by Max Lockwood
Alec looked devastated and confused. “You might not be infected,” he offered again.
“But I might be. I should leave before the others get back. I just needed to let you know everything.”
Alec heard a laugh from outside and grasped Elaina’s wrist, his fingers wrapping around her tightly. “Let me get you a little closer to safety. Then you can go. If you’re feeling fine and aren’t spreading body fluids, then there’s no reason you can’t come a little further.”
“Fine,” Elaina said quickly as Natalia and Will came closer.
Pleased that he had gotten his way, Alec dropped her arm and got out to help the teens put their supplies in the truck. Elaina sat still, wondering if she had allowed herself to make a deadly mistake.
As the only confirmed living test subject of the LILY serum, Elaina’s body was the most important resource she had. She just wasn’t sure how long it would hold up before the Vincent Strain took over.
Chapter Four
Natalia’s eyes could hardly stay open as Alec drove down the highway. Elaina watched as her head kept bobbing up and down. Soon after, Will joined her. As one head fell, the other would snap back up. Elaina tried to stifle her giggles as she watched them from the reflection in the windshield.
“Why don’t you two get some sleep?” she suggested. “You’ll want to be well rested if we’re going to make any more stops.”
Natalia nodded and rested her head on Will’s shoulder. Will gave a sleepy smile and rested his head back onto hers. Elaina felt a pang in her chest. She didn’t know what was going on between the two of them, but at the very least they were getting along.
Elaina wasn’t sure where the feelings of sadness were coming from. She did not want, or expect, to get too friendly with Alec, yet she longed to make a connection with somebody. It just so happened that Alec was available. Still, he had no interest in being friendly with her. She took a deep breath to force the tight feeling in her chest to dissipate.
“Are you doing okay?” she asked quietly, looking at Alec. His eyes were locked on the road. She hadn’t seen him sleep since their last night at the warehouse. His eyes were lined with red, but stayed wide open. “I can drive if you want some rest.”
“No, I’m fine,” he said. “Thanks, though. I’m used to working long shifts.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to go without sleep. How long has it been since you last slept?”
Alec rubbed the sore spot on his head that had been healing quite nicely. It still smarted when he touched it, and every now and again the headaches would resurface.
“I slept a little when Will and I were looking for you,” he answered. “But I think we should probably stop to rest later tonight. We all could use a little down time, I think.”
Elaina looked in the back seat at the two teens, sleeping hard. “Do you think she actually likes him?”
Alec smiled. “You never know. I’m sure he’s having a great time, though. I just hope that they don’t get too attached to each other.”
“I don’t know,” Elaina mused. “Natalia likes to be surrounded by people who care about her. Maybe it’s good for her. I’m not pleased that I’m basically being replaced by a teenage boy, but I’m glad someone will be there for her when I’m gone.”
Alec winced. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Our plans always change. We need to be able to adapt to new situations as they arise. As long as no one is being attacked or captured, we’re in good shape.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Elaina mumbled, knowing that Alec was dismissing her plans again.
“I think it’s in our best interests if we avoid military personnel and any other authorities from now on,” he continued. “We saw what happened last time. They can’t do a better job of protecting us than I can. We’re better on our own.”
Elaina could practically see the wheels turning in his mind, different plans and possible situations flowing in and out of his brain.
“Can I ask you something?” Elaina said softly.
“Sure.”
“Why do you feel so responsible for us? You could have left me on the side of the road on more than one occasion. You risked your life to take care of Natalia and me, and now you’re driving us to safety. You don’t really seem like the type who needs constant companionship, so why are you doing this? Why do you go to such great lengths to keep us safe when you’re absolutely under no obligation to do it? It’s clearly a burden on you and you get very little out of keeping us around. In fact, I feel like you can hardly hide the fact that you despise me. So, why are you doing this?”
“I’m a cop,” he replied simply, eyes unblinking.
“Then where are the other cops? I have yet to see anyone helping. Even the military ditched us. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that you’re off the clock now.”
Alec finally moved his eyes off the road to look at Elaina. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel the need to do this. I need to give back, to right a few wrongs.”
Elaina rolled her eyes. “What could you have possibly done that requires you to take three people under your wing when you could get away faster on your own?”
Alec shook his head dismissively. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Come on,” Elaina pried. “I don’t believe you. You’re clearly a model cop who hasn’t done a bad deed in his life. You probably let kids ride around in your patrol vehicle and help little old ladies cross the road.”
“I killed people,” he said shakily, interrupting Elaina.
“Yeah, but those were infected people running after us. You had already rescued us by then.”
“No, this happened before we ever met,” he said, struggling to find the words.
“You killed someone? Like an innocent person?”
“She was infected, but I still don’t feel good about it. She was only a kid.”
Elaina grimaced. “How young?”
“Fifteen. She was pretty out of it. She had no idea what was going on, but she was trying to harm others.”
“Then you didn’t have any other choice,” Elaina said.
