One infected girl caught his eye, and Aiden froze as recognition cut into his heart with the cruel precision of a scalpel. “Eliza, no!”
Eliza paused for a split second with Stephanie’s arm clutched firmly between her fingers. Her mouth chewed on the morsel of flesh between her jaws, and her face turned toward her twin brother’s. Their eyes met, his horrified and hers a blank stare.
She bared her teeth and half-growled, half-howled at Aiden. Letting go of Stephanie, she charged at him with her hands outstretched. Numb with horror, he was unable to move until Nicky grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the car.
The door closed as Eliza slammed into it, snarling at him through the window. Her hands left smears of blood, Stephanie’s blood, all over the glass, and Aiden shook his head in grievous denial. “No, Eliza. Not you. Not you too.”
Danielle screamed at Nicky to go, and she roared out of the parking lot, chased by several infected, but Aiden hardly cared. He felt numb to the core, like a block of ice had taken the place of his heart. She’s dead. Eliza’s dead. I’ll never see her again.
The realization was a terrible one. As much as he’d disliked her moods and her selfishness, as much as he’d hated her for abandoning him, she was still his sister. His twin. Blood of my blood, and I failed her.
Aiden’s Mark - Chapter 5
Nicky drove to Danielle’s house in silence while Aiden brooded in the front seat. He was faced with the realization that he’d lost everything within the span of a few hours. His twin, his life, his family, and his love. His hands were stained with blood, as was his heart, and he had nothing left to live for. I couldn’t even save Lacy or Stephanie.
Though he hadn’t known them well, he still felt responsible for their deaths, and the manner of their passing haunted him. I should’ve sacrificed myself for them. I’m dead anyway. Rather me than them.
Again he checked his phone for news from Dee, but there was nothing. No messages, no texts, nothing. He tried calling her several times but without success. He was now more than an hour late for their arranged pick-up. “She’ll think I’ve abandoned her, or that I’m dead.”
“What?” Nicky cast him a quizzical look.
“Nothing,” Aiden replied.
“Is this about your girlfriend?” she asked.
“Just one more thing I failed at tonight.”
“You didn’t fail at anything, Aiden,” Nicky replied. “You saved our lives, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, and I lost Stephanie and Lacy in the process. Not to mention Eliza.”
“That’s not your fault,” Nicky replied. “You did the best you could, and nobody could’ve saved them.”
“Besides,” Danielle interrupted, “didn’t Eliza abandon you? She’s the one who ran, not you.”
“Yeah, but―”
“But nothing, Aiden. She left you to die. What happened to her afterward has nothing to do with you. It was her choice,” Danielle said.
Aiden sighed. She had a point, and he knew it, but it was hard to let go of the guilt and self-recrimination just yet. “I still failed Dee. She’s out there somewhere, and I can’t even help her.”
“Well,” Nicky said. “We’ve got a car. Let’s go look for her.”
Aiden stared at her. “You mean that?”
“I do.” Nicky twisted her head to the back. “Danielle? Are you up for a detour?”
“Of course. We owe Aiden our lives. It’s the least we can do.”
“Then it’s settled,” Nicky said. “When was the last time you spoke to her?”
“About an hour and a half ago.”
“Where was she?”
“At the hospital. Emergency ward. I warned her not to go inside but to wait for me outside where it’s safer.”
“Right. Hospital it is.”
Aiden shifted in his seat as a sense of warmth flooded his chest. “Thanks for doing this, guys. You don’t have to, you know? I can go on my own.”
“No problem,” Nicky replied. “That’s what friends are for.”
For the first time that night, Aiden felt a little bit like his old self again. Maybe…just maybe there was still time. Time to find Dee and make sure she was safe before he turned into a freak. Two hours. That’s what Lolly had. Thirty minutes left on the clock. If I go the same way as her. Maybe more, if I’m lucky.
Nicky drove toward the hospital, and for the next twenty minutes, they combed the streets around it looking for Dee. They moved outward in ever expanding circles, searching block after block for any sign of her.
They saw nothing.
Nothing but death.
Though they found no Dee, they found plenty of signs of the infection. In a matter of hours, it had spread throughout the city, fanning outward from the nightclubs, restaurants, clinics, and the hospital toward the suburbs.
Everywhere they looked was chaos. People were running and being chased; there were car wrecks, fires, and police vans everywhere. Even barricades and overturned trucks. Corpses littered the road. More than once they were mobbed by zombies and had to race away from the scene before their windows were smashed to bits.
As time passed, despair leached into Aiden’s bones. The optimism he’d felt earlier was gone, replaced instead by the virus. He could feel it now, moving through his muscles and running through his veins. His skin grew flushed, and his breathing labored. Sweat poured from his brow, and at times, he felt faint and dizzy.
Finally, he had to admit the truth. He was too ill to carry on with the search. I’m sorry, Dee. So sorry.
He took a deep breath. “Nicky. Stop.”
“What?”
“I said stop the car.”
“Why?” Confusion filled her face, causing her nose to scrunch up and her spectacles to shift.
“It’s the virus. I’m…not feeling well.”
“But―”
“No, buts. I can’t risk turning on you guys in here and hurting you.”
“What about Dee?”
“Dee’s gone. Wherever she is, I won’t find her in time. It’s already too late for me. I can only hope she’s okay wherever she is.”
“No,” Nicky said, shaking her head. “I won’t leave you here to die.”
Aiden sighed. “I’m dead already, Nicky.”
He shifted in his seat and met Danielle’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Tell her, Danielle. You know I’m right.”
“No,” Danielle said, adding her voice to Nicky’s.
“Yes,” he insisted. “Stop the car.”
“Don’t give up, Aiden. Fight it,” Danielle said.
“I can’t. It’s too strong. I can feel it inside me. Like something crawling under my skin, changing me into something else.”
Danielle squeezed her eyes shut. “I get it, Aiden. I do.”
“So tell Nicky to stop the car,” he insisted.
Danielle’s eyes snapped open again, a fierce look filling the green orbs. “Nicky.”
“No, Danielle. I can’t do it. I can’t abandon him,” Nicky cried.
“Nicky, turn around and go to my house. Now.”
“What?” Nicky and Aiden said at the same time.
“I agree with Nicky, Aiden. We won’t leave you. We can’t. Maybe, just maybe you can fight this. Survive this.”
“Don’t you get it?” Aiden shouted as anger at their stubbornness flooded his veins. “When I turn, I’ll hurt you. I’ll kill you. Heck, I’ll even eat you. You saw what happened to Stephanie and Lacy!”
Danielle flinched, but she remained firm in the face of his rage. “I know. Believe me, I know, but we’ll take precautions. We’ll lock you up until…until we’re sure there’s no hope.”
“What then?” he demanded. “What happens if I don’t survive this? If I die? I’ll turn into a zombie, and you’ll be stuck with me.”
“I’ll make sure you don’t come back,” Danielle said. “That you don’t become one of them.”
Aiden stared at her, faint hope stirring within his breast. He
didn’t want to turn, didn’t want to become a walking corpse, a cannibal. It was a fate worse than death. A horror he could barely imagine. Perhaps…perhaps this is the best way. If I die, she’ll make sure I stay dead.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked. “When the time comes, can you do it?”
Danielle pressed her lips together and nodded. “I will.”
“Promise me. Swear on your life.”
“I swear it.”
“Then…I guess I’m in.” He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and swallowed as bitter bile pushed up his throat for the umpteenth time. “But you’d better hurry. I might not last very long.”
“You heard him, Nicky. Step on it.”
As they raced toward Danielle’s home, Aiden turned to look back at the hospital for the last time. I’m sorry, Dee. Wherever you are, I hope you make it. I hope you survive.
Aiden’s Mark - Chapter 6
Two weeks later, Aiden woke up feeling like himself for the first time in days. He yawned and stretched, relishing the return of good health and vitality to his body.
