The Extinction Series , Ellis, Tara [famous ebook reader .txt] 📗

the back of Jess’s neck and her body went cold. The scream hadn’t come from the jungle. It came from the fields, and it wasn’t a monkey. It was a woman.

A shot rang out. Another woman screaming, followed by a man. Another shot.

They were being attacked. Her friends, her family, was under attack, and Jess should have been with them.

As she started to run again, the familiar chittering from the jungle followed her.

Jess didn’t look back.

Chapter 18

PETA

Near Boa Vista, Venezuela

Peta traced her fingers along her collarbone, pausing when they encountered the bandage. She was still trying to process what had happened, while keeping things in perspective. It was much easier in concept than execution.

“You okay?” Jason asked. He glanced over from the driver’s seat, his face backlit by the dim lights on the old and weathered dashboard of the truck.

Peta studied his features for a moment, gauging where he fell on the concerned spectrum. He was hard to read, which was one reason why she found him somewhat frustrating. Another was his lack of communicating, and the fact that he was one of those rare guys whose machoism was something that came naturally, without a quest to prove it. It threw her off, and Peta preferred to be in control at all times. Both of herself, as well as the people around her.

How he correctly interpreted her inner turmoil by simply observing the way her hand fluttered above the wound, was disarming. As irrational as it was, it made Peta feel even more out of control, which in turn made her defensive. “I’m fine,” she whispered harshly, dropping her hand into her lap. She made a point of looking at Tyler, asleep on the bench seat between them, before meeting his gaze again. “It’s not much more than a scratch.”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” he pushed. Reaching out, Jason peeled a corner of the dressing back, causing her to pull away. “We need to make sure it isn’t getting infected. It’s been over twelve hours, so the first signs could be presenting.”

Shifting on the seat, Peta dropped the visor and flipped open the mirror, prompting a small light to turn on. Pulling further at the gauze, she checked for any redness or oozing, but saw none. “Like I said,” she huffed, pushing the mirror back up. “I’m fine.”

She stared out the window, resting her head against the cool glass. There wasn’t much to see, other than the dense rainforest rushing past, illuminated by the inadequate headlights. As she’d suspected, the landscape was changing drastically as their elevation rose slightly, the closer they got to the Suriname border. They were currently in another country called Guyana, which was sandwiched in between Venezuela and Suriname. They’d briefly passed in and out of Brazil at one point. Fortunately, the borders were left unmonitored so they hadn’t been stopped. Peta still hadn’t decided if that was a relief or not. The implications were telling.

Twelve-hours after their fight in the city, and it was painfully obvious by the last two places they stopped at that the devastation from The Kuru was complete. The few people they’d run into since then hadn’t been symptomatic, were completely distraught, and wandering aimlessly alone. Peta was curious as to why they hadn’t seen any other Cured, but it wasn’t a conversation she was ready to have. Much like the one Jason was trying to force on her.

“At least we found some sleeping bags,” she said, circumventing whatever it was he was going to say next. “Makes riding back there a little more tolerable. Until it rains again, anyway.”

The last house they foraged provided the sleeping bags, some camping gear, and more food. The dark rooms had been a perfect reflection of the rest of the world, and no one mentioned the three corpses lying in the bedrooms.

Jason grunted in response, not taking the bait to change the subject. “Look, Peta,” he said, his voice earnest. “I’m sorry. I understand if you’re mad at me.”

Confused, Peta’s face scrunched up as she tried to process his implausible apology. “Mad at you?” she finally sputtered, looking at him openly with frustration. “What have I done to make you think I’m mad?” She quickly shook her head and then waved a hand, like she was erasing the question. “Forget that. What am I supposed to be mad about?”

Jason raised an eyebrow and looked as confused as she felt, which went a long way to lightening Peta’s mood. “Because I shot a guy in the head three inches from your eye?”

Tyler stirred then, moving his head from the awkward angle it was laying at against the seat, to down against Peta’s shoulder. His left foot slid off the dash and fell onto the stick shift, but after a cursory glance, Jason didn’t try to move him. Peta was glad for the distraction, which gave her a few extra heartbeats to control her reaction and gather her thoughts.

Once it was clear Tyler wasn’t going to wake up, Peta steeled herself and attempted to be as honest as possible. “I’m not mad at you, Jason. You saved my life.”

Not looking convinced, Jason pursed his lips and tried to say something, but Peta cut him off. “He would have killed me otherwise…or worse. You didn’t have any other option. And I don’t care how many times you’ve been forced to take a life in the past, I’m sure there’s always a personal cost.”

When he continued to stare straight ahead and a muscle twitched in his jaw, Peta knew she’d hit a chord. Perhaps he’d wanted her to blame him. To be angry. It was probably an easier emotion to deal with. “I blame myself,” she continued, wanting him to understand. To set him free from whatever guilt he was trying to place on himself. “If I had listened to you