The Infected, a PODs Novel

by Michelle K. Pickett

  I nodded and picked at the food. Devlin sat next to me. I didn’t look at him. “What are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to get him.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Hospital quarantine.”

  “But you said—”

  “I know what I said, but when I saw George earlier, he said they brought him in and put him in quarantine.”

  “Huh. That’s odd.” I chewed on my thumbnail before asking, “What’s the plan?”

  “Simple. Break in tomorrow night, get him, and leave.”

  “Tomorrow? No. No, it needs to be tonight, Devlin. He can’t stay there—”

  Devlin shook his head. “No. Tomorrow. George is helping us from the inside, and he doesn’t work tonight. He’s scheduled for a twelve hour shift tomorrow night, though.”

  I drew in a slow breath. “And you can’t do it alone? I mean, without George?”

  “No. We have to wait, otherwise we risk getting caught. And that doesn’t do anyone any good, especially David.” He ran his hands through his hair. “After we get David, we’ll need to leave immediately.”

  The tone in his voice made me pause. “Leave?”

  “Leave for the PODs. We can’t stay here. They’ll be looking for us.”

  “Oh.” I nodded.

  “George is getting the word out to everyone that we’re leaving early if they want to come with us.” Devlin rubbed his hands up and down his thighs. “Ah, Eva, I… you’ll be staying here tomorrow night. This is something Roy, Juan, and I will do alone.”

  I sat quietly for a few seconds, letting his words sink in, making sure I understood exactly what he was telling me. “Like hell,” I said finally.

  Judy and Rebecca moved around the camp picking up empty dishes. I stood and loaded my plate in the basket with the rest. Hefting it up, I carried the basket to the small brook near our campsite to wash the dishes.

  “I can do that.” Judy tried to take the basket.

  I squeezed Judy’s hand and smiled. “No, that’s okay. I need to keep busy.”

  Once darkness fell, people slowly started filling the camp, ready to make the journey to the PODs.

  “I see a lot of familiar faces, but who are some of these people? Friends of friends or family members that found each other?” I asked Devlin.

  He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. Word traveled quickly.”

  “How are they all getting out of the village without the military seeing them? We won’t be able to sneak in to get David if they draw attention to the hole in the fence.” I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, rolling it between my teeth.

  “Um, some were already outside the village. As for the fence, there’s more than one opening. Most of the people are using one on the other side of the village, then hiking here.” He slid a lock of hair behind my ear. “If the military catches wind of anything, they’ll waste time searching on that side of the village.”

  “Eva.”

  I looked up at the sound of my name, smiling when I saw Aidan. “Hey.” I gave him a hug. “You remember Devlin?”

  “Yeah. Hey, man.” He bumped fists with Devlin. “Where’s David?” Aidan asked, sitting next to me on the log.

  I turned my head away. Devlin filled him in.

  It’s my fault. He wouldn’t have been out there if it wasn’t for me.

  “I’m sorry, Eva,” Aidan said, squeezing my shoulder.

  “Thanks.” I looked at the ground and a lump grew in my throat. “Do you know about Seth?” My voice came out thick, like I had a mouthful of peanut butter.

  Aidan licked his lips and rubbed the side of his face by his eyes, I suspect to hide a tear or two. He didn’t speak, but nodded.

  “It sucks,” I whispered.

  Aidan blew out a breath. “What do you expect from a world full of suckage?”

  I sat on a log, my knee bouncing.

  “Eva.” Devlin put his hand on my knee. “You need to relax.” I glared at him. “Okay, okay, that was probably one of the stupidest things I’ve said.”

  One side of my mouth lifted in a grin. “Ya think?”

  “This is why you can’t go with us.”

  “What?”

  He looked at my knee, which had started bouncing again. I hadn’t noticed.

  “I can handle it, Devlin. I can’t handle not knowing what’s going on. It’s my fault.”

  Devlin’s brows furrowed. “What is?”

  “If it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t have been out there. It’s my fault.” Tears filled my eyes, falling to my cheeks.

