Smoke on the Water Read online

  “Sounds good, Doc.” John watched the doctor leave, then patted the spot next to him where he sat on the edge of the bed, inviting Donna to join him. She walked over and sat down next to him.

  John’s strong arm slid around her shoulder, drawing her into his side. He felt so good. So warm and stable and strong. That could all change in the blink of an eye—or in this case, because of a shot in the arm.

  “I’m worried.”

  “I know.” He leaned down to nuzzle her hair. “But I’m not. You should take some comfort from that. Despite appearances to the contrary, I’m not cavalier with my own life. It’s precious to me and I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t believe it would be okay. Plus…” He seemed reluctant—almost uncomfortable.

  “What?” She turned in his loose embrace to search his eyes. They were troubled.

  “My sister was exposed to this contagion. So were you, Donna. I…I feel like this is my chance to be there for you both. If either of you have problems down the road because of this, I want to be there with you—for you. I want you both to know that you are not alone. I see this as a way to help. The more people the scientists have to study, the better their chances of finding a solution.”

  She read the truth in his eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek, unheeded. She touched his face with trembling hands, brushing his short hair back. “You are the best gift I have ever received in my life, John Petit. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “It won’t. Trust me.” He winked at her and she had to smile at his unstoppable confidence. If that alone would bring him through the treatment, he had it made.

  She wiped her cheek self-consciously. “And here I thought the only reason you wanted to do this was to go out in the woods and shoots zombies.”

  “Well, there is that.” His smile was contagious. “I’ve felt pretty useless sitting on the sidelines.”

  “Never that, John. If…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of working with you, John. Of being with you.”

  He put both arms around her and drew her close. “Ditto, sweetheart.”

  He captured her lips in a sweet kiss. It was a kiss that promised more. It wasn’t an ending, but a beginning that held hope for times to come. She took heart from his kiss, knowing it was a reflection of the man. He drew back and the feeling remained.

  The door opened after a perfunctory knock and Mariana Daniels came back in. John let Donna go and she hopped off the side of the bed, moving to her former position, standing opposite the foot of the bed, against the wall, by the chairs.

  Dr. Daniels took her readings and seemed satisfied.

  “Moment-of-truth time. Are you still up for this, John?”

  “Hit me with it, Doc.” He held out his arm eagerly, but his eyes never left Donna’s face. Even as the plunger depressed and the dormant contagion entered his bloodstream, his gaze held hers.

  The hours that followed were harsh. At first, the contagion didn’t seem to have any effect. Then, suddenly, John’s muscles began to spasm. It wasn’t quite a convulsion, but it wasn’t pretty and it couldn’t be comfortable. John remained stoic throughout. Between episodes, he began to drift asleep.

  “Is that normal?” Donna asked the doctor in a whisper.

  “We’re charting new territory here, I’m afraid, but his readings are strong and his blood appears to be adapting. Most of the naturally occurring cases of immunity we have seen produced very strong convulsions as the host body adapted. You probably don’t remember it because you were unconscious at the time and nobody was around to witness it. Sarah Petit, John’s sister, went through it at a hospital and we have very detailed records of her reactions. My fiancé, Simon, had a similar experience, as did the others. Compared to them, these muscle spasms are really nothing.”

  “Yet you believe he’ll have the same immunity and speed healing when he recovers?”

  “Yes, I believe so.” She’d been taking blood samples throughout the procedure and examining them under a microscope. She also had some other instruments and testing apparatus she’d been using. It looked like she was monitoring the changes almost in real time. “His blood gives every indication of the full immune response. I’ll know more when it settles down. The initial reaction is violent with this contagion. After a few hours, it levels out and he should reach his new normal fairly rapidly.”

  “Do you foresee any long-term problems with the way we are now?” Donna found the courage to ask. She hadn’t asked the question before, more interested in the immediate effects. But John’s thoughts about the future sparked her own.

