Free Web NovelChapter 225: Chapter 225 - Base
A hand settled on her back.
"What’s wrong?"
Iyisha spit to the side and pushed herself upright, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she forced her breathing to slow.
"My stomach," she muttered. "Acting up."
"Marybeth," Malcolm called from the door. "Take her back."
Iyisha didn’t argue as Marybeth took her arm and guided her away from the doorway, the sounds of impact and low moans fading just enough as they moved.
They sat near Lance.
Iyisha looked back once, her eyes finding Malcolm at the front as he held the line while the others worked the opening.
She bit her lip.
"I’ll go with them," Marybeth said.
Iyisha looked at her, a quick nod coming with it.
"Watch Malcolm," she said.
Marybeth raised a brow.
"Yeah, yeah," she said. "I’ll make sure Malcolm is safe."
The sarcasm landed flat but light enough.
Iyisha gave a small smile.
"Go," she said. "Be careful."
Marybeth nodded once and headed back.
Aljun looked at her.
"You sure you’re a wanderer with that weak stomach?" he said.
"Shut up," Iyisha muttered, her face tightening slightly as she turned away.
She focused on Lance.
Her hand went to his neck.
The pulse was steady. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
She checked his forehead.
No heat.
She pulled his shirt up and looked over his chest and sides, her eyes moving across his skin for anything out of place.
Nothing.
She hesitated, then pulled at his waistband slightly, checking lower as far as she could without crossing further.
She stopped.
Her eyes shifted.
"Can you check?" she said instead, glancing at Aljun.
He grinned.
"Good choice," he said.
Iyisha turned away, her face warming as she folded her arms and looked off toward the edge of the rooftop.
"I’ve seen worse," she muttered under her breath, more to herself than him.
"Yeah," Aljun said. "Still weird, right?"
"Shut up," she said again.
"What am I looking for?" he asked.
"Rash," she said. "Marks. Anything off."
There was a pause.
"Nothing," Aljun said.
He adjusted Lance’s clothes back into place.
Iyisha nodded once, her eyes still not turning back right away as she listened to the sounds from the doorway carry across the rooftop.
"That drug he drank," Iyisha said as she leaned over Lance again, her fingers pressing at his jaw as she opened his mouth and checked inside, her eyes moving over his tongue and throat. "Did you find it? The 1359?"
Aljun shook his head.
"No."
Lance stirred under her hands, his head shifting slightly as a low sound slipped out of him.
Iyisha pulled back and exhaled.
"We won’t know the side effects," she said as she sat back, her chest tightening for a second before she forced it down.
She looked toward the stairwell.
The door stood open.
The noise had moved lower.
"Looks like they went down already," she said.
She pushed herself up and turned.
"Hey," she called to Arnulf.
He looked over.
"Get help," she said. "Pull the bodies out here."
Arnulf nodded and moved, calling a few with him as they headed toward the doorway.
Iyisha picked up a sharp piece of metal and handed it to Aljun.
"Separate the head from the body," she said, her voice low as her eyes flicked toward the pile forming near the door. "Make sure nothing’s alive in there."
Aljun let out a breath through his nose as he stood.
"Yeah," he muttered, already moving.
Arnulf and three others joined him, dragging bodies out one by one and pulling them toward a corner of the rooftop where they began to stack them.
Iyisha watched for a moment.
Then she turned her head and breathed through her mouth, forcing the air in steady as the smell pressed around her again.
After some time, Iyisha stood watching the door, her breath held without her noticing as she waited for movement to come back up.
Marybeth appeared in the doorway.
"Come on," she said under her breath. "We cleared the last floor."
Iyisha let out a quiet breath and walked to her.
"Malcolm okay?" she asked.
Marybeth nodded.
"Quit worrying about that brute," she said, rolling her eyes.
Iyisha gave a small smile, the tension easing for a second.
"Where is he?" she asked, her eyes shifting toward the stairwell.
"I don’t know," Marybeth answered.
Iyisha held her gaze for a second, then looked past her toward the open door, the smell still hanging in the air as the blocked stairwell sat just beyond.
She nodded once.
"Alright," she said.
They stepped closer.
The smell hit her again.
Stronger now.
Iyisha pulled back slightly and turned her head, forcing herself to breathe through her mouth as it settled in.
"We haven’t cleared the stairs," Marybeth said. "We just blocked it."
Iyisha nodded and looked back at the group.
