by Max Lockwood
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
They made their way inside the hospital. Like clockwork, the infected started appearing the moment Alec and Elaina’s footsteps were heard. Alec fired at the first batch, destroying them quickly. The gunshots drew more infected, but this seemed to work in Alec’s favor. It drew the infected from the woodwork and allowed Alec to get a clean shot on them.
Elaina grabbed a wooden cane and began to swing it toward any infected that made it within a four-foot radius of her person. This did nothing but stun a potential attacker for enough time for Alec to fire off a few shots. After a few rounds, the stream of infected slowed, then finally halted. It looked like they were in the clear.
Elaina wiped a bead of sweat from her brow as she walked toward the staircase. She opened the door and peered inside, ready to fight back. When she realized that the stairwell was empty, she hopped up the stairs, bracing herself against the railing. Alec chased after her, out of breath by the time he reached the third floor.
Her eyes locked onto a sign directing her to the laboratory. She was finally within reach. It was as if she could no longer feel the agonizing pain in her ankle. Their journey through the forest and the city had been worth it.
Something caught her eye on her way down the hall. A white telephone hung from the wall in the hallway. Her heart began to pound. What if it worked?
Slowly, she reached toward it and took the receiver from the wall. She held it to her ear and heard the sweet sound of a dial tone.
Nearly fainting from relief, she closed her eyes tightly and pictured the piece of paper that hung in her office, back at her laboratory. Dr. Aldrich Himmler’s contact information appeared in her mind.
She dialed the numbers carefully, making sure to press each button in the correct order. Then, she waited.
“Hello?” a gruff voice answered at an office in New York. “Is someone there?”
Elaina couldn’t speak. She was so choked up that she could do nothing but breathe into the phone. Both relief and nerves flooded through her bloodstream. This was perhaps the most important phone call she would ever make in her entire life. She needed to get this right.
“Yes, Dr. Himmler,” she squeaked. “It’s Elaina Morgan.”
Chapter Nineteen
Thomas begrudgingly walked through the forest with Bethany, though he doubted she really knew where she was going. They weren’t headed in the same direction Alec and Elaina went. In fact, it seemed like they zigzagged and circled around instead of traveling in a straight line. Any minute, Thomas expected the forest floor to fall from underneath his feet, trapping him in a hole in the ground.
“What’s our timeline here?” Thomas asked, trying to get as much information out of the mysterious woman as possible. If they were separated, he wanted a good idea of where she was and what she was up to. “You’re practically running. Are we being followed?”
“No,” she hissed. “The last time I heard from anyone at the refugee camp was about three days ago, and they were getting worried about the border becoming impenetrable. You have no idea how quickly this thing is spreading. We need to get a car and step on it.”
Bethany began to jog now. Thomas followed, his lungs still aching from smoke inhalation. He regretted ever following Bethany. The freedom and safety they were chasing did not exist. He was fairly confident about that.
He regretted leaving Melissa, who he never confirmed was lost in the fire. It was probably denial telling him that there was still a chance she was alive, so he didn’t express this concern to Bethany. He couldn’t handle her mocking him for wishful thinking.
Now, he was too far away to turn back and check on the remains of the burning building. He would go the rest of his life without having the closure he needed.
“Can you start from the beginning?” he asked. “There are some things I just don’t understand.”
“Like what?” she muttered, tired of answering questions.
“You were there when the infected came in. What did you see?”
“I came across the house while I was walking down the path. You guys weren’t very stealthy when it came to hiding. There were fresh footprints in the dirt and someone left candy wrappers behind. It was pretty easy to find you. I saw a few infected run into the house from the other direction, so I hid. I heard the screams and knew that there were healthy people inside.”
“Who started the fire?”
“The infected, I suppose,” she said, slowing to a brisk walk. “Who else would it be?”
“They’re not really known for arson. That place went up in flames quickly. It pretty much exploded.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “What were you using for a light source?”
He thought for a moment before admitting, “Candles.”
“Right,” she said, dragging out each sound. “I think that answers your own question. I saw the fire and I thought about booking it. But from the doorway, I could see you fighting instead of fleeing. I knew that you were either a complete idiot or a gentleman. Either way, I didn’t think you could survive on your own, so I grabbed you. It’s a good thing you’re skinny, or I don’t think I would have gotten you out of there.”
Thomas scowled. He felt like she was poking fun at him. “But where did the infected come from? We were quiet and there wasn’t that much light coming from inside. What would possibly bring them out of their dormant state?”
Bethany shrugged.
“No answer?”
She looked away. Thomas was becoming increasingly annoyed with her short answers to his important questions.
“Like I said, the infected don’t always act like we expect them to. One minute, they’re in a rage, and the next, they’re no different from you or me. Sometimes, it even looks like they have a strategy for their attacks. The news used to say that their brains were completely compromised by the virus. I don’t know if I believe that anymore.”
“Then what’s really going on if it’s not infected people we’re dealing with?” Thomas was having a hard time following her logic.
