Devour: Death & Decay Book 1 (15 page)

Day 3
2:03 pm

While Corey got the man settled in bed, Liv put Elli to sleep in the bedroom next door. Jen had decided to stay in the room and take a nap while Liv looked over the man.

Liv hunched over the man’s leg, the black-and-white scarf tied over her mouth and nose, as she inspected the man’s wound. For a bite wound, it looked amazingly good. The human mouth was teaming with bacteria, and bites of any kind had a tendency to fester. But his wound looked days old, not hours.

While the man was clearly sick, his skin pale and sweaty, the wound looked healthy. The only thing that belied infection was the fine black lines that crept across his skin from the wound. The black lines were his veins. Presumably, they had been necrotized by whatever infection had been causing people to turn into deranged monsters.

Liv had only seen the lines on the police officer. In all honesty, though, she hadn’t tried to get close enough to the other infected to look. The wounds had simply been ragged masses of flesh.

Shawn’s wound—he had introduced himself as Shawn Lynch once they had settled in—looked to be healing and quickly.

“You said the girl changed about an hour ago?” Liv asked.

“Yes.” Shawn had put on a pair of shorts before Corey had handcuffed him to the bed’s wooden headboard.

“And she infected you moments after her own infection and subsequent change?” Liv cringed at her own formality.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

Shawn stared at her dumbly. “What do you mean, ‘Are you sure?’ I’m pretty sure I remember being bitten. It’s not exactly something that happens every day. Or, at least, not under these circumstances.”

Liv rolled her eyes and turned his leg a bit to look at the wound from a different angle. The yellow kitchen gloves on her hands were bulky as she gripped his calf.

“How much have you been drinking over the past couple days?”

“I really have no idea.” Five glass bottles—three empty and two more close to the bottom—stood on the nightstand next to the bed. “Those weren’t there three days ago.”

“Are you sure your concept of time hasn’t gotten muddled? Maybe it’s been a couple days since you were bitten? Maybe you were bitten by”—Liv tried to think of some other explanation—“a dog or some other animal?”

“Are you joking?” He was clearly getting frustrated again. “I drink a lot. I can drink a lot before I feel any kind of effect. All that”—he nodded back towards the kitchen—“shit was pretty damn sobering. I figured being bitten by one of those freaks couldn’t be any good so I didn’t want to stay sober. I know what happened. It wasn’t a dog or a raccoon. It was her. And it happened about an hour ago. Why does that seem so crazy? You’ve seen them. You wouldn’t be all packed up for the apocalypse if you hadn’t seen them.”

Liv sat back and resisted the urge to rub her face. “Your wound is scabbed over. Entirely. That might happen quickly with a small cut, but such a deep gash I would think it would still be bleeding.”

“That’s good, right?” For a moment, his face became painfully hopeful.

“I honestly have no idea. I mean people heal at different rates, but…” She wracked her brain for an explanation. “If you’re infected with whatever is causing people to go nuts, and by this”—her fingers hovered over the black webbing—“I’d say you are, then I would expect this wound to be festering. I would think it would show at least some redness or heat or maybe some puss.”

“So what does that mean?” The words were tentative, as if he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know the answer.

“Well, I can give you a guess, but that’s all it is, a guess. I have no idea what’s doing this, and I have never in my life seen anything like what is happening to people—”

“Lady, if anyone ever saw this before, I’m pretty sure that they’re all dead now and that is why we’re all screwed.”

“Just keep that in mind.” Liv took a breath. “When you’re sick, you get a fever because your body is trying to fry the virus.” He nodded. Most adults realized this. “But, there are some diseases that actually use the fever to spread further through your body. Perhaps the reason everything seems normal is because the virus is busy moving elsewhere in your body.”

“You have got to be kidding me?”

“It’s just an idea. Like I said, I really have no idea what is going I on. I can just guess based on the behavior of bacteria and viruses that I know about.” Liv let out a long sigh. There were too many questions. Too much unknown. Too many possibilities.

“Did you disinfect the wound after you were bitten?” she finally asked.

“I poured some alcohol on it. I didn’t really know what else to do.”

“I’ll clean it again. I don’t know if it will help, but I don’t know what else to do.” Her voice was resigned.

