E Virus: The Diary of a Modern Day Girl (Book 2): The Path of Destruction (18 page)

"It's ok, we'll go look for him." He said as he left us to continue our girl talk.

We didn't think anymore of it. We poured out another glass of wine; Sarah was perfectly content with her can of coke. She turned her nose up to all alcohol. It was rather refreshing to see. When I was her age, that's all I wanted to do. Go out with my friends and get drunk. 

Around 20 minutes later, George came in, a solemn look across his face.

"There's been an incident." he announced.

"What do you mean?" Lacey asked, instantly changing her tone.

"It's young Nathan." George replied.

"What's happened?"
Sarah asked, her voice shook slightly.

"He's passed away." George told her gravely.

"What? No, he hasn't" Sarah replied. Her hands were shaking as she pushed her drink away.

"George, what's going on?" I asked him firmly.

"We found him in the Garage. He must have wandered in to take a look around." George told us.

"What I can only presume was the homeowner was inside, in his infected state. I do not know how it happened, but by the time we got there, Nathan was already dead. The infected man had already consumed all of his vital organs." George finished.

"I'm going to find the others." I told Lacey. "You stay here with Sarah." I told her. Lacey nodded, and I set off with George to the scene of the crime.

When I got to the garage door, it was already starting to look like a crime scene. The Professor stood over the two bodies, as Leon and Ryan helped to cover them.

A large blacked out Range Rover sat in the middle of the garage. Next to the Range Rover, sat a Silver Mercedes SLR. The two bodies lay in the middle of both cars. Blood splattered the side of the silver SLR.

"The infected must have been inside the black 4x4" George explained.

"Leon battled with the infected man and was able to dispatch him by banging his head against the floor. He was unarmed." George recalled the events in a police officer fashion.

"What about Nathan? Is he going to get up again?" I asked.

"No, we made sure the brain was destroyed." George reported back.

It was a lot to take in. I went into the living area, where moments before, the boys were laughing together whilst playing
Fifa. The game still came up on the screen, although it had already been paused.

Nick and Paul sat on the sofa, comforting Jared. The poor boy was in tears.

I couldn't get my head around it all. That could have been anyone. Personally, I wished it had been Duckface. Again, another innocent life is taken away, yet she continues to live. None of this was fair. Nathan was so young, and I had barely got to know him, he hadn't been around long enough. His friends were in pieces. It all happened so suddenly.

"You ok?" Nick asked.

I glared back at him. I still hadn't forgiven him. Without saying a word, I walked back into the kitchen.

I went to console Sarah, she needed me now. She was sat on a bar stool her head in her hands.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. She simply shook her head. Tears flowed onto the kitchen counter as Lacey handed her more tissue.

"I'm really sorry
hun." I said. I didn't know what else to say. 

Nick stormed into the kitchen, turning our attention.

"What's the matter with you now?" He demanded.

"Excuse me?" I said hotly.

"Why won't you speak to me?" Nick asked.

I rolled my eyes as I glared at him. "Why do you think?" I replied.

"I don't know!" Nick was getting frustrated.

"Well, how about because you tried to take her side over mine?" I shouted referring to Duckface.

"I didn't mean to." Nick started.

"Well, you did. Thanks for the support." I said sarcastically.

"Paul, mate. You understand don't you?" Nick asked as Paul had slipped into the room.

Paul held his hands up. "I'm not getting involved. But, in my opinion, she did nothing wrong." He said referring to me.

"If you want to take her side. Fine. Fuck off and join her and Andy." I yelled.

"But
.." Nick knew he was in the wrong, but I wasn't going to let him off this easily.

"I'm not having this conversation with you anymore. There are more important people who need me right now." I ended the conversation.

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I get that, I do. But for Nick to defend her like that, he knew how much I hated her, I had never hated anyone as much as her. She had a face that you just wanted to punch. Just the thought of her made the anger well up inside of me. Her presence could change my mood in an instant.

Even before the infection, I saw through her. I saw her for what she was. She was nothing but a selfish, back-stabbing, lying little worm with a serious "I am God" bad attitude.

She was completely false; she acted as if butter wouldn't melt. She made out she was the nicest person in the world, and that she could do no wrong. We all knew the truth, and we knew this was far from. She lied through her teeth as to why Andy left her, so that she could play the victim, and so she would be cast in the best light.

After all we had been through, even if she did miraculously decide to pull her head from her arse, it was too late. The damage had been done; there was no going back. She had spent far too long wrapped up in herself, spending her time gazing at herself in the mirror. I don't think she ever loved Andy in the first place. She married him purely so she would look good. She wanted people to be jealous of her, and of her lifestyle. The reality was
, everyone thought it laughable. She didn’t know how to love anyone bar herself.

He knew all this, or so I thought. Now, he had the audacity to defend her. As much as he is entitled to his opinion, it just wasn't sitting well with me at all.

What hurt me the most, was that  even Andy hadn't defended her, yet Nick felt the need to. He hadn't asked if Sarah was ok, or even me for that matter. It was just insulting, I thought he knew better.

I left him to his own devices. At least the others understood my reasons behind my earlier outburst. I stayed with Sarah and
Lacey, Sarah had just lost one of her best friends. She needed me, and I suppose in a way, I needed her too.

