Countdown to Zero (Patient Zero Book 2) Read online

  Countdown to Zero

  Patient Zero

  —Book Two—

  By: Adrianne Lemke

  Copyright © July 2019 Adrianne Lemke

  All rights reserved

  Cover design by: Christian Bentulan (Covers by Christian)

  Edited by: Brittany King

  Also by Adrianne Lemke:

  Patient Zero:

  Ground Zero

  Earthshaker Series:

  Tracker

  Kindred

  Hunter

  Oblivion

  Earthshaker

  Connected Series

  Broken Minds:

  Burn

  Secrets of Sacorria:

  Secret Power

  Anthologies:

  Bite-Sized Offerings: Tales and Legends of the Zombie Apocalypse

  When Disasters Strike

  Other Works:

  Fear

  Soul Warriors vs Witches (with Joseph and Marisha Cautilli)

  Chapter One

  Zero

  Our exhausted group trudged down the road back to the farm where our friends would be waiting. The only sound apart from the soft thuds of our own footsteps came from the little red wagon filled with our supplies. The squeaking wheel was about enough to set my teeth on edge, but I kept quiet.

  We’d both won and lost in our recent altercation, so we were a bit uncertain how to react. Rescuing Alex and Ali from Ground Zero had definitely been good. Her name, though, might be a little too close to our friend Aly. While pronounced differently—‘Ah-lee’ vs ‘Alley’—we might want to find out Ali’s full name. Either way, we succeeded in our goal.

  What we hadn’t counted on was losing Scout.

  After a sort of… rocky start with Scout and his people he’d become a trusted friend. Even with their initial attempt to abduct me and turn me over to the guards, we managed to move on. Once he found out what had been done to me, he joined us. He’d put himself at risk to go after the two teenaged experiments at Ground Zero. My goal was to find each of the children who had been experimented on, who had been forced to become part of the outbreak, and somehow use them to find a way to end it. It was a goal Scout had agreed with, and so far we had me, Shanti, Alex, and Ali.

  If my guess about Mike, one of our group’s newest members, was correct, then we might have five out of the possible six experiments. I had felt on top of the world when Alex and Ali had shown up with my other friends in my old house’s back yard.

  Then I’d noticed Scout’s absence.

  There was no way to know what would happen to him, or if we could rescue him. All I knew was we had to try. Given the option, I would have gone back immediately. But even Kate had insisted we needed to get away from Ground Zero before the guards caught up to us.

  Kate’s mood had been noticeably worse since we’d learned her leader was missing. She was short with us, and less willing to follow instructions. Although, she still seemed willing to trust my connection to the creatures.

  For my part, I felt guilty. As if I should have stayed behind to help with getting the prisoners out. Not just cut and run when my part of the plan had finished.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Z,” Rex said. His voice was soft, so no one else could hear as he spoke to me. “You followed the plan. So did everyone else. Sometimes things just go wrong.”

  “Yeah. I know. I just… I can’t help what I feel.” Rex gave me a look. I cringed, but nodded. “Okay. I’ll try to stop blaming myself. If only for group morale.”

  A grin crossed his face. “That’s the leader we need right now. Once we get back to the others, we can start to plan how to get Scout back.”

  I eyed the rest of the group. Jake and Kate led, Shanti, Alex, and Ali were in the middle, Rex and I followed. Our gait was slow, and weariness was obvious in the slumped shoulders I could see in front of me. My own muscles ached and, even though I wanted nothing more than to rescue Scout, I couldn’t wait to get back to the rest of our group in order to get some rest.

  Despite our lack of energy, we tried to keep an eye out for trouble. With my ability to sense the horde boosted by the close proximity of Shanti, Alex, and Ali, I felt fairly certain we were nowhere near any of the creatures.

  Although the advantage of having a warning before coming across the zombies was helpful, I couldn’t help wishing we had some way to prevent running into guard patrols. We’d come close to several in our escape from Ground Zero.

  “Z, we need to take a break,” Shanti begged. The handle of the wagon she pulled clanged to the ground. “Please? We’ve been going almost non-stop for two days already.”

  Jake and Kate eyed me curiously before Jake nodded. “I think she’s right. We’ve put enough distance between us and Ground Zero. We should be safe to take a rest.”

  Never one to fight my friends, especially when they needed the break so much, I agreed. “Set up then. Get a small fire going somewhere protected to at least try to hide some of the smoke, and get some food ready. We could all use a hot meal, I think. I’ll start laying out some bedding.”

  Considering all we’d been eating for the last couple days were some stale granola bars and old cereal, a real meal sounded like heaven. And—my throbbing legs told me—so did sitting or lying down for a while.

  “I don’t sense any of the enemy nearby, do any of you?” I aimed my question at the other lab rats.

  Shanti, Alex, and Ali all shook their heads.

  “No. But really Ali and I haven’t had much practice actually sensing them,” Alex answered. His voice was soft, as if unused to much conversation. “Together we can repel them, but only from a relatively short distance. As you could probably tell by the number of zombies surrounding the compound.”

  Thinking back, I realized he was right. While the area directly around the compound had been clear of creatures, within about fifty feet of the building, a horde almost seemed to remain on guard.

