Code Name: EVE

The worms were relentless. They didn’t get any peace until they stumbled across a stalled train and locked themselves inside. A chorus of thuds rang out around them, but the worms stayed at bay. Leon took a deep breath and let it out, glancing around the small space. It was down to him, Ashley, and Ashley’s two companions watching the windows. The humans either got stuck in the destroyed jeep or fell back in the tunnels. It was depressing, but it was also their fault for not trusting Leon more. The brunette sank into a seat beside Ashley. “So. You were stuck in Spain, huh?”

“Only for the first year. We got lost in the woods, and then stumbled across Ari and Heather’s place.”

“And the second year?”

“Heather’s parents have a cabin in North Carolina. We were going down to get more food and stuff, and I heard on the radio in the store that my parents were missing.”

“You spent two years hiding out in the woods with Jack Krauser? Why didn’t you call someone? Everyone was worried sick.”

“I know, I just…” She looked sheepish. “I wanted to at first, but by the time I got to a phone I just couldn’t. Jack’s my… my mate. I didn’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Your ‘mate?’” The word made sense on some level, at least to his plaga, but Leon stared incredulously. “You realize he’s the one who kidnapped you in the first place, right?”

“I know. But it’s complicated. A lot happens in six months, let alone two years.”

“All four of you are plagas.” It was a statement, not a question, because he could sense that they were—a colony independent of the massive one around him.

“Yeah. Jack and I had a, er, an accident, if you know what I mean.”

“You mean you made little baby plagas.” All Leon got was a nod. He almost asked how, but decided he could probably fill in more blanks than he wanted to on his own. Sighing, he leaned his head back against the wall and stared at the dark rectangle of the window opposite him. “Where did you learn to shoot like that?”

“Jack and Heather taught me. Not really a lot else to do at the cabin. Only thing we could pick up from the outside world was some AM radio station. Otherwise I would have come a lot sooner.”

“Heather, huh?” Leon’s gaze wandered over to the brunette with the shotgun. She heard her name, and she gave Leon a less than friendly look before returning to watching the windows and whispering with Ari. “Real charmer.”

“It’s because you’re an outsider,” Ashley smiled apologetically. “I’m sure she’ll relax when she realizes you aren’t a threat. I mean you aren’t, right?”

“We’ll have to see what happens when Krauser comes back.” Leon knew that guy would show up again. He made a habit of disappearing and coming back. Like a bad penny.

“Did you two ever get along?” The blonde asked, absentmindedly unscrewing the top of her vitamin bottle and eating one.

“On and off. He’s been an ass for as long as I’ve known him.”

“You don’t know anything about his scar, do you?”

“Only the stuff he makes up,” Leon snorted and brought out his own bottle of pills. The plaga did a lot for its host, but it needed a lot of energy to do some things. If the host didn’t consume enough nutrition to support them both, the plaga began breaking down the host body. The final result was a gray skinned bag of bones and flesh, like the ganados.

Ashley watched over his shoulder. “Special vitamins?”

“Made in a lab just for me,” he smiled wryly. He was aware that he probably sounded bitter, but he couldn’t help it. If Krauser hadn’t kidnapped Ashley in the first place, Leon wouldn’t be here now. And to think he’d actually been upset after the incident four years ago….

The girl was about to respond, but frantic banging on the door interrupted her. Leon leaped to his feet and pointed the TMP. Ashley stood, too, but not prepared to defend herself. She’d sensed who it was even before Heather opened the door. Jack squeezed through the gap as quickly as possible and Heather let it snap shut behind him. Ashley ran to meet him and wrapped her arms around his ribs. All four of them clustered together, checking each other’s condition and talking in low voices.

There wasn’t any fatal damage, and he couldn’t do anything about it here, so Jack finally addressed Leon. “Kennedy,” he grinned. “Long time, no see.”

“Krauser,” Leon returned, trying to stay civil, but it sounded stiff. Attempted murder tended to strain acquaintances.

