Barely Alive (15 page)

Connie watched James with distrust tightening her lips.

“
He’s my brother.” I walked a few steps to James and squatted beside him, careful to keep my hands out of his way. “James, where’s Dominic?”

Between bites, he got out, “He. Sent. Me. To. Find. You.” He gulped. “I. Smelled. You. At. The. College. Lost. His. Thoughts. Outside.” A fist shoved purple-tinged flesh into his lips.

At the college. Dominic was at the college? We had to go. If he thought Heather was there, he wouldn’t stop until he found her. And he knew the campus better than I did.

I stood, shifting my feet and snapping my fingers. “Hurry up, James. I’ll give you a few more minutes, but we need to leave.”

He nodded, without even pausing in his gorging.

Connie wiped her fingers on her shirt. I joined her by the door and glanced down the hall. “Are you ready to go?”

“
Yeah. Is he coming with us?” She glared at James. Weird reaction from a woman toward him. He was almost as popular with the girls as I had been.

“
Yep. He’s my brother.” I turned to the small dead-girl and watched her watch me. She bared her teeth, like an insect moving its mouth, gnawing at the air. I shivered. She’d eat me, too, if she could get free. The dead must not care what they eat, just so long as their jaws moved and something fell into their stomachs.

I patted James’s shoulder. “Hurry. I’m going to spread the fuel and then light the fire. You and Connie need to be out the door before it gets out of control.” After just eating, would the heat call to me? I had so many questions and only myself to test on.

The loading dock door rattled. From my pocket I pulled the last of the matches and yelled at Connie and James. “Times up, guys. Get going. Connie take James toward the college. I’ll be right behind you.” Fuel, fuel, fuel. I needed something to light. Blood wouldn’t work.

My companions left the room but didn’t move down the hall. They backed in and shut the door, slow and quiet.

I turned from my search, hands outstretched. “What the hell? Get going.”

James pressed his finger to his mouth, less inebriated and more somber like the brother I’d left at home. He pointed behind him and mouthed, “Humans.”

I froze. They’d have guns. Or something else terrible. I was too young to die, okay, shit, I was already dying, but we could get answers. We were the only ones who knew what was going on. I needed to get back to Heather before she was eaten. Dr. Duncan had to develop a cure so James could grow old and die, the natural way. If it was possible.

By the wall, we huddled together. More rattling at the dock door, and then at the next and the next. The walking-dead-girl struggled. Much more and the cords would come loose. I’d be screwed fighting off a well fed young zombie I couldn’t hurt and humans I didn’t want to.

“
What do we do?” James’s whisper grated in the small space between us. His dark hair reminded me of my mom.

Nothing. I had nothing. No answer to toss to him with glib hope. I couldn’t be the big brother in the moment and the truth stung.

Connie licked her lips and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. “We eat them.”

“
Uh, you took to this rather fast, girl. I don’t eat humans.” And that’s when it struck me. I didn’t. They smelled heavenly, but I couldn’t eat them – not anymore. I cared too much, no matter how much hatred Dominic had tried planting in me. I was human with a virus. My brother was the same. And I had to save one hot human at the college that might be able to return me to my human state. I pointed at James. “You’re not going to either.” We weren’t superior. I hadn’t shown anything ‘superior’ since I’d changed besides being faster and stronger. How did that make me superior?

They opened their mouths to argue, already forgetting their humanity in their hunger for more meat. Fear pinched their eyes at the corners at the thought of what the humans could do to us.

I clapped my hands together. “Stop. Listen to me. If you eat them now and by some miracle you can return to being human, you’ll have to deal with the choice you made to be a cannibal. We aren’t abandoned on some mountain with no other source of food.” I scowled. “We just ate.”

They didn’t say anything but the argument dissolved from their expressions.

The doctor’s wife looked up at pounding on the roof. “How do we get out of here then?”

Sure, I had to keep the humans safe from us but I had to also extract us from the situation at the same time. We needed a distraction. No, we needed a mindless zombie.

