The Immortal Rules (41 page)

From the corner of my eye, I could see them, huddled together. Teresa and Silas had the kids between them, sobbing, and Jake stood behind me with his ax, silent and grim. Zeke was gone. The rabids were coming, wave upon wave of them. There was nowhere left to go.

Run,
my vampire instincts whispered.
The rabids don’t want you; they want the humans. You can still get out of this alive. Run now!

The circle of rabids closed in, hissing and snarling. I glanced behind me at the small group of humans, then turned to face the sea of death, edging forward from all sides.

Zeke,
I thought, swinging my blade up one last time,
this is for you.

Baring my fangs, I roared a battle cry and lunged forward.

Light pierced the darkness, sudden and blinding. The rabids froze, whirling around, as a monstrous vehicle roared through the crowds, crushing bodies and flinging them aside. It skidded to a halt a few feet away, and several uniformed humans leaned out over the top and sent a hail of machine-gun fire into the mob.

Rabids shrieked and howled as the roar of bullets joined the deafening cacophony, tearing through flesh, shattering concrete and making dirt and trees explode. I cringed back with the others, huddled as close to the truck as I could, hoping a stray bullet wouldn’t hit anyone by mistake. Rabids pounced toward the vehicle but were cut down before they reached the massive tires, twitching as they were riddled with holes. There was a shout, and something small flew through the air, thrown by one of the humans. A few seconds later an explosion rocked the ground, sending rabids flying.

Snarling, the rest of the pack turned and fled, bounding back into the forest or burying themselves into the earth. In a few seconds, the whole pack had disappeared, and the night was still except for the rain.

I tensed as a human leaped from the top of the truck and stalked toward us. He was big and muscular, dressed in a uniform of black and green, and held a very, very large gun in both hands.

“We saw your lights down the road,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Sorry we couldn’t get here sooner. Is anyone hurt?”

Dazed, I stared at him. Other soldiers were springing down from the vehicle now, wrapping the group in blankets, leading them back to the truck. One of them picked Bethany up after throwing a blanket around her, and another helped Teresa hobble over the pavement. The lead soldier watched them a moment, then turned back to me.

“Is this everyone?” he asked briskly. “Once we leave, we’re not coming back if we can help it. Is this your whole party?”

“No!” I gasped and whirled around, scanning the road behind us. “No, there’s one more. We left him by the van—he could still be alive.”

I started forward, but he grabbed my arm.

“He’s dead, girl.” The soldier’s eyes were sympathetic, as I turned on him furiously. “If he fell behind with the rabids, he’s dead. I’m sorry. But we should get those who are alive to Eden.”

“I’m not leaving him,” I snarled, yanking my arm out of his grip. My throat burned with anger at the unfairness of it all. That Zeke could come so far, get this close, only to fall at the end. I thought of the data he was carrying, the precious information that could save the human race, and backed away from the soldier. “You don’t know him—he could still be alive. If he’s dead—” I clenched my fists, my voice breaking a little. “I still have to know. But I’m not leaving him behind. We’ve come too far for that.”

“I know it’s hard—” the soldier began but was interrupted.

“Sarge?” One of the soldiers peered down from the truck. “Sergeant Keller, I think you’d better see this.”

I whirled around. A lone figure was walking steadily down the road toward us, one hand holding his shoulder, the other gripping a machete at his side. He was covered in blood, clothes torn, and every step looked painful, but he was alive.

Relief shot through me. Breaking away from Keller, I ran to him, catching him just as he staggered, dropping his weapon to the pavement. He was shaking, his skin cold, and he reeked of blood, both his own and the rabids’. I felt his heartbeat, thumping frantically in his chest, the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. One arm snaked around me, holding us together, and he rested his forehead against mine.

“Zeke,” I whispered, feeling his shaky breath on my skin, the tension lining his back and shoulders. He said nothing, only held me tighter, but I pulled back a little to glare at him. “Dammit, don’t you ever do that to me again.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice reedy with pain. “But…the others? Is everyone okay?” I framed his face with both hands, wanting to laugh and cry and slap him all at once.

