Broken World (Book 6): Forgotten World by Kate L. Mary Page B

dangerous.”
    Axl’s voice is low, but we’re packed in so tight that I’m worried someone will hear us, so I take his hand and pull him with me as I push my way back through the crowd. Angus glances our way, but he doesn’t move. Good. I want him to stay so he can find out what the plan is, but I want to be able to discuss this whole thing with Axl now. Before things get out of hand or we lose control of this situation.
    We make it into the hall, and the crowd thins out. It’s cooler, and the air is fresher. I hadn’t realized how stuffy it was in the packed office until now.
    Across the hall, Jon, Ginny, Parvarti, Lila, and Al stand, talking.
    “I hadn’t thought of it before,” Lila says, shaking her head. “But Jon could be right.”
    “Right about what?” I ask when we stop in front of the group.
    Al holds up his stump. “The bite. Jon brought something up I hadn’t thought of before. What if I’m immune to this thing? What if cutting my arm off didn’t do a thing to stop the virus?”
    All thoughts of Dax and Atlanta disappear, and suddenly all I can think about is the day Al was bitten. About holding his good hand while Joshua tortured the poor kid by cutting his arm off. Lila crying. All the blood. How weak he was for weeks after that. There were times when I was sure he was going to die, and Jon is absolutely right. It all could have been for nothing.
    “It can’t be…” I shake my head, and I want to look around at everyone else so I can figure out what they’re thinking, but at the moment, all I can do is stare at Al’s stump.
    “Don’t bring it up to Joshua,” Al says, and I finally pull my gaze away from what’s left of his arm. “We didn’t know it was even possible, so we did what we had to do. The doc is going through enough shit right now, he doesn’t need this thrown on top of it all.” Al grins and glances toward Lila. “Plus, chicks dig scars.”
    The other teen rolls her eyes. “Please.”
    Al just chuckles and wraps his good arm around her.
    “What’s going on in there?” Jon asks, nodding toward the crowded office at our backs.
    “Just talkin’ to Atlanta ‘bout us comin’,” Axl says, but shoves his hand through his hair. “I gotta tell you though, that asshole has got me worried.”
    “Dax?” Ginny whispers, her eyes darting to the door behind us.
    I glance back, but no one is paying attention to us. They’re all still focused on whatever Corinne is talking to the guy in Atlanta about.
    “Yeah,” Axl says. “He’s got an ego bigger than I’ve ever seen. I’m worried he’s gonna put us all in danger.”
    “Do you think Corinne would put someone else in charge?” I ask, focusing on Ginny. She seems to know the leader of this group pretty well, and it’s possible she might have some pull when it comes to Corinne. “If we asked her, that is.”
    Ginny exhales. “I don’t think so.”
    “Because she wants to get him off her back,” I say flatly.
    Ginny nods, and around me, everyone else shuffles. When I glance toward Lila and Al, I can tell the reality of what we are about to face hits them. We aren’t afraid to go out there. We’ve been on the road before. Spent weeks just wandering, looking for somewhere safe that might not even exist. We survived. But we did it together. We worked as more than a team. We were a family—still are—and if we have to do it all again, we can. But the idea of being out there with someone who isn’t on our team…that’s the scary part. That’s the part that will get one or more of us killed.
    Before anyone has had a chance to say something else, the crowd begins to break up. Men pass, glancing our way, their eyes narrowed and suspicious. It’s like they think we’re plotting to run off and take Angus with us, when all we really want to do is be with him and be part of the group that will keep him safe. We are definitely the outsiders, and it’s obvious by the hostility radiating off everyone in this