Countdown to Zero (Patient Zero Book 2)

by Adrianne Lemke

  I smiled wryly. “Yeah. You’re right. My sense of danger can be a bit skewed on occasion.”

  “But you do try to avoid it where you can,” Jake said. “I think you’re right. We should drop our stuff somewhere, leave the dog and a couple people, and try to figure out what’s happening at our place.”

  Right. A group of seven was not exactly inconspicuous. It would be better for fewer people to scout out the place. “We should get moving,” I said. “We’ll wait until we’re closer to the farm before we split up.”

  Siren followed right at my side when we started walking again. The dog kept glancing up at me, as if worried we were going to leave her. If I had my way, we wouldn’t. Unfortunately, the way things were, we might end up with no choice but to abandon the poor thing.

  We walked for another hour before we started seeing signs of trouble. “I think the horde I noticed before came this way,” I suggested.

  The small town we walked through now had broken windows, bloody streaks up and down the streets, and I could sense a handful of the creatures nearby. They weren’t heading our way, and as far as I could tell they had no idea we were there, so I kept them at the back of my mind, focused instead on getting to the farm.

  “There are a few here,” Alex agreed. “Ali and I will make sure they don’t come closer to us, Zero. You don’t need to worry about it.”

  I raised an eyebrow at the normally taciturn boy finally speaking before he was spoken to. “Thanks, Alex. Ali. We appreciate it,” I acknowledged with a smile.

  He smiled shyly. “You’re welcome.”

  “All right,” I said with a quick look at the rest of my group. “Let’s keep moving. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to leave stuff here, so we’ll find someplace a bit closer to the farm. Although… maybe once we’ve figured things out, we can come back to find any usable supplies.”

  My gut almost ached with dread at what we were about to walk into. I hoped my trepidation wasn’t obvious to the others. It wouldn’t do to have them see exactly how worried I felt. The little we did know didn’t bode well for our family.

  Our farm wasn’t far from the town, and it was straight on this road. If this town had been decimated, then what about our friends?

  Chapter Three

  A little over half an hour passed before we found another abandoned house. We’d been pushing our speed in order to get back sooner. By the time we stopped walking my breaths were coming out in harsh pants that almost burned my throat.

  “There,” I said once I’d caught my breath. I gestured to my intended destination. A two floor old farmhouse with a huge yard around it. Plants had overtaken most of one wall, grew over a couple rusted out cars, and the shed. The house itself was falling apart. Given how dilapidated it looked, I felt fairly certain no one had been there in quite some time.

  After a quick look around to confirm that we were alone, I gave my preliminary orders. “We’ll drop our stuff here. We don’t need to make ourselves comfortable, but get situated so those left behind can keep an eye out for trouble.” The walkie talkies would have been useful in this situation. Unfortunately, we didn’t have them. “We’re not too far from the farm, I figure about another ten to fifteen minutes. I think it’s only about another mile or so down this road.”

  Shanti frowned. She’d been less confrontational since joining our quest, but the girl still occasionally disliked having to follow my orders. “Why did we stop so far away? Can’t we get closer first before we split up?”

  Before I could answer, Rex explained. “If we run into trouble and someone is chasing us, it would be better to have a bit of distance between us and all our supplies. With the distance to cover, we would have a better chance of ditching anyone who comes after us. If we had to stop really close to pick up our stuff, it would slow us down.”

  “There’s also less of a chance that anyone who might find you would think you had anything to do with our farm. Distance can be a good thing,” I finished.

  The frown faded, but she still seemed a bit down. “You, Rex, and Jake, right? The three musketeers. Always running off on your own.”

  “Not always. You were part of our musketeer group this time, Shanti,” I answered with a small smile. “You’re right, though. The three of us know each other really well. We’re able to communicate with each other, even when we have to stay quiet.”

