Contagion: The Rising
Contagion:The Rising
By
JOHN CARTER
COPYRIGHT © 2015 BY JOHN CARTER.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This is purely a work of fiction.
All the names, characters, places,
ideas, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are
entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events,
or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be
reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without express written permission of the author.
Cover design by Lucifer Jordan
Emma
ran through the alley and jumped over a wooden fence. The horde, which
consisted of mostly soccer mom Risers, managed to catch up to her as they
easily cleared the privacy fence. With one angry pull, she yanked off the piece
of twine holding her dark brown hair back and attempted to calm the unruly
hair. She heard the truck’s engine start up suddenly and knew that the Risers
would instantly go toward the noise. She watched Sarah turn around and stop as
she heard the screeching of the horde getting closer, "Sarah! Keep
running!" Her sister managed to snap out of it and ran towards the truck.
Ryan
shifted the truck into drive and the truck began to creep forward.
"Come
on, Emma!" Sarah yelled as Rory grabbed her by her jacket sleeves and
quickly lifted her in to the truck bed. Emma continued to run toward them, but
was suddenly confronted with another horde of soccer mom Risers.
“Fucking
city of soccer moms!” She switched to shorter strides and flanked left towards
the other side of the road.
"No!
We have to follow her!" Sarah shook and she fought with her red hair as it
attempted to cover her face.
"We'll
go down the street, I'm sure she's trying to get them away from us," Ryan
looked over his shoulder as he anxiously tapped on the dashboard and took off
down the road. “I sure as hell would do the same,” he coughed and held onto the
wheel. “Come on, Emma.”
Emma
jumped over a chain link fence as the back of her shirt caught on the end of a
link. She pulled on her shirt and left behind a tuft of her favorite red shirt.
The sound of the ripping fabric angered her as she ran towards the back of the
house. She managed to scale down another fence into the back yard and found
herself in another alleyway.
“No
Risers in the way,” she thought aloud. "Where are they?" she whispered
as she stopped short of the next house. She tried to keep count of the row of
houses, but gave up after each one looked so much like the other. She wondered
how inviting they probably once were when everything was normal. She missed
living in the suburbs with her parents and sister. How could this happen so
quickly? The loud roar of the horde and screeches of the smaller Risers
interrupted her thoughts as the horde celebrated finding her. She ran over to
the end of the alley as she saw Ryan driving up with the truck. Her sister was
in back with Rory, scanning the row of houses looking for her.
"Emma!"
Sarah yelled. She saw Emma’s black jacket become a flash as she ran towards the
truck. She rushed and pushed over a Riser who appeared from another back yard.
She smiled as the Riser resembled a stunned turtle attempting to regain its
balance after being flipped over.
"Stop,
Ryan! It's Emma!" Rory shouted as the truck abruptly stopped. Emma ran
across a small community park and made it to the truck. As Sarah reached out
for her arm, a Riser suddenly grabbed at her. Emma jumped at it and pulled it
from Sarah's arm. She kicked it down to the ground and stomped its head in as
another one's teeth ripped into her shoulder. She screamed in pain as she pushed
Sarah back at Rory. She took out her machete and sliced the second one's head
off. Briefly losing her balance, she gripped the tailgate. Her ice blue eyes
matched her sister’s gaze, who instantly knew of the idea brewing in Emma’s
head.
Sarah
sat back in horror and started to shake her head in disapproval, “No, no, no.” Emma
shifted her eyes down to the ground as she slowly lifted the tailgate. Her once
vibrant eyes looked drawn and sullen as the reality hit her with a jolt of
pain. She clung to her shoulder as she held her eyes closed and slowly opened
them to see Sarah reaching toward her.
"What
are you doing?" Sarah's eyes widened as she reached for her. Emma grabbed
at the tailgate to maintain her balance and swore under her breath.
"You," her breath escaped her for a second as she clinched her eyes
shut. She forced her eyes open and muttered out, "you have to go."
