“But you love me.”
“Yeah, I do. Hey, last night was…” His cheeks darkened slightly, his version of a blush.
“Yeah,” I agreed warmly. Every night we’d been back had been a good one. We’d made up for lost time while relearning each other’s bodies. Hopefully, we’d figure out a way to have alone time while on base. I happened to know of a few spots where we could sneak away.
“When you squeezed me like that, I’d swear my soul left my body,” he said, sounding giddy.
“I’m glad you liked it. I’ve been practicing.”
“And when you came, it was like a fucking Renaissance painting. I wish I had a camera so I could take a picture of it.”
“Maybe one day we can take a video,” I said, loving the way I could still shock him into silence.
“Finding a video camera will be my first priority. You know I still plan on doing that for you one day,” he said, then glanced away, turning shy.
“You don’t have to,” I reminded him, knowing exactly what he meant.
“Iwantto do that,” he said firmly.
“When you’re ready.”
Cipher pulled me into his arms and kissed me gently, pouring everything he felt for me into it, so much emotion and so many promises in that one kiss.
We spent the rest of the morning stocking up on our favorite snacks and saying goodbye to the other Assholes. Little Miss Purrfect was in my lap the whole time, begging for pets. It’d behard to leave her behind, but this was her home, and I knew that Teresa would take good care of her while we were gone.
Each of our friends offered us a little present or special food item to take with us. Gizmo gave us geo-tracking tags that he said would allow them to find us in case of emergency, and Teresa and Selena had woven friendship bracelets for all of us to match. Macon slipped us each a bottle of his moonshine, though I was pretty sure the military would confiscate it. And for me, they’d replaced all of the dwindling supplies in my medical kit so they were like brand new, including a new set of surgical needles.
“Don’t you need this here?” I asked regarding my kit.
“We have another one,” Artemis said. “You’re going to need that, I’m sure.”
The military probably had plenty of medical kits, but there was nothing like having your own tools, similar to having your own kitchen knives. Artemis then gave Cipher a hunting knife to replace the one he’d lost.
“Fits like a glove,” Cipher said in appreciation and tucked it into the sheath strapped to his thigh. We were leaving the guns behind, but keeping our personal defense weapons with us. We couldn’t be too careful.
“If you find another cat, bring them back here,” Teresa told me. “Little Miss Purrfect needs a sister.”
“I’ll be on the lookout,” I told her, handing my precious fur baby over to her very capable arms.
“Don’t forget to visit,” Artemis said. “And no more Rabid bites.”
“I’m on it, boss,” Cipher said.
We loaded our stuff into the Humvee. I sat in front with my brother. Macon was in the back with Cipher. The four of us waved goodbye to the Assholes as we passed through the gate, ready to begin our newest adventure.
But an hour or so later when we arrived at the entrance to the StarChem base, I knew immediately that something was wrong.
Very,verywrong.
“Cipher, the gate.” I pointed to the main gate, usually guarded by two soldiers, now standing wide open. It looked as if it had been forced apart, the reinforced steel dented and scarred from what must have been a desperate struggle. To get in or out? Even more concerning, there were no soldiers in sight.
“They never leave their gate open,” I said.
“The sirens,” Cipher said, and though I couldn’t hear them, I could see the red lights flashing in the distance. “There’s no one in the sentry towers either.” Cipher handed me the binoculars to have a look.
“Oh fuck, look over there.” Macon pointed to a distant field where a group of soldiers were hunched over a body on the ground. I adjusted my binoculars to find their faces smeared with blood and gore. They weren’t merely kneeling around the body, they were tearing it apart with their teeth.
“They’re Rabid,” I said with a sinking feeling in my stomach.
