Altered

by Kimberly Montague

  "Both towns were affected by use of a new drug by the teenage population, which somehow turned into the spread of this 'Setenid Blight.' Both towns have had horrific murders with nearly identical circumstances, and both towns have been placed under quarantine with the release of hundreds of National Guard members to control the infected population. It's unclear if those who are killing others are doing so because of the drug use or because of the resulting infection, and if the infection occurs without the drug use. There are still so many questions, Chris."

  "Agreed, but what did you mean by nearly identical circumstances in the murders in both towns?"

  "The story that seemed to start this tidal wave of repercussions was about a teenager named Raymond Acacia in Independence. He was suspected of drug use which drove him so insane that he brutally murdered his father and two very young sisters."

  "Ah, yes, I see what you mean now. It's very similar to what has happened with the infected young man in Bishop, Jay Reeves."

  I could feel bile rise in my throat and shook my head vigorously with my hand clamped over my mouth. Please, God, no, they can't be talking about—

  "As horrifically sad a story as Acacia's to be sure. Anyone who could be led to murder his own parents and eight-year-old sister is just reprehensible, with or without drug use."

  Samantha? They were talking about Samantha. How could he? Reaching out, I clamped onto Dev's arm. "Pull over," I managed to say without throwing up on him.

  The words from the radio drifted to my ears as I threw the car door open, "It's still so disturbing that he was prompted to mutilate that poor child's body—"

  On the curb, I let out everything in me: the contents of my stomach, my tears, and my anger as I pounded my fists against the cement. How could he do that to his family? How could he do that to Samantha? He loved Samantha more than anything. There were times I thought he loved her more than Harm loved me. How could he turn into someone that would kill her and… and… to her body… do that… how could he do that?

  Sonya tried to put her arms around me and part of me knew it was her, but I felt so scared and trapped like a caged animal. I jumped back from her, tears still streaming down my face. It was hard to process anything. Nothing seemed to make sense.

  "Samantha?" I questioned the air. "Why Samantha?"

  Sonya tried to take me in her arms again, but I shook my head violently. What was this world I'd gotten myself into? Jay loved Samantha. If he could turn on her, what would stop Sonya from turning on me, or Gary, or Dev, or Harm? Unable to hold myself up any longer, I fell to the ground. Memories of Harm and Jay and Samantha and me swirled violently in my brain. Butcher whined and licked the tears from my face as he lay in front of me. I buried my face in his fur.

  Vaguely, I could hear Dev's voice. "Gary, you drive. Just head north. Sonya, get in the front. We have to keep moving."

  I was so lost in the multitude of emotions swarming through me that I didn't register Dev's presence until he had pulled me into his arms. Panic shot through my veins, and I fought against him, but he was so much stronger than me that it was pointless.

  "Evie," he commanded, "stop it, right now! I'm not him! Sonya is not him! Gary is not him! There is nothing on the face of this planet that could cause me to hurt you. Do you understand me? Nothing!"

  I wanted to believe him, but there was no reason to. He could become infected and go crazy just like Jay. While I stopped fighting him, I remained completely still, unwilling to interact with him.

  In a much softer and quieter voice, he continued trying to soothe me. "I love you. I'm sure he said that to you before, too, but you know—you know it means something totally different. You know whatever this is it's special. I don't care what happens to me, Evie. I'll always be able to look in your eyes and know you—know how much you mean to me. Look me in the eye right now and tell me that you don't feel something different when our eyes meet than you ever felt with him."

  He pulled back, and I let him nudge my chin up until my eyes met his. Completely indescribable, but there, nonetheless, that snap of connection or electricity, or chemistry—I don't know, but I'd never felt it with Jay. I'd never felt anything remotely similar with Jay or for Jay.

  He gave me a very small smile before pulling me back into his arms. "See? I'm right. I'm always right—you should just accept this now."

  I would have punched him or made some smartass comment back, but the weight of everything still hung on my shoulders. Closing my eyes, I rubbed my cheek against Dev's warm chest, breathing him in. I would have been content to stay there all night, but the sun was already very low in the sky and the sound of gunshots getting closer to us made me jump.

