Page 47 of The Hollowed
She couldn’t respond. The clock was still ticking, and those gunshots must have alerted everyone.
“Come on,” she responded, shoving the guilt deep into the pit of her stomach. “We have to move. Now.”
Cipher shoved a heavy plasma vessel into Myra’s hand before yanking the gate open. There was no time left to think so he scooped Jace into his arms and sprinted into the tunnel.
They ran until Myra caught sight of the faint silver glow of moonlight bleeding through the sewer grate above. She scrambled up the ladder and shoved the grate aside before pulling herself into the open night. The air outside was fresh and alive with the threat of the infected.
They were alone for now, but she knew better than to trust the silence.
Jace climbed up next, pale and shaky but determined. Myra pulled him through while Cipher shoved him up from below, then climbed out after them. Myra barely gave him a second glance before she was sprinting ahead with the plasma vessel clutched tightly in her hand.
Any car would do. They just needed to gain ground fast.
“There!” Cipher hissed as he pointed to a grey mini van parked across the street.
Myra nodded and lifted her gun, ready to fire at any infected that came near. Once they crossed the street, Cipher set Jace on his feet while she made sure the car was clear. She settled Jace inside, tossed in their bags and climbed into the driver’s seat while Cipher scrambled to fit the vessel into place.
After what felt like several minutes, the engine finally roared to life beneath her hands. The sound felt like salvation. She forced herself to wait for Cipher to slip into the passenger seat before she pushed the gear into drive and raced down the street, leavingPrometheus, the hospital, and everything she’d ever known behind.
For the first time in years, they weren’t caged.
They were free.
Chapter 20
Lucilla
“Keep your eyes on the road!” Luci scolded as she threw a raisin from her trail mix at Alex’s head. They were her least favorite, and anyway, he’d earned it.
The sun had barely risen when she insisted Alex learn how to drive. An RV wasn’t exactly ideal for learning, but so far, he’d managed surprisingly well. Except for his infuriating habit of stealing glances at her. Not quick, harmless ones either but the kind of lingering looks that made her pulse quicken and left her wishing she could pretend she hadn’t noticed.
Behind them, Luna snored softly on the cushioned bench, blissfully oblivious to the road ahead.
“Oh, come on! I wasn’t throwing things at you when you were driving,” Alex protested, swerving just enough to dodge the next raisin. He leaned back into the seat then and let both his hands settle on the wheel, but his eyes found her again almost instantly. “I just wanted to look at you. Is that so bad?” His grin pulled at her in ways she hated admitting.
Luci’s cheeks flushed before she could respond, “I’m not saying it’s bad,” she retorted as evenly as she could. “It’s just proper driving etiquette.” She forced her gaze toward the road ahead, but the effort was useless. The memory of his hands and mouth on her the night before rushed through her mind, making heatpool low in her stomach.
What they had shared was more than warmth in the dark. It went past desire and into something she couldn’t quite name. Last night had left her trembling, not just from his touch but from the realization that hope still existed. That even in this cruel world, they could still love. Along with the miracle of her vaccine actually working, her hope burned fiercer than ever.
Alex clicked his tongue playfully as if he were biting back some snide remark, and Luci pressed her bottom lip between her teeth to smother the laugh that bubbled up. For the first time in years, maybe even before the outbreak, she realized she felt something startlingly close to happiness.
“You never told me what happened with that medical student,” Alex said after a moment. This time his eyes remained fixed on the road ahead. “Did he end up becoming a famous doctor or something?”
Luci’s smile dropped. She had kept this part of the story to herself on purpose. A sigh slipped past her lips as she tossed the half empty trail mix bag into the cup holder and shifted her knees up like that would protect her from what she was about to say. “No,” she confessed. “Daniel Alcides Carrión died in 1885 from complications of the infection.”
For a moment, the silence was filled only by the hum of the engine. She shifted, curling tighter into her seat. “I don’t think he ever imagined his experiment would cost him his life. But what I always admired was how deeply he believed in his theory. Enough to risk everything and die for it.”
The RV jolted to a stop, and before she could catch her breath, Alex turned toward her. His jaw was slack, his eyes wide with something between anger and fear.
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” The hurt in his tone stung more than if he’d shouted at her. “If I had known, I would’ve neversaid yes to either of us taking the vaccine.”
Luci blinked at him, stunned by the intensity in his words but also touched by how much he cared. “Alex…I wasn’t worried. I trust my research, and I trust myself.”
He shook his head in disbelief and gripped the steering wheel like doing so might temper his feelings. “That doesn’t mean you should’ve risked your life.”
“That’s the thing,” she said quietly. “Every part of my career has been a risk. For as long as I can remember I’ve been walking into rooms where I wasn’t supposed to belong. Fighting to be heard over people who didn’t see me as an equal. I learned early on that no one would ever believe in me more than I believed in myself. If I doubted my own work, I would’ve stopped before I even started.” Her voice softened just a touch. “If I don’t trust me, who will?”
Alex’s expression dropped, and the look in his eyes turned into something more vulnerable. Luci watched as he sat in silence for a moment while his knuckles turned pale against the steering wheel. She could almost see the thoughts coursing through his mind, the words he wanted to say but couldn’t quite form.