Deathly Contagious (38 page)

“True,” I said and walked to the end of the dock. A few dozen small fish swam about. I tipped my head, looking at them.

“Find something interesting?” Hayden asked. He almost startled me; I was so engrossed by the fish I hadn’t noticed him coming up behind me.

“Just fish.”

“We should find some fishing gear and catch dinner,” he said.

“These guys are small.”

“Well,” he began, placing his hands on my shoulders. “We can take one of the boats and go out on the lake.”

“I’d like that,” I told him, leaning back slightly. “I miss fishing.”

His hands slid from my shoulders, down my back and around my waist. I put my hands over his and closed my eyes, resisting the urge to twist around, grab him and kiss him.

“You can fire a gun, you know how to hunt, and you like to fish,” he whispered, his breath warm on my neck. “You are the perfect woman.”

I laughed. “I’m far from perfect and I’m the first to admit it.”

“That guy’s big,” Hayden said and pointed to the water, avoiding have to argue with me over the different ways we viewed me.

“He is. I bet he’d taste good,” I added, watching a large fish swim amongst the little ones. I was curious to see if he’d eat them. “Do you know what kind of fish that is?”

“Unfortunately, no. I was never good at ID-ing fish.”

“Me neither,” I admitted. “My grandma was though. She always knew. Sometimes I wondered if she just made it up because we wouldn’t have known otherwise.”

“Smart,” Hayden chuckled. “I should have done that.” He took a step closer, pressing his body against mine.

“You know what’s weird?” I asked him, putting my hands over his.

“What?”

“Life has changed so much for us. Everything we knew is gone. But for animals nothing has changed. They’re still going on now just as they did before zombies roamed the world.”

“I never thought about it. That is weird in a way,” he said softly and loosened his grip.

“Isn’t it? They have no idea how different the world is.”

“They’re lucky,” Hayden pointed out. He removed his hands from me and took a step back. I took one last look at the fish, wishing I had bread crumbs to throw in the water.

“No one’s been here in ages,” Ivan informed us when we rejoined the group. “Where ever that boat was going, it wasn’t here.”

“Should we try to fire up one of these?” Rider asked and waved his hand at the small boats in the dock. “We could try to track them down.”

“I can drive a boat,” Wade told us. “But I don’t think we should go out with a storm coming in. Lake Erie won’t get ocean-like waves, but I still don’t want to be out there during a storm.”

“Me neither,” Brock agreed. “Two letdowns in a row: The school and the boat. Let’s just go, get today over with and have better luck tomorrow.”

All agreeing, we got back into the cars. I slid into the backseat of the truck, Hayden—of course—drove and Ivan got into the passenger seat. As soon as Hayden put the truck in reverse, the roar of the boat’s engine hummed in the distance. We raced back to the dock, eyes wide.

“HEY!” Ivan yelled, waving his hands. The boat veered in our direction. Ivan waved again. Excited anxiety swelled inside my heart. I was curious to where this person came from and how many others they had back home.

“Shouldn’t they be slowing down?” Rider asked apprehensively.

“Uh, yea,” Hayden said. “Guys, uh, let’s go, get out of the way,” he continued when the boat was only yards from the dock and still going full speed. We booked it away just in time for the boat to crash into the wood. The driver flew forward, toppling over the windshield and smacking against the broken boards.

Wade got to him first, thinking he was going to help the poor man. Blood dripped down the boat driver’s face. In a way that reminded me of how people moved when they were possessed in the movies, the guy sat up and growled.

“Of course,” Rider spat and shook his head. “He’s raging mad!”

Wade pulled out his pistol and shot the guy point blank. The body splashed into the water. Without speaking, we got into the cars and started down the winding road once again.

“Has Raeya said anything about me?” Ivan asked with a wink.

“Oh yea, loads,” I humored him.

“Is it still too soon to make a move?”

“I’m not sure. It’s been…shit, I don’t even know what day it is. Months. It’s been months, let’s put it that way. She hasn’t talked about it and I don’t want to bring it up.”

“How did he die?” Ivan asked.

I still felt a pang of sadness over Seth’s death. He was a good guy; good enough that I felt he actually deserved Ray. “Dropped dead from the virus.”

“At least he didn’t suffer,” Hayden said to make me feel better.

