The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (35 page)

* * *

I wrapped my arms around my grandpa, burying
my head against his shoulder. I closed my eyes to keep tears from
spilling. We only planned to be gone for a few days, but damn this
was hard.

“Be safe out there, kid,” my grandpa
said.

“I will,” I promised. It wasn’t us I was
worried about. “You too.”

He nodded and let me go. “I always am.” He
looked at Hayden. “Look after my granddaughter. Try and keep her
outta trouble. It’s a helluva job,” he added with a wink.

I gave my grandpa one more hug before getting
in the truck. My grandpa had crossed off towns on our map that he
had already been to. It saved us a lot of time and trouble; that
was for sure. Our current plan was to go east, beyond where my
grandpa and his group had explored.

A traffic jam in Powell County forced us down
a less-traveled back road. The trees were thick, blocking out the
sun on both sides of the street. Undergrowth from the forest crept
up along the pavement.

“I was thinking,” Hayden began and turned
down the music. He had skipped past every Bentley Owen song that
came up on his iPod. “When we get back, want to stay an extra day
or two?”

I tore my eyes away from the passing blur of
trees. “Of course I want to.” Hayden smiled and put his hand on my
thigh. I laced my fingers through his. “What made you want to
stay?”

“You.” He squeezed my leg. “I like seeing you
happy.”

“I like being happy.” I smiled and looked out
the window. “It’s been a while.”

“I know,” Hayden sighed. “I want that
beach.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled. “Yes. The fresh
ocean breeze—no stinking zombie bodies in sight. Sand between my
toes and a drink in my hand. I need it. Now.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice?”

“Yeah,” I said. Signs for the state park
flashed by. “It would—slow down!”

Hayden slammed on the brake then let off, not
wanting to get rear ended by Wade and Jason.

“What’s going on?” Jason’s voice came over
the radio.

“I saw something on that sign,” I
answered.

Hayden pulled over on the side of the road. I
jogged down the pavement. Sunlight shimmered off the hot street in
front of me.

“This!” I said, knowing the guys were right
behind me. “All survivors welcome,” I read the words that had been
spray painted over a sign for the Red River Gorge campground. “Well
that’s just dumb. Let everyone know where you’re staying.”

“Should we check it out?” Jason asked,
eyebrows rising with excitement. “There could be a ton of people
there!”

“I suppose it’s worth a look,” Hayden said
with reluctance. “Have you been here?” he asked me.

“A few times.” I shook my head. “Wandered
around in the forest more than once.”

“So you know your way around?”

“Oh hell no. There are thirty thousand acres
in this forest.” I looked at the sign again. “We did come here, to
this specific campground once. It was a
long
time ago,
before my parents split.”

Wade stepped up behind me. “I think we should
drive down there, check it out at least.” He tipped his head in
Jason’s direction. “There could potentially be a lot of
survivors.”

Hayden shifted his weight. We couldn’t take
in a lot of survivors. Not only were we running out of room, there
was no way we could provide enough food for everyone. He let out a
breath and nodded. “We can’t go by without checking. The sign says
‘all are welcome’ but remember, we have no idea what we’re walking
into.”

The thought made sweat break out across my
back. Part of me wanted to tell the guys to get in our cars and
leave. It wasn’t our responsibility to save everyone. It suddenly
made me angry for taking on the role of zombie outbreak response
team. Killing the undead and saving the living. Risking our lives
to spare others.

But if we didn’t do it then who would? There
were hundreds of people back at the compound who had been saved
because of our teams. The newfound sense of responsibility weighed
on me. I got into the truck thinking about what life would be like
if I had only run into Hayden and we were living in the farmhouse
with my grandpa and friends.

We’d make it, that I was sure of. We could
hunt and grow food for no more than a dozen people without too much
of a problem. But what would be the point? Where would we go from
there? Though the thought scared me, what if Hayden and I had a
child somewhere far down the road? Would life in isolation be
something I’d want for my children? They would grow up and then
what? Live out the rest of their days alone because there was
nobody else, no one to fall in love with, no one to cherish and
hold onto every night?

“You ok?” Hayden asked.

