Countdown to Zero (Patient Zero Book 2)

by Adrianne Lemke

  “What about Ze-” Shanti started.

  “GO!” Rex cut her off with a harsh gesture.

  She and Kate left without another word.

  Rex and I remained silent for the first minute, but I had to ask. “At risk of setting off an explosion… Shanti’s right. What about Zero? Where is she? There’s no way she would have left Jake willingly.”

  The other boy touched Jake’s face with a sigh. “I know,” he answered softly. “I know she’s in trouble, okay? I just… I have no idea what to do right now, Mike. Jake and Zero are my family. I don’t know how to be without them anymore.”

  I felt a flare of sympathy for the boy. “They’ll be okay. Jake’s tough, and Z… well, she can survive anything.”

  Rex shook his head slightly. “She acts like that, but she’s only a kid, just like us. She’s the strongest, toughest person I know.”

  His gaze fell to where his hand held pressure over one of Jake’s wounds. “But if she thinks Jake was killed? Honestly, I don’t know if she’ll even be able to function.”

  “Maybe so,” I said with a nod. “But we will find her. And we’ll do whatever we have to in order to get Jake back on his feet.”

  A groan drew our attention to the figure on the ground. “Jake? Can you hear me?” Rex shifted so his face hovered over Jake’s.

  The man’s eyelids fluttered for a moment before he squinted and cracked them open. “R-Rex?”

  Even the weak question caused a wide smile to cross Rex’s face. I felt a matching one on my own.

  “Hey, how’re you feeling?” Rex asked.

  Jake shifted with another grunt. Then his eyes flew open again to meet Rex’s. “Zero! Where’s Zero? They were going to take her!”

  “Did you see where?” Rex asked. His tone was urgent. “Do you know which direction they went?”

  Jake leaned back, his eyes closed once again. “No. Not the same direction as you, but otherwise I don’t know.”

  “Maybe the dogs can help?” I suggested.

  Rex shook his head uncertainly. “I doubt it. They aren’t trained search dogs. At least not that we know of.”

  “Rex, you need to get people looking. If we don’t find her soon…” Jake’s voice trailed off.

  I exchanged a worried look with the other boy. “If we don’t find her soon, we may never find her,” I said softly.

  Kate and Shanti came back, followed by Alex and Ali. They raced to us, and Kate immediately got to work on Jake’s wounds.

  “Mike, Alex, Ali, come with me,” Rex said. “We’re going to search for any sign of Zero.”

  The dogs sat nearby and watched everything we did. “I think we should take Siren with us, and leave King to help guard Jake. He’s pretty good at sniffing out the zombies,” I suggested.

  Rex grinned. “Yeah, and Siren is pretty decent at sniffing out Z. Good call, Mike.

  “Kate, Shanti, stay in the trees,” he ordered. “The shadows should keep you hidden, and you should be able to hear if anyone or anything approaches.”

  “Got it,” Kate said. She may have chafed at the orders from a teenager, but she seemed to accept that he was right. “Go get our girl back,” she continued with a smile. “I’ve got this.”

  Jake gave a weak grin. “I’m good, Rex. Go get ‘er.”

  With one last glance back, we walked out of the woods, the smaller of the two dogs at our side. Siren soon raced ahead. “Siren, come!” Rex called as she got too far from us.

  She didn’t come back, but she froze for a second before disappearing into the woods. Rex and I raced forward to try to find her. I heard Alex and Ali’s footsteps behind us as they ran to catch up.

  “Where did she go?” Rex asked. He looked around frantically. “We can’t lose her! She’s Z’s dog. We have to get her back!”

  I placed a hand on his arm. It seemed the younger boy was a bit more freaked out by Zero’s disappearance than he’d originally appeared.

  “We’ll find them both,” I told him with more confidence than I felt. A dog could run much faster than a person. And the people who took Zero had a pretty hefty head start on us. They could be anywhere by now.

  We reached the area where Siren had disappeared. A glance around showed a hardly noticeable dirt trail behind a thin layer of branches. “This way, Rex. I think Siren went down this trail.”