  Shanti seemed to accept my reasoning. The conversation ended with a nod from the older girl. She moved to help hide the supplies. Hiding would be easy with the amount of overgrowth on the property. And they should still have a good sight line to the road in order to keep an eye out for trouble.

  “It shouldn’t take you long to check things out,” Kate said. “I think we’ll stay outside while you’re gone. That way we can take off if we have to, and not get trapped in the house.”

  There were some old lawn chairs and a table set up on a stone patio, so they would at least be able to relax for a bit.

  “Keep Siren in the house if you have to,” I suggested. “She may try to follow me, and I don’t want her giving us away.”

  “No problem. Siren! Here girl,” Shanti called, then gave a sharp whistle. The dog followed her into the house, her tail wagging. She seemed much happier now that she was with us.

  I dropped my bag of supplies next to the wagon, and clapped my hands together. “You guys ready to go?”

  Rex grabbed his handgun, Jake already held his rifle, and I had my sword at my hip and the crossbow slung across my back. We were as ready as we could be for whatever situation we were about to walk into.

  On such a nice sunny day, it seemed wrong that I had a chill running down my spine. The separation from the rest of our group made me uneasy to begin with. Siren’s sudden appearance concerned me even more. The way our world worked now, there was no way to keep in touch with someone from a distance. I needed to get back and see what had happened.

  With a short wave to those left behind, Jake, Rex, and I headed out. I couldn’t speak for my companions, but I felt my whole body tense as we got closer to the farm. I couldn’t sense any creatures, but a human enemy could be anywhere. Who would have thought I would be more nervous about running into people than monsters?

  “Wait,” Jake held up a hand, interrupting my thoughts. “We’re almost there. We should get off the road and go in behind the barn. There’s a wooded area there where we can stay out of sight.”

  Rex and I agreed and let Jake take the lead. We followed only when he motioned to us. He raised one eyebrow and tilted his head at me. His silent question obvious. I gave a slight shake of my head in response. Still no creatures.

  It was oddly quiet as we approached the farm. We’d had several animals there when we left, all of which made a decent amount of noise. The horses had been fairly quiet, but normally there would be noise from the cows and goats. No barking sounded either, so I wondered what happened to the other dog, King.

  The horses and goats were gone. It was one of the first things I noticed, since their pasture was right in front of us. The fences were still intact, so I wondered whether one of my kids had let them out, or if someone else had come and taken them.

  The grim look on Jake’s face told me a story. He didn’t think anything good had happened here. We cautiously moved on. The ground outside the pasture was torn up a bit, but honestly, I couldn’t remember whether it had been that way before.

  At the sight of the house, I felt my eyes widen. At my right side, Rex’s eyes were as wide as mine. To my left, Jake’s eyes had narrowed as he gripped his gun with a dark frown.

  “The fence…” I whispered.

  “I know, Z,” Jake set a hand on my shoulder firmly.

  The fence we’d worked so hard to put up. The one meant to protect my loved ones from harm. It had been torn apart.

  Whether by the hands of our human enemies or those of the zombies, our little safe haven had been infiltrated. From the silence, it appeared the house was empty.

  Despi
te thinking the property had been abandoned, I waved a hand behind me to keep the others quiet. Then motioned for them to follow me into the house. I drew my sword and held it at the ready in case anyone—or anything—waited inside.

  The boys followed, but spread out as we began our search of the house. Blankets and pillows were scattered over much of the living space. The entire ground level was empty. Rex reappeared from the upstairs, and shook his head silently.

  Jake came back up from the basement, and I raised an eyebrow at him. He shook his head as well. My eyes burned, but I shook my head furiously. Now wasn’t the time to add the risk of my tears to the situation.

  “Nothing?” I asked. My voice seemed overly loud in the eerie silence of the house. “No sign of anyone?”

  Jake hung his head for a moment, but shook his head again. “It did look like some of the food was missing though.”

  I turned to look at the bedding left strewn around the floor. “Yeah… I don’t see any of our bags either. Were there any upstairs, Rex?”

