Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.
I know I said you might not get another one shot for a little while, but I'm on a roll with these so I figure I'll keep 'em coming. This one was entirely written for a while now, but there was a little that I cut out because this story just didn't want to end. So I'm probably going to continue this one at some point. I hope you like it. It was sort of inspired by a story by Sksai (because she bravely delved into this genre when I felt a story like this might be too weird, and she rocked it. Her story Sydrian Snapshots - Chapter 9: The Lucky Ones is WAY BETTER than mine. You should go read it). Anyway, read on and please let me know what you think!
"What I wouldn't give for a cigarette."
I leaned back against the metal wall of the humvee we were driving in and closed my eyes, listening to the rumble of the engine and trying to distract myself from the wave of dark thoughts that always threatened to crash down over me.
"You haven't had one in, what? Six weeks? That's great," my cousin Jill cheered from the seat next to me. I could just imagine the cheery smile on her face as she spoke.
"I don't think it counts if I'm not smoking just because I can't find a cigarette," I reasoned.
"Still," Christian snickered. "Breaking the habit or whatever."
I opened my eyes and looked at the dark haired boy across from me, meaning to glare at him, but at that moment the humvee hit something—something I think we all hoped was a pothole, but weren't stupid enough to actually believe it. The blonde leaning against Christian's shoulder—aka my other cousin Lissa—woke up with a startled expression in her green eyes.
"Hang on back there!" our driver called from the front of the vehicle. His faint Russian accent sounded a little more pronounced then usual and Christian and I eyed each other from across the truck, any animosity between us forgotten. Dimitri's accent only ramped up when the danger did.
The humvee hit another bump, throwing me sideways into Jill.
"Ow!" Jill cried, elbowing me away from her.
Then we hit another bump. And another. We were all bouncing around in the back of the truck like a couple of pinballs. Christian actually had to grab Lissa around the waist to keep her from bouncing right out of the seat.
"There's too many!" another voice yelled from the front with Dimitri, a voice that provoked many different feelings in me. Rose. The truck slowed and the jostling stopped, but that was almost worse then the constant rattle. Now we could hear the moaning coming from outside.
There was only one tiny window in the very back of the truck on the back door and we all did our best to lean towards it at the same time, trying to see what Rose and Dimitri were seeing.
I couldn't see much when I first peered out into the dusk behind us. The forest covered northwest had given way to rocky trails through the desert a few hundred miles ago, leaving nothing out there but small shrubs and a few trees. But then I noticed the darker shapes on the ground, some still twitching and trying to get back on their feet. Bile rose in my throat and I had to swallow it down before it could escape me.
See, it wasn't so much the bodies lying in the road that made me sick, or even the fact that they were the walking dead, killed and then brought back to life by the very same virus. No, I was used to all of that by now. It was the shear amount of them out there, lying in the shadows of the shrubs, clawing toward the truck on their bellies. Hoping to get a piece of the living any way they could and pass on their zombie virus to the rest of us. There were just so many bodies, so much death trying to take me and the only people I had left in the world.
"Why are there so many?" Jill whispered, and I turned my head to see her leaning over my shoulder, staring out at the dead.
"It's the base," Lissa said, sighing and leaning back against the humvee's wall. "We're here."
Ever since the virus broke out and the dead somehow woke back up with the sole motivation of clawing our hearts out, we'd noticed that the zombies seemed to have some sort of sixth sense about where the living congregated. If there were enough survivors living in one place, there was sure to be a horde of zombies hanging out outside whatever flimsy gates or walls were meant to keep them out. It was like the dead were made to hunt us, we could never truly escape them. But that didn't stop the living from trying.
Sure enough, not even a moment later gunfire sounded from all around and the bodies outside the truck were twitching again, but this time from the bullets striking them over and over. We were at the base. Safe. Or, at least there was the illusion of safety at bases like this one. We'd been at others, seen others fall. It's where we'd picked up our military grade ride, along with most of the supplies we had stored up.
The fact that these guys, whoever they were, were wasting so many bullets on the dead didn't bode well for the sustainability of this particular camp. Everyone knew only a bullet to the head did any real damage to a zombie. We'd learned that from only every zombie movie ever. And these zombies... Well, it was like someone jacked them all up on PCP or bath salts or something. Once they started coming at you they didn't stop unless you destroyed the brain.
The hail of bullets continued for a while. The barrage was loud and unpleasant enough that Jill curled into my side, covering her ears. I put my arm around her, waiting for it to all be over. When it finally ceased, the silence was just as loud as the shooting had been. Then the shouting started.
"You!" a man shouted. "In the truck! Roll down the window, but don't get out of the car!"
We sat quietly in the back as Dimitri complied.
"We're uninfected!" he shouted back.
"How many of you are there?"
"Six!" There was a brief pause and I could only assume Dimitri was looking behind us. I leaned over to look out the window too. "There was a second truck behind us, but... I'm not sure if it's still on its way."
Jill tensed at the remark and I squeezed her hand while Lissa gave her a sympathetic look.
"He's coming," she said quietly to her sister. "It's Eddie. He'll make it."
Taking a deep breath, Jill nodded and I knew her well enough to know she was trying to convince herself that everything was going to be alright. We'd been through too much though, seen too much in the last three months, to believe in cliches like "everything's going to be okay".
Eddie, a friend of ours we'd been with since the virus began spreading, had volunteered to drive the second humvee when we'd been forced to flee our last safe haven, a boarding school in Montana named St. Vladimir's that had been turned into a military base after the outbreak. There were too many of us to escape in one truck and too many supplies. But we'd lost sight of the second truck a while back. It was only natural, in a world as dangerous as the one we were living in, to assume the worst, even if you desperately hoped for the best.
"We don't see any other trucks!" the man shouted from outside. "If you're coming in you do it now, you hear? And you follow our instructions to the tee or else you go back out with the corpses! Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Dimitri confirmed and then there was the screech of metal sliding against metal and the humvee was moving forward once again.
Once we pulled onto the base I could see the massive gate we'd just pulled through slide closed with a rattle and a bang. Then the doors to the humvee swung open and two sub machine guns were pointed in my face.
Two men in full gas masks and body armor stood outside the door, shouting and gesturing us out of the truck.
"On the ground now! Hands above your head!"
"Any of you been bit?"
Rose and Dimitri were ushered to the back bumper with the rest of us and we knelt in the dirt, trying to follow directions and answer questions while more guns were pointed in our faces.
"Get them to quarantine," one of the men yelled and I recognized his voice as the man who'd been shouting from the gate. He was older, in his forties, and his sandy blonde hair was combed back in a way that reminded me of a businessman more then a soldier. He wasn't exactly lanky, but he wasn't built the way you'd assume someone in charge on a military base would be. And he was the only one without a firearm. "Get them to the doctors now. The sooner they're decontaminated and quarantined the better." He pointed to one of the armed gas masked men. "And search the truck for supplies."
"Those are our things!" Rose argued as a soldier began rooting around the back of the truck.
"Not anymore," the blonde man said, unapologetically. "The useful supplies will go in with the rest of our inventory. Any personal items will be returned after decontamination."
