Contagious (50 page)

“
Fine by me.” I said, finishing my share. “And you’re right. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”

Hayden took my hand when we stood. I felt something that was close to nerves when he looked into my eyes. Slowly, we walked down the dock. It was warmer here than at the compound, but it was still cold. Wishing I had put the jacket on instead of leaving it in the truck, I shivered. Quick to notice and respond, Hayden wrapped his arm around me.

“
Orissa,” he began.

“
Hayden,” I said in a similar tone, looking up at him with a smile.

“
Orissa I want to te—”

I pushed out of his embrace, yanking the crossbow from around my neck. A crazy jumped out of a docked boat and ran full speed at us. Hayden drew his gun and fired before I had the chance. The crazy took one more step before splashing into the water.

“
Dammit,” I swore. “Couldn’t he have died
on
the dock? I could have at least gotten a sample.”

“
Yeah,” Hayden said, clicking the safety on his gun and putting it away. He ran his hand through his hair. “Too bad.”

“
What were you saying?”

“
Uh, nothing. I don’t, uh, even remember,” he said distantly.

“
Ok. Let’s go.”

“
Yeah, we should find a pharmacy.”

“
Good plan. I want to get back to the compound and play with our new toys.”

“
Want to find a place to stay tonight?” he asked.

“
Ideally.”

“
Something tells me this isn’t a good place. It’s too…too populated.”

I nodded. On edge, we got back into the truck. We drove a few miles west trying to find a small town. When we didn’t have much luck, Hayden said the truck would have to do for the night. We drove two more hours heading south before pulling over in an empty parking lot.

It was late and we were both tired. Keeping the keys in the ignition so we could make a fast getaway, we couldn’t rationalize why one of us would need to stay awake. It wasn’t like we could easily see outside in the darkness anyway.

Bright sunlight woke me up. Hayden was still sleeping so I moved quietly. I scanned our surroundings for zombies. Not finding any, I opened the door and snuck out. I wandered a ways down, not wanting Hayden to wake up and see me squatting to pee.

We were in the parking lot of some sort of industrial building. It looked pretty new and high tech. Curious to what it was, I walked around to the front to read the sign.

“
Charisma Industries,” I read the sign out loud. “Don’t be too descriptive, Charisma.”

The sun was bright and warm. I rolled up my sleeves and walked through overgrown weeds around the rest of the building. I felt something that could only be described as warm and fuzzy when the black truck came into view.

Warm and fuzzy turned into cold and terrified when I saw the door open and no brown-haired Marine inside.

“
Hayden!” I yelled, not even thinking of the implications my screaming could have.

“
Orissa!” he shouted back and came running from around the building. “What the hell were you doing? I woke up and you were gone!” he spat, angrily.

“
Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“
Oh, yeah, that’s nice. Just sneak out in the middle of nowhere with God knows how many zombies milling about.”

“
I’m fine, ok? Chill.”

“
Don’t tell me to chill. That was stupid!” he yelled.

“
Well I guess I’m stupid then.” Like a child, I got in the truck and pouted, complete with slamming my door closed. After a few seconds passed, Hayden opened the door.

“
I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I-I was scared. Scared something happened to you.” He put his hands on my thighs.

“
It’s ok. I guess getting out like that was kinda dumb.”

“
Kinda?” he said with a half smile. “You’re good, Riss, but you’re not invincible.”

“
I beg to differ,” I teased. “Want breakfast? I can make us some delicious freeze dried pancakes!”

He nodded. We ate, enjoying the sun, and quickly hit the road again. We both agreed to find a pharmacy sans zombies since neither of us felt like having to deal with a herd. Further south we went, passing through a ghost town and then one filled with zombies.

Small towns seemed the way to go. They had what we needed without the overcrowding. Sadly, they were hard to come by since the economy tanked and it was hard to sustain a small community. We wasted half the day just driving around.

We were further south than we planned when we came into a town that looked promising. The local drug store was family owned, and had big, glass, front windows that weren’t broken. A few zombies roamed the streets. Reminding me we hadn’t gotten any S2 blood, Hayden shot them and extracted the syringes. The blood was thick, but not as bad at the S3. We were able to fill up two vials.

“
I’m actually wishing for an S1,” he said with a smirk.

“
And now we won’t find any.”

“
That’s the trick then, we just have to want them to come.”

“
That’s how life goes,” I agreed. Hayden emptied the shelves of vitamins while I got the hygiene items. We loaded it up into the truck, relieved we had all the items on our list. We traveled around again, this time looking for S1s to kill.

The nice sized town we went into was full of zombies. Zombies ate S1s, so with this many, we figured it wouldn’t be worth it to get out and look. We were thinking about stopping for lunch when I saw the weird symbol spray-painted on a door.

“
What is that?” I asked Hayden, pointing to the black design.

“
It looks like a house. Like something a child would draw.”

He was right. The ‘house’ consisted of a square with a triangle roof. It was odd, but nothing worth investigating. Not until there was another symbol two houses down. It was the same black house. Hayden shrugged, not thinking it was important. Further down the street was a house with more markings on the door: two blue, squiggly lines. Two houses across the street and the one next to it had the same markings.

“
Ok, now this is weird,” Hayden admitted. He put the truck in park and looked at me. “Want to check it out?”

“
Of course,” I said, already unbuckling. “Keep driving, I see a red mark on that door,” I told him, pointing to a house a few yards down the street. This one had a red X on the door. “They have to mean something,” I speculated.

We went into the first house with the black marking. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It was abandoned during the outbreak, stuff was left behind and the doors unlocked.

