Deathly Contagious (8 page)

“No she’s not,” Delmont argued. How the hell would he know? This was the first time we’d met.

“Orissa,” Olivia pressed. “You don’t feel well, do you?” It was more of a statement than a question.

“I feel like shit,” I said quickly, going with my gut and trusting her.

“Fine,” Delmont spat. “Rest up.”

“I’ll take her to bed,” Olivia offered.

“No!” Bart interjected. “Jaylyn will.”

I purposely faltered in my gait as I exited the dining room. Jaylyn waited until I was under the covers before she left, closing the door behind her. I waited a minute to make sure she had made it down the hall before I got up and flicked on the bedside lamp.

Slowly, I opened the dresser drawers. There was nothing in them. I threw open the closet door: nothing. Ok, maybe that wasn’t entirely odd. I looked under the bed and in the cabinets in the bathroom and didn’t find anything either. I sat on the bed, shivering.

Dammit, I was still sick. I stood, trying to shake the horrible feeling that stabbed me in the gut. Something wasn’t right about this situation. Deciding I needed to get to the bottom of it, I put my hand on the door, set on finding Olivia. But I couldn’t leave.

The door was locked.

Chapter 4

I might have slightly panicked. I was locked in. I madly jiggled the handle, hoping that it was just sticking. I abruptly stopped, not wanting anyone to know I knew I was locked in. What the fuck?  Why did they lock me in? I strode to the window, my anxiety making the dizziness worsen. I pulled the ugly brown curtains back; it was a clear two story drop.

Son of a bitch.

I sat back on the bed, thinking. Whatever they were planning, they picked the wrong girl to mess with. I wanted out, and I had no doubt in myself on getting out. Just not while I was still sick. Feeling horribly defeated, I got under the covers. I needed rest, I told myself, in order to get better and get the hell out of here. I thought of my friends back at the compound. It killed me to think of what Raeya must be going through right now.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to attempt to sleep. And then I heard it; the obvious sounds of someone having sex. Though only one person was enjoying it. Her cries were muffled but I could still hear them. My blood ran cold.

For the first time in a very long time, I felt helpless. My heart pounded in my chest as I laid in shock, too horrified to sleep. My brain lost the not sleeping battle as fatigue took over. The next day repeated the same nightmare. Olivia woke me up—wearing another short dress, the bruise on her thigh was obvious.

She gave me a horrible yellow sundress, advised me to shave my legs and trudged out of the room.  I did twenty minutes of yoga and felt considerably better after that. I showered, braided my hair and put on the ugly dress.

Delmont was sitting on the bed when I stepped into the room.

“Wow,” he said, licking his lips. I wanted to punch him in the face. The hot shower made me feel a little lightheaded so I just glared.

“How do you keep the zombies away?” I blurted. I had been curious about that for quite some time.

He shrugged. “Seems they haven’t crossed over this way much. Only seen a handful on the property.”

I nodded. I knew it wouldn’t last. Maybe I’d get lucky and zombies would attack. I could get away then.

“Want to see the shop?” he asked.

“No,” I replied flatly, not caring what kind of ‘shop’ he was referring to.

His eyes narrowed. “Rest up,” he said. That phrase was really starting to annoy me. “I’ll have Ma bring you somethin’ to eat.”

He didn’t lock the door. Using it to my advantage, I padded out and peered into the room next to the one I was in. It was a mess and smelled like a hillbilly frat house. I wrinkled my nose and moved on. Olivia was on her hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor.

“Olivia,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle her. She looked up at me, eyes widening in terror. She dropped the sponge and crawled over.

“You shouldn’t be here! Quick, go back to your room!”

“What, why?”

“Please, Orissa! Just go before they see you. I-I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”

“That’s the thing, you c-can’t leave.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice was calm but my heart raced.

“They won’t let you. They won’t let me…not that I could survive out there.” She cast her eyes down. “Maybe I
should
be grateful.”

“Grateful? Olivia…” I didn’t know what to say. I shook my head, causing the headache to worsen. “What happened to you last night?”

Tears filled her eyes and her body trembled. A creak came from the stairs. “Go!” she whispered. “Please!”

I nodded and quickly trotted down the hall. I sat on the bed, feeling dizzy again. Who the hell were these people? What did they want with Olivia and me? A moment later, Sue Ellen came into the room, carrying a tray.

