Caleb peered over the rim with wide eyes. “Is this Eden?” he asked plaintively. One of the soldiers laughed.
“No, little guy, not yet. Look.” He pointed to where a dock stretched out over the dark waters of the huge lake. “Eden is on an island in the middle of Lake Eerie. There’s a boat that will arrive to take you there tomorrow morning.”
So Jeb had been right. Eden was on an island. This place was just a checkpoint, the last stop before getting to the city.
“How far?” Zeke murmured from my shoulder, his voice tight with pain. Sergeant Keller glanced down at him, frowning.
“Not far. About an hour by boat. But first, we have to make sure you’re not infected. You’ve all been in contact with the rabids. Everyone will get a thorough examination here, before you’re allowed into the city.”
Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good for me. And Zeke’s hand tightened on mine, showing he felt the same. The truck pulled through the camp and finally stopped at one of the long cement buildings near the edge of the lake.
A bald man in a long white coat waited for us near the back door and spoke urgently to Sergeant Keller as we piled off the truck. I saw the sergeant point to Zeke and myself, and the bald man glanced over anxiously.
A bed on wheels was brought out, pushed by two more men in white coats, and Zeke was loaded onto it despite his protests. In the end, he relented but still kept a tight hold of my hand as we swept through the doors into a sterile white room. Cots lined the walls, and men and women in white rushed toward us, ushering the others to different parts of the room. Caleb resisted a little, clinging to Jake, but was won over when the man pulled something tiny and bright out of his coat pocket. It looked like a green button on a white stick, but when Caleb put it in his mouth, his eyes widened, and he crunched down on it with a smile. The man held out a hand, and Caleb allowed him to lead him toward a counter.
“Excuse me.”
I glanced up. We had reached a pair of double doors at the end of the room, and the small bald man was looking at me apologetically.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But we have to take this one into surgery now. Some of his wounds are quite severe, and we still don’t know if he’s been bitten. You need to let him go.”
I didn’t know what “surgery” was, but I didn’t want to let Zeke go, suddenly afraid that if he went through those doors without me, I’d never see him again. “I can’t be there with him?”
“I’m sorry,” the man said again, blinking behind his glasses. “I’m afraid it’s not allowed. Too dangerous, you see, both for the patient, and yourself. But I swear we’ll do everything we can for him. He’ll be in good hands, I assure you.”
I looked at Zeke again. He lay there, pale and bloody under the harsh lights, eyes closed. One of the women had stuck his arm with a needle earlier, and it had put him out completely. His fingers around mine were limp.
“You can wait outside the room, if you want.” The bald man gave me a tired, understanding smile. “And we’ll let you know how he is as soon as we’re done. But you need to let him go now. Let him go.”
Gently, he took my wrist, easing it away from Zeke’s hand. I resisted a moment, then let it drop. The bald man smiled again and patted my arm.
They wheeled Zeke through the doors, and I followed them down a narrow, dimly lit hall until they vanished through another pair of doors with no windows, a bright No Entry painted on the metal in vivid red. I caught a whiff of old blood through the doors as they swung shut, and my stomach turned in both fear and Hunger.
I stayed in the hallway, staring at the doors, feeling the hours tick away. I wondered how the others were doing. I wondered if Zeke was all right, if he would pull through. There had been so much blood. If he had been bitten…if he turned into one of those monsters…
I shook my head, abandoning that thought. Leaning back against the wall, I looked up at the ceiling and let my eyes slip shut.
I don’t know if you can hear me, I thought in the general direction of the sky, or if you’re even listening. But, if you have any sense of justice at all, you won’t let Zeke die in there. Not when he’s this close. Not when he’s sacrificed everything to see the others here alive. I know you’re probably anxious to get him home, but he’s needed down here a little more. Just let him stay a little longer.
The hall remained empty, silent. I bowed my head, letting my thoughts drift. I wondered, suddenly, where Kanin was, if he was still alive. If he could sense me, feel where I was, or if he even cared. If he was still sane enough to care. I wondered if he was sorry that one of his offspring had killed the other.
I felt it then. A flash of rage and hate so strong, I jerked my head up, bashing my skull into the wall. Wincing, I stared down the corridor, feeling my fangs poking through my gums, growling softly. For a split second, I’d felt him, seen his face. I felt his anger, directed right at me. Not Kanin. Not psycho vamp.