Contagion: The Rising (12 page)

Jeremiah
packed up a few items in his bag, including a vial of insulin and some
syringes. He thought of Emma as he stared at the vial. He hated that she wasn’t
there with them. With the full backpack, he zipped it up and slung it over his
shoulder. The rest of the group was waiting outside as the sky became night and
they would finally be hidden in the flat land.

               
Sarah stood still as she reached the mile marker first, “Which direction are we
going?”

               
“We have to fan out and see who finds another clue,” Tony signaled quietly and
motioned for them to move together in opposite directions.

               
Rory looked down and found a partially eaten hand, “Guys? I found something.”
He tried to keep his voice down and motioned to Tony.

               
Kayla walked over and continued in the same direction, “There’s a foot over
here.” She grabbed her binoculars and looked towards the horizon. She
immediately found a small hill and ran to it. “Over here, guys.” She motioned
for them to follow. The hill revealed another lower valley and a makeshift tent
city. She looked through the binoculars to see who or what was out there. “What
the hell? They look like bandits.” She handed the binoculars over to Jeremiah,
who reached her first.

               
Jeremiah looked and focused on their movements, “They may look like bandits but
I don’t think they’re human anymore. Their movements are so erratic.” He handed
the binoculars over to Tony.

               
Tony looked, “Well it looks like they’ve sensed us here. There’s a group of
them heading this way.”

               
The other bandit Riser held Emma’s head down as Riles tied her to the table. Chloe
watched as Emma struggled with her arms being held and pulled. Emma’s face
twisted when her injured arm was pulled.

               
“Are you enjoying this, Chloe?” Trevor smiled as Chloe shrugged. He stood
nearby and patted Emma on the head, “What makes you so different?”

               
“Other than intelligence?” Emma mocked Trevor as one of the bandits continued
to twist her injured arm, causing her to scream. “I get it. I get it.” The
bandit stopped. “I meant other than that rancid smell?”

               
The bandit looked at Trevor who shook his head, “She wants me to lose my cool,
but I won’t give you the satisfaction, Emma.” The bandit sniffed the dry blood
on her head.

               
“Go ahead, taste my blood. I’m sure you’re not going to like it,” Emma taunted
the bandit who licked her head and immediately started coughing.

               
“What the hell did you do?” Trevor attempted to calm the bandit down. The
bandit fell to the floor and started to convulse.

               
“Well, I guess you have the answer right there,” Emma lifted her head to peek
over at the bandit. “I would explain why he’s about to die but I don’t think
you’ll quite get it.”

Trevor
walked over to her and held a knife to her eye, “Tell me.”

Emma
smiled, “Fine. But you’re not going to like it.”

Lefty
walked back to the tent and found it empty. He searched through the area and
couldn’t find Dani. He walked over to the entrance and faced towards the fire
barrel. Dani quietly appeared behind him with her hidden weapon fully extended
in her hands. Lefty heard her heart beating quickly and turned around. Dani
immediately severed his head from the rest of his body with a double bladed
slice to the neck. She looked around and dragged his body into the tent. She
wiped the blades on Lefty’s uniform and headed behind the tent.

Sarah
and Rory fought off two of the bandits as they rushed at them first. Tony and Kayla
ran down to the makeshift tent city attacking the next two in line. Mark ran
over to Sarah and Rory as they dispatched a pair of twin bandit Risers.

“They
are Risers!” Rory yelled as Mark pushed an attacking bandit Riser down and
severed it’s head.

Jeremiah
followed Tony and Kayla as they reached the first tent and found a dead Riser
in it. Tony looked closer and realized it was Dani, “Dani’s alive.”

Kayla
looked around, “But where are they?”

Dani
made it to where Trevor and Chloe had Emma tied down. She waited and listened
at the tent entrance.

“What
do you mean sugar?” Trevor backed away from Emma, and he looked down at the
bandit Riser lying on the floor motionless. He crouched down and checked on
him, “What the hell am I doing? He won’t have a fucking pulse. He’s already
dead.” He laughed to himself.

