Dead Chaos by April Brookshire

CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I heard Riley crying as soon as I walked through the front door. Nacho ran up to greet me and I leaned down to scratch behind his ears. “What’s the big baby whining about now, Nacho?”

  Walking into the living room, I was bombarded by tears and snot as a red-faced Riley rushed to meet me. “Oh, Anya, it’s so horrible!”

  Holding her away from me before she could face-plant her mess onto my shirt, I said, “I’m sure you’re exaggerating, Riley.”

  “You don’t understand, Anya. He’s been bitten!”

  A chill coursed through me and, I don’t know why, but the first person who came to mind was Justin. “Who?” I whispered.

  “Kyle’s been infected!” Riley cried out.

  In a knee-jerk reaction, I slapped her across her lying face. “That’s not funny!” Riley palmed her cheek, sobbing louder.

  Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked down to see Paulina’s solemn expression. “Viktor and Melanie locked him in their room upstairs.”

  I pushed past both of them, heart thundering in my chest. “Kyle!” I shouted, running to the stairs. Tripping halfway up, I scrambled the rest of the way. At the top, Melanie stood with her arms crossed and head down. “Anya,” she rasped. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t real.

  “Move out of my way.” She complied and went down the hallway, encountering Viktor in front of the deadbolted bedroom door, billhook machete in hand. “Unlock it!”

  “Where’s Levi?” he questioned stubbornly.

  “He’s still outside, putting gas in the cars. Now let me in there!” I screamed at him. “If Kyle is infected, he’s got two days!” Stopping to take a deep breath, I pleaded, “Viktor, that means I only have two days with him.”

  After a long moment of just staring down at me with a mixture of pity and sadness in his eyes, Viktor turned around, inserted a key and swung the door open. “I’m locking the door behind you.”

  I wasn’t listening to him anymore. Kyle lay partially on the bed, with his legs hanging off the side and his arms clasped together over his eyes. The bandage on one arm was a harsh dose of reality.

  “Honey?” I breathed, moving to the bed while hearing the lock click behind me.

  Uncovering his face, he looked at me with dry, bloodshot eyes and opened his arms to me. I swallowed my tears and practically threw myself into his arms. We laid there for a long time, more than long enough for my dad to be informed. Long enough for the room to darken because of the setting sun. Viktor must’ve told him to give us time alone.

  All I could hear was the beating heart in the chest beneath my right ear. It sounded so strong. The house was quieter than normal. At this time of day the family would mostly be in for the night and competing personalities usually meant a cacophony of sounds. I’d been crying off and on, trying to do so as silently as possible. I wanted to be able to keep hearing the steady beating of his heart.

  He coughed, interrupting my vigil. “I really wanted to marry you, Anya.”

  Lifting my head off his chest, I got up onto my elbows, cupping his cherished face in my palms. “You are my husband, Kyle. We don’t need a chapel and Pastor Dan to make it true.”

  “I want to kiss you so bad,” he said.

  “I know, me too,” I commiserated. We’d never kiss in that way again. It was thought that the virus passed on through saliva. We couldn’t risk it. Instead, I kissed him on the chin, then up his jaw and back down to kiss up the other side.

  My thoughts were becoming crazy. It felt as if my world were upside down, tilted askew, slowing down. If this man died, it would stop completely.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to protect everyone.

  Popping to an upright position, I stared down into Kyle’s somber brown eyes. “Are you sure, Kyle? I mean, what exactly happened?”

  Kyle sat up, peeling back the bandage from his arm. There was a deep, bloody impression of teeth. “Maybe you’re immune. Remember we heard rumors?”

  He shook his head and recovered the wound. “Come here, babe.”

  With renewed tears, I let him hold me. Not much longer passed before there were three knocks on the door. “Do you guys want some dinner?” my dad asked gruffly through the door.

  “You should eat.” Kyle nudged me and I tightened my arms around his midriff.

  “I’m not hungry,” I told him.

