New Elysium: Weapons of War (Book 2)

Augs vs Zombies - Part 12

"I get the feeling that there is something more."
Voicians & Paul Udarov - Inside

The alarms were finally silent. It didn't make them feel any safer. If anything Ember was tenser as she listened in on the conversations.

"...can't tell where the signal..."

"...inside job..."

"...traitors..."

"...guy in the med bay..."

Ember traded glances with Nova as they walked down the hallway. Nova was a suspect already. She was going to have to watch his back and hers. She wanted Red right now, having him around, whether she wanted to admit it or not, made her feel less vulnerable. He hadn't wanted to go but she'd pushed him. Did she really need to prove that she could handle herself on her own? It's not like he'd never seen her take anyone down. She sighed beside Nova, as they walked. When it came down to it, she missed him, pure and simple. She bit her lip. Hopefully Null and Lars wouldn't need him for any trips in the near future, or perhaps both of them could go.

She listened to her brother trade calls back and forth about what was going on. Even then they were careful about how much they shared over the radio. Perhaps he was aware of the possibility of her listening in after all.

"We need to find a terminal that can give me full access to the systems," Nova muttered next to her, "Then I could try and backtrack where it all started, and perhaps quarantine the virus...."

He had suggested that plan before, but she was not convinced it was a good idea. When he had worked on Jack's computer before, his head had been drooping slightly once in a while, and he kept snapping it up quickly. He was up too quickly and wearing out too fast.

"I just need a network node where I can-"

"You need rest, Nova," she cut him off. "You have to sleep. Real sleep, not medically induced narcosis."

"Pssh, please, Angel," he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, "We're barely getting started. I used to work in IT. Get me a couple of liters of coffee and I can keep this up a whole lot longer."

He slurred the last three words together and dragged them out as he spoke. Apparently, his tongue didn't quite agree with him when he claimed he wasn't tired.

"Really?" Ember looked at him from the side. "Because you look like shit."

She smiled as she saw him react just as she had expected. The look on his face turned into an offended pout, which was rapidly replaced by a rather pensive expression.

"Well... I guess I have been skipping on my beauty sleep a lot lately. But I'm not going back to the medbay."

"I agree. We need to find a place to crash..." she muttered.

Red's rooms. She nearly smacked herself as the idea came to her. Those were perfect. It's not like Red was going to use them. She sighed. They were already on the other side of the station and heading away from the medbay. She could also stash him on The Ember if necessary.

"...people acting oddly, a child attacked another..."

Ember froze in her tracks, instinctively she reached out and grabbed Nova's arm forgetting that he wasn't Red.

A child attacked another?

"Ember, what? Ease up, Red might like it that rough, but I want my skin intact!"

Embarrassed she released him and stepped away.

"There are some weird messages coming through," she whispered.