“Hello, dear,” she cooed. A steaming bowl of vegetable soup actually smelled good. She handed me the bowl and a spoon. “How are you feeling?”

“Not so good,” I lied. “I feel like I’m getting sick again.”

She pressed her hand against my head. “You don’t feel hot.”

“My stomach. It hurts.”

“Oh, well, you’n lay down. We wantcha as healthy as possible.”

I smiled, playing along. Really, I was wondering why. I had all night to think about it. I got locked in again. I was too anxious to sleep, which pissed me off because I knew I needed to rest in order to get better. I did more yoga and attempted to relax my muscles and drift to sleep. At around what I guessed was three AM, I finally did, waking only hours later from a horrible nightmare.

Delmont brought me breakfast that morning. I didn’t want anything from these people, not their food, their fake hospitality or their shelter. Again, knowing I was useless while I was weak and sick, I ate. He asked if I wanted to see the shop again. This time, I agreed.

Bart owned a junk yard. Behind the house was a warehouse full of odds and ends with a workshop at one end. Behind that were acres filled with rusty cars and other disguarded pieces of unwanted crap. It had snowed more since my arrival. A path had been shoveled from the house to the shop. My combat boots had been ‘misplaced’ so I was forced to wear only a thin pair of slippers.

The shop was huge. There were rows upon rows filled with random junk. Dishes, old lamps, pieces of broken furniture, heaps of clothes, a black and white TV, and a rocking horse with a cracked head that threatened to tumble off the shelf and onto me at any second. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself to try to keep warm and to cover up my breasts; I still hadn’t been given a bra.

My eyes darted all around the shop. There were plenty of objects I could use as weapons. I just wasn’t sure on how to grab one unnoticed. It wasn’t like I had a lot of clothing to hide anything in. Delmont was talking, or had been talking I supposed. I hadn’t been paying attention to a word he had said.

“Orissa?” he asked, sounding ticked off.

“Huh?” I replied, furthering his annoyance.

He wheeled around, stepping close. “You listen when I’m talking to you!”

I raised an eyebrow. Taken aback by me not cowering, he suffered a few seconds of looking utterly perplexed. He sneered, grunted and turned away. What I wouldn’t give to kick his legs out from under him, slam my heels down on his fingers and stomp on his face.

Just a few more days. A few more days and I would have the strength to get out of here. Possibly…there were four grown men to get past and I had no weapons. I could do it. I’d figure it out, one way or another. Until then…I put my hand on the shelf and pretended to faint.

Delmont caught me. It took everything not to grimace when his hands tightened around my waist.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Oh, I-I feel so weak,” I stuttered. “I need to lay down.”

“Right. Gotta get you ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Uh, I mean healthy. Gotta get you healthy.”

“Yes, I want that,” I agreed. He let me go and stepped in front of me. A baseball bat lay covered in dust at the bottom on a shelf. I made a mental note of that and went back into the house.

Sue Ellen fussed over me when Delmont told her I fainted. She frowned at him, put her hand protectively on my shoulder and said,

“What the hell were you thinking, Del? You shouldn’t have taken her out in the cold. Not when we want her to heal.”

I nodded, doing my best to look sick. I had always wanted to be an actress, though the circumstances of using my acting skills were less than ideal. Del walked me to the stairs and told me he hoped I felt better fast. I heard voices coming from the bathroom as I walked down the hall.

“…it’s your own fault, you stupid bitch,” Jaylyn scolded. “We all know there’s something wrong with ya.” She stopped talking when she saw me. Olivia was standing by the sink, mopping up her bloody nose.  My eyes widened and I stepped in her direction. Jaylyn slammed the door shut. I shook my head and ventured back into ‘my room’.

I felt a little better after I did another Sun Salutation. I dropped to the floor and did a set of crunches, then pushups and squats. I ended with more yoga and laid down, wishing I could fall asleep and force my body to heal.

Delmont came in once the sun set. He brought me a plate of cooked venison. I ate it eagerly, purposely shoving it in my mouth in a way that mirrored a zombie. I smacked my lips and chewed with my mouth open, wanting to be as unattractive as possible.

When I was done eating, Delmont stretched out next to me.

