Chapter 8
AVA
Ava zipped up her hoodie over her tank top, her heart thudding hard against her ribs before she grabbed a few other articles of clothing and stuffed them into an overnight bag.
The hasty decision to travel to the small Vermont town where the virus had been unleashed had twisted her gut into a knot that hadn’t yet released.
But something had to be done. They had to warn those people about what they were dealing with before this spread well beyond the town limits.
Kyle had offered to go on his own, but she wasn’t going to let anyone face this alone. They needed firsthand information about what was going on–and hopefully a method to stop it before this virus ebbed beyond the initial hot zone.
Alex stepped into the closet as she shoved another pair of pants into her bag. Worry was etched into every line of his face.
In the blind panic of preventing a world catastrophe, her own health crisis had been thrown by the wayside, but clearly not forgotten entirely.
“Avs–”
She held up a hand, not wanting to hear the lecture about what a bad idea it was to go to a flu-ridden town while it was still uncertain about whether or not she could blackout and become another version of herself. “I know.”
Alex rushed to close the distance between them, pulling her into his arms. “Are you sure you want to go? Maybe you should stay here. Grant and Julia will be here with you.”
Ava pressed her cheek against his chest, holding him closer. “I know you mean well, Ace, but I’m a part of this. And I can’t keep living in fear of these blackouts. I have to trust Doc’s treatment.”
“I want to trust Doc’s treatment, too, but it’s still early. Maybe give it a few weeks in case you have side effects, or the dosage isn’t right and you…” His words trailed off, worry etched into his features.
“Blackout and go all crazy again?” She tilted her head to glance up at him.
“That wasn’t the way I was going to put it, but yeah.”
“We don’t have a few weeks,” Ava said with a shake of her head. “This is happening now. And I am not going to sit on my hands and do nothing.”
“You’re hardly doing nothing. You’ve been a huge part of the resistance, Avs. You’ve rappelled down the side of a building for information, for heaven’s sake. It’s no big deal if you sit this one out.”
“And let you menfolk do all the work?”
He chuckled. “Yep. Us menfolk are capable.”
“I know you are, but I also know you’re capable of tearing each other apart without the proper supervision.”
Alex’s features pinched. “We wouldn’t do that. Doc and I are besties. And as for Shadow…well, we can get along.”
“Uh-huh, sure you can. I’m going. We have no idea what we’re going to run into up there. I want to be with you. We’re partners, remember?”
Alex heaved a sigh before he nodded. “Fine, fine. I just want to keep you safe and take care of you.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Yeah, but you’re supposed to let me do all the caring.”
“Ohhh,” she said with a teasing grin. “I see…I’m just the little missus who waits at home for you.”
He grinned at her and nodded. “Right.”
Her smile faded away, replaced by a glowering expression.
Alex held his hands up, chuckling. “I’m just kidding, Sparky. I’m not going all alpha male on you. I just wanted you to have the option to not push yourself if you didn’t feel up to it. I’ll support you no matter what you decide.”
Her warm expression returned, and she pecked him on the lips. “Good. I’m going with you. We’re in this together, Ace. I’m not sending you into the hot zone alone.”
He grimaced. “Please don’t call it the hot zone. I’m not super pleased about going near all these germs. You know how I feel about being sick.”
“I know,” she said with a nod. “Maybe you should stay home.”
“Ah, no. Team, remember?”
“Better get packing then,” she said, motioning to his empty bag still on the floor of their closet.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going to.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I was really hoping the biohazard suit I ordered would be here so I could see how much room I had left after I packed it.”
“You’re packing a biohazard suit?” she asked, a hint of incredulity in her voice.
“You’re right. Totally stupid. I should wear it.”
“On the plane?” she cried, her jaw dropping open.
He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I bought you one, too.”
“Ace…”
“Avs, what? I don’t want the killer flu to get us. I’m just…terrified something is going to rip us apart just when we’re finally together.”
She dumped her bag on the floor, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”
“I’m not worried about you leaving me. I’m worried about PharmaTech ripping you out of my arms.” He turned to her, his eyes filled with the unspoken fear she could read all too well. “What if something happens to you, Avs?”
She pressed her forehead against his, her breath warm against his lips. “I’m scared too,” she admitted. “But we can’t let that stop us. If I stay here, I’ll just be sitting around, worrying about you the whole time. We’re stronger together, right?”
Alex swallowed hard, his hand slipping around her waist, pulling her closer. “Right.”
“I need you to believe that,” she said, her voice firm but gentle. “Because I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to get through this. Together.”
He nodded, holding her tighter. “Together.”
She tilted her neck back to glance up at him. “Well, that’s an improvement. Earlier you were certain I only loved you because of the drugs.”
“Yeah, well, Doc gave me a good talking to.” Alex raised his eyes to the ceiling as Ava’s eyebrows shot toward her hairline.
“Really? Doc gave you a good talking to?” She chuckled. “Wow, when was this?”
“While we were waiting for you to wake up after I stabbed you.”
She laughed harder. “You didn’t stab me, Ace. You injected me with a sedative in case I went berserk.”
“Yeah, well, I hated doing it. And Doc basically told me I was being a big wimp and stressing you out with all my stress over not being good enough for you.”
Ava tilted her head, wrinkling her nose. “Alex…you are more than good enough. That’s nonsense talk.”
“I know. Doc told me the same thing. I just…Ava, I’m blown away that we’re actually together.”
