The Infected, a PODs Novel

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The Infected, a PODs Novel Page 21

by Michelle K. Pickett

“Who’d you call?” He stared at the gun. I waved it in his face and whistled to get his attention. “Who’d you call?”

  “No one.”

  “I saw you reaching for your radio. You had plenty of time to call someone before I got to you.” I tapped the radio against his forehead. “Who’d you call? Tell me now because if we have visitors you’ll be the first one I aim for.”

  He paled. “I didn’t make a call.”

  “Turn around.”

  I made sure I was out of his reach when he turned. I didn’t want him grabbing for the gun. He would win in a hand to hand fight.

  When he turned, and his back was facing me, I wrenched his arm behind his back as hard and high as I could. Putting my gun to the base of his skull, I pushed him into the clinic.

  We took three steps into the clinic when we came to the first body, a small nurse lying on the ugly tile floor. She lifted her head and looked in my direction.

  I pointed the gun at her for a brief second. “Lay still.”

  The second body was in front of the intake desk, and the third beside it. Both male technicians. They raised their heads to look at the new arrival. “Faces down, boys.”

  I either look real bad-ass or I look like a complete idiot. Either way it seems to be working.

  Devlin turned when he heard my voice. “Holy hell, Eva! What are you doing?” He looked at me as though I had three heads.

  “Saving your butt. He heard you yelling and came to see what was going on. He was calling for back-up when he happened upon me. An injured woman who needed help. Where’s David?”

  “Hell’s bells, Evangelina.”

  I smiled when I heard his voice. “David.” He walked to me and kissed my forehead. I pulled back and looked at him. “Are you okay?”

  “I am now.”

  “Let’s get outta here. Oh, you take this.” I pulled the officer’s gun from my pocket and held it out to David.

  “Crap, Eva, you took his gun?” David stared at the black handgun.

  I rolled my eyes. “Like I was going to let him keep it.”

  Devlin chuckled and shook his head.

  “Seems we have one too many hostages,” Roy drawled. Every time he talked he sounded like he was sitting on a porch somewhere in Mayberry, drinking sweet tea without a care in the world. He held George in a loose choke-hold.

  “Seems so,” Devlin said with a smile. “David, I really don’t know how you have the energy for her. She’s worse than a three year-old on crack. She finds more ways to get into trouble.”

  David grinned crookedly. “Yeah, but sometimes that rebellious streak works in my favor.”

  “Gads, can we go now? My finger is starting to cramp and I’m sure this guy would appreciate someone else holding the gun before I shoot him.”

  “I got it.” David slammed the gun’s handle on the MP’s head—twice. “They make that look so easy on television.”

  “I know, right?” Devlin said with a chuckle.

  “There we go. Back to one hostage,” Roy drawled.

  “Let’s go.” I flipped on my gun’s safety and stuffed it into my pocket. David started to shove the guard’s gun in his pocket, and frowned. “Give it to me.” I put it in my pocket and smiled. “I like your white jammies.”

  “Gee, thanks. Can we go now or are we gonna stand around and chat?”

  I stuck my head outside, looking both ways. When I didn’t see anyone, I stepped outside and walked down the sidewalk a few feet, first one way, then the other, grabbing the unconscious guards’ guns as I passed. “It’s clear.”

  David jogged down the two steps, grabbed my hand and we ran across the stretch of meadow to the fence, slipping through the opening. We didn’t wait for the others. We kept running deep into the forest, putting as much space between David and the compound as possible. His white pajamas were like a beacon. They’d be easy to pick out against the dark backdrop of the forest.

  “We can stop here and wait for the others,” David said slowing, turning to me. I walked into his arms.

  “I missed you so much.” He hugged me close. My ear lay against his chest. I could hear his heartbeat steady and strong. Healthy and alive. Vibrant. I pulled back and slapped him on the arm.

  “Ouch.” He laughed. “This wasn’t the warm welcome I was expecting.”

