E Virus: The Diary of a Modern Day Girl

by Jessica Ward

  "Does that include us?" Nathan asked. I could tell he was feeling a bit more comfortable around us. When he had first joined us he barely spoke a word. He was slowly but surely coming out of his shell.

  "If you'd like to, yes. At the first sign of danger I need you to let me, Leon or George know straight away. Regardless of if we are awake or asleep." Ryan told our newcomers.

  They were all keen to help and get involved, I was surprised, for teenagers I expected a Kevin and Perry attitude, but they had all managed to prove me wrong.

  "So we don't have to do it?" Sarah asked.

  "No not at all, I don't expect you to, but any help is appreciated." Ryan answered her.

  "Well, if we don't have to, I'm certainly not doing it." Duckface mumbled.

  "What was that?" Ryan asked firmly. There was a slight tone to his voice, but he masked it well.

  All eyes were now on Duckface. "Nothing." she hissed as she slithered back towards the back of the group, out of eyeshot of the rest of us.

  Andy shoved her slightly and gave her a stern look as she weaseled back to his side.

  Ryan dismissed the group. We all set to work, exploring the house and finding out what did and didn't work.

  We were very lucky with this house. Self-sustainability was of extreme importance to this particular homeowner. He had his own rainwater harvesting system, complete with filtration pump. Solar panels lined the roof providing us with electricity. He had designed his home so that he could live completely off the grid.

  Now I have no idea, whether the homeowner was male or female, but I guessed, judging from the PlayStation built into the wall and the countless televisions in almost every room.

  We unknowingly split into our subgroups as we settled down for the night. Duckface and Andy went off on their own, as per usual. The teens stayed outside, making the most of the small concrete area outside to practise their skating moves. The rest of us, George and the Professor included, sat in the living area watching the teens from inside.

  "Feels nice, doesn't it? Having a bit more space." George started.

  "Yeah, it does. I can stretch out without hitting anything." Paul agreed.

  "It feels strange, sitting here and not moving. I still feel like I'm on a moving boat, my body feels like it should be swaying." Lacey added.

  "It certainly does." the Professor agreed in his usual bubbly tone.

  Ryan couldn't seem to sit still, he paced the room, deep in thought.

  "Are you ok mate?" Leon asked.

  Ryan looked up and nodded. "Yes. I'm just trying to figure out the best plan of action. If we get the boats filled up with fuel tomorrow, how do you all feel about staying here? At least until our supplies here run low. Think about it, we can use the boats if needed for a quick getaway. For the first time in a long time, we're safe on land." Ryan asked the rest of us.

  I couldn't have agreed more. We had everything we needed, right here. I saw no reason to leave, in fact, I was growing quite fond of our new surroundings.

  "That sounds like a great idea to me." Nick agreed quickly.

  We were all in agreement. Nathan popped his head inside.

  "Does that mean we get to stay?" He asked enthusiastically.

  "It does indeed" the Professor replied.

  "That's great. Guys, shall we come back inside?" He asked Sarah and Jared.

  They nodded, and they all filed back inside.

  "Skateboards off the floor." Lacey told them in her new found mothering tone.

  Sarah and Jarad quickly picked up their boards, not wanting to feel the wrath of a displeased Lacey.

  Jared stamped on his board, in an attempt to flick the board upwards in order for him to catch it. It didn't quite work as planned.

  He tripped over his own feet in the process as his body came crashing down on the floor.

  "That's what you get for trying to be clever." Lacey grinned.

  "Ouch, somethings digging into me." Nathan moaned.

  He got up. The shag pile rug had broken his fall. Nathan started feeling around the rug, attempting to locate whatever it was that had dug into him.

  Having no luck, Nathan pulled the carpet to one side.

  "What's that?" he asked as he revealed a door built into the floorboards.

  It was a trap door.

  Another one, I couldn't believe it; I had never in my life, come across a trap door. Well, not since the infection began.

