She yelped and held her gun, breath panting out.
Jax gunned the truck straight at the cars, shoving himself down in the seat. Gunfire sprayed the truck. The back window shattered, and glass cut the back of his neck. He clamped a hand on Lynne’s shoulder, shoving her down farther and trying to keep her somewhat stable. “Hold on, baby,” he muttered, pressing his foot to the floor.
He plowed into the intersection of two cars, sending them both spiraling away. The impact threw him back into the seat. Even with his hold, Lynne’s head smacked into the glove box. Releasing her, he slammed both hands on the wheel to keep the truck from fishtailing. More bullets pinged into the back of the truck.
If they hit the tires, he was screwed.
He barreled through the cars and swerved far to the right so downed cars covered his ass.
Holding his breath, he punched the gas and kept an eye on the rearview mirror as Raze followed in his wake, smashing into the sides of vehicles like a ball in a pinball machine. But he kept going, even as bullets impacted the side of his truck.
“You okay?” Jax asked Lynne, swerving around a crumpled Buick.
She gulped, shoving herself up into the seat. “I think so.” Her voice was thick with what sounded like tears.
He reached over and gingerly fingered the back of her head. “You’re gonna have a bump.”
She winced and jerked away. “My vision is clear. Stop poking at my head.” She leaned forward and turned to use her sleeve to wipe away glass from the demolished windows. Cool air rushed inside, but at least the front window was intact. “Who was that?”
“All I saw was gunfire and a black van.” He glanced back to make sure Raze was keeping up.
“Will they follow us?” she gasped.
“Doubtful.” One van wouldn’t try to take on two trucks without the element of surprise. Raze was still shooting out his window, so the attackers would know they were armed. “My guess is it was either Rippers with guns or bastards trying to get our fuel and cars.” And women, probably. But on this mission, there was just one woman.
His.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It is difficult to fight that which we cannot see. The next plague is invisible . . . but coming.
—Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony
The coordinates for the secret Myriad Labs led to the corporate office and research labs for a cereal company called Chester’s. The company was located on the outskirts of Century City, close enough to share in the glitz but far enough away from the Fox Plaza Building to have more space and reasonable rent.
It made for a great confidential lab, and Lynne considered how many more were out there. She’d been spot on with the coordinates, and for the briefest of moments, she wondered how advanced her brain would become. Was it still changing?
They parked the trucks in the underground garage because Jax figured it’d be better to be hidden than be able to make a fast getaway.
Lynne hadn’t offered an opinion. The guy knew what he was doing.
She read the kiosk of the building’s layout against the corner wall and then glanced at the dead elevators with what felt like unnatural longing. The vest was heavy, and it was hard to maneuver with the knives in her boots. “The offices take up the fifteenth floor, and the research labs are on floors three and four,” she said, following Jax into the stairwell. “We’ll need to go through all three of the floors, and I’d like to start with the fourth.”
Byron followed on her heels, while Raze took the rear.
“I don’t get why there’d be a research place here,” Byron whispered.
Lynne glanced at the already peeling wallpaper. “It’s not the CDC. They were researching how to make cereal crunchier or tastier without sugar. We didn’t have them researching anything dangerous until there was no choice.” Even so, the labs had been state of the art. She glanced at packing invoices scattered across the reception desk. “It looks like the manufacturing plant for the cereal is north of L.A. County.”
Jax started up the stairs, sweeping a thick flashlight back and forth, a big gun in his other hand. “At an industrial distribution center?” he asked.
“I don’t know where it is—just that it’s north. There may still be food at the manufacturing center, since it’s an unusual place. We can find the physical address in the offices, probably.”
Jax reached the first-floor landing and turned to point the light on the stairs for the other three. “If there’s food out there, we need to get to it.” He waited until everyone reached the landing. “Lynne and I’ll take the fourth floor, and you two head up to the fifteenth floor to see what you can find. First look for anything on Scorpius or manufacturing plants, and then go through every desk for supplies.” He loped into a jog, and Lynne followed to the fourth floor.
Jax nudged open the door and swept between an elevator bank. He gestured for her to follow him, and she tried to match her steps to his. How did he move so silently? The guy barely seemed to touch the dusty tile floor with each step. The elevators led to a double-glass door with CHESTER CEREALS branded across the middle. He shoved open the door and stepped inside, his head up and his body still.
Lynne instinctively stopped behind him.
He waited a couple beats and then clicked off his flashlight. Wide windows fronted the entire north wall, and plenty of sunlight illuminated the area. “I don’t hear anybody.”
A wide reception desk took center stage along with a quaint waiting room. She followed Jax behind the desk and waited until he’d drawn out all the drawers. A couple of cup-of-soups instantly went into his backpack, along with a bottle of aspirin and some cough drops. A picture of a pretty blond with two kids, twins around four years old, sat by the phone. Lynne swallowed. Hopefully the woman and her kids had survived.
Probably not.
“Let’s move,” Jax said, coming around the desk and turning the knob of the door. “No go.” He sighed. “When the electricity went out, the lock didn’t disengage.” He cocked his gun. “Cover your ears.”
Lynne slapped her hands over her ears just as he fired. A second later, he planted a boot near the doorknob. The door flew open.
Jax ducked inside, gun sweeping. He slowly straightened and gestured her forward. Sunlight cascaded in from windows on the far walls. She moved inside to see four marked doorways, and she pointed to the one on the far left. “Let’s start in the Vitamin Research department.” She turned toward the door.
“Lynne? I want your gun in your hand and the safety off,” Jax said evenly.
Her chest felt heavy, yet she drew the gun.
“Safety off,” he repeated.
She faltered. “You sure? I may shoot you.”
He grinned, intense and somehow sexy. “I saw you cover Wyatt the other day. Woman, you’re a champion in battle. I trust you.”
The heaviness gave way to warmth. She nodded, although her breath still came too fast. “Okay.” Centering herself, she clicked off the safety. “Let’s go.”
Lynne sucked down warm water from a bunch of bottles found in a Chester Cereal break room, sweat pouring down her back and her leg muscles wobbling. They’d searched the floors and had taken all the research she deemed important, carrying cartons and boxes down the stairs more times than she could count. She leaned against the doorway of the last lab on the third floor.
“One more lab,” Jax said easily, not showing any wear from the day.
She sighed. As she’d skimmed to determine what to take and what to leave, more than once he’d had to hurry her up as she’d started to really read, telling her she’d have all the time in the world once behind safe walls again. So far, from what she could tell, the researchers at Myriad had been on to something with the research into vitamin B, but had had to halt the experiments when the power grid failed. “Okay.”