Jack locked eyes with Heather for a minute, and then let them wander to the other two. Ashley was giving him the sad puppy look. Not that it made a lot of difference most of the time, but he took it into account. Ari looked mostly indifferent, but Jack could tell he didn’t want to leave Kennedy down here, either. “May as well let him tag along. We might need the manpower, and I think we could take him if we had to.” Here he smirked at Kennedy again. “If you don’t want to stick around here by yourself, that is.”

The president’s daughter was not going to slip through Leon’s fingers again. “Where are we going?”

“Depends on where we are.” Krauser lifted his flashlight and shone it at the windows. “We can’t go out in the tunnel.”

“Then we’ll walk down the train as far as we can,” Leon said and went to the door between the cars. The other plagas didn’t protest. Nothing happened for several cars, though. A door stuck once, but Ashley and Ari squeaked through a very small hole and managed to clear the way from the other side. When they reached the end of the train, they could see the dark maw of the station just a few yards away.

“What’re you getting?” Jack asked Ari, peering out the window.

The Spaniard took a breath and let it out slowly, listening. They could all sense enemies around them, but somehow Ari could pick out specific numbers and types. They all had distinct patterns of instincts and feelings. Not always the same as emotions, but feelings never the less. It had gotten a little more difficult since they’d been in the city, because if he listened hard enough he could hear a strange humming noise. It wasn’t hard to ignore otherwise, but it interfered with his readings. “Uh, about… five of those things that chased us down here, between us and the stairs. The street’s clear.”

“We don’t have the ammo for that,” Heather said.

“What do you have?” Krauser asked Kennedy.

Leon held up the TMP. “Less than half a clip.”

Heather snorted. “So we’re running for it, then.”

Jack’s arm transformed. “Don’t get lost, Kennedy.” With that, he was gone out the door, the other three close behind him and Leon a bit farther back.

XXX

They wound up holed up in a high school. It was the closest place with a clinic, potential sources of food, and upper floors. The worms seemed disinclined to leave the street level. Leon was cleaning up his own cuts, but he couldn’t help watching the other four. They were all clustered around each other, in various states of undress for better access to the injuries. Heather dabbed at a slice on Ari’s forehead, Ashley was doing something to Heather’s back, Krauser worked on Ashley’s scraped up legs, and as soon as Heather finished up Ari’s face he turned to Krauser. They were talking to each other, laughing, still in low voices, but Leon caught most of it anyway. Krauser and Ari were explaining where they had been, Heather and Ashley were telling them about the fight with the creature. Nothing that answered any of Leon’s remaining questions.

Feeling the eyes on him, Jack lifted his gaze from Ashley’s lap. Gray eyes met blue ones, and held steady for several seconds. Leon finally blinked and his eyes narrowed before darting away. Jack chuckled and stood, tugging Ashley to him as she finished pulling her pants back up. He kissed the top of her head and proceeded to tug her toward the door. Heather and Ari didn’t react.

“Where are you going?” Leon asked suspiciously.

“Just going to look around a little,” he shot over one shoulder.

“Look around my ass,” Heather laughed without looking up from Ari.

“Well, Ashley’s ass, maybe,” Jack grinned and goosed the little blonde.

“Jacky!” Ashley said indignantly and swatted his shoulder.

“Don’t call me Jacky, princess.”

“Don’t call me princess, Jacky.”

The door closed behind them and their footsteps faded down the hall. “You’re just going to let them go off alone?” Leon asked Heather and Ari. “We don’t know if there’s anyone else in here.”

“They’ll be fine,” Ari said.

“Besides, if you don’t let the horndog get it out of his system now, things might get pretty awkward for you later,” Heather added. “He’s not above graphic pda.”

Leon put his hand to his forehead and ran it through his hair. Surrounded by blood thirsty monsters and still trying to get laid. No one but Krauser.

