by Max Lockwood
“Blow their head off.” Bobby Dean laughed.
She rolled her eyes. “Maybe I’m asking the wrong person. What does a rational person do?”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he groaned. “Well, when we saw you coming down the road, we were a little freaked out. But we just waited until we could tell that you weren’t going to maul us.”
“Right,” she said. “Most people are cautious. Even if they run into someone they don’t trust, it’s easiest to just sneak away. Violence is generally a last resort. For Samantha, violence was the only option. She killed whoever crossed our path, many times without asking questions. We’ll never know if they were safe or not. Even worse, she frequently went out of her way to make the kill. She’d see a dormant Infected in the distance and call them over, just so she could artfully cut their head off with her lethal machete. She enjoyed it.”
“That’s messed up,” Bobby Dean said. “I’m probably more reckless than most, but even I wouldn’t dare to do that. How are you so sure that she enjoyed it? Maybe she was just easily frightened and a little aggressive.”
“Again,” she said, getting slightly agitated, “you don’t understand the extent of her behavior. I’m no expert, but she certainly had a whole host of psychological issues going on. First of all, I’m pretty sure she was a psychopath. I never once heard her say a word about feeling remorse for any of her victims. I get that it’s hard to feel bad about people who caused you pain, but she was just so cold all the time. She never seemed upset about taking another person’s life. She seemed to have a hard time understanding my reservations about the excessive killing, too. She looked so confused when I told her that it wasn’t necessary to slaughter all the dormant Infected because it only slowed us down. I told her about my brother’s death and she just laughed. In the end, he wasn’t a good guy, but it was such an inappropriate reaction.”
“Her mom must have done a real number on her.”
“That’s another weird thing,” Bethany chimed in, her eyes widening. “I get that she went through a lot, but she wasn’t much different from her mom in terms of ideology. She always talked about the two of us as part of a master race of sorts. I tried to explain how ridiculous the construct of race was, but she didn’t seem to agree. She thought that everyone who wasn’t immune to the virus was an inferior class of human.”
“Yikes,” Bobby Dean replied.
“You’re telling me. I told her that there couldn’t be many of us. Besides, it seems as though mostly women are immune. I have yet to hear of a guy who can’t get sick from the virus. If she thought we were going to restart the population, then I wasn’t about to explain how babies are made.”
The two heard a noise from outside the boiler room. Bethany thought she heard yelling, but Bobby Dean quickly assured her that neither voice belonged to Alec or Elaina. Perhaps it was just a dispute among soldiers.
“So, Samantha’s immune?” he asked.
“I believe so. I don’t have the test results to prove it, but she certainly claims to be. I believe that is why people are looking for her. That, or because she’s slaughtering anyone who comes near her.”
“And you’re immune, too?”
She shrugged. “As far as I know. It’s possible that their test was inaccurate or there was a false positive. It’s also possible that I’m immune. I’d rather not test it, though.”
“That’s pretty wild,” he mused. “Imagine if Dr. Vincent injected you with the virus. Nothing would happen.”
Bethany looked at the floor. Nothing would happen, indeed, but that had more to do with the fact that he was dead.
“Like I said, it’s not a position I ever want to be in. I’d prefer to stay out of institutions, including this one. I just don’t get why they took Elaina and not me. Our blood tests should have similar results.”
“She has the virus in her veins, though,” Bobby Dean corrected. “Maybe they don’t know about you.”
Bethany nodded, hoping he was right. The commotion outside was getting louder. She swore she could hear alarms going off somewhere in the building.
“Did you leave her after she told you all of that?” Bobby Dean asked.
“Yeah,” she replied. “She was becoming more and more unstable by the day. She kept laughing about how she’d killed her own mom, proving that her blood made her superior. I guess they weren’t that different after all. Her mom wanted our unique blood to bathe in. Samantha wanted to spill the blood of those who weren’t immune. Bloodlust must run in the family. I didn’t want to stick around much longer, so I went looking for you guys. I had no idea who I would find, but Will’s suggestion was the only one I had.”
Bobby Dean frowned. “Why couldn’t you just tell us this from the start? Do you know how much trouble you would have saved us? Hell, maybe we could have avoided this situation altogether if we knew Samantha’s crazy ass was running loose in the area.”
“I’m sorry. I was scared,” she said. “Samantha killed a lot of people and I stood by and watched. If anyone I encountered were affected by her in any way, they would immediately think that I was an accomplice. I’ve been indirectly involved in the deaths of a lot of healthy people. A few of them were pretty powerful. It was a much bigger risk than I was willing to deal with.”
Bobby Dean sighed. “I think we could have found a way to understand. Now, we’re in a much bigger mess. Melissa was sure you were sent here by Will to murder her. Alec and Elaina are mad at me for standing up for you. Hell, I’m mad at myself for standing up for you and believing your lies.”
“Omissions,” she corrected.
“Now, Alec’s hurt and Elaina is probably being experimented on. We’re trapped down here and Melissa is nowhere to be found. Things couldn’t get much worse.”
