Surviving The Virus | Book 7 | Reinfection

by Casey, Ryan

  Noah looked into Shelley’s piercing green eyes. His heart pounded. His chest felt tight. He’d fought so hard. He’d got all this way, all for this.

  He went to strain, thinking it was the only option he had right now.

  “And don’t you dare think about using your mind trickery on me, you son of a bitch. Don’t you fucking dare. The second I see that look in your eyes again, that hazy fucking look in your eyes, I’ll blow us the hell up, right here.”

  “You’d die, would you? You’d die instead of letting us go? You’d kill all of us instead of giving someone a chance to find a way to use us down the line? In a more humane way?”

  “There is no humane way, you idiot dickhead. Don’t you see? It’s this or nothing. And I’m… I’m fucking sick of people like you not realising that.”

  Noah sensed something different in this woman’s voice. Something he hadn’t heard before.

  A crack in her composure.

  A slide in her confidence.

  “You’ve lost someone,” Noah said. “To the virus. Haven’t you?”

  Shelley’s eyes darkened. “Don’t.”

  “You’ve lost someone to the virus and you—”

  “One more word, and I’ll blow the lot of us up, understand?”

  Noah stopped. He wanted to keep going. Wanted to keep digging. But he knew it was too risky. Too dangerous. He believed Shelley. Believed she was at the point where she’d actually detonate him if she had the chance.

  “Okay,” he said. “Okay. Just… just tell us what you want.”

  “What I want is for you to put the girl down on the ground here. Then I want you to get on your knees. I want you to kneel a few metres away from each other, and then I’m going to come over there, knock you out, and take you back in these labs. That’s when I’ll let my friends know they’re safe to come along. Yeah. Sorry, buddy. ’Fraid this isn’t the only lab in town. You thought escaping this place was really gonna be the end of it? Really? You get away from here, and you won’t make it a mile before my people catch you. You’re a wanted man. She’s a wanted girl. And there’s only one way this ends. So get down on your knees, and do as you’re told, right this second.”

  Noah wanted to stand up for himself. He wanted to stand his ground. He wanted to fight.

  He felt defeated. Punched down. In the dirt.

  But he felt pride, too.

  Because he’d made it this far. He’d given it all up for somebody else. Accepted total responsibility for someone else.

  He’d learned Kelly’s truth.

  You can’t live with the fear of what if.

  You have to learn to live in the moment.

  And sometimes that meant doing the most impossible thing.

  “I want you to be ready to run,” Noah whispered, slightly squeezing Iqrah’s arm.

  Shelley frowned. “What was that?”

  Noah didn’t say anything. He just stared into Shelley’s eyes. Started to lower Iqrah to the ground.

  And then he saw it.

  The wire.

  The wire loosely connected between the explosives.

  Right where he was lowering Iqrah.

  “Hope you’re not planning anything between you. Dumb bastard. Probably are. Should probably just put a bullet in your knees to make sure. How’s that sound?”

  Noah tensed his jaw. His stomach knotted.

  He laid Iqrah on the ground. Looked into her eyes.

  She looked back up at him. Weak. Tired.

  But trusting.

  Totally trusting.

  “The wire,” he whispered.

  He looked away, then. Walked a few feet to her side. Just had to hope she’d god-damned noticed what he’d said.

  “On your knees,” Shelley said, waving that detonator in her hand. “That’s right. On your knees and hands behind your head.”

  Noah stood there a few seconds.

  Then he went to kneel.

  But then he stopped.

  Right before he hit the ground, he stopped.

  “A friend once said something,” he said.

  Shelley frowned. “Huh?”

  “She said… never to kneel. Because when you knelt, you lost all your power. And she didn’t care whether it meant it was game over. If you didn’t kneel, if you stood your ground, you did the right thing.”

  “On your knees,” Shelley barked. “No more fucking messing around.”

  Noah looked over at Iqrah.

  Saw her staring at him.

  Saw her nodding.

  And then he looked back up at Shelley.

  He went to kneel.

  That’s when he stood.

  That’s when Iqrah stood, too.

  Shelley frowned.

  “What the…”

  “Too late,” he said.

  He went to take a step towards Shelley when she jammed her finger against the detonator.

  Nothing happened.

  No explosions.

  Nothing.

  “Should’ve kept an eye on the kid,” Noah said.

  Iqrah stood there.

  Wiring in hand.

  Snapped.

  Shelley smiled. She lowered the detonator. Threw it to the ground.

  And then she pulled out a knife.

  “I don’t need a fucking bomb to gut you, you cunt.”

  She took a step towards Iqrah.

  Lifted the blade.

  Noah threw himself in front of her.

  Willing to die for her.

  Willing to give it all up for her.

  To sacrifice everything for—

  A blast.

  Out of nowhere.

  Noah fell to the ground. Landed on top of Iqrah.

  “Iqrah,” he said. “No. Please—”

  “It’s okay,” she said.

  He looked at her. It didn’t make sense. Shelley, she had a knife, not a gun.

  But that blast.

  What…

  He felt hot breath against his face.

  Heard panting.

  Slobber, all over the place.

  He looked around and saw Bruno licking him.

  “Bruno? What…”

  He looked at Shelley.

  Saw her clutching her knife in one hand.

  At her bleeding neck with the other.