"No!"
Sarah screamed, "We’re not leaving without you."
"No
time," Emma winced and looked up at her, "you have to." She
turned to Rory, "take care of her." Rory stood and mindlessly nodded
as he watched. She cleared her throat and yelled, "Drive, Ryan!"
Ryan
repeatedly hit the steering wheel with his fists in protest. “No, Emma. Get in
the damn truck.” He looked behind and glared at her.
“Drive,”
she looked on in defiance and said as she held onto the tailgate. The truck
stood still for a second before shifting gears to drive.
“Damn
it, Emma!” He shook his head and steered away from her. He kept cussing and
punching the wheel.
"No!"
Sarah grabbed at Emma's hand as the truck pulled forward.
Emma
let go of the tailgate and held onto her shoulder. She stared at Sarah's tear
stained face and watched as the truck as it got further away. "Goodbye, Sarah."
"Emma."
Sarah watched as Emma fought with the pain and fell to the ground. She sat
motionless for a few seconds before the horde reached her. She struggled to get
to her feet and ran in the opposite direction of the truck. Sarah trembled and
watched as her sister led the majority of them away from the truck. Rory sat
back with his head in his hands as Ryan looked back. "Where do we
go?"
Sarah's
expression changed and her green eyes dulled as she said sternly,
"Northwest on Maple, then straight onto 55. We should be back within two
hours." She stared on as her sister disappeared, and wiped her face with
her sleeve.
Emma
held onto her shoulder as she grew pale with pain and weakness. She struggled
to keep her eyes open and felt drowsy. The horde remained behind her and their
growls intensified as they grew angry that they couldn't catch her.
She
planned on leading them to the pit Sarah nearly fell in earlier. She attempted
to jump over the fence and fell to the ground. The fall took the breath out of
her but she was able to get up and drip her blood around. She closed her eyes
as she leaned on the house for stability. The vertigo she was experiencing
wasn’t a stranger, and her breathing labored as the Risers reached the pit and
fell in. They screeched and clawed at the edges as she grabbed the gas can. She
doused the Risers and herself as she reached for her lighter. It burned bright
and stayed lit as she threw it into the pit. She lost her balance and fell back
onto the wall. She slid lower until she was sitting flat on the ground and
watched as the Risers screamed in pain. She smirked and held her eyes closed as
she slowly exhaled for the final time. Her eyes quickly reopened with the blank
stare like the rest of the dead around her. Her body jerked up as her
transition was nearly complete. With the last shred of humanity remaining in
her, she hurled herself into the fiery pit with the others.
The
truck rumbled to a stop at the farm as Sarah jumped out of the truck bed. Rory
followed after her and attempted to grab her arm.
"No,"
she turned to Rory and lifted her sleeve-covered hands, "Leave me alone.
Both of you." Her eyes were red and her face was bloodied. She ran towards
the silo and violently heaved vomit. Her arms trembled as she held onto the
side of the silo with her weight dragging her down to the ground. She crossed
her arms and covered her face as she began sobbing. "Why?" She looked
at her hands, splashed with Emma's blood, and continued to cry for her sister.
Rory
unloaded the truck with Ryan and stopped at the house. "She just needs
time to herself," Ryan attempted to explain. “Aw shit,” he looked down as
he saw Mark.
Mark
walked over to them, "Where's Emma?" Rory looked down, and Ryan
cleared his throat. "What? No." His face reddened as he pushed Rory.
"I told you to look after them!"
Ryan
pushed Mark back, "She went on her own. She saved her sister from one of
those things." Mark held onto Rory's flannel shirt as Ryan pried Mark's
hands off of him.
"It
should've been you!" Mark glared at Rory.
Sarah
pushed Ryan away from Mark, "No, Mark. It should've been me."
"No,
Sarah. He's right," Rory stood in front of her.
"Emma
said we should check that house, didn't she? I ran in there before Emma could
even catch me. Why?"
