Page 71 of Ember Rising

He shows no response. I wipe my cheeks and close my eyes, taking a deep breath.

Briar, it’s Amira. I need you. Evander’s hurt. I have to help him. I don’t know what to do.

A dull ache is all I feel. Every one of my senses flickers with it, telling me to open my eyes and stop this. But I stay, breathing in and out, letting the pain in.

I get the sensation I always have when I’m with Briar. Warm, safe, and happy. The pain is still there, but I can also feel something I know without a doubt is her.

I soak it in, not able to make out anything I can define, but knowing she’s somehow with me in some small part. Then a chill dances down my spine as a single word takes shape in my consciousness.

Fight.

The sky is cloudy and there’s not a light in sight. I shouldn’t be able to see so well in this inky blackness. My aromium-enhanced night vision is better than ever, though.

Between that and my heightened sense of hearing, the night isn’t as quiet and peaceful as it looks. Small animals chitter and the breeze ruffles leaves and tree branches.

I start jogging, shifting my focus from self-doubt to action. This is a long shot, but it’s a chance.

Sitting there and watching Evander die from an infection isn’t an option. Briar’s right—I have to fight.

We’re in a rural area, but there are homes visible in the distance. I’m not worried about running into more crazy-ass cannibals on semis or second-guessing my decision to get as much water as I could into Evander and leave him.

If a way exists, I’ll find it.

I’m about to start running faster when I squint at a shape about a hundred feet away. I turn and move toward it, slowing down.

The horse is grazing, and it lifts its head as I approach. I laugh softly when I get close enough to see that it’s Jane.

She walks up to me and I pet her neck. I press my forehead to the bridge of her nose.

“I’m not alone anymore,” I say softly. “I need your help, Jane.”

I don’t bother going back for the saddle we left behind. I just swing up onto the horse’s back and nudge her into motion, heading for the residential area.

I burst into tears when I see the sign.

Ridgeview Assisted Living and Nursing Care

It took almost four hours to find it. The farther I got from Evander, the more worries crept into my mind.

If the semi-maniacs had radios and others knew where they were, they could come looking for them. I hate that he’s in that disgusting tire shop, burning up and closer to dying with every passing hour.

Fighting means moving, not speculating. My heart sinks when I see that the front doors of the facility are gone. It may be picked clean, and I don’t have much time.

I tie Jane up inside, securing her rope to the post holding a comment box. This place smells absolutely rank. There are two decomposed bodies slumped in wheelchairs nearby.

I ignore everything but my mission. Keeping my handgun pointed at the floor, I go to a set of double doors and push them open.

The hallway is chaos. I pull my shirt collar up and cover my nose, the smell threatening to knock me off my feet. I weave around bodies, random shoes, food trays, and other small items.

When I reach the med room, I deflate when I find the shelves empty.

Keep going.

My head swims, the decaying bodies’ smell making me feel sick. I move deeper into the facility, past more bodies. It’s a morbid scene, some of the bodies making it look like people killed themselves and each other rather than waiting for the virus to take them.

God, what if they starved? Food deliveries would have stopped in the weeks after the virus. It breaks my heart to think about what these people must have gone through.

I find a locked door, hope sparking. After working on it with my crowbar for a couple minutes, the door gives way.