Chloe
rolled her eyes, “She’s diabetic, moron. And with the slightly deader Riser at
your feet, I’m pretty sure she can kill all of us if we feed on her.”

“Thanks
for the breakdown, Chloe,” Emma managed to gesture a thumbs up.

“Who
the fuck’s side are you on?” Trevor snarled at Chloe. She walked over to Emma
and snatched Trevor’s knife from him.

“I’m on
yours, of course,” she smiled. “But I have a condition for you.”

“What?”
Trevor asked as Emma glanced up at her with a puzzled look. Chloe quickly
sliced Emma’s injured arm and flicked the blood at Trevor’s face. He yelled as
he rubbed his eyes.

“You’ll
make it worse if you rub your eyes,” Chloe snapped as she pushed him back.
Riles stood at Emma’s arms and watched as Trevor fumbled with his face.

“What
the hell are you waiting for, you idiot? Kill them both,” Trevor commanded as
Riles remained still and watched Chloe. Trevor thrashed around and finally fell
to the ground. He screamed as he attempted to claw out his eyes. She walked
over to him and plunged the knife deep into his head. Riles backed away and ran
out of the tent. Dani rushed in with her knives ready to separate Chloe’s head
from her body.

“Wait,
Dani. No,” Emma protested as she attempted to move. “She just helped us.”

“I
know, but I still don’t trust her,” Dani said as she moved in between Chloe and
Emma.

Chloe
smiled, “You shouldn’t, but I’m still part human as it seems.”

“Why
did you do that?”

Chloe
sighed, “Jeremy was protecting you, as he normally would have with anyone. It
wasn’t your fault that he died.”

Dani
helped Emma with the ties on her hands and body. “Let’s get the hell out of
here,” Dani helped Emma to her feet. Emma held onto her arm as it continued to
bleed.

“I’d
stay away from that,” Emma pointed at the blood trail she was leaving. “What’s
next?”

“I’m
sure we will,” Chloe shook her head. “Nothing. We’ve grown accustomed to
hunting Risers.”

               
“Maybe we can come up with a cure?” Emma said as Jeremiah and Mark stormed the
tent. “Guys, please. It’s okay.”

               
“What the hell is she?” Mark pointed at Chloe.

               
“Are there still more out there?” she ignored Mark and asked Jeremiah. He
nodded as Kayla and Tony walked in. “Jeez, you brought the whole group I take
it?” Emma motioned for them to walk back outside. Dani held onto Emma as they
followed the group. Chloe stood outside and waited for Emma. “We shouldn’t be a
problem for you anymore.”

               
They started to walk back towards the highway. Emma stopped and turned back,
“You know where to find us if you need something.”

               
Chloe smirked and watched as they disappeared over the hill. She frowned as she
found that most of the bandit Risers either died or deserted her. “Well, I
suppose I can find new ones.” Riles came out of hiding and stood behind her.

               
“Chloe?”

               
“Riles. Are you here to help?” She turned to face him as he nodded. “Well,
let’s rally the remainder of the troops. I have a few words to share with
them.”

Emma
looked over the valley and watched as the cool wind chilled the rest of the
ground slowly as winter had settled in. Sarah walked over to Emma and sat next
to her. “So, what are you thinking?”

               
Emma leaned back onto her arms, “I think we should stay. I’ve heard Canada gets
pretty cold right now, and I can hardly handle this cool breeze, let alone
negative temperatures.”

Sarah
smiled and nodded, “That sounds like a great idea. Kayla, Tony and Dani will be
heading up to Canada for the spring and coming back after summer.” Rory walked
out of the bunker along with Tony.

“Hey, I
think it’s time for the switch,” Sarah looked over to Rory, who smiled but
covered his chest by crossing his arms. Tony shook his head after he suggested
that Rory get a thicker jacket. “I swear he never listens.”

Emma
smiled as they both walked in to the bunker. “I’ve got to stop by and visit
Jeremiah.”

“Sure,
go ahead and ‘visit’,” Sarah laughed and continued to walk towards the triage
room. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Goodnight
Sarah,” Emma said as she waited at the lab’s doorway. She searched for Jeremiah
through the room of lab equipment and finally found him moving near the sea of
beakers.