  In our time on the base, we found a trap door, it lead into the tunnel systems, which was how we made our escape. We had now found another. This time in the middle of a multi-million pound mansion.

  "Can I open it?" Nathan asked excitedly.

  We all gathered round at this point. We stayed silent, trying to listen out for any movement beneath us. We couldn't hear a thing.

  "Go on then, but open it slowly." Ryan advised.

  Nathan carefully pulled open the door. A light automatically flicked on as soon as he pulled the handle up, illuminating the room beneath.

  Ryan yanked the rest of the door open, a little faster than we would have liked, and he peered inside.

  A spiral staircase led the way down. Surrounding the staircase, a small circular room followed the path of the staircase. Each wall was made up of small shelves. Lining each and every shelf, were bottles upon bottles of wine. It was a wine cellar.

  "That is so cool." Jared gasped.

  The Professor's eyes lit up. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise." He beamed.

  He made his way through the ground and was the first to step foot in the cellar.

  "So much choice." He exclaimed.

  There were so many different varieties of wine. There wasn't just wine; spirits, champagne, even bottles of beer lined the walls of this secret, refrigerated room.

  The Professor picked a bottle of red and white wine, and handed them up to us.

  "I suggest we find a wine glass or two." The Professor told Lacey as he handed her the bottles.

  "I'm on it." She replied as she made her way into the kitchen.

  Paul followed along with Leon as they went to find a bottle opener for the beers.

  "Can we have some?" Jared asked innocently.

  George raised his eyebrows.

  "I'm sure a bottle of beer or two won't hurt." The Professor replied handing him a few bottles of Peroni.

  We were rudely interrupted as Duckface came storming into the room.

  "You stupid little bitch!" She screamed.

  She stormed straight up to Sarah and slapped her round the face.

  "Look what she's done to my hair." She cried.

  Sarah lifted her head up. A red mark covered the side of her face. She had tears in her eyes as she clung to the side of her face.

  I snapped. I grabbed Duckface around the neck, and I flung her against the wall. Her head smashed against the hard brick wall with an almighty bang.

  "You dare touch her again." I threatened.

  Not one person tried to stop me. Duckface struggled to breath as she tried to remove my hand from her neck. I dug my nails in deeper. Tears welled up in her eyes as her whole face reddened.

  "I don't care what you are, you don't come near any of us. Understood?" I told her through gritted teeth.

  She nodded her head.

  "Good." I said as I released my grip slightly. I let her get a few gasps of air in before I tightened my grip again.

  "When this is all over, we're coming for you." I threatened her, as I glanced over to Lacey, who had just come back in the room. Lacey nodded in agreement.

  With that, I threw her to the floor. She scrambled to get up and ran back upstairs.

  I went straight over to Sarah to make sure she was ok. Out of nowhere, she gave me a big hug.

  "Thank you." She whispered.

  "Hey, it's not your fault." I whispered back. "I told you to do it. Besides, it was worth it, did you see the state of her hair?" I laughed.

  Lacey and Ryan stood with massive grins on their faces. My li
ttle outburst had been gratifying for them to see.

  "That was amazing." Lacey beamed.

  "I'm just sorry I got to her first." I replied.

  "Don't be. I'll get the next one." Lacey stated; she was in a much better mood now.

  Chapter 19 –Siding with the Enemy

  "Babe, don't you think you were a bit hard on her?" Nick asked me later on in the evening.

  I stopped and glared at him. I couldn't believe those words were coming out of his mouth. After everything she had done?

  "No I don't actually." I replied snappily.

  "Well, she hasn't done anything directly to you." He stated.

  "Oh, I'm sorry Nick. Leaving us all to die, setting the horde of infected on us. Killing the Sergeant and Josh, does that not count as doing something directly?" I said sarcastically.

  "Well, I suppose so." Nick replied looking down.

  I was so mad at him. As a fiance he was supposed to support me and back me up, not siding with that she-witch. After all, I hadn't even done anything that bad. She had been the one to lash out at Sarah. I just gave her a reality check.

