Chapter 1 – Teylor Cruz
Teylor Cruz leaned against the hood of the jeep, pretending that he couldn't see the couple standing on the other side of the vehicle. Lieutenant Danny Green had one arm wrapped around his wife, while the other stroked the top of his daughter's head. Lieutenant Kara Green (née Foster) looked up at her husband, the words she was speaking too soft for Teylor to understand. But there was no mistaking the look in her eyes; the love, the fear, the resolution. The riotous emotions involved in loving someone so completely, with all of the accompanying risks and rewards.
They were emotions that Teylor understood all too well. Emotions, in fact, that he was currently experiencing. Unfortunately, it was not clear that the object of his affection felt the same way.
Caroline Green. Caro. Teylor had been captivated by her from the moment they met, when she turned her flashing blue-green eyes (her one physical resemblance to her brother) on him dismissively, as Danny introduced her as his "pain in the ass" younger sister. But Caro hadn't felt the same way. Or at least she hadn't admitted to feeling the same way. Not until they met again post-virus, when Teylor accompanied Danny to his hometown to search for his family, and Teylor had laid all of his cards on the table. For the last four glorious months Teylor had been riding high on the belief that he might actually have a future with the woman he had secretly (or maybe not so secretly) been in love with for years.
And then Saturday had happened.
Saturday was when Teylor had made the colossal mistake of asking Caro what size ring she wore, only to be told scathingly that she would never wear such an antiquated symbol of a man's ownership. Taken by surprise, Teylor's own reaction, to inform her that no ring meant no wedding, had, in retrospect, been an enormous error in judgment, setting them up, as it did, in a battle of wills. Caro had flounced off at that point, saving Teylor from making any other life-altering statements, and they had attended Captain Chandler and Doctor Scott's wedding together as planned. But the tension remained.
Because Teylor had not apologized, as he usually did when he and Caro fought, even when they both knew that it was her fault. Nor had he taken back his words, his subtle as a hammer statement that any wedding would be conditioned on her agreement to wear the damn antiquated symbol. Although the logical part of his mind screamed at him that he was being an idiot, risking losing the woman he loved over a symbol, Teylor could not let go of the dream of seeing his mother's ring on Caro's finger.
Eight months prior – Louisiana
Danny glanced at Teylor with hooded eyes. Teylor knew that the significance of the large, red X spray-painted across the side of his parents' home had not been lost on any of his teammates. The plan, as it always was in these circumstances, was for the other guys to clear the house before Teylor would be allowed inside.
"Wolf, Burk and I will take inside. Tex and Miller, stay here with Cruz." Whistling for Halsey, Danny headed towards the front door. Rick moved forward to stand next to Teylor, providing the only support that he could. A full ten minutes passed before the door opened again and Danny exited, his face grim.
"I'm sorry, Teylor."
Teylor thought he had been prepared for the news, but the words shook him to the core.
"Who…who was there?"
"Your parents and Eli and Oz and…." Danny's throat worked "the girls."
Teylor leaned heavily against the jeep. So his parents and sister and brother-in-law were dead, along with his nieces. God, the kids were so little – five, four and three. Stairstep children, he had jokingly called them to Eli, because the girls were only a year apart, before telling Oz that he needed to get snipped. Never in a million years had Teylor imagined them dead.
"There's a letter for you in the kitchen," Carlton added. "We didn't touch it. I can get it, if you want."
"No, I'll go."
He knew that they were all watching him. Not to judge him – Teylor had complete faith in that. But because they were worried. Worried that the news would break him the way it had broken so many others. And Teylor understood that worry. Because part of him wanted to walk into that house and never walk out again. But how could he do that to Carlton? Who, despite his frantic efforts to save her, had watched Ravit die? Or Wolf, who might have to wait years to search for his own family? Or Rick, who was just a kid? Or Danny, who had already seen too many of his people die?
At the kitchen table sat three letters, each addressed to one of the Cruz boys. Teylor's heart leapt at the sight. Perhaps there was hope. Not for his parents or his sister, but for his brothers, for his sisters-in-law, for his remaining nieces and nephews.
