Outer Banks (23 page)

They all nodded. Someone must visit it occasionally otherwise they'd have moved into it by now.

“Jonathan? Can I see you for a moment?” He walked over to me, standing even taller than me. He really was a basketball player. “Can you keep them safe?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. When this supply is close to running out, call me. We should know by then if it's safe to bring you to the Outer Banks. If it is, either myself or someone I trust will come to take you to them. Until then, keep a low profile. You understand, right?” He nodded again.

“Corey?” I called over Jonathan's shoulder. He was playing with the little ones, keeping them distracted. “Let's go.”

Corey patted them on the head and caught up with me as I left for the van.

“That was sad,” Corey said after we were on the road again.

“Hopefully we won't have to worry about it for long.”

“We could have brought them along,”

I shook my head. “They need their brother, and he's bound to be stubborn and volunteer like you. I doubt he'd take no for an answer. It wouldn't be fair to any of them. We can wait until we're certain it works.”

Corey nodded, but he now looked pensive. “Sasha said it takes a long time for a medicine to make it from trials to distribution. Like a year or more. They have to tweak it and adjust the formula for mass production. The FDA has to test it on a lot of different people. A panel, I think she called it.”

“These are desperate times,” I said. “If Emery finds a cure, I'm sure they'll fast track it.”

“Well, remember the first two rounds? They thought they had a cure then too. It took days before people started falling over dead,” he said. He looked down, probably remembering his mom's fate.

“Don't worry, Corey. We're not going to let that to happen to you.”

“This girl. The one you're trying to impress by offering me as a sacrifice.” I looked over to make sure he was joking. “You think she's got it? Really?”

“I trust her. She's smarter than Sasha or her team, and she's one of you. Heck, she was going to try it on herself first. That's confidence.”

“Okay.” He nodded as if he were convinced.

When he was close to sleep, he climbed into the back. I didn't bother with the lock. I kept driving until I was worried I might drive off the road with exhaustion.

I got a few hours rest and then I was back on the road, continuing our journey west.

Corey startled me when he climbed between the seats after he got up.

“Morning,” he said looking out at the last traces of what had been the sun.

“Whatever,” I answered grumpily. I needed coffee.

“You look like hell.”

“I'll take care of it tomorrow. And watch your language.” I rolled my eyes. “Buckle up.”

“Yes, Mother,” he chuckled. I remembered his mother had died in a vaccine trial, yet there he was, eager to volunteer.

“Were you able to find out anything about your dad?” I asked.

“Yeah. He's dead. Never made it out of the ground.” He didn't elaborate. I pulled off the highway to get gas.

“I'm sorry.” From what he'd said, it hadn't sounded like he was much of a father anyway, but still. I grabbed my wallet and got out to pump gas while Corey leaned out the window. The lady in the car next to us looked over, noticing Corey's eyes.

“Good evening, ma'am,” Corey said with a bright smile, pouring on the charm. I rolled my eyes as the woman reconsidered her need for gas and left with the fuel door still open.

“What did I say?” He laughed as I went inside to pay.

When it was time for him to go to sleep I decided to get some rest as well, but not too much. I would be able to drive the rest of the way in one go if I got a head start.

“I'm going to lock you in while I'm sleeping,” I told him as he moved to the back of the van. “Just in case anyone noses around.”

“Thanks, Dillon. Maybe when you're done being a hunter I could keep this box to live in. Fit in a plasma screen, get some Wi-Fi…” He was joking again, but I didn't think it was very funny.

I crawled into the comfortable bed at the hotel, thinking about Corey in that box. Granted, he was sleeping in a way I would never know until I died, but it still made me uneasy.

I headed out a few hours later, wanting to get to Emery before sunrise. It bothered me that I still hadn't been able to get her on the phone and she hadn't called me back. I knew she would be busy, and I didn't want to be a distraction, but would it take so long to send a text?

I called her when we stopped for gas that evening.

