Contamination (Invasion Survivor Book 1)

by Hayley Lawson

  He lumbered into the fight, but Paige managed to fend him off. Still, despite her furious defense, he kept coming.

  To make matters even worse, the other man seemed to have recovered his drive to kill, proving how off-target Paige really was. He growled and, ignoring the gaping wound in his chest, started to rise.

  Dave yelled his outrage, broke off a piece of a tree branch, and swung it like a baseball bat.

  His opponent didn’t have a prayer against the raw power behind the swing. The branch made full contact with his face and he twirled like a ballerina before falling to his knees. Dave waded in with a few more well-placed blows. He clearly wanted to be sure his man was down for good.

  “And that’s why you never mess with the fence buster,” Dave informed his opponent.

  Paige still had the bandanna man to worry about. “Why are you doing this to us?” she screamed as she lashed out at him. Some perverse part of her, tired of the carnage, demanded answers.

  He stopped in his tracks and looked at her with his red eyes as he cocked his head to the side. It made an odd sight, but she didn’t take this unexpected break for granted.

  She knew he wouldn’t stop—he couldn’t. It was all there, written in his glittering eyes.

  “You don’t belong here,” he said, surprising her with his words and the cold, matter-of-fact tone. “When I get you to the mothership, I will be rewarded.” He laughed, a frenzied, lunatic howl of mirth.

  Paige instinctively looked up at the sky, imagining some giant flying saucer waiting to snatch her up, but saw nothing.

  “Whatever you say. But why don’t you have your friends beam you up right now?” She only half-joked, but the idea had merit.

  He fixed her with a hard look, narrowing his eyes, and Paige couldn’t help but notice that he acted differently to the rest.

  “I need you, and I will have you.”

  “Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s not happening,” Dave chimed in.

  The man’s rage bubbled to the surface. “You should have been dead by now.”

  It was like he retained much of his former self, she thought. Which meant he could think and plan, and that made him that much more dangerous.

  He rushed at Paige with alarming speed. She panicked and braced for impact, but at the last second, Dave pushed her out of the way and swung the big branch he was holding.

  The wood connected, crushing half his face, and he hit the ground with a hard thud. Not waiting to see how long that would keep him down, Dave threw the branch away and, grabbing her hand, yanked her into a sprint.

  “We are going in the wrong direction,” she protested a few minutes later.

  “Is there a right direction?” he countered.

  “Yes, back to the bike. I think it’s still working.” At least she hoped it was.

  “Why the hell do people go after you like that?” he demanded, changing the subject.

  “I don’t know. But did you hear what he said?”

  “Honestly, I wish I hadn’t. It nearly made me piss myself. A frigging mothership? Fuck!”

  On cue, they both glanced at the sky above and for a few heartbeats, Paige honestly believed a huge ship would materialize like in Independence Day or something. Nothing more than white fluffy clouds drifted in the blue sky.

  “Do we actually believe him?” Dave asked, still craning his neck though he wore an embarrassed expression. “He was simply talking trash, right?”

  She looked at him, her eyebrows raised.

  “Fuck.” He stressed the word this time, and it was clear he had something else to add. Then they noticed another group of infected people coming their way. “Oh, for crying out loud—can’t a guy have a nervous breakdown in peace?”

  “Some other time. Let’s go.”

  They needed to reach the bridge that would take them to Brooklyn.

  Luckily, just as she’d assumed, the motorbike still worked. Dave picked it up and made sure he could start the engine, and they were soon back on the road.

  This time around, the ride felt smoother. They left the park and he weaved in and out of the cars on the streets without problems.

  The practice in the park, despite being chased by maniacal infected people, had given him the confidence that was needed, Paige realized.

  She didn’t want to compliment him just yet, not wanting to jinx it even though she was pleased they could get to Fort Hamilton faster.

  He now drove on the sidewalk, and they both yelled at the people to get out the way.

  He did that to try to make things easier since there were people everywhere. Some tried to run somewhere but others simply stood frozen, staring out into space. These were the worst because they didn’t react to their warnings. The healthy ones brought an added problem—they didn’t want to obey.

  “Move,” she screamed while the people yelled all kinds of profanities back.

  “Burn in hell,” was the crowds favorite, apparently.

  “Get out of the way, lady,” Dave shouted, but the lady in question didn’t move an inch. It was like she didn’t even hear him.

  “She’s infected. You’ll hit her!” Paige warned.

  Slamming on the breaks, he missed her by a hair, and she took them completely by surprise when she turned and glared. “Watch it, you punks,” she yelled and swung her handbag at Dave.

  She looked normal, Paige thought—as in not infected, but maybe demented still worked to describe her.

  Dodging blows and insults, Dave kept going despite the difficulties.

  They approached the bridge, where cars now stood in a seemingly endless, unmoving line.

  She muttered a low curse, then repeated it as a large group of people ran toward them like a wave of the disease after their new prey.

  “Well, crap,” Dave grumbled, unintentionally slowing down.

  This isn’t good at all. Paige started to sweat.

