The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (51 page)

“Then why aren’t more people here?” I looked
around, easily spotting half of Martha’s intelligence group. I
waved my arm at the buffet table. “This isn’t enough to feed
everyone here. Not at all. I could eat all that myself.”

Martha laughed. “What does that—oh. Oh my!”
She grabbed my wrist, face white.

“You need to get everyone out of here. Have
them…have them go to their rooms or back into the meeting room. I
don’t think we have much time.” I looked through the crowd, barely
able to see Hayden. He was at the banquet hall doors. Our eyes met
and he shook his head, telling me that the doors were locked.

“What about you two?” Martha asked.

“Don’t worry about us. Get your friends out
of here. Now!”

I pulled my arm back, spinning to get to
Hayden. The lights shut off and a hush fell over the room,
attention turning to the banquet hall doors. But they didn’t
open.

The small door that led into the kitchen
opened, spilling an arc of light into the hall. Whispers filled the
room, full of wonder at what was going on. But something else
floated through the hall, drowning out the whispers.

The gargling death moans of zombies shook me,
sending red hot fear down my legs. I was too shocked to immediately
react. A high pitched scream rang out, and the zombies staggered
forward, drawn to the noise.

Speakers, mounted high on the wall, crackled
to life and classical music rang forth, so loud it coved the sounds
of the full fledged panic that broke out across the room.

“Hayden!” I screamed, to no avail. The music
was too loud. There was no way he could hear me. The only light
came from the spotlights outside. I closed my eyes to help them
adjust. So this was Samael’s grand plan? Everyone who questioned
him was in this room…and he wasn’t going to let them leave and risk
spreading the truth.

“Damn it!” I cursed. If only we had noticed
it sooner…maybe, just
maybe
we could have stopped this. The
smell of walking death permeated the air mixed with the coppery
scent of fresh blood.

Someone had already died.

“Hayden!” I screamed again. I reached inside
the slit of my dress, pulling out the knife I had concealed on my
inner thigh. I shoved a hysterical woman out of the way. “Go to the
back!” I screamed. “Get the doors open!” my instructions were lost
in a sea of Beethoven and terrified shouts.

The people ran away from the zombies like I
had wanted. I just hadn’t counted on getting knocked over and
nearly trampled. I pushed up, grasping the knife. The hem of my
dress caught under my heels again. I grabbed it and sliced into the
fabric with the blade, unevenly tearing off a good two feet.

I turned, moving through the chaos. “Hayden!”
I yelled. He had been there, right next to the kitchen door. He was
ok…he had to be. He promised me! But I hadn’t heard any
gunshots…

I got an elbow to the eye. “Ugh!” I felt like
thrashing the knife just to get people out of the way. I needed to
get to Hayden. A zombie grabbed a woman, sinking its rotting teeth
into her shoulder. He pulled back, stretching her skin until it
ripped. Blood sprayed in the air, showering down on more dinner
guests. I rushed forward, stabbing the knife into his head. The
zombie slumped down. I extended my hand to the bleeding woman,
pulling her to her feet. “Go!”

She pressed her hand onto her shoulder,
hysterically crying and scrambled away, disappearing into the
frenzied crowd.

“Hayden!” I yelled again, refusing to give up
on him. I grabbed another zombie by the back of his shirt. The
material stuck to his skin, ripping a layer off his rotting body. I
pushed the knife through his open mouth.

Hands landed on my leg. I yanked my foot up
and brought my heel down on another zombie. The stilettos turned
out to be useful after all.

Then a gunshot rang out. The music crackled
then fizzled to silence. Hayden! He shot the speaker. Adrenaline
fueled me. He was alive. And he was taking out the music. Everyone
would be able to hear the screams now. Samael couldn’t cover up the
carnage anymore.

People banged on the doors, trying to get
out. I kept pushing through, fighting off zombies. A herd swarmed
by the kitchen doors, dropping to the ground to tear into their
next meal.

Four more gun shots rang out, ringing in my
ears. The sound was wonderful, letting me know that Hayden was
alive and fighting. I stepped over a body, blood soaked through a
gray dress jacket. Zombies dove for the man, ripping at his clothes
in a desperate attempt to get to his flesh.

“Orissa!”

