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

he said he hadn’t seen her. He took them to an old gymnasium and told them they would be provided with all the information they needed during orientation and if Morgan was in the town she would be at the gym too.

The gym was crowded and had tables set up all over the place with people lined up in front of each one. The air was hot and humid and Allison could feel her shirt sticking to her back within a few minutes of being inside. People were shoulder to shoulder and it made moving around the room difficult. Each table had a sign hanging from it identifying its function. Clothes, housing, medical, food, jobs. The tables seemed to never end. But the one that caught Allison’s attention most was labeled “lost loved ones.” She grabbed the boys and pointed at the sign as she began pulling them to the line.

“We may be able to find Morgan there!” Allison exclaimed. Matt and Trevor smiled as they followed her.

While they stood in line, they looked around the gym taking everything in. This place was better organized than New Harbor and seemed to have a lot more people. People in matching blue shirts directed everyone to the appropriate line and kept things flowing smoothly.

“Hopefully Morgan found her way here . . .” Allison froze. A familiar voice spoke gently to someone at the front of the line. Allison stepped to the side, leaving the queue. Trevor reached for her arm but she brushed him away. She searched the crowd in a daze. Her eyes landed on the woman behind the “lost loved ones” table. It was Gabby. Time slowed, Allison’s heart raced, her breathing quickened.

“Gabby,” Allison breathed.

Gabby swiftly leaped over the table and made a beeline for Allison. Her blue eyes glistened with tears and she was smiling her perfect smile. She threw her arms around Allison, crying as she held her.

“I thought you were dead. I thought . . . I thought I killed you.” Allison’s words came out in a sob. Gabby pulled Allison’s face to her shoulder and they both dropped to the ground. Allison clung to her. Allison lifted her tear stained-face from Gabby’s shoulder and stared at her in disbelief.

“You remember that?” Concern flashed on Gabby’s face. “Let’s go outside to talk.” She stood up and helped pull Allison to her feet. Allison kept her arm wrapped around her friend. Gabby was shaking. She looked back at the “lost loved ones” table and called to the man behind it. “Hey Jake, I need to go. Cover for me please?” Gabby didn’t wait for an answer before she began pulling Allison outside. Trevor and Matt followed. Gabby narrowed her eyes at the boys as they followed them.

“They’re with me,” Allison said. Gabby turned to the boys.

“Nice to meet you two handsome devils. I can’t wait to know you, but I need a moment with Allison. Alone.” Gabby used what Allison called her “pretty blonde voice,” which made every male in hearing distance melt. The effect worked on Matt, and he gave her a half smile as Trevor pulled him away to sit on a bench near the door.

Gabby led Allison the opposite way to a picnic table under a tree in the shade of the gym. Gabby sat on one of the benches and pulled Allison down next to her.

“You obviously didn’t kill me. See? I’m alive.” Gabby gestured to herself as she spoke.

“I remember attacking you after I got sick. I attacked you in a cabin. I just came from that cabin! I found your keychain there!” Allison pulled the keychain from her pack and handed it to Gabby. Gabby’s face fell as she took the keychain from Allison.

“You did attack me, but I made it out.” Gabby’s voice was quieter now, almost muted.

“How? What happened?”

“I’m surprised you remember at all. Most former Infected don’t.”

“Gabby! What happened! How did you even end up there?”

“I lost you at the party. I saw you run into the woods with that woman chasing you but I was trapped up a tree. Nick boosted me up into a tree when the Infected attacked but he didn’t make it up with me before one of them got him.” Gabby hung her head and wiped her eyes. “I haven’t thought of Nick in a long time. He saved me.”

“I’m sorry, Gabby.” Allison took both of her hands in hers and squeezed. “He was a good guy.”

“The best.” Gabby squeezed Allison’s hands back before wiping her eyes again.

“Anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah.” Gabby took a deep breath. “I was trapped in that tree watching you run for your life. I couldn’t do anything to help you; I couldn’t even help myself. I was in that tree for over an hour before the police showed up. They wouldn’t go looking for you and they wouldn’t let me either.” Gabby’s eyes narrowed as she scowled. “The police brushed it off as a drug-fueled, satanic killing ritual. In their defense at the time no one yet knew what was actually happening.”

“The police couldn’t have helped me. I was infected quickly. It wouldn’t have changed my outcome. Don’t blame yourself.” Gabby’s eyes rimmed with tears and she squeezed Allison’s hands.

“They kept me in the hospital and the CDC came and checked me out. I saw more and more things on the news like what had happened at that party. The CDC wouldn’t let the hospital release me. But I knew I had to get out of there. So, I snuck out of the hospital, packed up what I could carry, stole a gun from a pawn shop during some looting, and went back to the area where we had the party. I had to find you.” The tears streamed down Gabby’s face.

“Why didn’t you go somewhere safe? You should have saved yourself. I was already gone.”

“You were—you are my best friend. I couldn’t just leave you. I went in the direction you had gone and I found