The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (42 page)

There were walkways above us, going between
each row of rotating produce. We walked up the metal stairs, went
down a walkways and into a small room that overlooked the entire
greenhouse.

Hayden stopped short, blocking the entrance
to the room. My heart skipped a beat, thinking that maybe the
groundskeeper had been up here all along, watching us through the
large window.

“There’s a computer,” he whispered. “And it’s
on.”

“It’s not going to jump up and bite you,” I
said and put my hand on Hayden’s side, gently nudging him forward.
His skin was hot and the fabric of his shirt was damp with sweat.
“Don’t tell me you think it’s a droid,” I said when he didn’t
move.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t. There could
be a camera.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” I said.
Hayden nodded and went in, waving his hand in front of the screen.
“I don’t see a webcam built in,” I said quietly, feeling paranoid
as well.

Hayden turned, waving to Brock, who knelt
down in front of the desk. He inspected the wires, knowing exactly
what he was looking for. He sat in the faded rolling chair and
wiggled the mouse. The black screen gave way to a green box. The
curser flashed.

Brock bit his lip. Then he entered a
password. His shoulders tensed as he tried again, typing so fast I
couldn’t keep up.

“Are you hacking in?” Jason asked, voice full
of awe.

“Kinda,” Brock said. “I used to do this when
I was on active duty.” He shook his head. “Though I never tried to
hack our own government. And I had internet connections.”

“There isn’t a connection?” I asked, though I
knew the answer. There couldn’t be. The satellite signals to
Padraic’s built in GPS stopped working within weeks of the virus
hitting. It never made sense to me. It shouldn’t have gone out that
fast. Eventually…yes. But not in mere weeks.

“There is,” he said, shocking us all. “But I
can’t tell you what it is. I’ve never seen it before.” Brock
continued to type away. He hit enter then leaned back, a smile on
his face. ACCEPTED flashed across the screen.

“No fucking way,” I said, moving closer.

Brock shrugged. “I just bypassed the login
password. I won’t be able to get on anything else.”

Hayden narrowed his eyes, thinking. “It has
to be some sort of satellite transmitter, right?”

Brock let out a breath and shook his head.
“That’s my best guess. One that’s heavily encrypted.” He clicked
something and files popped up. “I’m not attempting to get on. I
don’t want to alert anyone that we’re here.”

“Good thinking,” Hayden said.

My head swam. Encrypted signals…hidden
computer files…it was like we were living my grandpa’s
nightmare.

“This is just a log of upkeep and harvests,”
Brock said as he scrolled through the files. “Nothing useful.” He
was about to close the files when he said, “Hang on.”

“What?” Hayden, Jason, and I all said at the
same time.

“This is interesting,” Brock said and tapped
the screen. “This pulled up all the files. Look at the numbers from
two years ago. They stay consistent…until July of last year.
Production tripled, dropped to almost nothing in October and
increased in November, going back to normal in February.”

“They were preparing,” Hayden said and
another chill ran through me. “Our own government had planned this
months in advance.” He shook his head. “Wow.”

“It looks like the watering and rotating
system is run electronically through this program,” Brock said as
he scanned through the files. “And someone comes to harvest once a
week. Every Wednesday.”

I had no clue what the date was let alone
what day of the week today was. By the sudden increase in tension I
could only guess.

“Tomorrow,” I said. “They’re coming
tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Hayden said. “At least we know.”

Brock closed the files and put the computer
in standby, like it was before. We set up a camp for the night,
unrolling sleeping bags and getting our weapons ready just in
case.

Hayden and I took first watch and spent the
hours walking up and down the greenhouses. I was tired by the time
we switched. Hayden draped his arm over me, raising my body
temperature even more. I closed my eyes, feeling the stress of
needing
to get some shuteye. After an hour passed and I
still wasn’t asleep, I wiggled out of Hayden’s embrace and
stood.

“Fuck it,” I said and kicked off my boots and
jeans. Stress was building as each minute passed where I wasn’t
asleep. I pulled my t-shirt over my head and neatly laid it out,
ready to throw it on if need be. Really, I just needed my boots. If
it came down to it, I’d fight zombies in my underwear.

Much more comfortable, I moved close to
Hayden again. Even in his sleep he responded to me, running his
hand down my naked thigh. His touch was comforting and helped me
relax. I closed my eyes and focused on taking steady, calming
breaths until I fell asleep.

I had rolled over onto my stomach in my
sleep. Hayden’s hand slid and was resting on my butt.

“Rise and shine,” Jason said, opening the
door to the small room. I stretched my arms and pushed up. Jason
stared at me, mouth hanging open. “Sorry!” he said and whirled
around, closing the door. I couldn’t help but laugh. I never
understood why I was considered indecent in a tank top and
underwear but perfectly ok in a bikini.

Hayden snaked his arm around me and pulled me
close. “Don’t get up yet,” he whispered, his breath hot in my ear.
“Who knows the next time we’ll get to do this.”

“That’s what you said yesterday,” I whispered
back, smiling as I thought of our last night together at the
compound. I pressed my face into his chest, running my hand up his
shoulder. Carefully, I traced over the scar tissue from the bullet
wound on his left shoulder. That horrible day seemed so long ago.
So much had happened since.

Begrudgingly, we broke apart, got dressed,
and rolled up the sleeping bags. Brock and Jason were outside,
using the greenhouses as shade while they ate breakfast. Hayden and
I put our stuff in the truck, grabbed several pieces of fruit, and
joined them.

“It should be you and Jason,” Hayden said,
looking at me. He sat on the ground, peeling an orange. “You two
are the least intimidating-looking, no offense.”

I glared at him but knew it was true. I was
female, and as much as I hated it, I knew how a lot of men—and even
some women—thought of females in situations like this. Jason was
young, only eighteen years old, and had one of those faces that
exuded innocence.

Hayden was tall, muscular, and tattooed.
There was a stigma against him as well. Brock wasn’t as tall, but
he was just as well built from all our time working out. His face
carried sadness, something he got during the war. He would have a
hard time playing victim.

“Fine,” I said and looked at Jason. “You’re
my brother and we’ve been wandering for weeks. Just act hungry and
scared.”

“You sure you don’t want to be my hot cougar
girlfriend?” he asked with a wink.

“Shut up,” I said. “I’m not that old.”

“At least he said you’re hot,” Hayden
teased.

“So,” I said and looked around. “Where are we
gonna hide the cars? There’s nothing close.”

“I already thought of that,” Brock said and
pulled a map from his pocket. It was hand drawn but incredibly
neat. “Here,” he said and pointed to a cluster of trees.
“Logically, whoever comes here will drive down this way and not
come anywhere close to us.”

I nodded. It was quite a hike but it wouldn’t
kill us. “And you guys will be?”

“Roughing it in the weeds behind the
greenhouses.”

I wrinkled my nose. “You could be there for
hours.”

Hayden shrugged. “I’ve been in worse for
days.”

I nodded, momentarily forgetting that he had
been through hell before this.

“I’ll tap three times on the walkie,” he
said. “No talking in case they have radios on the same wave.”

Once the details were worked out, we went
into out positions. Jason had fun smearing dirt over our packs and
then our faces, making it look like we were as ragged as we were
going to claim to be.

I sat on the tailgate of the truck, swinging
my legs. Anxiety wrapped around my heart. I didn’t like not knowing
what was going to happen. And I really didn’t like Hayden being so
far away.

“Should we talk with accents?” Jason
asked.

“Huh?”

“You know, as a disguise.”

“I don’t think they’ll recognize us at all.”
I shook my head. “Let me hear your accent.”

Jason looked up, thinking about which accent
to do. “What about this?” he asked in an Irish accent. “I can say
my name is Padraic.”

I laughed. “No, that’s horrible!”

“Top of the morning to ya, lady!”

“Stop!” I said, doubling over from laughter.
“You sound like an evil leprechaun!” Amidst the laughter, we almost
didn’t hear Hayden’s signal. The smile left my face right away. I
took in a deep breath and held a hand out to Jason. “Ready?”

He nodded, taking my hand. We emerged from
the trees, hurrying to the road. A cloud of dust hung in the air.
My heart beat faster. They—whoever the hell
they
were—were
there.

“Shit,” Jason muttered under his breath.

