“I should get dressed, too,” George said, pulling off his backpack.
After Dan changed, he checked the front of the store again and noticed even more dead in the parking lot. The helicopter could still be heard nearby.
“George, pick up your trash,” Dan said, pointing to the ground were several tags lay strewn about, along with the plastic that had held the shoes together. “We don’t need them finding this if they come in.”
“Okay,” George said, stuffing everything into his backpack. “Should we try for a back door?”
“No, they might be watching for that,” Hixson said. “We need to find a place to hide inside. Just pray that they aren’t using infrared.”
He spotted two swinging doors in the back wall, which they moved through to enter a large storage room.
“Perfect,” Dan said, looking around the room to see boxes of all different sizes. He quickly cut open two of them with his knife and dragged them across the room.
“What are you doing?” George asked, as he watched Dan dump out the office chairs along with bags of nuts and bolts.
Dan brought the two empty boxes back over to where the others were stacked before he answered.
“If we hear them come inside, we’ll hide in these,” Dan said. “The open end will go on the floor, but we’ll have to tuck the flaps in so they don’t notice them.”
“Then what?” George asked.
“Then just stay very still until I tell you to come out. If you make any noise at all, they’ll find us and kill us.”
“Okay, sure,” Rayburn said, looking nervous.
Within five minutes, the muffled sound of voices could be heard in the main part of the store.
“Get in the box,” Dan whispered.
Once Rayburn was under the box, Dan tucked the flaps in since George had forgotten to do it.
“Sorry, I forgot to . . .”
“No talking, George,” Dan whispered, getting into his own box. “Not a word.”
Dan crouched down, ready to move at a moment’s notice. He sighed when he heard Rayburn’s voice.
“Do you think they’re coming back here?”
“I don’t know, but no talking. Seriously, George, I don’t want to die.”
“My lips are sealed,” Rayburn said.
Dan held his breath, hoping that Rayburn could actually manage to remain silent for a while. He cringed when he heard George’s box shuffle closer to his.
“Shhhhh,” Hixson said.
“I really need to go to the bathroom,” Rayburn whispered. “How long do you think they’ll be here?”
Before Dan could reply, the doors swung open, and light slipped beneath his box.
“Take that side,” a voice said, from just a few feet away.
Dan listened to the footsteps as they moved around the storeroom. He kept his pistol in his hand, though he didn’t want to use it against live humans unless he had no other option. He heard a box being moved, and he tensed up until he realized it was too far away to be the one that George was in.
“What’s up with this?”
“Looks like someone started putting some chairs together but didn’t finish.”
“Would they just leave the parts sitting out like this?”
“Maybe they would if a zombie was about to take a bite out of their ass.”
“Looks clear back here.”
“Someone definitely broke in and disabled the alarm.”
“Probably looters. There was plenty of that before the dead ate them all.”
“True. Someone probably picked up a new laptop for free. Let’s get out of here before we get trapped inside.”
The voices began to fade, but still Dan waited several more minutes. Finally, he made his way out from under his box and checked the store before telling Rayburn it was safe to come out.
“That was close,” George said.
“Too close,” Dan replied. “We might be smart to stay here for the night. We got lucky this time.”
“What about food and water?”
“I saw some lockers in the back. Let’s check them.”
~*~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
Lindsey walked back into the room and pulled the door closed behind her. Autumn couldn’t help but wonder how she would react once she heard the news. Lindsey had been there with her through thick and thin, and Autumn had learned to trust her, not out of emotion, but out of necessity. Lindsey wasn’t the nurturing and motherly type, and Autumn liked that about her. But how would she react to knowing Autumn had been bitten? Or maybe she already knew. The look on her face told Autumn that it was likely.
“What happened?” Lindsey asked, making an obvious effort to keep her emotions under control.
“Autumn was bitten,” Doune said calmly.
“That’s it?” Lindsey asked, unable to keep from raising her voice. “She was bitten? You say it like it’s no big deal, Dr. Psychopath!”
“She was bitten several hours ago,” Doune said, not reacting at all to Lindsey’s tirade. “Look at the wound.”
Lindsey frowned at Doune but turned toward Autumn.
“I’m so sorry, Autumn. Can I see it?”
“Sure,” Autumn replied, glad that Dr. Doune had been the one to spill the beans. She unwrapped the bandage to expose the bite mark.
“What am I supposed to see?” Lindsey asked. “The skin’s obviously been broken, so what else matters?”
Autumn tried to reassure her. “All the other wounds we’ve seen just got worse. Mine seems to be getting better.”
Lindsey glanced over at Doune. “Is she infected or isn’t she?”
“Her first blood test was positive for infection,” Doune replied.
“And . . . ?”
“Let’s not get her hopes up, all right? As we’ve recently learned from those who were rescued from the school, the parasite may take longer to spread in some hosts than it does in others.”
Lindsey sighed, having forgotten about the outbreak at the school.
