Deathly Contagious (29 page)

“Oh yea, what a good example it sets to let someone verbally abuse you.” I stared him down.

“I don’t care what she
said,
” Fuller repeated. “People look up to you. If you don’t stay calm and follow the rules, then why should they?”

I couldn’t make a valid argument against that. “Fine,” I huffed. “I’ll control my temper next time.”

“You better or there won’t be a next time. This is your final warning.”

I opened my mouth to object by telling him I didn’t give a damn if he took my A1 badge and title away, I’d still go out and kill zombies but didn’t get the chance because a familiar voice came over the walkie-talkie. Jason let Fuller know that the others returned—all eight of them—and that they had truck loads of supplies.

Fuller quickly turned and left. I went back into Ivan and Brock’s room to relay the message, relieved that the guys got to a save point in their game and waited for the others to come up and get their clothes.

Wade jogged up the stairs first. He told us it took longer than expected to find a compliable semi trucks and even longer to find enough diesel to fuel them up for the short drive back to the compound. That and several dozen zombies needed to be taken down before they could get into the store. He grabbed clothes for him and Rider and hurried back to the quarantine.

The rest of the day carried out normally, if not boring. I spent it with Ray, not seeing Hayden again until bedtime. He was playing video games with the guys; I changed into my pajamas and crawled under the covers. I was already asleep when Hayden got into bed next to me, accidentally waking me up. Lazily, I moved from the center of the bed to give him some room. As soon as I settled down, I was sleeping.

What felt like only a short while later, someone quickly stomped up the stairs, waking me up. Irritated, I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head as if that would help drown out the sound somehow.

And then the door flew open.

“What are you doing?” Hayden sleepily asked Ivan. I sat up and blinked at the bright light that spilled in from the hall.

“It’s Jessica,” Ivan said, his voice a hallow whisper. “She’s infected.”

Chapter  12

Hayden and I both sprang up.

“What?” I asked, though I had very clearly heard Ivan.

“They’re all in the quarantine. She just-just snapped.” Ivan’s face was blank and he spoke with little emotion.

“No,” I said dumbly, as if that would make things better. Ivan gravely nodded.

“What are we going to do with her?” Hayden asked as he pulled on his pants. I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold. My heart hammered through my chest and I felt out of breath.

“She’s in the hospital ward right now, tied to a bed. Wade and Alex were able to get her out of the quarantine before she hurt anyone else; she got Gabby pretty good.”

“She bit her?” Hayden asked and pulled a shirt over his head. Shaking, I pulled a sweatshirt over my head.

“Tried to but didn’t. She scratched her across the face and shoved her; Gabby fell backward over a chair and hit her head. I-I think she’s alright though.”

“What can we do?” I asked, fumbling to put on my socks.

“I don’t know.” Ivan shook his head. “I just had to tell you.”

Hayden held out his hand for me to take. We hurried down the hall and into the hospital ward. Gabby was lying on an exam table, holding a bag of ice to her head. Her father and a B3—who I was pretty sure was one of the veterinarians—stood behind her, talking in hushed whispers. We rushed past and into the sick ward.  

The last bed must be cursed. It was where Hayden stayed when he fought for his life and now Jessica lay in it, her arms and legs tied to the bedrails. Fuller, Dr. Cara, and Padraic crowded around her. Alex and Wade stood off to the side and the remaining three A1’s sat on another hospital bed across from Jessica.  Brock leaned against the wall, his hand tightly closed around the bite mark on his arm.

Padraic snapped his attention up when he heard our footfalls.

“Oh, good, Hayden,” he said and whisked Hayden away to take a sample of his blood to compare it to Jessica’s. I heard him say something about possibly finding a way to stop the virus from progression, which sounded very much like a promising cure.

I knew otherwise. Padraic told me long ago that the virus kills parts of the brain. And brain damage can’t be reversed. I stood close to Ivan, half curious and half afraid to look closely at Jessica. Hooked up to an IV and very subdued, she had obviously been drugged. Fuller gripped the side rails, a pained look apparent on his face as he gazed down at his wounded soldier.

Rider got up when he saw us and walked over. His face was paler than usual and he looked terrified.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hi, Rider.” I half smiled. “What’s going on?”