“
Her.” I pointed at the tied up zombie. “She’s our way out.”

We turned and stalked toward her. She wasn’t even “there” enough to fear our approach. She snapped for my hand as I reached to pull the cord. I yanked hard and pulled the end connected to the machine, releasing a tangle of wires. “Grab that other end. Watch out, she’s feisty.”

James pulled the opposite end of the cord with me, tightening her bonds and dragging her fighting body with us. I passed a plastic gas container and grabbed it with my free hand.

Connie trailed behind, wringing her hands. “Don’t send her out there. She’s too little for that.” Guilt twinges itched my spine. She was just a little girl. It wasn’t her fault. But she wasn’t in there. It was just her body. And all she wanted to do was eat.

I rolled my eyes. Of all the times for Connie to regain her humanity, now was not that time. “Get over it. She’s dead. The humans can deal with her and we’ll get away. Get ready.”

Dock doors lined each side. We’d leave out the south doors, but first we had to release the Valerie-look-alike out the north ones.

“
Ow.” James released his end of the cord and shook his hand.

I grinned. “Little wench has teeth, huh?” I moved behind her as the cord slid from her chest and pointed at the door we’d just reached. “Open that, James.”

He slid the door open and a round of furious clicking responded. Our eyes met.

Digitally enhanced, a voice roared over a megaphone. “Come out slowly with your hands up.”

I shoved the girl through the hole and clicked the door shut on her growling. A round of bullets pockmarked the door in clinks and plunks. “Run.” I whispered. If I could, I would have screamed.

As we ran to the other side of the warehouse, I dumped the gas behind me, it was empty in ten feet. I lit a match and tossed it. Glorious heat swelled behind me.

We didn’t even take the time to look out the door to make sure the coast was clear, just flew right out. Our sprint was mad. But the continuous ping of bullets on metal and wood echoed in my bones. Hopefully they’d only expected her and no more than that.

Feet pounding, we moved almost as one down the road. The science building beckoned in the distance. I hoped to hell Heather was okay.

James slapped my shoulder as we rounded the corner onto campus. “Admit it. You almost. Pissed your pants.”

Damn, did my brother know me or what?

Chapter 13

Knock. Knock. Knock. I pressed my ear to the door. Knock. Knock. Knock. Nothing. No answer. Knock. Knock. Knock. Nothing again. I leaned on the door. The panel opened and I fell to the ground.

James snickered.

“
Shut up.” I jumped to my feet and spun around. The door was unlocked. Closer inspection revealed a damaged handle. Heather. Where was she? She’d be dead, if they found her. Dominic needed her tissue, nothing else. He didn’t need her alive. He knew she was immune. I sniffed the air, but couldn’t find evidence of blood.

Connie pulled on my sleeve. She’d been quiet for the remainder of our flight. She pulled harder. I turned from my search of the empty hallway. She motioned at James clutching his head in his hands.

A hand on his shoulder, I pushed him to lean against the wall. “Are you okay?”

“
No. He’s in my head again.” He squeezed his eyes shut, the pain clenching his hands into fists that he pounded on his temples.

How the hell is Dominic doing that?
I grabbed his wrists. “Stop. Let me check this floor and I’ll help you. I won’t be gone more than a second. I promise.” I met Connie’s eyes, my plea for help strong. She nodded.

Taking off in a sprint, I held my hands in a fighting stance, ready to beat to hell whatever came at me. I’d either pummel them or railroad them. Whatever. I covered the entire floor and nothing. The existence of nothing irritated me. Why wasn’t something where I’d left her? Anything? Not nothing.

Back to my starting point, I stopped beside Connie and looked down at my brother writhing on the floor. “Why are you on the ground?” I swung the door shut, squatting beside him. I glanced up at Connie. “What happened?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. He whimpered, said no or something, and then dropped like a rock.”

His face reminded me of the drawings in the history books of people being tortured in the medieval times, their bodies gutted, torn apart, ripped to shreds. So help me, my mouth watered. Pain meant prey. I wiped at the excess saliva.

