Flash Series (Book 1): Infected

by Jessica Gomez

  “I’m thinking about the stars. That it might be a good night to go sit outside.”

  “We normally don’t go out unless it’s over by the swim area. That’s blocked off by the fence we built.” I looked down, somewhat disappointed. “But if you want to go, I can take you. We can only be out there for a little while. Normally we make it a rule not to go out at all while others are away because it’s less people to help here if something happens.”

  “Really? You would do that?”

  “I would do anything for you.” By the look on his face, he regretted the way he phrased those words.

  “Thank you, Mason. It means a lot.” I smiled at him warmly.

  After dinner, Mason talked with Dane and got him to agree to let us outside for just a little while. Mason came and picked me up from the dining hall, telling me everything was worked out. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to have Azami with us, so James volunteered to get her ready for bed and stay with her in my room until I returned.

  Mason and I reached the entrance and ducked out of the caves mouth, Mason slightly in front of me. When I stepped out, a whole new world appeared. I hadn’t realized how much I missed outside. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The air smelled of cool wet dirt, pine trees, and rivers.

  Mason coughed lightly to get my attention.

  I opened my eyes and looked at him. “Sorry. I can’t resist the smell of the cool night air. Actually, it could get better if it was about to rain. That smell, right before it rains? That is the best smell ever.”

  “Well, good luck with that. It hasn’t rained here for a long time.” He smiled and reached his hand out for me to take.

  I took his hand and he helped me to the top of a large rocky ledge. He grabbed the blanket out from under his arm and threw it out onto the hill, sitting on it when it was straight. I took a seat next to him and laid back, my knees bent to the sky. Mason followed suit right after, staring up at the stars.

  “You were right, this is nice. Thanks for letting me tag along.” He turned to look at me, our faces only a few inches apart.

  I stayed silent for a while, caught up in his sparkling greenish-gold eyes. “I should be the one thanking you. Dane would never have let me come out here on my own, so thank you,” I laughed lightly.

  “It’s definitely my pleasure.”

  My cheeks turned crimson and my eyes shied away from his, only to find them again a moment later. “So tell me about yourself.” I said. “I mean, I know the Mason now, but Ian said you were going to college before the Flash.” I paused a moment, but when he didn’t answer, I spoke again. “I’m sorry. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

  He met my eyes and started talking. “My mom used to call Michael and I stooges because we were always causing mischief and doing stupid things.” He laughed to himself, his eyes remembering a time long gone. “We met Ian in college. I went into law because I liked the thought of helping people. Michael was going through Medical school, and Ian was dabbling in a couple degrees. When the Flash happened, we were all actually sitting down together at Quizno’s for a quick dinner. The bright light had blinded us all for a little while, but we called out to one another to make sure everyone was alright. We realized after we could see again that we were the only three for blocks that survived.

  “Everywhere we looked, there were people dead. Kids with their parents next to them, not expecting a thing. We made it back to school on foot because we couldn’t take the car back with us. There was no way to get around the cars already crowding the roads, and if we tried driving the sidewalks, we would have ran over too many people. Once we returned, there were a few people who made it on campus. Michael was relieved that one of them was Jen. Jen and Becky roomed together. They both went to school with us. There were a few other survivors at school, but they went their own ways, dealing with their own grief and looking for their loved ones. After we packed what we could, we left school. We all had to find our families and the best way to do that was to split up. Ian gave us directions to this place and told us to come here after we found what we needed to find. We were some of the first people here. Ian took the longest. We knew he was heading this way because he would send people here. Almost everyone you’ve met was invited by Ian while he was out looking for James. He found his mom in her car, following the route she took from work. James should have been in the car. He never gave up looking for him. That’s why he used to volunteer so much. He thought he could run into him somewhere if he were still out there, and now that he’s here, he hasn’t volunteered once.” He finished and looked at me. “What about you?”

