Contagious (9 page)

It was agonizing to unhook my bra. It hurt so bad to reach behind that I considered not putting another one on in its place. The only front clasping bra I owned was my go to ‘going out’ bra, since it was everything the modest pink bra wasn’t; it was deep purple, lacey and a ridiculous push up. Might as well look good if I die, right? It hurt like hell to pull the cream colored camisole over my head and even worse to reach my left arm back to put it in the sleeve of a red, plaid shirt. I buttoned it halfway. My jewelry box contained mostly cheap, costume jewelry, good for the bar scene but nowhere classier.

I owned one real silver pendant. When the price of silver skyrocketed two years ago, I sold every piece of it I had to pay for school, except this. I draped the thin chain around my neck, biting my lip at the pain it caused my injured back and buckled the clasp. I turned it around so the little silver leaf rested under my collar bone. Once belonging to my grandmother, this necklace brought back memories. Memories were nice and all, but did nothing for survival. I dropped the lid on my jewelry box and went to join the others.

“
Here,” Padraic said, extending his hand. “This will help.”

“
Why are you always so eager to drug me?” I asked, taking the pills anyway.

“
You said that before. But I didn’t drug you.”

“
Yes you did. Before everything happened. You gave me pills and everything went fuzzy.”

Padraic shook his head. “I gave you Tylenol.”

“
It had to be stronger than that.”

“
No. You passed out from the gas.”

“
Gas?” I sat cross legged on the floor, once again sorting through our meager stash of supplies.

“
They came through, the police or soldiers maybe. They were in all black…I couldn’t tell.” He shook his head. “Crowd control,” he suggested with a frown.

“
Oh.” I thought back. Screams followed by gun shots. And then the smoke alarms going off. Obviously, the hospital hadn’t burned down. “Why would they gas the place?”

“
I don’t know,” he said absently.

Jason and Sonja sat next to me. “What’s the plan?” Jason asked.

“
We leave,” I said shortly. “As soon as the sun is up.”

“
And then what?” Sonja inquired.

“
We hope to find others and a place to stay and wait this out.” Even if that were possible, I mused, what would it be like? Would we have anything to live for? Half the world was dead.

It was twelve thirty-three. The battery powered alarm clock told me so when I pressed the button to illuminate the screen. I sat at the table next to Padraic while the others slept. A circle of candles offered the only light, reminding me of a cheesy séance scene in a low budget horror film. I watched the flames bob up and down, hypnotized.

“
So,” Padraic’s voice broke the laconism. “What’s your story?”

“
My story?”

“
Yes. You’ve been strangled and stabbed before. Why?”

I crossed my arms. “What does it matter to you?”

“
I’m curious.”

My story was colorful and long. It wasn’t something I eagerly devolved into. Ever. “I’ve made some bad choices.”

“
I think we all can say that,” he chuckled.

“
What about you? What’s your story?”

I watched him lean back in the uncomfortable chair. “I was born and raised in Dublin, came here for med school, liked it, and decided to stay.” He laughed. “There’s not much to my story. I had a normal childhood, studied more than partied in college and became a social recluse during my residency. I don’t have much free time but when I do I like to read. The most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life is go scuba diving.”

“
Oh,” I said, imagining some grand, stone house in the Irish countryside. “I’ve been to the Hill of Tara, well, what’s left of it.”

“
Really?”

“
When I was sixteen. It was very…green.” And enchanting and enthralling and magical. Padraic didn’t need to know that. “But I liked it.”

“
I’ve only been there once, and I was young. I was convinced I’d find a leprechaun,” he admitted. “Why did you go there?”

“
My stepdad, Ted, likes to travel.”

“
Where else have you been?”

“
All over, but mostly third world countries.”

“
Why is that?”

“
Ted runs mission groups.”

“
Wow, that’s a very compassionate thing to do.”

“
I guess, if you can say leaving your own country that’s full of poor, starving children to go help people thousands of miles away is compassionate.”