I followed his eyes. Two zombies staggered
through the field. My arm twitched, wanting to reach up and grab an
arrow. I hated not having my bow. I felt naked. But that was part
of my barely-getting-by portrayal.

“This could work, actually,” I said. “Just
follow my lead.”

We continued down the road, slowing enough to
give the zombies a chance to catch up. They were only yards behind
us when we came up to the greenhouses. I looked at the weeds,
hoping Hayden could see me. If he heard the screams, heard me
begging for help, would he come running? I couldn’t be positive
he’d know it was all an act.

I pressed the button on the walkie and tapped
it three times, just like he had. I hoped that was enough. Jason
squeezed my hand and turned to me. I nodded and let go. Adrenaline
rushed through me, making my hands shake. I dropped my knife in the
street and turned, waiting for the zombies to catch up.

Jason and I went for the faster of the two,
knocking it down and off the street. He went to it, keeping it in
the grass. I turned and waited.

This could end badly, very badly. One wrong
move and zombie teeth could ascend on me, tearing open my flesh. I
swallowed and let out a breath. He was close. I resisted the urge
to close my eyes. Just feet away. He stretched out his arms. I
turned my head. His hands landed on my shoulder. I kicked his legs
out, keeping a hold on him, and lowered both of us to the
ground.

I fell faster than I planned, thudding on the
street painfully. But the zombie was right on cue, pressing his
hands against my body, pinning me to the ground. I took a deep
breath and screamed.

“Help me, please!” I turned my head and
screamed again. I cast a look at Jason. He dodged back, barely
missing his zombie’s grasp. The one on top of me pushed harder.
“Someone, help!” I screamed again, wondering if it was too obvious.
We weren’t supposed to know anyone was in the greenhouses.

I struggled to hold the zombie away. Brown
goo dripped onto my neck. Repulsed, I flinched and my hand slipped
off his shoulder. Shit. The zombie came at me, teeth barred. I
wasn’t pretending anymore. I needed to get away. Now.

I stuck my hand up, pushing my palm into his
chin as hard as I could in an attempt to keep his mouth shut while
I squirmed out from under him. He was strong. And heavy, so heavy,
pinning my legs underneath him.

I opened my mouth to call to Jason, to tell
him that I needed help when a gunshot rang through the air. Bits of
rotten brain splattered my face. I pushed the zombie off me and
sprang up. Then I remembered I needed to act weak and scared.

Scared wasn’t hard. I was scared. I turned my
head and saw a man rushing out of the greenhouse. Another stood at
the edge of the street, holding up a gun. Jason shoved the zombie
in front of him down and pushed his knife into his skull.

The man on the street lowered his arm and
came over to me, extending his hand. I took it and let him pull me
to my feet.

“Th-thank you,” I stuttered. I wrapped my
arms around myself.

Jason rushed over and hugged me. “That was a
close one, sis,” he said. I ducked my head down against his
shoulder and squeezed my eyes shut, generating fake tears. I pulled
away, wiping at my eyes with my wrist.

“Thank you,” Jason said, turning to the man
who shot the zombie. “Thank you for saving my sister.”

The man just nodded, gray eyebrows flat and
face void of emotion. “Where did you two come from?” he asked. The
second man moved closer. He was younger, and looked scared.

“We’ve been wandering,” Jason said.

“Wandering?” the older man questioned.

“We had a camp,” I said before Jason could
speak again. “It got overrun.” I blinked, causing fat tears to roll
down my cheeks. My lip quivered, and I took in a ragged breath. I
held onto Jason’s hand. “We ran…I-I think we’re all that’s
left.”

The older man nodded, then looked at his
partner. “Good day.” He turned to leave.

“Wait!” I called, not having to fake the
desperation. “Do you have somewhere safe? Can we come with you?
Please! We’re so hungry!”

The younger man’s face softened. “Cal, come
on, we can give them some food.”

“No!” Cal growled. “We have no camp. It’s
just us and we don’t take on strangers. Be on your way.”

“Please, mister!” I begged. “We know you have
food in there.” I swept my hand in the direction of the
greenhouses. “You have enough to spare just a little.”

“There’s nothing in those buildings!” Cal
growled. “Nothing!”