Survival Ties (The Outbreak Chronicles Book 1) (7 page)

The bus jolted to a stop. I looked out
the window but everything looked clear. I watched Sam wondering what had
happened now as he stood and looked back at us all.

“I thought we’d stop for lunch
and as long as everyone stays close to the bus I think we can eat outside.” He
told us, “You might like the view.”

“View? Where are we?” Sawyer
asked as she turned to look out the window. Outside there was a lake and
covered picnic tables.

“We’re at Ashurst Lake.” Sam
said as he smiled. I looked out the window again focusing on what was there
instead of looking for danger. I could see the rocky shoreline surrounding the
calm water of the small lake.

“We can eat outside? Is it
safe?” Axel asked as he practically had his face plastered to the window of the
bus gazing at the water.

“Yeah I managed to get us right
next to a table and as long as we all stay close we can all get away if we have
to.” Sam said. It was obvious he was getting the reaction he had been hoping
for
.

Given the option to get off the
bus had all of us run over each other trying to get off the bus. We all wanted
to see how close to the water we were and if we’d be able to play in it. Sydney
stayed on the bus to make lunch with Tone, while Sam and Aaron came with us.
Aaron was the first one to get into the water. Sam had parked close so the
water was within the limits he set for us.

“Aaron, make sure you’re
keeping an eye on all our kids here.” Sam said as he sat at the picnic table
with Thomas.

Angela was walking with Axel
near the water. There was squealing when he leaned down and splashed her with
the water. Angela retaliated by shoving him into the water but she didn’t make
it away before he grabbed her and she went in with him. They both came up
sputtering and splashing each other.

Aaron snuck up on Daisy,
Sawyer, and I with help from Micah. I saw dark arms wrap around Sawyer’s waist
at the same time I felt myself being lifted.

Sawyer screamed as she was
dunked backwards into the water. Her feet still kicking at the air as they
followed her down. My stomach dropped into my feet as I was thrown upwards. I
was screaming as I hit the water.

I coughed and spit water as I
came back up. Daisy was splashing water as she tried to ward Aaron off; she
backed right into Micah and disappeared under the water.

It was perfect like nothing bad
had happened and we were a family out at the lake having fun. The sky had only
a few of those puffy white clouds.

“Do you see a bicycle?” Sawyer
asked me as she pointed above us.

I followed her finger to the
cloud she was pointing at. There were two almost perfect circles connected by a
thin line and two ‘T’ shapes going up from the line.

“Yeah it does.” I told her.

I watched as Aaron snuck up on
Micah and jumped backwards with him. Micah just had time to bring his hand up
to hold his nose before the water swallowed him. It was the perfect summer day.
I had almost forgotten all about lunch when Sydney and Tone came off the bus
with grilled chicken and salad.

“Hey kids, lunch!” Tone called
out to get us to the table.

“Did he just call me a kid?”
Aaron asked as we walked up to the table.

“Hey I saw you in the water and
you know if the shoe fits.” Tone told him as he passed him a plate to put his
food on.

“I’m going to take it as a
compliment.” Aaron decided as he grabbed a piece of chicken and some salad off
the serving plates.

Angela had set Thomas and
herself up on the ground with a plate between them. She was trying to get him
to eat some of the salad with the chicken he had already eaten half of. They
were both laughing as she tried to trick him into taking another bite. She
sometimes succeeded. They were cute together with their matching eyes and brown
hair. If it weren’t for the age gap they could have been twins.

Sydney’s chicken came out
amazing. I had no idea what she put on it, but I was hoping she’d make it again
for us. Tone claimed he did the salad and it wasn’t half bad.

“You know you guys never told
us if you have anyone out there you’re worried about.” Daisy pointed out as we
all enjoyed the sunshine.

“Well I have a fiancé, Noah,
but I couldn’t get a hold of him or find him when everything went bad.” Sydney
told us.

“Do you think he’ll find you?”
I asked.

“I left a message at our
apartment telling him where I was going and to join us. I keep hoping I’ll see
his car pull up behind us.” She responded as she spun a ring around her finger.
She caressed the stone without looking at it.

“What about you Tone?” Sawyer
asked.

“My boyfriend, Jay was
attacked. I didn’t get to him in time.” Tone answered. “The Red Eye ripped his
throat clear out, he died in my arms. I keep thinking I have to stay alive for
both of us. He would have kicked my ass if I let myself fall apart just because
I miss him.”

