The Infected, a PODs Novel

by Michelle K. Pickett

  “We didn’t bring them intentionally. Think about it. Why would we bring Infected with us and put our community in danger? We didn’t know you’d be here. We thought we’d have to defend the area ourselves. We hadn’t seen an infected human in over two weeks or an infected animal in days. We had no reason to believe they were following us,” Devlin yelled from the defendants box, which was a sectioned off portion of one of the main POD’s cafeteria.

  Some of our group nodded in agreement with Devlin. Others raised their fists and yelled. What, I couldn’t understand. They all yelled over each other making it sound like a jumbled mess. I wasn’t sure if it was helping our case.

  “When was the last time you saw an infected animal before coming to our community?” the man acting as judge asked. He was older than me, probably close to thirty. He had long black hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. A tribal tattoo covered the right side of his face. He introduced himself as John Lightwater.

  “Wait just a minute—”

  “Eva…” David shook his head.

  What? I don’t get a say? This was our community before it was theirs.

  “These PODs were ours before you found them. We’re just returning to claim what’s ours.”

  David rolled his eyes. “Eva, hush.” I pressed my lips together and tilted my head in a go ahead gesture. “It’d been a few nights. But like Devlin said, we wouldn’t have brought them with us.” David shifted from one foot to the other and licked his lips. “We thought we’d be alone here. We wouldn’t have risked coming if we thought we were being followed. We’d have taken them out first.”

  “And if you didn’t know you were being followed?”

  David’s eyebrows pulled together over his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you knew there were infected animals. You knew there was a possibility that you could be followed. Ignorance of whether they were following you or not following you is not an excuse. Until your group’s arrival we hadn’t seen Infected in over four months—animal or human.”

  Uh-oh. This isn’t going to end well. All this way, all we’ve went through to get here and this is how it ends? We’re turned away by a bunch of strangers… or worse.

  I spoke up, “Just because you hadn’t seen them in four months doesn’t mean they weren’t already here. It just means they’d found something else to feed on.” My voice wavered.

  “Well, because of you they’ve found us. I call for a vote,” a man with a ruddy complexion, and even redder hair, yelled and pointed at us.

  Everyone started talking at once. Some yelled. Others talked amongst themselves. The room filled with noise. It made my head pound, and the realization of what they were about to vote on made bile rise in my throat, burning it.

  “David.” I grabbed his arm with both hands. He stroked my hands with his, preoccupied with what was going on in the room. I bit my bottom lips so hard, I was sure I tasted blood.

  “Show of hands, who believes the group in question knowingly brought the infected animals to our community, and should be banished immediately?” John Lightwater yelled over the din of noise.

  Hands rose throughout the room and my heart spluttered like a dying car engine, sinking to my toes. I tried to blink back the tears that filled my eyes.

  “Damn,” David muttered.

  “At least they didn’t mention anything about a firing squad,” I whispered.

  David chuckled. “Be serious.”

  I was.

  “Show of hands in favor of letting the visitors stay,” Judge Lightwater called.

  I can’t tell. Was there more for us to leave? I can’t tell.

  “It’s too close to call. We have to vote using ballot. You know the drill. Write your answer on the paper and put it in the box.”

  Two men, one was Braided-Beard-Man, carried in a large ballot box and set it in the front of the room. The residents formed a line that was so long it circled the cafeteria two times and flowed out into the main POD to fit the hundreds of people. They waited patiently for their turn. One by one they walked to the podium, wrote down their vote, and slipped it into the box. I chewed on my bottom lip while I watched each person vote—strangers deciding my fate.

  My hands trembled and were slick with sweat, my hair stuck to my neck, and my legs quivered. I held tightly on to David to steady myself.

  I looked over the crowd; my gaze flitted over each face, and that’s when I saw him. Sandy brown hair, faded jeans. He looked… different, but his eyes were the same. He wasn’t looking at me. He laughed at something the man ahead of him in line said. The skin crinkled next to his eyes and mouth. I knew that face. I’d looked at it every day for most of my life.