"Let’s move," she said. "Keep it quiet."
People started to stand, some pushing themselves up slowly while others moved quicker, stepping in to help those who were still weak on their feet.
A few went straight to the wounded, lifting them carefully or supporting them by the shoulders as they prepared to move.
Aljun moved to Lance, and Iyisha stepped in to help as they lifted him, his weight dropping unevenly across their shoulders.
"God," she muttered. "He’s heavy."
His body shifted against her, pulling her balance off.
"Carry him right," she snapped.
"I’m trying," Aljun groaned, adjusting his grip as he struggled to keep him steady.
Marybeth stepped in with a grin.
"I’ll take him," she said.
Iyisha didn’t argue and stepped back as Marybeth moved in, taking Lance’s weight with Aljun, her height matching his as she settled him more evenly between them.
"Wouldn’t expect this twig to weigh this much," Marybeth groaned as she adjusted her grip under Lance’s arm, pulling him higher against her shoulder while his weight dragged unevenly between her and Aljun. "Why the hell isn’t he waking up?"
She slapped his cheek once, then again, but Lance didn’t react, his head rolling slightly with the motion as his body stayed limp.
Iyisha watched that as they moved, her chest tightening while they pushed toward the stairwell, their steps heavy and uneven as the group followed behind them in a tighter formation.
The stairwell had been blocked with cabinets shoved across the entrance and metal bars forced through them, wedged tight to keep anything from pushing through from below.
Iyisha stepped closer and pinched her nose, then leaned forward just enough to peer through the gaps, her eyes adjusting as movement below came into view.
Undead filled the stairs.
Not tightly packed, but enough that clearing them would take time, and time meant noise, and noise meant more.
She pulled back and nodded once.
They moved away and shut the door behind them, the sound cutting off what little noise came from below as a few let out quiet breaths of relief.
The hallway stretched ahead, lined with open doors on both sides, each leading into small apartments that had not been picked clean like the others they had seen.
Iyisha glanced inside as they passed, her eyes moving quickly through each space, checking corners and shadows as the group dragged Lance forward.
"You cleared everything?" she asked.
Marybeth looked at her and rolled her eyes.
"Boss, yes boss," she said, her voice dry as she breathed through the effort.
Iyisha smiled. "Sorry."
They entered the nearest unit and lowered Lance down, his body hitting the floor first before they hauled him up onto a worn sofa, his weight settling heavy as they adjusted him into place.
Iyisha stepped inside and slowed.
The apartment felt frozen in place.
A remote sat on the table.
An open window let in light that cut across the room.
A chair lay on its side with a bowl resting against it, something dark and dried clinging inside like it had been left mid-meal.
She looked around more carefully.
Most places she had seen were stripped down to nothing.
This one still held everything, left behind as it was, with only time showing in the curtains where the sun had bleached one side pale while the rest kept its original color.
"I’ll check on Malcolm," Iyisha said as she stepped out, pulling the door closed behind her before sliding the lock into place.
The hallway had shifted.
People moved in and out of the units, some opening cabinets and drawers as they searched through what was left, their movements quieter now but still restless.
Iyisha walked past them and turned the corner.
Malcolm stood by a window.
He looked down.
She came up beside him and followed his line of sight, her eyes settling on the ground where undead still lingered, some drifting away while others stayed near the building, enough to keep the pressure there.
She reached out and touched his hand.
He looked at her.
"You need to rest," she said.
Malcolm exhaled.
"I can’t," he said.
She bit her lip.
"I need you rested and alert," she said, her voice lower now. "Lance still hasn’t woken up."
Malcolm’s gaze sharpened.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Aljun said he drank something," she said. "From the lab."
Malcolm cursed under his breath and pushed off the window, already moving toward the hallway.
"Where is he?" he asked.
"First room," she said.
They reached it.
Aljun was inside, setting a water bottle down on the table as he glanced up at them, his expression tight before he stepped aside. Marybeth drinking another one.
Lance still lay on the sofa.
Malcolm went straight to him and crouched, his hand already checking him, his focus locked in as he scanned for anything off.
Iyisha stepped closer.
"He hasn’t woken up," she said.
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
"You remember the name of the drug?" she asked.
He nodded.
"BS9-01," he said. "It’s the only one there. Fucking hell Lance."
He looked at her.
"Will he die?"
Iyisha looked at Lance, then back at Malcolm.
"I don’t know," she said. "We’ll have to wait."
