Ground Zero (Patient Zero Book 1)

by Adrianne Lemke

  I backed away from the fire. The cool night air was a relief after the burning heat. “Done. Thanks for your help.”

  I clicked the button to turn it off and made my way toward the others. My part in the escape was complete. All I could do now was hope the boys would be able to get out of the town safely.

  Getting back to the others was a bit tricky. The woods were dark now that the moon was so low in the sky. Once I moved away from the glow of the fire, I couldn’t see. Sticking too close to the edge of the woods would be risky. Once the fire was discovered, it wouldn’t take long for them to determine it had been purposefully set. The guards would likely try to search for the culprit.

  Yells echoed from behind me, and I knew someone was working on putting out the roaring fire. I bit back a curse when my foot twisted on a branch, or tree root, or something. I caught myself before I could fall. The twinge in my ankle on the next step took away any hope that I’d managed to avoid injury.

  Letting my hand rest on the nearest tree, I took the weight off my foot. Rotating the ankle, I cringed at the sharp pain. Continuing the rotation, I was pleased to note I still had full motion available. It simply hurt. Maybe a strain or sprain.

  I kept moving, limping slowly through the trees. The sun was rising when I finally reached the clearing where the others had set up camp.

  “Z!” Prati threw herself into my arms.

  “You made it! I was so worried about you, Prati.” I returned her hug, needing the positive contact after all the worry of the night before.

  The little girl smiled up at me, and pointed toward Mike. “Your new friend is nice. He got me back safely.”

  Mike shifted and glanced down toward the ground. I had no doubt he would be comfortable with the group before long, but he was accustomed to being on his own. It could take some time before he would open up to the others.

  “Thank you, Mike.” I moved toward the center of the group.

  Scout frowned in my direction. “You’re limping. Are you alright?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Just twisted my ankle a bit. It’ll be fine.”

  “Probably,” he agreed with a nod. “But how ‘bout you have Kate take a look. She has the first aid kit, if you need anything.”

  “I will.” I glanced around. “You guys seen Jake or Rex yet?”

  Scout shook his head. “One of my scouts saw a fire south of us, and a lot of activity from town heading to that area. What happened?” As he spoke, he waved Kate over to us. He also motioned to me to sit down next to a tree.

  I huffed, but conceded. “We had to separate. The guards locked Rex in the prison. Ben, one of the guards, was willing to help. He took Jake to get locked up, but hid a cell key where Jake could use it. They were supposed to escape once my distraction pulled the guards from town.”

  “The fire?” Kate guessed, kneeling next to me. “Take off your boot.”

  “Yeah, the fire.” I cringed as the motion of pulling on my boot sent a twinge of pain up my leg.

  Kate and Scout winced in sympathy when they saw the swollen joint. “Ouch. Here.” She handed me a small packet containing a pain reliever, and a bottle of water.

  I accepted the pain reliever, and swallowed the water gratefully. Until the cool water hit my parched throat, I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was. “Thanks.”

  “We have some instant cold packs too,” Kate said. “All you have to do is squeeze them, and they cool off. But I’d like to feel the joint first.”

  After a quick but painful exam, she agreed with my initial assessment. Once I was settled with a chemical ice pack relieving some of the pain, I almost slapped myself. I pulled out the walkie-talkie and stared at it.

  It was daytime now. Would calling Ben alert others to my presence? Would he have been called to help with the fire, or to help at the prison? It was worth the risk.

  I turned on the walkie. Maybe not worth speaking, but I clicked the button a couple times. If Ben was available, I hoped he’d respond.

  “What’re you doing?” Kane asked. He was walking by, starting to pass out breakfast.

  “Trying to get some information,” I said.

  My walkie clicked. “Z, I thought you weren’t going to call,” Ben’s voice came through.

  “I had to check. Did Jake and Rex get out? They haven’t made it to us yet.”

  Kane listened intently, and a few of the other kids gathered around. They all stood silently as we waited for Ben’s response.

  “We got out,” Jake’s voice broke through my worries.

