The Last Infection: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller (18 page)

“We keep moving,” Chris said. He wasn’t sure where the conversation was going
, but decided a cordial approach would serve them best at the moment. “We stick together.”

She eyed him queerly.

“Where you headed?”

Chris hesitated and there was a
n audible slip in his response.

“
…nowhere in particular.”

“Then what’s the hurry?”

“We didn’t want to cause you any trouble,” Chris said, now flustered by the change in direction. “Like Jenn said, we’re just looking for her parents and then we’ll be on our way.”

Isabel studied him for a few seconds as the edge of her mouth curled up in a grin. She looked over at the scruffy man who’d
led them in, and then back at Chris.

“Why not stay on a while?”

Chris wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was falling into a trap. He said the first thing that came to his mind.

“We wouldn’t want to be a burden to
you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” she countered.

“We’re trying to get to…” he stopped himself, but knew his mistake the second it came out of his mouth.

“Trying to get where?” Isabel asked.

“Somewhere safe,” Jenn said over his shoulder.

Isabel
stared at her and her eyes narrowed. “But we’re safe here,” she said motioning with her hands. “Unless you’ve found somewhere safer?”

Jenn didn’t answer.

“Eddie will help you find your parents,” Isabel said to Jenn, then held up a finger. “But the rest of you must wait here.”

The scruffy man
started for the door without a word. Jenn took a few hesitant steps before looking back for reassurance. Chris wasn’t sure if he should let her go and furthermore, he wasn’t sure if he had the choice to stop her. She was at the door before he could make up his mind. Two steps more and she was gone.

#

Jenn followed Eddie down the hall to the stairwell, then up several flights. He apparently didn’t see her as a threat, leaving himself open from behind. Jenn was nervous. She’d also felt the odd change in approach from Isabel. Why did she suddenly want them to stay? Why was she so interested in where they were going? Chances were that they would all find out soon enough and Jenn doubted anyone would like the answers.

He
guided her to another double door and the locked chain running through the outside handles put her on guard. He slipped his hand in his pocket and produced a ring of keys. He balanced his rifle with one hand and thumbed through the set with the other. The lock gave with a twist of the key and he pulled the chain out with one yank, leaving it and the lock on the floor.

Eddie
pushed on the door and held it open for Jenn. She hesitantly stepped through and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright interior. The open ballroom space ran the full length of one side of the building. The drapes along the exterior wall were removed, revealing an impressive expansion of windows. Sunlight flooded in through the glass onto rows of perfectly spaced bed frames lining the floor from one side to the other. People moved along small walkways between the rows, each carrying some type of container. Eddie motioned toward the space and grinned.

“Have a look, recognize anyone?
”

Jenn wasn’t sure what she was looking at. A few steps brought her to the first row and she got a
better view of the bed frames. The mattresses and box springs were removed and the spaces between the remaining frames were filled with dirt. The sprouting leaves and foliage gave a clue to their new purpose.

“Ge
nius,” she muttered to herself.

She let her gaze drift to the figures among the makeshift garden and another thought came to her. There were men, women, and children mixed amongst the masses. Each carried a canister, stopping from time to time to pour water into one of the frames. A closer inspection revealed the chains and ropes tying t
hem to a section of the garden.

Jenn scanned the faces
in a frantic rush to find her parents. She was suddenly convinced neither Eddie nor Isabel was going to let them leave. She walked faster, looking for a way to move to the other side of the room. She reached the midway point of the massive space before she heard someone call out to her.

“Jenny?”

She spun around at the sound of her name.
Nobody calls me that
, she thought. Nobody but…

“Dad?
”

19.

“Dad?” Jenn stumbled forward as she took in the vision of the once proud man she knew. “
…Daddy?”

He looked at her bewildered as if seeing his last dying vision. His shoulders were hunched as he walked. His short steps came to a stop as he settled his sights on his daughter. Jenn pushed past several people trying to reach
her father’s row. Standing only a few feet away, the old man didn’t move. His mind appeared unable to believe his eyes.

“Oh
, Dad.”

Jenn wrapped her arms around him and it took a minute for him to respond. She could hear him sobbing in her ear as he fin
ally grabbed hold.

“Jenny, is it re
ally you?”

Jenn wiped the tears from
his cheeks as she stood back. “It’s me,” she said. Her father was barely recognizable. His face was caked with dirt and he was at least fifty pounds lighter than the picture she carried around in her pocket. He was pale as a ghost. She brushed the dirt off his chin and smiled at him.

“Where’s
Mom?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” he countered.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “I’ve come to get you.” She looked back at the door to make sure Eddie hadn’t followed her. “I’m going to get you to safety. There’s a group of us…”

He shook his head and forced her to stop. “You need to get out of here while you can.” The fear in his eyes brought Jenn back to her original question.

“Where’s Mom?”

