“Uh, Zac,” she said, as a sudden thought occurred to her.
“What?”
“Why did those people at the club go nuts? Do you know?”
He shrugged. “No, I don’t. When it all started, I ran inside to help. Things were going to hell, and I grabbed Joe, the bartender, but he couldn’t tell me much either. He’s dead now. Those things got him.”
“What if it’s zombies?” she asked.
“Zombies? Aren’t you a little old for fairy tales?”
“I’m serious.”
“That’s crazy, and you know it, Dee.”
“But what if it’s not crazy? What if they are zombies?” she insisted.
“So what if they are?” he answered. “We’re here now, and we’re safe. The police will sort it all out, I’m sure.”
“If they’re zombies, that means all those people were infected. It means you’re…” Dee trailed off as she realized what she was about to say. “It means, a hospital is the last place you’d want to be right now.”
“Smooth recovery, ” Zac said, “but I know what you were going to say. It means I’m infected too.”
Dee bit her lower lip. “Sorry. I always say the wrong thing at the wrong time.”
“It’s okay,” he said as he pulled into an empty parking spot. “You’re wrong anyway. There’s no such thing as zombies. A few stitches, and I’ll be just fine.”
Still, she hesitated, not sure whether it was a good idea to enter the hospital which was bursting at the seams with possibly infected people. A shudder worked its way up her spine as she imagined them turning into zombies and attacking the rest. It’d be like the club all over again.
Zac opened his door and got out. “Look, you can come or not. Your choice.”
“I’m coming,” she said, realizing she didn’t want to be left alone. Where would she go anyway?
They walked toward the emergency ward together, merging with a stream of wounded people in a similar state as Zac. Once inside, a scene of chaos met their eyes. Doctors and nurses ran around like headless chickens, barking out orders as more and more patients came in.
Medics offloaded gurneys from ambulances and rushed them through the packed corridors with scant regard for those who got in the way. The phones never stopped ringing, and their shrill blaring only added to the noise until it formed a constant roar.
A harassed nurse at reception pointed them toward a long line of seated people, all of them battered and bloody. “You’ll have to wait, I’m sorry. We’re full to capacity at the moment.”
“But he’s bleeding!” Dee protested over the noise.
“They’re all bleeding, and he can still walk on his own,” the nurse answered with brisk efficiency.
Dee stared at her in shock until the woman sighed and rummaged behind the counter to hand over a pack of gauze. “There. That’s the best I can do for you.”
Dee turned away in disgust. “Let’s go, Zac.”
They found two empty chairs, and she helped him staunch his wounds with wads of the sheer gauze. After a time, the bleeding stopped, but she grew increasingly worried about his state of health.
His complexion was gray, and sweat poured off his skin in rivulets even though it wasn’t hot. His hands shook, and the smallest nudge caused him to wince with pain. On closer inspection, she noticed fine black lines radiating from the bite wounds.
The people around them weren’t any better off either. In fact, many seemed worse. A few looked as if they were about to keel over, and once again, she wondered if the sickness wasn’t infectious. If so, she was in the worst place possible. Wouldn’t that be just perfect? The cherry on top of my fantastic night out.
For several minutes, Dee sat, waiting for help to come. It never did. The place just grew more and more packed. She rechecked her phone. Still no signal. I have to do something. I can’t just sit here all night.
Finally, she stood up. “I’ll be right back, Zac.”
He mumbled his assent, though he hardly seemed to hear her. With her phone in hand, she ducked through the crowds and out the doors. It was a huge relief to be away from the noise and the stench of blood, vomit, and disinfectant.
With her cell raised in the air, she wandered about the parking lot looking for a few bars. She found it right at the edge and immediately rang Aiden. Her stomach fluttered with each ring, eager to hear the sound of his voice.
“Dee? Is that you?” he answered.
“Aiden! Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?” she said, relief coursing through her veins.
“Where are you? I’ve been worried sick!” he asked, ignoring her question.
“I’m at the hospital.”
“Why? Are you hurt?” A frantic note had entered his voice.
“No, no,” she rushed to reassure him. “I’m fine. I’m here with a friend, that’s all. He was injured, and we came to the hospital for treatment.”
“Oh, thank God, but Dee, it’s not safe.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a virus, this thing that makes people go crazy,” he said. “Plus, it’s infectious. If you get bitten, you become one of them. We’re talking zombies here.”
Dee gasped, her worst fears realized. It never occurred to her to question Aiden’s judgment. He wasn’t the type to buy into crazy stories. If he said it was zombies, then that’s what it was. Zac!
“Are you inside the hospital?” Aiden asked.
“No, I’m in the parking lot.”
“Good. Stay there, Dee. Don’t go back inside; it’s too dangerous.”
“But…” Her mind winged to Zac. He needed her.
“Promise me you won’t go back inside. Not even for your friend. He’s already dead, babes. It’s just a matter of time,” he insisted.
“I…I promise,” she whispered, even as guilt over abandoning her new friend flowed through her veins. I’m sorry, Zac.
“I’m coming to fetch you. Just wait for me. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“All right,” she answered.
He rang off, and she shivered as she folded her arms around her. Those poor people. They didn’t know. When the wounded turned, they’d be sitting ducks inside the crowded hallways, ready victims for the horrors the virus would unleash. Should she warn them?
Dee stared at the hospital’s entrance, shifting from one foot to the other. Her eyes fell on a family making their way inside. The wife fussed over the husband, his arm wrapped in a bloody bandage. Behind them two little girls trailed along, their little faces twisted with worry for their daddy. I have to warn them. I can’t let those kids get hurt. I just can’t.
With her mind made up, she ran toward them and called, “Wait! Wait for me, please!”
The father heard her and turned around with a frown. “Can I help you, Miss?”
She halted in front of them, slightly out of breath. “Don’t go inside. It’s too dangerous.”
“What do you mean it’s too dangerous?”
“There’s a virus going around turning people crazy.”
“Yes, I know. One of them attacked me,” he replied. “That’s why I’m here.”
“What you don’t know is that it’s infectious. If you get bitten, you’ll turn into one of them.”
The man paled, and his wife gasped. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am,” Dee said. “All those people inside will turn, it’s just a matter of time. If you’re in there when it happens, you’ll die. Your family will die.”
“You’re lying. That can’t be true. Dean is not infected. He’s not,” the wife insisted.
“It’s the truth. Everyone who’s bitten will turn into a zombie.”
“What rubbish,” the man said, his voice low and angry. “There’s no such thing as zombies.”
The smallest of the two girls began to cry, and her mother swept her up in her arms while she glared at Dee. “Now look what you’ve done. You’ve frightened my daughter.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t me
an to. I just wanted to help.”
The man stepped in between her and his family. “I think you’ve helped enough already. Please leave.”
“But…” Dee protested, reaching out a pleading hand.
“Security!” the man called. “Security!”
“No, please. I mean no harm.”
“Go away,” he said.
Both children were now bawling, their shrill voices loud enough to pierce an eardrum. Dee stared helplessly as their mother herded them toward the hospital’s entrance, straight into the jaws of death.
The nearest security guard jogged over, and the man pointed an accusatory finger at her. “This girl is bothering us with stories of zombies. She scared my kids half to death. Please get rid of her.”
“Come with me, Miss,” the guard said, grabbing her by the elbow.
“No! I’m just trying to help,” Dee cried, tears of frustration clouding her vision. “You don’t understand.”
“I don’t want any trouble from you, Miss. We’ve got a crisis on our hands here, and we don’t need kids like you causing a panic.” He dragged her away despite her protests and forced her off the premises. “Go home.”
Alone and shivering, Dee stared at his retreating back before turning to look up and down the street. “Well, I tried. I really did.”