  I sighed and held the walkie close to my chest, eyes closed. “So why aren’t you here?”

  “Sorry, Z. We had to lay low for the day. Couldn’t quite make it out of town before sunrise. Did you make it back to the others?”

  “Yes. We’ll be waiting for you tonight, okay? No more delays.”

  “See you then,” he confirmed. “Now, turn off the walkie. Save the batteries. I’ll let you know when we’re on our way.”

  I nodded and held it close to my mouth again. “Stay hidden, stay safe,” I ordered.

  Before I could change my mind, I clicked off the walkie.

  “Probably for the best,” Scout said with a nod. “You all would have wanted to get into the next zone right away. You need to sleep and rest your ankle.”

  Now that I was sitting and some of my fears about Jake and Rex had been relieved, I realized how tired I felt. Apparently, pulling an all-nighter could cause drowsiness. Who knew?

  I ate some dry bread and peanut butter for breakfast, gulping the rest of my water bottle to wash it down. By the time I had finished, Aly and Shanti had set up a makeshift tent out of blankets for me.

  “Here. You could use a bit of a darker, quiet place to sleep,” Aly said. “We’ll wake you when it starts getting dark, okay?”

  “Thanks, girls. See you later.”

  As I fell asleep, it occurred to me that Jake hadn’t mentioned how Rex was doing. Part of my mind wanted to focus on my concern. But the darkness and solitude of the tent fueled my exhaustion, and I fell asleep.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  I woke with a start, unsure what had awakened me. It was still light out, but I was groggy enough that I was sure I’d been asleep for a while. Remnants of my normal nightmare returned to my mind, and I knew why I’d awakened.

  My parents’ deaths haunted me. It was something I could never escape. No matter how far I ran from where it had happened. And I was trying to go back. To return to my hometown, and avenge their deaths. No. I shook my head firmly. Not avenge. Get justice. Take down whoever had made me the cause of death for so many people, and prevent more from being harmed.

  Laying quietly for a moment, I let myself remember. My mom and dad had always pushed me to be the best I could be. It had been dad’s idea for me to start martial arts, and mom had supported me when I’d decided I loved it. They weren’t always home, but they were always there when I needed them. Until the day I’d been taken.

  When I felt the emotions threatening to spill over, I forced the memories to the back of my mind. No tears. No deaths. I wouldn’t be responsible for anyone else turning. Especially anyone in my circle of friends and allies.

  I could only imagine how mad Scout and his people would be if I managed to turn any of them into the rotting creatures. Not to mention how the other kids would react. They all knew what I could cause. In theory. But only Jake and Rex had ever seen the reality. They had seen my tears contact a person, and the slow deterioration from human to flesh-eating monster.

  Clearly, I wasn’t going to get any more sleep today. I sat up and started gathering my belongings so I would be ready to go once Rex and Jake made it back. We were already pushing it, remaining in these woods this long.

  I debated sending some of the group ahead, but getting separated wasn’t on my list of things to do. We were just about to get the whole group back together again.

  “Z, you’re up already? I expected you to sleep all day.”
Aly said in surprise.

  She wasn’t the only one who was surprised. I looked around the campsite. “Where is everyone?”

  To be fair, most of the group was still there, but I could tell several were missing.

  “Scout sent some of his people toward the border fence with most of our supplies. Figured we’d be able to move faster when Rex and Jake meet us if we had most of our stuff moved already. They should be back before long.”

  I nodded. I couldn’t argue, since Scout and his people weren’t my responsibility. They didn’t have to follow my lead, but were still willing to help. It was an interesting feeling. I’d long since gotten used to Jake’s acceptance of my leadership. So many other adults doing the same felt odd. Like one of them should have seen this group, led by an almost fourteen-year-old, and taken over as leader.

  The possibility worried me a bit. If Scout decided to push his own agenda… His group was much stronger than ours. If he were so inclined, it wouldn’t be hard for him to take over. I would simply need to strive not to give him reason to betray us.

