I sigh and swing my stiff arms, hoping to make the muscles a little more relaxed after yesterday's events. I look at the two beside me. I know they weren't with me, Paula, and Laird Reid when we were in the caves, but they were a part of the search parties and even helped with other work afterward. How are they not tired?
"We've reached the red barn beside the old gun emplacement, Jane," Tom says in a clipped tone–professional. "Where do we go now?"
"Laird Reid informs me that the owner of a cottage north of you spotted zombies in his herb garden," She replies through our headsets, and Jody's pale brows draw together.
"No sightings of Jones?"
"None. But I gather news of his murderous intentions has spread. There's a great deal of unease."
Somehow I'm both surprised and not surprised that word traveled so quickly within one day. This town is small, and the way people gossip here reminds me of how New Canton used to be, although they don't share as many eccentric rumors. I have heard a few people whispering as I went by the bakery this morning about how I was the one who found parts of the Edda, original and other, on the mainland.
It appears Shona didn't keep her mouth shut. Funny since she didn't want any of us telling her dad while she was out with us the night we arrived.
How lucky she is that I don't have the energy to be petty.
Jody's words bring my thoughts back to the present. "At least you know his timetable now. Whatever he's planning will happen at the festival next month."
Tom frowns. "Although we still don't know why."
"Luckily, should he succeed, I will not be around to see Jones crowned King of the Rocks," Janine murmurs. "My expiration date is fifteen days earlier."
I flinch at her words. "Expiration date? Janine, you shouldn't talk like that."
That's rich coming from someone who believed she saw her own death for years.
She doesn't argue as a fit of coughing overtakes her. "Excuse me."
Click.
Worry flickers across Jody's face as she taps her mic. "Janine?" She sighs. "She turned it off. How's she doin', Tom?"
"The nanites are doing something to her stomach," He replies, looking pained. He masks it quickly. "It's unpredictable. Yesterday, partial blindness. Today, nausea. Tomorrow? Who knows?"
I shudder. I never thought these things could be so horrible. I felt awful while they were inside me, but I was losing my immortality. I wouldn't expect it to be pleasant. But I didn't think of how they would have reacted to someone who was already mortal. I should have, but I didn't.
And Tom's right. They are unpredictable. Even though Paula has questioned me and Sam about how the nanites affected me, they don't seem to be targeting Janine the same way. Hers are all over the place, certain body parts being targeted out of nowhere; mine was more a movement from one place to the other. Some days were worse than others, but they were never like this.
"It's twenty-nine days left today, isn't it?" I ask.
"Jones can't keep hiding forever," Jody says. "After he killed the MacLeans, there can't be anyone on the island who'd shelter him."
I think she's right on that part, but then again I'm always surprised at how stupidly kind certain people can be.
"I hope he's been too clever for his own good," Tom says, which makes Jody and I both perk up in interest. "These zombie attraction devices could lead us to him."
I cock my head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"I don't want to jinx it. We need to get to that herb garden as quickly as we can. Let's run."
Honestly in the few minutes we'd been talking I'd forgotten all about the herb garden. I'm even more surprised someone's trying to grow herbs in March. But I suppose I shouldn't question it too much, seeing how these people have managed to keep the island zom free since the start of the apocalypse.
Until now. Until we showed up.
I suppose I should be thankful everyone is gossiping more about my heroics than being skeptical of Team Abel. I'm sure some of them are. Their quiet words probably have laced doubt or questions about us, wondering why Tom has so many scars or why Nicole is so cold when she's only eighteen or why I so willingly gave up immortality?
Or, more importantly, what kind of people are we to be the ones who've survived this long?
Click.
"Runners, I'm back," Janine announces, and I don't miss how both Jody and Tom straighten at her voice. Tom opens his mouth, but Janine continues hastily, apparently knowing concern for her would be brought up. "Please don't ask for details about my health! Just proceed with the mission. Cams indicate you're closing in on the objective. Sitrep, please."
Tom doesn't argue. "Roger that. I have visual of the cliff path. No hostiles in sight."
Despite the seemingly serious reply, it gets a laugh from Jody. "You guys! You're great, honestly. I'm just imaginin' you as kids. 'Sitrep on the breakfast, Jane.' 'Roger that, Tom. The soldiers are advancing on the yoke. Expect contact at 0700!'"