  She looked at Noah with those wide green eyes as blood pooled from her neck.

  Staggered towards him.

  He closed his eyes.

  Sank into that feeling.

  Tightened his fists—

  A snapping sensation.

  A choking.

  And then an explosion.

  He opened his eyes and saw Shelley standing there.

  No head left on her shoulders.

  She took a few more comical steps towards Noah and Iqrah.

  Then she finally fell to the ground.

  Noah looked at her body. Listened to the crows above. Felt the warm breeze as he held Iqrah over his shoulder, Bruno by his side.

  He heard footsteps. Saw someone walking towards him, shielded by the son.

  “Knew you’d end up needing my help in the end. Never clean up your own bloody mess, do you?”

  Noah smiled.

  Kelly stepped into view.

  Behind, he saw three more people. Armed. From her community.

  “Kelly,” he said. “How did you—”

  “Decided I couldn’t sit around while you were out here. Followed you. Watched you get caught by that psychotic bitch. Followed you to this place. And hey. Here you are.”

  He got to his feet. Held on to Iqrah. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you so much.”

  Kelly shrugged. “You did the hard part. Let’s just say I delivered the killer blow. The important one, mind.”

  She winked. Noah smiled back at her, shook his head.

  “This the kid, then?”

  Noah pulled her back. Held her close. That defensiveness and protectiveness kicking in.

  “It’s okay,” Kelly said. “D
on’t worry. She’s safe with us. Both of you are.”

  He stood there. Loosened his grip on Iqrah slightly. Let himself relax in Kelly’s presence.

  But he found himself looking around, then. Looking at the people with Kelly. Looking off into the hills.

  “You should come with us. Back to our place. The pair of you need a breather, that’s for sure.”

  Noah wanted to say yes. He wanted to tell Kelly he’d go back with her. He wanted to tell her he wanted nothing more.

  But in the end, he shook his head.

  “We can’t,” he said.

  Kelly frowned. “What do you mean you can’t?”

  “Iqrah and I. We’re… we’re kind of a big deal.”

  “Modest as ever.”

  “I’m not joking, Kelly. We… The Society are on their way here already. You need to get away from here. All of you. You don’t want to get caught up in this battle. Because they’re never going to stop chasing us now. They’re never going to stop hunting us now. And it’s my… it’s my responsibility to Iqrah here that they never get their hands on her. And it’s my responsibility to you that no harm ever comes to you because of this conflict, either.”

  Kelly opened her mouth. Looked like she was going to say something. Looked kind of… sad.

  But then she closed her mouth. Shook her head. “Four years,” she said. “Four damned years of my life thinking you’re dead out there. And then you just walk back in and waltz right out again.”

  “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

  “Yeah,” Kelly said. “Yeah, me neither.”

  She walked over to Noah. Stepped right up to him. Looked him in the eye.

  And this time, he felt it.

  This time, it felt right.

  This time, it finally felt like goodbye.

  “I never told you something,” Kelly said.

  Noah raised an eyebrow. “I’m worried where this is going.”

  Kelly laughed. “No. You were always my favourite.”

  “Your favourite what?”

  “My favourite of Jasmine’s boyfriends.”

  “High praise.”

  “You’re a good man, Noah. You put others before yourself. But you’re too hard on yourself sometimes, too. Just… don’t lose sense of who you are. Okay? Never stop being you.”

  She stepped up.

  Pecked him on the lips.

  And then she backed away and nodded.

  “Goodbye, Noah,” she said.

  Noah fought off the tears. Nodded back at her. “Goodbye, Kel.”

  She smiled at him. “You still owe me, by the way.”

  “Owe you? For what?”

  “My car. Back on the day the infection broke out. Think you mighta shit yourself all over the passenger seat, mate.”

  Noah laughed. “Well, I’ll repay you for that, if the world ever gets back on its feet.”

  “When the world gets back on its feet,” she said. “Not if. When.”

  Kelly turned, then. “Right, folks. We’d better do one. Noah here’s bringing a whole army down on us. Not something we wanna be dealing with on a nice Saturday like today, right?”

  She looked back at Noah, smile across her face.

  Nodded at him.

  And he nodded back at her.

  Then she turned around with her friends and walked off into the distance.

  Noah watched them every step of the way. Stood there, Iqrah over his shoulder. Bruno by his side.

  He watched her shrink. Watched her turn tiny. Then watched her turn to nothing.

  He looked at Iqrah, then.

  She looked back up at him. Half-smiled.

  “What now?” she asked.

  Noah tightened his grip around her.

  He walked over to the labs. Grabbed a rifle.

  And then he turned around.

  Looked over at the woods, where he could see movement already. Figures already. In the distance somewhere, he heard footsteps. Something that sounded like a helicopter.

  He knew Society members would be coming.

  He knew infected would be coming, too.

  “We do what we do best,” Noah said.

  “What’s that?”

  He held up the rifle into the air. “We survive.”

  And then he turned around and ran into the unknown.

  END OF BOOK 7

  Pestilence, the eighth book in the Surviving the Virus series, is now available to pre-order on Amazon.

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  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any reference to real locations is only for atmospheric effect, and in no way truly represents those locations.

  Copyright © 2020 by Ryan Casey

  Cover design by MibLart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Published by Higher Bank Books