Contagious (40 page)

“
Oh!” I exclaimed and strode over. Raeya’s birthday was a few months away. It would be silly not to get her something. Rider’s eyes had fixed on an Apple store.

“
One hour of looting,” Hayden said what we all were thinking. “You three—stay together. Walkies on, one always as the look out. Get out if it’s too much.”

“
Sweet,” Wade said and sped off with Rider and Brock.

Hayden jogged to catch up with me. I took purses off the shelves, inspecting them like I was a regular customer.

“
Really?” he asked, skeptically watching me.

“
It’s not for me. It’s for Raeya. She loves shit like this.” I ran my hands over a smooth, leather bag. “Ok, and I do—did—too.” I picked up a pair of shoes and went behind the counter. Emerging with two large bags I asked Hayden, “Is it wrong I’m having fun?”

“
Hell no. Like you said, we’re basically all that’s left. I say we do whatever the fuck we want.” The devilish glint in his eyes made me feel warm. There was something I wanted to do, right here in this store. I smiled wildly and turned back to the beckoning designer leather. We went down the hall and into an Abercrombie and Fitch. A zombie employee slithered along the floor.

Yes, slithered. His legs had been gnawed off. Hayden took his knife from his belt, stabbed the pathetic thing in the head and wiped it clean on a hanging polo shirt. I yanked things I liked off the hangers while Hayden kept watch. After a bag was full of things for me, I started one for Hayden, avoiding anything overly preppy, not thinking it was his style.

Preppy reminded me of Padraic. I grabbed polo shirts and sweaters for him. Leaving my multiple bags in the empty hall, Hayden and I went into a diamond store.

“
I’ve always wanted to do this,” I said. Using the butt of my rifle, I smashed the display case of diamond bracelets.

“
Someone didn’t hug you enough as a child,” Hayden teased and did the same. He picked up an expensive watch.

I took a display of diamond tennis bracelets from inside the case. Shaking off the broken glass, I dumped them into a bag. I hit the case of necklaces, grabbing jewels and precious stones.

“
Hey Bonnie,” Hayden called. I looked up and he tossed me something. “Marry me.”

“
Holy shit that’s huge!” I exclaimed when I looked at the engagement ring. “Sorry, Clyde. I’m gonna pass on the proposal but I’m keeping the ring.” We laughed and shoved more jewelry into our pockets. I promised Hayden I’d be fast in Pottery Barn. Like a normal guy annoyed with a female shopping, he sighed and complained he was bored. He shut up once he saw a display of down blankets hidden in the dim light.

A gunshot echoed. I froze, the eco-friendly, rustic, striped rug almost slipping from my fingers. Rider quickly came over the walkie, telling us that a lone S3 was in the dressing room of the store they were in. Arms loaded, we hauled our stuff to the hall with the rest.

Rider told us they already hit up GameStop, gathering up everything they possibly could. That was the only store Hayden was interested in so he followed me willingly into Victoria’s Secret, making faces and jokes about seeing me in black lace as I rifled through the merchandise.

“
Anywhere else?” Hayden asked.

“
I think we have enough. And I don’t want our luck to run out.”

“
Good thinking.” He relayed the message to Rider. I made a detour on our way through Macy’s to get a new and more comfortable pair of boots. We loaded up the stuff, feeling like kids on Christmas morning, and drove around the town once more.

“
I don’t think anyone’s here,” Wade’s dejected voice came over the radio. We drove out of the downtown area, thinking if anyone were to survive, they’d have a better chance away from the zombie hive.

We found nothing. Disheartened, we left Greenville, driving east yet not really paying attention to where we were going. Looking for another town to drive through was easy. We spent the rest of the day slowly rolling up and down the roads, looking for signs of life. When there were no zombies, it was almost boring. Hayden was good company to keep and, by the time we decided to find shelter for the night, I had learned a lot more about him.