  “None that I can see.” The doctor’s words lifted a weight off her shoulders she hadn’t known she’d been carrying. “I’ve done as much research into this as I can because of Simon. We’re getting married and he was understandably concerned about his future—about our future. From everything I’ve seen so far, the new structures in his blood stabilized rapidly and show no signs of deterioration. It’s the new normal for him. And for you now. Unless something radical happens, this’ll be the way you are for the rest of your lives.”

  “You almost sound envious.” Donna was puzzled by the doctor’s reaction.

  “I am in a way. You have a lot of advantages. Very little can hurt you permanently now. Including those horrors in the woods.” The doctor shivered.

  They fell silent for a time, watching John as his body went through another round of spasms. He didn’t wake this time and Dr. Daniels monitored him throughout.

  “He’s a good man, you know.” Dr. Daniels removed her stethoscope from her ears and let it dangle around her neck. “And he cares a great deal for you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “It’s in the way he looks at you, Donna. The man is smitten.” They both laughed at the old-fashioned word. “And you are too. Am I right?”

  Donna thought about it. “Yeah, I guess I am. He’s not like any other guy I ever dated. He’s infuriating and funny and incredibly noble.” She took his hand as she stood beside his sleeping form.

  “You’re in love with him,” Dr. Daniels whispered.

  Donna wasn’t as shocked by the idea as she probably should have been. She hadn’t admitted the depth of her feelings, even to herself, but hearing Dr. Daniels say it didn’t trouble her. It was true. She loved him. She was in love with John Petit.

  How in the world had that happened?

  “I can see that’s a new concept for you.” Dr. Daniels laughed at Donna’s expression. She had no doubt she probably looked like a landed fish.

  “Yeah,” Donna admitted. “I don’t know when or how, but I think you’re right. Damn.” She shook her head and laughed at herself.

  Chapter Four

  John had short moments of lucidity between long bouts of being dead to the world. He was aware of the passage of time only peripherally. They’d started this odyssey around eleven in the morning. By the time he was feeling like himself again, it was closer to dinner than lunch.

  “How are you feeling, sleepyhead?” Donna was at his side, holding his hand. He squeezed her fingers, looking up at her beautiful face.

  “I’m good.” He yawned but the fierce exhaustion that had weighed him down for hours had passed. “What time is it?”

  “About four,” Dr. Daniels answered from his other side. “Any soreness?”

  John tested his limbs as he lay in the bed. “I’m a little stiff, but otherwise okay. I feel like I had a workout, but all I did was sleep, right?”

  “Your larger muscle groups spasmed more than a few times,” Dr. Daniels informed him. “That’s probably why you feel some muscle soreness. How about your joints? Any pain in the knees or elbows? Hands, feet, hips?”

  He tested each area as much as he could lying down. “Everything feels okay, Doc.”

  They went through a lengthy checklist before she would allow him to even try to sit up. He managed it on the first try, though he had a sensation of lightheadedness for a moment. It quick
ly passed and as time went on, he began to feel more like his old self. Dr. Daniels took blood samples at intervals, pausing to study the results under her microscope or on one of the other instruments she had set up at the side of the room.

  After about a half hour, she finally let him stand up. He was more than ready to waltz right out of there at that point. Only Dr. Daniels’s quiet appeals kept him there, answering her seemingly endless questions.

  “All right. I think that should do it. Your blood has remained stable for the past three hours,” Dr. Daniels informed them. “If it’s stable now, it should stay that way. This reaction is a fast one. Your results mirror what we’ve come to expect and you’ve confirmed a lot of our hypotheses, John. Thank you.”

  “So I’m good to go?” He was relieved it was nearly over and he could get out of the desk job and into the field.

