Deathly Contagious (2 page)

“Are you alright, Orissa?” Ivan asked gently.

“Yea,” I answered automatically.

“Are you hungry or thirsty at all? I can get you something.”

I didn’t feel anything but fear. “No, I’m fine.”

“Ok,” he said softly, as if he was aware of my fragile mental state. I shook my head and tried to snap out of it. “Just sit. All we can do is pray and wait.”

“Pray?” I scoffed. Ivan just shook his head and cast his eyes to the ground. I folded my arms and attempted to look like I wasn’t coming unhinged. Ivan sighed and closed his eyes. I sat frozen for several minutes. I shivered; I hadn’t acknowledged the fact that I was cold. Ignoring it, I laid down, going over everything in my head.

I should have moved out of the way. Instead I sat there like a dumbass deer in the headlights. I felt like a failure. I let Hayden get hurt—possibly lethally. If he died, I’d never forgive myself. A hard ball of fear formed in my heart as well as my stomach. I realized that simply avoiding a lifetime of guilt was not the only reason I desperately wanted Hayden to live. The thought was almost equally as terrifying.

Ivan stood, distracting me from my complicated thoughts. He walked over to the counter, opened one of the cabinets and tossed a thin, white sheet to me.

“You’re shivering,” he stated. “I think you’re in shock.”

“No, I’m just cold,” I retorted but gladly took the sheet.

“It’s ok, ya know, to admit you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared,” I said, knowing that it was a horrible attempt at a lie. “Ok, I am.”

“Me too,” he said softly. He leaned against the bed and sighed. “The tunnel’s open,” he said rather suddenly. I looked at him dubiously. “Oh, you don’t know,” he went on. “There’s a tunnel that goes from the weapon storage room out to the fields. It was blocked off. Now it’s open.”

“Don’t try and change the subject. It won’t work.”

“Alright,” he said softly.

 Neither of us spoke while the minutes painfully ticked past. When I heard someone grasp the door knob, I jumped off the bed, thankful my legs were functioning again.

Fuller, looking stricken, walked in. He nodded at Ivan and frowned at me. I felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. My heart plummeted to the ground. My ears rang and I felt weak.

“He’s alive,” Fuller informed us, taking in our horrified faces. I had to put a hand on the bed to keep from falling. “Barely,” he continued. I could tell Fuller was working hard to choke back his own emotions. He cleared his throat. “Orissa, come with me.”

“No,” I said simply.

Fuller’s face twitched slightly. “That’s an order.”

“I’m not a soldier,” I countered. “I’m not leaving.”

“I’m not taking you away,” he affirmed. “I need to know what happened.”

“I can tell you here,” I pointed out. Without waiting for him to argue I said, “We were eating, sitting on the tailgate. Someone shot at us. Hayden got hit. I fired in the direction the shot came from and got Hayden into the truck and floored it all the way here. We didn’t see anyone. They were hiding in the woods.”

Fuller nodded and swallowed hard. “Do you have any idea why someone would shoot at you?”

“A necrophiliac wanted a fresh body? I have no clue. As I said, we didn’t even see them.”

Fuller nodded again, taken aback by my statement. He made a deal over looking at his watch. “You need to go to the quarantine room.”

“Fuck off. I’m not going.”

“Excuse me?”

Ivan stood. “Sir, I think she’s in shock. She’s obviously not thinking clearly.”

“I can see that,” Fuller said. “Orissa,” he said gently. “It is a rule. You of all people should understand.”

“I’m not going,” I repeated. “I’m staying here until Hayden’s ok.”

“That…that might be a while.” Fuller’s eyes became glossy.

“I can wait.”

“You can wait in the quarantine.”

“No. I wasn’t bitten. Here,” I said, unbuttoning my shirt. “Look me over. You’ll see.”

Afraid I was going to get myself into trouble, Ivan stepped in again. “Orissa, how about we wait and talk to Padraic, then go into the quarantine?”

“Maybe,” I agreed just to get them off my case. “Yes. I can do that.” I watched Fuller and Ivan exchange worried glances. Finally, Fuller agreed. He pulled Ivan aside, spoke quickly and quietly to him and left the room.

“You sure you’re alright, Penwell?” Ivan asked again.

“Are you really asking me that right now?” I asked incredulously.

“Sorry, dumb question. It’s just I’ve never seen you…freak out like this.”