  "Come on," he pushed softly. "We have to get out of here."

  Some Sort of Rescue Mission

  The sky was so beautiful that I tried my best to focus on it—having another mental breakdown would be the least helpful thing I could do in our current situation. The glowing orange mingled so smoothly with the baby blues of the day gone by that it was difficult not to get lost in the natural warmth of the colors. Remembrances of similar sunsets, similar skylines, and similar trips in this truck made it hard to truly believe in the gruesome and frightening horror of the present.

  Leaning back against Dev with his arm wrapped around me and Butcher warming my feet, only served to help my mind float away to a time when Jay hadn't—I had to stop my mind and push it back to the sunset fading in the sky. As the orange sank lower and lower, it changed, becoming a fiery blood red that clashed with the cryptic dark blue that followed behind it. A sign of what's to come, perhaps. Ms. Jones might say it was foreshadowing.

  "I don't understand." I closed my eyes and tried to tune out Sonya's voice. "How does doing drugs lead to an infection that could be spread to others? And how weird is that? Jay's the one who gave the guys that lecture last year about the stupidity of doing drugs at that party. You remember, Gary?"

  "Yeah, it doesn't seem to make much sense. Were they—" He paused abruptly. Who's that? Is that—"

  The concern and panic in Gary's voice made me jump up. Was it Jay? I stared out the window, but the dusky sky outside inhibited my ability to make out the shapes on the side of the road. Two figures were chasing another, and it looked like, further down the road, another person was running away from the group.

  Dev leaned across me to look out my window. "It's Ted and Donald."

  Sonya and I turned to Dev. How on earth could he see that in this light? It wasn't completely dark yet, but it was dark enough not to be able to see their faces. Sonya pulled a flashlight out of the glove compartment and shined it in their direction.

  Gary held the handgun out to Dev. "Vaughn, give Evie the shotgun, and take this handgun."

  As I took the safety off the shotgun and aimed at the running figures, Dev took the handgun from Gary and leaned forward, ready to shoot from over Gary's shoulder.

  The truck slowed down, and Gary rolled down his window. "Hey there guys. Lovely weather isn't it?" His very relaxed pace didn't hide the fear in his voice, but then again, I knew Gary better than Ted and Donald.

  Neither of them slowed down. Ted had a bat in his hand, and something shined in Donald's hand shaped a little like a knife. Ted turned to us, panting with his face bright red from exertion. "Help… Kim… he's chasing her… help." The panic in his voice was so strong, and the way he kept running after whoever was in front of them instead of turning on us made it clear he wasn't infected.

  "Is he infected?" Sonya shouted as she tried to lean closer to the window without getting in Dev's way.

  With the flashlight illuminating Donald's face, we could see him trying to nod and run at the same time. I was already rolling down my window when Donald yelled, "He killed Anna!"

  It was more than enough information for me. "Get closer to him Gary." The cold sound of my voice frightened me a little, but not enough to lessen my resolve. I wasn't about to let this guy hurt Kim, and if it happened to be Jay I shot at,
it would be all the better.

  The darkness made it more difficult to aim, but Gary got me close enough that I was able to fire one shot at its lower body—enough to stop it, or so I thought. I pulled back thinking I had done my job. Instead of stopping though, it turned and came charging at the truck. It didn't even seem human anymore. It had its lips curled back as if it were growling or hissing. Its eyes were so bloodshot that they were like one solid dark mass without any white. I barely had time to register what I was doing when I pumped the shotgun, aimed at its chest, and pulled the trigger. Butcher was growling in the background as it dropped to the ground.

  Finally, I thought I had it. Gary stopped the truck when it first charged us and was only now getting out.

  "Butcher, stay back!" I pointed firmly at his face, which had become my way of physically showing him that I meant what I said. "You stay back!" I commanded again as I climbed out of the truck, pumping the shotgun again just to be on the safe side. Butcher stayed right beside me, but Gary and Dev walked closer to the thing. Dev had the handgun pointed at it, and Gary shined the flashlight in its face.

