“Remy, what are we gonna do?” Harlow asked, almost whimpering.
“We keep fighting. ”
Using the bloody leg like a baseball bat, I swung at a zombie coming towards me. I hit him hard enough that his neck snapped, but I knew I wouldn’t be as lucky next time. When another one charged at me, I hit at him, and he swerved, diving at me.
He knocked me backwards onto the ground, his poisonous saliva dripping onto my face. Right before his teeth sunk into my neck, I pulled my legs up and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him flying off me.
I jumped to my feet and stomped on his chest, but he grabbed my leg, pulling it out from under me, so I fell flat on my back. I tried to get up, but he was on me again, so I slammed my zombie leg weapon into his ribs, trying to get him to back off. It worked, and I was up while I had the chance.
Lazlo screamed, and I stopped. Just for a second, part of me froze, but that was all it took. I felt teeth sinking into my hip, in the soft part of my skin just above my jeans. Searing pain went through me, but for a moment, the world felt completely slow motion.
I looked down, and in the darkness, I could see the zombie clamping onto my side. When I got it off, if I got if off, it would take a chunk out of my flesh, but that didn’t even matter. All I could think about was that this was really it.
All the fighting I had been doing. Everything I had sacrificed. It all ended here, like this, with one weak moment and a zombie latched onto me.
After a bout of self-pity, I was filled with rage. This stupid fucking leech biting me had destroyed everything I had worked for, for myself and my brother. I grabbed onto the back of its head, tangling my fingers deep in its ratty hair. I yanked back as hard as I could, knowing that would make the zombie take even more of my flesh with it.
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It hurt like hell, but I was too pissed to care. Pulling it by the hair, I got the zombie back down on the ground. I put my foot on its chest to weight it, and then I kept pulling on the hair. It made that awful rattling sound, which would only attract more of its friends.
But I didn’t care. If I was going to die today, I would take as many of them with me as I could.
With one final, strong tug, I ripped off the zombie’s head. There was a satisfaction in that, until I realized I was holding a head in my hand, and I dropped it on the ground. It made a splat and bounced, with dirt already sticking to the bloody stump of a neck. I stood up and took a step back, staring at the scene in front of me.
“Remy, they’re still coming!” Harlow shouted, snapping me out of it.
For the first time in a long time, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I should fight or if I should tell her to run. We were in the dark in the middle of nowhere, and I hadn’t heard a gun in a while, so Blue and Lazlo might be dead.
Harlow might be the only one really alive here, and I had no idea how to keep her that way.
Light flooded everything, blinding me, and I held up my arm to shade my eyes. Bright white headlights appeared out of nowhere, and they bounced towards us in a hurry. A static voice bellowed something over a loudspeaker I couldn’t understand, and guns started firing, rapidly and loudly.
Instinctively, I rushed towards Harlow and shielded her with my body. The light made it impossible for me to see anything, but I could hear the zombies roaring maniacally. The shooting stopped, and when I looked up, two soldiers were running over to us.
“Come on! Get in the truck!” A soldier barked and waved us toward the headlights. “We can’t hold them off much longer!”
Soldiers decked out in full camouflage uniform with helmets and weapons were here, rescuing us. Harlow ran right away, letting one of the soldiers lead her to the truck, but I just blinked at him.
“Are you from the quarantine?” I asked numbly.
“Yes, now get in the truck!” he shouted at me. When I didn’t move, he grabbed my arm and started dragging me.
“Is that a lion?” another soldier asked as we reached the truck.
“Leave her alone!” I yelled, suddenly afraid that they might hurt her. “She kills zombies!” The soldier pulling me looked at me funny, then yanked me along
At the back of the truck, I stopped and wouldn’t go any further. It was one of those army trucks with the flatbed in back with a green canvas top. The soldier trying to rescue me couldn’t be much older than I was, and he looked more confused than irritated by my display. The name sown in his shirt read Pvt. Tatum.
“Is my brother there? A little boy?” I had to speak loudly to be heard over the engine of the truck and the sound of gunfire. A few other soldiers were on the ground, shooting at the never ending supply of zombies. “At the quarantine. I have to find him. ”
“You’ll have to get on the truck to find out!” Tatum yelled and motioned to the truck.
