The Divine Infection

Chapter Twenty-Four: Thank You For The Venom

I open my eyes after what must have been only a one- or two-hour-long sleep, to see that we're still on the road. Barrone is still asleep, and PJ has pulled another seat up in the middle of the van, his feet propped up on it as he sleeps, his snores reverberating around the van. The sound is horrific, and I swear if it were anyone else I would shove a pillow over his face until he shuts up. Jim is driving now, and Crilly is singing to himself like a madman.

"Where are we?" I croak out, my throat sore and aching, as it always is after sleeping.

"A couple of miles off Aberdeen. Then we need to find the university." Jim says. "There's only one there, right?"

"As far as I know, yes." PJ pipes up. Hell, when did he wake up? I can't even recall his snoring faltering for a second to allow him to wake up straight away like that. "I wake up quickly, Leigh. Light sleeper." Then, after confused huh?s from Crilly and Jim, he carries on. "I was going to study medicine at the University of Aberdeen before all this happened. Ended up giving up after all this malarkey. I'd been to the university on open days, so if you get lost I'll take over."

"Oh. Right." Jim nods. "There'll probably be road signs or whatever though, right?"

"Nope. Policy in big towns at the start of the outbreak was to remove all road signs that would be obvious hints as to where people were. People didn't know much about the monsters, so they didn't know how smart they were. Right enough, back then, the monsters weren't actually smart enough to read road signs, they just found humanity from its scent. Now? Who the hell knows." PJ shrugs to himself, quickly dismissing the idea.

"L-Leigh.." I hear Barrone mumble. I whip my head around to look down at him. "How long...?"

"What, until we get to Aberdeen?" He nods stiffly. "Only a little while. Whilst we're there we'll have a look for some medical supplies, see if I can get you stitched and bandaged up." He nods again, a slow jerk of his head that seems to cause him a great amount of pain, judging by the grimace on his cut face. The lacerations upon his pale skin are deep, opening right up again with every tiny movement Barrone makes, but at least the bleeding has slowed. But...what if-

"You worry too much," PJ sighs, "so stop getting anxious. Barrone will be fine. Stop worrying."

"S-sorry. I can't help it." I look down at Barrone to see that his expression has changed to one of worry, mirroring my own. "A lot's going on just now, is all. It's hard not to worry."

"D-Don't be sorry." Barrone smiles weakly. "Worry about yourself." His voice sounds cracked and broken, probably from when we were in the factory and he was screaming for help... The memory of that noise is in my mind again in an instant, and I resist the urge to shudder at the haunting noise.

"Leigh." PJ shoots me a pointed look, and I grimace.

"Sorry." It's like I don't even notice I'm doing it, all this worrying - particularly about Barrone.

"What, what are you apologising for? You didn't even say anything!" Jim exclaims in my defense.

"No, but she thought it." PJ says pointedly.

"Um... She thought it...?" Crilly nods, clearly unconvinced. PJ sighs, and then goes on to explain the same tedious thing as before: that he can read minds, that it's all down to genetic modification. He doesn't, however, mention that his father did it to him. In fact, he just tells the others that someone from RedempCorp did it to him, someone he didn't know. Why won't he tell them the same as he told me? It leaves me puzzled, to say the very least.

I don't, however, get a chance to call him out on it, because Jim all of a sudden proclaims that he's lost. PJ has to tell him where to go, pointing out shortcuts and roundabouts, places to avoid and where he should be more attention to the cracked, dusty road. Pretty soon, with PJ's directions, we pull up in a silent, empty street. Cars are parked, some upturned, all abandoned, on either side of the road.