He creeps back down the stairs, pulling the door shut with a soft snick, and wets the towel from last night"s shower with the solution before shoving it under the door.
I"m trying not to shake when he finally stops, his eyes meeting mine. I see what he"ll say.
We"re trapped.
Chapter 19.
Forced Together I sit on the bed while he dresses in the bathroom. My arm is throbbing and I wish I hadn"t turned down the pain pills Finn offered. Nerves flutter in my belly as the door to the bathroom opens and he steps out. He drops onto the bed. It squeaks, alarmingly loud in the silence. I wonder if we can be heard, or if the zombies have lost interest by now.
"How long will they stay?"
Finn glances at me, gray eyes piercing. I shiver. He shrugs and tugs on his second boot. "Could be gone already, or they could stay out there for another four hours. They could keep us here all day."
I cross my arms and glare at him. "We have to get to 18."
"Yes, Nurrin, I am aware of your thoughts on the matter. Give me your arm."
Because it"s killing me-certainly not because he told me to-I do. He unwraps the bandage quickly, and we both can see the angry line of infection spreading from the wound. It looks like h.e.l.l, and I can almost feel the disease infecting me. I yank my arm away. He lets me, tension filling him.
"Did you take the neural inhibitors?" Finn asks, his voice dangerous, and I bite my lip. "Motherf.u.c.k, Ren!" he snarls, and I flinch away as he jerks to his feet. He digs in his pack, pulling out another dose and thrusting them at me.
"Take them."
I bat his hand away. Neural inhibitors are a last resort, and they don"t work as often as they do. "No way in h.e.l.l."
The words have barely left my lips when he has me on my back, my hands caught in his. I gasp at the pressure of his body on mine, and something flares in his eyes. He makes a noise in the back of his throat.
I bring my knee up sharply and he laughs as he rolls away then pins my legs with one of his. I"m caught, neatly splayed beneath him, and I hate it.
"Take them."
"Screw you," I spit.
He shifts a little, and my eyes widen. A grim smile twists his lip. "It"s one way to spend the day, Nurrin."
I don"t respond. Something-a tiny voice of practicality-tells me pushing him right now could land me in a place I don"t want to be.
His eyes are mocking. "Take your medicine like a good girl, and I might let you go."
"They don"t work. And I don"t want to be a veg."
"These work. No side effects."
I shake my head, stubbornly, my fear of the pills more than my fear of Finn. I"ve heard too many tales of neural inhibitors attacking the brain instead of the infection. I"d rather he shoot me than turn into one of those mindless souls.
Sure they were harmless-they didn"t want to eat everyone they met-but there was nothing there. The year I graduated from high school, I spent a summer working in h.e.l.lsp.a.w.n"s hospital. Caring for them was the worst part of the a.s.signment, even worse than putting down an infect.
"Ren." His voice snaps me out of my mounting panic and back to him. "I promise. I"ve taken them. You won"t become a veg."
Something in his voice-and because he has never lied to me before-makes me nod. He eases up a little, shifting to grab the bag without actually letting me up.
I gag when he drops them on my tongue, and Finn leans down, kissing me.
I swallow in surprise.
His lips don"t leave mine, and he drops down on me completely as he takes my head in his large hands, nibbling at my lips. And despite the fact that it"s Finn, it"s a h.e.l.luva kiss. Without conscious thought, I kiss him back. His tongue licks at my lips, and I open for him, whimpering a little as his tongue sweeps inside, twisting with mine and- He rolls off me abruptly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Good."
"Wha?"
Finn glances at me, cool and disinterested, and my face flames. "That was to get me to take the d.a.m.n pills?"
"What did you think it was?" he answers, dripping disdain.
I don"t answer. Instead, I kick him off the bed, jerk the blankets up around me, and ignore his laughter as my face burns.
Chapter 20.
On the Road I"m driving.
Not because he wanted me to, but because we both know we"re short on time. Collin is trapped in that cave with a live infection, and we lost precious time on that d.a.m.n boat. The sun sets, and we"re still hours from Haven 18, so he hands me the keys and I slide into the seat that still holds Finn"s body heat and scent. He pauses outside the car, and I wrinkle my nose at the sound of him peeing.
A moment later, he slams the door. "A pack of infects headed this way."
Without a word, I hit the gas, and we"re back on the road. I glance at him as he shifts a few times in his seat, drumming his fingers nervously. "Problem, O"Malley?"
His lips twitch, and for a heartbeat I can feel them again. Then he shrugs. "I like control, Nurrin. Giving that up is hard."
I focus on the road. "Is that why you don"t answer questions? Because you have to control what people know about you?"
"What makes you think I don"t? It could be just you I refuse to answer."
I laugh. "You don"t care enough to single me out. Besides, the girls in the Hive talk, you know. Everyone knows you don"t answer questions."
"Then why do you persist in asking them?"
"Glutton for punishment?"
There is a faint amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice when he slouches in his seat and says, "Just drive, Nurrin. Quit asking questions you know I won"t answer."
