Lavivrus

Chapter 3

Asumi sat bolt upright and Shai saw the hope flash across her eyes.

The commander nodded to a girl nearby. She responded by undoing the bolt. The door swung open.

As the night sky was revealed and several soldiers stumbled in. The door was shut behind them and firmly bolted.

"Bites?" Commanded Paul demanded.

A woman turned her emotionless eyes on him. Her face was splattered with black liquid. Blood. "Taken care of."

He nodded. "Any other survivors?"

The woman shook her head. "I doubt it."

Asumi had gotten to her feet, eyes scanning the newcomers. Shai had the same reaction. Not there, he realized right away.

"Eighteen hours remaining. Grab something." Paul motioned toward the crate with drinks.

The woman nodded and the group filed toward the back.

As they passed by, Asumi's hand shot out to grab one of the men's. "Did you see a boy back there?"

The man slowly turned, eyes emotionless.

"About this high," Asumi motioned with her hand. "Black hair. He's only thirteen..."

Eyes watched from all around as the man shook off her hand. "Other than the helicopter, there was no one else besides us that made it out."

Asumi's hand dropped to her side.

Lake stood. He walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder before murmuring something. Shai caught it. "He's gone."

The girl lifted her head to stare at him. Then she brushed his hand off and marched to her bunk. Wordlessly she picked up her gun.

"What are you doing?" Lake watched.

Asumi didn't reply. She went to the back and grabbed a backpack. Two water bottles were stuffed in. Next, she grabbed some protein bars.

"Asumi!" Lake grabbed her arm.

The girl whirled, eyes blazing. "I'm going back."

Silence settled over the room.

Shai had seen this coming.

Commander Paul stood from where he had sat down.

Lake's mouth opened and closed before the words came. "Are you crazy!"

No reply. Asumi turned her attention to where the weapons were stored. She strode toward it, threw the door open, and began to run her hands over the choices.

Lake stormed after her while the rest of the room watched the unfolding drama in silence.

"Twenty four hours. Twenty four hours after no response they send one rescue mission to the pickup location. One!" Lake was talking to her back. "You miss that and you're screwed."

Asumi picked out a shot gun. She slung it over her back before grabbing an ammunition belt and throwing it over her shoulder. Several more shells were dumped into her backpack.

"They don't come a second time," Lake continued. "Speaking of which, if you go you won't even make it back..."

I made a promise... Not letting himself think of the consequences, Shai silently got to his feet. Fabian's eyes followed him.

"There's a hoard and infectors there," Lake continued.

"The infectors will have moved on." Several grenades were grabbed.