He smiles softly at her. "Actually, Janie never liked runny yolks. Said they looked like snot. Mum told her she couldn't get up from the table until she ate her breakfast. Five hours later, she was still there, her little arms crossed, pouting. Mum let her eat what she wanted after that."
"Figures. Still stubborn as anything." She squints and points ahead at a rosemary bush. "Five, there's a zom attractor over there."
I push ahead of the two to grab it. I reach for it, only to falter when Tom shouts.
"Don't touch it!"
I jump back, afraid there might be a bomb or a trap, but there isn't one. When he and Jody reach me, he lightly pushes me aside.
"I wanted to see the placement," He explains, although it doesn't explain much at all. Still, a wide grin spreads across his lips when he pushes through the bush. "Aha! I was right! See here, about five yards away behind the mint."
I cock my head to the side. "It's a hole."
A deep hole, but a simple hole. I look at him, still confused, and slightly grateful Jody wears the same look as me.
"A blowhole from the cave systems," He corrects, and while the gears in my head take a second to connect, I notice something within the hole. It reflects off the sunlight that filters through the clouds. I lean a bit closer, careful not to lose balance.
The shine of it makes me blink. It's a lens–a camera lens to be more precise. Jody quickly relays the information to Janine.
"I see," She says. "Mr. Jones has been hiding in the caves. He's using the blowholes and small cameras to ensure that no one is in sight when he plants the device. Very clever."
"Him for planting it or Tom for finding it?" I ask.
"Both."
Tom rubs the side of his face in thought. "Most of the devices were planted in a three-click radius of the black barn, including this one. I'm sure Jones' base will be within that area. We've got him, Jane!"
"Not quite yet!" I can almost see her scowl.
Suddenly Jody gasps, and we follow her gaze to the zombies stomping up the cliff path. "Five, smash the box!"
I raise my foot up and stomp down on the box, the crunch as it breaks harsh against the cool breeze. But it's too late. The zombies have already seen us, smelt us.
"It's okay," Tom assures. "There's a cave entrance on the beach. If the zoms follow us down there, they should cover the sound of our passage. With any luck, we'll be able to sneak up on Jones. Let's go."
After a nervous glance back at the zombies stumbling after us, I follow Tom without complaint. His plan may work. It may work really well, but should we be going in alone? It's not that I don't trust Tom. God knows he's far more capable than I'll ever be, but Jones has proven himself more dangerous, and more clever, than we originally thought. With only three of us going in with no backup, we could end up in a lot of trouble, especially since these zombies are now a part of the plan. If something goes wrong, we won't be able to go out the way we came.
But we can't give up. Janine is sick, and she's only going to get sicker. Every day we wait is a day closer to us losing her. We have to take the risks.
A part of me wonders what will happen to Jones when we catch him. Honestly I don't care as long as we get the nanite control box and the Edda back, but I'm still a bit curious. Janine will want to hand him over to the people of Mor, let them decide Jones' fate. They didn't have concrete proof that he killed Laird Reid's brother, but they do have proof that he killed the MacLean's, and that he tried to kill the Laird. They have proof of his guilt and can use that to punish him accordingly.
I don't think Janine wants to have his death on our hands anyway. After the failed peace conference due to the V-Type horde, and the horrifying death of the Psychoanalyst Enclave, settlements are still looking at Abel with weary eyes. They like to twist rumors.
Honestly, I'm not sure what everyone's been told about what happened that day. I was too busy worrying about Peter as he was worrying about Janine. I know it hasn't been told where we went, or who all went, or how Janine was faring. Abel has enemies and we don't want everyone to know that our leader is dying.
Do the people outside of Abel know we lost the Edda? Do they know anything about why we left?
I don't know. I'll be sure to ask about that when I can. If they don't, I can only imagine the crazy conspiracy theories people have come up with already.
"We've reached the cave, Janine," Jody announces as we head inside, the inside of it several degrees cooler than outside on the beach, which is still considerably cool. She frowns at the light layer of water around the bottoms of her shoes. "It's on the damp side and getting damper. The tide's comin' in."
"I'm sorry," She says, sounding ill. "I just need to-"
She doesn't bother finishing her sentence before clicking off, and Tom cringes.