I whipped around. In my desperation to get to
Hayden, I had forgotten about Heaven. She stood behind a table,
holding a chair in front of her. I made a move to go to her.

“No!” she cried. “Get him. Make him pay for
this!” She swung the chair, hitting a zombie.

I swallowed, eyes watering from the foul
rotting bodies.

“Go!” she said.

I took a step back, slipping on blood. My
hands flew out, catching my balance. I didn’t want to leave Heaven.
I didn’t know her very well, but I couldn’t leave her. Not after
knowing that she was Fuller’s niece. And not after all she’d done
for us, for getting us in here.

Then it hit me. I had to go. I needed to get
Hayden and sprint out of this room. If we didn’t find Samael, all
these people would die for nothing more than the silence he wanted
and the lies he meant to conceal.

I swung my arm, shoving the knife into
another zombie’s face. I yanked the blade back, blood spraying in
the air. I heard another gunshot and followed the noise, fighting
past two more zombies. There was so much blood, so may bodies on
the floor. The zombies were grouping together to eat those already
fallen.

It gave those still alive a fighting chance.
They continued to pound on the door and rattle the handles. Someone
picked up a chair and started beating against doors that led into
the hall. Their screams were deafening.

I blinked and time stood still for a second.
I took it all in. Bodies, ripped apart and dripping with blood, lay
strewn across the hall. Their intestines and organs pulled from
their torsos and shoved into festering zombie mouths.

Martha was among them. Her lifeless eyes
stared into me. Zombies crowded around her, tearing at her gray
dress and shoving their fingers into her open stomach. A female
zombie stuck her hand in the hole, pulling up and peeling her skin
back. She dove down, slurping at the blood and stomach contents
that rolled along Martha’s side.

I looked up at the kitchen door where Hayden
had been standing. “Hayden!” I yelled. He didn’t answer. I pushed a
zombie away from me, shoving its head into the wall over and over
until his skull cracked and brown brain matter oozed out.
“Hayden!”

I looked back and didn’t see him. Five
zombies knelt on the ground by the door, ripping apart another
body. Oh God, was it Hayden? I looked around the room again, heart
beating in my throat. Where was he? Why didn’t I hear any more
gunshots? I was on the verge of panicking.

I gripped the knife so tight my fingers hurt.
I couldn’t find Hayden anywhere. I stood, rooted to the spot with
horror. No, he didn’t die. He wasn’t getting eaten. Not him.

Then the doors opened. I turned, seeing
Hayden jump out of the way. Terrified people flooded the hall,
their screams echoing throughout the entire fifth floor. Zombies
followed them.

I doubted if Samael had counted on that.

“Riss!” Hayden called. He kicked a zombie in
the knee, causing it to fall. Then he stomped on its head.

I fought my way over. “We need to get
Samael,” I told him.

He nodded and took my hand, pulling me into
the hall, shooting two more zombies and emptying his clip. He put
the gun back in the holster. We made it into the hall before a
zombie grabbed me, blood tinged saliva dripping from its mouth. I
turned, raising my foot to kick it in the stomach and shove it
away.

My leg caught on the dress and I teetered
back on my heels. Hayden caught me, giving me a push and getting me
back to my center of gravity. I outstretched my arms, wrapping them
around the zombie’s grimy head. I twisted it around and slammed him
into the wall. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but it let us get
away.

The bloody chaos gave us time to slip into
the stairwell unnoticed. I stopped, panting, as soon as the door
shut. Hayden bent over, catching his breath. He reloaded his gun.
His hands were stained with blood and his white dress shirt was
covered in red spray. He took off the jacket and untucked his
shirt.

“You need to change,” he said to me.

“No time for that. I just need our
weapons.”

Hayden nodded and started to jog up the
stairs. I stayed just a few steps behind him, too pumped on fear
and adrenaline to let the pain in my feet register. We didn’t stop
until we reached the seventh floor landing.

The screams could barely be heard up here.
Hayden ran down the hall, going into our room. I held my breath,
waiting until he returned with my bow and arrows and, thankfully,
my boots.

“Good thinking,” I said and frantically
pulled my heels off. I shoved my boots on without socks, fingers
trembling. Hayden held up the quiver, putting it over my shoulder.
I snapped the buckle around my waist and took the bow.

