Con was standing in the cabin when he came out. “I figured this was where you'd gotten off to,” he said dryly. “Just like you to leave us fighting over the only bathroom while you commandeer Dani's."
Balin grinned. “It's all yours."
Dropping his towel when Con disappeared into the bathroom, he sprawled on her bed, breathing deeply of their combined scent that lingered on the sheets, he gathered her pillow beneath his head and dropped to sleep almost instantly.
"Now that's just too fucking much!” Dakota growled, coming to a halt when he discovered Balin was sprawled in the middle of Danika's bed.
Balin roused sufficiently to crack one eye open and study him assessingly for a moment before he shot him a bird.
"At least give me her gods damned pillow!"
Balin considered it for a moment and finally relented, tossing the pillow at him and grabbing the other one. Dakota sniffed it and glared at him sullenly. “It smells like you."
"And her and you,” Balin retorted dryly. “And Con and Jared."
Uttering a huff of disgust, Dakota headed for the couch. He had just sprawled on it with his trophy when Con came out of the bathroom. Jared entered the front door with Xavier directly behind him at almost the same moment.
"So this where everybody got off to!” Xavier observed, pushing past Jared and looking around for a likely place to settle.
"Gods damn it!” Con snarled. “I was going to take the bed."
"Too late,” Balin murmured indifferently.
Con studied him with his hands on his hips for several moments and finally decided he was too tired to fight for it at the moment. “Scoot over. I'm not sleeping on the fucking floor!"
Balin opened one eye to glare at him, but finally shifted closer to the wall.
"That's not enough room!” Con objected.
"Then sleep somewhere else."
Muttering under his breath, Con stretched out on the small wedge of space Balin had allowed, glaring angrily at the ceiling.
"Are you startin’ to notice we always get the shit end of the stick?” Jared growled at Xavier. “I'm going back to the other cabin."
"Good idea!” Xavier agreed. “We can bring our mattresses over."
"Bring me a pillow,” Con demanded.
"Get it yourself!” Jared snapped, stalking out of the cabin.
"Oh for fucks’ sake!” Con snarled. “Dakota, throw me one of the pillows off the couch."
Dakota picked up one of the small pillows and pitched it over the back of the couch. It smacked Balin in the back of the head when it landed. “Thanks!” Con said, ignoring Balin's glare as he collected the pillow, flipped onto his belly and dragged in a contented breath. “Mmm, smells like Dani,” he murmured.
Dakota sat up on the couch. “Then give it back, gods damn it!"
"Nope."
He glared at Con furiously for a moment and then flopped back down on the couch, fuming. Xavier returned after a few minutes, dragging his mattress and pillow. After looking around, he dropped it on the floor next to the bed and settled.
"Don't blame me if I roll off and land on top of you,” Con muttered. “Prince asshole's taken up most of the bed."
Prince asshole ignored him.
They'd just about drifted to sleep when Jared stalked through the door with his mattress and pillow. Flinging the mattress down on the floor between Xavier's pallet and the couch, he dropped onto it and sprawled face down. “I get the couch next time,” he muttered into his pillow.
"I get the bed."
"We'll draw fucking straws,” Balin growled. “Will you all just shut the fuck up? I'd like to get some gods damn sleep before we have to go back!"
* * * *
Danika was so exhausted after her first night in hell she didn't have to work hard to pretend to be ill. A good portion of the other miserable victims had spent the night muttering and complaining to each other. The music had never stopped and somewhere in the wee hours of the morning a number of people had begun to ‘display’ symptoms by throwing up.
Like chickens in the chicken yard when the owner shows up to pick out Sunday dinner, the third victim had everyone in the place flapping and squawking and demanding to be released immediately. The sick were hauled off to another area. The puke was cleaned up, adding the smell of disinfectant to the already nauseating smell of vomit—not eradicating it. The distressed were ‘soothed’ by being told to shut up and calm down, and the sounds dropped to quieter muttering, whining, and weeping.
Danika wasn't certain if they all finally got quiet or she just reached a point of exhaustion where they couldn't keep her awake any longer, but she did sleep a few hours in snatches and she still felt like she'd been through hell the next morning.
The community showers that had been setup were a nightmare to anybody who liked a little privacy and the portapotties lined up along the back of the building weren't a hell of a lot better. She was trying to choke down her breakfast in spite the vague sense of nausea she'd woken with when three of the locals plopped down on the benches around her.
"You're that government woman, ain't you?"
