“I can’t tell you exactly, but I know about. I’m goin’. Period.”
“Yes, ma’am. You’re goin’. Who else wants to go?”
Candice raised her hand. “How many people are you taking? I’ve got a case of cabin fever. I need to get out of here for a while.”
Zach shook his head. “You don’t need to go out there.”
“Well, I thought we should get our truck. It can get through anything.”
Montana shook his head. “Our vans’ll work. Today we have our Jeep. It fits five so I say Doc, Brandon, Trevor, an’ I will head over to pick up the bag. Justice an’ Frank stay here with the others an’ hold down the fort. We’ll be back soon.”
Candice stabbed her pancakes, unhappily glaring at Zach. “Okay, fine.”
Eleven
After breakfast, the four of them piled into the Jeep. It was a sunny day with no one in sight, other than bodies scattered and mutilated on the ground. They had to drive across the main road to get to the campground. Bodies festering in the hot sun did nothing for the smell. It was like sitting in a landfill with thirty years of trash. Even though, it couldn’t be helped, running over them made it ten times worse.
Brandon put his hand over his nose, waving the air in front of him. “Wow! What the hell is ‘at?”
Trevor did the same. “Oh God, drive faster. Maybe we can outrun it.”
Sophia shook her head. “That won’t help. It’s what happens when the dead rot in the sun. It even looks like a few’ve exploded from the gas build up.”
“Dead bodies explode?”
“It’s not common, but they can.”
“How?”
“The human intestines are filled with bacteria which help us digest food. When we die, the walls o’ the intestines break down an’ under certain conditions like so, the bacteria can continue to breed an’ digest the internal organs o’ the corpse. This produces large amounts o’ gas that can build up in the abdomen causin’ it to swell an’ ultimately burst,” she said, pointing. “See over there. It’s not like the legs an’ arms explode, but the stomach swells an’ the intestines fly off in all directions.”
Brandon cringed. “Ew, I’ve never seen ‘at before.”
Montana nodded. “Usually the vultures an’ other scavengers take care o’ the dead. Without ‘em, it’s gonna be a slow, smelly process. There’s no outrunnin’ it either.”
“It stinks.”
“I feel sorry. I wish we could bury ‘em. It just seems so wrong, leavin’ ‘em all out like this.”
Sophia shook her head. “We can’t do that without gettin’ killed. I’ve done autopsies, been around dead most o’ my life, an’ it was never this bad.”
“Well, that doesn’t say much about your surgical skills,” Brandon teased. “I hope ya didn’t start off with that. It just screams killer to people that you’re about to cut open. Just sayin’…”
“With the amount of trainin’ I’ve had, one o’ the things we had to do was work with the dead. I had to work in burnin’ buildings an’ durin’ a few natural disasters as well.”
“Hey… do you guys notice what’s missin’?”
Looking around, Trevor shrugged. “This is a joke, right? What’s missin’ in the campground? Umm, livin’ campers, maybe campfires, or the removal of the dead that’s scattered everywhere?”
“Nope.”
Sophia glanced around. “Animals. I haven’t seen one since this started.”
“Nope, but you’re right about that.”
Montana nodded. “This early in the day, there should be catfish jumpin’.”
Shaking his head, Brandon sneered. “Another good one, but no. Where are the flies? There should be a gazillion flies, maggots, an’ other creepy things. I don’t see any. I haven’t seen a fly or a mosquito either.”
Trevor looked at Brandon to Sophia. “Ya don’t think they changed, do ya?”
“Oh Lord, don’t tell me we have to kill off some zombie-like mosquito invasion. They’re bad enough without havin’ extraordinary powers. Mosquitoes would actually spread this around. We’d never escape.”
“Can ‘at happen?”
She shrugged. “I dunno. I’m just the expert on medicine an’ fixin’ people. Flies, maggots, an’ mosquitoes aren’t in my field.”
Trevor nodded. “Interestin’, but let’s hope not.”
Brandon nodded. “Almost as interestin’ as… what if vampires were just mosquitoes?”
She looked back at him. “I’m not followin’.”
