Chapter 18
AVA
Ava rolled her neck from side to side in an attempt to ease the ache in her neck, but none of it did any good.
Her back hurt like someone had stuck a knife into the small of it and twisted, and every muscle in her body felt weak.
She couldn’t tell what came from the flu raging through her body and what stemmed from the plane crash, but she felt awful.
She glanced sideways at Kyle as they trudged along through the jungle. He didn’t look great, but he didn’t look as bad as she felt.
A wave of heat washed over her before a shiver shook her, and she wondered if she’d ever make it out of this jungle alive.
But she had to. They had to find the cure for this.
Kyle turned to her, concern shadowing his features as he slid an arm around her.
The warmth of his touch irritated her feverish skin, but she resisted snapping at him.
Every step felt like a battle, but stopping wasn’t an option.
If she collapsed now, she might never get up again, and that wasn’t an outcome she could accept—not with Alex waiting for her to come back.
She needed to keep moving, even if her body was falling apart.
“Hey, you’re not looking so hot,” he said.
“I’m not feeling it either,” Ava groaned. “But I don’t know where the plane crash ends, and the flu begins.”
Kyle slowed to a stop, reaching for her.
“Let’s just keep going,” she said with a shake of her head as she stopped a few steps away from him and turned around.
He shook his head. “Ava, we need to know how sick you are.”
She shook her head. “No, we don’t. Because it doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, it does, Ava,” he argued, setting his hands on his hips.
Sweat beaded on her brow, not just from the warmth of the jungle, but from the fever, too. She stretched her neck, her back aching so badly she wanted to lay on the ground just to ease it.
“Doc, if we don’t keep going, I’m not going to make it.”
Kyle moved closer, cupping her cheeks. “You’re burning up.”
His words were soft but heavy with concern.
Ava pulled away. “I can keep going.”
There was no other option.
“Ava…” He tilted his head, concern etched into his features.
“Doc, we don’t have a choice here. I need to keep going, and if I rest right now…” Her features pinched, her burning eyes turning water. “I don’t know if I’ll make it.”
“Whoa, okay, you’re feeling that bad?” Kyle’s eyes went wide.
Ava tugged away from him. “Doc, we don’t have time for this. Let’s go.”
“Ava, I really don’t think this is a good idea. You’ve already been through the trauma of a plane crash, and you’re sick with a deadly flu. We need to call Shadow and get an evac.”
“For what?” She stretched her arms to the sides. “So I can die in a hospital instead of the jungle?”
Kyle huffed out a breath, his hands falling to his hips as he shook his head. “What I would really like to avoid is you collapsing mid-jungle and have no way to stop you from getting worse or assess whether or not you’re in cardiac arrest. Ava, please…your life is more important than–”
“Than what?” she asked. “Than everyone else’s? Than Alex’s?”
She shook her head, her nose wrinkling. “No. We keep going, we find that cure. Now, let’s go, Doc.”
He raised his eyebrows as she spun on her heel and stormed in the direction her GPS showed.
Kyle jogged closer, matching her pace. “You should at least slow down. You don’t want to get overheated.”
“I’m fine–”
“If you’re saying that because you think I’m going to stop you, I’m not. But I do think we need to manage your symptoms the best we can. Unfortunately, we don’t have any fever reducers or pain medication to make this any better.”
“It’s fine. I’m using the adrenaline and fear to fuel my drive to find the cure.” She waved a dismissive hand in the air.
Kyle shook his head. “I don’t know how you’re on your feet right now with that fever.”
She didn’t even want to let her mind go to the place that was keeping her moving forward. It was Alex. The thought of him in that bed, sick, possibly dying, made her put one foot in front of the other.
She had to keep going. She had to find the cure. She had to save them both.
“We have to find this cure…for everyone,” she murmured.
“We can call and check on Alex if you want,” Kyle said.
She set her sights on a tree ahead, willing herself to make it that far. But Shadow’s silence gnawed at her. If Alex was okay, why hadn’t he answered? The thoughts spun in her head, each step heavier than the last. “Kyle…” Her voice cracked. “Why isn’t he answering?”
“I want to know he’s okay,” she answered. “If he’s not…”
“You’re doing the best you can do,” Kyle said.
Tears suddenly fell to her cheeks. “What if it’s not enough?”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Kyle said as he slid an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. “Stop. Let me text Shadow and get an update.”
