by Tara Brown
I unlock the door with the card and crack it open a tiny bit. I listen. I almost close my eyes and try to listen like I used to do. I don't hear anything, but my ears don't work as well here. I don’t like it here. I just want to go home.
God-damned Marshall. I clench my jaw and open the door wider. I freeze as a woman in a white coat walks past the door away from me. I hear Anna suck air against my back.
The lady doesn’t notice us or turn around. Her long, dark hair is shiny and pulled back in a ponytail. She walks away through another door and closes it. I take a deep breath and open the door enough to peek my head in and look about the hallway. The light is on full power here. It's weird that it's so clean and there’s no infected here. There aren’t a lot of them left, but there are enough that they should at least come near here. We didn’t see anything after we left the city. Why haven’t the military firebombed the cities to kill the infected? It doesn’t even make sense except for the creepy thing Vincent said about experiments.
I just want to get back to the borderlands. I want the feel of a bow in my hands and the wind on my face.
We slip out into the empty hall. Every step feels like I'm wading through mud. My body is exhausted and weak, but my need for him drives me forward. I'm running on sheer hatred and stubbornness. I got it from Lenny. I don’t care what Vincent said, Lenny was my dad. I don’t care what any of them say.
I grip the gun tighter and try to control my breathing and heartbeat. I round a corner to find a door with a glass window. I look through to see cages and desks. A man mills in front of one of the cages and writes something down. He looks only a little older than I am. They're more than likely expecting us. I know they are. I open the door and point my gun at his face.
He glances up with a smile that drops as quickly as the thing he's writing on.
"What are you doing in here?" he asks nervously.
I walk through the door. Anna closes it but maintains her gun on him.
"Don't move," I say quietly. I'm actually listening to the rest of the room behind him that I can't see.
He shakes his head. "The food and medicine are on the other floor. There's loads of it."
As amazing as that sounds, I shake my head. "We just want the place where the animals are held."
He swallows hard. "What animals?" His eyes dart nervously.
I growl, "I will not hesitate to kill you."
He looks defiantly at me and shakes his head. "The gunshot will bring down a whole lot of military people."
I sling it over my shoulder and pull my sparkly-clean knife out. "I know."
He flinches and steps back. "Please, don’t kill me."
Anna moves forward. "She said not to move."
I don’t need to look back to see the hardened look on her face. I know that look well enough. His eyes show the loss of strength and courage. He slumps and shakes his head. "Which animal?"
I pause and look at Anna. She shrugs and says, "All of them."
He raises his head and his eyebrows. "What? All?"
I nod and realize what she's doing. "Yes, all."
"Behind me, around a corner and through a steel door. The cages are back there." His voice is soft and defeated, but I see something in his eyes.
"Do you have any rope or anything?" I ask.
He shakes his head.
I see clear plastic tape on the counter and nod my head at it. "Pass me the tape."
He frowns, pauses and does it. He passes it to me but still doesn’t make eye contact. Something is wrong. He's planning.
I grab his arms and tie them behind his back. He doesn’t fight me. I walk him around the corner to the steel door. I open it but his feet stop the door. He is backpedaling and fighting me.
"N-n-not this d-d-door."
I glance back at Anna. Her eyes narrow. She shoves the gun in his back. "What's in this room?"
He looks back. His face is flushed from scrambling, but I have his arms up his back. "The wild cats. They caught them eating the infected. They're immune. Most animals are."
I see movement behind the door and drag him out. I close the door just as an angry mountain lion stalks up.
Her eyes are savage and vicious.
He nods his head. "The dogs, wolves and bears are that way."
Anna shoves the gun in his back again. "You were going to let us go in there?"
I drag him the way he nodded us, towards the door with a glass window. The animals are in small cages.
I rip open the door and open the first cage I see. A large, golden dog wags his tail. I can see a shaved side where sores mark his skin. I feel hatred burning inside of me. I shove the man inside of the cage. I close it and shake my head. "How could you? He's a sweet dog."
