by Lilly Black
"If that's the case, why haven't I contracted it yet?" Mitch asked.
"I don't know," Alek said.
"Maybe it depends on where you were bitten or how much you weigh?" Liana offered. "It doesn't matter. We're taking you to the hospital."
"I need directions," Olivia said, catching Mitch's eyes in the rearview.
"We could try Ruby Memorial in Morgantown. Do you know how to get there?"
"I can get us there once we're in West Virginia, but I'm not that familiar with the area in between," she said, and Mitch sat up and looked out the front window at the traffic. Now that more people were aware of what was going on, there were more cars on the road.
"Take the next left," he said. "The main roads out of here are going to be a clusterfuck. We can go through Uniontown. Alek, would you reach into glove box and hand me my gun."
"What do you need a gun for?" Liana asked as Alek pulled it out and gave it to him. When the glove box was open, Olivia saw her satellite phone in there as well.
"I don't need the gun," Mitch said to Liana. "I want you to have it. If I get sick and attack you, I want you to shoot me."
"I can't shoot you!" she protested.
"I'll hold the gun," Dani said, but she didn't really plan to use it either. Surely if it was a virus, it could be cured. Death was permanent. If he started showing signs of it, she could use the gun to force him to get out of the car. Then they could just put him in the trunk for the rest of the trip to the hospital. For no more than she understood about the situation, it seemed like a sound plan. Then her phone rang.
"Jax!" she said excitedly when she answered.
"Dani? Oh, thank God!" he said. "You have to send us help."
As Mitch directed Olivia through the backstreets toward the road that would lead them to Uniontown, PA, Jax spoke to Dani from the lavatory of his tour bus. He was calling her because his screen was busted, and though he had been blindly trying to call 911, he finally hit the right sequence to redial the last call.
They had been travelling on route 51 toward interstate 70 when the bus driver had spotted a car coming straight at them from the opposite direction. It had been weaving all over the road, and to avoid a head on collision, he had swerved onto the shoulder and lost control, crashing the bus into a large tree.
"We were all shaken up, but everyone seemed okay except the driver. He was slumped over the wheel. Our manager went to check on him, and he just freaked out and attacked him. He bit him - tore his fucking throat out, Dani. It was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. We rushed him and held him down, but it was like he was on PCP or something. Even when we beat the shit out of him, he just kept fighting. Then our manager got up and was acting the same way. Jacky got bit. Richie got bit, fucking everybody...Jesus! It's just me and a couple of girls now. We're locked in the bathroom, and they're all out there trying to tear down the door. I don't know how long we can hold out. Can you send the police?"
"I don't think the police are an option. You don't know what it's like out here," Dani said. "Where are you?"
"Somewhere on the side of Highway 51. My phone is smashed. I can't get our exact location."
"Hold on," she said, then she turned to Mitch. "Where's Highway 51?"
"We're heading there right now. It's the road we're taking to Uniontown."
"We're on our way, Jax," Dani said. "Just hold tight. We'll figure something out."
Without even asking for anyone else' opinion, Dani told Olivia and Alek to keep their eyes open for the bus as she stayed on the phone with Jax. She could hear the girls crying as their tormenters banged against the door, trying to get to them, and she heard Jax soothe them, promising them that their savior was on her way. She didn't know how she was going to do it because, by her count, there were at least six infected men standing between her and that small tour bus bathroom, but Jax was getting out of this alive. The gypsy promised. No man they loved would die, and she was sure she was falling in love with him already.
Once they got south of Pittsburgh, Highway 51 was deserted. Whatever was going on in Steel Town didn't seem to be overflowing into the surrounding areas, so their best guess was that Jax's bus driver must have contracted the sickness somehow before the band left town.
June and Liana had tried to look up similar events on their phones, but neither could get a strong enough signal to use the internet. Liana called her son, Rey to check on the kids, and while all of June's boys were already asleep, Rey and Savannah were still up watching a movie. Otherwise everything seemed perfectly fine on their mountaintop, so Liana didn't mention what was happening in Pittsburgh because she didn't want to worry the children, but when she hung up, it occurred to her that they didn't mention Reid.
"Is Reid home?" she asked Olivia.
"He should be," she said, then she reached for her satellite phone in the glove box. There were several missed calls from him, and the ringer was silenced. She turned it on.
"Did you turn off the ringer?" she asked Mitch as she dialed Reid's sat phone.
"I put it in there exactly as you gave it to me," he said. She didn't remember turning it off, but then again, she didn't remember giving it to Mitch either. She looked down at the phone sadly as the call ended with no answer. Then it rang.
"Hello?"
"I can't talk right now. It isn't safe," Reid whispered. "I'm trying to get back home, but there's been some sort of outbreak here. I'll call you when I can. I love you."
"I love you," Olivia said, but Reid hung up so quickly, she wasn't sure if he even heard her.
"What's wrong?" Liana asked.
"Reid had to go to Charleston to check on his mother. He said there was some sort of outbreak there too, so whatever this is, it isn't restricted to Pittsburgh."
"Oh, God! The children!" Liana cried.
