Barely Alive (21 page)

I stepped forward. The truth was never easy to swallow. “I’m sorry. You can’t go there. Hopefully, she’s in hiding or one of the people starting the fires. If she’s not… well,” I hung my head. I didn’t have the answers they wanted. I was a member of the group that had put their girl in danger – might have killed her or converted her, if I’d stayed.

Eleanor straightened her spine. Her chin jiggled with righteous indignation. “You can’t tell us what we can or cannot do. She’s our girl. We can get around that mess.” She waved her arm, clunky plastic bracelets banging together in the direction of the Nova. “If you’re not headed that way, we can’t help you.”

As a unit they turned to their minivan. I looked behind us at the flaming car. We had no transportation and it didn’t look like anyone else was coming. I glanced at each member of my group. Squaring my jaw, I strode forward and grasped the older woman’s arm. “Actually, Eleanor, you’ll help us more than you want to.”

She gasped and tried jerking from my hand. Marv glared at me, pulling on his wife and sputtering. Releasing her, he squared up in an old Irish boxing stance and swung.

I allowed the first one to connect. The solid landing rang, and would’ve plastered me to the pavement three weeks before. But I shook my head and moved my jaw.

I caught his fist in my hand when he threw the second punch. His eyes widened with pain as I barely squeezed. I thrust my nose toward his face and spoke in hushed tones. “I’ll give you the one, Marv, but only because you’re my elder and protecting your wife. One more and you won’t have to worry about your daughter anymore. Do we understand each other?”

He cradled his hand with the other and stared. I bet once upon a time, old man Marv had boxed on a competitive market. And he still had it. But I wasn’t a normal man and his realization hid behind his lowered lids. Marv circled his wife’s waist with his arms in a hug and he angled himself between her and the undefined threat I offered.

Travis watched me, horror on his face, but Connie got it. She pushed her husband to the minivan. “Get in the car.”

Eleanor’s sobs racked her body as Travis, Connie, James and Heather piled into the van.

Marv glared at me, and I wished I could explain, that I could justify what I did. But I hadn’t eaten them. That had to be enough.

“
You can’t just leave us here.” He whispered. Fear and loathing slashed the lines by his mouth into harsh canyons. He reminded me of my dead grandpa, solid as a rock but vulnerable.

In the heat, I realized he was right. In Vegas they’d get bit. Out in the desert they didn’t stand a chance, especially packing the extra weight around their middles and chests. Either way, I was sending them to death. “Just a second.” Like they were going anywhere.

I jogged to the van and poked my head into the sliding side door. Connie, James, and Travis had spread out on the two bench seats in back. Heather claimed the front by the driver’s seat – me. I liked that. “Do we have enough room for them to the next city?”

Travis scooted closer to Connie and tapped James’s shoulder. “James can move back here with us. They can sit in the middle until the next town.” He grabbed the research material stored next to James who ground his teeth.

I looked back at the couple, standing in sadness. “Come on. We’ll give you a ride to the next town.”

Unsure of the safety yet certain they’d die in the afternoon heat or cool night, Marv led his wife to the van. They climbed in and settled into the seat, clutching each other’s hands. I slid the door shut.

How many more people would I have to save? I didn’t like that I had to be disrespectful. He’d pushed me. I was done. I didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore. Crawling into the burning sedan had more appeal with each passing second.

Inside, I adjusted the mirrors and the seat. Heather didn’t smile when I looked her way. In fact, she didn’t even look at me. She stared straight out the front windshield.
Whatever.
I needed drama like I needed another person to join our group.

Marv had left the keys in the ignition when he’d jumped out to check on us. I jerked the wheel and the minivan groaned at my handling. The temptation to run it over the median like the sedan was strong.

I drove north on the south bound highway.

Chapter 17

“
Does anyone know how far the next town is?” James’s voice sounded strangled and bound. Without the AC on and no windows in the back, Marv, Eleanor, and Travis’s scents were filling the van with record speed. At least I had a window pushing the smell from me.

Marv answered, his disgust dripping from his clipped words. “Beatty is about forty-five more minutes.”

Forty-five minutes.

Would the burning Nova be enough to stop anyone else from driving to Vegas? The infection was quickly spreading, but how far had it gone? We’d need supplies, more than what we had but I didn’t feel like enduring Marv’s disdain with more questions like what was Beatty like, where did they live, etc. Seemed like too much trouble.

I met James’s eyes in the mirror. He looked away first.

“
Where are you going?” Eleanor’s curiosity had more strength than her husband’s efforts to keep her quiet. She’d be one that followed a bank robber around with questions. Not that I was doing anything wrong. I saved their lives, they were just too human to understand.

Heather refused to look at me.

I was getting pissed off.

Travis spoke from the back. “We’re heading toward northern Idaho. Is going through Reno the best route?”

Marv turned to face Travis, the edge of his words softened. “No. You want to head toward Tonopah after you leave Beatty. In Tonopah head east toward Ely. The signs will get you there.” He looked at his wife’s hand in his. Even with my hearing, his words were hard to understand. “Is it really that bad in Vegas?”

Connie nodded her head, but didn’t look up from the papers she worked on. She spoke as if bored, but the strain to keep herself under control was obvious to me – and I bet to James as well. “You can’t imagine the monsters that are down there.”

Or here in the van right now
. Monsters. We were monsters. People eating, animal eating, it didn’t matter. If these creatures spread across the nation, the globe, there would be nothing alive after a short while. How did you fight against something that didn’t die unless it was burned? We couldn’t nuke the nation without killing the rest of us.