“Hey, Em, it's me. I'll be there before morning. I know you're busy. Can you just give me a quick call when you get this? Please? Can't wait to see you. Miss you.”

“Boy, do you sound needy,” Corey commented from the van door.

“Too much?”

“Nah. I played it cool with Krista. You know, not admitting I liked her. Look where that got me? I don't know where she is, and she never knew how I felt about her.” He shrugged. “I don't think it's a good idea to keep your feelings inside. You never know if you'll get another chance.”

“Very wise, Master Yoda.” I nodded and we headed out again.

Corey and I played
Name That Tune
like we had the first night we'd met, but when we finally turned onto the gravel road that led up to the cabin he became quiet.

“This is it, I guess. Now or never?” Corey swallowed. He always acted tough, but I could see how nervous he was.

“It's not like she's going to be waiting to drag you off to her lab the second we pull up.” Then I remembered Emery's impatience. “At least, I don't think so.”

Corey chuckled. “I'll be fine. I'm about ninety-five percent sure I want to do this.”

“You were a hundred percent before.”

“Five percent jitters.”

“Remember, this is completely your decision. I won't let anyone pressure you into this, let alone me.” I walked into the house with Corey behind me.

“Hello?” I called as we headed toward the lab. “Em? I'm back!”

I walked through the door of the white room with a smile on my face, but the smile quickly faded as I took in the scene.

Emery was in the lab, but she was lying on a small gurney, unmoving. Mr. Mitchell was in the room with another man about my age. It took me a moment to recognize him from the photo in the living room. Emery's fiancé, Trevor.

“Em! What happened?” I looked to her father for an explanation.

“She called me after you left. Said she had the cure and she was testing it on herself. I told her not to. I begged, but she…”
Doesn't take no for an answer.
He didn't have to say it. I understood. “When I arrived, I found her like this. She'd called Trevor to come help with the procedure in case something went wrong. They had the whole formula outlined. She told him what to do.”

“Is it working?” I asked, resisting the urge to deck Trevor for this.

“It looks viable enough. The stabilization drug worked fine, I helped with the blood transfusion, blood cell reproduction is on schedule, but she just hasn't woken up yet.” He nodded in the other man's direction. Trevor nodded to me. “Trevor thinks she may need another transfusion, but we're holding off. We need to be sure the body is creating its own blood and the alien fluid is being pushed out of the system on its own.”

“How long has she been like this?” I asked both of them.

Trevor supplied the answer. “Two days, two nights. She's definitely onto something,” he announced. “I think we can speed up the process in the next trial run, assuming…”

Just the sound of his voice made me want to punch him in the face. He wasn't even worried that she was unresponsive. If anything he was fascinated. I hated him.

“You let her do this to herself?” I shouted angrily.

“I assisted her, yes. This is what she wanted. I respected her wishes.”

“She
hates
herself! Probably because of
you
! And now you
assisted
her so she could…” I couldn't even finish my sentence, my words coming out like stings of a whip.

“Dill,” Corey put his hand on my arm. I calmed down only slightly.

“Adam, who is this?” Trevor asked.

“He's the man who rescued Emery, no thanks to you,” Adam snapped with an edge of resentment in his voice.

“You didn't help her find the cure when she was on the island,” I said. “Why are you interested now?”

“We ran into a wall on our research. We worked better together, but it was hard when she was sleeping all day and I couldn't call on her. But she's really made some headway here. She's not sensitive to UV light anymore. We did the transfusion and it seems to be taking over, flushing out the foreign agent over time.”

Mr. Mitchell looked past me to see Corey standing by my side, his hand still on my arm ready to restrain me.

“This is Corey. Corey, this is Mr. Mitchell and Trevor. Corey had volunteered to try Emery's cure. She promised me she would wait until I brought him back for testing.”

I walked forward and took her hand. It felt warmer than I remembered. Whatever they were doing, it was working. Her skin didn't seem quite so pale, and the veins were no longer as dark.