Trevor shrugged. “I’m with her.”
Shaking his head, Montana chuckled. “Don’t look at me. I’ve learned to just smile an’ nod.”
Trevor and Sophia turned to Brandon, smiling and nodding.
He snorted. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if Count Dracula were just a mosquito?”
Trevor laughed. “Count Dracula as a mosquito? He wasn’t real. He was fiction - just a character in a book.”
“Yes. He was the most frightenin’, devastatingly handsome vampire,” she said, shaking her head. “That was before Brad Pitt an’ Tom Cruise joined the ranks.”
“You watched way too much television,” Montana said, shaking his head.
“You think vampires are real?”
“Hell yeah. They got that idea from somewhere. Vampires’ve been passed on since… well, since I can remember,” Brandon told her.
“That’s because it’s from a book. He was just a character: doesn’t exist. There’s no such thing as vampires.”
“An’ everyone said there’s no such thing as zombies an’ yet, look around.”
“I told ya. They aren’t zombies.”
“Oh. Even better. How does it happen?”
She sighed. “There’s a logical explanation for it.”
“Really? Okay, let’s hear it.”
“I don’t have one, but I know there’s one.”
“Well, until ya find it let’s hope you’re right. If mosquitoes are pint-sized vamps, let’s hope they at least sparkle.”
“Glow in the dark mosquitoes? Now, I’ve heard everythin’,” Montana said.
Sophia laughed. “Oh no. Glow in the dark vampire-wanna-be mosquitoes.”
The three of them laughed as Brandon shrugged. “Just sayin’. It might be cool.”
Twelve
After breakfast, it just seemed like everyone there thought there was some invisible maid service to clean the kitchen and the dishes. Not one of the people who had breakfast bothered to take a dish one into the kitchen. Groaning, Candice rolled up her sleeves. Someone had to make sure they weren’t living in a pigsty and it looked like that someone was going to be her. Picking up the dishes off the table, she walked them into the kitchen to the sink and began washing them.
Zach noticed she was alone in the kitchen and ventured over. He watched her silently for a few. Things still weren’t very good between them since their argument. He sighed. It seemed he always had to apologize for something. “Baby, I’m sorry about what happened, but you’re wrong. I didn’t cheat on you when I went to the seminars. I have never cheated on you. Hell, it took forever for you to go out with me, so why would I fuck that up for someone that isn’t you? You are the woman that I want, and no one else.”
She looked up at him, studying his face as if trying to find the signs he was lying. She didn’t see any and slowly nodded. Maybe it was ridiculous. “True. I’m sorry. It’s just been crazy around here.”
“Boy, you’re not telling me something I don’t know. So, we’re good?”
She nodded. “Sure.” They were far from good, but she didn’t feel like arguing with him anymore.
He cleared his throat. “I'm a good boy. Have you noticed?”
She grinned. It was transparent what he hinted at. “Yes. You're a wonderful boy.”
“Maybe I can get a reward?”
Nope, that wasn’t happening, but she thought it might be better to give him false hope that he might get it, versus tell him she wa
sn’t interested. There was murder, death, and God knows what else circulating around them daily. It was hard to think about sex when she didn’t have a clue what was happening with her family. “Maybe. If you continue being good.”
He winked at her. Looking out the window, he sighed as if reading her mind. “Do you think this is happening everywhere?”
That question was on all their minds. It was the not knowing that drove her insane, wondering about her family and if they survived. She sighed, staring down at the dishwater, her hands submerged in the soapy warmth. “I can’t imagine it just struck this campsite. I’m worried about my family. I know we weren’t very close, but they’re still my family. What are the chances that,” she sighed, leaving the sentence open.
Up until this point, no one mentioned his or her families. It wasn’t that they weren’t worried, but no one wanted to think about what may or may not be happening to them. To mention them opened up the real possibility that they were dead. It made it easier to assume that everyone hid out somewhere, waiting for it to end than the alternative. Now that she brought it out in the open, it made everyone think of the possibilities.
Frank sighed. “Yeah, but if it’s worldwide, doesn’t ‘at mean it’s airborne? Or maybe even in the water? Unless,” he looked up at them with wide eyes. “What if it’s rabies?”