He closes his eyes, relaxed and ceding control enough to doze as I steer us through the star-studded night. I see zombies in the distance, loping along, pulled by the sound of our car. Once, we pa.s.s a convoy-five beat up RV"s barreling through the night, lights blazing, three snipers on the roofs. I pull off the road when I see them coming, and one of the snipers waves at me, looking bored and tired as they race the night.
I wonder how many people were packed into the RV"s.
Traveling between Havens is dangerous and expensive-I"d guess four or five families were crammed into each RV , splitting the exorbitant price as best they could.
"Get going, Nurrin," Finn says beside me. "And keep an eye out-that convoy will have a trail of dead."
He"s right.
We hit the horde ten minute after pa.s.sing the convoy, a small pack, but more than we can push through in the Porsche.
I idle on the road, staring at Finn as he stares at the approaching zombies, and I wonder what he"s thinking.
"Give me you guns. Your bow, too."
I grab them from below my legs, and he slides himself up to perch on the window of the car.
"Keep it steady, Nurrin. I"ll clear a path, but you have to get us through it."
His voice drifts through the window of the car. "Take it easy, but get some speed, Ren. Get us through this."
He"s trusting me. And he just called me Ren. I grit my teeth and ease my foot on the accelerator. From the corner of my eye, I can see the wind pulling at his shirt as we gain speed. The first gunshot makes me flinch, and the car serves a little. He slams a hand on the roof. "Keep it straight, Nurrin!" he snarls.
I tune him out as we drive into the horde. They"re moaning, racing at us from the darkness, and in two heartbeats, we"re enveloped. There are enough to block off the road, but Finn does what he promised-the road stays clear. His shots have slowed, and I"m not sure if it"s because he"s low on ammo or because he"s aiming, but either way, we need to get clear.
I call, "Hold on."
"Ren!" he shouts, and I grab one of his legs as I drive the pedal down. The Porsche roars under my touch, fishtailing a little before it shoots into the gap he"s created. I feel him slip, and I almost slow down, but there are too many infects. Closing in from every direction. He fires twice, and the path opens, a brief window.
I take it, darting through. We burst from the horde into the empty night. Finn slides into the car, steadily cursing as he reaches into his bag.
He comes up with a hand grenade.
"Where the h.e.l.l did that come from?" I demand, my voice shrill.
"What did I tell you about questions, Nurrin? Get this piece of s.h.i.t moving." He pulls the pin, leans out the window, and lobs it into the midst of the zombies who have turned to chase us.
Finn is leaning back, his eyes closed, when the blast lights up the night sky and shakes the car. I glance into the rear view mirror, at the remains of the horde.
"Why didn"t you do that to begin with?" I ask, glancing at him. He looks b.l.o.o.d.y, but it"s fetid and old-blood splatter from the zoms he put down.
"We couldn"t drive through an explosion," Finn says, without opening his eyes. "Stop staring. I didn"t get bitten."
I flush, my gaze going back to the road. He laughs a little, says something softly under his breath. "What?" I snap.
"We won"t be in Haven 18 long, but you can probably take care of that itch there."
"Oh, shut up, Finn. You have no idea."
He moves quickly, his lips brushing against my ear, sucking lightly on my earlobe before tracing the curve with his tongue. I shiver and he laughs. "I know if I can get that response, you are pretty desperate to get laid. I"d offer, but-"
"f.u.c.k. You," I spit and he laughs.
"Yeah, that"s what I thought you might say," he says, closing his eyes. Fuming, hating that desire is coiling in my belly, I ignore him and drive through the dying night.
Chapter 21.
Answers and Questions Haven 18 is nestled in the curve of the Rockies and sprawls before us like a glittering gem as I come around the crest of the mountain. Finn stirs, rubbing his eyes. "Pull off at the next outlook. I"ll drive us in."
I glance at him, but don"t say anything as we begin our descent, twisting through the pre-dawn light.
At the outlook, he glances over my clothes with a critical eye, and I flush. I don"t look pretty. I look, more than anything, like I"ve spent the past several days in the Wide Open, killing zombies.
We don"t get stopped until we"re a mile from the wall, where a group of soldiers stand in the road like a miniature army.
He pulls up to them and lowers his window.
"Name and haven?" the general barks.
"Finn O"Malley and Nurrin Sanders, of Haven 8."
The man frowns, and I"m not sure if it"s because of Finn"s distinct accent or my name. "Last word from 8 was there was a breach," he says "It fell," Finn says flatly, and the soldiers behind him suck in a sharp breath. "I have clearance to enter this haven, so if you"d let me pa.s.s..." he trails off.
The general sneers at him. "Whose clearance is that, boy?"
I can feel the tension that wraps around him, and I almost feel sorry for the older man. Being on the receiving end of Finn"s glare when it goes dangerous and still is not something I"d wish on anybody.
Although, I am grateful it"s turned on someone other than me.
He pulls something out of the door of the car, extending it without word, and the general glances at it half-heartedly. Then he looks back, his eyes wide and afraid.
"Do you have more questions?" Finn asks, coldly.
"No, sir. Apologies."