“Rub my feet,” he ordered.

“No,” I said instantly.

“Do what I say, woman!”

I glared at him. God, how I wanted to hurt him. “No,” I repeated.

He sat up. “Do it or I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” I inquired, angering him further. He raised his hand as if he was going to hit me but stopped, huffed and stood.

“You’ll learn your place around here. Just you wait.” He stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut. I paced around the room. It didn’t matter if I still had a headache and was weak. I had to get out of here.

I ate breakfast with the ‘family’ the next morning. Bart and Beau were going on a hunting trip tomorrow, they announced. That was perfect. Casey whined like a bratty child that he wanted to go too, but Jaylyn clung onto his arm and begged him to stay. Annoyed, he pushed her away.

“Casey!” Bart scolded. “Is that any way to treat a lady who’s carrying a child?”

“No sir,” Casey mumbled, looking at the ground.

“That’s right, my boy.” Bart nodded and winked at me. Having lost my appetite, I had to force myself to shovel a spoonful of stew into my mouth.

Olivia was sitting on the edge of her bed when I was led to my room by Harley. He waved me in, smiling like he knew something was up.

“Have fun tonight,” he jeered. Laughing, he took off down the hall. As soon as he was out of earshot, I snuck into Olivia’s room.

“Orissa!” she whispered. “Don’t let them—”

“I know what you’re going to say. And I’m not leaving until I hear the truth so you better tell me. What is going on here?”

“They won’t let us leave!”

“Yea, I kinda figured that out when they locked me in a room at night. Cut to the chase.”

“We’re all that’s left. It’s our duty. Really, I should be grateful for them.”

She sounded brainwashed. The floor creaked downstairs. I cast a nervous glance over my shoulder. “What are they doing to you?”

“It’s my fault,” she said, sounding like a distant echo.

“What? Are you talking about your bloody nose?”

“Yes.”

“Beau hit you,” I speculated.

“Yes,” she answered again, tears filling her green eyes.

“How is that your fault?”

“Because I’m not pregnant,” she said shamefully.

“Wha—” I started. Then it hit me. “Beau’s trying to knock you up?”

“Yes. It’s my duty as a woman to repopulate the earth. We are all that’s left.”

“No,” I promised. “We’re not. There are more people.”

“Where are they?”

“I can take you to them,” I said quickly, fearing someone would come up the stairs. “I promise. I will get us out of here. Tomorrow. When they leave for the hunting trip. We will go.”

“We’ll die,” she whispered, trembling.

“I can take care of us.”

“How?” Tears rolled down her face. “How can you keep us safe from zombies? You fainted yesterday.”

“I faked it. Just trust me; I can take care of us. I’m leaving tomorrow. Are you coming with me?”

“Yes,” she said, not sounding too sure of herself.

“Ok. I’m gonna need your help. Do you know where they keep the keys?”

“Keys?”

“Yes, keys. To a car.”

“Uh, yes.”

“Get them.”

“I-I don’t know if I can.”

“You have to.”

Her hands shook as she pushed her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. “Ok. Are you sure you’re well enough?”

“Yes. I might not be one hundred percent, but trust me, I’ve been worse. We have to leave tomorrow, as soon as Bart goes hunting. It’s now or never.”

“They go hunting once a week. We can wait until next week when you’re better.”

“No,” I said too loud. “Do you want to stay here another week?”

“No,” she cried. “I don’t.”

“Ok, then, tomorrow...be ready. Signal me when you have the keys.” I looked around the room as I thought up a signal. “Cough, really loud, three times in a row.”

She nodded. The distinct sound of someone coming up the stairs made me jump. My eyes met Olivia’s for a second before I ran back into the room. I pulled the covers over me just in time for Delmont to walk in.

“Orissa,” he cooed. I pretended to be asleep. The mattress sunk down from his weight. My heart began beating quickly. I was scared of what he was going to try to do to me. He lay down, sticking his feet under the covers. His hand settled on my waist. I wanted to throw up. When his lips planted a kiss on the back of my neck, I acted like it woke me up.

“Oh, Delmont, hi,” I said groggily.

“Hey baby,” he whispered. I had to hide my gag.
Stay calm,
I told myself. I couldn’t blow my cover.  “How are you feeling?” he asked.