“So, then what? A magic carpet ride?”
“We need something accessible that could be easily maneuvered through the city,” she replied heading over toward Bree again.
“So, what I said,” Dave joked again but she ignored him.
Bree still sat in the same spot, staring at the same place where Paige had knelt before, so she simply resumed the same position again.
“Where’s the staff room, and does anyone ride a motorbike to work?” Paige asked her very slowly.
Bree nodded and pointed awkwardly to a wooden map of the museum on the wall.
God, I hope someone brought their motorbike today, Paige thought as she pushed to her feet.
Dave was already scanning the map when she joined him and took a quick snap of it with her phone.
He obviously found her behavior funny, but she had her reasons.
“What?” she asked, a little offended. “This place is like a maze.”
“I didn’t say anything.” He faked ignorance while his smile continued to grow.
“Let’s go,” she said, annoyed now, and he had the audacity to laugh at her.
She gave him a filthy look and he tried to stop, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, it’s just... It’s cute how you can be such a badass and yet could be lost in one tiny building.”
Paige wished she could rebut that statement, but it was the truth.
She simply shrugged. “I have no senses when the space around me is concerned.”
“Fear not, that is why you have me.” He winked, and she sighed.
Still, despite herself, Paige had to confess that it was easier to navigate with Dave by her side.
She had been to this museum many times before and had been lost in it just as many, but he was a natural.
She was slightly envious of that, not that she would ever tell him.
Despite his previous protests, they sprinted toward the office and he always knew where to turn without even looking at the map she’d photographed.
Paige could remember math equations without a problem. She could fix and recall how things worked, but getting from point A to point B was always a nightmare.
They paused only once but not because they got lost.
In the eerie silence of the museum, they could hear footsteps behind them that echoed so loudly, Paige had to suppress a scream.
They turned in unison to see a man staring back at them.
No, not at them. Paige corrected herself. He was staring at her and unfortunately, he showed all the signs of being infected.
The three of them stood there for a few long seconds, looking at each other until suddenly, the man sprang into action and raced toward them.
He wore the same crazed expression on his face as the woman on the road who Paige practically had to run over with her car to stop her.
Right on cue, she and Dave turned and sprinted away from the madman in the opposite direction.
“You’re the Seedling,” he screamed. By the sound of it, it didn’t seem like he would give up chasing them any time soon.
“I neeeeeed you, girl!”
Paige cursed as Dave shot her a confused look—while still running, of course.
He wasn’t the first person to call Paige a Seedling, and something told her she really didn’t want to find out what it meant because it sounded beyond bad.
Pushing open a set of doors, they entered the China exhibit.
Life-size stone warriors lined the room, some with weapons gripped in their stone hands. There were other weapons as well, the original ones that were safely packed away in clear displays.
Dave paused for a moment, trying to jam the door in some way. Noticing the crazy man’s fast approach, they bolted and tried to find a place to hide.
“Seedling …” the man intoned as he entered the exhibit.
Dave grabbed her quickly by the shirt, forcing her to crouch down behind one of the displays which housed some swords from various ages throughout China’s history. They ducked down just in time or the man would have spotted her.
“Come out, come out wherever you are …” He laughed manically. “They will free me when I give you to them …” He spat some nonsense as his voice echoed eerily around the room, making it sound like he was everywhere at once.
Paige scanned the room, willing her racing heart to slow.
“There has to be something in here we can use,” she whispered to Dave and he nodded.
Something they could get to without having to break a display because Paige didn’t want to draw attention to themselves just yet. Not while they were weaponless.
That was when her gaze stopped on a pair of beautiful shiny Samurai swords unboxed and mounted on the wall.
But there was a catch. For them to reach the swords, they would definitely have to reveal their position.
“I will distract him while you go and grab them,” Dave whispered once he realized what she was looking at.
She would have to climb up on the other displays to reach them.
“You can do it,” he urged her, preparing to stand up.
Paige nodded.
I can definitely do it, she told herself with confidence—like she was trying to prepare for a race at a college or something, she thought without humor.
“We go on three,” he commanded, and she crouched, resuming her position.
Should she climb slowly so he didn’t see her and then go fast? Or should she simply go for it? Dave’s life was on the line as well.
“1... 2... 3...” He counted quietly.
Either way, the man would definitely see her under the bright display lights.
“Go!” Dave shouted, and she leaped just as he said, “Hey asshole, looking for me?” He seemingly picked some random object out of his pocket and threw it at the infected man.
Successfully annoying him, it seemed, because he focused his attention away from Paige.
Knowing she didn’t have too much time, she leaped and grabbed onto the top of the glass box, pulling herself up.
Even though she moved swiftly, she felt like she wasn’t fast enough. She could hear some kind of struggle behind her but couldn’t afford to turn and look. All she could do was have faith that Dave would manage until she came to the rescue.
