Devin raised his hand, bringing Hank to a stop behind him. He leaned out and looked at the abandoned military vehicle in the street. If the army had been in Garnett, the hospital seemed to have been a good place for them to have set up. Slowly, Devin edged toward the truck and crouched beside one of the large front wheels. He took a moment to get the lay of the land now the main hospital building was within view.

“Anything?” Hank stayed low as he moved to join Devin.

Devin rested his arm on the top of the tire. He examined the area surrounding the hospital, both the open spaces and the obscured gaps and obstacles that might have held hidden dangers, the tents the army had used as their base, and the fences they had erected.

“There.” Devin pointed beyond the main building.

Hank leaned past Devin, narrowing his eyes as he eyed the caged freaks. “They trapped?”

For now.

There was a good dozen against the locked gate, bowing the wire mesh as they pushed forward. It seemed, though aggravated, there was something missing. A lack of true urgency to escape.

Devin had no intention of giving them a reason to want out. “Looks like it.”

“Can we get by without being seen?”

“Maybe.” The tents were in the parking lot, but the driveway leading to the entrance was clear. They could swing farther out, come in from this side, limiting their time in the open. Devin scanned the army base. Something just beyond the cover of the tents caught his attention. Though there was evidence of the first chaos the virus had brought still scattered on the ground, still marking the outside of the tents, the body he saw was a recent kill. Devin dared to stand up and eye the dark shape.

It’s not Noah. He briefly closed his eyes.

Hank stood and gripped Devin’s shoulder. “Okay?”

With a nod, Devin turned around. “I say we follow the line of these buildings.” He pointed to the section of the hospital behind them. He traced the path they would be taking with his hand. “The tents will block their view until here.”

Devin checked the alignment of the fence, tents, and buildings. “So that leaves us there to there without cover.” He chewed on his lip. They could clear the section in under a minute if it wasn’t for the unknown. Too many corners, too much to secure. “We can follow the adjacent building to the front entrance.”

Hank nodded as he seemed to play the plan out in his head. “Think there’s another way in?”

It didn’t matter if there was. The buildings on the right hand side backed onto houses, and were surrounded by a high wall and mature trees. Even if Noah was in one of the other buildings the best shot at access still saw them heading parallel to the access road leading up to the entrance. If there were any other access points to the hospital site they would have to give it a wide berth. They didn’t want to get close to the fenced-in group of freaks.

Going for the front was the most direct plan.

“Guess not,” Hank said in reply to Devin’s silence. He pursed his lips and stared at the hospital and adjoining buildings. “Okay.” There was an edge to his tone as he put his arm through his rifle’s strap. He moved over and pressed his hands to the low wall, leaning forward as he looked back in the direction of the fence. Not saying anything else, he jumped up onto the wall and stepped off onto the raised lawn on the other side. He checked the area was safe, then turned around and offered his hand.

Devin accepted, letting Hank help him up. Hank had a firm grip and he only released Devin’s hand when they were standing side-by-side.

With a nod, Hank took the lead and Devin followed, occasionally checking over his shoulder as they went. They kept to the line of the wall, heading back the way they had come, and to the edge of the hospital site and the closest building.

With each step closer to getting inside and finding Noah, Devin couldn’t ignore his growing sense of dread. What if what he found inside only led to more hurt and heartache? What if Noah was injured or worse? Devin set his gaze on Hank’s back, forcing himself to focus on the moment and not the what-ifs.

They would find Noah, safe and well. Then they would head home. All of them, him, Noah and Hank. Together.

* * *

“You’re immune, aren’t you?” There was a fascination in Brandon’s eyes as he looked Noah up and down. “Where are you from? I mean originally.” He walked to stand on the opposite side of the bed and slowly picked at a loose thread on the trim of the bed sheet. When Noah didn’t answer Brandon filled the silence with more questions. “When did you realize how special you are? I mean, there’ve been reports of others—”

“Others?” Noah said, breaking his silence.

Brandon nodded. “You didn’t know? Of course, how would you? It’s why we’re here. Our mission.” He raised his eyes to the ceiling. There was a bitterness to his voice as he sounded out the word.

“Mission?”

Brandon held out his hand. “May I?” He pointed at Noah’s scars.

Noah’s wrist was restrained, so it wasn’t as if he had that much of a choice. He shrugged and lifted his hand as far as he could. He balled his fingers at Brandon’s touch. “Have you met any of these others?”

Brandon shook his head and cupped Noah’s hand in his. “Not exactly.”

“What do you mean?” A chill passed over Noah at the sensation of Brandon’s fingers against his skin.

“The body was in a bad way.”

Those words were enough to leave Noah cold. He needed to get out of here. “You’re with a group?”