Hayden attached his knife to his belt and
threw his rifle over his shoulder.

“How are we going to get to him?” he
asked.

“I don’t know,” I breathed. “He’s on the top
floor. I say we just go.” I blinked, wiping blood off my forehead.
“He’s probably waiting for this to end and come in, saving everyone
else and looking like a hero.”

“Fuck him,” Hayden spat. “I got an idea.” He
started up the stairs. “I think. You go. I’ll distract
everyone.”

“Hayden, no—”

“I got this,” he pressed, turning around. “We
have to do this, Riss!”

I nodded. “We do.” I took a breath and went
up the stairs, out of breath by the time we reached the top floor,
which turned out to be a private floor set up just for Samael. The
stairs emptied into a narrow corridor.

We peered through the narrow window. Two
guards stood in the hall, looking stricken. Were they ok with what
Samael was doing? Had they agreed to come to the Regency? Or were
they simply the muscle, forced to do his dirty work. I couldn’t
think about who they were. They were in our way…in the way of the
greater good.

“Here goes nothing,” Hayden said and took his
rifle off. “Get an arrow ready.”

I nodded and reached into the quiver. Hayden
closed his eyes for a second then pounded on the door, frantically
yelling for help. He rattled the knob. I stood back going up a few
stairs, arrow at the ready.

One of the guards opened the door. “Sir, calm
down,” he said, using his body to block the doorway. I leaned over
the railing and let the arrow go. I didn’t want to kill the guard
when he might be innocent. The arrow hit him in the arm, pinning
him to the door frame. His gun clattered the floor. Hayden scooped
it up and pushed past him.

The second guard ran forward. In a swift,
graceful movement, Hayden swung, twisting his body and grabbed his
gun, yanking it from the guard’s hands. Stunned, the guard backed
up, raising his hands into the air. Hayden hit him over the head,
knocking him out. I grabbed Hayden’s rifle from the stairwell and
used the butt to conk out the guard who was stuck to the door. I
yanked the arrow free, letting his body slump to the carpet.

We hurried down the hall, stopping in front
of the only door. I stood back, arrow strung up in the bow. Hayden
knocked on the door. Another armed guard answered it, eyes going
immediately to Hayden. He never saw the arrow coming.

Hayden stepped in over the guard. One more
rushed forward, gun drawn. Hayden shot him and aimed his gun at
another. I came in, face set and arrow drawn.

“Impressive,” a voice came from inside the
room. A chill ran through me. I knew that voice, remembered it from
the endless ad campaign commercials I was subjected to. My eyes
trailed into the room, feeling like I was walking into deep, icy
water.

Samael sat at a desk, watching something in
black and white on a computer monitor. He looked just as he did in
those stupid commercials: perfectly groomed dark blonde hair
framing his youthful face. He was wearing jeans and a polo shirt,
leaning back in a leather chair as if it was just another day at
the office.

“You can put your weapons down,” he said and
waved his hand at us like he was batting away a pesky fly. “You do
realize how easily I can have you killed, right?” he laughed.
“Though I can honestly say I’m surprised you made it out of the
party.”

“You have a lot of nerve,” Hayden said
through clenched teeth and edged forward. The remaining guard
flinched.

Samael laughed. “Some call it
initiative.”

“You murdered millions of innocent people,”
Hayden snarled. “You’re nothing more than a lazy coward, killing
everyone instead of fixing the problem.”

Samael rose from his seat. Hayden and I
tensed. Hayden still had one gun on the guard and another aimed at
Samael. I had an arrow pointed at Samael’s chest. He looked me up
and down. “You’re not what I expected,” he said, putting his hands
on the desk. “But I like it.” He pushed his chair back, not taking
his eyes off the tip of the arrow. “War is no place for a woman,”
he said with a smile. “Just look what happened to your friend
Martha.”

I lunged forward. Samael held up his hands.
“Easy there, killer. All I have to do is say the word and you’re
dead.”

“Go ahead,” I snarled. “Shoot me. I can’t
hold the arrow back when I’m dead.”

Samael’s smirk wavered. “I’ll tell you what,”
he started, looking from me to Hayden. “Put your weapons down, and
I’ll send out the guards. We can talk this out like adults.”