That made him relieved.
Then all hell broke loose. “Your seedling,” The voice returned with that same urgency as before. “Take her now,” Francis commanded, and this time, AJ felt different. He wanted her again, just like he had that first time. The need was overwhelming, all-consuming, even to the point of madness.
What did you do to me? he shouted and would have sworn he felt Francis feeling smug in return.
AJ gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists. You know what, Francis? Screw you.
But the need urged his body to move, to stand up and go straight to Paige’s room and snatch her.
“Yes, give in!”
Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a cheesy Bond villain? It’s annoying. AJ refused to give in, even though the pressure now eroded the last reserves of his resolve.
“Collect the Seedling and return to the mothership.”
You already mentioned that, and hell no!
But even while thinking that, his body jerked. He needed her, and she was right there.
An opposite thought popped into his head at the same time.
The guys in suits and masks were wheeling him away. As in far away from Paige, he hoped. And he was overjoyed at not seeing her again.
Game over, Francis, you will never have her now.
The thought made him laugh.
Paige glowed gold as she looked down at him from her window with a strange expression on her face. He wished there was some way he could speak to her one last time to say goodbye. But even if he wasn’t taken away, she wouldn’t be safe around him. Not while there was something inside his head, trying to take over.
This last look would have to do.
“No!” Francis shouted angrily, but that only made AJ grin even more.
He was now more certain than ever that he was different from the rest. He could feel it in the center of his being. He wasn’t sick like the rest of that merry bunch in the bus.
From the start, there had only been a few drops of blood from his nose while others looked like they’d lost at least a quarter of theirs. And he never spaced out, either, or at least he thought he hadn’t.
There was no telling what he looked like on the outside while chatting with Francis.
Speaking of Francis...
Francis? Buddy? You there?
Only silence greeted him, even though AJ was certain he was not alone. He knew how to recognize the difference now.
Ahh don’t pout, he teased.
This would be a long journey with a voice inside his head that gave him the silent treatment.
Oh, the irony.
As AJ took one last look at Paige through the school bus window, he couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever see her again.
A part of him hoped he would, but only when he was cured or sane again.
And if he had one regret in his life, it was that he wished he’d had the balls to speak to her, maybe even ask her out, before the world flipped upside down.
* * *
Not wanting to think about the seriousness of the situation any longer—since she would certainly break down and cry—Paige simply pretended it was Halloween and all those kids were in their costumes and going off to a party.
But that foolish fantasy lasted only until she spotted the next gurney. On it was River. Her arm appeared to dangle off the side, and it looked as if she was moaning though Paige couldn’t be sure. She was too far away to hear anything apart from the engine.
Paige was worried her friend was in pain and wished there was something she could do. Feeling powerless, she waved like crazy, calling out to her. Maybe if River knew she was close by it would ease her suffering a little.
Where are they taking them? Paige had to wonder, hoping that wherever that might be, they would get proper treatment and eventually recover.
She had to find a way to believe that because the idea of never seeing either one of them again pressed heavily on her heart.
Reluctant to leave, she looked around her room. She wished everything was back to normal and they were listening to some lecture again.
Once, she’d felt so safe within these walls but that was gone now. There was nothing holding her there. The illusion of protection had shattered.
Her safe place was gone.
Growing up, she’d feared the Shadows in the night the most. This was, to some degree, because of Brooke, since her mom had told her they had taken her. But it also partly had to do with the fact that even before that, her mom insisted on hiding them from those monsters.
Mom always chose the darkest, smallest place for them to hide in, which Paige found quite ironic. She would either lock them in the basement or in her bedroom wardrobe. She hated that place the most and was still scared of the dark because of it.
Coming to college and having her own room was something she had to get used to. Still, over time, she did start to feel safe there. But, as always, that feeling had been taken away from her. Still, she couldn’t quite lock herself in the closet to hide from the Shadows.
Refocusing on Willow and her mom, she strapped her backpack on and returned to the common room without sparing a backward glance toward her room.
One of the girls, whose name she always confused with another, stopped her. “Where are you going?” Holly wanted to know. Or was it Polly?
“I’m getting out of here,” she replied honestly
The girl looked at her in confusion.
“But you’re not allowed to leave the premises unless you have someone meeting you.” Mary took it upon herself to join in.
Paige shrugged. “Yeah, well, I’m not going to simply wait around to catch whatever this thing is. We don’t know anything about it, but I would rather not have to get sick to find out what’s going on.” She concluded her statement with quiet conviction.
Both girls looked at her like they agreed with her in theory but were too scared to act in practice.
Whatever they felt, Paige was somewhat glad they didn’t ask to join her because she was stretched thin as it was. Things were about to become pretty manic with Willow and Mom in tow, and she didn’t need or want additional responsibilities.
