Ground Zero (Patient Zero Book 1)

by Adrianne Lemke

  Scout eyed the group warily. “I hate to take them at their word, but I think you may be right.”

  Rex laughed a bit. “Hey, initially, you were going to take her too. We still decided to trust you.”

  Jake shrugged. “You gotta point, Rex. Z, your call.”

  “Alright,” I called to Scott. I slid my sword back into the sheath. “Lead the way.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Lunch was surprisingly cordial. No fights popped up, and we were welcomed without question. One of the women—the one who had spoken for me—led me and Shanti toward a separate room to allow me to get cleaned up. She had also given me some fresh clothes to wear, most likely from the daughter she’d mentioned.

  The look in her eyes was similar to the look I’d seen from my friends. Loss. Pain. Loneliness. Things we were all familiar with. I didn’t ask about her daughter, and she didn’t share. I did find myself wearing some nicer jeans than I currently owned, a black tank top, and a black leather jacket. Well, more accurately, pleather. Not real leather, but it looked pretty real.

  “This will wipe up more easily than your old jean jacket,” the woman had said as she gave me the clothing. “Shouldn’t allow the fluids to soak in, but if you can wipe it up quickly, it should stay in decent shape for a while.”

  I’d thanked her, and she just gave me a sad smile. “Just survive,” she said.

  Scott had proven to be more willing to listen than I’d believed he could be. He didn’t give a great first impression, but he listened to the other people in his group. Apparently, he’d decided they were right. Turning in a child—me, in this case—would only make them feel guilty. The general consensus was that they would direct us around their protected area and allow us on our way.

  Of course, by the time all was said and done, we’d only have a couple hours of daylight left. “We should move,” I told the others.

  Despite their outwardly relaxed appearance, my companions practically leapt to their feet to follow me out. Not as comfortable with our new acquaintances as they led them to believe.

  “You good?” I asked Jake softly as we made our way out.

  He shrugged and eyed one of the men in the new group warily. I felt eyes on us, but expected the other people were simply still curious about us.

  “I just… I get a creepy feeling from some of them. I’m not sure they all agree with the decision to let us pass. We should be cautious.”

  I nodded with a smile. “Always.”

  We walked out without challenge and were able to get to the truck. Scout and I were the last to climb in, but we heard a yell and paused.

  One man, the one Jake had eyed on the way out, stepped out with a gun. “You can’t leave! You’re the reason my family is dead!”

  I ducked from the sudden gunfire. Scout fired back, splintering the doorframe next to the man and making him flinch away.

  “Enough!” Scott yelled. He pulled the other man into the house. “Go! We’ll deal with him.”

  Scout and I climbed into the bed of the truck. Jake backed the truck away to follow the new route.

  Thankfully, no others tried to stop us, and we were once again able to make our way toward our goal. I huffed as I settled against the side of the truck.

  “Everything okay, Zero?” Scout asked.

  I didn’t meet his eyes when I replied. “I just… I keep wondering if I might be better off letting myself get caught. Maybe they really do want to use me to help find a cure.”

  Scout gave a soft smile that seemed out of place on a man of his size. “You are a brave kid, Z. I know you’d be willing to suffer if it meant helping others. What I also know is that anyone who made a thirteen-year-old the carrier of this disease is not out to help anyone.”

  “Yeah,” I said with a slow nod. “You’re probably right.”

  If only I could make myself fully believe the idea was a bad one. After all, having the guards arrest Jake had helped in the rescue of Rex. We theoretically could use my capture to get me in the right place. Whatever facility they used to make me a carrier to begin with, or any new place they may have set up.

  Some of my skills would be useful. I doubted the people behind all of this would suspect a kid my age would be able to escape. They wouldn’t know I could pick locks, or use so many weapons. Chances were, they wouldn’t even be fully aware of how connected to the horde I’d become. I might even be able to get the creatures to turn on their creators.

