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“You’re not going to die.” He pointed at her face.
The fight left her eyes and he hated it.
“No one knows how to help me,” she mumbled. “You know this, Axel. This illness is killing me and eventually you’ll have to accept it.”
“I’ll accept it when you’re six feet under and pushing up daisies. Until then, we keep looking for a way out of this. Got it?”
She didn’t answer, instead she moped and stared at her feet until she mumbled, “Speaking of daisies…”
“Fine,” he sighed. “Let’s go pick her up and then I’ll take you both on a date.”
Her smile brought color to her face. “Does she know about me? Do you think she’ll like me?”
He tried not to grin at how quickly her mood had turned over this.
“She’s not my girlfriend, Ellie. I just helped rescue her. I do that a lot.”
“But you said date. Wait… is she even feeling up to it after what she went through?”
“She’s a tough cookie. Much like another pain in my ass.” He tugged her beanie down so it covered her ears and then punched her playfully on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go before the curfew is announced.”
“Roger Dodger.” She saluted him and collected her coloring supplies and put them in her backpack.
He locked the door behind them and explained the ground rules as they left the building.
“Don’t engage with passersby. Don’t look anyone in the eye. And if you see one of those powered clones, run. Got it?”
She nodded, eyes wide. “Where do I run?”
“Home, or the place we’re picking up Daisy from.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. Daisy had no idea he was about to turn up on her door step. If she was feeling better, she was probably out there with her crime-fighting family, doing what they did best. But he had to see her. The need was an itch he couldn’t scratch. And despite playing it down to his sister, if putting his heart on his sleeve where Daisy was concerned gave Ellie something to live for, then he’d do it. “Ellie, I want you to know that if you’re ever separated from me, or I don’t come home one night, this place we’re headed is where you go. The people there will always help you.”
“Why wouldn’t you come home, Axel? Are you still working for them?” she asked, stopping in her tracks and lowering her voice. “You know… the bad ones?”
She was so innocent sometimes that he forgot she was almost an adult. He had to stop sugar coating things, but protecting his little sister was in his DNA. The chaos of the world was evident all around them.
“No, I’m not,” he answered with a pointed look around. “But anything can happen. You need to be prepared.”
“Will they come after you for defecting? Are you sure we should be heading out?”
“Not many will recognize me. I wore a mask most of the time. Besides, this is our last chance to have fun before the curfew hits. Before you know it, Martial Law will be called and then the National Guard will be here. But don’t worry, sis, I’ll keep you safe.”
She gave him the eye. It was a squinty pirate look she’d claimed when she was little, and they’d reenacted Peter Pan in their living room. She’d been Tinker Bell and he’d been Hook trying to entice her over to his side. She never trusted him, and it showed. Since then, he’d always known what she was thinking when she used ‘the eye.’ She would push until he told her the truth.
“So then why am I to go to the Lazarus family? You rescued one of them and now they’re your best friends?” she said dryly.
“Not exactly.”
“They don’t know we’re coming, do they?”
He smirked. “Can’t fool you.”
“You’re not afraid they’ll tell you to leave? I mean… they’re important people.”
“I’m hard to say no to.”
“Tell me about it,” she mumbled through a smile.
After a blessedly uneventful walk through the city, they stopped just outside the boarded-up restaurant Heaven.
He glanced up at the apartments above the restaurant where the Lazarus family lived and lost his nerve. Daisy had always been so cool and collected. But after he’d saved her, she’d not asked him to visit. Nor had she given him any vibe that she felt an iota of interest in him, not like he did for her.
Can’t exactly flirt when you’re about to die, he reminded himself. It was stupid to think she felt interest for him. That’s why it was important he showed up and let her know he cared.
Sucking it up, he took a deep breath and plowed onward.
