INFECtIOUS

by Elizabeth Forkey

  "How many people did you tell," I ask her gently.

  "Everyone," she says softly.

  "What does that mean, 'everyone?’" Matt asks, still furious.

  "I went to the meeting. Everyone did. They were trying to decide if they should move the whole community somewhere else. I stood up to testify that we were unsafe. I told them about following you and about the tunnel. They sent Captain Markowitz and me out of the meeting so I could show him where it was. We were walking to the tunnel when the alarms went off. He—he left me."

  I feel her shiver in my arms, and I picture her out in the streets alone with the blaring alarms. In the dark, I can visualize the terror that must have been on her face.

  "He told me to go home, and he ran back towards the U.R. I went home like he said, and I saw it all out my window. They surrounded the U.R. and brought everyone out. They were searching through the crowd for someone and—" Harmony’s voice catches. "They killed almost everyone,” she sobs.

  Her weeping fills the echoey tunnel. I feel like I was there with her because I can see it all happening. She recounted the story, but it might as well be my own memory. I've been dwelling on my own imagined images since abandoning my friends and climbing down in this hole to hide like a coward.

  "Then they set the U.R. on fire and the Inn."

  I choke back a sob. The Inn, my life with Aunty, is burning out there; being wiped from the earth as though those sweet years never happened.

  "I saw them split up in groups and start out towards the other buildings. I knew they'd find me, so I went out the back and ran here. I didn't know where else to go."

  Harmony and I cry together and eventually my tears run out. She continues to shake and sniffle in my arms. After a few minutes of listening to her cry, I suddenly know what to do. The idea gives me sudden hope and strength.

  "Matt, you can go get a car."

  "Where am I going to get a car, Ivy?" he spits the words, still angry.

  I don't like being talked to like that, but I'm going to ignore it for now.

  "We have cars in the compound,” I explain coolly. “Working cars, full of gas. I can tell you where they're kept and where we keep the keys. They won't suspect you. You can walk right in and take one!"

  He silently considers this and begrudgingly admits my brilliance, "Ok, it could work. Where are they?"

  I smile with satisfaction in the dark. "Your favorite place. They are in the lower garage level of the old police station. The keys are in the office right down the hall from the cell where Captain Markowitz kept you."

  Chapter Fifty-One

  A Declaration of Love

  Matt has been gone for a long time. The gun he insisted on leaving with me lies next to me like a piece of ice against my leg. There are no circumstances under which I will use it. I let Matt leave it for his own comfort, but it is anything but a comfort to me. Harmony is holding Rosa and talking quietly with Thomas. They've both just lost their loved ones. I sit down the tunnel a ways and let them share their grief. I’ve always considered myself stronger than Harmony; but, as I watch her, I realize I was wrong.

  When I was attacked, it rocked my whole world. Then I lost Aunty two weeks later. This has been the hardest month of my life. Harmony went through all of that and more in just twenty-four hours. She was attacked, shot, brought back to life and then lost her mom, her town, and her whole world the next day. And she is sitting there caring for Thomas and gently petting little Rosa, her spirit still intact. Harmony is still herself. I almost lost myself in my trials.

  God has kept her here with me for a reason. Last night, after the miracle, I thought that His reason was Matt. God showed His Glory magnificently to Matt, and I thought it was so that Matt would believe and find Life. Then, when Harmony came down the tunnel tonight still alive, I thought He must have an awfully special plan for her. But now—I wonder if he brought her because I need her. I need her example. I need her friendship. I need her solid consistency. She is stronger than me.

  I am worried about Matt. I’ve prayed fifty times for him to make it back to us with a car and no more complications. I hope nothing went wrong. We can’t get out of the tunnel without Matt, and we need him to survive. If he doesn't come back for us—We might as well have died with our friends.

  I need him.

  *****

  After hours of waiting and worrying, I fall into a nightmare filled sleep. In my nightmares, there is no plot, no conversation, just violence and terror. I see the people I knew laying slain in the streets. I stumble over a body, and I find that it is Aunty. She is old and bloody and something has torn her apart. I shriek and scream as her blue eyes fly open and lock me in an icy gaze. I feel more eyes on me, and I run because I am being hunted. There is no comfort in this dark world; no friend and no God. I'm alone. I hear them coming, I hear their voices.

