Page 13 of Brood (After the End #5)

He’s in a good mood, telling me about all the excitement in the mechanical room today. One of the men on his crew got angry at Will and attacked him.

“Is Will okay?” I ask with a wobble in my voice. I’ve straightened and completely forgotten my previous mood.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry to startle you. He’s fine. He had his back turned, so Gus got him down to the floor, but me and Hal hauled him up and held him until the guards came.”

“Why would Gus do that? He’s always seemed so easygoing.”

“I know. It was totally out of the blue.” Danny’s expression sobers. “Chief Will thinks he’s going feral.”

I freeze. A couple of times a year, someone in the Refuge will go feral.

It hits without warning and causes an otherwise-rational person to lose all control, all inhibitions, all sense of safety.

It manifests differently, depending on the individual, but it inevitably leads to the person attempting to harm themselves or other people.

Last year, an older woman in her forties who I’d always liked started running against the locked doors of the council room one morning. She couldn’t express any purpose for trying to get inside, but the need consumed her. She kept slamming her body into the doors.

She ended up breaking her nose and one arm before the guards arrived to restrain her.

I never saw her again.

Ferals have to be drugged and restrained for the remainder of their lives, which never last for more than half a year.

“Oh no. So the guards have Gus now?”

“Yeah. They came just before I took my break.”

“And Will wasn’t hurt?”

“No. Maybe a couple of bruises, but he seemed fine.” His eyes shift over my shoulder. “Speaking of…”

I glance behind and stiffen when I see Will. He’s standing near the main doors. When I meet his eyes, he makes a summoning gesture with one hand.

I’m tempted to ignore him. After all, it’s kind of arrogant and presumptuous to stand there and issue silent commands.

But it’s strange he’s here right now. Danny said he was attacked not long ago. And I try not to be difficult and obstinate just because.

So I murmur to Danny that I’ll see him later and walk over to where Will is standing.

“I need to get you back to our quarters,” he tells me in a gravelly tone. No greeting or prelude.

“Why?”

He turns me toward the door and gets me moving with a strong hand between my shoulder blades. “It might be nothing, but I’m not taking any chances.”

I keep stride with him, having to almost jog to match his pace. The Meadow is on the opposite side of this level from the chiefs’ quarters. “Danny told me about Gus.”

“He’s going feral. I told Brody to make sure the guards brought weapons, but they didn’t. Gus had composed himself by the time they arrived, so I’m not sure they took me seriously when I explained the situation. But he’s going feral, and he was threatening you.”

“Me?” I’ve shifted into a tense, breathless crisis mode. I want to grab for Will’s arm, but I don’t. “Why?”

“I must be the target of his rage, but he was growling something about how I don’t deserve such a young, beautiful wife.

Like I said, it might be nothing, but there’s no reason to take any chances.

When we get to our quarters, you lock yourself inside and don’t open for anyone until I come get you. ”

I try to breathe through the aching tension in my chest. “Okay. But—”

He’s every bit as tense as I am. Maybe more so.

There’s a sheen of perspiration on his forehead and the sides of his nose, and his breathing is so raspy, his nostrils are flaring slightly.

“I don’t care who it is or what you hear.

I don’t care if it’s time for your work shift to start.

You don’t unlock the doors until I come back. ”

“I said okay. I’ll wait for you. But shouldn’t he be restrained by now? Danny said the guards had him.”

“They didn’t bring weapons. If they’re not careful, a feral man is going to get away from them. And Brody…I don’t know. He might be chief of Security, but he’s sometimes gone against me for no clear reason. I don’t trust him. Gus might escape.”

“So what are you going to do?” We turn the corner to the long stretch of empty hallway that leads to the chiefs’ quarters.

He doesn’t get a chance to answer. Alarms begin blaring, and red lights flash all down the hall. “Shit,” he mutters, grabbing for my hand and running.

The alarms indicate a potential danger on the level, and there’s little doubt that danger is Gus having gotten loose. I stumble as I try to keep up with Will. He slows down slightly after that.

I’m not sure I understand why it’s such an emergency. Surely it will take Gus a few minutes to find us.

But as we turn the final corner to our room, Gus rushes toward us, and I squeak.

He was clearly a lot closer to our quarters than we were, coming all the way from the Meadow.