“Remy! Just get on the damn truck!” Lazlo shouted, startling me. I was even more surprised by how happy I was to hear his voice and know he’d made it.
Much to Tatum’s relief, I climbed onto the truck. Bench seats ran along both sides, and three soldiers were sitting on one side, along with a cache of weapons on the floor. Blue, Lazlo, and Harlow sat along the other bench, wrapped in blankets, the heavy duty kind they used for moving. As soon as I got in, a soldier put one on me and pushed me down so I’d sit next to Harlow.
Tatum yelled something to the other men on the ground, and he jumped in the truck. Within seconds, everyone had loaded inside, and we drove away. I pulled the blanket more tightly around me, thankful for the thickness that would hide the blood sleeping through.
I was covered in zombie blood, which wasn’t surprising, but I was covered in my own blood too. I didn’t want anyone to know that I’d been bitten, that I had to be infected.
“I’m looking for my brother,” I repeated, talking to Tatum. He sat across the aisle from me, and he seemed to have some authority. “My name is Remy King, and his name is Max King. He’s probably in the medical ward. I have to see him. ”
“I don’t know anything about it. ” Tatum kept his steel blue eyes fixed on some point behind me. “We’re almost to the quarantine. That’s why the zombies are so bad. ”
“What do you mean?” Blue asked, leaning forward so he could hear.
“The zombies are attracted to people. ” Tatum turned to Blue when he spoke. “The larger the group of people, the stronger the attraction. Zombies have been congregating around here so bad we’ve given up trying to kill them all. We just keep them locked out. ”
“Is that safe?” Harlow asked nervously. “The quarantine won’t get broken in?”
“No, this place is secure,” Tatum assured her with a brash smile.
“I need to see my brother,” I interrupted their conversation. Tatum’s smile disappeared, and he wouldn’t even answer me this time. “I need to see him! Is he there? If he’s not there, then you need to tell me now!”
“Remy!” Lazlo said, looking over at me. “Calm down! We’re okay, and we’re almost there! You’ll have plenty of time to find out. ”
Swallowing hard, I looked down at the floor and didn’t say anything. I didn’t have time anymore. If Max was here, I had to see him while I was still coherent, so I could at least say goodbye to him.
If he wasn’t here, then I didn’t even want go in with them. I didn’t want to risk infecting anyone if I didn’t have to. But if there was any chance of seeing my brother, I had to take it.
The truck stopped, and a soldier explained that we were stopping at the main gate to the quarantine. A man came around the back of the truck, shining a flashlight inside and asked what they’d found. Tatum reported four injured civilians in a zombie pit. The man with the flashlight waved us on, and the truck moved again.
We stopped almost immediately, and I saw the gate from the back of the truck. It was giant and metal, at least twenty feet tall, if not more. Brick walls ran along on either side of it, and when Tatum usher
ed us off the truck, I realized that we had only gone in the first set of doors. An identical gate stood on the other side, still closed.
“What’s going on?” I asked nervously. Tatum, rather smartly sensing my opposition, grabbed my arm and led me along. “Where are you taking us?”
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“Remy,” Harlow whimpered, responding to my anxiety.
About as big as two or three city blocks, the brick alcove had small metal shacks all over it. Tatum dragged me towards one, while other soldiers led Harlow, Lazlo, and Blue to separate ones. Once they realized where they were going, Lazlo and Harlow began fighting them. I understood what was happening, and under ordinary circumstances, I would’ve calmed them, but I couldn’t now.
“No, stop. ” I tried prying my arm out of Tatum’s iron grip, but he wouldn’t let go. “No, please. You don’t understand. I have to see my brother. ”
“It’s just standard procedure,” Tatum said flatly. He opened the door to one of the shacks, and he had to physically lift me up by my arm and toss me inside.
“No! Wait!” I scrambled to my feet and charged for the door, narrowly getting my leg in before he slammed it shut. I’d have a nasty bruise for days after, but it’d be worth it. “No! I have to see Max!”
