Evolution A200 by Nathaniel Connors

Author:Nathaniel Connors [Connors, Nathaniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Infected
Published: 2019-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The teams assembled in the gymnasium, Kimerick tunes the channel on his Walkie and presses the button. “Do you hear me, Denise?” he asks, speaking into the microphone.

“Clear as if I was standing next to you,” the speaker replies.

Strolling in from the hall, Denise waves her Walkie and exclaims, “Pray they work when we need them.”

“They’ll be fine.” He smiles. “You just make sure to leave the channel open in case we need to redirect our course.”

“Crossing my fingers it’ll be a smooth ride once you’re out of the lot,” she says, pinching her digits. “Hate to think you might not…” Denise pauses and smirks with a sigh. “You just come back. You hear me, Sam?”

“Yes, mam.” He grins, his rigid stance softening into a gentle assurance as he taps his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m serious.” Denise catches his hand and kindly holds it against her shirt. “I can’t imagine going through this—”

“Then stop counting me for dead,” he jokes, slipping from her grip, “or have you suddenly forgotten our reckless teenage years.”

“You’re not sixteen and invincible anymore, Sherriff.”

“Still got my wits, though.”

“Too bad you lost your charm,” she jabs.

“Some hair, too,” he says, scratching at his scalp.

“You’re an ass,” she replies, whacking his forearm with the antennae. “You couldn’t just give in this once.”

“You know I don’t deal well with feelings,” he groans, rubbing his wrist.

“Oh, I know,” she says, stepping back. “Better than anyone here, I know.” Brushing the welt on his skin, she surrenders to his boyish awkwardness and tells him, “I’ll see you when you get back.”

Dodging around the volunteers, she heads for the stairwell, turning briefly to smile at a man whose attention lies on the promenade of marching rifles filing near the exit.

Denise’s smile slipping to a frown; she tugs open the door and rises from view.

Jillian, listening from nearby, taps her uncle on the back and asks, “What the hell was that?”

“What was what?”

“That shit with Denise.”

“Oh, get off it,” he says, stammering away.

“She’s obviously worried.”

“Well, we all should be.”

“It’s more than that, Sam,” she says, grabbing his shirt to a dragging halt.

“This is not the time.” He crams his uniform back into his pants.

“She cares about you,” Jillian explains. “The least you could have done was return the sentiment.”

“Denise knows how I feel.”

“Why? Because the two of you dated?” Jillian snips.

“Well, yeah.” Kimerick tightens his belt.

“That was over thirty years ago.”

“We were together for nearly a decade,” Kimerick defensively explains. “I don’t have a teenage memory that doesn’t include Denise in it, so when I say she knows how I feel…she knows.”

“Then why was she standing by the stairwell, waiting for your smile?”

“What are you talking about?” Kimerick jerks to see but finds an empty corner that once reared a grin.

“Too late, sport.” Jillian crosses her arms. “Your prom date left early.”

“It’s fine,” he assures himself, “but if I must, I’ll sit with her tonight. Make sure there’s no animosity between us.”

“If I were you, I’d say something to her now.”

“I’m

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