The Complete Lethal Infection Trilogy

by Tony Battista

  “You’re safe now,” Karen assured her. “Those men are dead. They can’t hurt you anymore. It’s all over.”

  “It will never be over!” the woman shrieked. “What they did to me! I can’t ever forget it! I won’t ever be over it!”

  Before Karen had time to react, the woman lurched off the bed and ran across the room, hurling herself through the open window. She hit the pavement headfirst and died instantly.

  “That’s what I meant,” Ethan said quietly after a few moments. “Nothing is ever that easy.”

  . . .

  Neither of them wanted to spend any more time in that town than they had to and, after a quick search for supplies, were on their way again in less than an hour. They found a storage unit building surrounded by chain link fencing a couple hours before dark and decided to spend the night there. Ethan’s crowbar made short work of the locks on all eighteen units, but they were miserably disappointed at the cheap furniture, boxes of old clothing, books and other miscellaneous junk they found in most of them.

  “Who pays good money to store this kind of crap?” Ethan complained aloud. “Look at this! Someone was actually paying money to store bald tires and a set of encyclopedias from 1982! Who keeps this kind of stuff?”

  “Here’s something,” Karen called out hopefully.

  “MREs!” he said as he came up next to her. “Meals, ready to eat,” he elaborated at seeing her blank expression. “These kind come with a chemical package for each pouch that heats up when you add water to it. What do we have here? There are four cases of 48 meals each. We’ve got a good two maybe three month’s supply here, if we stretch it.”

  “Are they any good?”

  “The hungrier you are, the better they taste. It’s not gourmet food, but it’s not bad.”

  Ethan had chicken with black beans and rice and Karen tried the spaghetti with meat sauce.

  “What do you think?” he asked as they ate.

  “It’s nothing like Santino’s, but it’s not bad either. Some garlic bread would be nice.”

  “Here, have some crackers. That’s the best I can do.”

  After eating, Ethan cleared the junk and trash from one of the units, made a bed out of old coats and blankets, and started out to make a second when she stopped him. She kissed him, her body pressing against his and they sank to the bed together.

  “Do you think there’s anything left?” she asked afterward in a hushed voice. “I mean, anything worth finding?”

  “I think there has to be. I know we haven’t had much luck with the people we’ve run into so far, but there have to be some decent people left somewhere.”

  “I don’t know if I can believe that anymore. Those people at the crossroads, the ones at the farmhouse and those three men back there in town, what if they’re the only kind of people who’ve survived?”

  “We survived, didn’t we? We’ll find others like us, eventually. Somewhere, right now, people are trying to start over, trying to rebuild. We’ll find them and we’ll help them. Trust me.”

  “Well, since I don’t really have any other choice, I guess I will.”

  Ethan kissed her and started to get up when she took hold of his arm and pulled him back.

  “Can’t we take just one night off to be together?”

  “The day you let your guard down is the day you die,” he answered. “I’ve seen it happen. I’d love to lie here with you and hold you all night, but I’d love for us to have a tomorrow, too.”

  “All right,” she sighed. “Where will you be?”

  “I found a straight ladder in one of the units. I think I’ll get up on the roof where I can see farther.”

  “Make sure you wake me for my watch! Don’t you dare sit up there all night and let me sleep through it again!”

  Ethan smiled, but didn’t reply, just went to set the ladder up against the side of the building and climb to the roof.

  . . .

  Karen felt a hand on her shoulder and sat up with a start.

  “It’s been five hours,” Ethan told her. “It’s your watch.”

  “It seems like I just closed my eyes! Is anything happening?”

  “No, it’s been a nice, dull, boring night.”

  “Well, I’m not spending the rest of it up on the roof. It’s too dark to see anything now anyway and the infected have even worse night vision than we do.”

  “Just stay close to the building, then. Keep away from the fence and the gate, just in case there’s someone besides the infected wandering around.”

  “Yes, sir!” she snapped him a mock salute and laughed. He just smiled and shook his head, then lay down on their makeshift bed.

  Ethan awoke to the smell of cooking meat and peeked his head out the doorway. Karen had the camp stove set up with a frying pan atop it.

  “That smells good,” he announced as he emerged from the building.

  “I opened a can of ham slices and I’ve got pancake mix and some powdered milk. There’s no maple syrup, but we do have a jar of honey.”

  “Sounds great! Need any help?”

  “I’ve got it.”

  Ethan nodded and went around behind the building with a roll of toilet paper. When he came back, Karen handed him a plate with three pancakes and two thick slices of ham and he sat down and dug in.

  “Santino was like a father to me,” she said. “He was a nice old guy, owned a little Italian restaurant.”

  “Really? I’d never guessed he was Italian by the name.”

  “Yes, really,” she stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, I went to his place pretty often. He knew what kind of schedule I worked and he’d always insist on making me fried eggs with Italian sausages and big, thick slices of toasted Italian bread. Most of the time, he wouldn’t even let me pay for it.”

  “It sounds like he was sweet on you.”