"But we aren't infected," Lissa tried to explain.
"And I should just believe you?" the man asked, his voice becoming shriller with the loss of his patience. "You're not the first to make that claim and I'll tell you what I told them. Head to quarantine or leave our camp."
With that, we shuffled forward—hands in front of us, soldiers with guns behind—toward quarantine and whatever awaited us there.
###
"Sydney!"
I startled awake at the sound of the voice, nearly screaming when I felt a hand on my shoulder. For a minute I'd thought this was it, that the zombies had gotten into the base and that I was dead. But it was just my father.
"Yes, sir?" I asked, rubbing sleep out of my eyes to see him hovering over me. He must have flipped the lantern on when he'd come in, because the bluish light lit the small room, casting shadows on the walls. His blonde hair and brown eyes, both the same color as mine, were the only indications that I was related to the man before me. You'd never guess I was Jared Sage's daughter by the hard tone of his voice when he spoke to me.
He backed away, waiting for me to get out of bed. "More refugees from the north arrived a few hours ago."
"Yes. I've heard that, sir."
It was late, but I'd venture to guess everyone had heard that news by now. The members of our community weren't big on gossip normally, but, well. It wasn't every day that we had contact with living humans. And after the last time... We were all hoping for a better outcome than last time.
"They made it through quarantine and I need you to go take blood samples."
Ah. Of course. My father was training me to become a scientist like he was. Blood samples were, perhaps, the simplest of tasks he could give me, but I still felt the weight of this assignment on my shoulders as I met his gaze.
"Yes, sir." I stood and started to throw a sweater on over my sweatpants and T-shirt, wanting to get to work as quickly as possible.
"Get dressed, Sydney," my father ordered. "You need to look professional if you expect anyone to take you seriously. We need to know if these people are clean or not. Do you think they'll cooperate with a teenage girl in sweatpants trying to stick them with a needle?"
He wasn't wrong. I berated myself for not thinking logically. It was very late, but that was no excuse to act unprofessionally. Especially after what happened last time. I needed to prove myself and this was my chance.
Nodding, I immediately turned for the small trunk at the bottom of my bed, but my dad placed a hand on my shoulder. For a brief moment I allowed myself to hope for some fatherly advice like be careful or stay safe. But he just stared at me for a second before saying, "If they are infected we'll need to dispose of them quickly, before the rest of the camp hears about this. So hurry up and make sure there are no mistakes."
I almost told him that it was doubtful anyone in camp hadn't heard of the refugee's arrival earlier this evening, but he was already leaving.
As quickly as I could, I dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a gray blouse, pulled my hair out of the ponytail I'd worn to bed and worked a brush through it. One glance in the small mirror on my wall told me I didn't look the part of the imposing scientist, but I didn't have time to do any better.
With one last sigh at my reflection in the mirror, I took off down the hall after my father.
###
"We've been in this room for hours!"
Rose was pacing across the stark white room for what seemed like the thousandth time tonight. There was no furniture, no windows. Just a white tiled floor and four blindingly white walls. The only thing in the whole room that wasn't white was a brownish stain that spread across the back wall and down onto the tiles. I didn't want to stare at it for too long. I didn't want to imagine where it had come from.
"They called it quarantine for a reason, Rose," Christian mumbled into the top of Lissa's head. The two were curled up together, trying to get some sleep. I don't think it was working so well for them judging by their bloodshot eyes which were still wide open.
"If we were going to go all cannibal on one another wouldn't we have done it by now?" Rose asked, finally relenting and sliding down the wall next to Dimitri, who wrapped a meaty arm around her shoulders. I rolled my eyes and glanced away. The last thing I wanted to see was the two of them being all touchy feely with each other. Being stuck, watching them together, just made the apocalypse that much worse for me.
"I don't know, but if we don't eat soon I might start thinking about going cannibal on one of you guys," Christian laughed. "Anyone have any hot sauce? I bet Ivashkov would taste pretty good if it came down to it."
"Ozera, I taste just as good as I look," I quipped from my spot on the floor. "You wouldn't need hot sauce."
"That's really gross, you guys," Jill started to say, when the door—also white—swung open and more guys with guns poured through into the room. There were two of them and they posted themselves on either side of the door. Their black uniforms creating a startling contrast against the white.
Clacking heels echoed a spilt second before a woman entered the room. Her long white coat told me she must be a doctor of some kind. Quick on her heels was another woman in a white coat, but this one appeared much younger. Her brown eyes scanned the room quickly before settling on the woman in front of her, waiting for a cue. This girl, I decided, was no older than Rose and Lissa.
"Welcome to our camp," the older woman said, her voice about as welcoming as this room. "You've all made it through quarantine, but just to be on the safe side, my assistant and I will be taking blood samples from each of you to make sure you're uninfected." At our incredulous expressions she said, "I hope you understand our need for caution. There are many people at this camp, many people that depend on us keeping the virus outside the gates."
Rose opened her mouth, no doubt in protest, and started to get to her feet, but Dimitri dragged her back to his side with a hurried, "We understand."
"Very good," the woman smiled. "My name is Donna Stanton and this is Sydney Sage." She gestured toward the girl beside her who smiled briefly before fiddling with a box she was carrying.
"Who would like to go first?" Stanton asked, grabbing a long syringe from the box and holding it up for us all to see.
I could visibly see Jill and Lissa shudder at the sight of the needle, but Dimitri stood up and walked over to the doctor. Of course, he did. Belikov would do anything to look like a big shot. Even getting pricked with a huge freaking needle in front of everyone. Stanton wasted no time and got to work drawing his blood.
"Miss Sage," she said, trying to find a vein on the big Russian's arm. "Get started on the others."
The small blonde girl took a syringe from her box and walked over to Christian and Lissa who were still sitting on the floor.
"I don't know if I can," Lissa said quietly, gripping Christian's hand in a bone crushing hold. Christian extricated his hand and asked the girl if they could have a few minutes to prepare themselves.
"Sure," the girl said, kindly, if not a little impatiently. "Who's ready to go now? You're all going to need blood tests if you want to be released from this room."
"I'll go," Rose said, getting to her feet. "I'd do anything to get out of here."
The girl smiled slightly and began the process of taking Rose's blood. "I can't blame you," she said, eyes on the syringe as she pushed it through Rose's skin. "It's awful in here. We don't get survivors very often and this is the only room we have available for quarantine. Otherwise we wouldn't put anyone in here after..."
She trailed off, a shudder coursing through her as she glanced toward the stain on the far wall. Pulling the needle from Rose's arm, she placed it back in the box and pulled a new one out.
"After what?" Rose asked, rubbing her arm gently. Her eyes darted to the blood stained side of the room Sydney had been looking at and she shook her head. "You know what? Never mind. Don't tell me."
The girl seemed more than a little relieved as Christian stepped up to get his blood drawn and she got to work. Stanton came over and did Lissa and Jill as quickly as possible so the girls wouldn't freak out too badly.
Soon the blonde walked over to me with the last syringe in her hand. She threw a glance over at Jill who was currently staring at the ceiling and trying not to cry as Stanton drew her blood.
