“C’mon, Eva. It’ll be fun; just like a sleepover,” Jessica grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the house.
“I don’t think so, Jessica. That house is full enough already.”
“Nah, it has like a gazillion bedrooms. C’mon,” she said, jerking my arm so hard I was sure it’d pop out of the socket.
A gazillion bedrooms. Gee, how fortunate.
“Okay,” I sighed.
Devlin was standing next to us. He ducked his head and looked at me through his dark lashes and grinned. I rolled my eyes. “I’m staying with her, Casanova, not you.”
“We’ll see,” he murmured.
“We’ll see? We’ll see nothing. You’ll see an empty sleeping bag is what you’ll see.”
He laughed.
Tiffany and I made dinner. She gagged all the way through and wasn’t able to eat when it was finished. I woofed mine down and went back for seconds. I guess I was getting used to Roy’s mystery meats. That night wasn’t even anything bad, just squirrel. I couldn’t wait to see the look on Tiff’s face the first time Roy brought back rattlesnake.
After dinner everyone went to bed. We’d usually stay up and play cards or talk, but travelling was getting old and hard. Judy, Rebecca and I, and the guys that went with us, had been traveling for more than a month straight. We were tired, and ready to get to the PODs. But it was slow hiking with a group so large, especially one with children. Unless we could get some vehicles—which was unlikely since we’d need enough to accommodate sixty-four people—we had another month of hiking before we’d reach the PODs. And that was if luck was on our side.
The soft breeze blows through my hair. I raise my head toward the sun. It warms my face, and I smile. The aqua water laps at my toes as I wiggle them in the sand.
He walks up behind me, wrapping me in his arms.
“It’s beautiful here,” I say.
“You’re beautiful, Eva. Eva. Eva. Eva…"
“Eva, wake up” Jessica shoved my shoulder.
I sat up, “What?” I was breathing heavy and disoriented from my dream. It was a huge disappointment to go from standing on a white sandy beach to… well, where I was.
“I hear something outside.” I looked at her in the dim moonlight. She’s ditched her pajamas for sweatpants and a T-shirt. “I’m going to Devlin’s room. C’mon.”
I scrambled out of bed, pulled on my sweats, and grabbed my gun from the bedside table before following Jessica into the room next door. We both slipped under the covers on opposite sides of the bed.
Jessica gave his shoulder a hard shove. “Devlin—”
“Be quiet, Jessica,” he whispered. His hand trailed down my body to my hip, and his fingers splayed around it. His lips were so close to my ear, I felt their softness as they moved. His breath skimmed across my skin and I shivered. “Did you bring your gun?” he asked me. I nodded and cupped the side of his face with my hand. “Good.” He kissed behind my ear. His lips lingered there a few seconds before he buried his face in the curve of my neck. I heard a muffled, “Be careful.” Then we were silent.
I heard soft snores coming from somewhere in the house, and the sound of a rifle being cocked. But I heard something else, too.
Not again. Please, just a night of peace. We need to rest.
But the sound grew louder. A scraping, like someone was dragging something against the cement walkway.
I slid out of bed and padded to the window, the soft carpet masking the sound of my footsteps. I tried to see around the edge of the curtain. Nothing. I moved the curtain a fraction of an inch and gasped and stumbled backward, falling on my butt.
Sitting in front of our window were two wolves. It was hard to tell in the dark, but I’d have bet money they were infected. But what worried me was the scraping sound. The wolves weren’t responsible for that.
“Jessica, go in the other room and tell Tiffany that you all need to go into the bathroom. If there’s a window, block it with something,” I said, scrambling from the floor.
“Again?” Jessica’s voice shook. “This is really starting to piss me off.”
“Yeah, me too. Now go, and be as quiet as you can.”
I turned and plowed right into Devlin’s chest.
“Oh.” I sucked in a breath. “I didn’t hear you.”
“Eva, if I asked you to do something for me, something that was very important to me, would you care enough for me to do it?” Devlin cupped the side of my face, his thumb caressing my lips.
“I’d try.”
He gave me a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Stay in the bathroom with Tiffany. Just this time. Please.”
I shook my head. “Why? You’re going to need every bit of help you can get.”
“Please, Eva, for me.”
“Devlin? What’s different tonight that you want me to hide?”
“I have a bad feeling. It’s gonna be bad tonight—”
“That’s why I need to stay.”
He smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t do it, but I had to ask.” He turned to leave but stopped. His back to me, he asked, “Would you have done it if David had asked?”
“No.”
He nodded and left the room.
Devlin’s gut was right. It was a horrendous night. More than once I’d wished I’d done as He’d asked, and hid in the bathroom.
The animals sat at our doors and waited patiently. The scraping continued. Back and forth it moved across the cement walkway. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth, like a pendulum on a clock. When I couldn’t stand it any longer I looked out the window and saw what, on some level, I already knew was there, even though I’d wished I was wrong.
The Infected circled in front of the houses, dragging their clubs and bats behind them on the sidewalk. I tried to count how many there were. I counted thirty faces, and still hadn’t seen the same face twice. I cursed under my breath and stopped counting.
