Infliction |Infected Book 2|

Chapter 6 - Plans

"But we wait," I told her. "We will think of something. Meanwhile, I'll train you."

Desiree suddenly looked angry at me. Stuffing one boxing glove between her legs, she pulled her arm free and took the other glove off with her hand. Throwing the glove to the ground, her eyes connected with mine, a crease forming between her thin brows.

"I don't need your training," Desiree said loudly, shattering the tense silence surround us. She didn't care who heard her. "I just got done running, and killing, and fearing for everything I had. Losing everything I had. I don't want to wait, I have nothing to lose anymore." Her voice grew quiet, her cheeks flushing red.

"Well I do," I said calmly, opening up a piece of myself to her. "Vivian has my sister being held prisoner in a camp in Wisconsin. Just one call.."

"And she's dead," Desiree finished my sentence, understanding, reminding her of something. "Vivian has the same hold on me too. She already had one person killed-"

Desiree's voice cut off and she looked away from me. I watched as tear rolled down her cheek, dripping off of her jaw. My hand reached out and grasped her shoulder, letting her know I was here.

Her chin began to quiver at my touch, and her body shivered as another tear rolled down her cheek. My hand wrapped tighter around her shoulder, balancing her as she swayed.

"I just can't believe he's dead," Desiree finally broke down, and I pulled her to me.

Wrapping my arms around her, I held her to me as her body rocked with every sob. I could feel her tears on my chest, my chin resting on the top of her head.

I let her cry in my arms, until her sobs became quiet gasps for air. I didn't say anything to her and she didn't say anything to me until the guard came through the door.

"Time to go Desiree," The guard dressed in the usual black said. He motioned for Desiree to follow him as he walked back out the door.

"Thank you," She said to me, wiping away the wet trails on her face. Blowing a stray blonde hair from her face, she turned over her shoulder and walked towards the exit.

"And when will you people learn that it's Desi, not Desiree," The fierce beautiful girl complained to the guard as the door shut behind her.

Cody

I stood gaping at the man in front of me, who had just saved my life. I was so shocked my voice came out as a whisper.

"Durbin?" I asked, even though I knew it was him.

"In the flesh boy," He replied, waving his hands in front of him as if he were a prize.

"How did you.. I though you.." I couldn't finish my thoughts.

"If there's one thing I learned when I was a kid, it was how to climb trees," Durbin said, his cocky smile on his face, just as I remembered.

"So you just climbed a tree and you survived?" I asked suspiciously. It was hard to believe that he could have escaped that massive herd of infected. "That's it?"

"Well no," Durbin said. "I guess you could say I ran for a while then got my ass up a tree before any of them could bite me. None of them even tried to climb after me. They just were looking up at me screaming that horrible scream they do, until they got bored and went to find someone else to eat."

"How anticlimactic," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Durbin laughed. "It was exciting! I was just on my way back to the camp. Speaking of which," He pressed his fingers to the stubble on his chin. "Why aren't you there?"

"You might not want to go down there," I said, brushing my body of the fallen leaves and dirt that clung to my torn shirt. "I'm not sure what it's like now, but when I left it was a warzone."

"What happened?" Durbin asked, and surprisingly handed my gun back to me.

Grasping my weapon in my hands, I told Durbin the story of me getting infected, and Desi curing me. I skipped over the memory of my emotions swimming wildly through my body when I realized I was cured and Desi and I were both alive. I told him about how they took Desi away from me and sedated her, taking her in a helicopter to Vegas.

"They tried to kill you?" Durbin asked me in disbelief. "Where was Rich in all of this?"

"When the riot began, I couldn't find him anywhere in the crowds," As I spoke, I suddenly wondered how Vivian knew so much about Desi, before she'd even talked to her. Someone had to have been feeding her information.

"So we're heading to Vegas?" Durbin asked, excitement filling his face. "I used to go all the time with Josie, we almost got hitched the last time we went."

My eyes narrowed at Durbin, warning him not to speak about my mother. He held his hands up to his sides in surrender.

"Sorry," He said quietly. "Too soon?"

"Desi might have been able to forgive you but I never will," I said through my teeth, stepping closer to him even though I was weak. "And even though I didn't invite you, I do need your help. I'm starving, and I need water."

"We're close to the Last Stop General store, by the hunting grounds in the forest," Durbin said, stepping around me and motioning for me to follow him. "I used to come hunting here, and recognized a couple of trees they had spray-painted so that hunters didn't lose their way. If we keep walking we should be there in thirty minutes."

I followed in step with him, my feet almost dragging behind me. Durbin looked over his shoulder at me, then looked back ahead at the trees.

"Do you think you can make it that long?" Durbin asked hopefully. "I can carry you, if you need me to."

Somehow I managed to laugh, at the irony of Durbin wanting to carry me. "No thank you," I said, pushing myself as hard as I could. The one thing that kept me going was images of Desi's face flashing in my mind, and one hope that rang only her name.