Our shovels strike the soft dirt with force, not knowing how long we have, or if they’ll actually come back. With Mr. Buckley on board, there’s no telling what psychopathic plan he’ll have in mind. But we dig anyway, I think partially out of guilt, on both our behalves. She’s my, my girlfriend, I guess. Can two people really start dating under these circumstances? Like, I don’t know, does it even count? All I know is that we like each other, and what’s going on with Felecia feels a hell of a lot like cheating.
Caylee is incredible and the last thing I want to do is hurt her but if she found out what I was feeling for Felecia, it would crush her. I realize I’ll never see her again. We’ll finish digging the hole for Ms. Higgins and leave long before they pass by to check on our progress, if they come back at all.
We’ve gone our separate ways under the tyrannical rule of Neil Buckley, never to be reunited again. The thought of it hurts but not as much as it would if Felecia wasn’t standing by my side. I know she feels the same guilt I do, I can tell by the forceful way her shovel strikes the earth. She likes Caylee, she legitimately likes her as a person and she doesn’t know what to do with that. Felecia Harmon hates everyone. She should be telling me to forget digging the hole because it won’t affect either of us but the determination in her eyes tells me that she hasn’t even entertained the thought. If she has the opportunity to save her life, she’s going to take it.
“Why did you try to steal his gun?” she asks out of the blue. “Why then?”
“His little brother. Scott told me to do it,” I say, resting against my shovel to take a breather. “He didn’t want Neil in charge. So we snuck to the back. When I was going for the gun, that’s when his phone rang. I would have had it, I was so close. I touched it Felecia, my fingers were on it.”
“That’s when Ms. Higgins got shot. It was Neil. He killed her. And he kicked us off the bus for it?”
“I think he kicked you off more because of the whole ear biting thing. Thank you, by the way, if you hadn’t done that, I would have been next.”
“I’d do anything for you,” she says without looking up from the hole we’ve been digging for the past hour. “I could never let anyone hurt you.” She swallows over the lump in her throat before looking up at me. “What do we do when we’re done here? Where do we go?”
“I don’t know,” I answer after a long pause. “I guess we have two options, really. We can either try to get to Shasta Lake by the time they get the evacuation center in place. Or we can assume it’ll never happen and we’ll be better off on our own, doing whatever we have to do to survive.”
“It’s just us here Noah, no one else to think about, no one else’s well-being to consider, what do you want? What do you think we should do?”
“Honestly,” I hold up my bandaged hand and shake my head, “I don’t think I can do this anymore. How many more battles can we survive? All I want is to let someone else do the fighting. I want to board that armored bus that’s going to take us to safety, wherever that may be, and try to live a normal life. With you,” I whisper what feels like minutes later but can’t be more than a few seconds. “I want to go to the movies with you. And to prom. To the beach and amusement parks. I want to go on hikes and have picnics. Help you pick out makeup and your outfit for the day. I want to study with you and fall asleep watching TV in bed. I want to make up lost time for all those years I didn’t get to do those things with you. I want to be normal. But we can’t, because nothing will ever be normal again. What I want, I can’t have because it doesn’t exist.”
“But it might,” she whispers, her eyes welling up. “For the chance that it might, that we might get to do all those things, I think we should go to the evacuation center. I want it all too. I want a redo, and I want it with you.”
We stare at each other through teary eyes with such intensity that neither of us hear the approaching vehicle until it pulls up beside us. We both jump a little, taken aback by the sudden presence of the school bus. They came back. I don’t know why. I don’t know what happens now. But it can’t be good.
CHAPTER 8
“Get on.” Neil greets us at the door, yet he clearly isn’t happy to see me. Or her, she did try to bite his ear off. “Are you fucking deaf?” he shouts when neither of us move. “Come on, I don’t have all day.”
“I thought we were burying the body,” I say calmly.
“Forget the body. Does it look like I give a shit about that? We gotta get my dad. The place is surrounded. I need your help so shut up and get on the bus before I shoot everyone.”
“You might as well kill me now Neil, I’m not helping your dad get on the bus. I’m not saving that man, it’s not happening so you can forget it. Leave me here or shoot me, I’m not doing it.”
“Jesus Christ, Noah,” he screams, sending birds scattering from the powerlines. “Put your petty bullshit aside. You know damn well my dad can get us out of this. He’ll know what to do. Love him or hate him, we need him right now. Okay, we need him so we’re gonna do whatever we have to do to get him. He’ll get us to that evacuation center safely and we can all go our separate ways. We never have to see each other again but I need your help. I can’t do this alone. All I want is to get out of this alive. And I know that’s what you want too. I’ll never ask you for another thing again. Do this for me, do this for all of us. He’ll know how to get us to safety. Please, help me save us all.”
How many times can I watch as my future is ripped from my fingertips?
I look to Felecia, hoping she has some kind of answer. Hoping it’ll be written all over her flawless face. Flawless yet, battered and bruised, dirty, bloody, her own and that of others, but somehow perfect. Every scratch and scar makes her that much more beautiful. And all I want, all I’ve wanted since that day in gym, is a future with her. No matter how stupid that sounds, I know it would be everything I want it to be and more. I thought Caylee would be my choice in the real world, in the world we’ve lost, but I was wrong. It’s Felecia. It always has been. I thought I was crazy and maybe I am, but there’s something special about that girl. Something that makes me feel things I never thought possible.
