The Z Word Page 11

  The sound of the door being unlocked some time later broke her trance. The tenuous grip on her emotions slipped a little. Swiping away an errant tear, she turned to see who it was. Lani burst past the door, followed by Gareth and Addy.

  “We couldn't stand it,” Lani said, sinking onto the rock next to her and hugging her hard. Gareth sat down in the sand opposite her, while Addy joined him, scanning the horizon for any signs of danger.

  “I'm okay,” Seffy said after they were settled. Her voice came out more of a croak, belying her assertion.

  Gareth reached out and took her hand. “I'm sorry you have to go through this.” His searching gaze told her he could tell she'd been crying.

  “Yeah,” Addy said, freaked enough to attempt a measure of politeness.

  Seffy released a careful breath, thankful for Gareth's contact. “Let's talk about something else. Like home.”

  Lani licked her lips, a tremulous smile lighting her pretty face. “Well, if we could be back there right now, I'd take you to Rocco's for some calzone and tiramisu, then go see a movie.”

  “There's that werewolf flick still in theaters—” Gareth ventured.

  “She thinks it's about hobbits,” Addison said, slouching.

  Seffy shuddered. “No otherworldly stuff, please. I couldn't handle that.”

  “Duh, you're deep in it.”

  Seffy ignored Addison's jab.

  “Or you could have a girls weekend at the spa,” Gareth said.

  “I just happen to know this place where you could get in cheap,” Lani said with over-bright eyes.

  Seffy looked at her hand in Gareth's, wondering how he could bear the threat of contamination. “Yeah, that'd be fun.” She felt a fresh prick of tears and steeled herself until she could continue without crying. “How long do I ha—” Her voice broke.

  The three exchanged looks.

  Gareth squeezed her hand hard. “It could be...any time. But we can't know for sure that you're...infected.”

  “Any time?”

  He nodded.

  She slid her hand from his. “I'm a sock puppet, huh?”

  “It's blood puppet,” Addison said. “And don't say that. It's a revolting Malone-ism.”

  “Is there an official term for you making sure I don't come back as one of those things?”

  Gareth's mouth turned down in chagrin. “Friendship's Terminal Duty.”

  Seffy let out a strangled laugh. “Goodness, how colorful and...apt.” She took a cleansing breath. “Okay, if it comes to that, I'd like Malone to do it. I don't want you guys to see me that way.”

  Her three friends surveyed her, their expressions tight and eyes wide. At length, Gareth nodded.

  One more thing. Seffy pulled her hand from Gareth's. “Well, since this might be the end, I...need you to know something, if you ever get back home.”

  Addy leaned forward, anxiety carved into her features. Gareth's expression was wary.

  Lani pressed her head against her shoulder. “You don't need to do this, Sef.”

  “Actually I do, since it affects all of you.” She lifted her chin, tamping down her fears. “It's...about Verity. I don't think she's all she seems.”

  “Really,” Addison said. “You're going to warn us about Verity? And here I was hoping you were going to will me your Jimmy Choos.”

  “Not helping, Addy,” Gareth said on a sigh.

  Seffy sent a muted glare toward Addy. She'd always suspected the redhead wanted her shoes. “This is serious. I just want you to be open-minded about what I have to say.” She looked past them to gather her thoughts. Where to start? Were her suspicions founded? Was Verity even still alive?

  A movement caught her eye on the hill beyond the shelter. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck lifted as she sat up and stared at the object.

  The others turned and followed her line of sight. Addy let out a garbled gasp.

  “Someone's coming,” Lani squeaked.

  Seffy slowly got to her feet. “Maybe it's someone looking for help.”

  “Or maybe not,” Addy whispered.

  They watched the person lurching in the sand. Lani began to whimper.

  “Give me the gun, Sef,” Gareth said.

  Seffy ignored him. The man approaching them wore the same suit she'd seen on Clay. Her heart roared like the ocean in her ears. This is my fault. I need to do this. For once in my life I need to clean up my own mess. I need to make all this go away. She took the rifle and lifted it her shoulder. She tried to peer down the barrel but the light blurred around the figure.

