Infection Z (Book 4), page 18
part #4 of Infection Z Series
“Murderer!” someone shouted.
“If it wasn’t for you my son would still be alive!”
Hayden nodded. Swallowed a sickly, bloody lump in his throat. “I understand you hating me. I understand that. But you need to realise something. And that something is… is that we’re all people. We’re all humans.”
“But you aren’t welcome!” a man shouted from the back of the crowd.
“Maybe so,” Hayden said, his voice croaky, his throat sore. “And I can understand that. I can accept that. I was like you once. I was holed up in a camp of my own. Worried about leaving. Worried about letting anyone else in. And rightly so. People killed the ones I loved. Not zombies, people. People have hurt me way more than the zombies have since the world fell. But it doesn’t have to be that way.”
A few mutters amongst the crowd. A few whispers. The air inside the tunnel getting colder, Hayden shivering.
“I respect your resolve,” the main man said.
He cleared his throat. Pulled a white mask over his face. Stepped towards Hayden.
“I should introduce myself. Terrance. Terrance Schumer. I run this place. I run the world beyond the fences.”
Hayden’s fists tensed. He wanted to speak his mind. He wanted so desperately to speak the truth. So you’re the one who makes the decisions. You’re the one in charge.
“Mr Schumer,” one of the guards said. “You might want to be careful—”
“It’s okay,” Terrance said, raising a hand. He looked Hayden right in his eyes as the light from the guards and crowd behind illuminated the tunnel. “I can handle this. We can talk this one out with dignity. Can’t we, Mr…”
“Hayden. Hayden McCall.”
Terrance Schumer stepped closer to Hayden. The crowd watched with wide eyes. Puzzled eyes. Terrified eyes.
“Mr McCall, I appreciate your concerns. But you saw it for yourself. What happened to my associate, Luis. That happened directly as a result of your carrier status. Just like the outbreaks in our city this evening. All as a result of migrants. You can understand our need to quarantine, can’t you? You can understand our need to be careful?”
Hayden had to bite his lip to stop himself exploding with anger. “The people outside the fences. The ones you gunned down. Do you call that being careful?”
Terrance Schumer looked at Hayden with eyes even glassier than a zombie’s. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Whatever happens outside our fences is beyond our control.”
So there it was. The lie. The lie to add to the ever-growing collection. Not only was Terrance Schumer lying to his people about the presence of an airborne virus to perpetuate fear of outsiders, but he was also lying about his people’s involvement outside the walls, too. Lying about the preventative measures they were taking. “And what about Salvation?”
Terrance’s eyes narrowed. “Sal… Salvation?”
“You know what I’m talking about. The camp. All the camps you have set up outside these fences of yours.”
“Again, you must be mistaken.”
“Mistaken. Right. Of course. I must be.”
A long silence stretched on between Hayden and Terrance. And the longer it went on, the more the eyes of the crowd burned into him, Hayden knew he was going to have to do something drastic. Something subtle, but drastic. He couldn’t blow it. He couldn’t blow his reason for being here. His motive.
He had to play this right.
If there was a way of playing it right at all.
“You know, I will walk away,” Hayden said. “Because I do believe in what you’re getting at, ultimately.”
“And what am I getting at?”
Hayden swallowed. “That sometimes sacrifices have to be made to preserve the wider society. That sometimes… sometimes people have to die to keep the majority alive. Sometimes, the weak have to pay to keep the privileged living.”
Terrance didn’t show any signs of responding to Hayden. Just frowned at him. Squinted, like he was weighing him up. Trying to figure him out.
“But I also believe in something else,” Hayden said.
Silence, again.
Silence until Terrance opened his mouth.
“And what’s that?”
Hayden took a deep breath in. Tasted blood on his tongue, sweat on his lips.
He looked past Terrance Schumer. Looked at the crowd of people. All watching. Waiting for an answer. Waiting for something.
“I believe that you’ve been lying to your people about the virus being airborne.”
A shift in Terrance’s demeanour. A slight turn to the right. “I… I don’t know what you’re—”
“I believe you’ve been intentionally infecting people. To terrify your citizens. To keep the powerful alive.”
Terrance looked back at the onlooking crowd. Muttering picked up amongst them. More confusion. More bewilderment. “I… I don’t know what you’re—”
“And I’m going to prove it,” Hayden said.
He took in another deep breath.
Then he crouched down.
Picked up the pistol.
He heard the command. Heard the panic in Terrance Schumer’s voice. Heard the anxious cries of the crowd.
And he felt the first bullet hit him. Heard it hit him in his left shoulder. Send him tumbling back against the cold ground of the tunnel. Hot. Searing.
But Hayden clutched hold of the pistol.
Clutched hold of it, lifting it to his chest, the pain in his left shoulder getting stronger, stronger…
Lying on his side, Hayden put the gun to his shoulder. And he saw the look in Terrance Schumer’s eyes as he started to run. Saw that look of realisation in his eyes. Of what Hayden was doing. Of what this was.