He looked towards the water. Tears
were building up in his eyes.

“What was he like?” Micah asked
Tone, “How long were you two together?”

“He was amazing and an artist.
He loved to do wire work; in fact, he did the wire work on this necklace I’m
wearing.” Tone said as he held out the black stone held in vines of silver.

“What’s the stone?” Micah
asked. Tone looked down and traced the vines. 

“It’s onyx. To protect me. He
was into all that gemstone magic stuff.” Tone explained with a little smile
pulling at his lips, “To hear him talk about why he put certain stones in
certain pieces was like listening to someone write a song.”

“How long were you together?” I
asked.

“We’d been together three
years. I was planning to ask him to marry me on his birthday. I even went and
bought a ring with a lapis lazuli stone.” Tone responded.

“What does lapis lazuli do?” Aaron
asked
.

“I picked it for its
encouraging creativity values.” Tone answered.

“That necklace is amazing. I
wish we could have met him.” I told Tone as I got up and hugged him. He hugged
me back.

“What’s Noah like, Sydney?”
Sawyer asked.

“He’s a lawyer but not the bull
shit ones you see on TV that don’t really care about their clients. He loves
his job and really believes in making sure everyone has the fairness they
deserve. He trusts people, makes him a great lawyer.” She said, “We were
planning a spring wedding followed by a honeymoon in Europe. Now I guess we’ll
see if we find each other again.”

She spun her ring around her
finger again.

“Thomas!” Angela’s voice was
shrill as she called for her little brother. The panic in her voice made my
heart pound. All of us moved at once to where she was standing, crying.

“Angela what happened?” Axel
asked her before anyone had a chance to speak.

“I can’t find Thomas. I just
went to use the bathroom and when I came back he was gone.” She cried, “Did
anyone see where he went?”

“Don’t worry hon, we’ll find
him.” Sydney said as she took Angela’s hand.

“Okay we’re doing this in
groups.” Sam said.

“Sounds good what do you want
us to do, boss?” Tone asked.

“Sydney, take Angela back on
the bus. Axel, you’re with me, Tone you’ve got Sawyer and Micah, and Aaron you
have Ashlyn and Daisy. Spread out but stay within shouting distance and let’s
find Thomas.” Sam commanded everyone, taking charge of the situation.

“I want to help.” Angela cried.
“He’s my brother.”

“Sam I’ve got her, we’ll look
too. I don’t think she’ll be able to sit on the bus until we find Thomas.”
Sydney told him.

Sam gave her a look that I
couldn’t read but I think he was worried how Angela would react.

“Okay, keep her close.” Sam
said looking hard at Sydney. She nodded at the look Sam was giving her.

We spread out, all of us
combing through the tall grass close to the water to see if he was hiding
there. Aaron was even scanning the water to see if he had fallen in.

“He can swim.” Angela told him
when she saw where he was looking. She was still holding Sydney’s hand.

“Just making sure we’re not
worrying and all he did was take a swim.” Aaron responded to her without
missing a beat.

We were looking under the bus
when I noticed a path on the other side of the road that went into the trees. I
didn’t think he could have made it there without us noticing but we went down
it anyway.

We were all calling out his
name when we heard the screaming. Sydney couldn’t keep hold of Angela as she
broke free and ran towards the noise. We all followed, running. Tone and Sydney
had their guns drawn; I couldn’t see Sam to see if he did as well.

We broke through to a clearing
and there was Thomas. A Red Eye had his foot and he was trying to kick himself
free but the creature was too strong. Before anyone could get a clear shot on
the Red Eye, it took a bite out of his calf.

There was a lot of blood followed
by the sound of a gun going off. I don’t know who shot it, all I saw was Angela
screaming and grabbing Thomas.

“We have to get him to the bus;
maybe we can stop the infection.” Sam called out and Aaron scooped Thomas up as
he ran for the bus, all of us were on his heels.

I didn’t realize I was crying
till we were all back on the bus and a tear fell on my hand.

“Aaron I need you to hold him
on your lap we’re going to clean the bite with alcohol than I’m going to
cauterize it. Sydney get something heated up that will cover the whole bite at
once I don’t want to have to do this to him more than once.” Sam told us.

 
Sydney grabbed a metal spatula
and an oven mitt as Sam opened a bottle of Vodka and poured onto the bite.

Thomas screamed and tried to
get away.

