Page 5 of Alpha Infected
When he entered the common room, the TV was on, turned to the right channel. Jax sat in one of the big, comfy arm chairs, his long legs stretched out in front of him. Ice lounged on the smaller of the two couches. After greeting Jax, Hazard made a beeline over to Ice, plopping down beside his mate.
“Ahhhh.”
With a content sigh, Hazard scrunched down to get comfortable, letting his legs loll open wide so that his right knee bumped up against Ice’s left. Then, he slid over on the cushions so that his shoulder rested against the solid bulk of Ice’s arm. Once he was settled, he looked up at his mate with a mischievous grin on his lips. “You don’t mind if I stretch out and get comfortable, do you?”
Ice gave him an exasperated side-eye.
“If you need room to stretch out, there’s another couch over there,” he said, pointing at the empty couch with the ugly green and yellow patterned fabric.
“I don’t like that couch,” Hazard protested.
“Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t have you sitting on it, sir.”
A groan came from Jax at his cheesy line. Hazard pretended he didn’t hear it.
His teasing made the captain blush. Even after a year of Ice going without a face covering in the privacy of their barracks, it was still a treat to see his expressions shown so freely on his handsome face. He adored seeing the rosy blush that swept his mate’s cheeks whenever he teased him.
“How many times do I have to tell you teasing like that will get you into trouble?”
“How many times do I have to tease you before you realize I love being in trouble with you?”
Ice tilted his head down to look directly at him. Hazard boldly met his gaze. As he stared into those lovely, expressive, coffee brown eyes, he almost sighed like a love sick school boy.
“Insubordinate brat,” Ice rumbled low and gravelly.
The sound of that voice sent shivers of desire down Hazard’s spine. He loved listening to his mate’s voice. It was all the more cherished since Ice wasn’t a big talker. That voice called to him, in a way that only a mate’s voice could. It sounded deep and rough in his ear when they made love and whispered sweet words of adoration to him every night as they fell asleep. He would never get tired of hearing it.
“Okay, Captain Anderson. I’ll leave you alone. For now.”
Hazard turned his attention to the TV to watch the game he’d been looking forward to. But he didn’t move out of Ice’s space. And Ice didn’t move either. Since they truly did love being close to each other, they sat there, knees touching, Hazard’s arm looped through Ice’s as they focused on the game.
The three of them watched, relaxed and mostly quiet except for occasional outbursts at a play or ref’s call. Then suddenly the game cut off and the screen turned to static. After a moment, the static went away and a public safety announcement card popped up on the screen.
We interrupt this broadcast for a public safety announcement,a disembodied voice said.
“Hey!” Hazard yelled at the TV. “What is this shit? My team was just about to score!”
“This might actually be important,” Ice said in his low voice.
Hazard crossed his arms over his chest. “Not more important than the game’s first score,” he grumbled under his breath.
The PSA faded from the screen but the game didn’t resume. Instead, the local newscasters appeared. A man and a woman, both brunettes. They sat behind the large newsroom desk, wearing matching expressions of professional concern. The woman spoke first.
“An unknown virus has broken out in Tulsa this morning, infecting dozens of people. We’re bringing you a look at what’s happening right now in the downtown Tulsa area.”
The man spoke just before the screen changed. “Folks, this is not a Halloween prank. This isextremelygraphic, so viewer discretion is advised.”
The newsroom disappeared, replaced with shaky camera footage that appeared to be taken from a helicopter. On the streets below, multiple people sprinted back and forth with frenetic energy, chasing pedestrians, and leaping on them to drag them down to the ground. Then they did the unthinkable.
“Sweet Mother...” Jax trailed off into stunned silence before finishing.
“Are they eating people’s faces?” Ice asked with a mixture of shock and disgust in his deep voice.
Hazard was just as appalled. “When did cannibalism become the new diet craze?”
They continued to stare at the TV in horror. Some of those attacked were killed with terrible, gory violence. Others lay writhing and screaming in pain with blood splattered all over their face after their attackers got distracted and raced off in search of a fresh victim.