"Last one," she said with a small smile I felt was probably forced. The girl looked tired, and why shouldn't she? It had to be around three or four a.m. "You ready?"
I smiled back, throwing her my most charming look. "I'm always ready for a pretty girl."
The girl looked confused and then something between irritation and disgust crossed her features. "Good, because this might hurt a little."
Damn! She was not kidding. She jammed the needle into my arm and the pain radiated all the way to my shoulder. It was over quickly though, and I joined my friends who were standing along the wall and rubbing their arms.
"We'll be back in about an hour," Stanton assured us. "If you're tests are clean, you'll be shown around and given a place to bunk down."
"Sounds good," Christian sighed. Then he crinkled his nose. "Can we get anything to eat while we wait? I'm starving."
"We'll have someone bring you—" Sydney started, but was swiftly cut off by Stanton.
"We'll bring something back in an hour."
Sydney looked like she wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or embarrassed to be so obviously overridden, but Stanton didn't notice. Or maybe she just didn't care. She quickly turned on her heel, motioning Sydney after her. Then they were gone, taking the guards with them.
###
"They're clean," I said for what must have been the fifteenth time.
Stanton and my father both ignored me and continued looking through the microscopes for evidence of the virus. For evidence of my mistake. But there wasn't any. I'd been more than careful when I'd run the tests. These survivors were clean, I was sure of it.
"It does appear that they're clean, but what is this?" Stanton called from her microscope. "Jared, please take a look at this. It makes no sense."
Dad huffed his annoyance at having to stop what he was doing to walk over to Stanton, and glanced down into the microscope. I tensed, awaiting my father's reaction to what Stanton had found in the blood. It must have been the same infection I'd noticed in the younger girl's sample. It wasn't the zombie virus, but some other infection. It looked similar, but wasn't reacting the same way. I'd checked all of the other samples. I'd double checked, triple checked them. I hadn't seen any signs of the zombie virus in anyone.
"Very odd," Dad said so quietly I assumed he was speaking to himself, but then he turned back to Stanton. "And it's just this sample?"
"Just this one, sir. I've never seen anything like it before. It's almost as if..."
"As if she's infected with the virus," my father said, turning to me with a scowl. "I told you you needed to double check your findings, Sydney."
"I did! I swear! That's not the zombie virus. It can't be!" I cried out.
"Jared, I don't think this is something Sydney would have been able to identify. It doesn't look like the virus, it looks like... well, I'm not sure what, honestly."
"But the mutating cells are there..."
"Not in the same levels the infected have. I missed them myself the first time I went over the samples. But it's not just the virus. It looks like the body is trying to fight it off and it's actually working. I've never seen that before."
"We can't take any chances," Dad said in a gruff voice.
"Jared," Stanton said slowly. "Sydney's right. This isn't the virus. It's so much more than that."
He didn't seem impressed, but I gasped. "An anti-virus."
"Yes, I believe so," Stanton said, excitedly. "Her blood is fighting off an infection. We need to study this."
"And if she turns?" Dad asked.
"I don't think she will. I think that's the whole point."
Dad wasn't happy about it, but he nodded. "Fine. The others may be escorted to their bunks, but that one stays in quarantine until we can run more tests."
"I'm not sure the others will be happy about that," I said quietly.
"It's not up to them, is it, Sydney?"
My father wasn't the type to listen to other people's concerns. It didn't make him the most well liked man in camp, but it did make him a survivor. As I nodded my agreement, I reminded myself I should try to be more like him. Less concerned with how people felt and more concerned with keeping them alive.
Staton left it to me to tell the survivors they would be split up. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon and I was as tired as the dead. Though, maybe that wasn't the best analogy since I could hear the dead scrapping their bloody fingertips against the walls around our camp. The sound of so many of them, just a hundred or so feet from where I stood, had me walking quickly across the worn, dusty trail to the quarantine building.
The building itself was small. A squat, one story that acted as storage for the base before we'd taken it over and turned it into quarantine. Just as I was approaching the door, I was startled by a small voice calling my name. I turned in time to see my sister Zoe running toward me.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, lowering my hand from the door.
"Mom woke me," she said and I noticed a small crease in her brow which could only mean she was annoyed about something. "She woke up and you were gone. Dad was too. She wanted to know if I knew anything about it." The crease in her brow turned into a full on scowl. "Which I didn't because you didn't tell me anything. Neither did Dad."
"We were dealing with the survivors that showed up yesterday, Zoe. We were busy."
"Too busy to tell me about it?" she demanded. "I could have helped you, Sydney. I know how to spot an infected and run blood tests and all sorts of things. Dad taught me that stuff too, you know."
I nearly rolled my eyes. Zoe had been annoyed with me ever since Dad started assigning me more and more tasks to do around camp. It's like she thought his orders were a sign of his affection for me. Like it meant he liked me more or something. Frankly, it was beginning to get on my nerves.
"Zoe, I don't have time for this. I have to get inside and tell the survivors they're clean." The hurt in Zoe's eyes undid me, annoyed with her or not. But the thought of the survivors gave me an idea. "Since you're here you can help me show them to their bunks, alright? It'll be faster if you help."
Her frown disappeared instantly and she beamed at me. "Of course!" The excitement in her voice faded a little and she asked, "You're sure they're clean, though?"
"Very sure," I smiled and led her into the quarantine building, past the guards, and into the white room.
###
"What do you mean Jill can't come with us?" I demanded, fixing the blonde girl with a glare. "I'm not going anywhere without her."
Jill, who'd looked so excited only moments before when Sydney walked in exclaiming that we could leave quarantine, was now fighting back a wave of tears.
"That's my sister," Lissa said, in that quiet, but forceful way she had. "I'm not leaving her here by herself."
"And I don't understand, anyway," Rose interjected. "How could Jill be infected? If she was, she would have turned by now."
Sydney shook her head and the younger brunette she'd come in with, a relative of her's judging by their looks, shrank back towards the door at Rose's tone.
"I'm sorry. The blood samples are clear," Sydney explained, not the least bit intimidated by Rose. "I don't think she's infected with the virus, but I do think it's gotten into her system somehow. Her body appears to be fighting it off." Her face lit up and I noticed how her eyes sparkled a little, even in these awful fluorescent lights. She actually looked excited about all this crap. "It's remarkable. We've never seen anything like it before."
"So..." I asked slowly. "What you're saying is that Jill's been in contact with the virus, but she isn't infected." Sydney nodded enthusiastically. "So she's what? Immune?"
Jill gasped and staggered forward. "Am I?" she asked with a mixture of excitement and fear. I understood that. The fear of being infected was overwhelming, but the fear of being different could be just as scary.
"We need to run more tests," Sydney explained. "That's why we want to keep you here. We'll bring in a bed for you and it can be your own space. But we need to make sure. If you are immune, well. You understand what it could mean for the human race, don't you?"
Jill's green eyes went wide, but she wasn't the one who answered Sydney. Lissa stepped forward, a resolved look taking over her regal features. "It could change everything," she said softly. Slowly, she turned toward her sister. "I agree with these people, Jill. You should stay and let them do some tests. Let them make sure you're immune."
"But I don't..." Jill started to say. "I can't be. I wasn't even bitten. How could I possibly be infected?"
"It might not have been a bite," Sydney said. "All it takes is a transfer of bodily fluids. There are a number of ways that one might contract the disease. Maybe you'd been close to someone who'd recently been infected and your blood mixed a little. It could have been something as innocent as a kiss to someone you didn't know had the virus..."
Jill's eyes were beginning to shimmer and I knew she was thinking about her boyfriend Lee. He'd... become infected and hadn't told anyone about it. He'd gone a little crazy in the end, but hadn't gotten the chance to hurt Jill. Still, that must have been how she'd been immunized against the virus. It was a good thing for her, but the tears in her eyes as Sydney spoke were too much.
"Stop. Just stop," I said. "She might be immune. It doesn't matter how she got that way. All that matters is she's safe and probably can't be turned into one of those damned things."
Sydney gave me a hard look. "Yes. That's what it means. But we still need to determine why. If we can, we might be able to replicate it."
"And create some sort of vaccine?" Dimitri asked. He threw Jill a small smile. "Think of how many people that could help."
I shook my head and turned back to Sydney. "And what if Jill doesn't want to be used as your guinea pig? Huh? What then? You and your goons going to throw her out of your camp? Or will you just tie her to a table and experiment anyway?"
Sydney looked more than a little annoyed by the accusation and the brunette was practically pasted to the wall next to the door. She looked so scared I almost felt sorry for her.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember your name. Ivashkov, was it?" Sydney asked, trying to keep her cool.
I smirked. "Seems like you remember my name just fine." At her glare, I held out a hand and smiled brighter. "Adrian."
She started to reach out to take my hand when the brunette practically shrieked. "Sydney! He could be infected. Be careful."
Sydney's lips pursed as she turned back to the girl. "He's not infected, Zoe. I tested him, remember? He's fine." Then she took my hand and shook. "I'm Sydney," she said, forcing a smile, despite her annoyance with me and Zoe. "And I promise I won't let anyone hurt your friend, okay? But this could be important to every human on this planet, including you and her."
"She's not my friend," I said, dropping Sydney's hand. "She's my cousin. Her and Lissa are the only family I have left. I'm not letting you take her from me."
"I'm not trying to take anyone from you, Adrian," she said, still trying to remain calm. "I'm only trying to help."
Her brown eyes were clear and honest, but just because this girl had good intentions didn't mean her superiors did.
"It's okay," Jill said, reaching out to touch my shoulder. "It's alright. I'll do it. They can do the tests."
"Jill—" I argued.
"If it will stop this madness, we have to try," she said. "Somehow I was gifted with this immunity, if that's what it is. I have to use it to help others." She hesitated and then gave me a tight lipped smile that didn't reach her eyes. "And if it turns out that I'm not immune and it's just an abnormality in the virus, I'd rather be locked in this room by myself when I turn. That way I know I won't be able to hurt anyone."
Everyone told Jill how brave she was, what a good heart she had. They smiled and cried and told her they'd come visit. But I just stood there, watching my innocent little cousin, who wasn't so little anymore and definitely wasn't innocent after the past three months, say goodbye to the people she loved most in this world. Then I joined everyone else and she threw her arms around me, squeezing tightly.
"I'll be fine, Adrian," she whispered. "Just make sure you take care of yourself, okay?"
I made promises that I meant in the moment, but would probably turn out to be just as hollow as Jill's, "I'll be fine," sounded.
Once we'd left the white quarantine room behind I grabbed Sydney's arm, trying to get her attention. It worked a little better then I'd planned because she shrieked and jumped away from me.
"Sorry," I apologized, spreading my hands in front of me so she'd know I meant no harm. "I just need to know, are you certain she's immune? I need to know I didn't just leave her in there to face her death alone."
Lissa and Christian, who were up ahead of us, stopped to hear Sydney's answer. Rose and Dimitri, who were further ahead following Zoe to their bunk, didn't notice we'd stopped, too absorbed with each other at the moment.
"I can't be one hundred percent certain of anything," Sydney said. "I'm a scientist. But I don't think she's in danger of turning. Her cells are fighting the virus. That's a good sign."
I turned to look at Lissa, but she only shrugged. Christian, despite not being my favorite person on the planet, nodded once, acknowledging the question in my gaze. There wasn't anything we could do for Jill if she'd been infected somehow. It was a miracle if she was immune and who were we to deny this girl the chance to study a miracle. Maybe she was even smart enough, or lucky enough, to find a cure.
###
It had been almost two weeks since the survivors showed up. It had been a week and a half since we started testing Jill to see if she really was immune and if we could somehow create a vaccine from her antibodies.
So far, it hadn't gone well.
Jill was doing fine, but our experiments were getting us nowhere. We just didn't have the equipment or manpower necessary to create such a powerful vaccine.
It hadn't been so easy living at camp since the survivors arrived either. Rose and Lissa were okay, as were their boyfriends, Dimitri and Christian. Even Jill was adjusting well to life here. But their friend Adrian was annoying enough to make up for the rest of them. He was always complaining about either his bunk mate, Marcus, or about the food, or about the lack of cigarettes. He'd complain about anything given the chance. His whining was enough to make you want to scream.
But that was nothing compared to the drinking. I can't say he was always drunk, but once he stumbled upon our emergency supply of alcohol, let's just say it was a common occurrence to find him with a half empty bottle of something or other in his hand. He avoided authority figures in the camp, so no one would wise up to his stealing our alcohol. I knew I should tell my father, but for some reason I just didn't have the heart to turn him in.
He was a mystery to me. Part of me was amazed that someone so physically attractive could be so internally damaged. But, then again, weren't we all a bit damaged since the world ended? Something had clearly happened to make this boy act this way, and I found myself wondering what it was more than I'd like to admit.
His friends kept apologizing for him, saying it was just his way of dealing, but what sort of an excuse was that? We were all dealing. What made him so special? Whatever was going on with him was his problem and when he acted rude towards someone at camp, or complained, or refused to help with chores because his hands "don't do manual labor" that was his apology to give. Not theirs.
Sometimes it frustrated me so much I wanted to scream, but then I always stopped myself because it shouldn't have made any difference to me what the survivors did. My job was only to take care of Jill. As my dad kept telling me, she was the only one I needed to worry about.
"Hey, Sage!" Adrian called out to me one night as I was walking towards my bunk, exhausted and ready for bed. "I heard some of the soldier boys might be heading out tomorrow to find some food and supplies."
"Yeah," I told him, caught off guard by his serious tone. Not to mention his insanely green eyes. I'd never seen anything like them before and they always gave me pause whenever he was close to me like this. "A few of my dad's guys are supposed to head out in the morning."
"Good," he smiled. "I have a few items I need you to add to the grocery list for me."
I stared at him for a few moments, waiting for him to elaborate. A part of me hoped he'd come up with some genius list of things we could use, but hadn't ever thought of before. Even though I knew better, I somehow still wanted to believe the best in people. The best in him.
