Dark Days (Book 1): Contagion

by Dyer, Marcy G.

  "Randi, please go. I can't hold them off much longer."

  "We'll fight them together."

  He shook his head. "Then we'll both die. Someone locked a herd of infected in here."

  Randi's hand flew to her throat. She swallowed the pain that threatened to send her into despair. "Maybe—"

  "There's no other way." He blinked. "You've got to get out of here. Tell Adriana and the children I love them."

  "I'm not leaving you."

  "You're not a Marine anymore, sis. It's time to leave a man behind."

  "Once a Marine always a Marine." She searched the store for a way to block the freezer. A large slicer stood on a stand. It had to be heavy. They needed a good head start. She grabbed the stand and tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge.

  "Randi, get out while I can still hold them back."

  "No. Period."

  "But—"

  "Stop. We're getting out of this together. Now, shut up so I can think." She closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Wait. You said the freezer was locked. Why can't we relock it?”

  "The pin that held it in place rolled under either the smoker or the ice machine. They're too heavy for you to move. You've got to go."

  "Cállate. Give me a chance." Randi laid on the floor and peered under the smoker. Nothing. She scooted to the ice machine. The pin was at the back. "I see it. Hang on. I'll find something to sweep it out with."

  "Girly, I can't hold the door shut much longer." Beads of perspiration shone on Leon's face. "Get out of here while you can."

  Sweat crawled down Randi's back. She had to get the locking pin. They were walking out together or dying together.

  She found a broom closet, grabbed a musty mop, and ran back to the ice machine. On her stomach again, she jammed the mop under the machine and fished for the locking pin. She missed the pin for the second time. Randi hissed a few choice words. She had to try something else. A tape dispenser sat on the service counter. She grabbed it and wound tape backwards on the mop handle so the sticky side faced outward. Heaving a big breath, she shoved the handle under the ice machine and snagged the pin. "Got it!"

  Once they had the freezer contained, they walked toward the truck. Leon laughed. "Girly, I'm mad at you and thankful for you all at the same time. You should've left. We both came close to meeting our Maker back there."

  Shots rang out, and a searing pain sliced through Randi's arm. She crouched down and grabbed her upper arm to stem the flow of blood.

  Where was her brother-in-law? "Leon? Are you okay?"

  Nothing. She swiped her bloody hands across her jeans, adjusted her grip on her weapon, and inched her way around the back of the truck. Leon lay on the macadam in a large pool of blood while more poured from his chest. "No!" She pressed her hand against the wound and felt for a pulse in his neck. None. He wasn't breathing.

  Grief and anger warred with one another for her heart as more shots rang out peppering the truck with holes. Her insides twisted into a knot as she grabbed Leon's shoulders and tugged him toward the open door. No way could she leave his body in this godforsaken parking lot. Another projectile slammed into her leg dropping her to the ground. She opened the passenger door, pulled herself into the truck, and grabbed Leon under the shoulders.

  The sniper took another shot and pierced her windshield on the passenger side. Leon's body was half in and half out. She gave another tug and dragged him in far enough so he wouldn't fall out. She tore out of the parking lot, drove a few blocks, and stopped to pull Leon's body in the rest of the way. Randi slammed the door. She started out again, but was afraid to go straight to the compound. What if the shooter followed her?

  Pain throbbed through her arm and leg. She probed the thigh wound. No bones. Just tissue. Probably muscle. The shot had grazed her upper arm. It hurt but no worries unless infection set in. The leg would need sutures.

  One look to her right and her heart started palpitating. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't breathe. Sweat poured off her body, and she shook uncontrollably. The scar running across her side began to throb. The edges of the road became fuzzy, and her vision tunneled. "Breathe." She jerked the wheel to the edge of the road and slammed the gearshift into park as she went back to the foxhole in the Middle East.

  Unwashed body odor, gunpowder scent, and the skunky stench of burning, rotting bodies combined to assault her nose. Mortars whistled, grenades exploded, and tanks roared as they rolled by. A couple of planes rumbled overhead and bullets whizzed through the air.

