Point Of Profusion: A Post-Apocalyptic Epidemic Survival (The Morgan Strain Series Book 5)

by Max Lockwood

  Bobby Dean eyed her suspiciously. “Did, uh . . . did Melissa say anything about me while you were out?” he asked, lowering his voice.

  “After we were attacked?” Elaina clarified. “No.”

  “Cool, cool,” he said, returning to his food.

  Bethany entered the kitchen, causing Bobby Dean to nearly choke on his supper. Alec dropped his head to his chest in dismay.

  “I smelled something cooking,” she said. “Is there enough for me? If not, I can make myself something.”

  “No, there’s plenty,” Elaina said, handing her a plate. “Have a seat.”

  “How’d you sleep?” Bobby Dean asked, eyeing Bethany.

  “Fine,” she replied. “I don’t think I was in there for more than forty-five minutes. My subconscious must have smelled the food and forced me to wake up so I could eat. I’m afraid to weigh myself. I look rather sickly.”

  “You look fine,” Bobby Dean replied. “Here, take some more.”

  He tried to push some food from his dish into hers, but she blocked him with her hands. “I’m fine, really. I just needed something to fill my stomach before I go back to sleep.”

  “Can I ask you something?” Elaina said, looking nervously at Bethany.

  “Sure,” she replied cautiously.

  “In your opinion, did the most recent group of soldiers to capture you seem well-organized? If there were trouble with their crew, would they be the type to notice and investigate?”

  Bethany frowned. “I don’t really know. Like I said, I only listened to their plans on their radio for a short while. After they tossed me in the truck, we probably only made it fifty miles before it crashed. During that time, they only told me that they were collecting young women for testing. That’s all I know about them.”

  “What does your gut tell you?” Alec asked.

  Bethany thought for a moment, not sure how to answer the question. She felt as though she had a good intuition, but she rarely discussed her instinct with others.

  “I think it depends on how desperate they are to find subjects. Keep in mind, they are also specifically looking for someone in particular. They may know that there are at least two suitable candidates for their experiments, but they may have too much on their hands to investigate immediately.”

  Alec nodded. The four continued to eat as Bethany asked a few benign questions about the farm’s operations and what daily life was like when no longer on the run. Bobby Dean answered most of the questions, which Elaina found humorous. After all, Bobby Dean spent most of his time fooling around with the guns and taking long naps outside. While the others planted the crops, Bobby Dean took up knife throwing as a hobby. He defended it by saying he was working on his combat skills, but the constant whoops and hollers suggested otherwise.

  Bethany became more relaxed as she was able to turn the tables and ask the questions. She was very curious about seemingly dull topics like the home’s plumbing and electricity. When she ran out of pertinent questions, she asked about their personal lives and their backgrounds. Again, Bobby Dean was quick to answer every time, giving all sorts of details he hadn’t even told Elaina or Alec in the past six months. Alec and Elaina, on the other hand, kept their answers brief. They couldn’t help but feel like they were being used for information.

  After dinner, Bethany began to clear everyone’s plates, but Elaina quickly stopped her.

  “You should get some rest,” she said, taking the plates from her and placing them in the sink. “We’ve all been sleeping half the day away for months now. You should work on recovering from your sleep deficit.”

  “Okay,” Bethany said wearily, retreating to her room. “Goodnight.”

  Elaina gave the dishes a quick scrub, looking over her shoulder. Melissa hadn’t made it down for supper. She thought about dishing up some food to leave outside her door but remembered how stubborn Melissa was. She would probably wake to find the food untouched.

  “You’re feeling awfully generous tonight,” Alec said. “I know for a fact that you hate washing dishes.”

  “I do,” she replied, hastily rinsing plates in a bucket of water. “But I think she should be well-rested if we have to leave here tomorrow. We should at least give her a fighting chance. Besides, I think I’d feel more comfortable if we knew she was tucked into bed first. You know I don’t like it when people are roaming about in the middle of the night.”

