The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (20 page)

“Then I’ll do what I have to do,” Hayden
said, hating the words that were coming out of his mouth. It would
kill him to force someone to do something they didn’t want to do,
especially when it was dangerous. “We have to keep this place
going.” His eyes flitted to the list in front of him. “We’re in
need of quite a bit of supplies.”

“So let’s go,” I said and pushed off the
desk. “Round everyone up.”

* * *

Bands of dark clouds stretched across the red
morning sunrise. The air was electrified, as if a distant storm was
brewing. I walked along the quiet pasture, carefully stepping over
the many divots created by the cows. The grass was chewed down to
the dirt, unable to grow before it was eaten again. I cast my eyes
to the clouds. The lack of rain wasn’t helping either.

I stopped outside a barn to lay a plank down
over the moat. A small cloud of dusty dirt poofed around it when it
thudded to the earth. I hopped across it and began unlatching the
multiple locks on the barn door.

“Hey sweetie,” I called softly when Sundance
whined a hello. I reached inside a bin of sweet feed, taking only a
small handful. The dozen or so cows in the barn heard the clanking
of the metal lid and pushed to the front of the large stall.
“Sorry, guys. There’s not enough to give everyone a treat.”

Since he was our only horse, Sundance had his
own stall at the end of the barn. The cows were jammed in a large,
open stall that took up most of the barn. They were put away every
night since it was too difficult to see in the dark and guarantee
their safety. I went into the horse stall, holding my hand out to
the brown and white horse.

After Sundance ate the feed, I ducked out of
the stall and pushed my way through the cattle, unlocking the end
door. Then I had to go out and walk around, opening the back door
from the outside where I could press my body up against the barn’s
wall and avoid being trampled to death.

The moat went around three sides of the barn.
It was four feet wide and close to six feet deep. The backside of
the barn didn’t have a ditch, allowing the animals safe passage in
and out. It was protected by three metal gates and several hot
wires. I cut the power to the wires and opened the gates before
sliding the barn door open.

The sound of thundering hoofs sparked
something inside of me and suddenly I was there, standing at the
base of the stairs in my grandparent’s house. I closed my eyes,
pressing my sweaty palms into my legs.

I leaned against the barn. My heart thumped
in my chest. Dammit. We didn’t have time for this. Only a few A2s
and myself were out here this morning. The rest were meeting with
Hayden.

I closed the barn and walked through the
pasture, keeping a look out for zombies. I was on edge, the same
way I felt when after a zombie close call. Shit. It was just a
memory. Why did it affect me so deeply?

“Be realistic,” I muttered to myself. With
all we’d been through, I was lucky I wasn’t a freaking basket case.
I reached up, pulling on the nylon strap of my quiver that was
rubbing uncomfortably on my shoulder.

I stepped over a pile of cow manure and
continued my hike across the pasture. I had just gotten to the
bottom of a hill when a voice came over the radio. Adrenaline shot
through me, firing my muscles to sprint back to the barn.

“I saw something,” one of the A2s said to me.
She held her gun at her waist, waiting for my instruction. I was
too distracted to tell her this world waited for no one. Neither
should she.

“Where?” I unhooked my bow from my shoulder
and pulled back an arrow.

“In the trees.” She raised her gun, quickly
putting her left hand under the weapon for support…and to stop her
fingers from shaking. I cast a sideways glance at her. Maybe
Hayden’s speech about the crazies getting smarter had a bigger
impact that I thought.

“Take a breath,” I told her. “We’re behind
the wire.” I pulled back on the arrow. “And you have me,” I added
with a grin. She turned her head, staring at me with wide eyes. I
missed Hayden. He at least understood my dry sense of humor.

She listened, at least, and took a deep
breath, pushing the air out immediately. I was about to tell her to
do it again but slower when I saw movement.

“Should we fire?”

“No, not yet.” Something was off. I narrowed
my eyes, damming the dim morning light. All I could see was a
silhouette. It was hunched over and…holding its side as if it was
in pain. Something echoed across the trees. Was it crying? “Go and
get backup, but make sure they stay behind the fence unless I call
out,” I said and dropped to the ground.

“Orissa!” the A2 called. “What are you
doing?”