  “Don’t do that to me again. I was so scared, David.”

  “C’mon you two.” Devlin tromped by, followed closely by Juan. I waited, listening, but didn’t hear or see anyone behind them.

  “Where are Roy and George?” I grabbed Devlin’s coat sleeve. He looked down at my hand, then into my eyes. “They didn’t get out.”

  “What do you mean they didn’t get out? You left them behind?” David turned and started back the way we came. “Give me your gun, Eva.”

  “David, man.” Juan pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head slowly. “We didn’t leave them behind, and if you waltzing around in those white pajamas you’ll be a walking target. They just had to take a longer route than we did. That’s all. We’re meeting them at the brook.”

  I glared at Devlin. “You should have said so.”

  We hiked until we came to the small brook. George and Roy weren’t in the clearing, so we settled in and waited.

  David sat next to me. “You smell good,” he murmured.

  Body odor and dirt—not sexy.

  “I haven’t showered in weeks, David. I think your nose is confused about what smells good and what doesn’t.”

  “No, it knows you smell good.”

  “You smell… like disinfectant. They made you take one of those awful showers, didn’t they?”

  “You mean the one with the cold water and the stinging foam soap? Yeah, I had to take one every day. My skin is raw.”

  “We’d heard they weren’t quarantining anyone. How did you manage to get them to keep you around? I thought surely you’d be—”

  “Shh, don’t even think like that. I’m fine. Besides, as soon as they found out I’d been at Area-One they couldn’t rush me into a quarantine room fast enough. They were hoping I’d received some type of vaccine while I was there, and that they could isolate and replicate it. I kept telling them it wasn’t a vaccine for people that we needed, and that we had a vaccine for the animals that they could use. But they were convinced I wasn’t telling them something, so they kept running test after test. And I let them. I knew it was buying time for you to come up with a plan to get me out of there.”

  “You knew we’d come?” I glanced at him.

  “I knew there was nothing that would keep you from coming. I’m surprised Devlin kept you from barging in there as long as he did.” David chuckled.

  “No small feat,” Devlin said from somewhere in the darkness. I rolled my eyes.

  “Whatever. I don’t hear you complaining that I saved your butts from that extra guard who wandered by.”

  “Nope, we ain’t complainin’ none,” Roy drawled.

  “Finally. I was beginning to wonder if you stopped for coffee along the way. Let’s get back.” Devlin clicked on a small flashlight so we could find each other and gather our bearings. We didn’t want to make a wrong turn and end up back at the compound.

  “Hey, George.” I reached out and hugged him. “Thanks.”

  “No more than what you’d have done for me.”

  “What’s in the pack?”

  George adjusted a large backpack that looked stuffed to capacity and then some. “Oh, this is what took us so long. I had to finish gathering it up.”

  “What is it?” I was looking at the bag when Devlin doused the flashlight.

  “Antibiotics, alcohol, peroxide, saline, epinephrine, the inoculation for the original strain of the virus, things like that. Whatever I thought we needed and could get quickly,” George said.

  Oh thank goodness George was thinking about medical supplies.

  “Things we are definitely going to need over the next few months. Guard it with your life,” David said
.

  “Why? Who would take it?”

  Oh, no. David, don’t tell me you didn’t warn him.

  “It’s not who would take it so much as it is who would destroy it,” David answered.

  “And who would?”

  “Crap, David, didn’t you tell him?” my voice rose a little louder than I meant for it to, and everyone shushed me.

  “Well, I might not have painted the entire picture.” David grimaced.

  They weren’t with us the first time around. They don’t know how hard the trip is going to be.

  “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what I’m about to learn?” George asked slowly.

  “Because you’re going to hate it,” I said with a sigh.

  “Ah.”

  “Here they come,” someone said as we walked up to the camp, using the soft, yellow glow of the campfire as our guide.

  “George!” Tiffany called. He hurried to her, wrapping her in his arms.

  “Got it done. I knew you would.” Judy smiled at Roy.

  “You know it. Easy as pie. Except Miss Eva brought us another hostage,” He said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah, well that extra hostage almost had your behinds in a sling,” I reminded him.

  “I wasn’t gonna mention that part.”

  I laughed. “I got that.”

  “We kept some dinner for you, David.” Rebecca handed him a cup of soup.

  “Thank you.” He smiled at her and took the cup, drinking the soup down in a few gulps.

  “Who are we missing?” David adjusted his pack.

  “Jai Li and Katie stayed behind,” I said with a frown. I was disappointed that our friends decided not to go to the PODs with us. I was worried for them.

  “Everyone from our group showed except Tommy. Plus we picked up some friends and family members along the way. Total head count is sixty-eight,” Devlin answered.

  David whistled. “I knew we had some new faces but I didn’t think we had that many.”

  “Why didn’t Tommy come?” I looked at Devlin, on the other side of David.

  “He’s dead. Heart attack.”

  “He was only in his twenties!”

  Devlin shrugged. “It’s hard to tell these things without the fancy medical equipment we used to have.

  “We have a big group,” I said quietly, more to myself than to anyone else.

  “Yeah,” David agreed.

  “Maybe that’ll be a good thing,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Surely a few animals won’t attack a group this big. If it’s just one or two wolves we’d be too big for them to take on. It’d have to be a big pack for them to feel confident enough to attack.”

  “Maybe.”

  I glanced at him. “You don’t think so?”

  “No. They’ll look for the easy target. Like a lion who attacks a group of gazelle in the wild. They’ll look for the slowest, the weakest.”

  I watched the heads bouncing as they walked across the rough forest ground. Some people stumbled along, the weight of their packs making the walk difficult for them. Others, those who were used to the heavy packs, walked steadily along without any problem.

  The young children ran on the fringes of the group, playing in the weeds, running in and out of them, making a game of it. Towering evergreen trees lined the trail about three feet beyond the weeds.

  They need to be inside the group, away from the edges of the forest.

  Tiffany walked next to me. John Francis tied around her in a baby sling. Faith rode in a pack on George’s back, his backpack tied around it. “You okay?” I asked her. “I could carry the baby for a while if you need a rest.”

  “I’m good.” She said with a smile, but she was out of breath and unsteady on her feet.

  I raised an eyebrow at George.

  George nodded at me, and said, “Why don’t you let someone carry him for a bit, Tiff?”

  “She’s got a huge backpack on. All I have is a small pack of baby things and the baby. I’m not going to burden people any more than I already am.”

  “Tiffany—”

  “I’m fine, Eva.”

  I nodded. “You’ll tell me if you need a break?”

  “Yeah.”

  They’ll target the weakest… the slowest… the most vulnerable…

  The morning and afternoon went smoothly. It was late afternoon when I saw it watching us from the tall weeds. I was walking next to Judy and Rebecca near the front of the group. David and Devlin were at the back.

  “Judy.” I nodded my head in the animal’s direction.

  “Well, that ain’t no good.”

  “Where’s Roy?” I looked through the crowd.

  “Back with yer David and Devlin.”

  “Crap. Oh, crap.” I stopped and turned.

  Rebecca stopped next to me. “What’s wrong?”

  “The weeds.” I held my hand in front of me so no one else could see it, and pointed. “Where’s Juan?”

  “Oh!” Her hand flew to her throat. “I don’t know.” She stood on her toes looking through the sea of people. “He was talking to some friends of his. I’m not sure where they are.”

  I nodded. “Okay. I just have to get David or Devlin’s attention.”

  David walked between Roy and Devlin. He turned and said something to Roy and they both laughed. He wasn’t paying attention to me.

  My gaze flitted to Devlin. He was staring right at me. He raised an eyebrow. I nodded my head toward the weeds. I knew the second he saw it. He tensed and said something to David and Roy, and their heads snapped to the weeds.

