Guard (The Underground Book 3) by Becca Jameson Read Free Book Online Page B

shoulder. She gripped him in a way that soothed.
    No one interrupted him as he caught his breath.
    “Anyway, I slipped out of bed to check on the shaking kid. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he was foaming at the mouth. His entire little body shook violently. I screamed for help, but no one came. The other kids woke up.
    “I didn’t want to leave him. He was so frail, and I feared he would fall off the bed onto the floor if I went for help. No one else was old enough to be of much assistance. By the time the lights flipped on in the room and the headmistress scurried toward us, it was too late.”
    Haley gasped.
    Katie did too.
    “The little guy died in my arms.”
    Silence reined for long moments. Mikhail was grateful. He needed to continue. Finally, he took a deep breath and looked toward Katie. “I knew he’d gotten shots that day. It freaked me out. I have no idea why I drew a correlation between the two events, but I was a kid. And in retrospect, maybe I wasn’t that far off.
    “The next day I was in the group to receive shots. I was scared out of my mind, but two nurses held me down while the doctor gave me a shot in my arm.
    “My next mission was to ensure Alena didn’t have the same experience. So, when they came for her group, I hid her in the small bathroom in the toddler room. I held my hand over her mouth and told her to be very quiet. She trusted me and didn’t move a single muscle.”
    “Jesus,” Katie finally said. “That’s a lot of pressure for a small child. I’m so sorry.”
    “Yeah. It was an orphanage in the late eighties in the USSR. Trust me, I’ve seen worse.” Mikhail shuddered.
    Haley leaned into his arm and hugged around his bicep.
    After a few moments of silence, Katie pursued again. “I’ve asked Leo this before, but do you remember having any childhood illnesses? I mean major ones.”
    “No.” He shook his head. “Alena and I were both healthy, luckily.”
    Katie’s shoulders fell.
    Leo spoke next. “Our blood would indicate we had really weird shit, like rubella, diphtheria, and smallpox. But I wasn’t ever sick like that, either. No one would forget that.”
    Haley squeezed Mikhail’s arm again. “You think it has something to do with the type of immunizations they received? Something that makes it appear they had the illnesses even though they only received the vaccinations?”
    “It’s a possibility for some of the diseases. Not ruling it out. But the crazy thing is no one was still receiving a smallpox vaccine in the late eighties. By then the only stockpile of the vaccine was kept at the CDC in Atlanta. It was eradicated.
    “I’ve done some research. Unfortunately just enough to make me want to pull my hair out. In the late eighties, there was a gap in many immunizations in Russia in general. There was widespread fear that immunizations caused more harm than good until at least 1991 with the fall of the USSR and the return to the norms set in place by the World Health Organization.
    “So, in essence, chances are none of you were immunized. But let’s just say you were given every possible immunization available. That wouldn’t have included rubella, which wasn’t standard until 1997. It also wouldn’t have included diphtheria until 1994.”
    Mikhail’s head was spinning. “What does that mean?”
    “It means I shouldn’t see antibodies for an eradicated illness. It’s not possible. I also shouldn’t see antibodies for diphtheria or rubella. You would know if you’d contracted either of those.”
    “Shit.” Mikhail curled his fingers under his palms into fists on his thighs. What the fuck?
    Katie continued, “I haven’t seen samples from Sergei or Nikolav yet, but Leo told me they’re moving here next week. I’d be surprised if they were different from the four I do have. You all appear to have antibodies for way too many things.”
    “And me?” Haley asked.
    Mikhail set his hand on top of hers over his arm. He wasn’t sure she was