Surviving The Virus (Book 1): Outbreak

by Casey, Ryan

  And she was Jasmine’s friend.

  A friend she’d still not yet fully apologised to for what she’d done.

  A friend there was still rebuilding to be done with.

  A friend who couldn’t be dead. Not yet. Not so suddenly. Not like—

  A cough.

  Jasmine frowned. Thought she was imagining things at first.

  Then she saw Kelly twitching, turning onto her side, looking up at her.

  “Kelly?”

  Kelly wiped her nose. Looked at her fingers, her eyes wide. And Jasmine braced herself. Braced herself for some kind of psychotic snap. Some kind of change in her best friend like she’d seen in so many other people.

  But Kelly just looked up at her, puzzlement and fear in her eyes.

  “What... what happened?”

  Jasmine wasn’t holding back anymore. She knew the risks. She knew how dangerous it was being anywhere near her friend, especially when she was displaying signs.

  But she was still here.

  She was still alive.

  And for as long as she was alive, she wasn’t ditching her.

  She wasn’t leaving her side.

  Not again.

  She rushed over to Kelly. Put a hand on her arm. “It’s okay. You just had a fall, that’s all.”

  “I’m bleeding,” Kelly said. “I’m fucked.”

  “We don’t know that yet—”

  “No, we do,” Kelly said. “We know what it means. We all know what it means. You need to... you need to get away from me. And you need to make sure I’m somewhere I can’t infect anyone else.”

  Jasmine felt tears stinging her eyes. In a way, having this conversation with Kelly was even more difficult than the unknowns and the uncertainties if her best friend had just died before her.

  “You can’t be talking about what I think you’re talking about.”

  “She’s right, though,” Noah said.

  Jasmine looked around at Noah. “What?”

  “She’s right. If she’s infected... she’s a risk to those around her. We don’t know how this virus works yet. We don’t know how it spreads. We don’t know a thing about it really. But we do know the signs. And we do know that it spreads like wildfire. I could already have it. All of us could already have it. But we don’t know. And if we don’t know, we have to go on the assumption that anyone showing symptoms is infective. Highly infective.”

  Kelly puffed out her lips. “And I was being so nice to you too, Noah.” She looked at Jasmine then. “He’s right, though. As much as I hate to admit it.”

  Jasmine shook her head. “How... how do you feel?”

  “A bit like I’ve just fallen and hit my head against the floor. Otherwise, not too bad, believe it or not.”

  “You might be okay.”

  “Jas,” Kelly said.

  “But you might be—”

  “There’s a shed in the garden. I’ll go out there. Lock myself away. It’s fairly cosy in the summer. At least that way I can keep my distance from you guys. And you can keep an eye on me, too.”

  Jasmine didn’t like this. But she didn’t see a choice, either. She just sat there. Shook her head. Tears in her eyes. “I can’t lose you,” she said.

  And then Kelly did something.

  She reached up.

  Touched Jasmine’s arm, just briefly.

  “I know you never did a thing to hurt me or anyone else. You did it ’cause you were hurting. I get that. And I forgive you. Because we’re best mates. And we always will be.”

  A crushing sensation, right in the middle of her chest.

  Those words.

  That forgiveness.

  Forgiveness she didn’t deserve.

  Forgiveness she didn’t want to accept.

  But forgiveness she had to take.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you.”

  She helped Kelly to her feet, then, not giving a damn whether it spread to her or not. She eased her over to the back door, unlocked it, let her walk out into the garden.

  She watched her walk down it. Shed key in hand. Look back at her. Pale. Half-smile on her face.

  And as Noah and Barney stood by her side, she turned away, because she couldn’t bear the thought that this was goodbye.

  She heard Kelly struggling with the shed door.

  Heard it opening.

  Then heard it creaking shut.

  When she looked back, Kelly wasn’t standing there anymore.

  Noah looked at Jasmine. He put a hand on her arm. A pain of loss they’d both felt; they’d both been through.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get inside.”

  They closed the back door.

  Turned around.

  Headed back towards the lounge.

  That’s when Jasmine heard it.

  The knock at the front door.

  Someone was here.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Eddie opened his eyes and was surprised to find he felt... well, surprisingly okay, considering he was pretty damned sure he had this nasty virus going around.

  He looked around. He was lying on the ground. The sun beamed down on him from above. He could taste blood at the back of his throat. His throat was dry as hell. He had a little headache, too, but he was sure that was just where he’d fell.

  The most surprising thing of all?

  He hadn’t lost his mind.

  Or at least he didn’t think he’d lost his mind.

  But then if he had lost his mind, he wouldn’t know he’d lost his mind, would he?

  He didn’t know. It was all getting pretty frigging confusing, that was for sure.

  He pulled himself to his feet. Looked around at his surroundings. He had a vague memory of what’d gone down. He’d definitely felt incredibly ill. He’d definitely shared a tear-filled goodbye with Noah and the rest of the group. And then he’d definitely heard those armed people racing towards him. Swore he even heard a crack of gunfire or two. Gunfire that he swore hit him.