Teylor lifted the letter off the table, his finger running over his name, written in his mother's perfect script across the front of the envelop. His finger slid under the flap, unsealing the letter and pulling out the single sheet of paper inside. As he did, an unadorned gold ring clattered to the table. His mother's wedding ring. Teylor lifted the ring, squeezing it tightly in his palm before sliding it onto the chain that held his dog tags. His eyes skimmed across the words on the paper, his mother expressing her love, her hope that he was safe, and her desire that he (the only one of her children to remain unmarried) keep the ring for his future wife. Ignoring the tears burning in his eyes, Teylor re-folded the letter and placed it carefully in his vest pocket before walking out of his childhood home for what he knew would be the last time.
"What are you thinking, T?" Danny put a hand on Teylor's shoulder, his warm palm burning through Teylor's uniform to the numb flesh below.
"I need to bury them," Teylor responded emotionlessly.
"Where?" Danny didn't hesitate.
"At the church. Mama would want to be in consecrated ground."
Teylor turned, but before he could take a step Carlton blocked him, Burk's eyes meeting Danny's over Teylor's shoulder. "You should stay here. We can find it."
"No, I can't stay here. I need to do something." Teylor met Carlton's gaze directly.
Danny was the one to make the call. "Lead on."
Danny, Carlton, and Tex fell in step with him, Wolf and Rick staying behind. They would follow with the bodies once the graves were dug. The men walked in silence towards the center of town where the church was located, nobody left alive to slow their progress. They had reached the edge of the cemetery when Halsey's growl alerted them to a foreign presence.
"Padre?" Teylor unconsciously switched to Spanish at the sight of the parish priest he had known since childhood.
The man's eyes widened in recognition. "Teylor Cruz? You must leave now! The sickness is here."
"We know, Father, we have the cure." Teylor waved his hand at Danny, who held up the CDC case he was carrying in case they ran into survivors.
The priest collapsed in the middle of the road and, as Teylor and Carlton rushed to his side, Teylor noticed the tears streaming down his face. "God is merciful."
"Father, please drink some water," Carlton pulled out a bottle of water out of his pack and opened it for the priest.
Teylor waited until the man had drained half the bottle. "Are there other survivors?"
"Yes, a few." The man viewed Teylor sorrowfully. "I have not seen your parents in some time."
"We found my parents and sister at the house," Teylor replied quietly. "What about my brothers?"
The priest stood, motioning to the graveyard behind him. "I'm sorry, my son. They have been called home."
Present
A movement caught his attention, and Teylor turned his head to see Caro hovering near the entrance to the command center, her eyes reflecting the same uncertainty that he felt. Without thinking, Teylor stretched out his hand, remaining perfectly still as Caro traversed the fifteen feet that separated them, intertwining their fingers.
"I know that you are thinking about your family, Teylor. You don't have to go. Everyone will understand if you sit this one out." Caro's free hand dug into his sleeve, her eyes wide, her voice husky.
"I have to go, Caro."
"Why?"
The whispered word hung between them. Teylor wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, breathing in the fresh scent of soap. "I have to go because I've been through it. Because I know what it is like to spend months wondering, always hoping for a miracle, and then to find out that they were dead the whole time. If the guys weren't there in Louisiana with me….I'm not sure what I would have done. I can't make them do that alone."
A sob wracked Caro. "How long will you be gone?"
"Two, maybe three, weeks. Danny will get word to Kara. She'll let you know where we are."
Caro nodded, her head moving against his chest, then she stepped back. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Danny's voice interrupted the moment. "Time to go, T."
One final kiss before Teylor slid into the driver's seat, ignoring Danny's keen gaze, his eyes on Caro as she moved to stand with Kara and Frankie at the entrance. After a moment of silence, Danny held out a small piece of paper, folded in half. "This is from Kara. You aren't allowed to ask where she got it."
Puzzled, Teylor unfolded the paper to reveal the words "Size 6" in rather familiar script and a small circle. Teylor grinned, feeling the sudden urge to whistle.
The circle was the size of a ring.
