Devlin came bursting through the door, followed by George from the other side. “What happened?” Devlin looked down at the animal.
“Seems pretty obvious, Einstein,” David snapped. “It jumped through the window and came at us.”
“Eva, douse the flashlight.” Devlin motioned with his hand.
I turned the light off. There was a large moon in the sky and it gave off just enough light that we could see the silhouettes of other animals walking in front of the motel.
“I hope others heard your gun, because they’re gonna need to be ready.” Devlin cursed and dropped his head, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. “George?”
George shook his head. “We aren’t armed.”
Devlin nodded. “Okay. Get Tiffany and the kids. David, you and Eva and George and Tiffany should come into my room away from the broken window and the blood. Close and lock all the adjoining doors as you come through.”
“Let’s go,” David said. “Eva, grab your things and move to the next room. I’m going to help get Tiffany and the kids over. I’ll be right behind you.”
When I walked into Devlin’s room, I saw Jessica perched on one of the double beds, biting her nails. “Hey, Jessica. You doing okay?”
Her shoulders sagged when she saw me. “I am now. I hate it when he leaves me alone.”
I smiled. “I know. I don’t like to be left alone, either.”
“Really? But you don’t seem scared of anything.”
“Me? Pssh, I’m scared. Believe me, I’m scared. We’d be stupid if we weren’t. Everyone’s scared, Jessica, even Devlin.”
Another crash sounded followed by a scream and a baby crying.
“Jessica, I have to go help Tiffany. I’ll be right back, I promise. Wait for me here.”
She nodded, but tears formed in her eyes. I grabbed my gun out of my bag and had a thought. I couldn’t give her my gun, she wasn’t ready for that, but I could give her something to make her feel more protected.
“Here. Keep this until I get back.” I gave her my knife. “It’s not a gun, but it’ll protect you if you need it. Aim for the eyes. Okay?”
She gave me a small, trembling smile. “Thanks, Eva.”
I ran through the doorway into our adjoining room and skidded to a stop. Two wolves circled the dead body. They hadn’t seen me yet. That was the good news. The bad news was they had to be dealt with. There was no way I could get across, get Tiffany and the kids, and get them back across into Devlin’s room safely with the wolves there.
Aiming, I flipped off my safety and wrapped my finger around the trigger. I took my time lining up the shot.
If I don’t hit it and put it down I’ll have two wolves coming after me. I don’t think I’ll have time to pick them both off. They’re too close. I have to make this first shot count. No pressure or anything.
I exhaled slowly and pulled the trigger. The Wolf flew against the wall from the impact. Blood and brain matter splattered around it on the fake wood paneling. I immediately aimed at the second wolf. It was already advancing on me. It took a step closer… and another… and then another. I fired.
And missed.
How the hell do you miss a shot when it’s practically right in front of your face!
I shot again just as it jumped at me. I hit it in the chest. It went down, but wasn’t dead. I fired again and finished it.
I grabbed Tiff and the kids and we ran to where Jessica still sat on the bed holding the knife I gave her. I gently took it out of her hands, folded it, and put it in my pocket.
Tiffany sat on one of the beds bouncing the baby trying to calm him. Faith sat next to her, sucking her thumb with tears running down her cheeks, mixing with snot from her nose.
Jessica took one look at her and was hooked. Faith’s gigantic blue eyes, and downy, blonde hair that curled at the ends around her chubby face, drew people to her. “Do you want to go to the bathroom and wash your hands with me?”
Faith nodded. Jessica filled the sink with some water and kept Faith occupied while the fight raged. She wiped her face and nose, letting her splash and play in the soap bubbles. I smiled at the sound of her giggling. It was such a happy, innocent sound. It didn’t fit with the gunfire and shouts that filtered from the other rooms.
“Tiffany, there’s only a small window in the bathroom. You should take John Francis and sit in there away from this window in case they come through. You don’t want any glass to get on the baby.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone—”
“It’s okay.” I guided her toward the bathroom. “I’m fine. I want to know my godchildren are safe, and my best friend.”