  She reached over her shoulder for the sword in the backpack, just in case she needed it for protection, and felt the bike wobble. Dave lost control slightly as they bumped over something unidentifiable on the ground. Paige didn’t want to look back to identify it.

  Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

  “Paige? What should we do?” Dave asked under his breath.

  “I don’t know. Drive right through them?” she suggested off the top of her head.

  “There’s too many of them,” he countered.

  “Ride around them?”

  Right. Like that would actually work, given their history.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “Let's try this way,” he said over his shoulder and swung wide to enter the doors of a shopping mall.

  The engine suddenly seemed insanely loud among all the glass and metal.

  As expected, there were a lot of looters and evidence of destruction inside the mall, but Paige had to admit that he’d hit on a good solution.

  They would save a lot of time going through instead of around.

  “Seedling!” someone shouted, a loud rasping cry easily heard above the clamor.

  She refused to turn and look, hoping blindly that someone else was the object of the attention.

  “Seedling!” another voice echoed. A woman stood ahead and to their right, clearly focused on Paige.

  “Oh, for crying out loud. Do they have a tracking device on you?” Dave snapped.

  “Seedling!” A few other voices joined in now, repeating the word like a mindless mantra.

  A mob moved in to surround them. Others—the unaffected people—scattered in fear, leaving them alone.

  “Hold on,” Dave shouted as he accelerated and tried to break through. Paige pulled her sword, ready to help make a way if need be.

  His plan worked to a degree.

  “Seedling! Mine.” One person refused to move, so Paige applied the ultimate metal persuasion and he became more compliant. And headless, though she didn’t dwell on that.

  “Over there,” Paige yelled once they broke through, poi
nting with her stained sword. There was another exit nearby.

  Unfortunately, it was locked.

  “Fuck,” Dave snapped and turned the bike in a wide circle.

  “Try that way.” She gestured urgently to the left. The mob hadn’t given up, and she could hear the sound of their approach drawing closer.

  Taking her advice, he made a sudden left turn and rode through a passageway to the other side of the mall.

  They swung around the final corner and ended up at a movie theater.

  It’s a dead end. Paige’s heart sank, and she bit back her frustration.

  Dave drove them right into it and cut the motor.

  “We'll hide in here until they forget about us,” he informed her. They slid off the bike and he jogged to the entrance to pull down the big metal security doors. With a little fumbling, he managed to jam them, successfully locking them in. Or trapping them inside, of course, but it seemed like their only option.

  Paige pushed the bike farther so it wouldn't be visible from the outside.

  “Good thinking,” Dave complimented her before adding. “Stay here while I scout the place.”

  He jogged away, and Paige wanted to yell after him that he should have thought about that before he trapped them inside a space with only one exit but didn't.

  She sighed instead and sat next to the bike, leaning wearily against the wall.

  The marble was cold beneath her, but at the same time, it felt nice.

  It was actually more than nice to not run about and simply be, even if it was for a little while.

  * * *

  Too late, Dave realized that once again, he had jack shit to defend himself with.

  Maybe that's my thing. He tried to reassure himself, but it didn’t work too well.

  He reached the vendors’ stands and his eyes bulged when he saw that all the snacks were still there—intact and clearly on display just for him.

  Clearly, no one remembered to loot a movie theater, he guessed.

  And, like a kid in a candy store, he rushed to them.

  An usher, obviously infected and at the crazy stage, stopped him in his tracks. He cursed his luck and took a defensive stance.

  The man lunged at him at full speed, practically salivating, and he panicked. He took the gap and ducked behind one of the stands.

  “Can we settle this some other way? Can I buy you some Duds? No?”

  They played the ridiculous game of tag until Dave jumped over the counter. Frantically, he searched for something he could use to defend himself, but there was nothing useful there other than a metal popcorn scoop.

  Well, beggars can't be choosers.

  Before the nutcase could scramble over the counter as well, Dave grabbed the scoop and, flipping it over, jabbed the handle deep into the man’s eye.

  The usher screamed and tried to pull it out. Not wanting to lose momentum, Dave dropped the utensil and pounded his fists into his opponent.

  He fell to the ground, and Dave dropped on top of him to deliver the final blow.

  “One down, and hopefully none to go,” he murmured, a little winded.

  He glanced at the scoop and it looked so revolting, he decided to leave it and find himself another weapon.

  On impulse, he decided to check the bathrooms before the rest of the theatre.

  All clear, he wanted to yell when he found them empty but refrained from it. Also, he made a point not to check himself in the mirror.

  Dave really didn't want to know what he looked like after all the beat-down he’d endured thus far. He could still see with both his eyes, so that good enough.

  Exiting, he did a quick sweep through the rooms before going to the staff-only area.

  The smell warned him that all was not great in there, and true enough, a lot of blood had pooled by the door. Moving past it, careful not to step into the goo, he found the dead body of a woman who clearly worked there.

  Distracted by her and all the blood, he almost missed the fact there was another woman in the room. Dave heard a sound, alerting him, and turned slowly toward her.

