Afflicted

by Susanne Valenti

  “Cats jump all the time,” I hedged though it did seem like a pretty impressive leap from a standing start. If the contamination was already causing changes in the animals in the suburbs then we could be running out of time even quicker than I'd thought.

  I turned a corner onto a wider street and slowed as I took in the scene ahead of us.

  Parked cars and houses had their windows smashed. Glass littered the street and smoke spiralled from a few of the buildings. It looked like someone had started a riot in the street.

  We progressed along the tarmac slowly as I scanned the shadows for any threats lurking within them. It seemed like whoever had caused the destruction was long gone. Nothing moved between the houses and no sounds punctured the silence.

  “That's Lacey's house.” Reese pointed to a building on our right a little further up the street. It was a big detached house with red brickwork and a large garage to its right.

  I eased the truck up beside it and cut the engine as I frowned over at the house. The front door was wide open and hanging off the hinges. The front windows were smashed too, jagged glass lining the frames.

  “I'd better check it out alone,” I began as I caught movement in my rear view mirror.

  “Mom!” Lacey yelled as she leapt from the truck and started sprinting for the door.

  “Shit. Stop her!” I shouted as I wrenched my seatbelt off and jumped out of the truck.

  Reese leapt out as well and raced into the house behind Lacey.

  “We need to get her out of there!” I yelled as I ran for the house. Footsteps pounded behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to see Jason and the big guy with all the tattoos following me to help.

  “Lacey wait!” Reese bellowed ahead of me. Never mind my plan to enter quietly and make sure nothing was lurking inside. I just hoped nothing was here and that Lacey wasn't about to find out that something bad had happened to her family.

  I'd lost track of Reese and Lacey in the few seconds it had taken me to enter the house behind them. I paused, wondering if they'd be more likely to be looking in the rooms down here or upstairs.

  A muffled thump drew me towards the door at the end of the hallway.

  I pulled a pistol from my belt and eased the door open, taking cover by the wall as it swung wide.

  The curtains billowed in a breeze that blew in through the broken windows at the back of the house. I scanned the room quickly, looking beyond the couch and tv to the spaces between them where someone might hide. There was no one there but a small movement drew my eye up to the curtain rail.

  Four pigeons were perched there, looking down at me in surprise. I wondered vaguely if they were contaminated and if so what had changed about them. They looked like normal pigeons to me. One of them let out a soft coo under my scrutiny.

  I pulled the door closed again and turned back to the hallway, almost bumping into Jason and the guy with the tattoos.

  I shouldn't have called for their help to stop Lacey but I was so used to calling on my team that I'd done it without thinking. I wondered what Kai would think if he found out I'd dragged a bunch of unarmed civilians into an unsecured location. I smirked at the idea of him telling me off and turned my attention to the next room.

  Before I could open the door, a loud sob came from somewhere upstairs.

  “You two wait here,” I commanded in a low voice, hoping they'd follow my orders without question. “I'll check it out. If you see anything, shout.”

  They nodded their understanding and I moved up the stairs slowly.

  The fourth step groaned under my weight and I cursed it beneath my breath. I doubted anything in the house was unaware of us at this point but I'd rather not give my exact position away.

  As I reached the landing, I could definitely hear someone crying. I was annoyed at myself; I should have expected something like this and warned Lacey to wait in the truck. Whatever she'd witnessed now would never be scrubbed from her memory.

  A male voice murmured something softly and I guessed Reese had found her too.

  A door stood ajar at the end of the corridor and I crept towards it, my boots crunching over broken glass from a smashed photo frame.

  I leant against the doorframe as I looked through the gap into the room.

  Lacey was sobbing in the centre of a double bed and Reese had his arms wrapped around her as she buried her face in his chest.

  “We can't be sure of anything yet,” Reese said softly as he ran his fingers over her braids.

  I eased the door open, feeling uncomfortable at interrupting them but unable to leave them either.

