The Bleeding Crowd (25 page)

“How’d you get out of the hospital?” Abel
asked when nobody seemed ready to speak again.

“I waited until they finished the antibiotic
course and then I bolted. Took some of the key cards from the
morgue, apologies to whatever dead women whose identities I stole
and took off using the money. I used each once, dropped it, and
then sent the rest north to try to throw them off the trail at
least for a little bit.”

Heather smiled. “You’re brilliant.”

“I have my moments.” Dahlia agreed. “Amazing
what you can figure out when your life depends on it.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Ben said.

Dahlia felt herself bristle, set her jaw, and
looked back at him. “That eager to get rid of me, Ben?”

He appeared to falter, before recovering.
“We’re going to be fighting. It’s going to be dangerous. You aren’t
exactly a soldier.”

“I’m a doctor,” she said clipping her words.
“I think I’ve more than proved myself at this point. I mean, look
what happened when I couldn’t practice. If I had not been handed
over to the doctors, I probably would have died. I had the pills
here, if we had known what to give me...no offence, Heather.”

“None taken.”

Silence fell over the group. Dahlia tried to
force a smile, but it felt weak. “Were you the one to take me to
the hospital?”

Heather shook her head. “That was all
Ben.”

Dahlia frowned and turned to face him. “You
brought me to the hospital?”

He looked away from her. “As far as the edge
of town. Some woman found you on the side of the road and got a
stretcher.”

“Why didn’t you let Heather or Des...?”
Dahlia began as she studied his face in profile. “You could have
been killed, Ben. They could at least have been relatively safe
going down there.”

He didn’t respond.

Heather spoke. “When you got sick, he
went—”

“Insane,” Des supplied.

“Well,” Dahlia cut off whatever retort Ben
was formulating, “thank you to anyone who got me there. I probably
would have died without professional care.”

“But you’re okay now, right?” Abel looked at
her.

“I’m not a hundred percent, but...”

“Not one hundred percent?” Ben spoke
again.

“I almost died.” Dahlia crossed her arms. “I
think the fact that I get worn out a little easier than I used to
is completely justified.”

“All the more reason you should have stayed
in town,” Ben said.

“They would have figured out who I was,” she
said sharply. “They would have figured out who I was, and then I
would have been locked up until I either sold all of you out or
until they killed me, neither situation I’d particularly
relish.”

“So you’d prefer to end up getting yourself
killed by sitting out in the middle of a damp forest.”

“The bacterium is gone,” she said. “Killed. I
was on enough antibiotics to make me literally nauseous. I’m not
going to relapse.”

“You don’t know that,” he said.

“I’m a doctor, Ben. I’m a little more
qualified than you are in knowing what’s dangerous for me.”

“You didn’t know you were sick to start
with.”

“I did.” The words spilled out now. “I just
misdiagnosed. Diagnosed it in a way that any other doctor with the
same diagnostic tools as I had would have done.”

“I’m not going to be responsible for your
death, Lia!”

Silence fell, the statement hanging out in
the air long enough that it left a tangible tension among the
group.

Dahlia released a breath and spoke just loud
enough for him to hear. “Did you drag me out here, Ben?”

He sighed. “Dahlia...”

“No, Ben.” Her voice grew stronger. “I’m here
because I chose to be. You aren’t responsible for me or any one of
my actions.”

“You’re here because of me.”

“I’m here because I was asked to help, and I
chose to help.”

He shook his head. “You’re going home.”

“What home is that, Ben?” She threw her hands
up. “I told you. I’ve been telling you. I can’t ‘go home.’ I’m as
transient as any of you. I made my choice, and that’s that.”

Heather sent a look to Des and they
shepherded the others away in silence.

Dahlia released a weak laugh and avoided
looking at him. “It seems they thought we needed our privacy.”

Ben compressed his lips. “You aren’t coming
with us.”

“I’m sorry.” She sighed. “I didn’t know you
had final say over where I walked.”

“For once in your life will you stop being so
goddamn headstrong and listen to me?”

“I will when you start listening to me,” she
responded.

“I do listen to you.”