I let go of the window curtain and dropped onto the bed. I held my gun, and my pocket knife. The feeling that I was in no way prepared for what was about to happen pressed heavily on my shoulders. The bed sagged beside me. I turned and plastered on my fake I’ve-got-this-under-control-smile. “Ready for this?”
He chuckled. “Not in the least. You?”
“Nope. Kiss for luck?” I looked into his piercing green eyes and felt lost in them.
“Always.” Devlin leaned in and touched his lips to mine, soft as a feather. Something so sweet, so loving, so heavenly, was tainted by something so ugly, so evil, and so vile when the group of Infected shattered the window sending glass showering over us and setting in motion the beginning of our horrific night.
The infected humans and animals fought together.
Gunshots rang out in the night as we defended our little community. Animals wailed, humans screamed, blood and chunks of flesh flew through the air as bullets made contact with their targets.
When the morning sun peeked over the horizon, I got my first look at what the night had hidden. Pale bodies marked with blue veins covered the cement walkways and streets. Their blood pooled on the white cement, turning it a deep burgundy as it dried.
The bloated bodies of infected animals lay among the human dead, their tongues lolling out their open mouths, eyes rolled back into the heads.
But it wasn’t only the Infected that lost group members that night. We suffered losses, as well. Two men fell victim to the Infected, each beaten to death. A third man was bitten by one of the infected animals, and took his own life rather than suffer the alternative—turning into a living zombie. A monster.
My arms slack at my side, covered in blood and gore, and my gun hanging limply from one finger, I stood in the middle of the carnage. I stared at the sunrise, the gold and orange streaks in the blue sky, the white, cotton ball clouds floating lazily by. I ignored the dead bodies at my feet and the Infected’s blood stinging my flesh. I blocked out the images of the night before, and concentrated on the beauty of the sunrise.
>
What would I be doing right now if the virus never existed? Would I be in college? Would I have a boyfriend? What would the world be like?
I felt someone touch my elbow. I turned and walked into David’s arms. I lay my head against his chest, closed my eyes, and pictured a world far different than the one I was standing in.
“We need to go,” Devlin said behind David. “Roy and Juan found what must’ve been the school’s bus yard. It took them some time, but they found two buses with a little gas in their tanks.”
“Fine.” David kissed the top of my head and guided me back to the house, his arms wrapped tight around me. We grabbed our gear and climbed into the buses. We rode until lunchtime before they both ran out of gas. We’d passed into Oklahoma.
And I prayed we’d left the Infected in Arkansas.
We made it to another subdivision that night. The house we stayed in had a wood burning fireplace, and all thirty members of our group gathered there for dinner.
“I’ll go see what I can find to start a fire with,” David said and pulled his gun from his pack.
“I’ll go with you.” Devlin grabbed his rifle.
“Really?” David snapped. “Because I won’t be responsible for any accidental shootings that may happen.”
“I wouldn’t blame you.” Devlin followed David out the back door and it banged closed behind him.
They came across them while they were gathering wood.
A pack of dogs.
Hunting.
Feeding.
Gunshots rang out, and I swung toward the backdoor. A bowl of rice fell from my hand, scattering white rice and blue glass across the black and white tile floor.
Juan and Roy ran through the kitchen. Juan slipped on the rice, grabbing the wall to catch himself before he fell. The two men barreled through the backdoor.
The sound of David’s and Devlin’s gunshots bounced from tree to tree, house to house, making it impossible to tell where it came from.
“David! Devlin!” Juan yelled.
I couldn’t breathe. A lump lodged itself in my chest and grew until it filled it, making it impossible to take a full breath. I saw the two emerge from a yard down the street, running across a field toward the house, and followed by a pack of dogs. I sucked in a breath. It stung when my lungs inflated, and I rubbed my chest with the heel of my hand.
“Oh, crap, that ain’t no good,” Roy drawled as he aimed his gun and fired.
Juan grunted in answer, aiming his rifle.
Together Roy and Juan picked off the dogs. Judy held the door open for David and Devlin. They ran in, followed closely by Juan and Roy.
“Damn, boys, that there was too dang close,” Roy laughed.
“Yeah.” Devlin frowned.
“I’m supposing you didn’t get any wood while they were chasing ya now did ya?” Judy teased.
David chuckled. “No. We were a little preoccupied.”
“That’s okay. There was some here that’ll do for heatin’ soup.”
“David?” I took hold of his hand and pulled him to me. “What’s the matter?”
David shook his head. “Why?”
“Something’s wrong. You… what happened?” I cupped his face and turned it to me when he tried to look away.
“Everything’s fine, Evangelina. You worry too much,” he said with a smile. “I’m going to go change before dinner.” He kissed my forehead and walked away.
I didn’t see David again before, nor did I see him during dinner. There were too many people in the house. But even if there hadn’t been anyone around, I don’t think I would have found him—he avoided me, and so did Devlin.
After dinner, I searched for David. He wasn’t in the swarm of people in the house or yard, so I went to his room.
That’s where I saw them. I was fingering the fabric when he walked through the door.
“What are you doing?” he asked behind me.
