N87 Virus | Book 1 | After the Outbreak Kadin, Karri (booksvooks TXT) 📖

resulting in a cold stare. She was never more than a few feet from him, always close enough to be by his side at a moment’s notice. He didn’t quite hide his annoyance at being babied.

“While I was walking I saw some wild blackberries. I can take a bag back and gather some. It would be nice to have some fresh fruit.” Trevor looked at Allison, seemingly hoping she would offer to join him.

“Morgan, you should go with him,” Matt said abruptly, waving his hand toward Trevor.

“But I want to stay with you. I . . .” Morgan began to protest.

“I’m fine. You need to get away for a bit. A walk would be good for you. Allison will stay with me. Now go on and get us some blackberries.” Matt spoke firmly as he leaned back against the awning’s support beam and took a sip of water. Morgan huffed but grabbed a bag before following Trevor down the path back toward the road.

“I’m sorry. I know you would rather be with Trevor but I just had to get her away from me for a bit. She’s smothering me. I’ve had a damn concussion before and I’m fucking fine. I just needed a breather.” Matt’s weary eyes locked with Allison’s. “And I wanted to thank you. You really saved my ass back there.”

“You saved mine first! I heard how they threatened you to give me up but you didn’t. You were a total badass,” Allison said. Matt laughed.

“Badass, huh?” Does this look like the face of a badass? But I’ll take the compliment.” He pulled a flask from his bag and took a swig before offering it to Allison. She happily accepted and sat next to him, then tipped the flask to her lips. “Look,” he said, “I originally came with you for Morgan. I couldn’t let her go alone. She hasn’t been a clear thinker since we lost our family and it’s my job to protect her. But now that you rescued my ass you are definitely stuck with me. Friends for life!” He grinned as he took the flask and tipped it back.

“I can handle that.” Allison playfully snagged the flask from Matt before finishing it off in one gulp.

The next morning Allison awoke before her friends and opened her journal, scanning the words by the slight light of early morning. She had been dreading this moment but knew she needed to get the information down before she forgot the details. She had to get the memory onto the page and out of her mind so she could focus on the task ahead. The flashback played again and again, driving her insane. She went to the last page, writing frantically, filling it with everything she could remember from her flashback about Gabby.

The Cabin

My whole body tight, convulsing like a seizure. My head slamming into the floor over and over.

The scent of blood . . . food. I’m so hungry, so fucking hungry.

Blonde hair. A woman talking gently. The more she talks the more upset I am. I hate her. I don’t know why but I hate her.

Gabby. Gabby is the woman.

I lunge for her and she screams, she begs. I want to stop but I can’t. I’m so hungry and so angry.

Blood. Lots of blood. Screams.

She reread her entry over and over again hoping the story would change but it didn’t. Each time she read it, it was like a dagger to her heart.

The friends continued on their trek through the woods. They moved slowly to allow Matt to keep up. The terrain was relatively easy to navigate with the exception of the occasional large log or thick brush to traverse through. They did not speak much as they walked, allowing their minds to process the trauma they endured the night before. Morgan would sporadically cry softly and either Matt or Allison would put their arm around her shoulders providing silent comfort. Trevor kept his attention focused on their surroundings as he led the group, periodically checking with Allison to confirm they were headed in the right direction. Each time they stopped to rest Allison would review her journal and add detail to a map she was drawing on the last page. This helped her feel like she knew where she was leading all of her friends, but in reality she was going off of a deep internal instinct that told her she was heading in the right direction. It was like her body was intimately familiar with her surroundings although her head was not.

Once the sun was right above their heads they decided to stop for an extended break. They found a gently flowing stream, perfect for restocking their water supply and cleaning some of their dirty clothes.

“Hey guys, this water is freezing!” Morgan held her canteen in the water, bubbles rising to the surface as it filled the canteen. She grinned at her friends as she took a long drink. Matt walked over to the water and stuck his hand in.

“Wow, this is like ice. It must be coming from an underground spring.” He set his bag down and dug through it until he pulled out a thin towel.

“I think getting into this water would really help my muscles. It’s like the ice baths NFL stars take after practice. It reduces inflammation or some shit like that.” Matt began stripping down his clothes as he spoke. Allison quickly turned her body so she wasn’t facing Matt as her face burned from embarrassment.

“Matt! No one here wants to see that!” Morgan shouted.

“I’m just going to walk this way a bit, to give you some privacy,” Allison said. Before anyone could object, she was pushing her way through a wall of thick bushes, just trying to get away from a naked Matt as quickly as she could. She hadn’t seen a man naked in so long, and she did not want the next one to be Matt. She could hear her friends