Jeremiah
looked up from the papers he had been rifling through the past week. “Hey, how
was it?”

“Not
bad, no movement or anything,” she said as she kissed him. A sudden noise from
the bunker door caused them to jump. They rushed over and found Rory and Tony
carrying Mark inside.

“What
happened?” Jeremiah asked as he checked Mark.

“I
don’t know, he was stumbling up the hill,” Rory walked him over to the triage
room. Dani rolled in another gurney and they helped Mark lay down.

“It
looks like he’s been bitten,” Tony rolled up his sleeve.

“Shit,”
Sarah looked down as Emma looked away.

Jeremiah
held Emma as she blurted out, “We can try giving him insulin and drop his blood
sugar.”

“It
might not work, Emma!” Rory yelled as she pulled away from Jeremiah. She
grabbed the nearby box of supplies and quickly prepared a small dose of
insulin.

“We
have to try,” she slightly pushed on the plunger to release some of the
bubbles. “His stomach is the quickest way.”

“She’s
right,” Jeremiah pulled up Mark’s shirt and noticed the purple veins popping
out of his abdomen. “Emma, it might be too late.”
               
“No,” Emma plunged the syringe into Mark and gave him an eight unit shot. “That
should drop it quickly.” The purple veins slowly disappeared as Mark opened his
eyes, which were still their normal shade of brown. “Mark?”

His
eyes darted to her as he grabbed her arm and bit down on it. Emma screamed as
Jeremiah grabbed her machete. Mark’s eyes rolled back as Sarah was able to grab
Emma and pull her away from Mark’s grip. They watched as Mark convulsed
violently after biting Emma. Sarah held Emma on the floor as Dani tended to her
arm.

“Take
her to the lab,” Jeremiah yelled. Sarah and Dani walked Emma over to the lab
and sat her on the stool.

Jeremiah
ended Mark’s convulsing by hitting him twice in the head with the machete. He
dropped it to the ground after the second hit and rushed over to the lab to
check on Emma. “Is she okay?”

“I
don’t know,” Dani said as Sarah attempted to grab Emma’s arm.

Emma
pushed Sarah’s hands away from her, “Don’t touch me.”

 Jeremiah
slowly approached her and crouched down, “Can I see your arm?” She looked at
Jeremiah and volunteered her arm slowly. He examined it and noticed the bite
wasn’t as severe as they had thought. “It’s already healing?”  Emma
nodded.

               
“What does that mean?” Sarah watched as Jeremiah gave Emma control of her arm.

               
“She’s okay. It means she can’t be re-infected, because she already had it in
her,” Jeremiah sighed as Emma got closer to him and hugged him. “She’s a
carrier.”

               
Tony walked over to Jeremiah, “We have to bury Mark.”

               
“Yeah, we can do that now. It’s nearly morning,” Jeremiah as he ran his hands
through his hair. “I need to make sure she’s okay.” Tony nodded.

Jeremiah
walked back to the lab and re-examined Emma’s arm again. He found that the
wound was reduced to pink scarring as it had before. He softened his voice and
looked to Emma, “Look, we have to bury Mark out in the valley.”

She
nodded, “It was too late.”

“Yeah,
it was,” Jeremiah held her close as Sarah walked into the lab.

“Ready?”

“Yeah,”
he helped Emma up and followed Sarah outside to the valley. They covered Mark’s
body and paid their respects. A sudden wail behind them caught them off guard
as a Riser jumped out and rushed toward them.

“I’ve
got this,” Emma said as she quickly grabbed her machete and sliced a part of
her arm. With the bloody edge, she ran towards the Riser and stabbed through
it’s torso. The Riser tumbled back as Emma pulled the machete away. It
struggled for a few seconds as it convulsed and quickly stopped moving.

“That’s
your girlfriend, man,” Rory nudged Jeremiah while Sarah stood in shock and
smiled.

Jeremiah
smirked as the rest of them stared at Emma as she walked back to join them.

“What?”
She moved the loose strands of her hair away from her face and motioned to
Tony. “Carry on, sir.”

