Contagion: The Rising

by Carter, John

  Chapter 3

  Emma opened her eyes and found herself standing at window facing her old yard. She looked outside and saw her father getting into the Humvee as her mother held onto her shoulders. She looked up and saw that her mother was transformed into a Riser. She frantically opened her eyes wide as a dark figure stood over her. She stirred and attempted to sit up as the dark figure backed away from her and muttered something incoherently. She squinted and fought with her eyes to focus on the figure.

  “I said, ‘how are you feeling today?’” the figure responded more clearly than before. Emma’s vision came into focus as her squinting finally paid off. The figure now no longer unrecognizable was a young girl in a dark green uniform. She looked no older than 13 and had her dark hair up in a bun.

  She opened her mouth to speak but her voice wouldn’t come out. She cleared her throat and uttered, “Where am I?”

  The girl got closer to her and lifted Emma’s arm. Emma stayed still and watched as she recognized it was a military uniform. She jerked her hand away and looked around for more soldiers. The majority of soldiers in the area were either bandits in costume or rage filled former army soldiers.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay. We’re not bandits,” the girl stopped short. “I’m sure that’s hard to believe but my parents are soldiers here too. Besides, I’m the only one in here with you. I just need to check your heart rate and blood pressure.” Emma eased up and returned her arm.

  “Soldiers? You mean Army?”

  The girl smiled, “Not anymore, but they were stationed not far away from that farm near the grassland.” Emma clammed up. “Don’t worry. We’ve been around your camp for a while. The others made it back okay. Your sister, right?”

  Emma nodded, “How long?”

  “A few months,” the girl answered before Emma finished.

  She shook her head, “How long have I been here?”

  “Oh sorry, just a few days. We’re trying to figure out why you aren’t one of those things.” Emma felt her shoulder and winced. “Please don’t do that, you need your rest and time to heal. We’re not looking into making you a lab rat. We just want to know how to keep you alive.” Emma complied and laid back. The girl stopped before walking out of the room, “My name’s Daniella, but you can call me Dani. I’ll be back in a few hours to check on you. Please just rest.” Emma nodded. She walked out as Emma stared at the ceiling.

  Sarah opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. She smiled as she found Rory sleeping in the chair. Her smile faded as she knew she was hurting more than helping him. She got up and walked over to him. She paused as she watched him sleeping peacefully and noticed that his hair looked crazier than ever. She felt slightly jealous of his undisrupted sleep. He stirred for a moment as she reached out to him. Her hand touched his shoulder which caused him to sit straight up.

  His eyes brightened when he saw her, "Good morning." He smiled as he stretched and his expression changed to pain.

  "Morning. So you slept in the chair?" She stood up and crossed her arms.

  He smiled quickly, and grimaced as he moved around. "Yeah, not the best choice, but I wanted to make sure you were okay."

  She backed up and looked down, "I'm sorry."

  "Don't be. Please. I think I'm going to go help Ryan with the patrol tonight."

  "You're leaving?" she surprised herself with the sudden change in voice as she felt her heart beat quicker.

  "Well, yeah," Rory shrugged. “I don't think I'm helping you with anything.” She felt lost as she mulled over the thought of him leaving and hugged him. He stayed quiet and hugged her. "I just don't want to hurt you anymore. I keep making it worse."

  "No, please don't go." The words quickly escaped her mouth as she slightly regretted showing weakness. Her heart pounded and felt his heart doing the same. "I don't think I can handle this without you."

  "I'm trying to help but I don't think this is working," he said as she pulled away.

  "I'm sorry," she blushed and turned away.

  He stood up, "Sorry for what? You lost your sister a week ago."

  "I just don't want you to go," she crossed her arms.

  He walked closer to her and held her, "I love you." Her eyes widened and she looked down.

  "That's not the reaction I was looking for," Rory grimaced and walked out of the room. She followed him into the kitchen. "I know you probably didn't want to hear that, but that's what I'm feeling."

  "Rory, wait. Please."

  "I guess that's what I'll have to do. Wait it out."

  "No. Please."

