Page 82 of Viral Justice

Chapter Nineteen

Ali let her gaze reston Max for another second before she glanced at Nolan and nodded. The soldier nodded in return and headed out, leaving behind Jessup and Hunt again.

“I apologize, Sergeant,” Max said formally.

Even as tired as she was, she couldn’t keep one eyebrow from climbing her forehead. “For?”

“Disturbing your rest.”

Disturbing my...For Christ’s sake, he sounded like a bloody Brit. She was going to have to haul him off to some dark corner and have her way with him. Again.

He didn’t seem aware of her reaction, continuing with, “Sergeant Nolan didn’t bring any good news.”

“Nolan doesn’t like good news,” she said, restraining herself from rolling her eyes. “He says it’s boring.”

“I think the situation is plenty exciting enough even for him,” Max said with a double handful of sarcasm. “How much did you overhear?”

“The part where he has to impress me with his shoot-and-run plan.”

“Then you missed the really depressing news about a third of the people here being dead and another third sick. And we’re surrounded by double our force and the only thing keeping them away is theI’m sicklie.”

“See, this is what Nolan means. This is not boring.”

He stared at her like she had gone nuts. “You really need to get a few more hours of sleep.”

She knew herself, knew her capabilities. “I’m good for a few hours now.”

His expression flattened out. “I might need you in a few hours. Right now Idon’t.”

He did not just say that.

He did not just question my judgment.

In front of an audience.

She stared at him as the cold truth spread icy fingers through her chest. If he could decide to ignore her decisions now, when else would he ignore them?

She waited. Waited for him to realize what he’d said and how he’d said it. Bald. Cold. An order and nothing else.

Someone whistled, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Jessup take a step back.

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