  Alec took the rest of the dishes from her, scrubbing them clean while Elaina wiped her wet hands on her jeans. She walked to her bedroom, passing Bobby Dean who had found the spare pillows and blankets and had created a bed for himself on the couch.

  Upstairs, she washed up and put on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. She climbed into bed, waiting for Alec to join her. A few minutes later, he hopped into bed, nestling up beside Elaina.

  “Did you remember to blow out the candles and turn off the lanterns?” Elaina asked.

  “Yep. Everyone is asleep. There’s nothing left to worry about tonight.”

  Elaina turned to face him. “Something tells me you’re still worrying about something.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Elaina squeezed his hand. “You keep playing with my fingers. You get fidgety when you’re nervous.”

  “Okay, so maybe I’m a little worried about how this discussion is going to go tomorrow. I still don’t trust Bethany, Bobby Dean is getting on my nerves, and Melissa is about to snap.”

  Elaina wrapped her arms around him. “I’m sure everything will be fine. No matter what happens, you’ll always have me by your side.”

  “Until you create the cure and become too rich and powerful for me,” he joked.

  “I don’t know about that,” she said softly. “But if this discussion all goes to hell tomorrow, at least we know that the two of us will be fine on our own.”

  “Thanks,” he said, caressing her cheek. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Elaina and Alec turned over to their sides of the bed and fell asleep within minutes. They had both convinced themselves that they would be fine, no matter the outcome of their discussion with the others the next day.

  Suddenly, Elaina jumped, sitting upright in bed. Something had woken her, but she didn’t know if it was real or part of a dream. Alec stirred, mumbling something Elaina couldn’t make out.

  Then, she heard another loud crash and knew that it was real. Alec jumped out of bed and grabbed his flashlight and his gun.

  “Stay here,” he ordered Elaina, who was slipping on a pair of socks and shoes. There was no way she was going to stay in the bedroom and wait while Alec investigated the strange noise. She followed, two steps behind him.

  When they heard Bobby Dean’s yells, they knew that they were in trouble. Alec ran down the stairs, only to find armed soldiers in their living room.

  “Drop your weapons,” a stranger’s voice yelled. “You’re outnumbered and the house is surrounded. Please proceed forward with your hands up and no one will get hurt.”

  Alec turned back toward Elaina with terror in his eyes. “Lainey,” he whispered. “Go hide.”

  She shook her head. She wasn’t going to let anyone take Alec away from her. “What are we going to do?”

  “We fight,” Alec said, clenching his teeth.

  Chapter Eleven

  Elaina was numb with fear. She thought they had days before they needed to make new plans, not hours. They had sat around for months, occasionally talking strategies for these types of situations. Over time, their safety gave them a false sense of security. They became complacent, saying they would put up security measures around the house but never getting around to it. Bobby Dean played with his knives, lodging every kitchen knife into the side of the barn. Other than the small interaction in town, they had not experienced a threat in a long time. They were out of practice and without a plan.

  Bobby Dean sprang into action, grabbing the lamp from the end table. He held it out in front of his body menacingly.


  “You have no idea who you’re messing with,” he snarled. “You’ll be sorry you ever stepped foot in this house.”

  “Drop the lamp,” an armed soldier said, unimpressed. “It’s better if you comply, believe me.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  The soldier closest to Bobby Dean aimed his rifle at his face. “You were given an order.”

  “I don’t take orders from no one!” Bobby Dean roared, swinging the lamp.

  At this, Alec charged down the stairs, his gun aimed at the couple of soldiers in front of him. He knew he would never win in a shootout, but he figured he could at least keep them at a standstill for a moment.

  “Drop your weapon!” a soldier screamed at him.

  “You first,” he replied.

  Bobby Dean was tackled to the ground but managed to crawl away to the kitchen. When he returned a second later, he started flinging knives at the intruders. Body armor kept most of his attempts from landing, but the shrieks from the crowd meant that his practice had meant something. Once again, he was tackled to the ground and pinned into place. He spat in the face of one soldier who retaliated by jamming the butt of the rifle against his skull. That silenced him quickly.