XXX

The classroom was dark, except for some moonlight filtering through the broken windows. Ashley walked up to the teacher’s desk and ran a finger through the dust there. “Never thought I’d see the inside of a high school classroom again.” Brushing a spot off, she turned around and hopped up on the edge of the desk. “Come to think of it, I wasn’t sure I’d see the inside of any classroom.”

Jack pushed her knees apart so he could get closer and laced his fingers behind her back. “I joined the military straight out of high school.”

“I know you did.” Her arms threaded around his neck and she ran her tongue across his lips. They parted and moved closer, meeting hers in a kiss.

XXX

It had been an hour. Ashley and Krauser were still off somewhere, Heather and Ari were working on breaking into the soda machine, and Leon went off to find a more secure room to hole up in while they rested. As he made his way carefully down a second floor hallway, he thought he heard coughing in one the classrooms. They registered as outsiders, but that didn’t really help because he was the one odd plaga out in the entire city. When he registered the sound of panting, and heard a low murmur, he knew exactly what he had walked up on. He meant to creep past without looking, but as got close enough, his plaga leaped suddenly, almost painfully, to attention. The shock made him pause for an instant, dizzy, but that instant was all the plaga needed to make him look at the glass.

Inside the classroom, Ashley was still between Jack and the desk, but she no longer sat on it. She knelt in front of him, bobbing her head on his cock. Every time she drew back, she felt the edge of the desk on the back of her neck. It gave her very little room to maneuver, but that was the point of the current game. He shoved his hips forward again, pushing past her gag reflex until his balls touched her chin. Her throat spasmed and her eyes watered, but she didn’t struggle.

God, it felt good, but Jack only held there for a few seconds. After he drew slowly back out, he gave her time to cough, stroking her hair and then letting his hand travel down to finger her bared breast. Once she recovered, he took her head in his hands. “Last time, princess.” She pouted up at him. “Come on, one more, you can do it.” Though she groaned about it, she took him back into her mouth. He cupped her jaw this time, and he could feel himself in her throat. Once more he held for several seconds and then withdrew.

Calloused fingers brushed across her cheeks and under her eyes, wiping away the moisture from the tears. Ashley looked up at him, took his cock in both hands, and swirled her tongue around the tip. He gave her a look that was half smile, half leer, and she grinned back before closing her mouth around him.

Leon stood frozen in the shadows outside the door, staring at the two shadowy shapes through the window. He didn’t want to, but at the same time couldn’t resist. His plaga could smell something, something it missed and wanted powerfully enough that he couldn’t override the damn bug. Even more unsettling, he couldn’t tell what or who exactly had him so transfixed. Ashley or Krauser? What Krauser was doing to Ashley or what Ashley was doing to Krauser?

“Stand up,” Krauser murmured. When the girl got to her feet, he finished stripping her to her panties. White, cotton, string-bikini style. Beautiful. Fisting his hand in the front of them, he pulled the crotch up tight against her clit and jerked side to side.

Ashley squirmed and giggled, catching the desk when she stumbled. His hands ran down her back and hooked into her panties to readjust them. As she pressed close to him, she could feel his hardened cock against her stomach, damp with her spit. He grinned, grabbed her hips, and placed her back on the desk. With a sigh, she held him close as he ground his sex against the moist fabric between her legs.

The ex-agent swallowed hard. He couldn’t really see any details through the glass, but the motions of the shadowy figures and the moans and grunts did a lot to fill in the blanks. He heard each stage of pleasure they progressed through. And then he suddenly became aware of the cool glass against his palm, against his face, but he still felt warm.

The girl spread her legs as wide as she could, panting and clinging to the shirtless body. It didn’t feel as good as penetration, but she’d been forcing Jack to be more responsible. She felt teeth dig into her shoulder and a splash of wet warmth across her belly. Shortly after, his grip relaxed and he moved back enough to kiss her between the eyes, to avoid the bruise on her cheek. Ashley smiled and then looked at her stomach. “Now I have to wash up without getting anything on my clothes…”

“They’re already covered in plaga blood,” Jack snorted.

