Myopia (Young Adult Zombie Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria Series) (11 page)

“What’s going on?” Rebecca came out, rubbing her eyes.

*****

“Ahh!” Coles threw the conference table against the wall after Andrew told him what had happened.

Wisteria, Garfield, Amanda, Andrew, and her mother sat at the tracker station with him as he was working a nightshift.

Jake Turner, the controller, walked inside. “You keep doing that Major, and I won’t be able to hear what the men are saying.”

“What is there to hear? We don’t have anyone outside,” Coles yelled. “Except for these bloody children. You!” He pointed to Garfield. “Tell your girlfriend to write down all the names. We need to know which families to contact.”

Nodding, Garfield took a pad of paper to compile the list.

“So, what happens now?” Wisteria asked her stepfather, knowing he’d never let her go on the rescue mission. “Who’s going to get them back?”

Coles glanced at Andrew. “No one’s going out there.” He moved past her.

“What?” Amanda cried.

“Why?” Wisteria exclaimed, jumping up.

“Because they might be infected. We can’t let them in until we’re sure and we can’t make an assessment in the dark, in the rain or when there are kids running back, possibly mixed with the infected.”

“You can do it this once,” Wisteria pleaded.

“We never admit people into the community after dark,” her mother said. “It’s just dangerous.”

“Mum, please. We’re not going to leave them there! Major---” Wisteria ran to him, but her mother stopped her.

“Sorry; anyone who tries to sail back will be shot, because they could be bringing back an infection,” Coles said coldly.

“No, no wait,” Garfield said nervously. “There’s thunder and it’s going to rain. Biters hate rain, right?”

“Yeah, if we wait until the rain starts, we’ll be able go out and probably bring them back,” Wisteria agreed.

“I don’t think it’s going to rain in Woolmer because the wind is blowing east, so it’s going to rain over the sea,” her mother said unemotionally. “I don’t know what we can do.”

“Lara, don’t you care about your son?” Amanda pleaded.

Her mother bit her lip and shook her head. “More than you know, but we can’t put everyone at risk because of a handful of kids, not even my son.”

Her mother was unbelievable. How could she sit here, eating dried fish and saying it wasn’t important to try to save David?

“Wisteria.” Amanda turned to her. “This is your fault. You shouldn’t have gone to Andrew.”

“Mum, please.” Looking at her mother, who avoided eye contact, Wisteria realized there was no time to waste trying to convince her. She decided to go and get her brother herself. They wouldn’t be able to come back that night or the soldiers would shoot them. They’d have to stay in one of the safe houses in Woolmer. After she got David, they’d hide in one until the trackers came by to check. First, Amanda had to tell her where they snuck out this time as the Town Hall had the previous hole filled.

“Just go home and let us worry about this,” Coles ordered.

“Wisteria, talk to them,” begged Amanda.

“She’s right,” Wisteria admitted as she headed to the door. “There’s nothing she can do.”

“What?” Both her friends protested.

“I’m going home.” Wisteria stated.

Amanda stomped out, slamming the door in her face.

Wisteria and Garfield moved out to the hallway.

“You know if Bach was here, he could just go and get him and everything would be sorted. What I’d give for a mobile phone,” Garfield remarked.

She knew he was still in Jarthan, trying to determine what was happening with the empirics and he couldn’t help. “Amanda,” Wisteria called as she ran out of the house.

“I can’t believe you. They’re not even going to try and get David back,” Amanda yelled. “I trusted you!”

“Amanda, how did they get out?” she asked calmly.

“Why am I going to tell you? You’re just going to tell the soldiers and they’ll seal the hole. Then no one will have a chance of surviving this.”

“Amanda, I’m going to Woolmer to get David. The only way out is through the hole he used. We don’t have long. Soon, the soldiers will be patrolling the wall with weapons, so you’ve got about ten seconds to tell me, if I have any chance of finding him. Please.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Amanda, come on,” Garfield cajoled.

The girl appeared reluctant, but then she nodded and took them through the town.

They ended up behind the pharmaceutical factory. Amanda led them to a spot by the wall. Clearing the loose soil, she revealed planks of wood. Lifting the wood, she showed them a deep hole similar to the one Wisteria had gone through, days earlier.

“How come the soldiers missed it?” Garfield asked

“They didn’t,” Amanda said. “This is a new hole. They dug it two days ago.”

Wisteria climbed in, followed by Garfield. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked him.

“You’re not going to survive out there on your own,” he said.

“I’m coming too,” Amanda added.

“No, wait here. If you come, there may not be enough space for us all in the pit,” she explained. “And you also need to seal this hole.”

“Okay.” Amanda nodded.

*****

Wisteria and Garfield sailed to Norton and cycled to Woolmer.

As they entered Woolmer, he paused. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She shook her head. “But I’ve got to. Amanda said they’re at Fox’s Night Club. The nearest shelter would be 63 White Lake Avenue. We’ll take him there.”