"Some vodka if they can find it, the liquor cabinet's all out," he smirked. "But anything will do, I suppose. Even a beer would be better than nothing. And some cigarettes, too. I'm dying for a smoke."
It was the flippancy of his tone that did it.
"No, you're not!" I yelled suddenly, causing Adrian to flinch back at the unexpected volume of my voice. It startled me too. I hadn't meant to yell at him, but he'd been acting like this since the day he got here. It needed to stop. "You're not dying for a cigarette, Adrian, but those guys going out there to search for supplies really might. Do cigarettes really rank higher than their lives on the list of things we need?"
Adrian stared at me like I had three heads, but I didn't care. I was tired, frustrated and now angry.
"You're not the only person here who's life matters! You barely act like your life matters. Why should other people risk themselves if you won't?"
"That's not what I meant..." He muttered lamely, but I didn't want to hear it.
"Maybe not, but that's reality." I brushed passed him, heading toward my bed. All I wanted was my bed. I was too tired for this conversation.
"Sage," he tried again, grabbing hold of my arm.
I shrugged off his hold and in my coldest, iciest voice said, "Not now, Adrian, okay?"
He backed off and let me walk back to my bunk in piece, although, despite my exhaustion, I was too worked up to sleep after our encounter.
###
I couldn't stop thinking about what Sydney said.
She was right about me making demands when I didn't contribute anything to the camp. The more I thought about it, the worse I felt, until finally I knew I needed to go see her.
It was the middle of the night and the only people out wandering this late were guards, so I had to be careful. Though, finding her room turned out to be harder than avoiding the guards. The bunks were spread out in the main building, the one that used to house whatever military force worked here before the end. I guess Sydney and her family had been here since the beginning because she had her own bunk in a real, if a little small, room. It was way nicer than the storage room I shared with that idiot Marcus.
When I stepped into her room I closed the door behind me and flipped a tiny lantern on in the corner. The blue light spread over the room making her small form visible under her sheets. I guess not even the boss's daughter gets a real blanket, though maybe she given her's up to someone who needed it more. She seemed like the kind of person who'd do something like that.
"Sage," I whispered, stepping closer to her. "Hey, Sage. Wake up."
With a start her amber eyes snapped open and she nearly jumped out of bed. Her breath was coming heavily and I felt bad for startling her. It was the middle of the night, after all.
"Sorry, sorry. Calm down. It's just me."
Sydney blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the lantern light. She looked so confused when she finally turned her gaze toward me. "Adrian? What... What's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," I assured her. "I'm sorry for scaring you, but I needed to see you. I needed to apologize for today. I was an asshole."
Still sleepy, she blinked a few times before sitting up and hanging her legs over the side of the bed. She had a pair of shorts on and I couldn't help but notice how long and smooth looking her legs were. They temporarily distracted me from my apology, but I shook off the thoughts quickly.
"I'm sorry, I know I haven't been the easiest person to deal with. I haven't been pulling my weight around here. I just needed you to know that I'm sorry and I want to help out more."
"And this couldn't have waited until morning?" She gave me a narrow look. "Are you just saying this so I'll sneak cigarettes onto the supply list for you?"
"No," I shook my head and held up two fingers. "Scout's Honor."
Sydney just watched me closely for a moment before smiling slightly, despite the late hour. "Somehow I doubt you were ever a Boy Scout."
"No. Definitely not," I admitted. "Unless they were giving out badges for picking the lock on my parents liquor cabinet, I don't think I'd have done very well."
She smiled again, in a much better mood then she'd been in before.
"The cigarettes were a stupid request anyway," I went on after a moment of silence spread between us. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but I was nervous for some reason. I wasn't sure why this girl's opinion mattered to me, but it did. I didn't want her to think I was some self-centered slacker, even thought that's exactly what I'd always been. "I haven't had one in so long, there's no reason to start again."
"You don't need to start smoking now, anyway," Sydney added with a grin. "What if you need to outrun a zombie? You really want smoker's cough slowing you down?"
I smiled back.
"I don't need to outrun the zombie," I joked. "I just need to outrun you."
"Good luck with that," she laughed. "I used to be pretty athletic before all of this happened. Now I make sure I stay in shape." Her grin faltered. "You know, just in case."
The look on her face was enough to know this girl hadn't had it easy since the outbreak. She'd been through her own set of horrors and tragedies. I sat down beside her.
"You look more like the type of girl to be valedictorian than a jock," I teased, hoping to drag her thoughts away from whatever gruesome memories had her in their grip.
"I was," she said, shaking off her thoughts and smiling at me. "And I never said I was a jock, just that I was athletic. I was never on any teams or anything."
"What team would you have been on?" I asked. "If you could go back."
"Volleyball, probably," she said after a few moments of thought. "I was pretty good at it."
"Volleyball," I nodded thoughtfully. "Jumping up and down, hopefully on a beach in a bikini. Yeah, that's a good choice."
She smacked my arm, but laughed despite herself. "What about you? Let me guess, your sport was collecting girl's numbers?"
"Something like that," I smirked, but it faded. "Were you in college yet, before...?"
She shook her head sadly and glanced away from me.
"I always wanted to go to college. I wanted to study architecture," she whispered. Her gaze turned inward and her amber eyes sparkled in the lantern light. Finally she snapped back to me with a small smile. "It's okay, though. At least I still have the chance to learn. And it's better this way. I'm getting to help with something huge. Something that could save the world."
"But it's not the thing you wanted to do," I said softly.
She turned her eyes up to meet mine. "No. It's not. But it still needs to be done. There aren't enough of us left that we get to wander around thinking about what we would have done."
I was so caught off guard by this girl. She made me feel like I was wasting my potential by not helping the way she was. Because she was right, wasn't she? The work she was doing needed to get done. There weren't many of us left on the planet as far as we knew. Everyone needed to step up and do their part.
"You were in college, right? What did you study while you were there?" she said, turning the attention away from her and the dreams she'd probably never be able to follow.
"Nothing, really. I took a few art classes before I dropped out."
"Art?" Sydney perked up. "I've always loved art, especially ancient art. Were you any good?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I liked it though."
"Then why'd you drop out?" A small frown formed right between her eyes.
I shrugged, looking down at my dusty boots. "I don't know. My dad's rich—was rich. Didn't seem to matter if I partied instead of going to school." I looked back up at her with a sheepish smirk. "Plus it pissed my dad off royally."
I could tell the idea of wasting the opportunity for an education on drinking and girls mystified her, but a slow smile still spread across her face. "Well, if you're even halfway decent I might know a job you could help out with."
"I'll take it." I smiled back. She had a great smile even if she didn't use it near enough.
"Great! I'll get it all set up for you in the morning. Just..." She hesitated. "Promise me that you'll follow through on this, okay? If I convince my dad that you should do this, please don't make me look like an idiot. It might not seem like a lot, but to my dad even something this small is enough for him to get on my back about it. Not all of us are looking to piss off our parents."
"I promise," I told her. "I won't get you in trouble with your dad. I'll follow through, I swear."
