The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) (37 page)

The zombie pushed me down, opening his mouth
to get a taste of the fresh blood. I was paralyzed, stuck under his
dead weight. My cheek pressed into Wade’s stomach. The zombie
reached his hand in, pulling something up that stretched and
snapped. Blood splattered my face.

I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to move.
Somewhere inside of me, I knew this was it. There was no coming
back. Wade was dying and I’d be next. Ripped apart by savage
beasts.

Another zombie dropped to her knees. Her dead
hands closed around Wade’s face, fungus covered fingernails digging
into his skin. He screamed. The zombie on top of me leaned in,
pushing me down even further.

Time had no meaning. I could see everything.
Hear everything. Each slurp. Each splash. The smell of blood and
death wrapped around me, pulling me down into a murky hole of
despair.

Then I blinked. I planted my hands on the
ground and pushed up. No. This isn’t ending like this. I wasn’t
going to lie there. If I went down, it would be fighting.

I pushed up, knocking the zombie off of Wade.
Tears ran down my cheeks. I turned, twigs snapping under my weight.
My hands, red with blood, pulled the knife from my waist. I rammed
it into the zombie’s skull. I pulled my arm back and turned on the
female zombie. She snatched her head up when I grabbed a handful of
her hair. A large piece of Wade’s flesh hung from her teeth, torn
off of his cheek.

I tackled her to the ground, shoving the
knife into her forehead over and over. The groaning echoed off the
trees. Somehow I got to my feet. This wasn’t how it ended. I wasn’t
giving up.

They came, attracted to the noise and the
blood. And I went after them, one by one until there was nothing
left to fight, nothing left to kill.

My knife clattered to the forest floor.

I dropped down. “Wade,” I murmured, crawling
to my fallen friend. His stomach was ripped open. Half of his
organs were out, splayed across the ground next to him. His chest
rose and fell unsteadily. Skin and muscle had been torn from his
face, exposing his cheek bones. Tears blurred my vision. I wrapped
my arms around him, crying.

“Tell…” he started.

I sniffled and sat up, face just inches from
his. He opened his eyes, gaze locking with mine.

“Tell Gabby…” Then his eyes rolled back. One
final breath left him.

“Wade?” I swallowed. “Wade! Wade!” I shook
his shoulders. “Wade, please. No!” I fell forward, sobbing. My
entire body shook, pain rippling through my soul.

* * *

Time passed—minutes or seconds. The forest
was still, suspended in a red pool of death. I stayed, clutching
Wade’s body and crying until he became stiff. I sat up, eyes
swollen and took in a breath, hiccupping down a sob.

I looked at Wade’s face. The blood had
stopped dripping down his cheek. His eyes were halfway open, cold
and lifeless and already losing color. I reached up. I needed to
close them.

My fingers touched his skin. It was cold and
hard. I jerked my hand away. Trees swirled around me. I closed my
eyes and fell to the side, unable to hold myself up. I was on a
ride, a horrible ride, spinning around gruesome death. There was no
way off. It could only go faster, getting bloodier with each
pass.

My face pressed into the forest floor. I
could feel bugs crawling beneath me but was too numb to care. My
heart hurt. Each beat shoved the knife in further and further. I
closed my puffy eyes. Be still. I needed to be still, needed to
disappear from this.

Wake up. This was all a dream. A nightmare.
If I could wake up things would be different. Better. Wade would be
alive. Not lying in a puddle of blood, body dismembered.

A gunshot echoed in the distance. I jumped,
opening my eyes. A tangle of Wade’s small intestine came into view.
I pushed up onto my elbows and threw up. I wiped my mouth and
stood, collecting my arrows as if I had switched on the auto
pilot.

I stood in the middle of the carnage, barely
breathing. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t leave Wade here,
alone in the forest. I couldn’t drag him and destroy what was left
of his body.

My eyes burned. I had no tears left. I moved
back to Wade and dropped to my knees.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you,” I whispered,
choking out the words. I closed my eyes, silently crying, and
pushed leaves over his body. “Here in the forest,” I whispered and
put a handful of leaves on his chest. “Dark and deep.” I flattened
a large green leaf and held it over his face. “I offer you eternal
sleep.” A single tear found its way down my cheek as I laid the
leaf over Wade’s torn apart face. I picked up his gun, cradling the
M9 to my chest. It was all I had left of him, the only thing I
could take back with me.