"I'm on it," Olivia said, and she dialed Savannah's number.
"Hi, Mom," her precious, fourteen-year-old sang as she picked up.
"Savannah, I need you to listen to me very carefully," Olivia began, and though she projected a strong façade, inside she was falling apart. "Something bad is happening out here. We're heading back from Pittsburgh right now, but I don't know how long it will take us to get there, so I need you to wake up the boys and take everyone into the panic room in my bedroom. Keep your gun on you, and give one to Rey if he's comfortable with it."
"Mom, what's happening? You're scaring me," Savannah said.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. If you do everything I say, you'll be fine..."
There was a panel in the panic room that controlled everything on the property. Olivia instructed her daughter to kill all of the lights, lock everything down, and not to open the gate for anyone but her or Reid. "If someone comes and you feel like you have to use the gate defense, do not hesitate. Your safety is the most important thing on this planet. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," she said meekly.
"I mean that. I want you to watch the surveillance monitors and call me immediately if you see anyone pop up on any of those screens, and if someone comes to the gate, I don't care who it is, if they do not have a child in that house, they are your enemy," Olivia said. "Take some snacks, blankets, and pillows into the room, and don't let the boys get scared. Be strong and try to make it fun for them, and before you know it, we'll be there with you, okay?"
"Okay."
"I love you, baby. You can do this."
"I love you, too, Mom," Savannah said, then she thought of something, something that would make her feel safer than the panic room and the guns. "Can I bring Evil into the room with us?"
"No. I'm sorry. It just isn't safe."
"But, mom..."
"I get it, Savvy. She's my baby too, but there are other children there, and we have to respect their parents' wishes."
"I understand," Savannah said, but she really didn't. Evil had been her little sister for so long, she didn't remember a time without her, and she trusted that cat more than most humans. Still, she would d
o as her mother said.
Savannah immediately told Rey the plan, but unwilling to just shut everything down and hide in a panic room without explanation, he first turned the channel on the television to a news network. He was immediately sorry. They had been expecting to see that there was some sort of civil unrest that was causing Olivia to overreact, but instead what they saw were the serious journalists their parents watched every day reporting on an unidentified outbreak that was making people behave erratically, attacking, biting, and in some "as yet unconfirmed" cases, cannibalizing others. They were uncertain if it was caused by a virus or a drug at this point, but whatever it was, there were stories coming in from various major cities along the eastern seaboard.
"Okay. There's something going around. Big deal," Rey said, ever cynical.
"A virus or drug that's making people act like rabid animals."
"So? We're in the middle of fucking nowhere. Why do we have to hide in a panic room?"
"Because my mom said to, and if my mom said to, there's a good reason for it."
"Can't we just watch for their car and go in there when they get here? They'll never know," he said, annoyed by what he saw as a silly waste of his time, particularly when he had hoped the movie they were watching would end in a kiss with Savannah. She thought he was cute too, but right now, she had a responsibility.
"I don't care what you think, okay? I'm in charge here, and we're going to take the kids into the panic room and wait for our parents to come home. Do you know how to use a handgun?" she asked.
"I guess, but..."
"But nothing. We'll do what we have to do to keep us all safe until my mom or dad gets here and takes over. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said, impressed with how an otherwise laid back fourteen-year-old girl had suddenly taken charge so forcefully. She led him to the gun safe, handed him a .357, and gave him a box of bullets along with a quick tutorial. Next she went to the kitchen for snacks, then she woke up the boys. Once they were all inside the panic room, she opened the control panel, shut off all of the interior lights, and armed the security at the upper gate. As the boys sat on the floor on their blankets watching the pictures on multiple monitors behind Savannah, she explained that since her dad couldn't make it back, sleeping in there was something she wanted to do just to be on the safe side, and they seemed to buy it until the oldest of June's sons, Noah, noticed something moving on one of the screens.
"Is that your dad?" he asked, and Savannah turned to see a man creeping across the lawn near the front of the lodge. Fear flooded her system. Whether this was a regular person or one of the violent maniacs they saw on television earlier, he was a stranger on the property, and she knew they couldn't just hunker down in the panic room and let him do whatever he came to do. Even if they were safe inside, when their parents returned, he could hurt them...or worse.
She whispered her concerns to Rey, and together they decided that he had to be dealt with. They took Noah out into the master bedroom where they told him their plan, warning him to keep the doors locked and watch the monitors while they were gone.
"Don't scare the little ones, but this could be serious," she said. "If we don't come back, use the satellite phone mounted on the wall in there to call my mom. She's speed dial one. If we do come back, and we're not ourselves, don't let us in."
"How will I know?" he asked, and she paused, unsure of what to say.
"You'll know," Rey said, thinking about the footage he saw on the news. "You'll know."
"If you're unsure, make us answer questions to get in, and no matter what, do not open that door for anyone but us or one of our parents, okay?" Savannah told Noah exactly what her mother had told her.
"Yes, ma'am," he said respectfully.
"One more thing," she added. "Do you know how to shoot a gun?"
"Yes. My dad taught me."
