Deathly Contagious (22 page)

“Goodnight,” I whispered to Hayden as I settled into his arms.

“Night, Riss.”

I kissed him once and closed my eyes. I wasn’t even tired; however, I knew this was the only chance of sleep I’d get until we got back to the compound, which would hopefully be tomorrow. Ivan kept watch by the front door, occasionally moving around the downstairs to look out the back doors and the windows. Brock was upstairs doing the same.

I could hear the floor creaking as they walked around, and the sound of hushed voices floated through the empty library. Hayden ran his fingers through my hair, only getting a few inches down before they got caught on tangles.

“Sorry,” he said as he yanked them out.

“I didn’t think to pack a brush,” I told him with a smile.

“Next time,” he joked.

“Are you tired?” I asked him.

“Not really. It feels good to lie down though.”

“Yea, definitely,” I agreed. The cut on my heel burned every time I put pressure on it. “Especially next to you,” I added, feeling lame saying that out loud.

He laughed. “Yea. It’s good they know, see?”

“You’re right. We should tell everyone else.”

“Maybe,” he added with hesitation.

“You’re ashamed of me?” I teased.

“No, not at all.” He hugged me tighter. “I don’t want to risk it, Riss. I don’t want Fuller to tell us we can’t be together.”

“Right,” I agreed, not wanting to start a disagreement between us. I didn’t care what the fuck Fuller told us. I wasn’t going to let anything or anyone keep me from being with Hayden. “I don’t want to not be with you. I’d go crazy worrying if you went out on a mission without me. I’d be so scared you wouldn’t come back.”

“I don’t want you out of my sight,” he admitted. “When that zombie grabbed you in the river, it kinda scared the shit out of me.”

“You saved my life I’ll have to thank you later,” I said coyly.

Hayden squeezed me. “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you, Orissa.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I closed my eyes, feeling as content as I could possibly feel and eventually fell asleep. The temperature had dropped considerably since the sun had sank, and, after being cuddled up next to Hayden for six hours, getting out of the sleeping bag and into the cold air was like a slap in the face.

I took the upstairs again while Hayden kept an eye out on the main floor. I turned on a flashlight and picked my way up the stairs thinking that a darkened library would make a good plot for a horror movie. A haunted library, I imagined, would be an interesting set. I pushed the thoughts of ghost pushing books off the shelves away; I didn’t have to imagine anything terrible. Real-life monsters roamed the earth.

I shoved a plastic pumpkin to the side of the counter and climbed up, still feeling the drag of sleep. I stayed there for a while before I forced myself up to look out the windows. Brock had peeled off the Halloween themed window clings, placing them in a neat pile on a desk. I looked out at the desolate town through the scope of my gun, trying to detect movement. I slowly walked to the other end of the children’s section and did the same.

But this time I did see something.

She staggered along the road, tripping every now and then. Strands of her long hair fell out of the tight bun it had once carefully been put up with, and her long, denim skirt was tattered and stained with blood. I held my breath, waiting to count how many followed. She crossed the street, tripping on the curb. Even with the night vision, I could see the flesh scraped off on the pavement.

She had stumbled a good fifty yards in our direction. And nothing followed. I ran my hands along the window, trying to locate the locks.

“Dammit,” I swore under my breath. This window was the stupid industrial kind that doesn’t open. I flew down the stairs to find Hayden. “There’s a lone zombie outside. I’m gonna go kill it,” I told him.

“You shouldn’t go out alone,” he replied quickly.

“Come with then.”

He nodded. “Where is it?”

“The back of the library.” I pulled an arrow from the quiver I had around my shoulder. “An easy four points, I do believe.” We snuck out the front doors, Hayden leading the way, and made our way around the building. My breath clouded around me as I exhaled.

“Can you see her?” Hayden asked, looking through his scope.

“I see a shape,” I told him and drew back an arrow. “I think it’s her.”

He glanced up at me. “Yea, that’s her.” He held up his gun. “Aim a little higher,” he said and looked through his night vision scope one more time. “If you get her in the head, I’ll be thoroughly impressed.”

I let out my breath, steadied myself and let the arrow go. The string from the bow slapped my wrist; the painful sting was familiar.

“Holy shit,” Hayden breathed. “You got her. Right in the eye.”

