The Infection

Chapter 16

Ben blew warm air into his hands and quickly rubbed them together to keep warm. It was hard to tell what season it was these days, but he sure as hell knew winter was coming with how cold it was getting. He's heard of it snowing here, which he hopes will be the case this year. Maybe the Infected will freeze to death. 

He paced around the outside of the front gate and let out a heavy sigh. He's been out here for hours. His legs are sore from standing, his arms hurt from holding his gun in the same position and he was still freezing his ass off. 

Just as he thought he might die of hypothermia, he saw a light flash down on him from on top of the wall. "Get some sleep, Ben," Tony called. Ben gave him a thumbs up and turned towards the gate as it was opening. He walked inside and gave a little salute to Tony, Richard, and Adrian as he went towards Cassie's place. 

She never sleeps when he goes out there. She's always paranoid that something will happen and that sleep will prevent from helping him, so when he walked in to find her dead asleep on her bed, he was surprised and relieved. 

He set down his weapon on her table, took off his boots and coat, even his shirt and pants and slipped into bed with her. The moment his hands made contact with her skin, she jumped and smacked them away. 

"Jesus fuck, you're cold," she grumbled. He huffed out a sigh and said, "And you're fucking warm, so give me some of it before I freeze to death." He wrapped his arms around her, pushed his front to her bare back, tangled their legs tightly together, then let out a sigh of relief. 

She was so warm. She was his own personal heater sometimes. He was just about to knock out for twelve hours, until there was a loud knock on the skimpy door. He grunted and slammed his head into the pillow. 

"I've got it," Cassie mumbled, as she sleepily got up and threw on a pair of pants and shirt. She stumbled over to the door and opened it to Tom and Chris. "Guys, it's super early," she whined. Chris nodded and said, "We know, but there's an emergency with the prisoner. We need you and Cumberbatch, stat. Do you know where he is? He wasn't in his cabin."

Cassie took a side step and both Chris and Tom saw Ben (now sleeping) in her bed. "He just got back from his shift," she told them. "I'll go, but he stays." Chris told her, "Fine. Just hurry up and get dressed."

She nodded and looked to Tom, who's eyes were glued to Ben. He kept thinking about how many nights he and Cassie had spent in that bed, now Ben is occupying it more than Tom could. He turned his eyes back to Cassie, then walked away with Chris. 

Cassie shut the door and quickly ran to her military clothes that were set neatly on her chair. She quickly and quietly threw everything on, then grabbed her weapons and anything else she might need. Once she was done, she placed a soft kiss to Ben's curls and left. 

She practically speed walked to where they were holding Sebastian and eventually saw Tom, Chris, Mark, and Tony. "What's going on?" She asked, as she approached them. Mark looked to her, then said, "He just told us that his friends are coming to get him. They said if he didn't come back in two weeks to the day he left, then they were coming here first to look for him. According to him...it will be two weeks. Tomorrow."

Cassie took a deep breath, then said, "Okay. Okay, so what's the plan?" Tony came up next and said, "Well, that's up to you. You were in their camp, you know how many numbers they have, what weapons they use. Any information you can give will be a great help."

Everyone looked at her like she was the chosen one. "Follow me to the Map Room," she told them, then quickly started walking in that direction. They all followed and went inside the room once they reached it. She pulled the map of San Francisco off the wall and slammed it onto the table.