By now, the shouts from the school were too loud to ignore. Something bad was happening, and Bobby Dean and Bethany had no way to protect themselves. If someone wanted to take them out, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.
“I apologize,” she said again. “If we find a way out of here, I’d be happy to explain myself to the others.”
“If we get the chance,” Bobby Dean said darkly. “Do you feel any better?”
Bethany chuckled to herself. She could hardly pat herself on the back for finally telling the truth. It didn’t seem to matter now. If anything, it felt like a small weight was lifted from her chest after bearing the burden of being associated with Samantha. She could finally admit to someone that she hated the senseless violence, reminding herself that she was not a monster for being a part of so many murders. There was only so much she could control to begin with.
“That’s not an easy question to answer. But I guess I’m glad you were willing to listen to what I had to say, even if it came too late.”
He smiled and leaned back against the wall as chaos erupted. They knew they didn’t have long before they were involved in whatever was going on with the militia. They just hoped they’d find a way to survive on the other side.
Bobby Dean patted Bethany on the shoulder, forcing a small smile as they braced themselves for impact. They watched the door as a small river of blood trickled under the doorjamb and flowed down the stairs.
Bobby Dean looked to Bethany as the screams abruptly stopped.
“What are the chances that this has something to do with Samantha?”
Bethany froze. If he were correct, then he would certainly be killed. She could almost guarantee that it would be vicious and potentially painful. Plus, if Samantha felt betrayed by her companion’s sudden disappearance, she might even go against her own values and slaughter one of her own. She was unpredictable.
The pair clutched onto each other as the locked turned and the handle was pulled. Bethany held her breath and closed her eyes, not wanting to look Samantha in the face when she killed them. She only opened her eyes when she heard a familiar voice speaking to them.
“We have to go,” Melissa said, running down the stairs. “Something is
happening up there and it doesn’t look good.”
Bobby Dean made a sound that was a cross between a cheer and a yelp. Bethany’s limbs fell limp in relief. Melissa didn’t seem happy to see them, but she wasn’t brandishing a weapon. That was a good sign.
“Did you hear me?” Melissa asked, approaching the gate. “We have to get the hell out of here. There’s a massacre going on up there, and I don’t want to be a part of it. Let’s move.”
The prisoners scrambled to their feet and rushed toward the gate. Bobby Dean looked like he was about to cry.
“Don’t get it twisted,” Melissa said as she fumbled through a set of keys. “I’m not here because I like you. I’m here because this is better than being alone.”
Chapter Eighteen
“How long have you been here?” Bobby Dean asked Melissa as she tried a few different keys in the padlock.
“Less than a minute,” she replied without looking up from the lock. “After you guys were taken away, I crawled out of the attic and followed you on the motorcycle. I’ve been outside waiting in the bushes for the right time to barge in, but I thought I heard screams. I found an unlocked door by a janitor’s office and it led me straight here. I heard you two talking and knew that this had to be where you were locked up.”
“Where’d you find the keys?” Bethany asked.
“They were hanging on the doorknob. Where are the other two?”
Bethany and Bobby Dean looked at each other. They didn’t have a good answer for that question.
“Alec got shot in the shoulder before we even left the house,” Bethany said. “They took him somewhere to get patched up. The guy in charge of the militia wanted him alive.”
Melissa nodded. “Well, that’s somewhat promising. Where’s Elaina?”
Bobby Dean shrugged. “She was in the cage with us, but they took her for some reason. They wouldn’t tell us what was going on here, but they took a blood sample right away. We think that they might be doing experiments on her because she’s immune to the virus.”
Melissa finally found the right key for the lock, freeing the other two. Bobby Dean looked overjoyed to see her. Bethany looked like she had seen a ghost. Melissa would have taken some joy in their reactions if they weren’t in such a serious situation. With any luck, there would be time for gloating later. Melissa had come to save the day again. This time, she would receive recognition for it, even if she had to force it out of them.
She hoped she wouldn’t come to regret rescuing them. For a moment, as she held her breath and hid in the attic, she’d debated about coming down. The second she heard the commotion, her gut reaction was to crawl into the little hatch in the ceiling where old photographs and holiday decorations were stored. She heard the gunshots and the pleas for the soldiers to leave the others alone, but she did not come to their aid. As she watched the hoard of intruders march back out to their fleet of vehicles from the small circular window, she was thankful that she hadn’t tried to be a hero. There was no way an extra body could have overpowered the rest of the militia. She would have to find another way to be useful.
Even when the trucks took off, Melissa paused for a moment. As long as no one knew where she was, she was safe. She could stay and tend to the house. That way, if the other four managed to free themselves, they could return to their normal lives as if nothing had happened. That house was the greatest resource they had, and it would be a waste to abandon it.
Within minutes of their departure, she felt the loneliness of their absence. She wasn’t particularly pleased with any of them when she went to bed before supper, but they were the closest thing she had to family. They would be counting on her and she couldn’t let them down. Besides, she liked to be the one in control.
