Infection Z (Book 4) (18 page)

E
liza Wisdom watched
the man called Hayden fire a bullet into his own chest.

She held the rifle. Pointed it at him. Stood in front of the crowd of New Britain citizens like the rest of the guards and kept her aim.

And she heard the command. Heard the command from Terrance Schumer. The command as he ran back towards them, terror in his eyes. The command to fire.

But she couldn’t.

She found herself standing there with her finger on the trigger of her rifle unable to fire.

Because of what Hayden said.

“If I’m not lying, then let’s just see what happens to me.”

Something about those words sparked a chord inside Eliza. She’d worked as one of the wall guards for months now. She’d been there when the fences were erected—when the tunnel was undergoing its rapid construction. She was proud of her home. Proud of where she lived. Proud of the future she stood for.

An inclusive future. A future for everyone.

But recently, there’d been incidents. Events that’d made her consider whether she was on the right side. First, there was Daniel. The way Luis shot him to the ground on Terrance’s orders. And then the way he’d turned into one of those monsters later that night. Terrance insisted it was because he’d been exposed to the airborne infection. It was because he wasn’t wearing his mask correctly.

But Eliza couldn’t help but wonder.

She couldn’t help but question.

“Guards!” Terrance shouted, panting as he jogged back towards the entrance to the city. “Fire! Put him down!”

The fact that none of the other guards beside Eliza had fired their weapons spoke volumes. Eliza turned. Looked at Martin on her left. Looked at Rajesh on her right. All of them holding their guns. All of them pointing their weapons ahead.

But that same look on their faces.

The look Eliza knew she must have too.

The look of uncertainty.

Of questioning.

Of wanting to see what was happening.

Of wanting to see what really happened to the man called Hayden McCall.

The man who claimed the group behind the fences had been infecting people all along.

Innocent people.

Refugees.

People needing shelter.

“Are you deaf? Do I need to repeat my command?”

Eliza shook her head as Terrance stepped in front of her.

“No,” she said. “You don’t.”

She lowered her weapon.

Looked at Rajesh, into his bloodshot eyes.

He sighed. Lowered his gun.

Martin soon followed.

Terrance stared back at them, face reddening, blinking rapidly. “You… you are supposed to follow our orders.”

“Why don’t we see if he turns, just like he says he will?”

“He’s a threat,” Terrance said, speaking in hushed tones now. “He—he’s a carrier. He poses a threat to—”

“Then let’s just see what happens to him. Let’s just see whether what he says about the bullet is true.”

The crowd behind were quiet now. Silenced, like the realisation was setting on their minds too. Maybe Eliza was wrong. Maybe her suspicions were all wrong. Maybe she was opening the gates to the onset of infection. Airborne infection.

“You’re putting everyone at risk. Just by standing here, you’re putting everyone at risk.”

“Then so be fucking it!” someone shouted.

A voice from behind. From the back of the crowd. And slowly, surely, Eliza heard a chant emerging. A chant accompanied by claps. The claps of the crowd.

“We want to see! We want to see!”

All of them were cheering now. All of them applauding. Like they were waiting for something. Egging Hayden on to turn, as miserable as it was. Because not only was he an innocent man, he was a good man. A man who’d sacrificed himself to free everyone else from the fear of the airborne virus. Who’d shot himself in the chest to show humanity that there was another way. A way beyond the fear. A way beyond the fences.

A way beyond Terrance Schumer’s lies.

Terrance looked around at the crowd. His eyes were vacant, like he couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Like he couldn’t accept it.

But it was.

It was happening.

And these people were going to see.

As the chant went on, as the claps were accompanied by stomps, these people were going to see.

They were going to…

Movement.

Movement from Hayden.

The crowd quietened. Whispers emerged once more. The whispers that always signalled the fear. The fear of the outside that Terrance Schumer had been stirring for so, so long.

Not for long.

Not anymore.

Another twitch of movement from Hayden.

And then another.

Not proof.

Not proof until somebody saw it for themselves.

Until they looked the man in his eyes and saw how vacant they were.

“You don’t know what you’ve done,” Terrance said, voice cracking, shoulders slumped.

“We do,” Eliza said, pushing past him, leading the crowd into the tunnel, away from the confines of safety, away from Terrance Schumer’s imaginary boundary. “We’ve just finally grown the courage to see it for ourselves.”

The crowd ran towards Hayden.

Ran towards his twitching body.

Ran towards the truth.

Towards hope of the truth.

Towards…

H
ayden felt
the strength drifting out of his body.

He rolled onto his back. The taste of metal intensifying in his mouth. A coldness covering his skin. At least he couldn’t feel the pain in his chest anymore. Or the pain in his left shoulder.

All he could feel was a warmth.

A warmth inside him that felt familiar.

