I run to the other dirt bike. Maybe if catch up, I talk some sense into him. I only want to split up as long as I still carry the vials. It would be too dangerous to have him around.
The vials. Where’s the box?
Wayne was holding it when Curtis saved us. I run over to Wayne’s body to search for it. The little aluminum box I’ve been protecting lies on the ground beside him. There’s a hole in the side of it. I swipe the box off the ground and open it. A bullet has entered and exited cleanly through. But the bullet smashed one vial to pieces.
Oh fuck.
The bullet’s impact would have dispersed XT58 throughout the tunnel. Zachmusthave been exposed. There’s a pain in my chest, and my heads swims, nearly falling over.
“Zach!” I cry out with all the air in my lungs. But it’s useless. The sound of his dirt bike has faded into the distance.
I grab my backpack, stow the vials, then hop onto the other bike. But the engine won’t start. That’s when the smell of gasoline hits me. The gas tank is riddled with bullet holes with a puddle of fuel collecting on the tunnel floor.
“Fuck!” I smash my fists on the instrument panel of the bike.
How did I handle that so terribly? I didn’t think he’d run off like that. I thought we could work it out. But with everything that happened, it’s hard to blame him. And as usual, my efforts to protect Zach have put him in even greater danger.
I’ve got to try to find him. I hop off the bike, then push it by the handlebars until I’m out of the tunnel. A gravel trail runs to the west, heading downward and cutting through the forest. I’m right at the top of Snoqualmie Pass, so hopefully, this trail descends for a long time, and I can coast down.
I run along the trail, holding on to the bike to work up some speed, then hop on. The bike picks up momentum on the sloping trail, which continues as far as I can see. I tuck my head and use the brakes sparingly. At one point, the speedometer hits forty. With any luck, this bike can get me most of the way to Seattle. Or, at the very least, to a town where I can try to find a car.
The entire way down, I process my new reality. Zach is probablynotimmune, and he’s most likely been exposed. If that’s the case, his symptoms will start soon. I glance at the Casio watch Zach gave me. It’s Saturday, 11:45 a.m. Tomorrow morning, he’ll start coughing and feeling fatigued. By tomorrow night, he’ll feel terrible, with fever and chills. On Monday, he’ll barely be able to move. Most people don’t make it much past day three. But those who do…fuck. The thought of Zach going through that makes my whole chest ache.
He’s most likely headed to his parent’s home on Vashon Island, but I have no idea where on the island it is. The only thing I know is that their house is on the water. But Vashon Island is huge, so that doesn’t narrow things down enough for me to try to find him there.
As much as it tears me up, my best bet is to finish the job. I’ll head to the bunker at UW Medical Center and deliver the vials so they can synthesize a cure. Without that, I’m of no help to Zach, anyway. Then maybe I can figure out a way to track him down. I shake my head. My plan seems hopeless.
As I continue downward, I’m wracked with this overwhelming guilt. Even if I deliver the vials, find the cure, and somehow find Zach, will he ever forgive me? I may have ruined the best thing that’s happened in my life. Only time will tell.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Secrets Can Kill
ZACH
The world flies by in a blur as I race down Interstate 90 through the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, weaving the bike around stopped cars and the occasional multivehicle pileup. A glance at the speedometer shows 110 miles per hour. It’s reckless, but I don’t care.
There’s an aching in my chest. None of the heartache I felt with Felix has been anything like this. I love Aiden so fiercely, and I feel betrayed. An actual pain aches right under my skin.
How could Aiden have done that after everything we just went through? He promised me we’d stay together. He didn’t trust me enough to tell me about the vials, make my own decisions, or take my own risks.
This is probably for the best. Aiden will never change. Better to end things now than fall further in love with him and have to dig out of a deeper hole later. He’s doing me a favor.
I only wish I could believe that.
Maybe I should have told him about my uncle and that I didn’t think I was immune. It might have prevented this mess. But I kept quiet. I feared he’d think less of me and might even leave me. Given how he reacted, that’s probably the truth.
But I should have heard him out. I ran off so upset. He was only trying to protect me, as always. Maybe if I turned around now, I could still catch him. Maybe we could work things out.
I slam on the brakes, making black streaks on the pavement, and turn the bike around. On the entire trip back, my mind is a mess. What will I say? What willhesay? Can we repair the damage done? But all those thoughts are for naught. When I roll up to the tunnel exit, the scene of all that carnage, my hopes are crushed. The second dirt bike is gone.
And Aiden is gone.
I’m too late. And I have no way of finding him. I’m all alone.
Helplessness spreads over me. How could I have acted so rashly? I was blinded by anger and hurt. With my head hanging low, I speed away. There’s only one thing left to do. I’m heading home. To Vashon Island to track down Mom, Dad, and Felix.
Before the Great Collapse, a ferry ran between Seattle and Vashon. But that’s not an option now for obvious reasons. Instead, I’m headed to the family sailboat, which I can use to sail home. It’s moored in a marina just south of Seattle.
