Chapter 7

Daisy's POV

I woke up in a vehicle. Steel overhead.

I blinked, then looked up at the car roof.

"Cap, you're really bringing Daisy back? She's a Z."

"First love. Even turned, he can't let go. But I'll give him this — Daisy turned into the strangest Z I've ever seen."

"Zs nap now? That wasn't in the briefing HQ sent out. Hold on, let me check the Doomsday Survival Guide."

Voices drifted from the front, muffled by distance.

The cabin was dim, swallowed in blackness.

I spotted a figure drawing near. “I haven't seen Daisy in forever, let me get a good look. Just caught a glimpse earlier, she looks exactly the same. You're holding her pretty tight there, Cap — does Daisy still look the way she did back then?”

Carter shoved him back with one hand.

"Get lost."

The others were trying not to laugh, shoulders shaking.

“I told you not to mess with him. Silverwolf hates hearing that. But Cap, he’s not wrong.”

"Wait, you all forget? Truth or dare, every single time, he said Daisy was his first love."

"Come on, you three talk too much. Watch the road."

That was when I realized Carter was holding me, blanket and all.

He let out a low growl and hauled me to the back row, propped me against a stack of supply crates.

The front erupted in laughter.

“Am I wrong? Isn’t that what you think? Don’t you think she looks just like she always did?”

A faint, unexpected amusement tugged at me.

I knew these voices.

Slowly I matched them to faces: Hank Morris, Ezra Finch, Jamie Cortez.

"You awake?"

Carter's voice came from right above my head, low and quiet.

"Don't listen to them. That truth or dare thing, I just made it up to get them off my back."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I stayed still.

I'd gotten good at staying still. But I wondered how he’d known I was awake. It was as if he could read my thoughts.

He raised one hand and pointed at his own eyes.

"Awakening. You know what that is. You read the Doomsday Survival Guide. I've got night vision now."

He snapped his fingers.

A few threads of blue current crackled along his fingertips, sparking faintly.

"One of my abilities. Still not stable."

I didn't move. Just watched his fingers.

Reading about it was one thing.

Watching electricity come out of someone's hand in front of me was something else entirely.

I hadn't finished looking when the vehicle lurched hard.

Something outside roared.

If I'd still been human, that sound would've gripped me with fear.

Hank, driving, swore. "Holy shit, the grizzly from SF Zoo got out?"

I heard Ezra ask, “Is it mutated? What tier?”

I watched him pull out a tablet, like he was looking something up. Then he brought up the scan.

Jamie glanced at the rearview.

"Tier-1. Reinforced limbs, abnormal hair growth, mild reversion."

Carter reached to the side and slid the sniper rifle across.

Ezra caught it, popped the sunroof, and stood.

Jamie bent down and grabbed his ankle to hold him steady.

Shots rang out.

The bear howled but didn't stop.

I saw it charge straight for us before it slammed into the bus behind us.

Survivors inside started screaming.

The driver got knocked off course, the vehicle scraping against the guardrail with a horrible screech, but after a few seconds he wrestled it back into the lane.

Ezra put three rounds into it. The bear dropped.

"Damn it, good thing it was only Tier-1. If that had been Tier-3, the whole convoy wouldn't have made it."

Hank's eyes stayed on the road. "Even bears are hunting people now."

Jamie took the tablet back and logged the observation.

"This is just the start. Give it two more months, squirrels'll be snatching kids."

The information landed heavy in my mind.

Carter sat next to me, quiet.

When the others called out the tier, they sounded like they were discussing the weather.

"Wristband's showing a storm in ten minutes. We need shelter."

Carter checked his wrist.

The other three responded without question.

Eight minutes later, the vehicle pulled up to a cannery.

Hank and the others got out to clear Zs.

Carter settled me in the back seat. Before he left, he spoke.

"It's dangerous outside at night. Don't wander off, understand? A mutant catches you, one bite and you're done. One little Z."

Like talking to a kindergartner.

Embarrassment flared inside me. I wanted to sink under the seat.

I couldn't make a sound.

I could only watch him turn and step out.

The door shut. Noise from outside flooded in — survivors shouting, voices breaking.

My face couldn't make expressions.

Only my eyes still worked.

Ten minutes later, Carter yanked the door open and reached in for me.

His gaze landed on my cloudy grey eyes, which were darting around, taking everything in.

He paused, then scooped me up.

"Those eyes are sharp. We'll have Dr. Vance take a look at you. Who knows — you might be a mutation we've never seen before."

He lifted me up, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

This was better than being carried over his shoulder.

I held on and didn't let go.

The site had been cleared.

Zs lay on the ground, dried blood pooled in spots.

The rest of the space could be made usable with a little work.

Hank was on the other side managing survivors, picking out a few who could cook and getting them started on food.

"Cap, there's a bunch of canned goods in the warehouse back there. Uncontaminated. Should we call HQ and have them send a crew to haul it out?"

Ezra had just finished his sweep.

Seeing Carter with me in his arms, he came over and kept his voice low.

“We’ve got priority access to supplies on this mission,” he said. “But our storage cards only have limited capacity. All four of them put together add up to less than five hundred cubic feet. We can’t carry much.”