“I want that future as badly as you do,” she whispers quietly enough that Neil can’t hear it over the sound of the engine. “If he can get us there, we should go.”
“You truly believe your dad can get us to that evacuation center?” I ask after a long silence.
“You know he will.”
“I swear to god Neil, if you try to screw me over…”
“I’m not,” he says with conviction. “I’m just as scared as you are. We can’t make it through two more days of this. He said he has a plan. You know my dad, Noah, you know what he’s capable of. He can get us out of this, he will.”
“Alright, we’ll help get your dad.”
Why do I feel like I just made a deal with the devil? Probably because I did. But if it takes selling my soul to get out of this situation, then consider it sold. I know this is the wrong decision. But what choice do I have? I don’t help Neil, he kills me. I agree to help, his father kills me. It’s a lose-lose no matter how you look at it but only one of those losses offers me a chance at the life I missed out on with Felecia. We’re young, I know that whatever’s going on between us isn’t something that’s going to last forever, but for all the years I wanted this, I can’t pass up my opportunity. I hated her because I had to. I loved her because I couldn’t not. And I’ll give us our future because I can.
We grab our tools and board the bus we never thought we’d see again. It’s comforting yet nerve-racking at the same time. Out there it was just me and Felecia, in here, there’s others to think about. We can’t find food for two, we need food for twelve. We can’t just watch each other’s backs, we need to watch theirs. Yet, being with other people, it almost makes the sacrifice worth it. When we were out there alone, even just for those couple hours, it felt so desolate. It made the reality of what’s going on sink in. But when you’re surrounde
d by familiar faces, I don’t know what it is, it makes me believe that life can be restored. We can’t be the only ones in a situation just like this. There have to be others. There has to be someone out there with an answer, trying to find us. There has to be hope.
“Good to have you back,” Marty sighs, patting my shoulder as I walk by.
“I thought you were gone for good,” Tyrone whispers. He switched seats. He’s directly across from me and Caylee now, leaving Darius to sit alone.
I saw the divide forming the very first time I stepped onto this bus. It’s only grown since then. If what Scott said is true, if he’s not trying to get in my head as some ploy for his big brother, it means Darius can’t be trusted. He doesn’t talk. His silence makes it impossible to know what’s going on in that head of his. Something tells me he’d rather see me stay out there.
“Oh god Noah.” Caylee wraps her arms around me the second I’m within reach. “I didn’t think I’d see you again. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I whisper in her ear, enveloping her in a hug that feels so right in the most unfaithful way. I can feel Felecia’s eyes on me before she slumps into the seat behind us.
“No.” Neil shakes his head, tapping the seat nervously, stopping in his tracks rather than continuing to the back of the bus. “No, I don’t like this. Noah, you sit over there. Felecia, there.”
“Why?” she spews venomously.
“Because I don’t trust you. I don’t want you guys all sitting together, planning something. I’m not having this. Sit over there.”
“Neil,” I try to rationalize, “we’re not plotting against you. We all want the same thing here, to get to that evacuation center. If you say your dad can do it, we’re gonna let him do it.”
“We’re not waiting two more days,” he says defiantly. “We’re going now.”
I shake my head. “Your dad’s not that stupid, he’s not gonna walk into a situation there’s no walking out of. He’s not going to walk into a trap.”
“Plotting,” he growls. “Get up and go sit over there. Felecia, move it, now.”
“And what’s gonna stop us from yelling back and forth?” she asks harshly. “Plotting ways to take you out? You’re scared because you know you’re wrong Neil. This isn’t about having power or being in charge, this is about doing what we have to do to survive. And you’re not doing it.”
He covers his head with both hands, not wanting to hear it. For the first time since stepping back on the bus, his gun isn’t aimed at us. I see the opportunity and I know Felecia does too, but neither of us take it.
What began as two differing opinions has morphed into three. There are those who want to go to the evacuation center now and wait, those who want to wait it out and go when they get it set up, and those who don’t want to go at all. Marty never wanted to, and after last night’s conversation, apparently Caylee doesn’t want to either. I don’t know where Tyrone stands or if he even knows. We all know what Neil and his loyal followers want. But his squad of believers is growing thin with the loss of Mohawk, Ms. Higgins, and what may very well be the betrayal of his younger brother. Darius is lost somewhere in the shuffle. Let’s face it, he hasn’t done anything to prove himself useful since all hell broke loose yesterday morning. Neither have Neil’s dwindling followers, other than hurling verbal hatred towards me.
Between the two of us, we could grab the gun and take back control. But what in all honesty are we taking control of? I want to go to that evacuation center. More than anything I want this to work out. I would kill for it. Not would, I have killed for it. This has reached the point of desperation. And I don’t know why but Felecia wants it as badly as I do. But that doesn’t mean I think we’re right. We’re not right because Marty and Caylee are. Evacuation centers equal concentration camps. I know that. That life will be hard and nothing like the life we knew, but that life is a life. Staying out here guarantees certain death. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But how long can we last? At the rate my body is breaking, it won’t be long.
