That could have been the truth, but Eli didn’t trust him. Why wouldn’t they just have come and released them to go home? Surely this constituted as some sort of an emergency and they should have been able to go home and be with their families. He wasn’t about to let him off that easy.
“Yeah, well she got infected by this disease and then came to attack us. We barely made it out of the school alive.”
“It’s not a disease, Eli, she was a freaking zombie.” Kimber chimed in, seeing the in for her to rub it in that she was right.
Mr. Sales rubbed his chin that was covered with a very serious five o’clock shadow. He looked to be considering what had happened, but Eli knew it was more likely he was coming up with his next play. Eli knew guys like him. His father had been a guy like him. The kind of guy who was charming and smooth, but always let you down. Guys like them always had a really good reason for why they had to let you down. Nothing was ever their fault and they never did anything wrong, they were just faced with a difficult choice, or so they made you believe. Guys like Issac Sales were the reason his mother had never trusted a man again, why she raised Eli to be a man of his word and taught Kimber to be very careful who she trusted.
“Well, Eli, and the rest of you, I’m really sorry for that. I left to check on my mother. She’s very ill. I thought you were in good hands.”
“It's true.” Rion chirped, who had been quiet the entire time since she yelled out to let them know Drew was about to hit Mr. Sales. “Issac’s mother is very ill.”
Eli didn’t stop to ask why Rion knew that Mr. Sales’s mother was sick or why she had called him by his first name. His main concern was what Mr. Sales wanted from them.
“Where are you guys headed?”
“To a safe space. You?”
Eli didn’t want to give up where they were going. Kimber looked at him like he was being a jerk. He was probably acting overly paranoid, but he didn’t trust this guy. Mr. Sales was supposed to be their teacher and look out for them and keep them safe, but this was the kind of guy who only looked out for himself. They didn’t need someone like that with them. People like that could get someone hurt or killed.
“I heard that they were taking people in at the school. I’m headed that way if you want to come-“
“No, you can’t. It’s not safe anymore.” Rion’s voice again could be heard from the backseat, chiming in.
Eli turned to look at Rion. What was with this girl? Why was she bound and determined to help save the man who put them in so much danger?
“Oh, I hadn’t heard that.” He looked downward, collecting his thoughts. Eli knew he was coming up with a way to ask if he could come with them. They didn’t have space and he didn’t trust him, but the way Rion was acting had him reconsidering. Eli had no doubt that Mr. Sales would leave any one of them for dead if it meant that he would save himself, but Eli was different. After everything his mom had taught him, he knew what the right choice was. Eli wasn’t anything like Mr. Sales and that is why he had to let him come with them.
“Do you want to come with us?” He felt Rion’s hand lay on his arm and she squeezed it. Eli smiled at her, still confused by Rion’s attachment to their teacher. Maybe she just thought he was cute, but even if that was the case, this was risking a lot for a guy she thought was dreamy.
With no more seats left, Mr. Sales had to sit in the very back. After a few things were moved around and that hatch was open, he climbed in the back. He said thank you a few times and they began to drive again.
“Did you call him Isaac?” Eli turned to Rion. A rosy shade of pink crept up her cheeks. Her eyes flick downward and she doesn’t say anything. Eli watched her, but she didn’t continue sitting in silence, seemingly embarrassed that she had given up some sort of secret. Out of the corner of his eye, Eli saw a shadow move. Mr. Sales placed his hand on Rion's shoulder. Eli watched in silence as Issac moved his finger smoothly over Rion’s shoulder. He saw a smile spread across Rion’s face. With his heart sinking, Eli watched the simple gesture and understood everything Rion wasn’t saying.
CHAPTER TWELVE
To no one’s surprise, the parking lot at the hospital was full. Most of the cars were covered with a layer of snow, appearing to have been there for some time. Drew had to park on the street a block away. It was the closest place she could find. She pulled up to the curb, figuring there wasn’t anyone around to tow her car or give her parking ticket. Rion’s feet were swollen and ached when she climbed out of the Tahoe. This day finally was going to end. They would soon be safe and warm, she just had to make it to the hospital. Her feet slipped on the ice and she braced herself for a fall. But Eli came up behind her and kept her on her feet.
