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

Matt said as he stood and began the long walk back. Trevor and Allison followed. Trevor reached for her hand, stroking her little finger with his until she laced her fingers through his. She held onto it tightly, desperately, as her worry for Morgan consumed her thoughts.

“I’m going to search out here around the cabin one more time for anything that may be useful before it gets dark,” Trevor said as he released Allison’s hand.

“I’ll look in the house some more,” Allison said.

“And I’ll drink,” Matt said as he held out a hand to Trevor. Trevor handed him the flask from his pocket.

“It’s whiskey now. I found some on the bookcase,” Trevor said.

Inside, Matt sat quietly on the couch taking small sips from the flask every few minutes as Allison looked through the cabin for anything they may have missed. She was about to sit down, convinced they had thoroughly searched the cabin the first go-round, when a small shiny object under the recliner caught her eye. She got on her knees and reached for the object. It was small and cool in her hand. When she looked at it she gasped, startling Matt and causing him to spill some of the liquor from the flask onto his shirt.

“Shit!” he said as he wiped at his shirt. “What did you find?”

“It’s a keychain,” Allison said with quivering lips. Her heart was beating so violently all she could hear was her own pulse. She felt the familiar warmth wash over her body as it stiffened and she fell back.

A girl with this keychain in her hand. Telling Allison to calm down, everything will be okay. Allison feels hot and confused. She is so furious. Her stomach is in knots from hunger. This girl is lying. Nothing will be okay, nothing will be okay ever again. Allison wants to hit her, hard, make the girl hurt. The girl is pleading with Allison to calm down but Allison is just getting more upset. She lunges for the girl, and the girl drops the keychain. No, not just a girl. Gabby. Gabby is the girl.

Allison awoke on the bed in the cabin with both Matt and Trevor sitting on the floor nearby. Matt’s head was resting on the wall as he snored lightly. Allison tried to sit up but her head was heavy. As soon as she moved, Trevor was by her side on the bed.

“Hey, take it easy,” Trevor said.

“What happened?” Allison asked, lying still on the bed, hoping the fog in her brain would clear soon.

“I don’t really know. You had a flashback. But you didn’t just come out of it. After you stopped shaking you cried and screamed but you weren’t really awake. Then you were just quiet like you were sleeping. We couldn’t wake you. You’ve been out for a few hours. We were worried.” Trevor placed his forehead lightly against hers.

“I found a keychain. It was my friend Gabby’s. She was definitely here and I did something awful to her.” Allison began to cry. Trevor stretched out on the bed next to her, wrapping her in his arms as she cried herself to sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Two Allison

Allison awoke the next morning just as the sun was rising above the trees. Trevor was beside her curled on his side with his arm draped over her waist. She moved slowly to not wake him as she got up out of bed. Matt was sprawled out on his back like a starfish on the living room couch, covers twisted, his hair askew.

Allison took this rare time alone to write in her journal. She killed Gabby. She didn’t know why, but she did it. She flipped through the pages trying to decide where to go next after they found Morgan, but she kept finding herself on the page about Gabby’s death. The thought of further exploring her time as an Infected made her want to vomit. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m done.

Would Gabby forgive me? She held the open journal to her chest and tears fell from her eyes. Of course she wouldn’t! I don’t even forgive me. She pulled the journal from her chest and scribbled “I’m sorry RIP” at the bottom of Gabby’s page. She let hers tears soak the page. Gabby was dead. Sweet, smart, loyal Gabby, dead. But Morgan was still alive. She had to be. I have to find Morgan. Allison closed her journal and began quietly fixing breakfast for everyone. They would need a hearty meal before their long hike today. All that mattered now was finding Morgan and making sure she was safe.

After breakfast the friends gathered up their supplies silently, making sure to not leave anything behind.

“Before we go I need to show you guys what I found last night,” Trevor said, and he led them to the side of the cabin. He pointed to a metal door on the side of a small hill partially covered with bushes. “It’s an old root cellar.” He opened the door.

“Holy shit!” Matt said. “Uncle Nick was a badass!”

The walls were covered with hooks holding guns. Boxes of ammunition covered the floor. A few boxes seemed to be full of dynamite.

“Oh my god. What should we do with it?” Allison asked.

“Save it for a rainy day,” Trevor said. He closed the door, covering it with brush and dirt, making sure it wasn’t easy to spot, and then they headed out.

They walked in silence for hours before they stopped to rest. They hadn’t seen any sign of Morgan and each step felt like a gut punch of guilt that threatened to turn Allison into a crying ball of useless girl. Matt’s face remained hard and flat, not giving away his concern in the slightest. But his eyes told a different story. His eyes glistened like tears were right there on the edge waiting for the slightest reason to bust to the surface and run down his cheeks. Trevor had his normal cool, calm, and collected