Ryan stepped into the kitchen with a solemn look across his face.

"We will bury them tomorrow. We have a large garden, and we have found a few shovels." Ryan announced.

He walked over to Sarah and put a hand on her shoulder. "We will all say a few words, and Nathan will have a dignified
sendoff." He told her.

She nodded as she smiled weakly at Ryan.

We settled down for the night. Lacey, Sarah and I shared a room. After today's events, it seemed we could all use a bit of girl time.

The room we had chosen was one of the biggest. The room was decorated in a deep mahogany brown. The cream bedding and carpet added light to the room. It had its own glass fireplace and even its own seating area. A large TV stood at the end of the room; the door next to it led into the large
ensuite.

The three of us were all wearing oversized T-Shirts, all which we had found in the master bedroom.

We all huddled together on the bed as we watched re-runs of Friends. We had found the full box set downstairs, so had claimed it for the night.

Sarah was the first up the next morning. It seemed she had trouble sleeping. It was 7am when I checked the clock on the mahogany bedside table.

Lacey was also starting to stir. I sat up on the bed and looked over to the brown sofa. Sarah had put the DVD back on and was sat in the middle; her legs pulled up to her chest.

"Are you ok sweetie?" I asked her.

Sarah looked up at me and nodded. She looked so fragile and small. The hand mark which Duckface had imprinted on her pale skin was still visible. 

I started to think I had been too lenient with her. I should have drop kicked her where she stood. Fuck Nick, and what he thought of it.

"Why don't we go downstairs and get some breakfast?" I asked her.

My head was starting to pound. I had overdone it on the wine the night before. Lacey sat up, as she clutched her head. I could tell she was feeling it the same as me.

"Ok" Sarah murmured. She had been through the wars the poor girl. Death hits us in different ways. I know I'm the type of person to just get on with it. I don't always show my emotions. I have a way of bottling things up and pushing them to one side. Although, when someone crosses the line, and the line varies depending on the day, I snap.

Sarah seemed to be handling Nathan's death a little more traditionally. She was grieving. She had her ups and downs. When she put her concentration into something else, she nearly forgot about it. When she was on her own, and had time to think, she got upset. There is nothing wrong with grieving at all. The problem was, with the infected a great threat, we couldn't take our eye off the game, not even for a second.

Lacey crawled her way into the shower, as Sarah and I made our way downstairs.

It seemed we weren't the only ones up early. The rest of the group were already downstairs busying themselves with various tasks.

I looked out into the garden area. Ryan, Jared and Leon were outside, digging two holes in the garden. A harsh reminder of last nights events.

Chapter 20 - Funeral Arrangements

Nick looked up as he saw me enter the room. He got up and made his way over to me.

"I'm sorry." He blurted out.

"For what?"
I asked him; I was testing him to see if he had realised where he went wrong.

"For not supporting
you, and for not taking your side when I should have." He replied. At least he was sincere. I still wasn't happy with him, but I had to put it aside. After all, today was a sad day for us all. We had lost one of our youngest members. Everyone was feeling the effects.

I looked to my left. The Professor had thrown himself back into his work. He sat in the corner of the room with Andy and Duckface. I stood with my back to them although I was in earshot of the conversation.

"How do you feel today, Lola?" the Professor asked.

"Well, I'm ok, Thank you for asking.
Although my neck's a little sore." She replied sarcastically; she raised her voice slightly so I could hear.

"Carry on with that attitude, and I'll do much worse." I warned her.

"Or I will." Lacey threatened as she walked into the room.

Duckface looked down. She knew she was outnumbered. She inched back in her chair and blanked us as if we weren't there. It was all she could do for now. 

Sarah was now sat by Jared, who had now come back inside. They both looked utterly defeated.

"Come on you two. I know you're upset about your friend. He was a good lad. But we will give him a proper
sendoff today." George told them.

Jared looked up. He nodded in agreement, but his words did nothing to lift Jared's spirits.

Andy got up off the sofa behind us. "Lola, you stay with the Professor for now. I'm going outside to see if I can give them a hand." Andy told her.

He was trying to make an effort with the rest of us.

"Why?" Duckface asked with a disapproving tone to her voice.

"Because I am."
Andy snapped. "Problem?" He added with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Well, now that you mention it, yes. I don't think I feel comfortable left alone here with these people." She replied as she pointed her bony fingers in our direction.

"You should have thought of that when you left them to die." Andy replied bluntly. With that, he was on his way.

"You carry on pissing everyone
off, you'll have no-one left. And wouldn't that be a shame." Lacey retorted.

"What would you
know." Duckface replied in a huff.

She turned to the Professor. "Sorry, about that. Now, where were we?" she asked in her sickening, sweet voice.

There was no use; she couldn't hide behind her false exterior. We had all already seen her true colours.

Lacey and I headed into the kitchen to see what we could rustle up for breakfast. The mouldy foods had already been removed from the fridge. We went to check the freezer. This homeowner must have been a fan of Costco, by the looks of it, whatever he bought, he bought in bulk. That was great news for us. It took some doing, cooking for 12. The American style fridge freezer was packed with joints of meat, pizzas, and frozen veg.

Lacey managed to rescue a family size pack of bacon, along with a loaf of bread.

"Bacon butties it is then." She announced.