  “Well, I am,” he replied, helping me to my feet. I wasn’t sure he was telling the truth. Most likely he just wanted to push me out of my stupor and force me to take care of myself. “Unlock the door! We’re coming out to eat!” he called out.

  The door opened a moment later and Viktor and my dad stood there, looking stern. Holding Kyle’s hand in mine, I announced, “Kyle and I are going down to the kitchen to eat.”

  My dad and Viktor shared a look as if deciding whether or not to allow Kyle out of the room. Finally, my dad moved aside, clearing a path. As we passed my dad, he stopped Kyle by gripping his upper arm. “I’m sorry about this, son.”

  Kyle cleared his throat. “I’m just glad no one else. . . .” he trailed off.

  “I know,” my dad acknowledged.

  Trying to summon a smile, I pulled on his hand. “Let’s go eat, honey.”

  On our way down the stairs, we passed by Alexi and Justin who were sitting on the wooden steps, playing cards. Alexi lifted his troubled face to look at us. “I’m sorry, man, this sucks. You going out like that.”

  Justin nodded in agreement. “Yeah, man, sorry. We’re gonna miss hanging with you.”

  Their condolences stirred anger in me. “Just shut up, you two! He’s not dead yet!”

  “They just want to let him know they care, Anya,” Viktor admonished from a few steps above us.

  “Thanks, guys,” Kyle said softly, defusing the situation.

  We entered the kitchen where Paulina was dishing up two plates of spaghetti and buttered bread, while Riley stood fidgeting against the counter. I thought the servings were rather large, but maybe overfeeding us was Paulina’s way of coping. She set the plates next to each other on the table and wiped her hands on her apron, gazing at Kyle. “Eat up, you’ll need your strength.” Her voice cracked on the last word and she put a hand over her mouth, leaving the room.

  “I’ll get you guys some iced tea,” Riley offered, spinning around to get glasses from the cupboard.

  Viktor stood in the doorway, standing guard. “Where’s Zeke?” I asked, trying to distract myself.

  “Still outside somewhere,” Viktor explained, “Levi went to go look for him and bring him in.”

  Kyle sat down in front of one of the plates, gesturing for me to do the same. I was worried if I tried to eat, I’d throw it right back up. He let out an appreciative sigh. “This looks good. I’ve always loved Paulina’s homemade spaghetti sauce.” Contradictory, he took a bite out of the bread first.

  Riley set the iced tea in front of us and I took a drink of mine. It’d been hours since I’d last drank anything. I still wasn’t hungry, but I didn’t want to disappoint Kyle. Taking small bites, I was able to make a dent in my large serving. Kyle finished half his food before declaring he was full and I took that as my cue I could stop eating.

  The sliding door opened and a nervous-looking Zeke entered. I didn’t notice the gun until he raised it in his shaking hands. “S-sorry,” he stammered.

  “Put that gun down!” Viktor barked.

  Not yet, I wanted to shout.

  “He’s goin’ to turn into one of those things,” the little boy said, looking frightened. “He won’t be himself anymore. We have to do it now before he kills us.” Tears were running down his freckled face and I could tell he was trying to be brave.

  Kyle looked resigned as he stared at the kid, and I didn’t like the thought that he had already given up. I squeezed his hand, hoping to bring him back to me.

  The gun was snatched out of Zeke’s hand from behind as my father entered through the open sliding door and came upon
the scene. Eyes growing wide, Zeke looked even more scared now. “Upstairs, now!” he yelled at the boy. Zeke didn’t waste time and his footsteps could be heard pounding up the steps.

  My dad let out a frustrated breath while glancing from me to Kyle. “Sorry about that, son.” My dad was about to give a harsh lecture to the kid, but he took the time to put some food on a plate for Zeke before following him upstairs.

  Wordlessly, Kyle pulled me out of my seat and led me out the still open sliding door. We sat in our usual patio chair on the deck and he pulled me into his lap. The sun had set and the storm had since passed. Stars dotted the clear mountain sky. How many times had we sat just like this over the years? This would likely be our last time. As had happened over the past few hours, another crack formed in my heart. When he died, it would shatter into dust.

