The Last She (Books 1-3, the Last She Series)

Ch. 10, An Unexpected Friend

Ara

I awoke slowly, and in pain.

My head throbbed. My eyes felt like cement. A scratchy wool blanket covered me. The metallic symphony of rain pounded above me. Each of these sensations came separately and each threatened to overwhelm me.

Finally, I opened my eyes.

I was in a small metal shed. No. We were in a small metal shed. Four cots lined the other side of the room. Kaden lay in one, not moving. Sam and Issac sat on the cot next to him, talking quietly. I sat up slowly and they both stopped talking.

"How are you feeling?" Sam sounded genuinely worried, and his footsteps echoed on the metal floor as he walked over. Issac said nothing, but his eyes still swept over me, assessing.

I retraced my thoughts of bolting, running in the rain, the taste of triumph. Then it came back to me. The darkness as I ran, , turning a corner, and...someone. I couldn't bring his face into focus, only a glimpse of lightning long enough to see shadowed pits for eyes, and the butt of a rifle smashing into my head. I touched my fingers to my forehead where a tender bump was already raised.

"Is Kaden alright?" I pushed myself out of the bed, and was hit by a wave of nausea. Sam caught my elbow, steadying me.

"You okay?"

"Yah." I shivered as I walked over to Kaden. He looked worse.

He was shirtless, and his muscular form drew my eye to his shoulder, where a bandage failed to hide the inflamed skin. His face was flushed and sweaty, even though the shed was cool and damp. It was hard to look at him.

"Where are we?"

"We're under quarantine," Issac said, voice calm. "Either he dies by the morning and they kill us too, or his fever breaks and they let us out."

Sam continued to watch Kaden, but I could see him shaking. What sort of heartless people would kill us all if only one showed symptoms?

People who had done anything to survive. People like me.

"They?" I asked.

"Welcome to the clan, Ara." Issac's eyes were sad.

I surveyed the heavy metal sheeting of the small shed. There would be no escape. But as I looked, I realized something else. We were missing one of our number.

"Where's Jeb?"

Sam and Issac exchanged a look.

"Sam, what happened?"

He looked at me with his deep, brown eyes, too serious for one so young.

"You ran into one of the guards at the front entrance," he said in a small voice. "Issac caught up to you before the guard could do anything more than knock you out. That's when it all went bad. Jeb ran... there was a gunshot... They put us in here."

"Do they know? About me?" I tried not to let him see how worried I was. If they knew I was a girl...

"No. It was dark and raining. Jeb ran when they told him they were going to quarantine us. They wanted to examine you, but Issac picked you up and wouldn't let them."

I was strangely touched by this. Issac had saved me? But what would happen to Kaden? Sam gazed down at him, his thoughts following my own as he said, "You don't really think he's infect-?"

"No," I interrupted.

I had always been a terrible liar, but I tried for Sam. "I think he will be fine. He's strong." At least that much was true. In this world, only the strong had survived.