“I’ll come back for you, Royce. I promise. I’ll get you out of this just like I did when those mercs had you.”
Ice gave a short, quiet laugh. “I know you will.”
Jax and Ortiz turned to go. After a last, lingering look at his mate, Hazard forced himself to follow them. Behind him, the doors closed, locks clicking from the other side. Ortiz took out a set of Flexi-Cuff restraints.
“Let me do it,” Hazard said.
Ortiz silently handed over the restraints.
Hazard took them and looped them through the door handles. He threaded the ends through the locking tabs, cinching them closed tight. The infected wouldn’t be able to open the doors from this side and even if Ice unlocked them from his side, he wouldn’t be able to get out.
Hazard looked at his squadmates. They didn’t look happy about leaving Ice behind either, but they all knew it was the right thing to do.
“Two floors left,” he said, his jaw firm with resolve. “Let’s fucking go.”
Chapter 6
Saturday, October 29th, 1983.
1900. Fifteen minutes post bite.
KV Perkins Office Building
Ice couldn’t believe the situation he was in. Bitten by one of the infected. On the verge of turning into one himself. And taken off the mission because of it.
He wanted to be out there watching Hazard’s back. Needed to protect him from the feral humans roaming the building. Unfortunately, right now he was a danger to Hazard himself.
It broke his heart to see the worry in his mate’s eyes when he’d been forced to go on without him. He didn’t want them to be separated either. But he’d stayed strong in order to do the right thing and send Hazard away. No matter how much it had hurt him to do so.
Now he was stuck here in this room. Waiting.
With nothing to do but think, he wondered if he should shift into his wolf form. According to Dr. Burke, he hadn’t done much research on shifters. Which meant that Ice had no information on how the enhancer would affect him in his other form.
Maybe he would burn off some of the poison with the powerful change that went though his body when he shifted. Or possibly since he burned more energy as a wolf his metabolism would eat up the virus in his system. But then again, his bigger mass as a human might make the progression of the change slower.
Ice scrubbed a hand over his face. There was no way to know what would happen if he shifted.
Before he could decide what to do, he heard a woman’s voice on the other side of the door calling out for someone.
“Jessica! Jessica!”
Ice straightened from the desk. Another survivor in here? Whoever she was, she was at serious risk wandering around the building. His first thought was to go out there and retrieve her. Bring her inside this room where it was safe. But then he remembered that he could be the one to hurt her.
Fuck. It was risky for him to approach the woman. But he couldn’t stand by and do nothing. He would go out and help her as fast as possible. Maybe swap places with her and lock her in this room while he went somewhere else.
Hoping this decision wouldn’t have a shit outcome, he went over to the double doors and unlocked one. But when he tried to push it open he saw the doors were latched together with zip ties. The rage starting to simmer within his mind urged him to slam his body against the doors and break them down. However, the still functioning rational part of his brain remembered that he had bolt cutters on his back. It would be fast and easy to snip the ties.
He did just that, then stepped out and closed the door behind him. Hopefully the room would stay secure and empty of infected while he was gone. Staying aware of his surroundings, he followed the softly whispering voice.
“Jessica! Jessica, come out right now!”
He came upon a woman in a blue suit, her dark hair straggling out of an updo. She was peeking into a room trying to find whoever she was looking for.
Ice slowly and quietly walked up behind her. When he got close, he softly called out to her. “Ma’am.”
The woman gasped and spun around to face him. When she got a look at his face, her eyes went wide. She screamed and stumbled back.
He was sure he looked terrifying to her, nearly bald, the whites of his eyes red, skin waxy and marred with blackened veins. But he couldn’t let her shrieking alert any infected that might be nearby. He leaped forward and slapped a hand over her mouth.