  “Don’t touch him,” Alec yelled, pointing his gun at the soldiers surrounding Bobby Dean.

  One of the soldiers got spooked by Alec’s weapon and fired off a few shots in his direction. A few blasted into the wall behind him, but one struck him in the right shoulder. Elaina screamed as he dropped his handgun and clutched his bleeding arm.

  Elaina scrambled back up the stairs, only to be dragged back down by two soldiers. She grabbed onto the banister, but the men were too strong. Her face scraped against the worn carpet on the way down as she pleaded for them to stop. Her hands were jammed into metal cuffs and she was tossed into the corner like a sack of potatoes.

  She watched helplessly as the downstairs bedroom was searched and Bethany was dragged into the living room. She thrashed and fought, but her small frame could not overpower the two soldiers holding her by the arms.

  “Are there any others here?” another soldier said, coming into the house.

  “None upstairs,” someone shouted from Alec and Elaina’s bedroom.

  “We’re clear down here, too,” another said. “It’s just the four of them.”

  Elaina began to open her mouth, but Bethany shook her head at her. She promptly closed it, almost unknowingly giving away Melissa’s hiding spot.

  “Is this true?” he asked Bethany, kicking her in the side.

  “It’s true,” she gasped.

  “Check the house again,” he ordered. “Take the others out to the truck. Make sure they don’t get away this time.”

  The four were stuffed into a large windowless van. Bobby Dean was still unconscious from the blow to his head. Bethany put her hand in front of his mouth to make sure he was still breathing.

  “Alec, are you okay?” Elaina cried, rushing over to be by his side. She wanted to be useful and help him stem the bleeding, but her hands were still bound behind her back.

  “Not great.” He grimaced. “I think it missed all the major blood vessels but it’s right in the joint. I can’t move my arm and it hurts like hell.”

  Elaina was horrified for his health. Melissa had a similar injury and she’d nearly died from it. The only thing that saved her was access to pharmaceuticals and a safe place to rest for a few days. Elaina had no idea where they were going and how they would be treated. From what she knew of these soldiers, it didn’t look good for Alec.

  “Bethany, can you help him?” Elaina squeaked, her voice breaking. She peeled off her wool socks and handed them to Bethany.

  Bethany shuffled around the back of the van and pressed a balled-up sock on Alec’s shoulder. He winced and removed his hand from his arm, wiping the blood onto his pants.

  The smell of it made Elaina dizzy. She was never one to be squeamish, but this was different. This was Alec’s blood. When she looked at the pained expression on his face and his labored breathing, she felt a pain in her chest that wouldn’t go away.

  “Why haven’t we left yet?” Bethany said frantically. “We’ve been in here for a while.”

  “I don’t know,” Alec said. “Do you think they’ve found Melissa?”

  “They said they were going to do a double-check. I just hope that none of the soldiers from the woods are still around. They’ll know she’s missing.”

  Elaina’s stomach dropped. These soldiers were impatient. If Melissa was giving them a tough time, they wouldn’t treat her too kindly.

  “Is there anything else in the house they would interested in?” Bethany asked.

  Elaina shrugged. “All of my lab notes are in there. I don’t know if that’s something that interests them. I keep them tucked in an old dictionary, though. I don’t know if they’d find them.”

  The front doors opened and soldiers piled in the seats. Bethany pounded on the tinted partition between the soldiers and the captives, begging for answers. However, they took off without giving so much as a clue to where they were headed.

  “This is all your fault,” Alec said, glaring at Bethany. Elaina was surprised to hear him speak that way. He was usually kind and polite, even in stressful situations.

  “Alec, just focus on your breathing,” Elaina pleaded. “You’re badly injured. You don’t need your heart rate rising like that.”

  “No, I think she should know that I’ve caught on to her tricks. Let me guess, you’re one of them. You came into our home as a spy and led them directly to us.”