“Everyone is fine,” I told him, and felt him relax. “We made it, Zeke. Eden is right around the corner.”

He blew out a ragged breath, and sagged against me. “Thank you,” he whispered, just as the soldiers swarmed around us. We were safe now. I released him and stepped back, letting the humans throw a blanket around his shoulders, shine a flashlight over his wounds and ask him a ton of questions.

“They’re just scratches,” I heard Zeke say, as Sergeant Keller peered down at him, frowning. “I’m not bitten.”

“Get him on the truck,” Keller ordered, waving his arm. “They can check him out once we’re behind the wall. Let’s move, people.”

Moments later, I sat beside Zeke in back of the monstrous truck, both of us wrapped in blankets, his hand clutched tightly in mine. Surrounded by so many humans, the Hunger stirred restlessly as the scratches beneath my coat slowly healed, but I ignored it. Caleb and Bethany clung to the adults they knew, eyeing the soldiers warily, but the rest of them were dazed with relief. As the rain slowly let up, I peered over the top of the truck and saw it approaching a pair of enormous iron gates at the end of the road. A fence stretched out on either side of it, reminding me of the Wall in New Covington, dark and massive and bristling with razor wire on top. The white beam of a spotlight spun slowly around just inside one corner of the wall, piercing the sky.

There were shouts from inside the fence, and the massive gates slowly swung open, allowing the truck to pass through. More armed, uniformed humans lined the path beyond the gate, jogging after the truck as it cruised into a tiny compound with muddy roads and a few long cement buildings in the distance. Watchtowers rose along the wall every hundred feet or so, and the humans here seemed to be all military.

Caleb peered over the rim with wide eyes. “Is this Eden?” he asked plaintively. One of the soldiers laughed.

“No, little guy, not yet. Look.” He pointed to where a dock stretched out over the dark waters of the huge lake. “Eden is on an island in the middle of Lake Eerie. There’s a boat that will arrive to take you there tomorrow morning.”

So Jeb had been right. Eden
was
on an island. This place was just a checkpoint, the last stop before getting to the city.

“How far?” Zeke murmured from my shoulder, his voice tight with pain. Sergeant Keller glanced down at him, frowning.

“Not far. About an hour by boat. But first, we have to make sure you’re not infected. You’ve all been in contact with the rabids. Everyone will get a thorough examination here, before you’re allowed into the city.”

Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good for me. And Zeke’s hand tightened on mine, showing he felt the same. The truck pulled through the camp and finally stopped at one of the long cement buildings near the edge of the lake.

A bald man in a long white coat waited for us near the back door and spoke urgently to Sergeant Keller as we piled off the truck. I saw the sergeant point to Zeke and myself, and the bald man glanced over anxiously.

A bed on wheels was brought out, pushed by two more men in white coats, and Zeke was loaded onto it despite his protests. In the end, he relented but still kept a tight hold of my hand as we swept through the doors into a sterile white room. Cots lined the walls, and men and women in white rushed toward us, ushering the others to different parts of the room. Caleb resisted a little, clinging to Jake, but was won over when the man pulled something tiny and bright out of his coat pocket. It looked like a green button on a white stick, but when Caleb put it in his mouth, his eyes widened, and he crunched down on it with a smile. The man held out a hand, and Caleb allowed him to lead him toward a counter.

“Excuse me.”

I glanced up. We had reached a pair of double doors at the end of the room, and the small bald man was looking at me apologetically.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But we have to take this one into surgery now. Some of his wounds are quite severe, and we still don’t know if he’s been bitten. You need to let him go.”

I didn’t know what “surgery” was, but I didn’t want to let Zeke go, suddenly afraid that if he went through those doors without me, I’d never see him again. “I can’t be there with him?”

“I’m sorry,” the man said again, blinking behind his glasses. “I’m afraid it’s not allowed. Too dangerous, you see, both for the patient, and yourself. But I swear we’ll do everything we can for him. He’ll be in good hands, I assure you.”