“Eva, about earlier. I didn’t mean…” she sighed.
“I know, Tiff. I’m scared, too.”
She smiled and nodded before going into the bathroom with Faith and Jessica.
I’d just shut the door to the bathroom, when the window shattered. Glass flew like daggers around me. A piece embedded in my arm. Three infected wolves jumped through the window. I shot… pop, pop, pop… two went down. The third was right on top of me. I aimed. It jumped. I shot. It tackled me. My shot didn’t connect.
The wolf knocked me to the floor, and my gun fell out of my hand, skating across the matted, green carpeting. I held the wolf off with one hand and reached for my gun with the other. I couldn’t reach it.
I was on the floor, with no weapon, and an infected wolf on top of me, biting and snarling. I had to use both hands to hold it away.
“David!” I screamed, but he was two rooms away, and there was gunfire in that room. Still I screamed for him. “David!”
My arms burned, and muscles quivered. I wouldn’t be able to hold off the wolf much longer. It was strong, its muscle straining beneath my hands. The wolf started moving side to side, trying to break my hold on it. I squeezed harder, digging my fingernails into its flesh.
It pulled back. My grip loosened. Pushing against me hard, its mouth came closer to my face.
Oh, crap, crap, crap, shit.
“Devlin!” I had no idea where he was.
I needed a weapon. My gun was too far away. My knife was unreachable in my pocket, and even if I could have reached it, there wouldn’t be enough time to open it.
I wrapped my legs around the wolf’s body, letting go of him with one hand. I grabbed the shard of glass sticking out of my arm, and, gritting my teeth against the pain, yanked it out of my arm. I jammed it in the wolf’s eye. It yelped and stumbled off of me. I rolled, grabbed my gun, and shot it in the head.
Another wolf rounded the corner from the adjoining room. I shot and killed it.
Breathing hard, I poured some water on my arm and wrapped it in one of Devlin’s clean T-shirts.
Dropping on the edge of the bed, I put my head in my hands, still holding the gun.
How did the world get so screwed up?
“Eva!” David looked around the room.
“I’m fine. Where were you?”
“I was helping the Gundersons five rooms down. They don’t have a weapon.”
“Oh. Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah, they’re fine.” He pulled me up so I was standing, and looked me in the eye. “Are you okay?”
“I took a piece of glass in the arm, but otherwise I think I’m fine. Tiffany, Jessica and the babies are in the bathroom. They’re all fine.”
“I’m so sorry.”
I knitted my brows together. “For what?”
“I never should have left you alone.”
“David,” I sighed. “You had to help the Gundersons. They would have been killed if you hadn’t. I was perfectly capable of taking care of this.” I swept my arm around the room.
He pulled me into his arms, squeezing me close. I let myself relax in his hold, let the stress melt away. The truth was, I wasn’t perfectly capable of handling it on my own. I wanted him to help me, but I wouldn’t admit it. Not as long as there were people who were unarmed and vulnerable. They needed him more than
I did. Damn the whole situation to Hades.
Devlin walked into the room. “Ah, come on you two, really? Lovey-dovey crap right now?”
“You’re just jealous,” David teased.
Devlin’s gazed flitted to me so briefly I would have missed it if I hadn’t been looking at him. He looked back at David and grunted in answer.
I stepped out of David’s arms and glanced around the room for the first time since the fight ended. One wolf lay dead on the bed closest to the window. The blood oozed from the wound, turning the yellow comforter a dull burgundy. I could hear the muted drips as they fell from the bed to the floor, creating a black puddle on the ugly green carpeting.
The second lay on the floor, and the third was next to the bed. The shard of glass still embedded in its eye, blood oozing from a bullet hole to the head. The fourth wolf was in the doorway to the adjoining room, where I shot it as it careened around the corner.