  “Ah, baby, it’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault.” Devlin pulled me into his arms. I laid my head on his chest. “David wouldn’t want you blaming yourself for this.” He put his finger under my chin and lifted my head until my eyes met his.

  “What if I go, but wait at the fence?” I chewed on my bottom lip, waiting for his answer.

  “It’s too dangerous for you to be in the forest alone.”

  “I’ll have my gun.”

  He let go of me and scrubbed his hands up and down his face. “Shit, it doesn’t matter what I say, anyway.” Devlin said through clenched teeth. “I know you. You’ll follow us if I say no.”

  I shrugged a shoulder and switched gears, “What’s the plan?”

  “Take out the guards—”

  I pulled back. “How?”

  “Geez, you think we’re gonna kill ‘em?” Roy walked by and laughed. “We’re just gonna give ‘em a good smack on the head. Knock ‘em out for a bit.”

  “Oh.” I nodded. “Okay. Then what?”

  “We’ll take one hostage, make the nurse open the quarantine room’s door, bring the hostage with us until we’re safely in the woods, and then let him go.”

  “I’m guessing George is your hostage?” I asked, and he nodded. “You make it sound easy.”

  Devlin ran his hand across the back of his neck. “Nope, not easy. Doable, yes, but not easy.”

  “And if you all get your asses caught? What then?” I leaned forward and put my elbows on my knees, trying to hold them still.

  “That’s where you come in. You’ll see it, come back to camp, and gather a posse together to save us.”

  “A posse of women.” I laughed.

  Devlin grinned. “Yeah, a posse of women would probably get the job done.” He wiped my tears away before cupping my cheek. I leaned into his hand, closing my eyes.

  A sound pulled me from my haze of sleep. I didn’t want to wake up, but the incessant wailing, and the bright morning sun, wouldn’t go away.

  Great, someone’s kid is crying. I bolted upright. It sounds like a baby. Tiffany is here!

  I stumbled out of my tent looking for John Francis. I saw Judy bouncing him on her shoulder. Tiffany sat on a log eating.

  “Tiff. You’re here!”

  She looked up and smiled. “We got here late. You were already asleep.”

  I hugged her so tight I could have counted her ribs. “I’m so happy you’re coming. I was worried you’d stay because of the baby.”

  “Yeah, well, traveling with a baby and preschooler is gonna suck, but I can’t stay here and watch my family suffer. Hopefully, we won’t slow you down too much.”

  “Nah, this little bugger will have a bunch of mamas to take care of him,” Judy said, still bouncing the baby on her shoulder.

  “I have a feeling you won’t see him again until his eighteenth birthday.” I glanced around camp. “Where’s Faith?”

  “Some of the ladies took her with them to get water at the brook.”

  “See? You’re going to have it made. They’ve already got everyone wrapped around their little fingers. You have built in babysitters.”

  Tiffany laughed, but shook her head. “I don’t want them to be a bother.”

  I waved her words away. “Eh, you worry too much. Besides, there are other families here with children.”

  Tiff wrapped my hand between both of hers. “How are you doing, Eva?” />
  “I’m good.”

  She shook her head, her blonde hair shimmering in the morning sunlight. “It’s okay to not be fine, and it isn’t a sign of weakness to admit it.”

  Squeezing her hand, I admitted, “Okay, I’m somewhere between good and not so good.”

  “Here you go, Eva. You should eat.” Rebecca handed me a plate of food.

  “Thank you.” I smiled up at Rebecca. “Do I want to know what it is?”

  She shook her head with a small chuckle. “Not if you want to eat it. But trust me—Judy knows how to cook anything and make it taste good. You need to eat.”

  I took a bite of the stew and nodded. “It is good.”

  “You have a lot of good friends here,” Tiffany said, watching people move around the camp.

  “Yeah. Most of them David met traveling camp to camp looking for me. When I left Rosewood, I joined the group. We tried to make it to California.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “We came to the PODs. David and I thought they were a better alternative than traveling to a place that probably didn’t exist.” I took a bite of stew and watched Judy make silly faces at the baby.

