I wanted to leave the mark exposed, unwrapped, but I had no doubts that if anyone saw it they would start to panic. It may not have looked infected as such, but it didn’t exactly look good either. I knew as soon as anyone other than Rose or Nolan saw it, then they’d be scared as hell of me. Scared of what I might become. Shit, Rose and Nolan would probably be scared too, because it shouldn’t have looked like it did. It should have looked much, much worse.
The original bandage didn’t look clean enough to satisfy me, despite the soap and soaking, so I dug through my bag and found the black swimsuit I’d kept in case someone else could wear it. It wasn’t the best material but it was breathable, and if I put my arm through the leg holes, I could place the cotton panty liner part against the damaged bits. I worked slowly, wrapping and tucking until everything was secure. I studied how it looked in the mirror. It was way more obvious than the other makeshift bandage had been, despite the material being closer in color to the short-sleeved tracksuit hoodie I wore.
I moved to the next sink and the bag in the basin, rifling through it and eventually pulling out the blush and mauve lipstick. Under normal circumstances, I’d feel skeeved out at the thought of using someone else’s products, but I looked so damn pale. I was surprised no one had commented on my sweating and fever and generally sickly appearance. No one had been focused on me, maybe, what with everyone’s general drive to survive.
The blush was too deeply hued for me, but I dabbed on a small bit anyways, rubbing it along the apples of my cheeks. When I opened the lipstick tube and rotated it up, I cringed and chucked it into the garbage can. Whoever the owner was, she’d done a number on the mauve matte. It looked like a dog had used it for chew time.
“Well, lot of good that did.”
I studied myself one last time in the mirror, sighed, and then shoved the rum bottle into the messenger bag. As I was closing it, the other tube that resembled lipstick, but wasn’t exactly shaped that way, caught my eye. I’d seen it when I’d first found the bag, but hadn’t explored what it was. Pulling it out of the small inner pocket, I pulled the top off and my mouth made a little O of surprise at what it was.
If I’d been hoping for something useful, like a mini taser or Mace, I was disappointed. If I wasn’t going to use a stranger’s smashed-up lipstick, I certainly wasn’t going to use her hand-me-down pocket-rocket vibrator. I threw that into the trash as well, doing a whole-body shake to slough off the grossness of holding such a…personal item.
Satisfied that I’d cleaned the wound as best I could and my appearance wasn’t getting any better regardless how much blush I slathered on, I gathered my things and headed to the door. When I was a foot or so away, I paused, thinking of how I’d heard the door open and close slightly while in the stall. I held the knife more firmly in my hand, willing my grip to be steady. Fear did not help the coolness of my body, because it was like icicles falling and spiking down my skin.
“There’s nothing out there. Everything’s fine. Just go, get back to the others. Nolan’s probably pissed you’ve taken so long. You can get into an argument with him and everything will feel normal.” I was speaking to myself, delaying going out into the openness and deserted stillness of the main terminal, with its dead shops and chefless restaurants.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed my way out of the bathroom in one smooth movement, devil-may-care style, because otherwise I might not have had the nerve. A weight lifted off my chest when I checked my immediate surroundings and saw nothing. Part of me wanted to go in the opposite direction of Nolan and the secured room and get another smoothie, but actually finish it that time.
That would have been stupid though. It was dark, nighttime, and I had no one with me for backup. What chance would I stand if I ran into a group of the infected? I moved slowly again, focusing on every step and checking each opening I passed. I was very close to the door that led to the security hallway when I heard it: a rustling, shuffling sound near a grouping of large potted plants.
My heart jolted into my throat, pulsing there and choking me. I sank into the shadows of an archway that led into a designer boutique. It was so dark that I was sure nothing could see me. But when the thing—the infected adult with the shattered jaw and the bullet hole in its right cheek, who was bathed in the glow from the night stars shining down from the skylights above—shambled out from behind the plants and looked in exactly my direction, I wasn’t so confident anymore.