She smiled again and I felt this small flutter in my stomach watching her get excited. She explained the details of the job and then, with the help of a few leading questions, told me some more about Jill's condition and how things were going. It was so late, and we were both still sitting on her bed. I wasn't sure when, but somehow between talking about college, jobs and Jill, we both began to doze off.
###
I won't lie. Waking up next to a body that shouldn't be in your bed is almost pee-your-pants scary when there are zombies—actual blood drinking, flesh ripping zombies—wandering around outside.
It took everything in me not to scream bloody murder, and I'd only managed that because I recognized Adrian's messy dark hair pressed up against my cheek. I remembered Adrian coming to my room last night. I remembered him sitting next to me on my bed. I even remembered moving over and him stretching out beside me a little as we talked about Jill. But I did not remember making a conscious decision to let him stay the night!
He was now the first boy I'd ever slept with—I mean, fallen asleep with. Because we were both still fully clothed and on top of the blankets, I was pretty sure he hadn't tried anything while I'd slept. Not that I suspected he would do something like that. From everything I knew about him, Adrian seemed like a pretty standup guy. I'd never seen him in an argument with any of the survivors or anyone else got that matter. And after last night, I got the feeling that I could trust him.
But still. He was in my bed.
His head rested next to mine on my threadbare pillow, his hair grazing my skin. Adrian was too tall for my cot so this position left his booted feet hanging off the bottom of the bed. I was sure he couldn't have been comfortable sleeping in here last night.
"Adrian," I whispered. "Adrian?"
He didn't respond to my voice or any of my gentle nudges, so I leaned in closer to his ear.
"Adrian!" I whisper yelled, hoping not to alert anyone in the hall to the fact that I had a boy in my room. My dad would not be happy about that. Especially, not with a boy like Adrian.
Adrian finally stirred, and by stirred I mean his whole body jerked so violently he almost rolled right off the cot. "Sage?" he murmured sleepily, his voice thick and clumsy. His confusion was actually sort of cute. "What are you doing here?"
I sat up beside him, curling my legs underneath me. "This is my room, Adrian. You fell asleep here last night."
"Oh." He pushed himself up slowly to sit beside me, stretching his legs. A loud popping noise when he rolled his neck suggested he was in even more pain from sleeping on my tiny cot than I'd originally thought. Every muscle in his body must have been cramped up. "Sorry about that," he said, shooting me an uncertain glance before he stood.
I waved him off. "Don't worry about it. It was surprisingly pleasant for my first sleepover."
"You've never had a sleepover?" Adrian asked, slightly incredulously.
"I never had that many friends growing up," I shrugged. "I was homeschooled."
He watched me for an uncomfortably long moment before smirking. "Glad I could be your first then."
His grin faded quickly as he looked at me and I assumed it was because he was waiting for me to yell at him. I knew he meant that comment as innuendo, but I chose to ignore it and just smiled, waiting for him to go. Problem was, he didn't leave the way I was expecting him to. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and studied my face like he was confused about something.
"Um, Adrian?"
"Yeah?" he mumbled back, dragging himself away from whatever he'd been thinking about while staring at me.
"I have to change. Big day today," I said, sounding way more chipper than I would have preferred. Adrian didn't say anything about my tone, or get embarrassed about staring at me. He just smiled and told me to take it easy before casually disappearing down the hallway.
After the soldiers left on the supply run, I found my dad in his office, sorting through a file Stanton had delivered to him yesterday. I knew our research on Jill's blood was on there, and I knew my dad wasn't as happy with the results as he would like. The anti-virus was taking a long time to fight off her infection, so it was hard to know exactly what to do experiment wise. Dad wanted to convert a sample into a vaccine, but Stanton and I agreed it could be dangerous. Jill was doing fine—more than fine, really—but would another patient fair so well? Stanton was the one who officially stated the danger in the report, since my dad wouldn't listen to me about it, but that didn't make me any less proud when Dad flipped the folder closed and said, "That's how a report's done, Sydney. I hope you've been paying extra attention during your time with her."
"I have," I assured him. "I actually have something else I'd like to ask you about, if you have a minute?"
Dad waved me on, shifting a stack of what appeared to be inventory lists across his desk. My father was a scientist by profession, but ever since the virus broke out people had been looking to him for answers. Sometimes those answers came from a microscope, but more often it seemed they came from his organizational and team leading skills. No matter my dad's flaws, he took care of the people in this community. And I was counting on that to help me get Adrian a job.
"One of the survivors, Adrian Ivashkov," he nodded in recognition, though I doubted he actually remembered who Adrian was, "is looking to take on some responsibility. He was an artist before the virus—"
Dad huffed impatiently. "What's an artist have to offer now? Is he willing to go on supply runs or guard the wall? Because that's the sort of help we need. People stop wanting to volunteer for the runs whenever a soldier goes MIA, and it's happened on the last three in a row."
"I know, sir. But I thought Adrian might be a good distraction for the children. They've been restless lately, especially after losing some of our own..."
I trailed off, waiting for my dad's reaction. I knew he hated things like art and, well, anything creative. It was impractical, he'd believed that before the virus, and he certainly believed it even more strongly now. But keeping the kids in good spirits went a long way towards keeping their parents happy and as I watched him I saw all of that run through his head.
"Fine. He isn't doing anything as it is. Put out word that he'll be teaching an art class for the children, starting this afternoon."
He pulled a file across his desk and gestured me away, which was fine by me. Adrian had his job and I was eager to tell him about it, not to mention I had a job of my own to get to.
###
Teaching 17 kids, ages 4 to 16, how to draw animals wasn't my idea of a dream job, but, I had to admit, it wasn't as bad as I expected either. The kids were calm and quiet and had a lot of fun. I even sort of enjoyed myself. Especially when Sydney dropped by to visit on her lunch break.
She smiled and helped the younger kids make their shapes, because let's face it, their tigers were little more than a circle of a head, a rectangle for a body, and a curvy line for a tail. Still, they were enthusiastic about it and that's all that mattered. She stayed for a while before she had to get back to Stanton and Jill. I was going over to see them after my class was over. I'd visited Jill everyday since she was quarantined and, for once, I was finally going to have something good to tell her. She'd be happy for me and I knew once she got out she'd want to help.
Rose and Lissa swung by for a few minutes after Sydney left. I could tell they were both happy to see me doing something that didn't involve alcohol, but I was glad when they left. I still felt raw about how Rise had treated me and even though we were friends, she wasn't someone I wanted to spend excessive amounts of time with if I could help it.
My first art class went surprisingly well, and I was shocked when a couple of the younger kids came up to hug me and thank me for teaching them. I wasn't a kid person, but it wasn't awful having someone admire you that way. Once they were all gone and I'd cleaned up their pencils and notebooks, I walked out toward the quarantine building. I found myself uncommonly excited to see Jill. It wasn't that I didn't love my cousin, but I had to attribute the butterflies in my stomach to Sydney. She was pretty, I'd noticed that the first time I met her. But after last night, something changed between us, or between me, at least. The image of her twinkling golden eyes was constantly in the forefront of my mind. Her smile, the sound of her voice, the way she smelled of soap, even at the end of the day. The way she wasn't afraid to really tell me what she thought. The way what she thought of me was starting to mean more than what my friends thought.
