Chapter 56: Screwed with you for life

It wasn’t zombies—someone was pounding on the wall.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ray sat upright in an instant, shielding May behind him.

"Ray! Ray, you still alive?!" Mitch’s voice carried through several layers of rubble—muffled, but full of energy. "If you’re alive, say something! Keep quiet and I’ll assume you’re dead in there!"

Ray opened his mouth. His throat was still raw; the voice that came out barely sounded like him. "Quit yelling! I’m not dead!"

Two seconds of silence, then chaos erupted on the other side.

"Holy shit—he’s alive!" Mitch’s voice was thick with relief, then flipped straight into anger. "You’re alive and you didn’t say a damn word?! Made me think you’d bought it in there!"

"Ray! Is May there too?" Alex’s voice followed right after.

May, still curled against Ray, called out softly, "I’m here! Stop shouting—we’re both fine!"

Ray frowned and shot her a sharp look.

The meaning was clear: stop wasting breath on those little bastards outside.

May stuck her tongue out at him and pretended not to notice.

"The cave-in sealed the passage completely. You can’t get out for now!"

Theo’s voice was unnervingly calm. "Jack’s trying to pry the rocks, but the opening’s too wide. Hands alone won’t do it. We’re searching the shelter for tools. Hang on a little longer."

"How long?" Ray asked.

"Hard to say. This shelter was built in the sixties or seventies. No idea if the tool room still has anything usable. Optimistic estimate—two hours. And that’s optimistic."

Two hours.

Ray glanced at the iron door the skin-walkers had torn open, then at the wound on May. His brows knotted tight.

"Understood."

May rested her head on his shoulder and suddenly laughed under her breath.

"Ray... two whole hours." She looked up at him, eyes bright. "Just the two of us stuck in this tiny broken room for two hours..."

The red that had just faded from his ears flooded right back. He clamped a hand over the top of her head and pushed it firmly into the hollow of his shoulder.

"Shut up."

May stayed pressed against him, unable to stop the smile curling at the corners of her mouth. Ray released her. The two of them sat in the cramped chamber, trying to steady their breathing. The air still carried the lingering mix of blood and something far more charged.

"Thirsty?" His voice was rough. He braced a hand on his knee and tried to stand. "I saw water left by survivors over there."

The moment weight settled on his right leg, his brows locked together. Fine beads of cold sweat sprang up across his bronze forehead.

The injured leg buckled without warning. If he hadn’t caught himself against the concrete wall in time, he would have collapsed straight onto May.

"Ray, don’t move!"

She rushed forward, catching his arm and looking up at him. "Your leg’s like this and you’re still trying to act tough? I’m not thirsty. Sit down."

He pushed her hand away and forced himself upright through gritted teeth. "Save the lecture. This little cut is nothing. You just got clawed by a venomous skin-walker. If you don’t drink something to help flush the toxin, and then you spike a fever, who’s going to carry your ass out of here?"

He dragged the injured leg, shuffling the few steps toward the combat pack.

The bandage he had wrapped roughly around the upper outer thigh of his black combat pants was already soaked through. Dark red blood seeped down the fabric and dripped onto the dusty concrete, leaving small dark circles.

May stared at the steady drip and felt her heart lurch. This wasn’t seeping. This was bleeding freely.

"Ray, the blood’s soaked all the way through!" She closed the distance in a few steps, blocking his path and pointing at the base of his thigh. "Let me see how bad it actually is. Or I’ll start yelling for the others to come in and saw the leg off!"

Half of Ray’s face went dark. He brushed her hand aside.

"See what? It’s a surface wound. Besides—you’re a girl. Want to stare at me in my underpants so badly? You’re such a huge pervert, you know that?"

"It’s the apocalypse. Who still cares about this nonsense?"

May rolled her eyes, planted her hands on her hips, and fired back without hesitation.

"When you were sucking the poison out of me just now, you didn’t suddenly remember I was a ’girl.’ And this is to help you, not to take advantage. Hurry up and drop the pants!"

The blunt retort left him speechless. That decisive, battle-hardened face flushed crimson; the veins in his neck stood out.

He glared at her for a full half-minute before finally exhaling in defeat.

"Fuck. I’m screwed with you for life."

He unfastened the tactical belt. The metal buckle clicked sharply. His fingers trembled from the pain as he worked the zipper, then shoved the combat pants down to mid-thigh.

On the outer side of his powerful upper thigh, the sharp wooden splinter still hadn’t been fully removed. The surrounding flesh was torn outward, dark blood welling steadily.

Earlier, he had been too busy extracting venom from May and fighting the skin-walkers to deal with it.

She sucked in a sharp breath, heart clenching. "There’s still wood in there! Do you not feel pain at all?"

"Once it’s out it won’t hurt." He turned his face away, voice low and muffled. "Find tweezers or use a blade to dig it out, then wrap it. That’s all."

"Sit on the rock. Spread your legs a little."

May tore open a fresh first-aid pack and pulled out clotting powder and gauze.

Ray obeyed, settling against the wall on a flat stone with his legs apart—an open, completely unguarded posture that made access easy.

The muscles of his inner thighs tensed with every breath. The injured right leg trembled faintly.

May knelt in the space between his legs and bent to work on the wound.

She first wiped the blood and dirt from around the injury with an alcohol swab. His muscles clenched hard; the thigh went rigid as iron.

"Hang on. Almost done." She murmured under her breath, tweezers carefully gripping the wooden splinter.