"She was up through the night vomiting." His eyes harden. "This could be all over today. If we find Jones, if we get the nanite controller from him-"
"There's no sign of Jones here," I interrupt, scanning the simple cave-the rocks, the algae. "It doesn't look man-made."
Jody is cautious as she speaks to him. "I know you want to find him, but not all these caves are connected. If this one's a dead end, we'll be cornered by the zoms."
His lips purse. "Janie would tell us to return to base so we can formulate a plan to take advantage of new intel."
"So... back home?"
He simply hums. "Jones has been one step ahead of us from the start. He managed to grab a walkie-talkie. He used zombie attractors to lure Callista and Paula into danger. We have to accept someone on the island might be helping him even after what he did to the MacLean's. This is the first time we could have the jump on him. We have to keep going!"
Desperation fills his eyes, and Jody bites her lower lip as she thinks.
She doesn't have much time to as a moan rumbles down from the mouth of the cave.
"Well, the zoms are right behind us, so if we're going, we go now," I say. "Come on, y'all. Run!"
•
I nearly choke as water splashes on my face, my arms and feet moving through salty, dark water that I can just barely keep my head above.
How did this happen?!
Oh, I know how this happened. The tide kept coming in, first getting to our ankles, then our calves and then our knees. Tom insisted we keep going, we keep moving, that we had to for Janine. So we did, and the water kept getting higher, higher! To our waists, shoulders, chins.
It's a bit easier for Tom, given his height. Jody and I are both on our tiptoes, but he has multiple inches of his body untouched by the water.
"I've returned to my post. I'm adequate to perform my duties," Janine chimes in, and I nearly laugh because of course she would drop by now. "Sitrep, please."
"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Jody replies.
"I would prefer a detailed action report, Miss Marsh."
I feel Tom's arms pushing through the water behind me, his fingers brushing against my arm. "We've lost the zoms, but the water's a little deeper."
Jody laughs crossly. "A little? It's almost up to my nostrils! And there's only about a foot between us and the cave roof."
"Five's taking point to check that the floor doesn't fall away ahead."
"And what are we supposed to do if it does? We can't see the zoms, but we know they're behind us. This is horrible!"
"I'm sorry, love!" His voice drips with regret, but Jody sighs.
"No, I'm sorry. I thought you'd be the one panickin' here."
He forces out a breathy laugh. "Well, I can't say I'm enjoying it but... we'll get through, I promise. I have a hunch we're on the right track."
As soon as he says that, Janine cuts in, her words holding thinly held-back rage. "Military operations don't run on intuition, Tom. You should turn back and look for a side tunnel. If I'd been at my post, I would have never allowed you to pursue this hunch!"
The water drops, just a little, just so that I don't have to crane my neck upwards to keep the water from getting up my nose. The more I move forward, the lower it gets, to my neck, my shoulders.
"It's going down!" I cheer, and I can see the slight slope we're climbing upwards as my feet keep shuffling along. I find myself laughing in glee, glad drowning won't be what takes me today.
So we keep going upwards, until we get out of the water. I help Jody by grabbing her hand as we start walking on the cave floor, our wet feet making us slip as we keep moving.
"We're out of the water, Janie," Tom reports, and she sighs.
"Oh, thank God. Report please, Miss Marsh. What do you see?"
The blonde looks around while I wring out my hair. "We're in a cavern. A big one with a weird roof. It's hard to tell, but it looks like someone's painted it red, and it's all blobby like a giant egg box."
"Neolithic carvings," She says, and I hum.
"That was gonna be my first guess," I murmur, and I see Tom give a half smile as he shakes his head at my sarcasm. Janine, however, ignores me.
"Perhaps Miss Maxted would have been able to tell us more."
Tom points at a burned-out pile of wood near the cave wall. "I was right. It's a campfire."
"How recent?"
He walks over to it, kneels and touches the ashes. "They're cold and wet. Must've used water to quench them." He touches the closest wall, his blue eyes going wide. "But the wall is still warm. Jones was here recently, and there's only one other exit! Five, Jody, we've got him!"
I can't exactly share his excitement as cool water drips from my soaked clothing and hair, the fat droplets splattering on the cave floor. He has me take point, my socks squishing from the water in them. A full body shudder runs through me from the discomfort.
