The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (46 page)

“I think we’re halfway through,” Hayden
whispered.

“Halfway?” I asked, looking behind us.
“That’s it?” How big was this place?

“Yeah. Maybe. I know there’s a lake roughly
in the middle. This might be it.” His fingers tightened around
mine. “Only about four hundred more acres to go.”

My breath whooshed out of me. “Should we get
back onto the streets?”

“Crazies or zombies…take your pick.”

“‘Neither’ isn’t an option?”

“I’m afraid not,” he said. He looked down the
path. “I don’t know where we are.”

“Ditto.” My heart was still racing. “Isn’t
there a running path around this lake?”

Hayden shook his head. “I have no idea.”

I looked at the water. “I’ve only seen it in
movies. Let’s follow it and see where it goes?”

“Sounds good enough for me,” Hayden agreed.
“And we only have to worry about zombies coming from one side.”

“And only having one side to run off to in
case of emergency,” I added with a shake of my head. Seeing as we
had little option, we took off. The pack rattled a bit with each
step and I hoped Hayden was doing all right carrying the
weight.

We veered off the running path and onto a
road, emerging from the park near a hospital that lay completely in
ruin. I only knew what it used to be by the damaged logo that lay
on the ground.

“Look,” Hayden said, letting go of my hand. I
pressed my hand over my chest, willing my heart to stop racing. My
legs ached from the constant running and adrenaline made them
shake. I followed to where he was pointing.

“Holy shit,” I breathed and felt chilled all
over again. I swallowed, taking it all in. I stepped closer to
Hayden, tightening my grip on the machete. There it was, in the
distance, lights glowing in the dark. “It’s real.”

Hayden shivered. He put his knife in his
other hand and held onto me, looking into my eyes. “Part of me
hoped we would get here and find nothing.”

I tore my eyes away from him to stare at the
distant glow of the Regency Hotel. “Me too.” We were so close, a
little over a mile probably, from the people who’d started this
whole thing. It scared me more than the park full of zombies. “Now
what?”

“I don’t know,” Hayden blurted. He let go of
me and wiped sweat from his forehead. “We need to find somewhere to
hide out until morning. We should get some rest, but I know it’ll
be hard to sleep.”

“You’re telling me.” I readjusted the bow.
“Maybe the crazies will stay away from this area,” I said, sweeping
my hand in front of me. “Since there are zombies behind us.”

“Yeah, there are,” Hayden said. “We can’t
stay here. We got a good head start but they’ll catch up to us
eventually.” We picked a street and went down it, going as fast as
we dared through the rubble.

“There’s someone up there,” I whispered. To
our left was a large, multi story building. It had been blown up;
half was gone, leaving walls and floors exposed as if the building
had been messily chopped down the middle. “I saw shadows.”

“Crazies?” Hayden suggested.

“Yeah. They’re watching us.” Hayden switched
his knife back into his right hand. “I can feel their eyes.”

“Me too,” he said. “Let’s get out of
here.”

We picked up the pace, moving down the
street. The crazy went through the building, staying parallel to
us. Something heavy clunked inside the building. I jumped, turning
to face the ruined structure. I clenched my jaw together, ears
ringing. Another black shadow moved across a broken window.

Then, like spiders descending upon a fly
trapped in their web, the crazies poured out of the building.

* * *

We turned around, prepared to hightail it
back into Central Park. But the crazies were one step ahead and
blocked our path. I couldn’t tell how many came out of the
building. It was just too damn dark. We didn’t know where they were
or what kind of weapons they had. It wasn’t worth the risk. We
ran.

We went down another street, going away from
the yellow glow. Anger flashed through me, making me skid to a
stop. There were people in that building, enjoying all the comforts
a luxury hotel offered. Sure, they had to go without cable and
their fancy sports cars, but they were safe in a building that was
no doubt impenetrable. On a fucking island.

“Riss!” Hayden yelled, realizing I wasn’t
following him anymore. “What are you doing?”

I brandished the machete. Shoes scuffed on
the littered streets. I brought my arm back. “I’m not running
anymore!” The crazy was just a dark silhouette. I swung the machete
down, the blade hitting the crazy in the shoulder. She hissed at
me, fingers bent like claws. I put both hands on the handle of the
machete and brought the blade down, dragging it back as it sliced
through muscle and skin.