I mean… me. I’m one of them and the goal was to get rid of us, eradicate us. If my friends couldn’t figure out a cure, James, Connie, and I were threats to the people around us. They’d have to burn us. We’d have to go into the flames. I needed to remember that. My position with the group wasn’t permanent.

Heather’s anger would serve more than one purpose. If she didn’t form a strong attachment to me, then when the inevitable happened, it wouldn’t so bad. For her. I had a sinking feeling I was going to hurt more than I’d ever hurt before – and not from the fire.

Signs for Beatty flashed on the other side of the road. I’d driven the wrong way on the southbound since Marv and Eleanor’s interception. I refused to jump the median again. Not only was it a waste of fuel and machine, but the minivan probably wouldn’t clear the first obstacle in the ditch. I wasn’t pulling a car out of anywhere, if I could help it.

But maybe I was strong enough to. That’d be sweet.

Nobody had anything to add after Connie’s monster declaration.

From one of her bags, Heather withdrew some candy bars and offered them to the – what?
Captives? Hostages?
– older couple.

Pulling into Beatty city limits, I slowed. Where did I drop them? We could leave the van with them, but they’d probably head back toward Vegas, and then we wouldn’t have anything to drive nor would we have accomplished anything by stopping them.

A general store lorded its bright red front and shiny signs over the rest of the faded and chipped buildings on the street.

I pulled into one of the three empty spots and shifted into park. Nothing I said would make my decision better, but I had to try. I turned to Marv and Eleanor, my voice low, apologetic. “I know you don’t understand. I know I seem cruel. But this is for the best. These creatures eat humans, cows, anything that moves, because it’s all they think about – eating.” I met the older man’s eyes and tried to put horror in their depths. “If they bite you, you would either turn into one of them, die and turn into one of them, or die. You cannot stop them. You can’t even hide from them.” I stole a glance out the front windshield and sighed. “I don’t know when they’ll be up this way, but I guarantee they will be. You need to get home and do your best to stay shacked up.”

Eleanor opened the door and stepped out, waiting for her husband. Marv moved to the end of the seat, one arm leaned against Heather’s seat, the other on the arm rest. He turned to me, doubt crimping his brow. “How do you know? You could be wrong.”

“
I’m not.” I didn’t have to explain myself to anyone. I was done with explanations. “You don’t have to trust me, but do hear me out on this.” Leaned closer to him, my voice dropping to just between us. “The only reason I’m letting you go right now, is because
I
don’t eat humans – yet. The ones in Vegas? They
do
.”

His eyes widened and he jumped from the van. He hustled his wife up onto the sidewalk and into the store. They didn’t look back.

James slid the door closed. I reversed the van and we continued our journey. I glanced back every few seconds, certain I’d find cops following us. We’d just stolen a car and dropped the owners off where they could call and report the theft. I didn’t want to eat cops. I really didn’t.

Outside of town, the speed limit rose. We turned on the vents to help the lowered windows cool off the back. I was tempted to trade spots with Travis. He could drive in the wind and I could bake in the back. But I wanted to be by Heather, even if she didn’t want to speak to me.

Holy crap, she finally spoke. “You didn’t need to scare them like that.” Okay, not the words I wanted to hear. Sorry would have been nice. Or
that was so sweet what you did – giving them a ride to a store away from Las Vegas
. But nope.

I bit back the rudest comment I could think of and chose instead to say, “I’m sorry you think that.”

She flipped to face me. “Don’t get all formal on me now, Paul.”

The side conversation behind us trailed off.

I smiled, my pissy mood just getting started. “Oh, I’m not. I’m just not going to justify my decisions to you.”

Oh yay, know-it-all-Heather was back.
“Do you realize —”

I cut her off. “No. Do
you
realize that they want to save their daughter? That’s it. That’s all they can think about. We’re headed toward our family. I took them away from theirs.” I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. “I even stole their car. Hell, you’re just along for the ride. Not one of you is making the decisions I am.” I pointed at her, my jabs enunciating my words – in case she missed the inflection I used. “
You
don’t have to worry about anything. You’re headed to Grandma’s – who will welcome you with open arms. I’m driving to my mom, who most likely hates me.” I waved at myself. “And look at what I’ve become. Not exactly something a parent wants their kid to turn into when they grow up.”

“
Your decisions affect us, too.” She angled her jaw and crossed her arms.

I laughed, sharp and short. “Really? Well, you tell me what you want to do next time rather than leaving it in my hands. Those people are safe and they know what’s down in Vegas. They’re informed.” I turned away from her, didn’t look again. “If that makes me a bad person, at least it’s their choice to live or die now.”

She didn’t answer.

I didn’t give a damn. I fumed.
Piss me off? Not so smart, little girl.
I could bite into her and keep eating. She’d never change.

Travis was bigger than her. I could eat him, too. I could lock the other two in the van and set the whole damn thing on fire and then run and hide in the woods and terrorize the townspeople until the disease spread that far north then move around until the whole country had become overrun.

Yeah,
I could do that. Or I could stockpile animals in the mines of Idaho all for myself. I’d probably need two or three cows a day – and with my expiration label at just under ten weeks, I was looking at about two-hundred-ten cows. I could do that. Why not?

Nobody spoke as the miles passed beneath us. The sun slipped behind the mountains and thankfully, Heather rolled her window up shortly after I did. The van smelled of Marv and Eleanor and I sort of wished we’d left the vehicle with them. Light fragmented off the AAA sticker when we passed under the few-and-far-between street lamps.

I exited toward Ely. Maybe another few hours and we’d stop for a breather. Connie and James didn’t speak. Heather and Travis appeared to be asleep, but if I could, I’d fake sleeping myself to avoid the mounting discomfort in the van. We felt more like acquaintances stuck in an elevator than friends who needed each other on a road trip.