I smiled triumphantly, though really, I felt it was half luck. I couldn’t see her
that
well in the dark. I flicked on the flashlight and walked over. I put my foot on her chest and yanked the arrow out of her skull. I flicked the brain matter off and shoved it back in the quiver. Hayden and I circled around the library, looking for stragglers.

Stars filled the clear night sky. I slowed my feet when they hit the sidewalk in front of the library. We hesitantly walked up the cement stairs. Suddenly, Hayden turned to me, picked me up and pressed me against the brick wall. My legs, acting on their own accord, wrapped around him and I pressed my mouth to his.

His tongue slipped past my lips. He forcefully kissed me. He moved one of his hands up to my hair and grabbed a tangle of it, pulling it when he closed his fist. I melted into him, wanting more. He pulled his hand down, tipping my head up. He broke away from my mouth and kissed my neck. I moaned and dug my nails into his back.

Then I smelled him.

I opened my eyes to see a S2 ascend the stairs. Fresh blood glinted off his face and bits of skin stuck in his teeth. I reached for Hayden’s gun at the same time the zombie reached out at us. In a swift movement, I pulled the M9 from Hayden’s waist. The zombie roared and I fired.

My feet hit the ground and Hayden whirled around. He looked at the zombie and then back at me.

“Nice work, Riss.”

I shrugged. “Couldn’t have done it without you.” I put the gun back in the holster. “We should let Ivan and Brock know it’s alright.”

“You go,” Hayden said, bending down. “This blood is fresh. I’m gonna go look for the source.” I hesitated. I didn’t want Hayden out of my sight either. “I’ll be careful,” he added, sensing my worry.

“Right. You will be.” I nodded and jogged inside. Brock was sitting up, finger hovering the trigger of his gun. “It’s ok!” I yelled as loudly as I dared. “Just one zombie out there that needed to be shot!”

“Told you I heard gunfire,” Brock said pointedly to Ivan and flopped back down in his sleeping bag.

“Just one?” Ivan sleepily asked.

“Yea,” I lied, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep if I said otherwise. “He must have gotten separated from a herd. Or maybe never joined up. But he’s dead…er. Deader, I suppose. Hayden’s checking for more, but I don’t think there are any,” I explained quickly.

“Relax,” Ivan said, running a hand over his face.

“What?”

“You’re talking really fast. Underwood’s fine. He’s good.”

I nodded, letting myself acknowledge the fact that my heart was racing. “He is.”

Ivan brought his knees up and leaned forward. “It’s more than just secret sex, isn’t it?”

I was thankful for the dark; I knew my cheeks instantly turned red. “Yes,” I said shortly.

“I knew it.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, unable to will myself not to smile.

“You
love
him,” Ivan teased.

“Shut up,” I said again. “Before I hit you.”

“Mh-hm. I could take you.”

“Bring it,” I jeered, laughing.

He exhaled loudly. “In the morning. I’m tired. Night, Penwell.”

I went up to the children’s section, taking two stairs at a time. I looked out the window for any signs of movement. I didn’t catch anything on the front side, so I moved to the back. A dark figure swiftly ran though a thin tree line. I closed my left eye and squinted into the scope. I watched Hayden draw near, until he moved away from my line of sight.

The doors slowly whooshed open and clinked shut. The clank of the deadbolt shooting into place let me know it was Hayden and not a crazy surreptitiously sneaking in to eat our stomach contents. I made one more round before I went back downstairs.

“Did you find anything?” I asked Hayden, who was looking out the back door.

“A dead raccoon.”

“Oh, well, good.” I clicked the safety on my rifle and slung it over my shoulder. “I wonder how he caught it. Those fuckers are fast.” Hayden raised an eyebrow. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Still, it’s not like zombies are stealthy, silent hunters.”

Hayden laughed softly and set his machine gun down. He put his right hand on his left elbow and gently stretched his injured shoulder.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“It’s sore, but I wouldn’t say it
hurts
.”

“Here,” I said and stepped behind him. I gently massaged his shoulders and back.

“That feels better,” he said, rolling his shoulder. “Thanks.”

“Of course.”

We spent the rest of the night patrolling the grounds. Hayden and I rolled up our sleeping bags and tucked them under the seats in the back of the truck, gathered up breakfast and woke up Ivan and Brock.