“They’re gonna run some tests, see how far along the virus is and see if there’s anything they can do,” he informed us. “I don’t think there is.”

“Me neither,” I agreed and let out a breath. I wasn’t sure if Rider had been made aware of the possibility of a vaccine. Still, even if it was a real thing, it was too late for Jessica. Ivan nodded and crossed his arms. We sat on the edge of a bed near Jess, watching and waiting.

Dr. Cara looked like a kid on Christmas morning. With swiftness I didn’t know she had, she poked and prodded at Jessica’s body, taking blood, vital signs and shining a pen light in her eyes. She talked to her, asked her questions and injected something into a vein in her neck.

Jessica’s body went ridged before she screamed and pulled on the restraints. Fuller tensed and put his hands on Jessica’s legs to hold her still. Wade and Alex rushed over to help keep her down.

“What happened?” Ivan asked Rider.

He shook his head. “I don’t really know. There were a lot of S3’s milling around. It took a while, but it was an overall easy kill.” He let out a deep breath. “She shot one at close range and blood splattered on her face. Or at least that’s all I can think of.”

“Sounds likely,” Ivan agreed. Hayden rejoined us, slyly hooking his arm around my body. I leaned against him and he rested his head on mine for a second before straightening up.

“Did Padraic say anything to you?” I asked Hayden.

“Nothing we don’t already know; he doesn’t know enough about how the virus works to really do anything at all.”  

I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder again. It was inevitable one of us would get infected if not killed sooner or later. I just thought it would be later. Everything felt slightly surreal. I closed my eyes, wishing this was all a bad dream.

But I would never wake up and find everything all peachy.

Hayden quickly jerked away from me when Fuller looked over at us. He nodded, signally Hayden to come over.

“You alright?” Ivan asked softly.

“I am,” I sighed. “I wish she was too.”

He nodded. “I hate this. I wish there was
something
we could do.”

“Me too. But there’s nothing.” I felt so utterly helpless. I watched as the sedative wore off and Jessica growled and bit at the air. I felt so cold and hallow…and scared. I was so preoccupied with Jess I didn’t notice a second person tied to a hospital bed.

Jared, his face full of fear, was craning his neck to see around his curtain and down the aisle. He was handcuffed to the bed for the time being. Given that we couldn’t trust him, Fuller made sure that Jared posed no threat; and he would always be treated like a threat. Something boiled inside me. Dr. Cara took another vial of blood from Jessica while Alex held her arm still. She gathered up everything she had taken and strode down the aisle into the lab room. I jolted forward and followed her.

“Use him,” I blurted as soon as we were out of the sick wing. Dr. Cara jumped, not knowing I was behind her. “That asshole who tried to shoot at us. Test the vaccine on him. Maybe you can save Jess.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Dr. Cara smiled empathically. “There’s no going back now. Maybe…maybe I can stop her cells from dying. But she’ll be damaged…damaged and dangerous.”

I knew it was true. I was mad at myself for even saying anything. “What can you do?”

“Keep her hydrated and offer her food while she transitions.”

“Transitions?”

“Into the next stage.”

If my heart could sink any lower, it just did. “Into a zombie.”

“Yea.” She set the vials down on the counter and pulled microscope slides out of a drawer. “I want to do experiments on her, but Fuller gets the final orders,” she said, seemingly dejected.

I wanted to smack her. “Jessica was part of our team. She risked her ass for everyone and took the blunt of it. She’s a human being. Why the fuck would you even fathom the thought you could do experiments on her?”

“It would give good information,” she said causally and snapped on rubber gloves. She let a drop of blood fall from the vial onto the slide and stuck it in the microscope.

Angered, I spun around to leave.

“Orissa,” Dr. Cara called.

“What?” I snapped.

“Can I have some blood? You heal fast. I want to see what happens if I mix your blood with the live virus.”

“Sure,” I sighed. “If it’ll help, that’s fine.”

She put on clean gloves, wiped my skin with an alcohol pad and took only a syringe full of blood this time. I pressed my finger on the needle mark and left the room. I sat down next to Ivan again, waiting for Hayden to come back.  

