Getting back to the bus was not an easy task. The gunshot, Grieco's screams, it all seemed to attract more of the monsters to the apartment building. We tried to stay in the shadows and sneak to the bus, but there were just so many of them and Tori was so sick that there wasn't much else for us to do. Rian, Zack and Vinny cleared a path for us to get to the bus. They were shooting the undead left and right, while Matt and Alex helped get Tori out of the mess and Jack and I brought up the rear. For a moment it felt like we were being smothered, like there was no way out of this mess, but we somehow made it.


We made and now here we are, almost out of gas on a highway in the middle of nowhere. There were cars all over the place, most of them damaged and totalled from crashes when the outbreak started, I guess. Either way, it was taking us a long time just to get through the wreckage. Rian was doing the best he could to steer the bus, but I felt uneasy, like something bad was going to happen.


It was the same feeling I had when Mama started getting really sick. Like, somehow, I just knew everything was going to go wrong. And that's when it hit me. A gasp fell from my mouth and I stumbled off of the couch, my feet carrying me to where Matt was napping in a bunk. He'd switched off with Jack just a few minutes ago. They had agreed since I was a good shot, I needed to stay near the broken window.


"Matt," I ripped back the curtain and shook the man in front of me. I tried to keep my voice to a low whisper so no one could hear me. "Matt, wake up!"


"What?"


"At the apartment. Did Toir drink any water at the apartment?"


"Yeah," he murmured, rolling over on his side. "We were using the bottled water for the coffee. She's too young for that so she drank from the sink."


Tears pooled in my eyes. They must not have seen the news. They didn't know to stay away from the public water. Tori wasn't just sick, she was infected! Matt was too dazed to realize that anything was really wrong with me, but Alex had noticed me curled up against the bunk trying hard not to cry outloud. If Tori was infected, why hadn't she turned yet? She was getting thin, though, and when she ate it never seemed like enough.


"Riot? What's wrong?"


"It's - It's Tori, she's-"
"FUCK!"


Jack's scream cut me off. Son of a bitch! Alex pushed me out of the way and darted into the back room, but he fell back against the wall with a look of horror on his face. I knew something was wrong, so I grabbed the knife by Matt's bed before I followed after him. There was no way that I would let anyone harm my sister, whether or not she was one of those things. But when I saw blood dripping from Jack's pinky finger and the look of insanity in Tori's eyes, I knew something had to be done.


"Hold her back, Alex!"


He did as he was told, running to my sister. He wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her away from his best friend. Jack was in tears, screaming to the top of his lungs as she stared at his dead finger. I cringed at the sight. However, I couldn't just leave him like that. I couldn't handle the thought that Jack was going to turn because of my sister. I grabbed his hand and slammed it down on the floor. He tried to shove me off, but he was so weak that it wasn't much use. Bringing the knife up above my head, I exhaled a deep breath and let the blade slice right through his finger.


"Are you fucking crazy?!" Jack screamed, watching the blood drip from the space where his finger used to be.


"I need a lighter!"


Alex held tightly to Tori and started digging through everything he could reach. When finally his fingers wrapped around a lighter, he tossed it my wide, fear in his eyes as she watched me stick the flame to Jack's flesh. It took ten minutes of Jack screaming in pure pain for the task to be finished. By this point, most people were crowded around the door. Everyone was holding a weapon, but none of them were raised to my little sister. They probably knew I'd kill them first.


"Riot," Tori whispered, making my heart skip a beat. How was she still speaking? Just by looking into her yellow and red eyes, I knew she was infected, but she was still.. Here, alive. "Please, I'm so hungry."


"Is she infected?" Matt questioned, pushing his way into the room. He fell to his knees in front of my baby sister, tears falling from his eyes. "Please tell me she's not infected."


"I don't know what she is," Alex whispered. "But whatever she is, let's just hope it doesn't spread to Jack."


None of us knew what to say. Poor Jack was shaking, pale and sick from pain. If he was infected, he'd start showing symptoms by the end of the night. If he wasn't, it meant we found a way to avoid turning if we can get rid of the bite soon enough. But none of that would help us understand what was wrong with Tori. She was lingering somewhere in between the land of the living and the land of the dead.


As her small fingers wiggled out of Alex's grasp and found what was left of Jack's flesh, she brought the finger to her mouth and began to nibble on it. Most people left the room, most likely to vomit, but all I could do was stare at my baby sister as she sobbed in Alex's arms.


She was the exception to the outbreak. She could be the cure.

Notes

Did you see that coming?! ((: