Contagious (4 page)

“
Is no one gonna talk about this?” a strangled voice choked out. It was the young nurse, the one who spouted out biblical end of days shit. She stood, extending her hand and pointing at me. “She
killed
two people and no one seems to care.”

“
She saved us,” Jason defended. “You saw it. Those girls we let in…” he shook his head. “They weren’t human anymore. If Orissa hadn’t killed them then they would have killed us.”

“
You can’t refute that,” Padraic agreed. “Nor forget that they had killed first. And we-we can’t let anyone else in. It’s too dangerous.” That caused a hush of murmurs to break out amongst everyone. Half seemed to agree, some objected, others doubted there was anyone left to let in. “It shouldn’t be too much longer until the rescue groups come and save us.” Though he spoke confidently and smiled like he meant it, I knew Padraic was lying. No one was coming. Hell, maybe all of FEMA had died too.

I cleared my throat. “You all can thank me anytime.” I stood, wishing I could make a dramatic exit as I marched away from the group to the corner of the room that housed old wheelchairs. I flopped down in one, bored, annoyed, scared, and on edge. I picked at the crackling foam armrest.

“
You didn’t ask for painkillers today,” Padraic said, coming up behind me.

“
Nope.”

“
I’m gonna guess you never needed them.”

“
Nope,” I repeated.

“Then why?”
I sighed and shrugged. “Why not? What else am I going to do?” I dug my nails into the foam. I didn’t want to tell him that I hadn’t taken the virus outbreak seriously until I saw it firsthand and until now my plan was to get out of this Godforsaken basement. “I knew I needed that time to heal, so what better way than to do it in an almost happy, drug induced coma?”

“
You could be more, more social?” he suggested.

“
What’s the point?”

“
It’s good for you, for everyone, and I see Zoe’s taken a shine to you.”

When I didn’t answer, he walked away. I stayed in that corner for the rest of the morning, busy being pissed off at everything. Around what I assumed was noon, I accompanied Jason to the storage closet. At first glance, the large pantry seemed to house a lot of food. But when you mentally divided it up among fifty-two—well, now fifty-one— people eating three times a day, it wouldn’t last us more than a week.

Since Padraic seemed to have taken on the leadership role, I pulled him aside after we ate our yummy lunch of microwaved, frozen pizza.

“
You told me there was enough food to last ‘awhile’,” I said. He only frowned. “Why did you lie? We’re lucky if we make it another week.”

His shoulders sagged. “I know.”

“
Then why didn’t you say something?”

“
What was I supposed to do?” he begged.

“
I don’t know, go find more?”

“
I can’t leave—”

“—
my patients, I know,” I finished for him, rolling my eyes. “Great plan. Stay here and medicate the shit out of them while they starve to death!”

“
Shh! Orissa, I don’t want the kids to know.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “If we just wait a few more days, maybe someone will come for us like they promised.”

“
No one is coming! Don’t you get that?” I waved my hands around. “Don’t you all get that? No one is coming for us, and we can’t stay here forever.” Megan’s baby cried, as if he knew the truth my words held.

Jason nodded. “What should we do?” he asked.

“
Get out of here, leave. This basement will be our tomb. The food will run out…and what about when winter comes?”

Padraic took my hand in his. “Orissa,” he said, his accent heavy when he spoke my name. “Come talk to me out here.” He took me out of the safe room and closed the door. “I know, I know we will run out of food, I know it will be cold in the winter.”

“
Then why aren’t you doing anything about it?”

“
There’s not much I can do; these people are sick, Orissa. They physically cannot survive without their medications.”

“
So you’re just going to stay here and die with them?”

“
Yes, I will take care of them for as long as I can.”

Stupid, noble Irish man. “Let me bring food,” I offered, thinking it might be enough to let me escape after I brought back some food.

“
From where?”

“
Anywhere, I think a grocery store would be a good start.”

“
We don’t know what it’s like out there.”

“
Exactly. It might not be so bad,” I tried.

“
Don’t be a fool, Orissa.”

“
We have to at least try,” I pleaded, hoping to appeal to his empathetic side. “And I’m not your prisoner. You can’t keep me here against my will.”

“
Ok, but you’re not going alone. I’m coming with.”

I rolled my eyes at his chivalry. Objecting might have been the decent thing to do, insisting that he was more valuable here than dead. But I really didn’t want to go out there alone. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“
Now?”

“
No, we’ll wait until the crazies go to sleep. Of course now. When else?”

He nodded. “Right. I’ll go tell the others.”

“
Hurry up, ok?” I wanted to leave before fear stopped me.

“
Alright.” He scuttled back into the room. I leaned against the wall, wishing I was familiar with this town. Several minutes later, Padraic returned. He wasn’t alone. Jason, Sonja, and the two guys that helped moved the bodies accompanied him. “They’re coming too,” he informed me.

“
No,” I replied shortly. Padraic seemed to be in good shape. I was banking on him keeping up with me. I was quick, a natural athlete, as my grandmother liked to say. I could take care of myself, but five others?

“
Safety in numbers,” one of the men said with a wry smile.

“
Weapons,” I sighed, “You need weapons.” Annoyed no one had thought that far ahead, I went back into the safe room, pulling apart machinery to make spears and shanks. They were robust at best, but better than nothing. “Alright,” I said, examining the two feet of metal I had in my hands. I fashioned a point at the end of the rod I took out of one of those things that holds an IV up. “Where is the closest grocery store?”

Jason and Sonja weren’t from this town either. Padraic lived on the opposite side, away from the slums, but the two men were familiar.

“
There’s one a block away,” the older of the two men told me. “On foot, it’s just a few minutes walk.”

“
Great, let’s go.” I wanted to know his name, but didn’t ask. What was the point of getting chummy with people that might die? I led the way up the dark stairs, unlocking the main basement doors slowly. Suddenly dreading leaving the safety of this dungeon, my hand shook as I pushed the door open.

No one breathed. Since I was in the front, I peered around the door. This hall was dark as well; dull emergency lights cast shadows on the ransacked hospital. I watched, I waited, I saw nothing. Tentatively, I moved out of the stairwell. I had no idea where we were. Knowing we had to be somewhere in the middle of the hospital, I went to the right. Muscles stiff with anticipation, my eyes darted madly around for any signs of life. Padraic nodded for me to continue. I rounded a corner and froze.

“
What is it?” Sonja whimpered.

“
Nothing bad just…” I motioned to the glass shattered all over the tile. I was barefoot.

“
I’ll carry you over it,” Padraic offered. Knowing how this situation fared for Bruce Willis in
Die Hard
, I didn’t balk at his proposal. We were a good ten feet past the glass when he finally set me down.

“
Thanks. My clothes,” I started, “where are they?”

Padraic didn’t know what I meant.

“
The exam room I was in. Where is it?”

“
Orissa, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he advised.

“
You can’t carry me over every sharp thing,” I added pointedly.

Jason butted in saying, “She’s right.”

“
Thank you,” I noted, pressing a smile. With a sigh, Padraic directed us to the exam room. Bodies littered the hall. The smell was nauseating. Sonja clutched her brother’s arm, not wanting to look at the decaying humans. I slipped into the room, jumping over the heavy hospital bed that blocked the door; it must have been what fell against it and trapped me inside. My clothes were still there and I hurriedly got dressed. I dumped the contents of my purse onto the floor, only putting back what I really needed: the notebook, keys, a bottle of hand sanitizer, lip balm, a hair tie and my taser. I debated if I needed my wallet. Not wanting to just leave it here, I pulled out my ID and the little cash I still had, stuffing it into my leather bag. My cell phone had died days ago. Seeing it as useless, I left it on the floor. I slung the strap over my head, pulled on my boots and dashed out of the room.

Padraic pointed to the right. Silently, we walked through the hospital, passing more bodies. Sunlight filtered through the dirt and blood splattered windows in the lobby. Something scuttled behind the front desk. I whirled around, raising the piece of metal. Sonja let out a muffled scream. She was our weak link, I knew in that moment. And Jason would die trying to protect his sister. He stood in front of her, ready to defend her if need be.