"Don't
do this," Rory pleaded.
"Because
she tells me what to do all the time and I was tired of it. She let them chase
her out the front, so I could quickly make it out the back. Then I screwed up
and we ended up in the alley together. I get to the truck first and screwed up
again by not checking around me. I should've just reached for her. And now
she’s dead because of me."
Mark
looked down, "Sarah, I'm sorry."
She
held her hand over her mouth. "I killed my sister." Rory held onto
her as she cried.
Mark
looked at Rory, “She needs some rest.” Rory nodded and led Sarah into the
house.
Running
through the forest, she looked behind her with every stride to ensure they
weren't following her. Her long hair flowed freely behind her as a reassurance
that she wasn’t being hunted down. She slowed her pace and looked around to get
an idea of where she was heading. “They'll be looking for me for sure,” she
whispered. Her whisper echoed throughout her ears as she stood in the silence
of the forest. The trees swayed back and forth as the wind kicked up the
loosened dirt. She walked towards a large tree to her left and peered out to
the opening in front of her. The grasslands remained still and silent as she
slowly approached the edge of the forest. She felt free but burdened by her
fear of leaving the protective forest.
A
sudden human-like wail pierced the silence as the sound of twigs being broken
on the ground got closer to her position. She kept low and to the edge of the
forest to stay away from the openness of the grassland. She knew she would be a
perfect target there, but needed to cross it as carefully as possible without
being noticed. She circled the grassland to spread her scent and dropped her
scarf on the furthest tree away from her route.
She
removed her gray jacket and threw it on the ground in front of her before she
crouched down. The high pitched wail reached her as she attempted to become
level with the ground. The sound of scratching being so close caught her
attention as she tried to remained still. A hunched over man covered in blood
sniffed at the air and searched the ground. He stood upright and wailed. He
listened intently as another wail was heard off in the distance. He sniffed
once again at the air. He started to leave and stopped at the large tree with
his attention on the ground. He suddenly crouched down and grabbed at the
scarf. She looked up and stared as the man sniffed the scarf. He looked
slightly normal, with a full head of black hair. The only differences were that
his eyes were completely white and the skin from his chin was peeling off. He
could’ve been mistaken for a banker or a doctor when he wasn’t wailing.
A
distant wail caught them both of guard and he ran off in the same direction of the
wail. She waited until the sound of his feet became one with trees swaying. She
sat up to a crouch as she stared at the grassland. A sudden noise turned her
around as she was face to face with a shadow. She felt a strange pain and
searched her body. She stared straight ahead at the shadow as she lifted her
bloodied hands to her face. Her eyes widened as she began to cough up blood.
She fell forward onto her knees as she attempted to feel the dull pain and fear
that horrified her. She coughed up more blood and closed her eyes as the blood
streamed out of her mouth. She opened her eyes and tried to form words as her
body collapsed onto the forest floor. Her stare remained as she struggled to
breathe with the blood flowing. Her labored breathing slowed as the shadow
crouched down to the ground.
"Sarah,"
the shadow whispered, almost stirring up the last bit of will left in her. She
blinked her eyes and tried to focus on the large tree. She felt the warm air on
her ear as the shadow whispered louder, "Wake up, Sarah." She
recognized the voice as her sister's.
"Emma!"
Sarah woke up and sat up in her bed. The beads of sweat stung her eyes as she
gasped for air and feeling her face for blood. The taste of blood still
lingered in her mouth. She attempted to gather her composure and retreated to
her bathroom. The dark bathroom was comforting to her as she held onto the
sink. She switched the light on and nearly scared herself as she was facing the
mirror. Her hand drifted to her stomach, which searched for the wound and blood
that felt so real in her dream.
