The Survivor Chronicles (Book 3): The Forsaken (18 page)

"He went to use the bathroom," Mary Ellen told her. Riley nodded but her brow furrowed as her gaze drifted toward where the bathrooms were located. "Is everything all clear?"

"We didn't find anyone," Al assured her.

"Are you sure?" Mary Ellen asked nervously.

"We searched the entire building. If someone was here, they're gone now."

Mary Ellen's shoulders slumped in relief. "Good."

"Let's say we get started on looking for some books, where are the card catalogs?" Al inquired as he looked around the library. It had been awhile since he'd been inside a library, but he didn't think they could have changed that much over the past ten years.

"A lot of libraries don't use card catalogs anymore," Riley answered.

Al wouldn't have been more staggered if she had just told him that the earth was indeed flat. "What do they use then?" he asked incredulously.

"Computers."

Al stared at the now useless machines set up on the side of the room. "Lot of good that does us right now."

"I'm sure we can find the medical reference books," Mary Ellen said.

"It shouldn't be too hard," Donald said as he approached them. "We just have to get started."

Al wasn't quite as confident as they were as he followed them into the stacks, but even so he began to play his light over the numerous book spines that lined the shelves. After three more rows of endless books that weren't what he was looking for, Al was cursing computers, the internet, and anything even remotely technological that required electricity. His eyes were beginning to cross from staring at the endless tomes, and though he knew it actually hadn't been, he felt as if hours were wasting away as they continued to get nowhere.

"They couldn't have just left the card catalogues as a backup plan, to add to the ambience, or something like that?" he muttered.

"They probably took them out to make room for the computers," Donald said.

He didn't mean to, but frustration was getting the best of him when he shot Donald a fierce look. The man did a double take and actually started to blush before returning his attention to the books before them. The beam of another flashlight alerted him to Mary Ellen and Riley's presences as they rounded the stacks and headed toward them. They each held a pile of books in their arms.

"We found the medical section," Mary Ellen said.

"Thank God," Al muttered. He'd started to feel like a hamster in his wheel, constantly moving forward but going nowhere.

"We grabbed what looked like the newest editions," Mary Ellen continued as she nodded at the books pressed against her chest. "There's more if you think we should get them too."

"This seems like a good place to start," Al told her as he took some of the books from her.

They made their way back into the main room and placed the books on one of the tables. Al tiredly slid into a chair. It was going to be another night with little sleep, but maybe this night would finally give them some answers. Mary Ellen pulled out the chair next to him and sat down, Riley sat across from him.

"What are we looking for?" Riley asked.

"Start with the symptoms," he answered. "Fever, exhaustion, sores."

"Uncontrollable hunger?"

"That too," he said as he grabbed hold of one of the books and pulled it over to him. Light from the stairwell across from him drew his attention as Carl, John, and Xander appeared at the top of the stairs. Their arms were full of supplies from the truck. His stomach rumbled in expectation of food from one of those bags but he remained where he was.

He turned his attention back to the thick book before him as they began to dole out supplies and set up a sleeping area for the night. John handed him a power bar and a bag of trail mix as Xander plopped into the seat next to Riley and took hold of one of the books.

"I'm going to see if I can boil some water and try to make some coffee, would you guys be interested in a cup if I can?" John asked.

"I'd absolutely love a cup," Al told him.

"I think we all would," Xander agreed.

"I'll see what I can do," John told them before wandering away.

Al rubbed absently at his temples as he strained to stay awake and focus on the words before him. He didn't know how much time had passed before John handed him a mug of coffee. "Heaven," Mary Ellen murmured as she sipped at hers.

Al had to agree as the coffee began to rejuvenate him. He turned back to the endless pages before him with renewed vigor. He felt almost human again as he picked at the trail mix. The muffled sound of pages turning, and people moving about, was comforting as life filled the library.

Xander,

"Did you ever wonder what the world would have been like if just
one
little thing had been different? Like what if The Big Bang had never occurred? What if fire hadn't been discovered or that first caveman hadn't carved a spear? Or what if God had decided that he didn't want to create man, or what if he had
really
messed up and not created woman?"

That last part finally caught his attention and forced Xander out of his own thoughts. He turned his head to frown at Carol. "It would have been a much more peaceful world without women."

She grinned at him as she leaned against his side. "That it would, but far more boring."

"Peaceful."

She playfully pinched his arm. "You would have missed us, or at least me. Plus, you guys wouldn't have survived without us."

"Well I'm certainly not about to have a baby," he retorted.

The smile slid from her face as she looked at the park spread out before them. "Do you ever think about it though? I mean what if Hitler had won the war?"

"Nothing good would have come of that," he told her. "Why are you getting all philosophical on me?"

