Mostly Dead (Barely Alive #3) (14 page)

His sharp eyes searched my face. From the close proximity, being on the receiving end unsettled my mind frame. His hesitant smile made me wish I could fix everything on my own without having anyone else involved. But I’d seen too much in a few weeks. There was nothing about the virus that was just between Dominic and me. Nothing.

“Zombies are a myth, son. They don’t exist. This is just a sickness.” He patted my arm and walked with James towards the sheds.

A sickness? I’d been relegated to a sickness. But a sickness had a cure. I had no cure. I was infected with something that I couldn’t eradicate no matter how much vitamin C I took.

The sun hid behind the tops of the trees and the warmth of the day dipped to a cooler temperature. I clomped tiredly up the front steps and steeled myself to face Connie’s disdain and Heather’s disgust.
Hopefully, I didn’t kill Connie. I was still pissed at her.

Connie sat on the second bottom step of the
inside stairs sweeping to the second floor. She wiped her hands on a towel. “I wondered when you would come back in.” She jerked her head to the living room. “We need to talk.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to talk. She was such a girl. But a girl that would freak the hell out of Dominic. I hadn’t figured out how or why he had a phobia of women, but his fear rationalized his actions toward them. Rape, pillage, and killing them – never allowing them to have the power he had.

Facing Connie, I understood the power issue. Hell. I moved to stand beside the furniture where the fallen women lay.

Grandma Jean
hadn’t moved, but her coloring had returned to a nice calming peach. I sucked in air and leaned forward to test her heat. Normal. And she still smelled human. Another few inches to lean down, I inhaled deep. Grandma Jean didn’t stir.

Without looking at Connie, I moved toward Mom who resembled Grandma Jean’s improvement. I asked, “Still in coma?”

“Yeah, both of them, but their heart rates are a little faster and they seem to be a bit more sensitive than they were before. We can test it more fully when they wake up.” She leaned on the couch and crossed her arms. “Look, Paul, vaccines have reactions. All vaccines. Granted this is a bit extreme compared to the reactions you’d get with a measles or a polio vaccine, but this virus is more severe, not to mention it’s a live culture. You have to expect some trials and some issues with the first run of vaccines. It’s just the way the medical field works.”

Anger simmered, ready to boil over. I didn’t expect her to understand, but I did think she would get it, at least
being in the same situation I was in. I couldn’t even look at her. Not full on. I was aware of her, but I couldn’t focus on her. If I did, it’d be like lighting an inferno and who knows if I’d let her live through the next assault. “I don’t care about the measles vaccine. What I care about is the fact that you experimented and didn’t wait long enough for the results. And you did it on my
mom
.”

“Oh, grow up, Paul. Do you think you’re the only one sacrificing here? Travis and I don’t have a cure. We’re
going to die soon, too. Dominic doesn’t seem too willing to leave you alone.” She thrust up from the couch and moved toward me, standing in my face and forcing me to look her in the eye. “If I thought for a second Dominic could get the cure from having access to your little girlfriend, don’t think I wouldn’t hand deliver her to him myself. But if I can’t figure it out, I guarantee he can’t. He’s just too damn egotistical to admit it.”

If I hadn’t grown up with Mom, I might have been cowed by Connie’s aggression and confession to turn any one of us over for a cure. But I welcomed the face-to-face, relished that I could finally speak my mind.

But when I opened my mouth to speak, a sharp pain flashed through my mind and Dominic’s voice came out. “Shut your whorish mouth, Connie. Dominance didn’t work in the bedroom for you and it doesn’t work regarding science.”

She gasped. “What did you say?”

I swallowed, choking back more words Dominic flooded through my head. I opened my eyes and stared hard at Connie. She watched me, curiosity lighting her eyes. Noticeably, there was no fear. “Dominic? Is that you?” She peered into my eyes, even lifted her finger to pull down my lower eyelid.

