The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (2 page)

“Did you pay much attention to politics?”

“Not really. I just remember that President
Samael drove us deeper into debt than we already were.”

“Right. You just need to know that our
country was—is—in hot water. And by hot I mean boiling. Other
countries didn’t want to trade with us, the US dollar was losing
value fast, Samael had scattered the troops all over the damn
world, and don’t even get me started on the health care system…you
get it, right? We were losing power. America
wasn’t
the
greatest place to be anymore.”

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “I
don’t think any average citizen realized how close to war we were
with more than one other country.”

My heart fluttered. “Really?”

Hayden nodded. “Yeah. And Samael wasn’t happy
about it. So somehow someone came up with the idea to bring the US
up by bringing others down.”

Something clicked in my head.
Oh
my
God
. I leaned forward, needing to hear Hayden say
it out loud.

“And what better way," he continued, "than to
start riots and wars in other countries without having to
physically be there?”

I put my hand over my mouth and stared at
Hayden with wide eyes. My heart pounded. The air conditioner shut
off. The vents shuddered and then silence rang in my ears.

“The virus,” Hayden said, “was created just
for that purpose. Only no one knew it would turn people into
zombies. It was studied in very controlled settings, obviously. The
test subjects were executed before the virus could progress further
than stage one. No one expected it to have long term effects.”
Hayden shook his head. “Fuller didn’t know the science behind it.
He said if he did he would have told Dr. Cara since she’s working
on a vaccine and all.”

Good. If he had withheld information that
could have helped us, I wouldn’t have ever forgiven him. I extended
my arm and took Hayden’s hand in mine. He gave it a reassuring
squeeze and went on.

“Fuller also didn’t know how the virus
spread. He just knew it was deliberately planted in more than a
dozen countries in the Middle East and a few others in Europe. He
thinks basically any country that posed a threat to the US, whether
it be a military threat or economic, got hit.” He paused and looked
around the room. His eyes settled on the picture of Fuller and his
son, a son who closely resembled Hayden in looks. “But then
something went wrong. The virus worked of course. Too well. It
mutated and became contagious, spreading faster than any of the
motherfucking scientists could have guessed. International travel
couldn’t be stopped before it was brought here. Once it was
out…”

Hayden closed his eyes and licked his lips,
bracing for what he was about to say next. “Samael did nothing to
stop it. Fuller said there are shelters—real shelters, built just
for this on the east and west coast. He said there is a large
number of ‘important people’ there, riding this out and they had
been brought there long before shit hit the fan. Everything was
planned out.”

I closed my eyes in a long blink. I took my
hand back from Hayden and crossed my arms, pressing them against my
stomach. The goosebumps turned into chills. “I still don’t get how
Fuller knew all this.”

“He is—was—a commissioned officer in the
Marine Corps. He was invited to go to one of the shelters.”

“And he said no?”

Hayden nodded. “He said he couldn’t sit back
in safety while other people—good, innocent people—became infected
and killed each other. As soon as he said no, the door was closed
on the offer. Fuller knew about this place.” Hayden looked up at
the ceiling of the compound. “And he swore to do what he had always
done: protect the American people.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and looked at
Fuller’s picture on his desk. A new respect for the man built up
inside of me. I blinked back tears and turned to Hayden. “I still
don’t get why he didn’t say anything to you before.”

The color had drained from Hayden’s face.
“That’s not all, Riss.” His words sent another chill through me.
“None of us were meant to survive.”

I pushed my eyebrows together. “What?”

“The virus wasn’t supposed to have long term
effects, remember? What is set up on the coasts will keep the
infected out for sure, but they’re not set up to fight a war
against almost an entire country of undead. Fuller thought that it
was assumed the entire population would be wiped out in just a few
months. No survivors.”

I opened my mouth only to close it, at a loss
for words. I shook my head and looked at Hayden. “So that’s why
Fuller never wanted us to go to California.”

Hayden nodded. “And the worst—”

“There’s something worse than creating a
horrible, crazy-making virus?”

Hayden tipped his head to the side.
“Maybe.”

I swallowed and watched Hayden. “What was
done next?”