  But then there was no sign he’d been hit. There was no sign he’d been shot at, at all. And those armed people, there was no sign of them, either.

  Was it actually possible that he’d dodged death? That they’d just left him?

  He rubbed a hand against his face. Let out a yawn. His nose had stopped bleeding. He didn’t feel that bad at all anymore.

  And he didn’t understand it.

  He’d seen what happened to the people who got infected.

  He’d seen some of them turn so quickly, seen some of them take longer to fall ill.

  He’d seen some people grow psychotic, and some of them die.

  But he’d never seen anyone get right back up again like this.

  He stood there a few seconds. Scratched his head. Maybe this really was some psychotic hallucination. Maybe he really was raving mad. He didn’t feel it. But hell, he’d been called mad in the past, even when he thought he was behaving totally rationally, so it wouldn’t be the first time.

  He looked at the fence ahead. The fence Noah, Jasmine, Kelly, and that dog had disappeared over. He smiled a little when he thought of Kelly. He kind of liked her. She was mean, but he liked that. Spoke her mind. Way, way out of his league. But in a weird sort of way, he felt like she kind of liked him, too.

  Probably completely wrong about that.

  Always was completely wrong about shit like that.

  He thought about the look in Noah’s eyes. About telling him to go. About telling him to fix things with Jasmine, too. He knew his best mate had been sad ever since they’d split. In a weird kind of way, it felt like fate had brought them together again.

  He knew Noah didn’t believe in that fate shit.

  But if there was a chance of a fairytale there, Eddie was a total sucker for it.

  Love Actually was one of his all-time favourite movies.

  Not something he admitted all that freely. But he was a sucker for a rom-com.

  He walked over to that fence. Put a hand on the col
d metal. Shifted his mass of weight up it, clambered to the top of it clumsily, and then fell down at the other side.

  And then he stood there in the woods. Walked through it, just a little. Kept on going until he reached a mass of fields at the end.

  When he stood there and looked into the distance, he saw somebody.

  At first, he thought he might be hallucinating.

  And then he thought it might be Noah or one of his friends.

  But the closer he got, the more he squinted, the more he realised he knew exactly who it was.

  He’d seen this guy before.

  The guy who’d asked to join them back at Noah’s parents’ house.

  Colin, or whatever he was called.

  What was he doing heading this way?

  What was he doing following Noah?

  Eddie tightened his fists. Took a deep breath.

  And then he walked in Colin’s direction.

  If there was one thing he was sure about, it was that he didn’t like Colin one bit.

  He gave him bad vibes.

  And he wasn’t letting him anywhere near his friends.

  He took a deep breath, and he walked.

  Noah had bailed him out enough in his life.

  It was time to start returning the favour.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Noah heard a knock on the door, and the hairs on his arms stood right on end.

  He felt in a daze after what’d happened with Kelly. Watching her go outside. Watching her emotional farewell with Jasmine. The knowledge that when she went into that shed, she probably wasn’t going to be stepping out of it again.

  The same fate as Eddie.

  But then that knock on the door.

  It threw him.

  He definitely wasn’t expecting it.

  He looked at Jasmine. Jasmine looked back at him. So he hadn’t been hearing things at least. She looked just as shocked as he was. Even Barney lifted his ears, tilted his head, curious about what was going on.

  He looked around into the lounge. Looked out at the country road. Didn’t see anyone out there. Didn’t see anyone at the door.

  But that knock. He’d heard it clearly. Someone was out there. They had to be out there.

  “We should leave it,” Jasmine said.

  Noah nodded. Jasmine was right, of course. They couldn’t be opening the door to anyone right now. Or at least they should know who they were opening the door to.

  But he needed to know who was here.

  He needed to see for himself.

  He walked around the side of Jasmine. Headed into the lounge. Heart racing. Chest tight. Anxiety coursing through his system.

  He reached the front window. Peered out, trying to keep as low a profile as he could.

  “Anyone?” Jasmine called.

  Noah shook his head.

  He walked through to the hallway, then into the porch. He peeked out of the window in there. Didn’t see anyone here, either.

  He thought about turning away. About just walking away. About leaving it.

  But he had to see for sure.

  He opened the front door.

  Looked outside.

  There was nobody in sight. The wind felt cool. The sky looked like it was getting darker. Night drawing in.

  “Noah?” Jasmine called. “See anything?”

  Noah went to turn away and tell her he hadn’t seen a thing.

  Then he noticed something.

  The footprints at the door.

  It might’ve been nothing. Could’ve been from himself.

  But there was a pair of muddy footprints right before the door.

  Footprints he swore were larger than his.

  “I’m not sure,” he called, closing the door, making sure it was locked. “Don’t see anyone. But we need to keep our guard up. We need to...”

  He walked back into the lounge, and he saw someone standing at the back door.

  Smile on his face.

  Hammer in his hand.

  Blood trickling down his nostrils.

  The second Noah saw him, he realised exactly who it was.

  Colin.

  The guy from his parents’ house earlier.