“But he's a minor,” Trevor said.

“So?”

“We can't use a
minor
in testing! At the very least we need permission from his legal guardian. We need to play this by the book. If we do anything wrong and it gets out, it could be a public relations nightmare.”
Now
he was worried about playing things by the book?

“Seriously? His parents are dead!” I pointed out.

“Who's his legal guardian? We need their consent.” Trevor crossed his arms. I wasn't sure if he didn't realize how much smaller he was than me. He sure didn't act like it. If he didn't stop talking soon, he was going to find out.

“It's okay, Dillon,” Corey said. I looked down at him and saw the disappointment on his face. He wanted to do this. Even if he was scared deep down, this had been important to him.

“I am,” I said. “I'm his legal guardian.” It was kind of fun to watch Corey's expression, shock followed by a little smirk. “We're next of kin.” At least that last part was true.

Trevor took this in stride. “Well then, I don't see a problem. I'm ready for the next batch of testing. I've taken Emery's formula and changed a few components based on her notes and samples we've been taking. It's ready for trial. I'll get the consent forms, and we can get started.” As he looked at Corey, I pictured him rubbing his palms together, eager to get underway with his experiment like Dr. Frankenstein. I stepped in front of Corey.

“Wait a second. He volunteered to do this with
Emery
,” I announced. I wanted to wait until Em woke up, so she could oversee the procedure.

“Well, this is Emery's formula, just better. You can see it's working. It's just slow. She's found the key, I enhanced it. This is how we work together normally. She invents, I innovate.”

I turned to Corey. “You don't have to do this,” I assured him.

Corey sighed and looked at Emery lying on the table. He looked at me and then back to her.

“I'm in.” His voice was low, he didn't look up.

“Corey.” I wanted to make sure he had really thought it over.

“It's okay, Dillon. I mean, at least she didn't blow up, right?” He shrugged. “Besides, if it doesn't end well, it's no big loss.”

“It would be a loss to me,” I said.

He smiled and gave me a hug. “Thanks for everything. Thanks for treating me like a person.”

“You
are
a person.” Why was this so difficult for them to believe?

Corey turned to Trevor. “You ready?”

“Give me half an hour and we'll get started.” Trevor turned for the door and then stopped. He saw the mark on Corey's arm. “Wait! Is that an early trial vaccination scar?”

“It's okay, it's not real,” I said. “I didn't want him to be pressured to volunteer for OBX's studies.”

Trevor nodded. “I see. All right. Half an hour. There is blood in the refrigerator if you're hungry,” Trevor offered.

“Oh, yeah!” Corey headed out to the kitchen. I wasn't sure where he was putting it. It's not like he was growing.

“Nothing had better happen to either of them, got it?” Trevor looked at me curiously and then looked down at my other hand stroking Emery's fingers.

Adam put a hand on my shoulder. “Uh, Dillon, why don't we go out to the other room to discuss what is going to happen next.”

I followed after him. It wouldn't be a good idea to beat up the only person qualified to help the girl I loved, but right now I hated him.

I knew I was being irrational. Trevor hadn't done anything wrong. He'd done the same thing many healthy people did when their loved ones had been infected. He let her turn herself in because he thought it was the right thing.

To be fair, I was jealous, and not handling it well.

Adam sat while I paced.

“Dillon, I know she didn't handle this correctly. I'm mad as hell at them both for keeping me out of the loop, even if Emmie told him to. But her vitals are strong and it seems to be working. We may have done the transfusion too soon. I'm sure she will wake up after the next one.”

“Why did she call
him
? Why would he agree to help her do this to herself? I was bringing someone!” I also couldn't get over the glaring fact that she'd called her fiancé to come help her after telling me she loved me.

Except I hadn't said it back. She didn't know I felt the same way. Instead, she called Trevor. He came here to help her do what I was unwilling to do.