Chapter three.
Rose
I woke to the sound of the door locking, but it took me a few seconds to really welcome consciousness. I yawned and sat up straighter, stretching my back out and listening to it crunch.
I looked to my left in time to see Nolan sitting down next to me, a serious look on his face. Well, a more serious look than he usually had.
“What is it?” I asked, turning in my chair to check on Sam. When I saw she wasn’t there I started to stand abruptly, but Nolan grabbed my arm and pulled me back down. “Where is she?” I hissed.
He put a finger to his lips and hushed me. “Keep your voice down. She’s just gone to pee.”
I started to stand up again, and once more he dragged me back down. “Nolan!” I shook off his grip. “She shouldn’t be going on her own.”
He scowled. “That’s what I said, but she wanted to be alone.” He put the last part in air quotes, and if I hadn’t been so worried I probably would have laughed. “We need to talk about her.”
I shook my head lightly. “She shouldn’t be on her own,” I whispered, but my words held no strength. I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about, and the truth was that I wanted to talk about it too.
“She’s not looking so hot,” he said bluntly. “Do you think she’s going to be a problem?”
Jesus!
A problem?
That’s how he was looking at her? And what if she did become a problem? What then? Was he going to kill her? Throw her outside? What? I hated him for that, yet I was deeply grateful too, because I knew he would in a heartbeat, and I knew in my heart that I wouldn’t be able to.
I shook my head. “No, she’s fine.”
“Rose, I know she’s your friend, but if she’s infected—”
“She’s not!” I said in an angry rush. “She’s just not feeling too good. None of us are, right? She’ll be fine. She just needs some food and some rest.”
Nolan let out a huff of annoyance. He was getting pissed off at me and I couldn’t blame him; I was getting pissed off at myself. At least he was thinking logically, sensibly. Me? I was thinking emotionally.
“Okay,” I said, my head hanging in shame at what I was about to say. “She’s not doing good.” I looked up through my lashes. “She’s burning up, and I swear I saw her eyes looking red earlier. It was probably nothing though, but yeah, I agree, we should keep a closer eye on her.”
I felt awful for selling her out, but she’d never forgive me for putting the others in danger. Besides, Nolan had kept her secret thus far; there was nothing to say he wouldn’t continue to do so.
He nodded and dragged a hand over his chin. In the dead silence of the office I could hear every bristle of hair that dragged along his palm.
“I don’t want to hurt her, Rose. I don’t want to hurt anyone. That’s not my life anymore.” He sounded pained as he spoke, his voice cracking as his brows furrowed deeper and I wondered where his thoughts were straying to. “But we need to keep everyone safe.”
“I know,” I said softly, feeling awful.
“So let’s keep her close. Make sure she’s eating, drinking, resting. One of us has to be with her at all times.” His frown deepened, his soulful brown eyes connecting with mine. “Agreed?”
I nodded. “Agreed.” And then we both had the same thought and we turned to the cameras.
Somewhere, Sam was out there on her own.
So much for that deal.
We checked each monitor, not seeing her for several moments, until finally Nolan spotted movement
in the top corner. I had learned how to zoom in on them, but the image was grainy when it got too close. The airport was in darkness. Daylight was encroaching on us, but at some point the lights had failed and gone off, and I wondered briefly what that meant for us.
I zoomed back out, and we watched as the figure moved erratically for a few seconds.
“What is she doing?” I whispered, watching silently for several minutes as she stumbled around.
Another figure came into view and I sucked in a sharp breath, realizing that Sam wasn’t alone.
“Shit,” Nolan cursed from next to me, already standing up.
I followed him to the door, grabbing my weapons on the way. He unlocked the door while I nudged Leon awake. He jumped, alert immediately.
“Watch the door,” I whispered, already following Nolan out.
Leon stumbled out into the corridor. “What’s going on? Where are you both going?”