  "What?"

  "Just wait."

  He held her stare for a few seconds and turned away. "You need to eat. Let's eat some breakfast." She followed him to the kitchen and sat down at the table.

  "How long do we have here?" Sarah looked up from the table. Rory walked over to the chair near her and sat down.

  "A few days. The others have scouted a few areas to where we can survive off the land for a while longer."

  "How much longer? A week?"

  Rory looked at her, "A few weeks. Maybe even a few months. Fall is just about over and we're about to hit a big winter."

  "How can they be so sure about anything anymore?" Sarah sighed, "What about the outposts near Bridgewater?"

  "Those are gone." He turned away from her, "They were overrun by bandits and the rest were taken up by the Risers."

  "Great," she got up and walked over to the window. "What's next?" She crossed her arms.

  "We stay put until the others make up a plan as to what comes next."

  "And that's it?" She turned around and leaned back on the windowsill. "We just go along with everyone else?"

  "What else do you want us to do?" His jaw tightened.

  She covered her face and sighed, "We need to head for the coastline."

  "We’ve already tried that, remember?" he instantly regretted what he had said. “Sarah.”

  Her face flushed and eyes widened. She turned back around, "Yes, I know what my idea caused and I’m pretty sure this is payback for what I did."

  "Sarah, I'm sorry." He stood up and walked over to her.

  She turned quickly and pushed his hands away from her, "Just leave me alone." She walked out of the kitchen.

  He covered his face with his hands and walked over to the window. The sudden noise from the front door turned him around. "Sarah!" He ran towards the door but didn't immediately see her. He stood at the doorway and yelled for her. After a few seconds of no response, he ran around the house looking for his shoes and finally took off out of the house looking for her.

  Sarah ran and stumbled through the woods. She found herself in same part of the forest she dreamt about a few nights before. The memory of her dream stopped her in her tracks as she listened for the Riser from her dream. The forest stood silent as she looked around and felt alone. She found the familiar large tree and sat next to it. She remained in a daze as the day grew into evening.

  Rory ran through the cornfield near the farm they were staying in, and found nothing. He finally searched the forest and ended up near the large tree. "Sarah, where are you?" He sighed and paced near the large tree.

  "I'm right here," she stood up.

  "Sarah, don't you ever do that again!" He grabbed her shoulders.

  "Don't tell me what to do," she shook off his hands, and walked over to the clearing near the large tree.

  "I'm only trying to help you," Rory looked down.

  "Well, stop. I'm not looking for help. I don't need you to chase me around."

  "I'm sorry."

  "Can you stop with that?" she turned around. "Quit saying that you're sorry. I don’t need you to keep apologizing for me."

  "Okay," he stayed quiet. "I just wanted to take you back to the house and keep you safe. Is that wrong of me to do?"

  "No," she sighed, "look, I didn't mean to." A sudden noise came from the clearing. "Get down." They crouched near the large tree and listened.

  The crun
ching of branches and leaves got closer to them as a Riser jumped out. It sniffed the air and wailed as another Riser joined it. The two explored the forest floor and sniffed at the air. They grunted back and forth as they fought over the scent of the fresh humans they were hunting. They pawed at the ground and at each other, speaking to each other in low growls and grunts. A distant wail made them jump as they stopped sniffing the air and stood still. A second wail caused them to run off in the direction of the sound.

  Rory stayed crouched but looked on as they ran off in the opposite direction. "They're trying to hunt us," Sarah grabbed his shoulder. He jumped at her touch. “Shit, I'm sorry."

  "Don't say you're sorry. Especially if you're right, they are hunting us. Good thing they suck at it."

  "They got pretty close to us, and they're talking to each other now? That's new."

  "I figured they'd group up, just like we do. I mean we are all still human, right? Socially, we group up. Why wouldn’t they?"

  "What if there's a huge pack of them? We don't have the manpower or the gun power to deal with that. We were barely making it as it was with them being solitary, mindless air-sniffing dead heads. Now we’ve got hordes of thinking dead heads?"

  Rory looked at her oddly, "Dead heads? Really?"

