Infection Chapter 10

Chapter 10

My stomach churned and I could feel my jaw hit the floor. This can not be happening. I was caught somewhere between joy and absolute terror. It was Stephanie. The girl whose mother and sister broke into my house back before my parents died. I have not spoken to her in a month. Her phone was never on; I just assumed her family died. Yet here she was on the other end of the line, back from the dead. I wanted to scream with joy but I didn’t. I only felt nauseous.

 “Stephanie, what is the matter?”

“My sister and I,” she gasped into the phone “we are locked in a room at this hotel.” She seemed panicked; her breath was heavy and fast. In the background there were sounds of crying. My leg shook as I stood there trying to understand the incoherent ramblings and broken sentences.

“Steph calm down. Tell me exactly what happened.”

“My sister and I are locked in some hotel room alone.”

“Where is your mother?”

“Gone, she left us to go get food and then there was a crash and we heard her scream.”

“Did you go to check if she was still alive?”

“She told us not to leave the room.” It would not have mattered either way. If she was not dead before, she is dead now.

“Where are you?”

“In some hotel, I told you”

“I know that but is there anything in the room that tells where the hotel is?”

There was a shuffling sound as Stephanie put down the phone and searched the room for anything that might help.

“The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Brookestone NJ,”

“I have been there!”

“Really?”

“I know exactly where you are, I will be there tomorrow, and please Steph don’t move and do not open the door for anything or anyone.” There was a silence on the other end. I stared at my phone and the call was lost. Sean stood in the door behind me.

“Who was that?”

“Oh, no one” I replied with a smile “Just Lucas”

Sean was not convinced and to be honest neither was I but I needed to say something that would stop this from becoming a Sean lead conversation. His desire to be a hero would have lead to a fight between us. A fight which I wanted to avoid, his chivalry made me a little bit sick. Not because I dislike chivalry but it is how Sean says it, like he is super important and amazing because he is chivalrous. He tends to shove his beliefs in people’s faces on anything. From things as big as his taste in music and chivalry to his favorite foods, if he likes it and believes it, it must be right.

Sean did not question my motives, he knew there was no point, and he was not going to get anywhere. Instead he changed the subject to some light banter and we let the time pass us by, until Sean had to go to bed.

I sat and watched time pass on the wall. I just found myself contemplating every little detail of Stephanie’s face and body. Her face was perfectly rounded with rosy cheeks that seemed to always glimmer with a half smile which was coy and secretive. Her long brown curly hair flowed down her back and seemed to wrap around itself naturally creating elegant shapes and braids. Her almost pale white skin hid a curvaceous body that seemed symmetrical with each graceful step changing the way her body looked, different yet always perfect. I closed my eyes and held her in my arms. Vibrations. I opened them to see that it was just my phone.

My stiff muscles creaked to life as I wobbled over and picked up the phone.

“Hello”

“Sam it is Brandon, we are outside.” My eyes shifted to the clock on the wall, the hands read 4:35.

“I will be right out.”  I hung up and moved towards the hospital P.A “Wake up everybody.” There was a silence. “Everybody up now!”

The shuffle of feet echoed across the halls. Everyone was irritable and complained in the darkness. I wanted to but that would seem rude. So I swallowed my emotions and turned on the lights. The dark room flooded with white slowly fading into the shapes of seven people each one very distinct.

“Brandon is outside,” There is a collective yet silent sigh that rolls through the room. “I am going to let him in.”

Another sigh,

“Can we pretend to be happy?” There was no response. “Well, I am going to go get them and we will all meet and be happy.”

I walked out into the darkness of the night. The center of the yard held a red glow around the embers of the dying flame. I walked towards the gate. My hand rested on the sheathed blade of my knife as the door slowly swung open. There in the darkness stood Brandon and Nikki. There outfits were dirty covered in a mixture of sweat and blood. It Nikki’s dark red hair was a mess of knots and split ends. She was in tears.

Inside we all sat by the broken door and spoke waiting for Nikki and Brandon to get cleaned up. There was a tension in the air that made my stomach churn with anticipation. I wanted to get out of this disgusting hospital immediately. The walls made me want to vomit but I could not bring myself to do it.