“So, where are you going?” Holly/Polly asked instead.
“And how are you getting there?” Mary added.
She didn’t know how to respond to that because, in truth, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. Preoccupied with all the smaller obstacles, she completely forgot about the bigger picture.
“There’s no cab service,” Holly/Polly chirped when Paige remained silent. “And besides, the government said to remain indoors. How will you slip by everyone?”
Paige grew impatient with their interrogation but still tried to remain polite with her response.
“Well, if they want to stop me, they can try. I’ll figure out the rest as I go. Good luck.” She rushed over her words and hurried away immediately, not giving them the chance to delay her departure any longer.
It was true that she didn’t have the faintest idea what she was doing, but she knew that she had to act right away if she wanted to succeed.
Luckily, the hallway was empty so there was no one around to try and stop her. Every once in a while, she would encounter a student escorted by the security staff, but they minded their own business, so she simply carried on as if she had every right to be where she was.
By that point, it was pretty clear to her who was infected and who wasn’t, so she knew when to stay clear.
Remembering that the front door was locked and unlocked only for the kids with chaperones, Paige turned in the opposite direction to try the back one.
She cursed when she found it locked. With no other option, she continued to descend until she found herself in the boiler room. She was sure there would be windows she could crawl through, and after a quick exploration, her instinct proved correct.
Finding a small janitorial office that was luckily empty, she jumped up quickly on the shaky wooden desk and tried t
he single window in the dingy room.
“No,” she shouted in frustration because the damn thing was jammed.
Paige pulled and hit at it with her hand, but it wouldn’t budge.
Looking around, she made a split-second decision, jumped back down, and found some old rags that stank so badly her gag reflex kicked in. Determination forced it back down as she wrapped the rags around her hand and grabbed a fire extinguisher.
Scrambling back onto the table, she took a deep breath and then another. She had never done anything like this in her life, and she hoped it would work.
Taking care to shield her eyes, Paige smashed the glass with the extinguisher. It shattered on impact, but since she’d used too much force, she stumbled and almost fell on the shards. She caught her balance at the last second and, a little frightened by her narrow escape, continued with her work.
It took a while, but once she’d got removed all the glass, she used the same rags to cover the base of the window before she started to climb. Then she realized she couldn’t crawl out with her backpack on, so she threw it out first before resuming.
It took some wiggling, but she managed to escape without a scratch. After a quick look around, she snatched up her backpack and jogged toward the school’s parking lot.
The first obstacle was overcome, but Paige still had to find a way to get off campus.
A rack full of bikes caught her eye and she debated whether she should take one. She could definitely ride to the train station in the next town, but it would take forever. And she would have to have one for Willow as well, which was a hassle. Regretfully, she decided against it, but it was still an option if nothing else worked out.
I need something faster. Her gaze settled on the teachers’ cars.
That was definitely a more appealing option considering their timetable, but Paige didn’t know how to drive.
River was right. I am an idiot for not having a driver’s license, she thought in despair.
But in her defense, she didn’t own a car so she hadn’t seen the point in having a license.
She could definitely see the point now, though.
Disconsolate, she had to dig deep for courage. She couldn’t simply stand around and twiddle her thumbs, so Paige decided that this was the perfect time to teach herself how to drive.
She’d spent a lot of time in cars, obviously. She only needed to remember what she’d seen people do and she would be golden.
But first, she needed a car.
The parking lot was normally full at that time of the day, but with people fleeing left and right in an attempt to escape the virus, half the cars were already gone.
Clearly, a handful of people had gotten out as soon as the news broke
The only cars that remained were those that belonged to the teachers who chose to stay or who lived on campus.
Some really good people worked at Rosehill, and Paige felt bad that she was about to effectively steal one of their vehicles.
Eventually, she spotted Ms. Butcher’s car—a gray Toyota Prius, or at least she thought it was hers. There were several identical ones, and in the same color, so there was no telling.
It makes you think it only comes in gray, she thought, approaching it cautiously.
The reason she was so determined to take the nurse’s car was that she thought Ms. Butcher would be with the other sick kids on the school bus and so wouldn’t mind if she borrowed it since she already had a ride.
Paige moved around to the side of the car, trying to look inconspicuous as she tried the driver’s side door. It opened without a glitch.
Well, that was the easy part, she thought, scrambling in.
Not wasting time, she searched for keys, praying the nurse hadn’t taken them with her. As any sane person would.
In a moment of inspiration, she flipped the sun visor because people did that in the movies but found no keys stashed there. Instead, two prayer cards fell out.
The first one had an image of a priest holding a cross up to the sun, while beams of sunlight shined on it. People gathered around him, bowing at his feet. Paige turned it over and read the inscription aloud. “For what profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?”
