Chapter 472: Last Meeting Before Brigantine’s Rescue

After leaving Margaret, I walked back toward the Whitesun Hotel in silence.

My mind kept returning to what happened with Brad, Billy, and Kyle.

The way I spoke to them.

The way I hit them.

The way I looked down at Brad after throwing him to the ground and told him I would throw all three of them out myself if they did not behave.

Did I go too far?

The question bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

Part of me felt uncomfortable.

That was not how I usually acted.

Sure, I got angry. I had fought people before. I had lost my temper with Romero, with Callighan’s men, with anyone who tried to hurt people I cared about.

But this had been different.

Brad, Billy, and Kyle were not Infected.

They were not Callighan’s soldiers.

They were not Gaspar.

They were scared people who had let fear turn them into assholes.

That did not excuse what they said to Margaret.

It did not excuse them blaming her for Jackson Township, insulting the Boardwalk survivors, or suggesting that we should somehow make peace with Callighan.

Still, I could not stop wondering what everyone else had seen.

Did they see me defending Margaret?

Or did they see the King Host of an S-Rank alien Symbiote threatening three ordinary men who could not fight back against him?

The thought left a strange discomfort in my chest.

But there was another part of me too.

A stronger part.

That part did not feel guilty.

Not even a little.

It was satisfied.

It thought I should have done it sooner.

It thought I should have hit them harder before they had the chance to spread more fear through Margaret’s community.

It told me that people like Brad did not understand kindness. They only understood strength. If they were allowed to keep shouting, keep blaming people, keep building fear around themselves, then eventually they would turn everyone against Margaret.

They would destroy the community from inside before Callighan ever had the chance to attack it from outside.

I did not know which part of me was right.

Maybe both were.

Brad and the others were trying to accomplish something.

Nobody would believe their accusations against Margaret completely. Too many people knew what she had done for Jackson Township. Too many remembered her helping strangers, organizing supplies, feeding people, and refusing to leave anyone behind.

But Brad was not trying to convince everyone at once.

He was playing on fear.

And fear did not need to be reasonable to spread.

Winter was coming.

Callighan was nearby.

The Screamer attack had already proven that the Boardwalk was not safe.

All Brad had to do was keep reminding people of that until they started doubting Margaret.

Until they started believing that kindness was weakness.

Until they became desperate enough to choose someone like him instead.

“Ryan.”

I looked up.

Linda stood near the entrance to the Whitesun Hotel, organizing newly brought supplies with a few other people. Several crates had been placed near the lobby doors, filled with canned food, bottled water, blankets, batteries, and whatever else Martin’s scavenging groups had managed to find.

Linda held a clipboard in one hand, marking down what had arrived.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” I asked.

She looked at me.

Then she rolled her eyes.

“I’m pregnant, Ryan. I’m not dying.”

I laughed a little.

“Right. But you and Martin are both workaholics. You should let other people handle this and take a break.”

Linda gave me a small smile.

“Just sitting around and doing nothing isn’t really me.”

She looked down at the clipboard.

“And I want to stay active.”

“I understand,” I said. “Just don’t overdo it.”

Linda’s expression softened at that.

After decades, she and Martin were finally going to have a child.

The world had ended. Cities were filled with Infected. People had lost homes, families, and entire communities. There were Starakians, Symbiotes, Callighan, Gaspar, and more danger than anyone could reasonably handle.

Yet Linda was pregnant.

A new life was coming into this world.

It was frightening.

But somehow, it was hopeful too.

I wanted that baby to be born safely.

I wanted Linda and Martin to get something good after all the years they had spent alone.

“Aren’t you going to be a good uncle to my baby?” Linda asked with a quiet laugh.

I stared at her.

“Uncle? Please. I’m seventeen.”

Linda laughed harder.

“Seventeen is old enough.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“It is for an uncle.”

I shook my head.

“I refuse.”

“You don’t get a choice.”

“That sounds unfair.”

Linda smiled.

“Life is unfair.”

I could not even argue with that.

In the end, I stayed to help her and the others unload the remaining supplies.

The crates were heavier than they looked, but Dullahan’s strength made the work easy. I carried food, water, blankets, boxes of batteries, medical supplies, and tools into the lobby while Linda checked them off her list.

Martin’s groups had clearly been working hard.

