Chapter Forty-Seven
I slid my sword from its sheath, and saw the others drawing their own weapons. “Stick to the quieter ones,” I ordered softly. “We don’t want to make more noise than absolutely necessary.”
Scout and Kate replaced their guns with the crossbows. They’d been carrying the bows strapped to their backs, and each had quiver of bolts at their hips. There was an extra quiver with Jake, but I hoped we wouldn’t need more than a couple to deal with the small horde we were about to encounter.
To my surprise, the feeling of dread lessened as we drew nearer. We entered the town cautiously, holding our weapons at the ready. “There,” I pointed and saw a couple newly killed creatures laying on the ground.
“We’re not the only humans here. Just keep moving. Hopefully they won’t try to stop us. We won’t try to take anything from the town. If there are people here, they need all the supplies they have.” Jake allowed his voice to carry a bit.
I knew he hoped the residents would take him at his word, and allow us to pass unhindered. Shanti walked a bit ahead of us. Before I could warn her, another creature rushed out of an alley toward her. Instead of running, or fighting, the other girl simply froze.
She stood, not moving a muscle as the monster… moved past her and rushed at Scout, who was the next closest to it. He dispatched it without a problem. A single crossbow bolt to the skull, and it dropped to the ground.
“Shanti!” I ran to her side. “Why…? How did that thing not attack you?”
Seeming uncomfortable with the attention, she shrugged. “Maybe it just didn’t see me,” she answered blandly.
It had walked right past her. There was no possible way it could fail to notice her. And yet, it had. I tried to think back to other attacks, to remember whether this kind of thing had happened before. Unfortunately, she had always been within a larger group, so it was impossible to say.
Rex watched, wide-eyed. “You’re one of the test subjects,” he surmised. “You can… I don’t know, manipulate the enemy somehow. Like Z, right?”
Rex’s words drew Jake, Scout, and Kate to us. “Is that true?” Jake asked gently. “Did they do to you what they did to Zero?”
Shanti shook her head, eyes tearing a bit. “Not… not the same thing. I-I don’t have to worry about my tears changing others into monsters.”
My mouth dropped open at her confirmation of Rex and Jake’s suspicions. “You…You’re…Why didn’t you tell me?”
She didn’t answer. A few tears made their way down her cheeks, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Jake cleared his throat. When I raised my eyes to his, he shook his head. “Now maybe isn’t the right time. Shanti, it’s okay. You can tell us everything in your own time.”
At that, I balked. “I would love to give you the time, but we need to know what you’re capable of. Jake is right though, we don’t have to do this right this moment.”
Her grateful look made me glad we’d offered a reprieve, even if it was only to get to a safer location.
“Okay,” I gently placed my hand on her arm. “We can talk about the rest of this later. We’re being watched, and the longer we stay, I think the more hostile the townspeople are going to become.”
The older girl didn’t give a verbal response. She only nodded, tears shining in her eyes.
“Keep your eyes open, everybody.” I spoke softly, not wanting to spook anyone who might be around. “There are still other creatures, and I don’t want to do anything to draw out the people here.”
We continued making our way through the town. At first glance, it looked completely deserted. Only the creatures, and the feeling of being watched, told us we were not alone. By now, our ability to tell when we were being watched was well-honed.
I tried to pay attention to the current situation, but my mind kept drifting. Since Scout had mentioned other test subjects, I’d wondered if we would ever come across them. I had never imagined one of my group would be one. What else would she reveal once we reached a safe place? Her ability to apparently disappear from the creatures’ sight was interesting. Not something I could do, but it would be nice.
It also would have been nice to know sooner. Of course, I hadn’t shared every little thing about what I’d been through to anyone but Jake and Rex. I suppose I couldn’t judge her too harshly.
Another thought struck: she was a target too. Just as much as I was. The people behind everything were looking for all of their test subjects. And Rex had said that with me and the others, they would take control of the horde. Rex was right. We couldn’t let that happen.
Shanti had pushed to come on this trip, possibly because she was looking for the same answers I was. If she’d have told me the truth, I probably wouldn’t have let her come. To risk myself was not a big deal. But if anyone discovered Shanti’s connection to the horde… I didn’t want her to face the danger.
“Focus, Z,” Rex muttered. He anxiously peered into the shadowed buildings as we walked through the town. We moved quickly. Apparently, the townspeople didn’t want trouble either, because by the time we reached the edge of town, we hadn’t seen a single person. They had allowed us to pass through unchallenged. It was a nice change of pace.
If it hadn’t been for the earth-shattering revelation by Shanti, this town would have been unremarkable. Now, I would always remember it.
We were still walking quickly, and the muscles in my legs felt like they were burning. My eyes were getting heavy too. “We need to find a place to stop for the night,” I said. “Before it gets dark.”
I took a swig of water from one of the bottles I carried in my backpack. The others did the same.
Jake surveyed the area. “Not much here. And we can’t go back to the town. We’ll need to keep walking to see if we can find a place.”
We pushed forward, the only sound was our shoes scuffing the pavement. “There,” I pointed to a building about half-an-hour later.
