They all sit on the edge of my cot, frozen in shock. I explain everything I saw and show them the picture proof I have. Riley looks utterly devastated.
"I'm sorry, I'm aware you guys were friend,s, I apologize. It pains me to see him so lost . He stays silent and turns his gaze to the floor.
"How could she do that?" he mumbles.
"Look, sometimes people aren't always what they claim to be, you know? Don't beat yourself up," Griffith advises. Riley lifts his head up and looks from me to Griffith.
"Ya, I know what you mean," he says. That little... I glare at him, hate burning in my eyes.
"We need get out of here," Mia says before my rage can erupt. I nod my head and bottle up my feelings. I turn around and stuff multiple supplies in my knapsack.
"Go get ready," I order and they all travel back to their dorms. I get dressed again, this time sliding my gun in my back pocket, and make my way to the armoury.
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Troops line the concrete walls, ready to pounce when beckoned, and others train their hearts away, grunting as their body parts come in contact witho the punching bags. We sneak around large crates that have the word 'QUARANTINE' stamped on every side of the cube. There's a jeep not too far away. Riley crawls into the drivers seat and disappears for a few minutes. My heart pounds, where did he go? What is he doing? I see his hand stick out of the door and motion for us to follow. I get into the back unnoticed and Riley proceeds to covering me with bags of weaponry and supplies. After everyone had been well hidden, the car begins to shudder and it jolts forward. I hear two faint male voices conversing as the truck slows. Someone starts to shuffle around the items that lie on top of us. Oh shit, oh shit, were all gonna effing died. The shuffling stops and I hold my breath, my heart beating as loud as a set of drums. Someone smacks the side of the car and hollers an order. There's the loud clicking of gears and the door to the exit opens up. Riley drives for a few minutes until its safe to stop. The pile if objects that lies on top of me is thrown off and I finally inhale the freezing air of the dark night. The first thing I see is Riley's outline against the sky sprayed with sparkling lights. I scramble out of the stuffy trunk and gasp for air. i glance over at Mia and I realize that her claustrophobia isn't helping the situation. I bend down and look her straight in the eyes.
"Hon, breathe. Inhale and exhale," I says. My voice somehow soothes her. My gaze holds hers and entrances her like an ancient spell. She follows my breathing pattern and calms down. I look around and see Riley and Griffith checking a map together.
"They'll come for us," Mia says, her voice traveling along the deserted air of the night, finally reaching the ears of both boys. They turn around and give her their full attention, as do I.
"We need to keep moving," Riley says. It's unspoken agreement as we all climb back into the jeep. I don't know how long we drive for but dusk faded into dawn and yet we all hold our breaths, expecting something devastating to happen. They won't let us go this easily and we all subconsciously know it.
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A few days have passed since our escape and we occupy ourselves with road trip games. One of us drives until we get tired then we rotate, another person in charge of the map. It feels wrong to be this happy, yet it's a nice change. Here we are, horribly singing 'Dead or Alive', by Bon Jovi when the earth begins to shake a bit. We hear a loud truck-like sound and that's when we see it, a large car appears on the horizon and its barreling in our direction. I stop the car and the opposing vehicle, like a bull waiting for the red flag, slows down to a near stop. I cautiously step out onto the heat trapped road and inspect the car. Someone steps out of the foreign vehicle in their white lab coat. The stench of gasoline is like a sickness to my nose as I inhale.
"Now, you didn't think you'd escape that quickly, did you?" Frederick inquires. Really? This bastard again? I shoot him an unamused look.
"You're not going anywhere except for back to our camp," he says.
"So help me God, I will get past you if I have to rip you limb from limb. I'm totally finished with your shenanigans," I threaten him through gritted teeth. He gives me an almost stunned look at my sudden violent ways. I raise an eyebrow at him.
"What's wrong? Did you not think the grim reaper could ever take a human form, Frederick?" I ask. The back door to his car opens and out steps a man with a knife in front of Martha's throat. It's my turn to be baffled.
"Now hand yourself over and we won't kill her" he attempts to negotiating. I look back at Riley, Arianne, and Mia's concerned faces through the front window.
"You wouldn't dare," I give Frederick a challenging stare.
"Want to put money on it?" he inquires. I don't back down from our little battle. He snaps his fingers and just like that the knife glides across Martha's throat. Blood pies out of her neck like a faucet and she crumpled to the ground, staining the pavement.
"NO!" I shout. The blood seeps out and stains her hair as fragments of her glasses lay astray. Riley runs out of the car and I hold him back.
"YOU KILLED HER!" he yells. Frederick gives him a malicious smile.
"Riley, return to the car", I tell him. My muscles tense and my nerves are on point. Riley whips out his gun and my vision slows. I see him shoot the man that killed Martha and I can already tell it's not gonna end well. Frederick whips out a gun too. I quickly take mine out and just as Frederick pulls the trigger so do I. It hits him and he glances down at the blood that seeps through his shirt and smashes to the floor. Someone had to die, thankfully it wasn't Ril- ... I've spoken too soon. I glance over at Riley and see the bullet hole in his stomach. Rivulets of blood stream down his abdomen. My heartbeat slows and I think it could stop. I rush to his side and pull his head into my lap. Tears stream down my face and I can barely utter two words without crying.
"Raine-", he tries speaking. I can tell it pains him so I simply hush him. Griffith and Mia come running out of the car and I can feel them watching me.
"You're going to be okay," I tell him. I smile and a few salty drops get inside my mouth. I don't think it hit an artery, he should be fine... He begins to have a coughing fit and a small amount of blood comes up. I gently turn his head so he can spit it out. I look up at Arianne with a questioning glance and she simply shakes her head. He's not gonna make it, and everything's my fault. He gives me a weak smile.
"You're so beautiful, my guardian angel," he tells me. A few tears drip from his once dry eyes. I take his hand and draw light circles on his palms.
"I'm sorry I launched the bomb that killed Fiona," he apologizes. His charming green eyes squint in pain.
"No, it's alright. I made a large problem out of nothing. I took out a lot of my pent up anger on you", I forgive him in a tight voice.
"Raine", he says, I nod my head, "I'd like to hear your voice. When we were growing up you'd always hum the tune to our song", he requests.
"Sure", I whisper. It takes every last ounce of courage I have not to make my voice crack and I manage to sing him our song
"I'm leaving on a jet plane...", I sing a few verses of the song until he starts to cough.
"I love you so much, Riley", I tell him before he can slip away. I brush at his luscious hair. I dab away the blood from his mouth with my sweater. Mia and Griffith turn away from us, as Mia begins to silently bawl. Arianne gives me a pained look and gets back into the car.
"I love you too, Raine. I always have", Riley says. I smile as tears blur my vision and I have to blink away the fat droplets. I bend down and kiss his frozen lips. He gazes at me and stays like that, but too long. His chest stops heaving and I finally lose control. I begin to sob uncontrollably.
"Come back to me", I cry in between sobs, "I should have forgiven you sooner". Life's a bitch. Anger seeps in and courses through my every vein.
"Goodbye, my love", I whisper hoarsely. I lean my forehead against his chest and let my tears soak his shirt.
YOU ARE READING
Infectious
Teen FictionLove, an apocalypse, and survival. Three things that should not be combined in a sixteen-year-old's life. Raine was a girl with a picture perfect life. That was until the virus broke out. A tale of sacrifice, secrecy, and the hunt for a cure.