“When it was discovered that we—the average
citizen—weren’t dying off like it was predicted, we were hit with
another dose of the virus.”

The words were like a punch to the stomach.
It was awful to think that the place we called home, had been proud
to come from, would do that. All in the name of power. My breath
left me. I grabbed a handful of wet hair and tugged on it.

“But why didn’t Fuller have us go to the real
shelters?”

Hayden picked at a spot of dried blood on his
forearm. “He said he thought we’d be turned away if we’re
lucky.”

“And if we’re not lucky?”

“Killed on the spot.”

“Oh.” I leaned back and traced my eyes over
the bookshelf that sat behind Fuller’s desk. It was filled with
plastic binders, notebooks, and manila files. Hanging on the wall
next to the bookshelf was a map of the compound and hand-drawn
blueprints for the cabins that were being built on the land around
our shelter. Taped to the blueprints was a list of needed
construction supplies. I recognized the handwriting at once to
belong to Raeya. The familiarity of my best friend’s obsessive list
making brought a small amount of comfort to the scary new
information. “Wait, why would they kill us?”

Hayden shook his head. “This is where things
got complicated. Fuller doesn’t think that everyone in the shelters
knows the truth about the virus…or that the government left
thousands of people to die. The goal is to restart the country,
remember? Would you be willing to stand by your leaders if you knew
the truth?”

I pulled on my hair again. “No. I wouldn’t. I
would…oh shit. I would riot.” I let my hair fall to my back. “It
makes sense now. In a really twisted, fucked up way.” I shook my
head. “Still, can’t we play it off like we don’t know the truth?
Like we are what we really are: a group of survivors. No one can
blame the government for that, right?”

Hayden brushed the crusty blood onto the
floor. “Maybe. Hell, I don’t know. It would have been real fucking
nice to discuss this with Fuller.” Anger clouded his eyes.

“So what are we supposed to do?” I stood and
paced to the back of the office. The room was small, crowded with
the large desk, chairs, and a table. I stopped at the table and
drummed my fingers on the surface. “Just keep going like we don’t
know the truth?”

“That’s what Fuller wanted.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” I whirled around and
faced Hayden. “You just said it: this is going to end. Someday.
Somehow. But if it does…then what? What will happen when everyone
in hiding comes out to rebuild the country? We can’t stay hidden
forever. They will find us. And if they don’t want to share
supplies with us now, they’re not going to want to then.”

“He hadn’t gotten that far,” Hayden spat.
“Maybe…maybe he didn’t think
anyone
would get that far.”

“Way to have faith,” I mumbled.

“He did,” Hayden said. His muscles stiffened.
“He had faith is us. Just not in them.”

“And by ‘them’ you mean the asshats who built
shelters before anything even happened.”

“Exactly.” Hayden leaned forward with his
elbows on his knees.

My eyes settled on the picture of Fuller with
his son. “Why didn’t he tell you before? I get not telling everyone
because it would upset them for no reason, but why not you?”

Hayden looked at the letter. “He didn’t want
me to have to know until it was absolutely necessary.” He sighed.
“He thought it would be too much to put on me.” Hayden shook his
head. “And he was right.”

I strode over and knelt down in front of
Hayden. Taking his hands in mine, I said, “Don’t say that, Hayden.
You’re strong, one of the strongest people I know.”

Hayden pulled his hands back. “I’m no
leader.”

“Yes you are and you don’t even realize it.
The people here look up to you, respect you.
Like
you.” I
took a deep breath and shook my head. “Before I met you I was so
close to giving up. I didn’t want to keep fighting. I did it
because I had to, because no one else I was with could. I was
tired. I didn’t see a way out of this…I didn’t think it was even
worth it. And then I met you and you showed me that I was wrong, so
wrong. You gave me hope, gave me something to live for. I
wanted
to fight.” I put my hands on Hayden’s thighs. “If you
can change my stubborn mind, then you can do anything.” I gave him
a small smile. “And everyone here already loves you. You’re kind
and fair and very, very good looking.”

Hayden smiled. “Because that matters.”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

His smile grew. “Riss,” he started and
flicked his eyes to mine. “Thanks.”

