Flash Series (Book 2): Immune Read online

  “Let me go get him. Everyone will want to know you’re awake.” I move to stand, but before I do I turn back, tears suddenly in my eyes. “I’m so relieved you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done had I lost you. I love you, James.” A small sob escapes me.

  He leans forward and tugs me toward him with more strength than a fifteen-year-old should possess. “I love you too, Lil.”

  Azami comes over and hugs us both. We begin to laugh, and the severity of the moment is washed away. “Stay with Uncle James, okay? I’m going to find Michael and Jen.”

  “Otay.” Taking a seat next to James on the mattress, she cuddles up against him.

  The sun’s beginning to set for the night. Winter’s creeping around the corner, rushing us to stock up on food and supplies, leaving most people in the main cavern tending to the gardens this time of night.

  Sure enough, I round the corner and see them picking up the gardening tools for their shift. They look up as I approach.

  “He’s awake!” I scream.

  Jen grins from ear to ear. “When?”

  “Just now. Michael, will you come take a look at him?” I’m already leading Jen by the hand back to the room, as Michael follows without a word. As we enter, I find James and Azami giggling. My heart expands in my chest. Things are beginning to come together. “I brought guests!”

  “Momma!” Azami comes bounding over to me. “Untle Dames is so siwly.”

  Everyone laughs at her words as we move over to James, who appears as if he’d just woken from an afternoon nap.

  “Hey, man. How’re you feeling?” Michael crouches next to him, taking his pulse.

  “Pretty good. The back of my head is still tender, but nothing I can’t handle.”

  “Good. Are you still tired, feeling any nausea?” Michael moves to check the back of his head, where the largest wound is located.

  “Tired, yes. No nausea, though.”

  Michael sits back and looks at him. “Being tired is expected. You seem to be doing great. Your pulse is normal. Your head is still bruised, but that too is to be expected. You can get up and move around, but take it easy. Don’t push yourself.”

  “Sounds good.” James says.

  “Good to have you back, man.” Michael squeezes his shoulder.

  “Okay, my turn.” Jen squeezes her way in between Michael and James. “Hey, buddy,” she coos.

  James blushes. “Hey, Jen.”

  “We were all so worried about you.”

  “I’m sore, but I’ll live.” He leans up, supporting more of his own weight.

  “Knock! Knock!” Dane pulls the curtain aside. “A birdie told me you were awake.”

  Dane and Rosie make their way over to James, doing their own versions of parenting. James relishes in the attention.

  We sit around, chatting, as more of our cave family comes to see James, excited that he’s escaped his brush with death. Sarah eventually makes her way down to tell us that dinner’s ready, and that we should bring James out to eat. Dane and Michael help him to the restroom first, and we all go together. We decide that once we finish with dinner, we’ll head to the hot tub to soak his sore muscles.

  Dinner consisted of vegetable soup and rolls, perfect for James’s first meal—something filling, but not too heavy on his stomach. The ones who hadn’t made it down to the room approached him, relief sketched on each of their faces, as they all took their turns in hugging him. Dinner was full of exciting conversation, and I wished like hell that Ian was there to be a part of it. My anxiety fell another notch as I watched James devour all the food in his bowl. Another good sign.

  After dinner, the crowd dispersed and went their separate ways. With food in his stomach, James regained some of his strength and didn’t require as much assistance down to the water. Azami carried her suit around with her until we went to the bathing pool. After changing into our bathing clothes, we slipped into the water, all of us sighing in unison as the water massaged our sore muscles.

  “This is amazing,” James groans.

  “Yes it is.” I’m dragging around a floating Azami through the water when I look over at him. “I’m so happy you’re okay. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  James’s eyes crack open as a smile dances on his lips. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried, Lil.”

  I return his grin. “I sure hope not. I can’t wait until Ian comes back. I hate that he had to leave again so soon, but I’m interested to meet the people that saved him.”