  "What?" She smiled.

  "Nothing," he smirked. "We have to tell the others." She nodded and they slowly walked towards the farm. They found Brady sleeping in the barn with Mark standing guard.

  Rory walked over to Brady and kicked his feet. "Wake up, Brady. We've got Risers."

  "Ugh, come back later. I'm sleeping." He crossed his arms and turned over. Rory kicked his feet harder.

  "Get up, Brady. The Risers are hunting in packs."

  Brady sat up, "Fine, I'm up." He stretched and yawned, "Risers in packs. So?" He flicked his dirty blonde hair and put his fatigue hat back on. “They’re always in packs. Packs, hordes, same thing.”

  "We need to move soon," Rory plainly stated as Brady rolled his eyes and situated his uniform top as a makeshift pillow.

  Mark looked slightly dishevelled as his military cut was overgrown and his face was unshaven. He walked over, "if they're hunting in packs, we've got nothing to fight them with. We just had problems with them being in hordes."

  Brady squinted at Mark, "Go… back to your post. And wear a full uniform, damn it." Mark frowned and walked back to the barn entrance. He looked down at his dirty jeans and uniform top in disgust. He hated that Brady was in charge, after all the years he served just for this gold bar to take over and destroy what he protected daily.

  Rory crossed his arms, "We have to go."

  "Go," Brady raised his arms. "What's stopping you?" He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

  "What do you mean, what's stopping us? We're all in this together, remember?"

  Brady laughed and exhaled smoke, "Please.” He held the cigarette close to his face, “Once her sister decided to run around and get herself killed, the deal is off. My contract is done. You can go on by yourself. This was the last stop we were doing. You are no longer my responsibility."

  Sarah grew angry, "It wasn't her fault."

  "That's right, Sarah, it was your idea." Brady pointed at her and laughed, "you're own sister, too. How long did it take you to convince her? 5 minutes?"

  "Knock it off, Brady," Rory stood in front of Brady.

  "You want to hit me? Do it." He inhaled from his cigarette, and blew the smoke at them. "You don't have the balls to follow through."

  Rory took a step closer to Brady, and Sarah grabbed his arm. "It's not worth it." She got in front of Rory. Rory's jaw tightened as he watched Sarah punch Brady.

  Mark laughed and Brady jumped up looking for his cigarette. "You better keep her on a leash." Rory grabbed Sarah and pushed her towards the door. She held onto Rory's arm as they walked back to the house.

  "You should have let me hit him."

  "What's the fun in that?" She said as she nursed her knuckles and closed the front door.

  He motioned for her to sit down and inspected her fingers. "I'm sure that's something Emma taught you," he massaged her hand.

  "I should've known better," she cringed at the pain and looked down. He looked at her and slowly leaned in to kiss her.

  She pushed him away, "Shit! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." She stood up and walked towards the window.

  He frowned and walked over to her, "I'm sorry I did that."

  "I meant that I didn't mean to push you away. I just sort of reacted." Her anger had caused her to doubt what she felt for him. "I just think you're feeling this way because of what happened."

  "No, Sarah. I told you the truth yesterday, it was always about you." he grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards him. "I meant what I said," he said as he leaned in and kissed her.

  Mark walked over to Brady, "What's the plan?"

  "Well, the lovebirds want to leave, and I want to stay." He crossed his arms and stretched his legs slightly. The cigarette, broken in half, stayed on his lower lip. "I'm sure the Twins and Chloe would be on our side for this."

  "Yeah, her sister's last fuck up killed Chloe's husband. I'm sure she'd like to kick her out of the group."

  "Or kill her," Brady smiled.

  Mark's green eyes widened with curiosity, "you know something?"

  "Oh Mark, I know all." Brady laughed, "I know it all."

  Ryan walked in and dropped off some of the supplies. "The truck is parked in the back so whenever you're ready."

  "Duty calls, Mark."

  Mark frowned and walked back to the entrance of the barn. He paced for a while and watched the house for a few minutes. He remembered the promise that he made to Emma. He thought of the conversation they had the night before the exploration mission. She made him promise to get them the hell out of there, and he had every intention to see that through.