“Yea,” I agreed. “I’ll find out how she’s doing with all that when we get back,” I promised Ivan.

“Thanks,” he said and smiled. “Do you think I have a chance with her? She’s cute and charming, don’t get me wrong, but she’s the type of woman who seems like they’d have a type.”

“To an extent,” I informed him. Raeya liked to play it safe, know her options, and always be prepared with life and with dating. She went for the rare genuinely nice guys, preferred guys who put up with her constant planning, and needed someone she could trust. And being physically attractive was a plus.

The pickings were definitely slim in this world. But with his dazzling smile, beautiful dark skin, and muscular body, Ivan wasn’t doing so bad. I’m sure in a pre-zombie world—and if Ray was single—she’d go on a date with Ivan. I wasn’t sure how she’d handle a boyfriend who went out on missions. That would be the determining factor; the girl was a grand champion worrier.

“We could double date,” Ivan joked. “We can all go to the cafeteria on Friday nights. It’d be so exciting!”

I laughed. “Just talk to her. Even if it doesn’t work out, she’s an awesome person to have as a friend.”

Hayden turned on the stereo; Ivan immediately flipped through the iPod to find something other than country. Fat raindrops splattered onto the windshield. Hayden rolled up the windows and flicked the wipers on.

I leaned back in my seat, surprised that I was feeling what I would have to call homesick. I missed Raeya and Padraic. I was a little worried about Gabby since she had just lost Jessica.  I wanted to throw the tennis ball for Argos, play cards in the community room, eat bland yet warm food, shower and, most of all, have some time alone with Hayden.

“Shit,” Hayden said and slowed down. “Isn’t this the way we came?”

“It looks like it,” Ivan said, twisting around in his seat.  “Didn’t you go back the way we came?”

“I thought I did,” Hayden sighed. “We should be on the main road by now.”

“Keep going,” Ivan suggested. “Even if this isn’t the right way, I’m sure it will lead us back to the main road sooner or later.”

“Right,” Hayden said and pressed his foot on the gas again. Ten minutes later, we were even deeper into the forest.

“Where the hell are you going?” Brock’s voice spoke over the walkie talkie.

“Not sure,” Hayden replied. “I thought this was the way we came.”

“You’re the one with the map,” Brock teased.

“I’ll check,” Hayden said and set the walkie talkie down. “Check the map?” he asked Ivan.

“Sure.” Ivan unfolded the map. “I’d tell you where to go if I knew where we were.”

“Dammit,” Hayden cursed and hit the steering wheel.

“Well,” Ivan cleared his throat. “If we’re up here somewhere then we need to go this way.” He traced a road with his finger. “We should only be a few miles from the main road.”

“Alright,” Hayden sighed. I knew being in Pennsylvania bothered him. The road that we thought would be our exit was covered in fallen trees and branches. Forced to turn around and go even further into the state, Ivan, who had been merrily chatting with me, grew quiet.

“Finally,” Hayden breathed when the truck emerged from the trees. “We’re on 100 West.”

Ivan went over the map. “That street doesn’t exist.”

“I just saw the sign,” Hayden countered. “One hundred and the letter ‘W’. I know how to read a street sign.”

“I’m not saying you don’t. But I’m telling you, 100 West doesn’t exist on this map.”

“Maybe it was added after the map was made,” I suggested. It was bound to happen.

“This map was made last year,” Ivan said, shaking his head. “And this road doesn’t look new. Plus, I don’t think any state had money left for construction of any kind. Well, besides California and New York.”

“I’ll see where it goes,” Hayden said through gritted teeth. “At least we can see what’s around us.”

The road was incredibly flat, as were the fields on either side of us. I looked intently at them; something seemed wrong. Everything was perfect and too man made. It gave off an eerie feeling. The distant low humming of giant windmills grew louder and louder.

We had three of those huge energy producing windmills back at the compound. They were kind of mesmerizing and a little scary. It was impossible to tell just how gargantuan they were until you drove up close. The humongous blades slowly spun in the wind. Amongst the windmills were dozens of identical, green pole barns. I had yet to see them in person but I recognized them right away.

“Greenhouses,” I muttered.  I remembered it like yesterday; my grandpa was so incredibly pissed when we first heard about them. He swore it would be the downfall of American farmers and he was right.