“But if it’s overrun?”

“Then it’ll have to be 419 Cashmore Road,” she said. “That's a twenty minute walk, five minutes by bike. Hopefully, we’ll outrun the biters.”

They halted their bikes outside Fox’s. She could hear the music inside the club from across the street. There were a few kids talking, smoking, or making out in front. Jumping off her bike, she headed through the glass doors. Stepping over the poles and ropes once used as barriers to keep out the undesirables, she walked through the dimly lit foyer onto the dance floor and bar. There she saw the group of teens dancing.

Lit mainly by candles and oil lamps, the sultry atmosphere was the ideal place for teenagers to hangout, if not for the biters that were roaming the town. Checking for her brother, she noted there were even more kids than last time. She estimated about sixty on the dance floor or at the bar, but there was no telling how many were in the other rooms. Walking through, she spotted David lip locked with a girl as they sat on the bar.

Behind the bar, Yvette Morel, Bruno’s daughter, was pouring drinks and flirting with Dillon at the same time.

Wisteria headed straight for her brother.

As she approached, Dillon tapped David’s shoulder and pointed at her.

He brother slid off the counter and marched up to her. “Go home. Don’t make a fool of yourself.”

“Davy, looks like big sister has come to get you again,” one of his friends jeered.

“I don’t believe you.” David stormed over to her. “You need to get out now!”

“David, this isn’t going to be an argument.”

“Exactly.” He raised his hand to her face. “You should go before you embarrass yourself.”

“David, I’m not trying to be Mum and I’m not trying to hate on you, but I’m begging you, trust me.” She rested her hand on his cheek. “Please, we are all in trouble and I’m really scared.”

Her brother’s face softened. “Fine.”

“Come on, Dave, I’m getting bored.” Poppy bounced up, putting her arms around him. “Your sister is leaving, right?”

“Poppy,” sighed David. “I—We’re...leaving.”

“What? No,” Poppy moaned. “You said—?”

“I know what I said, but we’ve got to go,” David stated unhappily. “We’ll sort this out on the island. Wisty, you better be right about this or we’re going to talk about your control issues,” David seethed.

They headed out of the club.

“You’re lucky she doesn’t break both your legs,” Garfield muttered.

“What are you saying, rat boy?” David asked.

“I mean, if you weren’t such a selfish idiot, I wouldn’t be locked off the island tonight with the rest of you.”

“I know my way back in.” David shoved past Garfield.

“Yeah, you try sailing across,” Garfield leered.

“The soldiers are going to shoot anyone who tries to sail back tonight because they could be infected. No one’s going back to Smythe tonight,” Wisteria explained.

“Yeah, right,” David scoffed, but his cocky grin faded when he saw her eyes. “Wisty, you told the soldiers? How could you be so vindictive?”

“What are you talking about?” Frustrated, Steven appeared. “Wisteria, what are you doing here? I don’t want to start with you again.”

She thought she saw a flesh eater, but checking closer, she saw it was just a kid. There were no biters in here—yet.

At that moment, she saw a middle-aged man stagger into the party. His eyes were blood red and black, rotten blood poured out from his mouth—A flesher.

“Crud.” She grabbed Garfield and pointed at the flesher. “Get out now!”

“What is that?” Poppy pushed forward, only to stop when she came face to face with Amanda, who was furious.

“I’m going to kill you.” Amanda smacked the younger girl across the face hard, knocking her onto the ground. “If you ever—”

“Amanda!” David and Garfield yelled simultaneously.

“We don’t have time for your jealousy right now.” Wisteria drew her weapon and ran toward the main door, slicing off the biter’s head.

“Ohh, Ria, what the hell is wrong with you?” Hailey shrieked. “Are you mad?”

The music stopped and the partiers stood around staring at Wisteria as she kicked the corpse of the biter. “You don’t even know that was?” Wisteria asked as she looked around at their stunned faces.

Of course they didn’t. Most of the kids who lived on the Isle of Smythe were from the Isle of Smythe and had been sealed away from the real horrors when Nero first broke out and turned eighty percent of the world’s population into flesh eating biters.

She was pretty certain they had seen one or two biters each, but you had to see them by the hundreds, fleshers of children devouring their own mothers, to really appreciate that even one biter was dangerous. Glancing in the foyer, she checked for any more biters. “You should shut this party down, Hailey.” She headed back to her brother.

“That was a biter?” Yvette questioned in disbelief. “Thanks, Ria,”

“Turn off the lights and find somewhere to hide because—”

“Whoa!” a boy yelled jovially from the bar, as he held up a bottle of liquid. “You saved the party. I need to get you a drink.”

“Are you insane?” Garfield gaped at him.

Covering his mouth with her hand, Wisteria whispered, “Shh, we need to leave now.” Looking around, she saw signs that led to the fire escape. “That way.”