“Crazies don’t feel pain.” I rolled under the
fence, being careful not to touch the live wire. I hiked the quiver
into place as I stood and took off, silently slipping into the
waist high grass. Several yards were put between the wire and me
when I heard it again. Yes, it was crying.

I tightened my grip on the arrow. The hair on
the back of my neck stood up when I thought back. A crazy had
tricked us once before...

I shook my head. No. I couldn’t think like
that, not when I was already out here.

The crying grew louder. I ducked behind a
tree and out of sight. It sounded like a female. I peered around
and saw her fall, tripping over uneven ground. A cry escaped her
lips as she hit the ground.

I lowered the bow and dashed out from behind
the tree. Holy shit. She looked awful, dirty and covered in blood.
I rushed to her, dropping to my knees. “Oh my God, Gabby!”

She looked up, dirt stuck to fresh cuts on
her face. “Riss?” she sobbed.

“Yes,” I said and put the bow down and took a
hold of her arm, prepared to help her to her feet. She winced and I
let go, taking my hand away. My palm was covered in blood. I
grabbed the walkie-talkie from my belt. “Hello,” I said into it. “I
found Gabby!”

The reply was nothing but static. “Gabby is
here,” I said slowly and only got static again. I shook my head and
clipped the walkie back to my belt loop. “I need to get you
inside.”

She sucked in air and wrapped blood crusted
fingers around my wrist. “They’re all dead,” she cried. “I s-saw
them.” She broke down in sobs. I hooked my arm under her, which was
hard to do with the bow poking her in the face.

“It’s ok, Gabby,” I soothed.

“No it’s not!” She doubled over, sobbing.

“You’re right,” I said flatly. “It’s not ok
at all. None of this is.” I blinked away another memory, recoiling
at the way I could still feel the blade pushing into Rider’s skull.
“But right now you need to get inside.”

She was hysterical, gripping onto me, unable
to walk from the force of her tears. I stopped moving forward and
hugged her. She melted into me, sobbing. My chest tightened. Here
we were, struggling to get by on a daily basis. We had lost so
much, seen so much death. And there were people living along the
coast in perfect comfort and safety, completely prepared for all
this.

It wasn’t right.

We stood there for a few seconds, holding
onto each other in an awkward hug. Gabby’s hands rested on the
quiver and the bow pressed into her chest. “Come on,” I encouraged,
putting my arm around her for support. She leaned on me, eyes
swollen from crying so hard.

It was slow going through the grass and
weeds. My pants became wet with dew and a chill set deep in my
bones. Gabby gripped me a little tighter and sniffled.

Something moved behind us. I came to a sudden
halt. “Be quiet,” I whispered and turned around, leaning to see
past Gabby. “There’s nothing—”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence. Zombies
stumbled out of the weeds, arms out, reaching for us. I let go of
Gabby and grabbed an arrow, stringing it up in the bow. But then
hands grasped my shoulders.

The zombie’s nails dug into my skin as I
twisted to get away. He was tall and had been muscular at one
point. His once colorful tattoos were fading and wrinkled on his
rotting flesh. Gray mold covered half of his face. He advanced on
me, mouth open and moaning.

I brought the bow up, hitting him under the
chin. His head flopped back. I kicked his knee and his leg bucked.
I brought my arm up, raising the bow and kicked him again. I
grabbed an arrow, stringing it in the bow. I lifted my foot and
brought my heel down on the tattooed zombie’s face and let the
arrow go, hitting a zombie that was several feet away.

“Gabby!” I screamed. She had fallen to the
ground. A zombie was advancing on her. Fast. “Gabby look out!”

I snatched another arrow and rammed it into
the eye of another zombie. Her long blonde hair was clumped
together. Streaks of bird poop dripped down her face. I pulled the
arrow back, bringing up my foot to push off her chest.

The zombie was over Gabby. She turned her
head and closed her eyes. She was waiting to die.

“No!” I shouted when the zombie opened his
mouth. Thick mucus dripped off his tongue. I didn’t even think or
take time to steady myself. I just fired the arrow.

The zombie collapsed onto Gabby, arrow
sticking out of the back of his skull. My heart raced. I whirled
around, looking for more zombies.

“Gabby,” I said and hurried over. She wasn’t
moving and panic took over. Had the arrow gone through his head? I
bent over, dropping the bow, and put my hands on the zombie’s
shoulders. Despite being dead and dehydrated, the bastard was
heavy.

