Killjoy (A Lesbian Story)

14: Steve

Something was wrong.

I didn't want to say it in front of Ashley or Grace, but there was something off with Max. She was Max and awake. She was alive, but not well. Somehow she jumped from the hospital roof to the hotel roof. She broke through her restraints and escaped. A regular human should not be able to do that. Even with Max being athletic from track and softball, she couldn't be able to do that.

That was just some superhero type shit.

And the fact that Grimes could get in to her mind wasn't really comforting. What if she somehow lost control and Grimes took over? She could easily go feral and attack everyone.

Sure, Max had strong willpower, but what if she let her guard down enough so he could squeeze through?

It was a strong possibility and that was scary to think about. Especially with Hawkeye just waiting for an excuse to pull the trigger on her. I'm not sure if Grace or Thor could save her out in the field like that.

But I had to keep my mind on what was to come at noon. Nathan was coming and my mediocre plan was all we could stand on. That is if Thor would agree with me.

The lobby of the hotel was busy with people gathering supplies and getting ready for what could come. Even if it was about 4:30 in the morning, people were still up and about to get ready. Nathan and his guys weren't exactly playing around, so I definitely don't blame people for wanting to be ready if something really bad happens.

On a section of couches in the middle of the lobby, was Amelia. She sat on one of the couches, wiping down a machete as long as my arm.

Damn, how can she be this attractive?

"Damn, Machete." I said as I walked up to her, "You really know how to look intimidating, you know that?"

Her head snapped up as she sheathed her machete and stood up, "I heard. She's really awake?"

Well that was fast.

"She is." I nodded, "She'll be down soon to help us out."

Amelia shook her head slightly, "How the hell?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Some things shouldn't be spread around the hotel.

"It's a long story." I shrugged, "We'll get in to it later after all of this is done."

There was a slight snort from Amelia as we started walking towards the doors of the lobby, "You seem optimistic about what is going to happen."

"If you're not optimistic, then what good will fighting do?" I countered, pushing open the doors to feel the cold wind on my face.

Outside was just as busy as inside the hotel. Everyone was rushing around with weapons in hands and barking orders to others. Cars were being moved from the street to add a second layer to the boundary around the hotel. Sheets of metal was also being drilled in to the sides of  the cars to add height. The boundary was coming along nicely as if it's been worked on since midnight.

They definitely don't mess around.

"Steve!" A voice called from my right, making me turn my head to see Thor jogging up to me. There was a slight look of concern on his usual smiley face. "So I hear she's awake."

Of course.

"She is." I nodded, "She's upstairs with Ash getting ready. Should be down here soon."

"I've already let people know so they don't freak out." Thor nodded, letting his eyes go up to the windows of the hotel, "How did she get passed us?"

Max's voice rang in my head that I shouldn't trust him, but at the same time I knew that I had to. We were all on the same side here, which meant that I shouldn't be keeping information from him. And before a fight like this, I should let him know what all to expect.

Sensing my hesitation, Thor looked from me to Amelia. Addressing her, he said, "May I speak to Steve-O real quick?"

"I'll go play car Tetris with Hulk." Amelia nodded before walking off.

As soon as Amelia sauntered off, Thor put his eyes back on me with a slight smile, "She's a keeper." He put a hand on my shoulder and led me a bit away from everyone else, "Now, back to Max."

"She jumped roofs." I informed him, "Easily."

An eyebrow rose as Thor looked back to me. He scanned my face before asking, "Are you serious?"

"As the plague." I nodded, "She's gone through some changes."

"What kind of changes?"

And so I told him everything that Max told us, right down to the little psycho scientist voice in her head. Everything just came out in word vomit, but I needed to warn Thor. Someone else needed to know.

"God." Thor scratched his beard, "This is some kind of science fiction shit."

He wasn't wrong about that. Everything that goes on these days seems like some kind of weird science fiction, apocalypse novel half-assedly written by someone who hardly has any time to do so. Or maybe some kind of weird Walking Dead knock-off series that revolves around our crappy lives. Who knows? But I am going to fight this.

"With this new information," I sighed before looking around then going back to him, "I have a plan as to how we can beat Nathan and his men."

Thor rose an eyebrow, "Oh really? What is it?"

"We use Max to lure them in." I explained, "They want her and could care less about wasting their time on us. They see Max, come closer, and we come out in an ambush. We can capture them and find out where the hell Grimes is and put an end to all of this crazy shit."

He chuckled slightly, "You seem very hopeful for this one plan to work out. Do you think Max would be okay with this?"

"We've already spoken about it and she's down for it." I replied, nodding.

Nodding back, Thor sighed, "Well, I'll go repeat the idea to the others and see what they think about it. I like the idea, Steve-o. I'll get everything put together. Come find me once Max gets down here."

"Yes, Sir." I replied as Thor jogged off towards a group of people by the armory, no doubt the strike squad getting ready for the encounter. There were many people that looked as if they've never held a weapon in their life, but they're volunteering to fight because that's all we can do in a world like this.

If you really think about it, everyone should be ready for stuff like this. My dad always took me to the shooting range and taught me how to survive out in the wild by taking me camping. We made our own shelter sometimes and captured our own food. That wasn't a thing that everyone did in their lives. I was lucky to learn young.

There was a yell from by the hotel and I turned to see Hawkeye with his gun raised, walking towards the entrance of the hotel. Max and Ashley were walking out of the doors, Ash holding on to Max's arm to try to stop her from storming towards the man.

"Fucking hell." I sighed before running over to the situation just as Max shook off Ash and stepped right towards Hawkeye so the barrel of his rifle was against her chest.