Paige looked at the picture again and thought she would give everything, even her soul, to save her sister. She only hoped and prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
The second one depicted a guardian angel watching over two small children, guiding them to safety.
I will be Willow’s guardian angel, Paige vowed, stashing both cards in her jacket pocket. She decided to read the inscription on the second card when—if—she had a chance in the future when she was safe again.
But right now, she needed to figure out how to start the car without a key.
Naturally, she grabbed her phone and, her fingers crossed, discovered she could still go online and started Googling. Within a few minutes, she happily discovered she’d chosen the right car for the job because hot-wiring new models was way too complicated for a novice like her.
Watching a YouTube video made her feel like a professional only after two minutes.
Going over it once more, Paige reached under the steering wheel and managed to pull out the wires.
Methodically, and with full concentration, she went to work, making sure she did exactly as the man in the video did.
Once she was done, it started, and she cheered.
Looks like my guardian angel was looking down on me after all, she thought with sudden hope. But it vanished the second she started steering.
It was harder then it looked.
Slowly, Paige slipped the stick into reverse and put her foot on the gas. The car jerked back before stopping because she panicked. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as she eased out of the parking lot—or tried to.
She prayed she wouldn’t encounter another car on the road because she didn’t want to destroy her only means of transportation.
Then she remembered she didn’t need another car to crash and somehow, that didn’t make her feel any better.
Once again, she attempted to drive on, but this time, pressed her foot slowly on the pedal. The car began to move more steadily and she grinned, patting herself on the back because, for her, this was quite an accomplishment.
“This isn’t so hard, after all,” Paige murmured as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road that led away from the school.
Surprisingly, the gates were wide open and she glided through without a problem.
She was quickly getting the hang of driving and almost lost her nerve only once when she hit a pothole on the road. But that didn’t cause any damage, thank goodness. It only made the Rosary Beads hanging from the mirror dance.
Glancing quickly in the rear-view mirror, Paige could still see Rosehill in the distance and thought how her past was staying behind among those walls but she was moving on into the future.
The future she would never have imagined and one she definitely couldn’t predict.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Paige pulled up carefully at the guard security gate which prevented her from entering Willow’s school. “Hey, Joe, is Willow here?” she asked the grey-haired guard whom she’d known since her sister first enrolled.
“Hey, Paige. Nope. Willow is in the city. Why aren’t you at college? Have you not seen the news? They’re telling people to stay indoors,” Joe told her, his expression one of concern.
Paige was gutted that Willow wasn’t there, but she checked the instinctive gasp of dismay. “Can I go in and check? Maybe she didn’t go with them.” She could only hope for a miracle, though it didn’t seem likely.
“Sure, I hope you’re right, Paige. It’s real sick what’s going on. Are there many infected at the college?”
“Too many.”
Joe shook his head. “Damn.” He pressed a button and the gate opened, giving her access to the grounds.
“Thanks, Joe.”
“No problem.” She dro
ve on, grateful that he was too preoccupied with the virus to notice that she’d suddenly somehow acquired a car. “Borrowing” it was one thing, but she didn’t trust herself to lie about it without giving herself away.
Paige stopped quickly in the nearest parking space to the school. The parking lot was full, and she looked around furtively. A red soccer-mom type car parked beside hers. In the back were three car seats. Two held babies and the middle one was empty.
A parent must be in the school looking for a kid, she realized. She hoped they’d both have good luck as she flung herself out of the vehicle and hurried inside.
She headed to Willow’s classroom, but it was deserted. Damnit! They must be at the museum.
Next, Paige headed to Willow’s dorm room, but she wasn’t there either. Her clothes were scattered on her bed like she had planned to throw them on the floor when she got back. She allowed herself a small smile. Her sister never saw the point of neat and tidy surroundings, especially when there were better things to do.
A girl around Willow’s age lay in one of the beds. Dried blood crusted around her nose. She was infected.
“Have you seen Willow?” Paige asked her.
It took a few moments before she responded. “She’s on the school trip.”
Paige wanted to call her again and reached into her pocket, only to remember she had left her phone and everything else in the car. A little panicked now, she ran outside.
She almost collided with a frantic-looking woman.
“Sorry.”
The woman was clearly flustered. “Do you know where everybody is?” she asked in a high-pitched voice.
“My sister was supposed to go on a field trip today...the Natural History Museum in the city. A sick kid says she went there.”
“My son Eric as well,” she responded, her eyes searching the area in a dazed, unbelieving kind of way. “I checked the school grounds twice and there’s nobody here. They have to be there—where else could they be?”
“The kids are still at a museum,” a new voice said, and they both startled and spun around.
Contamination (Invasion Survivor Book 1) Page 6