“Do you mind if I take another sample of your blood, Autumn?” Doune asked.
“Go ahead,” she said, holding out her non-injured arm.
He drew some more blood and labeled the test tube before fixing another slide. He looked at it under the microscope for a long time, before saying, “Incredible.”
“What?” Lindsey and Autumn asked, almost in unison.
“I see no sign of the parasite. The blood looks normal.”
“Then you just made a mistake the first time,” Lindsey said. “She must not have been infected.”
“No. I don’t make mistakes like that,” Doune said, “ever.”
“You did this time. You must have.”
“Her blood tested positive the first two times, and there’s no doubt that her attacker was infected. He infected others.”
“I watched him draw the blood and make the slide,” Autumn said. “He let me look at it under the microscope, and it was infected.”
“You can tell the difference?” Lindsey asked the girl.
“Of course,” Autumn said. “I’ve been helping Dr. Doune for ages now. I know exactly what infected blood looks like.”
Lindsey and Autumn both looked through the microscope and could not argue with what Doune was saying.
“Then she’s immune?”
“Or it’s just moving more slowly in her than in the others, though that wouldn’t explain the blood tests. I’m going to want to talk to someone from the school. I need to verify that this is what happened, because it would mean that the parasite can linger inside a host for a while before taking control of the body.”
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Lindsey said. “It’s kind of late, so it may have to wait until morning.”
“I suppose it can wait,” he said. “It’s not going to change anything, but it might help to answer some questions.”
~*~
Doune and Lindsey stayed with Autumn that night to watch her in
case she took a turn for the worse. They took turns sleeping, and by early morning the wound looked even better. Lindsey waited until 6:00 before finally deciding it was time to go talk to some of the survivors from the school. She returned almost an hour later and sat down in a chair next to Autumn.
“I had to talk to about ten different people to piece the story together,” Lindsey said, “but it doesn’t sound like the infection smoldered in the boy after all. One of the girls was playing with him by a door that led to the outside. They found something seeping beneath the door, and they both touched it before figuring out that it was blood mixed with that greenish stuff we see on the infected. The two children were afraid that they’d get in trouble, so they cleaned their hands with paper towel and didn’t tell anybody about it. It turns out that the boy had a scraped knuckle. He showed it to one of the teachers, but they didn’t have any bandages to put on it.”
“And when did he come into contact with the blood?”
“It was in the late afternoon or evening. The girl couldn’t remember exactly.”
“With a wound on the knuckle, it wouldn’t have taken much to break it open again,” Doune said. “The tiniest opening would have allowed access for the parasite.”
“It makes sense to me,” Lindsey said.
“And if this is what happened then we’re back to assuming that infection follows the pattern we’ve been seeing in everybody else so far.”
“If you’re sure that you didn’t make a mistake, and her blood samples keeping coming back clear, then she must be immune, right?” Lindsey asked.
“I’ve been running some tests, and I would say that it’s a definite possibility,” he said.
“She could be the key to a cure, then,” Lindsey said, after hugging the girl.
The door opened suddenly, and Snake walked in as Autumn quickly attempted to hide her bandage.
“What’s going on?” the biker asked, crossing his arms. “I’ve been hearing some things around the hospital that have me a little curious.”
“Autumn has been bitten,” Doune said.
Snake looked stunned when he heard the news. For the first time since Lindsey had met him, the man was speechless.
“But the good news is that she may be immune,” Doune added.
“How sure are you?”
Doune told Snake about the tests he’d run, and Snake listened carefully, taking it all in.
“That’s awesome if it turns out to be true, but I still think the girl needs to be in quarantine for a few days, just to be safe.”
“She’s staying here with me,” Doune said, firmly. “It’s critical that I keep her here so that I can continue running tests. The regular quarantine room is just meant for short stays, and the exercise room isn’t ready yet.”
Snake threw up his arms in exasperation. “Dude, have you forgotten what went down yesterday? What if you fall asleep and she turns? The rules need to apply equally to everybody. You, of all people, should get that!” He glanced at Autumn and said, “Nothing personal. I’m just worried about another outbreak.”
“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t hurt your biker gang,” Autumn said sarcastically.
“What do you want us to do? Keep her in the regular quarantine room for two days? Keep her in the other room while they’re moving the equipment out? I don’t think we have a choice,” Doune snapped.
“I’ll stay here to help watch her,” Lindsey volunteered.
“We had two guards yesterday,” Snake pointed out. “I’m going to run it by Jack since he’s the guy in charge, but I think we need guards outside the door until we’re sure she’s all right. I also want two people in the room with her at all times. When you two need a break or need to sleep, you let me know, and I’ll find someone else to come in and sit with her. And I want the guards to check her every few hours to verify that there’s no change.”
Doune agreed to Snake’s terms, knowing that it was the best deal they were going to get.
“One more thing,” Doune said.
“What?” Snake asked.
