easing my paranoia.
Sanity still reigns. “Now that we’re all present,” Maggie says, looking over the five of us as she lifts her chin, arms folded behind her back in that firm, unshakeable way.
“Let’s just rip the bandage off. I’m sure it’s spread one way or another that the Judge is being treated here.
” She pauses as her words hang over us. “Given that Dominion has a violent reputation when they want to be, and that you are who you are, I wanted to give you all the permission to disappear into the night if you need to.” There’s a pause, like we’re chained dogs who just heard our collars hit the ground.
“Or, to present yourselves to Dominion. It’s your choice, and I will do what I can to support it.
Just know that come tomorrow, for the safety of others, I cannot hide you any further.
I don’t plan to tell him, but it’s no secret that they’ve been sniffing out your kind.
It’s only a matter of time before Judge asks me. ”
My head spins, and that sensation of feeling like I’ve lost too much blood makes me want to vomit. I place a hand on a support beam, knowing that if it gets worse, I need to lie down and put my feet up. Like hell I’m passing out during something like this.