  Tiffany picked a thorn from the hem of her jeans. “Isn’t that what we’re doing now? We don’t know if the PODs are still there.”

  I considered her question for a moment before answering, “I guess so. But at least we’re doing something. We’re not just sitting around waiting on Area-One, while we slowly starve to death.” I finished eating, washed my plate and fork, and stowed them in my pack. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to some of the others,” I said to Tiffany.

  It was dark. Had been dark for hours. Not just twilight, but pitch black. I was still sitting in the same spot, on the same log, waiting. My knee bouncing in overtime.

  Judy sat next to me. She’d tried to talk with me, but I was too nervous to engage, so she gave up. Instead, she sat quietly next to me, her hand on my knee to still it.

  “Thank you.” I glanced at her quickly, before staring into the fire again.

  “Ain’t doing nothin’ but sittin’ on my fat hindquarters. Same as you’d do for me.”

  I nodded, watching Devlin, Roy and Juan load their rifles, and stuff extra ammo into their pockets.

  “I didn’t think you were using guns?” I called to Devlin.

  He looked at me over the fire and shrugged. “Not planning to.”

  I fingered the cool metal of the gun in my jacket pocket.

  “We’re leaving.” Juan gave Rebecca a quick kiss and waited for me to stand. I followed him across the camp to a small grove of pine trees where Roy and Devlin waited.

  “We’re going to walk quickly and quietly, so stay close. We aren’t taking the same route you took to the opening by your old house. We’re going to circle around and come out right at the hospital,” Devlin said, already walking.

  I hooked a finger around a belt loop on the back of his jeans so I didn’t fall behind. His walking translated into me jogging to keep up with his long stride, and even then I suspected he was going slower than he’d like.

  It seemed as though we walked for hours. The leaves crackled under our boots, and twigs snapped. The sound seemed too loud in the still forest. I was just about to tap Devlin on the back and ask him how much farther, when I saw the yellow glow of the compound.

  I recognized that single yellow light bulb. Although, the last time I did my stay in quarantine there were bugs congregating around it. Tonight was too cold for the bugs, but not for the Military Police. Two stood with their shoulders leaning against the brick building, talking to one another.

  We stopped directly behind the medical clinic. Juan pointed to an area ahead where there was some tree cover in the meadow. They decided to cross there.

  Roy bent down and snipped a hole big enough to slip in and out the fence.

  I pulled Devlin’s head down to me. “What’s he doing? I thought you were crossing where there was more cover?”

  He put his lips against my ear and whispered, “We are, but we won’t be coming out there. We’ll want to get out of here as fast as possible. We’ll leave through this hole. This is where you’ll wait.”

  I turned my face toward him. “Okay. Just leave the door open when you go in so I can see what’s going on.”

  “Gee, I’ll put that on my things to remember while breaking a friend out of a military institution checklist.”

  “Devlin, that was so funny I almost laughed.”

  “‘Kay, we’re good to go. Let’s move down to the trees and get this party started.” Roy said, grabbing his things.

  Devlin reached behind him and took my hand off his belt loop and held it. When I tried to pull away he squeezed it, not letting go.

  His lips brushed mine softly, moving along my jaw to my ear. “I know you’re confused, trying to make sense of you and me. And David. But, I think you and I could have something spectacular, Eva.” He kissed the hollow behind my ear, sending shivers through my body.

  Oh, I’m in so much trouble. This is a train wreck. How did I screw things up so royally?

  “Looks like just the two guards on duty tonight. That helps things. There’s no sign of George. He must be inside,” Juan whispered.

  “Yeah, I think we’re good to go.” Devlin placed my hand on the fence. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. Be ready to take off. There won’t be time for a mushy, gushy, reunion. That’ll have to wait until we get back to camp.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not dense, Devlin.”

  He chuckled. “No, but you can act like a horny teenager. You have trouble keeping your hands to yourself,” he whispered so only I could hear, with a smirk and a cocky wink.