A warmth that, for some reason, made him think of Mum. Made him think of Dad. Of Clarice. Of Annabelle.

A warmth that made him think of Sarah. Newbie. Holly. Miriam. Of everyone he’d travelled with. Of everyone he’d cared for.

Everyone he’d lost.

Above all, as the chanting voices approached, Hayden thought of the boy. The little boy in the window. Except he wasn’t afraid of him. Not anymore.

The little boy was smiling at him. Saying something to him.

Something like, “It’s okay.”

Something like, “I forgive you.”

Hayden heard the footsteps getting closer and he closed his burning eyes.

Smiled.

Remembered what Bob said.

What he told him about people.

“People. That’s what matters. Doesn’t matter whether we’re out here or behind a wall. What matters is we’re together. That we’re confident. That we fight.”

And Bob was right. Miriam was right.

People were the most important thing in this world right now.

Togetherness was the most important thing in this world right now.

And in a way, Terrance’s logic was right, too.

Sometimes sacrifices did have to be made to save others.

But not the kind he’d made.

Not for self-preservation. Not out of fear.

But out of ambition. Out of growth.

Hayden felt the life seeping out of his body, felt tingling sensations working up his arms, down his neck, his spine, the back of his legs, and he heard his older sister Annabelle ask him something clearly in his mind.

Did you do the right thing for other people?

For the first time, Hayden could only answer with one word.

Yes.

The warmth burst through his body.

Hayden saw his family clearly, right ahead of him, getting closer to him.

Smiling.

Happy.

He smiled back.

Then, nothing.

T
errance Schumer watched
the chaos unfold from a distance.

He saw the mass of people—his people—walk down the tunnel. Saw them move towards Hayden McCall. He’d shot himself. He’d shot himself with the infected bullet. Which meant he’d turn. He’d turn and expose the plan. He’d reveal the truth.

Specks of rain started to fall from the dark sky above. There was silence in the city behind him. Like the people who hadn’t left their homes were waiting, holding their breath. Waiting for an answer. Waiting for some kind of sign.

But they didn’t have to wait much longer.

The man that was once Hayden McCall twitched.

His head lifted. Shaky. Tensed.

And although it was still quite dark inside that tunnel, Terrance Schumer saw Hayden’s eyes.

Saw the glazed greyness staring into nowhere.

Saw the blood rolling down his chin.

Heard the guttural grunt from the back of his throat.

Every muscle in Terrance’s body went weak. Because now he had to explain. Now he had to explain why Hayden had turned. He had to try and convince these people that it was nothing to do with the bullet. That—that carriers just turned when they were shot. That the rules were different for them.

But as the monster that was Hayden dragged itself to its feet, Terrance saw the crowd of his guards, his people, turn. Look at him. He saw the look in their eyes. Saw the hate. Saw the confusion.

“I—I can explain. I can explain everything.”

Silence. Silence from the crowd, but for Hayden. Stomping towards the group. Blood rolling from the gunshot wound in his skinny chest. Teeth snapping together, hungry for their first flesh meal, like a horsefly in breeding season.

Terrance Schumer took a step back. ’Cause he knew right now that there was no reasoning. There was no arguing. These people had made their minds up. They’d seen the truth.

The worst part is they’d believe it.

They’d believed the truth.

The facade was over.

Terrance turned around. Started to run.

He stopped almost immediately.

In the street ahead—the street lined with the blood of fallen migrants—Terrance saw people outside their homes. Saw them walking towards him. Some of them with children in their arms. Migrant children they’d saved from the purge.

Some of them with weapons in their hands.

Knives.

Baseball bats.

Anger in their eyes.

Terrance stumbled back. Looked over his shoulder. Saw the people emerging from the tunnel. The chatter and the anger rising.

“Fucking liar!” someone screamed.

“Murderer!”

Terrance Schumer wanted more than anything to fall into a hole in the ground. Because he’d made a mistake. He’d screwed up. He’d fucked up big time.

“I—I just wanted to keep us safe,” he said.

And as the angry footsteps of the crowd approached, as the swarm surrounded him, Terrance Schumer really believed his own words.

He’d just wanted to keep his people safe.

Safe from outside.

Not just the zombies. But the trauma that came with it. The impact it had on the minds of the survivors from outside the fences.

From reality.

He crouched down in the dirt.

Closed his eyes.

Held up his hands.

“I just wanted to keep us safe.”

The last thing he heard was the roar of the surrounding crowd.

The last thing he saw as he peeked through the cracks in his eyelids was a baseball bat swinging towards his face.

And then the inevitable blackness surrounded him.

“
I
’m telling you
. Ain’t a chance the guards are just gonna let you through the wall. Ain’t a chance.”