  He shushed me and waved toward our other companions to join us. “Alex, Ali, come down the trail a little way with us. If we find something you hang back and be ready to help if necessary. Mike and I will do any heavy lifting.”

  Alex shifted. “You sure? We might be able to help locate Zero.”

  I narrowed my eyes and saw Rex had raised an eyebrow. “What? How?” Rex asked.

  The siblings eyed each other, and Ali gave a slight shrug. I hadn’t heard Ali speak at all yet, and it seemed she still wasn’t quite ready. Her brother opted to take point. “I… well, we learned we could sense others like us. At least we could when Zero was near.”

  “You didn’t mention this before why, exactly?” Rex snapped. “Didn’t you think it might be good information to have?”

  Alex’s mouth quirked and he dropped his gaze. “Sorry. We aren’t used to having friendly people around. We never spoke to the guards or the doctors. If we did… well…” His voice trailed off and he looked at his sister sadly.

  I cringed at the implication and saw the moment when Rex made the connection as well. He winced as if in physical pain. “Got it. Nothing like that will happen to you here. Not with us. And we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t end up with the guards again.”

  Without another word, we all started to walk down the trail. “I think Zero is down this way,” Alex said. His eyes had a faraway look.

  Ali rested a hand on her brother’s arm and nodded. She had the same look on her face as Alex. “She’s definitely this way,” he said again.

  Rex and I glanced at each other, then I shrugged. It made sense for her to be down this hidden pathway. At least as much sense as anywhere else at this point. Although something told me she would be at the end of this trail.

  A dog barked somewhere ahead of us, which seemed to lend credit to our theory. Rex motioned the rest of us to stay hidden and put a finger to his lips. We crept further down the path and crouched behind some trees to observe the situation before barging in.

  Just beyond our hiding spot was a beat up old cabin. Siren sat outside it, her tail wagging. I could hear soft whines coming from the dog.

  Rex motioned for us to come closer. “I’m going to get closer. We need to see if anyone is inside. Keep an eye out, and whistle if you spot movement. I’ll be back shortly.”

  I wanted to argue, but there seemed to be no other choice. The people who had Zero weren’t likely to stay in the same place long. Especially since they knew she had friends nearby.

  Our current leader crept across the yard at a snail’s pace. As he’d asked, I kept an eye on the cabin itself for any sign of activity.

  Through one dusty window I saw shadowy forms, seemingly sitting at a table. From what I could tell, they were eating. Something my rumbling stomach told me would be a great idea soon.

  Ali giggled a bit at the noise. Her nose crinkled and she covered her mouth—either to block the noise or because she was naturally shy about her smile. Either way, it was a nice, innocent sound. I found myself grinning at her ruefully.

  Every teenage boy wants a pretty girl to laugh at his body noises, right? Alex raised an eyebrow at his sister, who shrugged and pushed a strand of light brown hair behind her ear. She didn’t say a word, but the look on Alex’s face softened as he watched her grin in pure amusement.

  I turned my attention back to the cabin. “Guys!” I hissed. I let out a sharp whistle and Rex glanced back toward me. Alex and Ali stepped back so they were deeper in the tree line, but I stayed where Rex could see me. Siren ran back to me at the whistle.

  Rex held up his arms as if to ask what I’d seen. I gestured b
ehind him.

  At the window, one of the shadowy forms stared out at him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Zero

  After he allowed me to clean up, the soon-to-be dead man tied my arms in front of me and led me back to the same room I’d been in before. I didn’t fight. I was outnumbered, and after everything… I just felt wrung out. Hollow in ways I’d only felt after losing my parents. Even if I could spot an opening, I doubted I’d have the energy to take advantage of it. Chances were, they’d turn before I found a way out anyway.

  He let me get comfortable on the floor, then tied my feet together again. I stayed curled in a ball while he hesitantly left the room. My silence and blank stare apparently unnerved him. Too bad I couldn’t feel any real pleasure in that.