“I know, but this is embarrassing.”

Leon watched the larger shadow move his hand up the smaller shadow’s stomach and then stick his fingers in her mouth. He pushed himself away from the window and leaned against the wall beside it, breathing through his mouth in an attempt to tune out the smell. Dusty sugar. Whatever it was, his plaga reacted more strongly to it than it ever had to the sound that was broadcast through the city. No way he’d let them catch him spying, especially once he realize he was a little hard. He moved quickly down the hall and ducked into the nearest men’s room to collect himself. It wasn’t easy, that constant hum wasn’t helping his headache. His face still felt hot, so he splashed water on it. When he finally looked up in the mirror, his eyes fell on the collar. He’d forgotten he was wearing it… The door opened and Jack walked in. Leon watched him in the mirror as he crossed behind him and went to one of the urinals. Leon bent back over the sink, cupped some water in his hands and swallowed some, forcing himself to ignore Krauser.

“So you got an eyeful, huh?”

Leon glanced at Krauser’s back in the mirror. “What?”

“Ashley isn’t always as attentive to her surroundings as she should be.” Krauser zipped and flushed. “What were you doing here, anyway?”

Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly. That sound… mingling with that smell… his gut coiled… “I was looking for a secure place to rest up.”

“And did you find anything?” The older man asked, watching Kennedy’s reflection.

“Not yet.” Even in the reflection, he could feel those two gray eyes digging at him. Krauser didn’t respond, moving to wash his hands instead. Blue eyes flicked over him. “Where were you?”

“You know where we were.”

“I meant while you were missing for two years.”

“In Spain with Ari and Heather, and then Heather’s cabin.” Jack shook his hands over the sink.

Which was the same answer he’d gotten from Ashley, but no details that he wanted. “Why didn’t you let Ashley call anyone?”

“She never said she wanted to, until we were working out how to get back here. Then I did it for our safety.”

“Don’t you mean your safety? You didn’t want to get busted for the kidnapping?”

“Like she would have been better off with you?” Jack laughed.

“After all the shit she went through, she would have been better off with her family. Instead of being stuck in some corner of Spain while you take advantage of being the master plaga-”

“I am not,” Jack interrupted, eyes narrowed, “one of those fakey master plagas. And you think she would have been so much better off with humans? Were you better off with humans?”

“She’s the president’s daughter. They would have helped her.” Leon resisted the urge to acknowledge the collar around his neck.

“What would they have done that I couldn’t do? We were lost in the woods for weeks. If they couldn’t get your plaga out by the time you came back, it would have been far too late for her.”

“They would have helped her,” Leon repeated.

“With one of these?” Jack asked, suddenly reaching forward to hook a finger in the collar. “What is this, Kennedy?”

Leon stepped back, but Krauser didn’t let go. “I’m dangerous. It kept me from hurting anyone.”

“What is it?” Jack knew, but he wanted Leon to admit it.

“She’s the president’s daughter. They wouldn’t have-”

“They were afraid of you, so they hurt you. Yes or no?”

“Not all of them.”

“President’s daughter or not, she would have been hurt, by someone somewhere. Besides, she could only hide behind that title for another four years at most. Her colony will always be there for her.” Jack drew his knife. “Why are you picking fights with me, anyway, Kennedy? I thought we were friends.”

The gun was on the counter one sink away. He doubted he could reach it before Krauser had time to react. Instead, he glared right back into the other man’s eyes. “Put that away.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Put it away,” Leon repeated. The sentence was barely out of his mouth when Krauser whipped him around and caught him in a half-nelson. There was a flash, and for the briefest moment he felt metal on his neck. In the following stillness, he heard something hit the floor, and realized the collar was gone. He stared at it.

“Told you I wasn’t gonna hurt you,” Jack chuckled in Kennedy’s ear.

