Isolation by M.R. Forbes

Author:M.R. Forbes [Forbes, M.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-23T04:00:00+00:00

33

Hayden

In the dream, Hayden was with Natalia.

It was their wedding day. A simple affair in Metro due to the limited resources of the colony and the often strategic pairings of citizens who composed the essential departments of the Governor’s Office.

That a sheriff would marry an engineer wasn’t unique, but it was uncommon enough that the Governor himself had turned out for the occasion. He stood in the background while Hayden and Natalia took their vows to love, honor and cherish one another all the days of their lives.

In the dream, he lifted her veil, ready to kiss his bride. Only the face beneath wasn’t Natalia’s. It was blank, black and oddly shaped.

Hayden’s eyes snapped open, his heart racing. He heard the beeping of the monitor beside him and noticed the dampness of the sheets. He was in a room. A hospital room. In a bed. The lights were on, and the room was empty.

He tried to sit up, his chest burning with the effort.

“Sheriff, relax.”

The room wasn’t empty. Hayden’s gaze landed on Doctor Hess. The doctor’s face was ragged, though his clothes were clean. He had a bandage on his cheek and his arm in a sling.

Natalia.

“Relax?” Hayden growled, still fighting to get up. “How the hell can you tell me to relax?”

“Sheriff, please,” Hess said. “We’ve all been through the wringer, and while you seem to have an inhuman healing factor...that hit to your chest broke half your ribs. You need a few more hours of rest to heal.”

“Natalia,” Hayden groaned in agony, trying to get up. He realized suddenly his arms were powered down. Offline. Both of them. He couldn’t reach the control rings to turn them back on without help. “Damn it, Hess.”

“I’ve got orders to keep you here.”.

“Orders from who?”

“General Stacker.”

“Nate?” Hayden was relieved he was still alive. “Where is he?”

“If you’ll relax, I can go and get him.”

“Natalia,” Hayden said again, more softly this time. Remembering. “She’s gone, Doc.”

“I know,” Hess said. “I’m sorry, Sheriff. Sorrier than you can imagine. She was my good friend.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen. Not now. Not so soon.” The tears were working their way into his eyes again. He stuffed the raw grief down. “Stacker gave me something last time I was in real bad shape.”

“What?” Hess said.

“That’s why I heal so fast. It was either going to kill me or make me stronger.”

“So will rest,” Hess replied. Hayden stared at the doctor, his look causing Hess to shiver slightly. “Stay here while I get General Stacker.”

Hayden wanted to get up and go back to the lab. That’s where his family was. That’s where they had died. He resisted the urge. Hess was right. He was near useless right now. He had to give himself a chance to recover if he was going to kill the Axon for what it had done.

He wouldn’t stop until it was dead. Until all of them were dead. They took his wife and his children from him. He was going to take everything he could from them.

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