The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (49 page)

* * *

Hayden and I sat on a velvet sofa in
Valencia’s hotel room. It was more than a room, really. I tried not
to look around in wonder. Even before the zombies, I would have
been impressed. I had only seen suites like this in movies.

We had just recanted the story to Valencia’s
friend, Heaven, who was sitting in an arm chair next to us. She
pushed her long, wavy dark brown hair behind her ear. Her sapphire
earrings sparkled in the light.

“I knew it,” she said, shaking her head. “All
along. I said something didn’t add up, didn’t I, Val?”

Valencia nodded. “You did. That’s why I had
to tell you.”

Heaven put her hands over her mouth and shook
her head. Her nails were long and painted bright red. She was
wearing heels, skinny jeans, and an off the shoulder blouse. It was
weird to see someone look so normal. She blinked, long lashes
coming together over her bluish-green eyes.

She stared at Hayden, hardly taking her eyes
off him the entire time. “I told Val the timelines didn’t match.
That this place was set up before things really got crazy.”

Valencia sunk into her chair, looking
ashamed. Her hand shook, making the ice in her glass of rum clink
against the side. She took a drink. “I didn’t know,” she said
again. The poor woman was in shock from guilt.

“I’m not the only one who thinks it either,”
Heaven said, her words bringing more anxiety to Valencia. “There
are a few of us…we’ve talked. This doesn’t all make sense. And
there was no way the
entire
country was searched. People
would have survived. And obviously, you did.”

“Why question a good thing?” Valencia asked,
not able to look at us. She traced her finger down a line of
condensation on the glass.

“This isn’t a good thing,” Heaven said,
temper rising. “We’re living under the same roof with murderers!
God, Val! If they did that to the country they supposedly love,
then what’s stopping them from offing us, huh?”

“They wouldn’t do that!” Valencia hissed.

“How do you know? Besides, do you want to
live with them? I don’t want any part of it.” She turned back to
us. “We’re supposed to start over. If our leaders are willing to do
that to their own people…” she trailed off, shaking her head.

Valencia downed her drink and stood. “I need
to talk to Robert,” she stated. “I won’t tell him anything about
you two, I swear. I need to know.” She looked away, tears filling
her eyes again. “He’s a good person, a good husband. He wouldn’t…”
she cut off, overcome with emotion.

Heaven got up, hugging her friend. “Hun,
there’s no way you could have known,” she soothed.

Valencia turned, throwing Heaven’s arms off
of her. “No! He wouldn’t do that! He’d never hurt anyone. They made
him…threatened him or something!”

Heaven just nodded and refilled Val’s drink.
She sat down, running her eyes over me again.

“I expected you to look…” she started and
shook her head, laughing.

“What?” I asked.

“Different, that’s all. You know, like how
they dress in movies.”

I rolled my eyes. “You mean wear a gas mask,
tight leather pants, and a shirt that only covers half my torso,
right?”

“Pretty much. And black platform boots with
lots of buckles.”

“What the fuck good would that do? Do you
realize how impractical that is?”

She smiled. “I never thought of it before.”
She put her finger on her right cheek, subconsciously rubbing at a
fading scar. Heaven stared at Hayden again, her eyes taking in
every feature of his face. “I’m sorry,” she said and blinked. “You
look like my cousin. He’s been gone for years.”She blinked and the
seriousness came back to her face. She bit her lip as she thought.
“You want to talk to Samael?”

“Ideally,” Hayden said.

“And then what?”

Hayden’s shoulders tensed. “Honestly, we
don’t know.”

“We want to make things right,” I said,
pushing my hair back.

“So do I,” Heaven said. “I had this nagging
feeling.” She took a deep breath and shook her head. “And I wasn’t
the only one. We all said if we found out the truth…I don’t know.
We hadn’t gotten that far because the idea was too scary to discuss
any further. But I promise you, you’re not alone in wanting to make
things right.”

I sat up, eyeing my bow as it rested at my
feet. I wasn’t ready to give up the weapons just yet. “No offense,
but why do you want to help us?”