“What the hell was that?” I spat out, not
meaning to sound angry. “You were going to let him bite you,
weren’t you?”

“I saw them all die,” she whispered, lip
quivering. “Ripped apart…eaten. All of them. Except me.” She rolled
onto her side, bringing her legs up to her chest.

I closed my eyes, forcing away tears. I put
my hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.

“I just ran,” she cried. “I thought they were
behind me. T-then I turned around and saw I was alone.” She took a
shaky breath. “So I went back. I went back for them!” She squeezed
her eyes shut. Fat tears dripped off her face. “I can still hear
the screaming.” She brought her hands to her face. “I tried. I
tried to save them but I didn’t.”

“Gabby,” I repeated, looking around
nervously. “I’m so, so sorry. But we need to go.”

“I-I can’t,” she cried. “I want to die
too.”

“No you don’t. You wouldn’t have come back
here if you did. Your dad…the rest of us…we want you to come back.
Please, Gabby.” I bent over her, trying to get my hands under her
arms. Hayden’s dog tags came untucked and swung free, dangling in
Gabby’s face.

She didn’t flinch when the metal hit her.
Shit, she was in shock. I pulled her up only to have her slump down
again.

“Gabby!” I said. “I don’t want to die out
here!” I let her go and rocked back. “And I’m not leaving without
you.” I sat on the ground, crossing my legs. My heart continued to
hammer and my muscles twitched, wanting to run and carry me to
safety.

Gabby swallowed a sob and opened her eyes.
“Go,” she said hoarsely. “I’m not worth it.”

I wasn’t going to argue with her. Though it
had been a while, I had been in a mind frame like that more than
once. No amount of convincing or telling her she in fact
was
worth it would mean anything to her right now. She wasn’t thinking
logically, and I couldn’t blame her. Seeing Rider stagger through
the darkness as a zombie was horrifying and still haunted me.
Seeing everyone in our group ripped apart…I shuddered.

Dew seeped through my pants. I tucked the dog
tags back into my shirt and looked behind us. The weeds were too
tall to see the barn, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone
came out here looking for me.

“You survived for a reason,” I started. I
shook my head. The words sounded forced and lame. I wished Ray was
here. She could talk me off a ledge. I wasn’t good at stuff like
that. “Please, Gabby,” I said, sounding more desperate than I meant
to. “There are people that love you and will really miss you. We
already have to deal with the loss of four people. Don’t add to
it.”

Gabby started crying harder. Dammit. I sucked
at this. I bit my lip. “There are people back there that I love and
want to get back to, and I’m not going there without you.”

She didn’t so much as look at me. I tightened
the strap of the quiver and bent over, hooking my arms under hers.
“You’ve left me no choice,” I huffed and brought Gabby to her
feet.

“Put me down,” she said and feebly pushed
against me.

“We’re not staying out here. It’s not safe.
At all.” I strained under her weight as I flipped her over my
shoulder. Between the loaded quiver on my back, Gabby, and the bow,
it was slow going back to the barn.

“Put me down,” she said again, getting some
fire back. “Orissa.”

“Do me a favor,” I panted. “And shut up.” The
barn loomed ahead of us.

“I’ll walk,” she said.

I stopped. “You better or I’m dragging you
in.” I put her on the ground.

“Don’t tell them,” she said when we drew
close enough to the barn for the others to see us. “Don’t tell them
that I watched.”

“I won’t,” I promised and squeezed her hand.
My heart sank when I saw the crowd of A2s gathered at the fence. I
had to tell them about the others, that they were torn apart and
scattered inside the stomachs of zombies, that there was nothing
left but bits of torn clothing and hair.

Rain fell from thick gray clouds, pattering
down on us. Drops hit my face, splashing into my eyes and rolling
down my cheeks. I kept a steady hold on Hayden’s hand. Hannah stood
on his other side, keeping her casted arm dry inside her jacket. We
stood in front of a group of people gathered for the memorial
service. Pastor Jim was to our side, reading a passage from the
Bible
and not caring that the thin pages were getting wet.
We didn’t have any umbrellas, which was as odd as much as it made
sense. They weren’t something anyone thought to bring with them
while running for their lives.