“
Hello?” I called out apprehensively. “Nothing, I hear nothing,” I told Hayden, in case it wasn’t obvious enough.

“
Let’s try the next house.”

We walked down the street to the house with the blue squiggly lines. It was the same deal; nothing stood out. We went across the street. An empty bag of pretzels and several Coke cans littered the table. I went into the kitchen to have a closer look while Hayden stayed guard out front.

I picked up the can and shook it. Little remnants of pop hit the side of the can. Someone had been here recently. I thought I heard something move above me. I waited, listening, annoyed with the dripping sink.

Wait…the sink dripped?

“
Hayden!” I called and he came running. “Look!” I went over to the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet. Clean water poured out. As if it was something spectacular, we were unable to take our eyes from it. “It doesn’t smell.”

“
Water isn’t supposed to smell,” Hayden stated.

“
No, I mean the pipes. When you don’t use water for awhile it smells.”

Our eyes met. “Someone has been here.” Hayden flicked on a light switch. The fan slowly started to turn. “There’s power.”

“
Solar power?” I suggested.

“
I didn’t see any panels.”

Again mesmerized, we watched the fan blades spin faster and faster. “Do you think they’re still here?”

“
Maybe.”

We raced through the house to the streets. Hayden fired one shot in the air. If anyone was around, they’d hear it. We got in the truck and waited, drove a few miles down, fired, and waited again. Disappointed, Hayden let the truck coast to a stop.

“
Hang on, go back,” I said.

“
Why?”

“
I have a theory.”

“
A theory?”

“
About the symbols.” I took Hayden’s hand and excitedly pulled him into another house with blue lines. We went into the kitchen and turned on the sink. Fresh water came from the tap. “Blue lines mean water.”

“
You’re right.”

“
What about the other markings?” I asked.

“
I have no clue,” he said as he ran his hand through his hair.

“
There has to be people around, organized people, right?”

“
I’d think so. People organized, armed, and smart enough to avoid getting eaten.”

“
Unless they died recently.”

We walked around the house. Hayden stopped and looked around. “Something about this doesn’t settle right. Let’s get the S1 blood and go home.”

“
Ok,” I agreed. We had exhausted as much effort as we could looking for the makers of the marks. Back in the truck, we had to go over the map before we took off toward Arkansas since neither of us paid much attention to where we were at. As good as I was in the woods, I failed at driving directions. Once we ran out of daylight, Hayden asked if I wanted to keep driving or stop for the night.

“
I don’t care,” I told him. “We can stop if you’d like.”

“
Yeah,” he said, smiling. “I’d like to.”

Dinner was eaten on the tailgate under a crystal clear Texas sky. It was so quiet and peaceful, if you didn’t think about the virus plagued population. The night air was chilly, so we retreated back inside the cab and cranked the heat.

“
Beer or wine,” Hayden asked suddenly.

“
Huh?”

“
Which do you prefer?”

“
Oh, beer.”

“
Showers or baths?” he asked next.

“
Showers.” I sighed. “What I wouldn’t give to be naked and wet in a long, hot, steamy shower right now. Especially one that lasts longer than a few minutes.” With a wistful smile, I turned to Hayden. He had an odd expression on his face. “What, no more questions?”

He cleared his throat. “No. I, uh, can’t think of any.”

“
Ok,” I laughed. “Maybe I can.” I thought for a moment before asking, “Did you play sports in high school?”

“
Football and wrestling.”

“
Were you any good?”

“
Yes, but it was small school. It was easy to be good. Did you do anything besides cheerleading and martial arts?”

“
Not in school. I showed horses a few times. I never had much time, between going back and forth from my mom’s to my grandparents and being dropped off in the middle of nowhere.”

Hayden chuckled. “I guess you have a point.” Suddenly, he shot up.

“
What is it?”

“
I thought I saw something. Behind us, in the moonlight.” He paused Tim McGraw on the IPod.

“
How close behind us?” I asked, watching him study the review mirror.

“
Close. Within reach of the tailgate close.”

“
Zombie?”

“
It was fast.”

“
Oh! Maybe it’s a crazy! We can get our blood samples.”

“
Maybe,” he agreed.

“
I’ll check. I have to pee anyway.”

“
Riss, not yet. Hang on a second. There could be more than one.”

“
There’s only one way to find out.” I opened the door against Hayden’s protests. “Hello?” I called to the darkness. I heard nothing but the sounds of the night. Hayden stepped out of the truck, his gun cocked and loaded.

“
Do you see anything?” he asked.

“
No. Nor do I hear anything.”

“
Get back in the truck. We can turn around and shine the brights.”

“
Let me pee first!”

“
Fine. Don’t go far. Stay on your side and keep the door open.”

“
Don’t watch,” I added.

“
Wasn’t planning on it,” he said. Hayden relaxed considerably once I was in the truck and the doors were locked. We turned around, the headlights shining cones of white light across the land. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “I know I saw something.”

“
I believe you,” I promised. “Anything infected would be coming at us right now. Maybe it was an animal.”

“
Maybe. It was tall and thin, though, like a person.”

“
Are there bears in Texas?” I suggested.

“
I have no idea. And I’d know a bear when I saw one, Riss.”

“
Then maybe it was a ghost.”

“
That is the most logical explanation,” he teased. “I bet it was from those dolls. It’s followed us all this way. Now that we are alone, it’s going to kill us.”

“
Damn it, I left my ghost killing kit at home.”

“
What’s in a ‘ghost killing kit,’ dare I ask?”

“
Uh, stuff you kill ghosts with, duh.” We laughed again.

“
Want to go a few miles and stop again? I don’t like not knowing what that was.”