  Dr. Daniels smiled at him. “You’re good to go, John. I know you guys like to patrol at night, but you should probably stay in tonight if you can. You can start your night watches tomorrow night. I don’t expect any problems, but if you have discomfort of any kind, give me a call, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  John was content to let Donna drive them back to the lake. He dozed off and on, but felt a lot more alert than he had during most of the day. They said little and he sensed Donna was still upset with him. It all came to a head as they drew closer to their destination. He put his hand on her thigh, unsurprised to find her muscles stiff and quivering. She was on edge and he had the disturbing notion that he was the reason.

  “Come on, babe. It wasn’t that bad.”

  She glanced at him, and he was shocked to see the brightness of tears in her eyes.

  “You didn’t have to take the chance with your health, John. I had no choice. I was attacked. You walked into this willingly. Hell, eagerly. I don’t understand you. They say we’ll be okay, but they really don’t have a clue about how this will affect our future.”

  “Oh, honey, is that what’s got you worried?” He tried his best to soothe her. “To be frank, that’s why I did it. I meant what I said. I don’t want you, or my sister, to go through this alone.”

  “I bet it didn’t hurt that you get to go into the field now and play shoot ’em up with the zombies?” Her tone was accusatory.

  “Hell no. I’m a Marine, Donna. My place is in the field. I’ve trained for combat most of my life. It goes against the grain to have to sit back and watch others fight my battles.”

  “Especially women?” she challenged.

  He took her hand. “Especially you, Donna.” His voice dropped to a low tone as he spoke the truth from his heart. “It scares the hell out of me to think of you fighting those things all alone.”

  “Well, I haven’t done a very good job of it so far, have I?” She chuckled brokenly, still fighting the emotion that showed on her pretty face.

  “You were never meant to go hand to hand with the bastards. This wasn’t supposed to be a mission where we’d go up against them. It was only supposed to be recon. It’s not your fault we got way more than we bargained for out here.”

  “Yet because I can’t fight them—and up ’til today I was the only one who could face them without fear—you took a terrible chance with your life and your health.”

  “You feel guilty?” John was amazed. Nobody had ever taken his worth so seriously before. Well, nobody outside his immediate family. A Marine got used to being one of many. It was disconcerting, and touching, that she thought of him as an individual worth worrying about. “Sweetheart, that’s…well, it’s flattering. But you have nothing to feel guilty about. Even if I hadn’t met you, if I was offered this same opportunity, I would’ve taken it. Fighting bad things is what I’ve made my life’s work. Being given the opportunity to stop these creatures is an honor I don’t take lightly. These things are probably the worst threat to humanity I’ll ever come up against. Fighting to preserve innocent lives is what I do. It’s who I am.”

  He’d never articulated his thoughts so well or so wordily before. Belatedly, he was self-conscious about it until he saw the single tear trickle down her cheek. He cupped her cheek, wiping away the moisture with a gentle touch.

  “You’re a special man, John Petit.”

  She let it go at that. He moved back and released her hand so she could use both to drive.

  “Let’s pick up some dinner on our way back so we don’t have to cook.” He decided a change in subject was in order and he was hungry as hell.

  “Good idea. I saw a sign for a chicken place near the turnoff.” The atmosphere in the car lightened considerably.

  “Sounds good. It’s getting too close to dark, or I’d suggest we eat at the restaurant, but I think it’s better if we get it to go.”

  She agreed and they picked up enough food to feed a small army before heading for their cabin.

  When they arrived back at the lake, it was clear the cleanup team had come and gone. The tracker and debris were removed from the porch and they’d left a cryptic note to confirm who’d been there. John was glad they’d been discreet. During the day they did see a few people from time to time, though it was isolated out here. Isolated enough that a few zombies running around hadn’t been heard and Bill Wallace, the missing fisherman, apparently hadn’t been missed yet.

  They’d made a quick stop at the office on their way in and John had asked a few subtle questions about Bill Wallace. The owner, Murray, knew the man, but clearly had no idea he was missing, much less that he’d become a zombie. Wallace’s reservation had him booked ’til the end of the week. John supposed Murray would find out then that the man had disappeared when he didn’t move out of the cabin he’d rented and didn’t show up to pay his bill.

