Whimper (31 page)

“Do you know which way we need to go?” Brianna asked softly when I hesitated at the first intersection. Maybe? Jagged pieces of glue were all that was left of the neat plaques that once told you which building you were headed to. Good lord they’re a paranoid bunch. I hadn’t entered from this direction before, and it was messing with my bearings.

“This way.” I pointed to the right, hoping I was correct. We entered a long, straight corridor, one of the main ones with doors that opened off the sides. Only emergency lights lit the expanse, and they were flickering into uselessness. “Keep your light up,” I directed. “I don’t want anything to surprise us.”

I was terrified that if one of the survivors down here startled me, I might not have the control to stop myself from blowing them away. Splatters of gristle poured through my memory, hot and fresh with the smell of acrid smoke. I stumbled, shaking my head to drive away the memory. Damn it! “Suck it up, Zoe,” I mumbled.

“You okay?” Brianna asked, the flashlight faltering as she moved to check on me.

I’m fine, only losing my mind a piece at a time… “Yeah, let’s go,” I answered gruffly. I could talk to Brianna and she’d understand. She’d be compassionate. She’d hug me and cry with me, and let my mental wounds bleed all over. That was the problem. If I let go now I’d never get all the pieces back into place and I couldn’t let everyone down. Not after Zack sacrificed himself for me. I had to see this through.

Dim light shone through newspaper covering the windows in one of the doors ahead, pulling me forward like a beacon. “This might be them, but let’s be careful. They’re armed and every bit as jumpy as I am.”

As we moved closer to the doors, Brianna flicked off the light. I tried to peek through the window edges, but the paper covered too much of it. “Lets knock,” Brianna whispered, her mouth pressed against my ear. “Zombies don’t knock. If they answer, we know it’s your people.”

And if they rush out to attack us, we know it isn’t
, I thought grimly. I pulled back, finding a good spot to cover the doorway while Brianna waited, poised to knock.

I nodded and she tapped solidly three times and then scurried backwards.

There was silence, then a soft scuffling on the other side of the door. I bumped Brianna, moving her slightly so that I had plenty of range of motion. The door creaked open slowly and stopped at about an inch. “Hello?” a voice said quietly.

“Hi. I’m back,” I replied, almost as quiet. The doors flew open and a few familiar, startled faces welcomed us inside.

“We’d given up on you!” Beatrice, the cafeteria lady with the ax said. “I told them you’d be back. You’ve got different company though. You lose your boys?” she asked, her smile falling like the ash from her cigarette.

I nodded, wanting to avoid the explanation, but Brianna gave me a look, prodding me to poke at the wound some more. “They shot my brother, the one with dark hair. The CDC has Elliott, her brother,” I added, nodding at Brianna. “But we have information that needs to get out to the public, and I brought you the supplies to do it.”

If we’d been less paranoid, there would have been a cheer. Instead, the people gathered there bounced on their heels a little and smiled. How many of them will die trying this I wondered.

I pulled out a couple of cans of pop and a package of toaster pastries and passed them around as Brianna and I explained what we had and where it needed to go. “You’re going to have to make certain that the files I give you go to the right people,” Brianna stressed, pulling out Elliott’s notebook.

“That’s why you need to go with them, Bri,” I said fondly. I knew she wouldn’t have thought leaving me was an option, but it was the only plan that made sense. I shook my head when she started to protest. “None of them understand any of this. None of them know anything about Elliott and they certainly don’t know anyone who is going to understand a word of what’s in there. You need to get out and get all of this into the hands of people who can help.”

“But, I can’t leave my brother behind!” she protested angrily.

“You aren’t. I’m going to get in there to help him. I will. They’re going to want me for the same reasons they want him. I have a plan. You can send help in after us and clear his name. I’ll get this serum to him. We have to split up. It’s what Elliott would tell you to do,” I said with a smile.

Brianna sat, a piece of pop tart dangling in her left hand, as she caressed the thick stack of notebooks and papers she’d tucked into a binder.

“This isn’t fair,” she whimpered, a tear running down her cheek. “We shouldn’t both be left all alone.”

My throat clogged and my eyes got misty. “You won’t be alone. You’ve got a whole group of people to get you through this. Plus you’ve got Zack’s grenades!” I chuckled. “Somebody has to use those things or he’s going to haunt me forever.”

Brianna dropped her stuff and lunged for me, hugging and crying. “Stop it!” I said after a minute. “We’re supposed to be the heroes, and you’re making us look like silly girls.”

Mandy sat nearby, her eyes wet with tears. “Silly girls can be heroes too. We have to be.” She shrugged. “There aren’t many other people left to pick up the slack.”

The group packed up their meager belongings and scavenged weapons as we moved back towards the stairwell that would take us to the van. “You drop me off at Zack’s car, and then head for the most rural section of the quarantine you can find on the map. Remember, the people who are manning the line are probably National Guard and local law enforcement. I doubt they’re in any way involved in this. They’re as innocent as you are. Try not to hurt them unless it’s absolutely necessary for you to escape,” I instructed.

I showed them all of the tools and supplies I had in the back of the van on the way there. “We haven’t seen any CDC security, but you’d better keep your lights off just in case.”

They slowed by the parking lot where Zack’s car still sat to the side. I gave Brianna one more hug, holding her tight. “I’m so sorry about Zack. It wasn’t your fault,” she said, brushing my hair back. “And if this all miraculously works, I hope you’re going to date my brother because he’s seriously hung up on you.” We both laughed. How sad that going back to a world where dating existed seemed ludicrous now? I got out, dragging my bag with me, and waved from inside Zack’s car until I couldn’t see them anymore. Then, I put the car in drive and took off in the opposite direction. I needed a safe place to sit for a few minutes.