“Zero to ten,” Hayden reminded Ivan.

“Ten? Uh, no. You guys have two.”

Hayden bit off a piece of his granola bar and shook his head. “We got two last night. Both S2’s. One shot with a gun, the other with an arrow.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ivan said, narrowing his eyes.

“Want to see the bodies?”

“Yes,” Ivan said stubbornly. “And that doesn’t make it ten.”

“Not counting the ones killed in the sewers,” Hayden explained; it was best to not let ‘chaos kills’ count. It was too confusing to keep track. “The S2 with the jugs, the zombie in the river; four points. S2 shot with an arrow, four points, bringing it up to eight, plus the S2 on the stairs. Ten points.”

Ivan grumbled about it not counting because he was asleep and didn’t have a chance. I looked at Brock; he smiled and rolled his eyes. We hurried to finish eating. Hayden, having read all of the books he had back at the compound, spent a few minutes grabbing an arm load to take back with him.

We were just about to load up and take off when Hayden had an idea. I followed him back into the library and Ivan and Brock stayed outside with the truck running. We jumped behind the counter and searched for a phonebook. After only ten minutes of searching, we found it. Hayden flipped through the yellow pages and tore out one that contained phone numbers and addresses for home improvement stores.

“That was brilliant,” I told him as he folded the page. We got into the truck, went over the map and discovered we were only two and a half hours away from the Home Depot Brock had been talking about, which was only about an hour from the compound.

The time flew by. Brock drove, which allowed Hayden to sit in back with me. We stuffed our faces with candy and took turns picking what kind of music to listen to. Hayden likes country, Brock likes metal and alternative rock and Ivan and I like hip hop and rap, or ‘clubbing music’ as Hayden referred to it.

We pulled into the parking lot of the store not a moment too soon. The tank was down to a quarter; something none of us were comfortable with. Hayden refueled while the three of us explored. A S3 limped over, blood staining the orange vest he was wearing. One of his arms had been torn off. Dried strands of muscle and ligaments dangled out of his shoulder socket.

I shot an arrow into his head. It passed through both sides of his mushy skull, hitting another gummy in the neck. He let out a gurgled groan before collapsing.

“Tell me that was on purpose,” Brock said, eyes wide.

“I wish,” I told him honestly.

“Best zombie kill I’d seen in a while,” he said back, smiling. “Too bad it’s only four points.” There weren’t too many zombies here, and the few that milled about were in the S3 stage. The three of us raced to get the highest score. Using the bow got me double points, but it took away time when I stopped to retrieve my arrows.

By the time Hayden had refilled the truck and siphoned enough gas from parked cars to replenish our gas tanks, the score had gone up to twenty-eight to twenty-two, with our team still in the lead. The parking lot was open; we could easily run if we needed to. Some of the fun in our game disappeared when Brock slid open the automatic doors.

We weren’t hit in the face with the gagging smell of death. That was always a good sign.

“Do you want to do this fast and possibly easy or slow and safe?” Hayden asked, clicking a clip into his Berretta.

“Fast and easy,” I answered automatically.

“You would,” Ivan teased.

Hayden fired a round, shattering a fluorescent light bulb. It exploded and little bits of white dust showered down on the cement floor. The bang was still echoing in my ears when the first S2 staggered out of the garden section. Brock shot him in the head before I had the chance to pull back the string of my bow. I put the arrow in place, my arm holding steady.

Three more zombies came out of hiding. Everyone fired at the same time, and a bullet hit the zombie in the head milliseconds before my arrow.

“You and Underwood hit the same one,” Ivan suggested. “So that only counts as one hit for your team.”

“You are such a sore loser,” I laughed.

Brock knew exactly what to look for. We loaded up carts and piled everything we could possibly need near the door. Inside the store was dark and stuffy and we quickly worked up a sweat hauling and moving all of the heavy objects. We took a break for water and got back to work.

The plan was to tap into the water and electricity sources from the compound, which were powered by a combination of solar and wind power. Brock seemed to have an idea of how to possibly do it; I didn’t even attempt to pay attention as he explained it to Hayden and Ivan. He told us that he had worked on several houses that had solar panels on the roof, however, he had never installed them. If we got lucky, we’d find an engineer waiting to be rescued.