“It’s Sam,” I said. “She went to the bathroom alone, but there’s another one of those things down there with her.”
With that, Nolan and I started sprinting towards the center of the terminal in search of Sam. We took the stairs two at a time, and I jumped over the pile of luggage and dead bodies at the bottom of the stairs, noting the smell that was coming from them. It seemed worse than it should have been at that point, like the bodies were decaying too fast.
“This way,” Nolan called without stopping.
I caught up to him, falling in stride as we both ran towards where we had last seen Sam on the monitors. I already feared it was too late, since I couldn’t hear any commotion. I expected—hoped—to hear fighting, cursing, yelling, anything that meant it hadn’t gotten to her, but instead, other than the sound of our feet pounding the ground as we ran, there was nothing but silence ahead.
We turned the corner and Nolan slid to a standstill. He grabbed my arm and stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t even have the voice to tell him to get off me, that he was pinching my skin with his too-tight grip, or to shrug out of it.
Instead, my attention was solely focused on Sam and the monster that was stood in front of her.
They were toe to toe, eyeing each other up like boxers ready to get in the ring and fight it out. Only they weren’t fighting—they were just staring at each other warily. Sam’s entire body was trembling, and I could practically hear her teeth chattering, but she was frozen to the spot in fear. And the thing…it was just looking at her, its arms hanging limply and its head cocking from side to side almost animalistically, like it could sense something about her wasn’t quite right.
I wondered, momentarily, if we were too late. What if Sam had already turned into one of those things, and that was why it wasn’t attacking her? I couldn’t see her clearly, not in the dimness. I couldn’t see her face…her eyes. Had she changed? Would Nolan have to…
I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath until I felt the burn in my lungs. I slowly let it out between my gritted teeth, trying to be as quiet as I could and wondering what the hell was happening.
I glanced over at Nolan and he looked down at me, confusion and shock bright in his eyes. I gave a small shrug and slipped the handgun from my pocket. I was going to shoot it—blow its messed-up brains out and leave them splattered all over the wall behind me. Or I was until Nolan nudged me. I glanced back up at him and he shook his head once.
I barely had time to register the shake of his head when he lifted his arms and shot it for me. The sound made me jump, and Sam squealed in surprise, as if she hadn’t even noticed we were stood there. The monster fell to the ground, leaking gore over Sam’s feet. Sam stumbled around the inert monster and moved closer to us, her body still vibrating with fear. Touches of too-early light, before the sun has breached the horizon, found their way to her face now. She stared at us in fear and shock. Her—thankfully—still human expression was terrified.
Nolan lowered his gun and looked down at me, and I stared up at him open-mouthed. “Thank you.”
Then I ran to Sam, throwing my arms around her shoulders and pulling her to me. She came, but her body was rigid and tense. It was a moment before her fear and shock lessened. Then I could feel the tremble, like a low-category earthquake, run through her—as if she was still facing down the monster.
“Sam! Are you okay?” I said over and over to her. When she didn’t reply, I pulled out of the embrace and looked at her.
Her dry lips were parted, like she wanted to say something but couldn’t quite find the energy to get the words out. Her eyes were still tinged pink, but it was barely noticeable now; unless you were looking for it, you probably wouldn’t see it, or you’d write it off as allergies. Besides, this was the bloody zombie apocalypse; no one was paying too much attention to each other. Instead, everyone’s attention as on the monsters outside.
“She bit?” Nolan asked, giving the thing at our feet a kick to be sure it was dead.
“I don’t know, I don’t think so.” I scanned her from head to toe, but couldn’t see anything. Her bandage had been changed though. The new one was cleaner, and when I pulled it back so I could see the scratch she finally jerked back to reality and snatched her arm away from me.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled, sounding half-dazed.
“You sure?” I asked, not convinced.
She nodded and looked down at it. “It didn’t attack me.”
“And why is that?” Nolan asked, his deep voice echoing through the quiet terminal.