  Ok, fine I didn't take the high road, and I resorted to violence, but sometimes these things have to be done. I didn't cause any real damage; I just put her back in her place. She left in a similar condition to which she arrived in, so to me, she had a lucky escape.

  Every single person in our group had agreed with me, even George and the Professor which shocked me. Sometimes, Nick was just too nice for his own good.

  I refused to talk to him for the rest of the night. I was probably a little childish in doing so, but that comment wound me up. She wound me up, just here being here made me angry. As far as I was concerned, she didn't deserve to be alive.

  "You weren't too hard on her at all." Lacey assured me. Sarah was quick to agree.

  "You know if it were me, I would have done much worse." Lacey added in.

  "Nick just needs to stop being so much of a pussy." Sarah joked.

  Lacey and I laughed; she was a smart girl and quick off the mark. I was really warming to Sarah; I treated her as if she were my little sister, and I defended her the same way. No one was going to lay a finger on her, especially Duckface.

  Duckface had learnt that the hard way. I would do the same again, without a second thought.

  "I could do with that wine about now." I told Lacey.

  "Already on it." Lacey said as she handed me a fresh glass. The three of us sat in the kitchen whilst the rest of the boys stayed in the living room. They had worked out how to use the PlayStation and were busy playing Fifa.

  We changed the subject to a lighter topic, as the thought of Duckface was putting us all in a foul mood, Sarah included. Just as we had perked up, Andy had decided to make an appearance.

  "Can I talk to you guys, please?" He asked as he crept into the kitchen.

  All three of us instantly stiffened up. We weren't Andy's biggest fans right now.

  "What?" I asked bluntly.

  "What exactly happened earlier?" He asked calmly.

  The three of us proceeded to tell him in detail exactly what had happened. He took what we said in and took a seat on one of the bar stools.

  "Can we not just forget about everything that's happened in the past now. I know none of you like her. I don't blame you, really I don't. But there are bigger things to think about.." He trailed off.

  Lacey and I simply glared at him.

  "Erm... no." Lacey replied blandly.

  "No, the damage has been done. If I'm honest, I'm really surprised at you Andy. I mean, before you left you told her you didn't love her and didn't feel the same way. Now your right back at her side, she clicks her fingers, and you come running." I told him.

  He looked at me confused. "I didn't tell her I didn't love her anymore. I told her I didn't like what she had become. I was sick of her causing arguments over the nothing, and constantly walking on eggshells. That's why I left her, and she knows that." he finished.

  "Well, that's not what she's been telling everyone else." I replied.

  "That might have been the case then, but she assures me she's different now." He defended.

  Lacey sniggered. "I highly doubt that." she scoffed.

  I had to agree, pigs would fly before she would ever change her ways.

  "Andy, does her most recent outburst not say something to you?" I challenged.

  "I suppose it does. I'm just trying to rise above it. For the greater good. She isn't the nicest person in the world, but she could be the end of all this." he added.

  "I'm not even going to get into all of this with you." I shook my head. I knew her too well; I didn't believe a single word that came out of her mouth.

  "Just watch yourself Andy, a friendly word of warning. You aren't doing yourself any favours aligning yourself with her." Lacey warned.

  Andy nodded in acknowledgement as he got up off his seat.

  "By the sounds of it, you girls are set firm with your opinion. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me." Andy said as he smiled weakly.

  "Just be careful." I told him as he left the room.

  "What was all that about?" Sarah asked once Andy was out of earshot.

  "I don't know, but I stand by what I say, he does need to be careful." I answered.

  "That girl is nothing but trouble, she hasn't got a sincere bone in her body. She will always do whats best for her, fuck everyone else." Lacey replied.

  Paul popped his head around the door. "Have any of you seen Nathan?"

  We looked around us and back at Paul. "No, why?" Sarah asked.

  "He was supposed to be playing the winner. He went to the toilet, but that was over half an hour ago. He hasn't comeback since." Paul said.

  "That is strange." I replied.