She shrugged as she absently pulled at the grass beneath her and tossed it into the breeze drifting over them. A strand of hair, nearly the same color as his, blew across her face and she tucked it behind her ear. From their vantage point on the hill, he could clearly see Bobby and Lee as they walked across the soccer field toward them. Bobby's skateboard was tucked under his arm and Lee was staring at his phone as he typed a reply.

A pang of longing pierced his heart as he looked at Lee but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. His friend was right there, within five minutes he would be standing beside him again, as close as Carol. Carol...

There it was again that yearning as something tugged at his memory, but it was a memory he wasn't going to recall, not right now. Now he simply meant to enjoy the day.

They were supposed to be going to see a movie tonight, but he doubted they'd actually make it there. They rarely did, as someone always seemed to come up with a different plan before they stepped into the theatre. Bobby looked up and waved as he caught a glimpse of them on the hill. Lee remained engrossed in his phone.

"So do you?" Carol inquired.

"Do I what?"

"Do you ever wonder if one
small
thing made all the difference?"

"No, I've never really thought about it," he admitted.

"Do you think about it now that it's all come to an end?" she asked.

There it was; the forceful intrusion into this small moment of peace he had found. He'd known it had been too good to be real, but even still he tried to stick to the chance that this was more than just a dream. That he could somehow return to those days of simplicity. He knew though, even before Lee and Bobby faded from view, and the lush grass they had been sitting upon withered beneath him, that it was too good to be true.

"I think about you a lot more now," he admitted. "I don't think about what could have been different though. I think that would only drive me crazy, that it would only drive
all
of us crazy if we did. There was nothing we could have done to stop whatever it was that triggered these events."

"No, maybe not," Carol agreed. "But what if it was one tiny thing, that someone else did, that triggered it?"

"You really want to see me go insane?" he retorted.

She laughed as she leaned against his side again. "I think we're all a little insane right now, some more than others."

Xander frowned over her words. "You're not here anymore."

"I am here though." She pointed at his chest and tapped the place over his heart.

"You're so corny," he told her with a laugh.

"Yeah well, it was always one of the things you loved best about me."

"It was," he confirmed.

"You have to be careful Xander, there are dangerous things out there..."

"I know all about the danger out there now Carol. I've lost you and Lee already."

Her gaze drifted over the completely black and barren world that had replaced the sunny day in the park. "There is also danger in here, with you. There are things that are
wrong
."

He frowned as he turned back toward her. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about," her words were only a whisper now.

Xander tried to grab hold of her but even as he was reaching for her she was fading further away from him. "Carol," he groaned but she had completely vanished and left him alone in this now empty dream world.

Xander's eyes blinked open. He was struggling against the lingering heartache as he stared at the darkened stacks across from him and tried to remember where he was. Had he fallen asleep in the college library again? But even as he thought it, he knew that he was wrong as recent memories flooded over him.

He wiped at his mouth, embarrassed to realize that he had drooled onto the medical book he'd turned into his pillow. He didn't even remember putting his head down. Had he simply fallen asleep in the middle of reading and his head had dropped down?

That seemed very plausible, he realized as he pushed himself away from the puddle he had left. "Are you ok?" Riley asked.

He rubbed at his gritty eyes before turning to look at her. Though her eyelids were heavy and her mouth was pinched, she was still beautiful. He had lost Carol and Lee but she was still here, Bobby was still here, and he was still alive. He had to focus on that as his sister's dream image continued to haunt him.

"I'm fine," he assured her as he ran a hand over the back of her hair and pulled her close to kiss her forehead.

Her hand fell onto his thigh and her fingers curled into his leg as she leaned into him. Memories of his dream caused him to reluctantly pull away from her to inspect the room. Mary Ellen, Donald, Carl, John, and Al were still sitting at the table. Rochelle had retreated to one of the sleeping bags that had been set out and was lying next to Josh. He could see Bobby still standing by the front door. Peter was sitting in the librarian's chair, his feet propped up on the desk; his hands were folded in his lap as he watched them from narrowed eyes.

Was
he
who Carol had been talking about when she had warned of danger in here with them? Or was she perhaps talking about something, or someone, else still inside the building? Maybe even something inside of him? His gaze drifted down to his chest as if he could somehow see inside himself. It had been his own subconscious talking to him in the dream after all; maybe it had been trying to tell him that there was something wrong with
him
.

It was a terrifying thought, one that he strained to shake off as tried to focus on something else.
It was only a dream
, he told himself. It was just his overtired mind conjuring up the image of his dead sister and friend.

Riley kept her head on his shoulder as she began to flip through the pages of her book. There was a notepad next to her with some hastily scribbled writing in it. Xander leaned forward and rubbed his temples as the words in his book blurred in front of him. Riley's head rose off of his shoulder and she leaned forward. Her hand pressed flatter against the book, she pulled it and the notepad closer to her.