No one else is around. Just me and Will and a fully feral Gus.

He’s tall and lanky with dark auburn hair and freckles.

I’ve never said a word to him in my entire life, but he seemed like a relaxed, pleasant person.

He’s not anymore. There’s an animalistic rage on his face as he launches himself at us.

At me.

He’s aiming at me.

Will pushes me into the corner as he blocks the attack with his body. I want to scream, but my throat is too tight to make even the smallest of sounds.

Gus is taller, but Will is broader across the shoulders. He raises his arms to fend off Gus’s fists and manages to level a strong punch that sends Gus stumbling backward.

The blow would have stopped someone in possession of their full faculties. It would have come close to knocking a sane person out. But Gus is far past normal responses. With a loud roar, he throws himself back onto Will, and this time the force of his tackle sends both of them to the floor.

My panic intensifies to such an extent that my brain blurs the violent motion of their bodies. They’re too close together now for any hits or punches. It’s an ugly, frantic wrestling match, and it’s not long before I see blood.

I glance up at one of the cameras positioned at intervals all down the hall. They’re also in every public room of the Refuge. Security will be watching and send guards to the right location to help us with Gus.

Will said Chief Brody is set against him sometimes, but surely he wouldn’t fail to send help on purpose.

At one point, Gus manages to get out from under Will. He starts lifting himself to his feet, his primal snarl aimed at me.

I’m still shaking in the corner of the hallway where Will put me, but I have enough sense to adjust positions.

If he comes after me, I’m going to run. There’s no way I’m strong enough to hold out against him.

But Will grapples, getting hold of Gus’s arm and dragging him back to the floor so he can’t come after me.

I whimper when Gus wraps his hands around Will’s throat, and for the first time in my entire life, I wish I had a weapon.

But weapons were banned even for guards’ regular duties fifty years ago when a feral managed to get their hands on one and kill four people.

They’re all locked away in the armory to be used only in an emergency.

If we were in the kitchen, at least I’d have a knife.

Right now, I have nothing. Not any sort of heavy object. Will is struggling against Gus’s chokehold, but he grits out, “Get back…to quarters.”

I start to obey—pure instinct more than anything else—but I don’t get farther than one step.

Nothing inside me will let me run away while Will is strangled to death.

With a loud sound, I kick hard at the back of Gus’s neck.

When he howls, I reach down and grab his shirt, trying to pull him off Will.

The shirt tears off. I end up with fistfuls of the shredded fabric.

But it doesn’t matter because the distraction gave Will a moment’s advantage, and he uses it to push Gus off and get on top of him again, holding him face down on the floor with one knee in his back and a hand each on his head and shoulder.

His arms and legs are still flailing, and it worries me. A feral is twice as strong as a regular person. I drop onto the back of his knees so he can’t use them.

“I told you to get back to our quarters.” Will is drenched with sweat and panting. There’s blood on the side of his head. He glares at me over one shoulder.

“I didn’t want him to kill you.”

Maybe Will would have responded to this core truth, but the guards arrive just then, holding tranquilizer guns. When they’ve gotten Gus fully restrained at last, Will pushes himself back to his feet and hauls me up too.

My knees are weaker than they should be, and I slump against him.

He wraps an arm around me to hold me up as he talks to the guards, biting out instructions and insisting they take the threat seriously this time.

They’ve brought cuffs with them, and I feel better when they’re secured on Gus’s wrists.

The guards have to drag him away. Even bound, he’s still desperate to attack me and Will, and he’s growling out the foulest language I’ve ever heard anyone speak about how much he hates Will and how he’s going to take it out on me.

The aftermath hits me harder than the panic did. My teeth are chattering when Will and I are finally alone in the hallway.

“Come on,” he murmurs thickly, still holding me up with one of his arms. “Let’s get you back to our quarters.”

“You need to go to the clinic,” I manage to say through my shivering. I have no idea why I’m suddenly weak and freezing.

“No, I’m okay. It’s a few bruises and some scratches. Nothing serious.” He’s already walking us toward our door at the end of the hall.

“Are you sure?” A couple of tears leak out and stream down my cheeks. “He had you by the throat.”

“I promise I’m okay.”

The confidence in his voice reassures me, so I let him support me into our quarters and over to my bed. I collapse into it, curling up on my side.

Will gazes down at me with dark eyes.