  She aimed and fired as another bullet slammed into Aaron. His body went limp, and his eyes lost focus. Randi pulled him into her arms as her sweat mingled with fresh tears. "No! Don't you leave me, soldier." Not Aaron. She cursed God. Why would He allow Aaron to die? "You should've taken me. Not him."

  A shell fragment flew into her side and ripped across her back.

  Bright sunlight pierced her eyes as the flashback lifted and the world around her came into view. Throbbing in her thigh and arm brought her back to reality. She looked over at Leon. "God, once again You got it wrong. You took the good one."

  She drove back to the bunker focusing on the road in front of her. If she so much as glanced to her side, she would see Leon. Sweet Leon. Now she had to tell her family. The truck grew hot or maybe it was her. She hit the AC and turned it on high. Her legs and arms tingled, and she couldn't be still in her seat.

  At the bunker, Miguel met her in the dead space between the fences.

  "What happened to Leon?" He stared at her. "And you? Why are you covered in blood?"

  Randi shook her head and refused to meet Miguel's gaze. She didn't trust her voice, yet. She replayed the entire scene. Leon's limp body. "I...I...I couldn't..."

  "What do you mean?"

  She shook her head again and began unloading the truck. As she picked up the box of seeds, Miguel grabbed her uninjured arm. "Randi, what happened to Leon?"

  "He didn't make it." She blinked back tears as her voice cracked. "At the grocery store. Shooters." Randi gulped in air to keep from screaming. "They got him in the heart."

  "So you let him die?" Adriana screamed from the other side of the fence. "You murdered my husband."

  "No. He was dead—"

  "Killer." Her sister began wailing and drew the attention of everyone in the compound.

  Randi looked at Miguel. "Do you have any sedatives? If she continues to scream like that, she's going to draw the infected."

  "She just lost her husband. Are you that heartless?"

  "No." She gritted her teeth. "I'm a realist. Do you want to risk killing everyone in the place?"

  "I don't have anything for her, but I do have antibiotics for you, and I need to take a look at those wounds."

  "Not now." Randi grabbed another box and limped inside. "I've got supplies to unload, and Leon's body to bury."

  "Now." Miguel grabbed her uninjured arm. "If you get an infection, you'll die, and if you haven't figured it out yet, we need you. So I'm not going to lose you because you have an overinflated sense of guilt about Leon."

  "Fine. We need to hurry this along."

  "You're always in a rush." He pointed to a lawn chair. "Sit. After I take care of your wounds, I'll bury Leon."

  Randi flopped into the chair and glared at her brother. She needed to get back to the hospital she saw in Uvalde. If she didn't get something for her sister, she would draw infected and opportunists alike.

  Miguel inspected her arm. "A flesh wound. You're going to have an ugly scar, but I'll stitch it up and it should be fine."

  "I don't give a rip about a scar." She had several others from gunfire. What was one more?

  "Sorry, but I don't have any lidocaine. This is going to hurt."

  "I don't care. Let's get this over with."

  She grimaced while he put a few stitches in her arm, but when he probed the wound in her leg, she bit back a scream.

  "Sorry, but I have to see if the bullet is still in there." He stuck his gloved finger deep
into the wound and manipulated it.

  "This one went a little deeper, but it went all the way through. It missed bone and most of the blood vessels. If we can prevent an infection, it should heal okay. However, there is a little muscle damage."

  "It is what it is."

  As soon as Miguel finished, Randi found a sheet, limped back to the truck, and wrapped Leon's body in it. She and Miguel loaded him onto a trailer hooked to a four-wheeler.

  "You go rest. I'll take care of burying Leon."

  Randi nodded, waited until Miguel was out of sight, and climbed into the truck. If she could get in and out of the hospital, maybe she could find medicines including something to calm Adriana. In addition to some steroids. This kind of stress might throw Adriana into a severe Lupus flare fast.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Reginald jogged around the neighborhood until he found their car. He slipped up to the vehicle and dumped all of the medicine in the back end except for a bottle of pain pills, the casting material, and one bottle of antibiotics. The chilly air had a clean scent. Like it might rain or even snow later. A dog barked, but otherwise the area remained silent. Eerily silent. He walked into the small diner as the sun peeked over the horizon. No one stirred in the main area. Several people used the booths as makeshift beds. He made his way to the kitchen where he found Mary Anne, lips tight and white, face drawn, sitting in a chair. "I found it, honey. Here's a pain pill." He kissed her on the forehead, and she turned away. "Did the doctor get it realigned?"