Brandon pulled up a chair next to Matt who moved over just an inch. Nikki followed Brandon closely like a baby duck behind her mother. Nikki’s wet hair dripped slowly onto her chest. I could not help but notice Sean staring at the water droplets as they found a way toward Nikki’s cleavage. His curious gaze was met by the piercing eyes of an overly protective older brother.

“So Brandon where are you from?” Nicole broke the silence.

“New York” Brandon’s eyes were still locked on Sean.

“So how do you know Sam?”

“Camp”

“What happened to your dad?” I asked. Brandon’s eyes caught mine.

“He” Brandon stopped, “He-“

“He died” Nikki burst into tears “He fell off of the roof and broke both of his legs.” She collapsed onto Brandon’s Shoulder. He did not even notice her. His eyes blankly followed the pattern of the floor.

“Well, you guys came at a good time. We are leaving this morning and we could use the extra hands.”

“Where are we going?” Matt asks

“Vermont, we are going to meet up with Lucas and Danielle”

“When are we leaving?” Nicole asked

“As soon as we are done packing” I stood up from my chair “We are going to strip this entire place down, leave nothing bolted down. If we can remove it remove it. After everything is in the first truck we will put the dogs in the second truck. We will separate a section of that truck for any form of food. Finally we will have Sarah, Nicole and Nikki on the roof playing sniper so we can move without worry of the Infection.” I watched all of the blank faces allowing for a pregnant pause filled with yawns and a single sniffle. “What questions are there?” I cautiously ask

“Sam,” Freddie meekly raises his hand like a child in elementary school. “What are we going to use to take stuff apart? Do we have any tools?” I turned and looked at the closet door that says tools. Everyone’s eyes follow mine.

“Any other questions?” Silence filled the air. “Let’s get it done.” A flurry of bodies began moving around me in an orchestra of tools spinning smashing and tearing our temporary home apart bit by bit. The only thing that bothered me was the two people sitting in their seats. Brandon and Nikki sat whispering at each other the occasional glance in my general direction.

“Sam, Nikki is kind of not really up to holding a gun or sitting on a roof.” I glanced at Nikki out of the corner of my eye. She was in tears again.

“Fine, Nikki I guess that means you will be preparing our last meal here.” I brought Nikki to the storage room and gave her 5 cans of wet dog food. “Open these and put them in the fire.” I turned and walked out of the room. I tried to catch Brandon’s eyes as I walked past him but he looked down towards the floor.

“Excuse me,” Freddie and Sean rushed by with the door to an office. Work went by pretty quickly and within hours we were done. We even had just enough time to enjoy the sunrise on the roof while we ate our last meal. It was both magical and haunting as the world existed somewhere in between disaster and serenity. After we finished eating we got into our newly packed vehicles, my car headed the pack, followed by Matt and Nicole in truck one, Sarah and Freddie in Truck two, Sean in truck three, and finally Brandon and Nikki held the rear in their S.U.V.

Leaving the hospital was bitter sweet there was so much for us, but out there, out there, there is more. More food, more supplies, most importantly. There are more people. People who need help need homes. They need us. We pulled out of the parking lot at seven in the morning, the last thing I would call us is bright eyed and bushy tailed. My hands seem to tremble as I grip the steering wheel caught somewhere between excited and terrified.

As my ipod began to play through the speakers certain serenity caught over me. I felt my body get lost somewhere in the subwoofer as the heavy jungle drum beat of “When They Come for Me” by Linkin Park banged against the car.

I got into my best rap voice singing along the lyrics

“I am not a pattern to be followed. The pill that I am on is a tough one to swallow” As we began weaving in between the crushed and stalled cars that littered the road. The daunting task was almost painful to watch through my rearview. As we came up to the entrance of the turnpike the road became much more empty and easier to manage. The entrance to the parkway was empty but that was about all that was empty. The once bustling highway was a disaster zone of torn up cars and damage. We found ourselves in territory that was not going to be easy to navigate. Some cars were on their sides others stood where they were left many appeared to have been abandoned or destroyed Either way it was obvious to see we were not going to get through this. I sat in my car looking at the wreckage trying to piece together a solution that could actually work. There are eight people, three trucks and two cars. This means that we are able to have three people get out and move the cars. While the rest of us drive. This will take hours. I stop and get out of the Escape and walk towards the first truck which Freddie is driving.