Since arriving near Atlantic City, he had organized scavenging teams to gather as much as possible from the surrounding area. They searched stores, warehouses, abandoned houses, garages, pharmacies, and anywhere else that might still have supplies.

Winter was still months away.

But that did not mean they could wait.

Summer was the time to prepare.

To gather food while it was easier to travel.

To find blankets and fuel before everyone became desperate for them.

To reinforce the buildings before cold rain and snow made repairs harder.

To stock medicine before people started getting sick.

Everyone understood that now.

Everyone was working.

By the time we finished moving the final crate, I could feel the ache in my ribs returning.

Linda noticed immediately.

“You shouldn’t be the one calling anyone a workaholic,” she said.

I smiled faintly.

“Just rest, Linda.”

I lightly patted her shoulder.

Then I turned and headed upstairs.

I needed to rest too.

Not because I wanted to.

But because tonight was the rescue.

If everything went according to plan, they would be crossing the water tonight.

And Rachel, Lucy, and I would be waiting.

I returned to my room and sat down on the bed.

At first, I only planned to close my eyes for a few minutes.

Just enough to let my body recover.

Just enough to stop the pain in my ribs from becoming distracting.

But exhaustion caught up with me faster than I expected.

I must have fallen asleep.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt a weight on my body.

I frowned.

Then I looked down.

Sydney was kneeling on top of me, her hands resting lightly near my shoulders.

She had a smirk on her face.

“Wake up, darling.”

I blinked a few times.

“That’s one way to wake someone up.”

Sydney shifted off me and sat beside me on the bed.

“Well,” she said, “I had other ideas.”

“Don’t tell me.”

Sydney laughed quietly.

I sat up slowly, ignoring the pull of pain through my ribs.

The sunlight outside had changed. It was later now. The room was dimmer, and the noise from the hotel had grown louder.

I looked at Sydney.

“Is everyone gathered?”

She nodded.

“Yeah. They’re waiting in one of the staff rooms in the lobby.”

Her expression became more serious.

“I got everyone together because you said it was important.”

“It is.”

I stood up.

I headed toward the door, and Sydney followed.

As we walked down the stairs, she studied my face.

“It’s about Mei, right?” She asked.

I looked at her.

Sydney’s expression had lost all of its usual teasing.

“Is it finally time?”

It was not hard for her to guess.

I nodded.

“Yeah.”

My voice came out serious.

“It’s time.”

Sydney did not say anything else.

The two of us reached the lobby and moved through a more private corridor near the back of the hotel. Before the outbreak, it had probably been used only by staff. The wallpaper was faded, the lights were weak, and there were old signs pointing toward storage rooms, maintenance areas, and employee facilities.

Sydney led me to a closed door.

Then she opened it.

Inside was a spacious staff room with a long table at the center.

Everyone was already there.

Rachel.

Christopher.

Cindy.

Rebecca.

Daisy.

Lucy.

To my surprise, Ivy was there too.

She stood slightly apart from the others, quiet as always.

Her eyes met mine.

I looked away.

There was no time for that now.

I moved toward the table.

“I think you already know why I called everyone here,” I said.

The room fell quiet.

Then I looked at them.

“But it’s time.”

Lucy let out a long breath.

“Finally.”

Her voice carried the same impatience I felt.

I wanted Mei and Emily out of Brigantine.

Lucy wanted Keith out of that nightmare.

I nodded at her.

“Yeah,” I said. “Tonight, we bring them home.”

“Right,” Christopher said.

He stood with his arms crossed, looking at me from across the long table.

“So you haven’t changed your mind? You still want to go there with only Rachel and Lucy?”

I nodded.

“That’s better.”

Christopher’s expression did not change.

I knew what he was thinking.

Three people entering enemy territory was dangerous.

But taking more people would only make the rescue harder. More footsteps. More chances for someone to make noise. More people to notice. More people who could be caught if Gaspar or Callighan’s guards found us.

And the plan only worked if we stayed fast.

Quiet and small.

“Rachel can cover us with her barriers,” I explained. “If we get spotted, she can protect us long enough for us to get back to the boat.”

Rachel gave a small nod.

“And Lucy can do the same in her own way,” I continued.

Lucy leaned back slightly in her chair and nodded briefly.

Lucy had experience.

More than the rest of us.

She had been a Marine before the outbreak. She knew how to handle firearms, how to move under pressure, how to read a dangerous situation, and how to act without freezing when everything suddenly went wrong.