He closes his eyes. "We need to understand how their immunity works with the mutations."
I kick the cage making him jump. "Then you shouldn’t have made the disease. Ass."
Anna is opening cages. I turn and see his eyes instantly. He's in a cage so small that when she opens it, he has to drag his body through like he's crawling out of a hole. He shakes his fur and leaps at Anna. She drops the gun and wraps her skinny arms around his thick neck. I skid on my knees crossing the floor.
When I bury my face in his fur, it doesn’t smell right. He makes noises like I've never heard before. He's mad at me. He nips my arms and claws at me with his paws.
"Leo," I sob into his fur.
Anna is bawling too. I pull back; he closes his yellow eyes and pants. He looks content. I wipe my face and hug him again. He continues his noises but then the purring sound he makes hits, and I know he's happy.
"I'm sorry, Leo," I whisper and rub his huge ears.
I look around at the room—cats, dogs and wolves. I can't risk letting the wolves out; they aren’t Leo. They're real wolves. I jump up and let out the cats and dogs. The room starts to fill with panicked animals. I notice a back door. I run to it and open it. It's a long set of stairs going up.
"Anna, let the dogs and cats out the door we came in."
She hugs him once more and then jumps up and frees them all. She makes kissy noises and the cats and dogs follow her. All but the golden dog. He wags his tail and stays with me. I roll my eyes and sigh.
I look at Leo. "Take your new friend here and go to that door." I give him my look and then the door. He's up and at the door before I have to repeat. He still speaks to me in our way. It makes me smile. He speaks me and I speak him.
I point. "Anna, stand inside of that doorway with Leo. Don't let him come back into this room, okay? Don't close the door completely. Just open it a slit."
She looks confused but does it. The golden dog follows her to the stairs. He pants and wags and doesn’t seem to notice where we are.
The three of them slip into the stairwell. I see her blue eyes in the crack of the door. I take a deep breath and hold my gun firmly in my hands. I click the first lock on the cage to one of the three wolves. I walk backwards and click the second lock. My heart is pounding in my chest. I try to control it and walk backwards. The first wolf nudges his door. He starts to slip his huge body through the opening. I click the final one and leap for the door as the first wolf jumps at me.
Anna opens the door and slams it as I land in the stairwell.
She pants and looks up at me. "That’s some trap you just set."
I nod and take a huge breath. "I know. Whoever opens that—is dead."
I look at Leo and notice the shaved spot on his side. He has sores that match the golden dog's. I wince, but his eyes catch mine and refuse to let me be sad. He nudges me and whines.
Anna starts up the stairs. She gets to the top, turns the lock, and then the handle. I've never been more grateful to see sunshine in all my life.
"It's the side of the building; the one we came in from," she whispers.
The golden smells the air and tries to get through the crack from the open door. She shoves him back. "Back, Buddy. Let me see if it's safe."
&nbs
p; Leo whines again. I nod. "Just go. It's gonna be bad here in like two minutes."
She scowls. "I can't see anything."
I point at the dog. "Let him out."
Her look doesn’t improve.
I shrug and finish climbing the stairs. I look out the crack and open the door. I look at Leo. He crouches and crawls from the door. The golden follows, not crouching.
I follow them, holding my gun and looking around. I see the movement on the roof, but he's looking the wrong way. He doesn’t see us yet. I wish I had my bow.
"Where is the meeting place?" I look back at her.
Her face turns red. "The camp. There is no meeting place. That was a lie for the doctor." Her words make me sick. Jake and Will are in the city somewhere.
We creep along the wall. I hear a truck.
"We gotta run for the forest," I say and whistle, making Leo dash. He runs as fast as he can for the woods. The golden follows him, thank God.
Anna smirks. "That dog is as bad as Jake."
I laugh, regardless of the fact we are more than likely about to die.
"Walk casually," I mutter and fight my smile. The truck comes around the corner. They wave at us and continue along.