"Here," she said, pulling a small handgun from the back waistband of her jeans. Earlier, Rey had seen her strap one in a shoulder harness, but he didn't even notice her stashing the extra. "Take this. The safety is on. Do not even point it unless you absolutely have to."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, and Savannah and Rey left the boys in the panic room so they could go confront some strange man on the property. Rey tried to act brave, but in truth they were both terrified as they walked through the Anders residence and into the lodge.
"Do we need night vision goggles or something?" he asked as they approached the front door.
"Nah, the moon's almost full," she said. "You ready for this?"
"Bring it on," he said, and she opened the door. They stepped out onto the porch holding their guns in front of them, and they saw the intruder's face peeking around a bush on one side.
"Come out or I'll shoot," Savannah shouted, her voice strong and authoritative even as she had to struggle to keep her knees from knocking together.
"Yes, my lady," the intruder said with flourish, taunting her as he came into full view. He was a skinny man with dirty hair and scabs on his face, and when he spoke, he jerked, making Savannah think he might be a meth addict. It was a growing problem in the area due to poverty and unemployment, and her parents had educated her on the warning signs after a string of robberies in a nearby town.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, straightening her posture to try to intimidate him.
"I'm a friend of your daddy's. He asked me to come by."
"Shall I wake him for you?" she asked with a skeptical glare.
"We both know he's not in there, little girl," the man said with a creepy laugh.
"I'm holding a gun, and you're unarmed. I don't think it matters where my father is."
"Oh, but it does," he said as he inched forward, and though she tensed, she never took her gun off him, keeping it aimed at his chest because the head was too easy to miss.
"I don't want to shoot you," she said.
"Then don't. I'm just a guy looking for a place to hide until morning so I don't get infected, then I'll be on my way."
"I don't want to shoot you," she repeated, "but I will if you don't get off my property right now."
"Come on, kid. I just need a safe place for the night. I'll sleep in the barn," he said as he moved ever closer, his attitude disturbingly cavalier for someone with two guns trained on him.
"And if I believed you, I might let you, but I don't," she said.
"So what do you think I came here for, hmmm?" he asked as he took another step, narrowing the gap between them to just a few yards.
"Do you think I'm here to rob you?"
He took another.
"Kill you?"
And another.
"Rape you!?" he roared, suddenly rushing toward the kids. Rey pulled the trigger only to find that he forgot to take the safety off as Savannah froze in terror, but just before he could get his hands on them, Evil lunged out of the shadows and took him down, landing on his chest at the bottom of the stairs and tearing out his throat with her teeth. Blood gushed upward like a fountain as he gurgled then quickly died.
Savannah burst into tears, and Rey put his arms around her from behind while she watched the cat dismount her kill. She walked a few steps toward the porch, then she scratched at the ground, slinging grass on the body behind her. She didn't want to eat the man. She was protecting her sister. She always would, and when she was finished posturing, she hurried up to Savannah, rubbing her head against her leg, seeking praise for her accomplishment.
"Good job, Evie," Savannah said, scratching her behind the ear. "Let's get you cleaned up."
Though her mother had told her not to, once Savannah cleaned the blood off the great cat, she took her into the panic room.
"Does anyone know how Evil got loose?" Savannah asked, looking at June's boys, and Jeremiah, the eight-year-old gave her a sheepish glance.
"I peeked in her door earlier tonight. I just wanted to see her, but I promise I shut it back all the way," he admitted.
"You have to lock the door. She knows how to work
the knob," Savannah said.
"I really am sorry," Jeremiah said.
"Well, you shouldn't have gone in there, but this time, it was a good mistake. She saved our lives." Savannah petted Evil atop the head and when the boys joined in, the jaguar rolled over on the floor like a giant house cat. Savannah just knew they were safe with Evil in there. She'd tell her mother later. Sometimes it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, which is what she had told the boys when she introduced them to video games the day their mother left for Pittsburgh. They loved video games, especially the violent ones, and now that the world was getting more violent than ever, Savannah thought maybe she and Rey had done the right thing.
"I see the bus," Alek said as the limo sped down Highway 51.
"Where?" Olivia asked, slowing down.
"Up ahead on the right." He pointed, and her eyes followed until she could see the very top of it off the side of the road where it had run down a hill into a thicket of trees. She pulled off onto the gravel shoulder, and in the backseat, she could hear Dani trying to call Jax to let him know they had arrived. She had planned to keep him on the line until they got there, but the call dropped, and now the lines had become so busy, there was no reestablishing the connection.
Leaving Liana in the back with Mitch, everyone else got out to discuss how to get Jax and the two girls off the bus without disturbing the infected. Before closing the door, Dani handed Mitch's gun to Liana.
"No, you take it," Liana said. "You might need it."
"You might need it too," Mitch insisted, then he turned to Dani. "Why don't you use the rifles in the trunk?"
"There are rifles in the trunk?"
"The ones you bought today. Remember?"
No. She didn't remember. Dani popped the trunk and looked inside to find that the shopping they did this afternoon was the quickest way to get on a government watch list. They had gone exclusively to gun shops and Army-Navy surplus stores. There were multiple rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, bows and arrows, knives, swords, and Kevlar vests.
