Infected (Book 1): The First Ten Days (36 page)

No second thoughts. I took off. Back to the door and raced down every set of stairs. At the bottom I slammed the door open and went into the hallways. When I was on the roof the distance between me and the front doors of the school was greater than that of whoever else was on the roof taking shots. If they raced to get to the front I needed to move quicker in order to beat them there. No pacing, I rushed.

I arrived at the hallway with the main doors, but they were in the middle, some ten classrooms down from where I turned into the hall. At the center I could see Marcus, Jack and Melissa. They noticed me too. But Richard, Jason and the sniper stood at the other side of the hallway having just arrived down there too.

BANG!

Richard’s handgun took a shot down the hallway. Like a bunch of roaches, we split up into whatever classrooms were nearest to us. Marcus and Melissa ran into one, Jack in to the classroom directly next to them. Richard, Jason and the sniper all went into a classroom on their end, and I went to the one in mine.

From Richard’s end of the hall I could hear screaming out the window for the rest of the guys to collect and meet up with Richard to take us out.

I peeked around the classroom entrance and watched the sniper get into position and Marcus looking back at me. He didn’t say a word but his stare came with meaning. It was a last stand. We couldn’t wait for the rest of the men to get there and kill us off. We had to act right then and there.

Marcus went back into his class for a brief moment and poked right back out. He looked my way and smiled, looked back at Richard, and threw something down the hall in his direction. The tough surface of the object bounced off of the floor several times before it slid the rest of the way over to Richard, the sound of metal or hard plastic, it stopped right next to him.

Marcus must have known they would run and Jason wouldn’t get hurt because it turned out to be a grenade. They all fled out of the class and to the hall they came from before it blew up.

I took the open opportunity to run over to the class where Marcus and Melissa were held up. Jack met up with us there too. At the same moment the rest of Richard’s men come down through the stairs on their end, and Richard peeked around the corner to see if it was clear of any more incoming grenades.

“Nice to see you are still okay kid!” Marcus told me. He made sure the hall was still empty outside of the classroom every few seconds. He would look out and then stare back in. I couldn’t help but notice how he held his side in pain.

“Marcus filled me in on the reason you did it, but in the moment I was pretty pissed that you abandoned me, dude!” Jack said, “But again, he explained so I understand.”

At least I was excused. “Sorry, man. We were just wasting too much time for me to feel comfortable. Especially after seeing what was happening inside.”

Melissa stood there and stared me down in shock. She didn’t say a thing. She just stared. I watched her for several seconds and turned my attention back to Jack.

“Did any of the people make it out alive?” I asked him.

“Yeah, some of them, but Richard recruited more ruthless people than we thought. Many of those who got out did it with supplies and those guys made sure specifically the ones with supplies went nowhere,” answered Jack, his head slightly tilted down, like he felt guilty for what Richard’s men did.

“Did you find them?” Melissa finally spoke.

“Yes.” I left it at that.

“Oh…” She replied. She could tell what happened.

Marcus looked back at me, concerned, worried, and sorry for me.

“Where…” I stopped myself from asking her where her family was. I had a good idea so I rephrased the question. “Why are you here?”

“For the same reason you are,” she said. I could only assume her family was killed somewhere down the line. Like mine, like everyone else’s family.

“Marcus!” Someone yelled down the hallway.

Marcus didn’t respond but he turned his attention back to the hall. Richard spoke,

“This cannot end well for you or those kids.” Richard tried to persuade Marcus and us to stop going after him. “It’s over. We have what we want. Leave and let us have the school. We will be out of here soon enough anyway. There is no point in fighting any longer!”

“As compelled as I am to agree with you that dog of yours aiming his little toy down the hall doesn’t exactly convince me!” Marcus yelled back at Richard.

“I apologize. I did not mean to raise your suspicions,” Richard replied. Footsteps followed shortly after.

Marcus looked more relaxed and walked out into the hallway. “You three, stay here!” he told us and looked at Melissa to make sure she could see his lips.

“You look hurt. Are you alright?” Richard asked. His voice was now closer to Marcus.

“Stay where you are.” Marcus raised his gun and aimed ahead of him. Jack and I rushed over to the door to get a closer look. When we made it Richard turned his attention to us but continued to speak to Marcus.

“You can keep those kids safe, and I will let you leave. But you have to leave. If you do not comply with this, you will be removed by force. I have more people willing to fight for their survival than you do. I have a plan to save the human race from the vermin that run the streets as we speak. But it cannot be accomplished with you are in the way and with these kids having some fantasy hero complex which you instilled in them. Even if you stop they will continue unless you stop them yourself. Put your gun down.” Richard’s voice became more serious, bass. He faced Marcus again. “I will personally kill every last one of them if you do not retreat. At this moment, around that corner.” He pointed at the corner in which the sniper was at. “There is enough fire power to kill you all, kill every infected that come chasing after us, and still have some left over to defend ourselves later. I recommend you comply.”

“That’s exactly what I waited for,” Marcus said, “If I’ve learned anything from you, Richard, it’s that a long enough wait will always reveal your true colors. Your imaginary salvation of the human race is nothing but a lie you tell everyone around you. You are only worried about saving yourself.”

“I do not disagree. In fact, I claim that to be true. The only difference is, they know I am out to save myself. And if I have to train them to protect me and themselves for our own personal survival then that is what will happen. That is human nature, Marcus. You know this better than anyone. Survival of the fittest is the one true law of nature. He who can, will survive and he who can’t, will not!” Richard put his hand on his holstered gun. “This is my last warning. Leave.” He turned his back to Marcus and walked away.

“Richard!” Marcus yelled out after Richard walked halfway down the hall.

