by D. K Lake
I turned around to talk to Lane and bumped into him.
“Josh is coming too?” I said.
Lane nodded. “And me.” Luke said, grabbing a handful of chips from Dudley.
“And don't get any ideas about trying to off yourself. Danny and Ryan have been ordered not to give you any weapons and Josh has got your gun.” Luke said before strolling out of the room.
I left the room, pulling away from Lane's hand as he tried to reach for me. I found Luke waiting outside the room, leaning against the wall with his feet crossed. I walked back to my cell, halfway there I realized Luke was following me. I climbed up the stairs, straightaway noticing my legs ached with each step I took.
I walked into my cell and stopped in my tracks when I saw Stacey sitting on the top bunk hugging her knees. She froze when she saw me too.
I checked she wasn't holding a gun before I walked in any further, she wasn't, all she had was a tissue scrunched up in one hand. I didn't even know what I was doing in our cell, I didn't really need anything, I think I just wanted to hide, but no chance with Stacey up there and Luke outside the door.
“Do you hate me?” Stacey asked, it came out muffled because she was hiding her face behind her knees.
I leaned against the desk and let out a deep breath.
“Well, you did try to shoot me.”
I saw her tense. Was Stacey afraid of me? I didn't see myself as a scary person, maybe a little bitchy sometimes when I was pissed, maybe a little harsh, maybe a little hard and emotionless at times... Damn, I was a cold heartless bitch.
I straightened up and looked up at her. “But I don't hold it against you, I would have done the same.”
She nodded, chewing on her lip.
“I'm sorry.” she said.
“It's okay.”
She continued to stare at me.
“What?”
“I don't get it, the last person we had inside the prison that was infected, Josh and Luke took them out back and shot them, they didn't get a shower and clean clothes.”
“Stacey, if it was up to me I would put a bullet in my head right now, but I've had my gun confiscated and apparently Danny and Ryan are guarding the weapons room. Oh, and Luke's just outside the cell making sure I don't do anything stupid.”
Luke stuck his head around the door. “Someone say my name?” Luke said.
“Josh got you babysitting me?”
“He doesn't want you doing anything... you know.”
“Like what? I don't have a weapon, not unless you include this pencil.” I said, picking it up from the small table.
“Hmm.. I think I'll have that.” Luke said, snatching it away.
“I was kidding. It's a pencil!”
“Yeah, but you could jab it in your eye and through to your brain or somethin'.”
“Ew!” Stacey said in disgust.
Luke shrugged and slid the pencil into his pocket.
“So what, you're my bodyguard now?”
“Sure am.” He looked me up and down. “You don't have any concealed weapons, do you?”
“No, I don't, before you get any ideas about groping me.”
He grinned. Luke was like that, making light of the situation. Now he was over the initial shock of me being infected he was back to talking dirty and teasing me.
I sat on the bottom bunk and noticed my bite mark was starting to itch. I lifted the hem of my sweatshirt and tried to see the bite, but it was too dark and I couldn't. So I stood up under the light and had another look. Luke edged nearer for a closer look and Stacey crawled across the bed and leaned over to be nosy. The bite mark had started to crust in places, I was surprised, I'd only just got out of the shower and I had made sure I scrubbed the thing over and over, trying to scrub it away. In other places, the little teeth indents oozed blood and pus.
“I think that needs to be kept covered to keep any infection out, it looks nasty.” Luke said.
“It's already infected.” I replied, carefully lowering my sweatshirt over it.
“C'mon, I'll take you down to medical.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Nope.”
“So just 'cause I'm infected I have no rights now?”
“Hey, I'm only looking out for you, and because Josh told me to take extra special care of you.”
I left Stacey in our cell and walked back down to the medical room. It was a small room with an examination bench, a trolley full of supplies and a sink, and in the corner, there was a small desk which still had paperwork on, left behind from before. Down the corridor, there was even a small hospital wing with beds.
A girl called, Dion, was sat on a swivel stool reading a novel.