Goosebumps erupt on my arms from the cool air on my wet skin. If Jody or Tom are bothered by the cold, they don't show it. I don't think Tom is bothered by anything. As I look over my shoulder, I see the hopeful, excited expression on his face, blue eyes bright with determination. I'm sure I'd look the same way if I were in his shoes, if it were my sister that needed this.
Every move we make is a step closer to finding Jones. There are no wet footprints besides the ones we leave behind, but that doesn't mean he wasn't here. The tide came in quickly, and he could have been here with that fire well before the ground was wet. At least, we hope he was.
I don't hear the zoms behind us, probably still stuck in the water, but we don't have to worry about their noise covering our entrance. The sound of the rolling tide does so for us. It covers our slipping footsteps and stuttered breathing, but I always feel like my own are a little too loud, the sound thrumming in my ears like drums.
The jagged walls of the tunnel keep going forward, a few turns, but no other branching tunnels that could lead us astray. The flashlight I grab from my backpack shows us everything ahead. I suppose that's both a blessing and a curse. The light will alert us of Jones' presence, but it will also alert him of ours.
I grip it a bit more tightly, ignoring the numbness that spreads through my skinny fingers.
"Report, please," Janine requests. Her voice sounds anxious, either from the from the thought of getting the control box or us being out here in potential danger. "Have you sighted Jones?"
"Not yet," Tom replies. His jaw is clenched in growing frustration, but he shakes it away. "But we've gotten lucky. This tunnel has no alcoves or caverns that he can hide in. There's nowhere else he could have gone." He nods to himself. "We'll get him. We'll have the nanite controller for you today, Janie. This afternoon. Soon!"
She sighs painfully. "Please, Tom. Don't..."
"I know you don't want us to go after him just for you. But we didn't. He's a danger to the islands. He has the missing piece of the Edda. Finding him is mission critical! Don't blame yourself."
"No, I just... I can't hope it's over until it is. I cannot allow myself that luxury."
My face twists in pity, but I fix my expression a second later. Even though Janine couldn't see it, she hates those looks of pity just as I do when they're directed at me. But I can relate to her words. When I saw myself get bitten years ago and Sam made me promise to try to escape it, he would always try to find hope in any new revelation I may have had. I tried to remain optimistic for his sake, but like Janine, I couldn't allow myself to believe I could escape it or believe it wouldn't come true until I knew for sure.
A shadow casts on the wall, just around the bend of the tunnel. It's there for a second, but the build, the height-
"There he is!" I shout, and I regret it a second later because now he knows we're behind him. "It's Jones."
The sound of my voice causes Jones to take off into a sprint, but we follow. The sound of his heavy footsteps echo across the walls, nearly drowned out by the water behind us, the tide that's still coming in. No one pays it any attention, all eyes on the man running ahead.
His coily hair isn't tangled or dirty, and his clothes are clean despite having been on the run. I suppose the MacLeans gave him clothing and other things to help with his hygiene.
And then he turned around and killed them.
I put my flashlight in my non-dominant hand and grab for my gun. Before I can pull it from its holster, Tom reaches out and grabs my wrist, stopping me. It takes everything in me not to wrench myself out of his grasp. The glare I send him tells him very clearly that he's not allowed to do that. He ignores it.
"It'll be hard for you to shoot him in this cave. If a bullet ricochets, it could hit one of us."
I gape in offense. "I'm a good shot!"
"You can't kill him. He might not have the control box or Edda on him. If he dies, we could lose everything."
My scowl remains. "So I'll shoot to injure only. You know I-"
My words are cut off at the sound of a pop, and there's a sharp cling of the bullet ricocheting off the tunnel wall. My eyes snap forward, and the light of my flashlight glints off something in Jones' hand before he turns back around to keep running. Within seconds he twists again to fire at us, and I push Tom to the right, a bullet flying between us.
"I hear gunfire. Report! Are you alright?" Janine demands, and Tom's features harden.
"We're fine, Jane. Jones can't aim properly while he's running. We've nearly got him." He inhales sharply as my light shines ahead of Jones, showing the tunnel as it widens into another cave. There are glints of metal equipment and a few crates scattered around. "I knew it. He's leading us right back to his camp."
"Be careful," Janine warns. "An animal's most dangerous when it's cornered."
