Page 2 of Resurrection
Suddenly, his body settles, melding with the pillows beneath him once again. I have the chance to take one shuttering breath before it’s stolen from me in the same instance. A frothy mound of drool spills from his slackened mouth as a deep growling snarl overtakes his face, his body tensing with the movement, solidifying my deepest fear like a knife to my heart.
“No....” My chest caves in at the overwhelming confirmation before me.
Fuck me, this isn’t happening again. This can’t happen again. We checked him. He was fine.
He was fine!
Son of a bitch. The fucking scratches must have made the virus transmissible after all—the speed of infection just slower than a bite or airborne transmission would be. I turn around and retrieve my pistol from the side table where I left it last night and stand up, ready to do what I need to if it comes to it. My pulse sky-rockets at the realization of our imminent and inevitable future, and my vision blurs as my eyes fill with regret, anger, and sorrow.
I look down at both Hawk and Aly lying next to him, completely oblivious to his impending transition. If this is real and not a nightmare, then Cole’s within biting distance of both. I need to move them before they get hurt too.
Goddamn it… He didn’t fucking deserve this. Nobody deserves this bullshit, but least of all,him.
Cole has saved both Hawk and me countless times over the years. He saved Aly. Hell, he saved so many guys overseas I’m sure he’s lost count. The man is the definition of selfless. What the fuck did he do to deserve this?
“RAAAAHHHHH,” Cole groans deeply, the coarse gravelly sound rousing Hawk and Aly from their blissful sleep into this living Hell before us. As one, they lift their gazes to mine, questions in their drowsy eyes when they see my somber face.
Fuck...They haven’t realized yet...
I can’t say it out loud—the truth too dark for me to unravel—so I simply point to Cole. As if waiting for my cue, he makes another jumbled, gurgling sound which makes Hawk jump back with a curse and Aly gasp, her hands flying to her mouth as she shakes her head in disbelief.
“No. You’re fucking lying. You said his eyes were clear! We all saw! His eyes were clear!” Aly screams at me, her words echoing in the desolate space we occupy but, even still, do absolutely nothing to wake Cole. She’s right, though. Before we went to sleep, we all did another eye check on each other, just in case. No one showed any signs of any impending transition, which makes this all the more surprising.
“I know! We all checked him! But I woke up and he was like...this!”I raise my hands at his supine body, still unresponsive and mumbling nonsense.“I even shook him and nothing,” I explain, my voice becoming strained and hoarse.
I don’t normally cry, but I can’t help the tears that begin to fall down my face. Especially when Hawk is right there with me, staring down at Cole with his own unshed tears barely balancing on his eyelids, his face filled with rage and regret. In a practiced move, he grabs his weapon from the table, holding it in his hands but not at the ready. Not aimed at our brother.
Notyet.
They’ve become close. It’s more than clear, now, after I saw how Hawk reacted to Cole’s unresponsive andunchanging status, yesterday. We all love each other—we’ve been through too much not to—but Cole and Hawk’s love? It’s changing...evolving.I think it’s slowly becoming more than just platonic love and it’s incredible to see. We might have been great together before we met her, but Aly’s brought out the very best in all of us. If we lose Cole, though, I think it might just bring out the worst.
Hesitation is clear and present in all our minds. We don’t want to do this—obviously, we don’t want to do this—but if he’s fucking changing right before our eyes, I’d rather stop it now than let it progress. It’s what Cole would’ve wanted. What we all agreed to back when everything first happened over a year ago. “Aly, back up.” The words almost choking me as I speak them.
“No. Fuck that.” She shakes her head at me, not moving an inch away from him. “I’m staying right here. He’s fine.” Despite her objections, I reach my arm out to make the decision for her, to move her away from him before it’s too late. I manage to get my hand on her shoulder but she rips herself from my grasp before I can do anything. “Just stop it! Take a fucking second, Goddammit! He’sfine!” she cries out, shoving against my chest when I try again. “LEAVE ME BE, JAX!”
“Baby, look at him! If he changes, I don’t want you to be anywhere near him,” I indicate with my hand to where he lies, still twitching... still groaning. He hasn’t attempted to bite anyone yet but it’s only a matter of time if he’s changing. Not to mention, I’m not sure if the air around him is considered contaminated, yet. To be honest, it might be too little too late at this point sinceeach of us were practically on top of him all night, but I can’t help but attempt to protect what family I have left.
I lift my face covering just to be sure, motioning for Hawk and Aly to do the same. Reluctantly, they follow my order. “Aly... baby... listen to me.Please.This is already hard enough. You don’t have to see this. Youshouldn’thave to see this.” I huff in frustration, understanding her need to stay by him but still needing to protect her, even from herself. “Look, I’m not going to force you to do anything apart from moving to a safer distance away from him. But if he’s turning... I have no choice.”
Her entire body trembles as she takes one last look down at Cole and sobs, choking on her breath before nodding back at me, reluctantly standing and backing away. Her steps are shaky but eventually she makes it over to where Hawk is and stands slightly behind him.
He extends a hand across her stomach, clutching her opposite hip to make sure she stays put, or maybe he’s simply looking for a tiny bit of comfort right now. Fuck, probably both. I can tell he’s forcing himself to remain stoic for all our sakes, but is barely holding on as he actively sheds reluctant tears while staring daggers at Cole...who’s drooling even heavier now than he was before.
Fuck.
I raise my pistol and aim it at him, steadying my breath and sending a silent prayer to anyone who’s listening. “Come on, buddy, don’t make me do this…,” I beg his twitching form to settle, my voice cracking with desperation and despair as I plead with his unconscious form to not continue down this path. To not leave us.
To not force me to go down this road again.
Both Aly and Hawk shuffle their feet a bit at my words, waiting on the precipice of hope that Cole wakes in these final moments.
I wait a minute...
Two...
When his convulsing worsens, I pull back the hammer and take a final life-altering breath before I end it for good.
“Wait, wait, WAIT!” Aly calls out, startling the hell out of me. Thankfully, I’m able to restrain myself from pulling the trigger accidentally and, instead, lift my finger back to the guard, waiting for her to continue. “Did you check his eyes, yet, today?” she implores. “Likethis morning? How white were they? Does he possibly have any time before….” She looks down at him then looks back up at both Hawk and me, her eyes darting between us as she licks her lips nervously, her arms waving around frantically as if she’s trying to catch a wish or a prayer floating around us and force it to come true. “So we can say goodbye?Something....” She waits for me to answer, but I can’t. It’s like my brain just up and died as I remain standing here like a fucking statue of war, poised and ready to kill off a quarter of our family.