Richard stopped in place and stood there. “Yes?” He asked.

“Let us have the kid!” Marcus demanded. He referred to Jason.

“What kid? I have no children. I have warriors! I have the men willing to do what it takes to survive. I have an army of the truly free, the truly worthy. There are no ‘kids’ in my presence,” he said, now turned around to face Marcus again.

“Jason!” Richard summoned Jason.

A few seconds went by and Jason came around the corner, walked up to Richard, and stood by his side.

I desperately left from where I hid and stood by Marcus to better see Jason. He wasn’t hurt and he wasn’t scared. He was even armed.

“These people want you to join their band of four and go save every undeserving person left in the world, everyone who will die in the next week. They look to feed those people, to clothe those people, to die for those people. Go with them if you want.” Richard turned around again and continued to walk away. He left Jason there alone to make his choice. “Marcus!” Richard yelled out, “Leave or I will keep my promise and kill them all. I’ll even save you for last so you can see them suffer, so you can see those you wish to save undergo death caused by your stubbornness.” He vanished around the corner and an entire group of his men ran out from around the corner and lined up down the hall, their weapons fixed on Marcus and me. Melissa and Jack came out too and stood by us.

I disregarded the guns aimed at us and ran over to Jason.

“Are you okay?!” I asked as soon as I was in front of him.

“Yes. Listen to me…” Jason’s face was serious; he had urgency in his eyes, and a sorrow unheard of and guilt.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “He said you can come with us. Let’s get out of here!” I told him, but I could tell there was something off about him.

“He will kill us all if I go with you. But you can come with us. You can join us and we can live. I can talk to him and convince him to let you stay with us,” he said without a crack in his voice, a blink of an eye or a single flinch. He was serious. “Mom and Daviel… When we got here they were…”

“I know...” I cut him off and realized he said it already happened when they arrived.

“Richard isn’t responsible?” I asked. I didn’t understand what really happened.

“The school was unsafe from the start. We found it like this when we got here. They were attacked by someone else,” Jason said. Something about what he told me came to me as strange like he was lying to me, but I knew he didn’t. Like he felt guilty for what happened but didn’t want me to blame him for it, like it was directly their fault. “Mom always said that the point of life was for us to find our own purpose, but live at all costs. And that is true now more than ever. Join us and he will help us survive. There isn’t enough left to support large groups and Marcus will only find more people to feed. We will remain small. Please join us!”

I couldn’t believe what he said. Our mother did tell us to survive regardless of what happened in our lives, never to give up and always to find a reason to fight, but never this way. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked. Behind Jason I could see Richard’s men advance towards us.

Jason didn’t respond. He stood there and watched me. I noticed darkness in him I’ve never seen before.

“It’s time,” Marcus said from behind me. He wanted me to take the chance Richard gave us and go.

My options were as follow: Go with Marcus, the guy who helped me stay alive through the entire apocalypse, or gowith my brother who decided to side with a murderous madman. Blood is thicker than what?

I backed away from Jason. “Is this it? This is really what you’re doing?” I asked.

“We survive. That’s all there is.” As if Jason turned into Richard that moment, he turned around and walked away. “Leave,” he said like Richard, before he vanished behind Richard’s wall of excessive manpower.

“We have to leave. He’s made his choice and we can’t win this fight. Not while they’re all together like this,” Marcus said.

It was checkmate. He outgunned us and brainwashed Jason. We couldn’t win.

“Come on!” Jack said. Melissa helped Marcus move faster, Jack and I kept our eyes on Richard’s men while we took our leave.

“Ten minutes to change the tire and leave the property before these kind men open fire. I recommend you use those ten minutes wisely.” Richard’s last words echoed through the hall and reached all our ears before we made it to the doors.

“Quick, fix the tire!” Marcus had Melissa help him into the pickup and I changed the tire with help from Jack.

A few minutes in, Jack and I finished. We started the pickup, Melissa at the wheel. Richard and Jason stood outside the school watching us leave. Richard’s men spilled out into the school grounds to join them. Jack and I sat in the flatbed of the pickup truck and kept our eyes on them.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Marcus told me through the window between the pickup’s inside and its flatbed. “He has a way of getting into people’s heads and making them act how he wants. The fact that Jason still stands tells us that Richard has plans for him. As disturbing as it might be, for the time being, he is safe with Richard. He’s made his choice. You’ve made yours.”

“What now?” Jack asked.

“Creed City is next,” Marcus answered.

I wasn’t giving up on Jason. Even if now wasn’t the time to save him, I was not going to let him become a monster like Richard. One day I would find a way to split them up and break whatever spell he had on my brother.

I promise.

The Next Day

The beginning of a New Life

We found a bed we laid out on the pickup truck’s flatbed. There, Marcus was passed out to recover from the wound he somehow ignored in order to save me. Jack had the passenger side window, I drove and Melissa sat between us both. Melisa told us how she lost her family during their trip to the school and how Richard was possibly responsible for that too. There was a mutual hate for that man which existed in the car.

We planned to start our lives over in Creed. In the company of each other and anyone else we could save and rebuild a community with.

“What… the…” Jack said with the volume in his voice having dropped as he said it. He looked out through the window on his side, into some field we drove by. “Pull over.”

I stopped in the middle of the highway to Creed City and we came out of the pickup. I had to wake Marcus up for this. This was more than we knew what to do with.

Out in the field, behind a large patch of dirt, where there should have been snow, rested an even larger patch of blue; blue grass, blue tree leaves, and a thick mist which surrounded all of it. It was winter, there shouldn’t have been any grass or leaves.

Marcus woke up somewhere in the middle of our awe and stood next to us to watch the fields of blue. “The plants… They’re infected…”