Even in times of safety, Melissa often had fantasies in which she would save everyone from peril. Typically, these contained situations where Melissa solved a logic problem that Elaina couldn’t crack, a time where she out-muscled Alec, or a situation where she relied on instinct better than Bobby Dean did. No matter the danger, at the end, she would come through and pull the others away from certain death. Each fantasy ended with the others telling her how brilliant and brave she was and how they couldn’t survive without her.
Though, it wasn’t as if Melissa’s rescue attempt at the school was completely selfish. Elaina, Alec, and even Bobby Dean, to some extent, were some of the last good people left in the country. Will may have been facetious when he said so, but Melissa truly believed it.
So, against better judgment, Melissa climbed out of her hiding place and followed the soldiers on her motorcycle. When she arrived at the school, she parked the motorcycle half a mile away and walked to the school under the cover of night. Soldiers were still milling about when she got to the building, so she waited patiently behind a bush until the found the right opportunity to investigate and come up with a solid plan.
Melissa noticed that the soldiers standing guard outside the building suddenly rushed inside. Assuming a shift change was taking place, she moved around to another side of the building to find an unused entrance point. That was when she heard the screaming.
At first, she thought she heard laughter. Quickly after, she realized that she heard the shrill sound of a woman’s scream, followed by men’s voices calling for backup. Sirens blared, warning soldiers to return to their stations. Assuming that her companions were in the middle of a coup, she sprang into action to join them. She slipped, completely unnoticed, into a maintenance office. When it sounded as if the coast was clear, she opened the door to find the boiler room with a set of keys on the door. She was a bit disturbed by the puddle of blood by the door, so she rushed downstairs the second she heard Bobby Dean’s voice. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she opened the door.
“Melissa,” he said gently as she opened the gate for them. “I’m so sorry for how I behaved. I was so worried I would never see you again.”
He went in for a hug, but she stuck out her arms to block him.
“We don’t have time for this. We need to go.”
He looked hurt, but he quickly brushed these feelings aside. He straightened himself up and put on a tough face.
“Where do you think the other two are?” Melissa asked, walking back toward the stairs.
“Honestly, no clue,” Bobby Dean said, jogging to catch up with her. “They could be anywhere. Should we split up?”
“No,” the other two exclaimed in unison.
“We’ll never find each other again,” Bethany replied. “I think it’s best if we move as a unit. That way, if we have to fight back, we can.”
“I agree,” Melissa said, reaching for the door. “By the way, whose blood is by the door? Alec’s?”
“It couldn’t be,” Bethany said nervously. “I hoped you might know something about that.”
A few feet from the stairs, two men lay dead from stab wounds. One was stabbed in the chest by a blade so long that it exited between the shoulder blades. The other appeared to have been stabbed in the groin and bled to death. Both were rather brutal, especially for a healthy person. An Infected might cause ghastly wounds, but healthy people typically stuck to the tried and true methods of a simple gunshot to the head.
“Christ, Melissa,” Bobby Dean gasped. “Use a gun next time. There’s no need to carve people up like that.”
“That’s brutal,” Bethany agreed.
“I didn’t do that,” Melissa argued. She looked back at the boiler room door. There was a trail of blood leading them to the bodies. They had not died immediately but managed to make it a few feet before succumbing to their heinous injuries.
“I’m glad you came for us, but you’re going to cause a scene,” Bobby Dean said, not listening to her protest.
“I told you, I didn’t do this,” she repeated. “You know I wouldn’t kill like this. I came straight to the door when I got here. I don’t even have the knife that would do such a thing.”
Melissa was a bit offended t
hat Bobby Dean would assume she would kill with such a flourish. As annoyed as she got with the opposite sex from time to time, she knew it was a deplorable way to kill a man.
It also bothered her that he thought she would be so careless when it came to defending herself and others. So far, during her rescue, she was blamed for being careless and perverse—and they hadn’t even found Alec and Elaina yet. The mission wasn’t going as she had imagined it would.
“You’re out of your mind if you think—" Melissa said before stifling a scream. As they walked down the hall, they realized that the dead man was not an isolated incident. Three headless soldiers sat against the wall, arranged as if they were merely taking a break from work. Each head sat in the corresponding soldier’s lap. One woman’s eyes were still open, her mouth gaping in shock.
Bobby Dean doubled over and vomited from the sight. Melissa winced and squinted her eyes so she could continue to walk down the hall without having to see the extent of the carnage.
“Is it her?” Bobby Dean sputtered, spitting on the floor.
“I don’t know who that is,” Melissa exclaimed.
“No,” Bobby Dean said exasperatedly. “Did she do this?”
“Samantha?” Bethany squeaked out. “Yeah, I think so.”
Bethany’s legs were shaking so badly that she could hardly walk. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting to see Samantha’s wild hair disappearing around a corner.
“Wait, is that the girl people are looking for?” Melissa said. “Who is she? How do you know that she did this?”
“I don’t have time to explain,” Bethany said desperately. “Look, if you see a girl with red hair and a machete, run. If she asks you if you’re special or immune, say yes.”
“I don’t understand,” Melissa said, absolutely terrified by these vague instructions.
