Whimper (12 page)

“What is all this stuff?” Brianna asked, sounding awed.

“There’s a little bit of everything in here. We’ve got weapons, ammo, survival gear, medical supplies, nutrition supplements, valuables for trade, old books and how to manuals. You name it! There’s even some real crazy shit like holy water and crosses and stuff that I don’t even know what they are. It’s all sealed up to be fireproof too.” He knocked on the inside of the wall cavity and it made an odd metallic thud.

“Are there any documents or books about the house itself?” I asked, trying not to be angry that I’d never been inside this treasure trove before. Why would Rick have kept me out? We were so close. I guess this must have been his thing with Zack, but it still hurt to be excluded.

Zack plunged into his cave of wonders, pulling out boxes and shuffling through them until he finally found one that seemed to meet his satisfaction. “Here you go!” he huffed. “One box chock full of crap about the history of this house. Is this really the time to get into architecture though? Kind of seems like the grenades might be handier.”

“Brianna has a theory she wants to look into.” I shrugged. I didn’t really understand how the house was connected with our supposedly quirky genetic structure, but I guess it
was
part of our family history so, whatever. As long as I didn’t have to go through all that paperwork then I didn’t really care.

I leaned into the opening, ducking to stand next to Zack and survey the overflowing shelves. Thinking back to the gruesome events I’d witnessed recently, I couldn’t help feeling relieved that we had some resources to protect ourselves with. “Bullets stop them at least,” I thought aloud. “Maybe we should have some guns handy, just in case?”

“Hell yeah! Every now and then you actually act like you’re my sister.” Zack grinned and started pulling out cases that contained handguns and ammo. “I’ll be able to sleep better knowing I can blast anybody who tries to chew their way in here.”

Elliott cleared his throat uncomfortably, but he didn’t say anything. Maybe he had the same thought I did. If he lost it and went full blown viral, we might have to use one of these same guns against him to protect ourselves. The thought made the soup in my stomach heave up a bit. No way. That wasn’t going to happen.

“I think I’ll go back downstairs and check the news footage, see what else is going on,” Elliott mumbled before retreating.

I left Zack rummaging through his secret room and Brianna sitting on my bed, digging through the box of documents, to go back downstairs and check on him. I found Elliott sitting on the couch, the TV feed paused on a slightly blurry picture of some kind of a white semi-truck or RV thing, while he frantically scribbled notes on a pad of paper.

“You okay?” I asked, dropping onto the couch beside him and leaning against his side. I could feel the muscles in his arms bunch as he flipped pages and sketched something out. Nothing about the guy screamed “I’m infected with a horrible brain killing virus!” He seemed too strong, too vital and alive for that to be true. I felt like I could trust him, like he was telling the truth, but I struggled to wrap my head around that too. Or maybe it was my heart that was struggling with the idea of losing him before I even got the chance to actually have him in the first place.

“I’m actually very good, considering the circumstances.” He grinned, looking a little too excited for some reason.

“Why do I get the impression that your good mood doesn’t have to do with the excellent company you’ve been keeping lately?” I asked, trying to pick up the notepad from the table in front of him before he slid it away.

“The company is more than excellent, but you’re right. See that truck on the screen? Do you know what that is?” He brushed the hair away from my neck and planted a soft kiss just above my shoulder, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Some kind of delivery truck?” I speculated, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice.

“It’s a mobile lab! They actually brought in a mobile lab! Everything I would need to finish the tests on your blood, even to synthesize a serum, will be in one of those things. They’re set up specifically for infectious disease research.” Elliott’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “If I could find a way into that lab, I might be able to put a stop to all this and I wouldn’t have to involve any of the rest of you. I only have to figure out where they’re keeping it and how to get past the security measures.”

“I thought you said that you’d be recognized?” I gnawed on my lower lip, not liking the way this conversation was headed.

“Maybe. Maybe not. They do think I’m dead, after all, and it’s possible that no one I worked directly with is even here. It
is
a huge federal agency, you know.” He shifted, staring down at the notebook in his hand.

“Yeah, I call bullshit on that. If you’re dead, then wouldn’t they want the most knowledgeable people they’ve got working on the virus? The experts are going to be the people who worked with you on it, not some team that just blundered in from giving flu shots in Boise. You’re not telling me everything. I want to know every step of this plan, and I want to help.” Maybe if I forced myself into the scenario then he’d try harder to make sure it was safe and that we’d both be able to go home afterward in one piece and not in body bags.

Elliott sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I don’t think this is something you should be involved in, Zoe. It will be dangerous, very dangerous, and I’m already putting you at risk simply by being here. Plus, if I do make it inside then there won’t be much you can do to help me with the tests that will need to be run.”

“Well, I get to decide if I’m willing to do something dangerous and what risks I’m willing to take, so you can wipe your conscience clear there. Plus, who’s going to watch your back while you’re doing all these tests? Are you going to drag Brianna along again? Hasn’t she been put in danger enough already?” I demanded. I knew that the comment about his sister was underhanded. I was playing on his guilt, but it had to be done.

“No! I was planning to leave her here so that if I do get caught then the three of you can be kept out of it. If they don’t kill me on sight, there will be massive federal charges and a trumped up trial. They’ll probably pin the virus’ release on me. I’ll be more vilified than Bin Laden. It will be safer for you all if no one knows that I was ever here.”

“Safer? We’ll be “safer” if the only person who has a clue how to stop this virus is killed or captured by the very people who are infecting the entire campus with it? Right. You know, for a genius sometimes you aren’t very smart.” I rolled my eyes and snatched his notes away from him so that I could actually get a look at his stupid plan. “Stop trying to sacrifice yourself. You aren’t disposable. We need you to fix this. Let’s start working on a plan that doesn’t include you dying a hero’s death, okay?”

