The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (36 page)

“Here in the forest, dark and deep, I offer
you eternal sleep.” A tangle of rope sat under the woods, covered
in moss. I reached out, fingers trembling, and touched the engraved
words. My head was spinning.

“
The
Poor
Little
Rich
Girl
,” Wade spoke, voice hollow.

“What?” I asked, turning around. I felt
dizzy.

“It’s a book. That’s where they got the
quote. I had to read it in school.”

“If they wanted to be creepy, they
succeeded,” I said, stepping away. I stopped close to Wade, feeling
safer already.

“For sure,” he agreed. We moved back to the
trail, neither speaking. We made it another few yards before a gun
shot rang out, echoing through the forest. I froze, the hair on my
back of my neck standing up. I whirled around, stomach
dropping.

Stephanie didn’t have a gun. Only Hayden and
Jason had guns. And they wouldn’t have fired unless something bad
happened, something out of their control.

I didn’t have to say anything. Wade took my
hand, and we sprinted forward, running back to our friends. I held
up the bow, using it to block branches from scraping my face.

I didn’t see them; they blended in with the
trees at first. Then the smell hit me, and I stopped, tripping over
a log hidden by leaves. Wade rushed back to my side. We had run
into a herd of zombies.

“We have to get out of here!” I shouted over
the death moans.

Wade nodded and took my hand, pulling me to
my feet. “Come on, this way!” I pushed the bow back up over my
shoulder. Leaves stuck in my hair and dirt smeared across my face.
The knees of my pants were wet from the soft ground. “You can get
us out of here, right?”

“I think so.” Our eyes met in a fleeting
moment of hope. Wade nodded and turned. We took off, tearing
through the thick forest. I held my hand up, blocking branches and
leaves from smacking me in the face as we ran for our lives. The
ground was uneven and covered in year’s worth of debris.

A flock of birds took off, their wings
echoing throughout the forest for all to hear. My heart pounded.
Sweat dripped into my eyes, but I kept running. I crashed into a
feathery spiderweb. Tiny silken ropes pulled across my face. I
didn’t have time to brush them away.

“We came this way, right?” Wade panted,
slowing down.

“Yeah,” I huffed, hiking the quiver into
place. The thing was heavy when it was full of arrows. I looked up.
The blue sky was patchy under thick leaves. Everything swirled
around me.

“They’re ok,” Wade promised me. My breath
caught in my chest. Had that gunshot belonged to Hayden? “The herd
is following us. We’re going
away
from that camp site. Riss,
it’ll be fine!”

I swallowed hard. “If you say so.”

Wade put his hand on my arm. “I know so. Come
on,” he said with a jerk of his head. “Can you find the
tracks?”

I blinked back unwelcome tears. “Yeah. I can
definitely do that.” My heart thumped in my ears. Blood pooled in
my face, making my cheeks hot. “Dammit,” I swore under my breath. I
dropped to my knees and gently brushed dead leaves away.

“What?” Wade asked, stepping close.

“Fucking zombies. They trampled
everything.”

Wade looked at the ground. “Yeah. They did.
All I see is haphazard steps.”

I stood and looked at the sun. “If there’s
one thing I’m good at it’s finding my way out of God-knows-where
woods in Kentucky.” I smirked and shook my head.

“Uh…ok.” Wade cast a nervous glance behind
him. We had put some distance between us and the herd, but not
enough to feel safe. “Am I ever going to know the truth, Riss?”

I rolled an arrow between my fingers, heart
still racing. “My grandpa,” I said shortly.

“Yeah…don’t hate me but I noticed he’s a
little, uh, insane. Brilliant, but fucking insane.”

I nodded. We moved forward in a brisk walk.
“He’s been like that for a long time. He was convinced something
like this would happen so he started training me years ago.”

“Seriously?”

I flicked my eyes to Wade. He was tan, his
dark skin contrasted against his dark blonde hair. I often forgot
that he was a few years younger than me. Mentally, I didn’t feel
any different. But when the sun filtered through the trees and
illuminated his youthful face, I was reminded of the three year age
gap.

I found myself telling him about my grandpa,
his PTSD, the way he trained me, and his fear of government
takeover. I did this as we moved and I sought the right
direction.

“This way,” I said, pointing. Wade nodded,
smiling. Then the curve in his lips straightened. His hands flew to
his knife.