  Another huff escaped. All of this was completely theoretical. There was no way for me to know what they knew. I couldn’t even remember what had happened to me.

  It would be too much of a risk. If I left my friends and allowed myself to be captured… It could easily backfire. Probably better to stick with the group and find a better plan later.

  As we drove, Scout and I kept our eyes wide open. One of Scott’s people had gone rogue. There was no guarantee others wouldn’t follow. Even if we trusted that people would agree a kid my age couldn’t possibly be the cause of the outbreak, there were some who would turn me in for the reward. Others wouldn’t care who we were. They would simply see us as a threat.

  I rested one hand on my sword, and tapped at my leg. The constant feeling of creatures was starting to put me on edge. As we drove past what used to be a large supermarket, I sent a couple crossbow bolts at some creatures who started to show interest in our passing. They howled, and I pushed my mind toward them, trying to shove them away.

  Several others lurched across the street, blocking our way. “Well, that backfired,” I muttered when I peered through the windows to the front of the truck. I stood, swaying a bit with the motion of the vehicle. “Give me your gun,” I ordered Scout.

  He hesitated, but I waved my hand toward him impatiently. “Give it!”

  I felt the cool metal of the gun in my hand, and fired at the creatures blocking our path. Scout stood, using one of the crossbows, and helped clear the way.

  A hand suddenly grabbed my leg. I could feel the coldness through my jeans. Kicking out, I yelled, “Jake! Get us out of here!”

  The enemy was swarming the truck. Those in front had distracted us long enough for more to surround us. I braced myself against the truck, and fired until the gun was out of bullets. The gun dropped to the truck bed with a clatter. My hand found the hilt of my sword, and I swung it out of its sheath and up through one of the creatures that was climbing into the bed of the truck.

  We were moving now, but several creatures were hanging onto the truck. They pulled themselves up. My nose wrinkled at the putrid stench of rotten flesh. No matter how many times we fought them, I couldn’t get used to the smell. Or the sight of what used to be healthy, normal human beings. If I ever became desensitized to it, I would probably become the problem the guards believed me to be.

  Rex stretched to look out the window from his seat in the truck. “Might wanna scream, Z! They aren’t quitting.”

  As another cold hand grasped my arm, I was forced to agree. Once again, I allowed all my emotions to rise up. My fear, guilt, and rage rose up until it overflowed. Only when I could no longer hold back, did I take a deep breath and scream!

  The results were instantaneous. All of the enemy surrounding us let go of the truck and ran away. I sank down until I was resting with my head between my knees.

  A sudden thought struck me. “Scout!” My head shot up and I looked toward my companion. “Are you okay? They didn’t…?”

  “It’s okay. They grabbed at me, but didn’t go through my uniform. You, on the other hand, are bleeding,” he answered, gesturing toward my calf where the creatures had managed to claw through my jeans. Scout’s face had paled.

  “No problem. Remember, I’m immune. They can’t turn me,” I assured him.

  I was certain he had known about my immunity. In the heat of battle, it was easy to worry about allies. And forget little facts like the child fighting with you couldn’t become one of the enemy. All she could do was create more of them.

/>   Not that I liked reminding people. He was aware of it. As were my other allies. Letting them know the risk, and doing my best to minimize it, was all I could do.

  “Roll up your pant leg,” Scout commanded. “I’ll get it cleaned out and bandaged. You may not be able to turn, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a nasty infection if it’s left untreated.”

  We were once again traveling at a decent clip, so let my guard down to allow him to help. I took a rag to clean my sword, and rolled up my pant leg. “Knock yourself out.”

  Scout prepared the medical supplies as I settled in to wipe down the sword. Even with my planned distraction, I clenched my teeth and hissed at the burning pain when Scout poured disinfectant on the scratches. It took everything in me to not kick out at him as he cleaned the wound.

  Once he was satisfied, he smeared some antibiotic cream over it and wrapped it with a non-stick bandage and some sort of wrap that stuck to itself.

