Deathly Contagious (36 page)

“No,” Ivan agreed. “How about we spend the rest of the day looking in our radius, pack our stuff and head out early tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Hayden said with a nod. He slid the map over and turned it around. “We can go up along the border, go west along the lakeside and drive through Cleveland. There ya go, Riss: a nice sized city to explore.”

I wrinkled my nose. I’d been to Cleveland before; it was nothing spectacular before the Depression. After…well, it wasn’t exactly a tourist attraction. We loaded up in our cars and drove across the circle Ivan had drawn on the map, symbolizing our radius.

“What the…?” Hayden whispered when the truck turned onto what should have been the main street in another modest town.

“Holy shit,” I said as I looked around. It looked as if a fiery tornado ripped through the town. Cars lay upside down with their tires melted off. Charred remains of houses lay in ruin. Hayden slowly drove down the road, shaking his head. When I looked over at him, his eyes were wide and full of disbelief.

We passed an apartment complex; half of it was nothing but rubble. Hayden gripped the steering wheel tightly, unable to navigate any further. He put the truck in reverse and waited for the Range Rover to back up so we could get out.

Brock, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked very grim.

“What is going on?” I asked.

“This place has been bombed,” Hayden said, his voice a harsh whisper.

“Bombed?” I asked incredulously. “No, no…why? And by
whom
?” I stammered.

Hayden shook his head again. “I-I don’t know,” he said and swerved the truck around and put it in drive. The Range Rover sped away. “I suppose anyone could make a bomb and it might be easy—easier at least—to get what you’d need to make one now that no one regulates…anything.”

“Why?” I asked as fear crept into my heart.

“I don’t know,” he repeated. “Maybe the town was overrun with zombies.”

“I don’t see any body parts,” I quietly pointed out.

“If it was done when the virus first hit,” Brock started. “Then they could have decomposed by now. It’s been months.”

“Right,” I said and swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat.

“I never thought I’d have to see this kind of damage again,” Hayden mumbled to himself. Once we put a good distance between us and the bomb-ruined city, Ivan pulled over so Hayden could pull up next to him.

“Wasn’t expecting that,” Ivan told us with a half smile. “At least someone knows how to properly take down the zombies!”

“Yea,” Hayden agreed, not finding the humor in Ivan’s statement “You think it was civilians?”

“Who else would it be?” Ivan asked. “I bet even little Miss I-can-hotwire-cars knows how to make a bomb.”

Hayden twisted around to look at me and I guiltily smiled. “Kinda. I know what explodes when you mix it with fire, and Molotov Cocktails might have been included in my grandpa’s life lessons.  But I’ve never made an actual
bomb
and definitely don’t know how to make one with that much destructive power.”

“Really?” Ivan asked in disbelief. “I was totally joking, Penwell.”

I shrugged and sank back in my seat.

“Let’s start making our way back to the camp,” Hayden said and rolled up his window. We looped south, driving through neighborhoods, downtowns and rural roads and saw zero signs of life.

We reached the camp at sunset. After a quick drive up and down the block on the lookout for zombies, we retreated inside and started up the fires again.

“I wish I could shower,” Wade complained, pulling at his collar. “I was sweating balls out there.”

“There’s a pool out back,” Brock reminded us.

“Yea, but the water is probably disgusting,” Hayden said, making a face. “Unless…” he flicked on his flashlight and disappeared into the kitchen. Curious, Wade and I followed him. Hayden opened up a cabinet and clanked the pots and pans around until he found a very large soup pot. “We boil it. It won’t be clean enough to ingest, but it’ll be enough to use for a sponge bath at least.”

“Yes!” I agreed with excitement, more than ecstatic to wash the sweat off my body. The six of us each grabbed a pot or a mixing bowl to fill with water. I assumed a professional had sealed up the pool long before the virus struck; the cover was super tight and the water was surprisingly clear.

 Hayden situated the large pot in the living room fire and carefully dumped the water in.  I found a bottle of bathroom cleaner in the utility room and washed out the bathroom sink before rinsing it with a cup of boiled pool water and pulling the drain stopper. I dashed upstairs to get washcloths, towels and soap.

