“You’re obviously in pain. Take something.”
“I don’t . . . I don’t have anything.”
“What?” She heard Ely shifting to sit up.
“I don’t have any meds.”
“Carter said that Mormon chick gave you meds.”
“She did.”
“If she gave you antibiotics but not painkillers, you should have said so back at Base Camp. They have pharmaceuticals, right?”
“Yeah, but . . .”
“But what? Why didn’t you bring them with you?”
Suddenly, his tone of voice irritated her. Lily didn’t need him talking to her like she was some idiot who didn’t know jack and who needed a keeper to make sure she took her meds on time. She crossed her legs and sat up straighter, talking in a low hiss so as not to wake McKenna. “I’m not taking the meds because I gave them to Justin to give to one of the Greens before we left Base Camp.”
Ely cursed softly then asked, “All your meds or just your painkillers?”
In for a penny, in for a pound. “All of them.”
“Even your antibiotics?”
“Yeah.”
He cursed again, and this time, not softly. “Of all the boneheaded, dumbass stunts—”
“Hey, those Greens needed them more than I did. There was a girl with a broken arm.” There was so much disapproval in his voice, she automatically argued her case. “My injury was a clean shot. One bullet, in and out. I was stitched up by someone with actual medical training. And she gave me a shot of antibiotics before I left. I’ll be fine. That girl—”
“That girl had an ugly gash and an arm broken in at least two places.”
She sat back, surprised he knew which girl she’d meant. In the day and a half Ely had been at Base Camp, she’d gotten the impression he didn’t mingle much with Greens, but apparently he’d at least checked out the medical ward. “Yeah. If you saw her, then you know she really needed those meds.”
“No.” Ely’s voice was cold and hard. “That girl didn’t need meds. She needed a bullet.”
She flinched away from his words. “You can’t mean—”
“Anyone with injuries like that is a drain on resources we don’t have and is a liability the next time we get hit. Plus, she’s in pain. She probably won’t make it. And if she shows signs of the Tick virus, someone will have to take her out anyway. You should have kept the meds for yourself and gone for the pity kill.”
“The pity—” She choked on her own words. “You don’t really mean that.”
“The hell I don’t. What favors do you think you did for her?”
“I saved her life.”
“You prolonged her death. That’s all.”
“Every life is precious.”
“No,” he cut her off. “Every able-bodied fighter is precious. Anyone else is just in our way.”
“You don’t believe that,” she whispered, horrified. But the truth was, she didn’t know Ely. She didn’t know what he believed. All she knew about him was that Carter trusted him. She trusted Carter with her life. And she knew—she
Ely didn’t say anything else and she didn’t, either. Instead, they just sat there in silence. She could still hear the noise of the Tick outside in the store. In her mind, she could picture him: his long arms would nearly drag along the ground. His sheer bulk would make him look stocky, no matter how tall or thin he used to be in real life. His jaw would be thick and powerful enough to snap bones. His brain would be small, maybe too small to operate a door handle.
She tried not to imagine him as he moved through the store, snuffling at the ground to follow their scent. Drool pouring from his mouth, which would already be watering. For her. The Tick could just as easily be a female. Male or female, it would be strong enough to kill her with a single blow. And then—
Another howl rent the air. The Tick was closer. So much for the freezer being soundproof. Another Tick joined the first. And then another. At least three then. More than enough to kill the three of them. If Ely was wrong about the door holding, they were dead.
Lily crawled closer to where Ely had laid down. “Hand me the flashlight,” she whispered.
“Afraid of the dark?” he quipped.
“No.” Geesh, couldn’t he try to be less of a jerk, for even a few minutes? “I’m guessing you’re a better shot than I am. If they get the door open—”
“They won’t.”
“If they do, I’ll hold the light. That way you’ll have both hands to fire and reload.”
She expected Ely to argue, but an ominous thud came from the other side of the door, like something had thrown itself against the metal.
The Maglite flicked on, illuminating the cramped space. McKenna had rolled over so her back was facing them. Her chest moved in long inhalations. Somehow, she was sleeping through this. Lily felt like she was ready to squirm right out of her skin, she was so nervous. Ely slapped the Maglite into her outstretched palm. He may have seemed calm, but when he raised the shotgun to brace it against his shoulder, she noticed he already had five new shells lined up on the ground beside him.
“You sure this works?” She breathed out the words, terrified to make more noise than that.
“It has in the past.” A few seconds later he added, “But usually, if there are Ticks in the area, I keep driving.”
There was another screech of claws on metal. “So, you somehow magically know if there are Ticks around.”
“Normally I have my dog with me.”
“Your dog?”
“Yeah, I used to have a dog. Chuy. He’d let me know if there’d been Ticks in the area.”
Terror clutched at her heart. “So basically, you have no idea if this will really work.”
“It’ll work,” he muttered.
It sounded more like a prayer than a statement, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now. Anger wouldn’t help here. It was too late for that. It was too late to do anything except trust that Ely knew what he was doing.
All she could do was sit there, aiming the light at the door and pray. The flashlight shook in her hand, making the bright yellow circle dance across the door. She braced it with her other hand, breathing out slowly to steady her nerves.
Another howl tore through the night, followed by an answering howl, farther away. The scratch of nails against the door made her heart race with panic. Sitting here, opposite the door, was stupid. They should have braced something against it. Even their backs would be better than nothing. She lowered the light, ready to do it even if Ely wouldn’t, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm before she could move. He gave a sharp shake of his head and made a shushing motion.
Her heart seemed to pause in her chest. This was it. Either the Tick would open that door and Ely would get the shot or . . . not.
But a moment later, the sounds from the hall outside the freezer faded. A series of howls echoed in the distance and then silence fell.
She didn’t know how long she sat there in silence, holding her breath and the Maglite, waiting for the Tick to make it through, waiting for death to come. She didn’t lower the Maglite until Ely pulled it from her hand and flipped it off.
Even then, she couldn’t move. Adrenaline pumped through her blood, making her shaky and weak, but she couldn’t move from her spot beside Ely, just opposite the door.
McKenna shifted in her sleep and made a snuffling noise. How the hell had she slept through that?. Ely stretched out beside her, not far from where he’d first sat down. His breathing evened out and Lily wondered if he was asleep.
