Chapter 3

There were two other people in the truck when Evey was brought back. She recognized Fiona, a middle-aged woman who Evey used to look after her cats when she would go on vacation. The other was a teenage boy she did not recognize. Evey sat down, and Ford slammed the door shut.

Evey took a deep breath and tilted her head to rest against the wall. Her back ached from Ford knocking her to the ground. She wanted to keep crying, but she could not find the tears.

“How stoked are you guys to be part of the zombie apocalypse?” the teenage boy asked.

“Excuse me?” Evey asked.

“Zombies,” he said. “That’s what I saw.”

“There’s no such thing as zombies,” Fiona said.

“What would you say is happening?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I just watched my whole family be murdered,” Evey said.

“Because they were zombies,” he said.

Evey balled up her hand into a fist. She let out a slow breath to stop herself from punching the boy in the face. Right now, she was in the worst moment of her life, and he was joking about it.

“My name is Connar,” he said. “We should get to know each other in order to survive this.”

“You don’t think they’re going to kill us?” Evey asked.

“We’re going to die?” Fiona asked.

Connar shook his head.

“They are bringing us to a safe zone,” he said. “Why kill us?”

“Why kill our families?” Evey asked.

“Because they’re infected,” he said. “I watched my parents and sister get killed too.”

Evey leaned forward and buried her head in her hands. The truck jostled as they drove. There were no windows, so she had yet to learn where they were heading.

Evey thought back to the man at the gas station. She had never seen someone attack someone else like that. The man took chunks of flesh off his body with his teeth, and blood was everywhere. Could it be zombies?

She shook her head. The thought was ridiculous.

The truck stopped moving. Evey listened to the doors slam shut and footsteps walk around the truck. The door opened and Ford cocked his head to the side to motion for them to get out.

Evey stepped out and looked at her old high school. The last time she had been was her graduation. A banner was hanging on the door congratulating this year’s graduating class.

“Why are we here?” Evey asked.

“This is our safe zone?” Johnson asked.

A few other trucks were in the parking lot, and people were being ushered into the building by soldiers. Fiona and Connar joined the line entering the school.

“Come on, Everett,” Johnson said.

She was the last person to enter the school. Ford closed the door. Soldiers were standing by the doors and were scattered down the hall. Johnson pointed to the gym and Evey walked in.

She could see roughly fifty people in the gym. Some had gathered together and were trying to decipher what was happening. Connar was talking to the largest group and animatedly waving his arms. Evey didn’t want to listen to his zombie theory.

Evey saw two children in the corner of the gym. They were sitting on the floor with their arms around each other. Evey’s heart ached as they looked a few years younger than Lila. They had matching blond hair and blue eyes. The girl was crying and had a teddy bear clutched to her chest.

Evey walked across the gym, and they looked up when she crouched in front of them. They looked at them with wide eyes, so Evey smiled softly. She was struggling with the image of her family being murdered. Their parents weren’t with them, so they must be dead. She had no idea how their little minds were processing it.

“Hi,” Evey said. “I’m Evey. What’re your names?”

They looked at each other before looking back at Evey. The girl wiped the tears off of her face.

“Josie,” she said.

“Joey,” the boy said.

“That’s a cute bear,” Evey said. “Does he have a name?”

“Chester,” Josie said.

Evey looked over her shoulder to look at the people that were arguing with each other.

“I don’t know anyone here?” she said. “Can I sit with you?”

Josie smiled, and her tears stopped. Evey sat down on the floor and crossed her legs underneath her. The door to the gym slammed shut, and everyone stopped talking. Johnson jumped onto the stage that ran along the side of the gym. Evey chewed on her lip as she watched Johnson raise his hands.

“Attention, everyone,” he said. “I am sure you have a lot of questions.”

“Of course we do,” a man said. “My wife is dead!”

“You killed my daughter!” a man shrieked.

A few people started to shout, and Joey covered his ears with his hands. Johnson put his fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle, which silenced the crowd.

“There is a virus that has rapidly spread and infected most of the population,” Johnson said.

“A zombie virus!” Connar shouted.

“They aren’t zombies,” Johnson said. “However, the virus does turn people cannibalistic, and the infected are killing everyone.”

The man at the gas station must have been infected. The news story Evey watched this morning told her that this was happening all over the world. Nowhere was safe.

“My family was fine,” a woman said. “They weren’t sick.”

“They were infected,” Johnson said. “The virus would have turned them, and we killed them before they lost their minds and killed you.”

“How come we are alive?” a man asked. “Why didn’t you kill us?”

“Because you are all immune,” Johnson said. “You cannot contract the virus.”

Evey ran her fingers through her curly hair. Low murmurs erupted from the crowd, and Johnson whistled again to quiet everyone.

“We have to get you all to the base,” Johnson said. “We must keep the remaining population safe as the towns are being cleansed.”

Cleansed.

Evey hated that word. It made the dead sound so expendable. They were people. Her family was more than some bizarre virus.

“We’ll be heading to the base,” Johnson said. “There are trucks ready to bring you all.”

The gym door opened, and the people started to file out. Evey stood and held her hands out. Josie and Joey grabbed her hands and walked beside her. They were the last ones to leave.

Evey was in the hallway when she heard an animalistic cry. A series of bullets were fired. Josie let go of Evey’s hand and took a step back. There was shrieking, and more bullets were shot. Josie covered her mouth with her hand and held Chester tighter against her chest.

“Josie, we have to go,” Evey said. Josie continued to shake her head. “It’s going to be okay, and I will not let you get hurt.”

There was another rapid-fire of bullets. Evey wondered how many infected people were outside. She couldn’t save Lila, so she would make sure Joey and Josie survived.

“We have to go now,” Ford said.

Evey looked behind her to see Ford was the last soldier in the school. More bullets were shot, and she knew they had to keep moving. She bent down and picked Josie up, resting her on her hip. Evey tried to move fast without dragging Joey. Ford rolled his eyes as he walked beside them.

Bodies were littered across the parking lot. Pools of blood surrounded each infected person. Ford waved his hand, motioning for Evey to follow him to a truck. Ford opened the back, and Evey helped Joey into the truck. Josie would not let go of Evey, so she let her sit on her lap.

Evey looked around the back of the truck to see Connar sitting across from her and Josie. Next to him was a priest, and three other people she did not recognize were with them.

The truck lurched forward as they began to move. All of their faces were full of worry, except for Connar. He had a wide smile on his lips. Evey tightened her hold on Josie as Josie softly sobbed.

“Do you think they will teach us how to use a gun?” Connar asked.

“That’s what is on your mind?” a girl with multicoloured hair and tattoos decorating her skin asked. “We’re probably going to die.”

The man next to her put his arm around her shoulders. He was also covered in tattoos and had a ring through his nose.

“Nicole, calm down,” he said. “They’re not going to kill us.”

“We’re going to be eaten, Ivan,” Nicole said. “That has to be the worst way to go.”

“Do you think we’ll all die at once or go one by one?” the man next to the priest asked.

“Do you mind?” Evey said. “There are children here.”

Silence fell over the truck. Connar crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. His leg bounced, eager to keep talking about surviving an apocalypse.

There were soft murmurs, and Evey looked over at the priest. He had a rosary wrapped around his fingers and was praying. No one said a word as they listened to the prayers.

They rode in silence until the shrieking sounds returned, and the truck took a hard left.