Dion was a Nurse in her previous life, and was on hand for any cuts, scrapes, grazes, or stomach bugs going around. She was mid-thirties, with short blond hair that she had tied back into a small bun.
“Hey, D,” Luke greeted her.
She swiveled around and gave him a full smile. He had that effect on girls. I could see why, he was tall, toned, sandy blond hair which fell to his shoulders, black ink tattoos that crept up one arm in intricate spirals, and big blue eyes that looked like whirlpools.
“Hi, Luke, and Alex, what can I do for you guys?”
We both looked at each other. She obviously hadn't heard the news yet.
“Alex has a thing on her...” He pointed at my midsection.
“A thing?” she queried.
“I was bitten.” I blurted.
O she mouthed, before hopping up to get a pair of gloves from a box. She pulled them on and motioned for me to get on the bed.
“When did it happen?” she asked, as I laid down on the long bed and turned onto my side so she could get a better look.
“Last night, around two-ish... I think, it all happened so quick. I didn't know I had been bitten until this morning when it started to itch.”
“The itching is only the start of it.” she said, examining the bite mark.
“He got you good, the sucker drew blood, I'm surprised you didn't realize when it happened.”
“Well, when it happened I was crawling through glass trying to get away. The pain obviously didn't register.”
“Crawling through glass?” she said, placing a hand on her hip.
“My arms got a little scratched up, that's all.”
She shook her head and went over to the side cabinet near the sink.
“Take it off.” she said, looking over her shoulder at my sweatshirt.
I sat up with a grunt and crossed my arms over myself about to lift my sweatshirt when I realized I had nothing on underneath and Luke was standing a few feet away.
He crossed his arms. “I'm not going anywhere.” he said.
“You could at least turn around.”
“And risk you stabbing yourself, or impaling yourself when my back is turned. Josh would have my balls.”
“Pervert!” I muttered and we started bickering like kids.
“Enough!” Dion said, raising her voice. “Come on, off with it.” Dion said, placing a small bowl of warm water, an empty bowl, and gauze on the trolley next to me. “Luke, fetch that pot of antiseptic cream and the tweezers from that box, we might need them.”
Great, I was going to be tweezered again. The last time anyone came near me with tweezers it was Tammy, and it took all of Lane to hold me down. I guess Luke and I were about to get close and personal. I lifted my sweatshirt up and placed it on the bed next to me. I sat naked from the waist up. My modesty was no longer a concern to anyone... and the room was cold... much to Luke's amusement.
He gave me a cheeky smirk before going to get the items Dion had asked for.
“Jeez, you weren't kidding, crawling? More like swimming.” Dion said, pulling the stool over and sitting in front of me, examining the cuts.
Luke came back over with the things Dion wanted but this time, he didn't bat an eyelid which made this process mildly better. I think Lane would have said something if he had be
en here. Dion examined my right arm, and started cleaning it and searching for glass. Then she reached for the tweezers and I instinctively hugged my arm to my chest, not liking this idea one little bit.
“Alex, you have a piece of glass in your arm, it needs to come out.”
I glanced at Luke, he was probably thinking the same thing I was. I knew I needed to be restrained and so did he. He jumped up onto the bed beside me and grabbed my wrist and held it down, then he hooked his other arm around my shoulders and over my collarbone, holding me against his chest. And then Dion got to work on my arm while I grunted and cursed.
Seven pieces of glass later, a layer of antiseptic cream, and two hands and arms wrapped up to the elbows in gauze, Josh walked in unannounced. I quickly covered my chest with my hands, trying to sit still while Dion placed a gauze dressing over the bite mark. Josh frowned at me and looked at Luke, who was finding the whole situation hilarious. Josh crossed the room, picked up my sweatshirt and held it to my chest without getting in Dion's way.
“What are you doing in here? Have you come to your senses about this trip to Colorado?” I asked.
“That's why I'm here, we're having a meeting. I thought you'd like to be there for it. Is she good to go?” Josh asked Dion.