The rustling of the leaves I was placing on
Wade’s body masked the sound. I didn’t hear them coming until one
was right behind me. Anger flashed through me. I sprang to me feet,
turning around. I thought I’d see one or two zombies: the
stragglers. I hadn’t expected another horde.

I didn’t move. I eyed down the zombie closest
to me. His gray eyes were focused on Wade. I pulled an arrow and
shot him. As soon as he fell, another took his place. I stepped
over Wade’s body. I wouldn’t let them have it. I shot two more but
they kept coming.

I heard my grandpa’s voice telling me to run,
to get out while I could, that there were too many to fight.

“No!” I said out loud.

His voice was in my head again, screaming at
me. Wade was dead. It was just a body. I needed to leave. Turn
around and run.

So I did.

The road was close. If I made it there I
could get back to my group, back to Hayden. I could warn them about
the zombies and we could get out of here once and for all. I
sprinted forward, dodging around trees, and sliding down steep
hills and drop offs.

My ankle twisted and I fell, rolling down the
hill. My bow smacked me in the face and my arrows jostled around,
falling out. I scrambled to my knees, gathering my arrows. The road
stretched out in front of me. I was so close.

And so were the zombies. They crashed through
the forest, hurdling their bodies down the ravine. I watched them
rise like ghosts from the mist. Terror plagued me, but somehow I
managed to get to the road.

Panting, I looked up and down it knowing
right away this was not the road we had come in on. The hills on
either side were too steep, too densely wooded. Zombies blundered
through the forest. There were so many. Too many. I needed to move.
One look at the sun in the sky and I knew which way I needed to go.
I hooked the bow over my shoulder and gripped Wade’s gun in my
hand.

A massive rocky hill loomed in front of me.
It was straight, like a giant stone wall. I slowed, heart racing.
Did the road come to a dead end? Zombies milled through the trees
above me, snapping and snarling. Every few seconds one fell,
tumbling down the steep embankment.

They were getting closer, with no intention
of giving up until they ripped me to pieces just like Wade. My
boots pounded on the pavement. If the road suddenly ended, I’d be
forced to trek back up the hill and try to make it through the
forest and past the herd.

Then I saw it. The opening in the rock wall
was just large enough for a car to get through. The road continued,
going right through the rock in a man-made tunnel. My chest
tightened. Anything could be in there.

I stopped, breathing heavy. Zombies closed in
on me. I couldn’t turn around, couldn’t go back into the trees. I
had to go forward. I looked into the black tunnel. I had no choice.
I was going in.

I closed my eyes, giving myself a head start
on adjusting to the dim light, and picked up the pace. Just a few
feet in and the air was different, cooler, stale. I felt like the
walls were closing in on me the deeper I went, just like they did
when Olivia and I got stuck in the haunted house.

Only this wasn’t set up for fun. This wasn’t
supposed to be entertaining. My heart pounded so fast it hurt. I
kept running, my lungs burning and begging for air. Each footfall
reverberated off the tunnel walls, echoing loudly like a beacon for
the zombies.

Finally, when I wasn’t sure if I could take
it anymore, the tunnel curved and I saw the light at the end. I
pushed forward, mind blanking out, and kept running.

* * *

My feet hurt. Each step was painful. I
concentrated on that, the physical pain. It kept me from thinking
about anything else, anything that would hurt worse. The string
from my bow had rubbed me raw, eating away a line of skin between
my neck and shoulder.

I turned down the road, staring at the tire
tracks. Something in me wanted to stop and turn around. I didn’t
want to come back alone. I kept going, trudging along, somehow
finding the strength to put one foot in front of the other.

Their voices floated through the air. I was
almost there…maybe. My head was down. I couldn’t bring myself to
look up. Someone gasped.

“Riss?” Hayden asked. Pop cans jingled as he
ducked under the rope. “Shit, Riss.”

I was covered in Wade’s blood. Dirt and
leaves clung to my battered body, leftovers from the forest that
had swallowed us whole. I stopped walking and lifted my head.
Hayden’s hazel eyes were full of worry. “What happened?” he asked,
afraid of my answer.