Leaves crunched under their dragging feet.
Branches swung wild as the zombies blundered forward. I strung an
arrow and waited a beat before letting it go. Brown goop splattered
the air. The zombie crumbled to the ground.

Wade turned around. “Riss, there’s too many!
We need to go!” He kicked a zombie in the chest, shoving the knife
in its ear. Another zombie grabbed him by the shoulders, swinging
him over. Wade stumbled back, hitting a tree.

I shot another zombie at the same time Wade
stabbed the one that was advancing on him. He was right. The trees
were too thick, too densely covered in leaves to see what we were
dealing with. The zombies were close by the time we saw them.

The smell was overwhelming. Rotting flesh
ripened in the hot summer sun. I lowered my bow.

“Wade!” I shouted, sidestepping around
another zombie. Maggots dripped from its face. “Follow me!” We
sprinted forward, pushing through everything the forest threw at us
and them some. My lungs heaved. I needed to stop, catch my breath.
I stole a glance behind me. The zombies were still close. Too close
to stop. I looked ahead and pushed on. Then I saw it: the beautiful
break in the trees. Oh thank God. The road, the fucking road.

A smile broke across my face. “Only a few
yards,” I panted to Wade. I turned my head to the side, our eyes
meeting.

He smiled, opening his mouth to talk. Then
something snapped and he fell to the ground, crying out in pain. I
skidded to a stop so fast my ankle rolled and I tumbled over the
ground. A few arrows slid out of the quiver.

“Wade!” I screamed and stood. A steel jaw
trap had closed around his ankle, the sharp teeth cutting through
his jeans and into his skin. Blood dripped steadily. The death
moans reverberated through the forest, reminding me of what little
time we had.

I dropped to my knees, desperately pushing
away the leaves. “There’s a way out. There has to be a way out,” I
muttered over and over.

“Riss!” Wade yelled. He sat up, holding onto
his leg. I pushed leaves aside until my hands became soaked in
blood. The warm liquid sent a jolt through me.

“There’s a way.” I sucked in air fast—too
fast. I was hyperventilating but I didn’t care. I had to get Wade
out.

I
would
get Wade out.

“Riss!” he yelled again in protest.

I kept pushing the leaves around until my
fingers grazed a chain. I pulled it. The chain was staked in the
ground. I crawled to the stake, tugging with everything I had. I
screamed in frustration and pulled on the chain, moving the steel
trap. Wade cried out in pain. “I’ll get the pin,” I mumbled,
fingers trembling. Steel jaw traps had been part of my
training…only my training involved setting them. Not getting out of
them.

There was a way to unlock it, I knew it.
There was something…a pin to press maybe, that would unlock it.

I heard the rattling death moan. I knew it
was there, getting closer by the second. But I didn’t care. I had
to save Wade. My hands shook until they were useless.

“Riss!” Wade shouted and pushed me away. He
pulled his gun from the holster and fired. The zombie dropped just
inches from me. I snapped my head back.

Holy shit. We were surrounded. My heart
hammered and my breath came out in ragged huffs.

“Go, Riss!” Wade pleaded, tears in his eyes.
“Even if you get me out I’ll slow you down.”

“No fucking way,” I mumbled, hands shaking as
I felt along the inside of the trap. The rusted metal was slick
with warm blood. “I’m not leaving you!”

“There’s no time!” he shouted and fired his
gun again. The walls of dead were closing in. I couldn’t breathe.
The rancid smell of rotting flesh choked me, gagged me. My eyes
filled with tears.

“Stop it!” I screamed. “Just stop! I’m
getting you out!”

Wade put his hand on my shoulder. “Riss.
Please,” he pleaded. “Save yourself. Finish the mission.”

“Stop!”

My fingertip caught on one of the teeth,
slicing through my flesh. I flinched. The death moans grew
louder.

“Riss!” Wade yelled. I ignored him, busy
feeling along the trap. There was a release. There had to be.
“Behind you!”

I turned just in time to see snaggled, yellow
teeth. Brown saliva dripped from her mouth and blood crusted over
her lips. Her hands tangled in my hair, pulled my head back. I
turned, bringing my arm up to hit her on the inside of her wrist,
breaking the contact. I pulled an arrow from my quiver and jammed
it in her eye.

I turned to see Wade struggling with a
zombie. He had it by the shoulders, keeping its mouth just inches
from his face. I sprang up and kicked the zombie in the head. It
stumbled off him, rolling onto its back, unable to get up.

