Hive Invasion (25 page)
Authors: James Axler
“No. Nooo!”
the symbiote cried impotently as they transferred Doc’s limp body onto a gurney.
“Get him ready for surgery,” Mildred said. “I’ll scrub up and be there in a minute.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “You’ve already done so much today.”
“I know, but this one’s special,” she replied as she walked to the sink. “It’s for my friend.”
Epilogue
Two weeks later, Ryan and Doc had both recovered from their surgeries and had spent a lot of time helping around the base. Like Ryan, Doc also professed to have absolutely no knowledge of what had transpired since the queen symbiote had entered his body. “I am afraid that it is all a blank to me. I do not even know how we got here.”
The fast bonds formed by the scavvies and whitecoats had grown over the past several days, to the point where the Silvertide collective had taken a vote to join the group and begin their new lives there. The motion passed unanimously. The whitecoats were overjoyed at the additions to their ranks, since it meant potential new trainees and genetic material for them, as well as a wealth of information about the outside world.
Ryan and his group had also spent several days filling them in, giving them potential contacts if they decided to go out into the Deathlands proper.
Both the whitecoats and the scavvies made passionate pleas for Ryan and his people to stay with them. When that failed, they even tried individual appeals, particularly to Mildred. She also—gently, politely—turned them down.
As for Ryan and his companions, eventually the day came when it was time for them to move on. They were well supplied with food, equipment and a repaired truck, and planned to head to a redoubt with a working mat-trans unit. Jak had shared a tearful goodbye with Tully after spending nearly every minute of every day joined with her, and he cast a wistful glance back at her as they all looked out at the group that had gathered to see them off.
Elder Chreis placed his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Thank you for everything. All of this—none of it would have been possible without your help.”
“You’re welcome, Elder,” Ryan replied. “You’ve got the setup here to make quite a settlement. Hopefully we’ll be back one day to see how it’s coming along.”
“You and yours will always be welcome here,” Chreis said.
Dr. Markus approached Mildred. “And my thanks to you. You gave us our own lives back. We owe you—all of you, of course—a debt we can never repay.”
“You’re also welcome,” Mildred replied. “And you can pay it back by creating something great out of all this desolation.”
“That we will, Mildred,” Markus replied, exchanging a smile with Elder Chreis. “That we will.”
The others said their goodbyes, and soon the truck was heading across the desert. Jak kept looking back.
Doc noticed the albino’s continued glances back the way they had come. “Do not worry, my young friend,” he said. “I am sure that your path and hers will cross again.”
“Yeah, mebbe. Just wish been more time, that’s all.”
“Don’t we all, Jak,” Ryan said as they continued heading west. “Don’t we all.”
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460344842
Hive Invasion
Copyright © 2015 by Worldwide Library
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Travis Morgan for his contribution to this work.
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