Padraic must have seen the resentment in my eyes because he promptly changed the subject. “So you’re not going to tell me why you got stabbed before?”

I pulled on my braid, hesitant to tell Padraic about my shady past when his own teen years were probably spent eating perfect potatoes with his perfect family in his perfect house. “I got mixed up with some bad people who did bad things. I was majorly in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Truth was, I didn’t just get ‘mixed up’ with a drug runner. I purposely sought him out, hoping to piss Ted off. He and my mother had planned a mission to China that year and would be gone not only for my birthday but Christmas as well. I had hoped they’d be so upset they’d stay home and try to discipline me. I got to spend Christmas with my mom alright; she sat next to my hospital bed while I suffered a knife wound to the gut. It knocked me out of my ‘befriend the druggies’ scene at least.

“
Care to elaborate?” he pushed.

“
Undercover drug bust gone south.”

“
Sounds intense.”

I shrugged, accidentally lifting my left shoulder. I winced and swore. I could see Padraic frown, with the yellow light dancing over his attractive face. I stood, needing to stretch my muscles, and paced around the living room.

“
You should rest your shoulder and back,” he told me, getting up as well. “To give it time to heal.”

“
I don’t think I have the time,” I sighed but sat on the couch. Padraic sunk down next to me. The candles on the table didn’t offer much light over here.

“
Were you undercover?” he persisted on knowing my story.

“
Nope.”

“
Oh,” he scoffed.

“
The funny thing is, I never used.”

“
Then why were you there?”

“
It’s complicated,” I mumbled. I didn’t want to admit to my selfishness. Years later, I regretted my wasted childhood.

“
We have time.”

I sighed. I hadn’t taken a trip down this bad memory lane in years. And I wasn’t about to go tonight. “Why are you a doctor?”

“
I wanted to help people. I grew up seeing my dad heal and cure. I thought he was performing miracles. One day he brought me to a lab and showed me cells and bacteria and viruses under a microscope. He said it wasn’t miracles that saved lives, it was science. I was hooked.”

I wanted to say something about science and the current virus but kept my mouth shut. “I wanted to be an actress or a signer,” I informed him.

“
You’re pretty enough.”

“
Yea, thanks. But Hollywood has no money anymore.”

“
Or audience, now.” He laughed, and eventually, I did too. “So did you just come here from California then?”

“
No.” I came here from jail, another thing Padraic didn’t need to know. “I dropped out of school last year and got a job waiting tables. That didn’t work out so I moved in with my aunt.”

“
What were you going to school for?”

“
Business, then theatre, then communications, then psychology. I couldn’t make up my mind.” I yawned.

“
Tired?”

“
Yes,” I said, seeing no point in lying. “But I can’t sleep. My brain won’t shut off.”

“
You can’t stay awake forever,” he said very doctorly. He got up and rooted around in our medical bag. “Take two of these. It will help you relax. I’ll keep watch.”

The offer was tempting. “What if something happens and I’m too groggy to fight?”

“
You shouldn’t fight with that cut on your back. If you were my patient, I’d restrict your activity.”

“
Good thing I’m not your patient.” I hungrily eyed the large pain pills. I took them from Padraic’s hand, about to pop them into my mouth when something scratched at the door. I jumped, the pills bouncing away on the cold tile.

Padraic didn’t move. I sprung up, snatched my gun and looked out the peep hole, though I knew perfectly well I couldn’t see in the dark. Then I heard him whine.

“
Argos,” I whispered and moved the chair out of the way. The Doberman bolted inside as soon as the door opened. In his excitement, he jumped on me, pushing me back into the door. The pressure on my cut radiated throughout my body. I needed those pills.

“
You know this dog?” Padraic asked, kneeling down. Argos ran over to greet him.

“
Kinda. He was upstairs. I let him out and he ran away.”

“
He seems friendly.”

“
He isn’t to the infected,” I said in a way that conveyed what I had seen.

“
What should we do with him?”