"I think I may have found something!" she blurted.

The others were slower to respond than he was, but eventually their heads turned toward her. Al was the first to fully register what she had said as he sat up straighter in his chair. "What did you find?"

"Meningitis."

"Meningitis?" Mary Ellen asked in confusion. "Meningitis doesn't make people go crazy."

"Wait. Just listen to me for a minute. Meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. These are known as the meninges." Her finger trailed over the lines in the book as she read from it. "The inflammation is typically caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation may be caused by a virus or bacteria, but it can also be caused by physical injury, cancer or certain drugs.

"The most common symptoms of meningitis are headache,
neck
stiffness
, fever, confusion. Other symptoms include vomiting, photophobia." Xander stiffened at that one as he recalled those things outside of the garage. He leaned closer to peer over her shoulder as she continued to read from the book. "Phonophobia..."

"What is photophobia and phonophobia?" Donald interrupted.

"Hold on." Al flipped to the back of his book where there was a list of definitions of medical terms.

"Photophobia is an inability to tolerate light," Xander informed them. "Or a sensitivity to it."

"Jesus," Mary Ellen whispered as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

"Phonophobia is the same thing, but for loud noises," Al said as his finger froze on a line in his book.

"Keep reading Riley," Carl said as he rose and paced over to the stacks. The flick of a lighter sounded, the red tip of his cigarette lit up as he inhaled deeply.

"A rash may also be present in some cases and can indicate a particular cause of meningitis."

She turned the book toward them to reveal a picture. It was of a simple rash, one that he would have associated with poison ivy, or even chicken pox, but the caption below it read, "Petechial Rash." She turned the page to reveal almost the same rash but with larger almost purplish red lesions on the skin.

"That's a mixed petechial/purpuric rash," Riley said. "And this is where things start to get ugly."

"Gross," Bobby said when the next page was revealed. Xander had been so absorbed in the book, and what Riley was telling them, that he hadn't realized his friend had also been drawn forth by Riley's excited words.

The purplish/red lesions in the picture covered more of the human torso and arm; they had grown in size and were beginning to take over the body. It was a rash that Xander recognized and had seen on far too many faces recently. "This is widespread purpuric rash of septicaemia," Riley explained.

"That is, you're royally screwed. That's what that is," John muttered.

"It gets worse," Riley told him and flipped the page. Though the next photo was disgusting, it had been far worse seeing it on some of the people now roaming the earth. "Purpuric blotches of septicaemia that resembles blood blisters."

"My God," Mary Ellen whispered as her hand went to her mouth.

Riley flipped to the last page to reveal a leg that was entirely covered in the purplish rash. "Extensive purpuric areas are usually called purpura fulminans, if left untreated it can lead to gangrene," Riley said.

There was an extended moment of silence as they all digested the information she had just given them. "Ok, so meningitis has a lot of the same symptoms as the ones we are seeing in some of those people, but it doesn't make people attack other people," Xander finally said.

"I was just showing you all of this first, but there is more. Many of the symptoms of encephalitis are similar to meningitis. Fever, headache, confusion, and like meningitis it can be caused by a virus or bacteria. One of the viral forms is rabies..."

"But this isn't transmitted by a bite," Bobby interrupted. "Xander already proved that."

"Just bear with me for a minute," Riley said as she flipped through the pages of the notepad. "Besides there are
many
ways that a virus can be transmitted from one person to another, it's not just a bite. Another form of encephalitis is encephalitis lethargica. The disease attacks the brain, leaving some victims speechless and motionless. It caused an epidemic from nineteen eighteen to nineteen thirty. The ones that survived sank into a semi-conscious state that lasted for decades. The survivors were revived with L-Dopa in the nineteen sixties."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," John said but he was still leaning forward, completely riveted to what Riley was saying.

"The Lost Souls," Al said in a voice filled with dawning realization. "That's what you think they might have."

"Something like it," Riley said. "There is an illness called meningoencephalitis that is a combination of meningitis and encephalitis and I think that's what these people are suffering from. Not the common form, not what's written about in textbooks, but a mutated form that's causing them to turn into what amounts to different kinds of zombies."

Riley dropped her notepad as she leaned forward. "Do you remember what Lee said in the hotel room, about people that believed global warming may be releasing new viruses from the earth that have been trapped for thousands of years? That there were even some people that believed one of those ancient viruses could be the reason for the increase in autism?"

Xander glanced at the others as he waited for their answers. "I remember," Carl said as he reemerged from the stacks.

"It all makes sense," Al said and then pierced Xander with his gaze. "We're not entirely sure if your leg was just infected, if you became sick, or if it was the bite that caused you to fall ill."