“It was
a dream,” she muttered and sighed deeply. She smiled at herself in the mirror,
and felt slightly guilty about smiling. Emma can’t smile anymore, can she? Sarah
looked down and paused as the feeling of guilt turned into dread and switched
off the light. She stood in darkness and remembered the first night without
their parents. Emma was only two years older than her, but she took on the role
of big sister as a huge priority in her life. Sarah remembered when they broke
into the neighbour’s house and she had cut her arm on the glass. Emma was so
angry that she didn’t break the window completely. She felt for the scar and
heard Emma’s voice call out to her. She walked back to her bed and sat down,
still listening to Emma’s voice echo through her mind. She wished Emma was
there to reassure her that it was only a dream. She lay back onto the bed and
looked up at the ceiling. She was afraid of going back to sleep, but was too
exhausted to keep her eyes open. The dream had taken so much energy out of her,
and before she realized it, she fell asleep.
The
dream from the night before repeated itself throughout the day. Rory attempted
to get her attention, but he failed to snap her out of it. "Sarah,"
he said as he touched her arm.
She
jumped back and stared at him with wide eyes. "What the hell is your
problem?" she snapped back, and quickly regretted her choice of words. She
cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."
Rory
stood still and shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he smiled at
her. "I know this is a hard time for you."
"For
all of us, including you, Rory," she frowned. "I shouldn't have
snapped."
"No,
really, it's okay," he interrupted her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm just glad you said something. It's been a few days since the last
time you even muttered a word. Ryan was asking about you. He wants to see
you."
"I
know," she looked down sadly and crossed her arms.
"Hey,"
he reached out and hugged her. "We're okay."
At
first, her eyes widened at the contact and felt the need to get away from him.
However, she quickly held onto him and sighed, "I don't deserve you."
He let go of her and smiled.
"I
really don't," she smiled back at him and sat back onto the barstool
behind her.
"Besides,
who else would I harass on a daily basis?" he walked over to the sink. His
brown wavy hair looked messier than usual as she remembered. His smile told her
he was okay, but his blue eyes seemed a lot less blue.
She
shrugged, "Probably Emma… " Her voice trailed off and held her eyes
shut. She hadn't been able bring herself to say her name. He stopped and turned
to look back at her, "it was always you."
Surprised,
she blushed. "I never thought about it like that." She covered her
face and felt the dull ache in the pit of her stomach. "No wonder she was
mad at me." Her eyes drifted from Rory to the bar.
"Sarah,
she's known for a while." Rory stood at the bar and touched her shoulder.
"She knew how I felt, and especially how you felt."
"How'd
she… ." she blushed again as he smiled at her.
"She's
your sister. She was most upset about you not telling me."
She
looked down and covered her face with her hands, but the tears managed to make
their way down her cheeks. Rory hugged her tighter than before. She felt like
she could hold onto him forever. He held her as she sobbed, "It's okay, Sarah."
She
suddenly pushed away from him, "no, it's not! It'll never be okay."
Her sudden switch confused him as he backed away at first. "We left her
out there to die." She backed away and hit her back on the kitchen wall.
"Sarah,
it's not your fault." Rory slowly approached her.
"She
wouldn't have been out there if I didn't make her. If I didn't tell her to. Why
didn't I get bitten? I should've been the one to die! Not her!"
"No!"
Rory grabbed onto her and held her while she cried, "No, Sarah. She saved
you. She did everything she said she would. She protected you, even if it meant
she wouldn't be here."
“I hate
that she’s not here anymore,” she looked up at him. "I'm sorry." Her
eyes rolled back and she passed out.
Rory
carried Sarah to the room and put her back into bed. He sat on the edge of the
bed, watching her sleep. “It's not your fault,” he whispered. He kissed her
forehead and covered her with the comforter. He stood up and walked over to the
chair nearest to the bed. His eyes were red as he sat down and rubbed the tears
out of his eyes. He felt he needed to comfort her but it seemed that he was
making it worse and was causing her more pain. His heart pounded as he knew he
had to leave, but he would have to wait until she woke up, so she won't wake up
alone.