There were other shifters, and we were going to bring them together. Neither of us was ready or deserved this life of running and shooting, death and decay. Jo said this was the only world where she felt like she had power, but what would that power do to her? She would have to get through the rest of her time at Shepherd High, and then she could go out in the world and make her own future.
We could leave this battle to the rest of them.
I didn’t want to be hero.
I didn’t want her dead.
The decisions I would make would ensure we’d never be anything more than what we were in this moment. She’d hate me for them. But maybe that was the way it was supposed to be.
“Yes, Jo. I’m ready.”
Jo reached over and took my hand in hers. “On the count of three we run.” With one squeeze of my hand she started counting.
One.
Two.
Three.
And we were off. Out of pure fear, I covered my head as we raced towards the hospital, running past an enormous clusterfuck of cars and ambulances, bodies and gurneys, all reminders of what had occurred here—all the suckers who had thought they could make it through it all.
Jo was something to be seen. The way she ran without looking back. Her legs moving in determined yet graceful movements. I’d miss seeing her like this. So damn free it was heartbreaking.
The smell was our first attacker. Of course. I thought Jenna’s house smelled bad enough when I discovered the bodies of her and her family, but that was nothing compared to the pungent odor that burned my nose and throat and caused my eyes to water. I forcefully swallowed down the vomit that had made its way up my throat. Jo pulled the collar of her hoodie over her nose, and I followed suit with my shirt.
I tried not to look at the bodies that lay decomposing in the hallways. The scraps of skin that floated in the air, dancing with the sunlight that streamed in from the windows.
“Is anyone in here alive?” Jo yelled at the top of her lungs.
I lunged at her and covered her mouth with my hand. “What are you doing? You want to let every survivor know we’re here?”
Jo smacked my hand away. “I’m pretty sure they already know we’ve here, Logan, since the Dark Men planned it this way. No need to be all stealthy about it.”
“I understand that but—”
It was Jo’s turn to cover my mouth with her hand. “Sssssh! Do you hear that?”
I did. It was faint but it was coming down the hall from the reception desk. It sounded like yelling. Muffled but definitely there. We ran down the hallway as Jo pulled the gun from the waistband of her jeans.
The pounding and yelling increased as we continued down the hallway. When I saw the marking on the door at the end of the hall, I wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful or fear. Written in a substance that looked a little too much like blood to feel comfortable were the words “Hello Shifters”.
“I think...I think this may be the place,” I panted, a mixture of pure physical exhaustion and complete rational fear making me breathe like a crazy person, something I’d be embarrassed by if I was with anyone but Jo.
Jo reached out and turned the doorknob. Locked. The screaming behind the door became frantic. “You’d think they’d make it easy for us since they took the time to paint such a nice welcome sign.”
“What do we do?” I asked.
Jo turned to me and smiled, raising an eyebrow. “I think we have to kick it down.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “Totally bad ass.”
“I thought you might like that,” Jo replied, taking a few steps back.
“You’re a girl after my own heart,” I joked.
Jo cleared her throat. “Um. Right. Boobs aren’t perky enough. No blonde hair...”
I turned and stared at her. Her cheeks flushed. Sweat causing strands of her hair to stick to her forehead and neck. The way her hand didn’t even shake as she held the gun. Maybe she wasn’t the girl I’d usually go for, but there was certainly something...I cleared my throat. “You ready? Count of three?”
“That seems to be the best way to do these sorts of things,” she nodded.
One.
Two.
Three.
Kicking a door down, even with my X-men er X-woman next to me, hurt a lot. Add it to the list of lies movies tell you. Right after the lie that tells you everything works out in a high school movie.
When the door swung open it took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. I heard the click of Jo’s gun. I tensed my body for whatever was going to come out of there. I hadn’t even thought it might be survivors. Maybe Jo had thought it, but it wasn’t quite my nature to think the boogeyman hid in every corner.
Survivors they were not.