Shawn nodded and relaxed back against the pillow. “I appreciate it. And I’m sorry.” He frowned as he thought, and Liv waited for him to continue before making a move to leave. “About earlier. About being a jerk.”

“You weren’t just a jerk. You were a grade-A asshole,” Corey chimed in. He had been so silent up to that point that Liv, having forgotten he was there, jumped at his words.

“I suppose that’s a fair enough statement.” Corey seemed taken aback. He had expected to rile Shawn with the comment.

Corey rubbed his hands over his head. “I guess I didn’t help.”

“You were kind of an asshole yourself.”

“Fair enough.” Corey looked down at his lap.

“Well then, if you two are done, I’m going to go gather a few things.” Liv pushed herself up. The chair she had been sitting in didn’t push out as far as she had expected. She rocked forward, her gloved hand falling across Shawn’s wound.

“Oh my god!” She quickly pulled her hand back, not wanting to cause more pain.

“You ok?” he asked calmly.

For a moment, she only stared at him in shock. “Are you ok?” she finally managed.

“I’m not the one who almost biffed it.”

“You didn’t feel that?”

“Feel what?”

Liv stared at him. How could he not have felt it?

“I’m just”—she struggled to collect her thoughts—“I’m just going to go grab a few things.”

She dashed straight for the kitchen. After tiptoeing through the blood-splattered floor, she tore through the cabinets. A large bowl. Some towels. A bottle of the highest-proof alcohol she could find. A box of toothpicks. She let the faucet in the kitchen run until the water was too hot to touch and filled the bowl. From the bathroom, she grabbed a handful of Q-tips.

“I want to try something, if you don’t mind.”

“Whatever floats your boat.”

“Ok, so I want you to close your eyes. I’m going to use the Q-tips to lightly brush your skin and the toothpicks to give you a little poke. Just tell me when you feel something and whether it’s sharp or soft, alright?”

“Alright,” Shawn said slowly and closed his eyes.

Liv pulled at the end of a Q-tip so the cotton feathered out in light, fluffy curls. First, she dragged the wisps of cotton around the skin closest to the wound. Shawn said nothing. Slowly she made a spiral around the wound that broadened with each pass.

“Are you going to get started?”

“Almost ready,” Liv murmured.

She frowned and set down the Q-tip. Picking up one of the toothpicks, she gently poked at the skin around the wound. Nothing.

Zigzagging down his calf, Liv poked and prodded until she reached Shawn’s foot. Still no response.

Using the same pattern, she started making a wobbly line up his calf from the wound towards his thigh.

“Sharp,” Shawn finally announced when she reached about midway up his thigh.

Liv’s frown deepened.

One final test.

“Ok, I-I would like to try one last thing but it may hurt. I don’t think it will but…”

“One last thing? Didn’t we just start?” Shawn’s eyes came open.

Liv shook her head. To demonstrate, she once again poked the toothpick up and down his leg. “I was working the whole time.”

Shawn stared down at his leg like it had suddenly turned into a snake. “I didn’t feel anything.” His eyes darted from his leg to Liv and back again, a deep frown settling across his face.

“Do you mind if I try one last thing?” Shawn just nodded dumbly, still staring at his leg. Liv disappeared from the room and reappeared a few seconds later with a knife from the kitchen.

Liv’s hands trembled as she took her seat again, knife in hand. She was nervous. Afraid. She didn’t want to hurt him and she didn’t think it would. But the thought still nagged at her. “Just a small cut.”

Shawn looked her over and finally nodded.

“Just tell me if you feel anything. Even if you can’t, it won’t be more than a little cut.” He watched as she pressed the tip of the knife to his leg just inches from the bite where the skin should have been the most tender. At first, she only applied a little pressure. Just enough to dimple the skin.

She looked to Shawn for any indication that he could feel the blade, but he shook his head. Little by little, Liv applied more pressure. Still Shawn said nothing. Suddenly, at the tip of the knife, a small red bead formed and grew.

Liv sat back, releasing the pressure and dropping the knife to the floor. “Nothing? Nothing at all?”

Finally, she gave in and ripped off the gloves to run her fingers nervously through her hair.

“What does it mean?” Shawn finally asked.

“It means that the nerves in your skin that perceive pain and pleasure are dying.” Liv sighed.

Corey suddenly sat up straight. “That’s why the infected don’t notice when you lop off a limb.”