Danika lifted her head and stared at the woman who'd addressed her blankly for several moments before her brain kicked in and she realized
this
was what Balin had been talking about. “Yes,” she answered cautiously.
"Well, maybe you can tell us what the hell's goin’ on around here,” the woman next to her snapped. “I've been tryin’ to find out somethin’ about my husband since I got here and all I get is a runaround."
"I can't find my husband or my son!” the woman beside her complained.
Danika stared at the women pityingly, wracking her brain to think of something she could say that might soothe their fears. It might have been easier if she'd had no idea what was happening with the missing people.
Unfortunately, although there were far more women and children in the building than men, there
were
men, so she couldn't very well tell them the men were being kept in a separate facility. “I'm sorry to hear it,” she said finally. “This place is full, though. They must have taken them to another place."
The first woman snorted. “That's what they told me, but
where
is what I'd like to know?"
"It's hard to organize something on this scale as quickly as they had to. You must see that? They've actually done really well in organizing it. I imagine when they saw this place was filling up, they had to find another on short notice to take care of the overflow."
"The place sucks!” the third woman said flatly.
Danika smiled at her wryly. “I have to agree, but it's better than being exposed."
"How do we know we haven't? I mean—there were people getting sick all over the place last night. What if we catch it from them, all cooped in here together?"
"It isn't contagious,” Danika said flatly. “They got sick because they were exposed ... somehow. If you aren't sick you probably won't be. I'm sure they'll let us out as soon as it's safe. It can't be any more pleasant for them than it is for us."
She was almost surprised when the women visibly relaxed.
"You're sure we can't catch anything?"
"Not from the chemical spill,” Danika replied finally after considering whether or not to point out that they could certainly catch anything anyone might be carrying, like a cold, but it didn't seem like a good idea to mention it.
"It is a chemical spill then?” the third woman insisted.
"That's what I was told."
She relaxed when the three women departed, watching them surreptitiously as they spread the word. She was in trouble, she thought wryly, if any of them thought to question the fact that she wasn't anything more than a researcher. Either they didn't, or they were just so needy of something to allay their fears that they didn't
want
to question the source. Everyone seemed to calm down considerably, although calming their fears did nothing for the boredom and discomfort.
The children, unable to bear the restraints, began to run around the building annoying the hell out of everyone. It wouldn't have been quite as bad if they hadn't discovered the wonderful acoustics in the huge old building, but the moment they found out that they could scream and the sound would echo—misery. Most of the day was spent listening to the children alternately screaming just to hear the echo, laughing and screaming while they raced around the building playing chase, or screaming and crying when their parents reached the limit of their endurance and beat them and made them sit down.
Danika wondered if it was as trying for everyone as it was for her. As accustomed as she was to spending almost all of her time completely alone, the press of humanity around her, the noises, and the lack of privacy all amounted to sheer torture.
By the dawning of the third day—which she only knew because breakfast was served—she thought there might be murder and mayhem
inside
the quarantine if they didn't let everyone out pretty soon.
* * * *
Danika didn't know if she was more anxious to get out because she was just damned grateful to be free of the quarantine facility or if it was her need to reassure herself that none of the guys had been hurt—or worse. She was almost tearfully glad, though, when the announcement came over the PA system of an ‘all clear'. There was almost a stampede toward the door to get out. For a few minutes it almost seemed the wolfen in control of the facility were going to be overrun. By dint of being stronger, meaner, and more determined, however, they managed to bully the crowd into a semblance of order before things got too far out of hand.
The wolfen that seemed to have appointed himself as her personal guard snatched her away from the first rush to the door. As unnerving as Danika found his attention she was grateful for it in those few moments. It was a frightening situation and dozens of people got knocked down and trampled before the guards and technicians managed to bring order.
Con was waiting for her right outside. Before she even saw him, he had grabbed her arm and yanked her from the tide pouring out the doors. The gladness and relief that swept through her when she saw who it was that had grabbed her made her lightheaded. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to fall into his waiting embrace and cling to him as tightly as he clung to her. All around them, she heard similar reunions, squeals of delight, joyful weeping—but after a few minutes she heard other cries of anger, consternation, disbelief and grief.
She stirred in Con's arms, pulling away finally to look around. “What's happened?” she asked anxiously.
"It was a war out here—there were casualties and the town's a wreck,” Con said grimly.
Danika's gaze flew to his face. It was gaunt, she saw, drawn with weariness. She scanned him for signs of injury before she met his gaze again. “The others?” she asked hesitantly. Something flickered in his eyes, anger, she thought.