Barely Alive (9 page)

Squealing. There went the animals.

What if they tried to get in to the trapdoor? I held my breath.

More trampling. A few groans and screams.

Rattling on the trap door as they tugged on the ring.

Then silence.

I breathed out.

Still silence.

I had to sit down. Too much food after days of starving was making me light headed. I could feel the emptiness in the room above. Waves of fear pulsed from somewhere to my right.

Certain we were okay for at least a moment, I extended my hands and stepped forward. Two steps in and my fingers closed on something soft and pliable.

Heather squeaked.

Crap. I just grabbed her chest. Definitely no bra. I jerked my hands back and mumbled something under my breath. I crossed my arms. Unfolded them. Clenched my fingers by my sides. Squeezed my eyelids as tight as I could. Opened them. I cleared my throat and wished I was eating a dust-donut. “Uh, sorry about that.”

She didn’t respond. But she hadn’t hit me either.

I didn’t dare move. What if I accidentally grabbed her butt, too?

“
What are you?” Her voice sent shivers up my spine.

Great question. “I don’t think they have an exact title for it yet. I use zombie, but I don’t think we apply in the technical terms. I don’t eat brains, you know?” Sick.

“
Do you think
he
made it?” She didn’t need to explain who “he” was.

I shrugged in the darkness. “I don’t know. But if he did, he’ll be in the same shape I’m in, except with teeth marks.”

“
He’s going to go after my family, isn’t he?” Tears laced her voice.

I wanted to reassure her that he was most likely dead, that the virus could have killed him rather than change him, but I didn’t want to treat her like she was stupid. He’d said very clearly that the virus was derived from his saliva. How could he be immune?

Plus, he’d threatened my family, too.

My silence said more than if I’d spoken.

She laughed. Yeah, laughed.

I looked to the side and to the other side in the dark. “Um, are you okay?” Had I reached out and tickled her or something?”

“
He has no idea where I’m from or who my family is.” She gasped. “I’m worrying about nothing.” She heard what I didn’t say. “Right?”

“
Well…”

“
Well what, Paul?” She said my name. I’d never loved my name more than in that second. “Tell me what you’re leaving out. How will he find my family?”

I backed up an inch, not much but enough to feel like I’d done something to protect myself. “When we took you girls, we confiscated your phones and gave them to Dominic. It doesn’t take much to narrow down which phone is yours from the seven.”

“
Seriously?” Her voice was small instead of the angry yell I expected. “Is there any way we can warn them? Help them?”

If they smelled anything like Heather, they’d be in deep crap whether I was there or not, especially with more of my type out there unchecked.

Before I could answer, Heather’s tone softened. “Paul? Did you… bite me?”

In the dark, the question was more intimate than I was ready to deal with. I reached behind me and grabbed at the ladder. “I think it’s safe for us to go up.” I turned and climbed the few rungs. The handle turned easily and I pushed it open centimeter by centimeter.

Absolute silence greeted my search. Oh, wait, a drip, drip, drip. Blood plopped into a puddle beneath pig remains draped over a pen wall. But that was it. No chickens or rabbits. And more importantly, no creatures lunged about in search of the next bite of meat.

I scrambled from the cellar-like room, free from the closed in area and Heather’s question.

Well, the former anyway.

She climbed up behind me and closed the door. Heather winced at the site of the mangled bodies spread around the small area. But she squared her shoulders and raised her voice. “Did you bite me?”

What did she expect me to say? I didn’t want to lie to her. I chewed on the words before spitting them out. “Yes. I’m sorry.” I faced her, certain her eyes would judge me or blame me or something bad, but her gaze wasn’t even on my face. Instead, she stared at my bare chest and stomach. I glanced down. Nothing was gray or out of place. My abdominals were still well defined – I boasted an eight-pack with clear lines. My pecs were tight and my arm muscles bulged, even more so after eating.

She raised her eyes, a flush reddening her cheeks.

“
What?” I pulled my shirt from the back pocket of my jeans and pulled it on. Great, had I lost something in the last few weeks? I used to work my butt off. It’d be my luck to lose all that work.

Heather shook her head and focused her gaze down by our feet. “Nothing. Um, can we talk about this later? I need to call my parents and warn them. Do you know where I could get a phone?”

“
We need to get out of here. I don’t know if they’ll be back.”
When
would be more like it, but I needed to get into the fresh air. Her scent was distracting. I wanted to feel what I’d grabbed before and that was completely unacceptable. I’d eaten so now the lust was taking over.

I leaned through the spikes of wood and metal of the gaping hole where the monsters – like I wasn’t one – had broken through.

Smoke from the burning building dimmed the afternoon sunlight. The entire compound had achieved a muted effect with colors covered in a white-gray film. The new home-base building didn’t appear to have been touched, but two buildings to the left of us had been ravaged and left for dead. Doors hung from hinges, glass littered the ground, and unidentifiable contents lay scattered near the fronts.

But there was no movement. Even the flames hadn’t overtaken the front of the warehouse.

I waved my hand at Heather. “Come on.”

In seconds she scrabbled out beside me. She didn’t spare a parting glance for the blood splattered room behind us. Her hand sought mine and she gripped my fingers. My nerves hadn’t disappeared, if the electric zing was any indication. Hot.

“
I need a phone.” Heather tugged me toward the standing building.

I pulled against her. I didn’t want to go in there. Getting as far from the compound as possible was my first objective. I’d eaten, so I’d be safer around Heather… or she’d be safer around me. Then I remembered my phone. “Here.” I reached inside my pant pocket with my free hand – no way was I letting go of her hand – and handed her the cell phone I’d failed to return to Dominic. “Use this.”

