Contagion: The Rising (3 page)

She
pushed him away, "Shit! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." She stood up
and walked towards the window.

He
frowned and walked over to her, "I'm sorry I did that."

"I
meant that I didn't mean to push you away. I just sort of reacted." Her
anger had caused her to doubt what she felt for him. "I just think you're
feeling this way because of what happened."

"No,
Sarah. I told you the truth yesterday, it was always about you." he
grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards him. "I meant what I
said," he said as he leaned in and kissed her.

Mark
walked over to Brady, "What's the plan?"

"Well,
the lovebirds want to leave, and I want to stay." He crossed his arms and
stretched his legs slightly. The cigarette, broken in half, stayed on his lower
lip. "I'm sure the Twins and Chloe would be on our side for this."

"Yeah,
her sister's last fuck up killed Chloe's husband. I'm sure she'd like to kick
her out of the group."

"Or
kill her," Brady smiled.

Mark's
green eyes widened with curiosity, "you know something?"

"Oh
Mark, I know all." Brady laughed, "I know it all."

Ryan
walked in and dropped off some of the supplies. "The truck is parked in
the back so whenever you're ready."

"Duty
calls, Mark."

Mark
frowned and walked back to the entrance of the barn. He paced for a while and
watched the house for a few minutes. He remembered the promise that he made to Emma.
He thought of the conversation they had the night before the exploration
mission. She made him promise to get them the hell out of there, and he had
every intention to see that through.

Chloe
watched as Rory walked out of the house and she stood near the fence. She held
up the glass to her mouth and drank Trevor's mix of bad moonshine. She rolled
her eyes and walked back to the silo near the barn. The emptiness of the silo
echoed around her as she closed her eyes and listened to nothing. The room they
built only contained four beds and a small area for two footlockers. She
abruptly opened her eyes and gripped the glass until it shattered in her hand.
The twins walked in as she gazed at her bleeding hand and let the blood drip
from it. Parker walked towards the furthest bed and sat as his brother, Trevor
approached Chloe.

"Are
you okay?" Trevor stopped as her gaze slowly drifted from her hand to him.

Her
dark brown eyes appeared empty as a single thought captured her mind once
again. "We need to get the hell out of here." She shook her hand and
the blood splattered on the ground. "First, we need to get rid of Brady,
then that pain in the ass."

Parker
brushed a hand through his wavy black hair and looked confused, "but Brady
has always been there for us."

Chloe
turned around, "What makes you think he was the one helping us? We've been
on our own for quite a while now." She looked back at Trevor, "He
wasn't there when your father was killed, was he?" Trevor backed away and
walked towards Parker. "I sure as hell know he didn't help me," her
voice trailed off.

"What
do you want us to do?" Trevor looked at his brother as Parker shook his
head. "Kill him?" He let out a small chuckle.

"Well,
not at first. We need the supplies before we go trekking off into the forest
and get as far away from here as possible. We don't need Sarah to show us where
to go. We don't need Brady or any of them."

Parker
looked down and sighed. "When should we leave?"

Mark
knocked on the farmhouse door, and watched the barn door as Brady walked with Ryan
to the truck. Rory smiled, and motioned for Mark to come in.

"We
gotta speed this plan up, man." Rory's smile faded as they walked over to Sarah
who was sitting at the dining table. Mark continued, "Brady is planning
something with Chloe. She still blames your sister for Jeremy and I'm pretty
sure she'd do something to you for sure." Rory stood as Mark sat near Sarah.

"How
fast do we have to be up and running?" Sarah sat back and crossed her
arms.

Rory
leaned against the wall, as Mark shifted his view to Sarah. "Less than a
day or two. I'm not sure when Chloe will be able to brainwash those boys more
and get them to thinking that leaving is in their best interest."

"I
still don't trust those kids. I know they've helped out with building the
sleeping areas and rebuilding this house, but something isn't sitting right
with me especially after their father died."

"I
think they're as much a threat as Chloe is," Rory shifted his weight.

Sarah
looked at Rory, "They might be worse than Chloe. Once Chloe screws up,
they'll take her out too."

Emma
thought of the supply run that they went on last month. She volunteered to lead
the guys over to the last Riser-ridden outpost to see if the last survivors
left any supplies. Unfortunately, there was a group of bandits that got there
first and booby-trapped the supply room and armory. She could hear the screams
of the others as the traps went off. Jeremy, Chloe’s husband, pushed Emma out
of the way of a flying armory door and was crushed to death by it instead. The
Twins weren’t injured but they couldn’t locate much of their father after the
blast. She felt the guilt wash through her as she remembered that she was found
holding onto Jeremy’s hand and repeating, “I’m so sorry.”

Dani
walked into the room and found Emma, deep in thought, sitting up on the bed.
She approached her slowly as Emma turned and smiled at her. “Don’t worry; I’m
not one of them yet.”

“Actually,
I was more afraid of you falling asleep like that. It’s no way to get rest with
that shoulder,” Dani returned the smile and looked over towards the door. “I’ve
brought a few visitors over to see how you’re doing.” Emma stood up and walked
over to the door.