  “Did you tell them to stay close?” I asked. “I don’t understand why they all surrounded an area where so many of them were killed.”

  Alex shrugged. “The zombies there are starving. Some turned to eating their own, which led to even stranger behavior than normal for them. The ones that didn’t cannibalize other zombies seemed desperate for flesh, so they seemed pretty insistent about trying to get into the compound.”

  Jake, who had gotten the firewood set up and was working to start the small fire, pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Makes sense. The compound probably had the highest concentration of unchanged humans in the city. They would naturally be drawn to it.”

  I grabbed a couple cans off the wagon, pulled the tabs and poured them into a pan we would then set on the small grate we had hung over the fire. We had cans of tomato sauce, along with some meat sauce we’d be able to add to it.

  “Is there a river nearby? I’d hate to use up our drinking water for the pasta,” I glanced up at Kate, who’d taken a quick look around before allowing us to stop at this area.

  “Yeah. Make sure it’s boiled well before you put the noodles in though.”

  I scoffed. As if we didn’t already know? While I knew Kate was only looking out for us, her patronizing tone rankled.

  “We got it,” Rex answered, smoothly covering my obvious annoyance.

  He grabbed the pan and went to fill it with the fresh water. A bit of spaghetti would do us good. It was a meal we hadn’t been able to make for some time, but we’d found a few packages of noodles in a cabinet at my house, along with the sauces. Only thing we’d be missing is the parmesan cheese.

  “Sorry,” Kate said, brushing a hunk of hair out of her face. “I forget that you kids are better surviv
ors than many adults. And have been basically on your own for almost this whole outbreak.”

  A snort escaped. “Yeah. Almost.”

  She smirked. “You must have been a handful for your parents, huh?”

  I smiled sadly. “Probably. I definitely pushed them to let me learn all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to save me from the people who changed me into a carrier,”—she started to interject, but I waved her off.—“Fortunately, it has helped me to survive.”

  “It’s helped these other kids survive too,” Jake said. “I’ve learned not to underestimate this girl, Kate. I think you’ll figure it out too, at some point.”

  Despite the patronizing tone, I guessed Kate hadn’t meant offence. Scout was her friend and leader. When he was caught, she’d been unable to do anything to help him. Her attitude now was different than it had been before Scout’s capture. More abrasive. Less trusting. I could practically trace a line from her behavior now to the guards surrounding and catching Scout.

  My thoughts were proven correct when Kate’s face reddened a bit as she sheepishly brushed her hair out of her face. “Sorry, Zero. I don’t mean any offence. I just hate…”

  “Wasting time?” I suggested after her voice trailed off. “Even with this stop, we’re making good time back to our farm. And we could probably use more of your friends if we’re going to somehow find and rescue Scout.”

  Her lips pursed and her eyes hardened. “There’s no if,” she insisted. “We are going to save Scout.”

  Chapter Two

  After Kate’s declaration, conversation stalled. We ate our spaghetti and, after relaxing for a little while, were eventually able to get some sleep. For once not rushed out of our campsite by anyone or anything. I hadn’t had so much actual rest time since we’d left on our quest to rescue Alex and Ali. My legs definitely thanked me for the break.

  Now it was time to keep moving toward what was our new home. Hopefully we’d find that Mike was, in fact, the final person the so-called ‘doctors’ had experimented on. Although, I wasn’t sure exactly how that would work. He hadn’t caused anyone to turn. When we’d found him, he had never left the safe zone he lived in. Not a single creature lived in his town.

  My mind drifted back to the conversation we had in my old backyard after the rescue… Alex had said there were six experiments. Six kids these people had turned into weapons against humanity. Did he know the sixth person? We only knew because of the wanted posters Scout had seen, but he’d only been able to get a quick glimpse.

  Either way, with five of us—assuming Mike was one—we should have a good shot of using the horde against the people who were behind their creation. Turn the created against the creators. If we were enough of a threat, maybe we could force them to create a cure. Something that could stop any of the five of us from spreading the horrifying disease any further, and maybe help those who’d already been turned.

  To be honest, I didn’t hold out much hope for those already turned. What I honestly hoped for was some sort of preventive measure for anyone not turned. As it was, anyone not immune could be turned, either by us or by the creatures’ bite. Or getting their blood into a wound. Some kind of vaccine to prevent the spread would stop this thing in its tracks. Of course, the other experiments and I were immune.

  I packed as I thought through everything, and before long we were ready to hit the road again. After pushing the pace the last couple days and avoiding the town we’d been detained at previously, we made good time. According to the map we always carried, and assuming we didn’t run into trouble, we’d make it back to the farm before dark.

  With the supplies we’d gathered from my old house, we’d also managed to save quite a bit of time we normally would have spent foraging for food.

  That we hadn’t run into anyone was odd. No guards, no creatures, and no other random people or travelers. It wasn’t completely unheard of, but it was definitely rare for us to go so long without contact with any other people. The lack of anything nearby should have made me relax. Instead, I felt myself grow more suspicious the longer we walked without seeing anyone.