“Freddie, can you let Sarah drive I need you to help move all of these cars.”

Freddie looked at Sarah; she sighed and got out of the truck.

“I will do it.” Sarah walked over towards me. I looked at Freddie and shook my head with obvious disappointment. He smiled awkwardly. I then moved down the line recruiting Matt and Brandon. I then got back into the Escape and we began the slow painful process of moving each of the cars out of the way. Sarah steered while Matt and Brandon pushed. I would then squeak through. The others would then follow. We did this for about two and a half hours, before finally stopping. I was hungry and those three looked tired. I feel the best thing to do would be to stop and eat. We should also feed and walk the dogs. We had only traveled four miles out of the twenty mile drive towards Stephanie and Carly.

            We stopped in a crowded area of broken cars. That sat underneath the warm summer sun. Freddie Nikki and I created a barrier with the broken down vehicles. Inside it Sean and Nicole began walking and feeding the dogs. Sarah Matt and Brandon collapsed on the warm asphalt; they were so tired I could not blame them.

            I opened a bag of potato chips and smiled, for the past few days all we had been eating was either dog, or dog food and something about the smeel of the chips seemed natural, normal even. I took one out and bit into it. This was followed by many more, eventually Sean and Freddie joined in and we ate the entire family sized bag ourselves. We could not stay long so we only sat for an hour or so, making sure we were rested enough to continue.

            The rest of the trail was worse every few hours we had to stop and switch drivers, just to keep our bodies fresh. To make matters worse it was one of the hottest days of the years. Our clothes immediately began to stick to us when we left the cars and I was concerned about wasting gas so I suggested light use of our air conditioners. It was a train wreck and I feared what the rest of our trip would look like if we could hardly make a short trip. In the distance the sun was beginning to set behind the trees. We were tired and I knew that there was no time to stop. I saw the exit in the distance and as me made the long winding turn I saw one of the greatest things I had seen in years. It was the bright lights of neon atop a building the lights were in poor condition but you could still read out two of the best words ever Crowne Plaza. I pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off. My body pulsed with nervousness and anticipation. Not in fear of the zombies but fear of Stephanie and my friends neither of which knew exactly what my plans were. Leila licked the side of my cheek and I rubbed the top of her head.

“You three will stay here for a little while ok?” The animals looked at me and continued on without any care or response. I smiled and got out of the car. I grabbed the Woodpecker scythe out of the back and entered the parking lot. The trucks all pulled in and everyone else got out, into the darkness.

“Sam, what are we doing here?” Nicole asked holding the rifle in one hand.

“There are people here.”

“The Infected are here.” Brandon said with an uncaring tone. “The people here are probably dead. Let them be.”

“No I know they are alive and we can save them.” I look at Sarah who smiles slightly.

“Fine then,” Matt started “Let’s get them and get out.”

We all began to walk towards the main entrance in the background Leila was barking and I looked at her, she seemed concerned for our health. I was concerned for hers.

The door which was at one point an automatic sliding door was now forced shut. Its large black metal frame was covered in dents and small splatters of blood. The ground around it is littered with bloody and broken glass. The jagged edges of the door seem to create razor like edges that are quite terrifying. In a single file line we contort our bodies into the lobby stepping on the cracking glass under our feet. The lobby looked almost untouched. Everything just seemed so perfect, even the fake fern in the corner was still left standing. It was creepy, all I was waiting for was the woman behind the desk to pop up saying welcome to Crowne Plaza do you have a reservation. Instead the silence was eerie and mocking the old way of life.