Jones tries to fire at as us again, but he twists and pulls the trigger too quickly causing the bullet to fly off and not even come close to touching us.
"Tom and I both have guns," I state. "I know we need him alive, but I have decent aim, and Tom could easily shoot somewhere non-vital, right?"
I raise a brow at Tom, and he opens his mouth to answer, probably to tell me now is not the time to act petty because of his words from a minute ago. He doesn't get the chance.
"There! To the left!" Jody shouts, pointing to an exit tunnel, then to Jones, who is heading straight for it.
But he's slowing down. The grin that's appeared on Tom's face widens. "We've tired him out."
I sprint forward that last bit, Tom right beside me. Jones grabs something from his pocket. It's small. He pulls something out of it.
A pin.
Jody's warning reaches my ears as my eyes recognize exactly what's in his hand.
"Get down! Both of you!"
The next thing I know Tom is slamming himself into me, forcing me face first onto the ground as his arms cover around my head. A loud explosion goes off as soon as my body hits the cold rock, the sound so loud I can feel it in my bones. My ears pop and ring, and through the high-pitched sound I can hear Jody shouting and Tom coughing.
I lose all sense of time, thinking of nothing but the insufferable ringing in my ear.
I wince when he grabs me and pulls me to my feet, not seeming to notice my dazed expression.
"What happened?!" Janine shouts. "Tom, can you hear me?"
"We're all in one piece," He replies with a cough. There's a cut on his chin from the face plant he made with the floor, a few droplets of blood welling up against his dark skin. "Jones must have had a stock of munitions. He threw the grenade at it, and it all went up."
"And Jones?"
"Must have taken down that tunnel. We'll go after him."
I feel the ground rumble, and the walls shake. Jody quickly shakes her head at Tom's suggestion. "We won't. The explosion cracked the roof of the tunnel open. It's about to fall."
"Take what you can and get out," Janine orders.
Tom looks stricken. "But-"
"That's an order, Tom!" Her voice is stern. "You have his equipment. The roof may cave in any moment. Capturing the man today isn't worth your lives."
At first, I think he's going to argue, but he doesn't, only nodding. "Alright. Five, you grab those rucksacks and whatever those bottles are. Jody, can you manage that wheeled trolley?"
She nods.
"Okay. And I can take the rest."
"Now get out of there!" Janine shouts. "Go!"
•
We get out maybe a minute before the tunnel collapses. My backpack is heavy from everything I shoved inside it, and sweat drips down my flushed face, but the painful thrumming of my heart in my chest makes me thankful that this heart is still beating. It wouldn't be if we had been any slower, or if this backpack was any heavier.
"The tunnel is sealed behind us, but it looks like we're in the clear," Jody says as she wipes the sweat from her brow.
Janine sighs in relief. "Good. I'm glad you are safe."
I turn to Tom, but I immediately flinch back when I see the angered look on his face. "We were so close to catching him. If I'd have thought to arrange a pincer movement, Five, we'd have had him."
"Yeah, but look at this," Jody says, as I take off my backpack and open it up. "Vials of blood, just like he used for the Exmoore massacre. And all this stuff on the trolley. It's the components for the zombie attraction devices. And he blew up his own weapons cache. This is really, really good!"
"What about the Edda?" Janine asks, and Tom sighs.
"I'd hoped he may have left it or kept it hidden somewhere, but from the looks of it, he knows its value. He either has it somewhere else or is keeping it on his person at all times."
"And the... nanite control box? It's not there either, is it?"
Jody frowns. "No. We haven't found it."
There's a slight pause before she speaks again. "I see. There is little reason for Mr. Jones to always keep that with him. I suspect he no longer has it. In all likelihood, it's at the bottom of the Atlantic. There'll be no cure for me."
Tom quickly shakes his head. "There will be! The nanites came from the Hebrides. There must be a way to cure them here. I promise you, whatever it takes, we're going to find it for you!"
A/N: Surprise! You're getting this chapter a day early because tomorrow I have to go take a tour of a law school which is 3 hours away so I'll be busy and probably won't remember to post so here's the chapter early instead of you guys having to wait! It's pretty obvious just how much Team Abel cares for Janine, right? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It's dedicated to WinchestersArchangel and SHADOWS-OF-BLUE
Thank you and have a blessed day!