  Half of our third day of travel went by before I halted the group, a familiar warning twinge at the back of my mind.

  “There’s a horde nearby. We may need to adjust our route to avoid them.”

  Rex came up to me. “You could use this as an opportunity to see if you can influence the whole group. Try to get them to move out of our way.”

  My mouth opened and closed, and I glanced toward the rest of the group.

  Apparently, figuring out what was worrying me, Rex added, “Shanti, be ready to hide us from the zombies. Alex and Ali, if the horde turns toward us, be ready to repel them like you did at the compound.”

  The others nodded, and—my worries covered—I pushed my will toward the hive mind. Move away.

  As I pushed toward them, I could also feel the hive attempting to influence me. I shook my head viciously, refusing to allow the bloodlust to come over me while surrounded only by friends. No! You listen to me. Move away. I could feel the boost in my perception by the proximity of the other kids, and the boost now made itself known when I felt the horde ease back a bit.

  “It’s working, I think,” I muttered. My eyes were closed to avoid being distracted by my friends. “Let’s try moving forward. Everyone stay ready to fight or run.”

  “Got it. Let’s keep moving guys,” Rex called.

  Jake started to lead the way and Rex stayed near me as I continued to concentrate on the nearby horde. “They aren’t frenzied. They almost seem… relaxed. Not at all how they usually seem,” I said.

  “I guess they can’t always be trying to eat people,” Rex offered. “Maybe they somehow enjoy traveling through the farmland.”

  Shanti snorted, apparently less accepting of the more relaxed creatures. “Or they just haven’t noticed their potential victims yet. Most of the time when we’ve noticed them it’s when they’re a lot closer and already know we’re around. Or that others are.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her pessimism. Honestly? She was probably right. I could sense them from further away now that my senses were boosted by the other three kids.

  The siblings we’d rescued had been quiet for most of the trip. They mostly responded only when someone spoke to them directly. Ali hadn’t said a word, as far as I could tell. I hadn’t seen them start a conversation with anyone on their own.

  It had only been a couple days. Most likely, they’d open up as time went on. When I turned my attention back to the horde, I was pleased to notice they had continued moving away and were now off the trail we were following.

  “We should be good, guys,” I informed the group. One last push at the horde allowed me to feel more secure as they picked up their pace in the opposite direction. “They’re pretty far away now. I’ll keep monitoring, but we can pick up our pace.”

  My sword thumped against my leg, and I put my hand on the hilt to steady it as I walked quickly. We were so close to getting back to the farm, and I was eager to reunite with the rest of my kids. Since we’d gathered together near the beginning of the outbreak, we hadn’t separated for more than a day or two. Over the last few weeks we’d hardly been together at all. And not at all since I’d taken Scout, Kate, Jake, Rex, and Shanti to Ground Zero. I missed our other friends.

  There were also the newer people to consider. The rest of Scout’s people—former guards who would undoubtedly be upset by the news of his capture by their former employers—and Mike, who hadn’t wanted us to leave. With myself and Scout heading off on my quest, it left both groups without their normal leaders.

  It had been hard to convince Mike to come with us to begin with. Despite his trouble with the guards, he’d been hesitant to leave the safe zone to risk running into the zombies. My leaving so soon after he joined was something he had not been happy about.

  I looked over at Rex and without a thought, my mouth stretched into a smile. If I had to separate from
the others, at least he was still with me. He and Jake both. It might not have made sense to anyone else for all three of the main leaders of our group to leave, but I couldn’t have faced going to my old house without Rex and Jake. Having them there was the only reason I hadn’t crumbled when I’d had to return to the place my parents had died.

  Rex tapped me on the shoulder, and I shook off the melancholy feeling from remembering my parents. “There’s a dog up there,” he said. “Might want to tread carefully.”

  Most of the formerly tamed pets we’d come across had grown wild enough that they ran from all human contact. There were some, however, that seemed much more aggressive. Maybe they had always been aggressive. Or maybe it was something to do with the stench of dead flesh where their owners used to be. But the wild ones we wanted to avoid at all costs.

  This dog raced toward us, barking loudly and wagging its tail. “Does this dog look familiar to you at all?” I asked Rex softly. We continued walking, and he eyed the dog warily.

  His eyes widened, and he turned toward me. “Looks familiar, and sounds familiar,” he answered. “Is that Siren?”

  Siren, the dog we’d found at the farmhouse we’d claimed as our own. If this was her, then why would she be running free several miles from her home?

  “Siren?” I questioned. I knelt down as the exhausted dog skidded to a stop in front of me. She was panting hard, and seemed relieved when I rested my hand on her head. I grabbed a bowl and a water bottle and let her get a drink.

  Jake walked over, his face pinched with worry. “Why is she here?”

  “She could have gotten out and just decided to go for a run,” Rex suggested. “Farm dogs do that sometimes, right?”

  It was possible. Many dogs, when given the ability to run, would go until they couldn’t anymore. “Maybe. Just in case though, once we get a bit closer to the farm, we’ll stash our supplies and check things out. We don’t want to walk into anything dangerous.”

  Kate laughed. “Says the girl who just led us into one of the most dangerous areas of the country.”