“Paige, look out,” he yelled suddenly. The infected man grabbed hold of her leg just before she managed to pull herself all the way up on top of the box.
He tugged hard and yanked her down onto the floor.
The hit stunned her but she didn’t have time to dwell on the pain. The man smiled down at her with eyes that were blood-red, and he had a crazed, hungry look on his face that made her feel like dinner.
She did the only thing she could. Paige kicked him between the legs and as he started to fold himself over in pain, Dave tackled him like a linebacker, giving her the much-needed reprieve to push herself back and away from them. Wasting no time, she clambered to her feet, gripped the edge of the box once more, and hauled her bruised body up.
“Got them,” she yelled loudly enough to be heard over the ruckus. The man was now snarling and growling like he was some kind of a wild animal and Dave was preventing him from getting to his dinner—A.K.A. Paige.
She plucked the Samurai swords off the wall without much fuss. Thankfully, they weren’t nailed fast—a possibility that occurred to her only when she grabbed hold of one.
Alas, she didn’t have time to relish her success because her friend needed her. She turned in time to see the man knock Dave out of the way before he charged, and with a thud, he landed on the box beside her.
Suffice it to say, she was not confident that the thing could actually hold their combined weights. Nevertheless, she swung the sword without thinking, throwing the other one down to Dave.
The virus must have dulled her attacker’s responses and his clarity because without thinking, he reached out with his hand as the blade approached him to grab the sword, and it sliced right through his fingers.
He screamed in pain, but unfortunately, it didn’t slow him down. She swung again, and the tip of the blade sliced his cheek and then across his neck. The blood squirted everywhere and on instinct, she shielded her eyes.
He wrapped his hands around the gaping wound, trying and failing to stem the bleeding.
Dave charged with an exaggerated battle cry and shoved him hard, making the infected man fall to the floor.
They took their chance and she sprinted over the boxes. She slipped once or twice on the thick red blood, but Dave caught her every time. Finally, they leaped off and ran out of the room.
They didn’t stop running until they were through the staff room door.
Panting and covered with crazy man’s blood, they were both high on adrenaline but fortunately still alive
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Dave stayed by the door in case the wounded man decided he wasn’t done with them while she looked for the keys.
Turning, she almost had a heart attack. Staff members in the room.
Go figure.
A few of the museum’s staff sat at the lunch table as if they were on their break, but the virus had clearly got to them before they had a chance to start their meal.
The untouched food lay on the table in front of them and Paige almost gagged on seeing it mixed with the blood that dripped so freely from their noses.
They all wore white coats apart from one, so she suspected they were the restoration team and the lady in a very nice suit that was still spotless, despite her face being smeared, was the curator. The woman’s name tag confirmed this.
“What’s the holdup, Paige?” Dave shouted, and she shushed him, jerking toward him as if to physically stop him from making additional noise if necessary.
Turning, he saw they were not alone and gasped.
“Please hurry,” he urged in a much more situation-appropriate voice.
Paige walked around the table as if on eggshells, but the TV hanging on the wall nearby caught her attention.
The news channel showed what was going on the streets, and just as she suspected and had already seen for herself, the infected people were everywhere. It was a global problem, and it was on the rise.
She neared the TV so she could hear the anchorman speaking without turning the volume up. That crazy man was outside and she didn’t want to alert him to where to find them.
The news ticker spoke about the various stages of the infection and the journalist read reports that were arriving as he spoke.
“At first, the health organizations around the words claimed it was a chemical attack by a terrorist group, but after closer inspection of the virus, it was ruled out. It apparently contains an unfamiliar element never before seen. The scientists are baffled...”
Well, great!
“As we learned previously, there are stages to this strange infection. Nosebleeds and general confusion or stupor-like behavior is now characterized as stage one. By now, some people have moved to the next stage—stage two—where they try to bite the non-infected people. They are erratic and extremely violent. Be cautioned that the virus lives in infected saliva and if bitten, you will be infected. Stay away from those who have the disease. Lock your doors.”
“Great, just great,” Dave commented next to her and Paige jumped, startled because she hadn’t even heard him approach. “Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.”
“Did you hear all that?” she asked because his behavior confused her.
“Yeah.”
“And?” Paige prompted, looking at all the potential threats around them. That number of infected people made her nervous.
“And what?” he countered. “We already knew we were screwed, so this breaking news isn’t so breaking.”
When he said it like that, she had to agree.
“Hurry,” he repeated like she needed a reminder that they were in danger.
Keys. She had to find the keys. She looked around for people’s bags—there had to be one with a set of keys in it.
Bingo. She found a motorbike helmet next to a backpack. She’d already decided a motorbike would be way better than a car if they could find one. Thankfully, Bree had been right. She searched inside the backpack and found a set of keys.
“Found them,” Paige announced, waving them in triumph.