A young
soldier ran up a flight of stairs and pushed another soldier out of the way as
he walked into the hallway.

“Excuse
me,” the other soldier stopped in his tracks. The young soldier continued to run
through the hall and reached a large lobby. The wood paneling of the office
surrounded a single desk at the front as he stepped through the heavy wooden
double doors. The smell of mahogany lingered in the air as he inhaled deeply.
The overall feel of the lobby and office was directly from the sixties or
seventies. The shag carpet that lined the floor cemented that idea.

Lost in
thought, the lady in front of him occupying the desk smugly asked, “May I help
you, Lieutenant?”

He
snapped out of it and looked over to her, “Is the Major in?” She looked up at
him annoyingly and motioned him to continue on his way in as she buzzed the
doors open. He rushed through the second set of heavy double doors and found
the Major going through a mountain of papers.

“Johnson?
What’s the problem?” the Major looked over his scattered paperwork piled on his
desk.

Johnson
caught his breathe and stood at attention, “Sir, we’ve found something on the
video.”

“Excellent,”
the Major sat back in his chair. “Where is it?”

“Well
sir, it’s here.”

The
Major smiled, “Even better news.”

A loud
alarm blared as another officer, Lieutenant Mason ran in. “Sir, someone has
breached our security. The men, sir,” He caught his escaping breath, “They’re
being ripped apart.”

The
Major quickly walked over to a small console and pressed a red and blue button
at the same time. The wall it sat at opened and revealed twelve monitors. They
watched as what appeared to be a group of Risers take their time in attacking
and killing each soldier they encountered. One of the monitors revealed that
one single Riser was giving instructions, almost commanding them to attack each
one.

“I’ve
never seen them so organized, Sir.” Johnson stared at the monitor as one of the
bodies was flung at the camera. “What are we going to do?”

“Catch
them,” the Major said with his arms crossed.

“Catch
them, Sir?” Lieutenant Mason looked over to the Major. “Are you serious, sir?”

The
Major quickly took out his side arm and shot Mason in the head. His facial
expression remained as he was surprised with the sudden shot. He flew back and
landed against Johnson. Johnson held onto him as his mouth dropped. He looked
down and dropped Mason’s body to the ground. The Major pointed the gun at
Johnson, “Decide now, Johnson?”

“Sir,
please. I’ll get the rest of the men and attempt to catch them,” Johnson said
as the Major holstered his side arm.

“Good,”
the Major replied as he turned his attention to the monitors. “Oh and Johnson,
tell Anderson that he’s now first lieutenant.”

Johnson
stood at attention as a knock at the doors surprised them. He drew his weapon
and looked over to the Major. The Major motioned for Johnson to grab the
doorknob. Johnson’s hand shook as he grabbed hold of the doorknob and unlocked
the deadbolt. He opened the door and couldn’t see. The electricity was off in
the whole building and the emergency lights had failed to turn on. The room was
covered in darkness and the lady at the front was no longer there. He searched
the room slowly but found nothing. The Major watched as Johnson made his way
back to the office. A sudden noise caught Johnson’s attention as he aimed his
gun in every direction. Shots rang out as Johnson was knocked to the ground, he
yelled and pleaded for help.

“Major
Wilson! HELP!” Johnson’s voice sounded muffled as the Major closed the door and
bolted the lock. He backed away from the door as the Risers rushed at the door.

“Get
the fuck away from me!” he yelled as he wildly shot at the door. A puddle of
blood appeared under the door. “I told you to get away from me.” He walked over
to the door and unlocked it. He took a deep breath and exhaled as he opened the
left door. Johnson’s body fell onto him as a bandit Riser pushed the body. The
Major screamed as the Risers entered the room. They waited and watched him as
he cowered into the corner of his office.

“Well,
go ahead. Attack. That’s what you’re going to do,” the Major yelled as Chloe
walked in.

“Oh no,
Major,” Chloe stood by Riles looked over at her. “This is far more of an
attack.” She motioned to Riles and the bandit Risers led him away. She walked
over to the flickering monitors and smiled.