  I helped fold the blankets from my makeshift tent. My mind wandered back to Rex and Jake. Normally, Jake would have said something about how Rex was doing. Would have let me know he was uninjured, or let Rex talk to me himself. I was tempted to get in contact with them again, but the sun was nearly down. It wouldn’t be much longer before they would be calling me.

  “You seem distracted, Zero. What’s going through your mind?” Shanti asked.

  I forced a smile. “Nothing much. Just thinking about Jake and Rex. Hoping they’ll get out of town okay tonight.”

  The other girl stared at me intently, and I shifted under the scrutiny. “Your ankle seems a bit better,” she observed. “You’re not limping as heavily as you were earlier.”

  Honestly, the injury hadn’t even entered my mind since I’d gotten up. Of course, I still favored it a bit, but the pain relievers and ice had helped. “I should be good to go tonight,” I agreed. “Mild sprain, at worst. Definitely looked worse than it is.”

  Shanti gave a relieved smile. “Glad to hear it. I, for one, can’t wait to get out of this zone. It’s been nothing but trouble since we got here.”

  Thinking about Mike, Bernice, and Ben, I shook my head. “Not all trouble. We were able to help Mike, and there were two people in the town that helped us get Prati and Rex free. There are probably plenty more who would help, given the option.”

  The other girl scoffed. “They’re too scared of the guards to step out of line. But I’m glad you were able to get to people who could help.”

  As the sun set, I turned on the walkie. The rest of Scout’s people returned, thankfully having had no problems. I ate a can of cold soup and waited to hear from Jake.

  The walkie clicked, and Jake’s tinny voice finally came through. “We’re on our way. Ben gave us the radio, so we can stay in contact. Only reply when we get in contact with you, okay?”

  “Of course,” I responded. “Just get here safely. We’re ready to move out as soon as you arrive.”

  “See you soon,” Jake replied.

  In addition to sending people ahead with our supplies, Scout had also left a couple people to watch the town. They’d reported heavier guard activity throughout the day, and had seen some heading into the woods. Presumably to search for the person who had set the fire. Thankfully, they had been searching in the wrong area. None had come close to our campsite.

  “Z, I think some of us should start moving,” Scout suggested about an hour after Jake had contacted me. “Just so we don’t need to get such a huge group going all at once. It might make things move more smoothly at the fence.”

  He was probably right. It shouldn’t take much longer for the boys to make it out of town. Then it was simply a matter of getting up the hill and into the woods.

  I nodded. “Caleb, Kristy, go relieve Scout’s people. Once Rex and Jake hit the tree line, lead them to us.”

  When Scout raised his eyebrows in question, I explained. “After avoiding guards all day, Rex and Jake are more likely to trust people they’ve known a while. Your people still dress like guards.”

  “Good thinking. I hadn’t thought about that. Just figured they’d know it was us,” Scout answered.

  It was possible, but I wanted to err on the side of caution. If Jake and Rex saw Scout’s people and thought they were guards, we could lose track of them. They would retreat to a different area, and we might not be able to find them again.

  Or, more logically, they would contact me with the walkies. We would assure them Scout’s people were waiting, and they would meet up with us. Meaning my switch had been unnecessary. But I still felt it was the better option.

  Scout shot me a mock salute, and started to lead the others toward the border fence. Case, Quinn, Aly, and Shanti waited with me. Once the twins, Jake, and Rex arrived we would follow.

  I hadn’t wanted to split the group again, but it did seem like the best option at this point. “See you all soon,” I said to the rest of the kids. They all smiled and waved as they walked behind Scout.

  The rest of us had our personal items packed and ready to go. We sat in a circle around the walkie, waiting in silence for the message that the boys had made it into the woods safely.

  “So, what happened to you and Jake the other night?” Quinn asked. He smiled nervously at breaking the silence, but continued on. “We all thought you were right behind us, and all of a sudden you were gone.”

  I shrugged. “We caught the attention of a cougar. By the time we’d scared it off you guys were pretty far ahead, and we had to run to avoid the guards. You hadn’t heard that, huh?”