“Whoa, be careful there.” He smiled causing Rion to smile.
“Thanks.” She brushed her hair behind her ear and out of her eyes. Eli had a cute smile, she had to admit, even if only to herself. If Rion’s heart wasn’t taken by the father of her child, Eli would be someone she would like to get to know. He was nothing like he appeared to be and that intrigued her. But Rion had her heart set on the America dream. She wanted a nice house and yard, with her family all settled in. She wanted to be a stay at home mom and raise kids and go on vacations each summer. It was all she dreamed about each night since she had found out she was pregnant.
“At least the lights are on,” Kimber said as they approached the doors to the hospital. A crowd of people were at the front counter, lined clear up to the automatic doors. Army personnel were stationed at the door and they directed them towards the front desk. Eli stayed behind to talk to one of the soldiers. The room was filled with faces Rion didn’t know, people moving towards the front desk. Rion walked close to Isaac, wanting to find a way to talk to him. She expected him to turn and talk to her, but he acted like she wasn’t even there. It hurt to be ignored. He probably didn’t want to raise suspicion around other students, Rion told herself. She moved from one foot to the other, trying to get the ache to leave. Something touched the back of the of her legs and it caused Rion to turn around.
“Ta-da!” Eli exclaimed. He stood waiting patiently with a wheelchair.
“Where did you get that?”
“The soldiers are very helpful. Now sit down, my lady. You must rest.”
Rion sat down, grateful to her friend’s help and concern for her.
“You keep on surprising me,” Rion said as Eli pushed her forward a little bit, getting closer to their other friends.
“Good.” Eli winked at her and Rion couldn’t help but smile.
Emmy rubbed her eyes. Rion knew her little sister must be tired. She reached out and pulled her onto her lap.
“Sit with me, baby girl.” Emmy put her arms around Rion’s neck and laid her head on her chest.
“Where are we?” Emmy asked. Rion didn’t know how to explain the quarantine to her little sister. Remembering what Eli said to Isaac, she echoed his words to her sister. “We’re at a safe place.” Emmy closed her eyes, satisfied by Rion’s answer.
People started to move, guided by soldiers. They moved closer to the front desk. Eli approached another soldier and asked what was happening.
“We’re sending groups to rooms to be checked for infection. If you’re not infected you will go to a holding room. You’ll stay there until things are safe enough for you to return to your homes.”
It sounded like a good enough plan to Rion. She was happy to hear that they would be able to go home and it even sounded like it would be soon. More people were getting moved from the room and soon they were toward the front of the line. A soldier came to pick out the next group. He pointed at Rion, Emmy, Eli, and Nolan.
“We're a group,” Eli insisted, pointing at Drew and Kimber. He conveniently left out Isaac.
“It doesn’t matter.” The soldier directed them to the stairs. Eli moved in closer to the soldier. Rion reached out and grabbed his arm. She didn’t want him to do something that would get him hurt or cause them to have to leave.
“No, Issac, he has to come with us,” Rion said.
“Rion, I’ll be fine.” His voice was cold, harsh almost. Rion’s face fell, her heart physically hurt. She understood the reasons, why he had to push her away when they were with other people, but it still hurt.
Eli stepped back away from the soldier and joined the flow of people moving towards the stairs. He pushed Rion’s wheelchair as far as he could and then helped her out and down the stairs. It was only two flights of stairs to the basement level, but by the time they reached it Rion’s feet were aching again. She tried not to think about the pain or the inevitable swelling that would surround her ankles. Pregnancy sure wasn’t glamorous like the made it seem on television.