An
older Tony walked in before Kayla, “Hi Emma, I’m Tony and this is Kayla. I’m
sorry for the cramped conditions but we’ve had to move a few times within the
past month or so. You can sit back down on your bed if you’re more
comfortable.” She realized how battle worn they appeared, and wondered if she
looked the same. They wore army fatigues and what seemed to be the original
patches from their previous unit still sown on.

Emma
looked back at the bed and grimaced, “I never liked being sick, so being up
makes me feel better. Lying around all day is annoying.”

“I’m
the same way, I don’t like sitting for too long,” Kayla chimed in as Tony gave
her a look. “What? It’s annoying.”

“I
know. Annoying for a lot of people,” Tony stopped as Lopez hit his arm.

Kayla
glared at Tony as she spoke to Emma, “We have a few questions for you regarding
health history. Have you ever had any serious illnesses or diseases?”

“Other
than the flu, I’m diabetic.”

“Oh,” Kayla
looked at Tony and back at Emma.

“Is
that bad?”

“In
your case, no,” Kayla shook her head as Emma held the puzzled look on her face
for a few minutes as she thought about it. “I’m pretty sure you’re familiar
with the tests that go into checking that, right?”

Emma
snapped out of her thoughts and shifted her body, “Kind of. This Riser crap all
happened a few months later, so I don’t have much experience, other than
learning to deal with it.”

“Well,
we’ll start with that and see what we can do for you. Our resident medical
unit, Jeremiah should back pretty soon, so he can continue with planning out
the testing.” Kayla looked at Tony, who gave a reassuring nod. “We have plenty
of diabetic supplies. Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re starving right now, so
we’ll let you eat.”

Emma
looked over at Dani holding a tray of food for her, and her eyes widened.
“Where did you get green beans?”

“Tony
used to grow them out back near the bay since it’s a bit warmer there during
the summer,” Kayla looked at Emma.

“Are we
close to the bay now?”

“We’re
right in between your place and the bay. I know Brady was thinking about taking
off a while back but he’s been staying put for a long while now,” Tony said as
he crossed his arms. Emma looked uncomfortable and shifted her weight. Dani
walked over to her and helped her sit down on the bed.

“Thanks,
Dani,” Emma smiled. “Brady’s been riling up people here and there. We were
looking at relocating to that place near 55…”

“Yeah,
we know. The place we found you,” Kayla stood near Dani.

“Were
you following us?”

“For a
while, we lost track of you when you turned off of 55 and back down Maple. That
main road was completely flooded when we went by a few days earlier.”

“Why
didn’t you help us?”

“Would
you have taken it?” Tony looked at her, “I know how it is, thinking everyone is
a bandit can protect you for a while. I thought Brady had a better handle on
things.”

“Why
are you interested in Brady?”

“He’s
been screwing with our missions for a while. We’ve been trying to pick up radio
equipment from the nearby tower but he felt that was more his territory and
killed a few of our people. Nearly got our Dani here, but she survived and made
it back with the rest of the group.” Kayla hugged Dani, who checked Emma’s
blood pressure and heart rate.

“So,
you’re thinking I’d be helping out in this?”

“Actually,
we weren’t expecting anything from you. Other than getting better, I’m sure Brady
will self-destruct so we don’t need much help there. I’m sure Mark has been
keeping an eye on him like we’ve asked.”

Emma
stared in disbelief, “Mark?”

“Yeah,
he’s been great. He usually can subdue or derail Brady’s plans pretty quickly.
He always did in boot camp, I was sure he’d continue on later,” Kayla smiled.
“However, I don’t think he was able to stop the last supply run.”

Brady
and Ryan drove along the wooden fence and barbed wire. The truck slowed as Ryan
pointed at the fence. "It looks like something got through," he drove
past it then shifted the truck into reverse and parked next to the hole.

Ryan
looked over at his side mirror and back at Brady, “I don’t see anyone out
there, live or dead.”

“That’s
just it, Old Man. You’re blind.” Brady laughed and looked over the dashboard.

Ryan flicked
him off, “You’re such a turd. A big pile of shit. Go check it out, man.”

“Age
before beauty,” he shook his head.

“Hell
with that man, I fixed the fence the last time. You know why, because you were
too busy acting like an ass.”

"Fine.
I'll go check to see," Brady jumped out of the passenger side and left his
rifle on the seat. "Keep the truck running." Ryan half saluted and
moved the remaining salt and pepper hair out of his face as Brady smirked back
at him. He inspected the fence and found shredded clothing.

Brady’s
face hardened and he looked up to the driver’s cab. "They're inside."
His eyes shifted towards truck and saw a Riser sniffing the truck's back tire.
He stood still and continued watching.

Ryan
looked over to Brady and honked at him. “Come on, man.”