  Reese looked up at me with relief and nodded towards the other side of the room.

  I stowed my pistol and moved across the carpeted floor towards the wardrobe. There was a large, red stain on the floor and I knelt down to examine it. Someone had bled here.

  I leant forward and pressed my hand down into the centre of the stain. Sticky blood clung to my fingers but it didn't ooze from the carpet beneath the pressure I applied.

  I stood and looked up at them to find Lacey peering at me in horror. I moved my bloodstained hand behind my back and sidestepped towards the curtains.

  “There isn't as much there as it seems,” I explained. “It hasn't soaked down into the carpet. Someone could live through this.”

  “Really?” Lacey asked, scrambling to her feet. “You think they're okay?”

  “I don't know. But they could have survived this wound. If they stopped the bleeding, maybe they got away. There's no bodies.” I shrugged. It was the most comfort I could offer her. I wiped the blood from my hand using the curtains as she looked to Reese hopefully.

  “You hear that?” Reese said, pulling Lacey under his arm again as he stood too. “They're probably okay. If they had to leave here then they would have gone for the city. Right?” He looked to me for confirmation.

  “That's what I'd do,” I offered, feeling uncomfortable promising anything that might not be true. “Hopefully you'll find them when we get there.”

  Lacey opened her mouth to say something but a scream from outside drew our attention.

  We all spun around towards the noise but before we could move, a gunshot went off.

  “Katy!” I yelled as I sprinted from the room to get to her. I shouldn't have left her outside. Something awful had happened in this house and she was outside with one other girl and a pistol she could barely use. “I'm coming!”

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Kaitlyn

  As we pulled into Lacey’s street, I could see that something was horribly wrong. Devastation reigned and the road was strewn with debris. Everything from an abandoned tricycle to a suitcase which had burst open, spilling clothes onto the tarmac.

  My gut twisted as I glanced up at Lacey. Her face was a mask of horror as she craned her neck to see her house.

  Tommy stirred by our feet, his arm reaching out suddenly to grasp my hand. He let out a strangled cry, tugging me down towards him.

  “It’s okay. We're taking you to the city,” I said reassuringly as he pulled me down again so that I was forced to kneel beside him.

  I lifted the pistol away from us, shoving it into a corner out of the way.

  “Get it out!” Tommy hissed, his grip on me tightening painfully.

  The truck stopped moving and Lacey let out a strangled cry. “Mom!” She leapt from the truck, landing heavily on the sidewalk.

  “Wait-“ I tried to stand and follow her but Tommy yanked me back, his eyes wide and bloodshot as he glared at me.

  “Shit. Stop her!” Lincoln shouted from the cab and Reese jumped out, sprinting after Lacey and disappearing inside.

  Lincoln wasn't far behind, pausing to shout over his shoulder. “We need to get her out of there!”

  He didn't wait to see if we were following him but Jason and Shilo leapt down and chased the rest of them into the house.

  Rose hesitated, glancing back down at me and Tommy as she stood.

  “They'll get her
,” she said decisively after a few seconds and sank back down to sit with me.

  “Get. It. Out,” Tommy snarled as he yanked me lower again. His fingernails bit into the skin on my forearm and I hissed in pain.

  “You're hurting me Tommy,” I gasped, trying to pull my hand away.

  Rose moved forward and grabbed his wrist, trying to make him release me.

  His gaze swivelled from me to her and he pulled his lips back from his teeth almost like a dog snarling.

  “Get it out, Rosie Posey,” he said softly.

  “Has he gone into shock or something?” she asked, looking at me.

  “Get what out Tommy?” I asked.

  “All of it. All of the rage,” he hissed.

  “What?”

  He yanked me towards him and swung his forehead at my face. I managed to twist aside at the last second and he caught me in the side of the jaw rather than breaking my nose. I lurched away from him as pain lanced through me and my head swam.

  Rose jumped on him as he dragged me close again and he finally let go of my arm.