She sniffled, flicking away the tears. “I’m sorry. I blame this on the flu.”
“Definitely,” he said as he tapped on his phone, pushing herself a few steps away. “You’re hot. I don’t want you that close to me.”
“Sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “Great to know if I’m sick, you’ll be there for me.”
“Sorry…in the middle of a jungle, I really don’t want a small space heater pressed against me.”
She chuckled weakly, bypassing the tree she’d marked earlier and selecting another to make the trip seem more manageable.
“Text sent. Now, we’ll just wait for him to respond.” Kyle shoved his phone into his pocket. “It’s kind of nice to have signal here thanks to Alex’s satellite following us.”
She glanced at the sky, hoping Alex’s satellite wasn’t the only one following them. She hoped Alex was keeping track of her movements, using her phone’s location to keep his hope alive.
“If this GPS wasn’t sucking my battery down, we could have just stayed on the phone with him,” Ava lamented.
“He’s okay, Ava. You have to believe that.”
“Then why isn’t Shadow answering?” Ava slapped her thighs, her frustration building. “You’d think this would be a simple two words or something.”
She heaved a sigh, her worry growing with each passing second as they continued toward the facility.
“How far are we?” Kyle asked, wiping at his glistening forehead.
“Too far,” she answered as she stumbled a step before she doubled over.
“Ava?” Kyle raced to her, placing a hand on her back as he leaned forward to check her pulse. “Okay, your heart’s racing. This is way too hard on your body. We need to stop.”
“No,” she said as she straightened, flipping her hair back as it clung to her sweaty face. Her clothes clung to her body even though she’d long since shed the hoodie.
She glanced down at the sweat staining her tank top, wanting to collapse to her knees and curl into a ball.
“Ava…”
“I said no,” she answered, heat in her voice as annoyance roiled inside of her. “We have to keep going.”
Kyle’s jaw flexed as he shook his head. “I’m not okay with this.”
“Check your phone again. Please tell me Shadow answered.”
Kyle dug the phone from his pocket, his features going taut before he shook his head. “Maybe he’s busy with the hospital staff. They may be overwhelmed. It doesn’t mean anything’s happening with Alex.”
With slumped shoulders, Ava pushed herself to continue forward, mindful of how she placed her feet so she didn’t stumble again. Her skin burned to the touch, but she was on the verge of shivering despite the heat.
She untied the hoodie from her hips and shrugged it on.
“Ohh, how can you do that?”
“I’m feverish, so I’m actually freezing,” she shot back.
Kyle’s phone chimed, and Ava came to a stop, her stomach clenching. “Was that Shadow? What did he say?”
With her heart thudding hard against her ribs, she waited as Kyle pulled his phone from his pocket. He licked his lips, flicking his gaze up to her. “It wasn’t him.”
“You’re lying,” she answered. “Let me see the phone.”
“No,” he said, shoving the phone into his pocket before he grabbed her elbow. “Come on before you collapse.”
She pulled her arm away from him with a vehement shake of her head. “No. I want to see that phone. You’re not telling me the truth.”
“Ava, let’s just keep going, okay?” He reached for her again, and she danced away from him.
“No. Doc, what is it? You have to tell me.”
He set his hand on his hips, pressing his lips together. “Alex is…okay.”
“Why did you hesitate?” she asked. “Have there been some changes?”
He swallowed hard, his nostrils flaring. “Yes.”
“What?” Her voice broke as she asked the question, her lower lip trembling as she waited for the answer.
“He’s…he’s still breathing on his own but…he’s in a coma.”
Her heart plummeted. If he’d fallen into a coma, how much longer did they have to save him.
“Don’t panic,” Kyle began.
“Don’t panic?” she shot back, her voice incredulous. “Are you kidding? Doc, how much longer does he have?”
“I can’t comment–”
She poked a finger into his face. “You can so. You know how this went. You have seen other people with these symptoms, you know how they’re progressing. What stage is he at?”
Kyle glanced into the jungle, avoiding her gaze. He fluttered his eyelashes before he answered. “It’s not good.”
“How long?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion.
“A day, maybe two.”
Her lower lip trembled as tears filled her eyes. “Oh.”
“Okay, we have time,” Kyle said as he shoved his phone into his pocket. “Let’s keep going. We can get this cure.”
She wiped at her tears, nodding. “All right. Yeah, let’s keep going. We’re nearly there.”