  I gasp, suddenly awake, because the voices are here, and they are real. The siren has finally stopped. In the new silence, I hear noises above us in the cellar.

  Talking.

  More than one person.

  More than one voice.

  Urgent, angry whispers and the creaking of the old wooden stairs. We are in real trouble now. Matt isn't back, and I'm the only one who can protect us. I feel my way over to Harmony, Thomas and Rosa. I whisper to them, trying to wake them, and I feel in the dark for their faces. Putting my hands over their mouths, I try to make them understand that they have to be quiet.

  I remember the gun. The thought of it sends a shiver through my arms. I could just hold it. It would look intimidating. I could never pull the trigger. I crawl back to where I had been sitting and feel around in the dark for the icy metal. My hands rub through the dirt and muck that lies in a crust along the bottom of the pipe. Disrupting the filth sends foul odors to my crinkled nose.

  I long for light and simultaneously thank God that I can't see. I brush against the gun in the darkness and send it skittering against the pipe where it makes a dull chime. I cringe and reach for it again, this time enclosing the barrel with my shaking hand. It is heavy as I fumble to hold it correctly.

  I don't know what to do now. Should I lead Harmony, Rosa and Thomas back through to the other side? Could I push the wheelchair through? More danger waits back on our side of the tunnel. We could try one of the other tunnels, but I have no idea where they would lead us. We could get stuck at a dead end, trapped and alone with the rats.

  I pray.

  Lord, you are with me. You’ve brought me this far. That dark world of my nightmares doesn't exist. There's nowhere I can go that You won't be with me. Please help me protect them, Lord. I don’t know what to do.

  There are footsteps above, and they get closer.

  Someone is looking down into the hole.

  "Ivy?" Matt whispers my name.

  I squat in silence, hoping that Harmony and Thomas will stay silent. I don't allow myself to feel relief at Matt's voice.

  Who was the other person?

  I know for certain that we can't trust one of them. I'm gold to them. I question my decision to go with Matt for the thousandth time tonight.

  Maybe I did choose wrong.

  Maybe God wanted me to stay up there and give myself up to save the others.

  How many people have I killed by trusting my untrustworthy teenage girl heart?

  Then I hear the other voice, and the new voice knows my name too.

  "Ivy?" Tim's baritone voice fills the darkness.

  "Tim?" I call back hesitantly from the shadows.

  "It's okay, Ivy, you can come out. It's just me. I'm here."

  And I'm crying again. Crying in relief. Crying because Tim is okay. Crying because I still feel so guilty about everyone else. I drag myself over to the light pouring down through the hole and look up into their flashlights. They are both there, peering down at me. In the same moment, they both reach a hand down to help me up into the cellar. It's probably awkward and strange for them, but I'm reli
eved beyond words to have them both.

  I cast the gun aside and give them each one of my hands. Matt and Tim pull me up out of the hole. I stand still for only a second, and then I hug them both. First Matt—just a short quick hug. Without looking at Tim to see his reaction, I put myself into his arms next. I hold Tim just a few seconds longer and whisper "I'm sorry" into his ear as I cry. He returns my embrace, and I hope it means that he's less angry with me.

  Pulling away from Tim, I turn again to Matt. "What happened? What took so long? Did you get a car? How are you here?" I finish with my last question directed at Tim, relief and happiness filling my face and voice.

  They both start talking. Tim is more of a gentleman—understatement—so he motions for Matt to go first.

  Before Matt begins answering my long list of questions, Harmony calls out from the tunnel, “Can we please get out of here?”

  The guys help Harmony and Rosa up into the cellar, and then we coordinate how they'll get Thomas out.

  Tim is a miracle in more than one way. With him here now, I'm sure we'll be able to get Thomas out of the tunnel without causing him too much pain. Matt goes down in and gently lifts Thomas up in his arms and then slowly up over his head, proving the strength of his muscular arms. Tim lies on his stomach and reaches down into the hole and takes Thomas from Matt. Harmony is sitting on Tim's legs to help him lift with leverage and not fall down into the hole himself. I sit ready next to Tim; and, as soon as Thomas is high enough, I reach out and help pull him the rest of the way out.