  She swung a punch at his face but he only laughed as it landed, grabbing her by the throat.

  “Tommy stop!” I shouted as he forced Rose sideways, swinging himself around until he was straddling her.

  Her legs kicked wildly and her fingernails scraped the skin from the backs of his hands as she fought to remove them from her neck. He was bleeding but he didn't even seem to notice, he just laughed as he squeezed harder.

  “Let her go!” I yelled as I leapt at him, aiming a kick at his ribs in the hope of throwing him off.

  He grunted dully but didn't release her and her struggles beneath him grew weaker.

  I jumped on him, digging my fingers into the wounds that Lincoln had dressed when I couldn't make him move.

  He roared in pain, releasing Rose and rearing up to throw me off. I fell heavily onto the metal truck bed and my head smacked the side, sending pricks of light bursting before my eyes.

  Tommy got to his feet and stalked towards me, blood from the wounds Rose had inflicted, dripping from his hands.

  I scrambled back on my elbows until I reached the back of the cab and cringed away from him. “Tommy please,” I begged. “It's me, Kaitlyn. We’re trying to help you-“

  “I've got to get it out!” he yelled as lurched towards me. Rose kicked out, catching him in the side of the knee and sending him flying with a scream of pain and rage.

  Something brushed my fingers as I scrambled back again and I grabbed the pistol, flicking the safety off as I pointed it at him.

  “Just stop,” I warned. The gun trembled in my grasp but I held it trained on him.

  Tommy stood slowly, glaring at me with eyes so bloodshot that they looked like they were red.

  Rose coughed weakly as she pushed herself up onto her feet, her hand at her bruised throat.

  “Out!” Tommy shrieked as he twisted away from me and collided with Rose, sending the two of them flying out of the truck and onto the road.

  Rose screamed as she fell and I leapt down after them, keeping the gun clutched in my hand but too afraid to actually use it.

  “Stop!” I yelled as I rushed at Tommy, barrelling into him to get him away from Rose.

  We both went flying, tumbling down onto the tarmac as he attacked me like a feral beast, scratching and biting as well as punching me.

  I tried to roll away from him but he had me pinned down. He was going to kill me. He wasn't going to stop and I was going to die. The gun was crushed between us, aimed at his chest.

  “Please stop,” I cried, tears running down my cheeks as I pulled the trigger.

  The attack ended at once and Tommy’s weight crushed me into the concrete. I gasped as I tried to push him off of me, panicking when I remained pinned beneath him.

  I shoved again, the tarmac scraping my elbows and he suddenly rolled away.

  Lincoln was standing over me, his eyes wide as he reached for me.

  I let him pull me up and stood still as he inspected me, running his hands over my stomach where Tommy’s blood had saturated my clothes.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked, gripping my face and making me look at him. I met his gaze and shook my head slowly.

  “It's not my blood,” I muttered.

  “He's dead,” Shilo said quietly behind me. He was bent over Tommy’s body and I turned to face the two of them, sinking down onto the curb as Lincoln released me.

  Everyone started rushing around me, checking on Rose and murmuring about what had happened. I caught the word ‘contaminated’ more than once.

  There was something so permanent about death. The end of so many possibilities. No more chances for so many things.

  As I sat on the curb staring at the lifeless body before me, I couldn't help but wonder if there was something I could have done to change what had happened to him. If there was any way that his death could have been avoided. That he might have had a chance at life, to love and be loved.

  Not that there was much left to live for if this was what was happening to the world. Least of all love. I had a hard time believing that a world like this had a place left in it for love anymore. I wasn't even sure if there was a place left for me.

  “Katy?” Lincoln crouched down in front of me and I felt my heart lighten slightly. “I know what's happened is a shock but you didn't have a choice.”

  “I killed him,” I muttered.

  “No. The contamination killed him,” Linc insisted.

  “He just wouldn't stop,” I said. “Why wouldn't he stop?”

