Omega Virus (Book 1): Beta Hour (10 page)

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I didn’t have the guts to tell her. I had to lie, for now.

“We’re going to Houston. I have family there.” I spoke the
worst lie of my life.

LEVEL 13 – SAFE
ZONE

Kessa
trotted on the road beside me. “Been three weeks and ya haven’t told me yet, sugar.”

“Not told you what?” I kicked a rock, which bounced into
the ditch.

“What family do ya have down there?”

The edge of the woods rested to our right and every time
the wind blew I aimed my gun, expecting a Corpse attack. Out of 151 times, I'd
been right about six. This time, again, no undead showed its ugly face.

Kessa wore a smile on her face as she spun in front of me
and walked backwards. Even without her pigtails, and a dirty face, she still
looked sexy as heck.

I forgot her question after falling into her deep eyes. “What
did you ask?”

“I asked what family do you have in Houston?” She blew the
hair out of her face.

“Oh, um, an uncle.” I lied again.

I did have an uncle, but I barely remembered him. He came
over all the time when we lived up north, but those memories were just as fuzzy
as the ones of Tiffany and our youth.

Kessa lifted her leg, and put her shoe to my chest; she'd
lost her boots a week prior, and we shopped at an abandoned shoe store. “You
must have been close to go all the way there! I wouldn’t make that journey for
anyone in my family.”

“But you’d make it for me?” I asked.

She lowered her foot, and hopped next to me, throwing her
arms around my neck. “Is that so hard to believe?”

I fell into her eyes again.

Kessa said. “I’m just glad you want me along.”

I did want her with me, but if and when we made it to
Houston, I didn’t think she’d feel the same after.

Out of nowhere, I felt lightheaded, and the world spun. I
stumbled off the gravel road and into a tree.

“Are you okay?” Kessa gasped, rushing to my side.

When she touched me, electricity flew, and I felt a bit
better.

“I got dizzy there for a sec,” I murmured.

She supported my weight as I leaned my head against her
chest, which as always felt cozy and warm. She made me feel safe and secure,
but I wanted another chest; I wanted Jessie’s.

Kessa put her wrist against my forehead and gasped. “You’ve
got a fever! We need to find a resting place, and a pharmacy.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, knowing to stop, would delay our
trip to Houston.

“Zachary Mastiff.” She started up with a parental attitude
for the 80th time.

I made up another lie. “We can’t stop. Once it’s dark,
we’re screwed.”

She lifted her matter-of-fact finger. “Ya got an infection
from yer cuts. We need antibiotics.”

“Okay, mom.”

She took a step back, looking hurt. “No way. If I were, I
wouldn't want to be on ya like, 'Whoa!
'.”

“What?” My eyes widened. It'd been three weeks, and she
hadn't made another attempt at
 

seducing
me.

Kessa giggled. “Forget I said that.”

We continued walking, a heavy, hormonal silence in the
air.

Mid-afternoon came before we ran across something and it
just so happened to be a tank.

The armored vehicle faced south, the way we wanted to go.

“It’s a gift from
m'Lord
!” she
cried and circled the tank.

As she climbed onto it, I shook my head. “I doubt that.”

“Of course, it is!” She sang, pulling open the hatch.

Kessa fell back as if blasted off her feet. I made a mad
dash to catch her and skidded on my knees. She landed safely in my arms, but
she flailed reaching to her gun holster.

An echoing groan from inside.
Kessa leaped out of my
arms and started climbing back up.

“If a Corpse is in there, just leave it!” I said.

“No way! We need this tank!” she argued.

Without an entire army caravan behind us, we could easily
be swarmed. Although it would probably crush more than a handful of the
bastards, until it ran out of fuel.

“This isn’t a good idea.” I moved to find an easy way to
climb up.

The Corpse inside sounded furiously slamming around
inside.

I called to her, “Kessa?”

She should have just shoved the gun inside and fired, but
instead, the crazy girl jumped inside.

“Wait!” I cried, scrambling up the side.

She grunted and made a bunch of ‘hyah’ sounds. It repeated
several times and finally the noise stopped. I made it to the top, drew my gun
and waited.

“Are you okay in there?” I asked.

“Yep.” She said, as casual as could be. “Couldn’t be
better! Well, except it stinks like heck! We’ll have to keep the hatch open as
we go.”

I peeked inside and then reared back. The smell nearly
knocked me off the tank, too. Not even a Corpse smelled that bad. Once my
stomach settled, I covered my face with my shirt and climbed inside. There I
found Kessa standing over a dead Corpse, dagger in its head. There were three
bodies, all torn to shreds with blood and guts everywhere.

All of them were in military garb. The three had died with
frozen looks of pain on their faces. One thing seemed odd. I leaned in close to
one. Why hadn't they turned?

“Why aren’t you trying to eat me?” I asked.

Of course, he wouldn't answer. The only way they couldn’t
have turned is if they were immune, but what were the chances of that?
Three of them all together, in the same military unit?
No,
that didn’t make sense.

The answer hit me like a brick.

“These guys aren’t undead!” I grabbed Kessa and squeezed
her hands tight.

“I had noticed they weren’t trying to chew on my toes. Ya
know like you do in your sleep?”

I blushed. The embarrassment never ended with her.

“You’re lying!” I said quickly.

“Nope.” She grinned.

I shook my head. “N-never
mind
that! These guys aren’t zombies for a reason!”

“Why is that?”

“They must have been vaccinated! There’s a vaccine for the
virus!” I cheered.

“They’re still dead.” She nudged one with her boot.