It looked like a county equipment shed, but it would work as a place to crash for the night. If no one else was there.
A few minutes later we’d reached the building. The doors were locked. I didn’t feel anything that indicated the presence of any of the enemy, but it was possible someone was using the place as shelter. Although, if they were, it would have to be someone who had worked here before.
The door had a long thin window just to the side of the doorknob, and a keypad to unlock it. After checking for another way in, I took a rock from the overgrown flower bed. “Any objections?” I asked, looking from the rock to the window.
“What if there’s an alarm?” Shanti asked.
Jake examined the door, pressing on some of the buttons on the keypad. Nothing happened. “I’m guessing it won’t be a problem,” he assured her. “Looks like there’s no power here anymore.”
Breaking the window wouldn’t allow the enemy to get into the building, but it would alert other people that someone might be inside. The noise would assure that if anyone was inside, they would hear us. If they hadn’t already.
“Alright. Let’s do this.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
After my worries, the actual breaking in process was anti-climactic. I cringed at the noise of the glass shattering. The sound echoed for a bit, then all was quiet. Nothing appeared to take notice of our presence.
Entering the warehouse-type building, we saw snow plows and other county vehicles stored inside. “Large seats,” I said. “Could be used as beds tonight, if they’re unlocked.”
And if not, there was an office to the side of the vehicles. Thin carpet covered the floor, so at least we wouldn’t be directly on the cement. Jake closed and locked the door behind us, hanging one of the smaller blankets over the window to block the light from our small lantern. If anyone passed by, we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves.
I moved toward the vehicles, testing the doors. They were locked, but Kate found the keys hanging in the office. Also in the office was a partial case
of water, and a snack machine we would definitely be raiding before leaving. Chocolate and chips? How could we refuse?
One of the more useful items we found was a wheelbarrow. It wouldn’t hold as much as our old cart, but it would allow us to lighten our load a little bit. “Put all the water in there, and maybe we should carry the crossbows on top. That would make walking a bit easier for everyone,” I suggested. “Once that’s all in, we can figure out if anything else will fit.”
We gathered in the office to eat our evening meal. Rex broke into the snack machine so we could munch on some of the treats as we wound down for the night.
“Okay, Shanti,” I said once we were finished. “We need to know. What happened to you, and what exactly are you able to do?”
She pushed her hair behind her ear, and looked up at me from the corner of her eye. “About a year ago, I was taken. When I was returned, several weeks had passed. I don’t remember anything from that time, except that I was terrified.” She huffed a harsh laugh. “I’m nearly two years older than you, and I think I’m more scared of all of this than you are.”
I chuckled and reluctantly admitted, “You’d be surprised. I’ve just gotten good at hiding it. What happened when you were returned to your parents?”
I’d never noticed how expressive Shanti’s eyes were. The already dark eyes became bright with unshed tears, and I almost hated to find out what caused her so much pain.
She took a breath. “Nothing happened. At first. I went back home, and started back at school. After a few weeks, we started hearing about an outbreak of some horrible disease. It was making its way across the country, and would soon reach us. No cure was known, so my parents started trying to prepare. They tried to keep me and my bro—” Her voice cracked.
She took a breath before continuing. “They tried to keep us safe. As we were putting up plastic over the windows, I cut myself. You cry on people, and they change. I know yours is worse. It’s harder to prevent. But my blood… it got on my little brother. He was infected, and turned the next day. My parents turned when he attacked them.”
Her voice, which had taken on an almost dreamy quality as she voiced her memories, now just sounded sad. “I lost everybody. To make things worse, I hadn’t realized it was my blood that caused it. This was long enough after my return that I didn’t make the instant connection. It wasn’t until the same thing happened to my grandparents that I realized.”
I rested my hand on Shanti’s shoulder, hoping she could draw some comfort from it. “So you managed to survive until we found you.”
“Pretty much. I found that when I stayed still, the creatures couldn’t see me. I could be right in front of them, and they would pass me by.”
It was a sort of connection to the hive mind. Without realizing it, Shanti pushed her desire to remain invisible into the hive.
“You have no idea how much I wish I could do that,” I informed her with a wry smile.
She aimed a tentative smile at me. “Yeah. I’d imagine. Your talents definitely fall into a more… aggressive area. I’m not as good at fighting.”
Shanti sighed, leaning against the wall wearily. “I tried to force the creatures to ignore all of us. I couldn’t do it. Part of why I wanted to come with you was to see if it would work with fewer people.”
“Not so much, huh?” Rex broke in.
“No. But I know it felt different for a while. After we rescued you and Prati from the so-called ‘safe zone,’ I felt like I could. We passed the enemy several times, and I know Z felt them. I think part of the reason we were able to avoid them was my ability.”
After we rescued… “You mean, the same time my bloodlust…?”
I let my voice trail off. The only other things that had changed at the time was the addition of Scout’s people, and Mike. Was one of them secretly another test subject?
Rex leaned toward me. “What’re you thinking, Z? You think the way you connected to the creatures is affected by other test subjects?”