Heather released my hand to clap hers together. She took the phone, holding it with reverence. While she looked down and smiled, I noticed the bags under her eyes and the downturn to her lids. She’d been up all day yesterday, all night again and then the majority of the day. Humans were sleep hounds and needed rest or their value dropped significantly.

And she hadn’t eaten. I knew for a fact Dominic hadn’t fed the girls. I’d been with them the whole time.

“
Heather, why don’t you call them and we’ll get going, get you something to eat, okay?”

She glanced up at me, her eyes sparkly with tears. Yep, she was tired.

Emotions made me uncomfortable. Girl ones knocked me on my butt. I eyed her up and down. “You know what? You’re tiny. Let’s try piggy-backing it for a bit. The ride won’t be smooth, but you can try and get some rest.”

With each degree she relaxed, not in immediate fear of being eaten or attacked. Weariness dragged her down, slower and slower. I bet she weighed a buck-twenty-five tops.

She nodded and dialed. Phone to her ear, she waited out the ring tones. Enhanced hearing made it difficult to avoid eavesdropping.

I glanced to where Dominic had tried to rape Heather. Two syringes rested side by side. But he’d only injected Heather with one.

I smoothed the emotion from my face and pretended I couldn’t hear the faint clicks between rings.

Ring. Click. Ring. Click. Ring. Click. Ring. Click.

Hell, how annoying. If someone didn’t answer soon or the voicemail didn’t pick up, I was tempted to fling the phone across the yard.

But nothing happened. No voicemail, nothing.

She frowned and poked the end button. “Someone’s on the other line, I think.”

“
They don’t have voicemail?” I didn’t care. An expectation hung in the air. I glanced around the buildings again and stepped around the side of the building, pulling her with me.

Shaking her head, she followed me, distracted. “They don’t use it and they have call waiting but refuse to answer. Bugs the heck out of me. Where are we going?”

“
Something’s off. We need to get out of here. Are you ready?” I asked as a courtesy. She didn’t have anything to pack. Even less to keep her there.

A quick tuck hid the phone inside a front pocket of her shorts. My mouth went dry. She had to be kidding me. What if I needed the phone? I guess I’d have to go in there and retrieve it.

I turned my back to her, bent my legs so she could reach, and closed my eyes when she wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing herself to me. She gave a small jump and I double-bounced her legs up around my waist. Hello.

One foot in front of the other. She was lighter than I’d planned. My strength had increased even more after my feast and my strides ate the ground. In minutes, we escaped the low-hanging smoke and easy visibility of the buildings.

My breathing remained even. Heart rate didn’t rise. Unless I thought of Heather’s body pressed against mine.

Heather’s head lulled against my upper shoulder. If she let go, she’d fall right off my back. We couldn’t have that.

Chapter 8

I couldn’t stop watching her sleep. After the ninth misstep, I searched for a hiding place I could make relatively safe before I lowered her to the ground. I had slid her to a cradle hold not long after she fell asleep on my back. She was light enough, she hadn’t slowed my pace.

Henderson city limits loomed ahead of us. The lights of the Las Vegas area brightened the dusk into nonexistence. We tucked into the foothills under some creosote bushes nestled into the side of a utility posting. No one would show up on a weekend to work it, so I had free reign over the vending machine humming just inside the front door.

I stripped my shirt and tucked it under her head. She needed water and protein. The musky creosote smell covered her scent and would protect her from any rogue creatures looking for stragglers to eat.

A kick through the glass made short work of the door. Inside, I pulled the front from the machine and stole trail mixes, water, an electrolyte drink, and handfuls of treats that most likely tasted like dust. I glowered when I saw my old favorite that wouldn’t taste the same to me. Bastard candy. Bastard Dominic. Everyone sucked.

My mood lightened when I knelt beside Heather again. She was so dang pretty. The full bow of her bottom lip, the dusting of her eyelashes on her cheeks, the dark sweep of her bangs across her smooth forehead… Her eyelids flickered open.

I leaned back, unnerved by her direct gaze. It was one thing to watch her in private, but caught in the act was disconcerting. I looked away and watched the zooming lights below us as the cars drove here and there. Without looking at her, I pushed the pile of loot close to her leg. “Food.”

Grunting at her wasn’t going to get me any kisses, and why would she kiss me? I was dying, quick. And my saliva was viral – she was immune to my bite, but there were too many variables to take any chances. What if my saliva mixed with hers created a different enzyme than what even Dominic had created? I had no idea. I’d dropped out of AP Biology to run away from home. I wasn’t educated enough to know how viruses and cells reacted or procreated.

She sat up, her legs straight in front of her, the trunk of the bush a backdrop for her to rest against. “We’re in Henderson.” Not a question, but an observation thrown between us to fill the silence. I accepted it for what it was, nothing more, nothing less.

I nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know where your place is. I thought you could try your parents again on the phone.”

The wrapper of the trail mix crinkled in her hand. “I live in Summerlin.” Northwest. In fact, I don’t think there was a further place from Henderson in city limits.

“
I’m gonna check out this area… over… there. I’ll be right back.” I grabbed the shirt beside me from the ground and moved away. She made me nervous as hell and I couldn’t figure out why. She was a girl. That’s it. A girl. Immunity aside, there was nothing extraordinary about her. If I ignored the curve of her waist, the shine of her hair, and the sass she carried in the arch of her neck, it’d be easy to believe she was an average girl. An average human.

And her taste? Forget about it.

I moved a few feet from the bush, but didn’t leave the shadows of the building. The creatures would search out individuals or small groups to attack. Predator instinct sharpened with the introduction of the virus. I loved it while I hated it.

Heather dialed the phone again.

I waited.

The other end rang. A pre-recorded woman’s voice answered after two rings. “You’ve reached the McCains. Leave a message and we’ll get back to you.”