I was too worried to be embarrassed. “Well, what would you do?”

“I’d probably wig out just as much. But I’d never tell Fuller to fuck off,” he said with a chuckle. I shrugged and started picking at the dried blood I was covered in. “You want to shower?” he asked.

“No. I said I’m not leaving. I want to be here when Hayden wakes up.”

Ivan nodded, his eyes narrowing in question. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

“Of course. He’s my friend and partner.”

“Just that?” he asked suggestively. I shook my head and sunk down in the chair. I didn’t look up or speak until the door opened again. Dressed in bloody scrubs, Padraic smiled weakly at me.

“Riss,” he breathed. I rushed over to him. I wasn’t expecting him to envelope me in his arms the way he did. The warmth from his body was comforting. I hugged him back, suddenly feeling emotional.

“Is he ok?” I asked with my head still against Padraic’s firm chest.

“He’s stable,” he responded.

I let him go and blinked. “And that means?”

“He’s not conscious. I can’t do a full assessment yet. His vital signs aren’t what they should be and…I-I did the best I could.”

“The best you could?” My heart raced again. Padraic stepped in the room and faltered. I reached out for him, catching him before he fell.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I had to give blood.”

I led him to the chair and knelt down next to him. Once he was sitting, I continued. “You gave your own blood?”

Padraic nodded. “So did Jason. We are all the same blood type. I didn’t trust anyone else’s blood to be clean enough.” I put my hand on Padraic’s knee and waited for him to continue. “I got all the bullet fragments out. I did the best I could given what I have.”

“What does that mean?” Ivan asked.

“This place isn’t equipped for surgery. I can’t tell if nerve damage was done just by looking. I’d normally order an MRI plus a slew of other tests and labs. There aren’t even IV pumps here.”

“Can I see him?” I asked rather suddenly.

“He’s not awake.”

“That’s ok.”

Padraic’s blue eyes met mine for a second. “No.”

“Why not?”

“First off, he needn’t be disturbed. And,” he said before I could protest. “You’re dirty. After a normal surgery in a sterile environment we keep outside contact to a minimum. The conditions here are less than ideal.”

I couldn’t argue that. “What if I shower?”

“Tomorrow, alright?” Padraic mumbled, looking too tired to fight with me.

“I want to be there when he wakes up,” I admitted, feeling my cheeks redden. “To thank him for saving my life.”

“He won’t wake up for a while,” Padraic told me. “The pain medication knocked him out. He needs to rest. These first few hours are the most crucial.”

I just nodded, not knowing what else to say. Ivan got up and strode over to Padraic. He extended his hand.

“Thank you,” he said seriously and shook the Irish doctor’s hand. “We are lucky to have you with us.”

Taken off guard, Padraic dumbly nodded. Ivan said he’d be right back and slipped out the door. I extended my hand to Padraic, pulling him to his feet. We walked to the door.

“You look exhausted,” I told him.

“I am,” he sighed.

“You should go to bed.”

“You should too.”

“You know I can’t sleep when I’m stressed,” I said with a wry smile. I slowly walked down the hall with Padraic. “Are you gonna be ok?” I asked, feeling a tiny bit of worry form over his weakened state.

“Yes,” he assured me. “I already took a vitamin. I’ll be better in the morning.”

“Ok.” We stopped in front of his room. “Padraic, thank you.”

He smiled slightly. “It’s what I do, Riss.”

“I know, but…all I could think about was getting him back here to you. I knew you’d be the one to save him.”

Padraic didn’t look at me. “Thanks, I suppose.” He cast his eyes to the ground. “He asked for you,” Padraic said softly.

“What?”

“Before the medicine hit. He asked if you were ok.”

Something sparked inside me. The corners of my lips twitched as if they wanted to smile. I shook my head and scraped blood from under my fingernails. Right as the silence between Padraic and I grew awkward, footsteps echoed down the hall. Ivan was coming toward us, leading Raeya behind him. She raced over and put her arms around me.

“Ivan told me what happened. I’m so sorry Riss!”

I only nodded, knowing I couldn’t hide my true feelings of fear from my best friend. She sniffed back a sob and ran her hands over my hair.

“You’re covered in blood.”

I shrugged. “I guess so.”

“And so are you,” she said to Padraic. His blue eyes lit up slightly when he looked at her. “You’re a hero,” she told him. He smiled shyly before her arms flew around him.