  “The gun.”

  “I can do this, Gareth.”

  She sensed them all move behind her. Seffy kept the rifle trained, feeling more dead than the figure approaching them. A tear escaped her guard and slipped down her cheek. Will that be me in a few hours?

  “It's Clay,” Addy said in a numb voice. “God, I assumed Malone made sure he wouldn't come back. You have to shoot him, Seffy.”

  Seffy continued to watch, noticing as each detail came into tighter focus...the beautiful lines of his casual suit, the dark hair tumbling over his brow...the tie askew, the gray skin, the blank look in the eyes.

  She knew just how he felt.

  The figure, less than ten feet away now, let out a blood-congealing moan. Seffy faltered. She lowered the rifle a little. “How can we be sure?”

  “Are you trying to guarantee you'll become a zombie?” Addison said. “Shoot it!”

  “Clay! Can you understand me?”

  The figure moaned for several seconds and seemed to speed up. Addison and Lani ran to the door of the safe house.

  “I don't want to hurt you, Clay,” Seffy said. “Please, just turn around and go away, okay?”

  Then she caught a whiff of something horrible and rotten. Clay raised his arms, his fingers stretching and grasping. The rifle was wrenched from her hands. Gareth shoved her behind him. She staggered, then righted herself just as he squinted through the gun sight and

  pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Nine

  Clay's head disappeared in a cloud of brown mist, coalescing against the purpling horizon in an almost pretty shimmer as the rest of his body slowly folded to the ground. Lani screamed. Seffy felt an arm going around her waist. She looked up and saw lights swirling in the sky, rushing to meet her.

  “Oh God, not now.” Gareth jostled her upright. “C'mom, stay with me, Sef.”

  Lani's voice, “Oh no, is she having a—?”

  The door to the shelter burst open. Opening her eyes as wide as they would go, Seffy mustered all her strength to stay in the moment, helped along by Gareth's painful grip. When the world began to right itself, she looked over to see the newcomers burst out of the safe house, followed by Malone.

  The weedy guy arrived first. “What happened?” He looked at what was left of his friend. “Oh my God, it's Clay. You bitch!”

  Seffy leaned against Gareth, shocked by the vitriol in his voice.

  “Hey!” Gareth said. “I shot him. It had to be done and you know it!” He turned. “Malone. You said you took care of this.”

  A closed look came over Malone's face. “I did. Anyway, she was supposed to be the one who shot it.”

  “You set this up?”

  He grabbed the rifle and sent him a piercing glare. “I did what I thought best.”

  “You're a real piece of work, Malone.”

  Lani's voice sounded frantic. “Let's all get back inside. There may be more.”

  “Are we forgetting about the one right in front of us?”

  Seffy didn't need to look to know who was talking. Clay's dark-haired friend. No one said anything for a long moment. Maybe she was wrong to fight the darkness.

  “Think about it,” he said. “You bring her back inside, she turns, you shoot, and then what? A ricocheting bullet in a small space. I say we end this now.”

  “Hey, Beverly Hills, it's a shell, not a bullet.” Malone rasped a hand over his facial stubble and looked at Sef
fy. “Okay, everyone back inside.”

  “What?” Beverly Hills seethed. “With her? I say let's deal with this now.”

  “How about I deal with you now?” Gareth said, his voice a low growl.

  The dark haired guy took a step back.

  “Listen,” Malone said, “you all just need to cool your jets. This isn't a mystery. We'll know if she's infected when she dies.”

  Seffy choked a little.

  When she dies.

  Gareth coaxed her along. “Ignore him, Sef.”

  When she dies. When she dies. When she dies. “Hey, Lani. I'll take that calzone and cake now.”

  Lani's face appeared before her, crumpled. “Oh, sweetie.”

  Seffy drew on everything she had to stiffen her spine and balance on her own two feet. The air seemed to spin around her, but she set her sights on the gloom of the shelter and moved toward it. I'm supposed to be walking toward the light when I'm near death. Not a black hole.