“Calm down!” Tatum was bewildered by the insistency in my reaction. “It’s just a clean hut! We leave you in here for three days to make sure you dont have the virus, and then you’re free to go find your brother or do whatever the hell it is you want to do!”
“No, please! Just let me see Max first!” I begged, but he pushed my leg in. As hard as I tried, he slammed the door shut. I beat my open palms on it, shouting at him. “Please! I have to see Max! Please! Just let me see him, and then you can do whatever you want with me!”
He didn’t answer, not that I blamed him. I’m sure he walked away from me as soon as he had the chance. I rested my head against the cold, heavy metal of the door and breathed in deeply. A frustrated tear slid down my cheek, and I wiped it away.
I turned back to look at the room. It smelled of bleach and disinfectant, signs of cleaning up after other contaminated individuals, I’m sure. A solitary light bulb hung from the ceiling, so at least they had electricity.
The room couldn’t be larger than a six-by-eight cell. No windows. No toilet, just a bucket in the corner for excrement. A cot sat pressed up against the wall. The only other things in here were me, the blanket, and the clothes on my back.
I went over and sat on the cot, wrapping the blanket tighter around me. I had never felt more defeated in my life, and it was hard fighting back tears. I had come so, so close to seeing Max, and I had lost it at the last minute. I lay on my side, pulling my knees up to my chest.
At least I wouldn’t have to be a zombie for long. Tatum, I’m sure, wouldn’t hesitate to kill me as soon as I showed definite symptoms. This quarantine appeared to be much more secure than the last one. The brick walls would be harder to penetrate, and the soldiers seemed more plentiful and prepared.
The “clean huts” were a genius idea. It was the same thing they’d done with Ol’ Yeller to keep him from killing something innocent without risking death or infection to everybody else. It hadn’t worked out so well for Ol’ Yeller, and it wouldn’t for me either, but it showed some good palnning.
It would be a nice, safe place for Lazlo, Harlow, Blue, and my brother.
I shouldn’t have gotten so involved with other people, because I knew they would only slow me down. But I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t just leave them behind, and I couldn’t not care because it would be easier that way. Max would understand that.
I curled up on the cot and waited to die.
– 16 –
When you know you have less than three days to live, sleep becomes impossible, even when there’s nothing else to do at all. Sometimes, I’d hear Lazlo singing or Harlow crying, but they sounded too far away to really talk to.
An armed guard brought me a meal three times a day, consisting of bread, raw vegetables, and water. I ate mostly because I was bored. My appetite had already died.
What sleep I did mange was filled with horrendous nightmares. Vivid dreams of me turning into a monster and killing all the people I cared about. Even people who were already dead, like Vega, Lia, and Beck, and my parents. I tore them apart, and I woke up screaming.
“Remy!” Lazlo shouted, his voice muffled through the walls. “Remy!”
“I’m okay!” I yelled back, even though it hurt. My throat had gone raw from screaming. My cheeks were wet with tears, and I wiped at them with the back of my hand and struggled to sit up in bed. “I’m alright!”
“What happened?” Even the distance couldn’t mask the panic in Lazlo’s words.
“Nothing! Bad dream!” I wanted to lie, but there was nothing else for me to scream about.
Except for turning into a zombie, which I’m sure he thought was happening. So did I, but I didn’t seem to have any symptoms yet. I felt like hell, but I was covered in untreated wounds, including a giant bite.
My clothes were filthy and covered in dried blood. I hadn’t bothered to try to clean them off or tend my injuries because I kept expecting to die any minute.
I lifted up my shirt to investigate the worst of it. The edges of the bite were red and swollen. The wound itself had partially scabbed over, but it kept breaking open and oozing blood and pus. My blood still looked like blood. It hadn’t taken on that greenish hue yet.
I had a thin cut across my stomach from when I had sliced it on a piece of glass in the car, but I only worried about it because I’d been splattered with zombie viscera. Broken glass had also scratched up my knees and legs, but they were too small to even care.
I had bruises all over, and my entire body was sore from the car rolling and the fighting. It was only natural that I felt like hell. I analyzed every pain and groan, wondering if that was a symptom. They might be normal aches and pains associated with everything I’d gone through, or they might be the virus killing my body.
A heavy knock came at the door, followed by Tatum commanding me to get back. I’m not sure if that was standard whenever they opened the door, or if that was just for my benefit since I had put up such a fight about going in here.
Although, in my defense, I hadn’t fought at all since then. I hadn’t even asked about Max. I’d been trying to except my fate.
“Supper time. ” Tatum opened the door, and the metal tray clanged when he shoved it in.
“It’s supper?” I squinted at the sky through the small opening in the door. Time had no meaning inside a metal box.
“Yeah. ” Instead of slamming the door like he normally did, Tatum hesitated. “It’s almost done. The 72-hour-hold ends at 2200 hours, but to be on the safe side, you’re staying in until after breakfast. That’s only one more meal, and you’re free. ”
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“You mean…” I trailed off, confused. “Already?”
“That is the first time anyone has ever said that to me about the clean huts. ” Tatum looked genuinely shocked, but then he shrugged, deciding that nothing made sense when it came to me. “I’ll be back for your tray in an hour. ”
With that, he shut the door, leaving me with my thoughts. It felt like I’d been inside the clean hut forever, but it’d been three days. And I didn’t have any symptoms. They were giving me a clean bill of health. They didn’t think I was infected.
I leaned back against the cold wall and let that sink in.
They didn’t think I was infected.
Should I tell them about the bite? Maybe I needed more time. Maybe symptoms would show up later, and by then, it would be too late. I might end up hurting somebody, maybe somebody I really cared about. I needed to warn them before they let me out.
Or maybe I was like Max. Maybe I was immune to the virus too. Maybe our parents had been too, if the zombies hadn’t torn them apart.
Even if I was immune, should I tell anyone? Did the doctors and scientists need to know? More importantly, did I want them to know?
Max had been locked up for months. They kept him safe, but being locked up still didn’t set well with me. Before, Beck had been able to look out for Max and made sure they treated him right.
Now I’d have to do that, and I couldn’t if they kept me hostage too. I needed to be on the outside, not trapped in the same thing. Assuming I didn’t turn into a zombie first.
The night drug on painfully slow. I wished for a window so I’d have some way to tell time. I got up and paced the room, and my legs did not appreciate it. I had barely moved in days, and my joints had grown stiff. That worried me at first, since stiffness and paralysis were symptoms of the virus, but it quickly went away once I loosened my legs up.
When Tatum knocked on the door in the morning, he didn’t tell me to get back this time. He just opened it all the way, and bright light pierced the darkness of the hut. The chill from the air swept past him, reminding me that I needed to tighten the blanket around myself. I needed to keep the bite mark covered.
“Good morning,” Tatum grinned and stood back so I could walk out.
“I’m free?” I asked, still feeling uncertain.
“There’s one more thing you have to do first,” Tatum said.
Tentatively, I stepped out and squinted in the light. The other clean huts glinted in the sun. I looked around for Lazlo, Blue, or Harlow, but I didn’t see them. Other than a few older soldiers, I didn’t see anyone.
“Where’s Harlow? And Lazlo?” I asked.
“Already on their way through. You’re the last one. ” He walked forward and motioned for me to follow. “Come on. ”
“Where?”
“You have to get cleaned up,” Tatum stopped at a concrete building next to the gates. It reminded me of a rest stop on the side of the highway, except smaller and not as fancy. “Go inside and shower. Make sure you get everything off you. Put your dirty clothes in the bag provided they can be incinerated, along with that blanket. ”
“What will I wear? I don’t have any other clothes. ”
“There’s some in there. ” He gestured at the door. “Go ahead. When you’re done, just go out the other door. I’ll see you on the other side. ”
Inside building, it reminded me of a rest stop. Two free standing toilets and a sink were next to the entrance. Three showers had cement dividers that worked as stalls, but there were no doors to them. On the other side of the shower was another door, presumably leading inside the quarantine.
The door to the building didn’t lock, which I didn’t like, but I had to work with it. I took off my clothes and put them in a paper sack on the ground. For good measure, I put my hair tie in with it.
On the floor next to the bag, someone had placed a folded white towel with gray sweats, a white tee shirt, a sports bra, panties, and a pair of flip flops on top of it.