Heaven stood, going to the window. “My uncle
was in the Marines,” she started. “He always stood for the right
thing. He would want me to help.” She turned back around. “He
raised me after my mom skipped out. And he introduced me to my
husband, who’s a politician. He instilled that in me, doing the
right thing.” She looked down at her large diamond ring. Then she
bit her lip and shook her head.

“He didn’t want to stay here,” she blurted.
“My uncle, I mean. He told me it didn’t feel right. He said he was
going to check something out and come back for me and Danny once he
found out the truth.” She heavily sighed. “He never made it
back.”

“What?” Valencia asked. “You never told
me.”

“What was there to tell?” She shook her head.
“My uncle is a good man. He followed his gut and it got him
killed.” She turned back to the window. “He would have come back if
he wasn’t dead. I know it.”

Hayden stood. “Is your uncle Henry
Fuller?”

Heaven whipped around. “How do you know
that?”

My heart skipped a beat as everything clicked
into place. The glass slipped from Valenica’s hand, spilling all
over the carpet. Heaven stood by the window, eyes pushed together
in shock.

Hayden swallowed. “Fuller set up our camp.
He’s the one who told us the truth.”

Heaven leaned against the wall to keep from
falling. “Oh my God,” she muttered. “He’s alive?”

Hayden’s brow furrowed. “No. He had a heart
attack not that long ago,” he said gently. “I’m sorry.”

“He was right,” she whispered to herself. “Oh
my God, he was right.” She stared at the ground for a few seconds
before flying to Hayden’s side. “He saved all of you?”

Hayden nodded. “He did. And he would have
come back for you,” he added. “But he couldn’t. He told me that
since he knew the truth, he would be killed if the government found
him.”

Heaven turned around with tears in her eyes.
“Val, we have to do something! We have to end this!”

“How?” Val said as she bent over to mop up
the spilled drink.

“We have an idea,” I said.

“Tell me,” Heaven said. “I will do whatever I
can. You have my word. And yours too, right Val?”

Valencia shook her head. “I…I don’t know. If
your uncle…” She sank in the chair with her head in her hands.
“This is too much.”

“You said other people doubt Samael, right?”
I asked Heaven.

“Right.”

“Can we talk to them?”

“Yes. Yes, of course! They’ll want to see
you.” She lowered her voice. “We’ve met a few times before.
Everyone is scared of getting caught. If you break the rules here
or question Samael you get thrown out.”

“Fuck that,” I said, pushing my eyebrows
together. “That wasn’t enough of a clue for you that something was
horribly wrong?”

Heaven shook her head. “I know. We’re all
scared. I didn’t think we had a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” Hayden told
her.

“I know that now. I’ll get my friends.” She
stood, then realized it was late. She turned back to us. “I can get
a meeting set up tomorrow, but not until the evening. It has to
look discrete. I don’t think you’ll mind waiting, right? By the
looks of it, you two need some rest.”

“That’s an understatement,” I said.

“There’s an empty room at the end of the
hall,” Heaven said. “It’s nothing fancy but it will do. I’ll bring
you clothes.”

* * *

Heaven’s version of ‘nothing fancy’ was my
version of living it up. The room she took us to was set up like a
typical hotel room with one king size bed, a little table and
chairs by the window, a mini fridge and a desk. The bathroom was a
glorious sight: a counter with double sinks, a shower and a
whirlpool tub. I set my bow on the counter and looked at myself in
the mirror.

My hair was crusted with blood that I was
sure wasn’t mine. My face was speckled with red and my tank top was
stained from sweat. I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled the tank top
over my head just as Heaven knocked on the door.

Hayden let her in. She was holding a fabric
shopping bag full of clothes. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like,” she
said. “Or what sizes you’d need.” I stepped out of the bathroom in
just a sports bra and jeans. “Whoa,” she said when she saw me. “You
are incredibly physically fit. Maybe I should get chased around by
crazy people,” she joked.

Hayden and I didn’t laugh. She apologized and
said she’d be back later with food. Hayden and I stripped down and
got into the shower. I didn’t realize how nicked and scratched I
was until I scrubbed myself with a bar of soap. I winced, but
didn’t stop. I wanted to be clean.