“That’s what I’d been told, too. I still wonder if she could have been saved. Maybe if you were there with your serum, she could have been captured and given the cure. She would still be alive and her parents wouldn’t have had to bury an empty box.”
“Why was it empty?” Elaina asked hesitantly.
“The coroner thought that the virus would seep into the water supply if she were buried. This was in the early days of the virus. If I remember correctly, they incinerated her and put her ashes in a biomedical waste container.”
“That’s awful,” Elaina said.
“I know. After it happened, I took some time off. I was supposed to take some time to gather my thoughts, maybe even see a therapist to work through what had happened. Instead, I got roaring drunk every single day and hardly left my couch. I thought about quitting my job entirely, switching professions if I ever got the motivation to get off my couch. She haunted me.”
“She haunted you?” Elaina asked skeptically.
“Not in the spooky ghost way you’re thinking of,” he said dryly. “Whenever I began to feel like I was getting over it, she’d pop into my dreams. I’d watch something on the news and I’d have these intense flashbacks of me pulling the trigger. It was terrible.”
“I’m sorry,” Elaina said. “I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t. It’s too easy to make assumptions based on the things you think you know. I know people like Natalia, Will, and me look like normal people, but we’re living in a different world now. We’ve had traumatic experiences that will change us forever. We all have our own motives for why we do the things we do. It just so happens that I can’t feel good about myself unless I’m protecting someone from danger.”
“Just like I can’t feel good about myself if I don’t figure out a way to stop this virus,” Elaina added.
“Exactly. And, for s
ome reason, the two of us need to feel good about something,” he said with a smirk. “So, if you want to do me a favor, you can just let me help you out a little. I’m not going to keep you hostage or anything, but if I can give you a lift just a little while longer, you’ll help me sleep at night. Okay?”
“Okay,” she mumbled. “And you know, it’s not your fault—the thing that happened with that girl. You did the right thing.”
He grimaced and looked away, subtly marking the end of that conversation. Elaina didn’t want to test him by bringing it up again, so she sat in silence.
The fact that he felt a moral obligation to protect her made Elaina a little uncomfortable. She had always been extremely independent and absolutely hated being patronized or coddled in any way. Still, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings or upset him any further, so she decided she would not protest his chauffeuring until they arrived at their next destination, wherever it may be.
Elaina tried to close her eyes and get a little rest herself, but every time she closed her eyes, she could see Alec at various stages of his story—trying to help the girl, shooting the girl, and then going into a depression, all alone at home. Her eyes locked on the road, watching the broken lines disappear behind them, just as Alec did.
Soon, she wouldn’t have to be a burden on him. She would leave and lighten his load to only having to worry about Natalia and Will. She felt a little guilty about leaving him with two hormone-ridden kids, but he could handle them. They were both kind people and were fairly self-sufficient. It wouldn’t be hard.
“How are you feeling?” Alec asked after a long silence, surprising Elaina.
“Fine,” she said. “A little sleepy, but that’s about it.”
“No symptoms yet?”
“No symptoms.”
He paused. “Do you think your serum worked? In any other case, wouldn’t you feel sick by now?”
Elaina counted the hours since she was injected and compared it to the reports she’d heard about the virus.
“The incubation period is relatively short, but it can lie dormant in some people. I think that’s more common in recent mutations, though.”
“Which do you think he infected you with?”
“It’s hard to say. I’m just surprised that I don’t even have the flu-like symptoms yet.”
“That’s promising. I wouldn’t worry about infecting us. We’ll take the extra precautions, of course, but I don’t think you need to be in such a big hurry to leave us. In fact, if you want to keep Natalia safe, shouldn’t she be with the one person who knows how to treat the virus?”
“I could infect her much faster than I could heal her. Prevention is always best.”
“Whatever,” Alec grumbled. “There’s just no reason for you to run off just yet, you know?”
She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. There was no point in arguing with him. It would only make him more upset and it would get neither of them anywhere. She was better off just staying silent and quietly leaving when the moment was right.
If she guessed Alec’s next move correctly, then he would take them to a moderately populated area as far away from Seattle as they could get in one day to rest and restock. Then she could leave in the middle of the night if she needed to.
When the vehicle was out of gas again, Alec made a quick stop in a rural area to fill up. When he got out, he locked the others in the car. Elaina wasn’t sure if he was doing so out of habit, or for a very specific purpose. Either way, she wanted to get out and leave before the other two woke up.
She tapped a knuckle on the window, signaling that she wanted to get out. He opened the door a crack.
“What’s up?” he asked, blocking most of the door with his body.
“It’s time, Alec. I’d like to go before the other two wake up. I don’t want them to ask too many questions. I’d rather them hear from you.”
Alec looked around. Besides a gas station, there was a mechanic’s shop and a couple of fast food restaurants. It looked like the town was still inhabited, but there wasn’t much there. He would be surprised if they even had a school or a county hospital.
“Why don’t you wait until we get to the next town?” Alec said, staying in his position in front of the door. “That way, you’ll be closer to some better resources.”
