Contagious (15 page)

Raeya pointed out a once quaint, white Cape Cod complete with a picket fence and weed filled flowerbeds. In its glory, the house could have been featured on the cover of one of those county life magazines. All of the windows on the first floor had been carefully boarded up and the shutters were closed upstairs; the owners intended on coming back. We quietly got out of the cars. We were probably in what had once been the heart of the town. Empty houses lined the streets, some preserved just like the Cape Cod in front of us. Argos sniffed the air.

Holding my breath, I waited. His head jerked to the right and he darted across the street. A raccoon shot out of an overturned trash can. My breath came out in a whoosh; at least it wasn’t a zombie. Leaves covered the cobblestone path, filling the air with a sweet aroma. I signaled to the left, instructing Padraic and Jason to go around that side of the house while I took the right side.

Everything was sealed tight. It seemed a shame to bash in the boards when they offered such good protection. With a shovel we found in the shed, Padraic and Jason carefully pried off three boards from the kitchen window. Padraic broke the glass and hoisted me up, his hands lingering on my waist. I shimmied through, trying my hardest to avoid the shards in the sink. I jumped off the counter, nervous that someone had been sealed inside the house, making it a zombie time capsule. I reached into my bag, pulling out and turning on a flashlight. With cautious steps, I weaved my way to the front door. I quickly unlocked it and threw it open, blinking at the bright sunlight.

Argos, giving up on chasing the raccoon, rejoined us. We let him explore the house, waiting in the safety of the foyer, to see if the coast was clear. Like I suspected, it was. I waved everyone in. We had three flashlights and a decent amount of candles. The boarded up windows blocked out all natural light, kept intruders out, but also didn’t allow us to see anything around us. Leaving Raeya in charge of lighting the dark house, I went back outside.

The shed was dark as well. I shouldn’t have given my flashlight to Zoe. My body blocked most of the light when I stepped inside. I rummaged through the tools, cutting my finger on a rusty blade. I swore and stuck my finger in my mouth, sucking the metallic blood away.

“
What are you looking for?” Padraic asked, his accent heavy.

“
A hammer and nails.”

“
Why?”

“
I’d feel better if we put the bottom board back on the kitchen window.”

“
Me too,” he agreed. “Want this?”

I turned to see a flashlight. I eagerly took it from him, scouring over the shelves. I grabbed a box of nails but was unable to find a hammer. Who has nails but no hammer? Oh well, we could use a rock to pound the nails. Padraic and Jason set to work on the window. Each time the round rock hit the nail, the sound resonated up and down the street. No one said anything—no one needed to—but we were thinking the same thing. If this town had been ghosted, truly ghosted, before the virus, there would be no one here to become infected. But if not, they would seek out the echoing hammer.

I didn’t like not seeing outside. A thousand zombies could swarm the house and, as long as they were quiet, we wouldn’t know. Nevertheless, I went back in. Raeya and Sonja were removing the dust covers from the furniture. The house smelled a little stale, as expected, but didn’t seem in bad shape. Whoever lived here clearly took pride in their home and saw to it that things were kept in good condition. Too bad they’d never come back.

There were two small bedrooms upstairs facing the street with the master bedroom across the hall. The rooms were clean and the beds were made. A knot formed in my chest when I thought about the people who had lived here. Things seemed bad then, when losing your job was your worst fear. And now, now there was a virus, a horrible, incurable virus. I sat on the bed in the master bedroom, pleased to find the mattress to be that expensive memory foam, and buried my head in my hands.

I was determined to stay alive just as much as I was determined to keep Raeya alive. And I thought I could. The two of us at least. Now there were eight others to think about. I hated that they looked to me as their leader. I hated that the responsibility of their survival fell on my shoulders. Most of all, I hated that I didn’t think I could do it.

“
Rissy?” Raeya called. I jumped up, hardening my expression.

“
Yeah?”

She came into the room. “I was just wondering where you were.” She looked around, shining the flashlight on the walls. “This place was nice, once upon a time.”