  “That should do,” he said, looking up at me. “The sword seems like it could use sharpening.”

  A quick feel of the edge told me he was correct. “Yeah. I’ll sharpen it once we stop for the night.”

  He nodded in approval. As a fellow warrior, he would approve of someone properly caring for their weapons.

  “Your gun will need cleaning too, by the way,” I said with a grimace.

  The gun was currently resting in a puddle of blood. It didn’t smell too good, either. I grabbed another rag to wipe off my new jacket, thankful that the smooth material allowed it to wipe off without a problem. The jeans were another story. Now they matched the rest of my clothes: torn and bloody. Not exactly a fashion statement, but definitely more common for me.

  The blood would come out. Eventually. Most of it anyway. And there wasn’t as much on them as there could have been. Unlike the outfit from earlier today, which had to be thrown away after our fight.

  “You good, Z?” Rex called through the open window.

  I nodded. “Yeah. It was just a scratch. Scout’s good too.”

  He let out a gentle breath, and relaxed slightly. “Good. Kate said we may need to skirt around another zone. This one appears to wrap around another so-called ‘safe’ zone. But we should be able to stay in this zone while passing the other.”

  “Good. I’d rather not run into more guards until we absolutely have to.” I shivered a bit at the thought.

  Shanti nodded agreement. “No kidding. It’s definitely good to stay out of sight until we can’t anymore. And I’m glad you two are okay. Do you want to swap out?”

  The sun was low in the sky, so I figured we would be stopping soon. “How are we on gas?” I asked. “Do we need more?”

  “We’re good for a bit yet. Scott had someone siphon some for us while we ate. I think we’ve got about another hour or so of travel before the sun sets. A bit more before full dark,” Kate answered from the front.

  “We’ll be fine back here until then,” I said. Scout nodded agreement as I spoke. “Thanks for the offer, Shanti.”

  She smiled and pushed a small chunk of black hair back behind her ear. “No problem.”

  I returned her smile, and turned my attention back to the passing scenery. We had left the smaller city behind us, and were now travelling through deserted farmland.

  Watching the trees and occasional farmhouse pass by was a welcome reprieve after the eventful day. Scout seemed thankful as well. He’d sighed, and leaned against the back of the truck. He looked about as relaxed as I’d ever seen him.

  The rest of our drive passed in a similar fashion. Instead of risking being caught having to search a house in the dark, we stopped just before sunset at a small farmhouse. This one seemed fully deserted. No sign of living animals, and everything inside was dust covered. Only the stench of rotting food greeted us when we opened the refrigerator.

  We did, however, find some more preserved goods. One nice part of country living, apparently. Canning your own food seemed to be the norm. We made a meal out of the canned fruit we found, along with some sort of jerky that was also stored in the pantry.

  After poring over whatever maps we could find, we made our tentative travel plan for the next day. My hometown was still quite a distance away, and we couldn’t count on having enough gas in the truck to get us all the way. We were all capable of walking, but it would slow things down quite a bit.

  I settled onto the dusty couch with a sigh. My concerns would still be there in the morning.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  We got moving early the next day. Our drive was quiet, and I took the seat behind the driver’s seat this time. Jake and Rex were in the back, while Kate drove. Shanti rode next to me. As in the last couple days, she remained quiet.

  Throughout the day, I kept glancing at her. Her insistence to come with us had been strange. She still hadn’t shared anything more than that she felt like she needed to, to come. Something told me her reason would become clear with time.

  About three hours into our drive, the truck started to sputter. Kate swore softly, and pulled to the side. “That’s all she wrote, guys,” she told us. “We’re out of gas.”

  We all climbed out, stretching from being in the slightly cramped space of the truck. “Well, it saved us at least a day and a half of walking,” Rex said. “Totally worth it.”

  Shanti nodded. “Definitely. Who knows? We may find another vehicle somewhere along the way.”