  It took all four of us, but praise God we did it. We were so gentle that Thomas never even winced. Matt tosses up all of our belongings before coming back up himself. The gun that he left with me glints from where it is tucked into the back of his pants.

  We stand and look at each other. We are such an unlikely group; one zombie, one Spanish speaking innocent, and four Living. We range in age and in belief. We actually have little in common. But we are suddenly a family. We need each other. These faces are my whole world now.

  I ask Matt again, "What happened?"

  After lighting several lanterns and dousing his flashlight, Matt sits down on a blanket and everyone but Tim follows suit. Tim leans against the wall, probably not as happy as I am about his new "family."

  "It took me a while to get around to where they broke in. I didn't want anyone to see me leave this house, and I didn't want to be seen skirting around the fence. I couldn't risk anyone following me so I took my time; staying out of sight."

  I picture him familiarizing himself with every bunch of shrubbery between here and the West Gate. I smile at him, and he winks at me in the low light. He knows what I'm thinking as usual. I like that we have our own private joke.

  "I went in where they took out the fence, right near the gate by the Inn. It's like Mardi G,ras in there now. They have bonfires everywhere and they're just standing around partying and watching the town burn. I didn't see any Pravda workers anywhere. Which is bad. It means that they interrogated enough people with the same story, and they know you aren't there anywhere."

  "What do you mean? How could they know that?"

  Matt tilts his head towards Harmony. "She just finished telling the entire town that you come and go when you want through a secret tunnel. Pravda probably interrogated a handful of people and all of them gave up the same story."

  He keeps saying interrogated, but I know he means tortured. They wouldn't have just given me up like that unless they were being hurt or watching their family members get hurt. Just like Chuck Fox. When someone you love is being hurt and you can make it stop, you tell the bad guys what they want to know. I feel sick. I haven't eaten since this morning, but I feel vomit in my throat. Our people went through agony because of me.

  Matt continues softly, "So, I pretty much walked right in like part of the crowd. I wore a mask, figured I'd fit in even better. I found the cars right where you said, but there were only a couple of them there. I don't think Pravda took them because there were lots of keys in the office. I think maybe some of your people got out. Maybe some of them knew how to hot wire a car, maybe they had extra keys. Either way, there were way more keys than cars. I grabbed all the keys, and went to take the largest car left. I made the mistake of taking off my mask in the garage. That's when I picked up the extra baggage." He jerks his head at Tim. "Guess he figured his girlfriend would be with me," Matt says too lightly, his antagonism intentional.

  Tim doesn't respond. He stares down at his feet, and his face burns with the heat of barely restrained anger. I feel terrible. Tim feels betrayed by me. His dad and brother are gone, and he probably blames me. I know I would. I won't ask him again how he made it out. He has every right to ignore me.

  "What now?" I say out loud to everyone.

  Matt answers, "I think we need to leave as soon as possible. I had planned on staying here a day or two, but I don't think we can risk Pravda finding this house or finding the tunnel. They are looking for it as we speak. We should leave Toccoa tonight."

  "And where do you plan to go?" Tim asks with restrained hostility.

  "I'm taking Tom and Ivy, and I guess Rosa, to Atlanta."

  "What!" Tim and I exclaim together.

  "Matt, I can't go to Atlanta. That's Pravda headquarters. I want to get as far away from Atlanta as possible. You know they're hunting me. Surely you understand we can't go there? I was hoping for a nice beach in Florida somewhere."

  "You aren't taking Ivy anywhere. Not to Atlanta, not to a beach," Tim says with a wilting look of irritation thrown in my direction, "she is staying with me!"

  Matt is sitting with his back against the wall, his knees are up in front of him with his forearms resting on top of them and his hands folded. He looks at his gloved hands and then up into my eyes. "Ivy, do you know a man named Frank Lusato?"

  My breath catches in my throat and my heart stops beating. "How do you know that name?"

  "Who is he?" Matt asks, still staring at me.

