I raised a hand awkwardly, like I was in high school and knew the answer to something and everyone else was either too shy or hadn’t studied the material. Like “Miss Landon, mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell.”
I probably would have stood there awkwardly for a long time had Barrett not cleared his throat so loudly that everyone sort of shut up and stared at him…and then me, still standing there with my stupid hand in the air.
Everyone waited, in various degrees of irritation, until Rose finally spoke. “Oh, for God’s sake, Sam. What is it?”
I shrugged, dropping my hand and crossing my arms over my chest. “I just wanted to know what ‘knob’ means.”
For a moment, the room was deathly quiet.
Tomb quiet.
Last moments of a person’s life quiet.
Moment of silence after the skull bell quiet.
And then Rose leaned forward, hands on knees, and she started laughing so hard I thought she might pass out. “What. The. Actual,” she hiccupped on her laugh and continued, “fuck, Sam?”
No one else was smiling or joking or anything. Just Rose, standing in the center of everything, losing her freaking mind over my question.
“Sorry. Just forget it.” I leaned back against the wall, feeling heat flood my face. Great, now I was blushing.
Rose stood up, wiping at her eyes and the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Knob means dick, Sam. Like, the head of a dick. The penis head. You know…’cause it looks like a knob…a doorknob.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “It does not look like a doorknob. I mean…It’s…more…” I blushed even harder. “The end is like an ugly-colored peach, isn’t it? With the dent and…” I let my words trail off.
Now Barrett was laughing. Even Leon and Nolan were trying to suppress grins. Karla was the only one who stood there agog, mouth hanging opening, looking like she wanted to wash my mouth out with soap. And by God I bet she would have, given half the chance.
“Lord almighty, can we please get back to talking about the helicopter?” Karla sounded totally appalled at the direction the conversation had taken. Barret was still chortling beside me.
“Fuck it, I still think this is a shit-for-brains plan, but I’ll go along with it,” Leon interjected. “Let’s follow the goddamn helicopter.” The humor was already gone from his face. It was easy to tell that Leon had completely caught Nolan off guard—the other man looked stunned, lips slightly parted, and eyes a little wide.
“Well, holy shit in a porta-potty,” Barrett breathed out. “Only known you a short while, and never would have guessed there’d be anything you two would fuckin’ agree on.” His drawl weaved out the words playfully, as if poking the two men—maybe trying to stoke the fire between them and get the conflict fired up once more. I was close enough that I could elbow him hard in the side. “What?” He glanced down at me innocently.
“You know exactly what,” I hissed.
He shrugged and snaked an arm around me, gripping a bit tighter when I tried to step away. I think he meant it to be playful, but the sudden proximity of him—his scent wrapping around me as tightly as his arm—made my heart thump faster, my throat tighten, and my skin itch. I swallowed and tried to shake off the feeling, but couldn’t.
Caged.
I felt caged.
Which was ridiculous, given how Barrett typically made me feel. I tried to push down the feeling, but I couldn’t.
“Let me go.” I pushed hard against him and he immediately let go. Even though it was what I wanted him to do, I felt irrationally hurt and it was also so fast that I fell toward the floor. I ended up on my hands and knees, breathing hard and gasping for air.
Barrett leaned down first, asking if I was okay, but I couldn’t hear him through the rushing of my own blood in my ears.
He smelled good.
Really good.
Delicious even.
Jesus Christ, what was happening?
My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and that made me pant harder. The fever that had all but vanished seemed to rage back. It wasn’t the warmth of blushing. It was a full-on “burn the house down” fire.
“Sam?” He leaned in closer.
“Barrett, get away.” I took one hand off the floor and I pushed at him. “Rose,” I called her name hoarsely. She was with me in an instant. “Something’s wrong.”
Rose thought fast, helping me up and leading me to the kitchen. “What did you eat? Are you allergic to anything?”
I tried to play along. “Not much. Coconut, though. I’m allergic to it.”
As she led me, she glanced at Karla. “Did any of the food use coconut?”
“I…I don’t think so.” Karla sounded worried. “I’ll come check. I can help.”
Rose talked fast. “No, no. That’s fine. She’ll be fine. I’ve got her—everyone just make a fucking plan to get us out of here.”
When we got into the kitchen, I stood straight and moved fast away from Rose, pushing my back into the small pantry door to give myself some much-needed space. Rose held her hands up, studying my face and I’m sure seeing the sweat on my forehead and erratic breathing.
“Okay, what happened? What are you feeling?” She didn’t move closer to me or lower her hands.
“Barrett hugged me and it was too tight and I just felt trapped and then…god, I don’t know. I panicked. And when I panicked it’s like something happened. It felt primal.” I swallowed, slowing my breathing, which took great effort, and I looked at her. She flinched, and I wondered what I looked like. Was I pale? Were my eyes bloodshot? Did I look just this side of dead?
“Anything else?” She moved an inch closer. “You’re looking better already.”