James spasmed like he was in the throes of a seizure.

“
James! James, it’s me. I’m here. It’s Paul. I’m here.” A thick line of sweat trickled between my shoulder blades. My heart pounded in my chest and I swear the fresh meat roiled in my stomach. Something had better not happen to James before he had a chance to get better, or I was going to go ape-shit on someone. Named Dominic.

James’s face suddenly cleared and he flattened on the ground, his hands by his sides, legs straight out.

I leaned back. Connie stepped away from both of us. Hell, I would’ve too, if I’d been standing.

His voice, octaves lower than his normal tone, emitted from his seeming independently moving mouth, sending hives scratching through my ears and into my head. “Paul. I want the girl. That’s all. Bring her to me and I’ll release your brother. Keep her, and you’ll watch as I torture him.” Dominic laughed – James’s lips were the only thing moving – no mirth on the rest of his face. “This will be the first time I’ve done this, so who knows how long it can go. I’ll give you one hour. I’m at the cafeteria.”

One hour.

My brother’s face returned to normal. A full minute passed. I couldn’t breathe. Dominic’s voice had reached me. He’d found us inside a building made of brick walls, built during a time when people worried about the nearby Nellis Air Force Base getting nuked. He’d found me. But worse, he had some kind of mental hold on James. Something he couldn’t get on me or hadn’t had a chance to attain.

Finding my legs and pulling them to my chest didn’t do much. Maybe sucking on my thumb and crying like a damn baby would help. Doubtful. But it would be next on my list. I rested my head on my knees.

One hour.

James sat up beside me and looped his arms around his shins in the same position as me.

I turned my head towards him. My brother. “I really drove us to the shitter this time, didn’t I?” Only to him could I cry, but if I let go and showed my weakness, I might never find my strength again.

He shrugged, but held my gaze with his own. “Nah. We’ve been in worse.”

I laughed against my arm. “What could be worse than this? We’re dying. Dominic can get in your head. Your head, James. Hello!”

Connie paced in front of us. Back and forth. She stopped by my feet. “Where are Travis and the girl?”

I shook my head in my arms. I was overwhelmed with responsibility. “I don’t know. Not here.”

She squatted down. “Are you sure? You told them to hide. There are a lot of hiding spots. Did you check the labs?”

“
No.” I lifted my head and looked down the hall.

She stood and walked from me to the first door on the inner wall. I watched her. She knocked. Knocked. Knocked. And waited.

I pushed myself to my feet and grabbed James under his arm. “Come on.”

Heather? Maybe they’d listened and hid.

We had an hour. I had to deliver up Heather or watch more attacks on James from the inside out. I was helpless when Dominic came at him with his mind. One hour. Son of a whorish turtle.

Connie abandoned that door and turned the corner. Each wall had a new door. I headed the opposite way she went and knocked on the door I found around the next corner. Three times. Waited. I knocked again.

Dr. Duncan opened the door on the second knock. He panted. “Thank heaven it’s you. Is my wife okay? Did you see the other ones?”

“
In here. Connie. James.” In seconds, they joined me and we followed Dr. Duncan inside the lab room. We closed the thick metal door and locked it behind us.

The doctor stood to the side and wiggled his fingers at his wife. He smiled, uneasiness in his fidgety fingers and shuffling feet. “Do you feel any better, honey?”

Connie arched her brow and moved to stand at the end of the table away from him. She put her hand over her mouth and nose and stared at the wall.

He didn’t stink that bad.

Dr. Duncan sat at the end of the table and watched Connie, his forehead furrowed.

“
Where’s Heather?” I couldn’t find her in the utilitarian lab. The long tables were fixed to the ground, drawers and sinks built into them. Tube connections poked from the tabletops with handles marked with oxygen, propane, and hydrogen. Along the walls, cabinets lined the room, the black doors labeled with supplies and sign-up lists. Not a lot of places she could hide.