Freddie sneezed. We all looked at him as the slight rumble of life began to echo around us. I started running towards the stairs and threw the door open. Everyone followed behind me. The door slowly closed behind us followed by a large bang. Then another and the door began to open. We began running up the stairs and got out at the first door we found. Sean shut the door behind us. We looked at the door for just a second before running down the long hall towards another set of stairs. We closed the door and held our breath for just a second, waiting, listening for that one sound. There was one long exasperated group gasp. After regaining our composure we began slowly heading up the stairs to the third floor. As the door the scene was a much more natural one for what we were used to. The infected huddled around a corpse tearing the flesh from the bones.

One noticed us and let out a large screech as though it was claiming the food as its own. The other creatures followed in the loud warning. Brandon let the first shot fire. The bullet hit the first one in the head knocking it back, onto the cheesy hotel floor. The other four stood up and began screaming. They charged us and before we could react Brandon gunned down each one until the hallway was a puddle of dark brown blood. I maneuvered my body over the corpses towards the door to room 316 and knocked twice.

            The door flew open quickly and I found myself caught in the lock of familiar arms. Stephanie’s body was warm and comforting. Her body pressed tightly up against my own to the point where I could not breathe.

            “Sam it is so good to see you” She squeezed tighter and I tried to mumble a response but couldn’t. “Oh,” She releases me. “I did not know you brought friends.”

            “Right, Steph these are my friends” I gesture awkwardly to the group of faces behind me, each filled with frustration as they realize what I have done.

            “Well then, Sam, and friends please come in.” Everyone filed in one after another leaving me as the last one in the hall. The room seemed small when filled with ten people. This made sense seeing as this room was meant for four people at most. I looked around and saw the connecting door. I pulled it open. The other side was locked, but the lock was simple and with a little bit of work with my shoe lace and old credit card I managed to slide the lock open. I kicked the door for effect and it flew open hitting a cabinet I turned towards the group brimming with pride and was not greeted by the response I was expecting. I smiled and pointed towards the open door once again exposing the other room.

            All I was greeted with were scowls.

            “You lied to us,” Brandon stares at me. His eyes cut through my skin. “You lied to all of us; you said we were going somewhere safe. Instead we left our home and followed you, just so you could chase some girl!” His voice got louder. “Nikki and I were safe, we had food, weapons, and enough power to last us for another month, but we gave all of that up because you promised us safety.”

            “Brandon-“

“This is not safety Sam.” He moved closer to me. “This is not what I was promised.”

“There is safety in numbers Brandon!” I retaliated “The more useful bodies there are the less stress that this puts on the rest of us.”

“Is that what this is really about or was it because this a way you thought you could get lucky?!” My fist was clenched so tightly I felt my nails dig into the palms of my hands. My body moved much closer to his my chest puffed out like and angry gorilla. I realized I was taller than Brandon but I still would never want to fight him.

“Brandon,” My voice lowered, “I hope you one day know what it feels like to not have anyone.” I was at a near whisper. I hope you one day know the pain that I felt when I realized I was the last of my entire family and that I have nothing to care for me other than a dog and two cats/” I moved my mouth closer to his ear. “When that day comes Brandon, when you finally know the feeling of having nothing left, then and only then can you tell me what I can and can’t do with my group.” I walked towards Stephanie and hugged. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I hugged her tightly. I did not want to let go. She was the closest thing I had left of a family and the idea that I could hold her, made it feel like the whole infection was a distant problem.

A small hand grabbed my wrist and bit it, not hard though, it was more of a shock than anything.

“Hi Sam,” I peered over Stephanie’s shoulder down to the bed, Carly, Steph’s younger was hiding half under the blankets. Her frame had not changed much since I saw her last. She was short with a childish face that still showed remnants of her baby fat. Her hair was in a loose messy ponytail that looked like it was thrown together quickly. She had a white head band pushing her hair back. She looked like the typical twelve year old girl except for the dirty clothes.

“Hello Carly, did we wake you?” I smile with a grin that I hoped resembled my father’s grin.

“No, I was awake for that whole little thing.” She smiled slyly with the overbearing confidence of any preteen who felt like they knew everything.

“Everyone this is Carly. Stephanie and Carly will be joining us for the rest of our trip. We will leave early tomorrow morning. We are going to try to head straight up to Lucas tomorrow without stopping.”