“Yes, I'm all done with her. All patched up. Oh, wait a sec,”
I quickly pulled my sweatshirt over my head, while she went over to a cabinet and grabbed a small tub, and handed it to me.
“Painkillers, you're gonna need them for the aches, pains, and headaches.”
“Great!” I grumbled, sliding off the bed, and coming within inches of Josh, he even felt the need to steady me even though I wasn't swaying anywhere. I pushed past him and made my way down the corridor with Josh and Luke following me closely behind.
I walked into the room I assumed they would be meeting in, the staff room, with couches and tables, and a kitchen. Lane was leaning against the kitchen counter, numerous people had turned up for this so-called meeting. Even Lena, the girl that had found me in the changing room, was stood by the couch with three other boys. I took a moment to look at each of them. The one she had called, Dan, had his hands stuffed in his pockets standing to the side of another boy who was sat on the couch absently stroking Lena's leg as she stood next to him, I assumed he was her boyfriend, I think Dion had said his name was Evan, she was on constant talk-mode to distract me when she was tweezing the crap out of me. Evan's dark brown hair was cut short with a slight wave to it and curved up at the front, and he had an eyebrow piercing. Then there was the other boy, whose name I didn't know, he had streaky green hair which had been dyed but was now fading, and I spotted a lip piercing and ear tunnels. The four of them looked so regular, like they had just come back from college. Not like they had been outside fighting off zombies. Dudley had something spread out on a table, with Tammy close by his side. Even Stacey had wormed her way into the room. I wasn't surprised to see her, she hated to be left out, afraid she was going to miss out on something. I ignored her and walked over to the table where Dudley was to see what they were looking at. It was a map.
I stopped at the table and Josh came up flush against my back. I turned to look at him.
“Why are they in here?” I asked, referring to the newcomers standing around near the couch, Lena, Dan, Evan, and the other one I didn't know his name.
“They're coming as well.” Josh replied.
“What? Why?”
“Shh..” Josh said, moving me to the side so he could look at the map.
Dudley started talking about the terrain and the different routes to take, and Luke was making a list of supplies we would need to take.
“If we have transport we'd be there in no time, but on foot, my guess, a week and a half, two weeks, and that's if we have no problems. I mean, we could do it in less but we'd have to be up and ready to go by dawn or possibly carry on walking into the night, which is dangerous, and we'd be walking non-stop without enough rest... I don't think we'll make it if we cut corners. We need food and rest, or we'll be in no fit state to fight, we don't know what's in front of us.” Luke said, leaning on the table all superior-like.
“But we have the van, right?” Josh said.
“If we can get it running, and there's gas we can siphon from the other vehicles out front. That should take us some of the way.” Luke said.
Lane stood by my side with his arms crossed, deep in thought. I still couldn't believe we were really doing this.
“How long has she got?” Lane asked, like I was a packet of food with a best before date.
Charming! I thought. I'm just a piece of meat now.
“25-35 days max.” Luke answered.
“Wait, what about that, Lucy, girl, she turned at twelve days, do you remember?” Josh said to Luke.
“Shit! I forgot about her.” Luke replied.
Then they all went quiet for a few moments.
Twelve days!
“This is too risky, I can't put all of you in jeopardy like this. I could be a cannibal-hungry monster within the next week for all we know.” I said.
Josh waved me away as though I was an annoying fly, and everyone turned their attention back to the map. I stalked over to the couch and flopped onto it seeing as I wasn't needed anymore. Decisions were being made for me.
The boy with the green hair, whose name I didn't know, jumped over the back of the couch and landed next to me. I glanced sideways at him, he looked older than the other three he was here with, they all looked around my age, but this boy looked older, late twenties maybe, or possibly early thirties.
“Hey, you Alex?” he asked, his crystal blue eyes looking me up and down.
“Err.. yeah,” I replied, angling myself toward him.
“I'm Drew.”
I half smiled and nodded.
“So where is it?” He leaned closer to me.
“Where's what?”
“Your war wound.”
“It's here, but it's been covered over.” I said, lifting my sweatshirt to show him. Though I had no idea why I was flashing my midsection to him, it's not like I knew him.