I ran a wash cloth over Hayden’s face, gently
scrubbing away the blood that had dried on his head. He turned up
the temperature of the water and put his slippery hands on my
waist. Even though hot water poured down on us, a shiver ran
through me. I dropped the washcloth and wrapped my arms around his
neck, reaching up to kiss him.

His hands slid up my back, crushing me
against his slick chest. I ran my hands down his arms, feeling all
the bumps and bruises.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

We finished showering, carefully cleaning our
wounds and got out. I gave the whirlpool a look but was too tired
to do anything besides collapse into bed. I got as far as putting
on a pair of cotton shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt when Heaven
came back.

“Is this ok?” she asked as she came in. She
was carrying a tray with sandwiches, salads, yogurt, cookies and a
bottle of juice. “It was all I could get. You can’t order anything
past eight,” she said with annoyance.

“We can order food?” I asked, feeling like a
kid on Christmas.

“Uh, yeah. We have a limit though. Tell me
what you want too. This room is supposed to be empty. I happen to
know where they keep the master key.” She smiled and set the tray
down. “I know you’re tired so I won’t bother you.” She moved to the
door. “In the morning can you tell me more about my uncle? I want
to know everything he did.”

“Of course we will,” Hayden said. He was
dressed only in plaid pajama pants.

Heaven ran her eyes over his muscular torso,
looking at his scars a few seconds too long. “I don’t think the
shirts I brought you will fit.” She blinked and looked back into
his eyes. “My husband isn’t as built as you are. I’ll bring
something else in the morning when I bring you breakfast.”

“Thanks,” I said and felt slightly awkward,
like I had my first day at the compound. We were used to helping
others, not having the help given to us.

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “I’m in room
three twenty-one if you need anything. Danny will be in there some
time tonight when he decides to leave the bar but don’t hesitate if
you need anything, ok?”

“I think we’ll do fine with what we have,”
Hayden assured her. As soon as she left and the door was locked, we
brought the tray of food to the bed. I devoured the salad like it
was a freaking piece of cake.

We ate everything Heaven had brought us and
collapsed onto soft pillows. I pulled the fluffy white comforter
over my shoulders, snuggling close to Hayden.

“This is weird,” I said, hardly able to
resist sleep from having a very full belly combined with being
extremely exhausted.

“It is,” Hayden said. “Everything is so
normal. It’s unnerving. I never thought I’d get used to camps and
shelters.”

“I know. I miss bars on our
windows…almost.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “Your grandpa
has to be right.”

“About what?” I asked and let my eyelids come
down.

“Fuller wanting us to do this.”

That opened my eyes. “I think so too. His
niece was here the whole time. He knew she would help us.” I closed
my eyes again, rolling over and putting a hand above my head. “He
didn’t know we’d find her.”

“Maybe he thought she’d find us.”

“How? She doesn’t really seem like the kind
of girl who could make it out there.”

“I have no idea, Riss. We’ll never know.”

He was right. We wouldn’t and there was no
use playing the guessing game. A certain amount of fear stayed in
my heart, so deep I wondered if it would ever leave. Things could
go wrong, terribly wrong in the blink of an eye. But for right now,
I needed to believe we were safe.

We didn’t wake up until someone knocked on
the door at seven in the morning. Heaven had a tray heaping with
waffles, pancakes, bacon, fruit, and eggs. I salivated at the sight
of it. Valencia followed behind her with another shopping bag. She
slipped into the room unnoticed.

“We talked last night,” Valencia told us,
eyeing my M9 on the nightstand. Her discomfort around guns was
obvious. “Heaven was able to get the message to the others who
questioned, uh, this place.” She shifted her weight nervously.
“There is a woman named Martha who started the secret meetings.
She’s arranged for one tonight at seven o’clock. All you have to do
is get into her room unnoticed.”

Heaven gave me a piece of paper with a hand
drawn map of the hotel floor we were on. Martha’s room was at the
opposite side of the building from where we were, and a floor
below.

“Once the coast is clear, we will get you,”
Heaven said, glancing at Valencia, who gave a tight smile and
nodded like she was eager for this to pan out, but she wasn’t able
to fool anyone, even with the layers of perfectly applied makeup.
She had spent the night crying and was close to coming unhinged
even now.