Dusty sugar. Leon twisted out of the hold and backed away, rubbing his throat. Krauser let him, merely standing expressionless with his hands at his sides. But there was something in those eyes, something that gleamed a dull violet in the shadows. “You could have warned me.” If Krauser was going to respond to that, his eyes suddenly moved to the door behind Leon. Leon’s eyes followed his a minute before the door opened and Ashley’s upper body poked around the edge.

She’d heard most of the argument. “He’s a dick, Leon, of course he couldn’t.” She smiled affectionately at her mate.

“You don’t even know what I did,” Jack said.

“Doesn’t matter, you’re still a dick.” Ashley squealed as Jack flashed across the room and tried to duck back out, but he had her by the arm. Her world flipped several times fast as he scooped her up and put her across his shoulders. She giggled and tried to grab him, if by some rare accident he managed to drop her…

“You’re going the right way for a smacked bottom, princes,” Jack mock-threatened.

“Put me down,” she squealed through her giggles.

“Not a chance.” Jack kicked open the door and strode out into the hall. “You coming, Kennedy?”

XXX

The only place they could find without windows was a janitor’s closet. While Ashley stayed with Leon to clear it out, Jack went to get Heather and Ari. They worked in silence, Leon pausing to tug at something under his shirt once in a while. “You okay?” Ashley finally asked.

“Bandage keeps slipping, I couldn’t reach to put it on right.”

“Want some help?”

Leon looked at her and then let out a short laugh. “No, that’s okay.”

“Like I’ve never seen a shirtless guy before? Besides, you saw me in my panties. You owe me.”

Either she knew Leon had been watching her and Krauser, or she was referring to earlier in the clinic. He didn’t indicate that he knew anything about her and Krauser, but he felt his ears get hot at the idea. “In a few more hours it won’t even matter.”

“You want to keep tugging on it for a few more hours?”

Shaking his head, he reached for the edge of his shirt. “Fine.” As he drew it up over his head, he heard Ashley whistle at him. When did she get so bold? “Not helping, Ash.”

“Sorry.” She walked around him, found the loose end of the bandage, and started rewrapping the injury to his ribs. Looked like something took a good swipe at him when the car fell. “There,” she patted him on the shoulder when she finished. “Better, huh?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Leon pulled his shirt back on. The other three joined them just as he and Ashley finished clearing out the closet. It was tight, and there was only one exit, but there was also only one direction that they could be attacked from. Once the plunder from the vending machines was distributed, the others clustered together in the back of the closet, Ashley cuddled up to Krauser, leaning against Ari, who was cuddled up with Heather. Leon watched them sideways from his position by the door. His plaga felt… negative but he couldn’t tell exactly how so. Angry, afraid, lonely, jealous, sad, any one of those things…

“What do you know about what happened here, Kennedy?”

Blinking out of his musings, Leon turned his head to Krauser. “I was in a hospital for a long time, so I didn’t see a lot of the news coverage. On January first, Ingrid came running in asking if I saw what happened during the live feed from Times Square. Said the crowd suddenly started panicking and then something attacked the camera men. Ashley’s parents were there when it happened, but no one knows where they are now.”

“No one knows anything at all?” Ashley asked.

The look in her eyes gave Leon’s heart a jerk. “The search parties have only been out for a few days, they're not done yet.”

Ashley didn’t say anything, staring into the mouth of her Minute Maid bottle. She should have tried to get back earlier. Maybe if she’d been here, they wouldn’t have been in New York in the first place. Maybe… “I’m tired,” she finally mumbled.

“We should take turns keeping watch in the hall,” Heather said.

“You and Ari go first and I’ll relieve you in twenty or thirty minutes,” Jack said, leaning into a corner and closing his eyes.

The pair nodded and went outside. Ashley curled up beside Krauser and put her head in his lap. Leon leaned against the shelves staring at them for a few moments, and then found a place—away from them—to lie down as well.