I was nearly to the small one story building when I heard a commotion outside the large steel gates. A trucks engined rattled and there were shouts, before a steady barrage of gunfire rang out.
"There's too many!" I heard over the ruckus and it set my heart to stone. It wasn't the first time I'd heard those words in a camp like this. It hadn't been a good sign then, and it wasn't a good sign now. "Get the truck in! Quick, before the rest get too close!"
Short, staccato bursts echoed through the camp as the soldiers on the wall laid cover fire for whoever was in the truck. Many of the people around camp began to gravitate toward the gates, staying back from any real danger, but getting close enough to see what was happening. When the gates finally groaned open, a humvee—the one we'd driven from St. Vladimir's—pulled in and the driver hopped out. Another soldier with a big gun was standing there, looking pissed off.
"Sir!" the driver said, his voice loud and shaky. "Our team was attacked by a large group of the dead, they were headed in the direction of the camp. Ortiz was bitten! She's in the back."
"In the back?" the soldier shrilled. "Why would you bring an infected back?"
"She was bitten and there were hundreds. We couldn't just leave her—"
But before he had time to finish one of the soldiers from the wall stepped up to the back of the humvee and opened the door.
"No!" the soldier shouted, and I echoed him in my head. "Don't open it!"
But it was too late. Ortiz was bitten, and at some point on the drive back to camp, she'd succumbed to the virus. When the soldier opened the door the zombie leapt from the vehicle, bring the soldier down in a howl of terror, it's teeth sinking into his throat right above the collar of his uniform.
Shots went off, more people came running. The scene was turning into complete pandemonium. And then disaster really struck. The soldier manning the gate had been in the process of closing it when zombie Ortiz attacked. In a moment of idiocy or panic, he left his post of pulling the groaning gate shut and drew his weapon. And that was all it took for the first zombie to break through and launch itself at him. The screaming and chaos picked up a notch as another zombie stumbled through, then another. The guards were so busy reacting to the Ortiz incident they didn't notice right away. If they had, the camp might have had a chance.
Muzzles flashed as the guards on the top of the wall tried to stem the flow if zombies while someone got the gate closed, but the bodies were beginning to pile up and the gate was jammed on its tracks.
"Pull the gates open more so we can move the bodies!" One soldier shouted to the other. I watched, frozen to my spot as the guard opened the gate even wider while another tried to remove the corpses of friend and foe. All it got him was a place at the top of the pile. A large zombie, about my height, but weighing a good sixty pounds more than me, dragged him to the ground, biting and ripping as he went.
Once the gate was opened, I got a good look outside and what I saw turned my stomach. There were hundreds of dead, and they were all closer than I would have liked, especially with the gate stuck open like that. I made a split decision, one that made my palms sweat, but it didn't matter, because it was the right thing to do. I hightailed it for the gate, only to be brought up short by a huge hand around me bicep.
"Wait," a Russian accent said, loud enough to cut through all of the screaming. "It's a kill zone, Adrian. It's no good. There are too many."
When I turned, Dimitri, Rose, Christian and Lissa were there. Their fear was palpable and it drew me up short. Dimitri and Rose were two of the most badass zombie killers I knew. If they were scared, then there really was nothing to be done.
"They're getting in, we need to go," Rose shouted. "Now!"
"Not without Jill," Lissa and I said at the same time. Without another word, I turned back to quarantine. I pushed through the door and down the hall to the white room we were all familiar with. Jill's bed was pushed up against the wall and she was standing beside it, looking just as scared as I felt.
"What's happening?" she cried as soon as I opened the door. "The screaming, the gunshots... It's happening again, isn't it?"
Her voice trembled, but she squared her shoulders bravely. All I could do was wrap an arm around her and pull her toward the exit. "At least you don't have anything to worry about," I teased. "Miss Immunity." But not even a joke could stop the tears pooling in her eyes.
"We're going to be alright," said Lissa, once we were gathered at the door of the building. She was a natural leader and when she spoke, you couldn't help but listen. "We've been in this situation before. As long as we stick together we'll be fine."
Dimitri nodded. "Rose and I will go out first. This building should hold if we need to retreat, but we need to see if we can get away before it gets worse out there."
"And the truck?" Christian asked. "Think we can nab it?"
"Unless someone beat us to it," said Rose.
"Follow my lead," Dimitri ordered. "If I tell you to run, you run and don't look back." He turned worried eyes on Rose. "That goes for you too, Roza."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Comrade."
Everyone in this room knew her well enough to know that was the Rose equivalent of bite me, but Dimitri nodded, knowing Rose always did what needed to be done in the end. After a three count, he pushed the door open with little fanfare and motioned us after him.
The chaos that had broken out in the camp was even worse, even just a minute or two later. Children were screaming and parents were trying to herd them into the few vehicles the camp had set up for such an event. Men and women were practically clawing their way through the crowd to be the first in the trucks. The whole affair reminded me of that scene in Titanic were the women and children are supposed to get in the lifeboats first, but the men start jumping in anyway. It was a mess, and the crowd was only drawing zombies their way. I turned away as a few stragglers were dragged to the ground by the corpses.
Blood and death saturated the air, as well as frantic cries for help, but I could only concentrate on my group and getting to that damn humvee near the gate. No one had tried to take it yet because it was in the middle of the madness, but if we could make it through the zombies entering through the gates, we'd be in the clear.
Weapons weren't allowed in camp unless you were a soldier, so we didn't have any way to defend ourselves, but that didn't stop Dimitri from laying out the first zombie to get within five feet of him. Lucky for us, the dead always went for large groups, so our ragtag team of six weren't drawing nearly as much attention as the hundred or so people near the trucks. It was deeply unfortunate for the people who weren't able to make it in before the zombies got a piece of them.
"Zoe! Zoe!"
The voice struck me full force in the chest and nearly knocked the wind out of me. Sydney! How could I forget about her? I turned toward her cries and saw her running toward the massacre at the trucks.
"No! Sage!" I broke away from Jill and my friends in time to grab her before she got too close. Without hesitation she spun and punched me in the jaw. When she saw it was me her eyes widened, but she still looked poised to take me on if I tried to bite her. "We have to get out of here," I said, rubbing the sore spot on my chin. "Come with me."
"I have to find my sister," she argued, turning away, back toward the horde of zombies and soon-to-be zombies. I grabbed her again.
"If Zoe's over there she's probably already in one of the trucks. They're letting kids in first. But you'll be ripped apart if you try to make it that far. We have a truck too, but we need up go."
"I can't leave her!"
"You don't have a choice unless you want to die and I'm not going to let that happen!"
Her golden eyes locked on to mine for the span of a heartbeat, but it felt like a lifetime. She looked amazed that I wasn't leaving her. Either she didn't think much of me, or she didn't think much of anyone anymore. I didn't know this girl's story, but I was almost willing to bet it was the latter. Finally, when a zombie turned our way, I took her hand and dragged her after me. Thankfully, she didn't fight me this time. The group was just making it to the gate and Sydney and I had to dodge our way through more than one shambling corpse before we finally caught back up.