Danielle had been right after all. He’d survived the virus. A miracle, for sure. Maybe it was in his DNA. Maybe he had a strong immune system. He’d probably never know.
According to all the news reports airing live until all broadcasts ended, the virus was one hundred percent fatal. No known survivors existed. Which was why he couldn’t believe he was still alive. Whatever saved me didn’t save Eliza, and she was my twin. Non-identical, though.
Perhaps, it wasn’t him. Perhaps he still lived simply because Danielle wouldn’t let him die. She’d been true to her word, after all. Upon returning home, she’d convinced her mother to let him stay, after breaking the news about the zombie apocalypse.
They took him upstairs to the spare bedroom and tied him down with ropes. There he stayed until the virus ran its course, though they did their best to make him comfortable.
It wasn’t easy. He grew increasingly ill as the virus tried to take control of his brain and body. For days he drifted in and out of consciousness, barely aware of his surroundings. His muscles cramped, and agonizing pains stabbed through his temples until he swore he’d rather die. He vomited blood and could keep nothing down but a little bit of water. Fever raged through his veins, and at intervals he even hallucinated. It was hell. Pure, unadulterated hell.
Throughout this time, he often dreamt of Dee and Eliza, Stephanie and Lacy. He relived the memories of the latter two’s deaths and Eliza’s crazed face until he refused to sleep for fear of the nightmares. They were bitter memories. The kind that killed.
Thoughts of Dee helped him through it. She was still alive. He knew this; he felt it in his heart. Maybe it was a forlorn hope, one he clung to when things got so bad he wanted to die. But whatever the truth might be, he chose to believe she was out there somewhere, alive and kicking, still the bad-ass girl he’d fallen in love with. To think anything else would be to admit defeat, to know for sure he’d failed her as well.
Through it all, Danielle and Nicky were there, nursing him back to health and refusing to let him give up. In his rare lucid moments, they talked and laughed as if nothing was wrong. He grew to love them both as sisters. The kind he’d never had in Eliza.
There were moments of sadness, of course. Times when they reflected on all the friends and family that were lost to them, perhaps forever. Neither Nicky nor Aiden knew what had happened to their parents, but by tacit agreement, they avoided the subject.
Danielle’s mom was a wonder. The woman was made of steel. Not once did she threaten to kick him out or kill him, though he had no doubt she was capable of it. An ex-cop and single mother, boarded due to medical reasons, she set about fortifying the yard and house the moment they arrived.
After that, she conducted daily patrols with her shotgun and pistol and even went on a run for supplies. She returned with a car load of food, water, and medicine, as well as two extra guns for the girls.
So here they were, at last. Two weeks into the apocalypse and still alive. A breeze fluttered through the open window, and he breathed deeply of the fresh air. Mid-summer, it was warm already even so early in the day.
Aiden got up with a sense of eagerness. He was more than ready to leave his bed behind. It had been his home for far too long already. He had a cold but refreshing shower, his first in days, and put on his old clothes, freshly laundered by hand. Though the electricity was off, the water remained on. A minor miracle they didn’t expect to last.
He brushed his teeth and trimmed his beard, a new affectation. It hid the raw scar on his cheek which still ached at times. Afterward, they all sat down to breakfast. It was the first time he’d been able to join them at the table, and it was a happy occasion.
He cleared his throat. “Ma’am, Danielle, Nicky, thank you for everything you’ve done for me. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
Danielle’s mother eyed him shrewdly as she passed a basket of cherry tomatoes from her garden around the table. “Call me Liz, and it’s true.”
“Um, I…”
“But since you saved Danielle’s life, it was the least I could do.” She reached into her pocket and removed a cellphone. “This is yours, I believe. I charged it before the power went off in case there was something important on it.”
Aiden took the phone with a sense of wonder. “Thank you, ma’am…er, Liz.”
He switched it on, unaware that he was holding his breath. The welcome screen appeared…and there she was. Dee, smiling in that wicked manner of hers, eyes glowing.