“Yes.” Brandon ran his thumb over the jagged mark on Noah’s hand. “I was in Fort Collins when the world…broke. I worked in the labs of one of the hospitals. I’d seen things. Things I couldn’t explain. Didn’t want to explain.” He turned Noah’s hand over and examined the other side. “I just wanted it all to go away.”

“How did you end up here?” Noah asked when Brandon released his hand. Of all the states and cities, why Garnett?

Tilting his head, Brandon studied Noah, seeming to eye every stretch of exposed skin he could see. “I was at work when we lost control, when it felt as though there was more of them than of us.” He held up his finger and thumb and narrowed the gap between them. “I was this close to giving up. There was a handful of us. We had locked ourselves in. I remember them outside the door, those monsters, all bloody and pounding on the glass pane.” He cleared his throat and looked at the floor. “I don’t remember how long it was until the soldiers showed up.”

“They got you out?”

Brandon shrugged. “If you can call it ‘out’. They had been ordered to round up as many medical staff as they could. They took us to a division of the CDC.” He raised his head and met Noah’s eyes. “We stayed there a while. Then we were split into teams, four I think, given some data, and sent on our way.”

“Yeah, I met a couple of your teammates.” Noah winced and raised his free hand to the back of his head.

“We’ve spent the last…” Brandon blew out a breath. “I don’t even know how long it’s been. We’ve moved around a lot, looked into any and every report of people being immune we came across, hoping somehow we could find a cure.” He straightened as he realized he was maybe sharing more of his story than he should have. But then again, if he wanted Noah to trust him, there was a lot more Noah needed to hear. “We never seem to stay anywhere longer than a couple of weeks. And now we’re here.” Brandon picked the ax up off the bed and carried it over to the desk by the window. He flipped the ax over, then put it down. “How about you?” He turned around and leaned back against the edge of the desk. “Where were you when this started?”

“Take the cuffs off and I’ll tell you.”

There was a glimmer of something in Brandon’s eyes and he glanced behind him at the ax. “Answer my questions and I’ll think about it.”

Noah tapped the gun against his leg. “Do you even have the key with you?”

With a laugh, Brandon raised his shoulders. “Do you think I’d be stupid enough to tell you if I did?” He held out his hand. “Give me that and let’s talk.” Brandon waited. “You came here for a reason and I don’t think it was to shoot an unarmed man. So please.” He motioned with his fingers. “The gun.”

Fuck. Noah’s cheek twitched and he backed down. He lessened his grip on the weapon, letting it spin so he held the barrel as he offered it to Brandon.

Brandon hesitated, then leaned forward. He slumped, seeming relieved, as he took the handgun and placed it on the desk beside the ax. “Thank you.”

“Whatever,” Noah uttered. He looked past Brandon at the row of trees beyond the window. Behind them, he spied a wall, which separated the hospital from nearby houses. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “What do you want to know?”

“Why did you come here?”

“Answers.” Noah lifted his head.

Brandon folded his arms across his chest. “To what?”

Noah dragged the armchair from the corner. “I’m immune and I wanted to help.”

“So you’re from Garnett?” There was something in Brandon’s eyes as he spoke. “What did you think you’d find?”

With a shrug, Noah sat back. “I don’t know. I don’t understand any of it. I mean, why me?”

“I wish I knew,” Brandon said.

Noah chewed his thumbnail. “What were you looking for in Garnett?”

“Answers, too. We were following a trail.”

Noah breathed in sharply and locked eyes with Brandon. “The body.”

Brandon shook his head. “No. But he was in the information we were given. It took them a while to get organized again, but we’ve been chasing every lead they had.”

“They?”

“The CDC. I don’t know where it came from, but they had all kinds of data on people and places. One of those led us here. I was hoping the others might have already done our job for us, left us a nice little folder with the cure all dressed in a bow.”

“They sent a team before you?” Noah had never had reason to come as far into the city as the hospital, and unless, like Devin and Kerry had, people came out to the farm, Noah would never have known.

“Well, yeah.” Brandon seemed confused. “That’s why the others were here with their tents and fences.”

Noah tilted his head. That didn’t make any sense. “But that was before…” He sniffed a laugh. “They knew.” When the army had rolled into Garnett many had wondered why Garnet? Why care about a city of three thousand people? “All those people died and they knew what was coming?”

“You’re asking the wrong person. But I guess they were trying to find a solution with what limited information they had. The same as us. Same as you.” Brandon rubbed his fingers over his jaw. “So here we all are.”

Noah shook his head. He wondered what data had brought the soldiers and CDC to Garnett. A person, he figured. Had he known them? Before he could ask Brandon any questions, the silence they had fallen into was broken by what sounded like a muffled gunshot.