  Inside, she collapsed onto the couch.

  “You gonna be okay?” Gareth whispered.

  She noticed his set expression, wondering what he was thinking.

  The newcomers shuffled in after Malone, Lani and Addison. The dirty blond guy had remained inside. He leaned against a wall, his hands in his pockets, his gaze taking her in before apparently losing interest.

  Clay's friend suddenly appeared in front of her. “I hope you're happy.”

  Seffy leaned away from his twisted face. “Um, no. Not happy.”

  “I hope your blood is infected and someone blows your head off, too.”

  In the next instant, he went stumbling across the room.

  “Hey, back off, Metro!” the man yelled, scrambling to his feet.

  “Keep out of her face!”

  “Maybe you'd feel different if your friend was the dead one.”

  Seffy suppressed a hysterical urge to giggle. I'm probably already dead, moron.

  “You two calm down,” Malone said, sounding disinterested.

  “Who do you think you are, old man?”

  “The one with the gun.” To illustrate his point, he popped out the shell casing and reloaded.

  The man looked from face to face in the dim room, his messy hair making him appear unhinged. “C'mon, we can take him.”

  “Don't be stupid,” said the McGuire girl. “You're only going to end up getting shot.”

  “She's right,” Malone said. “And if you all will just sit down, I'll heat up some stew.”

  The blonde girl walked over and tugged at the man's arm. “Please, sit down. We just have to make the best of it.”

  He acquiesced but his expression said otherwise. He shot a furious stare at Seffy.

  “Seems like he wants you dead, period.”

  Seffy looked over to where the dirty blond stood slumped against the wall. His hectic eyes and waxen face made her wonder if he'd been bitten after all. The intensity of his eyes was unnerving.

  She sat up, needing to be away from everyone and their strange reactions to her presence. “I'm gonna take a shower.”

  Lani jumped to her feet. “Oh, let me help you get some stuff.” She grabbed the dry track suit and helped Seffy into the bathroom. Someone had already hung a towel over the hole and swept up the rest of the debris. Lani turned on the shower tap and held her hand under the water. “You know, the water pressure is better here.” She sniffed.

  “That will be nice.”

  Lani grimaced. “It's been a funny kind of day, huh?”

  Seffy looked at her friend and smiled. “This isn't exactly how I expected to go, you know?”

  Huge tears spilled down Lani's cheeks. “Oh, don't talk about it, please.”

  Seffy quirked her lips. “Sorry.”

  Lani nodded and took a moment to compose herself. “Um, the water's hot.”

  “Thanks.”

  Lani stood up and hugged her hard. “I'm not saying goodbye, because nothing is going to happen.”

  “I hope you're right.” Seffy let out a harsh laugh. “I mean, looking all reanimated is so not cool. I think I'd rather be dead than be seen like that.”

  Lani's smile missed her eyes. “Yeah. Not cool.” She looked down. “I'll be right outside if you need me.”

  Seffy watched her leave. After staring at the door for a moment, she disrobed and stepped into the the hot stream of water. Feeling some of her tension ease was blissful. She stood under it for a long time before soaping up and rinsing off. Military shower be damned. If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die extra clean.

  If only I could wash away my disease as easily.

  After she dried off, Seffy slipped into the soft velour of the track suit and smoothed out the fabric. She combed out her hair, scrunching it up afterwards to encourage some wave. After putting on her shoes, she stared at herself in the little bit of mirror left. Her skin appeared translucent under the bare bulb. Little blue veins showed at her temple and under her eyes. Violet shadows highlighted the contours of her face.

  Seffy looked at her hands. Were they bonier than usual? The skin seemed thin, her veins distended. She tried to remember if that was normal.

  What if it's already happening?

  The idea that some kind of sickness was multiplying or festering or whatever through her bloodstream caused another lurch of her stomach. She grabbed at her middle until the worst of the sensation passed. Would her insides ever be settled again?