David wandered off to talk to Juan about the damage to the other side of the hotel, and if we’d lost any group members during the attack.
Devlin looked around the room. “Four wolves by yourself? And everyone is okay?” I could hear the tension in his voice. The worry.
“Yes. Jessica’s fine. She’s in the bathroom with Tiffany and the babies.”
He nodded and ran his hand up the back of his head, mussing his hair. “You did good, Eva. You’re effing amazing.”
I felt my cheeks and belly warm at the same time. “Thanks,” I whispered before pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.
Devlin watched the movement. His lips parted and his tongue darted out and swept across his full bottom lip. His eyes darkened.
Trying to distract him—because I knew where his mind was going. Mine was already there—I blurted out the first thought I had. “Um, how are your sewing skills?”
He blinked at me. “Huh?”
I pulled the t-shirt off my arm. “I think I may need a stitch or two.” I looked in his eyes. “I could ask George, but…”
“C’mere.” He held his arm out to me and I walked into it. “Yeah, that’s deep. Glass?” He looked into my eyes. I nodded. “I guess we’re gonna find out if I can stitch a straight line.” He grinned, the crooked grin that made my insides do funny things.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Before Devlin could answer, Jessica bounded out of the bathroom. “Eva! Are you okay? Oh, gross!” She looked around the room.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Did you kill all these yourself?”
I knelt and looked at one of the wolves. “Mm-hmm. Devlin? Can I use your flashlight, please?” He handed me the flashlight and I roamed the light over the animal’s face. “Huh.” I sat back on my heels.
“What?” Jessica whispered. Her long black hair fell over her shoulder in waves.
“It’s not a coyote. Look at its face.” I shined the flashlight on the dead animal’s face.
“Oh.” Jessica looked at me with wide eyes. “It’s a dog.”
I nodded. “It looks like a German Shepard or some kind of mix. Look.” I pointed to its neck where a small slice of blue was visible between the bloated folds of furry skin. “A collar.”
The next day we were supposed to follow the highway. I’d been looking forward to the easier terrain. But Devlin and David found a map at the motel that showed a small town not too far from us. It wasn’t close to the highway, and we had to walk dirt roads and cut through forest paths to get to it. We found a grocery and sporting goods store. And, since the town was so far off the highway, they both looked untouched.
We divided the camp into two groups. The groups were responsible for their own supplies, cooking, and cleaning. The group as a whole was too big to keep track of on the road. Once we were settled in the PODs, it would be easier to monitor supplies and cook for the entire community, but on the road it was almost impossible to know what each person had, or didn’t have.
George and Tiffany, Roy and Judy, Juan and Rebecca, Devlin and Jessica, Aidan, David and handful of other friends we knew from the first journey and a lot of new faces were in one group.
I moved to the other group.
“What are you doing?”
“I just thought it’d be easier,” I shrugged a shoulder and looked into his green eyes. They seemed to spark with energy.
“I don’t want easy, Eva. I want you,” Devlin murmured.
“I can’t.” I shook my head. “I see the hurt in your eyes every time David is around. It’s too hard. This will just make it all go away.”
Devlin grabbed my arm when I turned to walk away. “You don’t think David will wonder why you’re picking that group? And, hell no, I don’t like seeing you with him, but I’ll deal. I want you around me. Running away to the other side of the camp isn’t going to make this go away.”
“Devlin, I want to make this right. I just don’t know how… I don’t want…” I pushed my hair out of my face. “Damn it!” I yelled, fisting my hand in my hair. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I don’t want to see the pain in your eyes when you see David touch me, and I don’t want to hurt David, either. I just…” I blew out a breath and dropped my hand. “I just don’t know what to do.” I looked up at him.
“Stay in our group. That’s where you belong,” he murmured. “C’mon.” he grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him. I hesitated. He looked over his shoulder. “C’mon, Eva. Please.”
I nodded and followed him.