“I’m not one for conspiracy theories,” she said, a hint of excitement in her voice. “I don’t want to spread false gossip.”
The look on her face suggested that that was exactly what she wanted to do. She had a sparkle in her eye as she watched Thomas grow more confused by the minute.
“You heard this on your radio?”
“Even better—I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I once saw a guy, completely foaming at the mouth, attacking a group of travelers. I mean, he’s going absolutely berserk. Then, all of a sudden, he stops what he’s doing. He looks around like he’s lost. Then, he starts crying.”
“He cried?” Thomas asked skeptically.
“Yep. It was like he was ashamed of what he had done. He ran away before anyone could catch him. I had heard similar stories, but that was the first time I’d seen it happen in real life.”
Thomas didn’t know what to make of this information. It went against everything he knew about the infected.
“That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “No one survives after being infected with the virus.”
“That’s what I used to think too,” Bethany said. “The situation may just be more complicated than anyone can understand at this moment.”
He remembered that Elaina had been infected but wasn’t showing symptoms. He wasn’t about to out his friend to a stranger, though. But if Elaina could survive, then maybe there were others out there who could survive. Natalia’s dad was a pretty big deal at the new army camp. Maybe one of his experiments was a cure. It would only make sense if Bretton Vincent wanted to create a cure. As far as anyone knew, he would be the hero of the story. Most people already believed that the virus was Elaina’s creation.
At the time, any talk about the new army was a very sore subject. As a result of their capture, Natalia was dead, and her name became taboo in their group. Melissa was traumatized by whatever had happened to them there, so Thomas fig
ured it was best to leave that situation alone. Alec had relayed bits of information to him, mentioning that Natalia’s dad had injected her with the virus because she was about to expose him for releasing the deadly virus in the first place.
Apparently, Dr. Vincent was running experiments on the people who were captured, as well as those who willingly joined forces. Perhaps there was some link between the army and the infected who weren’t really infected after all.
“Have you heard much about this military group from your radio?” Thomas asked.
“I’ve heard conflicting information. No one really seems to know . . .”
Bethany trailed off. Someone was coming toward them. Thomas raised his rifle toward the sound of footsteps and held it steady, finger on the trigger. Bethany clicked her flashlight on and pointed it into the darkness.
A light shone back at them. Thomas was temporarily blinded. He debated firing the rifle. He couldn’t tell what he was up against.
“Don’t shoot,” a male voice said. The man lowered his flashlight just enough for Thomas’s eyes to adjust to the light.
“Bethany?” the voice called. “Is that you?”
“Hi, Mark,” she said casually, as if she were greeting an old schoolmate.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said, his voice a mix of jubilation and exasperation. “Where have you been?”
“Looking for a way out of this nightmare,” she said, her voice expressionless.
“I’m Mark,” the young man said, reaching his hand toward Thomas.
“Thomas,” he said, shaking Mark’s hand.
Mark was average height with an athletic build. He had the same dark, sleek hair that Bethany had, but his was cropped short and styled.
“Bethany, why did you run off?” Mark asked. “You haven’t replied on the radio in days.”
“Lost it,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
The effortlessly cool Bethany began to fidget. She scratched at the skin beside her thumbnail until it bled. Her toes tapped on the forest floor as if her legs were itching to run.
Thomas had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he chalked that up to the horror of losing Melissa and the surprise of encountering another person in the woods.
“Headed toward the safe house?” Mark asked.
“Yeah,” Thomas answered. “How close are we to the road?”
“Not far at all. It’s just over this hill. Follow me and we’ll get you some hot food and something to drink.”
Thomas hesitated. But Bethany began to follow Mark, so Thomas assumed it was safe. After all, she seemed to know the guy. That, and the promise of hot food was something that Thomas could not turn down.
He followed the two through the rest of the forest, finding himself on a dark gravel road. A giant SUV turned its lights on, illuminating the path.
Mark got in the back seat and gestured toward Bethany and Thomas with a wave and a friendly smile.
“Come on,” Mark said as Bethany slowly approached the vehicle with Thomas trailing a few steps behind her. “You’re safe now.”
Thomas got inside the vehicle and found several other people sitting inside. One of them handed him something warm, wrapped in waxed paper. He unwrapped it to find a hot sandwich. He took a big bite, warm meats and cheeses filling his mouth. It was heavenly. For a split second, he didn’t care where he went as long as he could continue to eat this well.
The vehicle took off, speeding down the road. Thomas was warm and full of delicious food, and the motion of the vehicle was so soothing to him. It was dark inside, and Thomas had to fight his heavy eyelids to stay awake. Finally, he succumbed to his urges and let his eyes close. He drifted off to sleep, knowing that when he woke, he’d be in a better place.
Chapter Twenty
Upon seeing the charred bodies in the aftermath of the fire, Will Domenica let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t feel completely vindicated, but his sense of justice in the world was corrected just a smidgen.