Miriam listened to the whiny voice of Garth, the guard they’d thrown into the back of the truck, as she drove back towards the fences. It was pitch black. Rain fell and hit the windscreen, a case not helped by the dodgy wipers in this heap of shit. Outside, in the glow of the flickering headlights, Miriam swore she saw movement. Movement of zombies. The undead watching them with their empty eyes. Finding a new source of movement to follow.

But they didn’t matter. Not now.

What mattered was the wall.

The wall that was just a matter of metres away.

Miriam turned to her left. Saw Sam sitting upright in the passenger seat. Cute kid. So well behaved, too. Considering everything he’d been through. All the shit a kid like him must’ve witnessed in a world like this.

“How you holding up, kid?” Miriam asked.

Sam glanced at her. His infectious little smile grew across his gaunt face. “I’m okay.”

“You sure about that?” Miriam asked. She never held herself in high regard when it came to talking to children. She was okay at talking to teenagers. Fine at playing with babies. Her sister Penny had twin boys two years back, and in the wake of the breakdown of her relationship with Kelly, Miriam found a lot of comfort in spending time with them, looking after them.

But kids Sam’s age. Just after the baby stage, well before the teenage stage. They were tricky to talk to. Like frigging aliens.

“Well, I…”

Sam shook his head. Smiled again. “It’s okay.”

Miriam slowed the vehicle as they got closer to the wall. She thought about quizzing Sam more. But she knew how that’d look. Like she was prying. Like she was forcing an answer out of him. She knew how much she hated that herself. Always used to get right on her tits when Mum asked her how she was doing. Of course she wasn’t doing well. Not when she knew Dad was sleeping with his secretary from the office. Not when she’d caught them in bed together. Then in the shower.

But what did she say to Mum? What did she tell her?

Miriam took a deep breath. Refocused on the tunnel ahead. The fences were wide open. Nobody was around. She wasn’t sure whether that was a good or a bad sign.

“I’m telling you; they’re gonna be out lookin’ for me. And when they find me in here, they’ll make sure a shitload of people are at the fences. They’ll be waiting for you. I’m tellin’ you. There’s no way out of this. Just—just let me go and we can call it quits.”

Miriam looked back at Sam. Caught him smiling. She smiled back at him.

“We’ll see about that,” she said.

Then she accelerated into the dark tunnel, past the fences, towards the city beyond.

Miriam drove slowly through the tunnel. She didn’t want to risk being ambushed. But she couldn’t deny the strange feeling she had. The sense that nobody was watching. The sense that something had happened. Like she was heading into a ghost town.

She squinted beyond the range of her headlights towards the city. She couldn’t see anything. No opening. Nothing like that. Just darkness. Just total darkness.

Maybe Hayden was still in here. Maybe he was trying to find his way into the city.

Or maybe he was…

She felt something under her left tire.

Felt the truck elevate as it drove over something.

For a moment she worried. Had she hit Hayden? Shit. She didn’t think she was going quickly. Surely she’d have seen him. Surely she hadn’t just hit him.

And then she saw the bodies in the headlights.

There was blood. A lot of blood. Bones poking out of flesh. Vacant expressions. Twisted necks.

The fear kicked in again. Hayden. What if Hayden was amongst them? What if Hayden had been bitten by them?

“Look. Someone’s there.”

Sam’s voice snapped Miriam out of her thoughts.

She raised her head. Saw him pointing out the windscreen.

Through the windscreen, in the glow of the headlights, Miriam saw the outline of a figure. A man. About six foot one in height. Short hair. Skinny.

She saw him standing there and her heart fluttered. Hayden. It was Hayden. He was okay.

And then she saw the way he waddled towards the truck.

Saw the way he put one foot in front of the other. Unsteady. Uncoordinated. Like a toddler.

“Is… is it dead?” Sam asked.

Miriam swallowed a lump in her throat, nasty tastes building up in her mouth.

She wanted to move. Wanted to get out the truck. Wanted to see him. See him for herself.

But she couldn’t.

She couldn’t get out because getting out meant accepting it.

Accepting the truth.

Accepting the reality.

It wasn’t long before Miriam had to accept reality anyway.

Hayden stood in the headlights. Pale-faced. Blood oozing from his chest, his shoulder. His eyes pointed in two directions. But they weren’t looking at anything in particular. Not really.

She saw him and she felt her own eyes sting.

She saw him and she knew he’d failed. She knew they’d both failed.

She knew what she had to do.

She put a hand on Sam’s arm. “You wait there a sec. I won’t be a minute.”

“But I’m scared—”

“Just, please. Wait there. Please.”

Sam stared at her for a moment, uncertain.

Then he nodded.

Miriam reached for the pistol. It felt alien in her hands. Out of place. But she knew that was because of what she had to do with it.

Of the act she had to commit with it.

Again.