"There are too many!" Jill yelled, eyes wide. "We won't make it!"
She wasn't wrong. For as many zombies as were grouping around the crowded line of vehicles, there were just as many coming in through the gates. I'd never seen so many undead in my life. Dimitri called for us to get back to back, but it was no use.
"We go back to the quarantine building," he said, changing tactics. "We should be safe there. On my word you run, you understand?"
We all tried to let him know we did understand, even Sydney who I was afraid would take off again if I let go of her hand. But before Belikov could get his order out, the sounds of screeching tires and guns stole our attention. At first I thought it was the trucks in the line finally fighting their way through the huge crowd, but Sydney pointed toward the gate.
"There! There's a truck!"
I spun just in time to see a humvee identical to the one we were trying to get to block off the gate. A figure was hanging out of the top, firing at the zombies inside the gates. It only took a second to identify the sandy blonde head as an acquaintance I thought I'd never see again.
"Eddie!" Jill cried out. And Rose grinned so wide I thought her face would split. "What took you so long, Castile?"
"Get in the humvee!" Dimitri screamed, ignoring Eddie's miraculous reappearance and grabbing one of the fallen soldiers weapons now that he was close enough, to stem the flow of the undead. He grabbed a sleek black semi automatic that drilled holes in anything that limped towards us.
Christian helped Lissa and Jill into the back before hopping in himself. I quickly pushed Sydney in and Christian helped me slam the back door closed as Dimitri and Rose helped lay down cover fire. Rose had managed to snag herself a pistol, but was doing just as much damage as Dimitri's machine gun. After a few more shots and a string of expletives when Rose's gun ran out of ammo, the two hopped into the front seat and started the ignition.
I was glad to see a line of humvees pull up in front of us. They were waiting for Eddie to unblock the gate. The crowd that had been blocking them was now either headed for the protection of the buildings where everyone else had most likely already locked themselves, or they'd fallen to the zombies. I hoped one or two of the vehicles were full of kids. I couldn't think about the kids in my one time art class out there with those things.
Dimitri knocked the truck into reverse and we bumped over more than a few of the undead on our way out of camp, following Eddie away from the nearly unending horde. There were hundreds, even after the soldiers, and Eddie, had taken out dozens. I'd never seen so many, and most of them hadn't even made it to the camp yet.
Once we were bumping along over gravel and fallen corpses, I turned to Sydney. She was leaning against the metal wall beside me looking a little sick. She noticed my eyes on her. "I left my sister," she said softly. "I left her there."
"No, you saved yourself."
She turned on me with wild eyes. "She was in that crowd, Adrian. I saw her. My dad, too. I don't know where my mom is. I left my family!"
I put a hand on her knee. It was trembling up and down in her anxiety. "You need to calm down. Your parents and sister are in the trucks behind us, I'm sure. You didn't leave them, but you would have if you'd stayed there in camp with all those zombies. Your family is smart. They either got in the trucks or they got someplace else that was safe."
"Once we regroup we'll go back for the ones left behind," Belikov called from the drivers seat. "Everything will work out, Sydney. You should listen to Adrian."
I wasn't the biggest fan of the Russian, but I appreciated him seconding me. Sydney bit her lip like she wanted to argue, but leaned back against the side of the truck and relaxed a little. I hated knowing Sydney's family might have been left behind, but I was glad all of my friends were here together.
I was glad Sydney was here with me. The thought of her, left behind or worse, made me feel almost sick to my stomach. I wasn't sure why, but Sydney had become a friend and I felt protective of her. I let one hand drift between us, to the small of her back, and she leaned against me, her head on my shoulder.
"Did you see how fast that soldier turned?" she whispered to me. "The one in the back of the truck?"
"You were there?" I asked.
She told me she was, that she'd been going to check on Jill when it happened. "I saw Ortiz jump on Parker, and then everything went crazy. I ran to see if my dad was near the mess, but he wasn't there. He was probably in his office when it happened. Ortiz turned too fast."
"What you mean too fast?" Lissa asked from the other side of the truck. She was leaning against Christian much in the same way Sydney was leaning against me.
"The soldier said that Ortiz was bitten while on the supply run," I said, putting everything I'd overheard together. It was all clicking in place now that we were safe. "They came back when she was bitten. They couldn't have been more than forty five minutes away when it happened. That means Ortiz turned in—"
"Less than an hour," Sydney finished with me.
"But it usually takes at least three hours before the change begins," Jill said from beside us. "How could it be speeding up?"
"It's a virus," Sydney said matter-of-factly, though she looked concerned by this new revelation. "It can change, mutate, just like any other virus. But the people attacked in camp," she sat up and turned to me, her eyes wide. "If they're infected with the mutated virus they'll turn before the survivors can destroy the bodies."
She was right. It would be a massacre on top of a massacre.
I shouted to Dimitri and Rose, "We have to go back and warn them."
"I know," Dimitri said, not taking his eyes off of the dirt road ahead of us. "But we have to wait until it's safe. Likely, the victims will turn before the area is fully cleared anyway. Sydney, your dad has systems in place for a situation like this. Anyone still alive will remain that way until we can go back."
"The security at the gate didn't seem all that competent," I muttered. But, damn him, he wasn't wrong. There wasn't much we could do without a lot of guns and a lot more people. Once we found a safe place and discussed it with the other people on the other trucks we could come up with a real plan.
"I don't know what happened. It's like once that soldier jumped out of the truck everything went nuts," Christian said, taking Lissa's hand a squeezing it.
"People get scared and make foolish mistakes," she said softly. "I feel so bad for them."
"It's a good thing Eddie showed up," Jill said, a smile Turing up the corner of her lips. "Where could he have been for so long? But it doesn't matter. He showed up exactly when we needed him. Maybe he knows why there were so many zombies..."
"They were my family," Sydney said quietly beside me as Jill ranted. "I've been there with those people for so long. I can picture all of their faces."
I put an arm around her shoulders, gently running my fingers up and down her arm. "We'll go back as soon as we have a plan. We'll help whoever we can."
She lowered her head back to my shoulder and closed her eyes. She was still shaking a little from the adrenaline rush and the truck was bouncing on the unpaved road, but I pulled her closer, trying to make her as comfortable a possible. I wasn't usually the guy people turned to in situations like this. Well, actually, I was never the guy people turned to. Except for Jill, but that was a one time thing and I was really just in the right place at the right time, which was why I was able to save her from being zombie bait for her boyfriend Lee. But Sydney was different. She needed someone to be there emotionally and she was letting me be that person.
"Thank you," she whispered into the collar of my shirt.
I pulled her closer and stared at the ceiling as we drove. I wasn't sure what would happen next. Dimitri would drive us to the first safe, zombie free area he could find, and then we'd powwow with the others. We'd go back to a decimated camp. We might even have to move on now that there were so many zombies in the area. One thing I did know, was that Sydney's warm cheek on my shoulder felt right. When we'd been in bed together, just last night, it had felt right. I wanted to hold on to that feeling.
Whatever came next, I wanted to be by her side for it.