  “Eva?” David gave my arm a gentle shake.

  “Hmm?”

  “Are you okay?”

  I looked up at him and forced a smile. “Yeah. Great. What do you have planned for our next date?”

  He smiled and kissed my forehead. “Jokes now, Eva?”

  “Why not? It’s not like it’s gonna change anything.” I looked back to the man, but he was gone. My eyes scanned the area. I didn’t see him anywhere, although I found the man he’d been speaking to. I licked my lips, and rubbed my eyes with my fingers.

  Just my eyes playing tricks on me—too much stress.

  “What’s wrong?” David looked out into the mass of people.

  “Nothing. I just thought… I thought I saw someone I knew. My eyes playing tricks on me, that’s all.” I reached up and pulled his head to me and kissed him quickly.

  A group of armed men opened the door of the small room we were jammed into.

  “Move,” One ordered.

  “Where?” Devlin asked.

  “Back to your POD. It’ll take time to count the votes. You’ll stay there until the votes have been tallied. We’ll get you when the verdict is read.”

  I’ll bet. Sounds like an easy way to manipulate the results.

  We filed out of the booth, surrounded by armed men. It felt good when we exited the POD and stepped into the fresh air. I sucked in deep lungsful. The evening sun hung low in the sky giving us enough daylight to make the thirty minute hike back to our POD easily.

  We climbed down the ladder into the POD, David and Devlin were the last in. Everything was going fine. That’s usually when things go to Hell in a hand basket. That night was no different.

  The whole thing was really getting old.

  We heard the shot first, followed by a man shouting. Seconds later, a faint howling.

  The man at the POD hatch looked toward the sound of the gunshot before swinging his head back to us. “Dammit, you people brought these monsters down on us!” he started to slam the hatch closed.

  “Man, you don’t wanna do that. We got guns and people with good aim. Let us help yas,” Roy called.

  “Let us help you.” David held the POD hatch open with his forearm, and stared at the man. “You need the extra guns.”

  The man looked toward the sound of the gunfire and back to David. He nodded once. David and Devlin let their feet slide off the rungs and slid down the ladder holding just the sides, fireman style. Their boots thundered against the metal flooring as they ran to grab their guns and ammo. The rest of our group who were armed did the same.

  David walked into my bedroom as I was pulling on my boots. “What are you doing?”

  I looked up at him. “Getting ready.”

  “No.” David shook his head. When I stood he used his arm to block the door.

  “Yes.”

  “I need you to stay here, Eva.”

  “I’ve always fought with you. This is no different.”

  “There are a lot of people out there wielding guns. It’s gonna be crazy. You need to stay here. Please.” He shoved some ammo in his pockets.

  “Then you stay, too,” I said.

  “I can’t.” David started to turn to the door.

  “If you stay, I stay. If you fight, I fight.” He turned toward me, and I cupped hi
s face. “I can’t stay behind.” I brushed my thumb over his lower lip.

  “Hell’s bells, Evangelina!” David stalked out of the room. Smiling, I followed.

  David climbed out of the hatch, and turned to help me. The men standing guard looked at me with raised eyebrows.

  “You let your women fight?” one asked.

  “Try to stop ‘em,” Roy belted out a laugh.

  David rolled his eyes.

  “Where?” Devlin looked around.

  “The courthouse.” The man jerked his head in the direction.

  “Human?”

  “I dunno.”

  We broke into a run, slowing as we closed in on the POD. It was quiet. Too quiet. Eerie. A shiver slithered down my spine like someone skimmed a fingernail down my back.

  The sun had lowered. It was hard to see in the dusky night, but we were able to make out the shadows of canines against the dimming horizon. They circled the closed hatch, waiting for those inside to emerge.

  Someone in the group stepped on a twig. It crunched under their boot, and the animals’ attention was immediately drawn in our direction.

  “There’re so many of them,” I whispered.

  David’s jaw tightened. “You have your extra magazines and ammo, Eva?”