  The smell of food heating up wafted into my prison. Most likely some sort of soup. A hot meal was something I normally coveted, but today I swallowed several times to avert the nausea caused by the scent. My stomach roiled, and I clenched my eyes shut against my current reality.

  A reality which suddenly included a dog whining. My eyes flew open and I shifted. My skin chafed under the ropes, so I stilled once again. Men’s voices came from the other room. Loud enough to hear, but not enough to understand what they said.

  The tone seemed worried. Maybe a bit fearful. Had the dead man begun to turn? It didn’t usually take long.

  A sliver of hope dared to cut through my despair. The dog whining. Worried voices. Had my friends found me?

  My hope turned to dread as the door crashed open. One of the men stormed in, grabbed my arms, and shook me. “What did you do?” he yelled. “What did you do to Zach and Aaron?”

  Cringing from the bruising grip, I shook my head. “They took me. They took my friend from me. What happened to them, they brought on themselves.”

  His grip on my arms tightened. I winced at the pain, my eyes closed as I fought to escape his anger. “What do you mean? What did you do to them?”

  I forced myself to meet his eyes and say steadily. “I warned them. One of them, anyway. You’re going to want to either shoot them or leave. Otherwise you’re a dead man as well.”

  He shook me again. “Tell me!”

  “You ever wonder why I’m on the wanted posters?” I asked with a humorless grin. “Did you not read the fine print?”

  His bruising grip loosened slightly as he thought back to the posters. “Patient Zero,” he muttered.

  Without warning he let go of me. I fell to the ground with a pained grunt. “They’re turning because you turned them. How?”

  I shrugged. “You’d have to ask the people who are trying to pay to get me back. They did something to me to cause this. So—as you might be able to imagine—I’m not exactly eager to go back to them.”

  “What do I do about my friends?” he asked wistfully.

  I was actually starting to feel a bit bad for the guy. Between the fight on the road, and his two friends now about to turn… it seemed he might be on his own.

  The bruises rapidly forming on my arms, and my now bruised tailbone, prevented me from extending an offer for him to join us. I couldn’t trust someone with that kind of temper. He would figure things out eventually.

  Thumping sounds came from the other room. As much as I hated it, I had to rely on this man to help protect me from the new zombies. “Look… Your friends are beyond help. We aren’t. Let me go. Give me a weapon, and we might be able to survive this.”

  I may have lost Jake—a thought that had me wanting to curl in a ball on the floor again—but I still had Rex. Besides, the rest of my friends needed me to pull myself together and go rescue them.

  Grunts and groans now sounded in the area outside my prison. “Please,” I said. “Let me go, or a lot more people are going to suffer this same fate.”

  The so far unnamed man must have done the math and figured his odds were better if I could fight alongside him. He finally freed me from the ropes.

  I rubbed the raw skin on my wrists, then held out a hand.

  “What?” he asked.

  I raised an eyebrow. This guy’s brain clearly didn’t fire on all cylinders. “I need a weapon. Your friend left my sword on the road, and I’m honestly not sure what happened to my crossbow at this point.”

  He eyed me for a moment before he reached to his ankle and grabbed a small handgun. “You know how to use this?”

  I huffed and grabbed the gun. “Yeah. I’ve been hunting these things with any weapon I can find for the last year. Of course I’ve figured out how to use guns.”

  My neck started to tingle. The transformation was now complete. “Uh, I think we might have more of a problem than we originally thought,” I warned. “There are more creatures outside.”

  “What do I call you, kid?” he asked. “I’m Chase.”

  “Zero. I’d say it was nice to meet you, but…” I allowed my voice to trail.

  Chase considered me for a moment before he reached into his back pocket. “Here,” he held out a pocket knife. “It’s no sword, but it could help save you.”

  I huffed out a laugh. “Save me? Why’re you worried about that all of a sudden? I’m still the person who turned your friends.”

  “Maybe so.” He nodded, the hand holding the knife still outstretched. “But I don’t believe you’re the one to blame. I never joined them to hurt kids.”