  She looked at him without moving or blinking, but he was now very aware how that could change in a blink of an eye.

  Since she was covered in blood, Dave didn't waste time on chit-chat or wait for her to attack him but grabbed the first thing available—a movie film still in its metal box—and swung.

  He could actually hear the bones cracking before her smacked head against the wall.

  When she fell to the ground, he raised the box above his head for another swing. She wasn't moving, so he took a deep breath and lowered his arm, then continued with the sweep. This time, he decided to take his makeshift weapon along with him.

  Checking the title label on the box, he chuckled. Deadpool.

  Sometimes, life really had a strange sense of humor.

  When he’d checked everywhere and was satisfied that there were no more crazies around, he went to find Paige. She was no longer there.

  Before he could panic, he noticed one of the viewing rooms wide open and glanced inside.

  She patted the seats absentmindedly and quite unaware that he’d returned, and that gave him a crazy idea.

  Walking away quietly to avoid notice, Dave had a huge smile on his face.

  * * *

  Paige sat on the floor and called River to check up on her and Willow, but there was no answer. She prayed that they’d be okay.

  Next, she called the Medical Clinic. They would have to have seen the news about stage two of the infection, but Paige needed to be sure.

  As it had earlier, the phone rang for a long time, then the line went dead. She tried again, and to her relief, someone picked up. “Hello. I brought a baby and a woman in earlier…a few hours ago. Are they okay? Have you seen the news about stage two?” She rushed the questions before they could hang up.

  “Yes, we heard about stage two. Baby is okay…” The lady paused. “We have separated the well from the sick,” she added.

  Paige nodded in understanding, even though she knew the women couldn’t see her. “Good. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Thank you for bringing the baby to us. We’ll keep her safe.”

  She sighed, relieved that Petal, at least, was safe for the time being.

  Then, with nothing else to do, she pushed up from the floor and decided to do some exploring.

  Looking around, she considered where to start and was immediately drawn to one particular room.

  Maybe because there was a huge Deadpool 3 movie poster by the door?

  Paige instantly remembered Dave saying he would take her to see it on their first date.

  Even though she was completely alone, she still blushed at the thought.

  Which was ridiculous.

  Moving between the seats, she traced her fingers over the distinctive material of the seats, taking a deep breath and enjoying the smell of them.

  God, how I love the movies...

  This was potentially the last time she would be in a movie theater, and that saddened her no end.

  She really loved going to watch all kinds of movies. Especially with River, who was a true chatterbox who simply had to comment on every scene, though she didn’t mind her friend’s habit too much.

  Paige took a seat in her favorite row and decided to simply sit there for a moment and look at the big screen, even if it was blank.

  Suddenly, the lights went off and she jumped up, her sword in her hand and raised high.

  She scanned the room for threats.

  “Relax, it's only me.” She heard Dave's voice from somewhere above her.

  In the projector room, she realized.

  “Dave, what are you doing?”

  “Keeping my promise. Now stop talking and sit down,” he ordered, his tone light-hearted.

  She smiled, more than happy to comply. In everything going on around them, the moment seemed surreal—as if she’d found an oasis in a bizarre desert devoid of anything remotely normal.
<
br />   It was crazy. She knew that but decided to enjoy the thoughtful escape that only Dave could ever have dreamed up.

  Once the trailers started, he appeared with his pockets filled with all kinds of snacks. They literally overflowed with boxes of popcorns, nacho chips, cheese, and candies in such amounts she could easily end up in a sugar coma after eating them all. Plus, he held two large drinks.

  He really thought of everything.

  Paige jumped up to help him, not wanting him to accidentally drop anything from that precious cargo.

  “Thanks,” he said, accepting her help with a broad grin.

  “Are you sure about this?” she asked and took a sip of her coke. “Is it safe?”

  “Yeah. There were only two crazies in the back, and I took care of them.”

  But even though she nodded, she still felt a quick surge of guilt for being there. They had other priorities, like Willow and his brother. This wasn’t the time for play.

  “How did you know to do all this anyway?” Curiosity pushed the negative thoughts aside.

  “Worked one summer in the theater close to my house. It was the best job ever but then they closed it.”

  “Bummer.”

  “Yeah,” he replied with a sigh.

  “Anyway, thank you for this,” Paige said eventually but apparently, her tone or expression didn't match her words.

  “What is it?” Dave wanted to know and Paige shrugged in return.

  “Just feeling a bit guilty, I guess,” she confessed. “We should be out there”—she waved her hands—“looking for our siblings, and not in here goofing around, wasting time.”

  It felt weird doing something like this, even if it was a normal thing like watching a movie with a boy.

  Because nothing is normal anymore. She had to remind herself of that because this strange moment frozen in time tempted her to believe it had all been a nightmare.

  He frowned. “Paige, we are not wasting time. Look, I checked before doing all this, and those bastards are still out there. We can't leave even if we wanted to. And since we are already here, why not eat until we want to puke and enjoy the new release?”

  When he put it that way, Paige had to agree.