  “Yes.”

  The first animal started toward us. Devlin shot and it fell with a yelp. The others snarled and growled. Their backs arched, and the fur standing along their spines.

  “Left, Roy,” I called.

  “Thanks,” he drawled as he lined up his shot. Pop, pop, pop, three down, one right after another. “I knew David kept ya ‘round for some reason,” he said with a cackle.

  “Gee, thanks. Makes me wonder why Judy keeps you around.”

  “Well—”

  I rolled my eyes and snorted. “Never mind, just shoot the damn dogs.”

  “Will do.” Another round of pops sounded on his side of the circle and more animals fell dead.

  A crack split the night, followed by an ear pounding boom, and I jumped as the sky was lit by a huge bolt of lightning, illuminating at least thirty animals of different shapes and sizes roaming around the POD’s hatch.

  We took advantage of the momentary source of light and fired into the group. They scattered in all directions, away from the POD. We moved quickly to the hatch.

  “Those weren’t all coyotes.” I pushed to lengthen my stride to keep up with Devlin and David.

  “No.” A frown pulled at David’s lips. I didn’t have time to say anything else. We reached the POD and Devlin had pulled it open.

  Men armed with rifles poured out. Some glanced at us in shock, but the majority moved past, so focused on their mission, they didn’t notice us.

  “Who the hell gave you guns?” Braided-Beard-Man barked.

  “No one. This is mine.” I held his gaze.

  “What are you doing out of the POD armed?” He looked at the men with us.

  “They can help, Jay. The more guns the better.”

  Jay grunted and nodded. “Let’s get some fires built so we can see.”

  In theory that had been a great idea. But two seconds after Jay mentioned fire, the sky opened and rain flooded the area. It only took minutes before the hard packed desert ground was covered in standing water.

  “Should we worry about flash floods here?” David yelled over the rain.

  “Dunno.” Jay shrugged a shoulder. “We’ve never had this much rain at once.”

  Great. A community voting to kick us out on our asses, zombie animals, and now flash floods. Can this night get any better?

  “Just leave them be and come back inside!” A woman yelled and tugged on Jay’s shirt.

  He turned and cupped her face, his expression softening. His thumb moved over her cheek. “We can’t. If we don’t kill them now they’ll infect other animals. We have to try to contain this before it’s a full blown outbreak.” Jay bent and skimmed his lips over hers. He pulled back and their gazes met. “You’re the love of my life. You know this. If I had the choice, I would never leave you. I’d keep you in my arms every minute of every day. But, I have to do this now, before they spread the disease to more of the wildlife.”

  She put her hand over his. “Be careful.”

  Jay touched his lips to hers. “Always am.” He turned and chambered a round, his face hardened. Gone was the man who’d just shared an intimate moment with the woman he loved. He was replaced with a fighter. A warrior. One who was ready to protect that woman with everything in him.

  I looked around and saw the same look on all the men’s faces. The PODs were more than a place to live for them. It was home. Their families were there. They’d built lives, and they weren’t giving them up easily. They were ready to fight, animal or human, to protect what was theirs. Until that moment I thought it was the PODs they fought for. After watching Jay with his wife, I realized it was much, much more.

  And so I turned, took a deep breath, and tried to push the suffocating panic building in my chest down. It might not have been my home any longer, but I’d fight next to them just the same.

  As if the rain wasn’t enough, the clouds covered what little light the moon offered. If it weren’t for the intermittent bolts of lightning, and the few flashlights passed around, there wouldn’t have been any light at all.

  We formed a circle around the POD, our backs to the hatch. It didn’t take long for the smell of blood to draw the animals back. And with them came the deafening sound of gunshots. And screams.

  Oh, dear Lord, help us.

  I heard growling. I knew the animal was close. The growling was clear, even over the sounds of the fighting. I turned to say something to Braided-Beard-Guy—Jay—when the cougar jumped on him. Its jaws clamped on his neck. A spray of blood spurted from the wound and covered my side.