“
I don’t know.” I put the chair back and took a bowl from the cabinet. Filling it with water from the bathtub, I set it on the floor for Argos to eagerly lap up. I gave him some of Finickus’ food. I didn’t want to leave the dog just as much as I didn’t want to take care of an animal while running for our lives. “I think he can fend for himself.”

“
I’m sure he can,” Padraic agreed.

I sat on the couch, pulling a crocheted blanket over me. With his mouth still dripping with water, Argos leapt up next to me, curling in a ball, resting his head on my lap. “He can see in the dark,” I quietly added. “We can’t.”

“
He’d be a good watch dog,” Padraic suggested. I thought about it, weighing the options. Padraic again urged me to sleep. With Argo’s hearing and sight better than and humans’, I felt as safe as I could and eventually drifted to sleep.

The sun had risen, fully risen. Cursing, I stood. Argos had moved to the floor, sprawled out in the middle of the living room. He woke when I got up, standing and stretching before greeting me. Padraic was asleep, looking comfortable with his feet propped up in the recliner.

“
Nice,” I huffed. “Glad we were so well protected.”

“
I took over,” Jason said. I whirled around, causing pain to flicker at the site of my torn skin. It wasn’t as bad as before.

“
Oh. Thanks.” I was annoyed for sleeping so late, though even I had to admit it felt good. I woke everyone up, made them eat a lousy breakfast and dress in warm clothes. Nerves tingled throughout me at the thought of leaving. For a little over a month, this had been home. It was warm and welcoming just as much as it was run down and crappy. We couldn’t stay here forever. We’d run out of food and water. Plus, the bathroom would really start to stink.

“
So we’re just going to get in the cars and drive?” Hilary asked.

“
Yeah. I found a map,” I told her, patting my purse. I put the most important things in there: a water bottle, a bag of mixed nuts, the gun and bullets, a flashlight and a knife. I had a feeling like I was forgetting something. I looked reassuringly at the three large duffle bags full of more food, clothes, medical stuff, and miscellaneous things I thought we could use. What was in my purse was my ‘emergency get away’ supplies.

I stiffly slipped my arms into a brown, leather bomber jacket. I had two sets of keys and needed to find what cars they belonged to. Of course, the easiest thing to do would be to hit the panic button. It would lead me, and the zombies, right to the car.

Zoe ungracefully walked from the bedroom wearing a pair of my pajama pants. The hems caught under her slippers and she tripped, dropping Finickus, her stuffed cat, and a plastic bag of cat food. Argos took off, chasing the fat cat around the apartment.

“
Argos, no!” I yelled, wondering if the dog would even bother listening to me. Somewhat surprisingly, he did. Since this complex didn’t allow big dogs (and especially wouldn’t allow ‘aggressive’ breeds) I figured his owners made sure he was well trained as to not piss off the wrong person. Lisa helped Zoe up, scooping up the spilled cat food while Zoe picked Finickus back up, soothing him like a baby. I hadn’t planned on taking Finickus. He had no value to us, wouldn’t help us survive. How could I tell that to Zoe?

I rooted through one of the bags until I retrieved a pair of scissors. Careful not to clip her skin, I cut several inches off the hem of the pants. She needed to be able to run if she had to. I wanted to wrap Zoe in a blanket and tuck her in the backseat of the SUV. I was banking on Jason or Padraic carrying her, which wouldn’t work with that stupid cat in her arms. As if he could read my mind, Finickus looked at me and meowed.

I had nothing against that cat. His white fur on every piece of clothing I owned pissed me off, but he was friendly and had kept me company while I was recovering. Still, I couldn’t justify having another mouth to feed. He’s just one cat, and he’ll probably run away the first chance he gets.

“
Ok,” I said, getting everyone’s attention. “I’ll make sure the coast is clear. Jason, Padraic, and Hilary, take the bags. Sonja, keep track of Zoe and Lisa.” I ran my finger up and down the barrel of the gun. “I’m gonna check the apartment closest to the doors. If it’s safe, hide in there until I figure out which car these keys go to.”