He climbed down from his perch in the tree, his feet falling on a soft bed of pine needles. Soldiers milled about, talking into radios and collecting evidence. They loaded some bodies into black leather bags, and others were rolled into a trench that a few unlucky soldiers labored over.
“It’s over,” Will breathed, trying to convince himself that a wrong was now corrected and it was time to find closure. “She’s gone.”
Not completely convinced that Melissa was dead, he approached the wreckage, turning over bodies with his foot. It was almost impossible to identify the bodies. He knew that there were a lot of infected that had been killed, but it was so hard to tell the difference between a healthy person and an infected person in this state.
He knelt down, covering his nose and mouth with the top of his shirt. Some of the corpses were most likely female. He could even see stringy bits of long hair that survived the fire. One body had a tiny gold chain around its wrist. Was it possible that it was Melissa?
Yes, he saw the whole thing happen. He would have known if she had escaped. When he saw her through the window, she was at the back of the house, near his vantage point. He couldn’t confirm if Thomas made it out or not, but he was fairly certain he would have known if Melissa had escaped. If the fire didn’t get her, the infected most definitely did, especially in her weakened state.
Will felt a little bad about harming Thomas. He didn’t like how Thomas stood up for Melissa, but otherwise, he had nothing against the guy. He hoped that he’d somehow made it out of the house, but he understood that it was not likely if he was being attacked at the time.
What surprised Will the most was how little he felt. He had hoped that if Melissa passed away, he would feel better about losing Natalia. Ordinarily, he would feel terrible about harming an innocent person like Thomas, but overall, he felt indifferent about the whole thing. He just didn’t care about other people’s lives like he used to.
As a young teen, Will remembered being mocked for being a little more sensitive than most. His friends laughed at him when he would tear up after watching movies where lost pets were reunited with their owners. Kids at his high school liked him because he always had a smile on his face and was nice to everybody. Girls liked how thoughtful and caring he was. He never felt the need to hide his feelings, which made him even happier as a result. He was free to express himself in any way he pleased. Most of the time, this included joking and laughing—his favorite things to do.
When his parents died, he locked himself in his room, afraid of a world where he could feel so much anguish. His life had been pretty easy up to that point and their demise was a shock to his system. Still, he had learned that a positive attitude and an open mind could take him far. So, he made it his mission to spread a little cheer in an otherwise depressing atmosphere.
As time went on, especially after Natalia’s death, he realized that sometimes, a good attitude means nothing. There was nothing he could do but let the bad feelings seep inside him and take him over. There was no good in this new world, only death and destruction. It hurt too much to look after anyone else, so he decided that a hedonistic lifestyle would be a better fit.
For a split second, while he sifted through charred bodies, he felt a pang of guilt for the way in which Melissa had died. Being burned alive would be a terrible way to go. He couldn’t imagine the pain she must have felt as the smoke clouded her lungs and the flames licked at her skin.
Then, he remembered how Natalia must have felt to be shot and thought about the pain it caused him. The guilt evaporated.
“You want to help us with this, Domenica?” a soldier asked as Will wandered through the ashes.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there,” he said, taking one last look at his surroundings. The floor creaked underneath him and he was concerned that the compromised foundation would crumble beneath his feet at any moment.
Outside, he helped a few soldiers hoist a body bag into the back of a truck. He tried not to breathe through his nose because
the stench of death was too strong for him to bear, despite his recent experiences with dead people.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” someone asked Will.
He nodded. “Yep. Everything is fine. Thanks.”
“We should be thanking you. We’ve been searching for the fugitives for quite some time now. I hope you can lead us to the more dangerous ones soon. It would really save us all a lot of time.”
“I don’t know where anyone else is,” Will said. “I don’t think I can help you with that.”
He wanted to change the subject. He had no problem ratting Melissa out to the military, but he didn’t want to tell them anything about Alec and Elaina. They had been too good to him to betray them like that.
“Are we still on site?” a crisp voice asked from the radio. It was the clear, uncaring voice of Dr. Bretton Vincent.
“Still here,” a soldier replied. “We’re gathering the samples you requested.”
“Good. Make sure you have at least three bodies. I need them to be in good shape. Also, try to get a few blood samples out of some of the more damaged corpses.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And please be careful to keep the samples from being contaminated this time. I had to throw out everything from the takeover in Montana. Do your jobs and we won’t have any problems.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldier repeated. He took his hand off the radio and shouted to the other soldiers. “I need someone to take some blood samples. Don’t screw it up this time. You remember what happened the last time the doctor wasn’t happy with our work. Let’s get it right the first time so we don’t have to come back.”
The other soldiers mumbled an affirmative response. The sooner they could return to their bunks, the better. The small base that cropped up near the border was nice for a temporary site. Most of the soldiers came from tragic backgrounds, so any kind of safety and camaraderie was most welcome.
“This takes the cake for the grossest thing I’ve ever seen,” a younger soldier noted as he plunged a needle into the charred flesh of an infected person.