  Chloe watched as Rory walked out of the house and she stood near the fence. She held up the glass to her mouth and drank Trevor's mix of bad moonshine. She rolled her eyes and walked back to the silo near the barn. The emptiness of the silo echoed around her as she closed her eyes and listened to nothing. The room they built only contained four beds and a small area for two footlockers. She abruptly opened her eyes and gripped the glass until it shattered in her hand. The twins walked in as she gazed at her bleeding hand and let the blood drip from it. Parker walked towards the furthest bed and sat as his brother, Trevor approached Chloe.

  "Are you okay?" Trevor stopped as her gaze slowly drifted from her hand to him.

  Her dark brown eyes appeared empty as a single thought captured her mind once again. "We need to get the hell out of here." She shook her hand and the blood splattered on the ground. "First, we need to get rid of Brady, then that pain in the ass."

  Parker brushed a hand through his wavy black hair and looked confused, "but Brady has always been there for us."

  Chloe turned around, "What makes you think he was the one helping us? We've been on our own for quite a while now." She looked back at Trevor, "He wasn't there when your father was killed, was he?" Trevor backed away and walked towards Parker. "I sure as hell know he didn't help me," her voice trailed off.

  "What do you want us to do?" Trevor looked at his brother as Parker shook his head. "Kill him?" He let out a small chuckle.

  "Well, not at first. We need the supplies before we go trekking off into the forest and get as far away from here as possible. We don't need Sarah to show us where to go. We don't need Brady or any of them."

  Parker looked down and sighed. "When should we leave?"

  Mark knocked on the farmhouse door, and watched the barn door as Brady walked with Ryan to the truck. Rory smiled, and motioned for Mark to come in.

  "We gotta speed this plan up, man." Rory's smile faded as they walked over to Sarah who was sitting at the dining table. Mark continued, "Brady is planning something with Chloe. She still blames your sister for Jeremy and I'm pretty sure she'd do something to you for sure." Rory st
ood as Mark sat near Sarah.

  "How fast do we have to be up and running?" Sarah sat back and crossed her arms.

  Rory leaned against the wall, as Mark shifted his view to Sarah. "Less than a day or two. I'm not sure when Chloe will be able to brainwash those boys more and get them to thinking that leaving is in their best interest."

  "I still don't trust those kids. I know they've helped out with building the sleeping areas and rebuilding this house, but something isn't sitting right with me especially after their father died."

  "I think they're as much a threat as Chloe is," Rory shifted his weight.

  Sarah looked at Rory, "They might be worse than Chloe. Once Chloe screws up, they'll take her out too."

  Chapter 4

  Emma thought of the supply run that they went on last month. She volunteered to lead the guys over to the last Riser-ridden outpost to see if the last survivors left any supplies. Unfortunately, there was a group of bandits that got there first and booby-trapped the supply room and armory. She could hear the screams of the others as the traps went off. Jeremy, Chloe’s husband, pushed Emma out of the way of a flying armory door and was crushed to death by it instead. The Twins weren’t injured but they couldn’t locate much of their father after the blast. She felt the guilt wash through her as she remembered that she was found holding onto Jeremy’s hand and repeating, “I’m so sorry.”

  Dani walked into the room and found Emma, deep in thought, sitting up on the bed. She approached her slowly as Emma turned and smiled at her. “Don’t worry; I’m not one of them yet.”

  “Actually, I was more afraid of you falling asleep like that. It’s no way to get rest with that shoulder,” Dani returned the smile and looked over towards the door. “I’ve brought a few visitors over to see how you’re doing.” Emma stood up and walked over to the door.

  An older Tony walked in before Kayla, “Hi Emma, I’m Tony and this is Kayla. I’m sorry for the cramped conditions but we’ve had to move a few times within the past month or so. You can sit back down on your bed if you’re more comfortable.” She realized how battle worn they appeared, and wondered if she looked the same. They wore army fatigues and what seemed to be the original patches from their previous unit still sown on.