The large room they entered was divided into two sides by a chain link fence. One side was empty and the other held what looked like a hundred or so people to Rion. The soldier directed them to the side that was almost too full of people. They walked into the makeshift room and were greeted with scared looks and buzzing whispers.
Before them sat the dark and huddled masses. Faces blurred together, there were so many. Rion scanned quickly to see if she recognized anyone, but nobody stood out to her. She willingly let Eli lead her over to a bare part of the wall. The rest of their group filed in and the soldier shut the gate behind them.
“You need to sit down.” He said, placing his hand on her elbow and helping her to lower herself to the ground. The cement floor was cold against her backside, but it felt good to sit down nonetheless. Emmy sat beside her. Rion reached out for her sister, pulling her close. Her arms wrapped around the young girl and Emmy placed her head on Rion’s belly. All around them, people whispered. A guard stood watch by the door. Rion didn’t know if he was there to keep people out or to keep them in. It didn’t seem like a fair trade, to go from being locked up in a classroom to being locked up here, but at least this room was guarded. She felt safer than she had before and she settled into that safety, her eyelids began to droop.
“Eli…” She said, her voice quiet.
He looked down at her from where he stood, his back pressed against the wall.
“Yeah?”
He saw how tired she looked and his heart felt full. Rion was definitely a trooper. He couldn’t imagine the physical toll this was taking on her. Eli slid down the wall and sat beside her. His arm went around her instinctually.
“Why don’t you rest, just for a bit. I’ll be here to watch over you and Emmy.”
The corners of Rion’s mouth turned up in a grateful smile. Her head moved slowly until it was resting on Eli’s shoulder and she closed her eyes. The hushed whispers of the people around her faded away. Eli sat holding Rion and Emmy huddled next to them. Only Nolan stood, leaning against the wall, feet rooted to the ground, his guard up.
As Rion slumbered soundly on Eli’s shoulder, he willed his own eyes to stay open. He was exhausted. The watch he wore on his wrist blinked bright yellow, 12:04. Eli wasn’t usually even in bed at this time, but with the events of today, his body was telling him it was time to sleep. He pulled his fingers through his jet black hair and blinked his eyes a few time. When he opened them something caught his eye.
The guard was rounding up a few people at a time and sending them back out the gate. Eli watched as the two children and who he presumed to be their mother, go back up the stairs. They must be going to see the doctor. It won’t be long now until they all knew if they were infected or not. They couldn’t be infected, right? None of them had shown any symptoms. But if they didn’t truly know what this was that was turning people into monsters, how could they know that no one in their group was infected? It could be airborne. Eli shuddered, remembering a lecture Mr. Thompson had given about airborne diseases.
“You can’t fight them. They are coming through the air towards you. You breath them in and bam!” Mr. Thompson had slammed his hand on the table in front of him, adding some drama to his usually dry lecture, “They’ve got a hold of you and they’re not letting go.”
Eli tried to remember everything he could about that lecture. What diseases they had talked about and how they traveled from person to person. Tiredness blurred his memory, his mind blanked. He rubbed his eyes, feeling them sting as he touched them. If he closed them, just for a moment, nothing would happen. Nolan was still standing, completely awake. He would watch over them. He just needed a few minutes to rest.
A woman screamed.
Eli’s eyes shot open and flicked quickly around the room. Rion was moving away from his shoulder. At first, Eli thought it was Rion who screamed. He awoke thinking he failed her by falling asleep.
“Are you hurt?”
Rion shook her head and looked over Emmy, who was groggy, but no worse for wear. Eli turned to talk to Nolan, but he wasn’t there. His eyes jumped through the crowd. People were moving away from the center of the room. Some were beating against the gate, trying to attract attention. Eli couldn’t see the guard and still wasn’t able to locate Nolan. A noise from the middle of the room drew his attention. A low, throaty growl seemed to echo through the room, causing them all to go silent.
“Stay here,” Eli said firmly to Rion and Emmy. He walked slowly towards the center of the room to get a better look.
A woman was turning.