They pushed through the jungle, Ava’s stomach upset from Alex’s condition. If he was in a coma, they’d need to fight their way into that lab by swiping someone’s credentials since he’d no longer be able to open the doors for them.
Ahead of them, the trees thinned, and the sprawling building emerged. Ava swallowed hard as she stared at the fencing surrounding it.
“Looks like a fortress,” Kyle said.
“And we have no tech support to get in.”
“Oh, uh, Shadow said he may be able to help. Let me get him on the line. He said Alex was into the system, and he thought he could unlock the doors for us.”
“Well, that’ll make things faster,” Ava said. “Get him on the line.”
Kyle nodded as he pressed the call button.
“Tell me you’re there,” Sebastian answered.
“We are. We need to get inside. Can you help?”
“She knows?”
Kyle huffed. “She got it out of me. There was nothing I can do.”
Sebastian groaned before he spoke again. “All right, well, I do have access to the security system. I can unlock anything you need.”
“Perfect. We’re at the gate—we need that unlocked.”
“I’m going to buzz you in now, but then you need to go to the back of the facility. You’ll enter through the courtyard there to avoid the security guards.”
“Got it,” Ava said as the gate buzzed before swinging open. They ducked inside and hurried toward the building, skirting the corner to head to the courtyard in the back.
“Got you on camera. I’ll open the courtyard door as soon as you’re there.”
“Do you know where the biohazard level four lab is?”
“Fourth floor,” Sebastian answered as the light on the door lock turned green the moment they reached it. “There’s a stairwell right inside the door you just entered.”
Ava found it and pushed inside, her body resisting the four-floor hike.
“Maybe you should wait here?” Kyle said.
“I’m going up,” she answered as she grabbed hold of the railing. The metal sent a shiver down her spine.
Sebastian eyed her sideways as she shook. “Ava? You’re worse?” Sebastian asked.
“She’s fading fast,” Kyle answered. “She’s not good.”
Ava’s eyelids grew heavy as she pushed herself up the stairs. Her knees wobbled, and her muscles felt like they wouldn’t hold her much longer. The stairway swayed around her as she struggled to stay present in the moment.
“I’ve got a chopper standing by to evac you the moment you have something.”
For a second, Ava lost focus, her foot slipping on the stairs. She stumbled forward, crying out as she caught herself, jamming her shoulder.
“Ava?” Kyle asked, panic in his voice.
“I’m good,” she lied as she pulled herself to stand. “One more flight.”
“Is she okay?” Sebastian asked.
“She’s anything but,” he answered. “She’s not going to make it much further.”
They made it to the fourth floor. “We’re here.”
“Okay, hold on. I’m going to clear the deck for you,” Sebastian said. A second later, alarm klaxons sounded. The lights dimmed, emergency lighting replacing the normal fluorescents.
Kyle pushed Ava to the corner of the stairwell behind the door as it burst open. Several people filed down the stairs.
With his arm snaked around Ava, Kyle dragged her around the door and into the abandoned hall. “Thanks, Shadow. We’re approaching the door now. Come on, Ava, just a little further.”
Ava’s legs felt like lead, barely responding as she willed them to keep moving.
Her vision tunneled, and the world around her blurred, but she couldn’t stop—not yet.
Each step was agony, her muscles threatening to give out.
By the time they reached the door, her knees buckled, and she had to clutch the wall to stay upright.
She stumbled inside, the cold air biting at her feverish skin. She was on the verge of collapse.
Kyle dropped her on a stool as he searched the cold storage for the flu. “Uhh, I found it in here. Project Reaper.”
“And the cure?” Ava asked as the room swayed around her.
Kyle crossed to a clear-doored refrigerator, searching for anything. He flung it open, pulling out a number of unlabeled syringes. “Uhhh, I’m not sure…”
“Not sure?” Ava said as he ran a shaky hand through his hair.
“This…these are marked with the same code as reaper, but they could be the virus or a cure. There’s no way to tell.”
Ava’s heart pounded in her chest, every beat echoing like a countdown. Her vision blurred, and her breathing grew shallow. She reached for the syringe, her fingers trembling as she wrapped them around the cold metal.
“There’s only one way to know,” she whispered, her voice shaky. Her mind screamed at her to stop, to think, but time was running out.
Without another thought, she jammed the needle into her arm. The sharp sting of the needle and the cold rush of the fluid were the last things she felt before the world blurred and collapsed around her.