  “Did he tell you anything about them?”

  “Some. A few of them are related, brothers and sisters. One of them has a baby. I can’t wait to see how Az takes to them, especially the baby.”

  “The idea of them out with the infected is scary, but saving another family is worth it.”

  We’re both silent, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts. James stays that way until I have Azami washed and out of the water. We all return to our bedroom, James deciding to stay with us for the night. We move his blankets off the pallets and place them on the larger mattress with us. The temperature at night was dropping, and the extra warmth was welcome.

  We’re lying next to each other, bundled up under our own blankets. “You doing all right?” His silence is starting to worry me.

  His voice sounds tired when he answers. “Yeah. I guess I’m more worn out than I thought. I’ll feel better after getting some sleep.”

  “Good night, James.”

  Chapter 3

  Ian

  The drive is brutal, stretching out longer than I’d hoped. Debris clogs the roads, and vegetation has grown through the cement, creating speed bumps along the roads and sidewalks. The sun is setting earlier with each day, as the winter months creep closer, threatening us with freezing temperatures.

  Luke crawled into the back seat when we left and is still sleeping, leaving Mason and me alone for the first time. The tension’s growing. Sensing his emotions, I know his thoughts are traveling the same path as mine. He still cares for Lillie, and neither one of us know how to act toward the other.

  Glancing in the rearview mirror, I make sure Luke’s still sleeping before I address the elephant in the room. “Mason.” His name is loud in the small quiet space between us. “I think we should talk. I don’t like this heaviness between us.” Taking a deep breath, I continue. “I know you have feelings for Lillie, and that you were there for her when I couldn’t be. For that, I’m thankful. But I’m back, and she’s mine. She stays with me, always.”

  Mason sighs and shakes his head. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care, but I know where her heart is, and that’s with you. There’s one thing you’ll need to understand though. We are friends. That’s something that will never change. Do you understand that?”

  “I can definitely handle that.” I nod, letting him know that I have no problem with them as friends. Avoiding each other in our living situation would prove impossible.

  “Good.”

  We continue on, only stopping when necessary. Before the Flash, our drive time would have only taken a day, but between the world reclaiming its land and driving a station wagon, our journey seems to drag on. Watching out the windows we’re mostly silent, each in our own thoughts. The weirdest part of driving after the Flash is that there’s no one else on the road. No lights, no passing cars, or drivers cutting you off and honking. Only silence…and darkness. Then again, the darkness is a blessing. Our headlights illuminate cars littered along the road, lying dormant in the night. The pavement’s uneven and eaten away by roots and weeds. The entire drive is nothing but a reminder of time before. Living in our hideaway, it’s easy to forget what we left behind, what the world turned into after the Flash. These images are burned into my brain, behind every blink.

  I blink hard and shake my head, replacing those images with ones of Lillie and Azami. My primary goal is to return to them quickly. Every second that I’m away has me wanting to return that much more.

  “
Hey.” Mason startles me out of my thoughts. “Why don’t you switch with Luke and take a nap. You’ve been driving for over twelve hours.”