  “Oh, please! He was in his sixties, probably closer to seventy, and almost as big around as he was tall, but he was such a nice old guy. He was probably the kindest man I ever met. I wish I could sit down and have breakfast with him one more time.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “What happened to a million other people,” she gave a sad shrug, “or a hundred million other people. The news said that once you’ve been bitten, there’s no hope.”

  “Did he…?” Ethan didn’t finish the question.

  “No,” Karen shook her head. “He bled to death while I knelt beside him holding his hand. He didn’t deserve that. He deserved to live to a ripe old age and be surrounded by his kids and grandchildren in his final hours. I guess that’s something else that’s not going to happen anymore.”

  “Maybe not for a while, but we’ll get back there eventually.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  “Yeah, I do. I’m looking forward to bouncing a grandson on my knee someday.”

  “That’s quite a change in attitude from the day we left the churchyard.”

  “Yeah…” Ethan looked embarrassed. “About that… I guess I’ll just have to plead temporary insanity.”

  “I’m just glad I was able to knock some sense back into you.”

  “Yeah, I think you enjoyed that a little too much!”

  “Someone has to keep you in line.”

  “Keep talking like nothing’s wrong.”

  “What?”

  “Keep talking. Smile. Laugh a little, like I said something funny.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Just do it! There’s someone out there beyond the fence, in those tall weeds. It’s not infected; they’re being too cautious about it.”

  Ethan got to his feet, smiling, and leaned down as if her was going to kiss her but at the last second gave her a shove that put her flat on her back while, at the same time, he swept up the shotgun and went into a roll toward the fence. He came up in a crouch, weapon leveled at the spot where he thought the interlopers were hidden and shouted out a challenge.

  “Stand up and s
how me your hands! I can’t hardly miss with the shotgun at this range, so do it now if you want to live!”

  “Okay, okay! Don’t shoot for God’s sake!” a man’s voice came from behind a clump of brush. He stood up with his hands held high and, a moment later, another man stood, then two women.

  Karen was at Ethan’s side by this time and they both covered the small group as he ordered them to move slowly to the gate, keeping their hands in plain sight the whole time. They did as they were told, though the second man had to lean on the first and limped along painfully. Once they were all inside, Ethan separated them and frisked the two men, then stood back and covered them while Karen searched the women. The injured man was in his mid-twenties and had a crude bandage wrapped around his right calf. The other man was older, late thirties. Both had filthy, tangled hair and scruffy beards. The women were each a few years younger than the two men, the youngest with very long, brown hair, the older a closely cropped blonde. All of them were hollow-eyed and gaunt, dirty and tired-looking; obviously none of them had seen a bar of soap or a change of clothing in weeks.

  “Are there any more of you out there?” Ethan demanded harshly.

  “We’re all that’s left,” the older man answered. “There were sixteen of us started out, but we’re the only ones who made it.”

  “If you’re lying about being alone, if anyone else turns up, it’s going to go hard on you!”

  “Please! We already lost everyone else; our families, friends,” the blonde woman spoke up. “We don’t mean you any harm; we’re just trying to stay alive!”

  “We smelled your cooking and thought you might be able to spare a little food, that’s all,” the older man added.

  Ethan eyed them all coldly for a few moments and the younger woman stifled a whimper.

  “You do look hungry,” he finally said. Come on over by the building and get something to eat.”

  The small group looked at each other, then at Ethan and finally at Karen.

  “Don’t get too close to them and don’t let your guard down,” Ethan told Karen, handing her the shotgun after each of the newcomers was given an MRE. “I’m going out to see what they left in those bushes.”

  It took him only a minute to find a knapsack with a few articles of dirty clothing, a couple of knives, a two-foot long piece of rebar and two .38s with no ammunition.

  “You folks weren’t exactly loaded for bear, were you? Who are you, and where’d you come from?”

  “I’m Tom Jefferson,” said the older man. “No relation. That’s my wife, Andie. This is Eric and Lauren Novak. Andie and I are from Jamestown and Eric and Lauren are from Salem.”

  “The infected got the rest of your group?” Karen wondered.

  “Some of them,” Tom said. “Some were killed by gang members. It’s crazy how many outlaw gangs we’ve come across in the last few weeks. Eric took a bullet in the leg here two days ago. We used up the last of our ammunition and had to leave what little supplies we had behind. This is the first we’ve eaten since.”

  Karen looked over at Ethan, a pained expression on her face.

  “All right, all right,” he said to her. “Let’s have a look at that leg. We have some clean bandages, alcohol and peroxide, some antibiotics. Go over to the third unit and you’ll find boxes of clean clothes. There’s a pond about a mile and a half back up the road. You’re all going to have to have baths if you’re going to travel with us.”

  “You’re going to take us in?” Lauren was incredulous.

  “Hell, the more the merrier, I guess.”

  Lauren leapt to her feet and threw her arms around Ethan.

  “You don’t know what this means! I thought we were all going to die!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Look. No offense, but could you wait until after you’ve had a bath to thank me?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, pulling away. “We didn’t think there were any good people left!”

  Karen looked over at Ethan and smiled.