We take our newly assigned seats as soon as Neil is done with his little mental breakdown. I can’t blame him, for any of it. Breaking down. Separating us. He’s doing what he feels will ultimately keep him alive. All of our survival instincts are different. We can only do what we think is right. And only time will tell who is.
He can’t risk us doing anything that will jeopardize his plans. Because to him, his plan is the one that is going to work. We’re all at the point of self-preservation now. It’s no longer about trying to save anyone else, this is about that natural need to survive when death would be easier.
Because death would be easier. Giving up is our best bet. The most logical. But for whatever reason, we don’t. I’m sure we all have our own motives and driving factors. By some miracle they manage to outweigh the negatives that are quickly encroaching on our safe space. Truthfully, I don’t think any of us stand a chance. But for that shred of hope, we keep fighting.
CHAPTER 9
No one says anything as we make our way into the business district, populated by masses of zombies in suits. I can’t get over it, the soulless lifeforms wander about aimlessly, waiting. I dread the day we drive by these things and think nothing of it, as if they’re rushing off to their next meeting. Mankind has always found a way to adapt and persevere, but I never imagined I’d be one of those who had to do it.
“That’s it right there,” Neil says as we pull up to a campus of beautiful buildings crawling with zombies. “He’s in that one.”
“Neil, there’s fifty dead bodies walking around there,” I shout, looking over the small gardens full of benches and fountains that line the sidewalks between stunning glass buildings. “They’re everywhere, we can’t just walk in and bring your dad out.”
“No shit, genius. That’s why we came back to get you. We already tried getting them to follow the bus. It didn’t work. What do we do? How do we get him out of there?”
“We don’t,” I answer honestly. “If they’ve been hanging around this whole time and haven’t moved on yet, it’s because they know there’s people inside. They can probably see them through the windows. These aren’t the creatures we’ve seen in movies Neil, they’re not stupid, they’re desperate and they don’t feel pain. They keep their senses, trust me, they can see people moving around in there.”
“Trust you?” he scoffs. “What makes you the expert?”
“I’ve been fighting these things for the past 24 hours now. I’m telling you, they can see us, they can hear us, they smell us, they know what’s going on. I swear to god, they think, they have memories. And if they see this bus sitting here, they’re gonna remember that there’s probably a bunch of tasty snacks on it. If your dad can’t get out, there’s no way we’re going to be able to get in.”
“Well my dad’s counting on us so figure it out Britton.” Neil gives his uselessly vague instructions coldly in an arrogant tone, coming into the power that wielding a deadly weapon bestows upon him. “We’re getting in that building.”
“Call him back, see if he’s alone in there. If he is, maybe we can smash through the front of the building with the bus, run a bunch of them down, but, that lets them inside.”
“Can’t do it,” Marty calls from the front. “Ain’t no way in hell this thing is fitting between those gardens. They got statues and ugly sculptures everywhere. It’s made for foot traffic, you probably couldn’t get through there in a car. This beast is outta the question.”
I stick my head out of the window to peer around some of the ornamental trees that really make this business district quite beautiful. They’ve grown a lot since the last time I went to the office with my dad.
“We’d probably need two people to get close enough for them to notice,” I say, knowing how ridiculous this plan is before I even say it out loud. “We run, slowly at first, most of the herd will follow. I’m sure a few will stay behind, the lazy ones who don’t want to chase after their meal. They’
ll stay there banging at the windows. It’d probably take at least two of us to put the remaining ones down. That’d give us a small window of opportunity to get in and out but it’d all depend on how long the people getting chased could go. I mean this is a dangerous and stupid plan Neil, if one of us falls, or gets cornered, it’s over. And some of these things are fast.”
“Yeah, well, we’re faster,” he says, pointing between himself and Caylee.
“No, no way in hell, I’m not letting her out there.”
“Well unfortunately it’s not up to you Britton. I’m in charge here. Or did you forget that?” he asks, waving his gun around. “Me and her run, you clear the path so my dad can get out.”
“I can’t. Neil, I can barely move my right hand.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you got a left one then.”
“My weapon is this,” I yell, holding up the hatchet that’s probably older than everyone on this bus, Marty included. “I’ve never swung one of these at a person before and starting with my left hand is probably not the best idea. Besides, if more than a couple of them hang back, this isn’t going to clear a path, it’s just gonna get me killed.”
“No it won’t.” Felecia stands up, clutching her axe. “Not with me by your side. You,” she says, pointing at Neil before he has a chance to say anything, “shut up, I’m not letting him do this alone. It’s gonna take at least two of us to clear the area but probably more. We’re gonna need someone else.”
A hush falls over our small group of survivors. Felecia’s ex-boyfriend looks like he’s considering it but decides he doesn’t have what it takes. He’s probably right, I’ve never seen him do a brave thing in his life. Why start now?
“Give me one of those shovels.” Tyrone stands up, sighing heavily as he looks outside. “I’m not going out there without a weapon again.”
Blood Type Infected (Book 2): Fallen To The Flame Page 5
