Vagabonds

Chapter Forty: Secret Lair

The back entrance was enormous, carved out of a small cliff deep in the woods. It looked like a gaping mouth, complete with jagged toothy edges and a moustache of hanging greenery. But the overgrown, rugged appearance was deceptive, because when Old Betty passed into the shadow of the overhang, the truck went from trundling over a rocky, uneven logging road onto smoothly paved ground. They slowed for a moment, losing momentum as Tori took in the dense underground stillness. Eliza leaned her head against the cool window and struggled to make sense of it through the ache in her ribcage.

And then the glitter of Aquila's feathers appeared over them, swooping into the darkness.

She chuckled as Tori accelerated the truck into the cold, clammy tunnel, following Aquila.

"What?" Tori snapped, glancing back to where Joe and Tero sat uneasily in the truck bed, as far from each other as possible.

"It's just kinda... I dunno, cliché, isn't it?" Eliza said, still not quite able to take deep breaths.

"Cliché?"

"Didn't you ever watch superhero movies?"

Tori rolled her eyes.

"Jesus, Eliza, you're such a weirdo."

"Hey, I'm not the one... with the gun in her belt." Eliza panted.

"It's not in my belt." But Tori's hand twitched to her waistband and the molded handle.

Eliza glanced back to see Joe and Tero silhouetted against the bright opening of the cave. Joe had allowed Eliza to put on the blindfold without complaint, although he wouldn't let Aquila get near him. And when Tori had snatched his phone, he hadn't said a single word against it. After the fight, he'd settled into a tenuous calm, his teeth gritted and his muscles tight but otherwise peaceful.

For now.

How long do we have? Eliza thought to herself as the light behind them grew further away, the pinpoint of the world outside almost drowned out by Old Betty's high-beams. How long does he have?

She swallowed.

Finally, Tori pulled them into the cavern. Eliza blinked, eyes adjusting just in time to see Otto, Moose, Daisy, and Ian Eckelson spin to face them wearing matching expressions of shock. Moose was beside the truck in a flash, darting from the window Eliza was slumped against to Tero to the blindfolded Joe.

"What happened, what happened you guys, Aquila why is there a bruise on your face and what happened to Eliza and wow, this guy looks different —"

"It's okay," Aquila rumbled, landing surprisingly lightly for all his bulk. "Everyone's fine."

But Eliza caught him glancing in her direction, his face still flushed red with shame. Even though she hadn't known him long, Eliza could imagine what was going through his mind. He was the leader, the protector, the one who made the right call. He wasn't supposed to hurt those smaller and weaker than himself. But not only had he failed to protect her; he'd failed to protect her from himself. Eliza wanted to go to him, comfort him, tell him she'd be fine.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the one who needed her most right now.

Inhaling as deeply as she could, Eliza gathered her energy to sit upright and kick open the passenger door, ignoring Eckelson's glower as she limped her way to the truck bed and helped Joe out. She took off the blindfold.

"He's infected," she said without preamble, her fingers tangling into Joe's and praying that it would be enough to keep him calm. "They gave him the virus. The one that's not stable yet."

There was a collective intake of breath from behind her. Eliza curled her shoulders in before turning to face them.

The first eyes she found were Ian Eckelson's.

"Why did you bring him here?"

Eliza forced herself to meet the old man's gaze, viciously suppressing the bone-deep desire to curl up and cry.

"I didn't know what else to do."

"That seems to be a theme."

"Dad don't—" Aquila said.

Eckelson shook his head, stepping back from the circle of teenagers.

"I gave so much to keep you all safe and then you share our most precious secrets with the first stranger you meet. I'm disappointed in you, Aquila. I thought I'd taught you better."

"Wait, Dad..."

But he was already walking away, striding back to the computer monitors he'd been working on moments before.

Silence fell in his wake.

Eliza tried to catch Aquila's eye, but the winged boy was staring at his adopted father's back as if it might speak to him, offer words of wisdom. Daisy was peering around, his eyes wide and questioning, but even Moose had gone silent. Eliza wondered if the others had the same question circling endlessly in their minds.

What do we do now?

It was the burden they all shared, the problem they all faced. And Eliza hadn't even told them the worst of it.

I'll give you however long you need to get the samples. But remember, Joe is running out of time.

How could she possibly ask for what she needed?

Tori was eyeing her, waiting for her to admit why she'd brought Joe here. What Amile had said on the phone. But Eliza found that she couldn't do it. Instead, she put a tender hand on Joe's back.

"Come on, let's find a place for you to sit."

And keep you from getting into any more trouble.

"Quite some goddamn armaments you've got here," Otto said, tugging Tori's attention to the bed of the truck and her green lockbox.

Before Tori went to join Otto in admiring her weapons, she threw a look at Eliza as if to say this is only going to get worse.

Unfortunately, Eliza couldn't quite convince herself that Tori was wrong.