“No, nothing else,” I quickly lied. I wanted to tell her that Barrett had smelled good. That a very small part of me—a small part now, a big part in the moment—had wanted to…god, I’d wanted to taste him. But I couldn’t tell her. I couldn’t. Because I didn’t want to die yet. I was still me, right? At least for now, I hoped.
“Okay. It’s okay.” Rose was pacing now. “Just act under the weather, okay? We’ll say it was the food didn’t agree with you.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“But we need to be cautious,” she continued. “Whatever this is isn’t affecting you like it is other people, but it is affecting you, Sam. If you feel even the slightest bit weird, you have to tell me. Okay?”
I nodded again. I couldn’t speak that time. I was too afraid to.
“We need a code word, for if something is wrong and you need help.” She looked thoughtful for a second, her gaze going to the floor while she picked at the side of her nail. “I got it.” She snapped her fingers in the air. “Coconut!”
“Coconut?”
“Yes, the code word is ‘coconut’ for when you’re…freaking out or need me to get you the hell out of somewhere before you lose your…shit,” she finally finished. But it was obvious she didn’t want to say “lose your shit.” It was obvious she wanted to say something along the lines of “before you eat everyone in the room!”
I didn’t know what to say to her, and Barrett thankfully came in then, making both me and Rose jump. He walked in casually, looking unbothered by what had just happened. “We’re apparently leaving.”
“We go out of the room for five minutes and a decision’s made?” Rose sounded annoyed.
“You told us to make a fucking plan, so we made a fucking plan,” he drolled.
She pushed past Barrett into the living room, leaving me alone with the very person who’d triggered my…whatever the hell it was. I hated her for leaving me.
“You okay?” He walked over to the dining table and sat down in one of the yellow oak chairs, thankfully giving me some space.
“Yeah, I think so.”
He sat for a minute, as if waiting for me to say more, but when I didn’t, he got up again. “All right then. Let’s see what we need to do to blow this popsicle stand. Staying in one place isn’
t smart, though I’m not sure following those geniuses”—he cocked a thumb towards the living room entrance—“around is a hell of a lot smarter.”
“Are you thinking about leaving? I mean…” I didn’t want to ask, because I was relatively sure I didn’t want the answer. Even though I’d pushed him away in the living room. “Are you wanting to go out on your own?”
“It might be easier,” he responded, his forehead wrinkling a little as he considered. “You sticking with these for a while longer?”
I nodded, because the thought of leaving Rose was unthinkable. She’d quickly become my rock, my anchor, in this bleak new world, and I couldn’t bear the thought of going on without her.
He sighed. “Then I’m not ready to lone wolf it quite yet. Not everything’s bad in this group.” He winked at me and then followed Rose into the living room.
*
We were all back in the van, in the same positions we’d been in when fleeing the airport. Only this time we were clear-headed and prepared. Sort of. But holy hell, the van stunk to high heaven. The stench of rot and gore was plastered to the seats like caramel toffee and hanging in the air thick enough to taste. We cranked the windows open, and after Karla had sprayed the van with enough Febreze to kill a small forest, we set off.
The roads were worse than they had been though—more inert bodies blistered from the sun, more dark blood spots on the pavement, more cars with open doors and abandoned haphazardly.
It took over an hour to navigate out of the city going in the direction the helicopter had flown. We saw nothing at first. Nothing for the first ten miles past the city. Then fifteen. Then twenty. But then, in the distance, just past the entrance to a large planned subdivision, was a cluster of tan, white, and black vehicles. At first they could have just been more cars left by fleeing owners.
But the closer we got, the more we saw.
Tents. People in hazmat suits. Lines of injured waiting to be treated. And, in the faraway distance, were several helicopters, blades unmoving.
“Oh, Our Lord in Heaven. You were right. Bless us. We’re saved.” Karla was leaned forward in her seat, her face alight with relief. She gripped Leon’s shoulder and smiled. “We’re going to be fine.”
I could see Rose in the front seat, also awash in hope.
Despite the good emotions flooding the interior of the van, I felt hesitant. There were so many people there. I could see them all, milling about like ants. What if being around more people flared me? I could have another episode…I might hurt people.
We approached slowly as two men in uniform waved us onward. They pointed to an area of poorly parked vehicles. These were not uniform or official—these were from survivors. I was going to survive too. Whatever was happening to me wasn’t going to kill me. I need to be happy like everyone else. I needed to be positive.
Nolan rolled down his window to speak to another uniformed man who was standing near the makeshift parking area. “Damn, are we glad we found you.” He reached out and the man automatically also reached; the two shook hands.
“Lucky as hell.” The uniform leaned forward and peered into the van. “How many you got in there?”
“Six,” Rose quipped, moving a little in her seat to get a better look at the man outside, a wide, excited smile on her face like she’d just pulled up to an ice cream stand.
“Great. Only one other group beats that. Came in late last night, group of nine.”
“Glad we aren’t the only lucky ones.” Nolan was smiling; I could tell by the sound of his voice.
“Not by a long shot,” the man responded. “Any injured in there?”
“No, sir.”
“All right, get your vehicle parked and head over to that tent.” He moved away from the van and pointed toward a large white tent, the one where the line of people was that I’d seen from a distance.
