The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (29 page)

He disentangled his arms from around my legs.
Panting, I pushed myself up and grabbed him, flipping him over and
onto the mattress. I climbed on top, slowly easing him into me. I
leaned forward, my breasts in his face. Hayden put his hands on my
waist, grinding me down on him.

I reached down and wrapped my fingers around
his wrists. Forcefully, I pulled his hands off of me and slammed
them into the pillow above his head. I held them there, slowly
rocking back and forth, feeling him slide in and out of me.

He struggled to pull his hands free. I
pressed down harder. I had no intention of letting him go. He
opened his eyes, briefly looking up at me before closing them and
turning his head to the side.

I moved faster, moaning in pleasure. Hayden’s
breathing quickened and he pushed against my hands. I let his arms
free. He grabbed my waist and moved me back and forth in rhythm
with each thrust.

The buildup erupted and I leaned forward, my
hair falling into Hayden’s face as I climaxed. Hayden’s fingers dug
into my hips as he came. Breathing heavily, I fell onto him.

“Mmhh,” I sighed as he rolled us over, still
holding me tight. Once my heart stopped racing, I got up, wrapped
the sheet around myself, and hurried to the bathroom to get cleaned
up. I could hear Wade and Jason talking, their voices softly
floating up the stairs.

I returned to my bed, finding Hayden sprawled
out with his eyes closed. I climbed over him and lay down, covering
both of us. Hayden moved closer, his arms finding their way around
me.

I was content, comfortable, and the most
satisfied I’d felt in a long time. But that did nothing to keep the
nightmares away.

* * *

By the time morning rolled around, I was
tired. Hayden got up and told me to stay in bed to catch up on the
sleep I missed. I didn’t object. I got up to use the bathroom and
then retreated to my room.

Thick gray clouds covered the sky, hiding
even the slightest sliver of blue. Muted light filtered in through
the window. I looked around the room. Other than being a bit
cleaner than before, everything was the same as it was when we
left. I grabbed the comforter from the foot of the bed and pulled
it around me, snuggling back into bed.

I was almost asleep when I heard it. The
distant whirling of tires on pavement seemed normal. But it wasn’t,
not at all. I froze, processing everything. Then I snapped awake,
springing out of bed.

Chairs scooted on the hardwood floor below
me. I tripped in my hurry to get out of the room. I landed on my
hands and knees, feet tangled in the sheets. My palms started to
sweat. I scrambled up, eyes darting around for my pants.

The rumble of the engine grew louder. Gravel
crunched under the tires. Holy shit. It pulled into the driveway.
My body was alive with adrenaline. I grabbed a pair of jeans from
my bag.

“Riss!” Hayden yelled from downstairs.

“I know,” I called back. My heart hammered.
This was my house. I wasn’t going to let anyone take it. My fingers
trembled and I struggled with the button on my pants. I shoved my
feet into my boots, not wasting time with socks. Maybe they would
understand. Maybe they’d agree to come back to the compound with us
and we could leave here skipping and holding hands and swapping
zombie kill stories.

Yeah fucking right.

I flew down the stairs. Hayden was waiting,
holding my bow. I took it, unsnapping an arrow from the holder. I
looked outside through the dining room window. A large red SUV
zoomed down the driveway, tires spinning on the loose gravel,
narrowly missing Hayden’s truck. It turned into the yard, pulling
up close to the house.

Wade cocked his gun and stood by the front
door. Jason pressed himself against the wall, across from him. His
hands shook slightly. After meeting the people of Eastmoore, it was
hard to trust anyone.

The door of the SUV slammed shut.

“All right you motherfuckers,” he yelled from
outside the house. I moved into the dining room. If I could get a
clear shot from inside the house, I’d take it. “You have five
seconds to get the hell out of my house.”

My heart plummeted out of my chest and
dizziness crashed onto me. The man moved, blocked by his SUV. His
voice…no, no way. It couldn’t be.

“Five,” he started the countdown. He pumped
his shotgun. “Four.” He stepped forward, aiming his gun. Rain
sprinkled down, pattering against the covered porch. I narrowed my
eyes, looking through the SUV’s windows. “Three.” He moved
again.