I'm pouring sweat and aching ridiculously.
I glance back at Anna. "Turn for the woods." We cross the immaculate street and head for the road that leads into this area. It's a small road, single lane. It's opposite the city. I don’t need to see Leo to know he's in there waiting for me.
We walk casually, but the sound of my heart tells me that we are anything but casual. Not to mention Anna's increased breathing.
The road is so close, but it and the forest feel so far away.
I glance back at Anna; her blue eyes are huge.
"We got so lucky," she says.
I nod. "Too lucky." I keep looking around. I feel like her words jinxed us. The golden comes out of the woods, wagging his tail. I'm sure Leo is in the bush watching this, shaking his head.
Anna nods. "Yup, Jake."
We drop down into a ditch. I lie on my belly instantly and peek up over the side of the ditch. The rooftops have movement, but it's still casual and relaxed. No one has noticed us.
"You think it's an act?" she whispers, holding the gun tight to her.
I swallow and watch them milling about up on the rooftops. "Not sure. I want to say no, but I have a terrible feeling." I look at her and fight the memory of opening the door to the cabin. I don’t regret it, but I hate that I could be there. I could be safe. I miss that feeling.
She furrows her dark eyebrows. "Stop giving me that look. Just say what you're gonna say. I know I messed up."
I frown. "Huh?"
She sighs. "Jake and Will… I know I screwed that up."
I bite my lip and look back at the rooftops. The men are gone.
"Crap!" I jump up and run for the woods. Her feet behind me are faster than mine. She beats me across the street and into the woods.
Our feet move fast. The golden runs around us; he thinks we're playing. I could throw up I'm so nervous.
We run hard and far until I gag into the bush, just like I did the first time I ran for my life. I grip the branch next to me and shake. My body isn’t strong anymore. I spent everything I had freeing Leo and running from the infected. Either that or I'm infected.
I wipe my mouth and try to catch my breath.
Anna and Leo look the same. Same worried eyes.
I shake my head. "I'm fine. Just exhausted or infected."
She shakes her head. "He wasn’t lying. You can't get it. He told me he spent the first few days you were there trying to infect you. You're immune and can't even carry it."
I shrug. "We'll see in a couple days." I put the back of my hand to my forehead. "I think I have the fever."
She rolls her eyes. "You're sick, dummy. But only from being weak." She turns and continues up the huge hill. I have no idea where we are.
"So you really have no idea where Jake and Will are?" I'm so angry with her for that, I could spit fire.
She shoots me a glare. "I told you we got separated. I think they'll go back to the camp."
I run my hands through my hair, scratching my scalp.” I need a swim or something. I'm funky and gross. We gotta find some water. Look for fir trees."
She gives me a look and rolls her eyes. "Is that even true?"
I ignore her and walk behind Leo. I've been watching his ears and tail. He always knows when there's trouble. I keep looking back, but no one is there. They weren’t chasing us. They were no doubt busy, saving whoever opened the wolf trap.
Leo's pace picks up. I try to keep up, but I'm nearly wheezing at this pace. The golden runs around us, sniffing and peeing. He is so like Jake that it would make me laugh if I wasn’t near death.
"Can you find the camp from here?" I ask and gag again.
She shakes her head. "You asked that ten minutes ago, and I said yes to it then. You're driving me insane."
I'm about to snap at her, but the forest gets dark and blurry. I stumble and fall into the bush next to me. The smell of the bush is the last thing I register.
I wake with a start, seeing the forest.
Lifting my fingers to the back of my head, I feel the bark of the tree I'm against. I move my other fingers and smile when they dig into his thick, downy fur. He nuzzles into me and makes one of his noises. I glance down and everything feels all right with my world. I don’t know how long it'll feel this way, but I'm grateful I feel this way now. I feel like right now is pretty important, because my body is shutting itself down. I'm dying. But the wind is on my face and his fur is in my fingers, so it's okay if I die. I've been waiting days for it to come and I think it has.