  “I am a teenager.”

  “Really?”

  “Nineteen.”

  “Huh.” Devlin rested his hand on a hip. “I thought you were David’s age.”

  “I’m just a year younger. It’s not like he’s geriatric. Do we really want to discuss this now?”

  “Nope. We’re going to break your geriatric ex-fiancé out of quarantine. Stay here.”

  They disappeared in the darkness. I could still hear the crunch of their boots on the ground long after I lost sight of them.

  I kept my gaze where they were supposed to cross the meadow. The lights from the guard gate filtered through the trees, just enough that I could see their shadows moving through.

  Please, please get across before anyone sees you.

  I let out a breath when I saw each one reach the clinic building. They stood with their backs flattened against the brick wall. I had to really concentrate to see them. If I hadn’t known they were there, I wouldn’t have noticed them.

  That’s good. You’ve got good cover, guys. Wait! Where are you going?

  Devlin—I knew it was him because he was the tallest of the three—turned the corner, moving away from the clinic’s door. Roy and Juan move slowly toward the door, keeping to the shadows.

  Biting my nails, I scanned the area for Devlin. He stepped around the corner on the other side of the door. Flattening against the wall, he slowly made his way toward Roy and Juan.

  Juan stepped out of the shadows and said something to the guards.

  While the guards were distracted by Juan, Devlin walked behind one and hit him on the back of the head twice with the butt of his rifle. Roy did the same with the second guard. They crumpled to the ground. Devlin and Roy grabbed their arms and drug them behind the dumpster, out of the reach of the sole light bulb hanging over the door.

  The three of them walked into the clinic. Devlin was the last to go in. He flung the door wide. It stayed open when he let go. I smiled.

  Thank you.

  But even with the door open, it was hard to see. The three men waved their hands and guns. Nurses and technicians dropped to the floor, hands on their heads.

  Roy grabbed someone and held the person in a choke hold. I squinted hard. It looked like George. By the size and build of the person it
looked to be a man… with blonde hair, clipped in a military style. He pushed him forward toward the observation rooms.

  Devlin and Juan stood guard, keeping their guns aimed on the nurses and techs lying on the floor.

  Roy and the man were standing still. I couldn’t see what they were doing or what they were standing next to. I moved to the side to get a better look.

  And that’s when I saw him.

  I sucked in a breath and stepped deeper into the trees. At first I thought he was going to walk by, but Devlin yelled something to Roy. Roy answered. And it caught the MP’s attention. Drawing his weapon, he flattened himself against the clinic wall. He reached for his radio, and that’s when I knew we had a big, big problem.

  I ran to the second hole in the fence, slipping through. Once across the meadow, and sheltered by shadows, I ran to the corner of the clinic and fell on my hands and knees.

  “Help me! Please,” I called. The MP looked right at me. I reached a hand out to him. “Please. I can’t walk. I need to see the doctor.”

  “There’s a problem in the clinic—”

  “Wait! Don’t leave me here in the dark, please. Just help me over by the light.”

  The officer looked to the door of the clinic, then back to me. He was about my age. Good looking, too—except for the gun in his hand.

  “Please,” I whispered. “Don’t leave me here.” I even worked up a tear. It wasn’t hard. I just thought about us all getting caught.

  “Okay.” He flipped his gun’s safety on, and holstered it. He didn’t snap his holster closed.

  He bent to help me up, and I reached for him with my left hand. I wanted to keep my right side open—I shot with my right hand.

  He pulled me up. I leaned on him, putting as much weight on him as I could.

  He guided me just inside the circle of light. “You have to stay here.”

  “Okay, thank you.” I looked at him and shook my head slowly. “I’m really sorry.”

  “It’s no problem—” he raised his eyebrows when I pointed my gun at his head.

  “Don’t move. My safety is off and my hands are shaky.”

  I reached out and took his gun from his holster and stuffed it in my pocket. Then I grabbed his radio.