He doesn’t give her a chance to reply, and while it rips his heart in half to leave her, he races toward the door without grabbing his coat, afraid that if he doesn’t flag it down, it might not stop. Theo bursts through the door, nearly sliding on the ice, scrambling out into the open just in time to see the underside of a small plane fly overhead, the wind from the blades close enough to ruffle his hair.
The snowstorm covered the airstrip, and he isn’t sure how the pilot manages to land at all. He must know the route by heart because he glides the aircraft to a specific section of snow and lets the wheels cleanly slice through it, coming to a stop in front of the wildlife center.
There’s manic laughter caught in his throat that he stuffs back down for fear of appearing crazy. He expected they’d have to wait days or even weeks to get flown out, but not even hours later, there is a shiny blue plane landing before him like a gift. He rushes toward it, meeting the business end of the pilot’s pistol instead of a warm greeting.
Theo holds his hands up. “I don’t want trouble. We need help. We knew Gwen, she told us to come here.”
The gun wavers, and the man holding it frowns. “Knew. You knew her. Past tense. She’s not here?”
“She was bitten,” he says sadly, squinting at the frigid wind biting at his face. “She left a note.”
The gun lowers as the other man shakes his head, mumbling curses. “Dammit, I told her to come with me the last time I was here. I fucking told her. You said we. Who else is with you? Have they been bitten, too?”
“My wife,” he says quickly, though why he claims her with that specific label, he might struggle to explain even to himself. Something about it feels safer. They have to present as a unit to anyone from here on out. A married couple is harder to separatebut easier to trust. “No, she isn’t, but her ribs are broken. Please, we need to get to the safe zone.”
“Yeah…about that.”
* * *
“You’re joking,” Theo says evenly, staring at the bringer of even more bad news. His stomach twists, cold and heavy, as the possibility of losing Nora before she gets help coils around him.
Wyatt, the pilot of the charter plane and their only hope for survival, shakes his head. “I wish I was. I can only take one passenger. The plane was partially damaged on the last run. It flies, but it won’t hold the weight of three anymore. I was able to evacuate some of the animals, but even that is pushing it with the larger ones. This isn’t a rescue plane. It’s a tourist charter and supply hauler.”
Theo swallows hard, his throat suddenly dry as panic percolates at the edges of his nerves.
“What does this mean? You can’t take us?” Nora asks.
“I can take one of you.”
“And then come back for the other?”
“No. This is my last flight out here. The weather is turning, and I got family down south…if I keep pushing this old plane in these conditions, she’ll give up on me sooner rather than later.”
“You’ll take Nora, then,” Theo replies quickly, forcing the words out even as they cut like a knife across his tongue. Every syllable tastes bitter despite knowing it’s the only way.
Nora’s eyes widen. Her voice cracks, the pain in her ribs giving way to the fear in her tone. “Like hell he will. I’m not leaving you here.”
“I’ll let you two discuss this, but be quick. There’s another storm coming.” Wyatt moves toward the door to offer them privacy for their impending argument.
“Wait.” Theo stops him. “There are doctors at the safe zone?”
“One. One doctor.”
“How bad is it out there? We crashed right as this was all starting. We haven’t really seen—”
“It ain’t good. They think it could be airborne now because of how fast it’s spreading, but it’s hard to know much when the news already cut off.”
“But you’re sure it safe where you’d be taking her?”
“Can’t be sure about anything, to be honest. It was safe last I saw, that’s all I can offer you. If you need a doctor, it’s the closest option.”
Theo nods, resisting the urge to meet Nora’s stare until they’re alone again. His heart hammers in his chest, the weight of helplessness pressing him down. When he finally does look at her, the determination there despite her suffering tells him this won’t be an easy disagreement to win.
“I’m not leaving you,” she says.
“You have to.”
She shakes her head, defiant. “A broken rib will heal on its own, given some time.”