Elliott stared at me for a moment, shocked either that I’d berated him or because I’d so rudely snagged the notebook out of his hand. I didn’t really care why. He needed a good swift kick in the head if that’s what it took. When he suddenly lunged for me, I twisted to protect the papers. No way was I falling for the same trick I’d just pulled, but when Elliott pinned me against the couch arm I realized he wasn’t going for my prize at all.

“Zoe,” he said raggedly, his breath hot against my neck. “You’ve got to give up this idea that you can save me. You’ve got to stop giving me hope. I don’t…I can’t…”

I cut him off by pressing my lips to his and wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer. I wasn’t willing to listen to any talk about lost causes. The whole damn world is a lost cause, but that doesn’t mean we lay down and accept it. I was going to keep fighting for the things I wanted until I drew my last breath, and right now there wasn’t a damn thing I wanted more than Elliott.

“I’m not letting go of you that easily. You picked up the wrong girl in the wrong bar if you were looking for easy,” I whispered back fiercely. “I am in this fight and I’m not backing down. Deal with it.”

Elliott wrapped himself around me so tightly I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to breathe, but in the moment that didn’t seem to be the most pressing concern. We simply held each other, bound up in the tension of the moment. I wasn’t about to let go first. Finally, I felt his body relax by degrees and sag against the back of the couch.

“Okay,” he murmured, pulling me with him so that I was no longer supporting his weight. He stroked my hair with his face, nuzzling my temple.

“Okay, what?” I asked cautiously.

“Okay, let’s make a plan together. Provided that it doesn’t put you in unnecessary danger.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat up and brushed my messed up hair out of the way. “We should start with some research. We need to know where the boundaries of the quarantine are and where the bad guys are, right?”

Elliott nodded. “I think that’s a reasonable place to start. How do you plan on finding that out?”

“Elliott, this is a college campus. There are two places you can find out absolutely everything that is going on here. The first one is a bar, but the second is the internet!”

Zoe was a typing, Twittering, instant messaging machine. She’d been working her college connections for the last half hour gathering information disguised as gossip. We knew where the boundaries of the quarantined zones were and the hot spots where most of the CDC staff were stationed. They’d taken over one of the newer dormitories and were using it as a temporary headquarters and presumably the scientists and other employees would be sleeping there as well. The only thing we hadn’t figured out yet was the location of that mobile lab. Plenty of people had seen it drive through, but if it was parked outside their building no one was telling. Zoe had eyes everywhere. Obviously the old stereotypes about college kids and bars were still alive and well, or Zoe was some kind of local celebrity—maybe it was a little of both.

“Sebastian says that his ex-girlfriend’s roommate saw a big camper style truck being parked on campus. She thought it was weird that they were being so sneaky about it, but he doesn’t know where she saw it. He’s texting her to try to find out!” Zoe said excitedly, her fingers flying across her keyboard. “There aren’t that many places on campus where they could park something that big and not have it exposed to a ton of eyes. I’m betting on the maintenance garage. It’s big enough to hold a bus or two, it’s on the edge of campus, and students don’t pay much attention to it. It’s sort of in the background since no one has classes there and they don’t hire students for anything.”

Her theory seemed pretty sound to me, but then I really didn’t know that much about the campus. She could have told me that they parked it under the planetarium and I wouldn’t have the facts to argue.

“As soon as I hear back from a few people, I think we’ll be able to narrow it down for sure… What the holy hell?” exploded Zoe, tapping furiously on her laptop. “I just lost my connection. The router is still working, everything is up and I’ve got a good connection, but it’s like the server is poof! Gone.”

I’d wondered how long it would take. I’d hoped that they wanted the information to leak out and so they’d leave the lines of communication open as attacks became more frequent, but they apparently wanted more control over what got out and how. “They’ve gone black. You probably don’t have a cell signal now either,” I sighed. This was going to complicate the plan even more. Zoe snatched her phone off the table, then slammed it back on the wooden surface in disgust.

“How is that possible? Who can do that?” she asked, waving her hands in the air.

“The government. They can pretty much do whatever they want. Who is going to stop them?” I drawled, laying on the cynicism.

“There has to be someone paying attention to what they’re doing? What about all the reporters? People will find out and be outraged!” Zoe spluttered.

“People are willing to give up a lot in order to feel safe. If they’re watching from outside then they’re not going to put themselves at risk in order to stand up for strangers. The more afraid the public gets the more willing they’ll be to hand over control. No one is going to step in.” I rubbed the back of my neck, wishing I could shield her from the truth. Unfortunately, she needed to know what to expect. If I was right about the CDC involvement, there would be no help coming.

“How can we communicate if cell phones are down?” Zoe wondered aloud. “Maybe there are some radios in Zack’s weapons cache?”

“I doubt there’s anything in there that could go unmonitored. If we used something like that then we’d only be calling attention to ourselves,” I answered, trying to come up with any alternatives. “I think we’re going to have to risk the trip without any means of communicating back here. We’ll just have to set deadlines to return. If we aren’t back by a certain time then they’ll know we’re in trouble.”

Zoe and I sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost in thought. “So, we’ll have to cross campus somehow. They’re patrolling campus pretty heavily. We aren’t going to be able to casually stroll across the quad and make it to the garage without being seen. We could go at night, but even on normal nights everything is pretty well lit. Campus safety and all. If we drove or rode a bike or something we’re still likely to be seen. There has to be a better way…” She drummed her fingers against the table top.