Aaron held on to him until he
exhausted himself and couldn’t fight.

Sydney came back holding the
spatula that was hot enough for the metal to be red. She handed it to Sam
careful not to burn him in the process.

Sam immediately pressed the
metal to Thomas’s leg and it did cover the whole bite on his small leg.

The scream that came out of the
small boy was more animal than human and didn’t stop until he passed out.
Angela was crying and hanging onto Sydney.

Sam spread some ointment onto
the burned flesh and wrapped it up with an ace bandage. He looked ragged as he
picked up Thomas from Aaron’s lap and brought him out to one of the couches. He
sat down and placed Thomas’s head on his lap.

“Now what?” Angela asked as she
picked up her brother’s legs and laid them across her lap. She was careful not
to touch the bandaged wound.

“Now we wait till he wakes up.
We keep that bandage clean and keep out any infection and we watch him for
symptoms.” Sam answered as he squeezed Angela’s hand, “We’ve done all we can
here. When we get to Paradis Roulette my nephew has a fully-staffed hospital.
He’ll have them do everything they can.”

“Will he be ok?” Angela asked
again, she was watching her brother’s sleeping face.

“I hope so but we won’t know
anything right away.” Sam responded. “Tone, you good to drive? We have to get
moving.”

“Yeah I got it.” Tone said and
walked back to the driver’s seat. Sydney joined him in the passenger seat while
Aaron stayed with us. He had both Daisy and my hand; I hadn’t even realized I had
reached out to him when he had gotten up from holding Thomas.

Thomas slept even after we got to
where Tone decided to park the bus for the night. Sydney was already asleep in
her seat and Tone reclined his. Sam was still sitting with Thomas lying on his
lap watching his every breath. Angela had fallen asleep where she was sitting
on the couch; she was holding one of Thomas’s hands.

“All of you should sleep
there’s nothing more we can do for him tonight.” Sam told us and we all
listened to him.

Daisy didn’t want to sleep
alone so she had Sawyer and I join her in her bedroom. Axel and Micah took the
room Sawyer and I had been sharing while Aaron went to Sydney’s room. None of
us said much to each other. The bus that had been filled with laughter was silent.
We all went to sleep hoping Thomas would be awake in the morning.

The morning came and was just as grey
as our moods.

Everyone was edgy, eyes darting
over to Thomas and back to the cereal we were eating. Thomas was still asleep
on the couch. Sam was no longer sitting with him; he was up with Tone in the
front of the bus with the door closed. Sydney was trying to cheer us up, but it
was impossible with Angela sitting there. She had tears leaking constantly out
of her eyes.

“All of you are going to upset
Thomas when he wakes up.” Sydney said as a last effort “He’s going to think he
has no chance.”

“Does he really have a chance?”
Angela asked, talking for the first time since we found Thomas.

“Yes, Sam did everything he
could and I think it was his best chance.” Sydney said to her as she crouched
down in front of her and took both her hands.

“If I would have brought him
with me he wouldn’t have been bit.” Angela sniffled.

“No honey it wasn’t your fault,
we all should have been paying more attention. He’s young and curious.” Sydney
told her.

I didn’t realize how much she
was blaming herself for what had happened. She thought Thomas was her
responsibility with their parents being gone.

“Will he get better?” Angela
asked not quite voicing what we were all worried about—would he turn?

“First he has to wake up and
then we will see.” Sydney told her.

We all found a place to sit near
Thomas as the bus started rolling again. Daisy coaxed Angela and Axel into
playing a game of Monopoly.

Sawyer sat whispering with
Micah. I was sitting near Thomas’s head and fiddling with his hair a bit as I
watched Daisy play with Angela and Axel. They both seemed to be letting Angela
win. She was somber, even when she smiled or laughed.

Thomas finally started to wake
up and at the first moan Sydney was there. She got him up slowly and held him.
He seemed groggy but smiled when his eyes found Angela. She was up and by his
side.

“Hey sleepy head.” Angela said
to him as she ruffled his hair, “How’re you feeling?”

“My leg hurts. Did I get bit?”
Thomas responded and went to touch his leg but Sydney grabbed his hand.

“No sweetie you can’t touch
that. Do you remember what Sam did to help stop the infection?” Sydney asked
him as she rubbed his palm in her hand.

“Yeah it hurt a lot.” Thomas
said “Am I going to be a Red Eye?”

