PODs (40 page)

“I’m pretty sure she’s right,” Devlin said. I jumped at the sound of his voice piercing the darkness.

“Would you stop sneaking up on people? It freaks me out,” I said, relaxing against David.

“Sorry,” he said absently. “I’ve wondered about the lifespan of an infected person, too. I’ve never been able to do a head count, we’ve always been kinda busy when they visited our camps,” he said ruefully, “but I’ve never seen the same person more than a few times.”

“So, the virus has a lifespan. It kills the host just like the strain before it,” David said. “So the first strain killed in five days. Let’s say this strain doubles that and kills in ten. We’ve been here a week. We haven’t seen any infected in more than ten days. That group should be dead.

“Jacob and his group left five days ago. If they were infected the night they left, they’d be three days into their sickness—”

“Wait, why three days?” I asked.

“It takes two for the virus to take over after a bite. They waited until they saw a hunting party, followed them back to the POD, and tried to attack. They knew if they could get down here they could pick us off one by one.” David tapped his finger against his lips. “Yeah. Yeah, that fits. I never thought they were capable of reason. It seemed like they were just hunting, but if this is Jacob’s group, then we’re dealing with a whole new set of trouble.”

“Hey, what are you two doing up so late, anyway?”

“Privacy, man,” David said, like it should be obvious.

Devlin’s laughter filled the room. “You’ve got food, water, shelter, and you’re safe. The one thing you ain’t gonna get is privacy.” He chuckled and walked to the kitchen. Banging around, he grabbed an apple and walked past us, whistling. “G’night.”

“So, you think it’s Jacob and the others?”

“I don’t know, Eva, but I know how we’ll find out.”

“Yeah. And it isn’t the way I want to.”

The next day the hunting party didn’t go out. Devlin told the group what our thoughts were on the life of the virus and the possibility that it was Jacob and his group outside. Surprisingly, there were no outburst of anger, no fits of rage, just a few murmurs of disbelief, of disgust, and of worry. People listened to what Devlin had to say, and then went about their daily routines inside the POD.

A group of the guys took apart and reassembled a table near the hatch opening as had been discussed, passing it up through the ladder hole in pieces. It took nearly all day, but the idea worked. A chain had been looped through a handle on the hatch and threaded through a winch Roy had found in one of the maintenance areas. If the hatch was pulled open, one person would hold the winch, pulling the chain tight and keeping the hatch in place. The second person would throw the deadbolt, preventing the people outside from opening it.

“Looks like your idea is going to work, Jessica,” I said. We were on our way to the kitchen, carrying baskets full of ripe apples from the greenhouse. Then I heard David, his easy laughter filling the small space above me. He was crouched up on the table near the hatch, looking over the mirrored device Robbie had made.

“It looks like a mirror a dentist would use.”

“Nah, man.” Robbie grabbed for the mirror. “It’s like one a military sniper or somebody would use,”

“Yeah—a dentist-military-sniper.” David handed the long device to Robbie, who hung it on a hook next to the hatch. Everything was in place for the next time anyone left the POD.

I smiled listening to him, my eyes drinking him in. It wasn’t often I could stare without him catching me. I liked watching him without him knowing it. He had an easygoing way about him—calm and secure, but smart and aware at the same time. He was comfortable in his own skin—self-assured, but not cocky. And gorgeous, with that dark hair and those gray eyes, like no one else’s.

“…told me if it was Jacob—you’re not listening to me!” Jessica whined.

“Sorry. Jacob what?”

“He’s good-looking, huh? Is that why you like him so much?”

“David?”

Jessica nodded, looking up at him.

“No. I mean, yes, he’s good-looking, but that’s not the only reason I like him. He’s sweet and smart and funny. I like being with him.”

A loud bang sounded behind me when David hurled himself down from the ladder. I jumped, apples flying out of my basket and rolling around the corridor. He planted a quick kiss on my lips before gathering the apples and tossing them back into the basket.

“That goes double for me,” he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and looked at Jessica. “Did I mention he’s a pain in the rear, too?”

She giggled and looked at David. He smiled and winked at her, taking a large bite out of one of the apples, wiping the juice from his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What about Jacob, Jessica?” David asked.

“I’m not really supposed to tell anyone. I was just telling Eva because I knew she’d keep my secret.”

“Jessica, we can’t have secrets down here,” I said. “It’s important that we all be honest with each other. That’s the only way for us to stay safe.”

“Well, some of the people—” She lowered her voice and rushed on. “—are worried, if it’s Jacob and the others out there, they won’t be able to kill them.”

“Ah. I wouldn’t worry about it. Whoever’s out there is infected. They aren’t the same people anymore. People shouldn’t have any trouble defending themselves,” David told her, giving her a reassuring smile. But when she gave him a hug, the look he gave me over her head was full of concern, and my gut tightened.

What if Jacob’s friends aren’t able to do what is necessary? If they hesitate, they’ll put us all in danger
.

After dinner we heard it again. The banging on the hatch grew louder, and the wheel turned back and forth as they tried to open it. David and Devlin climbed the ladder.

“What are you doing?” I yelled. “Are you insane?”

“We need to know. We’ll open the hatch just far enough to get the mirror out and have a little looksee.” Devlin smiled down at me.

Horror filled my voice. “David! Don’t open that hatch. It’s putting us all in danger if you open it when you know they’re out there.”

