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Griffin has a point. Max and I look at each other, and then Max slides the shirt off the first guy that Griffin killed and he puts it on himself. “Ah, this one is more bloody. I like it. Here, you can still have mine.”
Griffin grumbles something that I can’t make out.
After wrapping his leg with the shirt, Max wraps one arm around Griffin and helps him stand up. “There you go. We’ll steal some extra bandages, too. You’re going to need them.”
“I’m fine. Did you find what you need, princess?”
“Don’t know, I didn’t have time to look.” Turning back to the fridge while Max and William kick the bodies out of the way, I open the door.
Disappointment flows through me with such potency that I could pass out.
Right there in front of me is the great big nothing that I feared. There are a few things, but nothing useful. Nothing that Zoey needs.
“How much do we take?” William asks, looking over my head.
“None of it. There’s nothing here.” I reach in, grab the vials, knowing nothing about what they are other than they’re not the insulin I need, and I throw them to the ground. Glass shatters around my feet and I scream with frustration.
Arms wrap around me, pinning my own arms to my sides as I’m brought in against a hard chest. William’s lips brush the cuff of my ear. “Shhh, it’s okay. We won’t stop looking. We won’t give up.”
Water collecting in the corner of my eye threatens to fall, but I hold it back. I don’t want to explain. How the reason I’m out here on my own, searching for the one thing that could save Zoey’s life, is because all of my colony people think I’m a failure. Because I made a mistake they could never forgive, looping Zoey into my shame circle as well, all because she remained my friend. And after dragging these three men into the heart of a dreg’s hideout and nearly getting them killed, I’ve failed again and put even more lives at risk.
Guilt can be a bigger bitch than karma.
Shaking my head and blinking away the tears before they can fall, I swallow hard and force my breath to even out. “You’re right. It’s not over yet.”
“And it won’t be over until we find it,” William adds. “Is there anything else here that you want to get, Emily?”
“Over there.” I nod toward a shelf with bandages and ointments, and William drops his hold on me. “We should get some to treat Griffin’s leg once we get out of here.”
“My leg’s fine.”
“And see if there’s anything that could make him less of a stubborn ass while we’re at it,” I add.
“So duct tape, suppositories,” Max counts things off on his fingers.
“Suppositories?” Griffin looks dumbfounded.
Max grins. “Yeah, to loosen you up.”
“I ought to strangle you myself.”
“Ooh, foreplay.” Max waggles his eyebrows before jumping out of Griffin’s reach and darting around the table.
“How much do we take?” William asks, ignoring the other two while studying the supplies and holding out a bag for me.
“All of it.” I swipe the bag from him and begin filling it until every bandage and ointment is inside and it’s bursting at the seams. I sling it over my shoulder.
Griffin walks over to me, slides the strap from my shoulder, and places it over his. I stare at him, dumbfounded. “Is this your way of keeping me with you, withholding the supplies?”
His eyes narrow at me. “I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
“You’re the one who’s hurt here. And gentlemen don’t handcuff women.”
“Some do.” Max raises his hand. “But if it makes you feel better, you can carry this one. You’ve been anxious enough.” He slips the bag of random medical supplies from his own shoulder and slides it over mine, then presses his forefinger to the tip of my nose. “Boop.”
Lights flash all around the room. An alarm sounds out, punctuating the flashing lights. The words “Intruder Alert” fill the air.
Max raises his hands into the air. “Fine, fine, I’m sorry, I won’t boop you anymore. Actually, yes, I absolutely will.” He boops me again, grabs the morning star, and swings it around in the air. Drops of blood fly off from its most recent kill. “Looks like we’re the guests of honor. Come on, fellas, it’s time to party.”