I snapped back to the here and now. “Yeah,
I’m fine. Just deep in thought, I suppose.”

“Are you gonna tell me what you’re thinking
about?”

“Life,” I laughed. “What it is now…what it
would be like if just the two of us were together, well with some
friends of course and we never went out on missions like this.”

Hayden gave me a half smile. “I like the
thought.”

“We’d survive for sure.”

“More than that,” Hayden said. “With you, I’m
not just surviving. I’m living.”

I smiled, my heart speeding up. I turned in
my seat to face Hayden. “I don’t know how I’d make it through this
without you, you know. You’ve keep me more than just safe during
all this.”

“I’m glad we stopped to save that crazy girl
standing on top of a chicken coop, taking on a herd of
zombies.”

“I would have been just fine if you hadn’t
shown up,” I said with a laugh. “I had a plan.”

“You said that when we first met too. Did you
really have a plan?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Yeah. I was going to
run through the herd and try to get them to turn around. It would
have given Padraic and Raeya time to escape.”

“You couldn’t outrun…oh.” Hayden became
silent. I snapped the band at the end of my braid. I had never told
anyone my plan was to sacrifice myself. I hadn’t exactly thought of
it that way at the time either. I had lost hope and wanted to give
up. I was ready to go out in a blaze of glory.

Then I met Hayden.

“There are tire tracks,” Hayden said, leaning
forward. “Not new but not that old either.”

“Maybe three days ago?” I guessed. “It
doesn’t look like it rained as much here as it did back ho—at the
farm.”

The road gave way to a large slab of
pavement. Tents and RVs circled around an enclosed picnic shelter.
An indoor bathroom was off to the side. The entire area was
enclosed with ropes. Pop cans, hubcaps, and other pieces of torn
apart metal hung from the ropes.

A woman with short brown hair came out of one
of the RVs. She looked to be in her thirties and was wearing broken
glasses. She held a knife in one hand.

Hayden put the truck in park and opened the
door. “Hello,” he called as he got out. “We saw the sign,” he added
quickly. “We mean no harm.”

A young girl with tight braids across her
head came out of the RV. The woman waved her hand. “Get back
inside!”

“He said they mean no harm,” the girl said
pointedly. The woman gave the girl a look, one that said we
couldn’t be trusted just yet. The girl whirled around and went back
in.

“How many of you are there?” the woman
asked.

“Four,” Hayden said.

“You all armed?”

“Yes,” Hayden said honestly and turned so she
could see the pistol on his hip. “We won’t hurt you. We came to see
if you needed help.”

The woman didn’t seem convinced. I got out of
the truck, holding my bow as casually as I could at my side. Her
face softened a bit when she saw me, as if another female presence
was proof Hayden really wouldn’t hurt her.

“Hi,” I said and gave her my nicest smile.
“I’m Orissa.”

“Stephanie,” the woman said. Her eyes darted
to the Jeep. Jason and Wade got out, hands held up to show they
were not holding guns. “We don’t have much,” she said quickly.

“We’re not going to take anything,” Hayden
assured her.

Stephanie swallowed, her grip on the knife
tightening. “You’re really here to help?”

I understood her apprehension. We were clean,
well armed, and in capable vehicles. I would be wary of us too.

“Yes,” I told her and took a step forward.
“We know of a safe place.”

She let go of the RV door. “Really?”

I nodded. “Yes.” I moved my foot a few
inches. “We can talk about it, if you’d like.”

Still not trusting us—and rightly
so—Stephanie walked away from the RV with her knife held out in
front of her. How many people were hiding inside?

“You’re not going to hurt us?”

“Has someone hurt you before?” I blurted
before I realized it made me sound like a shrink. I shook my head.
“No, we’re not, as long as you don’t hurt us.”

She looked at me as if I was crazy, like
attacking us was the last thing she’d do. “All right. Come in.” She
waved to a spot in the circle were only one piece of rope had been
wound around two trees.

We ducked under the rope. The RV rocked as
people moved inside. I saw the girl with the black braids peeking
through the window. Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she
stepped back.