Excitement overflowed from my being. “Don’t you get it?”

“Nope.” she lifted the Corpse and threw it out the hatch.

I had to explain. “If people can be vaccinated, they won’t
turn. Our chances of survival have increased.”

“We don’t have the vaccine, sugar.” Kessa poked her head
outside and froze.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Kessa peeked back inside. “This was the only tank, right?”

“Only one I saw.” I said.

“Then can one tank stand up to another?”

“I don’t know?”

“Come here, quick!” she said.

I climbed onto the ladder and froze. A tall, muscular man
appeared right next to us. He wore a tight, black, long sleeve shirt, and held
a rifle, which he pointed straight at us. I didn’t get a better look because
parked not far behind us was another tank.

“We didn’t do it.” I held up my hands.

The soldier prodded us out with his gun and then another
three appeared, two in helmets. They led us off of the tank.

“A couple o’ kids.” The older man, with a thick gray
mustache, said. His eyes looked tired and jaded. Did he mean to kill us, or
save us?

“Either of yins bit?” He asked.

I looked at the two other soldiers who held assault rifles
pointed directly at us, visors covering their eyes.

“I asked,
are
either of yins bit?”
He spat on the ground and lifted his assault rifle to my head.

“N-no.” I finally managed to choke out.

“You sure?” he sounded disappointed.

Kessa swallowed hard. “We're sure!”

“Well then get in the car, can’t just leave y’all out here
to die.” He snorted and motioned to the green and brown Humvee a few yards
away.

“Can we trust them?” Kessa whispered as we walked to the
rumbling vehicle.

Did I trust the soldiers? Heck no, I didn’t. But my
curiosity had been piqued. They wore the same colors as the dead guys in the
tank, which meant that they were on the same team, and these guys could be
vaccinated too, and I wanted to learn all about it.

I shrugged. “We should go with them.”

“Are they going to Houston? What about your uncle?” she
asked.

“For now, they're at least facing the right direction. So
why not get a ride?”

“We ain’t going to Houston.” The tall man jumped from the
tank, landing with a thud.

“How close to it?” I asked.

He held out his hand. “Not too, too far. The name’s Biggs.”

I almost laughed as I shook his hand, “Seriously?”

“Yes, I see you catch the reference.” He squeezed my hand
so tight my knuckles popped.

“Where’s Wedge?” I asked.

“She’s right here.” A woman climbed out of the Humvee.

Unlike the soldiers, who were all muscles, Wedge seemed to
be a delicate flower. She wore a camo dress that cut off a few inches above her
knees. She wore combat boots and had curly blonde hair tied back in a bun.

“You guys are all joking aren’t you?”

Kessa looked at me and cocked her head.

“Why are you mocking them?” She asked. “They have guns.”

Wedge lit up a cigarette. “Well except Biggs here. He’s
called that because he’s a big crybaby.”

“Hey!” Biggs snatched the cigarette from her mouth and
stamped it out.

“There’s a lot of video game references and before that
the names came from Star Wars, Biggs, and Wedge.”

Wedge shrugged, and reached for another cigarette. “We
were named after those references. Our parents were nerdy as it got.”

Biggs leaned against the tank. “Yup.”

“So you’re siblings.” I reasoned.

Wedge nodded, and before she could light up the death
stick, Biggs snatched it again.

“I told you to quit.” he said.

She rolled her eyes and put her lighter away.

“All right, enough jibber-jab.” the mustached man said. “Lo
and Lu are going to operate the tanks.”

Biggs ran his hand through his short black hair, “Alright,
no problemo. I get claustrophobic anyhow.”

“Inside, kiddies.” Wedge held open the door.

I stepped halfway inside, but dizziness swept over me. I
fell back, and Wedge caught me.

“You’re burning up, kid.” She pulled me inside and sat me
in a seat.

I held my face in my hands. “I got pretty cut up in a
fight with some religious extremists.”

“Good thing we have enough med supplies back at the base,”
Wedge said.

Relief washed over me. Maybe they could be trusted? If so,
we were in safe hands, and would finally be able to relax and not live on edge,
scared of becoming a Corpse’s meal. The mustached man drove, and Biggs sat
beside him.

“So are you two an item?” Wedge asked.

Kessa and I gave different answers. She, of course, had
said yes, and I couldn’t blame her. We had made out and fallen asleep next to
each other every night since we left Milpeg. Kessa snapped me a look of shock.

I feigned ignorance. “You meant boyfriend and girlfriend?”

Wedge crossed her legs and sat back. “I wasn’t making a
game reference.”

I nodded, and Kessa smiled.

Wedge reached for a cigarette, but Biggs turned back and
glared. She sighed. “How cute.

Love in the apocalypse? Have you done it yet?”
  

This time, my eyes went wide.

“It depends on what you mean exactly.” Kessa responded.

Didn’t she know what it meant?

Wedge wagged her finger. “Be careful. Every pregnant woman
we've come across has been eaten from the inside out. They say it’s just how
the virus works.”

“So that is what happened to Merlda.” I said.

Kessa looked at me. “So you’ll have to wear a condom,
sorry.”

My jaw dropped, and I shrunk back into my seat. Why were
we talking about such things? I did everything I could to avoid the subject; I
even feigned being sick on ‘sex-
ed
’ class days. I
didn’t need to see speakers come into our classrooms and diagram the process of
sex.

“He blushes like a virgin.” Wedge glanced at Biggs, and
tried to sneak out a cig, but again he looked back.

“I think he is one.” Kessa replied.

I waved my hands in front of me, frantically trying to
change the subject.