  “Because he couldn't. You can't see it as Tommy. He died when he changed.”

  “How? They turned off the water days ago. How could he have been exposed?” I asked.

  Lincoln took my hand. “I don't know for sure. But he was. And that's why he attacked you. You did the only thing you could to save your life and Rose’s.”

  “I'm a killer,” I whispered.

  “No.” Lincoln caught my chin and made me meet his gaze. “You're a survivor.” He didn't let go and held me captive in his gaze.

  I stared back into his dark eyes as something hardened in my chest. It was me or him. I had tried to stop him in every way I could but it wasn't enough. Tommy had changed, the contamination had stolen everything good in him and twisted it into hate and rage. He'd even told me himself. Lincoln was right. I was a survivor. And I wasn't going to let this stop me.

  Maybe nothing would ever be like it was before. And maybe the girl I was yesterday morning was gone. But I wasn't dead. And I wouldn't stop fighting until my last breath.

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Lincoln

  We drove towards the city in silence. Katy sat beside me staring out the window but she didn't seem inclined to make conversation. I knew the burden of killing someone in combat. I also knew that the only way to live with it was to accept it. And to know that you didn't have a choice. I hoped that those were the thoughts running through her head as we drove.

  “Is this what war is like?” she asked suddenly, turning to look at me.

  “War? Perhaps. The mayhem, chaos, carnage, senselessness. Yeah I'd say that's what war is like. But I don't know for sure. I've only ever fought in a counter terrorist role. I did some other work too, had other assignments as well but not war.”

  “But you have killed people?”

  I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and turned to look at her for a few seconds before deciding she needed to know the truth.

  “I've killed thirteen,” I said slowly. “The first was a man who attempted to assassinate someone I was hired to protect. He tried to stab me and I turned his own knife on him.”

  “Did he hurt you?” she asked, her fingers trailing along her jaw where a dark bruise was already forming from her run in with Tommy.

  I lifted my shirt to show her the scar which lined my ribcage. She reached out and slowly ran her fingertips along it sending shivers running across my skin.

  “W
hat about the other twelve?” she asked as she removed her hand and I dropped my shirt.

  “The Monitor uncovered a terrorist cell hiding out near to the town I was posted in. My team were the closest so we were sent in to deal with it. We were told to surround the building while we waited for backup but they had lookouts and they spotted us. We didn't have any choice but to engage them. I led the team inside and I did what I was trained to do.” I looked out of the windscreen for a few minutes and the silence stretched again.

  “I don't feel good about it,” I said eventually. “But I don't feel bad about it either. And I think that's the best you can hope for. Killing someone isn't something to be proud of but protecting people? Saving lives? That's what my actions were for. Yours too.”

  “You're right,” she said, her voice holding more conviction than it had before. “If this is what we have to face then we have to do everything we can to survive it. But I'll be glad to turn my back on it when we get inside the city.”

  “We’re nearly there,” I added, hoping she really would be able to forget everything once she got inside.

  The roads were getting busier the closer we got to the cablecar landing zone. I joined a queue of cars that was crawling along and checked the time. It was nearly twelve. A lot later than I'd hoped to arrive.

  All of the traffic was heading to the same place and I doubted much of it would be leaving again. We could easily sit in the queue for hours. I made a snap decision and pulled the truck over by the side of the road. The owner of the house I'd parked in front of had made his own ‘no parking’ sign which I nudged with my bumper as I stopped.

  “You up for a walk?” I asked Katy as she looked to me questioningly. “I don't think there's much point wasting time getting the truck closer.”

  “Yeah.” She jumped out and I followed more slowly, pausing to check the satphone for any messages.

  I was beginning to wonder if it was even working anymore. It wasn't like my team to be so quiet especially with so much going on. I just hoped that they were alright. Though I wanted to check in with them, I forced myself to shove the phone away again. Time was precious and I needed to hurry.