His face soured and the tears forming in the corners of his eyes told Jenn everything she needed to know. She had to rest her hand on his shoulder to keep standing. A knot formed in
her stomach and she wanted to scream. It took every ounce of strength she had not to ball up on the ground and cry.

“She got sick,” he said
in a distant voice. “There was nothing I could do.” He was crying freely; anguish coating his words. “That’s when I tried to leave.” He wiped at his face, smearing dirt across the space Jenn managed to clear off. “Where’s Marcus?” Jenn pursed her lips and tried not to cry at the sound of her husband’s name. “Sara?” Jenn shook her head and he cried harder. “Sam?” He was barely understandable. “Oh my sweet grandbabies.”

Jenn’s eyes drifted to the
shackle locked around his ankle. The chain ran back to the edge of one of the gardens. “I won’t leave you here.” Her eyes scanned the entire room as her mind went to work. On the far side of the space, she found a lone gunman pacing back and forth across the width of the room. “Is that the only guard?”

He looked at
him, and then snapped his eyes on to her. “Don’t do anything stupid. Please just go.”

His
plea fell on deaf ears. She affectionately rubbed her hand along his arm then turned around. She was walking back to Eddie when her father spoke again. He was asking her to stop, but she already had it in mind what she needed to do. The grin on Eddie’s face fueled her anger, making it easier to mask her fear.

“I want to
get him out of here,” she said.

Eddie
took a defensive stance, but not enough to show her any respect. He kept hold of his gun with one hand around the stock and the barrel resting in the palm of his other hand.

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?” she took a step forward and Eddie didn’t react. “I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t care. He’s my dad and he’s coming with me.”

Eddie’s
grin faded and he slid his free hand down the barrel of his gun. Jenn reacted, not sure she would have another chance. One sudden step brought her face to face with Eddie. She brought her knee up and caught him square in the balls. He fell forward as every ounce of air burst from his mouth.

Jenn took the full weight of him. She wrapped both hands around the
rifle and pulled. Eddie resisted, but another shot to the groin dropped him on the floor. Jenn spun around and sent the butt of the gun across his jaw. The resulting impact left him out cold and a fresh splatter of blood running down his chin.

She
scanned the open floor and settled her eyes across the room. Dread set in when she couldn’t locate the guard. She rushed towards the garden rows as a general sound of panic rose from the workers. Jenn found her father, but a sudden rush of movement pulled her to the lone gunman. He’d reached the center of the gardens and had his weapon aimed at her.

The first shot whizzed past her head and the second shattered a pane of glass along the outer wall. Jenn pulled the trigger and the
rifle went off. She wasn’t prepared for the kick and the impact knocked her back. She planted her feet and took aim. The second shot held true and the round tore into the gunmen, lifting him off the ground. He came down on one of the bed frame gardens, his chest open in a mess of blood and guts.

“Stand back,” she ordered
then shot through the chain connected to her father’s ankle and the room erupted into chaos. Everywhere around them people hacked and banged at their binds with anything they could find. “Let’s go.” She pulled at Tom and it took a moment for him to get his legs moving. Several of the captives managed to release themselves and by the time Jenn got back to Eddie, a group of them was already out the door and in the hallway. “…so much for surprise.” She tried to rush for the exit, but a yank from her father nearly caused her to drop the rifle. “Dad, we don’t have time to talk.”

“There’s more,” he said.

“You can tell me later,” Jenn faced him frustrated with the dialog. “We have to get out of here before they bring up reinforcements.”

“It’s not Isabel you need to worry about.”

Jenn wasn’t sure her dad was in the right frame of mind to offer directions.

“
They’re the ones who locked you up, right?”

“Yes, yes, but that’s not why everyone else stays. It’s the infected. Didn’t you see them?”

Jenn wasn’t sure what he was getting at.

“I’ve seen my share.”

Tom shook his head adamantly. “Not like this.” He grabbed her by the arm so she couldn’t keep moving. “Not like this,” he repeated. “They communicate with one another. They’ve coordinated attacks on the building. It’s only a matter of time before they figure out a way to get up here.”

Jenn stopped trying to get away. The conversation triggered her
memory of a dialogue between Chris and Jafar. “They’re evolving,” she heard herself say. “So what’s next,” she asked, not looking for a reply.

“You shouldn’t have come here.”

“Dad,” she shook her head. “I had to. There are more of us. We don’t have to go it alone.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He let go of her. “We’re all going to die.”

The weight of his words hit her between the eyes. She felt like laying her gun down and giving up. Her father had always been a strong man, proud and optimistic. The man before her was none of those things. He appeared willing to let either Isabel or the infected end it all for him.

“It doesn’t end here,” she
said, snapping out of the haze. “There are people depending on me,” she said more for herself. “Kids, dad. There are kids waiting for me to come back.”