Eli understood now why Sada had said it that way. Before his eyes, as if in slow motion a woman shifted from a normal person to a bloodthirsty, cold, feral… zombie.
No one had seen the bite on her leg, she hid it well. Now they were all in danger. The guard was fumbling with his gun, as they watched the woman on the floor. Her head twisted from one side to the other, as if she were waking up from a long nap with a kink in her neck. The long fingers that once belonged to a living, breathing woman, were now clawing against the ground. The crowd watched in silence, collectively holding their breath, until the woman, or what had been a woman, opened her eyes.
Yellow, cat-like eyes shows brightly when the woman’s eyes snapped open. Panic fluttered through the room. People were rushing from one direction to the next, some pushing against the fence, trying to get to the other side. Others were pleading with a deity, crouched along the wall. The guard yelled at the sight of the woman’s eyes. Her body moved to a crouching position in a way that was oddly graceful for being one of the living dead. The guard, who looked only a few months older than Eli, fumbled with his gun again. He was going to shoot it, he had to, but the way he kept trying to pull off the safety that wasn’t there. The gun went off.
But the woman stayed crouching, her hands pressed to the ground. Instead, Nolan clutched his leg and fell to the ground. Eli cursed and pushed through the panicking people.
“Give it to me.” He said his voice calm, but firm. The guard wavered, looking from Eli to the sleek black gun in his hand. He didn’t imagine the decision was easy, but the guard gave in and handed over his gun to the civilian teenager. Eli cocked the gun and shot the woman in the shoulder. The effect was maddening to the woman, who turned her head and screeched at Eli. Her hands and feet began to move, propelling her forward towards him. Eli pointed the gun again, this time aiming for her head and pulled the trigger. The woman dropped instantly, without another noise.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Put this on.” A nurse with a scrunched face said as she pushed a paper gown towards Kimber. The nurse looked tired, with curly red hair that frizzed at the ends. Kimber’s face twisted in a mocking smile that said no way, but Drew nudged her. Her ex-girlfriend was insistent, giving her a look that said she couldn’t refuse. Drew was probably right. Who knew what these people would do if they didn’t do what they were asked. It was only the three girls in the room small exam room. Thankfully, Mr. Sales had been directed to a different room. The nurse let out a heavy sigh filled with annoyance and turned her back to the girls.
“You too,” Kimber said, looking at Drew and waiting u
ntil she followed suit with the nurse. When both had their backs turned to her, Kimber quickly scrambled out of her clothes and into the paper gown. The nurse then handed one to Drew. Kimber turned away from her while she changed.
“I need to check you for scratches and bites.” Her name tag said, Jean. She looked exhausted and overwork, her words coming out in a monotone. Kimber assumed she was sick of saying the same exact thing over and over again.
“Have you been near anyone who was infected?” Jean asked while putting on rubber gloves. She began examining Kimber’s arm, lifting it parallel to the floor and tracing over it with her fingers. Kimber’s eyes flashed to Drew. She wasn’t sure if she should tell the truth or not. What if they did tell the truth and that got them a one-way ticket out of the hospital? Then she would be separated from the others, and her brother, and maybe even Drew. Kimber bit her bottom lip hard, feeling the pinch of pain where her teeth made contact with the soft skin of her lip.
“We saw a bunch, but we didn’t touch any of them.” Drew pipped up, taking the pressure off of Kimber. Jean let go of Kimber’s right arm and raised her left arm.
“Well, then you’re one of the lucky ones.” Jean continued to examine them in silence, the weight of her words sinking into Kimber. She wondered what happened if you touched them or if they scratched or bit you. Eli had touched one when he pulled the zombie secretary off of Nolan.
“Do you know what’s wrong with them?”
“No.”
“Not at all?”
“Nope.”
Kimber’s shoulders slumped down. Maybe Jean did know something and she was lying, or maybe she was in the dark just as much as the rest of them. If she did have an idea of what was going on, it would only be right to tell them.
“How do you catch it?”
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