“
Shh!” I whispered harshly, shaking my head. Sonja pressed her hand over her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. Carefully, I advanced. Whatever was lurking behind the desk grumbled, moving quickly and rumpling papers. Picking up what was supposed to be a decorative vase from the desk, I threw it as far as I could to the side. It clattered loudly on the ground.

The thing lurched out, seeking the source of the noise. Half of its face was burned and bloody, inhibiting me to guess its sex or gender. One leg was twisted, obviously broken. Still, it moved with impressive speed. At first it was too distracted by the noise. It abruptly skidded to a stop and sniffed the air. Slowly, it turned to look at us, salivating. It snarled and roared before coming after us.

Sonja screamed, grabbing onto Jason for dear life. I circled around, raising my metal rod to crash it down in its head. The thing turned so fast it startled me. I recoiled, tripping over a fallen stack of medical files, my weapon bouncing out of my hand and rolling away from me. I pulled my knees to my chest and kicked, hitting the disgusting person in the chest. It staggered back. The older man I didn’t know hit it over the head with his weapon: a broken two by four.

The thing dropped to its knees. I sprang up, grabbed the rod and drove it through its chest; blood weakly splattered out. I yanked my weapon back, panting. My eyes met the older man’s. “I don’t know your name,” I spat out.

“
Logan,” he said. “I’m Logan.”

“
Orissa.”

He winked. “I know. I think we all know.”

“
Oh. And you?” I asked the younger man.

“
Deron.”

“
Ok.” I nodded. My heart was still racing. “We need to go on.” The sliding doors didn’t open when we stepped in front of them. Out of habit, everyone waited a beat before remembering that the power had been shut off. I put my hands on the glass and shoved the doors to the side. Slowly, they opened. We exited the hospital; the bright sunlight too much for our eyes, since we were used to the dimness of the basement. I blinked, barely able to keep my eyes open.

The world was dead. No matter where I looked, I saw nothing but desolate ruins of the city. Cars run off the roads, doors left ajar. Windows smashed and doors broken. A dog trotted down the street. He saw us and booked off in the opposite direction.

“
Which way?” I asked no one in particular.

“
Follow me,” Logan said, waving his hand for us to follow. Unscathed, we trudged west. Jason kept a strong hold of Sonja’s hand. The gesture comforted her, I knew. Still, I wanted to tell him that it was better he keep both hands on his weapon. No one dared speak until we reached the grocery store parking lot. The glass front had been broken, causing a small flicker of fear to rise up in me.

From what I had been told, the virus outbreak came on so suddenly no one had time to prepare. I was banking on the fact that the stores hadn’t been emptied, that people left in a chaotic panic, leaving canned food and water behind. If I was wrong…I shook my head. We’d be dead, that was for sure.

The air was cold, characteristic of an Indiana October. The sun beat down warmly upon us. If it wasn’t for the decay that lay around me, I could have said today was a picturesque fall day. I swallowed, nodded at Padraic and stepped inside the store.

The thick cobwebs confused me for all of two seconds. Halloween decorations colorfully decorated the registers. Stepping over a broken jack-o-lantern, I eased further into the store. I was tempted to shout out ‘hello’ just for the hell of it. It would take the guesswork out of whether or not we were alone. A rusty squeak and a metallic clang sent my nerves on end. I spun around, almost slipping on pumpkin parts, only to see Sonja guiltily shrug as she pushed a cart.

“
How else are we going to carry everything?” she asked apologetically.

“
You’re right,” Padraic said, and got a cart himself. “There’s no way we can carry everything back.” He pushed his cart forward, realized the wheel stuck and rattled loudly, and traded it in for another.

“
Sonja, Jason, Padraic,” I said in a low voice. “Get water. That should be your first priority. If there’s still room left in your cart, get juice, preferably the 100% kind, not the sugary crap. Deron, Logan, and I will find food. Be quiet. Two of you load up supplies while the other watches. Scream only if necessary.”