  Mary Anne nodded. "As best he could. He thinks I'll have a bit of a deformity since it should've been surgically repaired, but he's hopeful I won't lose the arm."

  Lose the arm? Reginald gulped. "What do we watch for?"

  Dr. Voss wrapped Mary Anne's arm and began to put the cast on. "You'll need to check her fingers. If they turn blue or get very cold, you'll need to break the cast off."

  "Basic circulation checks?"

  "Yep."

  "I can do that." Dark circles hung beneath Mary Anne's eyes, and her face had grown even paler. She gripped the edge of the chair with her good hand. "Can she take more of the pain medication?"

  "Not yet. We need to get food into her before she takes another one." Dr. Voss smiled. "Won't do her any good to take it if she can't keep it down."

  Reginald wanted to get on the road, but his wife's exhausted, drawn face told him they had to rest. At least for a while. When Dr. Voss finished the casting, he gave Mary Anne some soup and a cup of water. "You'll need to eat that before you take another pill."

  Reginald kissed her on the cheek. "Would you like to lie down in one of the booths?"

  Mary Anne nodded, so Reginald helped her to the booth. She stretched out while he found a blanket and a pillow for her. "Are you comfortable?"

  "I'm fine. Please leave me alone for a while."

  He found David and Belle curled up in a corner booth with seats that curved around the table and draped blankets over them. A little rest didn't sound bad. He stretched out on the booth across from Mary Anne.

  The next thing he knew David was touching his shoulder. "Dad, wake up."

  "What's wrong?" Reginald swung his feet to the floor and tried to figure out how long he'd slept.

  "We need to get out of here."

  "Why?"

  David shifted from one foot to the other. "I dunno. Something's not right with these people."

  Reginald rubbed his eyes. "What are you talking about, son?"

  "I was talking to Emma, one of the teens. She said we need to leave before sunset, or we might not make it."

  "Did she say why?" He had trouble following David's line of thought. These people had helped them, why would they want to hurt them, now?

  David shrugged. "She refused tell me anything except our lives are in danger if we don't move it."

  "Okay." Reginald stood. "Let me talk to Dr. Voss and see what's going on."

  "I don't trust him."

  He squeezed his son's shoulder. "He fixed your mom's arm. Who else are we going to trust?"

  "I'm coming with you."

  Reginald put his hand to his waistband to feel for the weapon. If these people had plans to hurt them, why did they give him a gun and ammo?

  They found the older man sitting in the back room in a lawn chair with his eyes closed. "Dr. Voss?"

  "Yes?" The older man smiled crinkling the corners of his eyes. The scent of mint and pipe tobacco clung to him. He was more like a grandpa than someone to fear.

  "May I talk to you?"

  "Sure. What's on your mind?"

  Reginald sat across from the dentist. "Someone told my son we are in danger."

  Something flickered behind the old man's eyes before he could slide his mask into place. "What?"

  "I was hoping you could clarify." Reginald raised an eyebrow. "Do I need to take my family and leave? Or can Mary Anne get the rest she so desperately needs?"

  Dr. Voss took a deep breath, leaned forward, and pinned Reginald with a stare. "Don't wait." His voice was a mere whisper.

  "What's going on here?"

  "If you stay, they'll feed you to the zombies." The man darted a glance around the room. "They think the infected will leave us alone as long as they feed them any strangers who stop here."

  "They didn't last night, or Mary Anne would've mentioned it."

  Dr. Voss leaned closer to Reginald. "Adell was afraid to do anything while you were out hunting supplies. After all, you had a gun with you. What would've happened if you'd come back to find your family ripped to shreds?"

  Dr. Voss had a point. "What about you?" Panic laced Reginald's words. "Will they harm you?"