I flew back to Wade. He reached for me,
trembling fingers taking hold of my arm. I pulled against him,
going to the trap.

“Riss,” he begged, his voice breaking. “Stop.
Leave or we will both die!”

“No!” I cried, tears falling down my cheeks.
I yanked on the chain. If I could pull it from the ground, I’d drag
Wade away. Just a few yards. That’s all I needed. I had to. I just
fucking had to.

“Please.” He sat up, face pale. “You don’t
know.”

“What?” I turned my head, hair falling out of
my braid and into my eyes. My entire body trembled. I pulled on the
chain again, getting flakes of rusty metal embedded in my
palms.

“You and Hayden.”

“It doesn’t matter!” I shouted. Wade wasn’t
making sense. It had to be from the blood loss.

“You two…you guys…your love,” he panted. “It
inspires us. All of us.”

A chill ran through me. The chain went slack
in my hand. I blinked away tears and shook my head. “It doesn’t
matter,” I repeated. “I almost got it!” I lied, pulling on the
chain once more. It wasn’t budging a fucking inch.

Wade yelled again. A zombie grabbed me by the
ankle and pulled. I slid away from Wade onto my stomach. I twisted,
the quiver digging into my back.

“Get off me,” I yelled, yanking my foot. The
zombie was strong but with little festering flesh. He must have
just turned from S1 to S2. He dragged me back another few feet. I
planted my hands on the ground, getting the strength I needed to
push him off. He fell and I kicked him in the head, slamming the
heel of my boot down again and again until his brain oozed out.

Wade screamed. I grabbed an arrow from my
quiver when another zombie came at me. I ducked out of its reach,
swinging my arm and burying the arrow in his eye.

“No!” I turned. Wade’s head rolled back,
mouth open in a desperate painful scream. Two zombies were on him,
teeth tearing into his stomach. My heart pounded in my ears. I
turned around, loose strands of hair flying into my face, sticking
to my sweaty skin. My hand moved up behind my shoulder, fingers
closing around the blood crusted fletching of an arrow.

I could hear every beat of my heart. My
breath left me, whooshing out too loud. I bit the inside of my
cheek, the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. The string on
the bow groaned. I let the arrow go.

The zombie fell forward, knocking the other
to the side. I rushed forward, kicking it away. I grabbed the other
zombie, pressing my thumb into its eye.

Wade screamed in pain, tears running down the
side of his face. I jammed my thumb deeper into the zombie’s brain.
It snapped yellowing teeth, its mouth glinting with Wade’s
blood.

Rage filtered through me, empowering me. I
twisted my hands, turning the zombie’s head all the way around. I
shoved him away.

“It’s gonna be ok,” I spoke, not even
realizing that words were coming out of my mouth. I couldn’t catch
my breath. My head shook and I wasn’t able to focus on anything.
Wade’s eyes met mine and his hands moved to his abdomen.

Vomit rose in me, burning my throat. Wade’s
stomach had been ripped open. His intestines spilled out, scattered
around him.

“It’s gonna be ok,” I repeated and rocked
forward. Wade’s breathing labored. He wheezed. I knelt down,
putting my trembling hands on his bleeding abdomen. His large
intestine had been severed. Something thick oozed from it. “Padraic
will fix you. You’re gonna be ok.” Fat tears rolled down my
face.

I pressed my hand to his stomach and pushed
the intestines back into the gushing cavity. Wade’s eyes closed and
his body went rigid.

It was so warm. Everything that spilled out
of him was warm. Wade’s hand closed around my wrist.

“Riss,” he wheezed. I shook my head. I
couldn’t talk now. I had to save him, had to put what was outside
back in. He brought his leg up, jangling the chain that held the
steel jaw into the ground.

I pushed my hands down. If I could just get
everything back in…I couldn’t breathe. My vision filled with black
spots. My fingers were too slick with blood. I couldn’t pinch the
skin closed, couldn’t keep everything inside.

Something heavy landed on my shoulders. It
pushed me forward, sending me into Wade. My hand slipped inside of
him. He yelled and I screamed.

Hot, dead breath was on the back of my neck.
My ragged breaths turned into sobs. I fell forward, one hand still
inside the hole in Wade’s stomach. I felt something hard under my
fingers, something sharp that felt like bone. Oh god, it was his
spine. Wade cried out again.