Nodding slowly, I met his worried gaze. “You said it yourself. They want me because with me and the others, they can take control of the horde, right?”
“Right,” he said. “At least that’s what I overheard.”
Kate and Scout listened attentively, while Jake finally cut in. “You think your ability to tap into the hive mind grows when you contact the other test subjects? So why, with Shanti here, are you not still having the bloodlust?”
“Shanti has been with us a while now.” I tried to reason out my thinking as I spoke. “I think… the bloodlust was there to some extent even at the prison. Remember, Jake? You had to break me out of it. When we came across another test subject, the affects were amplified. I don’t know. Maybe each test subject affects each other differently?”
“Makes as much sense as anything else in this mad world,” Kate commented. “Teenagers bring on the zombie apocalypse, but they’re also the only people who can stop it.”
The woman frowned. “One thing I don’t get: why did they not keep better contact with the test subjects? If their abilities are all that can truly control the horde, wouldn’t they have wanted to keep the kids in their grasp?”
I shrugged. “I’m thirteen. I have no idea the inner workings of mad scientists whose goal was to bring on this horrible plague.”
Rex huffed a laugh. “They couldn’t have counted on Z’s character. She wasn’t going to wait around for the people who took her before. Even if they did plan to come back for her, this was an experiment.”
“They didn’t know it would happen so fast,” Jake surmised.
Scout shrugged. “Not sure that part’s important. What is, is that we keep these girls away from them. We can’t allow them to fall into our enemies’ hands.”
Or to find any other test subjects and bring them all together. If I could truly control the horde when the test subjects came together, I might be able to use the monsters against their creators.
We could force them to give us a cure.
Chapter Forty-Nine
After a late night, we got a bit of a late start the next morning. My mind wouldn’t stop running through the implications of what we’d discussed. If all the test subjects were teenagers, then the only person who could have enhanced my connection to the horde was Mike. Of course, we didn’t know for certain all the subjects were teens. So it could be any of the new arrivals. Not Scout or Kate, but one of the other three could have been. My feeling was that it was Mike.
Walking gave me plenty of time to dwell on the information, but no way to use it for anything at this point. We wouldn’t be going back for Mike, and I wondered if we were better off not having him with us. If he caused me to lose control, it was better that he not be here. I needed to keep my mind fully functional. The uncontrolled bloodlust had scared me. I worried I would turn on my friends and allies. Without him, I had no such worry.
What could be useful was the knowledge of Shanti’s power over the enemy. I’d always concentrated on scaring them away with my scream, or trying to use my mind to direct the horde. Now, I wondered what would happen if I pushed into them the idea that we weren’t there at all. Would Shanti’s proximity allow me to use her ability?
We needed to experiment, but I didn’t want to put anyone at unnecessary risk. Was this whole quest an unnecessary risk? Despite my occasional doubts, I still thought we needed to find a cure. It was the only way. I couldn’t continue as patient zero. I wanted to be able to be… well… me. Not this soldier persona I’d taken on since the outbreak. I wanted to go back to my given name. For some reason, I didn’t feel I could until there was a cure.
Once again, Rex walked alongside me. He stayed silent, but his concern was palpable. This was bigger than we’d thought. I knew he was worried we wouldn’t be able to handle whatever we found.
“We’re getting close,” Kate warned. “Probably another couple hours of walking, and we’ll be to ground zero of the outbreak.”
Ground Zero. The first outbre
ak zone. My home, and the final resting place for my family. The place that became so dangerous, I had run as far and as fast as I could. Martial law mixed with the largest horde in the country. Any people left unturned had been forced into camps. If things were as I’d left them, people wouldn’t be happy to see me. To them, I was the cause of the majority of the city turning. Their loved ones dying. The country becoming nothing more than a giant death trap.
My breaths quickened, and Shanti took my hand. I startled, having not even realized she’d approached. “You’re fine,” she whispered calmly. Her dark eyes shone with confidence. “We’ll be okay. This is necessary.”
“We’ll need information,” Scout said. “Z, you’ll probably be recognized, so we’ll have to find a base of operations first. Then someone will need to go out and get as much intel as we can.”
“I’m staying with Z,” Rex stated. “Shanti, it’s up to you; but I don’t think it would be a great idea for you to wander around this zone either. We don’t know if they know what you look like.”
She seemed unsure. “We don’t need to decide right now,” I assured her. “People might be more willing to share information with a young girl, or a woman, than with either Jake or Scout. Both of you might appear a bit… threatening.”
“So, you think I should go with Shanti?” Kate asked.
I considered the two. With Kate’s dark hair and eyes, she could be confused as a relative of Shanti.
“Maybe. Travelers aren’t unheard of within the zones. It would be plausible that you are searching for someone, or just trying to find a place where you and Shanti could be safer from the horde.”
Scout nodded. “Kate’s good in a pinch. If they run into trouble, she can help. Shanti’s ability to hide from the creatures could keep her safe, even in the most zombie-ridden city in the country.”
Shanti looked far from relieved, but she’d set her shoulders in determination. “I’ll do it,” she said.
Ground Zero (Patient Zero Book 1) Page 18