Noah met Brandon’s eyes. “What was that?” A second bang echoed down the corridor. “That was gunfire.”

Brandon tensed. “You don’t know that.” He lowered his eyes.

“Shouldn’t you go and check? What if someone’s hurt?” Noah flinched and Brandon stood straight as the door was roughly pushed open.

A man stood in the doorway and looked from Noah to Brandon. “I need you,” he said to Brandon. The accent he spoke with was familiar, and Noah realized he was one of the people who had attacked him in reception.

“What’s going on?” Brandon turned to face him.

The man glanced at Noah. He appeared uneasy.

“Mac?” Brandon stepped forward.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Mac said. “Come on.”

Brandon headed for the door.

“Wait.” Noah got to his feet. The cuff chimed against the bed frame. “You can’t leave me like this.”

“You’ll be safe in here. I’ll be back.”

“But—” Damn it. Noah yanked hard at the handcuffs as Brandon pulled the door closed behind him. Letting out a frustrated sound, Noah pulled hard, desperate to free himself. “Fuck you,” he shouted. He gritted his teeth as the metal cuff cut into his hand, and blood slicked his skin. Please. He brought his thumb in tight to his palm, trying to narrow his hand to slide through the cuff. Blood made his hold difficult, but the slip-slide of the crimson liquid wasn’t enough to free him from the cuffs.

“Fuck you all,” he snapped. Noah dropped back into the chair and kicked at the bed. He grimaced as it rolled away from him, taking the cuffs with it. A sharp pain cut into his swollen wrist. His attention was drawn to the rail he was cuffed to. He followed the metal guard and leaned forward to examine the joins of the rail and at the base of the bed. The guard could be collapsed, the columns of the guard laying over one another when the rail was folded down. Each column was connected to the bed frame with a moveable joint of metal and bolts.

Growing up, he and his brother had always helped around the farm, and while Noah loved to listen and steadily work on whatever tasks his father might set out for them, his brother was more a hit-anything-into-submission with-a-hammer until it did what it was supposed to.

Time to take a page out of his brother’s book. Noah got to his feet and rolled the bed until he was able to take the ax from the desk. He then spun it lengthways and pushed it against the wall. After securing the brakes, he shook the frame. The locked wheels scraped against the floor, but it seemed secure enough.

I’m going to get out of here.

He didn’t know what was going on outside, what dangers there might be. He just knew he couldn’t risk waiting to find out. Whether the threat to this group and the hospital was human or zombie, if things went bad he didn’t stand much of a chance locked in here.

Though breaking the top connectors looked like the better solution, Noah knew it wouldn’t be the easiest. The top of the rail was unstable and he didn’t think his blows would have much weight behind them if the guard was to move, or even collapse down.

Bottom it is.

Noah pulled his cuffed hand as far back as he could and braced himself for a shock of pain if the bed was to lurch with the blow of the ax.

Come on. Don’t be a pussy.

“Okay.” Noah bounced his leg on the spot, gearing himself up. He positioned himself so he had enough room to swing and raised the ax. He put all his strength into the blow, using the bed for leverage as he slammed the ax against the farthest joint. Determination and the desire for freedom fueled him. He hit over and over. With each blow, the bed jarred the cuff, sparking pain in his wrist.

Noah gritted his teeth, and held on to the cuff to try to stop it from cutting into him more than it already had. It was a battle of pain over outcome. He wanted out. He grabbed the rail, holding it and the ax in his free hand.

This will work.

As hard as he could, he pulled as he kicked the damaged joint. There was a strained sound and Noah found himself jolted backward. Straightening, he eyed the sheared metal. A smile teased the corner of his mouth.

One down. One to go. If he could break the next, it might be enough to get free.

Noah turned his attention to the next column. He put his full strength into each swing, bringing the ax down in a series of heavy blows. Exhaustion heated his muscles as he slammed the ax down again.

The head of the bolt clattered to the floor and Noah stopped. He rotated his shoulder and checked the bent connector.

Okay. He gripped the rail and yanked it until the column pulled out of its junction. Noah folded up the bar and held it flush to the rail.

It has to be enough. He twisted the cuff, angling it as he managed to fit it over the jagged, busted end of the metal arm. He slid the cuff forward until he hit the top joint. It was a block welded to the top rail, bolts connecting the column pole to allow it to fold up and down. The metal ring of the cuff scored deep lines in the gray-painted rail as Noah forced it forward.

Please. Please. Noah held his breath and pushed hard. The cuff edged over the connector in jarred jumps until it made it past.

Noah winced and checked his injured hand. He curled his fingers and twisted his wrist. He eyed the next part of the bed guard.

I have to keep going. He folded up the next column and slipped the cuff over the parallel poles, bracing himself once again as he forced his way to freedom.

You’re nearly there.