“Of course Hayden. Like you said, we’re a
team. Even though we both know I’m the brains of the
operation.”

He smiled again and pulled me to him. “Then
you can tell the guys the truth.”

I tensed. “No one else knows, right? Not even
Hector?”

“Just you and me for now.” Hayden slid his
hands down my waist. “And I don’t know if we should tell everyone.
Fuller kept it a secret for a reason and I think he was right.
There is nothing we can do about it, so why upset people?”

“Right.” I put my hands over his.

“And don’t tell Ray. Not yet, ok?”

I pressed my lips together and didn’t
respond.

“Riss?”

“Fine. I never keep anything from her,
though. Ever.”

Hayden parted his legs and drew me in. “Why
upset her?”

“She’ll be pissed when she knows I kept
something that huge from her.”

Hayden rested his head on my stomach. “We
should get back to the quarantine room. The guys are probably
wondering.”

I raked my fingers through Hayden’s hair.
“They probably think we went upstairs and are having wild sex or
something.” It was a lie. The guys knew something was wrong. We all
did as soon as we got home from the mission. “We’ll get through
this,” I promised. “I’d be lying if I said I knew how but I do know
that together we’re awesome. We’re the best, remember?”

Suddenly, boots pounded on the tile floor
just outside in the hall. Hayden and I both turned our attention to
the door.

* * *

“We’ve got one!” someone shouted, their voice
muffled. “Remember, she wants it alive. Do
not
kill it!”

“What the hell?” Hayden mumbled and strode to
the door, pulling it open. Several A2s ran down the hall, heading
to the stairs. “Hey!” Hayden shouted.

A young woman with short black hair spun
around. Her face went blank when she saw Hayden. Like me, Hayden
was an A1. A1s went on missions while A2s guarded the farms and the
compound. She turned her head and called to the other A2s.

“What’s going on?” Hayden asked.

“Sir,” she said nervously. “The trap is full
of zombies.”

“Trap?” Hayden asked.

“Yes, sir,” the A2 answered. She smoothed her
shirt and took a tentative step toward us. “For S1s.”

S1s were infected, but hadn't yet crossed the
threshold to zombie or S2, as they were “properly” called. They
were insane, but not yet undead. S3s—gummies as I called them—were
late stage zombies who were gummy, gooey, and the easiest to
kill.

“Why are we setting traps for S1s?” Hayden
asked.

“F-for Dr. Cara.” She moved closer. “I’m
sorry. We should have asked you, right?”

“It’s ok, Jenny,” Hayden said, reading her
name tag. “Uh, what are you going to do with the S1 once you have
it?”

“Put it in a stall in the quarantine barn.
That’s what Dr. Cara wanted,” she explained. “She’s studying it or
something.” She shook her head, causing her short hair to become
untucked from behind her ear. When she reached up to push it back,
I noticed the colorful tattoos on her arms. The skull threw me at
first. The image of the Imperial Lords’ logo flashed in my mind—a
group we had just defeated. I blinked and took another look at
Jenny. The skulls on her arms were pretty, decorated with flowers
and swirls. I thought they were Mexican sugar skulls, but I wasn’t
sure.

“How are you going to safely get it there?”
Hayden asked. “Crazies—S1s are dangerous. Probably more than you
realize.”

“We’ve done it before,” she said meekly.
“Only with zombies. They keep getting stuck in the trap.” She shook
her head again. “There’s a net in the trap. We can wrap it around
the S1 without touching it. Then we drag it into the barn.”

That was an awful plan. I blinked,
dumbfounded by the casualness of Jenny’s words. What if the crazy
got out? It would be loose inside our fences. I rolled my eyes.
Fucking Dr. Cara. I had to give her credit. She was determined.

“Uh…” Hayden started. “Can it wait until
morning?”

Jenny’s eyebrows pushed together. “It is
morning. It’s a little past six AM.”

“Oh,” Hayden rubbed his forehead. “Right. Uh,
just get Alex to go with you. Shoot the S1 if it gets out of hand.
No life is worth a little research.”

“Yes, sir,” she said and turned on her
heel.