Slapping her hand didn’t make Dominic get the hell out and didn’t move Connie back from her inspection.
My mouth moved, I could feel the muscles and the tendons, my tongue flexing and contracting, but couldn’t seem to stop the words. “Connie, you
don’t
have the cure, do you? That flaccid husband of yours couldn’t deliver, again? Come over to my camp. I’ll rough you up and leave you out to dry.” His lewd chuckle left me feeling dirty and ill-mannered. Mom would backhand me so fast, if she heard me talking like that.

True, I wasn’t saying it, but she wouldn’t get that. I hardly got it.

But I’d had enough. I ground my teeth together and closed my eyes. Dominic fought against my struggles. We wrestled together in the confines of my mind. The fight was more painful than the attack in the woods – as long as no mention of my dad was made.

“Get the hell out.” I finally spit out. And suddenly he was gone and my mind had more room in my skull.

If Connie’s eyes were any wider, her eyeballs would fall out of the sockets. “What was that? How’d you get him here?” She watched me, but backed away and sat down on the edge of a lounge chair, her ankles crossed.

I glowered at her, unable to
correlate the information I’d heard with the person I had come to know. “Have you and he…” I rubbed my index finger between the circle I made with my other hand. “You know.”

“Mature.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you have to know?” She sighed at my adaman
t head nodding. “Lots and lots. It’s one of the reasons I talked to the committee about denying his research. He and I were spending too much time together and things had reached a level of kinky I didn’t feel comfortable with. I broke it off right after they rejected his grant.”

I assimilated the information. Giving mysel
f extra time to not throw up. No way would I let Connie’s revelations make me release the meat I’d guilted down into my stomach.

A drawn-out yell pummeled down the stairs followed by Travis’s footsteps. He appeared moments after his voice.

He reached the wide open doorway and heavy breathing lifted and dropped his chest. He ignored me, staring only at Connie. Anger strengthened his posture and the bulge in his neck warned me to back the hell up. He stepped toward Connie. “You slept with Dominic? You have got to be kidding me.” He stalked toward her, closing the gap with distinct footsteps. “Who else? Were you dissatisfied at home? Didn’t I give you everything?”

I could feel his tears he didn’t want to release. His sadness reflected off him in waves
. But in my head, I absorbed Travis’s hurt. I dealt with the triple pain of Dominic’s mirth reaching Travis through my own connection with him.

Stepping b
etween the two of them, I held up my hands. “Look, I get this is hard. I can’t imagine.” And yet, I could feel exactly how hard it was, at least on Travis’s end. His pain had become my own, like Brian’s had filled my mind. I wanted more than anything to hurt Connie. “But we need a cure. Connie, you need to work on that for a while by yourself. Travis, can you step out and help James with the work outside? There are some people here, but we don’t have nearly enough to stand up against Dominic’s growing army.”

The Duncans stared at each other, Connie unrepentant and Travis disbelievingly accusatory.
Five seconds dragged out before Connie nodded and left the room.

Travis met my eyes, shaking his head. “Avoid women, Paul. They’re trouble.” He choked on his words but tried covering it with a scratchy chuckle.

He left the front room. Shoulders slumped in an impossible angle.

Nothing I said or did would help him. I tried blocking out his emotions and sat across from Mom on the empty couch.
Their coma-like state hadn’t shifted. Their smell had a sharp coppery scent that I’d grown accustomed to defining as human.

They’d maintained their humanity. The vaccine had worked.

Miniature soldiers from the Civil War stood on a shelf two feet from where I sat. Equally small tea sets competed for space on the crowded display. Heather had shown me the collection when I’d first arrived. The soldiers reminded me of the people outside. The same people who were most likely going to die under the teeth and hands of their newly mindless neighbors.

James found me standing in front of th
e shelves, fingering a small soldier holding a musket and an even smaller teacup. He tapped my shoulder. “Hey, man, I heard what happened. You okay?”

The teacup held my attention and I rolled
it between my forefinger and thumb. “Did Travis tell you?”