  I breathed in deep. “There’s not much to tell. I was working in Milton-Freewater, Oregon when it happened. I’ve lived in foster care my whole life and have no close friends or family. I ran away when I was thirteen. My mom abandoned me when I was five and they thought my dad was dead. I don’t know either of their names, and now it doesn’t really matter.” I paused, to breath in again. “That’s when I headed east. I walked around, never staying in one spot for long. I was on my own before I had Azami, and then I met James. They’re the best things that have happened to me.” I smiled to myself thinking about them. “James used to tell us stories about this place when we’d get ready for bed. It was one of our fairy tales, I guess you could say. We wondered if it was really here. We were out on a food raid when we ran into some of the new Infected. We were able to get away, but that’s when we decided it was time to come and find this place, see if it really existed.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” His eyes were looking inside me, searching for some kind of answer. An answer I was scared of myself.

  “I’m glad you’re here, too.” I told him in a whisper.

  He smiled at me and we continued watching the stars in silence.

  We came back to the tunnels late, staying out much longer than expected. Mason walked me back to my room, bidding me goodnight. I snuck in and slipped into bed next to James, who had Azami mushed between him and the wall.

  “What took you so long?” He asked.

  “Oh, sorry.” I said, startled that he was still awake. “We stayed out longer than I expected. It’s so nice out there with the stars so bright. It smelled so good. Next time, you should come.”

  “Yeah, they are a lot brighter than at the tree.” I could see him smile at me in the dark.

  “So, how have you been getting along here? You doing okay?” We haven’t had a lot of time alone to just talk. I wanted to make sure he was getting along alright.

  “Everyone here is so nice.” He paused, thinking. “Except for Becky and Jeff. They’ve been acting strange lately. And Jeff is getting really high in the creepy factor.”

  I laughed. “James, be nice.”

  He laughed too, “You know what I mean. The longer we’re here, the more I notice their behavior is becoming freaky, like they are always agitated. They’re starting to make me shifty and nervous because I don’t know what to make of the way they’re acting, Lillie.” He said now, sounding troubled that he didn’t know the answer.

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “I noticed that too. I’m not sure what’s causing it. I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with us being here. I already mentioned it to some of the guys while we were out tracking. They think it’s because everyone is keeping their distance.”

  “I don’t think it’s us,” James said. He looked lost in his thoughts, “And I don’t think it’s the separation, either. I know it doesn’t make sense, but neither one of those ideas feel right. It’s something else. Just watch them, ok?”

  “If that’s how you feel about it James, then I promise I will be more alert around them. I trust your judgment completely.” He stays quiet so I decided to leave him to his thoughts, too tired to problem solve, “Goodnight, James.” I whispered, already being pulled under.

  “Goodnight, Lil.”

  Chapter 11

  The darkness enveloped me as soon as my lids closed, and imm
ediately visions bombarded my mind. It was the same dream as before; dark figures wrestling on the floor in some kind of room with a faint glow in the background.

  Finally, the figures rolled into the light, still half in shadow, but revealing the outline of their faces. One I would recognize anywhere. Ian. The other outline was oddly shaped, bubbling out on the right side. I was relieved I couldn’t see its face clearly, but I was able to decipher enough to know an Infected when I saw one. They were fighting, rolling around, and the Infected was trying to tear into him with its teeth. Ian was doing anything and everything he could to get away from him. The dream was extremely heavy and foggy, like I stood as a ghost in the room, unable to interfere with their confrontation.

  All of a sudden, a black shroud was draped over my eyes and the dream ended abruptly, not revealing who gained the upper hand. I awoke and was aware, but only in my head. Was it even possible to be awake in your own dream? To understand and react while your physical body was not.

