Edie Spence [04] Deadshifted by Cassie Alexander

Edie Spence [04] Deadshifted by Cassie Alexander

Author:Cassie Alexander
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Urban, Fantasy
ISBN: 9781250037947
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2013-01-01T05:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

My head was swimming with too many questions and not enough answers as we walked back to the restaurant. I asked the simplest one of Jorge. “How did you know it was a he?”

Jorge shrugged. “Trouble is almost always a man.”

We entered the sick floor just as Raluca was mounting a chair with a megaphone for an announcement.

“Remaining volunteers—I have good news. The doctor has just informed me that the medical ship is on its way.”

Maybe twelve hours ago that would have been good news. But right now all the enthusiasm those standing could muster was a sarcastic “Hooray” from Jorge. I heard Rory’s matching snort from across the room.

Undeterred, Raluca continued. “I’ve put out rations for anyone who wants them. You have to take care of yourself, so you can take care of your loved ones. Remember to wash your hands. That is all.”

She clicked off the megaphone and stepped down.

The volunteers who were mobile staggered up and queued to go outside, and I followed them. I needed to break free from here and look for Asher—or find Nathaniel and get him to tell me more. I scanned the room for him and didn’t see his sneer.

Outside, we walked past the food table en masse. Grilled cheeses all around. My stomach turned green. Without thinking, I sagged forward, bile rising, and Jorge caught me.

“Hey—hey.” He set me upright as I looked for something nearby that I could puke into. “You’re sure you’re not sick?”

I waved away his concern. “Not like that, no. The ocean. It gets me.”

“Raluca’s giving out Dramamine like candy. You should take some,” he advised.

“Thanks, but—” I began.

It was too late; he’d already started to wave for her. “Raluca, she needs Dramamine—”

There was nowhere to hide. What was the worst that could happen—she’d take me into the next room over and tie me to a table?

Raluca came over to give me the nursing once-over—I recognized it, nurse-to-nurse, in her eye. I tried to pretend that everything was okay, for the currently low values of okay we all shared, as she touched my forehead with the back of her hand. I thought I still felt like an icicle from my time in the morgue, and I could tell from her face relaxing that she did too.

“Where did these come from?” I gestured to the table.

“There’s still healthy people crewing the last kitchen, as best they can. We can’t let everyone starve.”

Which begged the most obvious question I hadn’t asked yet. “How many people are left on board?”

She inhaled to answer me, then paused, and I saw my opportunity.

“You don’t know, do you?” I asked. It was hard not to sound excited.

Raluca shook her head. “We haven’t gone room to room yet—”

“So there could be sick people up there.” I pointed above us, to indicate the rest of the rooms. “Too sick to call.”

“We’re overwhelmed as it is—”

“But what if the medical ships come, and they don’t take everyone? There could be hundreds of people, feverish in their beds, trapped.



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