We gathered in the center of the campsite. I
looked around as Hayden went into his speech about the compound. At
one point, this place offered real shelter. Now it was a shadow of
that with slashed tents, dirty clothes hanging on a line, and an
overflowing garbage can full of food wrappers. Buckets sat out to
collect rainwater and their garden was dying from lack of
sunlight.

The RV door creaked open. The little girl
poked her head out. “Mom?” she called. I looked around; there was
no one who looked like her mother out here. My heart sank and my
stomach clenched. Shit. What happened to the girl’s mom?

“Hang on, honey,” Stephanie said. I looked at
the girl then at Stephanie. Oh, right. She was probably adopted.
She turned back to Hayden, listening to him as he explained
everything in detail.

Not long after, Stephanie decided she wanted
to come with us. We followed her into the RV. Her daughter, Daisy,
sat beside another young girl and a twenty-something year old
man.

She told us that four others from her group
had set out last night, trying to hike through the woods to get to
another campsite with a medical building in hopes of finding
supplies. They never returned.

“How far is this medical cabin?” Jason
asked.

Stephanie unfolded a map. “Not that far if
you cut through the woods. There is a wildlife rehabilitation
clinic in the back. I was so sure there would be antibiotics.” She
shook her head. “It would have been worth it…I swear.”

“Maybe they’re in there,” the guy said, hope
in his voice. “Maybe they had to rest or…or…” he shook his
head.

Metal pop cans clanged together. The girls
jumped. Stephanie flew to the door, locking it and drawing the
shade.

“Crazies,” Jason whispered. “They’re dragging
someone—something.”

Stephanie moved over and gasped, her hand
flying to her mouth. The tears in her eyes let me know she
recognized the body.

“Stay here,” Hayden said. He, Jason, Wade,
and I slipped out of the RV. The crazy had enough sense to duck
under the ropes. He was too busy yanking the body over a twisted
root to notice us.

I shot an arrow into his back, severing his
spine before he could even turn around. Stephanie came out of the
RV, legs shaking.

“Pete.” She quivered and sank down by the
dead man. The crazy had torn open his abdomen and removed his
stomach. After a minute of quiet grieving she stood. “The others
could still be out there.”

“Maybe,” Wade said and put his hand on
Stephanie’s back. He flicked his eyes to me. “We could follow the
trail, see if we find anything.”

Hayden tensed then agreed. We helped
Stephanie move Pete’s body inside the circle, warning her it was a
bad idea since fresh blood attracts crazies…and crazies attract
zombies.

* * *

The trail was easy to follow. Bright spots of
crimson were better than bread crumbs. We were maybe a mile and a
half out when we heard the screams.

“Go!” I shouted to Hayden. “I’ll keep on the
trail.”

“Not alone,” Hayden said back.

“I’ll stay,” Wade said.

I shook my head. “I’ll be ok. Trees,” I said
and swept my hand out. “I can climb.” It was a bullshit lie and
Hayden knew it. The trees were tall with no low hanging
branches.

Another scream came from the direction of the
campsite, this one long and high, sounding like a child. Hayden’s
eyes met mine in an unspoken goodbye. Then he and Jason took
off.

Wade and I made good time, pushing through
the thick vegetation as we followed the trail.

“Here,” Wade said, several feet in front of
me. “This had to be where it happened. There is so much blood and,
uh, skin.” He nudged something with his boot. “Is that a
spleen?”

“I’m not sure what a human spleen looks
like,” I said and came over to look anyway. The weeds were smashed
down, evidence of a struggle. There were two sets of prints. “I
can’t tell which is from the crazy. Both trails are even from
walking straight.”

“Pick one?”

I looked up at Wade. “Sure.” I took the lead,
following the trail through the woods. I wasn’t sure how much time
had passed when Wade grabbed my arm.

“What?” I whispered. He pointed to our left.
A large, black tree stuck out of the ground, the greenery around it
also dead. Something swung from the trees. I turned away, giving
Wade a horrified stare. He nodded and moved through waist high
bushes.

A breeze slipped through the forest, rustling
leaves. We stopped a few feet in front of them. I slowly drew my
eyes up. Bodies hung from nooses, dead and decaying. Something had
been carved into the tree. I moved over to see past the skeletal
remains and read it aloud.