When Night Falls by Airicka Phoenix Page A

The word clawed out of her throat in a ball of horror wrapped in razors. A spear stabbed her through the chest. “What about Rolf? Is he…?”
    He was shaking his head even before she could start praying. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “He’s here somewhere.”
    Unconsciously, Scarlett exhaled, slumping back against the mound of pillows.
    Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Since when did you care anyway?”
    She arched a brow, ignoring the blush burning in her cheeks. “Since when did you stop?”
    He looked away. “I’m going to find something to eat since we’re playing the answer-a-question-with-another-question game. I’m starving. Do you want something?”
    Unsure if she was allowed to eat anything, but unable to ignore the grumbles of her stomach any longer, Scarlett asked for an apple and some crackers.
    Pushing back his chair, Hunter got to his feet and started for the food dispenser across the room. She followed his broad back until he was swallowed by the crowd. Then she sat observing the people left, those who hadn’t had a chance to take the booster. The only ones remaining. There couldn’t have been more than a few thousand, which was a huge loss of numbers from the seven thousand that had been onboard only that morning. The majority were novices and kids with the odd adult somewhere in the midst.
    She found Rolf. He stood next to the doors, almost braced against the wall as if prepared to lunge out at a moment’s notice. He had his arms folded over his chest, head tipped back. Kiera was leaning into his side, head pillowed on his bicep. Scarlett wondered if the girl had some kind of separation anxiety. It would have driven her crazy to be plastered to another person like that, or worse, to need someone to tell her what to do every minute of the day.
    The bitterness that rose up in her throat like bile made her wince. When had she become such a cold and nasty person? Yet her fingers fisted around the blanket across her lap. She squeezed her eyes closed, wishing she could as easily erase the image of them together.
    “Hey.”
    Scarlett jumped. Her eyes flew open. She blinked, surprised to find Rolf standing at the foot of her bed. Her gaze shot to the spot she’d seen him only a second ago. The spot was now empty, except for a scowling Kiera shooting daggers across the room with her eyes.
    She turned back to him. “Hi.”
    He curled his fingers over her footboard and leaned forward. A patch of hair tumbled into his eyes. She fisted the sheets tighter, restraining her fingers from reaching over and pushing the strands back.
    He was drenched in blood. Unlike Hunter, his entire one side was caked from shoulder to mid waist and she knew it was hers. He must have carried her. That was the second time she’d been in his arms and both times felt more like a hazy dream.
    “How are you?” he asked softly, watching her face.
    Forgetting, she shrugged and winced at the sharp stab of pain. “Hurts a little.
    He straightened. “Dr. Ora said it would, but it’ll be completely healed. It wasn’t deep, so there won’t be any long term affects.”
    Her fingers traced the gauze gingerly and his eyes followed her motion. “I don’t know what happened.” She took a deep breath. “Hunter says there was something wrong with the serum.”
    Rolf nodded. “Whatever the strand was, we aren’t built to sustain it. They’re working to find a cure for those infected.”
    Scarlett’s fingers tightened in the sheets. “They should have known that! They should have only injected one or two people, waited to see—”
    “Scarlett!” The warning wasn’t just in his voice. It was in his eyes and in the way he shifted his weight as though to shield her from the rest of the room. “Careful.”
    “It’s not right!” she hissed. “All those people … my grandma…” Her voice wavered as tears choked her.
    “Hey.” He moved around the bed to her side. His warm fingers rested lightly over hers, nearly