After simply staring at her face for a minute, he automatically checked for messages. His heart nearly stopped when he saw there was one from Dee. It was dated the same night of the outbreak. She must have sent it after he failed to show up, and somehow it got through to his phone.
Danielle noticed his reaction and frowned. “Is something the matter?”
“No, quite the opposite. There’s a text from Dee!”
“What does it say?” Danielle asked, bouncing up and down in her seat like an excited child.
“She said she’s going home to her parents. They live out in the country, and it will be safer there. They’ve got their own water and electricity. Food too. Even guns. She gave directions and hopes I can join her there.”
“What? Is that it?” Danielle cried. “Not even a single kiss or heart or anything?”
Aiden colored. “Of course, there are, but I’m not saying it out loud.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. At least, she still loves you,” Nicky snickered.
Liz clapped her hands. “That’s enough, girls. Leave Aiden be.”
Danielle and Nicky continued to giggle throughout breakfast, teasing him mercilessly about his true love until Liz finally chased them away. “Aiden and I need to talk.”
After they left, Aiden looked at her. “Yes, ma’am? You wanted to speak to me.”
“Liz,” she admonished. “And you’re leaving, aren’t you?”
Aiden sat back in surprise. “How did you know?”
“I’m not stupid, my boy.”
“Sorry…er, Liz.”
“How far is this place of Dee’s?” Liz asked. “Is it really that safe? Secure?”
“It’s far, but it’s worth it,” he replied. “I’ve seen pictures before. It’s no fort, but it’s defendable. ”
Liz folded her arms and leaned back in her seat. “Question is, are you going alone, or are you taking us with you?”
Aiden blinked. “I’d like to take you with me, of course. If you want to go, that is.”
Liz nodded. “We cannot stay here forever. We need a more sustainable place to live. This was only ever temporary.”
“Then I guess it’s decided,” Aiden replied.
She pushed her chair back and smiled. “I’ll start packing. Do tell the girls, will you?”
As she walked away, Aiden felt relieved. He’d grown attached to the family, and couldn’t imagi
ne leaving them behind. Most of all, though, he was happy about one thing. Dee was alive. Soon, Dee. Soon we’ll be together again. Forever, this time.
Laura’s Bane - Chapter 1
Laura shifted on the low wall that formed her seat, the rough stones catching on her denim shorts. Waves crashed onto the rocks below her feet, their thunderous roar a constant beat that drowned out all other sounds.
A gust of wind almost tore the notepad from her fingers, and the pages fluttered in the breeze. The taste of salt coated her tongue as her gaze panned across the far horizon.
In the distance, the usual crowd of tourists that flooded the coast each year scurried across the beach like ants. They presented an array of colors against the sand, their sunburned skin a suitable canvas for the garish bikinis, cheap towels, and oversized sunglasses they wore.
“Not for me, thanks,” Laura muttered.
She brushed an errant lock of hair away from her face and turned her attention back to the sketch taking shape on her lap. Minutes passed as she shaded the picture with different hues of charcoal, her movements deft and practiced.
A thick bank of clouds moved in from the East and swallowed up the sun. She frowned and looked up at the murky sky. “I hope it’s not gonna rain.”
She twirled the pencil between her fingers as she gazed about, noting the sudden lack of foot traffic. Even the hawkers selling their gaudy trinkets and overripe mangoes were missing.
Laura shaded her eyes as she squinted at the beach. A sense of disquiet took hold when she noticed the lifesavers herding the people away from the water and toward the exit. Something had the people in a panic.
Scrambling off the wall, she took a few steps forward, curiosity driving her closer until a strange noise swung her back around. With her pad and pencil clutched to her chest, she searched for the source of the sound.
Laura shuffled forward, her flip-flops scraping on the concrete, and leaned over the wall to get a better look. A wave crashed onto the broken rocks, sending a spray of salt water into the air. The fingers of her left hand curled over the edge. What was that noise? It sounded human, and yet not.
Children of the Apocalypse: Mega Boxed Set Page 108