  “I didn’t see duffel bags. Just most of the bedding.”

  A frown flitted across Jake’s face. “So… most of the clothes are gone, I don’t see any of our weapons lying around… Did they leave before the house was ransacked?”

  Rex started to walk toward the door. “We should look for the cart. If that’s gone, we know they got out!”

  I exchanged an excited look with Jake. Rex was right. We quickly followed him out to where we’d stored the old cart.

  The space was empty. A wide grin crossed my face. “They got out!”

  Chapter Four

  Mike

  Soft footsteps padded along next to mine. I couldn’t believe my life had come to this… not again. After I’d met Zero—an amazing young girl who saved me from a lonely and dangerous existence—I didn’t think I would ever travel alone again.

  A furry head shoved at my hand, and I looked down at the dog, who was my only companion. “Sorry, King,” I said. “I know you’re with me.”

  When Zero and the others had left, everything ran smoothly for a few days. Then one of the other girls, maybe Aly? Had come from her turn at watch and warned that a small horde was headed toward us. Shortly after another boy… Zane or Kane or something, came and warned that a group of guards was coming from the other direction.

  Everyone packed as many essentials as they could grab, got the horses tied to the cart so they could move it faster than normal, and set the other animals free. No one wanted them trapped in case we weren’t able to make it back.

  We’d been surrounded. The fight had been short, but one of the adults from Scout’s group called a cease-fire. She didn’t want to see any of us kids injured. A couple others and I were at the edge of the group, and weren’t quite as involved with the fight, so the attackers didn’t pay as much attention to us.

  What was clear was who they were truly after. They wanted our leader. The girl who’d brought this whole group together. The girl who had the best potential to either make the zombie issue worse, or to fix it altogether. They wanted Zero.

  I marched through the woods, intent on my desire to find her before anyone else could. I hoped to catch her before she made it back to the farm. She had to know.

  When the guards forced us to follow them, I kept my eyes open for the best opportunity to escape. Even as I watched, I suspected they were going to allow at least one of us to ‘escape’ in order to deliver their message. After all, if they were going to set a time limit on Zero turning herself in, she had to be made aware of it somehow.

  There had only been a handful of guards, but—with the small horde approaching from the opposite direction—our only choice was to go with them. Until we reached a point in the road where the trees were thick and came right to the edge of the pavement. Once we reached that point, I made a break for it.

  The guards shouted from behind me as I raced through the woods. I had time to hope some of the others had taken advantage of the opportunity, so at least someone might manage to get away.

  My heart pounded with fear. Every moment I expected a bullet to the back. I ran in a zig-zag pattern for several minutes before I found a thick pine tree that tented over a small divot in the earth. I dove underneath, not worried about the scratches from the branches, or the skinned knee from my dive.

  The shouts grew distant, but I still couldn’t risk stepping out of my temporary safe shelter. Only when I hadn’t heard anything for nearly an hour did I risk peeking through the branches to check for any pursuers. My heart pounded hard even at the memory of my fear.

  Once I’d ascertained that no one was behind me, I slowly edged out from my hiding space. When I felt confident no one had seen me, I crept back toward the road. I found a slight elevation nearby where I could see through to where the guards and my friends had started to walk away. They hadn’t made it far, but all the guards had returned to the main group.

  King whined at my side and I scratched his soft head, pulling myself back to the here and now. “Yeah, buddy. I know. I’m glad we set you guys free. I’m also glad you didn’t go very far.”

  The dog tensed at my side, and I crouched next to him. The shadows in the trees were my friends. Remaining still as a statue, the two of us waited for whatever King had noticed.

  Before I even saw the thing, I smelled it. Putrid and sickening, the smell of death preceded the lone zombie. The creature lumbered along slowly. It hadn’t noticed me, or it would have moved much more quickly. My hand crept up to grip King’s collar, and I scarcely dared to breathe.