“Cool, let’s bounce. This place gives me the creeps,” he said in one breath and she was more than happy to comply.
“Do you think there’s another way out of here?” she asked hopefully. She still gripped the Samurai sword, even though the blood made it sticky. And she had a sudden urge to wash her hands, but there was simply no time for that.
“You know there isn’t,” Dave replied simply, and she sighed.
“Do you think he is still out there?”
“Yeah,” he replied, sounding none too happy about it. “Let’s just make a run for it.”
“I thought you didn’t run.” She only half-joked but regretted the impulse immediately.
He looked at her before answering. “I’ll make an exception this time.”
Paige nodded, silently giving him the sign, and he opened the door slowly, trying not to make extra noise.
They crept along the empty hallways, and Paige’s feelings about that place and how much she didn’t like it resurfaced. All the dead things surrounding them simply gave her the creeps.
Why would someone want to collect these things in the first place? she wondered as they passed an Under the Sea exhibition.
“This is so cool,” Dave commented beside her, pointing at a great sea monster and all its teeth, clearly not sharing her views about that particular exhibit.
“True.” Paige had almost started to relax and think they were nearly out of the woods when an all too familiar sound resurfaced again.
“Oh, no.” Dave groaned beside her and muttered in a hoarse whisper-shout, “Can we just ignore it so it can go away?”
The infected man was back and by the look on his face, he was done playing with his food.
“Run!” she screamed and, not waiting to see if Dave did as was told, raced away. Their attacker followed, always a couple of steps behind them.
Dave picked random objects that were not hidden under the glass boxes and tried to throw them at their pursuer but accomplished nothing.
“This guy means business,” he commented, already winded, and Paige began to worry. They couldn’t keep this up much longer.
After a while, even she realized something was wrong—apart from the obvious. They managed to hide for a few moments behind a big Neanderthal settlement and catch their breaths.
“We are going in the wrong direction.” Dave voiced her concerns. “We need to split up.”
“What?” she panicked. “I’ll get lost.”
“Just backtrack our steps and when you see the samurais, go right, and you’ll find the exit.”
“What about you?”
“I will let him chase me for a while, then come to find you. I promise.”
Paige didn’t like that plan one bit and was about to argue when the choice was taken out of her hands. The infected man jumped in front of them, and Dave pushed her out of the way while he tackled their stalker. “Go—now!”
Paige started running with everything she had but the feeling in the pit of her stomach didn’t have anything to do with over-exertion.
She couldn’t abandon Dave like that, so turning around once more in hopes of finding him, she ran even faster.
At the settlement, there were no traces of Dave or the affected man. In a cave-like structure, Neanderthal people were on display, captured while working. Even though it gave her the creeps how lifelike they actually looked, she hid among them, praying Dave was there as well.
He wasn’t, but before she could really start to panic, a very distinctive voice helped her find him.
In his usual manner, Dave was taunting th
e crazed man from a Mammoth he’d climbed on. “What’s the matter—the virus ate your brain and now you want mine? Well, come and get it.”
Suffice it to say, Dave was not happy when he spotted Paige. He didn’t acknowledge her in any other way, though, so the man never saw her coming.
“Are you actually salivating, my man? Damn, I didn’t realize I was such a sweet piece of ass.” Dave continued to make jokes and Paige wanted to groan because he was so cheesy.
She couldn’t believe he was joking at such a moment. But that was okay. She was terrified enough for them both.
Gripping her sword with both hands, she sneaked up on the murderous lunatic. Unfortunately, he heard her approaching and turned to hit her. The blade sliced into his arm but didn’t seem to slow him at all. That was when Dave jumped down to help.
Which was a big mistake. Dave tried to hit him, but the man grabbed him by the neck and started to squeeze. Paige jumped into the fight once more, but it was hard to do anything while the man still held onto Dave, yanking him around like he was a ragdoll.
Paige swung again but missed him entirely. She held back a moment, afraid to attack because he used Dave as his shield.
“Kill him, Paige,” Dave shouted, clearly pissed at being used in that way.
“I am trying to,” she replied through clenched teeth, but it wasn’t easy. The crazed man clearly had some superhuman strength because, despite everything she and Dave had done to him so far, he still attacked with vicious intent.
Moving backward, Paige tripped against the freaking rock from the exhibit. She couldn’t even raise her sword in time to defend herself against the lunatic.
Dave managed to wiggle away when the man was so focused on Paige and managed to jump on his back, trying to choke him.
The victory was short-lived. In the next moment, the infected man yanked him down, grabbed him by the neck, and threw him across the room. He was airborne and only stopped when he hit the wall.
“Dave!” Paige screamed, but he wasn’t moving.
Temporarily distracted, Paige completely missed the fact that the man never broke his stride and was upon her. He grabbed her by the hair and began to drag her out of the room.
Contamination (Invasion Survivor Book 1) Page 15