Be smart, Tara. Play along and get them to lower their guard. You’re not a victim anymore, not like you were in the Congo. You’re a fighter — a survivor.
The thought strengthened her resolve, and she pleaded with mock terror, “Okay, I’ll come with you, but please, don’t hurt me.”
“That depends on you, lady,” Pete said, reaching out a hand to her.
As she turned toward him, Tara quickly switched the scalpel from her left hand to her right. She stepped closer, so close she could smell the stale odor that emanated from his unwashed body. His expression was eager, the gun in his hand forgotten.
With the speed of a striking snake, Tara cut into his upper arm, gouging deep. In the next instant, she whirled toward Matt and jammed the blade into his throat right underneath the ear, sawing across. Then she vaulted across the counter and dropped to the floor on the other side.
Pete roared with anger and fired in her direction. The bullets punched through the flimsy wood above her head, missing her by mere inches. Tara flinched and crawled to the side. All she needed was a few seconds.
Suddenly, Pete cried out, his voice rapidly weakening. “What did you do to us, bitch?”
Tara grinned when she heard his gun clatter to the floor, followed by a dull thud as he collapsed. A gurgling groan and a second thud indicated that Matt was down as well. “Oh, nothing much. I just severed the brachial artery in your arm. It will take you a few seconds to pass out. You won’t even realize it when you die, you stupid pig. More’s the pity.”
Pete was unable to answer. By her calculation, he would lose consciousness soon. Matt’s diagnosis was much the same. She’d cut the carotid artery in his throat. “That’s why you don’t mess with scientists, you dumbasses.”
Once she was confident they were no longer a threat, Tara stood up to retrieve her shotgun. Both men were passed out cold and bleeding out in rapidly spreading pools of blood. She hardly spared them a glance and ran to the front door instead. She had to help Saul and Dylan before it was too late.
Halfway there, she was met by a frantic Dylan who grabbed her by the arms. “Tara! Are you alright?”
Tara nodded. “I’m fine. A couple of thugs jumped me, but I took care of them.”
“Me too. Luckily, Saul got the drop on them. They’re dead,” Dylan said before she stopped abruptly. “Wait a minute. You took care of them? Two thugs? What does that mean?”
Tara explained what she’d done, and Dylan whistled with appreciation. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
“Come on, let’s go,” Tara urged. “The sooner we get out of here, the better.”
“Good idea,” Dylan said, allowing Tara to lead the way.
Saul met them at the entrance with a relieved look. “Thank God, you’re alive. I was so worried.”
“We’re fine,” Tara said, explaining once again what had happened.
Saul jerked his head in the direction of three bodies sprawled out on the pavement. “I was doing a quick recon when I spotted one of them moving in. I pretended not to see him and got Dylan to play bait. Unknowingly, of course.”
“Hey,” Dylan protested as he rushed them both back to the Humvee. “That’s not fair.”
“You were never in any danger,” Saul said. “I had your back the entire time.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Dylan said with a huff as she climbed into the backseat. “Next time, warn me, so I know what to expect.”
“Whatever, now stop bitching. We need to get out of here. There could be more of the suckers,” Saul said, starting the engine.
“Parasites, the lot of them. As if the zombies aren’t bad enough,” Dylan grumbled.
As they drove away from the clinic, Tara leaned back into her seat with a sigh of relief. She passed her full bag over to Dylan. “At least, we got what we came for.”
“That we did,” Dylan agreed. “And you were a real bad ass back there, taking out two of them on your own like that.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Saul asked, glancing at Tara. “You’re not…”
“Traumatized?” she asked with a teasing smile. “This isn’t the Congo, and I’m not that girl anymore. Things are different now.”
“I can see that,” Saul replied with a look of appreciation. “You’ve changed.”
“Not too much, I hope,” Tara replied, shooting him a broad smile.
“Never. You’ll always be a nerd,” Saul teased.
She punched him on the arm with playful intent. “Am not.”
“You so are a nerd,” Dylan interrupted.
Tara rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“But you’re our nerd, right, Saul?”
“Right.” Saul glanced at the receding Radcliff in the rearview mirror. “Are you two ready for the next part of the journey?”
“Wake me when we’re there,” Dylan said, rolling herself up in the blanket until she resembled a stuffed sausage.
“I’m ready,” Tara said, and this time, she meant it one hundred percent.
Chapter 11 - Saul
Saul glanced at the woman dozing in the seat next to him. Dr. Tara Lee. A Research Scientist specializing in virology on loan by USAMRIID to the WHO. A brilliant academic, but also, so much more than that.
He thought back to the time he first met her back in Africa, fresh off the airplane that brought her from America. She was a different person back then, so certain of her place in the world as a scientist and researcher. Yet, also a touch unsure, as if she didn’t quite know where she belonged among people. He blamed that on her dual heritage.
She was naive, too, expecting all people to be the same. She measured them with the same