Elaina gave him a hard look. She knew that he would continue to repeat the same sentiment until they were in Florida or somewhere. By that time, she may very well be highly contagious and would spread it to a safe part of the country. She didn’t think it was a good idea, but he didn’t look like he was about to take no for an answer.
Just as she was thinking of the best way to make a break for it, Alec leaned his head in the truck and woke the teens up.
“Natalia, Will,” he called loudly. “We stopped to fill up on gas. Come stretch your legs or use the bathroom. Otherwise, we’ll keep going until night.”
They rubbed their sleep-filled eyes and sat up straight. Elaina knew that Alec would have let them continue sleeping if she had not expressed the fact that she didn’t want them to see her go. She looked at him and he stood with his arms crossed, a smug smile on his face. He had won this round of their ongoing fight.
Chapter Five
The sun set just as the truck drove into a small town near the Oregon border. A few cars drove past them, which was promising—perhaps there was still life in Washington after all. For the first time in over a week, Elaina felt like she was part of human civilization again. It felt foreign to her now, seeing hotels and coffee shops scattered beside the highway. Many of these establishments still had lights on, which meant that people were occupying these spaces and they hadn’t been completely abandoned. In fact, the absence of the putrid smell of burning buildings was promising enough.
Alec looked so relieved to reach a stopping point for the day. He had downed can after can of bitter energy drinks to stay alert. Now, he was just wired, his hands trembled slightly and his dry eyes hardly blinked.
“Can we drive through one of those fast food restaurants?” Natalia pleaded, her eyes wide.
“Fine, but let’s make it quick,” Alec said, pulling into a burger joint. “I don’t like being out after dark. We still have to find a hotel room for the night.”
Natalia and Will cheered like children in the back seat. Alec pulled into a parking spot and looked back at them.
“I’m going to stay in the car. We can’t afford to lose this vehicle.”
“Do you really think someone’s going to steal it?” Will asked skeptically. “I don’t think the virus has reached this far south.”
“I didn’t think my patrol car was going to get stolen, or that my personal vehicle would also get stolen, but here we are. This thing is too nice to risk. Why don’t the three of you go in and get something for me while I wait?”
“Got it,” Will said, sliding out of the car. “We’ll be back soon.”
“Keep an eye on them,” Alec said to Elaina in a hushed voice before she closed the door behind her. She gave him a quick nod through the window.
Elaina followed the teens inside the brightly lit restaurant. It was empty, which seemed odd for that time of evening, but it was a small town. She wasn’t sure what was normal for a more rural location.
“Hello?” Natalia called at the counter, trying to get the attention of an employee. She pressed her palms into the counter, giving herself a little boost to see back into the kitchen. It also looked vacant.
“This is weird,” Elaina said quietly, scanning the dining area for exits, just in case.
“I’m going to wait one minute,” Will said, “and if no one comes to take our order, I’m jumping back there and cooking it myself. This place still has power. I could fry up an entire basket of French fries and bring them with us.”
“Hold on,” Natalia said, “I see someone back there.”
Elaina heard rustling coming from the walk-in freezer, then saw a skinny teen emerge.
&nbs
p; “Hey,” Natalia shouted again. “We’d like to place an order, please.” She leaned so close to the register with anticipation that her body was halfway over the counter. If she lost her balance, she would flip over the counter completely.
The employee shuffled forward, his eyes on the ground. When he lifted his head to look at Natalia, his pupils were dilated much larger that Elaina had ever seen before.
“Let’s go,” Elaina said quietly.
“No!” the employee screeched, grabbing Natalia by the front of her shirt, pulling her toward him. “Place your order.”
“He’s infected!” Natalia screamed, flailing her arms and legs. “Let go of me!”
Elaina looked around the restaurant for something to hit the infected employee with. Unlike in the rubble of Seattle, there was a shortage of blunt objects that would work.
Without hesitation, Will jumped forward and wrestled the infected teen to the ground, breaking his grip on Natalia. He punched and kicked the employee until he was unconscious.
“Let’s go, Will,” Elaina urged once the threat was eliminated.
Will seemed to not hear her. He continued to beat the teen while Natalia shuddered, crouched in a fetal position on the counter.
“Will,” Elaina shouted, finally catching his attention. “We need to go before anyone else gets here. Get in the truck, now.”
He jumped over the counter and scooped Natalia up into his arms. She was silent and appeared to be in shock.
“Get me out of here,” she murmured, once she found her voice again. “I just want to get out of here.”
Will looked completely devastated. He leaned in close and whispered, “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”
The three exited the restaurant, surprisingly unharmed. Before getting back into the truck, Will inspected his body for any cuts or scrapes he might have acquired in the scuffle.
“What the hell happened?” Alec asked, his voice filled with dread.
“The kid behind the counter was infected,” Will said, fastening a seatbelt around Natalia, who was still shivering. “He grabbed Natalia, but I fought him off.”