  “No,” Bethany cried. “I don’t know who these people are. I’ve never seen them before in my life.”

  “You were just saying last night that they sounded like the people who you were with before you came here.”

  “I thought so, but they’re not. The ones I was with wore all black. These guys are in camouflage. I don’t think they’re the same at all.”

  “Sure,” Alec said. “Tell me what you know. I ‘m positive that you’re lying to us.”

  Bethany opened her mouth, but no words came out. She stuttered for a while, trying to compose her thoughts and prove her innocence. But she knew that it all looked suspect.

  “I–I don’t know what to tell you.”

  Alec scoffed. “Do you know how long we were at the farm before we had any trouble? We had over six months of undisturbed, normal life. Then, you appear out of nowhere and everything goes to crap. It wasn’t perfect, but we were happy and safe. Not long after we gave you a meal and a bed to sleep in, Melissa and Elaina got attacked in the woods. Then, we got ambushed, I got shot, and we’re stuffed in a van. Bobby Dean is unconscious, Elaina is handcuffed, and I’ve got a bullet in my arm. What happened to you?”

  Bethany felt the swelling around her ribs where she was kicked. It hurt even just grazing it with her fingertips. She had been roughed up in the ambush, but ultimately, she managed to get away mostly unscathed.

  “I didn’t ask for that,” she said. “I don’t know why they shot you and not me. It might have something to do with the fact that I wasn’t pointing a gun at anyone. They dragged me out of bed. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

  “The truth,” Alec roared.

  Bethany clenched her fists. “I told you the truth. I sat down and answered all of your prying questions. I have no explanation for today other than bad luck. Blaming me isn’t going to help our situation.”

  “Can you believe this, Lainey?” Alec hissed.

  “Actually, I agree with her about that,” Elaina said carefully.

  “What?”

  “We may never know the truth. But that doesn’t change the fact that we need to work together to get out of here. You said it yourself tonight—we can’t expect to get anywhere if the group is divided.”

  “That was different,” he said, his jaw tightly clenched in pain. “That was when everyone was annoyed with each other. We have someone actively sabotaging us. I don’t think
we should say another word while she’s around. I don’t want her to know our every move before we make it.”

  Bethany sighed dramatically. Elaina struggled with the handcuffs, moving her body so she could rest her hands on Alec’s knee. She needed to keep him calm and rational.

  “Let’s look at the facts,” she said. “If Bethany were working as an agent, she would be in the front seat, not the back. She was also the last one to be apprehended in the house. If she were a soldier, they wouldn’t have grabbed her and roughed her up. They would have left her alone. I can’t speak for the truthfulness of her other claims, but I’m fairly certain that she did not cause our capture. She’s in just as much danger as we are. If we want to ditch her the second we get out of here, that’s fine with me. But as long as we all need to get the hell out of here, we should work together.”

  Alec closed his eyes. For a second, Elaina feared that he was going out of consciousness from the blood loss.

  “This doesn’t look good for us,” he said after a moment of silence. “Bobby Dean is knocked out. I’m bleeding profusely. We can’t just hop out of the van and run.”

  Bethany nodded. “Sometimes, you have to let the horror consume you before you can get out. We might have to play along until we can leverage our way out of the situation. I’ve been here before. It sucks, but we might just have to wait and see what our best option is. We won’t know until we get wherever we’re going.”

  “I think you’re right,” Elaina said. “Now, we need to focus on staying calm. Alec, are you still with us?”

  He nodded weakly. “Yeah.”

  “Just try to focus on me,” she said. “Breathe in and out. Slowly, now.”

  He followed her voice, taking slow, deep breaths. His face was getting paler by the minute, but at least he was slowing his heart rate to a normal speed.

  “Alec, you’re going to be okay,” Elaina said in a soothing voice, trying to stroke his knee as best she could in her compromised state.

  Bobby Dean groaned from the back of the van. Bethany slid over to inspect him, carefully cradling the giant bump on his head.

  “Bobby Dean,” she said nervously. “Do you know who I am?”