“No sweetie we wouldn’t let
that happen to you.” Sydney said and he hugged her.

Thomas and Angela both hugged
Sydney. Angela wanted to know what she could do to help keep the bandage on
Thomas’s leg clean. It was hard to believe that she was only fourteen, she
acted a lot older. I was wondering how much time Thomas and her had spent
alone, neither one would talk about their parents.

Neither Sam nor Tone came back
to the main part of the bus. Sydney went up and talked to them a bit but she
wouldn’t say anything to us when she returned. She gave Thomas some sort of
pain pills to help keep the pain in his leg in check so he could play with
Angela and Axel.

They had found chutes and
ladders in the pile of games. Apparently it was Thomas’s favorite; he lit up
when he saw it. Of course they were letting him win. Every time he won, he’d
stand up and do a victory dance that looked a lot like the chicken dance.

Thomas barely made it through
lunch before he fell asleep again. Angela was worried but Sydney told her it
was normal; he was healing from a traumatic experience. Angela got Thomas to
their room and left the door open so if he woke up we would all know.

The bus rocked like it hit a
pot hole and came to an abrupt stop. Angela ran back to the room to check that
Thomas hadn’t been thrown from the bed. She came back and stood next to Axel as
we waited for Sam or Tone to come and tell us what had happened.

“Is everyone okay?” Sam asked
as he opened the door, he looked relieved to see us all standing there.

“I think so. Did we hit
something?” Sydney asked.

“Not something. Someone.” Sam
answered, his hands were shaking, “I tried to stop but they were in front of us
too fast. I don’t know if—”

“We should go check the body
and bury him.” Tone added as he came into the living room.

“Is it safe out there? What if
he was being chased?” Sydney asked as she wrapped her arms around Angela and
Axel, both standing closest to her.

“That is one point. If we just
leave, is that going to be something we can live with?” Sam asked as he sat
down.

“Any chance he survived?”
Sawyer asked and I noticed she was holding Micah’s hand.

“No. I don’t know how much this
bus weighs but the tires went over him.” Tone answered.

“My vote’s for leaving.” Sydney
said. “Not to sound heartless but we do have everyone else on this bus to think
of. Plus, if he was running from something we are risking getting ourselves
hurt or killed. For someone we can’t help, someone who is already dead.”

“I have to say I agree but
since we are all in this together I didn’t want to make the call.” Sam said as
he stood up and headed back to the driver’s seat. He didn’t shut the door as he
started the bus back up and got us moving.

I remembered news stories about
hit and runs. How horrible they were. Now everything was different. There were
risks now that no one would have dreamed to worry about before. I didn’t know
how I felt; I wanted to know who he was. But I didn’t want to see him either.

I didn’t realize I was crying
until Aaron came and sat by me. He didn’t say anything just hugged me and put
his chin on my head.

“It’s okay to be upset.” He
said to me.

“Was it right to leave him? Is
this what the world is now?” I asked as I hugged him.

“I don’t know if it was right
but it was safest for everyone on this bus. You remember now that other people
made the decision.” He said.

“But I feel relief that they
made that decision, what does that say about me?” I asked him as I pulled away
and looked into his blue-green eyes.

“It says that you’re scared of
what this world has turned into. Which you shouldn’t be ashamed of, I’m scared
too. That’s why I did what Wayne said to do; I thought I was safe with him.”
Aaron told me, “I’ll do better than he did. As long as I’m here I will look
after you and everyone else the best I can and I will die trying to keep you
all safe.”

“Thank you Aaron.” I responded.

“The way I see it we have a lot
in common, we should look out for each other.” Aaron said as he kissed my
forehead, “I miss Emily. I had always wanted a little sister when she was
born.”

“Really?” I asked smiling, “My
sister used to say I was a pain in the ass.”

“Yeah, she was too, but it
looks like we have a whole big family now. I should’ve known all that hoping
for a baby sister to protect when I was a kid would backfire.” Aaron said, “Now
I have more people to protect then I ever thought I would. It’s scary since I
failed to protect Emily.”

“Guess you should be careful
what you hope for.” I said.

“But seriously, whenever you
feel scared or alone, you come find me, got it?”

“I got it.” I laid my head on
his leg and he ran fingers through my hair till I fell asleep.

When I woke up, the bus had
stopped and Aaron was still sitting but he was asleep. His hand was on my head.
I tried to sit without waking him, but the second I moved he woke up. He smiled
at me as he stretched, and ruffled my hair the same way I’d seen him do to
Emily millions of times.

