taken off. I stared in the mirror, looking for any sign that my eyes had been white just a moment before. But there was nothing. They looked completely normal.
“What the hell…?”
“I don’t know,” Samuel said. “We’ll keep an eye on it.” He paused. “Pun not intended.”
Anna burst back into the room. “I just spoke with Ashton, and…”
She looked up at me, her eyes widening. I looked down and away. She took a step toward me.
“Alex, your eyes are fine!”
“Yeah. They’re back to normal, now.”
Before Anna could speak again, Samuel cut in. “I’ll need to take a blood sample.” He looked at Anna. “Sorry, but I have to get started immediately. I want to have at least something to update Ashton with by the time he gets here.”
“Well, he said he’d be here in just a few minutes,” Anna said. “He’s not far.”
Samuel reached for a syringe in one of the clinic’s white cabinets. I winced as he stepped closer, wielding the instrument like a knife.
“Careful,” I said.
“Hold out your right arm.”
I held out my arm, closing my eyes. The needle pricked my skin, and I felt a numbing sensation as my blood was drawn. After a few seconds, the sensation ended. I opened my eyes. Samuel dabbed my skin with some alcohol, and covered the skin-prick with a bandage.
“Well,” he said, looking at the syringe. “That’s interesting.”
I didn’t see anything at first. But there was something off about my blood. It was darker than usual, having a violet hue. It reminded me of the purple blood the monsters had. It was proof that this wasn’t over — that I was far from normal.
Everyone frowned as they stared at the sample.
“I don’t feel any different,” I said. “I feel normal. Healthy.”
“You need you to stay here, all the same,” Samuel said. “This can’t be good. Clearly, you are infected with xenovirus. But this strain isn’t the Howler strain. It’s something else.”
Everyone looked at me, as if I were going to transform into a Behemoth at any moment and snap off their heads.
“Seriously,” I said. “I feel fine.”
“We believe you, kid,” Char said. “Things can change quickly, though. We’re just being careful.”
Makara stepped into the doorway. She looked at me, her reaction much the same as Anna’s.
“Holy…what happened?”
“He’s back to normal,” Anna said. “We were afraid for no reason.”
“Now, hold your horses,” Char said. “It isn’t over, yet. Not until the doctor gives us his word that it is.”
“He’ll be here, soon,” Anna said. “I know Alex will be fine. Right?”
She looked down at me hopefully, but I didn’t know the answer to that. Maybe she was just trying to make up for her reaction earlier. I wanted to tell her it was okay, only the words wouldn’t come.
“We’ll wait and see,” I finally said. “I have no idea what’s next, only I
Anna looked at me, seeming to accept that answer.
“While we’re waiting on Ashton, we have things to take care of outside,” Makara said. “There’s an entire army out there that needs to know what the agenda is.”
“The nearest settlement is two days away,” Marcus said. “Let’s hope they can make it until then.”
Makara sighed. “We can discuss that outside.”
Makara left with the leaders of the Raiders and Exiles in tow. That left me, Samuel, Anna, and Michael in the room.
Michael stepped forward, his brown eyes earnest. I noticed, for some reason, that he was wearing that same camo brown that we both had been wearing on my first foray in the Wasteland, months ago. It seemed like another lifetime. Things had been so different, then.
Michael looked like he was going to speak, but he said nothing. Michael was your guy when you needed something done. But now, no one knew what to do about me. We were just waiting for something to happen, even if that was me snapping.
“What’s next, then?” I asked.
“Makara’s just trying to keep everything from falling apart,” Anna said. “Which is due to happen at any moment.”
“I guess Jade and the Diamonds are causing trouble.”
She shook her head. “You have no idea. If only that weasel had died back there with the rest of them.”
It was difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that Vegas was gone. It must have been harder for Michael and the gang lords to comprehend it. It had been their home. And now, the xenoswarm was on our trail. They would pause at the city, but it was just a minor hurdle. How soon until the crawlers caught up with us? Could we reach L.A. in time, getting inside before we were overwhelmed?
“Is the basic plan still the same?” I asked. “Go to L.A.?”
Samuel shook his head. “We don’t know. We’re trying to restore order, trying to get all the gang lords to agree on the same damn thing.” He clenched a fist. “It isn’t easy. And there is still a lot of stuff we have to do beyond all that. Visit the northern Bunkers. Talk with Ohlan and Oasis, and any other settlement that might listen.”
“What about Julian?” I asked.
It had been over a week since I’d seen him — which seemed like no time at all. But with the amount of things that had happened between now and then, it might as well have been months.
“Julian and New America, too.” Samuel said. “And at some point, we’ll have to return with Ashton to Bunker Six. I want those other ships to work with. They’ll give us an edge we’ll need in the upcoming battles.”
That meant more trained pilots. Maybe Skyhome could help out with that.
“What about Bunker 108?” Michael asked.
Michael’s mentioning our old home brought the horrible memories; visions of exploding bodies, severed limbs; memories of my father, bathed in purple blood; Khloe, buried under the red sand. A whole Bunker, my Bunker, had become Hell in a single night.
“There will be weapons there,” Samuel said. “Supplies. We would be remiss to pass it up. It’s right on the way.”
“I know,” I said.
“We’ll get there when we get there, Alex,” Michael said.
“If I get there.”
“Hey,” Char said. “None of that talk, alright?”
I supposed he was right. “What’s our next stop, then?”
“Well,” Samuel said, “Makara, Char, and Marcus have their sights set on a settlement in the southwest. Called Pyrite, if I remember correctly.”
“You do,” Michael said. “I passed it on the way here.”
“Why there?” I asked.
“We need to get everyone supplied and fed. It takes a lot to feed the amount of people we have. There won’t be a steady supply of food until we are in L.A., safe. Which means we have to move quickly.”
“What about Skyhome?” I asked.
“Skyhome has a little extra food,” Samuel said. “It grows enough to sustain its current population, but that’s about it. Its hydroponics are designed to support only a hundred people. We have to support two thousand, and that number is likely to grow.”
“Pyrite’s a small town,” Anna said. “Though it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.”
“It still is,” Michael said. “But they have farms.”
“We’re just going to steal from them?” I asked.
“We’re going to ask, first,” Samuel said. His face was grim. He was determined to succeed, whatever the cost.