We bunkered in a newly abandoned house. The neighborhood we were in showed signs of panic yet no signs of life. Staying in our teams, Hayden and I took the first shift. It was warmer here than back at Arkansas, but still cold. I huddled close to Hayden on the roof, my breath clouding the air as we spoke. We were both frozen to the bone when our duty as watchmen ended. Closing the bedroom door, we snuck into bed together, though it was cold enough sans electricity that huddling together purely for warmth was beyond believable.

Cold rain pelted the truck, its sound soothing. Not having seen any zombies, Hayden and I were playing an abridged game of Never Have I Ever, which was really nothing more than asking each other questions. After an hour we ran out of questions. We were close to the Catawba River when I noticed the footprints.

Hayden radioed the guys as the truck bumped off the main road, following the muddy tracks. We wound our way through trees. A run down, crappy RV was parked in the middle of a small clearing. It had two flat tires; it had been left here since before the outbreak.

But the campfire dwindling under the awning was new.

A young, dirty boy flew through the RV door, brandishing a shotgun. His hold on it was shaky and he lowered it once he saw our faces. He called over his shoulder and a middle-aged man emerged from the woods. Hayden got out of the truck, holding his hands up in a ‘we come in peace’ sort of way. I stayed back, letting the boys introduce themselves and explain the plan of rescue.

I didn’t trust them one bit. The boy, Parker, was only twelve years old. Evan, his father had been on the run from the infected since the outbreak. They were with four other people but got separated two days ago while attempting to hunt.

The January trees did little to stop the cold rain from falling down on us. We huddled inside the RV.

“
There was a house we were supposed to meet up at,” Evan explained. “I was being so careful, marking the trees as we went. But somehow we got turned around and ended up here.”

“
Have you come across any zombies?” Wade asked.

“
No, that’s why we decided to try our hand at hunting. We thought it’d be easy along the river.”

I stifled a laugh. When everyone looked quizzically at me, I diverted my eyes. Surreptitiously, I ran my eyes over Parker and his dad, looking for bite marks or fresh wounds. Maybe it was unorthodox, but I thought it would be a good idea to make them strip and prove to us that they had no open cuts or scrapes. After Karli and Rebecca, who could blame me?

“
How did you find us?” Parker asked. He had a look of awe in his eyes as they swept over the faces of the soldiers. Dressed in their military garb, they did look straight out of an action movie. I had on stretchy jeans over Underamour leggings, a sheer, black turtleneck under a navy cable sweater, and a jacket. I looked normal, to say the least.

“
Orissa saw your footprints,” Hayden told him.

Parker smiled. “I’m glad you found us.”

“
Me too,” Hayden responded. “Now, this house. Do you have any idea how far you are from it?”

Evan folded his hands and sighed. “No. I didn’t think we were that far, but…”

“
Obviously you are,” I retorted. “Was the house along the river?”

“
Not right along. It’s close by, though. It’s a big house, with a lake in the backyard.”

Thinking it would be shitty to tell him the lake was mostly likely a big pond, I disregarded his wrong word choice. “How close? Like less than a mile?”

“
Oh, a lot less than a mile.”

“
North or south of here?”

“
Uhh…”

“
With or against the river’s flow?”

He looked at his son. “We walked with.”

“
Ok, I should be able to find it.”

Hayden pulled me aside. “Do you really think you can find it?”

“
Maybe,” I said honestly.

“
How?”

“
I was planning on walking along the river, following their tracks. If they left from the house, there should be a trail.”

“
Can’t we just drive up and down the roads?”

“
Well, yeah, but how many roads are around here? That seems like a waste of time. I seriously doubt they got too far from the house,” I insisted.

“
Exactly. Let’s drive. I’d feel better driving than all of us trudging through unfamiliar woods.”

“
I do my best work in unfamiliar woods. And I was just going to go on my own,” I admitted.

“
What?! No!”

“
I can take a walkie talkie and find a road sign and let you know.”

“
Orissa, no.”

“
Do you want to stay the night in that skeezy RV? I don’t. I can do this.”

“
I don’t like you going out on your own,” he said, mostly to himself.