“What happens there?” Nolan had already lifted his foot slightly off the brake and the van was creeping forward.
“Testing.” The officer’s voice was stern. “Everybody’s got to go there first.”
“What kind of testing?” Rose asked, sitting back fully in her chair now, her smile faltering.
“For the virus. The CDC already got something to tell if people are infected. Fucking miracle if you ask me. When you’re done, head over to the blue tent. They’ve got food and whatever else you might need.” The officer waved us off and started walking to meet another vehicle that was approaching. A quick glance told me it was one person in the sedan.
“A test,” Rose said, her voice strained.
“For the virus,” Nolan finished.
It felt like my blood froze inside my body. Like the world stopped.
Nolan looked at me in the rearview. I caught his gaze, coming at me through narrowed eyelids. Then my eyes moved to Rose. Who was also looking at me.
And this time? It was her face that was deathly pale.
Nolan continued to creep the van forward, like he couldn’t bring himself to go any faster. The inside of the van was stifling—different emotions radiating from everyone, threatening to smother me. Karla was still full of joy. Leon didn’t seem to notice anything amiss to Rose and Nolan’s reactions to finding ‘help’. Barrett though—
Nolan went through the motions. He parked. We all got out. Karla was still full of joy. Leon
He was looking at me and his face said everything. He already knew there was something wrong with me. He already knew. The realization hit me like a punch to the stomach; Barrett had known for some time that something was wrong with me and hadn’t said anything. But why? Not that it mattered anymore, because in about five minutes, or however freaking long it took to wait in the line going into the testing tent, the rest of the damn world would know it too.
That I, a woman who once had a beautiful life, full of lovely things, was infected.
To be continued…
Season Two Episode One COMING JANUARY 2nd 2020
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Claire C. Riley is a USA Today and international bestselling author.
She’s a genre jumping book nerd who likes to write about psycho stalkers, alpha males and the strong women that love them, moody anti-heroes, and the end of the bloody world! A lover of all things dark and dirty, she likes to write books that f**k with your heart, and your head.
She lives in the United Kingdom with her husband, three daughters and ridiculously naughty rescue beagle aka Dogface.
She also really likes drinking cheap instant coffee, because she’s not a coffee snob like Elizabeth. (wink wink)
Also by Claire C. Riley
Post-Apocalypse:
Odium I – VI The Dead Saga.
Odium Origins 0.5, 1.5, 2.5
Out of the Dark #1
Red Eye The Armageddon Series - co-authored with Eli Constant
Paranormal Romance:
Limerence. (The Obsession Series)
Limerence II (The Obsession Series)
Twisted Magic Raven’s Cove
Thriller:
Beautiful Victim
Horror:
Blood Claim
MC Romance:
Ride or Die a Devil’s Highwaymen series
Nomad the Devil’s Highwaymen Series:
Crank #1, Sketch #2, Battle #3, Fighter #4, Cowboy #5
New Adult Romance:
Wrath #3 the Elite Seven Series
Short Stories/Anthology contributions
Lockdown
Treasured Chests
Lets Scare Cancer to Death
Painted Mayhem
State of Horror Illinois
Co-Authored Books
With Madeline Sheehan
Post-Apocalyptic:
Thicker than Blood #1
Beneath Blood and Bone #2
Contemporary Romance:
Shut Up & Kiss Me
With Eli Constant
Apocalyptic:
Red Eye The Armageddon Series
Season One
Available in paperback, eBook and audiobook and almost all in Kindle Unlimited!
CONTACT LINKS:
Website: www.clairecriley.com
Claire C. Riley FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ClaireCRileyAuthor/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1GDpF3I
Reader Group: Riley’s Rebels: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClaireCRileyFansGroup/
Newsletter Sign-up: http://bit.ly/2xTY2bx
IG: https://www.instagram.com/redheadapocalypse/
@ClaireCRiley
Eli Constant also writes as Eliza Grace.
Eli adores all things quirky, eats ice cream with a fork, and likes warm Dr. Pepper (on a cool day). She once thought she'd marry Martin Short... until she discovered Alan Rickman. #Always (She might also have Martin Freeman and Simon Pegg on her 'I get a pass' list. And, please, don't get her started on Jeff Godblum... erhm, Goldblum. #lifefindsaway).
The most important things to her are family, friends, books, and dresses with pockets. Typically in that order. Also really, really good coffee (winks at Claire).
Available Books by Eli Constant:
The Victoria Cage Necromancer Series,
The Dead Trees Series,
The Water is Sweeter,
To Scream Within a Dream,
and many more…
Available Books by Eliza Grace:
The Shadow Forest Series,
The Birthright,
A Shade of Hades (Book 1 coming 2020)
Available Co-authored Books:
Scatter My Ashes,
Darwin’s Fall (re-releasing soon),
and more…
*
Stalk Eli Constant on social media:
Website: www.authoreliconstant.com
Newsletter: https://www.authoreliconstant.com/newsletter-subscription
Red Eye | Season 1 | Episode 4 Page 8