  I swung my backpack over my shoulders. “Possibly. But don’t get your hopes up. Walking it is, kids.” I shifted my gaze to the three adults. “And adults. Do we have everything?”

  “I think we’re good,” Jake acknowledged after checking the truck.

  When we’d been walking with our original group, we’d averaged about twenty miles in a day. Not great, but it was hard to keep a group of twelve kids and a Jake all together. Especially through rougher terrain. On the roads we were currently following, I hoped we could get closer to thirty.

  All our stuff gathered, we started walking. After being stuck in a vehicle for a while, it actually felt pretty good to get out and walk. The air was warm, so I was comfortable wearing a tank top with a pair of jeans. Jake, Shanti, and Rex wore jeans and T-shirts. Our ex-guard friends wore their uniform pants, and the dark, long-sleeved shirts normally worn under black jackets were rolled up past their elbows. Kate had her long brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail. Her cat-like green eyes were currently covered by a pair of sunglasses.

  Scout had a matching pair of sunglasses. And I was officially bored with this walk. Already. Why else would I be focusing on my companions wardrobes? Not the best thought topic. Although, I supposed it beat dwelling on the fact that we were going to be heading into one of the most dangerous areas of the country. And facing the people who had turned me into a walking, talking, biological weapon.

  Just like that, my thoughts turned from the light, brainless facts to worries for my friends. The enigmatic ‘they’ wanted me. And they’d already proven they were willing to go through my friends to get to me. Mike was clearly terrified of the guards. Even worse, after his run-in with the guards, Rex had seemed afraid too.

  I dropped back from the group, covering them from behind as was my habit. Rex slowed with me. Over the last couple days, he had aborted several attempts to talk to me. Maybe now that we were out of the confines of the truck, he’d open up.

  We walked in silence for several minutes. The others glanced back occasionally, checking to make sure we were still okay. I smiled at the thought. It was nice having people who cared.

  Rex finally cleared his throat. “Z?”

  I glanced toward him. “Yeah?”

  He paused. Apparently still worried about sharing whatever he’d been wanting to share for the last couple days.

  “Rex, you can tell me anything. Please just talk to me,” I urged.

  His hesitance was not normal. He rubbed a hand through his shaggy brown hair and looked at me. “I know, Z, but this… I don’t know.”

>   “Just tell me. It’s obviously important, so share the load. It’s what I’m here for.”

  He took a breath. “Right. Okay. So… I was in jail. Basically. They had knocked me out, but I regained consciousness at the jail when they separated me and Prati. I tried to fight, but they got me into the cell. I let them think I was out again. I overheard the guards talking.”

  My anger rose at the thought of full grown men brutally attacking a teenager. What gave them the right? “What did they say?” I asked through clenched teeth.

  “They wanted me as bait. For you. They know you’re with us, and they know you wouldn’t leave us behind. But they also said that by catching you, they would be able to take control of the horde. That the ‘others’ would work with you, and they could finally utilize the creatures as weapons.”

  “Others? The other experiments that Scout mentioned? Does that mean…?”

  Rex shook his head. “I’m not sure. But it sounds like they have control of at least some of the other people like you.”

  We walked in silence for a few minutes, allowing the information to sink in. “Do we have any idea how many other… test subjects there are?”

  “Not sure, exactly. I did see several wanted posters. Yours has an older picture. Your hair was much shorter, but it’s still recognizably you. A few of them didn’t have pictures. Just names and general physical descriptions.”

  They already had some of the other test subjects. If we did manage to find the base for the villains of this story, somehow we had to save the prisoners.

  As if reading my mind, Rex shook his head. “They’ll be guarded. It may not be plausible to try to save them. I think… I know I can’t talk you out of it, but I think the best thing to do is keep you out of their hands. We can’t let them gain control of the creatures.”

  The familiar tingle started up again, and I noticed we were nearly to a small town. “Guys!” I called just loudly enough for everyone to hear me. “Slow down, and keep sharp. We’re not alone anymore.”