With the little strength remaining in Hayden’s lungs, he said, “If I’m not lying, then let’s just see what happens to me.”
He closed his eyes.
Pressed the pistol to his own chest.
Pulled the trigger.
Chapter Forty-Two
Eliza Wisdom watched the man called Hayden fire a bullet into his own chest.
She held the rifle. Pointed it at him. Stood in front of the crowd of New Britain citizens like the rest of the guards and kept her aim.
And she heard the command. Heard the command from Terrance Schumer. The command as he ran back towards them, terror in his eyes. The command to fire.
But she couldn’t.
She found herself standing there with her finger on the trigger of her rifle unable to fire.
Because of what Hayden said.
“If I’m not lying, then let’s just see what happens to me.”
Something about those words sparked a chord inside Eliza. She’d worked as one of the wall guards for months now. She’d been there when the fences were erected—when the tunnel was undergoing its rapid construction. She was proud of her home. Proud of where she lived. Proud of the future she stood for.
An inclusive future. A future for everyone.
But recently, there’d been incidents. Events that’d made her consider whether she was on the right side. First, there was Daniel. The way Luis shot him to the ground on Terrance’s orders. And then the way he’d turned into one of those monsters later that night. Terrance insisted it was because he’d been exposed to the airborne infection. It was because he wasn’t wearing his mask correctly.
But Eliza couldn’t help but wonder.
She couldn’t help but question.
“Guards!” Terrance shouted, panting as he jogged back towards the entrance to the city. “Fire! Put him down!”
The fact that none of the other guards beside Eliza had fired their weapons spoke volumes. Eliza turned. Looked at Martin on her left. Looked at Rajesh on her right. All of them holding their guns. All of them pointing their weapons ahead.
But that same look on their faces.
The look Eliza knew she must have too.
The look of uncertainty.
Of questioning.
Of wanting to see what was happening.
Of wanting to see what really happened to the man called Hayden McCall.
The man who claimed the group behind the fences had been infecting people all along.
Innocent people.
Refugees.
People needing shelter.
“Are you deaf? Do I need to repeat my command?”
Eliza shook her head as Terrance stepped in front of her.
“No,” she said. “You don’t.”
She lowered her weapon.
Looked at Rajesh, into his bloodshot eyes.
He sighed. Lowered his gun.
Martin soon followed.
Terrance stared back at them, face reddening, blinking rapidly. “You… you are supposed to follow our orders.”
“Why don’t we see if he turns, just like he says he will?”
“He’s a threat,” Terrance said, speaking in hushed tones now. “He—he’s a carrier. He poses a threat to—”
“Then let’s just see what happens to him. Let’s just see whether what he says about the bullet is true.”
The crowd behind were quiet now. Silenced, like the realisation was setting on their minds too. Maybe Eliza was wrong. Maybe her suspicions were all wrong. Maybe she was opening the gates to the onset of infection. Airborne infection.
“You’re putting everyone at risk. Just by standing here, you’re putting everyone at risk.”
“Then so be fucking it!” someone shouted.
A voice from behind. From the back of the crowd. And slowly, surely, Eliza heard a chant emerging. A chant accompanied by claps. The claps of the crowd.
“We want to see! We want to see!”
All of them were cheering now. All of them applauding. Like they were waiting for something. Egging Hayden on to turn, as miserable as it was. Because not only was he an innocent man, he was a good man. A man who’d sacrificed himself to free everyone else from the fear of the airborne virus. Who’d shot himself in the chest to show humanity that there was another way. A way beyond the fear. A way beyond the fences.
A way beyond Terrance Schumer’s lies.
Terrance looked around at the crowd. His eyes were vacant, like he couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Like he couldn’t accept it.
But it was.
It was happening.
And these people were going to see.
As the chant went on, as the claps were accompanied by stomps, these people were going to see.
They were going to…
Movement.
Movement from Hayden.
The crowd quietened. Whispers emerged once more. The whispers that always signalled the fear. The fear of the outside that Terrance Schumer had been stirring for so, so long.
Not for long.
Not anymore.
Another twitch of movement from Hayden.
And then another.
Not proof.
Not proof until somebody saw it for themselves.
Until they looked the man in his eyes and saw how vacant they were.
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” Terrance said, voice cracking, shoulders slumped.
“We do,” Eliza said, pushing past him, leading the crowd into the tunnel, away from the confines of safety, away from Terrance Schumer’s imaginary boundary. “We’ve just finally grown the courage to see it for ourselves.”
The crowd ran towards Hayden.
Ran towards his twitching body.
Ran towards the truth.
Towards hope of the truth.
Towards…
Hayden felt the strength drifting out of his body.
He rolled onto his back. The taste of metal intensifying in his mouth. A coldness covering his skin. At least he couldn’t feel the pain in his chest anymore. Or the pain in his left shoulder.
All he could feel was a warmth.
A warmth inside him that felt familiar.
A warmth that, for some reason, made him think of Mum. Made him think of Dad. Of Clarice. Of Annabelle.
A warmth that made him think of Sarah. Newbie. Holly. Miriam. Of everyone he’d travelled with. Of everyone he’d cared for.
Everyone he’d lost.
Above all, as the chanting voices approached, Hayden thought of the boy. The little boy in the window. Except he wasn’t afraid of him. Not anymore.
The little boy was smiling at him. Saying something to him.
Something like, “It’s okay.”
Something like, “I forgive you.”
Hayden heard the footsteps getting closer and he closed his burning eyes.
Smiled.
Remembered what Bob said.
What he told him about people.
“People. That’s what matters. Doesn’t matter whether we’re out here or behind a wall. What matters is we’re together. That we’re confident. That we fight.”
And Bob was right. Miriam was right.
People were the most important thing in this world right now.
Togetherness was the most important thing in this world right now.
And in a way, Terrance’s logic was right, too.
Sometimes sacrifices did have to be made to save others.
But not the kind he’d made.
Not for self-preservation. Not out of fear.
But out of ambition. Out of growth.
Hayden felt the life seeping out of his body, felt tingling sensations working up his arms, down his neck, his spine, the back of his legs, and he heard his older sister Annabelle ask him something clearly in his mind.
Did you do the right thing for other people?
For the first time, Hayden could only answer with one word.
Yes.
The warmth burst through his body.
Hayden saw his family clearly, right ahead of him, getting closer to him.
Smiling.
Happy.
He smiled back.
Then, nothing.
Chapter Forty-Three
Terrance Schumer watched the chaos unfold from a distance.
He saw the mass of people—his people—walk down the tunnel. Saw them move towards Hayden McCall. He’d shot himself. He’d shot himself with the infected bullet. Which meant he’d turn. He’d turn and expose the plan. He’d reveal the truth.
Specks of rain started to fall from the dark sky above. There was silence in the city behind him. Like the people who hadn’t left their homes were waiting, holding their breath. Waiting for an answer. Waiting for some kind of sign.
But they didn’t have to wait much longer.
The man that was once Hayden McCall twitched.
His head lifted. Shaky. Tensed.
And although it was still quite dark inside that tunnel, Terrance Schumer saw Hayden’s eyes.
Saw the glazed greyness staring into nowhere.
Saw the blood rolling down his chin.
Heard the guttural grunt from the back of his throat.
Every muscle in Terrance’s body went weak. Because now he had to explain. Now he had to explain why Hayden had turned. He had to try and convince these people that it was nothing to do with the bullet. That—that carriers just turned when they were shot. That the rules were different for them.
But as the monster that was Hayden dragged itself to its feet, Terrance saw the crowd of his guards, his people, turn. Look at him. He saw the look in their eyes. Saw the hate. Saw the confusion.
“I—I can explain. I can explain everything.”
Silence. Silence from the crowd, but for Hayden. Stomping towards the group. Blood rolling from the gunshot wound in his skinny chest. Teeth snapping together, hungry for their first flesh meal, like a horsefly in breeding season.
Terrance Schumer took a step back. ’Cause he knew right now that there was no reasoning. There was no arguing. These people had made their minds up. They’d seen the truth.
The worst part is they’d believe it.
They’d believed the truth.
The facade was over.
Terrance turned around. Started to run.
He stopped almost immediately.
In the street ahead—the street lined with the blood of fallen migrants—Terrance saw people outside their homes. Saw them walking towards him. Some of them with children in their arms. Migrant children they’d saved from the purge.
Some of them with weapons in their hands.
Knives.
Baseball bats.
Anger in their eyes.
Terrance stumbled back. Looked over his shoulder. Saw the people emerging from the tunnel. The chatter and the anger rising.
“Fucking liar!” someone screamed.
“Murderer!”
Terrance Schumer wanted more than anything to fall into a hole in the ground. Because he’d made a mistake. He’d screwed up. He’d fucked up big time.
“I—I just wanted to keep us safe,” he said.
And as the angry footsteps of the crowd approached, as the swarm surrounded him, Terrance Schumer really believed his own words.
He’d just wanted to keep his people safe.
Safe from outside.
Not just the zombies. But the trauma that came with it. The impact it had on the minds of the survivors from outside the fences.
From reality.
He crouched down in the dirt.
Closed his eyes.
Held up his hands.
“I just wanted to keep us safe.”
The last thing he heard was the roar of the surrounding crowd.
The last thing he saw as he peeked through the cracks in his eyelids was a baseball bat swinging towards his face.
And then the inevitable blackness surrounded him.
Chapter Forty-Four
“I’m telling you. Ain’t a chance the guards are just gonna let you through the wall. Ain’t a chance.”
Miriam listened to the whiny voice of Garth, the guard they’d thrown into the back of the truck, as she drove back towards the fences. It was pitch black. Rain fell and hit the windscreen, a case not helped by the dodgy wipers in this heap of shit. Outside, in the glow of the flickering headlights, Miriam swore she saw movement. Movement of zombies. The undead watching them with their empty eyes. Finding a new source of movement to follow.