She saw her mum in her mind. Saw her screaming as Dad dragged her across the kitchen floor. As he wrapped his teeth around her ankle. Chewed down on her Achilles, blood spurting all over the new cream curtains.

She saw Dad committing his final sin against her mum.

And then she’d lifted the gun.

Fired.

Put him down.

Put Mum down too.

Just to save her from her eventual misery.

To save her from her pain.

Miriam stepped out the truck. Dropped down to the tunnel floor. She tightened her grip on the pistol handle. Listened to the rumbling engine of the truck.

Then she heard the groan.

It was awful. Shiver-inducing. Mostly because she could recognise it. Recognise it as Hayden’s voice. That was the worst part of the groans. They always held a trace of the person they once were. Always a reminder that they were once alive. And now they were nothing but an empty shell.

Nothing but a cry.

Miriam took in a deep breath of the musty air.

Listened to the water dripping down from the tunnel roof above.

Then she turned towards Hayden.

Turned into the light.

Hayden was just a few steps from her. Dragging his left foot along behind him. His neck was tilted to the right. His teeth were cracked from all their snapping.

She looked into his eyes and hoped he’d see her. Hoped he’d recognise her. For who she was.

But she knew that wasn’t going to happen.

She knew that was never going to happen.

Not to anyone.

She lifted her shaky hand. Pointed the gun at his neck. She turned away at first. Felt a warm tear rolling down her cheek. She’d pretended not to like him. Tried her best not to get too attached. But she knew he was a good person underneath all his fears. She knew he wanted what was best for everyone. Just that all his hope had been buried. Buried and charred by this god-awful world.

He was a leader. He wanted the best for other people.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Miriam muttered.

She watched as Hayden staggered closer. Just five steps away now. So close that he could just reach out. Grab her. Rip her throat away.

And maybe that’d be for the better. Maybe death was the best option.

No. That was bullshit. She had Sam to look out for. She’d made it this far.

She had to keep fighting.

She couldn’t give up.

And that meant doing what she had to do.

She looked into Hayden’s eyes again. Looked into them and remembered the first time she’d seen him. Fearful. Lost. But prepared. Prepared to help her escape the Salvation prison. Prepared to help her make it this far.

Just afraid to lose anyone.

Afraid to lose anyone else.

Afraid to lead.

“You… you got us this far,” Miriam said. “I’ll never forget that. I’ll never forget that.”

She heard Hayden’s snarl echo against the tunnel wall.

Watched him lunge towards her.

Squinted.

Squeezed the trigger.

“You don’t want to do that,” someone said.

Miriam stopped. Moved out of the way of Hayden. Watched him fall face flat on the tunnel floor.

She looked back. Looked back from the direction she’d come. Back into the darkness. A woman. She’d heard a woman. She’d…

A group of people were walking her way.

A group of people led by a woman.

Hayden snarled once more. Stuck his fingertips into the dusty concrete and forced himself upright, his body twisting and contorting in impossible angles.

Miriam watched the woman and her group get closer.

There were more of them. Way more of these people than she first thought.

All walking so confidently.

All walking so… fearlessly.

Hayden looked right at the woman. He was just feet away from her. Inches, even.

“Watch…” Miriam started.

But the woman just brushed past Hayden.

Her people just brushed past Hayden.

He didn’t notice them.

He didn’t even look at them.

Miriam’s heart raced. She couldn’t understand. Couldn’t understand what this was. What was happening. Whether this was some kind of dream. Some kind of twisted reality.

Then the woman stopped in front of her.

Illuminated by the light.

She was dark-skinned. Short. Old, probably in her fifties. She had a serious expression. A serious expression that scanned Miriam’s face like she was trying to see inside her; read her soul.

And then Miriam became aware of the people around her. Men. Men in… in black suits with crosses around their necks. Women in the same outfits. And with them, a box. A wooden box on wheels. Diamond covered. Six people at the back of the group dragged it along. Walked past Hayden’s zombie like he wasn’t even there. No regard for him, none whatsoever.

“What… who are you?”

The woman stared Miriam right in her eyes.

Scanned her a little longer.

Hayden growled again. Started stumbling towards Miriam.

“Restrain Hayden. We’re going to need him.”

A few of the men grabbed Hayden by his arms. Held him back. He kept on lifting his feet, trying to walk, unaware of their restraints, unaware of anything but Miriam, but fresh meat.

A sudden shiver crept up Miriam’s spine. “Wait. Hayden? You… you know his name?”

The woman’s glaring gaze softened. She half-smiled.

“I know a lot of things, dear. A lot of things indeed.”

She held a hand out. Behind her, Hayden continued to snap, continued to writhe, continued to struggle.

Nobody seemed to care.

“My name is Martha. And I’m here to share some very important news.”