My eyes widened.
Undeterred, he turned to the trailer and reached for the handle.
Was he stupid?
The twang of my bowstring gave him pause. He looked back at me just as the arrow whisked past his face and pinged off the lock. I shook my head at him.
“It’s a trap,” I said softly.
He nodded once then reached for the door, anyway. It opened with a whisper of noise, and a single infected fell out. It moved jerkily toward Thallirin, who gripped its head and tore it free. He tossed the infected’s head aside and peered into the trailer before closing the door again.
I exhaled in relief.
Then the door of a trailer several bays down moved. Thallirin started walking toward it. Behind me, I heard the same noise and twisted to see a fey going to look at another trailer.
My stomach dropped to my toes. It was just like the last time. They were baiting the fey farther away.
The low creak of metal echoed off the skeletal trees as one of the trailer doors across the pavement eased open.
“Trap!” I yelled, nocking another arrow.
Everything slowed.
Fey came pouring out of the building, carrying humans. Infected spilled out of the trailers, swarming the pavement. The fey with the humans jumped to the nearest truck then the roof of the building to safely dump their passengers. But the infected were just as fast. They reached the trucks as the first fey jumped down.
“Brenna!” Zach’s panic fed my own as I watched the infected scramble up the hood of the truck I was standing on.
I didn’t release my nocked arrow. It wouldn’t do any good. There were too many infected. The first one grabbed onto my leg and pulled. I started to go down and wondered how much of me they’d eat before I turned.
Something came flying at me from the right. It hit me hard, and I felt the roof buckle under my feet. Then I was tumbling through the air. Sounds collided. The thump of something hitting metal and a jarring impact that rattled my bones at the same instant. Then, the infected moaning. The humans yelling. Chaos reigned, and pain followed, shooting up my leg.
I hit metal again, and there were hands all over me.
“I smell her blood,” Thallirin said.
I blinked at him and Zach, who leaned over me, and tried to make sense of the moment.
“My leg,” I said, shaking uncontrollably.
“Zach, get back,” Ryan said. “Thallirin, you’re full of infected blood. Back up and let me. Just in case.”
I looked up at all the human faces as they backed away and watched Ryan lift my pant leg.
My stomach twisted with the pain, and I choked back the trail mix that wanted to come up.
“I can’t tell if it’s a bite or not,” Ryan said. “I’m sorry.”
He stood and moved away. Thallirin fell to his knees beside me and took my hand. His was sticky with infected blood.
“You will not be alone,” he said. “Ever.”
That was it? I was done. I started to shake. I wasn’t sure if it was from fear, adrenaline, or the change. I closed my eyes and waited to feel something other than pain. What I felt was Thallirin’s fingers against mine, gently stroking my skin. His trembles. I gave his hand a small squeeze, feeling sorry for both of us.
Below, the fighting continued. Fey shouted out to one another. Someone took my quiver and bow.
The pain in my leg didn’t grow any worse, but it didn’t get any better, either.
“They’re running again,” someone yelled.
The sounds of fighting started to fade.
“How are you feeling?” Ryan asked.
“Like a truck hit me and ripped open my damn leg.”
“Good.”
I opened my eyes and gave him a what-the-fuck look. He grinned at me.
“It’s been more than fifteen minutes. I have a first aid kit in the truck. Don’t move. Don’t touch anything. Thallirin, you might want to move away from her and clean up. She’s at risk with an open wound.”
I glanced at Thallirin, who didn’t release his hold on me.
“You okay?” I asked.
“No.”
“That’s twice, now,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Still going to let me keep choosing?”
He exhaled shakily.
“I’m not sure.”
“Thank you for the honesty. And the second save.”
“Thank you for not shooting me.” With that, he stood and left me so he could start scrubbing down with the snow from the roof. I frowned after him, wondering what the heck his comment meant.
Ryan returned with the first aid kit and tested my extensive knowledge of cuss words as he disinfected then bandaged the cut.
“I’m pretty sure you’re going to need stitches. The bandage is only to keep it clean until we get home.”
I sat up and used a bottle of water to wash my hands then some of the alcohol to disinfect.
“I’m fine for now. Please tell me we’re going to keep loading.”
“No,” Thallirin said firmly.
“What if the humans stay on the roof and let the fey do all the loading?” Ryan asked. “We can’t pass up on the supplies in there.”
Thallirin looked at the rest of the fey. There were grunts of agreement. A dozen fey were left on the roof with us to keep watch, and the rest went below, including Thallirin.
Zach sat by me so I could lean against him.
“Why does everything happen to you?” he asked.
“I’m willing to take turns.”
He laughed.
“I have a feeling you might not be allowed to go on runs, anymore. If Thallirin doesn’t keep you home, Mom will. Especially if we have the supplies to last us a while.”
I sighed, knowing he was right. It wasn’t like I really wanted to go on supply runs anyway. Too bad I liked eating so much, though.
I stared at the back of Thallirin’s head as he ran ahead of us in the fading light. We’d pushed the supply gathering to the limit, filling several trailers and bringing a caravan of goods back to Tenacity. The fey and Matt agreed we would unload the majority of it the next day.
Because of the noise the trucks made from Harrisonville to Tenacity, several of the fey stayed behind to watch the road and help guard against any extra infected who might follow our trail. After this last supply run, there was no doubt that the infected were getting smart enough to do that.
But none of that explained why I was in some other fey’s arms or why Thallirin hadn’t talked to me since the roof. My leg could be falling off for all he knew.
Crossing my arms, I waited impatiently for Tolerance to come into view. My ride wasn’t done when we went over the wall, though. The fey holding me took me straight to Cassie’s house.
Kerr opened the door with his usual stoic expression.
“Hey, Kerr, is Cassie around to stitch me up?” I asked from my princess position.
“Bring her in,” Cassie called from somewhere inside. I was handed off to Kerr like a toddler and carried to the kitchen.
“What happened?” she asked, glancing at my bloody pants leg and quickly setting the pot of mac and cheese down.
“I’m pretty sure I was cut on a piece of metal. Not rusty. And yes, I’m good on my tetanus for a few years, yet.”
“Good thing because I wouldn’t be able to do anything about that. Stitches I can help with, though.” She looked at Kerr. “Take her to the guest room.”