Buck stood as Eddie turned to him. “No, son, I don’t think you do.” His eyes grew misty and he wiped at them. “Don’t ever go to bed mad at each other and don’t ever leave her side without telling her you love her. You want those to be your last words to her…in case that bus magically appears.”
Buck placed a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “Believe me, I do understand.”
“Then my job is done.” He stood taller and squared his shoulders. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a lunch date with a precocious little lady.” He walked to the door and pulled it open. “Yesterday it was mud pies.” He broke into a toothy grin. “I sure hope it’s bologna today.”
Buck’s face fell. “I don’t think I’d trust any bologna she might find.”
Eddie shrugged. “Mud is mud, my friend. Whether it’s apple pie mud or bologna mud.” He shot the young man a wink then disappeared through the door.
Buck glanced through the window at the house next door that he shared with Skeeter. As he tried to imagine what she might be doing, Eddie’s words came back to him. Don’t ever leave her side without telling her you love her.
He smiled to himself as he reached for the door. “Mud pies.”
Broussard stretched his neck and glanced at his watch. “Tammy, will you please go and wake Dr. Chaplain for me?”
“Of course.”
She stepped out of the lab and Andre turned to Hilliard. “Tell me something.”
Hilliard raised a brow as he continued to rifle through reports he didn’t understand. “What’s that?”
“Will Green let us live? After all of this?”
Hilliard slowly lowered the reports and stared at the researcher curiously. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I asked.” Andre closed the short distance and glanced to the subject sleeping on the table. “He knows that we know what went on here. Are we to believe that if the treatment for the rest of these people goes as hoped, that he’s going to let us walk out of here?”
Hilliard slowly shook his head. “What are you saying?”
Broussard’s brows knit and he glared at the man. “How can I make it any plainer?”
“Why would Green kill you?”
Andre’s eyes widened. “You didn’t miss the whole death threat when we arrived thing, did you?”
“Your treatment seems to be working—”
“We KNOW too much.” He crossed his arms and glared at the man. “We know what he allowed Higgins to do. We know that he ordered a United States Senator shot. We know—”
Hilliard held a hand up, stopping him. “So?”
“So?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. So?” The corners of his mouth slowly pulled into a smile. “Even if you told him you were going to report him, who would you report him to? The president?”
Andre’s mouth opened but no words formed.
“Exactly,” Hilliard replied. He crossed his arms and stared back at the researcher. “You and your girlfriend saved the world. Twice now, if this works.”
“Girlfriend?”
Hilliard scoffed. “Surely you don’t think we’re so unobservant that we didn’t notice the two of you bunked together? We watched her drag her cot to your room.”
“Oh.” Andre felt his mouth go dry.
“Don’t worry, doctor. We wouldn’t care if you were banging the janitor so long as you produced the results we want.” Hilliard sighed heavily and leaned on the workbench. “Look, you did your job. Even if this treatment backfires, Green can only blame himself.”
“Which we both know he won’t.”
Hilliard nodded. “Probably not. But either way, you held your end.”
“So, you’re telling me he’s honorable?”
He shook his head. “Hell no.” He pushed off the bench and paced slowly. “Even before the world shit itself, Green was a bastard. But he is a man of his word.”
“So he IS honorable.”
“Depends on your definition of ‘honor.’ Let’s just say he’s an honest bastard. If he intends to kill you, he’ll tell you. He won’t tell you that you’re free then put a bullet in your head.”
Andre rubbed at his eyes and sighed. “So once we treat the vice president…should we run?”
“Run?” Hilliard seemed honestly surprised. “Where the hell would you run?” He spun a slow circle, his arms outstretched. “The world as we knew it is gone. There’s a whole lot of nothing out there.”
“Surely there are some survivors.”
“Oh, there are.” Hilliard smiled at him. “And we’re about to start creating our own little paradise.”
“Wait…what?”
Hilliard glanced to the sleeping man then lowered his voice. “I overheard some of the general’s plans while he was on the radio. They’ve already located a quaint little burg in the bottom of some valley. Quiet little town that’s isolated by mountains. Clean water, good land for crops, the whole nine yards.”
“And what do they plan for this little Shangri-La?”
“Move survivors there. Start over. Begin rebuilding what we once had, only better.” He patted the researcher’s shoulder. “I’m sure there’d be room for you and your girlfriend.”
Broussard felt that familiar clenching in his guts. “And it we decided we wanted no part of this new community?”
Hilliard shrugged. “Then I assume you’ll be thanked for your service and sent on your way.”
Broussard nodded slowly as Hilliard scooped up the reports and reached for the door. “Thank you.”
Hilliard paused and gave him a confused look. “For what?”
“For letting me know we have a choice.”
“We should talk,” Simon whispered as Lana purred beside him.
“About what?”
“About what you said to Vee out there.” He sat up and leaned on his good arm. “Were you seriously going for the shock factor?”
Lana’s eyes popped open and she stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“You saw how she reacted when you told her how Trent went out. It was like you were feeding off of her reactions.”
Lana shook her head slightly. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes you do.” He leaned back so that he could see her better. “You saw the repulsion on her face and it was like gas on a fire for you.”
Lana huffed and sat up. “What are you implying?”
“That you got off on it.” He raised a brow at her.
She narrowed her
