The Extinction Series | Book 4 | Spread of Extinction Ellis, Tara (top 10 ebook reader .TXT) 📖

Tyler had to wonder if it was due to some small emotional reaction to Jason’s obvious criticism of him, or if he was really deciding how logical it was. Then his expression relaxed back into his regular poker face, and he gave Jason a small nod before trudging on. Tyler noted that it wasn’t really an answer.

It took about a half-hour to reach the firmly-packed dirt road that wound its way through the trees. After a few minutes of pouring over the maps Garrett had given them, Hernandez agreed with Jason on what direction to go in order to meet up with the main road they wanted.

“I’d prefer to have three of us for this,” Jason said, after Hernandez was settled against a tree in the shade. “We can leave the fourth gun with you,” he said, gesturing to the ensign.

Jason had been happy to find their weapons and some other stuff already in the helicopter, when they left the CDC. Tyler assumed Garrett put it all there. It would have been great if the guy had thought to pack them some food and water, too. They already had to scavenge for food during their stops. Now that they were going to be driving through the jungle, it was about to get even harder.

Devon sat down beside Hernandez and held his bandaged arm up. “I’ve already been shot once, so I’m thinking my luck has been used up when it comes to special ops. I’ll just hang here with Hernandez and Tyler and make sure they aren’t eaten by anything.”

“Hey,” Tyler interjected, feeling dismissed. “I’m a pretty fast runner, you know.”

“We aren’t going to need any fast runners,” Peta said, sounding annoyed. “And you’re used to being in the rainforest,” she added, looking at Tyler. “You’ll know what to look out for while you keep Hernandez company.”

Eddy didn’t say anything as he removed his backpack and took out two handguns, handing one of them to Peta. Turning to Jason, he gestured down the road. “Lead the way.”

“Marty, stay,” Jason ordered, pointing at Tyler. The German Shepard whined and looked back and forth between the two, showing his indecision. “Stay,” Jason said again, with more force. Lowering his head in defeat, Marty trotted over to sit at Tyler’s feet.

Peta hesitated and stared at Tyler, looking like she wanted to say something else. Instead, she gave him a stiff smile and then dropped her pack next to the others, before jogging to catch up with Eddy and Jason.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Devon muttered, watching them leave.

“Yeah?” Hernandez grunted. “Well, I’ve had a perpetual bad feeling for the past twelve days. Sucky part is, I keep underestimating just how much worse things can get. I’d say I’m pretty much at the lowest point now, though. Don’t you think?”

Devon ignored Tyler as he joined them under the tree, and focused on getting Hernandez a bottle of water and some more Tylenol. “You know, none of us would have made it this far if it hadn’t been for you and Rodriguez saving our butts back on Mauritius,” Devon said, handing him the water and medicine.

Hernandez grunted again as he shook out the last of the pills. Tossing the empty bottle back at Devon, he swallowed them and then leaned back further against the mossy base of the tree. “I’ll let you in on a secret, my friend. I voted to leave your sorry asses behind and make a run for the chopper early on, but Rodriguez overruled me.”

Devon chuckled, but Tyler wasn’t sure if it was actually a joke or not. Smiling, Hernandez used his right hand to lift his left one onto his chest, and then closed his eyes. “I think I’d better rest now, guys. I’m tapped.”

Turning to Tyler, Devon tossed him one of the last bottles of water and then motioned for him to follow him to another tree. “This isn’t good,” he said, shaking his head as Tyler and Marty sat next to him. “Did you see his face? I think the fever’s back already, and we’re out of medicine. There isn’t anything else we can do.”

Tyler watched the steady rise and fall of Hernandez’s chest for a moment. He thought back over when they first met at the small airport on Madagascar, to their escape from the base, and more recently the lab. He set a hand on Marty’s head without realizing it. “He’s always known what to do.”

Devon shifted to face him, and nodded in agreement. “Yup. He’s one of those guys you tend to take for granted. ‘Cause it’s easy to get irritated when he’s bossing you around all of the time, until you realize you need him to. We aren’t as strong of a team without him.”

Team.

Tyler thought about the word. Thought about how they’d come to be sitting in some Venezuelan rainforest, waiting for two doctors and a scientist to jack a car. It might have been funny in another lifetime.

The only team he’d even known before the eruption had been his family, and they’d been taken from him. Taken by forces of nature that no team could ever win against, no matter how big or how strong they were. None of it even seemed real to Tyler as he lounged in the shade of the palm tree.

Fat drops of water began to hit his jeans, spreading out in dark circles like pools of blood. “We’ve done some pretty crazy things,” Tyler said, not wanting to think about another person dying that he’d come to care about.

“Tyler,” Devon said in a demanding tone.

Tyler looked up, surprised.

“We’re going to get there,” Devon said. The happy-go-lucky tone was gone, and was replaced by a confidence Tyler hadn’t seen before. “We’ve got almost two-thousand miles to go, but I know we’re going to get there.”

Encouraged by the small pep-talk, Tyler ruffled