PODs (33 page)

We left the next day. Devlin found two trucks and a car for us to use. The camp members piled into the two trucks. Some crammed into the cabs. The rest huddled in the beds. I was given the car to use. It was a small compact car, but it felt big and empty all by myself.

We drove three hours before stopping in another little town. We found a gas station that had ten full gas cans sitting inside the office. After raiding the gas station’s small store, the camp members grabbed the fuel, filling the gas tanks and putting the rest in the back of one of the trucks. When everyone was safely back in their vehicles, I was allowed out of the car to use the bathroom and grab something to eat.

I pulled the handle to open the car door, the hinges sticking when I tried to swing it open. I shoved the door with my shoulder; it finally gave way and I stepped out, stretching up to the sky as far as I could. It felt good to get out of the small car that was filled with ancient burger wrappers and other trash.

“Just shove it out,” David told me when he saw how cluttered with litter the car was.

I gathered the junk and stuffed it in a trashcan on my way inside. I walked around back and did what I had to do before going inside and finding something to eat and drink. Turning to leave, something lying on the counter caught my eye.

The counter was grimy. The laminate was gray with a thick layer of dirt. The paper on top was a glaring white spot in the filth. I walked toward it and smiled. David had laid out some chocolates; under them, he’d slid a note telling me he loved me. I grabbed the chocolates and stuffed them in my shoulder bag for later. I picked up the note and carefully folded it before slipping it in my bag next to the candy. As I walked out of the store, my eyes searched for David. I smiled when I found him, patting my bag to let him know I found his gift. He winked and grinned.

Between the gas still in the tanks and what we’d found at the station, there was enough to last for the day. Devlin thought it would be safer if we kept moving. So we drove until we ran out of gas. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the next town, which meant we had to bunk outside. I had to stay well away from the others. As I set up my tent and unrolled my bedding, I saw David setting up his tent as close to mine as was allowed. I smiled.

“Goodnight,” I called.

“Sweet dreams, Evangelina.”

It was the third day of my quarantine. I was changing clothes in the small hotel we’d found when I saw something that made my heart go cold.

They were all over my calves—large splotches with red dots.

I lifted my shirt and inhaled sharply. The rash was on my stomach, too. I walked across the room and sat down, my back against the door. It creaked and the knob rattled.

“Good morning, Evangelina,” David murmured on the other side of the door.

“Hi, David. How was your night?” I was surprised at how normal my voice sounded. My insides were shaking like jelly.

We talked about what the members of the camp were doing. Jessica was mad because she had to stay with one of the other girls in the camp. She liked staying with me. David talked about what would happen when we made it to a safe compound. “There’s supposed to be one in California. That’s where we’re going. They let topsiders in. They’re supposed to have a nice little compound, like the one you lived in.”

We talked about the compound most of the morning and afternoon—what we would do, where we would live, the possibility that family and friends would be there.

I didn’t mention the rash.

On day five of my quarantine, we had to sleep outside again. We didn’t have working vehicles and had been traveling on foot for two days. Stopping for the night, even if it meant bunking on the hard ground, was a relief.

The rash had spread to my back and arms. Thankfully, the weather was cool and I could wear long sleeves.

Blue veins were visible on the undersides of my wrists, around my ankles and the tops of my feet. I couldn’t remember if I’d had them before or not.

I didn’t tell David.

On day seven, I had to be checked for signs of infection before I would be allowed to go back to the camp.

“Rash?” a man, I couldn’t remember his name, asked.

“Yes.”

“Let us see,” he demanded.

I lifted up my pant leg and showed the red splotches, feeling my heart thudding hard as I did.

“Fine. Blue veins?”

“I’m not sure.” I cringed when they raised their guns, pointing them at me. “Um…I think I had them before…”

I held out my wrists and showed the blue veins running just under the skin.

“Are those the only ones?” Chris asked.

I shook my head. I pulled up my pant leg and showed them my feet and ankles.

“That all?”

“Yes.”

Chris lowered his gun, letting the barrel rest on the ground, and smiled at me. “She’s good to go, guys.”

“Eva, look at me,” David said quietly. “Open your mouth.”

I opened my mouth, lifting my lips up with my fingers so everyone could get a good look. My gums were pink. Not blue. They were normal.

“She’s fine,” Devlin said with a smile. “C’mon, Eva.”