She glanced at her watch and noticed that ten minutes had passed since her phone call with Aiden. He should arrive any minute. Maybe he’d have an idea. “He’ll know what to do. He always knows.”
Dee’s Destiny - Chapter 6
“And?” Jonathan prompted when Dee fell silent.
“And what?” Dee asked.
“Did he know what to do?”
Dee sighed at looked at her hands, picking at a chipped fingernail. “He never showed up.”
“What?” Cat asked, her voice laced with disappointment. “What happened to him?”
Dee shrugged, taking care to hide her inner pain from the group. “I don’t know. I waited for about half an hour, but Aiden never arrived, and then…”
“Yeah?” Ryan asked.
“Then the screaming began. The wounded inside the hospital turned, and it was the nightclub all over again.” Dee shook her head. “Those people, that family with their kids, Zac, they all died. It was a bloodbath.”
“What did you do?” Cat asked.
“I ran. I ran until I couldn’t run anymore. Eventually, I made it back to campus, looking for Aiden, but I never found him or his bitch of a sister either.”
“That’s too bad,” Ryan said.
“Yup. By the time I got to the dorms, the virus had spread there too, and I barely made it out alive. I guess Aiden and Eliza got away. At least, I hope he did. I wouldn’t mind if Eliza turned into a zom. She was never very bright, anyway.”
“Sounds to me like she deserves it,” Cat agreed. “But I’m sure Aiden made it out. He seems pretty smart.”
“Yup, he’s smart alright,” Dee replied with a lopsided smile. She brushed her thumb over her dead phone screen. “I tried to call him. My mum and dad too, but I never got through to any of them. The networks crashed early on, so I sent him a text telling him to come here. I hope it got through to him in time.”
Cat sighed, and Ryan shuffled his feet. Silence fell over the group, broken only by the occasional crackle of flames from the fire. Each of them appeared lost in their thoughts, remembering those that had died perhaps.
Dee remembered the mad dash from campus, the long hours spent running, hiding, and hiking. It was a miracle she even got this far. Now here she was, an orphan without a boyfriend in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Great. Just great.
“So what do we do now?” Jonathan asked. “Become zombie hunters?”
“Haha,” Dee replied. “We live. We survive as best as we can. That’s all there is to it.”
“I noticed your house has solar power,” Cat said.
“Yeah, it’s off the grid. My dad didn’t believe in paying the government for anything he didn’t have to,” Dee said. “Our water comes from the river. It’s pumped through a filtration system and into a tank. If we maintain the system, we’ll have year-round plumbing and electricity.”
“That’s cool,” Ryan said.
“There’s a vegetable garden too, and a fruit orchard. My mom loved gardening.” Sadness filled Dee’s heart. She still couldn’t believe her parents were gone.
“We’ll need weapons when we go on supply runs,” Jonathan said.
“There are guns in the safe, but hands off until I’m sure you can use one,” Dee said.
“I can shoot,” Ryan replied, raising a hand. “My dad taught me. I’m a little rusty, though.”
“That’s okay. I’ll bring you up to speed again,” Dee said.
“I’ve never shot a gun, but I’m willing to learn,” Cat said. “Anything to protect the kids. They won’t survive on their own.”
“Excellent.”
“Wait a minute,” Jonathan interrupted. “You’re acting like you’re a gun expert. A real GI Jane. Who says you can even shoot straight?”
Dee eyed him with cold disfavor “I’ve been shooting since I was five years old. I hunted my first buck at nine and went to the gun range every weekend this past year to practice. When was the last time you held a gun?”
Jonathan’s mouth opened then closed again, flapping like a fish out of water. Ryan grinned. “She’s got you there.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Jonathan mumbled. “I still think she’s bluffing.”
“Not from what I saw,” Ryan said. “She shot quite a few zombies on the way here, and she’s no slouch with that gun. If I were you, I’d keep my mouth shut.”