She took another step forward before she
collapsed. Blood sprayed on my face when I yanked the blade up. I
turned and swung again, catching another crazy in the stomach.

“I’m sorry,” I said as he fell, intestines
spilling onto the street. “It’s not your fault.” I glared at the
Regency. “It’s
theirs
.”

Hayden pulled his knife out of the brain of
another crazy, turned around, and kicked another away from him. He
moved with speed and grace despite wearing the heavy pack.

Then they moved around us, circling like a
pack of wild dogs, chattering to each other in some sort of primal
language. I looked over my shoulder at Hayden. He tipped his head
down in a curt nod and moved his eyes to a break between
dilapidated buildings. We slashed our way through the pack of
crazies, climbing over jumbles of broken walls.

The crazies didn’t follow us. For a split
second, I thought we got away, narrowly escaping like we had
before. I was wrong. The herd of zombies had followed us out of
Central Park. There was an incoherent murmur among the crazies.
Some turned to fight off the zombies.

And others continued to pursue us. Hayden and
I ran, ducking under fallen beams. The roads were almost
impassable. Buildings had fallen into each other, creating
dangerous obstacles to go through.

Wires hanging down from a beam, caught on my
hair as I raced under it. Bits of drywall speckled my face, getting
in my eyes and making them burn and water. It wasn’t like I could
see in the pitch black anyway. I squeezed them shut for a few
seconds, waiting for the tears to wash the dust away.

“Riss!” Hayden called, his voice getting cut
off by debris sliding down a slab of concrete wall. “Look out!”

I whirled around, opening my eyes expecting
to see a crazy behind me. My vision was still blurry and everything
was just a dark shadow. I turned around, ready to push forward when
I heard the creaking. The crazy wasn’t behind me. He was above
me.

Hayden saw him before I did, reacting twice
as fast. He dove for me, knocking me out of the way just in time
for split beams and pieces of floor boards to crash down upon us. I
landed hard on my back, whacking my head on a sharp edge. I sat up,
head spinning.

“Hayden,” I called into the dark. The crazies
clicked and chirped to each other, struggling to get through the
rubble. “Hayden,” I said again, fear rising inside of me. I
swallowed hard, my heart beating so fast I could feel it pulsating
in my neck.

My wrist turned in, keeping a hold on the
machete. I pushed up, pain shooting along my arm. A broken desk had
fallen on my legs, pinning them down. “Hayden!” I called. He didn’t
answer. I yanked my foot up. My boot got caught. I pulled harder. I
didn’t care if my boot came off. I needed to find Hayden.

“Hayden!” I shouted. “Please, say something!”
Fear prickled through me, making more tears well in my eyes. I
screamed in frustration and finally pulled my foot free. I didn’t
have the chance to stand up before a crazy flew at me. I gripped
the machete and almost let go, the pain was so intense. But nothing
was bad enough to keep me from him, to keep me from finding
Hayden.

I slashed the blade through the air, slicing
the crazy below the belt. He hissed, hands flying to his crotch,
not in pain but in anger. I wildly waved my arm, making contact
with his chest. He dropped to the ground in just seconds.

I scrambled to my feet. “Hayden.” My voice
shook. He wasn’t responding. I looked at a pile of ruin, squinting
in the dark. He was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

I reached behind me, sticking my hand into
the quiver for the flashlight. It had fallen in too deep to reach
and I wasn’t going to waste time getting it.

I stumbled over a beam and saw the pack,
covered in dust. The machete fell from my hands, clattering against
pipes and chunks of wall. Hayden lay face down, half of his body
buried. I flew to him, shoving broken beams and parts of wall off
of him.

“Oh God, Hayden,” I cried. My hands shook. I
gently cupped his face and tipped his head up. Blood streamed down
his forehead. His eyes were closed. “Hayden!” I shook him. He was
completely unresponsive.