I shook my head, tears blurring my
vision.

“Where’s Wade?” His voice cracked as he asked
the last question. He already knew.

My hands trembled. I held up Wade’s gun. Then
it slipped through my hands, thudding to the ground. My heart
broke, bringing my body in on itself. I fell forward, crying.
Hayden’s strong arms caught me, and he gently lowered me to the
ground, holding me tight against his body, rocking me gently while
I cried.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked, voice tight.
I opened my eyes just enough to look at him. “No,” he said, shaking
his head. “No, no!” He turned away from me, hands on his head.
“No!” he shouted and pulled at his hair. He whipped around. “He’s
fine. He’s out there, and we just have to get him.”

I sniffled and opened my mouth to talk but
failed. No words came out, only sobs. Jason sank to his butt, head
in his hands.

“Jason,” I said and reached for him. “I’m
sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Hayden said, fighting back
his own emotions. “This isn’t your fault, Riss.”

“I couldn’t get it out,” I mumbled. “I tried.
It was stuck. But I couldn’t. Couldn’t get it out.” Hayden ran his
hand over my hair, soothing me. I clung to him, knowing that if I
let go my entire world would collapse even deeper into darkness.
When my tears turned into sniffles, Hayden gently said, “Let’s
go.”

He helped me to my feet, taking hold of my
hand. I didn’t object to anything, didn’t ask where we were going.
He led me to the truck and removed my weapons before gently peeling
off my blood soaked shirt. He was so gentle, careful, hands moving
slow as he took care of me, wiping off blood and cleaning my
wounds.

He pulled a clean t-shirt over my head. I
stuck my arms through the sleeves and pulled it down to my waist.
He handed me a new pair of pants. I blinked, realizing how filthy I
was. I changed then got into the truck, feeling numb.

Jason and Hayden quickly removed the supplies
from the Jeep, transferring them into the truck. Jason got in the
back with us, giving Stephanie and her friends the keys to the
Jeep.

I sat in the passenger seat with my hands on
my lap. Hayden got in and fired up the engine. He stepped on the
gas and the truck lurched forward. I stared straight ahead, not
blinking until my dry eyes burned.

I rested my head against the window. If I
closed my eyes, I saw the decaying bodies swinging from the tree.
All I could do was think about the pain in my feet. When they
stopped hurting, I pressed them down onto the floor of the truck. I
needed to feel it, to be distracted by it. I couldn’t handle
thinking about anything else just yet.

An hour passed before Hayden and Jason spoke.
I heard their voices, knew they were forming words, but nothing
made sense to me. I stared at the window, realizing that we were
headed toward the farmhouse. The sights were familiar, but it did
little to comfort me.

“Stop,” I said suddenly, startling Hayden.
“Stop the truck!”

He pulled over. “What?”

I pointed to a large building we had just
passed. Hayden’s eyes widened.

Jason leaned forward, thinking I was close to
a breakdown.

Hayden followed my gaze and knew what I was
thinking. “Oh.” His hands fell from the steering wheel. “Riss, we
don’t have to. Let’s just go home.”

“No,” I spat. “No. We set out on this mission
for a reason. It can’t be for nothing. I’m not going home empty
handed.”

Hayden took a breath and ran is hand over his
head. He was hurting too, as was Jason. But we couldn’t stop and
just go home. Not after all we’d lost. “Ok.”

“What?” Jason asked, eyebrows furrowing.

Hayden nodded in the direction of the
building behind us. “A food pantry.”

Jason’s mouth opened slightly. “It could be
full of nonperishables. Boxed up too. Sonja and I used to volunteer
at one in Indy.”

Hayden made a U-turn. Stephanie followed
behind in the Jeep. “I had to do community service here. Multiple
times,” I said before they guys had to ask. “There is a freezer in
the back to avoid. Everything up front should be good to go…as long
as no one else took it first.”

“I’m guessing it’s still there,” Hayden said.
“I never would have thought to look at a food pantry, but it’s
brilliant. Like Jason said, everything is nonperishable and boxed
up for delivery.”

I sat up straight. I could to this. Carrying
out a mission gave me something to focus on. We pulled into the
parking lot. Hayden gave Stephanie a walkie-talkie and told her to
radio us if she saw anything.