He gave a soft laugh. “No. You still scream your thoughts when you’re upset. It’s hard to concentrate. Even harder not to give the situation away when I’m talking to someone.”

I replaced the teacup but gripped the small man in my palm. I couldn’t let him go to war alone. He could be my companion. We’d keep each other company. I turned to James. “Who were you talking to?” So help him if he said Heather.

“Not Heather, sheesh.” He shook his head and waved his hand toward the front door. “C.J. and I have been walking around the perimeter. He divided up the people who came with him into as many groups of ten as he c
an which, I have to say, aren’t many. But he sent them out with whatever tools they could find and they’re digging trenches to hide in.” James scrunched his mouth to the side. “But that’s as far as we got. He’s not sure where to go from there. He keeps asking if there’s any way we can save these ‘poor souls’. Did you tell him about us?”

“No. Can you imagine the response? Just keep it low key and get done what needs to happen.
” Spilling our secret didn’t feel safe. I didn’t know enough about the group of people that had shown up, least of all the leader.

“Did you know he used to be a Hell’s Angel? I guess he was into the really hard stuff until he got in a huge bike accident, almost died. Then he said he found religion. He’s the pastor of the local Baptist church. Isn’t that cool?” James’s awe transferred to me. Maybe C.J. could forgive us for being the way we were. But how did someone
forgive monsters? I don’t know that I could. Or would.

“
I have Connie working on the cure again. Travis should be helping outside. They needed to be separated.” Sharp points of the tiny soldier pricked the palms of my hand. The tips of my fingers that touched the metal stung, even when I let up on the pressure. Great, the hunger was starting. Soon, I’d want to eat on the vaccinated outside.

Hopefully – and this sounded absolutely awful – someone would get killed soon and I’d be nearby to indulge.

The cannon on the shelf seemed to call to me. I eyed its shape and considered its task. Throwing bombs? No, but a possibility flirted on the edges of my mind. Something I’d heard once about drinks or cocktails or something. I snapped my fingers. “Hey, what’s that thing with the fire and the cloth in a bottle?” The name was right there, hanging on the tip of my tongue.

“Molotov cocktail.” Heather spoke to me without completely acknowledging me. She looked at James, but I could feel her gravitational pull on me
. I wanted to pull her into my arms and never let her go. She moved further into the room, arms crossed over her chest. “Grandma Jean has the most unbelievable collection of Russian vodka from the eighties downstairs in her cellar. You could use that. If you need more bottles, there are empty canning jars over by the food storage area.”

James glanced from her face to mine. We hadn’t spoken to each other, directly, but our eyes locked and pulled us closer. She hung back, glancing at
me from under her lashes.

“Could you get C.J. and discus
s the options Molotov cocktail bombs might give us? We need fire to kill those things and if we could throw flames at them from those trenches he’s building, then those people might stand chance.” Until the next day.

My brother looked at me, confusion tilting his chin. “What happens tomorrow?”

Crap, I really couldn’t control my thoughts. I shrugged but didn’t look away from Heather. “The people outside have the same vaccine Mom had. Twenty-four hours and Mom and Grandma Jean are wiped out. It’s only logical that the people out there will be down about the same time tomorrow.”

He stood there staring at
us another half-minute or so. Heather and I didn’t look away from each other. A stupid ass grin spread across my face.

James clicked with his tongue and left.

We were alone. Unless we counted the people passed out on the couches. I wasn’t counting them. I’d take the alone time.

M
y grin faded as the memory of how I’d acted in front of Heather forced me to shame. Our hands found each other in the space between us. Hers warm and soft. Mine chilled and hard.

“I’m sorry… I…” For so much that I couldn’t describe or list. Was it too soon to tell her I loved her? Too late loomed closer and closer.

She lifted my hands to her mouth and kissed the knuckles. “Don’t be. I’m not mad at you. I’m just…” She raised her eyes to mine, tears welling in their depths. “Do you know how much longer you have?”