“
Yeah, once upon a time.” She pointed the flashlight at me. I closed my eyes and turned away. “Raeya, you’re blinding me.”

“
Oh, sorry. Wait!” She stepped closer, the light still on my face. “You’re bleeding!”

“
Huh?”

‘”
You have blood on your cheek. Did you cut yourself on the glass?”

“
No, oh.” I held up my left hand. “I cut my finger. And I must have touched my face. That’s all.”

“
Do you have any first aid stuff?”

“
Yeah. I’ll have Padraic patch it up for me. It’s no biggie. I even forgot about it.”

“
Padraic?” Raeya asked, confused.

“
Oh, he’s a doctor.”

“
Awesome. You did well, bringing him along,” she joked. I took my jacket off and threw it on the bed, marking it as ours for the night. Raeya sunk down next to me. “It’s hard to believe this is happening, isn’t it?”

“
Sometimes.”

“
I keep hoping I’ll wake up from a horrible nightmare and realize everything is ok.”

“
Everything will be ok, someday.” I felt like I was lying. How the hell could anything be ok after this?

“
I thought it was a joke, at first,” she said so quietly it was almost a whisper. “I was at the Halloween party. Seth said his head hurt and went up to his room to lie down. I-I thought he had too much to drink. I was having fun. When the first guy wigged out, I thought it was a Halloween prank.” She closed her eyes, remembering. “Then he punched someone. I don’t even know who because the person had a mask on. My mind stopped thinking it was a prank; it had gone too far. I was sure he was on something, like bath salts or something that make people crazy. Then another one crashed through the window. Glass stuck into his skin, b-but I don’t think he felt any pain. That’s when I knew. I knew something absolutely horrible had happened.”

My mind flashed to last year’s Halloween. Dressed up as a sexy police officer, I dragged Raeya out to party. We got there early, wanting to snag good seats close to the bar. Raeya looked too elegant for the bar scene, wearing a short, black dress, her shoulder length, dark hair perfectly curled. She wore a beautifully hand crafted, black Venetian mask. She looked like she belonged on the stage of some fancy ballet show, not sitting next to her slutty, drunk friend. I bought us our first drinks that night and downed my Vodka and Redbull in less than five minutes. Raeya sipped at hers, afraid of getting drunk too fast and feeling sick.

I was already buzzed when the bar began to get busy. I made eye contact with a guy with dark hair and dark eyes. He smiled coyly and eventually made it over to us. He asked if I would dance with him, shouting over the music. I put my hand on his chest and told him I would if he bought me and my friend a drink. He obliged, ordered us something fruity and then proceeded to lead me to the dance floor. I put up with him for two songs before weaving my way through the crowd to find Raeya. I dragged her from her seat and made her dance with me. By the time she finished her second drink, she was shaking it on the floor.

We closed down the bar that night, getting a ride back to Raeya’s from a Mustang full of frat boys. I dropped out of school the year prior, seeing it pointless to waste money on a degree when no one could get a job. Raeya had just started working on her master’s degree. I tried to talk her out of it only once; she insisted having two degrees would make her invaluable after the Depression was over. And, she reminded me, since she was a Residence Assistant, she had free housing.

“
I went upstairs to find Seth.” Raeya’s voice pulled me out of my reverie. “I thought he was sleeping, but…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Big tears rolled down her cheeks. My heart broke as each one splattered on her lap, her head held down in pain. I hugged her again, trying not to think about Seth. She broke down in sobs. I kept my arms around her while she cried, wishing there was some way I could take away her pain.

Lisa’s coughing echoed up the hall. There was a scurry of movement followed by someone loudly stomping up the stairs. It was Sonja, asking me what bag the inhaler was in. I accompanied her back to the cars and dug through the medical bag until I found the little red thing. She sprinted back into the house, calling for Padraic. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Sure, we
thought
this place was zombie free, but that didn’t mean to run around shouting. I opened up my suitcase, pulling out a pair of black athletic pants, socks, underwear, a black, long sleeved thermal shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt.

