Free Barely Alive by Bonnie R. Paulson Page B

who “he” was.
    I shrugged in the darkness. “I don’t know. But if he did, he’ll be in the same shape I’m in, except with teeth marks.”
    “ He’s going to go after my family, isn’t he?” Tears laced her voice.
    I wanted to reassure her that he was most likely dead, that the virus could have killed him rather than change him, but I didn’t want to treat her like she was stupid. He’d said very clearly that the virus was derived from his saliva. How could he be immune?
    Plus, he’d threatened my family, too.
    My silence said more than if I’d spoken.
    She laughed. Yeah, laughed.
    I looked to the side and to the other side in the dark. “Um, are you okay?” Had I reached out and tickled her or something?”
    “ He has no idea where I’m from or who my family is.” She gasped. “I’m worrying about nothing.” She heard what I didn’t say. “Right?”
    “ Well…”
    “ Well what, Paul?” She said my name. I’d never loved my name more than in that second. “Tell me what you’re leaving out. How will he find my family?”
    I backed up an inch, not much but enough to feel like I’d done something to protect myself. “When we took you girls, we confiscated your phones and gave them to Dominic. It doesn’t take much to narrow down which phone is yours from the seven.”
    “ Seriously?” Her voice was small instead of the angry yell I expected. “Is there any way we can warn them? Help them?”
    If they smelled anything like Heather, they’d be in deep crap whether I was there or not, especially with more of my type out there unchecked.
    Before I could answer, Heather’s tone softened. “Paul? Did you… bite me?”
    In the dark, the question was more intimate than I was ready to deal with. I reached behind me and grabbed at the ladder. “I think it’s safe for us to go up.” I turned and climbed the few rungs. The handle turned easily and I pushed it open centimeter by centimeter.
    Absolute silence greeted my search. Oh, wait, a drip, drip, drip. Blood plopped into a puddle beneath pig remains draped over a pen wall. But that was it. No chickens or rabbits. And more importantly, no creatures lunged about in search of the next bite of meat.
    I scrambled from the cellar-like room, free from the closed in area and Heather’s question.
    Well, the former anyway.
    She climbed up behind me and closed the door. Heather winced at the site of the mangled bodies spread around the small area. But she squared her shoulders and raised her voice. “Did you bite me?”
    What did she expect me to say? I didn’t want to lie to her. I chewed on the words before spitting them out. “Yes. I’m sorry.” I faced her, certain her eyes would judge me or blame me or something bad, but her gaze wasn’t even on my face. Instead, she stared at my bare chest and stomach. I glanced down. Nothing was gray or out of place. My abdominals were still well defined – I boasted an eight-pack with clear lines. My pecs were tight and my arm muscles bulged, even more so after eating.
    She raised her eyes, a flush reddening her cheeks.
    “ What?” I pulled my shirt from the back pocket of my jeans and pulled it on. Great, had I lost something in the last few weeks? I used to work my butt off. It’d be my luck to lose all that work.
    Heather shook her head and focused her gaze down by our feet. “Nothing. Um, can we talk about this later? I need to call my parents and warn them. Do you know where I could get a phone?”
    “ We need to get out of here. I don’t know if they’ll be back.” When would be more like it, but I needed to get into the fresh air. Her scent was distracting. I wanted to feel what I’d grabbed before and that was completely unacceptable. I’d eaten so now the lust was taking over.
    I leaned through the spikes of wood and metal of the gaping hole where the monsters – like I wasn’t one – had broken through.
    Smoke from the burning building dimmed the afternoon sunlight. The entire