The
truck suddenly backfired as the Riser realized Brady was watching it. The Riser
jumped on him as the truck backfired again. The back of his head hit the fence
post and caused him to see double. The Riser screamed as Brady covered his face
with his arms. Ryan got out of the truck and pulled the Riser off of him. Brady
scrambled to get to his feet and stumbled forward. He watched as Ryan and the
Riser were clawing at each other. The slow movements made hurt his head as he
wanted to sprint to the truck. He eased his way back into the truck cab and
closed the door. Ryan looked back as the Riser held onto him. Brady shifted the
truck into drive and took off towards the barn.

"Damn
it, Brady!" Ryan struggled with the Riser as Brady continued to drive. It
bit into Ryan's arm as he yelled, “AHHH! Get over here and help me!"

It
yelled at him and continued to bite him until Ryan stopped moving. It stood up
and stared at Ryan's body. The Riser pointed it’s nose into the air and
sniffed. A distant wail caught the Riser’s attention and it sat up to listen.

Brady
continued to drive recklessly back to the barn. He nearly wasn't quick enough
to stop and missed hitting Chloe as she was pulled out of the way by Trevor.
The twins pulled Brady out of the truck and started beating him up. Chloe
looked on with pride as the boys nearly kicked every side of Brady at least
twice.

Mark
ran from the farmhouse and pulled out his side arm. "Get the hell away
from him!" The twins dropped him to the ground and backed away. Mark
continued to point his gun at them, "Get out of here." They lingered
as Chloe smiled and nodded. "Get the hell out of here!" Chloe
motioned for the twins follow her toward the silo.

He
picked up Brady by the forearm. "What the hell happened?"

Brady
pulled away from Mark, "Riser jumped on me and got Ryan." He dusted
himself off and straightened his uniform. "They're inside the fence."

"You
didn't kill it?"

"I
got the hell out of there," he took out his cigarettes and lit one. He
took a slow drag and exhaled.

"We
have to go back and clear it out."

"You
go ahead. There's no way in hell I'm going back there." Brady sat down
with his back on the barn's wall and continued to smoke.

Mark
ran over to the farmhouse and walked in. "We have to clear out the back of
the fence. Brady left Ryan there with a Riser."

"What?
Let's go!" Sarah grabbed her machete and ran outside. Rory grabbed his
shovel and followed Mark.

Brady
watched as Sarah and Rory got in the truck, and Mark sat in the back. He waved
as he grimaced at the pain he was feeling from his upper arm. He pulled up his
sleeve and saw that the bite he received was deeper than he originally thought.
He got up slowly and walked into the barn.

The
truck came to a stop in front of the broken part of the fence. Ryan's body was
found a few feet to the right with no sign of the Riser. They slowly approached
the body and examined the area.

"There's
nothing left of him," Sarah turned away and Rory held her. The old marine
was once tough and tall, but now laid in pieces on the ground. Sarah’s stomach
turned as she remembered the smile he wore every day. “Damn it! Damn Brady for
being a shit!” Rory attempted to comfort her as she cursed at the world and Brady.

"That
might be the reason why he's not up and attacking us right now." Mark
crouched to look closer at Ryan's body.

"He
should've gotten up anyway. Well, at least part of him," Rory looked on.

"Yeah,
I agree, but nothing. No movement or noises," he pointed to the throat.
"I've seen someone with a shredded throat walk around after they
died."

"We
have to bury him," Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes. "It’s the
least we can do for him. He won't be one of them any time soon."

"Let's
fix this fence first before we let anymore in." Mark grabbed the leftover
barbed wire and wood. They worked on the fence and buried Ryan next to where
they found him.

Sarah
looked down and closed her eyes, "sometimes all you have is a chance to
say goodbye." Ryan was the man who rang the doorbell and told her that her
father wouldn’t be coming back. The worn marine took them in as they ran low on
food. She opened her eyes and Rory pulled her toward the truck. “He’d yell at Emma
all the time, because she’d scare the hell out of me by hiding from me.” Her
eyes watered, “He protected us more than our own father did.”

Mark
bowed his head and followed them. They drove back to the barn and found Brady
shooting at cans.

"What
the hell are you doing?" Mark ran over to Brady. "We need that
ammo."

Brady
smiled, "for what? To prolong the inevitable?" He threw his hands in
the air and aimed the gun at the rest of the cans, "Why should I
stop?" He shot and missed.

"Brady,
give me the gun." Mark calmly asked.

Brady
pointed it at Mark, "You want the gun?" He pointed it to his own
temple and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked. "Oh, I must’ve forgotten
about the rest of the bullets." He grimaced and lowered his gun.

Mark
watched as Brady loaded the gun, "Just give me the gun."

"No,"
Brady stiffened his body. "I won't let you take my side arm." He
sighed and suddenly aimed at Sarah. Rory jumped in front of Sarah as Brady
simulated shooting them. He laughed and threw the gun at Mark. "Keep it. I
don't need it or any of you!" He walked toward the silo.

"You
two stay in the house for the night. I'll keep an eye on him while we get our
plans together." Mark emptied the gun and followed Brady.

Rory
walked with Sarah to the farmhouse. "He's lost it."

"Just
like the rest of us." She walked into the house and closed the door behind
them.