She giggled at him. “Alex, we’ve basically been inseparable since college. Why are you so stunned?”
“We haven’t been together together,” Alex answered. “And we weren’t super close the last few years.”
Ava pressed her lips together. “I know. And I regret that, babe, I do. But I’m trying to make up for it right now. If we could ever get The Board to leave us alone, we could really make up for it.”
“I know. I still need to take you to your surprise.”
She grinned up at him. “Oh, that’s right. You’ve been trying to take me to Paris since this whole thing started, and we never made it.”
“No,” he said with a chuckle as he rubbed her back, “not Paris.”
“Right, it was…” She narrowed her eyes. “Italy?”
“Avs, I’m still not telling you.”
“Aw, that’s so unfair, Alex,” she whined. “Totally unfair! We keep having to put it off because of The Board. You should at least tell me where it is because of the delay.”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. You’re not wheedling it out of me with that pout and that excuse. When we solve this problem with The Board, then we’ll go.”
“All the more reason for us to get going to Vermont, then. We need to put a stop to this PharmaTech deadly flu trial before they ruin the world.”
Alex kissed her cheek before he grabbed his bag from the floor. “Right. It’ll be your reward for saving the world from the bad guys.”
“I can’t wait.”
Alex froze, his hand on a dark hoodie. “Wait, it’s totally not enough for saving the world. I may have to do something else.”
“I’m going to clobber you if you keep doubting yourself,” she said as she poked at his sides.
“Okay, okay. But don’t be surprised if there isn’t a two-part trip after all of this.”
“After all of this, I’ll go anywhere with you, babe, including just hanging out on the couch and playing games. We are way behind on our gaming sessions.”
“You are way behind me, too. You spent all that time dating Chris and not gaming.”
“I know. I really have a lot to make up for. I am going to have to game twenty-four seven when this ends just to catch up.”
“Hardcore gaming, Avs,” he said with a grin, cupping her face to lean in for a kiss when a knock sounded at their door.
“Yeah?” Ava called as she zipped her bag shut.
Kyle strode in a moment later. “You ready?”
“No, Alex is dragging his feet because he hates germs,” Ava answered. “So, he’s still packing.”
“Better get on it. Shadow got us some new toys so we can get all the information we need.” Kyle grinned.
“New toys?” Ava asked.
Kyle bobbed his head, offering Ava a black wallet. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Open it.”
She flipped open the wallet, finding a badge from the Department of Homeland Security. “Ohh, it’s so shiny. Remind me to thank Shadow when I see him.”
“Hey…don’t thank him too much. I could have gotten that,” Alex said. “Where’s mine?”
“Oh, uh, sorry, he thought Ava was the best option for that. I am a doctor with the CDC. Alex, you’re just…with us.”
Alex clicked his tongue. “Of course, I am. Let me guess, he’s Ava’s partner at the DHS.”
Ava shot him an amused glance. “Yeah, but you’re the one at DHS that I’m married to.”
“She’s right. Anyway, I think these will do the trick for getting us into that hospital and making sure we have some control over this situation.”
“How bad do you think it is, Doc?” Ava asked as Alex finished his packing and lifted both of their bags onto his shoulder.
“It can’t be good. I took a closer look at all of those documents.
It looks like they leaked it at the local diner.
I don’t know exactly how many people frequent that diner, but I’d say it’s probably a lot.
And with the way they’ve modified this, it’s really contagious.
From what I’ve pieced together, the virus is spreading faster than anything I’ve seen.
It looks like it’s transmitted through close contact, and within days, half the town could be sick. ”
Ava frowned, her stomach twisting. “How long before it spreads beyond the town?”
“If we don’t contain it, we’re looking at a full outbreak in less than a week,” Kyle said. “The symptoms are flu-like at first, but it turns lethal fast. High fevers, respiratory failure… no one’s surviving it past the third day once the symptoms show.”
“So we’ve got to act fast,” Alex said, his voice tightening. “If this spreads to other towns, we’re dealing with a pandemic. Which is why I ordered the hazmat suits,” Alex said. “I really think we should consider wearing them.”
“Honestly, it may not be a bad idea, but we can’t start out that way,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. “We do not need a panic on our hands. So, for now, masks and gloves at least.”
“Is it airborne?” Ava asked.
“No,” Kyle answered as they crossed the bedroom to the hall. “Turning it airborne would weaken it, and they wanted it strong enough to have a pretty lethal kill rate. So we got a little lucky on that.”
Alex barked out a laugh. “Kind of weird to call that lucky, Doc.”
“I know. This is not going to be fun at all.”
Ava tilted her head as they gathered in the foyer. “Why are you smiling like that then?”
“Well, it is kind of exciting as a doctor.” He changed his expression to a frown. “But very, very awful and terrible.”
Ava shook her head at him, a playful smile on her lips. “All right, Doc. Let’s go let you save the day.”
“Also, I am super excited that this is in my wheelhouse, and I can be the hero.” He grabbed a duffel bag from the floor and lifted it onto his shoulder.
Sebastian strode into the foyer, his own bag in hand. “We ready?”
Ava nodded. “As ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s go see if we can stop this issue before it turns into a global pandemic,” Kyle said.
Ava’s stomach clenched at the words, and she slid her gaze sideways to Alex, reaching for his hand. A shiver snaked down her spine as she considered heading to the town where a deadly virus ran rampant. Was her health crisis the only one they’d face, or would this become a problem for them, too?