Chapter 4

Alex looked from one fearful face to another. His family.

"No," he said, his voice firm, cutting through their anxious murmurs.

"What do you mean, no?" Mark bristled, gripping the rifle tighter.

"I mean no. I'm not going to the ranger station to die of exposure, and I'm certainly not letting you lock me in that rat-infested jail."

Alex knew he was immune. He also knew Dr. Peterson and the HHS convoy were minutes away. This whole charade was insane.

"You don't have a choice, Alex," John said, his voice strained. "It's for the community."

"Is it?" Alex' s eyes narrowed, fixing on Mark. "Or is it because my return is inconvenient for some people?"

Mark' s smirk widened. "You always were a troublemaker. Can't just accept what's best."

Alex could see it clearly now. Both options were designed to make him disappear, permanently. The ranger station offered a slow, lonely death. The jail, quicker perhaps, but just as final. Mark' s subtle threats weren't subtle at all.

"You think I don't see what this is?" Alex challenged. "You want me gone."

"We want the town safe!" Mark almost shouted.

"The town is safe because of me!" Alex shot back, his voice rising. "The vaccine, Mark! It came from my antibodies! I volunteered, I risked my life for three years while you were here... doing what, exactly?"

His gaze flicked to Sarah's pregnant belly.

Mark' s face flushed with anger. "Don't you dare talk about things you don't understand."

"Oh, I understand perfectly," Alex said, a cold calm settling over him. "You presumed me dead, you took my wife, and now you want to eliminate the complication."

Sarah gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.

His parents looked horrified, but not at Mark, at Alex.

"He's delirious," Mary whispered. "The sickness, it's affecting his mind."

Alex realized then how deep their fear, and Mark's manipulation, ran. They wouldn't believe him. Not until Peterson arrived.

He just had to stay alive until then.

He took a step back, slowly. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'll wait for Dr. Peterson right here."

Mark' s eyes glinted. "I don't think so."