Ch 2
All Cassia felt was fear. Even with Milo's lips finally on hers, the fear enveloped her. Knowing the lava was close, she couldn't shake the fear, even as she reveled in Milo's embrace. The dread might be running rampant in her veins, but she was still glad that at least she was with him. At least she would always be with him.
The last thing she felt was heat coming toward her, so close, and Milo's lips.
Then suddenly, sharp pain in her right hip. 'Pain?' She opened her eyes and gasped as she began to breathe hard. It felt like her lungs hadn't been used in ages. Her vision was muddled and she could barely make out the light from the lava around her. The ashes were in her eyes. She couldn't hear well; there was only the pulsing beat of blood in her ears.
'Where was Milo? He was just in my arms!' She tried to reach out for him, but her arms felt weighted and they barely moved at her side. Was she lying down? She couldn't think; her arms were not only lifeless and heavy, but they were empty. Milo was nowhere near her.
Only two days after their discovery, Declan and his entire team was assembled in the lab around three different bodies on three different tables. They were all worn thin, driven only by the energy of their enthusiasm. Somehow, there had been no leaks to the scientific community and they were still the only ones who knew of the specimens. They had barely slept, but there were many tests to be done now.
Declan, for one, wanted to find the wound he and Thomas had made in the female's leg. The wound that was hidden by the clothes that had survived the heat as well. Ridiculous as it seemed. The weapons and jewelry from the bodies had already been removed and brought to another room for cleaning or where getting all of the papers, beakers, test tubes, needles and other tools ready and laid out on wheeled trays.
Thomas was carrying a tray of blood testing tubes toward the female body when it's arms twitched. He paused in mid-step, then continued on, chalking it up to a trick of the light. Then the body opened it's eyes and gasped. The tray of tubes fell to the floor and Thomas couldn't bring his body to move beyond his mouth opening, and a strangled gurgle escaped from his throat and trickled between his lips as he saw her chest heaving in great lungfuls of air.
The noise of the glass shattering brought all attention to Thomas as he seemed to stare at one of the corpses and stop breathing, himself. The six other reasearchers and Declan moved toward him, only to follow Thomas' lead and stop in horror as not only the female body, but the bodies of the two men as well, began to breathe and tried to sit up sluggishly.