They sat in silence for a moment, lost in their own separate thoughts.

“I think I would like another drink now,” Shawn finally announced. Liv picked up one of the bottles from the nightstand and held it to his lips. After a couple swallows, she started to pull the bottle away.

“I didn’t say stop.” He downed the rest of the bottle.

Day 3
3:12 pm

“Liv!” Someone was shaking her. “Wake up!” There was panic in their voice.

Her eyes flew open. “Where’s Elli?” She sat up so fast her head almost collided with Corey’s.

“She’s fine. Jen’s watching her.” Liv was momentarily shaken that Elli had woken and been taken from the room while she slept only a few feet away. The thought that she had slept so heavily in a world so fraught with danger was jarring. “Something is happening with Shawn.”

With that, she sprung up and braced herself for the worst. She snatched up the gloves, pulling them on in the few steps it took to get to Shawn’s room.

He looked paler. Sweatier. Tired. He looked scared.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” She immediately took hold of his leg and began to examine the bite mark.

“I can’t remember my dad.”

Liv’s eyes shifted from the torn flesh to his face. “What?”

“I can’t remember my dad,” he said slowly. His mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say more, but nothing came out.

Her brain stalled as she tried to figure out what was really happening. “What do you mean? You can’t remember his name?”

“I mean I can’t remember him at all. For my ninth birthday, he led me on a treasure hunt for my gift. It took forever.” The exasperation his voice mirrored that of a nine-year-old boy anxious for his gift. “It had all been a ploy to get me out of the house so my mom could set up my party. When we finally ended up back home, he pulled out my gift.” His words stopped as he became lost in the memory. “It was a Gameboy. I was so excited that all I could do was stare at it.” His brow furrowed. “I can remember all of it. Except my dad. He’s just a fuzzy, gray blob. Like if I could just focus a little harder he would resolve and I could actually see him.”

Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. “I can’t remember his name. Or what he looked like. I can’t remember the sound of his voice. It’s like he was erased from all my memories. Like he was never there. Like I never knew him.”

Liv took hold of Shawn’s hand, awkward though it was with him being cuffed to the bed.

“Alright. Just take a deep breath.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Try to think. Think about other things you did with your dad, about a conversation you had with him, anything else.”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Shawn growled. “He not there. Just a gray blob and a garbled voice.”

“Alright,” Liv said patiently, trying to figure out what to do. Assessing memory was a complex task. Assessing the cause of memory problems was even more complex. MRIs and blood tests were just some of the things she had absolutely no access to that were crucial in uncovering the cause.

“I-I…”

She looked into Shawn’s eyes, which were pleading with her to give him answers. Pleading for her to make it better. She nervously pulled at her hair with her free hand. This was beyond her.

She took another breath and steadied herself. “Is there anything else that seems to be missing from your memory?”

Shawn leaned back, his eyes darting back and forth as if searching the ceiling for the answer. “I don’t know.” He was silent for a minute. “How am I supposed to know what I don’t know? If I can’t remember something, how can I know that?”

There had to be something she could do.

“Is this what’s going to happen to me?” Shawn’s words were strained. “Not only are the people I care about physically stolen from me, but the memories of them are going to be stolen as well.”

She had to say something, but what? “I don’t know.” The words were feeble. It was possibly the stupidest thing she could have said. “We won’t leave. We won’t leave you alone.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said morosely. “I will be alone. In the end, it’s going to take everything. I won’t even be me.” His breathing quickened and the words began to tumble out. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to lose everything. Please, don’t let that happen.”

Then suddenly, he stopped. His face relaxed and his eyes slowly slid shut.

“Shawn!” Liv jumped up and shook his shoulder. A split second later, Corey was opposite her on the other side of the bed. He didn’t try to rouse Shawn. Instead, he stood there, knife in hand. Ready for the change.

Shawn’s eyes fluttered open. Sleepily, he looked between Liv and Corey.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is everything alright?”

Liv and Corey exchanged a glance. “What do you remember?” she asked. “Just now.”

“I don’t know.” Shawn seemed perplexed by the question. “I guess I dozed off for a while.”

Liv motioned for Corey to stop as he tried to say something. “What about your father?”

“My father?” Shawn snorted and laughed. “What about him? I never knew the man.”