A ‘greenhouse’ as they were referred to could grow crops year round and didn’t rely on the weather. They could provide ten acres’ worth of plants in a building of just a few thousand square feet. Filled with rotating levels, fake sunlight, soil drenched in growth hormones, and the perfect amount of humidity in the air, greenhouses were guaranteed to provide America with fresh food all year round…if you could call tomatoes that never felt a ray of sunshine ‘fresh’.

Powered by the windmills, production costs were next to nothing. It was fast, cheap, and easy to harvest fruit and vegetables that grew inside a climate controlled building. The whole premise was that the low cost to grow and harvest would then be reflected in a drop in prices at the supermarket. Produce did get cheaper, just not as much as President Samael promised. The biggest difference was in the size of the crops.

Tomatoes the size of softballs, cantaloupes the size of watermelon…everyone thought they were getting a bargain but what they were really getting was a daily dose of cancer. Or at least that’s what my grandpa believed. He refused to buy anything that wasn’t locally grown by someone he knew.

These ‘greenhouse farms’ were placed across the country. Many of them—like this one—were near natural water sources. Supposedly they collected rain water as well. In theory, it was a great idea. But when you could spend the same amount on a bag of five pound of homegrown potatoes as you could on a ten pound bag of lab grown potatoes, the choice was obvious. The economy was so bad no one could afford to eat organic.

Deciding the open space was as good as any to stop of a bathroom break, Hayden pulled the truck into the small parking lot next to a greenhouse. We quickly looked for zombies and after finding none, we got out.

I grabbed a tissue from my bag and walked around the corner of the greenhouse to pee.

“Hayden!” I called when I was done. I stood, pulling up my pants. He came running.

“Riss! You ok?”

“Yea,” I said not meeting his eyes. I swallowed and pointed to something on the ground. “Look.”

Still shaken, he stepped closer to me. “What?”

“Right there. Footprints.”

Chapter 16

“So?” he questioned, giving me a what-the-hell look. “I thought something was attacking you and you called me over here to look at
footprints
?”

“Yes. Someone was here.”

“Someone could be anywhere, Riss. Zombies have free run over the place. I’m sure more than one has passed through here.” He put his hand on mine. “Let’s go.”

“No,” I said and pulled my hand away. “You’re not looking. One set clearly walked up to the door. Not staggered or wandered. The path is straight; they meant to go inside.” I moved closer to the prints. “And this set leaves the building, stepping on the ones going in. Someone went in and then out.”

Hayden looked at the footprints for a second before saying, “You’re right. Still, that doesn’t mean much.”

“Let’s go in and see.”

“We’re not armed well enough,” he reminded me. Since the tornado, none of us left the truck completely unarmed. I had my M9, two extra clips, my knife and a small pistol strapped to my ankle. Hayden had all that and more.

“Let me just see if the door is unlocked,” I suggested.

“Ok,” he agreed and stepped onto the cement pad that welcomed you to the front door. He pulled out his pistol, raised it and nodded. I put my hand on the knob and twisted.

“Dammit,” I swore. “It’s locked.”

Hayden took his gun in his left hand and grabbed the door knob with his right. He jiggled it a few times, gave me his gun to hold and, with both hands, forced the knob to click open by breaking the lock.

I gave him his gun back. “That’s why I love you,” I said with a smile. Carefully, I pushed the door open. We were instantly blinded by harsh, ultraviolet lights. To be safe, I pulled out my gun, clicked the safety off and aimed it at chest level. For a full thirty seconds, we stood unmoving.

“I think the coast is clear,” I whispered. “Why is the power on?”

“I’m assuming it never shut off,” Hayden said, motioning to the windmills. “This place has probably been running nonstop. But there’s no one to bring the water, plant seeds or harvest what grew.”

Metal clinked as the top row of plants was rotated out for another row. Curiously, I peered inside. The building was tall; there were a dozen or more rows of plants with walkways in between each row. Each row was probably ten high, I didn’t feel like counting, and were constantly being rotated every minute.

The cement floor was swept clean. There were no dead, dried leaves, no spilled dirt or dropped vegetables. The air smelled of chemicals and not of soil and plants like a greenhouse should. At the opposite end of the greenhouse was a staircase that led to a walkway. I imagined scientists walking along it, reaching over the rails and grabbing a piece of produce to hook up to a monitor and test.