I looked at Zeke again. He lay there, pale and bloody under the harsh lights, eyes closed. One of the women had stuck his arm with a needle earlier, and it had put him out completely. His fingers around mine were limp.

“You can wait outside the room, if you want.” The bald man gave me a tired, understanding smile. “And we’ll let you know how he is as soon as we’re done. But you need to let him go now. Let him go.”

Gently, he took my wrist, easing it away from Zeke’s hand. I resisted a moment, then let it drop. The bald man smiled again and patted my arm.

They wheeled Zeke through the doors, and I followed them down a narrow, dimly lit hall until they vanished through another pair of doors with no windows, a bright No Entry painted on the metal in vivid red. I caught a whiff of old blood through the doors as they swung shut, and my stomach turned in both fear and Hunger.

I stayed in the hallway, staring at the doors, feeling the hours tick away. I wondered how the others were doing. I wondered if Zeke was all right, if he would pull through. There had been so much blood. If he had been bitten…if he turned into one of those monsters…

I shook my head, abandoning that thought. Leaning back against the wall, I looked up at the ceiling and let my eyes slip shut.

I don’t know if you can hear me,
I thought in the general direction of the sky,
or if you’re even listening. But, if you have any sense of justice at all, you won’t let Zeke die in there. Not when he’s this close. Not when he’s sacrificed everything to see the others here alive. I know you’re probably anxious to get him home, but he’s needed down here a little more. Just let him stay a little longer.

The hall remained empty, silent. I bowed my head, letting my thoughts drift. I wondered, suddenly, where Kanin was, if he was still alive. If he could sense me, feel where I was, or if he even cared. If he was still sane enough to care. I wondered if he was sorry that one of his offspring had killed the other.

I felt it then. A flash of rage and hate so strong, I jerked my head up, bashing my skull into the wall. Wincing, I stared down the corridor, feeling my fangs poking through my gums, growling softly. For a split second, I’d felt him, seen his face. I felt his anger, directed right at me. Not Kanin. Not psycho vamp.

Jackal. He was alive.

The doors at the end of the hall swung open. I leaped upright as the bald man emerged looking very tired, smears of blood on his white coat.

“Your friend is going to be fine,” he said, smiling, and I collapsed against the wall in relief. “He’s lost a lot of blood, has a slight concussion, and there was an old gunshot wound on his leg, but he isn’t infected. I expect him to make a full recovery.”

“Can I see him?”

“He’s sleeping now.” The bald man gave me a severe look. “You can visit him later, but I believe
you
need stitches, too, young lady. Judging from those rips in your clothes, I’m surprised you’re not in worse shape. Has someone examined you? Hold still a moment.” He swung a strange device off his neck and stuck the ends in his ears. “This won’t hurt,” he promised, holding up the shiny, metallic circle on the end of the tube. “I’m just going to listen to your heart, check your breathing—”

He moved the device toward my chest…and my hand shot out, grabbing his wrist before either of us knew what was happening.

He jumped, startled by how fast I moved, and looked up at me with huge round eyes behind his glasses. I met his gaze sadly.

“You won’t find anything there,” I murmured, and he frowned a moment, confused. Then his face drained of color, and he stared at me, frozen. I heard his heartbeat speed up, and a sheen of sweat glistened on his brow.

“Oh,” he whispered in a tiny, breathy voice. “You’re a… Please don’t kill me.”

I released his wrist, letting mine drop to my side. “Go on,” I muttered, turning away. “Do what you have to do.” He hesitated, as if fearing a trick, that I would turn and pounce on him the second his back was turned. Then I heard his footsteps, sprinting off down the hall, running to spread the word about vampires in the hallways. I didn’t have a lot of time. Hurrying to the surgery doors, I pushed my way inside.

The room was dark, save for a single bright light that shone down on a bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by beeping machines and shelves of metal instruments. Zeke lay on his back, clean gauze wrapping his chest, one arm in a sling, breathing peacefully. His pale hair gleamed under the lights.