  Our conversation was hardly enough to block out the noise of the zombies at the door. They knew fresh meat was beyond the thin barrier, and weren’t willing to leave until they got it.

  Got us.

  Beyond the pounding at the door and the breathy moans of the creatures, I could hear barking. My eyes widened. It hadn’t been my imagination earlier. There was a dog outside.

  The next sound I heard was a bit more ominous. Gunfire.

  “We need to get out there,” I urged. “The other creatures are here now. I can stop them if we get outside.”

  A crack formed on the door. Chase and I exchanged a quick look before we each raised our guns and fired as the crack became a hole.

  Fresh made zombies still look mostly human. The differences at first are mostly internal. Their brains basically die but come back with just enough instinct to go after living people. The decay started later, although the new creature’s eyes already had a milky white sheen, and their mouths gaped open, saliva dripping down their chins.

  I fired again and heard Chase do the same. The creatures fell back and we rushed the door. One of them… the one that used to be Aaron, snarled and ran at me. I put a bullet through his skull and kept running.

  Despite the temporary alliance with Chase, I didn’t wait for him. He was part of what happened to me. He would either make it or not. It wasn’t my problem either way. Unless he did something to prevent me from getting back to my friends.

  More gunfire sounded from outside, and I slowed to make sure I didn’t run directly into worse trouble than I was currently in. I could tell there were fewer of the enemy outside now than had been there a little bit ago. Whoever was fighting them was doing a good job.

  A dog snarled and barked furiously. It was right outside the door. One quick glance behind me showed Chase had dispatched the other creature and had followed me to the door.

  I leaned to peak out the window. A grin crossed my face. Siren was out there! Which meant my friends had to be close. Before I allowed myself to go out, I closed my eyes and felt for the webs connecting the creature’s thoughts. I slowly worked at those tendrils to calm their bloodlust and push them away.

  My emotions still ran high. I had already taken my vengeance on two of the men who’d taken Jake, but there was one more here with me I could destroy. I longed to see him suffer the way he made me suffer. To hurt physically as much as I hurt emotionally.

  Something must have changed. Chase backed away, his gun raised in my direction despite the monsters now bursting into the cabin.

  “Kid? Zero?” His voice shook. “I thought we were allies in this fight!”<
br />
  Allies? My only allies were the creatures who came when I called. The creatures who could protect me from people like this man who threatened me. Hurt me. Took my friends from me.

  The hive mind screamed with the desire for flesh. I sent one thought that raced across every strand of the web.

  Feed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  My command went unheeded. The monsters had begun to surge forward, but suddenly backed away and disappeared into the woods.

  Something soft nudged at my hand, and I looked down to see Siren. She whined and licked my hand before she started to run toward a different section of woods.

  “Z!” Rex’s voice yelled. “Zero! You’re okay!”

  Before I fully registered his appearance, he had me swept up into a hug. “Z, Jake’s alive. He’s alive, and he’s waiting for us.”

  “What did you do?” Chase’s voice came out in a harsh whisper.

  I huffed. “I thought I told the horde to kill you. Apparently, the order didn’t take.”

  Rex stepped back, his forehead crinkled as he watched me. “Z, did the hive take you over again? The bloodlust?”

  Could it have been? Likely. I didn’t want to consider the other option, so I nodded my head. This whole series of events had a surreal quality to it. “I don’t… I thought he and his friends killed Jake,” I explained. “He was the only one left.”

  “You should go,” Rex ordered Chase. “If we see you again, you probably won’t survive the meeting.”

  Chase seemed to want to argue, but I glared at him until he turned away. Mike and Rex added their glowers to mine until he grabbed a small duffel bag and snuck by us out the door.

  “Alex and Ali are outside. They’ll make sure he leaves,” Rex assured me. “They also made the horde leave. Not sure how, since you’re normally the one who can control them, but I’m glad they did.”

  I gave a dry chuckle. “Yeah. I’m glad too. It was bad enough dealing with the two zombies I made, let alone needing to deal with the horde outside.”