The Zombie Chronicles - Book 5 - Undead Nightmare (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (29 page)

“Do you think she’s going to?”

“It’s inevitable, Dean. Otherwise, I would have taken her and left this place by now. As much as I hate it, those scientists are her only hope—if she even has any hope at all.”

“No! You’re wrong,” I said.

He softly clapped my shoulder. “Dean…”

I glanced down and spoke the dreaded words. “I don’t want to believe it. I try to tell myself it won’t happen, but part of me is scared to death that I’m wrong and you’re right.” My brother hugged me as emotion consumed me. I’d finally come to terms with the fact that I might very well lose Val all over again and the thought made me sick to my stomach.

“I hate that the girls are locked up,” Nick said. “I want to leave so bad, to tell these people to screw off.”

“I hate it too.”

“I hope they can tell us where we stand so I know what direction to go. I’m getting tired of waiting around in limbo. I need to know what’s going on.”

“I know it’s against the odds, but what if Val and Claire never change?” I asked.

“We’ll never know for sure. If the scientists don’t find some kind of solid cure, they might change a month from now and call every zombie from kingdom come to the island. We can’t take that chance. We need scientific proof that they’re not gonna morph into one of those things, and I’m praying to God that we’ll find that proof here.”

“And if not?”

“We leave and find another lab, smarter scientists with better equipment and thicker books.”

“Maybe we should just deliver the cure to the military,” I suggested.

“Not until we know what’s going on with the girls. The powers-that-be would whip those vials out of our hands so fast we wouldn’t know what hit us.”

“So we focus on getting the girls better, then deliver the serum.”

He nodded. “That’s the game plan.”

“I love it when a plan comes together,” I joked.

“Well, let’s just hope this one does. I’m running out of Plan B’s.”

Chapter 24

Jonathon took me in to see Val, Claire, and Jackie. The smell of dust lingered all around me, and my eyes adjusted to the dim light as my gaze swung toward Jackie. She was sleeping on the bed, not moving a muscle. I knew she was sedated and couldn’t hear me, but I still said hello and reassured her that we were trying to help her.

“How is she?” Claire said.

“Zonked out.”

Claire looked pale and thin, and her long red hair was in disarray. Dark circles hung under her blue eyes, and she didn’t look good at all, but her face lit up a bit when she saw me. “It’s great to see you, Dean. Now get me out of this nightmare!”

I put my hands over hers, resting on the steel bars. “I’m working on it. Stay strong.”

“I’m not a criminal. I don’t belong here.”

“I know. Just trust me, Claire.”

“I have total and complete faith in you, Lucas, and Nick.” She glanced over at Jonathon. “It’s these guys I’m having trouble trusting,” she whispered.

“Uh…let me just leave you to some privacy with your friends,” Jonathon said, jingling his keys as he left the room.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Dean,” Claire said, “do you know how hard it is knowing Jackie is right next door but not being able to comfort her? I watch them come and go, taking all kinds of samples from her for their stupid, pointless tests. My cousin’s not a Guinea pig. Tell them to stop, Dean. They’ve taken enough from her already.”

“They’re trying to save her life, Claire.”

“You say that, but they’re freaking me out. They walk in here in surgical masks and scrubs, like they’re afraid to be near me. They make me feel like a disease, like I’m not even human. I revoke my consent, Dean. I refuse to let them administer any more tests, and I swear to God I’m gonna deck the next person who comes at me with a needle.”

“I’ll talk to them,” I said.

“Talk? Dean, what you need to do is get Val and me out of here,” she snapped, her voice trembling.

“It’s okay,” I said, trying to calm her.

A tear ran down her face. “Tell me, Dean, do you think Jackie is too far gone to be saved?”

“I prefer to believe there’s always hope.”

“I-I just want her back,” Claire sobbed, her voice echoing in the small, confined, yellow space. “But I guess I shouldn’t complain. The serum gave me a little extra time with her. Technically, she should’ve be dead back in Kingsville.”

I wiped a tear from her eye. “I know. I’ll cherish that extra time forever.”

“She’s touched my life so much.”

“Mine too,” I said.

“She’s not just family. She’s also my best friend.”

I cupped Claire’s face as tears welled up in my eyes. “All we can do is hope she’ll beat this.”

“She’s going to beat this, Dean.”

I nodded, kissed her hand, and moved over to Val’s cell block. “Hey, Val,” I said, gripping my sister’s hands.

“Hey, little brother.” She smiled. “Remember when you broke me out back on the island?”

“Yeah.”

“Think you could do that again?”

“I would, but you’re doing this voluntarily.”

“Right. Can you believe I signed up for this?”

“You did the right thing. You could’ve easily left with Asia and Kate, but you didn’t.”

“I need them to run tests so they can figure out how to stop me from transforming. If they can halt this disease, I guess this is all worth it.” Val stared at me with big, bloodshot eyes. Her long black hair hung in greasy strands over her pale face. “Don’t I look beautiful?” she asked sarcastically when she noticed me staring at her.

“Val, you’ll always be a beautiful person inside and out,” I said.

“Aw, little brother. Aren’t you just the sweetest. I know I look awful. Life gets a little messy sometimes.”

“You’re taking this really well.”

“Not really. I just know how to put on a good show.”

“I heard about you and Lucas, about just staying friends.”

“Yeah, it’s for the best. I can’t get attached only to have Lucas leave me day after day to fight the battle. If I’m going to have a man, I need to be his top priority,” she said, laughing. “Gosh, I can’t believe I just said something like that.”

I gripped her hand. “He’ll only break your heart, Val, on purpose or not. Break it off now, before it gets any harder.”

She paused, then continued, “Enough serious talk. My love life sucks. On another note, have the scientists found out anything new? We’ve been here longer than they said. Surely the tests have revealed something by now. Tell me, do I have a life-threatening diagnosis or what?”