More people joined us. Roy brushed past me and grabbed the ladder. Swinging himself up, he took the rungs two at a time.

“Thank goodness,” I breathed. “Grab that mirror thingy out of his hands and talk some sense into him, Roy.”

“Oh, I’m not talking him down, Eva. I’m helping Devlin hold the hatch.”

“You’re all insane!”

The group of us watched as they opened the hatch a crack. David slid the mirror out of the opening. He turned it around in a slow circle. My heartbeat thudded in my ears, and I couldn’t breathe. Every second that hatch stayed open, we were in danger—
David
was in danger.

It seemed like it took forever for him to pull the mirror back into the POD. Just as he was lowering it through the opening, someone on the other side grabbed it and pulled it back through the crack. David jerked it down, not letting go. The person above jerked it up again.

“Let go,” I yelled. “Shut the hatch!”

With one last jerk, David freed the mirror from the person—thing—and the force sent him flying across the table. Roy and Devlin pulled the latch closed, cranked the wheel, and locked the deadbolt.

They climbed down the ladder. David inspected the mirror, while I inspected him.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, pulling up his shirtsleeve. Any scratch, any bite, and he was susceptible to the virus. He’d have to do a week in quarantine…or worse.

“No.”

“Did they scratch you? Let me see your hands,” I looked at the palm of each hand, turning them over to examine the backs. They looked clean. I didn’t see any scratches, cuts or—God forbid—bites.

“The mirror looks okay,” he said to no one in particular.

“The mirror? The mirror! You’re worried about the mirror? You could’ve been scratched or bitten! You could have been infected, David, and you’re worried about the mirror? You’re insane!”

“Probably,” he agreed.

“Well?” someone asked.

“It’s Jacob.” David still examined the mirror, turning it this way and that.

Everyone began talking at once. The sound echoed in the metal room and made my head hurt. If it was Jacob, that meant the infected were able to reason, to problem solve. If it was Jacob, he knew our routines.

“Evangelina,” David called over the noise. “Was Jacob with us the day we went to the greenhouse?”

“I don’t know.”

Devlin looked at David and they broke into a run, weaving around poles and doorframes on their way to the greenhouse. Their shoes clanged against the metal, and the suspended walkway swung. I trailed behind them, holding on to the side railings to keep my balance.

“What’s up?” Roy panted, out of breath. His belly heaved as he gulped in air.

“The greenhouse is glass!” David yelled.

“David!” I shouted. Stopping and bending over, I tried to catch my breath, holding my sides with my hands. “It’s not just glass.”

He slowed to a jog, letting me catch up. “What do you mean?”

“It’s bulletproof. Hail and wind won’t penetrate it. A tree could fall on it and it wouldn’t do anything. It’s thick and strong. He won’t be able to get through.”

“How do you know?”

“I actually read the information given to the POD residents,” I said.

David rolled his eyes. “But how much can he see? People are working in there every day. How much of our routine is he monitoring through that glass?”

“None,” I said. “It’s covered in condensation. He can’t see in; we can’t see out. The greenhouse is safe.”

“Evangelina, nothing is safe.”

“
I
don’t want you to work in there tomorrow.” David’s chest rose under my head, and he wrapped a strand of my hair around his finger.

“Okay. I don’t want you to go to work, either. I want to stay in this sub-POD all day and all night. I want to spend every second with you to make sure you’re safe. I want to talk with you, laugh with you, and make plans about what we’re going to do when this is all over. But I’m not going to get what I want, am I? You’ll go to work, do your job, contribute to the community. You won’t stay with me all day. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then, we’ll both know what it’s like not to get what we want. I’m not staying here tomorrow and letting someone else do my job. The greenhouse is my responsibility. If it’s Jacob out there, who cares? If not him, it’d be someone else. There’s always going to be infected.”

“But Jacob knows—”

“So?”

“I want you to be safe.”

“David.” I sighed, running my fingers through his hair and pulling his lips to mine. “I am safe.”

“No, you’re out here in this godforsaken place. Back where we started, only this time the POD isn’t offering a new beginning like we were promised. This time the POD offers only a place to hide from the infected—from people who are infected by the very thing the POD was supposed to shield us from.” His words got louder as he talked, faster and faster. “You should’ve stayed at the compound, Eva. You were safe there. You could’ve had a life—”

“David! Stop it. I’m right where I want to be. I made the decision to leave the compound. Me. And knowing what I know now, I’d do it again, because there was one thing the compound didn’t have. You.”

He reached around my waist and lifted me off his chest. Shifting our positions, he angled himself over me. “You’re so stubborn.”

I smiled. “That’s what you like about me.”

“No. That’s what I love about you, Evangelina Mae.” He smoothed wisps of hair away from my face, looking down at me. I arched my back, grazing my lips across his. “It’s also what I hate about you.”

I drew back from him, his words like a blow. “Hate? That’s a strong word, David.” I pushed him off me and sat up. His arm snaked around my waist, holding me in place. He leaned his head against my back.

“Okay, maybe not ‘hate’, exactly, but it frustrates me beyond belief. Eva, you could have had anything, everything, if you’d only stayed at the compound. If I’d only been stronger and stayed away, you would have forgotten—moved on. You wouldn’t be here hiding and waiting for…”