  "My dad. That was my dad's name." I say it as though my dad is dead. I've believed my parents to be dead for a long time. They would've come for me by now if they weren't dead. They loved me.

  "Ivy, your dad is in Pravda’s prison in Atlanta. I know this because I met him. I was in the cage next to his for about a month."

  "Ivy isn't going to Atlanta!" Tim says again angrily. "I'm tired of your lies and manipulation!"

  Matt stares into my eyes, ignoring Tim. "He was still alive last year when I broke out. I have a friend on the inside, and I think we could get your dad out too."

  Tim pushes away from the wall and strides across the room to me. He bends down in front of me, blocking my view of Matt's penetrating eyes. "Ivy? Please? Please stay with me? Atlanta is the most dangerous place in the world for you. My brother was living there, and he told me they slaughter the Living on sight. There aren't any safe communities like Toccoa. There isn't anyone left Alive there. You would be taking Rosa to her death. Please don't let him trick you? I love you, Ivy. I will take care of you. I'll take you to the beach, and we can give Rosa a life there."

  I'm speechless. I knew Tim cared for me a lot. I had guessed that he loved me. But to hear him say it—no to hear him plead with me because of it—I am completely torn.

  If Matt is right and my dad is alive, how can I not try to find him?

  Why does Pravda have him in a prison cell?

  Could my mom be alive somewhere too?

  It's beyond my wildest dreams that I could actually see my family again, but I made a commitment to care for Rosa. Atlanta is so dangerous. If I took Rosa there and she was killed or hurt—

  How could I trade Rosa for the hope that Matt is right about my dad?

  And I have to decide right now because every minute we wait brings Pravda closer to finding us.

  Dear God, what do I do? Which path do I pick?

  I am terrified to make this choice. I feel like Tim is the good angel on one shoulder and Matt is the
devil on my other shoulder. And they both sound right.

  Matt speaks again quietly, out of my view behind Tim. The cellar is small and the sound of his husky voice carries well. We all hear Matt intone, "Your dad talked about you and your mom. And your sister. You have an older sister don't you, Ivy? She ran away a long time ago and your parents blamed themselves."

  Still crouched in front of me, blocking my view of Matt, Tim's shoulders fall visibly, and he closes his eyes. I just told him about Hazel. He knows Matt is telling the truth. Matt really did meet my dad.

  Matt says, "I think you have more family than you realize, Ivy. There was an old woman there too. I heard your dad talk to her a lot. Do you know someone named Betty?"

  I can't hold back the audible gasp that escapes my lips.

  Aunty Betty!

  "Tim!" I can't help how excited I sound, "It's my Aunty Betty! The woman in the picture next to Aunty Coe. You know? The silver frame by Aunty’s bed? We thought she was dead! Tim, I have to go. You understand that don't you? If it was your family, you'd go," I plead.

  "Even if you go with him, how will you get to them? Get yourself captured too? What about Rosa?" Tim’s words are full of wisdom and responsibility.

  He's right. How would I get to them?

  Matt answers Tim’s charge for me. "I was in there myself, and I know how to get them out. I have a friend inside of Pravda who will help me for a price. Credits talk. I can get them out. You can be with them again, Ivy."

  "Tim, please? If it was your dad, I know you would go. You are honorable and brave and you would go for your family. I have to go if there's a chance that I can get them out; a chance to see my dad again."

  Tim’s slight nod is barely noticeable.

  "Please come with me?" I plead with watery eyes.

  At this request, Matt is up off the floor and fighting for my line of sight.

  "Absolutely not, Ivy. I am taking you and Tom and Rosa and that's it. I never offered to bring anyone else. I'm not jeopardizing Tom by bringing them. It's too many people. I'll never get us all safely into Atlanta. I'm already bringing Rosa for you!"

  "I won't go without them."

  I desperately hope he doesn't call my bluff. I'm pretty sure if he refuses and leaves me here I'll die. I need to be with him. And he's the only way I'll ever find my dad. I am clinging to the chance that Matt feels something strong for me, too; that he needs me as much as I need him. I cross my arms where I sit resolutely, Tim still crouching in front of me. They have both seen my stubborn side before.