I found the parking lot I wanted, still as full of cars as if classes were in session. There had to be other groups of people holed up all over. There hadn’t been enough bodies for everyone to be gone. I liked the idea of more survivors fighting for hope out there. Maybe if I didn’t succeed, someone else would.

I slid the cardboard and silver foil sun screen into place over the windshield and hunched down in the driver’s seat. I took one more pull from my can of pop and powered on the hot pink phone. “Show me what you’ve got, you bitch,” I murmured as I logged into her email and started forwarding everything I could find to four prominent science reporters. I skimmed as fast as I could, afraid I’d miss important details if I didn’t at least glance at the content before I sent it. By the time I heard the vehicles coming, I knew Amie hadn’t been infected by being forced to take a tainted vaccine. She’d done it herself. “She’s been in on it all along,” I growled, my fingers furiously tapping the screen. I dug into everything her smart phone would give me access to, capturing screen shots and attachments. I was still sending messages when the driver’s side glass exploded in tiny squares all around me, and the phone was ripped from my grasp. Bright lights blinded me as I shook the glass from my hair, my hands raised meekly. “Don’t shoot! I’m the source of Elliott Carter’s vaccine and serum!” I called loudly and repeatedly. “You need to take me to the hospital where he’s being held. I can provide information about a cure!”

I allowed myself to be yanked from the passenger seat without offering any resistance. “There’s a gun in my waistband,” I told them calmly as rough hands ran over my body. “There’s another in my bag.”

Soon, they were handcuffing me and shoving me into the back of a van while they tore apart the inside of my brother’s car.

I scooted my knees up to my chest so I could brace myself with my hands behind my back, but otherwise lay passively. “You need to take me to the hospital,” I reiterated to the driver. “They’re going to want to talk to me.” I saw him watching me in the rearview mirror, but he didn’t respond. After a few minutes, the van lurched into motion, throwing me off balance. My face touched something damp, and I tried not to gag as I pictured the bodies I’d seen tossed into a similar vehicle. A single white van and an SUV were the only vehicles they’d sent after me. I hoped that meant they were pulling out because the outbreak was over and not that they’d spread out to cover more territory.

I couldn’t see the windshield, only the flickering of lights as we passed some of the still functioning street lamps. I paid attention to every turn and curve, but without stop lights or signs to help break up the roads, I was soon lost. They could be taking me to the hospital, or they could be taking me to the jail for all I knew. They hadn’t shot me in the head in the empty parking lot, so I figured anything was an improvement.

The nurse came in again, trying to coerce me into accepting the IV or something to drink. “You need fluids!” she said, exasperated. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”

My throat was parched and my lips felt like they were splitting. “Okay, fill that basin,” I nodded towards the blue, kidney shaped vomit basin sitting on a shelf near me, “from that sink right there, and I’ll drink it.” I watched as she filled the bowl from the hand sink tap, trying to make sure she didn’t slip anything into it.

She lifted the bowl to my lips, letting me drain it completely. “More?” she asked as I sucked the droplets from the rim.

“Yes, please,” I groaned, angry I was showing weakness. I drained it twice more before she suggested I slow down. She placed the bowl beside me on the cot. Since I was still restrained, it wasn’t like I could move around much anyway.

“Hon, no one here is trying to hurt you. I think you’re still a little confused from being unconscious. I wish you’d let us help you.”

“Are the clothes I came in wearing still here?” I asked.

She looked surprised and a bit wary. “Yes, they’re in your property bag, but you can’t put them on and you can’t leave.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. Would you look in the pockets for me, please?”

She glanced around, clearly at war with herself about whether or not she should be helping me. I could tell it bothered her I was still in restraints since I was still asymptomatic, though she hadn’t said anything to me. It was the way she looked at them and then immediately glanced at the clock.

She clucked her tongue and went over to the cabinet, where she pulled out a clear plastic bag. The clothes inside were still soggy enough that there was water pooled in the bottom of the bag. Her nose wrinkled in disgust, even though she was wearing rubber gloves.

“It’s only regular water. Nothing gross or dangerous,” I encouraged her. I didn’t want her to go this far on my behalf only to stop now. “Check the pockets of the pants, please.”

Mary pulled out the cargo pants, holding them out at a distance from her as they dripped, but she checked each of the pockets. She pulled out a syringe cap and my heart jumped, but it was only the cap. Her eyebrows rose questioningly when she recognized the plastic piece, no doubt thinking I was a druggie. “There’s nothing else in here. What were you hoping for?” she asked.

“Something my girlfriend gave me,” I lied. “I’ll probably never see her again.” There was enough truth to my lie that Mary believed me, and her face filled with compassion.

“These are dark days, hon, but you never know. We might find our way through it yet,” she answered as she left the room.

Once the door closed behind her, the solid curtain partition covering what I’d assumed was a closet moved slightly. It jumped, then jerked open. Amie stepped into the room, her hair a wild, red cloud around her head. She wore a hospital gown over her street clothes, the pants rolled up above the hemline of the gown. There were dark smudges under both of her eyes, but she was still looking remarkably better than she had been when I saw her last.

“What did you give me?” she hissed. “They’re saying I’ve got the virus in my bloodstream, that maybe I’m a carrier! Did you do this to me?”

I shook my head. “You were already infected when you met us at the lab, Amie. I saved your life!” I protested. “If I hadn’t given you the serum when I did, you’d have turned.”

“Well instead, you’ve turned me into a guinea pig. Do you know how much blood they’re taking from me?” She held up her arms, exposing dark purple splotches up and down both limbs. They were glaringly bright against her pale, freckled skin.

“Can you undo my restraints?” I asked hopefully. Amie was probably crazy, but she might be my ticket out of here.