I folded the clothes over my arm and grabbed the strap of the food bag. The weight was too much for my injured back. Not wanting to appear weak, I grabbed another hoodie and socks from the suitcase for Lauren. Sharing my very limited clothing with her was the last thing I wanted to do, though I didn’t have much of a choice. With my hands full of clothes, I asked Jason to bring in the food.

Raeya was stripping the bed when I went back upstairs.

“
I found clean sheets in the closet,” she explained. “I already shook the dust out.” I held the clothes up. “Thank God,” she exclaimed, kicking off her heels. “I wish I could shower before changing.”

“
Me too, but I don’t think we are gonna find a working shower anytime soon.”

“
I know.” She pulled her blood stained nurse costume over her head and looked around for a hamper.

“
I don’t think it matters,” I said, trying not to laugh. She nodded and quickly changed. Since it was dark, she didn’t notice the details of the sweatshirt until we got into the fairly well lit living room.

“
Hey! This is mine!” She looked down at the screen print of an elephant. “From the sanctuary. I’m surprised you still have it!”

“
You must have left it. I knew I’d get it back to you eventually.”

Jason spread the food out on the table, sorting it into categories. We had soup, bread, peanut butter, a variety of fruit, and a medley of junk food. As far as beverages, we had about two cases of water, several bottles of juice, two gallons of Gatorade and a few cans of pop.

It wouldn’t last us long.

Reminding everyone that we had a small lunch not that long ago, I refilled the pistol’s cartridges and laid out the few weapons I had. Two guns—one with no bullets—two daggers and a sword. It was pathetic.

“
Should we look in the other houses tomorrow?” a male voice came from behind me. There was no mistaking that accent.

“
Maybe,” I told Padraic. “I don’t think we’ll find much though. The people here had time to gather what they needed and wanted.”

“
Would it be a waste of time?”

“
Maybe. We won’t know until we try.” I unloaded the gun, deciding I should try my best to clean it.

“
How do you know how to do that?” he asked, watching me take apart the pistol.

“
My grandpa taught me how to shoot,” I replied flatly, focused on what was in my hands.

“
I’d never shot a gun before,” he told me as if it was a surprise.

I nodded, not knowing what to say. I put the pistol back together; it was new and didn’t need cleaning. Plus, I had nothing to clean it with.

“
How many bullets do you have left?” Padraic sat next to me, his leg brushing against mine.

“
Not many.” I shook the box of bullets. “It is missing a lot of bullets, though I don’t think this gun was used much—if at all—before it blew its owners’ brains out. They probably bought it for self defense.”

“
I’ve heard that people who buy guns for that reason are more likely to get hurt with them.”

“
I have too. I think it’s because they don’t know how to use them. Guns are more than point-and-shoot, you know.”

“
Yeah, I found that out. What kind of gun is it?”

“
A Beretta .22, single action.”

“
You can tell all that by looking at it?”

“
Yes. I have—had—one. It’s awesome for target practice. My grandpa gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday.”

“
Sounds like an interesting guy.”

“
He is.” I stuck the loaded cartridge back in the gun and clicked the safety on.

“
So, you guys just shot for fun?”

“
Sometimes.”

“
Were you close to him?”

“
Yeah. I spent every summer at his farm since I was old enough to walk.”

“
Sounds nice.”

“
It was.” I stood, shoving the gun in the back of my pants. “I’m gonna patrol around, see what’s out there before the sun fully sets.” I didn’t even make it out of the kitchen before Padraic objected.

“
Orissa, really…”

“
Really, what?”

“
You shouldn’t go out alone.”

“
I’ll take Argos.”

“
I’m coming,” he told me.

“
Stay here,” I suggested. “Do doctor things.”

“
Doctor things? I think you’re grasping at straws now.” He stood. “You’re not in charge of me, Orissa.”