Sam shrugged. “I have no idea.”
Nolan didn’t look pleased by that answer. “Well maybe you can tell me why you didn’t do anything to put this thing down.”
I looked away from Sam to glare at him. “What are you getting at?”
He continued to stare at Sam while he spoke, his gun still in his hand. “I’m saying that it’s obvious that she’s infected by whatever this shit is. But what I’m wondering is where her loyalty lies—with them or with us.”
“With us, of course!” I snapped. “Jesus, Nolan, she was just scared half to death by that thing. Isn’t that right, Sam?” I asked her, but kept my glare on him, half afraid that if I looked away from him, he’d put a bullet in her brain.
“I’m not one of them,” she sobbed, her emotions coming through. And thank God, because I was starting to worry about the way she was acting. When Nolan didn’t put his gun away, she let out a sob. “I swear! I’m fine! I was just scared. I came out of the bathroom, started coming back to the monitor room, and it was there. It didn’t move to hurt me, but it wouldn’t leave either. I was scared that if I did anything, then it would attack me.”
“See?” I snapped at Nolan, relief flooding through me that Sam was acting like herself.
He huffed out a breath and put his gun away. “And why the fuck didn’t it attack you, Sam?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea.” She closed her eyes and tears slipped between her lashes. When she opened them again, she looked between me and Nolan “What does this mean?” her bottom lip trembled, and I grabbed her again.
“Nothing, Sam. It doesn’t mean anything,” I whispered to her.
“What if I’m turning into one of them?” Her words were the barest whisper.
I looked to Nolan to say something helpful or positive. I should have known better.
“Then I’ll shoot you and be done with it,” he replied.
Sam let out a soft cry.
“Nolan!” I yelled. “What the bloody hell is wrong with you?”
“Me? Nothing wrong with me. But I don’t plan on letting her live if she turns into one of those things. I made a promise, remember. And let me tell you, if I get bit or infected somehow, I expect you to give me the same courtesy. You put me down like a dog. You hear me?” He continued to glare at me, his dark eyes boring into mine.
“That won’t be a problem,” I replied bitterly.
Sam pulled out of the hug and looked at me seriously. “No, he’s right.” She took a step backwards and I frown
ed. “I made him promise. Maybe you should do it now, before I change into one of them.”
Jesus.
She was so certain about it.
So calm and collected, like she was asking for a carrier bag in Tesco and not a bullet to the brain. She’d been shaking with fear before, terror and dread filling her to the brim, but now? Now she was full of poise and grace as she accepted her fate with open arms, head held high, face reflecting the role she was playing. She was ready to do this, but I damn well wasn’t.
“Sam!” I admonished. “That’s not happening.”
She opened her mouth to object, but Nolan interrupted her. “Rose is right; we’re not doing this. Not just yet, at least.”
We stood in uncomfortable silence, me wanting to bang their heads together and knock some sense into them, Sam looking frightened but determined, and Nolan—he looked like he always did: serious.
“No one is killing anyone, okay?” I bit out. “Let’s just get back before anyone else sees we’re missing.” I grabbed Sam’s arm and started to pull her along. I glanced back over my shoulder and glared at Nolan. “And Nolan?”
“What?”
“If anything happens to her, I’ll fucking kill you. Okay?” I realized I was deadly serious about that too. I would. I would kill him if he hurt her. I had no idea why I felt such a strong connection to Sam, or why I felt so protective of her, but I did, and that was all that mattered.
Nothing was going to happen to her while I was around. I didn’t care what I had said earlier to Nolan; I wouldn’t hurt Sam, and no one else would either.
Nolan’s mouth twitched like he was trying to hold in a smile, but he didn’t say anything in return. We all started back the way we had come, heading for the security room once again. Through the large glass window to the right, I saw the sun start to peek over the horizon, a burning orange and yellow fireball rising like a phoenix from the ashes.
Red Eye | Season 1 | Episode 3 Page 3