Life After Z

Chapter 26 - Everett

Three dead. Four taken out by the tranquilizer darts and two more KOed by me and Cooper. God our luck must be gold-plated for this to be the outcome of this shit show.

"A little help up here," Cooper called from the roof of the truck and I cursed myself for talking too soon. When I reached him, he was sitting back against the steel outcroppings, one hand holding a gun and the other pressed to his side. I used a flashlight I had clipped from the guy I killed and saw his shirt was matted with blood.

"Fuck, dude. What happened?" I asked as I knelt by him. I ripped off my shirt and pressed it to his wound, trying to staunch the bleeding. Vaguely I heard Lucas calling out for Ivy again but nothing but silence greeted his calls. That didn't totally surprise me. She and her group were probably questioning if they should shoot us full of darts too.

"Got shot," Cooper said through gritted teeth.

"We need Ivy. She is a doctor. She can patch you up," I replied, hating how pale he looked.

"She's still hiding," Copper said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, well I bet you would be doing the same if you heard the shit that came out of our mouths. I think we should be counting our lucky stars that she is using a tranq gun instead of bullets and hasn't turned on us yet. What a fucking mess."

I then stood and walked to the edge of the roof looking out towards the trees. She and her people had to be there. Nowhere to hide in the fields. "Darlin', you got to come out now. Cooper is bleeding out and he needs you. So either shoot us and get it over with or come out and help while we explain. This isn't what it looks like," I called, my eyes searching for any movements.

The guy I knocked out started groaning and struggling against his bindings. Sebbie was crying quietly while Lucas tried to comfort him. Jen was staring at the guy in charge with a white knuckle grip on a gun. And a small figure crawled out from under the fuel tank, a tranq rifle in her hands.

"Ivy," Lucas said reverently, sounding as if he was looking at an angel. "You saved us."

"Yes, you are the hero of the night. Why don't you get your sweet ass up here and keep playing the part? Cooper was shot and needs doctoring," I said and pointed my flashlight in her direction. She did not look happy. Not that I blamed her.

"Give me one reason why I should help you?" Ivy demanded and readjusted the hold on her weapon until it pointed in my direction. Yeah, Cooper and I would be the ones she was most pissed at. I wonder when she got here. How much did she hear?

"Because you used a dart gun instead of a real one. You are a good person, Darlin'. Cooper is going to die without your help," I told her but could see the indecision on her face.

"Please, Ivy. Coop was just trying to protect us," Lucas added and Sebbie broke away from him and ran up to Ivy. He threw his little arms around her waist. I was relieved to see her relent enough to wrap one arm around the little guy.

Cooper groaned in pain. "Ivy," I said, her name coming out like a plea. "Come on. He isn't going to make it without you."

Her eyes flashed with some strong emotion and then she gave Sebbie one last squeeze before heading up the ladder. She quickly assessed Cooper's wound before asking for a first aid kit. I yelled at Jen to grab it from the truck and then moved so I could keep an eye on the tied-up guys and what Ivy was doing.

When Jen returned, Ivy told her to hold a flashlight up so she could see what she was doing. Ivy quickly and efficiently took stock of our first aid kit and started helping Cooper. She hadn't looked at me since climbing the ladder but I could see the tension in her shoulders that had nothing to do with Cooper.

"It was all bullshit," I told her but she continued to work without any indication that she had heard me. "Everything that we said to those men. It wasn't true. They drove up here and threatened to throw a fucking grenade at us if we didn't give them everything we had. We were just trying to buy time before they killed us. Complete bullshit. All of it. Just something we did to trick them."

"This, your interactions with me, could just as easily be the lie," Ivy murmured under her breath but I still caught her words and they gutted me. "The bullet is still inside. I am going to have to get it out and stitch up any bleeders. But you don't have internal sutures in this first aid kid. I will stabilize him, clamp the bleeders and make a quick run to get the stuff that I need to help him."

"Have one of the people still hiding out in the trees go get the shit you need," I demanded, hating the idea of her leaving us yet again. When Ivy didn't respond to my words I carefully studied her face. The tightness around her eyes. The stubborn tilt to her jaw. "No one is out there. You are alone. Again. Why the fuck are you alone? How did you even know that we were in trouble anyway? And who are these people you are staying with that keep letting you run head first into danger alone?"

Ivy flashed angry eyes at me before focusing on her work, not giving me any answers as usual. I clenched my jaw to keep from flying off the handle at her and had to look away as she used these huge forceps to dig around in Cooper's side looking for the bullet. Thankfully, we had pain pills on hand and Ivy had given Cooper enough so that he wasn't even a little bit coherent for the procedure.

"Just take us with you," Jen said, her voice shaking from leftover fear. "Do what you need to stabilize him and then we can all drive over to where you have the supplies. That way we can all stick together and you can still help Cooper. Take us with you."

"No," Ivy succinctly denied Jen's request and I knew that our chances of staying with her had been royally fucked.

"All of this is your fault," Jen accused, her voice growing in strength. Ivy's head snapped up and I could see confusion on her delicate features. "None of this would have happened if you would have just brought us back to your safe haven yesterday as I asked you to. These people would have just driven past this little town and never known we existed. But no. You had to be selfish and greedy. You had to make us stay out here and because of your decision, I was manhandled and nearly raped. Cooper was shot and we all nearly died. All of that is on you. You have to make it right. You have to take us with you."

Ivy stared at Jen for a solid thirty seconds before returning her gaze to her hands and doing complicated things I couldn't comprehend. Minutes passed in tense silence and I noted that Lucas had gotten Sebbie to calm down enough to stop crying. Sooner or later we were going to have to deal with the six men that were tied up. With Cooper out of commission, the decision of what to do with them would fall to me.

"Okay," Ivy finally said, packing gauze around the giant forceps that were still half inside Cooper. "You can come with me. I will treat Cooper to the best of my abilities and give him some time to heal. But after that, if I ask you to leave, you have to give me your word that you will go without putting up a fight."

A huge fucking ball of tension relaxed within me. Ivy was going to let us in. I was going to have time to fix this shit.

"You have my word, Darlin'."