  I aimed at the cougar and fired. The reaction so ingrained in me, I did it without thought or hesitation.

  Jay fell to the ground. The spray of blood turning to a trickle on his way down. He landed hard at my feet, and blood tinged water splashed onto my jeans.

  The cougar fell a few feet away, wounded. Mouth open, it panted like a dog. Blood and flesh hung from its teeth. I raised my gun, aiming between its eyes, and pulled the trigger.

  Two dogs ran to Jay’s body, gnawing on him. Grabbing mouths full, and shaking their heads violently to rip his muscle from the bone. I fired two shots, picking them off easily.

  I quickly aimed and shot two kit foxes advancing on me from the side.

  “Eva?” Devlin called.

  “I’m good.”

  I looked around quickly for David. I found him just a few feet away helping a man hold back a line of approaching animals.

  “What are those things?” I hadn’t realized I’d said it out loud until a man answered.

  “Javelinas. They normally live a little bit south of here, but I imagine they’re here for the smorgasbord. Although, they generally don’t eat meat. Guess they’re making an exception, or the virus changed their tastes,” he answered between shots.

  “Oh.” I gave the man a tight smile and he pushed past me shooting something as he went.

  I tried to make my way to David, but was cut off by a group of people who pushed their way in front of me. I turned to my left to see what they were moving toward. A mix of several infected coyotes and wild dogs ran toward the POD from that direction. I skidded to a stop and changed direction to follow.

  I fired into the pack of animals. It was too dark to really aim—until lightning sizzled across the sky like a flickering neon sign. If I timed it right, I could get two, maybe three shots before it was too dark to see again.

  I wiped rain and mud from my face with the side of my arm, dropped the empty magazine from my gun, and snapped in another. Aimed, squeezed the trigger, and dropped two… I didn’t know what the hell they were. They were dead. That’s all I needed to know.

  But as many as we killed, there seemed to be that many more ready to attack. I aime
d at a cougar running at me when the lady next to me screamed. I jerked and missed my shot. The cougar’s speed made my miss deadly. I had only seconds to line up another shot, in the pitch black, with a woman screaming next to me.

  Lightning… lightning… lightning now dammit!

  I was trying to follow the cougar and line up my shot, but it was nearly impossible in the dark. I knew I’d have to wait until it was closer to me—closer than I wanted. So close I’d get one shot and then it’d be on me.

  A faint beam of light hit the cougar. It barely cut through the rain soaked night, but it gave me enough light to see. I squeezed the trigger and the cougar fell just feet from me. I let out the breath I was holding, and shook out the tension in my arms.

  I turned toward the screaming woman on my left. A large Rottweiler had her by the hem of her jeans. It shook its head and yanked on her leg, trying to throw her off balance.

  “Hold still!” I shouted. I put the muzzle of my gun against the animal’s head and squeezed off a shot. Blood and bone flew around us. I swiped my mouth with the back of my arm.

  “Eva!” Devlin grabbed me by the shoulders and swung me around. “Don’t swallow. Scoop up some water and rinse your mouth out." I looked down at the dirty water. “Over there where there isn’t any blood. Hurry.”

  I ran closer to the POD hatch where I hoped the water was free of blood swirling in the murky brown. I used both hands and scooped some into my mouth, swishing it around before spitting out the grainy water. I rinsed my mouth out several more times before I heard David shout my name. I grabbed my gun, rolled from my knees to my butt and shot. I hit the infected animal in the chest. It fell across my legs. I kicked against the ground to get out from under it. It wasn’t dead; it could still bite.

  Devlin walked over and put his boot over the animal’s neck, holding it down so I could move. As soon as I was safely out of the way he put a bullet in its head.

  “Thanks.”

  “Anytime. Did you rinse your mouth?”

  I nodded.

  “Don’t tell anyone you had blood in your mouth. No one.”

  “Devlin?” My voice trembled and I squeezed his arm. Oh crap, did I just get exposed to the virus? “Are you sa—”