There was no hesitation as she had pressed her lips to his and let him claim her heart. That kiss had been like no other she had ever shared with anyone. In his arms, she had felt so safe, so loved, and so cherished. The passion between them had been overpowering.

Her eyes still closed, she touched her lips…remembering.

Intertwined, they hid in the shadows of the building, sheltered by a giant oak tree. The scent of his freshly washed hair mingled with the flowery fragrance of her own shampoo. His body was hard and strong as it pressed against her. His lips were both loving and demanding as they kissed. She’d never wanted the kiss to end even when her breath was gone and her knees shook. Her fingers dared to slide under his shirt as he buried his hands in her hair.

“We should go somewhere…private and talk,” he finally whispered against her lips.

They had managed to make it to her room, but the talking hadn’t come until much later…

* * *

“Dwayne,” she whispered, waking.

Sitting bolt upright in her chair, Maria stared at the console in shock. Checking her wristlet, she saw that it had not buzzed her into consciousness. She had not been in torpor.

She had been asleep.

Confused and reeling, she swung out of her chair and stumbled to the open doorway of the carrier, sidestepping the bodies of her squad frozen in the torpor. Leaping to the ground, she stared up at the starry sky above. Her body felt oddly alive as she processed what had just happened. A nervous giggle flitted from her lips as she felt the pleasant sting of arousal burning between her thighs.

She felt alive.

Pressing her hands to her neck, she felt no pulse. She ceased to breathe, and felt no need for air.

But she felt…aroused. She had fallen asleep.

What did it mean?

Then she heard a scream emanating from the collapsed building nearby. Anguished cries were caught by the wind and swept away, diminishing their sound, but she knew what it was.

It was Jameson crying out in hunger and pain.

He had not fallen into torpor.

* * *

The screams emanating from the collapsed house were full of desperation. Denman and Maria hesitated in the darkened doorway.

“And his wristlet alarm is off for sure?” Denman asked again.

Maria felt agitated by his question. She gave him a curt nod of her head.

They had left the squad behind in torpor. It was best not to rouse them until they had a handle on the situation. Before they had left the carrier, Maria had performed a quick scan of the area. So far, Jameson’s screams had not stirred the Inferi Scourge that were within a two mile radius.

Slipping into the house, Maria heard Denman follow.

They found Jameson where they had left him. He had managed to sit up and was tucked into a corner of the dining area off the kitchen. Reclining against the wall, he was crying out as his body seized. Flashing a light toward him, Maria was shocked to see tears streaming down his face.

“Denman!”

“I see it!” The medic scrambled over the remains of the dining room table and chairs and squatted next to Jameson.

Spit flecked his lips as Jameson wept. His red and swollen eyes stared at Denman in fear.

“Jameson, I need you to remain calm, okay? I need to take some scans and a few samples of your tissue so we can figure out what is happening to you,” Denman said in a soothing tone. “I need you to not try to bite me. Do you understand me?”

Jameson nodded, but seemed unable to actually answer.

“Do not try to attack me, or I will leave you here.”

“Hungry!” Jameson sobbed. “Hungry!”

“I know. Just let me do my job, okay? We’ll figure out what is going on.”

Jameson curled in on himself, trembling violently, his lips pressed tightly together.

Denman glanced at Maria. She gave him a swift nod. If Jameson attacked, she would move in.

Maria stood nearby watching as Denman cautiously performed a variety of tests on the sobbing young man. It was obvious that Jameson was in terrible pain. He was trembling violently and his teeth were chattering.

After twenty-five minutes, Denman finally finished his tests. “Kurt, I appreciate your cooperation. I’m going to transmit these results to the SWD and we’re going to get you help. Do you understand?”

“Hungry!”

“We’re going to get you help.” Denman tucked away his med-pad and calmly joined Maria across the room. A slight jerk of his head directed her outside.