  Blood was everywhere, and I was worried about getting nauseous from the smell, but it smelled odd. This just reeked of something dead, not really dead, but decaying and moldy. As the light hit its face, it lurched up with its hands in a deadly claw-like formation reaching for Gary. Both he and Dev jumped back before Dev put a bullet in its brain.

  Sonya stood up against the truck. "Who is it?" she yelled. I couldn't blame her for keeping her distance. The only thing giving me enough confidence to get close was the 12-guage shotgun in my hands.

  "It's Michael."

  Ted's voice surprised me and forced me to reassess where I should point the shotgun. Butcher growled low as he took a small step in front of me. Ted and Donald were panting hard when they reached us. Ted had a dark bruise beneath his right eye while Donald simply collapsed onto the ground several feet from the thing that used to be Michael.

  "Michael? Jay's friend Michael?" Sonya's bewildered tone was something I couldn't agree more with in that moment. "That doesn't look like Michael."

  I knew Michael well. When I ate lunch with Jay, Michael was one of his friends that sat with us. He was a nice guy—had always treated me well. This thing was not nice at all—it looked as if it were something out of a horror movie.

  "He's been chasing Kim since late last night. We thought he gave up, and we were about to run and hide somewhere else when he came out of nowhere and went after her."

  Sonya had enough sense to grab a few bottles of water from the back and hand them to Ted and Donald.

  Ted shook his head and touched his right cheek. "I don't know what this infection does, but damn that thing is strong. That bastard took out Anna like she was nothing, you just—it was like something from a video game."

  Donald sat up, drinking large swallows of water. "I don't know how you're still standing. He must have thrown you fifty feet." He turned to Dev. "Did you give him the double-tap? I don't want that thing coming back."

  Dev just nodded a little sadly. Butcher's ears shot up as he shifted position, staring in the direction of the back-end of the truck. I didn't hear anything, but I trusted Butcher's instincts enough to turn the gun in that direction regardless.

  "We need to get out of here." My statement was pointless, however, since everyone was already thinking along those lines.

  "We have to get Kim. I told her to run and not look back." Ted started jogging in the direction Kim had been running. "Thank God she's fast."

  "Get in the back of the truck, we'll pick her up." Just as the words came out of Gary's mouth, Butcher started growling. Someone screamed in the distance. I had heard the term "blood-curdling" before, but I had never had a particular experience to which I could apply the description… I could now. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up as I backed quickly toward the truck. Dev held the door open waiting for Butcher and me to get in before climbing in. In the back, Ted and Donald were perched at the windows in the camper shell searching for Kim. When we finally came upon her, she was seriously winded, but Ted managed to help her into the back of the truck.

  Not wanting to waste any more time, we were about to speed away when someone screamed, "Wait! Wait!"

  Several minutes later, we had thirteen new additions to our truckload including: one of the cheerleaders from school and her family, one of Dev's wrestling teammates and his family, and the girlfriend of one of Jay's groupies along with her family. They had apparently seen Kim running, knew she wasn't infected, so they took a chance at flagging us down. We soon learned that everyone on the street we'd happened to turn down was either missing or dead. These people were the last to survive and weren't the least bit confident that they could continue doing so by hiding in their homes.

  When we passed the last cluster of homes, I breathed a massive sigh of relief. Not that I didn't want to help others, but our truck was pretty full. Leaning up against Dev, I finally felt comfortable enough to put the safety back on the shotgun and set it down on the floor of the truck.

  Sonya went back to talking about the infection and how it didn't make sense. Of course, it didn't make sense. Gabriel and I understood that from the beginning. Logic didn't seem to have a home here. People were infected, turned into crazed beings and murdering people. There's no sense in that. Except…

  My mind wandered as Sonya babbled from the front seat. "Maybe I'm nuts, but this just isn't adding up. I mean, Michael never even drank a sip of beer, let alone did drugs. It just doesn't make any sense that this was all caused by drug use."

