“Yeah, they said no to the people that rounded us up. Join us and you’ll live. Don’t and you’re dead. Thank god I picked the right one.” He frowns. “I guess.”

“What happened after that?” I ask, not sure I want an answer.

He rubs his black hair. “They took us to a facility—we thought it was an evacuation center. I mean, I guess it was, in a way. It was set up for testing.” He looks around. “A lot like this, actually.”

I reach for his hand and take it in my own. “You’re safe here. I promise.”

“It’s a little hard to trust people right now.”

“I understand more than you can imagine. A lot of stuff has happened to me, too, since we last saw each other.”

“After that day, we moved to three different facilities. Each one like the last.” I glance at the bruises on his arm and he tugs at the blanket. “We were guinea pigs. Poked, pricked, and prodded.”

I shiver, remembering my time at Fort Shaw with Erwin in his lab. Festering anger wells inside. “The vaccine?”

“So they said. They were a full-on propaganda machine. We were doing this for our country. It was our duty for the survival of man-kind.”

I’d heard all that before. From Erwin, and to be honest, my sister.

Paul tells me the remainder of his story. How they moved frequently due to general apocalypse instability and what seemed like the scientists upping the vaccine tests at each location. Eventually, they arrived at the final facility a month ago where the tests started up immediately, but this time, he says, something went wrong.

“People had gotten sick before. The occasional virus running through the group or maybe some unfortunate side effects, but what happened at the final school was bad.” He holds up his wrist, revealing the purple band I’d asked them not to remove. “We were each given doses of the latest vaccine. That’s what the band means. What vaccine you were given and at what facility. Before that, the ones I wore were green and yellow. The purple vaccine though…something was wrong with it and it not only didn’t work against the infection, but triggered it.”

“Triggered the infection?” I whisper.

He nods. “Yes, a wave of flu-like symptoms rolled through the group. Fever and nausea. Everyone got it—except the doctors, who were understaffed and overwhelmed. I didn’t care, though. I wanted to be alone in my misery and die in peace.” He laughs darkly. “It was too much to ask. My stomach was a wreck and even though I was delirious with fever, I left the gym for the bathroom in the hall just as the first fight broke out. While I was puking my guts out, the screams and howling started. God, the howling.”

“Eater howling?”

“Definitely like the Eaters. There was no mistaking it. The entire gym was under siege. People attacking one another, the sick being attacked and bitten in their sleep. I watched it all from the window in the door, right up to when the first bomb dropped. I ran away from the gym and found a couple other survivors. We holed up, sick and dying. At one point, I thought someone had come to rescue us. I thought I heard gunfire, but it’s entirely possible I was hallucinating.” He smiles. “Then you found us.”

I barely hold it together, thinking about what Paul had been through and how it was more than a miracle that we’d found him alive. “The bomb,” I say. “That’s how they got out. That’s how they found us.”

“What?”

“The Eaters that didn’t die in the explosion attacked us on the road on our way here the very first day. We saw the smoke in the distance and the arm bands on the dead. It took a few days, but the remaining infected eventually found us here and attacked as well.” His shoulders tense and eyes widen. “We killed them all. I promise. The clinic is very secure.”

“That’s what they said about the testing facility, too.”

I frown. “What happened to the guards? The doctors?”

“I don’t know. I think they left when they saw what was happening.”

“They abandoned you?”

He shrugged, eyes drooping from exhaustion. “Someone sent that bomb to destroy us. All of us.”

A small sound in the hallway gets my attention and I look out the doorway. Wyatt has his back pressed against the wall, listening to every word. I shouldn’t be surprised. I turn back to Paul and see his eyelids closing. I clasp my hand to his. “Get some sleep.”

His grip tightens. “They think we’re dead, Alex. I know they do. I’m sure there were not supposed to be any survivors.”

“You’re safe,” I tell him again. “I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

My words seem to be enough, even though I feel like a liar saying them. He releases my hand, slipping quickly back to sleep. I wait for a moment, composing myself before leaving the room. I take one fast look at Wyatt, who has his mouth open, ready to start giving orders. I hold up my hand and say, “We need to talk.”

Chapter 18

We gather the others in Wyatt’s cramped room and tell them everything Paul just revealed. The testing. The sickness. The bombings. There’s only one question and we all have it.

Tags: Angel Lawson Death Fields Horror
Source: readsnovelonline.net