“I don’t know.” His words were clipped. “Beaumont said something about getting supplies for the Beta and Charlie site.”
Gabriel tried to comb through his memory for something—anything. He and Irving had talked about getting supplies for the site, but he hadn’t been present when Irving had assigned where to look for the supplies. Most of the time, he gave the teams a general area. One he thought might be productive, and let the team make their own decisions. Without anyform of communication, the teams had to work autonomously, making their own decisions. It’s why the commanders were so important.
And Team Beta had Alvarez.
Gabriel thought the guy had potential, but right now, he was a ticking time bomb, and he was sitting next toBlake.Alvarez didn’t care about his people; he cared about the mission. The end justified the means. And Blake wasn’t even his team. He had no affection for the medic.
He had to move. He had to do something, but his brain and his legs weren’t cooperating. He wanted to run, but he didn’t knowwhere.
Did they even have another working truck? Last he saw, Tommy and Judd were taking the other truck apart, working on replacing a part. Gabriel didn’t know if they’d fixed it or not.
“I have to go after him,” he began, reaching out toward Phin. “Where are the keys?”
Phin pressed his lips together. “You don’t even know where to look.”
“I don’t care!” he screamed loud enough to startle the chickens. They flapped their wings, small white feathers flying. “I have to save him! I have to protect him! I have to—I need him…” his voice hitched, the words turning to ash in his throat.
God, had it really only been this morning that he had Blake in his arms? It felt like an eternity ago. Like the soft press of his skin and the snarky curl of his mouth were nothing more than a fading memory. He hadn’t kissed him goodbye. Hadn’t apologized for what he’d done. Gabriel had just?—
Couldn’t come to you.
Phin’s words echoed in his head like a bell. Gabriel had denied him. Over and over. He’d only half listened to the things Blake said. Comforted him, but didn’t do anything to make it better. Blake had told him he needed to do more, to help people,and Gabriel had tried to take him on a date. He’d tried to fix Blake’s pain with kisses and words of endearment.
And when Blake needed him most, when something was so important to him he was willing to risk his life, he didn’ttrustGabriel.
The guilt and the fear culminated in physical pain. Gabriel didn’t know what to do. He felt the corner of the novel dig into his leg, and he almost laughed. A stupid novel. Blake was suffering, and all he’d brought him was pages and ink.
“Alvarez isn’t that bad,” Tommy said, his voice timid. “And Beaumont is with them. He won’t let Blake get hurt.”
His words were hollow. Even Phin winced as he spoke. Tommy hadn’t seen what they’d seen. He hadn’t seen Monkey Cats ripping Off Formers apart, even as they burned. He hadn’t seen Off Formers decimate buildings. He hadn’t been chased by Drones and FUDs for miles.
He hadn’t seen Blake’s body limp, crushed under brick, stuck between two behemoths designed solely to wage war, damn the collateral damage.
And this time, Gabriel wasn’t there to run into the fray. To beg him to come back. He was in the most dangerous place in the world, with people he couldn’t trust, and Gabriel was here.
Is this what it had been like for Blake? Every time Gabriel loaded up on a mission, he didn’t know when he’d be back. If he came back at all. Was Blake the one left standing in the middle of the parking lot, desperate to do something, but unable to do anything?
Safe but stuck.
Alone.
The weight on Gabriel’s shoulders was so heavy he could barely breathe. He turned toward the horizon and watched as the sky darkened. His hand reached for his crochet hook, but all he found was the dog-eared pages of a paperback novel.
They approached the vet clinic cautiously.
Despite being only half an hour south, the atmosphere changed drastically. Shadows lengthened across broken streets. Smoke soured the air. And the muted sounds of explosions in the distance echoed in their ears.
Capitol Hill Veterinary was tucked into the outskirts of the metropolitan area of DC. Stuck on the end of a strip mall, it was joined by the liquor store Blake was familiar with, a pizza joint he wasn’t, and a dry cleaner someone in his line of work wouldn’t bother with.
The parking lot was mostly clear. A hubcap rested on the curb, and inert electrical lines draped over the streets like day-old birthday decorations. Unlike the azalea-lined streets of the suburbs, the city was ravaged. Buildings were sooty with fire damage, and the street was gouged with craters. Debris seemed to collect in the streets like hair in the shower drain, and they’d had to leave the truck three blocks back. Tyler and Zoe stayed behind to guard it, which left Beaumont and Alvarez on either side of Blake.
Alvarez was quiet as he scanned the streets, his face pinched and eyes bright. It was the same look he’d seen on all the soldiers when they were on high alert. There was a kind of tautness in their body as they balanced on the balls of their feet and twitched at every sound. He assumed it was partly training and partly inherited. Observant soldiers lived longer.
As they ascended the curb and began creeping toward the clinic, Blake found himself wishing he had a gun. He settled for gripping the straps of the backpack he’d taken from the truck, but it left him feeling exposed. It’s not that he didn’t trustAlvarez or Beaumont or was even deluded enough to think he was a better shot than them; he just wanted something to do with his hands.
Hell, he’d take a big stick. He might prefer it. Less chance for user error.
A faded navy blue and white sign was still affixed to the brick building:Capitol Hill Veterinary Clinic: Walk-Ins Welcome.There was a cartoon puppy sitting with a rabbit and a cat in the center. It was cute. Better yet, it looked untouched.