I jumped. Too preoccupied by what I held in my hand, I didn’t hear him walk into the room. I tried to wrap my head around what it meant. But my eyes and head were at war. One knew what it meant, but the other refused to acknowledge it.
“What’s this?” I held up the pair of jeans.
“They’re pants.”
“Really? Gee, thanks for filling me in on fashion 101. Now that you’ve gotten the BS out of your system, answer my question. What happened to the pants?”
Devlin walked around the corner and looked between me and David. “Um, I’ll clear the house.”
David pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. “Thanks.”
I dropped on the bed, his jeans still in my hand. “David?”
You’re scaring me.
“Eva, I love you. I always have. You know that, right?”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head and squeezed my eyes closed. Bile rose in my throat, and the soup I’d just eaten sloshed around, hitting the sides of my stomach.
I knew I didn’t want to hear what David was about to tell me.
“Today, when Devlin and I—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” I stood up so fast, I tripped over my feet and stumbled forward, stepping on David's jeans that I still held in my shaking hands. My eyes were drawn to the holes, and the blood stains around them. I threw them down like they’d burned me.
David pulled me into a tight hug, burying his face in my hair before he pulled back and framed my face with his hands and kissed me gently. He dropped his hands and stepped back. His lips turned down in a small frown.
“I don’t want to know, David. Whatever happened, I don’t want to know.” I shook my head and felt the tears building behind my eyes.
If he doesn’t say it, it’ll go away. It’ll be like it never happened. Things will be fine as long as he doesn’t say it. Things will be fine. Just don’t say it.
“I… I was bitten,” he whispered. He pulled up his pant leg and I saw blood soaking through a bandage taped to his calf. The blood turned the white bandage a bright crimson.
“What? No. No, it’s a mistake. It’s a scratch or something. Not a bite,” I said, shaking my head. A tight, painful lump lodged in my throat and hot tears stung my face.
This can’t be happening. Not a bite. No. God, please, no.
“It’s a bite, Evangelina.” David peeled back the bandage and showed me the wound beneath.
“No.” I squeezed my eyes closed and turned my face away, so I didn’t have to look at the puncture wounds on David’s leg. I knew. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew. “No. It doesn’t look like a bite.”
“Come here.” David held out his arm.
I walked to him and he enveloped me. He was so strong. So alive. I clung to him and cried. He murmured in my ear, his hand moving along my spine.
“I love you, Eva. Never forget that. You’re my world. You saved me in that POD, when I thought I’d lost everything. You made life worth living, and I’ve never been happier than when I’m with you.”
I sobbed as he talked, fisting my hands around his shirt, and holding him to me.
This can’t be happening. It’s a nightmare. I just need to make myself wake-up.
He pulled back and kissed me. The gentle kiss turned intense, almost frantic. He placed one hand on the small of my back, pulling me into him, his other on the back of my neck, holding me to him. We were so close, touching as much as we could, kissing as deeply as possible.
Emotions swirled in my head. Memories of every second I’d spent with David. Of every kiss, every touch. I pulled him closer to me. I wanted to melt into him. I couldn’t imagine my world without David.
Out of breath—and out of time—David laid his forehead against mine and whispered my name. I tried to memorize the cadence of his voice as he said each syllable. I ran my fingers over his bottom lip, just a little too full compared to his top. I laid a kiss on his lone freckle, just under his bottom lip, on the left.
He took my hand and kissed me once more before he led me to the front door. Roy
and Judy, along with Juan, Rebecca, George and Tiffany were there. They murmured their goodbyes. They said they’d see him soon… we all knew that wasn’t likely to happen.
David and I walked to the door. I clung to him. He pushed me back and looked in my eyes, before framing my face in his hands and kissing me… it was desperate. It was a last kiss, permanent in its goodbye.
“Who do you want to go with you?” Devlin asked.
“You,” David answered. “Can you do it?”
Devlin nodded once.
“Because I need to know you can do it, Devlin. If you have any doubts—"
“If the time comes, I’ll be able to do it. You have my word.”
David nodded.
“No! Devlin? No!”
“Eva, He doesn’t want to change—”
I slapped him hard across the face.
I raised my hand a second time, but David grabbed my wrist. “He knows what I want. So do you,” David whispered.
“I’ll wait outside,” Devlin said quietly, grabbing a pack.
David kissed me one last time and then set me away from him. “I love you, Evangelina Mae. Don’t ever forget that.” He turned and walked out the door. Out of my life.
He didn’t look back.
I ran out the door. “David!”
Roy caught me around the waist, and lifted me off the ground to keep me from running after David. My feet kicked in midair. I hit and pushed at his arms, struggling to get free.
I’m not ready. He has to come back and kiss me one more time. I need to tell him I love him.
“David!” I screamed. “No! David!”
I stop struggling and fell to my knees sobbing, sinking against the cold ground. Judy and Rebecca sat down next to me. Judy put her arm around me and I turned to her and sobbed on her shoulder, soaking her shirt with my salty tears.
I’m not sure how long I sat there. My clothes were covered in damp earth, and I shook from the cold, my teeth chattering. My tears had long since dried up, yet I still cried.
The Infected, a PODs Novel Page 25
