Jen took it and turned it over between two fingers. “Silver bullets?”
“Hi ho, silver,” Carly said. “It sounds ridiculous, we know, but it works.”
“Ridiculous?” Jen said. “There are undead things crawling around in the darkness of that hospital, and every single night they try to break through to the tenth floor to get at us. Compared to that, silver bullets make perfect sense.”
Lara smiled. That was as good an answer as she had heard. “One question,” she said.
“Shoot,” Jen said, handing the bullet back to Will.
“What took you so long to come back? It’s been three months.”
“I had a list of sites to check out first and not a lot of fuel. And to be honest, after I saw all those guns back at the house, this place didn’t seem all that safe. I know it’s crazy, but I sort of have an unnatural fear of getting shot out of the air.”
“When are you due back at the hospital?” Will asked.
Jen glanced at her watch. “Tonight, actually, but now that I’m already down here, and you folks seem friendly enough — i.e., no one has shot at me yet — I guess I could stay the night. It’d be nice to sleep on a real bed again. You guys have any spare rooms?”
“Um, maybe one or two,” Carly said.
After lunch, Jen was back inside her helicopter’s cockpit, talking on the radio with her hospital. Lara watched her from the lobby window, wondering what it felt like to be able to climb into something that could fly you away whenever you wanted. She could go anywhere, at any time, and not have to worry about the creatures that lurked in the darkness.
I need to learn how to fly one of those things.
She felt a pair of strong arms slip around her waist. Will slid his body against hers and kissed her neck. He had poured water over his face and changed clothes, but he still smelled of sweat and dust. They all did, these days.
She leaned her head to one side to give him better access.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Isn’t that my line?” she smiled.
He chuckled.
I wish I could fly, she thought, but said, “That we could really use supplies from that hospital. We’re running dangerously low on everything.”
“I agree. That’s why I’m going back with her, to work out a deal with this Mike guy that runs the place.”
“I should go, too.”
“One of us has to stay here.”
“So you stay.”
“Right, that’s going to happen.”
“You don’t know what we need.”
“You can make me a list.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“I’ll go back with her first, see if it’s safe over there. Maybe I can help them get some of the other floors back. Jen’s telling Mike about silver right now.”
“You sound as if you’re planning on being gone for a while.”
“We’ve been out here by ourselves for too long. We need allies, babe. That kind of relationship takes time. And that helicopter will come in handy one of these days.”
“Starch?”
“Yeah. We left a lot back there. That helicopter would make the trip easier, faster, and safer.”
She watched his face closely. Will always had a look about him when he was thinking ahead. “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst” was a motto he and Danny had lived — and survived — by since The Purge. It had gotten them this far, and this island.
“So how are we going to convince Mike we’re his new best friends?” she asked.
“You know what every soldier likes during wartime?”
“Sex?”
“Besides that.”
“More sex?”
“Bullets. The only thing soldiers like more than bullets? Even more bullets.”
“I’ll pretend that actually makes sense.”
“Think about it.”
“I’d rather not. Anyway, so who else is going with you and Danny, if not me?”
“Danny’s not going. I need him here. So it’s either Gaby or Blaine.”
“Gaby’s just a kid, Will.”
“She’s eighteen going on thirty. In a few years, she could be in charge of the island’s security.”
“You can’t be serious. Take Blaine.”
“Why Blaine?”
“He’s bigger.”
“Is he supposed to be my bodyguard?”
“Something like that.”
“I’d feel better if Blaine was here with you. Danny’s very good at what he does, but he’s only one man. That leaves Gaby.”
“What about Maddie?”
“Gaby’s better.”
“Better than both Blaine and Maddie?” she said doubtfully.
“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly.
“How is that possible? You’ve been training both Blaine and Maddie, too.”
“Gaby’s a natural,” Will said. “Some people were just born to be shooters.”
After she got Jen settled into one of the many available rooms in the hotel, Lara showered, spending her full five minutes. That was their daily limit: five minutes in the morning and another five at night if they needed it. She always needed it. After all those months on the road, every shower counted.
Afterward, she stood nude in front of the sink and dried her hair, while Will leaned against the open bathroom door and watched her. She didn’t acknowledge him for a while, and he seemed content to just stare at her with that smile on his face that all men got when a woman took her clothes off in front of them.
Finally, she said, “My hips are fuller, have you noticed? Must be the steady diet of seafood.”
“Your hips? I haven’t really noticed your hips.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re such a charmer, Will.”
“Is that why you love me?”
“Uh huh. Your ability to shoot things in the face was a close second.”
“Good to know, good to know.”
He walked over and picked her up. She yelped and turned around in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him.
Will carried her to the bed and laid her down, then sat back and watched her for a moment.
She stretched her arms and legs lazily in front of him. “Like what you see?”
“Very much.”
“So do something about it.”
“I should let you know. I expect my good-bye sex to be spectacular.”
“You’ve had a lot of experience, have you?”
He shrugged. “Ladies like a man in uniform.”
“You’re not wearing a uniform.”
“I could put one on.”
“You have it with you?”
“For the purpose of this conversation? Yes. Yes, I do.”
“Lame-o,” she said, and pulled him down to her.
Afterward, she lay in his arms, their bodies sticky and tangled, glistening from either the heat or the sex, she wasn’t entirely sure. It should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn’t. Maybe she was just used to it. She had learned to get used to a lot of things these days, but this was one of the more pleasant ones.
She stared at the darkening patio window across the room, secured in the knowledge that they were safe here — in this hotel, on this island. It hadn’t been easy after that first night, when they uncovered the island’s true purpose. But day after day, week after week, it got easier, until she stopped looking at every coming nightfall with mounting dread. It still happened every now and then when she least expected it, but they were rare these days.
“You’re awake,” he said softly.
“Uh huh.”
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Better than fine.”
“Good.”
“When was the last time we were apart for longer than a day?”