Chapter 37 THREE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

Chapter 37 THREE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS
Joyce's POV

Someone had hung silver bells above the entrance of the elementary school for the Christmas pageant.

In two days, this building was supposed to explode with children inside.

I watched the bomb squad work in the basement. They wore black vests and had their device tucked behind the water heater. Fifty-nine hours and counting.

Dalton stood beside me, sweating despite the cold. He had not let me out of his sight.

"You need to sit down," I said.

"I am fine."

"You are not fine. You are burning up." I touched his arm and felt his burning temperature.
He pulled away. "We have work to do."

Victoria came down the stairs with a clipboard. "I have got teams searching the hospital, the town hall, and the community centre. Taylor is coordinating the business district."

"What about evacuation?" I asked.

"We cannot evacuate without causing panic. Where would they go? And what do we tell them?" Victoria looked at her clipboard. "We have three days until Christmas. Every hotel within fifty miles is booked."

"Then we tell them the truth."

"The truth will start a riot." Dalton leaned against the wall. "We handle this quietly. Find the bombs and disarm them. No one needs to know."

"And if we do not find them all?" I kept my voice low. "You would rather people die than admit we have a problem?"

"I would rather not terrify an entire town three days before Christmas."

The lead technician stood up. "We are clear. Device is disarmed."

I felt relieved. One down. But then I saw what the technician held up.

A note was taped to the side of the bomb.

Dalton took it. He gritted his teeth as he read and handed it to me.

"Found one. Nineteen more to go. Better hurry, Alpha."

Twenty bombs total. Seventy-two hours to find them. I did the math. Less than four hours per bomb if we worked nonstop.

"He is playing with us," Victoria said.

"No. He is trying to break us." Dalton pushed off the wall and nearly fell. I caught him and felt how much weight he had lost in just two days.

"You need to see Dr Reeves now."

"After we search the high school."

"Dalton, you can barely stand."

"I said after." He walked toward the stairs, and I saw him grab the railing for support.

Victoria waited until he was gone. "The silver is spreading. I can smell it on him."

"I know."

"If he does not get treatment soon, he will die before Christmas Eve."

"I know that too." I followed Dalton up the stairs and into the cold December air.

We drove to the pack house in silence. Dalton stared out the window, his breathing shallow.

"When were you going to tell me?" I asked.

"Tell you what?"

"That this injury is affecting you badly."

He just kept staring at the Christmas decorations and did not answer.

"The silver is in your bloodstream. You need antibiotics and lots of rest."

"I need to protect my pack."

"You cannot protect anyone if you are dead."

"Then I will die protecting them. That is what an Alpha does."

I slammed on the brakes. We were alone on the road. "That is what a martyr does. An Alpha leads, makes hard choices, and stays alive to finish the job."

"Do not tell me how to be Alpha." 

"And you are ready to throw that life away because you feel guilty." I turned to face him. "You think if you die saving them, it makes up for rejecting me. For hurting everyone."

"You do not know what you are talking about."

"Then tell me I am wrong. Tell me you are not trying to get yourself killed so you do not have to choose between the pack and me."

He looked at me then. "What do you want me to say, Joyce?"

"I want you to say you will fight to stay alive." My hands were shaking. "I want you to choose us."

“I am choosing three thousand lives over my own comfort."

"That is not the same thing, and you know it."

We sat in silence. Snow started falling.

"If I reject you again in front of everyone to save them." He met my eyes. "Could you forgive me for that?"

I started driving again before I answered. "I do not know."

We got to the pack house and Dr Reeves was waiting. She took one look at Dalton and called for a wheelbed.

"No," he said. "I have to coordinate the search teams."

"You have to not die in the next hour." Dr Reeves grabbed his arm. "Your temperature is one hundred and four. The silver is shutting down your organs. You have maybe twelve hours before it reaches your heart."

"Twelve hours is enough time to find a few more bombs."

"Twelve hours is how long you have to live if you do not get treatment right now." Dr Reeves looked at me. "Tell him."

"He knows. He just does not care." I walked past them both into the house.

One of the technicians, named Alex, met me in the hallway. "We found another one at the high school.”

"How many teams do we have searching?"

"Twenty. We are covering every public building first, then moving to private residences." He pulled out a map covered in red circles. “Schools, hospitals, places where people gather are the most likely targets based on Vane's pattern."

"What about the church? The Christmas Eve service is the biggest event of the year."

Alex added another red circle. "Good thinking. I will send a team there now."

Taylor appeared with coffee and a tablet. "I have been analysing Vane's psychology. He wants maximum impact. He would not just blow up empty buildings."

"So he is targeting places that will be full on Christmas Eve."

"Exactly. Which means we can narrow down the locations." Taylor pulled up a schedule on his tablet. "Candlelight service at St. Mary's. The town square has the tree lighting ceremony. The hospital always does a children's party."

"That is three. We need sixteen more."

"I am working on it."

Dr Reeves came in supporting Dalton. His skin looks grey.

"I convinced him to take the antibiotics," she said. "But he refuses to stay in bed."

"Because we have work to do." Dalton sat down hard in a chair. "Show me the map."

We spent the next six hours coordinating searches. Teams called in every thirty minutes with updates. Most found nothing, but two found devices. 

Dalton grew weaker as the night went on. He tried to hide it, but I saw him close his eyes against waves of pain.

At midnight, Victoria brought food, but no one ate.

"We are running out of time," Alex said. "We have searched sixty per cent of the town and only found three bombs."

"Then we are missing something." I studied the map. "Vane is smart. He would not make this easy. Where would he hide bombs that we would not think to look?"

"Abandoned buildings," Taylor suggested.

"We already checked those."

"What about places that are under construction? Or scheduled for demolition?" I pointed to an area on the east side. 

Alex nodded. "I will send teams now."

Dalton stood up and immediately sat back down. His face was white.

"That is it." Dr Reeves grabbed his arm. "You are getting a transfusion whether you like it or not."

"Not yet."

"You do not have a choice. Help me get him to the medical wing."

We half-carried Dalton down the hall. He tried to argue, but he did not have the strength.

Dr Reeves set up an IV and started the transfusion. "This will take three hours. You are staying in this bed the entire time."

"We do not have three hours to waste."

"You do not have three hours to live if you keep pushing." Dr Reeves checked his vitals. "Your heart rate is irregular. Your kidneys are struggling, and if the silver reaches your heart, you will die."

I sat down beside the bed. "I will stay with him. You coordinate the search teams."

After Dr Reeveas left, Dalton closed his eyes.

"You should go help them," he said.

"I am helping by making sure you do not die."

"Joyce."

"No. I am not leaving you alone." I took his hand. "Not this time."

We sat in silence. Christmas lights blinked on the houses below. In three days, Dalton might have to reject me in front of everyone. 

Or we might all die in a series of explosions set.