  I don’t have the strength to argue so I nod and pull over to get some rest.

  ~~~~~~

  My head bobs and drops off my hand, waking me from my nap. Mason’s driving now I notice as I look around to see where we are.

  “Good. We were just getting ready to wake you up. We’re almost to the town’s edge,” Luke informs me.

  Butterflies dance in my stomach. I’m excited to get the group loaded up so we can head back, but I’m also nervous. Before I left, I assured them I would return. Walking the entire way back to the caves took longer than I’d anticipated, not to mention the setback with Azami and James. I’m weeks overdue with their extraction.

  Keeping my thoughts positive, I take over driving. It’s not long after that we pull into the remnants of the town we’re set for. The sign that would normally welcome us is torn down, hanging lopsided and upside down.

  “We’re here.” I announce, pulling up to an abandoned building.

  We’ve been on the road for two days now and night is falling, the moon bright enough to make out our surroundings. Most of the buildings are crumbling; broken doors and windows cover almost every surface. Trees and weeds climb out of every crevice, seeking to conceal the scars of our past. Imprints of people’s lives are vibrant, engulfing the senses. There’s a hollow existence surrounding us, threatening to overwhelm you if you let it.

  Exiting the car, we head to the building’s entrance. As soon as we turn the corner, I know something’s wrong. The small window in the door is broken, and a single drop of blood glides down the glass.

  “Be ready. Somethings wrong,” I warn them.

  There are times when my gift comes in handy, and then there are times like now, when it just confuses the shit out of me. I can sense the residual scent of fear, anger, and even relief. I can also tell that these are only traces, meaning no one’s currently here. There’s no way to interpret what these strong emotions are linked to. Is everyone all right?

  Luke leads the way, holding the only gun, while Mason and I ready our lucky slugger bats. Once we enter into the living space, we find it destroyed.

  “It wasn’t like this when I left.” My voice is low as I envision the worst. I waited too long. The kids. I squeeze my eyes closed, hoping they’d made it somehow. Food lies forgotten on the counter, and strewn about around the floor. I walk over and examine the leftovers. “This isn’t that old.”

  Luke comes to investigate, agreeing with my assessment. “What do you think happened?”

  “Over here,” Mason calls out.

  We rush toward Mason, calling to us from the other room. Entering the hall, we begin to follow a two-foot-wide streak of blood on the floor. My swift pace halts a couple steps into the room where a man’s twisted body adorns the middle of the floor. His clothes are scattered, while some still cling to his body, soaked in blood. Most of his flesh has been eaten away, revealing bone. I suck in a deep breath and cover my mouth.

  The smell.

  After registering the horrors before me, the odor penetrates my sinuses. It’s a smell I’ll never forget.

  “Who is it?” Mason has his shirt over his face, attempting to avoid the stench.

  “Hugh. He was a part of the group.” I pause, pleading for a miracle. Glancing around the room, I notice one thing. “I don’t see any more blood. There’s a chance the rest of them escaped.”

  Mason steps up next to me, still looking down at the decimated body at our feet. “What do we do now?”

  I can’t leave Hugh on the floor. “We should bury Hugh. After that, we should wait for light. They knew I was coming back for them. They would have left something for us to follow.”

  “If they didn’t, I might be able to track them,” Luke advises next to me.

  “Thank you.”

  Guilt weighed heavily on my shoulders. Logically, I knew there was nothing I could have done, but as we laid Hugh’s body in the shallow grave we dug, I made a promise that I wouldn’t stop searching until I found the rest of them.

  We parked around the side of the building, voting to spend the night in the car. In this position, we’d notice any approaching threat, including an infected. We knew the infected were returning, but seeing the destruction firsthand is always mind numbing. The conversation remained minimal, as pictures of the worst kind assaulted us.

  ~~~~~~

  The next morning we rose with the sun, not sleeping a wink during the night. My mind whirled through the events that must have taken place here. We climb out of the car and stretch, but we don’t speak. Today we could possibly find a massacre.

  “After we find their tracks, we should hide the car. We’re gonna have to do this on foot.”

  Agreeing with Luke, Mason and I set out to find a place to safely store the car for when we return, while Luke takes to tracking. After seeing the scuffle that was left behind last night, it takes him some time to determine our starting point.

  We finish covering the car when Mason speaks. “You think the rest of them are all right?”

  I stop what I’m doing to look at him. “I’m hoping I didn’t take too long to get to them.”

  Mason nods. “We came as soon as we could. No sense in beating yourself up over the situation. There was no choice. Azami comes first.” He speaks the truth, helping some of the guilt lift off my chest.

  “Thanks, Mason.” I run my hand through my hair.

  “Let’s go see if Luke’s found a lead.”