She snorted. “What makes ya think it’s rabies?”
“Because if ya only get it when you’re bitten or scratched.”
Shaking her head, Candice frowned. “No. Rabies could take a few months depending on the bite’s location. If it’s your foot, it takes a long time to get to your brain. Rabies is a viral infection that affects the nervous system and causes a swelling of the brain and eventually, but always causes death.”
“No, shit?”
Zach looked over curiously. “I didn’t know that. I thought people just went crazy.”
Justice walked in. Seeing that Candice was the only one cleaning, he grabbed the dishtowel, drying and putting the dishes away. He shook his head. “I think it’s safe to say it’s not rabies. What’s next on your list o’ possible diseases?”
“So it has to be in the water or in the air or-”
“Both, but where an’ how? There’s no way to find out without TV or phone. The world an’ all its electrical devices have fucked us now that we don’t have it.”
“I know! That Emergency Broadcasting System signals all those years, for what?” Zach argued. “The moment we need it there’s nothing - not even TV. I guess they didn’t have this in their protocol for an emergency.”
Justice nodded. “You’re right. The only way for us to know what the hell is goin’ on is to drive around an’ see for ourselves.”
Candice nodded. “I totally agree! It would be easier to know what we’re going to do if we know it’s everywhere.”
“Yes. That way if it’s just goin’ on in this campsite, we’ll know it’s here an’ just leave.”
“If it’s going on in town, we’ll know it’s worldwide.”
“Are we really gonna have this discussion again?” Frank asked.
Looking at Justice, the two seemed to share a secret as they smiled simultaneously. Nodding, she stopped washing, reaching for the dishtowel in his hands. “I got shotgun!”
Confused, Zach looked at Justice and Candice. “Wait a minute. What the hell did I miss?”
She smirked. “We’re going to go check out the town.”
Adamantly, he shook his head. “I’m not going out there.”
“That’s okay,” she said, shrugging. “I’ll go. Someone needs to stay here and tell the others where we went.”
Zach shook his head. “No! This isn’t a good idea. If you really want to know just wait until the others get back. I can’t let you do this!”
“Oh come on! It’s just a drive around town. It’s no big deal.”
He shook his head. “You never know what could happen. You should wait for the others.”
“Wait an’ tell ‘em we’re goin’ for a drive around town?” Justice asked. “No one tells me what I can an’ can’t do. It’s just a quick drive around town.”
Candice wrapped her arms around his shoulder. The dishtowel, she lassoed around his neck. “Babe, we’re just going for a drive. A quick trip there and back. Hell, we won’t even get out of the car.”
Frank stood a moment before arching a brow. “Justice, I’m with him. You should wait until the others get back. Montana said to stay here an’ watch ‘em. When they get back, you can take a few more people with ya. Dude, ya don’t wanna mess around. You could hurt ‘er.”
Candice groaned. “I’ve got cabin fever. I have to get out of here!”
Frank held his hands up in defense. “Hey, if you’re adamant about this, I can’t stop ya. However, I do wanna remind ya of just how horrible this idea is. You should wait for the others. Make sure it’s okay.”
“Make sure it’s okay?” Justice asked, shaking his head.
Frank nodded. “Yes.”
“Ya mean get permission to leave the house?”
“Yeah. Just check with Montana to make sure it’s cool.”
Justice scoffed. “I’m not a child. I don’t get permission.”
“Far be it from me to stop ya, but it’s your funeral.” He pointed at Candice. “Just don’t make it hers as well.”
Candice pointed to the dishes. “You two finish the dishes. I want the table scrubbed clean and don’t forget the counters and the stove. You have to make sure you put a little hard work into cleaning the grease off. We’ll be back soon. You won’t even know we’re gone.”
Zach pulled her to him, brushing his hand through her hair. “Baby, I’ve got an awful feeling about this. If you go, bad things are going to happen.”
“I know you’re worried, but come on! We’re just going for a quick drive. Stop worrying. I’ll be fine.”