“How much time do we have left?” Claire chimed in.

My heart sank when she asked the question, and I couldn’t bear to tell her the grim prognosis; I just couldn’t. “I’ll find out more details soon. I’m meeting with one of the scientists when I leave here. I’ll let you know what he says.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Val said.

I chuckled, happy that she hadn’t lost her sense of humor in all the nightmarish chaos, a side effect of being so close to Lucas, I imagined. “Nick and Lucas are dying to talk to you.”

She threw her arms up in the air. “I don’t get why they won’t let you all come in at the same time.”

“I dunno, but we’ve gotta play by their rules for now.”

“Have you seen much zombie activity?” Val asked.

“Not around here. Just stragglers. But deeper into the city, I had a bit of a run-in.”

“Be careful, Dean. You know you can never let your guard down.”

“We can’t let them keep you locked up like this for months while they study the virus and the serum, Val. If they don’t find answers for us soon, I think Nick is going to want to leave.”

“What about Jackie?” she whispered.

“If I can get my hands on something to keep her sedated, we can take her with us and look for a bigger, better lab.”

Val gripped the bars tightly, and her eyes widened. “These people have been nothing but wonderful but what if their attitude changes when we’re not cooperating? What if they won’t let us leave?”

“Then I guess I’ll have to bust you out again.”

She smiled. “You guys have always got my back.”

“And you’ve always got ours,” I said.

She looked away, as if troubled by something. “Val, what’s wrong?” She bit her lip hard, then met my gaze. “I don’t wanna go back to the island, Dean. Nick told me I’ll be a danger to everyone there, and I have to agree with him. They tried to kill me before. The second they hear my story and see my green eyes, I’ll be scheduled for execution. I just can’t go through that again.”

“That’s why we’re here, to get you help.”

“Even if this place delivers me a miraculous vaccine to stop me from changing, the island will always consider me a threat to national security. They’ll kill me without a second thought.”

I thought about her words long and hard and realized she was probably right. They’d let Nick and me back in, but Claire, Val, and especially Jackie would be forbidden from living on the island. Even if we sneaked them in somehow, the second they were discovered, they’d all be scheduled for lethal injection—or worse.

“I want to be the master of my own fate,” Val said. “Nobody’s gonna decide whether I live or die but me—not ever again.”

Reality struck me like lightning:
There’s no way we can ever go back to the island
. I knew my parents and Grams would be willing to leave so we could all stay together; they wouldn’t desert Val or us, not in a million years. The trouble was, Val wouldn’t want them to leave their perfect paradise for her. I swallowed hard. My vision, my hope for a perfect homecoming on our beautiful island was nothing more than another shattered dream.

“Dean!” I heard Jackie call.

I rushed over and met her gaze. “Jackie,” I whispered.

“I broke the ropes. Did you really think they could hold me?”

“I’m gonna get you help, Jackie. Hold on.”

“I need you, baby,” she said, holding out her arms. “I can’t do this alone. I’m trying, but being locked up in here without you is…it’s killing me.”

“We’ll find a way to conquer this, Jackie. You just have to be strong…and patient.”

“Just hold my hands and tell me everything’s gonna be okay,” she sobbed.

“Don’t you dare, Dean!” Val shouted. “She’s trying to trick you.”

I glanced over at her. “I’m not.”

“Good,” Val retorted.

“I’ve gotta go, Jackie.”

“Don’t, Dean,” she begged. “Please get me out of here.”

My heart ached. She reached out for me, and while I was hesitant at first, I was desperate to comfort her, so I gripped her cold hand. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“Me too. Dean, we can overcome anything as long as we’re together.”

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was connecting with her on a human level.

“You can trust me,” she whispered, looking deeply into my eyes with her white, milky ones surrounded by dark rings.

“I know I can.”

Val banged the bars. “No, Dean!” she yelled. “She’s not herself, and you know better than that. Get away from her!”

“Dean, I love my cousin, but she’s dangerous right now,” Claire shouted. “Listen to Val!”

“You can trust me,” Jackie repeated.

I squeezed her hand and moved closer.

“That’s it,” she coaxed. “Is this so bad?”

“No.”

“See?” Jackie said. I don’t bite…much!” Her teeth lunged for my wrist, but I pulled away with lightning speed.

I jumped back, gasping. “Jackie? Wh-what did you do?”

“Dean!” Claire cried out. “Oh my gosh! Are you hurt?”

“Did she bite you?” Val shouted. “Dean, tell me she didn’t.”

I examined my skin closely under the lantern hanging on the wall and was glad to see that her teeth hadn’t penetrated my skin. When I gazed back at her, she looked possessed, and she let out an evil laugh that made the hairs on my neck rise.

“I’m so hungry,” she roared, her voice echoing inside the room.

“Were you bitten or not?” Val demanded to know.

I shook my head, still dumbfounded. “No. She tried to sink her teeth into my wrist, but she didn’t get me.”

“I told you not to trust her,” Val said.

I opened my mouth, but my throat felt choked, and no words came out.

“Go get the doctors to sedate her,” Claire screamed. “Do it now!”

“I only wanted a taste,” Jackie said. “If you were a good boyfriend, you’d feed me.”

“You’re sick, Jackie,” I roared, still holding my arm, “but I know it’s not you. I’ll get you back, no matter what it takes.”

I spun around and ran down the corridor and out the door. I couldn’t believe Jackie was so far gone that she’d try to bite me; even worse, I’d fallen for her lies, hook, line, and sinker. Cold wind blew through my hair as sunshine poured down, but even Mother Nature couldn’t comfort me at that moment, and I shuddered.
Was there any way to really bring her back?