  We head in Luke’s direction. When we reach him, we stop a few feet away, giving him time to finish his examination of the area. He’s so in tune with his surroundings he doesn’t seem to notice us. Luke may not have any extra senses that we know of, but his eyes are heavy and harder than they were a moment ago. The tracks are telling a story of horror.

  “You know what happened.” A statement, not a question. We all know he does by the expression on his face.

  He nods reluctantly. “Yes. It’s worse than we thought, if what I think is true.” I’m about to speak, but his eyes shoot to mine, silencing me. “They took one more. I found drag marks leading out a back entrance.” He stops to shake his head. The events must be running on a loop inside his head. “Let me start from the beginning. I’ve interpreted this the best I can, and I think I’m pretty close. From the remains of the food, it looks like they were getting ready to prepare a meal when it happened. Some stood outside, pacing, from the looks of the different prints, while others went inside. I can see that they were stalked and backed into a corner.” He runs his hands through his dark hair and swallows. “This is where the drag marks start. Whoever backed them into the corner drug someone away from the group.”

  “What about the others?” Mason asks. My words lay dormant, still visualizing the picture Luke’s painted.

  “They escaped, probably as the infected attacked Hugh. They crawled out the window over there.” He points to the window next to us.

  I stare at the broken window, sensing the panic in the room. Hugh was an older man, in his late sixties. He may have walked out to see what was happening and startling the infected, they attacked him.

  Hopefully, someone that got away was carrying baby Gage. Naveen had him a few months before they found me. I wonder how big he’s gotten. Please let him live, I begged silently.

  “With Hugh dead, that leaves his wife, Lisa, Naveen, baby Gage, her two siblings, and another guy named Quinn.” I rub my hands down my face, thinking. “Let’s follow the drag marks. I don’t know what I expect to find, but this is something I need to do.”

  “One more thing.” Luke says. “This attack points directly to the infected, especially with the condition we found Hugh in, but this was planned.” He’s silent for a moment. “What if they’re getting smarter? You saw the one we had back at the caves. He figured out how to get out of that pit. The ones that attacked here planned thi
s. Half of them waited outside while others ambushed the group.” He shakes his head, confused. “I don’t know what to think about this. Can they “think” now? How’s that possible?”

  The same questions swarm my mind. After Luke deduced what transpired, I’d have thought a renegade group constructed the attack, but that didn’t explain why Hugh was eaten to death. Cannibalism was present in rebel groups, but not like this. Not like wolves attacking their prey, tearing into a living person.

  Silence trails after us as we follow the drag marks, looping along the side of the building. The ground is mostly dirt, allowing us to track easily, the soil retelling a fight for life as the infected pulled them carelessly away. Blocks later, we encounter cement and thin lines of blood streaking the ground. The infected show no mercy; never slowing, even after the clothes and flesh are ripped from the body.

  Luke leans down, picking up the blood-soaked, shredded shirt.

  “It’s Lisa’s…Hugh’s wife.” I recognize it immediately from my stay with them.

  Dropping the tattered mess back to the ground, we continue our search. Our strides are long and solid as we turn the next corner and come to an abrupt halt. Our blood trail stops in the middle of the street.

  We approach her slowly, watching our surroundings, until we’re standing over her. The stench overwhelms us, causing my eyes to water from its foulness. She’s definitely been dead for a while.

  I close my eyes, my heart constricting. This world is unforgiving. Lisa and Hugh were good people, reminding me a lot of my parents before my dad passed away.

  A snarl erupts on our left, signaling an ambush. Three infected surround us. We turn, placing our backs together as they lunge. These infected are more decomposed than the one we held in the cave. Their pale, gangrene skin sags, revealing tendon and bone. Teeth snap together in anticipation of food as they attempt to close in. Unfortunately for them, we came prepared.

  “Fuck this! Luke, take them out!” Mason yells over their growls, his words mirroring my thoughts.