I didn’t answer. I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone right now, not while the utter humiliation of what I’d done still had me in its grip. Why the hell had I threatened him like that? He was a prick, yes, but the whole “ I’m being held hostage by creatures who might eat my brain” thing had to be pretty fucking stressful. No wonder he’d lashed out.
“Angel?” Naomi called again.
“Annngellll.” A second voice from the gloom in the opposite direction, like an evil echo of Naomi’s voice.
I scrambled to my feet, heart hammering. That second voice hadn’t been an echo, but it sure as hell seemed familiar. “Who’s there?” I demanded, voice thin as I backed toward Naomi and the light.
The only response was a low groan, followed by the sound of something hitting the floor. Something soft and heavy. Like a body.
I continued to back warily as Philip staggered up to me.
“What do you have?” he asked, peering past me.
“I heard something,” I told him, holding my freakout down with supreme effort. “There’s someone down there. Someone said my name.” I had the weirdest sensation I’d heard that voice before, but I couldn’t quite place it. Maybe the echoes in the tunnel were messing with my head?
Philip gave my shoulder a squeeze, then moved slowly forward, tranq gun in his hand, while I stayed bravely behind him. He was steadier now. Hopefully he’d stay that way until we dealt with whatever was down the tunnel, whether it was a Saberton guard or a giant talking rat.
“There’s someone there,” Philip murmured.
“A person?” I peered cautiously around him and barely made out a form on the ground, but I couldn’t see enough to rule out Giant Talking Rat just yet.
“Yes, a person.” He continued forward then let out a soft curse. “Saberton uniform.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. “They followed us. They found us.”
Philip paused, drew a deep breath through his nose. “I don’t hear or smell any others.”
I sniffed as well, then frowned. “Wait. I don’t smell this guy either.” That made no sense. I was definitely hungry enough to smell human brains.
Curiosity overrode my weenieness, and we closed the distance. The man lay crumpled on his side, either unconscious or faking it really well, and most definitely in a Saberton uniform.
Philip flipped open his phone and shone the feeble light on the man’s face.
“It’s Gentry,” Philip said, following it with a curse as he continued to scan around us.
Mr. Perfect Eyebrows? I owed him a few dozen knees to the balls for mistreating Pietro. I moved closer, baffled. The voice had sounded a lot like his, and it sure as hell looked like him, though for some reason his eyebrows didn’t look as precisely pruned as usual. I crouched and sniffed, then sniffed again. “This doesn’t make sense,” I said. “There’s no way this is Gentry. It can’t be.” I looked up. “Philip, this is a zombie.”
Frowning, Philip used the toe of his boot to roll him onto his back. “Angel, that’s Gentry,” he insisted. “I worked with him long enough to know him, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have an identical twin. Certainly not one who works at Saberton.”
I shook my head, baffled. “Then he must’ve been turned? But that doesn’t make sense either.”
Philip rested a hand on my shoulder briefly as he crouched beside me, this time more to steady himself than for comfort. Lowering his head, he copied my sniff-examination. “You’re right, he’s a zombie. He must have been turned.” He mirrored my own WTF expression. “By Mr. Ivanov? Kyle?” He sat back on his heels, face drawn in thought.
“But we saw this guy a few hours ago, and I know he wasn’t a zombie then,” I stated. “Even if he got turned right after we saw him, it doesn’t seem as if there’s been enough time for him to be up and about now.”
“Well, he did collapse,” Philip pointed out.
I gave a grudging nod. “Okay, but how is he here? How did he find us?”
“No clue, but we need to secure him,” Philip said. “My only set of cuffs is on Asshole.” He stood, then had to grab at the wall as he swayed. I hurried to steady him.
“Hey, Naomi,” I called, “you got any zipties?”
“Always,” she replied, squinting in our direction. “What’s going on?”
“Sit back down,” I ordered Philip. “You can keep an eye on Gentry from right where you are.” As soon as he complied I ran back to Naomi. Andrew had been gagged and blindfolded, which pleased me tremendously. “It’s a Saberton guard, Gentry,” I told her. “He collapsed, so we need to secure him.” I didn’t want to say yet that I thought he was a zombie, mostly because I didn’t want to risk Andrew hearing.
She dug zipties out of a side pocket and passed them to me. “Gentry? Shit. Are there any others?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll let you know the instant that changes.” I started to turn and run back, then stopped and gave Naomi a quick hug. “Sorry about earlier.”
“It’s cool, babe,” she said. “We’re all stressed to the max.” She gave me a light shove. “Go.”
I returned to Philip and passed him the zipties. “We absolutely can’t let Andrew know Gentry’s been turned,” I said in a low voice. “Especially since we have no clue how.”
“Agreed.” He shifted to a crouch and quickly secured Gentry’s hands behind his back, but when he stood he had to stop and catch his breath.
“I’ll help you haul him back,” I said and took one of Gentry’s arms.
Philip gave me a warm smile. “What would I do without my Angel?”
I chuckled, absurdly cheered at the simple statement. No matter what else went to shit, my friends were still my friends. Fuck the whole insider suspicion for these two. There was another explanation. There had to be.
Together we drag-hauled Gentry back to the circle of light. Jeez, but the dude was a helluva dead weight. If he’d been conscious, the strain on his shoulders would have been agonizing, but I didn’t really give a shit about his comfort at the moment. I resisted the urge to drop him on his face, and instead set him against the wall a few feet beyond Naomi.
Philip lowered himself to sit. I looked around, even though I knew too damn well what our situation was. Two prisoners now, Naomi barely mobile, and Philip all fucked up by the MegaPlague. What the hell was I supposed to do now?
“We’re stuck,” I murmured to myself, but Philip lifted his head.
“What happened with Brian?” he asked.
I hesitated only an instant before spilling the entire sordid tale to him, including how I’d disguised myself as a pregnant woman.
“Ah, I’d wondered about the coat,” he said but then gave me a pained look. “You’re right. We’re stuck, for now at least.” He sighed. “You and I are the only ones mobile. And I’m not reliably so.”
“We need supplies until we can figure out a plan,” I said, struggling to think. “Stuff for Naomi’s ankle, splints and painkillers. That sort of thing.”
“Probably need duct tape and blankets. Baby wipes to clean up, and some clothing.”
“Deodorant,” Naomi put in. “For the love of god, please get deodorant.”
“I need to make a list,” I muttered. I glanced over at Andrew, smiled and snagged the pen from his pocket. It was a really nice one, heavy and sleek, and it wrote like a dream even on the grimy scrap of paper I picked up from the floor of the tunnel. “Blue-green algae. More food and water,” I continued as I jotted down the list of items.
“Definitely water,” Philip agreed. “I could drink a gallon right now.”