“I’d like to keep this as quiet as possible for now.”
“I’ll tell Jack, but I won’t let anybody else know just yet,” Snake promised.
~*^*~
~27~
Malibu, California
Hixson and Rayburn left the office supply store just before sunrise. It took them the rest of the day to fight their way around the Malibu compound, which encompassed most of the city south of the Pacific Highway. They moved north into the foothills where large homes overlooked the city and the Pacific Ocean. By that time, Hixson had used up all the ammo in his rifle. Debating the wisdom of keeping the heavy weapon when he’d have trouble finding more ammunition for it, he finally discarded it. They cautiously made their way to a neighborhood that was out of sight of the walled community.
“This will do,” Hixson said, eying the house in front of them. It was an average-looking home in a neighborhood that had large, enclosed yards. It was also currently for sale, giving Dan hope that it might be empty. The view of the Pacific Ocean was impressive, but more importantly, the property also offered a glimpse of the highway below and a clear view of the street leading up to the neighborhood. With the forest directly behind them, it wouldn’t be difficult to disappear into the trees if they saw anybody approaching from the street.
Hixson walked over to peer through the front window. “Empty. No furniture or anything.”
He climbed up to the balcony and managed to get a patio door open on the second floor. After searching the house, he went back upstairs with a pair of binoculars he’d picked up along the way. Rayburn followed and stood beside him at the window.
“See any zombies?” George asked.
“Not up here, but they’re still swarming the highway.”
“Hopefully they’ll have a tough time climbing these hills.”
“That was a bit of a workout,” Hixson said. He turned to look at Rayburn. “You’re in pretty decent shape for an old guy. You never even got out of breath. You were talking the whole time.”
“Quietly, though. I was whispering.”
“I know, but you were keeping up with me. I was worried about that when we first started out.”
“I walk a lot,” Rayburn shrugged. “I try to keep busy, you know? Gardening, tennis, sometimes I even golf if I have to, but mostly I like to walk.”
“That’s going to be a huge help,” Hixson pointed out. “We may end up having to put in some miles on foot.”
“How long should we stay here?”
“I don’t know,” Hixson admitted. “I’m torn between wanting to get the hell out of here, and thinking we should lay low for a while. There probably aren’t many people who know the truth about this plague, which means that this group will do anything in their power to shut us up.”
“I know what you mean,” Rayburn said. “Even the new people who paid to get into the compound didn’t seem to know much. I overheard a couple of different conversations. Not when you were with me. People seem to shut up when you’re around.”
“You don’t.”
“Very funny. I heard a group of people talking about what was going on, and they seemed just as scared as the rest of us. It sounded like some of them had paid a lot of money to get inside the walls, but others were allowed in for free if they had valuable skills. I heard one woman say, ‘Do you think they knew about the plague ahead of time?’ I wasn’t sure who they were, but someone else said no, that they had been preparing for all kinds of disasters, but nothing like this.”
“So most of them probably had no idea,” Dan guessed. “I had a lot of people ask me what was going on, and they seemed scared, too.”
“So, if this group has all these resources available, where does that leave us?”
“We’ll have to assume that they have surveillance equipment at their disposal as well as manpower, weapons, etc.”
“What about satellite pictures and things like that? Do you th
ink they can see us anywhere we go?”
“Even if they have satellite images of the entire world, we’d be needles in a haystack unless they can narrow down the search. Now that we got rid of your phone, I don’t think they can track us, or they would have had us by now.”
“And that facial recognition stuff?”
“Same thing. They’d probably need a fairly accurate idea of where we are. I’m betting if they had seen us outside today, they would have been able to identify us.”
“So we need to get out of the area.”
“Here’s the thing, George. When we leave, we’ll be putting ourselves at risk by being outside where they could spot us. We may have to pass through some fairly open areas where there aren’t good places to hide. Yet if we stay here and they’re able to narrow down our location, they just might find us. My instinct is to keep moving, but I’m not sure that’s the best choice.”
“What would you do if you were with your squad? Would you go or stay.”
“We’d go,” Hixson said without hesitation.
“So, you’re just worried about me.”
Dan shrugged.
“I think you’ve got pretty good instincts, so we should go. Can they see us in the dark?” George asked.
“Most helicopters have FLIR cameras on them; forward-looking infrared imaging systems,” Dan explained. “They can see in the dark, through body heat. If they’d had infrared goggles today in the store, they would have seen us hiding in the boxes.”
“That’s not good,” Rayburn said. “So if they’re close to us, they can probably see us in the dark, but if they haven’t really figured out where we are yet, it’s probably safe for us to move at night?”
“Safe? There are still millions of zombies out there.”
“And they probably can’t see us in the dark, so maybe we can move at night if we’re careful. If we can put in a lot of miles in one night, maybe that’s all it would take to get us out of here.”
Dead, But Not For Long (Book 2): Pestilence and Promise Page 22