  David’s gaze found mine. He motioned for me to come back to where he was. I shook my head. I didn’t know if any of the people around me were armed or not. Judy, Rebecca and I could’ve been the only ones with guns. I wasn’t leaving the rest of the group unarmed and unprotected. He muttered something that I was probably better off not knowing.

  Roy elbowed David, tipping his head to the other side of the trail. My heart sank.

  Oh, crap. I don’t even want to look.

  David motioned a second time for me to come to him.

  I shook my head and David rolled his eyes. I saw Devlin's chuckle. He ducked his head, shaking it slowly.

  I saw Roy pull his gun from his pack, Devlin did the same. David motioned for me once more, giving me a dark glare. I reached into the side pocket of my pack and pulled out my gun and shook my head again. I turned and jogged to catch up with Judy and Rebecca.

  “Got your guns, ladies?” Judy and Rebecca already had theirs out and ready, and I laughed.

  “I’m not in the mood to mess around today,” Rebecca said. “I’m PMSing, I’m cold, I have a headache, my feet hurt and this pack is killing my back. So they come any closer and I’m putting a bullet right between their eyes… or as close as I can get it.”

  I raised my eyebrows at her. “Okay, then.”

  “Eva?” I turned when I heard Jessica’s voice behind me. I hid my gun under my coat.

  “What’s up, Jessica?”

  “David told me to tell you to get your… um… butt back there.” Her cheeks colored.

  I’ll bet he did.

  “Tell David that my ass is staying right where it is. I don’t know if these people have the right… equipment and I’m not leaving them. Okay? Can you remember that?” I turned and glared at David.

  “Yup.” She skipped to the back of the group.

  I watched her tell David my answer. He jammed his hand through is hair and muttered something that made her cheeks turn so red I could see the glow from where I stood. Devlin’s chest rose and fell with laughter. David, unfortunately, didn’t find humor in the situation. He looked up at me, his face set in hard lines.

  Oh, is he pissed at me. I am so gonna hear about it when this is over.

  I smiled at him and blew him a kiss.

  He didn’t smile back, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I wasn’t trying to antagonize him, but the laugh j
ust bubbled out. I put my hand over my mouth to hold it in, but my shoulders shook with it. I wasn’t even sure what I was laughing at.

  Must be stress. I’m losing it.

  I was still laughing when the first one jumped from the weeds.

  “Get down!” Judy screamed.

  Those in the group who had been through this the first time the virus hit knew to hit the ground without question. Those new to the situation stood confused.

  I stepped to the side of a family.

  A mother jerked her young son away from the weeds.

  The wolf jumped at the child.

  I fired.

  The mother screamed.

  The wolf hit the ground with a dull thud.

  “Is he okay?” I asked the mother, nodding toward the boy.

  “I… I think so”

  “Keep him inside the group. All young children need to be in the center of the group,” I yelled. “Gather them to the center of the group.”

  “What is that?” the father of the boy toed the wolf. It whimpered.

  “It’s an infected wolf. First rule,” I fired a shot to its head, “No survivors. No matter how badly wounded you think they are.”

  “Who’s armed?” Devlin yelled from behind. About half the group raised their hands. He shook his head. “We’ll take care of that as soon as we find a sporting goods store that hasn’t been cleaned out. Meanwhile, if you are unarmed, stick close to someone who is armed or stay in the center of the group. And for those of you who have guns, keep them ready.”

  “Everyone move quickly and quietly, and keep your eyes on the weeds,” David called.

  The group shifted. The unarmed and children moved to the center of the trail.

  A shot rang out behind us and I jumped. I looked back and saw Devlin aiming in the tall weeds.

  For the next two hours, we walked silently through the forest. The only sound was our feet shuffling against the ground and the occasional cough or sneeze, both of which made those with itchy trigger fingers jump. Even the children kept quiet.

  We finally came to a small clearing and decided to stop and make camp for the night. I’d just dropped my pack when someone jerked me around by my arm. “Don’t do that again,” David said through clenched teeth.

 

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