  Chapter 11: Friends Lost

  The bullet had left a deep furrow in Eric’s leg, but the bleeding had stopped and, after being cleaned out and treated with antibiotic cream, the wound still appeared a bit inflamed, but seemed to be healing. Ethan and Karen rode in the Dodge while the others piled into the Ford and they drove back to the pond. The newcomers waded into the water and scrubbed themselves clean, laughing and splashing and enjoying themselves for the first time since the outbreak exploded while Ethan and Karen stood guard. He let them carry on for quite a while before announcing it was time to get moving and they reluctantly left the water to dry off and put on clean clothes for the first time in weeks.

  “Can I thank you now?” Lauren asked, moving up to stand in front of Ethan.

  “Uh, it’s not really necessary…”

  “I think it is,” she said and she put her arms around his neck and gave him a brief, but intense kiss on the mouth.

  “Okay, uh, you’re welcome,” Ethan disengaged himself and stepped back. “If everybody’s ready, let’s roll!”

  “Could I ride with you?” Lauren asked.

  “I think you should stay with your husband,” Ethan countered.

  “Eric? He’s not my husband, he’s my brother.”

  “Oh, wonderful,” he said under his breath, and then added, “I think you should ride in the other truck anyway.”

  Lauren pouted a bit, but got into the Ford and they all started down the road again.

  “It looks like you have a groupie,” Karen opined after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

  “Hardly! She’s just confused and a little overwhelmed. It would be simpler if Eric was her husband, though.”

  “So, what, there’s six of us now?”

  “It’s not like we can just abandon them, is it? I don’t know how they survived all this time on their own. They’ve lost a dozen people already and I’m betting the ones they lost were the ones keeping them alive in the first place. Two pistols, two knives, no ammunition, no food, no water; they weren’t going to last much longer out here.”

  “Well, it will be nice to have another woman to talk to.”

  “Two women, don’t you mean?”

  “Just one. Lauren only has eyes for you,” she teased.

  “Oh, come on! You’re acting like I wanted that to happen!”

  “Oh, no! I’m sure you hated every moment.”

  Ethan glared at her and she laughed and patted him on the knee and his glare softened into a grin.

  They pulled up in front of a road sign proclaiming the corporation limit of the town of Martindale and got out of the vehicles.

  “Okay everybody, listen up,” Ethan announced. “You can see a few infected wandering around from here, so we’re going to have to check this place out and see how many there are. If there are too many to handle, we’ll skirt the town and try somewhere else. I need to know how many of you can handle a gun; not just pull a trigger, but how to handle one.”

  “I’ve done some trap shooting,” Tom volunteered.

  “Until all this happened, I never shot anything bigger than a pellet gun,” Eric said.

  “Either of you ladies know anything about guns?” Ethan asked. “No? Okay then, the three of you stay with Karen by the trucks. You can’t get around well enough on that leg, Eric, so don’t look so offended. Tom, are you up to it?”

  “I’m ready.”

  “Are you sure? I’m going to need you to keep a cool head and back me up without panicking. We don’t have to do this right now if you’re not up to it.”

  “I said I was ready. I can handle this.”

  “Okay. You take the shotgun and a 9mm. The pistol holds 12 rounds and there are two extra magazines for it. Just stay behind me, keep quiet and don’t fire unless I do.

  Ethan grabbed his rifle and they started toward town, keeping to the side of the road that was lined with poplar trees to help mask their movements. About thirty feet from the first infected, Ethan held up his hand and indicated that
Tom should stay put, then he came up behind his target and swung the machete blade into the side of his head. A second and third infected fell to the same tactic and Ethan waved for Tom to join him.

  “I count five more bunched together in the green space up the block. There’s too much open ground to sneak up on them, so I’m going to take them out with rifle fire. Keep your eyes open and be ready to run if we need to.”

  Tom nodded and Ethan stepped out into the open and put his rifle to his shoulder. He dropped two with headshots and then the others started toward him. Five more shots brought down the other three, but more appeared from alleyways and around buildings. Ethan brought down two more and he heard the boom of Tom’s shotgun. Six infected were behind them, another eight were in front and three more to one side. Ethan fired calmly and efficiently, felling the infected one by one until his magazine ran dry. He swapped out the magazine and brought down two more who came out of a building ahead of them when he suddenly realized that he didn’t hear Tom shooting anymore. Looking around, he saw Tom running frantically back toward the vehicles, using the now empty shotgun as a club to clear the way through a small clutch of infected blocking the road.

  “Tom! You damned fool, get back here!”

  But it was too late. Tom was surrounded and though he ran to help, they closed in and dragged him down before Ethan could reach him. Andie screamed and ran toward her husband, Karen calling after her, telling her to come back. She reached the knot of blighted humanity and tried to pull them off her husband, only to be overcome herself, despite Ethan putting three of them down with pistol fire.

  Karen told Eric and Lauren to stay put while she started the Dodge and raced to the scene, screeching to a halt a mere twenty feet away and leaping from the vehicle with her Beretta blazing. Her firepower, combined with his dispatched the few remaining infected, but not until both Tom and Andie were doomed beyond redemption. Ethan waved for the others to come up and Lauren drove the Ford up directly behind the Dodge.

  “Don’t look,” Karen took Lauren by the shoulders and held her back. “There isn’t anything to be done.”