“You haven’t heard a word that’s come out of
my mouth this entire time. Ever perhaps.”

“You almost died,” he persisted.

“So have you. Many times.”

“I can’t...” He released a breath. “I can’t
let something happen to you, Dahlia.”

“Life’s a crapshoot at best, Ben. What are
you going to do? Wrap me up and keep me on a shelf?”

Ben crossed his arms. “If it works.”

“I’m not a child. I don’t need you to shelter
me from life.”

“You’ve been living in a bubble, Lia.” He
motioned somewhere off towards civilization. “Those towns? Those
buildings? Those aren’t real. They’re a world that has been built
to make you think the world is perfect. Orderly. It’s not. People
get hurt. People hurt each other. People die, people kill. You
don’t know what’s involved.”

“If I don’t, it’s because you haven’t told
me. I’ve been living out here a month waiting for you. I know life
isn’t perfect.”

“This isn’t your fault. You don’t belong
here.”

“You’re the one who asked me to help in the
first place, if you don’t remember.”

He clenched his jaw. “Only because I didn’t
want to leave you.”

“And now?”

He remained silent for a moment. “I’d rather
you be alive at the end of this than...”

“Than...?” she prompted.

“We’re more than likely all going to end up
dead by the time this is over, Dahlia. We have nothing else to
lose. You have a place to go. You can get out now. Say we kidnapped
you, throw us under the bus. Just go home.”

“I wasn’t kidnapped.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Dahlia...”

“I wasn’t kidnapped,” she insisted. “I’m
won’t say I was.”

He didn’t move.

She sighed and walked towards him.
“Ben...”

He still didn’t move.

She touched his face lightly. “Do something
for me?”

He wouldn’t look at her.

“Stop trying to be so noble.”

He arms flexed, but he didn’t touch her.
“Dahlia.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” She looked at him,
even if he wouldn’t look back.

“Please,” he cajoled, his voice wavering.

She looked at him, running her hands down his
neck and shoulders. “Kiss me, Ben?”

His entire body tensed.

“Please?” She left her hands there, unsure
what to do with them.

“No,” he said in barely more than a
whisper.

She stiffened and eased her hands away.
“No?”

He stepped away from her and swallowed. “Go
home, Dahlia.”

She opened her mouth and then shut it again.
Her face set. “No.”

He closed his eyes. “Dahlia—”

“No,” she cut him off. “I’m just as capable
as you of saying that word, and no matter how many times you say my
name, I’m not going to change that answer. I’m not going
anywhere.”

He exhaled and looked at her. “Well, you
aren’t coming with us.”

“You think it’s safer for me to sit alone in
a forest?”

“Honestly, yes.”

She inhaled and pulled herself up to her full
height before turning towards where the others had gone. “Too bad
you don’t have any say about whether or not I go with you.”

“Dahlia!”

Walking backwards, she faced him. “If you
want someone to respond to a command like that, I’d recommend
getting a dog.”

“Try to understand—”

“I understand perfectly,” she snapped.

“No you don’t.”

“Well, try me,” she said.

He paused and shook his head. “We should find
the others. It’ll be dark soon.”

“I’ve had plenty of nights out here.”

He walked towards the trees.

She paused and called after him, “Ben.”

He didn’t respond.

Chapter Fifteen

“You’re a fucking idiot.” Heather stood over
Ben staring down at him.

Ben dropped his head back to see her, looking
at her. “Excuse me?”

“Do you like upsetting her?” Heather crossed
her arms. “She’s been crying most of the evening. I got her to fall
asleep at last.”

“Didn’t know she needed to be put down for
naptime.” Ben rubbed one hand over his face.

“She’s given up just as much as anyone else
to be here. More than most. All she was asking for was some
acknowledgement that you appreciate that. That you wanted her to be
here. You couldn’t even give her that?”

“She needs to go home.” He looked back at the
knife he was sharpening.

“Jesus Christ, it’s like talking to a chimp.”
Heather snorted. “You don’t listen. She doesn’t have one, thanks to
you.”

“What do you want me to do?” Ben snapped,
turning to Heather.