  Seffy straightened, her eyes returning to the shard of mirror. It was a big triangle chunk and would take just a little pull to remove it from the wall. She reached up and it snapped off into her hand. Light winked off it, casting reflections onto the walls. Seffy remembered what Clay's friend had said about her blood being infected. Maybe...maybe if she got rid of her blood, the infection would go away.

  Staring at the inside of her wrist, she furrowed her brow. A sensation of light-headedness swept over her.

  “Don't even think about it.”

  Seffy turned to see Malone in the doorway.

  He snatched the glass from her hand. “All we need is your bodily fluids everywhere, putting us all at risk.”

  Seffy opened her mouth. “Your mirror is broken.”

  “Yeah, doll. Go sit down with your friends.”

  With mechanical steps, Seffy walked out of the bathroom and perched on the edge of a chair. Addison peeked at her, her lips white and set.

  Gareth crouched next to her and put his hand on her knee. “There's some stew. I think you should eat something.”

  “Got any brain food?” Addison said, then burst into tears.

  Gareth went to tend to her. Seffy looked up as a bowl of stew appeared before her face. “Eat.” Malone pushed the bowl at her until she was forced to accept it. She looked at the couch where the others sat glowering at her, trying not to listen to Addison's sobs. She realized she was hungry. Because of her puke-a-thon, it'd been awhile since she'd had food in her stomach.

  She took a tentative bite and relaxed when she didn't feel the urge to hurl. A few minutes later, she realized her bowl was empty. Seffy got up to take it to the kitchen. She looked around and saw other empty bowls. Going around the room, she picked them up and stacked them together.

  The weedy dude held his bowl back. “What is this? You trying to redeem your miserable, amoral life before you die?”

  Seffy gripped her small stack of bowls and surveyed his hard expression.

  He sneered. “That's what your own friend said about you. How does it make you feel?”

  “You know what, I don't even know your name.”

  He stared at her, his lip curling. “It's Jared.”

  “Okay, Jared. Can I get your bowl?”

  He shoved it at her. Seffy took it and stepped in front of the dirty blond. He looked about as nauseated as she felt, but he didn't hand her the bowl right away. Instead he surveyed her with some mixture of reluctant fascination and dislike.

  “Are you done?” she asked.

  “Maybe even befo
re I started,” he said, shoving the bowl her way.

  Unsure how to respond, she said, “I'm Seffy.”

  “So I heard.” His tone was ironic. He looked away, apparently unable to stand the sight of her. “It's Trent.”

  Seffy took his bowl and went into the kitchen, needing a break from her legion of fans. She plugged and filled the sink, then emptied the old bottle of dish soap. Plunging her hands in the warm, soapy water was therapeutic. She took her time washing and rinsing trying not to think of the possible changes occurring in her body. All because she made out with a—

  “Can I help dry?”

  Seffy looked up at the sound of Gareth's voice. An overwhelming sadness flooded her heart, knowing she'd forever lost any chance to be with him. She'd thrown it all away on a drunken fumble with a diseased stranger. Looks like I win the Pathetic Award for the whole freakin' century.

  “Sef?”

  “Huh?”

  “Can I get the towel?”

  “Oh.” She shook her morose thoughts away, handing him a thin flour sack towel.

  “How are you feeling?”

  She shrugged. “Crummy, I guess.”

  “Yeah, me, too. At least there's no more of Malone's grog.”

  Her gaze flew to his. “God, Gareth, you have no idea how horrible I feel about that.”

  He sighed. “I wasn't trying to make you feel worse. I just meant...that...” Gareth shook his head. “It's nothing, okay?”

  She bit her lip. “Any chance I could be absolved before I die?”

  His expression darkened. “Don't say that.”

  Seffy handed him a soapy bowl. “So how does it work, exactly? This so-called...'zombie' thing?” When he was silent for several moments, she knew he was trying to think of a way to hedge.

  Gareth's shoulders sagged. “A zombie's bite is a hundred percent fatal. But that's the thing, you weren't actually bitten, right?”

  She felt her cheeks heat. “No. We hadn't got to the biting phase of our relationship yet.” Peeking up at him, she asked, “So there's some kind of venom that gets into the blood?”