  He’d followed them here.

  He’d...

  Noah didn’t have time to call Jasmine or say a thing.

  Because Colin pulled back that hammer and cracked it against the glass.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Jasmine didn’t have time to react to anything that was happening.

  She just saw Noah step back inside the lounge.

  Saw the way his face went pale and dropped.

  And then she heard the glass smashing right behind her.

  She spun around. Barney barked, growled. She didn’t know what was happening. Didn’t know what to expect.

  And even when she turned, even when she saw what was there—who was there—she still couldn’t process it. Not right away.

  “Jasmine!” Noah shouted.

  But Jasmine froze.

  A man stood at the smashed patio doors.

  Bulky. Short dark hair. Covered in a film of sweat.

  A smug smile etched across his face.

  It took Jasmine a moment to realise she recognised this guy.

  It was the guy from Noah’s parents’ place.

  Colin.

  “Jasmine!” Noah called.

  She stumbled back. And she realised something, too.

  Colin.

  Blood streamed down his face.

  He looked pale. Unwell. Sicker than she remembered.

  He’d lost his grip.

  He was infected.

  He staggered into the kitchen. Squared right up to Jasmine. That bloodied smile grew even wider. “Thought I might find you all cosy here. That—that was really rude, what you did to me. Really damned rude. Do you realise that?”

  Jasmine took a step back. Adrenaline filled her body, pumped through her system. “Colin, just—just back off—”

  “Don’t tell me to back off,” he shouted. “Nobody tells me to fucking back off. People’ve been giving me orders my whole fucking life. But that ends. That ends right now.”

  “You’re not well,” Jasmine said. “You’re—you’re bleeding. You’re sick.”

  Colin laughed. “Well I feel fucking fantastic! Top of the frigging world! And I’ll feel even better when I’m finished with you—”

  “Back away.”

  A voice. Right by Jasmine’s side.

  She looked around.

  Saw Noah standing there.

  He had something in hand. Looked like a pole to stoke the fire with. Long. Metal. Sharp at the end.

  He stood there, holding it in his shaking hand, pointing it right at Colin.

  Colin looked at it, bemused. He laughed. “Oh, that’s what this is? You’re gonna pretend you’re all big and tough, are you? Make a dick of yourself in front of your girlfriend? That what you really want to happen here?”

  “I’m telling you right now. If you don’t step back, if you don’t turn around right this second, I’ll—”

  “You’ll what? I didn’t hear you. Speak up.”

  “I’ll kill you.”

  Colin smiled. He lowered the hammer. Blood pooled from his nostrils, from his lips. But Jasmine couldn’t believe how cool he seemed. How composed he seemed. How rational he seemed.

  It reminded her of Kelly.

  The way it looked like she was displaying symptoms of the virus, but the way it didn’t seem like it affected her mentally.

  And it made her wonder. Was this just another stage in the virus’ rapid, unpredictable development?

  Or was the worst just yet to come?

  But Colin stood there, looking past Jasmine, glaring right into Noah’s eyes, smirking away.

  “Oh, you’ll kill me, will you?” Colin said, laughing a little. “You’re the big bad man, are you?”

  “I told you I didn’t want you following us,” Noah said, his voice cracking a little. “I
told you to back away. Looks like you proved my decision right.”

  Colin snorted. Just a little. “Looks like it. Right?”

  He turned away.

  Just for a second.

  And then he lifted the hammer, and he threw it right at Noah’s face.

  It all happened so quickly.

  The hammer flew through the air.

  Smacked Noah right in the face.

  Sent him tumbling back to the floor, hitting it with a crack.

  And then Colin looked at Jasmine, and he smiled.

  “Looks like it’s just you and me now, sugar.”

  He threw himself towards her.

  Jasmine turned. Ran. Barney leading the way, running away too, proving just what a softie he was.

  She spun into the lounge. Looked around for something she could use as a weapon. Anything.

  But everything was moving too quickly.

  Everything was—

  A hand.

  A hand on her shoulder.

  She knocked it back. Kicked out.

  And then she staggered further along towards the hallway door. Eager to just get into another room. To just get some kind of advantage.

  She reached the door. Opened it up. Went to slam it shut, right on Colin’s fingers.

  But then she felt something else.

  A hand.

  Tighter on her ankle now.

  Dragging her to the floor.

  And as much as she tried to maintain her balance, as much as she tried to stay on her feet, she slipped forward.

  Slammed against the wooden floor.

  Felt her teeth sink into her tongue, and tasted blood.

  She wanted to get up.

  She wanted to stand.

  But then she felt Colin’s crushing weight pinning her down and felt his thick, clammy hands all on her neck.

  “You’ve got a lot of apologising to do, sunshine,” he said. “How about we start right now?”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Noah felt his face crack against the solid floor and tasted blood.

  His vision blurred. His ears went all muffled, sounds hard to distinguish, hard to make out. He lost all sense of where he was for a moment. All sense of what was happening. Only that it was bad. Something bad was happening. Something really bad was happening.