I caught a glimpse of his face. A thick gray
beard covered his cheeks. My hold on the arrow faltered. I took a
step back. Everything was spinning.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” he
yelled and took another step. “We’re getting close!”

I couldn’t feel my legs moving, but I was
getting closer to the door. I reached for the knob. Jason’s eyes
met mine as I twisted it. His look begged me not to open the
door.

“Two.”

I pulled the door back and stepped onto the
porch. The scent of fresh rain was heavy in the air. Lightning
flashed in the distance. “Riss!” Hayden whispered, making a mad
dash for me.

“One.”

The bow fell from my hands, clattering to the
porch. My stomach dropped, the dizziness pressing in on me. My eyes
filled with tears. I couldn’t believe it. No, this wasn’t real.

There was no way it could be.

“Grandpa.” The word died in my throat. My
bottom lip quivered and I shook my head. The old man that stood in
front of me lowered his gun. He looked at me, wide eyed. He raised
the shotgun again, not believing what he was seeing.

Hayden was right behind me, with his own gun
raised. The old man didn’t take notice. He lowered the shotgun and
stared at me.

“Orissa?” he asked, his gruff voice
breaking.

Tears slid down my face. I raced off the
porch. My grandpa’s arm fell to his side, the shotgun slipping from
his fingers and thudding on the ground. He opened his arms,
greeting me with a hug.

I couldn’t help it; I started crying. I
pressed my face into his shoulder, muffling the sobs. My grandpa
ran his hand over my head.

“Is it really you?” he asked, his own voice
tight with emotion. “Are you really alive?”

“Yes,” I said with a sniffle. He let me go,
taking a hold of my arms. He leaned back and studied my face.
“Yes.” I blinked away tears. “I listened to everything you said,
did everything you taught me.” I swallowed a sob and took a breath,
steadying myself. “And you…you…you’re alive too.”

“Of course I’m alive,” he stated his green
eyes staring straight into mine. “I was prepared. And preparation
is the key to survival.” His eyes moved off me and his body went
rigid.

“It’s ok,” I said quickly. “They’re with me.”
I whirled around. Hayden stood on the porch with his machine gun at
his side. I shivered, my exposed skin wet from rain. Jason and Wade
stood next to Hayden, weapons half raised. I turned back to my
grandpa. “I was here. I came back for you. We stayed…we waited
until…” Tears filled my eyes again. I wiped them away. Fucking
emotions.

My grandpa caught my left hand, bringing it
to his face. He raised his eyebrows at the large diamond on my
finger. “Did this happen before Armageddon?”

He called this Armageddon? I guess it wasn’t
too far off… “No,” I told him. His eyes darted back to Hayden.

“That one?”

I nodded. I didn’t know how my grandpa knew,
but that was just him. He picked up on the littlest detail, the
most minute of things. I was nowhere near as good as he was.

My grandpa picked up his gun, squared his
shoulders, and walked to the house. “Better make sure he’s good
enough for my only granddaughter.”

Still reeling from shock, it took me a second
to turn around and rush after him. We moved into the house. Before
my grandpa could even think about introductions, he went through
each room, doing an obsessive safety check all the while muttering
to himself. I followed him. Wade, Jason, and Hayden stood in
stunned silence in the foyer.

“Guys,” I said once my grandpa was satisfied
the house was safe. I called them into the living room. “This is my
grandpa.”

“We got the who,” Jason blurted. “Need the
how.”

I needed to know too. I looked at my grandpa.
He was almost as tall as Hayden. He had lost a significant amount
of weight but was still in considerably good shape for his age. His
skin was a deep tan and he had a slew of scars on his face and arms
that hadn’t been there before.

“I came here, with Orissa,” Jason went on.
“And you weren’t here.” Jason’s gaze darted to me. “She saved me.
My sister too. And a crap ton of other people.” He nervously
gripped his rifle. “She told us she learned everything from you…so
thanks.”

My grandpa narrowed his eyes and leaned
forward. He was good at looking intimidating when he wanted to.
Jason swallowed and held his eye, cheeks reddening. Then my grandpa
smiled.

“She did learn everything from me.” He sat in
the armchair next to the fireplace. Hayden and I sat close together
on the loveseat, and Jason and Wade took a spot on the couch.