  "It's ok, we'll go look for him." He said as he left us to continue our girl talk.

  We didn't think anymore of it. We poured out another glass of wine; Sarah was perfectly content with her can of coke. She turned her nose up to all alcohol. It was rather refreshing to see. When I was her age, that's all I wanted to do. Go out with my friends and get drunk.

  Around 20 minutes later, George came in, a solemn look across his face.

  "There's been an incident." he announced.

  "What do you mean?" Lacey asked, instantly changing her tone.

  "It's young Nathan." George replied.

  "What's happened?" Sarah asked, her voice shook slightly.

  "He's passed away." George told her gravely.

  "What? No, he hasn't" Sarah replied. Her hands were shaking as she pushed her drink away.

  "George, what's going on?" I asked him firmly.

  "We found him in the Garage. He must have wandered in to take a look around." George told us.

  "What I can only presume was the homeowner was inside, in his infected state. I do not know how it happened, but by the time we got there, Nathan was already dead. The infected man had already consumed all of his vital organs." George finished.

  "I'm going to find the others." I told Lacey. "You stay here with Sarah." I told her. Lacey nodded, and I set off with George to the scene of the crime.

  When I got to the garage door, it was already starting to look like a crime scene. The Professor stood over the two bodies, as Leon and Ryan helped to cover them.

  A large blacked out Range Rover sat in the middle of the garage. Next to the Range Rover, sat a Silver Mercedes SLR. The two bodies lay in the middle of both cars. Blood splattered the side of the silver SLR.

  "The infected must have been inside the black 4x4" George explained.

  "Leon battled with the infected man and was able to dispatch him by banging his head against the floor. He was unarmed." George recalled the events in a police officer fashion.

  "What about Nathan? Is he going to get up again?" I asked.

  "No, we made sure the brain was destroyed." George reported back.

  It was a lot to take in. I went into the living area, where moments be
fore, the boys were laughing together whilst playing Fifa. The game still came up on the screen, although it had already been paused.

  Nick and Paul sat on the sofa, comforting Jared. The poor boy was in tears.

  I couldn't get my head around it all. That could have been anyone. Personally, I wished it had been Duckface. Again, another innocent life is taken away, yet she continues to live. None of this was fair. Nathan was so young, and I had barely got to know him, he hadn't been around long enough. His friends were in pieces. It all happened so suddenly.

  "You ok?" Nick asked.

  I glared back at him. I still hadn't forgiven him. Without saying a word, I walked back into the kitchen.

  I went to console Sarah, she needed me now. She was sat on a bar stool her head in her hands.

  "How are you feeling?" I asked. She simply shook her head. Tears flowed onto the kitchen counter as Lacey handed her more tissue.

  "I'm really sorry hun." I said. I didn't know what else to say.

  Nick stormed into the kitchen, turning our attention.

  "What's the matter with you now?" He demanded.

  "Excuse me?" I said hotly.

  "Why won't you speak to me?" Nick asked.

  I rolled my eyes as I glared at him. "Why do you think?" I replied.

  "I don't know!" Nick was getting frustrated.

  "Well, how about because you tried to take her side over mine?" I shouted referring to Duckface.

  "I didn't mean to." Nick started.

  "Well, you did. Thanks for the support." I said sarcastically.

  "Paul, mate. You understand don't you?" Nick asked as Paul had slipped into the room.

  Paul held his hands up. "I'm not getting involved. But, in my opinion, she did nothing wrong." He said referring to me.

  "If you want to take her side. Fine. Fuck off and join her and Andy." I yelled.

  "But.." Nick knew he was in the wrong, but I wasn't going to let him off this easily.

  "I'm not having this conversation with you anymore. There are more important people who need me right now." I ended the conversation.

  I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I get that, I do. But for Nick to defend her like that, he knew how much I hated her, I had never hated anyone as much as her. She had a face that you just wanted to punch. Just the thought of her made the anger well up inside of me. Her presence could change my mood in an instant.