  “Dr. Bemkey couldn’t have been in the area too long or someone would have noticed more missing people by now. Bill Wallace had been attacked,” John reasoned as they dug into dinner. “The condition of his face and skin made that clear. So there had to be a primary creature that killed Wallace. And Wallace didn’t get here until four days ago. So he had to have been attacked very recently. Within the last three to four days considering he’d need time to rise.”

  “Can we not talk about that part while I’m trying to eat?” Her tone was clearly teasing and he was glad she’d bounced back from the emotional storm that had gripped her earlier. He wasn’t good at dealing with female emotions.

  “Sorry. I forgot you had a weak stomach.” He stole a chicken wing from her plate and barely missed the fork she swatted halfheartedly in his direction.

  “I don’t have a weak anything. I’m tough as nails. Ask anyone.” The false bravado was as obvious as was the grin on her pretty face.

  “Okay, tough guy. Are you up for a little recon in the woods, Marine-style?”

  “Is that what they’re calling it these days?” She batted her eyelashes at him and he had to laugh out loud.

  “My, my. What a one-track mind you have, Little Red Riding Hood. I like it.”

  “Does that make you the Big Bad Wolf?” She sounded breathless. He felt the tension rise just like that between them.

  He set down his fork and swiped at his mouth with the napkin before tossing it aside. He held her gaze as he stood and held out one hand. It was a clear command and she responded as he’d hoped.

  She took his hand, her own trembling as she placed her palm against his. He helped her rise from the chair and pulled her into his arms. They came together in a tempestuous kiss, a melding of mouths and hearts and breaths. He couldn’t get enough of the feel of her against him, the taste of her against his tongue, the soft scent of her hair in his lungs. She was vital to his continued existence.

  “Donna…” He whispered her name as he broke the kiss, only to stroke his hands down her back to cup her incredible ass. Dipping his knees slightly, he lifted her right off her feet, surprising a little yelp from her lips. He liked it. He liked everything about her.

  John lifted her onto the countertop in the small
kitchenette, urgency riding him.

  “Here?” He loved the scandalized note in her voice.

  “Yeah, baby. Right here. Right now.” He spread her legs and stepped between them. As he’d thought, the small countertop was the perfect height for what he had planned. “That a problem?”

  She looked cute as she considered. He could see her thought process written clearly on her beautiful face. Should she get wild with him? Should she let her hair down? Silently, he rooted for her to let go and be daring.

  “No. No problem,” she said finally, a hint of shyness in her voice. “I’ve just never done it in a kitchen before.”

  “Stick with me, babe. I’ll take you all kinds of places you’ve never been before.” He crowded against her, nibbling on her lips as she giggled. He liked the sound. It was young, fresh, and sexy, just like her.

  He felt like he was getting away with something, having this comparatively innocent young woman in his arms, but he was powerless to resist her. He would take care of her and treat her like a goddess for as long as she’d let him. The future would take care of itself.

  “John.”

  It drove him nuts when she said his name like that. Her breathy, needful voice did things to him. Unexpected things. Things that made him feel…Too much.

  “You make me crazy, baby.” He breathed the words against her skin as she pushed her clothing off. It wasn’t neat and it wasn’t orderly, but he wasn’t in a very neat and orderly mood at the moment. Judging by her response, she wasn’t either.

  Within moments, she was mostly naked. All the important parts were uncovered and ready for him. She’d pushed his shirt off and was working on his fly when he had a single moment of clarity and reached into the cargo pocket on his pants for one of the foil squares he had stashed there.

  She practically ripped the package out of his hands. She pushed his pants and shorts down over his hips, freeing him.

  “Oh, yeah.” The words came out of his lips involuntarily as she wrapped her fingers around him, squeezing with exactly the right pressure.