He leaned even closer and I wasn't sure, but it looked like he was trying to sniff me.
What the...?
“Uh... what the hell are you doing?” I snapped.
“Well, you don't smell yet.” he said, and chuckled a little.
“Excuse me,”
“Their bites start to stink after a while, you'll soon smell like a shitty sewer.”
I frowned and tugged my sweatshirt back down.
Lena appeared behind the couch and smacked Drew on the back of the head.
“Stop being so gross.” she said, walking around the couch and collapsing in the armchair.
I leaned forward and rested my arms on my knees.
“So you four are coming too?” I asked unsure.
“We thought you guys could use the extra hands.” Lena replied.
“But you just got here, why would you risk it to go back outside?”
“Well, Colorado is sort of on the way. We only stopped here to rest up for a few days, we're all heading back to Louisiana.”
“Why Louisiana?”
“It's kinda home, well, for these guys anyway. I'm originally from Seattle.”
“So what are you doing all the way over here?”
“When the virus started to spread I was staying with my dad in Louisiana, my mom was still in Seattle with my auntie. The town I was in, Dodge Lake, they did really well in keeping the whole virus under control, and we were all safe there, but I was worried about my mom. Then when the TV broadcasting went down and we lost the phone lines I started to really worry about her. So after months of worrying myself sick, I finally decided to make the journey to see if I could find her. My mom was just an antiques dealer so I knew she wouldn't be in any safe house. After I said I was leaving Evan told me he was coming with me, I couldn't stop him, and then Dan decided to come too and Drew said he had nothing better to do.” she
paused, brushing her hands down her jeans.
“When we got there... there wasn't much left of anything. We bounced around for a bit, detouring all over the place. We weren't in any rush, I suppose we were hoping to find others like us, other survivors, then the weeks turned into months and, I dunno, we just lost track of time, and somewhere along the way we ended up finding this place. It's real nice, the setup you guys have here. So that's our story, we're just resting up and we're heading back anyway, so we might as well travel with you guys to Colorado, and then when we get there we'll just go on our way.”
“If you've been gone for so long won't your dad be worried?”
“Probably, but I'm in good hands.” she said, glancing over at Evan, I looked over my shoulder and saw him watching Lena from where he was standing.
Drew jumped up and walked around the coffee table and picked up a crossbow that was leaning against the wall.
“Is that yours?” I asked.
“Sure is.” he said, resting it on his shoulder.
“You any good with it?”
He hinted a smile. “Ask me again when I save your ass.” Then he walked over to Evan.
I looked at Lena and she smiled at me. They seemed like an all right bunch, if they had been traveling non-stop then they must be able to take care of themselves, which meant I wouldn't mind bringing them, and plus Lena had said it was on their way so it was no problem. I looked back at the table where most of the guys were standing around still chatting about the journey. Stacey stood to the side, looking like a scared little mouse, her eyes constantly flickering between Josh and Luke. Oh boy! She was fretting over their safety. She caught me watching her and quickly shuffled between Luke and Dudley.
I slipped out the room when no one was looking and wandered down the corridor and found the playroom. I peeked around the corner and saw Abby on the floor playing with Ozma. Abby saw me and smiled at me. It was a depressing smile, though. Like, 'I'm sorry you're dying' smile. I didn't want Ozma to see me, she'd only beeline for me, and I didn't want to risk touching her. I dragged myself back to my cell and sat on my bed, not quite sure what to do with myself. I wasn't hungry, I didn't feel sick, my limbs ached a tiny bit and I felt a little sleepy, I thought about taking a nap, but in all honesty, I didn't feel safe in case Stacey came back. The image of her hovering over me with a pillow in her hands popped into my head. I shuddered. Death by suffocation wasn't how I wanted to go either. I quickly left my cell worried I might doze off and never wake up again, I didn't think she'd try anything again but right now I didn't trust her and who could blame me? And, I was coming around to the idea of not dying, not yet anyway.