I walked right into David’s arms. He held me and I cried. I wasn’t sure why I was crying. I suppose it was stress. I’d been so worried during that week of quarantine. I’d analyzed every little thing I did, every little thing on my body. David held me, massaging my back and neck.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the rash?”

“I didn’t want you to worry,” I said.

“Eva, you don’t always have to be the strong one. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to let other people help you. I wish you would have told me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see any sense in both of us worrying. David? What would’ve happened if I’d been infected?”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re not.”

I had a feeling I knew the answer. I’d known as soon as they’d aimed their guns at me.

T
hey came again that night. The moon was large and bright in the sky. I was awake, listening to the snores and whispers of the others in the camp. David was asleep in the tent beside me.

The air smelled of smoke. The fire’s dying embers glowed a yellowish-orange. The dying fire left the camp cold and I shivered, sinking lower in my sleeping bag.

I heard it over the rustling fabric of my bag moving across the nylon tent—a far-off snap of a twig, the sound unmistakable. I held my breath and waited. If it were a single animal, it would walk through, twigs breaking occasionally as it took a step. If it were a group of animals or people, twigs would break in different areas, moving steadily toward the camp. The second snap was louder than the first, closer. And then I heard it and I knew. A third snap, to the left of the first, followed closely by the rustling of underbrush in front of the camp. Didn’t the man standing watch hear it? I didn’t have time to think about it.

I reached slowly out of my tent and grabbed David’s hand. He squeezed my fingers softly in answer. He had heard the noises, too. Jessica’s tent was on the opposite side of David’s, Devlin’s tent next to hers. The sound of the shotgun gliding against the floor of the tent was barely audible.

David let go of my hand and I panicked. The blood rushed behind my ears, making it impossible to hear. I couldn’t breathe. Fear squeezed my chest, and cold sweat beaded on my back. Not so soon after I was allowed back in.

My hand moved back and forth against the hard ground, searching for David. I heard the clink of metal against metal and realized he’d grabbed his shotgun from his pack. He reached out and grabbed my hand again. A shotgun in his left and my hand in his right, he waited.

I slowly moved my right hand down my side, feeling for my backpack. Unzipping the small side pocket, I pulled out my handgun.

The noises in the forest were getting closer.

“Roll over,” David whispered so quietly I had to strain to hear. “There’s one right behind us. Roll on your back and get ready to fire.”

I rolled to my back, extending my arms as I clicked off the safety. I waited. It seemed like hours, but was probably just a few seconds. The large shadow loomed over my tent. It raised its arms above its head—and I fired. The man crumpled, half on the ground behind my tent and half across my legs.

I furiously kicked, freeing my legs from the weight of the man I’d just shot. My tent fell around me; I felt like I was trapped in a net. David reached in and pulled me free.

The shot alerted the others to the danger lurking in the trees. They scrambled from their tents, the men carrying their guns, the women huddled behind them.

The infected rushed the camp. Screaming and grunting, they ran toward us, weapons raised over their heads. Devlin’s gun rang out. The smell of acrid smoke filled the air. Banshee screams assaulted my ears.

Three men went toward Devlin, and five more came in behind our tents. David’s gun echoed Devlin’s as shots thundered. I heard Jessica crying in her tent. I reached down and wrenched her up by her arm. Not waiting for her to get her balance, I dragged her to the center of the circle the men were forming, the girls cowering inside. Throwing her inside with the others, I turned and stood next to two camp members, my gun aimed at the trees.

David and Devlin ran behind Jessica and me, taking their places in the circle. David stood next to me.

“Get in the circle!”

“No.” I was surprised at how calm I’d become.

“Dammit, Eva! Get in the circle where it’s safe.”

I didn’t answer him. More infected were swarming the camp. I fired my gun—
pop, pop, pop
—and felt a sense of empowerment each time I saw my bullets make contact with our attackers.

That sense waned when I saw a guy get hit in the head by one of the infected’s weapons. He crumpled to the ground. The man standing next to him shot the infected man towering over him. The injured man—no, not a man, a boy, no more than sixteen—lay on the ground, dark blood pooling around his head. My stomach heaved.

I backed into the circle and ran to him. He was already dead. I grabbed his gun, cocked the lever like I had seen the other men doing, and shot. The blast knocked me backward. I fired again; this time, expecting the jolt, I was able to stand my ground.