  Instead of being able to pull myself out of the dream, this time I shot right into another nightmare. The fog in this dream hindered my vision again, making identification impossible. This whole dreaming with no faces was beginning to really frustrate and confuse me. Even my dream self was getting pissed off. The only distinctions I could decipher in this dream was that one person was female and the other, a large imposing male. The male figure was lashing out, slapping the smaller form hard across the face and upper body. Soon after, the smaller form stopped fighting, but the listless actions of the victim didn’t hinder the attacker from continuing his brutality.

  Like the first dream, I began panicking. I knew I was still scared for Ian’s sake, but this second dream was different, as if the assault affected me directly. I was hyperventilating, trying to catch my breath as my eyes darted around in my dream world, trying to understand everything that had just occurred. Where were these people? Why was the larger figure beating the smaller one? And why the hell was I dreaming about it? Deep breathe in, now let it out. Repeat.

  Nothing made sense. All I saw and understood was black figures against blacker walls. The beating went on longer than I could bear to watch. I turned my eyes away, looking at the floor and slowly, everything began to fade. Even though everything was black, I could feel the unconsciousness slipping away.

  Finally I opened my eyes. They rested on the back of James’s head. His hair was splayed across the pillow and my first thought was that he needed a haircut.

  After having those dreams, I would have expected to wake up screaming, upset, flying off the handle, anything but this euphoric numbness rushing through my veins. I closed my eyes again and reached out to touch James, right before I fell back into a restful sleep.

  ~~~~~~

  After breakfast that morning, I helped with the gardening. Jen and Mason flanked my sides as we tore up the hard ground and made it plant worthy.

  While we worked, I told them about my dreams, and they listened intently. I couldn’t tell by the expressions on their faces whether they thought I was crazy or not, but I needed to tell someone. These dreams or visions, as I was coming to think of them, seemed so real, like they were actually happening while I watched. The gut wrenching twist in my stomach gave me the heebie-jeebies. Could any of this really have happened?

  “That’s kind of weird.” Jen’s movements slowed enough to drink water while she worked. “I mean, has anything like this happened before you came here? Maybe it’s a side effect. You know, like with Ian and James.”

  “No, nothing before these dreams.” I paused thinking for a moment. “The only thing I do know is that it felt way too real to be just a dream, and that really worries me because the dream I had last night was about the Infected attacking Ian.”

  Mason seemed deep in thought, not saying much on the matter. While Jen insisted that Ian would be fine. I hoped and prayed for the first time she was right, but in the pit of my stomach, I knew, I knew something was wrong.

  ~~~~~~

  The passing days were agony. I needed to see Ian with my own eyes―see that he was alright. The empty feeling in the pit of my stomach was even worse with each passing day.

  Mason kept Azami and me company most days, working in the garden or playing outside in the water. Azami adored Mason. She treated him as her own personal jungle gym and he didn’t seem to mind one bit. If anything, he looked forward to their time together. He often took her out for a couple hours a day to collect berries, or make mud pies. Sometimes, it was just to give me time to relax. He knew the extra stress I’d carried over these dark dreams, having to wonder what they meant, whether Ian was alright. It was a constant thought running on a loop in my mind.

  James stayed busy with his lessons. He was so enraptured with learning how to survive in the wild that he had already perfected building a fire, shelter, and ropes. He was now learning how to skin and cook wild game. He was definitely a survivalist now.

  Finally, a few weeks in, I heard voices by the entrance tunnel, people laughing and yelling, excited to see each other. I was working in the garden. Mason was helping me finish the seeding on the west side when the voices carried to us.

  I brushed my hands off, looking up at Mason with a gigantic grin. My grin faltered watching him. He didn’t look happy to hear the raiders had returned. Instead, he looked somber, almost sad. He looked at me and tried to put on a happy face, but I knew how he felt about me and in some ways, I liked him too, but is wasn’t enough to forget about Ian. Ian was… well, Ian. There were no words to describe him, but he was everything without having to say anything.

  “Sounds like they’re back.” Mason said, continuing to plant seeds, making sure to keep his eyes down.

