Free The Truth is Contagious (The Contagium Series Book 4) by Emily Goodwin Page A

nose. “It smells like someone microwaved leftover roadkill then
shoved it up a dead horse’s ass.”
    “I don’t know what that smells like but
sure.” I rolled an arrow in between my fingers. “There,” I said and
used the arrow to point to a garbage bag that was half covered by a
tattered yellow quilt. “I bet you it’s full of stomachs. The last,
uh, organized crazy I came up against collected stomachs to
eat.”
    Hayden moved a few paces away and picked up a
stick and came back over and poked at the bag full of human
remains. Liquid swished around. We both gagged at the smell.
    “Yeah…don’t need to see it to know that the
crazies are keeping snacks for later.” Hayden dropped the stick and
covered his nose with his arm. “What the hell are they doing,
making a nest like this?”
    “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” I
shuddered. I pulled my shoulders back and blew a loose strand of
hair out of my face.
    “Grouping together…carrying weapons…nesting.”
I shook my head. “Are they getting smarter?” Hayden asked.
    “They have to be.”
    We hurried away from the merry-go-round,
taking shelter behind what was left of a food stand. Hayden wiped
sweat from his face and leaned against the rotting wood. Though he
would never admit it, I knew he was in pain. I put the end of the
arrow against the bow string, took a breath, and leaned forward,
looking out at the theme park.
    The rusty remains of a roller coaster were
behind us. Tall, browning grass grew through cracks in the pavement
and dilapidated buildings surrounded the section of the park.
    Something moved inside the nearest one. I
ducked back, out of sight. I looked at Hayden, silently telling him
that we weren’t alone. He put his finger over the trigger and
nodded.
    “On three,” he mouthed. One . I strung
the arrow. Two . I pulled the string back. Three .
Together, we jumped around the corner. The crazy from inside the
building burst through the door. He screamed and charged at us,
holding a broken board above his head.
    My arrow hit him in the shoulder. Completely
unfazed, he kept running. When Hayden didn’t fire, I knew he was
waiting for me to grab another arrow so we could avoid the very
loud gunshot that would give away our location.
    Then another crazy appeared out of nowhere.
He barreled down the pavement, spitting and growling and was joined
by two others. All three ran toward us, eyes set on a kill. Hayden
had no choice but to fire.
    As soon as we took down those four, Hayden
and I sprinted down the lot. We passed the first building, which
was an old restaurant. A crazy inside lunged forward, banging on
the dust covered glass windows of a gift shop. I turned, reaching
behind me for an arrow at the same time.
    Her eyes met mine. The vividness of the green
struck me, brought out by the bright red blood that covered her
face. Her teeth pulled back in a snarling smile, taunting, as if
she knew she would rip me to shreds.
    “Riss, look out!” Hayden yelled and reached
for me.
    But he was a second too late. I whipped my
head around just in time to see the trip wire. I tried to jump over
it but didn’t make it. The bow flew from my hands and I fell. The
heels of my palms bit into the pavement, and I caught myself just
inches before my chin hit the hard ground.
    Reeling in pain, I pushed up onto my knees.
Hayden rushed over, swinging the rifle back around. He grabbed me
under the arms. The crazy girl from inside the shop laughed. I put
my hands on Hayden’s arms and stood as he pulled me to my feet.
    The girl was in the lot with us…as well as a
dozen of her friends. Hayden held onto me as I stepped over the
wire. Where was my bow? I knew I had dropped it. My heart pounded
and the muscles in my legs ached. We needed to run. We needed to
get the hell out of here as fast as we possibly could.
    Hayden jumped forward but I didn’t move just
yet. I needed the bow. Without it, I only had the knife and a gun
with limited ammo.
    “Leave