“Where are we?” He asked.

“Not sure.” Sydney answered,
“Sam and Tone said they needed to take a break from driving.”

“How’s the boy doing?” Aaron
asked.

“He’s awake again but he won’t
drink water yet.” Sydney answered, “He seems pretty good other than that.”

“Any sign of infection?” I
asked.

“So far he’s doing well. The
skin around the bite isn’t red and he seems like he’s going to be okay. But
it’s only been a day.” She said, “Now Aaron if you don’t mind I’d like to
borrow Ashlyn.”

Aaron didn’t say anything just
nodded and ruffled my hair again.

“See you later Ash.” Aaron said
as he headed to the bathroom.

I followed Sydney to the
kitchen where she was quiet for a while before she turned around and looked at
me.

“How old are you?” she asked
me.

“Seventeen.” I answered “Why?”

“You know Aaron is way too old
for you, right?” Sydney started.

“Too old for me?” I asked.

“Yes, the world’s gone crazy
but not that crazy.” Sydney answered.

“Wait. What are you assuming he
wants?” I asked.

“I don’t know what he wants but
it seems like he’s getting closer to you.” Sydney said.

“Yeah we’re all getting closer.
I was friends with his sister, remember? I’ve known him for years. Since we’re
like family now, I guess that makes you mom.” I snapped at her.

“I forgot you knew him before
this. We’re like a family now? What does he call you?” she asked.

“Little sister, with Emily gone
and him knowing me, he wants to protect me.” I answered, “Why are you looking
for bad in him? Isn’t there enough bad in the world as it is right now? You
guys let him stay. So when he starts to integrate with us, now you’re worried
about what his intentions are?” I was gripping the counter.

“You know what, you’re right.
He doesn’t talk to me much so I don’t know much about him. I see he hangs out
with you a lot and I was worried that there was more going on.” Sydney tried to
explain herself.

“Shouldn’t we be spending more
time on worrying about Thomas than Aaron? I heard what you said about water and
I remember those crazed in the Wal-Mart.” I told her.

“The water may be nothing. It
might be he is just a little boy and water has no sugar in it. He is drinking
other liquids even when they are watered down.” Sydney answered.

“Are you sure it’s nothing to
worry about? We don’t know how fast a bite infects someone and he’s so little.”
I said.

“Ashlyn, we don’t know, so
don’t say anything, we don’t want to upset Angela for no reason.” She said. I
nodded and walked away. I didn’t want to join chutes and ladders, and Sawyer
was cozied up to Micah on the couch. I wasn’t sure what was really going on
with them but I knew Sawyer would tell me if there was anything to tell. I
ended up going to my room; I sat on the bed looking out the window at our
surroundings. Aaron came in and joined me, he sat opposite of me.

“So what did Sydney think was
going on?” Aaron asked.

“She thinks you want sex.” I
answered. His eyes darkened and he shook his head.

“Yup, people always think the
worst.” Aaron said, “You have to admit, it’s kind of funny with everything else
being shit. She’s worried about my intentions. Hell, there’s a whole world of
crazy out there. Can you imagine Emily’s reaction to that?”

“Yeah.” I responded.

“Okay Ash what’s up?” Aaron
asked me, he was looking at me like my face would answer his question.

“We went into a Wal-Mart and
were attacked by some crazed. They were afraid of water. Now Thomas won’t drink
water and he was bit. I’m worried. But you can’t tell anyone I said anything.”
I answered. “They want to wait because Sydney thinks it could just be that he
doesn’t like plain water.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll just
have to keep an eye on him and hope Sydney is right.” Aaron said as he turned
and looked out the window. “Looks like we’re going to be moving soon, there in
the trees do you see the Red Eyes?”

“How do you know they’re Red
Eyes from here?” I asked. I could see the people in the trees walking towards
the bus.

“Look at how they walk.” Aaron
answered as we felt the bus come to life and the people got smaller as we
pulled away. “Do you see how slow they’re moving?”

I watched the group more
closely. I noticed there was stiffness to the movement the group was making.
They moved like marionettes.

“Okay, I see the movements are
different. How could you tell that fast?” I asked.

“From all the hunting I did
with Wayne and Emily. You learn to notice how things move.” He answered as we
watched Red Eyes disappear from view.