“Listen to your friend,” Dee said. “Unless you want my boot up your ass.”
“Okay, okay. Back off,” Jonathan said before subsiding into angry silence.
“Let’s not fight, guys,” Cat interjected. “We’re all in this together, right? End of the world and all?”
“She’s right,” Ryan said. “Let’s try to get along, at least.”
“Fine,” Jonathan grumbled.
“Speaking of the end of the world, it’s been a long day, and I think it’s time we went to bed. Who’s taking the first watch?”
“Watch?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, we need to keep guard at all times. Who knows what might happen? We need to be prepared,” Dee said.
“That we can agree upon,” Jonathan said. “I’ll go first. I’ll wake you in a few hours for the second shift, Ryan.”
“Right, that’s settled,” Dee said as she scooped up a bucket of sand to douse the fire. “In the morning, we can see what we’ve got to work with.”
They all said their goodbyes and trudged off to bed except Jonathan who took up his post on the porch. Dee secured all the doors and locks and checked the windows before going to her room.
It was comforting to be back in the old place and sad at the same time. It brought back fond memories of her childhood but also reminded her of everything she’d lost. After fishing out a set of pajamas, she had a quick bath before crawling between the covers.
Sleep came quickly, brought on by the sheer weight of exhaustion that hung over her after the past few days. As her aches and pains melted into the mattress, her last thoughts were of Aiden. Where he might be, and if he was even still alive. She could only pray he was out there, somewhere, making his way back to her.
Aiden’s Mark - Chapter 1
Aiden struggled against the hands of the strange boy who held him down in the backseat of his car. His head throbbed where Lolly had hit him, and he glared at her when she climbed in next to him. “Wait! We can’t leave yet. What about Dee?”
“Sit down, Aiden,” Eliza said from her seat behind the wheel. “Dee’s gone. She’s not here.”
“No, she has to be. I told her to wait.” Aiden continued to fight, but the combined efforts of the stranger and Lolly was enough to keep him pinned in place long enough for Eliza to start the engine
and drive off.
“Dee!”
“Forget her, Aiden,” Eliza said with a sharp note in her voice. “She left you. Can’t you see that? She probably got scared and decided to make a run for it.”
“No, she’d never do that. She wouldn’t leave me,” Aiden insisted, sitting upright. He brushed Lolly and the other boy off with brisk impatience and leaned forward in his seat. “Turn around, Eliza.”
“No, it’s too dangerous.” She met his gaze in the rearview mirror with a mutinous glare, her mouth set in that stubborn line he knew so well from childhood.
“I said, turn around,” he shouted, his hands gripping the backrests of the front seats until his knuckles turned paper white.
Eliza appeared to soften and sighed. “Aiden, please. Be rational. Dee’s gone, and if we go back to look for her, you’ll put everyone in this car in danger. Do you really want to do that?”
Aiden pressed his lips together. She had him there, and she knew it. His twin knew precisely which buttons to push and was well aware that he’d never willingly endanger anyone. He was too noble for that.
“Come on, bro. Let’s just go back to my dorm for now. It’ll be safe there, and we can come up with a plan to find her. I’m sure she’s fine. In fact, why don’t you call her?”
“My battery’s dead,” he said as frustration filled him. Why did everything have to go wrong tonight? First, he forgot to charge his phone, then he invited Eliza and her stupid friend along, and now he’d lost Dee. Still, blood was blood, and he could never have abandoned his sister at that nightclub. The guilt alone would’ve killed him, not to mention his mum and dad when they found out.
“You can charge it at my dorm room. It’ll only take a few minutes, then you can call her,” Eliza replied in soothing tones.
Aiden forced himself through the gap between the two front seats and dropped into the passenger side with a grunt. “Fine, but the moment I hear from her, I’m taking the car and fetching her.” He threw Lolly and her unknown friend a nasty look. “And this time, no one will stop me.”
Children of the Apocalypse: Mega Boxed Set Page 105