“Go talk to her. Say you are glad she wants
to help. Tell her you love her for god’s sake.”

Ben shook his head. “Stay out of my business,
Heather.”

“If you keep making her cry like that I swear
to god I’m going to stab you in your sleep, Ben.”

“Jesus, Heather, you just met the girl a
month ago. Don’t you think that sounds a little over
protective?”

“She’s my little sister, and I just spent
three goddamn hours trying to get her to some other place than
sobbing or catatonic.”

Ben stood. “All right, all right. I’m up. Go
back to your wife.”

Heather crossed her arms watching him move
across the camp.

* * * *

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Jack’s voice made Dahlia stop short. “It’s
okay,” she responded, hidden behind the tent they had set up for
her. “It’s just been a long, long...long day.”

“Because of B—?”

“Please don’t,” she cut him off. “I can’t
stand one more goddamn conversation about that man.”

“Well, you know he’s an idiot.”

“You know him that well?”

“Even if I didn’t, anyone who’d want to hurt
you like this is an idiot.”

“I don’t think he...” She stopped and glared.
“You know what? This conversation needs to stop now.”

“Sorry,” Jack responded. “What do you want to
talk about then?”

She yawned. “I don’t know. Did you have a
hard time getting here?”

“We were moving slower than I would have
liked, but what can you do? I’m glad you didn’t have to walk here
though. You’re still pale.”

“Well, I just haven’t been eating well the
past couple days.”

“Do you need me to get you something?”

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I got a lot of
sleep the last few weeks...well, at least until the rain moved
in.”

“Yeah, we got the tail end of that storm,”
Jack said. “We all pushed ourselves in one of the tents. It was
tight quarters to say the least.”

Dahlia nodded. “Well, you made it. We’re not
too far from town. I walked a couple hours, but I was moving
slowly, so it’s not that far.”

“That’s what Des said.”

“Do we know what our plan is? I mean, we’re
here. Now what?”

“Now we find Patience,” Jack said.

“How, exactly?”

He shrugged that off.

“That doesn’t sound like a good plan,” she
said.

He nodded in agreement and grinned. “Probably
not.”

“We might want to work on that before
actually attempting anything.”

“Well.” Jack considered a moment. “You, Des,
and Heather are definitely assets. You can move around without too
much danger. I bet if we dressed Jacob up right he could pass for a
girl.”

“That’ll get us as far as town, but won’t get
us into government headquarters. I don’t have any of the keycards
left, and they would have probably only worked in Palmerston.”

“Heather has yours.”

Dahlia scoffed. “I try to swipe in anywhere
and all sorts of red flags will go up.”

“Des said there’d be tunnels. We can find the
nearest camp and see if there are any other guards who are
sympathetic to our cause—”

“I’m not a fan of ‘ifs’,” she said.

“Well, we don’t have much more to go on.”

“We have a chance, if not much else. I
suppose that’ll have to do us.”

“We’ll take care of you, you know,” Jack
said. “You’re one of us. We’re all in this together.”

“‘
This’ might end up being a
grave.”

“Don’t be like that”

“If I hadn’t developed a morbid sense of
humor, I wouldn’t be able to deal with this at all,” Dahlia
said.

Jack gave her tight smile. “If it ends up
that way, with us heading for a mass grave, Dahlia, I promise I’ll
do my best to get you out of here.”

“If it’s going that way, I might as well not
prolong the inevitable. I don’t have anywhere else to go. I lose
you guys and I’m back to living alone in the forest until they
catch me or something out here kills me. A quick death might be
preferable.”

“We’ll get through this. We’re all here for a
reason, right?”

“There’s always a reason,” she said. “For
everything. The reason just might be completely obscure and
irrational.”

“And yours was—”

“Don’t you dare,” she snapped.

“Wasn’t going to say anything.” Jack grinned
as if to reassure her. “Well, whatever brought you here, we’re all
very grateful. We needed a doctor.”

“Abel’s showing a real aptitude for
medicine,” Dahlia said. “Heather’s taught him some stuff. If we
manage by some stroke of fate to make it through this, I think I
might take him on as a student. You know, an apprenticeship of
sorts.”