I knew the president had sort of been in on the new world order, or whatever that shit was where they’d aligned with the ghouls in order to kill off most of the population and not come to harm themselves, but that had all gone to shit now that the new ships had shown up, and from what I’d heard, Buckley had been blackmailed into participating. They used her kid as a pawn. Maybe I could trust her… I had once before.
I waved my hand. “Yeah, I’ll sign whatever.”
Ronnie growled. “I need to treat my patient if she’s going back in there. We all just got acid-rained on. I’m still analyzing what it was they dropped on us. She has second degree chemical burns.”
The woman put up her hands. “Like I said, she isn’t a prisoner. Treat your patient, but we move out in sixty minutes. If she can prove what she says is true… well, we will talk about that then.”
Ronnie raised an eyebrow. “If you’re questioning her ability to open windows into their world, then how did the Galadrias get here?”
The woman just stared at my bestie for a full minute before leaving. She didn’t have an answer for that.
“So, what the hell is going on? You’re taking them in?” Ronnie’s eyes went wide as she set down her medical bag and started to dress my wounds. There were too many blisters on my arms to wrap them all, so she just focused on the more serious-looking ones.
“I think it’s the only way to end things. We need to work together. Humanity needs to work as one.”
Ronnie gave me a look. “How very political of you.” She winked.
I reached out and grabbed her arm. “I’m serious, Ronnie. What if we could really end this? What if you can fall asleep next to Brisk for the rest of your life and just… dream. We could have kids. Our children’s children would never know of this war except in books and history classes.”
She stilled. My normally robotic bestie met my gaze and I saw a tear travel down her cheek.
“Brisk wants to get married, have kids and all that. I told him no. Not in this world.”
Wow. I knew they were getting serious fast but that was a bit of a bomb drop.
I nodded. “I feel the same. What if we could change things?”
I knew what she was wrestling with.Hope. Hope was one of the most dangerous emotions I’d ever felt, even more than love. But I believed now. I really thought we could end this. These fuckers had a weakness and I was going to exploit it.
“You’re going to need a medic and I don’t trust these shit for brains. I’m going in too,” she declared.
That was my girl, my ride or die. I nodded.
“How is Jeremy? Everyone else?”
My bestie took a deep breath. “He’s shaken but okay, only a few blisters. He knows what happened to the sentries, so Damien already has him set up with a laptop and he’s crunching numbers in a tent.”
That was our Jeremy; his brain never rested, and it would be to our benefit.
“He’s also requested hot chocolate and mac and cheese for dinner,” Ronnie added, which caused me to grin.
“I love that kid.” How could I not?
Ronnie chuckled. “So do I. We survive acid rain, float in a lake full of Galadrias, the US Army shows up and he’s worried about dinner.”
I laughed, genuinely. “Priorities.”
Jeremy had a routine, and if that routine wasn’t met, it was meltdown city. Hot chocolate and mac and cheese would keep his world together.
“I put everyone on antibiotics after these blisters so they don’t get infected. Be sure to take yours.”
I nodded, reaching into my pocket and producing the pack of pills she’d given me earlier.
“How long do you think the Galadrias can stay here without starving to death?”
Poor Dawn, I feared she would have no sky home left to return to.
Ronnie blew air through her teeth. “I’m not sure, but Damien has Jeremy working on that too, trying to see if a synthetic of the green stuff can be made at one of Striker Labs.”
