infirmary didn’t look any different than the last time she was awake—except there were no strangers with guns, and she didn’t see anything that looked like collateral damage. She also let out a sigh of relief at the visible lack of blood and bullet holes around her.
“What happened last night?” she asked. “I heard a lot of shooting…”
Danny told her, filling in the pieces she was missing from being stuck up here during the whole ordeal. The two (dead) men in the engine room, the attempt on Will’s life, and Benny and Carrie caught in the middle.
Gaby frowned. “They killed Carrie?”
“Maybe not on purpose, but same shitty result.”
“And Zoe’s with Benny now?”
“He’s stable, and the doc’s got it handled. The kid bled a lot before we could get him up here, but there’s more where all that gooey red stuff comes from. Speaking of which, I’d like to be handled by Zoe. That’s one fine-looking woman.”
“You’re already taken, remember?”
“Shhh,” Danny said, putting a finger to his lips, “don’t tell the ladies. Or Carly. That redhead just don’t understand that I’m a man and men need to spread their seed around. It’s like biology or sumthin’.”
“Ugh, spare me the visuals.” She looked past him at the empty room again. “So what happened while I was asleep?”
“They gave up about two hours ago.”
“Just like that?”
“I guess with their pals dead and all their friends—including their COs—telling them to come to their senses all night long, they finally buckled. It was all very anticlimactic, to be perfectly honest with you. Me and Jolly were ready to bust the door down and come in shooting like Rambo and his mini Rambo. It totally ruined our morning. Heck, we could barely keep our breakfast down afterward, we were so disgusted.”
“What’s a Jolly?”
“The big kid that was just in here with me.”
“Who is he?”
“One of Riley’s guys.”
She gave him a surprised look. “And you gave him a rifle after what they tried to do last night?”
“The kid’s cool.”
“How do you know that?”
“Trust me, cool knows cool, and Jolly Green Giant’s cool as a cucumber.” Danny got up. “But back to you. You gonna lie in bed all day, or what?”
“That depends. What’s happening out there?”
“Well, we’re not going to the Bengal Islands after all.”
“When did that happen?”
Danny told her about the radio broadcast from Black Tide Island, about the stand-down order that had been issued to Mercer’s army back in Texas.
Then Danny smirked. “You remember ol’ Benford? Back in Gallant?”
“How could I forget?”
“Apparently he was one of the big cheeses. Big dead cheese now, anyway.”
“Fuck him,” Gaby said.
“Harsh,” Danny chuckled.
* * *
A fter Danny left , she quickly grew tired of being in the room all by herself and swung her legs off the bed and sat up for a moment, just to see if she could. It wasn’t nearly as bad as she had been expecting, and she found that moving actually helped with the occasional slight pain.
She stood up and looked around for her clothes. There was so much light in the room now as opposed to last night that she had no trouble finding a fresh pair of khaki cargos draped over a chair along with a thermal sweater from her personal effects clearly waiting there for her. She smiled, thought I love you, Nate , and made sure the door was locked before stripping out of her “patient” clothes and pulling on her own. She only grimaced three or four times during the whole thing, and once she (very) carefully slipped her left arm through the sleeve, was feeling like herself for the first time in seemingly weeks.
Walking was easier than moving any part of her upper body around, and with her left arm (and everything attached to it) basically immobile as a precaution under the sweater, she opened the door and stepped outside and headed down the hallway. There were plenty of footprints
“What happened last night?” she asked. “I heard a lot of shooting…”
Danny told her, filling in the pieces she was missing from being stuck up here during the whole ordeal. The two (dead) men in the engine room, the attempt on Will’s life, and Benny and Carrie caught in the middle.
Gaby frowned. “They killed Carrie?”
“Maybe not on purpose, but same shitty result.”
“And Zoe’s with Benny now?”
“He’s stable, and the doc’s got it handled. The kid bled a lot before we could get him up here, but there’s more where all that gooey red stuff comes from. Speaking of which, I’d like to be handled by Zoe. That’s one fine-looking woman.”
“You’re already taken, remember?”
“Shhh,” Danny said, putting a finger to his lips, “don’t tell the ladies. Or Carly. That redhead just don’t understand that I’m a man and men need to spread their seed around. It’s like biology or sumthin’.”
“Ugh, spare me the visuals.” She looked past him at the empty room again. “So what happened while I was asleep?”
“They gave up about two hours ago.”
“Just like that?”
“I guess with their pals dead and all their friends—including their COs—telling them to come to their senses all night long, they finally buckled. It was all very anticlimactic, to be perfectly honest with you. Me and Jolly were ready to bust the door down and come in shooting like Rambo and his mini Rambo. It totally ruined our morning. Heck, we could barely keep our breakfast down afterward, we were so disgusted.”
“What’s a Jolly?”
“The big kid that was just in here with me.”
“Who is he?”
“One of Riley’s guys.”
She gave him a surprised look. “And you gave him a rifle after what they tried to do last night?”
“The kid’s cool.”
“How do you know that?”
“Trust me, cool knows cool, and Jolly Green Giant’s cool as a cucumber.” Danny got up. “But back to you. You gonna lie in bed all day, or what?”
“That depends. What’s happening out there?”
“Well, we’re not going to the Bengal Islands after all.”
“When did that happen?”
Danny told her about the radio broadcast from Black Tide Island, about the stand-down order that had been issued to Mercer’s army back in Texas.
Then Danny smirked. “You remember ol’ Benford? Back in Gallant?”
“How could I forget?”
“Apparently he was one of the big cheeses. Big dead cheese now, anyway.”
“Fuck him,” Gaby said.
“Harsh,” Danny chuckled.
* * *
A fter Danny left , she quickly grew tired of being in the room all by herself and swung her legs off the bed and sat up for a moment, just to see if she could. It wasn’t nearly as bad as she had been expecting, and she found that moving actually helped with the occasional slight pain.
She stood up and looked around for her clothes. There was so much light in the room now as opposed to last night that she had no trouble finding a fresh pair of khaki cargos draped over a chair along with a thermal sweater from her personal effects clearly waiting there for her. She smiled, thought I love you, Nate , and made sure the door was locked before stripping out of her “patient” clothes and pulling on her own. She only grimaced three or four times during the whole thing, and once she (very) carefully slipped her left arm through the sleeve, was feeling like herself for the first time in seemingly weeks.
Walking was easier than moving any part of her upper body around, and with her left arm (and everything attached to it) basically immobile as a precaution under the sweater, she opened the door and stepped outside and headed down the hallway. There were plenty of footprints
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