  A lone zombie was unusual. It had to have been separated from its horde somehow. Or maybe it had been the lone survivor after some sort of fight? Hard to say.

  My hand shook on the dog’s collar. After realizing I hadn’t taken a breath for a while, I carefully opened my mouth to take a slow quiet breath. Luckily, King seemed to understand he needed to remain quiet as well. All he did was lean into me. His solid warmth was the only thing preventing me from running in a panic.

  Having Zero’s ability to sense the creatures would definitely come in handy right about now. Being on my own, the ability to know when they were near would definitely make me feel more comfortable. I closed my eyes and prayed the zombie would pass by without noticing me.

  I heard the creature sniff as if smelling out its prey. Then it groaned and continued to walk through the woods. Away from me. A sigh of relief escaped, but a moment later I shuddered. It was headed in the direction I’d planned to go.

  My previous life in the quarantine zone had been difficult, but the only threats to my safety there were human or animal. Not creatures who wanted to either eat me or turn me into one of them. The guards hadn’t been the easiest to avoid, but they hadn’t actively wanted to harm me either. Not the way these creatures did.

  How could I expect to survive on my own out here? I’d hardly managed in the safer area, let alone in the infected zones. I was meant to find Zero and the others to tell them what had happened. What got me was how exactly I was meant to do so. I hadn’t been as involved in any of the plans they made for their trip to Ground Zero, so I was uncertain what route they planned to take. Or whether they would be able to follow said route.

  In our current world, situations changed in a heartbeat. I hadn’t had much one-on-one time with anyone in the group so far, but I did overhear them when they talked about the fall of one of the largest quarantine zones left.

  Despite the heat, I felt suddenly chilled, and goosebumps rose on my arms. Sudden dread filled me and I turned slowly to look behind me. Another creature was there. The smell wasn’t as strong as with the previous zombie. It looked like a normal human except for the slight gray flesh around milky white eyes, and his mouth that gaped open. Fresh turned. Someone from a farm or one of the small towns nearby most likely.

  It didn’t see me yet. At least, as far as I could tell. I silently cursed my lack of weaponry and vowed to find something as soon as I managed to escape the woods.


  King growled low in his throat. The sound was soft, but the dog’s dark eyes were fixated on the zombie. Despite my attempts to pull him down, the large dog rose and slowly stalked toward the approaching threat.

  I didn’t dare move. The dog was immune to the virus—or whatever caused the outbreak—I was not. I couldn’t follow. Instead, I watched King as he continued his slow hunt.

  My heart pounded so hard I could feel my pulse in my throat. Sweat dripped down my back. My muscles were stretched so taut my whole body shook.

  The creature spun toward me, and I froze. My lungs stuttered to a stop—

  King launched toward the zombie, a missile of black and tan. Weaponized with claws and razor sharp teeth. Intent to kill. He ripped into the creature with such fury that I had to turn away or risk losing what little I had in my stomach. After a moment, I backed away to avoid contamination.

  The dog’s growls overlapped with snarls from his prey, but eventually the creature fell. King gave it a final shake, then huffed and turned back to me. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and his tail wagged.

  I gave a wry smile. Okay. Maybe my search for a weapon would be the second thing I did once I got out of the woods.

  “Good dog,” I said and patted his side gingerly. I had to avoid the blood spattered on his coat.

  I grimaced at the gore and made my decision about my first order of business.

  “Bud, you need a bath.”

  Chapter Five

  Zero

  My excitement slowly dwindled. I still felt certain our friends had escaped the house. However, even if they’d managed to get to the road, I had no way to know which direction they chose to go. There was no indication of where the attack had come from, other than what we’d discovered in the nearby town.

  We had no idea where they would go to hide, or if they even managed to get away from any pursuit. There were no marks nearby to indicate which direction they’d gone or if they suspected they were in trouble. Which told me they must have been in a huge rush.