I swallow and look around. My eyes adjust to the bright forest, the morning forest. Where is Anna?
I look back at Leo and wonder if she's left me, and if Leo stayed to guard me. I snap my lips together and try licking. My throat is thick. She's left me because the infection is hitting me. My spit is thickening and my skin is aching.
I slide my fingers into his fur and grip on almost. I knew I could feel it. I knew I could sense I was going to die. I've feared it my whole life, ever since I read that pigs have a heightened sense of their own demise. I read it and had a bad feeling that I was like the pigs, somehow.
I hold him and wish I could tell him to eat me when I turn. I don’t want to wander and kill. I've done enough of that.
The light from the sun filters through the huge canopy high above us. I close my eyes and see the light of it through my eyelids. I can almost feel the warmth of the morning sun.
Vincent's words start to creep around in my mind. All those women, children, babies, people… all hurt by my father. Sickening sadness rolls in like a thick fog. My baby. It's not something I ever thought about, not really. But now that it's gone, it hurts a bit. More than a bit.
Leo senses it. He shoves me and nips at my arm. I don’t know how to make it hurt less.
My evil brain flashes images of the little, white-haired brat at the retreat. I laugh, but it comes out as a cough. I glance down at the yellow eyes that are watching me. "I think I might have dodged a bullet there."
He cocks his head and pants. He probably doesn’t remember the evil little brat.
"We don’t want to have something like that to be responsible for. You and I both know, Meg is enough trouble."
He nods and I swear he remembers the name.
I laugh at him and cough again.
A voice breaks my self-pity, "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."
I snap my head around; I would know that voice anywhere.
"Jake!" I try to cry out but my words are stuck in the instant pain in my chest.
He rushes me and wraps his arms around me.
"Am I dreaming?" I mutter into his thick shoulder.
He lifts me off the ground and cradles me in his arms. "Oh my God. You're alive," he whispers into my shoulder, squishing me i
nto him. "Of course you're not dreaming. You're all bones. You're so skinny, Em. You wouldn’t be this skinny in a dream. Or bleeding."
I look down at my legs and see the blood stains on my thigh. My face is warm instantly. I ignore it and enjoy the fact that he's holding me.
"How did you find me?" I ask, but the answer is there in the shape of a golden dog. He bounces around the forest joyfully.
Anna walks up smiling, but behind her I see something that hurts me more than anything. Seeing him makes me want to cry. I don’t know why. Jake lifts me up and makes me feel happy, but seeing Will walking up behind his sister breaks the hold I have over my emotions. I clutch to Jake as Leo circles our legs, rubbing around me and letting me know he's there.
Will's face hardens as he walks towards us, but I see it in his eyes… I think. I think he's relieved to see me. Or he's very angry. I can't ever really tell with him. When he gets to us, he pulls me into his arms and I feel it. I feel the safety of my cabin, the reassuring words of my father, and the touch of Leo's fur all wrapped up in one thing…this embrace. He smells the way I remember, but holds me tighter than I can breathe through.
His body trembles and wraps around mine completely. This is the safest place in the whole world.
"I'm sorry, Em," he whispers into my hair, "I've got you now."
Chapter Six
The sniper in the tree is probably the greatest thing I've ever seen. I would sigh and smile, but I'm surviving on the high of my friends being with me.
Will scoops me in his arms and starts walking faster. "I'm taking her to the med tent."
I struggle. "Will, I can walk." They've been taking turns carrying me for days.
He shakes his head and clenches his jaw. "No." He actually speaks through his teeth.
I roll my eyes and look at where we're going. The tents come into view as we crest the hill. The bustle of the camp and the smoke of the fires are the first things I notice. Leo's hackles are the second. He looks angry, like he knows we were betrayed.
Will takes his huge steps until we are on the far side of the camp. People see him and raise their eyebrows. They almost smile and then don't. They must see the look in his eyes. It's the same one that’s keeping my mouth shut. There isn’t any point in arguing with him; he's an ass.