  "No. I take care of them when they're sick or injured." He motioned toward the door. "You need to leave."

  "Come with us." David nodded toward the door.

  "I can't." Dr. Voss shook his head. "If I try to go with you, they'll kill us all."

  "We'll sneak out." David leaned forward. "Dad, we can't leave him here."

  "I agree, Dr. Voss. We'll take you to safety." Reginald stood. "David, get Belle and your mom outside. Try to do it without attracting attention. Once they're safe, start the car. Dr. Voss and I'll be right out. If anything happens, you leave."

  David slipped the keys out of his dad's hand, and walked to his mom.

  "You don't want to do this," Dr. Voss whispered. "They'll catch us."

  Reginald leaned close to the older man. "No, they won't." One way or another, he would get the man who helped his family to safety. He didn't care if the people in this diner didn't like it.

  Mary Anne and the children had disappeared outside. Reginald slipped an arm around Dr. Voss's shoulder. "How about going for a walk with me? I'm getting a little touch of cabin fever."

  Fear shone in Dr. Voss's eyes, but he nodded. "I can show you the areas to avoid as long as you're in our fair town."

  A woman glared at them. "Dr. Voss, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go wandering around."

  "No worries, Adell. I'll return soon." They strolled toward the door.

  Reginald forced the muscles in his face to relax and smiled in spite of the sweat running down his arms. "Yep. I need some fresh air. We'll be back in five to ten minutes." Adell continued to eye them as they walked out of the diner. Reginald held his breath until they were in the car.

  "Drive, David. Get us out of here. Now!"

  ******

  Randi pulled into the hospital parking lot. Cars sat abandoned on the blacktop. How many of the owners had become infected and were waiting inside to grab her? She sucked in a deep breath and pushed forward. The front doors slid open without making a sound. The rotting, sickly sweet odor of death assailed her nostrils. Her hiking boots didn't make a sound as she traversed the marble floor. The lobby contained one putrefied dead body, but no others. She went to the elevators and found the hospital directory on the wall directly across. It showed the pharmacy on the third floor.

  She willed her feet to move past the elevator
s. The risk was too great, so she continued to the stairwell and eased open the door with her left hand while keeping the gun in her right hand trained on the doorway. Empty.

  Her injured leg slowed her a little, but she flew up the stairs as fast as she could, and stopped just before each landing. She came to the third floor, opened it a crack and peeked in. No one around, but the odor of decomposition also filled the doorway on this floor. Would she ever get used to the stench of death?

  The pharmacy sat at the end of the hallway. She passed a couple of dead people and a door marked "lab" as she limped toward it. The wood floors still shone like they'd been polished.

  Randi tugged on the door but it refused to budge. She looked at the door. An electronic lock. How would she get medicines if she couldn't open it? She went back to the first dead body, snatched the key card off the dead man's lab jacket, and returned to the door. When she swiped it, nothing happened. She swiped it in front of the reader, again. Nothing.

  Maybe the other person's would work. Randi limped to her, grabbed her card, and headed back to the pharmacy. The first swipe didn't work, but the second one opened the door. A large, rolling cart sat to the left of the door. She pushed it through the room and grabbed IVs, IV supplies, pain medications, antibiotics, sedatives, and all of the steroids she could find. Maybe they could keep Adriana's disease in control with them.

  Why hadn't she thought to ask Miguel what kind of medicines she needed? Too late now. Cell phones weren't working, so she had no way to reach him. She plowed through the pharmacy taking anything that looked useful. When she reached the back of the room, a woman called out to her. Chills crab-walked up her spine. How had she missed someone in the room? This kind of carelessness would get her killed. Her hands shook as she walked to her.

  The woman sat with her back against the wall. Her macerated, bloody lower leg stretched out in front of her.

  "What happened?"

  "I got bit." The woman stared at Randi. "You need to get outa here, honey. It's not safe. Get as far away from this hospital as you can."

  "How can I help you?"

  "You got anything in there for pain?"

  Randi nodded and started to hand the woman a bottle of pain pills.