Acting like gentlemen, the guys let me wash up first. Hayden poured the hot water into the sink. It steamed up the mirror and extinguished the candle. Seeing that I needed to let the water cool before I stuck my hand in it anyway, I exited the bathroom to get a match.

I removed my clothes and sat on the closed toilet while I waited for the water to cool enough to be touched. After what felt like forever, I plunged my hands in it. It was at the temperature where it was uncomfortably warm but not hot enough to burn my skin. I freaking loved it.

Standing on a towel to collect the dripping water, I started with my face and then ran the wet washcloth over my body before scrubbing my body with soap. After I rinsed it off, I unbraided my hair and stuck it in the sink to wash.

“I feel so much better,” I said to Hayden once I was clean, not even caring that I smelled faintly of chlorine. I flopped down on the fancy settee in the living room and started combing out tangles in my hair. It took another hour to boil enough water for the guys to wash up.

We ate protein bars, dried fruit, and chips and salsa for dinner.  Between the six of us, the chips and salsa went fast. I licked the salt off my fingers and wished for a margarita. We played another game of Loaded Questions before it was time to sleep in shifts.

“Who else is tired?” Hayden asked, looking for volunteers to sleep first.

“I am,” Ivan said and stood. “Well then, night, sleep tight. Don’t let the zombies bite.”

“Ha-ha, very funny,” I told him and leaned back on the family room couch. Hayden slowly got up and took a few steps before turning around to look at me.

“Are you coming, Riss?” he asked.

“Oh,” I said and blinked. “Yea, I guess.” I liked first watch. I could stay up late without feeling tired. I didn’t like waking up when it was still dark and watching the sun come up. Besides, I currently wasn’t tired in the least.

I smiled at Hayden, whose hazel eyes locked with mine. After seeing the wreckage from the bombed town, I wasn’t going to make him be alone tonight.  I probably only got two hours of sleep when Rider gently shook me awake. I opened my eyes and sighed, not ready to get out of bed just yet.

Hayden, Ivan, and I quietly sat in the family room. Ivan poked at the fire, Hayden propped his flashlight behind him so he could read, and I wrapped up in a blanket and sat in a very comfy armchair, trying not to fall asleep.

I failed.

Hayden woke me up in the morning, though, it was so dark in the house with the boarded up windows, I had no idea I slept until six thirty.

“You shouldn’t have let me sleep,” I told him as I stretched.

“Ivan and I are capable of keeping watch,” he said.

“I know you are, but it’s not fair. I got more sleep than anyone else.” I threw the blanket on the chair. “At least I feel safe enough around you guys to sleep.”

Hayden raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

I reached my arms above my head. “When I was with Raeya, Padraic, and the others I was never able to let my guard down. It was constantly stressful being the only one who had experience with firearms.  Yea, Ray and Padraic are smart and resourceful and Jason wouldn’t go down without a fight, but still…I felt responsible for them.”

“And you don’t for us?” Hayden teased.

“I do. Really, I still do. But you guys know what you’re doing. You’re good, you’re smart, and you’ve been in bad situations before. And almost as awesome as I am with shooting,” I said in a joking manor, “you’re the one with the battle experience.” I let out a deep breath. “Though I’d still prefer to keep everyone I care about locked up in a padded room where nothing will ever hurt them. Sadly, I know that’s not possible…yet.”

Hayden smiled. “I’d like to keep you locked up in a safe place too. Instead we’re here.”

“At least we are together,” I said with a shy smile.

“Together,” he repeated before turning and gathering up his belongings.

Not wanting to waste any daylight, we packed up our stuff, put the new food in garbage bags to keep it dry and moved our cars out of the garage. Undecided if we would come back for the Lexus SUV, Rider pulled it back into the garage and pocketed the keys.

We got to the lake faster than I expected. We drove along Lake Erie Avenue slowly in hopes of catching signs of life. After a mile or two, we turned away from the lake and tried a different road. Some of the houses had broken windows and wide open front doors. Others looked completely untouched.

Feeling dejection, Hayden cranked the volume to his music to lift our spirits. As much as I didn’t like country music, there was something about Toby Keith’s silly song about a cup that made me smile. We absently mindedly drove around a while longer, not ready to give up just yet.