  “Yeah.” I stood, brushing my pants off. “You want to go see them with me? I’m sure Michael will be excited to see you.” I tried to cheer him up.

  “Nah, you go ahead. I’m going to finish up here and then I’ll meet you there.”

  “Well, hurry up at least.” I told him, slapping his shoulder as I ran by. That at least got him to give me a genuine smile.

  Mason and I have grown close in the time we’ve been here. He’s easy to talk to. He listens to stories about living with James and Azami in our tree and about some of my past in foster homes. He asked about Azami’s father. I told him what had happened, leaving out who it involved. I could tell he was trying to stay calm when I told him. Besides our talks, we also worked together and played games together. When Ian wasn’t around, he was pretty much my constant companion.

  The west side of the gardening cave wasn’t too far away from the tunnel entrance. By the time I was close enough to hear the voices, they had turned from laughter and excitement to stern and somber. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the tone said it all. Something was wrong.

  I was vaguely aware of Mason’s footsteps behind me as he hurried to catch up. He was still a little ways away when I came upon the group. They all turned to look at me as I approached, the smile on my face fading as I took in their sad eyes.

  Everyone was there; Jen, Zack, Luke, Michael, but no one would meet my stare. All those faces and none of them were Ian’s. My smile faded completely. There would only be one reason why they were all looking at me like that. I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.

  “Where’s Ian?” I asked softly, already knowing the answer.

  Michael opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it and looked down, his eyes glittering with tears.

  I shook my head slowly at first and then faster. “No.” I said quietly. “No. No!” with each no, my voice climbed, then pretty soon I was screaming. “No. He has to come back. He promised. He promised he would be fine! You all promised!”

  My legs felt weak and my vision began to blur. I couldn’t feel my legs anymore and I lost the battle to keep myself standing. I waited for the ground to crash into me, but strong arms caught me instead, lifting me up into a cradling position. I looked up and focuse
d as best as I could. The familiar outline of a face came in and out of focus. His dark blond hair was wild, standing in every direction, his face filled with concern.

  “He was supposed to come home, Mason.” I squeaked out.

  “Shh, it’s alright.” Mason tried to comfort me.

  “Everyone said he would be fine.” I continued, my voice eerily calm and monotone.

  “Lil, it’s okay, you’re going to be okay.”

  For the first time, I noticed how Mason looked at me, the way Jen told me he looked at me. His eyes were a mixture of green and gold, they were their own color. I’d never seen eyes like his, filled with softness and never leaving my face. I could see people around us watching him hold me, but I couldn’t focus on them. All I could see was Mason.

  “I guess my dreams do mean something. I told him not to go… it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let him go. It’s all my fault.” I trailed off.

  Mason’s eyes turned sympathetic. “No. No Lil. He would have went anyway, no matter what anyone said. He always went. This is not your fault. I don’t ever want to hear you say that again.” He finished, softly but sternly.

  “Give her some space, everyone. It’s a lot for her to process.” Michael paused, looking at me. “I tried to help him… but he wouldn’t…” Michael couldn’t finish his sentence. Ian and Michael had been as close as brothers. They treated each other no different than Michael and Mason treated each other.

  “I don’t know how much you’ll have to tell her. She’s been having these dreams, and she dreamt this. She knew he wasn’t coming home. He was attacked by an Infected, wasn’t he?” Mason stated matter of fact.

  Michael nodded. “Dustin was attacked. Ian went to help and got caught in the middle of a group of Infected. He tried to save Dustin… but…” Michael’s voice cracked. “But he couldn’t, they tore Dustin apart. Ian was fighting one off but he knew there were too many of them. He told us to go, to leave and run. I hesitated, I didn’t know what to do. I knew that look on his face, he knew what I was thinking. He shook his head, telling me not to come and help him. ‘Go!’ he yelled at me ‘Go now!’ I knew he was right, so we ran. I just left him there. I just left him there!” He repeated more hysterically.