Page 23 of The Hollowed
“You do realize I’m more than just an Institute doctor, right?” Luci replied, her tone flat as she cut through the humor andsnuffed out every smile in the group.
A quiet tension settled over them until Grayson broke it. “We’ll clear this floor. You two, do whatever you need to.” He motioned the others ahead.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Alex leaned toward her. “You okay?” he whispered.
“I’m useless out here,” Luci whispered. Her eyes skirted away until Alex caught her chin and forced her to meet his gaze.
He could see she meant it. He’d warned her before about how brutal the outside world had become, but words could never prepare someone for the truth. Still, Alex knew she was stronger than she believed, he just needed her to see it.
“You’re not,” he said firmly. “You’re learning. You stayed in formation. You ran. You did fine, Luci.”
“You’re lying,” she said, but there was the faintest spark in her eyes.
“I’m not,” Alex responded with a certainty in his tone. “I wouldn’t lie to you.” His gaze shifted toward the others before returning to her. In a swift, almost instinctive motion, he dipped his head and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “It’s okay,” he added softly. “We can trust everyone here. They won’t say a word.”
She seemed to believe him until Sable and Myra let out matching whistles and a round of laughter, shattering the fragile smile on Luci’s face.
“They hate me,” she whispered, and despite Alex’s best attempt at keeping a straight face, a chuckle escaped him.
“They don’t,” he assured her, leaning in closer. “This is just how they bond. They’re teasing you because they like you. I know your world is serious, and ours is too. But out here, it’s different. You can give it back to them, they’ll respect you for it.”
Luci wasn’t convinced. “No, I’m pretty sure Myra hates me.”
Alex smirked. “Myra hates everyone but I think she hates you a little less than you think.” He brushed a bead of sweat from her forehead and lowered his voice. “C’mon, let’s go find a car. The faster we move, the less chance we have of another ambush.”
Luci gave him a half-hearted nod and tried to mimic a smile as she fell in step beside him. Despite all her doubts about being useless, she had survived her first ambush. And the first time was always the hardest.
The second time, you knew exactly what you were running from.
Chapter 9
Lucilla
Luci kept to herself as the others worked diligently to try and get a car running. It was an ancient model that was too small to fit them all comfortably, but it was the only one that ran on gasoline that they’d been able to find thus far. They’d cleared the level it was on without trouble, aided by the fact that only a handful of crawlers lurked nearby. That’s what Alex and the others called the infected who were pitifully slow and too decayed to move at any real speed.
Paxton and Sable, the group’s go-to plasma mechanics, were currently hunched over the engine, muttering to each other as if deciphering a foreign language. After a long time watching them poke around and frown, Luci began to doubt that they truly knew what they were looking for. Still, there was something comforting in their pause.
For the first time in hours, she could stop, breathe, and take in the city from a high vantage point. Perched on the ledge, she nibbled at the strawberries she’d salvaged from her fridge before leaving. They were sweet and soft, just beginning to turn.
The city below was eerily still, save for the occasional shriek of an infected in the distance. Luci hadn’t realized until now how much they’d adapted since the outbreak. She had assumed they were all mindless, driven purely by rage and hunger. But theyweren’t. The doctor in her couldn’t ignore the way they moved now, how calculated they seemed, and that small observation made her wonder if there was still some fragment of humanity buried inside them after all.
“Can I ask you something about the vaccine, or is that completely off limits?” Myra’s voice broke through Luci’s thoughts, pulling her gaze away from the horizon.
Luci turned, taking in the sight of her. Myra was the kind of beautiful Luci never thought she could be, because unlike her, Myra radiated a rare, effortless sense of confidence.
In the afternoon light, her skin glowed like warm amber, smooth and rich against the shadowed backdrop of the parking garage. Her lips curved and bowed perfectly while her long lashes fluttered almost seductively despite the sweat collecting on her forehead.
“Ask away,” Luci replied, her lips pressing into a faint smile. She wasn’t prepared for questions but if they had any, they deserved answers.
“Is it a cure?” Myra asked, her grip tightening on the gun in one of her hands while the other swiped away a bead of sweat from her temple. “Can it bring back someone who’s already infected?”
Luci shook her head. “It’s preemptive. If you’re vaccinated and you get bit, you won’t turn,” she explained.
“Why?” Myra asked with a raised brow. “Isn’t the whole point to, like, save everyone?” Her tone was clipped but not sharp enough to be rude.
“No, we can’t save everyone,” Luci replied evenly. “I played around with the idea, but there are ethical standards. I couldn’t justify bringing the infected back.”
Myra’s brows knit together again. Her lips parted as if to argue, but she closed them just as quickly. Whatever counterpoint she’d wanted to throw out died before it reached her tongue.