He looked at Justice. “Keep her safe man.”
Justice grabbed the keys off the corkboard. “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine. We’ll take one o’ the other vans.”
She followed him out. “Get to the dishes, boys.”
“Oh, you totally suck,” Zach yelled out to her. “Be careful! I love you!”
“Stop worrying. If there’s something out there, Justice will protect me. Just cross your fingers. Hope it is only going on here. Otherwise, we don’t know happened to our families.”
Justice and Candice hopped in the van and headed into town.
Thirteen
Two hours past. That was how long Candice and Justice left for their ride. Worry set in as minutes turned to hours and the two did not return. The guides prepared to go out and search for them. Everyone tried to calm Zach, who swore she was dead. He didn’t want to go and look for her, but instead he paced, ranting and raving how he was going to kill Justice. As they gathered their supplies, they didn’t have to go very far.
Justice carried Candice inside the break room. He screamed as he kicked the door in. “Help, we need the doc!”
Hearing the commotion, Sophia grabbed her medical bag, racing out to find out what happened. The bloodcurdling, frightened scream from Justice wasn’t expected. She felt her blood racing as the adrenal fueled her to run faster. Rounding the corner, she stopped short as the scene came alive for her.
It was too surreal. Candice held her bloody. She could see her clothing stained red. It was the start of where all the bleeding came from. There was a huge chunk missing out of her arm just above the elbow and the starfish insignia of infection spread out in all sides. It wasn’t good. This same thing happened to Erica.
She rushed forward, donning a pair of Latex gloves. Once she was ready, she took a hold of her arm. She turned it to find the wound for the start and the finish of it. Sighing, she looked in her eyes. “What the hell happened?”
Candice shrugged. “We went in Walmart. I got bit.”
“Yeah. I can see that, but how did it happen? The boys said you were just goin’ for a d
rive.”
“Well, we did a little more. While we were there, we went shopping for a few needed supplies.”
Sophia stared at her dumbfounded. “You went shoppin’? Oh well, sure, ‘cause that makes a whole hell of a lotta sense. The world’s fucked up, an’ we dunno if it’s the end or not, but let’s take time out to go shoppin’.”
Trevor winced, seeing her arm. He turned, glaring at Justice. “What fuckin’ supplies? What the hell was so important ‘at you allowed ‘er outta the van?”
Frank shook his head. “We didn’t need anythin’ that damn bad.”
Sophia grabbed Candice’s arm, looking it over. “This is jagged. Torn. It’s harder to heal, an’,” she paused, sighing slightly. “It’s bad.”
“Don’t all bites look like ‘at?”
“No. A predator animal has sharp teeth. It’s like a knife slicin’ into the flesh. Human teeth aren’t anythin’ close to bein’ sharp. This bite tore into the flesh, rippin’ it off. It’s harder to heal properly.”
It was a deep, jagged gouge in her arm, close to her armpit, above her elbow. The bleeding had stopped and a mucous plug replaced it. The streaks spread out from her arm, reaching up towards her shoulder. Candice had already started to pale, with a very small amount of perspiration beading across her forehead. It was obvious. She was sick. This looked very bad.
Montana glowered at Justice, slamming his hand down on the table. “How the hell did this happen? You were supposed to keep ‘er safe!”
Nervously, Justice ran a hand through his hair, watching Sophia with Candice. “She’s gonna be okay, right?” Sophia glared at him, but said nothing as she went back to inspecting her arm. He sighed. “We were at the Walmart. We didn’t see any people anywhere. I figured while we were there, we’d get a few supplies. Everythin’ was fine. We got in, started shoppin’, an’ then we were on our way out. It was after we were outt the store an’ in the van that she was attacked. I thought we killed ‘em. God, I got ‘er here as fast as I could.”
Zach heard the screaming and raced in the room. He looked around frantically. He saw Candice in the chair. He watched Sophia hovering over her. That was when he saw the blood. Racing across the room, he lunged at Justice, grabbing him by the collar. Before anyone could move, he threw him into the wall. “Oh my God, what the fuck happened to her? Why didn’t you protect her?”
Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) Page 12