Jessica was growling and snarling now. It was so…so weird to see someone that I knew, someone I talked to turn into a raging monster. I remembered when Logan snapped and it still hurt to remember having to kill him. The sick ward door opened and clicked shut. Thinking it was Dr. Cara, I didn’t turn to look.

Then I heard a muffled sob. I snapped around to see Gabby and her father walking down the aisle. She had three bloody claw marks running down her right cheek that would no doubt leave ugly scars that would forever remind her of Jessica.

Her father put his hand on her shoulder as they drew nearer. Tears rolled down Gabby’s face. Wade moved out of the way to allow her to confront her roommate and partner.

“Jessica,” Gabby whispered. “Are you in there somewhere?”

Jessica’s lip quivered as she showed off her teeth like an angry dog. Gabby gently put her hand on Jess’s. Jessica relaxed at the touch.

“Jess?” Gabby whimpered and leaned forward. Jessica’s fingers coiled around Gabby’s. Suddenly, Jessica snarled and pulled herself up, biting at Gabby.

Gabby screamed and jerked away. Jessica growled and roared, her teeth chomping the air. Alex pushed her down, allowing Gabby to get away. Crying, she turned to her father who protectively wrapped his arms around her and ushered her away.

We all froze, watching in horror at what had just taken place. Hayden said something to Fuller and quickly walked over.

“What’s the plan?” Ivan asked, struggling to keep his voice level.

“Move her into the barn after the stall is reinforced. She’ll be given food, water, and a warm, comfortable place to sleep, though I doubt she’ll use it. If she needs it, she can be tranquilized and cleaned up. Then when she…she dies, we’ll have a funeral for her,” Hayden informed us.

I moved my head up and down, watching it play out in my mind. “Ok,” I numbly said, not thinking of anything to add. I let out a shaky breath.

Fuller instructed the other A1’s to go back to the quarantine and for Ivan, Brock, Hayden, and I to go back to bed. Jessica was going to stay heavily medicated and tied up until the morning. As soon as a stall was set up for her, she’d be moved.

The four of us trudged up the stairs. We paused in the hall by Ivan and Brock’s door. We exchanged pained looks, all at a loss for words. I didn’t know what to say to them in a situation like this.

“Night,” Brock finally said and went into his room. Ivan followed suit and Hayden and I went into our own room. We changed into pajamas, brushed our teeth and climbed under the covers. Hayden rested his head and one hand on my chest. I ran my fingers though his hair.

“Orissa,” he started. “I don’t want you to be an A1 anymore.”

“Uh, ok,” I said, not taking him seriously.

“Really. I don’t.”

I let my hand fall from his head. “Why?”

“It’s too risky. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to me either. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to hide in the comfort and safety of an underground bomb shelter for the rest of my life.
That
would kill me.”

He rolled off me and pulled me on top of him. “Me too. Love you, Riss.”

“I love you too. Night.” It took forever to fall asleep that night. I had nightmares of a zombiefied Jessica roaming the halls of the compound. I startled awake and snuggled closer to Hayden, forcing away any and all bad emotions.

The four of us didn’t have to go to training the next day. A heavy depression hung in the air; the entire compound was shocked and upset over what happened to Jessica. Almost everyone had something nice to say about her and said they missed her already; I found it nicely surprising since she was so quiet and kept to herself.

Fuller didn’t waste any time getting back to business. The first order he gave was reinforcing the fence that surrounded the compound. All of the A’s plus several residents who had worked in construction or were handy with building things were to work on it all day. The sun dodged fluffy white clouds all afternoon and the early spring breeze was warm, making it almost enjoyable.

It took two days with all of us working to get it done. Next, we improved the fences that kept our livestock safe and reinforced the barn. I was lucky to work on the fences and not on digging what Hayden called the moat.  Being in the barn brought back memories of helping my grandpa on the farm back in Kentucky.

The smell of hay and shavings wasn’t as strong since we had such a limited supply but it was enough to hit me in the heart. The sight of my grandpa’s horses running with breakneck speed through the frozen pasture flashed through my mind. Excitement bubbled in my heart; we had all been so eager to see them that we didn’t stop and think about what spooked them.