“Holy shit!” Hayden exclaimed. Busy looking out the passenger side window, I hadn’t seen where we were going. The truck pulled into a high school parking lot. I audibly gasped as my eyes took in the chain link fence set up around the building.

We had found a quarantine. A real quarantine.

Chapter 15

“Oh my God,” I whispered. Cars not only filled the lot, but were parked along the street and in the grass. Several fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars were parked in the front. A hand painted sign that read ‘INSPECTION AREA’ had an arrow pointing to the football stadium.

“I didn’t think these existed,” Rider said, shaking his head.

“Me neither,” Hayden agreed. “It’s the first we’ve seen,” he told me. “I assumed I’d find a ton of emergency shelters when I left home. When I didn’t, I realized no one had time to set anything up.”

It suddenly hit me that I had no idea how the compound got started. I’d ask Hayden later.  

“There must be hundreds of people here,” Rider mumbled, mentally counting the cars.

“Hopefully,” I added. I unbuckled my seatbelt and moved to the opposite side of the truck, peering out the window.

“Going in?” Ivan asked over the walkie talkie.

“Yea,” Hayden responded. “Let’s drive around first.”

We had to stop and push open an eight foot chain link fence. It scraped against the pavement, echoing across the empty school grounds.  The fence around the football stadium was bent and broken. Bits of rotting human skin and clothing had gotten ripped off in the struggle to get over the fence. I wondered if humans escaped or if zombies got in.

The back doors to the large high school were chained shut. I squinted to see inside; the sun glared off the dark glass making it impossible to see what was inside. We continued to circle around the school.  In the grassy area next to the school, tents and canopies had once been set up. They were now nothing but wind ripped apart rags that flapped in the gently spring breeze.

A dumpster at the end of the parking lot was overflowing. Garbage spilled over and littered the area around it. I couldn’t be sure, but I swore I saw an arm sticking out through a pile of Styrofoam cups.

“It doesn’t look to promising,” I sighed.

“Maybe everyone is inside,” Rider suggested. “Like in the gym or the auditorium where it’s safe.”

“Maybe,” Hayden echoed. We drove back around and parked in the narrow drive in between the parked cars. We slung our guns over our shoulders and stuffed our pockets full of ammo. Hayden flipped open his knife and stuck another in his boot.

“Only shoot if it’s an emergency,” he told us. “We don’t know what’s in there…let’s not give ourselves away yet.”

I resituated my M16 to rest behind my quiver. I made sure my knife was easily accessible in my pocket and gripped the bow, ready to fire an arrow if need be. Ivan led the way through a side door that opened into a dim hallway.

The dropdown security gates were locked into place. We detoured down a dark hall, making our way deeper into the school. The air was stale and heavy with humidity; I doubted any fresh air had graced these halls in ages.

“It smells like piss,” Wade noted, scoffing at the scent that wafted up the hall. “I think it’s coming from in there,” he said, using his gun to point to a class room. We peered inside to see the room filled with cots and sleeping bags. My eyes lingered on an elephant stuffed animal that reminded me of Raeya and I mentally smiled when I thought about seeing her again. And then I thought about the child who it belonged to and my smile disappeared.

Was he somewhere in this school? My heart wanted to believe it, but my head knew better. We walked past several more classrooms set up just the same: Cots and sleeping bags and pillows covering the floor. We turned on our flashlights and went down another hall without any windows.

Something scuffled ahead of us. I traded my flashlight for an arrow and Ivan nodded for me to take the front. Precisely moving my feet to make the least amount of noise possible, I followed the source of the scuffling. Ivan raised his flashlight up and cast the light out for me.

Something metal clanked and bounced on the ground, causing us all to jump. I took a slow, deep breath and stepped in front of a door, slowly easing it open with my foot. It creaked as it moved, instantly catching the zombie’s attention.

Holding a spleen and only wearing cut off denim shorts, he roared. He was an easy shot but I was so distracted by his grossly distended stomach I hesitated. His staggering walk waddled just a bit. When his belly hit the corner of a desk, it exploded like a water balloon.

“Sick,” I whispered and released the arrow. Ivan followed me into the classroom to retrieve the arrow while the others stayed in the hall. I flicked the goo off the arrow and wiped it on the zombie’s shorts before sticking it back in my quiver.