“Hayden!” I crumpled down, crying and buried
my face in his hair. Then I felt it. A heartbeat. He wasn’t dead,
just knocked out. “Hayden, come on. Wake up. We can’t stay here.
Please, Hayden!” I stuck my arms under him and dragged him out of
the pile. I tripped, falling backwards. The bow dug into my spine,
crunching against the bone. Hayden toppled onto me, his head
landing on my stomach.

He groaned. I scurried up, hooking my arm
through his. “Hayden,” I said, fighting back tears. “Hey, baby,
come on. Please.
Please
!” The death moans echoed off the
crumbling high rises.

“Riss,” he muttered. “You ok?” He struggled
to his feet, unable to open his eyes. He held onto my shoulders
needing support. So much blood dripped down his face. I kept a hold
on him to keep him on his feet.

“I’m fine. Hold onto me. We have to get out
of here. Now!” Hayden took a few steps before he was overcome with
dizziness and slumped to the ground. I dropped down with him,
pulling his arms through the straps of the pack.

“No,” he said, his voice breathy. “I…I got
it.”

“Shut up.” My teeth chattered together I was
so terrified. “You’re concussed.” I put the pack on not caring that
it caused my bow and quiver to dig into my back. I went around to
Hayden. He took a deep breath and shook his head. He stood with
minimal assistance. He wrapped his arm around me, hobbling a few
paces. Then he let go and was able to continue on his own.

We made it another block before Hayden
stopped, his gait faltering. He had one arm around my shoulders and
I had one wrapped around his waist. He sidestepped, tripping over
his feet. I struggled to keep a hold of him. Then he doubled over
and threw up.

“Fuck,” he panted.

“It’s bad,” I said, referring to his head
injury. “We need to find somewhere to stop.”

He nodded, wiping his mouth. I pulled him to
me and trudged forward, going to the first building I saw. The
lobby was a mess and the stairs were blocked. I turned, defeated.
There was nowhere to go. The crazies were going to catch up to us.
I couldn’t fight them myself and Hayden could barely keep his eyes
open. I didn’t see a way out of this.

Then I saw the fire escape on the outside.
The metal was bent, but it was still in place. I took the pack off
and jumped, having to make several attempts to get the ladder down.
Flakes of metal rained down on me, letting me know that no one had
pulled it down in a long time. I put the pack back on and had
Hayden go first in case he stumbled. I knew I couldn’t catch him,
but I would try. I would always try.

We made it up. I lay on my belly and reached
down, pulling the ladder up. We continued going up, until Hayden
couldn’t make it any farther. He leaned against the side of the
building while I went in through the door that had been blown off
from the blast.

Glass crunched under my feet. I took the pack
off, dropping it to the ground. Then I removed my bow and quiver. I
reached inside, getting the flashlight. Wallpaper hung in tattered
sheets and bits and pieces of the building crumbled along the
floor. The hallway was blocked, caved in on itself. Only two doors
could be opened. I held my breath and waited.

Nothing came running out at us. I went back
to the door and helped Hayden inside, going into the first room,
not daring to venture too far from the fire escape. Wind blew in
through the large window that was missing all its glass. It offered
a good view of the city below.

The furniture had been tossed around from the
explosions. The carpet smelled like mildew from being rained on.
But it had to do. Hayden put one hand on the doorframe, fighting to
stay awake.

I flipped a leather couch over, brushing off
dirt. The cushions were slashed and slightly damp. “Sit,” I told
Hayden. He pursed his lips, wanting to object. “Please,” I added
and the desperation in my voice caused him to obey.

I looked around the room we were in, guessing
it to be a living room and kitchen all in one. There was a door on
the far wall, blocked by a broken table. Once Hayden was situated,
I moved the table and went through the apartment, surprised to see
some of the furniture in good standing…but buried under rain rotted
ceiling tiles.

The bedroom was tiny; there was hardly room
for the twin bed. I pulled the mattress off and dragged it out,
bumping over debris. I yanked the sheets off, flipped it over, and
put it in the middle of the room. I held the flashlight in my mouth
as I opened the pack. I tossed the sleeping bag onto the mattress
and grabbed the first aid kit.

Hayden and I were covered in cuts and
scrapes. The only one I was worried about was the gash on Hayden’s
head.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, opening his eyes for
a few seconds as I dabbed at the wound with an alcohol swab.