  In my head, I went over the list I had made when I was formulating my silly brief about the conspiracy behind the infection in Independence. Sonya was busy retelling a story about Michael and his drug-addict uncle that didn't take much effort for me to ignore. What was I missing here? This wasn't from drugs—I had suspected that since my chat with Gabriel months ago. But if it wasn't drugs, it had to be something that mimicked the effects of drugs. The police had been so sure it was some kind of PCP drug.

  "But mushrooms?" Sonya's condescending voice pulled me back to her conversation momentarily. "I mean seriously, can you see Michael and Jay out on some camping trip to the wilderness to hunt down some mushrooms? I mean gross… moldy fungus."

  I sat bolt upright. How could I be so stupid? "The Mountain Devil," I whispered in shock.

  Beside me Dev chuckled. "You think the Mountain Devil did all this? He eats stomach and faces—he doesn't infect people."

  "No," I tried to get the words out, but the implication of them made me hesitate. If I were right, it would mean… I stared back out the darkness of the window as everything made too much sense. Pieces of conversations, articles, and news stories clicked into place like some sort of horrific jigsaw puzzle.

  We suspect mushrooms of some sort since it looks to be based on a fungus, he was always such a nice guy, but the past few weeks he had changed, he became really mean and almost evil, that football player from Independence High had recently been camping near the cave, I can't control any of it—my strength, my temper. It's like one second I'm fine and the next I'm so angry. I let my face fall into my hands, trying to avoid it all. My own thoughts shouted back at me from last night: What on earth happened to him? Why were the guys in my life turning into people I didn't recognize?

  Dev put his hand on my arm. "Hey, what is it?" He sounded so concerned, so sweet and gentle.

  "The cave." My voice wouldn't come out any louder than a whisper, and it shook horribly. "It's—it's the cave, Dev—the fungus, the mold." He tilted his head trying to make sense of what I said. "Jay and Michael—their strength, their temper—they were in that cave. That Independence kid was in that cave. It's…"

  He started shaking his head slowly with his eyes narrowed in doubt, but the violence of his movements and the clear fear in his eyes told me he understood.

  "But I'm not a murderer." His voice was so small and almost hurt, I
felt like a doctor delivering the news of fatal cancer. "And Ted—Ted was there too and Donald, they're not—we're not all crazy like them."

  "I know. It's different. It's not affecting all of you in the same ways. Maybe you didn't get as much into your systems, maybe, maybe—I don't know, but everything fits. It explains everything."

  Sonya had turned around in her seat to look at me, and by the look in her eyes, what I was saying was making sense.

  I went on. "All this started happening after the camping trip. You had mold all over you when you came out of there and cuts all over. It may have, I mean it could have gotten into your bloodstream."

  His eyebrows were drawn so tightly together that it looked painful. "But Gary—"

  I shook my head. "He didn't have a scratch on him, Dev."

  "But… If…" His eyes darted around the cab of the truck. "I… I have to get away from you." He put his hand on Gary's shoulder, shaking it roughly. "Pull over Gary." He sounded so panicked. "I have to get away from you before it gets worse!"

  His hand was burning up as I took it in both of mine. "Look at me! Dev! Look at me. It's different for you. I don't know why, but you're different. You can control it. And I can help you."

  "No. No, Evie." His voice wasn't panicked anymore; it was solid and determined which frightened me all the more. "I'm not taking that chance with you. Gary, pull over."

  The panic began to rise in my voice instead of his. "Please, Dev. I don't want you to go." I held tightly to his hand and grabbed onto his arm with as much strength as I could find.

  He tried to push me away from him and get closer to the door, but I clung to him. The fear of being without him surprised me. I hadn't ever "needed" Jay, but I just couldn't imagine leaving Dev behind, not knowing where he was or what was happening to him.

  The thought made my chest tighten and tears fill my eyes. "I can't—don't leave me. Please, I need you Dev. Please…"

  The intensity in his eyes faded as his body relaxed. He nodded with resignation and pulled me into his arms. "Okay, okay… I don't want to leave you, baby, but you have to promise…" He looked up at Gary and Sonya and his voice got louder. "All of you have to promise that if I start to lose it, you'll shoot me. I don't want to live like that." He cupped my cheek with his hand rubbing his thumb across my cheekbone. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody."