Blood Hunt (Blue Blood Babies sequel!)

Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-eight

Ryan drove us round to pick up Maggie, Connor and Melissa as it was still raining and then escorted us to the mess.  Never having met any of the people now surrounding us before, Anna was quiet, sticking to me like glue.  There wasn’t much opportunity to talk anyway, because Ryan decided to eat with us.  At first I’d hoped he planned to leave us to it.  He saw us attended to, then disappeared; but he was back in less than a minute.

“Here,” he sat down at the far end of the table we were crowded around and slid a blister pack across the surface until it came to rest against Anna’s wrist. 

She started, stared down at it, then realised what it was.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling gratefully at him.

A blue pill.  I watched my sister tearing into it with hands that looked on the verge of shaking.  I’d totally forgotten about her dependence on the drug, and I felt bad for not remembering to ask Ryan.  It’d been a while since I’d had to think about things like that. 

She closed her eyes blissfully as she chased the pill with a gulp of water and I wondered how long it’d been since she’d been able to lay her hands on a steady supply.  I didn’t imagine the camp would be furnished with a controlled pharmacy.  Worry twisted my stomach.  If the rationing got worse, was Anna going to go the same way as my mum and dad; and all those people I’d watched slide out of my street in the back of a gleaming black hearse?  At least here at the army base it was more likely there’d be a back-up store of the drug.  The government would need to make sure they still had soldiers fit to instil order. 

And if this was the cloud base, that would be doubly important.

No, Anna would be fine so long as we could stay here.  However long that might be.

I eyed Ryan, wondering if I dared to ask.  He was shovelling food into his mouth at the speed of light, ignoring the rest of us except for his cousin, who was speaking quietly to him.  Every so often I saw him nod or twitch a smile in response to something she said.  Melissa.  She was still a thorn in our side as far as I was concerned.  Even after Ryan vanished back to his duties, I’d have to watch what I said to Anna, what she said.  Because as soon as our back was turned I was willing to bet Melissa would be whispering in Ryan’s ear. 

“Right,” Ryan dropped his fork with a clatter.  “I’ll be back in five minutes.  By that time you need to be done.  Then you’re going back to your rooms.  Where you’ll sleep.  Alone.”  He threw a sharp glance at me.  I held his stare, determined not to look guilty.  It was Connor he should be glowering at, anyway.

“What about Anna?” I asked.

Ryan shrugged.

“We can probably squeeze a camp bed in the girls’ room.”

Anna looked up from her food, eyes wide and nervous again.

“There’s more space in my room,” I said.

Ryan stared at me strangely – I guess we were a bit old to be sharing a room – but I’d only just gotten Anna back; I didn’t really want to let her out of my sight, and I could tell the feeling was mutual.

“Whatever,” Ryan shrugged. “Five minutes,” he repeated.  He kicked his chair back and walked quickly out of the mess.   

The tension seeped away with him.  Both Maggie and Connor visibly relaxed and turned their attention to my sister with polite curiosity.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Maggie offered, smiling at Anna.  “We spoke on the phone, right?”

“Right,” Anna offered her a very small, very timid smile.