“
I can take care of myself.”

“
As your superior, no.”

“
My superior?” I raised an eyebrow.

“
Yes.”

“
Why can’t you just admit you’ll worry about me?”

“
Fine. I’ll be really worried. I don’t want you out of my sight. I can keep you safe, alright?”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, all the while trying to keep the smile from my face. “We’re going to waste time. And what if those people aren’t even at the house anymore?”

“
We have to check,” Hayden said. We rejoined the group, explained our plan of driving aimlessly around hoping to find a road that would spark some sort of recognition in Parker or Evan’s mind. It was late afternoon by the time we finally found the house.

It was big. Big and nice. It must have been someone’s vacation home. Nicely kept, clean and stocked with comfy furniture, cozy beds, and plenty of books, the house offered a homey feel that we all had missed. The four missing friends were nowhere to be found. We ate dinner, heating up Spaghetti-O’s in the fireplace. Meant to offer breathtaking views of the forest surrounding us, the large windows leered at us, threatening with their ability to easily be broken.

Parker and Evan gobbled down the food, not having anything to eat in the last twenty-four hours. They asked endless questions about the shelter, told us what we already knew about zombies and the world being a hopeless, shit filled place. We lit a few candles and drew the blinds, not wanting the flickering light to summon any zombies.

Hayden and I took first watch again that night, circling the house, waiting and listening. Upon hearing nothing, we went in, moving from the front to the back, both uneasy about being surrounded by trees that made it very hard to see what was lurking about.

When it was our turn to rest, we settled on the couch near the fire. It warmed up the room considerably. Evan and Parker were asleep in front of the fireplace. Wade, Rider, and Brock were patrolling outside. Hayden and I were alone, for now.

I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me. He ran his fingers through my hair and I relaxed, stretching my legs out on the couch. I was nearly asleep when I heard Parker’s voice.

“
Can she really track things?”

“
Yes, she can,” Hayden whispered, thinking I was sleeping. “She’s good at it too.”

“
Do you think she can find my friends?”

“
If anyone can, it’s Orissa.”

“
Good.” With a shuffling of the blankets, Parker sat up. “Is she your girlfriend?”

Hayden hesitated. “Well, she’s a girl and she’s my friend…”

“
Oh, I get it. Do you want her to be?”

It felt like forever passed before Hayden answered. “Yeah.”

Zombies breaking through a window would be welcomed right now. That was so awkward. It took effort to keep my body from tensing up.

“
Does she know?” Parker pressed.

“
I don’t think so. I hope not.”

“
That seems silly. Why wouldn’t you want her to know?”

“
I…I don’t think she likes me the same way. Look, aren’t you a little young to be so interested in this stuff?”

“
Young? Have you met today’s generation?” he asked, making Hayden softly chuckle. “I think you should tell her.”

“
Maybe later.”

“
What if there isn’t a later?” the boy inquired.

“
Well, then that would really suck.”

“
There’s this girl with us—Joni. She’s fourteen but she’s just…wow.”

I could feel Hayden try not to laugh at Parker. “Is she now?”

“
Yeah. She has blonde curls and beautiful blue eyes. She’s fourteen, but I think I have a chance.”

“
Probably. There’s not too much competition anymore, is there?” Hayden asked. I wanted to pinch him.

“
Anyway, I’m going to tell her that I love her. Life’s too short to hold back. You should consider it.”

“
You’re a smart kid, Parker. Go back to sleep, now. You need your strength to, uh, impress Joni.”

“
Right. Night Hayden.”

In the early light of dawn, the four lost people returned. Like Evan and Parker, they were dirty, tired, hungry, and defeated. Along with Joni, the group consisted of Jane, Joni’s twenty-something sister, an older man named Austin, and Lydia, a middle-aged woman. We went through introductions, information about the compound, and then ate breakfast.

The six had traveled together in a van. They had minimal supplies and no food left. The four that most recently joined us were most anxious about leaving right away. Brock suggested they rest while we were in a safe place. No one disagreed.