I had seen her fight.

She was fast.

Accurate.

And calm in a way most people could not be when bullets started flying.

“Because she’s good with guns?” Sydney asked, rolling her eyes. “How cliché.”

“It’s more than that,” Cindy said before I could answer.

Sydney turned toward her.

Cindy smiled slightly.

“You should have seen her fight. She’s amazing.”

Sydney let out a long sigh.

“Great. Another fangirl for Lucy.”

I looked around at everyone again.

“I know it’s hard,” I said. “But that’s my decision.”

My voice became more serious.

“Rachel, Lucy, and I go to Brigantine. The fewer people there are, the better it is for everyone.”

Christopher let out a breath.

“No, I get it.”

He looked frustrated, but not angry.

“Honestly, we would probably just be useless there.”

“That’s not true,” I said.

Christopher looked at me.

“It’s not,” I repeated. “You just aren’t the right people for getting inside Brigantine.”

I leaned forward slightly against the table.

“But I still want you with us.”

Everyone listened.

“On the boat, it’ll only be Rachel, Lucy, and me,” I said. “But the rest of you can wait on the other side of the water.”

Sydney’s expression changed.

“Wait for you?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

“You can stay near the shore, close to the road leading to the Golden Nugget Hotel. Rico and the others will be watching that area too.”

I looked toward Christopher, Cindy, Sydney, Rebecca, and Daisy.

“If we make it back, you’ll be there to help us get everyone away quickly. And if Callighan’s people somehow chase us across the water, you can cover us from the shore.”

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Christopher’s face relaxed slightly.

“I know you thought we would try to come all the way to Brigantine,” I said with a faint smile. “Or at least insist on riding in the boat.”

Sydney gave me an innocent look.

“I would never.”

“You would,” I said dryly.

“Maybe.”

“But it will be safer this way,” I continued. “You wait on this side. You stay close enough to help. But you don’t enter their territory.”

“That’s much better,” Sydney said, sounding satisfied.

Christopher nodded too.

“Works for me.”

Then he gave a short laugh.

“I mean, we never know if you end up getting chased by a boat in the middle of the water.”

Sydney looked at him.

“That would be amazing.”

“T…That would be scary,” Daisy muttered.

Her hands tightened together in her lap.

She had not said much during the meeting. The thought of a rescue mission was clearly worrying her. It was probably worrying everyone, even if some of them were better at hiding it.

Cindy reached over and lightly touched Daisy’s hand.

“We’ll be ready,” she said.

Daisy nodded, though she still looked anxious.

“It will be fine,” I said.

I knew that sounded like the kind of thing people said when they could not promise anything.

But I had to believe it.

Tommy’s message said midnight.

That was the time.

“We leave an hour early,” I continued. “We need time to get into position before Tommy brings them out.”

“Can we come too then?”

Everyone turned.

Rebecca stood near the end of the table.

She looked uncertain, but she had spoken clearly enough.

“I mean…” She lowered her gaze briefly. “I want to be there too.”

Daisy looked at her, then looked toward me.

“I also want to come,” she said quietly.

For a second, I hesitated.

Maybe I was being too protective.

Rebecca and Daisy were not experienced fighters. They had survived a lot, but they were different than us.

If things went wrong, I did not know whether they could handle it.

But they would not be entering Brigantine.

They would only be waiting near the shore, close to the road watched by Rico’s group at the Golden Nugget Hotel. If the rescue went as planned, they would be far from the actual danger.

They had spent too much time being left behind while others went into danger. Sometimes, waiting was worse than fighting.

“It’s fine,” I said.

Both of them looked at me.

“You can come.”

Daisy’s face brightened slightly.

Rebecca looked relieved too.

My eyes rested on her for a moment.

She seemed quieter than usual.

Meeker, maybe.

But not in a bad way.

After the conversation with Rachel, after learning the truth about us, she had not avoided me. She had still come to this meeting. She still wanted to be involved.

Maybe things were not fixed.

But they were better.

At least, I hoped they were.

I took a slow breath.

Then I looked around the table.

“Alright,” I said. “Tonight, we go to Brigantine.”

My fingers curled lightly against the edge of the table.

“And we bring Mei, Emily, Tommy, and Keith.”

I said their names one by one.

“The four of them.”

Everyone nodded.