We didn’t split up like we normally would. There were too many new people who needed to be shown what to get when we came to a town for supplies. So we went through the sporting goods store together.
I helped Tiffany and some of the other women pick out handguns and extra magazines. Devlin was there to show me what types of ammunition we needed for each, although I was learning. I knew what I needed for my gun. After the guns, I showed them the pocket knives, and told them they all needed to carry one at all times. We picked out backpacks for those that needed them, filling them with the essentials that we all carried: matches, water purification tablets, snake bite kits, canteens, first aid kit and ammo.
After the sporting goods store, we raided the grocery store grabbing powdered milk, rice and whatever canned goods were usable. By the time the two groups were done gathering supplies, the little town was cleaned out, and we had enough supplies to last a few days.
Devlin and David went through the town trying to round up enough vehicles with gas for sixty-seven people, not an easy job. Juan found a bus behind a small church about a half mile from the grocery store.
“Can you drive it?” David looked it over.
“Yeah, I used to have my CDL before the virus. The next question is if there’s gas in it.”
Devlin hotwired the bus—he really had the hotwiring thing down and it was kinda sexy—and we were happy to find the bus had a full tank of gas. Of course, it wasn’t going to get good mileage, but it’d get us farther than walking.
We jammed three in a seat, and people sat on the floor in the aisle, and anywhere else we could fit them. People sat on each other’s laps, anything to get everyone shoved in the bus. Thankfully the kids were little and flexible enough they fit just about anywhere.
I sat on the floor in the aisle, Jessica on my lap, and someone’s toddler on her lap. Tiffany sat in the seat next to me on George’s lap, the baby on her lap and Faith on the floor at their feet. A man named Denny sat next to George, his wife Karen on his lap. A couple I didn’t know sat next to them, the wife on the husband’s lap, a child on her lap, and another on the floor at their feet.
I leaned my head on the side of the seat next to me and stared at the front of the bus. David and Devlin stood next to Juan, who was driving. Their backs to the windshield, they faced the back of the bus. Devlin’s gaze held mine for most of the ride. Our eyes only broke contact if someone spoke to one of us and drew our attention away. Every so often a ghost of a smile would slide over Devlin’s lips, and my he
art would spin like a top in my chest.
Maybe when we get to the PODs and start setting up our community we can rewrite the laws on polygamy and I can keep them both, because I can picture myself with both of them. And I don’t want to hurt either one of them by picking the other. I can’t picture my life without them both in it.
We drove over back roads, bouncing and sliding from side-to-side with every pothole the bus jumped over. It was uncomfortable, stuffy, and smelled of body odor and morning breath. Still, it beat the hell out of walking.
We left Tennessee behind and crossed into Arkansas. The weather started to warm up as we moved farther and farther west. We’d just made it over the state border when the bus started coughing, jerking, and finally died. Out of gas, we started walking, staying on back roads in search of small towns.
“Time to walk.” David leaned down and kissed me, his hand cupping the side of my face.
“At least we’ll get some breathable air. Next time we shove ourselves in like sardines, I want scuba gear with oxygen tanks.” I wrinkled my nose.
He laughed. “It was pretty rank in there.”
We found another motel that night. For the second night in a row we’d have a nice soft, warm bed to sleep in.
I hope tonight goes better than last night. Surely we’re far enough away. They couldn’t have followed us this far.
“Tell him you’re bunking with me.”
“I… you know it isn’t that…”
“What, Eva? It isn’t what?” He jammed his hand through his hair.
“It isn’t that easy. David and I have history, and you two are friends. There’s a lot to think about.”
“All I’ve done is think. He says he wants you to be happy. So do what makes you happy. You need to make a decision. Him or me. I’m not hiding anymore.” Devlin cupped my face in his hand.
“Devlin… you said you’d wait. Just… give me until we reach the PODs to figure out how to tell him.”
The Infected, a PODs Novel Page 23