Jenn was moving again, pulling her father as she went. His strength was sapped and she knew she’d
only be able to push him so far. They were at the door as another group of freed workers pushed past them into the hall. Jenn poked her head out for a quick look. A mass of people had gathered in a herd trying to push their way into the stairs at the far end of the hall. A gunshot caused her to jerk back and the roaring screams told her that Isabel’s men were trying to corral the escapes.

The door to the stairs at the opposite end of the hall was wrapped
tightly with a chain and lock. Jenn had to act fast. She told her father to stay put, then ran back to Eddie. A search of his pockets produced the key ring she was looking for.

“Hold this.” She gave
her father the gun. “Cover me.”

He started to say something
, but Jenn was already several strides out into the hall. She had the lock in her hand when another round of gunfire erupted from the other end of the hall. She didn’t look back to see if she was the target, instead she focused on trying to find the right key. The lock shook in her hand as she worked through the ring. She didn’t take a breath until a key slipped in the full length of the cylinder and turned.

“Let’s go!”

Jenn had the door open, begging her father to run faster. The shooting continued at a sporadic rate. Screams echoed along the hall as people dropped to the ground at the other end. Jenn slammed the door closed as the first of the gunmen broke through the crowd.

Pale
light cascaded down the stairs from small windows along the outermost wall. Jenn moved two steps at a time, pulling her father along the way. She took back the rifle and was having trouble keeping a grip on it. Her mind raced with the possibilities of what she should do next.

She guessed
Isabel turned her guns on Chris and the others as soon as the opportunity presented itself. The alarm had gone out and she’d obviously sent the gunmen up to handle things. Jenn’s few remaining rounds offered little hope that she could storm in and take on whatever protection Isabel had left. Jenn had no good answers to her problems when she finished her descent and came to a halt.

“Dad,” she said between deep breaths. “This is probably going to get ugly.” He nodded. “Isabel has the rest of my group.”

“She’ll kill them,” he said in no uncertain terms. “She won’t hesitate.”

Jenn slid her face along the door
, brining an eye to the edge of the thin strip of glass at the center. There was a flurry of moment along the hall, but she took note that the push bar was unchained. Her mind raced, but she had no idea what she was about to do.

“I’m open for suggestions,” she said.

Tom took a step back to get a good look at the hall. He studied the way and scratched his head. “They don’t know what you look like,” he said. “Half of them have never seen me.”

“So?”

“I say we make for Isabel’s room like we belong here. Hear me out,” he said stopping her before she could object. “You have a gun. The only people aloud to carry guns are the ones who support Isabel directly. Several of them are women.”

She eyed him
close as he finished.

“It’s only got to
get us down the hall,” he said.

Jenn didn’t like it; she didn’t like it at all. The problem was she didn’t know what else to do. She could wait it out
, but that would give Isabel time to figure out what happened and put together a group to hunt down her and her father. Making a run for it was out of the question. She couldn’t bring herself to leave Jake and Alicen even if she could leave Chris. The truth was she didn’t know how they would get out of the building to begin with.

Jenn nodded and took a deep breath. She had
the presence of mind to count her rounds. The five remaining bullets would have to be used sparingly. The chances were that she would run out of ammunition long before she ran out of opposition.

“We need to take advantage of the chaos.”

She knew her father was right and confirmed her agreement with a nod. She took one last gulp of air and pushed open the door. They were moving fast, but trying not to run. Jenn kept the gun at the ready.

The figures rushing to and from Isabel’s double doors paid little attention to the oncoming duo. It wasn’t until they were midway down the hall that the first signs of trouble arose. A series of gunshots forced Jenn to the ground. Tom pushed in behind her
and got down on his knees. Jenn brought the rifle to bear, but neither the gunman in front of the double doors nor the small group at the far exit focused on her.

The gunman at the door fired into the room
, and then turned to run. Two shots hit him squarely in the back. The impact slammed him into the wall and he slid to the floor, dead. Jenn wasn’t sure what to do. The group near the exit pressed against the wall and started down the hall. There were five in all, each armed with a handgun. The group had Jenn in their sights, but their focus was on the double doors.

“Are your people armed?” Tom asked. He pressed himself against the wall and
encouraged Jenn to do the same.

“No,” she shook her head. “They took everything we had before they let us in.”

“If you want a look, we better get it now.”

Jenn wasn’t convinced it was the right move. She considered letting the advancing group have a try before
she stuck her head in the door.

“Awe
, hell.”

Tom
stood up and ran.

“Dad? What the…”

Jenn was up after him. He stopped outside the doors and Jenn slammed in behind him with a nasty glare. She was going to voice her displeasure when a figure leaned out around the doorframe and fired two shots at the advancing party. Jenn decided it was now or never.

She spun around the open door as
a figure pushed out for another volley. Jenn had the rifle at the ready. She met the shooter with her barrel directly between his eyes. Her finger tightened around the trigger when a sudden recognition of the dark skinned face caused her to release.