“The cattle will be moved to the far north pasture,” Dr. Petrova is saying, her voice just as detached as her colleague’s. “It’s the most isolated section of your property. We’ll establish a perimeter there. No one in, no out, without full hazmat protocols.”
The sheriff steps forward, his hands held up in a gesture of weary placation. He looks exhausted, the lines around his eyes deeper than I’ve ever seen them.
“Okay, folks, let’s all just take a breath. The main issue right now is lodging. Dr. Archer and Ms. Finch need a place to stay, a comfortable place, while we get this base camp set up.”
Before I can even process the logistics, Tex is already speaking.
“We can prepare the bunkhouse for them,” he says, clear and confident. “It’s clean, it’s private, and it’s got its own bathroom. They’ll be comfortable there.”
It’s a practical solution, a concrete offer in a sea of uncertainty, and I feel a surge of gratitude for my brother’s simple, direct way of handling things.
“Everyone, calm the fuck down,” Billy growls, cutting through the sterile medical talk. He takes a step forward, his broad shoulders a defiant wall against the encroaching chaos. “I want you to explain everything. Slowly. What the hell is actually going on? Start to finish. No more bullshit.”
Dr. Thorne seems unfazed by Billy’s outburst. He simply adjusts his faceplate and begins to speak again, his tone patient and condescending.
“As I was saying, the parasite?—”
And that’s when it happens.
One moment, Sedona is standing there, trying to hold herself together. The next, her knees buckle.
Her eyes roll back in her head, showing the whites, and she goes limp, a dead weight that Clara barely manages to catch.
“Sedona!” Clara screams, the piercing sound tearing through the tense air.
Everything after that is a blur of motion and instinct. The three of us—Tex, Billy, and I—run as one.
We ignore the shouts from the CDC agents, the warnings to stay back. This is our pack. This isourOmega.
She’s on the ground, Clara trying to shield her, and Billy is there first, dropping to his knees beside her.
“Sedona,” he says with a panic I’ve never heard before. He grabs her shoulders, shaking her gently, then a little harder. “Sedona, wake up. Wake up.”
“Billy, don’t,” Nurse Maggie says, pushing through the small crowd we’ve formed. She’s all professional efficiency, her bag already open. She shoves Billy aside gently but firmly, her fingers finding the pulse point on Sedona’s neck. “Her pulse is thready. We need to get her into the ambulance. Now.”
Without a word of hesitation, Billy scoops her up into his arms. She’s so small against his broad chest, her head lolling back, her red hair a stark, vibrant splash against the black of his T-shirt.
He holds her like she’s something precious, something breakable, and his face is a mask of fury and fear.
I turn, my mind reeling, trying to process the sheer, overwhelming chaos of it all, and I see another scene unfolding. Deputy Jamie Martinez is running.
He’s not running toward anything; he’s runningaway, his long legs eating up the ground as he flees toward the barn.
“Jamie, get back here!” Ben Riley yells, his voice booming with authority. He takes off after his deputy, his own mask askew, his usual calm demeanor completely shattered. “Fucking stop!”
I stand there, frozen in the middle of it all. The CDC agents are trying to establish order, their crackling radios a constant staticky chatter.
Tex is standing over Sedona and Billy, his hands clenched into fists, helpless. Maggie is directing Billy toward the ambulance. Ben is chasing his rogue deputy.
And I’m just standing here, watching my world fall apart, piece by terrifying piece, under the relentless, indifferent sun.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Sedona
My head is pounding,a vicious, drilling pain behind my eyes that makes me groan before I even open them. The surface beneath me is hard and unforgiving, covered by a thin, scratchy blanket.
“Sedona? Oh, thank god.”
