The Last Antidote

Spencer Dawson didn't even look at me as he handed Nora Pierce the antidote.

"Take this."

He said it as casually as if he were offering her a bottle of water. Nora accepted it, barely hiding her satisfaction.

Then he handed me a small vial of cloudy liquid.

"It's an inhibitor," he said, avoiding my eyes. "It'll buy you more time."

The cheap inhibitor couldn't help me. My infection was already too advanced.

I kept my voice steady. "You know that won't work on me."

Spencer frowned and looked away. "Gemma, don't make this harder than it needs to be. Nora isn't as strong as you. If she really is infected—"

I cut him off with a bitter laugh. "She hasn't been on a single mission since she joined, and she doesn't have a scratch on her. How would she have gotten infected?"

"You can't tell just by looking at her!"

Spencer raised his voice. "You know the virus has a three-day incubation period. As captain, I'm responsible for everyone in this squad.

"You're my girlfriend, but you're also my second-in-command. What will everyone think if I give you the antidote instead of her? How am I supposed to lead them if they think I'm playing favorites?"

He used the same excuse every time, and now, he was using it to deny me the antidote.

Grayish-white veins spread up my right arm toward my shoulder. The burning beneath my skin grew worse by the second.

I stared at him and drew a deep breath.

"So protecting your reputation matters more than keeping me alive? You think you can hand me an inhibitor that won't work and say you've done your job?"

Spencer's expression changed. "How can you say that?

"I told you I'm going to the research facility in the West District tomorrow. I'll get you another dose. Just trust me one more time."

Before the apocalypse, Spencer and I made a great team at the military academy.

He gave the orders, and I led the charge. He drew up the plans, and I carried them out.

Everyone said we were perfect for each other.

On graduation day, we stood together on the training field, and he promised me, "You can always trust me with your life."

When the apocalypse hit, I helped him put together a squad of survivors and gladly served as his second-in-command.

I took the most dangerous assignments and let him take the credit.

Over three years, our squad grew from seven survivors to more than forty. Spencer became a captain everyone respected and admired.

But whenever I needed him, he worried about looking like he played favorites.

He kept breaking his promises, then asking me to wait just a little longer.

If the infection hadn't taken my powers and left me defenseless against the zombies outside, I would've gone after the antidote myself.