Stepping out into the cool night air, Maria felt relieved to be away from the sobbing man. Jameson was an idiot at times, but no one deserved to be in such agony. She couldn’t imagine why the torpor hadn’t come.

“I need to send this information to the SWD immediately. Omondi is in torpor. You’re going to have to do it directly,” Denman said in an urgent tone.

“What’s going on?”

“His…vitals are wrong.”

“Vitals?”

“He has a pulse, Vanguard Martinez. A faint pulse, but it’s there. You saw him weeping. We can’t produce tears. He can. Honestly, right now he’s half alive and half dead. Some of his biological systems are working again, while others are not. I think the best way I could describe what he is experiencing is…he is in death throes.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Maria gawked at Denman in disbelief. “How can this be?”

“I don’t know! It’s not like the Inferi Anomaly scans I took. This is different.” Tugging his med-pad out, he tapped a few commands into it then handed it to Maria. “On the left side are our readings. On the right, Jameson. In the middle, the Anomalies.”

It didn’t take a medical degree to see the vast differences. “What could have caused this?”

“I don’t know. As far as I know none of the other Boon are suffering any of these symptoms. We have to get this information to Dr. Curran. I don’t think Jameson will re-enter torpor. We leave him here and he’s going to starve to death.”

With a sigh, Maria nodded her head. Uplinking the med-pad to her wristlet, she made the call to the SWD.

Within the hour a med-pod was lowered from a tiltrotor. Maria and Denman had already removed Jameson from the house. He lay on the ground whimpering and trembling. They had to move fast before the Inferi Scourge were completely drawn out of their torpor. They were two miles away, but they could move fast when hunting.

Maria pulled open the med-pod as Denman lifted the restrained man in his arms. Jameson howled, but didn’t struggle. Together, they pushed him inside and worked to secure the harnesses around his quivering limbs.

“Special Constable Jameson, you’re going to be okay, do you hear me?” Denman shouted at the man over the roar of the tiltrotor hovering overhead.

Jameson gave a slight nod as he stared at them with wide eyes.

Maria wondered if Denman’s words were the truth, but she reached in and gave Jameson’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You performed admirably. Good job, soldier.” The fact that he was no longer trying to bite them gave her hope that he would be okay.

Stepping back, she watched Denman press a med-tag to the young man’s sweaty flesh just above his collar and activate it. The medics onboard would be able to monitor Jameson remotely until he was back in the city. Sealing the med-pod, Denman backed away.

“He’s secure,” Maria said into her wristlet.

“Aye, sir,” the pilot’s voice answered.

The med-pod lifted off the ground and slid upward until it disappeared into the underbelly of the tiltrotor. The craft swung around in a wide arc and headed back to the city. As the roar of its rotor’s faded away, Maria could hear the howls of the Scourge.

“They’re coming,” Denman said in a weary voice.

“Time to wake the others,” Maria said.

Together, they sprinted to the carrier.

Chapter 25

The carrier careened into the Scourge stampeding toward it just as the sun broke over the horizon. The razor-sharp plow sliced through the bodies like a heated knife through butter. Special Constable Jes Cormier expertly swung the vehicle around, making another pass through the rabid creatures.

Jostled about by the sharp turn, Maria glanced up briefly to view the carnage through the splattered windshield before returning her gaze to her screens. “Maintain your heading until you’re clear of the crowd, then take another pass.”

Behind her she could hear the excited whoops and chatter of her squad. Maria had awakened the soldiers and quickly outlined their plan of action. She was done fighting the Scourge by hand. With so much of the valley cleared in their area, she was ready to use the carrier as a weapon.

“Brace yourselves!” Cormier called out just before the carrier slashed through the Scourge mass.

Scans of the valley revealed how much they had cleared in the last few months. The main clusters were around the city walls and near the hydroelectric facilities. That there were vast areas of open space was breathtaking to behold.

The carrier cleared the raging Scourge herd and swung around for another pass.

“You almost have this herd wiped out,” Maria said to Cormier.