  They all shook their heads, except Aly. Apparently, the rumor mill had missed this one. Somehow. I guess it just hadn’t seemed important once we’d gotten the news about Rex and Prati.

  “That was pretty much the story,” I explained. “We met up with Mike, who helped hide us from the guards, got into the next zone through the cave. You know the rest.”

  “A cougar, huh?” Quinn sounded confused.

  “Yeah, why?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Not sure. Just seems a bit… odd. After the creatures, and the guards, to be attacked by an animal just seems…”

  “A bit surreal?” I suggested. It was the same thing I’d thought at the time.

  The older boy nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Surreal.” His mouth opened to say more, but the radio finally clicked.

  “Z, we’re with Caleb and Kristy. On our way to you. We’re going to have to move quickly, the guards are getting kinda close.”

  “Understood,” I answered. “We’re ready to go as soon as you get here.”

  The others rose and grabbed their bags. I took mine and the walkie. The twins and the boys appeared, moving quickly through the dark woods. “Let’s go,” Jake said.

  He didn’t even give me time to greet them before they rushed past. Those of us who had been waiting exchanged a quick, confused glance, and followed.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  We jogged in silence. Aly held one flashlight to keep us from running into trees. Rex and Jake stayed at the front of the group with the twins. The rest of us followed. For once, I couldn’t hear any noises from behind us. There had to be a reason they thought we needed to run, but I hadn’t noticed it yet.

  I tried to pick up the pace in order to ask what was happening, but my ankle was already twinging. I was breathing heavily by the time we reached the fence. Scout waved us through the hole they’d dug out underneath. I waited, eyes straining to see through the dark woods, while the others squeezed through. To my surprise, there was still nothing that would indicate a need for such a quick retreat.

  Standing still for a moment, I enjoyed the quiet of the night. No creatures were near. No guards either, from what I could tell.

  “Z, we’re all through,” Jake called. “Come on.”

  I stared through the woods for another moment before sliding under to join the group.
Another glance past the fence still showed nothing following.

  “What’s going on, Jake?” I asked, brushing dirt from my clothes as I stood. Two of Scout’s people moved past me, and I glanced at them vacantly before turning my attention back to my friend. “Why the huge rush? No one was following.”

  He shook his head. “They were following when we reached the woods, but we managed to slow them down a bit. Once we were able to gain some ground, we started running. Sorry, Z. They weren’t far enough behind to risk stopping long enough to explain,” he stared over my shoulder toward the fence, an apprehensive look on his face. “We should still keep moving, alright?”

  Arguing the point was worthless. We already knew the guards would venture at least shallowly into the infected zones. Staying next to the border fence was asking for trouble. It was strange. Here I’d thought staying in one of the uninfected zones would be safe. Turns out we were better off in the infected zones. Guards didn’t risk going too far into zombie territory.

  “We’ll probably be okay once we reach the city,” I agreed. Others were listening now, so I raised my voice to include the group. “Jake’s right. We should keep moving, before the guards are able to catch up.”

  One jailbreak was enough for me. While the rest of the group started moving, Rex hung back with me to watch the fence. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat and shifted. “I… Th… I was glad to see Prati was okay,” he finally said.

  “Yeah, Ben was kind to her,” I answered. I couldn’t help wondering when we’d become so awkward with each other. “Kinder than the guards were with you. I heard you were knocked out. Are you okay?”

  We started to follow behind the group as we spoke. He seemed a bit hesitant, but finally answered. “Yeah. I’ve had a nasty headache since I woke up, but I’m good.”

  He rubbed at his arm uncomfortably. “Thanks, Z. I know you and Jake risked a lot to come get us.”

  “Always. We’re a team, Rex. We’re family. I would never leave you behind. Any of you. And I know you’d do the same for me.”

  He nodded agreement. We continued walking in a more comfortable silence. I could tell we were near some of the enemy, and adjusted back to the mindset of fighting creatures rather than humans.