“Grandpa,” I started. “These are my friends.”
I went over a quick introduction, saying only that we met while
fighting zombies. It wasn’t time to tell him about the compound
yet. Subconsciously, I pulled on Hayden’s dog tags. My grandpa saw
and quickly put two and two together. He jumped up, pulling a gun
from his waistband.

“You’re military, aren’t you?” he accused
Hayden. I sprang off the loveseat, putting myself between the end
of the gun and Hayden.

“Grandpa,” I said calmly, holding up my
hands. Great. Here we go. Only five minutes into meeting my fiancé
and he was freaking out already. Hello reason number one why boys
never came to the house. “Yes, they are. But they are
good
guys.”

He grabbed the dog tags and pulled them to
his face. My body jerked as the chain was yanked. Hayden stood. I
knew he didn’t know what to do. His eyes darted from me to my
grandpa. I shook my head and flicked my eyes to the loveseat,
begging him to sit back down.

“Marines,” my grandpa growled and dropped the
tags. “Did you know about this? Did they prep you?” He whirled
around, hunching forward. “They’re probably watching. They know
where you are, they know where I am!” He flicked the safety off his
pistol and went to the window. “The droids.” He turned back around,
gun raised. “Are there any droids? They could have followed
you!”

“Hey!” I shouted. I closed my eyes and let
out a breath. “There are no droids, Grandpa.” I held out my hand.
“Hayden and Wade served our country, just like you. They didn’t
know anything about the virus. We—”

“Didn’t? What do you mean,
didn’t
?”

Shit. He really didn’t miss a damn thing.
Crazy and paranoid…yes. Confused and forgetful…not so much. My
shoulders stiffened with anxiety.

“Riss,” Hayden said softly. “Want us to step
outside?” His eyes were full of concern. Not for his safety or for
my grandpa’s sanity, but for me.

Something in my grandpa’s face softened. He
lowered the gun, looking at Hayden. I had seen him do a 180 before
with lasting effects. My grandma was good at talking him down.

“If Orissa trusts you then I do,” my grandpa
said and put the gun on the coffee table. Thank the Lord. I dropped
my arms to my side.

“Hayden was deployed when shit hit the fan,”
I started. “He had no idea what he was coming home to.” My grandpa
nodded, looking at Hayden. “And neither did Wade. Jason wasn’t in
the military.”

It seemed to settle him enough to sit. “Where
were you?” I asked and took my place next to Hayden.

“I went to get you and Jenny,” my grandpa
told me.

“Aunt Jenny. Is she ok?” I asked, hope rising
inside me.

My grandpa shook his head and cast his eyes
down. Hayden put his hand on my thigh. “Took me two days to get to
that godforsaken city,” my grandpa told us. “Found my sweet Jenny
holed up in that tiny apartment she loved so much.” He looked at
me. “She told me where to find you. She tried to get to you but
couldn’t. We went looking but then that damn bus came, took us
away.” His fingers curled into fists. “They told us there was a
shelter, a place with other survivors. But not me. I knew…I saw…and
after all I had taught you.”

I put my hand over Hayden’s. I could tell by
my grandpa’s body language that this wasn’t going to be good. I
braced myself. “It was no shelter but a damn holding cell. Jenny
thought you’d be there. She said you were sick, just had surgery
but I knew better. I knew you wouldn’t trust
them
. Once we
were in, we couldn’t get out. They started it, you know. Big
Brother’s not just watching. They’re trying to kill us.”

A chill crept over me. For once, his crazy
theories weren’t crazy…or even theories anymore. The rain picked
up, blowing in through the open windows. I wanted to get up and
close them before the water warped the wooden sills.

“I knew it would fall,” he went on. “We spent
our days getting ready. There was a group of us who wanted out.
Once we had our chance, we took it.” His eyes got misty.
“Jenny…Jenny got lost along the way.” He let out a long breath.
“Those of us that made it didn’t get here until after the winter. I
knew it was you. The way the house was set up, the missing black
bow, the jerky…I waited. You would come home eventually.” He
smiled, lines crinkling his face. “You always did.”

Tears pooled in my eyes again. Dammit.
Getting emotional wasn’t going to solve anything. My grandpa stood,
saying he was hungry, and scuttled off to the kitchen. I stayed in
my spot.