“It’s nothing compared to what Riss does,” Padraic pushed off the compliment. “I’m exhausted. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

“Padraic,” I started. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Orissa, it’s what I do.” He smiled once more and went into his room.

“Penwell,” Ivan began. “Raeya can stay with you tonight—if she wants to. I’ve cleared it with Fuller. Even he doesn’t think it’s right to make you be alone right now.”

“Thanks, Ivan.”

“No problem. I’ll give you a few to get your stuff and then I’ll take you into the quarantine room.”

I nodded. The three of us walked up the stairs to the C level where Raeya and I detoured to her room. We walked slowly, avoiding the curious stares from the compound residents.

“What happened, Riss?” she asked when we got to her room. I eyed the door. Taking my hint, she opened it. She flicked on the light and sat on her bed. Since I was covered in blood, I remained standing.

“It started in Texas,” I confessed. “We found these houses with symbols on them. And they had electricity and running water.” I closed my eyes, vividly remembering the fan blades moving. “We knew someone was around so we went looking but didn’t find anyone. That night, Hayden said he thought he saw someone outside the truck.”

“What do you mean?”

“A shadow or something. I didn’t see it.” I shook my head. “But then nothing happened, well, nothing with humans. We got the samples—which are still in the truck—and were on our way home. Wait,” I paused, going over the memories.

“What is it?”

“Smoke. We smelled cigarette smoke.” I closed my eyes again, mentally cursing myself for being so incredibly dumb. “They followed us and waited until we were vulnerable.”

“How were you vulnerable?”

“We were eating and talking. That’s when I saw the laser.”

“Laser?”

“You know, like in movies when the gun has a laser pointer?”

“Oh, yea.”

“It settled right over my heart. I didn’t know what to do. No matter which way I moved, I was dead, I just knew it. And then Hayden jumped.” Tears pricked my eyes.  I felt so guilty.

“I’m glad you’re ok,” Raeya promised. “He was very brave, saving your life.”

“Yea, and stupid,” I added. I sighed. It was a relief to admit the whole truth to someone. I took in a ragged breath. Raeya put her hand on mine.

“He’s gonna be ok. Padraic said so.”

“He said he was stable. For now. We both know how fast things can go south, especially in a place like this. There aren’t even heart monitors here.”

 “He didn’t take a bullet for you just to die,” Ray tried to convince me. She smiled broadly. “I told you he liked you.”

“Shut up Ray,” I said, struggling to stay serious. “Hayden is a Marine. He’d do that for anyone.”

“Ohmigod, Riss, will you just adm—”

She cut off suddenly when the door opened. Sonja and Lisa gaped at me.

“Are you ok, Orissa?” Lisa asked, her eyes filled with worry.

“Yes. This is, just, uh, zombie blood.” I smiled to cover up my horrible lie. I closed my eyes and shook my head; I was losing it. “I should go shower,” I said and made an exit, motioning Raeya to follow. She accompanied me to my room to get my pajamas. She was impressed and slightly jealous of the quarantine room. She played around with everything in it while I showered.

It surprised me how tired I was when I sank down on the couch after showering. Raeya had put in a comedy and made microwave popcorn. I ate a few handfuls before passing out.

I was bombarded with questions during my first meal with the rest of the compound. I was polite to the first three people that asked about it before I snapped and told everyone to eff off and leave me alone. After I ate I went up to my room, picked out clean clothes and showered, scrubbing myself thoroughly with soap. Then I marched down to the hospital ward.

“Hello, Orissa,” a nurse said. She was the same nurse that took care of me the first time I set foot in the compound. I glanced at her name badge.

“Hi, Karen. How’s Hayden?” I asked nervously, pulling and snapping the band around my braid.

“He’s improving,” she told me.

“Is he awake?”

She smiled. “You have good timing. I’m holding off his next pain med injection so I can do an assessment. He should be waking up soon.”

“Can I go in there? I’m clean,” I added.

“Actually, that would be nice. He’s probably going to be confused and scared when he wakes up. Plus he will be in a lot of pain. Having someone there that he is close to will help keep him calm.”

I eagerly nodded and followed her into the sick ward. She stopped inside the room and motioned to the sink.

“I know you said you’re clean, so don’t take offense. But can you please wash your hands?”

“Yea,” I easily agreed. “Where’s Padraic?” I asked as I scrubbed my hands clean.