  With my arms around his neck, I leaned my head against his. “I love you, Kyle.” My words were a whisper, just for him.

  “I’ll always love you, Anya, I always have,” he said sadly. “Wherever I go, just know that I’ll be missing you.”

  I put my hand on his heart. “We’ll see each other again. You’re my soulmate.”

  “Oh yeah?” Kyle asked playfully. “Can’t resist me, huh?

  “Something like that,” I joked along with effort, giving in to the levity he wanted.

  More seriously, he said, “I don’t want to talk about anything depressing. Just for tonight, let’s pretend this,” he held up his injured arm, “doesn’t exist.”

  “Okay,” I told him quietly. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

  “How about the wedding?” he suggested and it took everything in me to keep from bursting into tears. I wouldn’t let him down. I would give him the night he wanted. “Tell me,” he began, “how short is the dress you’re going to wear?”

  That got a little laugh out of me. “Not too short. Now, the negligee I’ll be wearing that night. . . .”

  He tensed beneath me and I thought myself stupid for bringing up that topic. I let out the breath I’d been holding when he finally said, “Ah, the honeymoon, my favorite part.”

  “Mine too,” I agreed.

  Kyle abruptly changed the subject. “What’ll we name our first kid?”

  “Well, that depends. If it’s a boy, Kyle Pearson Jr., of course.” That got a smug grin from him.

  “And if it’s a girl?”

  “Svetlana,” I told him, awaiting his reaction.

  I wasn’t disappointed by his grimace. “Anya, babe, your mother was great and all, but her name?” His head tilted. “Not so much.”

  “Kidding!” I told him, looking up at the sky. “We’ll name her something really pretty and old-fashioned, like Victoria or Charlotte.”

  “I approve.” He yawned loudly. The sound brought me back to reality. It was still early for him to be so tired. Was it the virus coursing through his system? The thought of him going to sleep and never waking up, maybe going into a coma, only to reanimate after dying, terrified me.

  This wasn’t actually going to happen. It was too soon for Kyle to succumb to the virus. Two or three days was the typical timeframe for someone bitten to die and come back. It only happened sooner when the person died from their injuries.

  “Let’s go upstairs and snuggle under the blanket,” I proposed.

  “Alright.”

  We went in together, running into Viktor where he sat at the kitchen table. “Going upstairs?”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Kyle is tired.”

  “Anya, he can’t be left untied tonight,” he warned.

  I gave him a disgusted look. “Fine, Viktor, but you better bring me something soft to tie him up with.” It wasn’t as if Kyle would be turning tonight. Viktor was just being paranoid. Maybe Kyle wasn’t bit deep enough and wasn’t infected at all. Maybe when we woke up tomorrow he’d be as healthy as he’d always been. Maybe he was immune. There had been rumors years back.

  After giving me a scarf to use, Viktor locked us in the room for the night. I guessed he or my dad would take turns standing guard while Melanie slept in my bed.

  Kyle eyed the black scarf. “Kinky.”

  “I think it’s Paulina’s.”

  “Makes it even hotter,” he moaned dramatically.

  “You’re sick!” I wrinkled my nose, laughing.

  When he started to unbutton his jeans to get ready for bed, I took off my shorts, letting them slide down my legs. He stopped what he was doing, scanning my body in only a tank top and panties. When I started taking my top off, he grated out, “Anya, no.”

  Walking to him in my undergarments, I yanked his shirt over his head. “We may not get a real wedding night, but we can touch each other and I can kiss your body.”

  He looked torn, so I took the opportunity to remove the rest of what little bit of clothing there was left. “I’ll love you forever, Kyle, but we may only get this one night.” I couldn’t hold back the tears as two escaped. “Help me remember it.”

  We locked the door from the inside.

  I woke up alone in bed. For the briefest of moments, I was confused to be in Melanie and Viktor’s bedroom. It came crashing back in the next instant. Panic surfaced when I saw the scarf hanging from the bedpost. The bathroom toilet flushed and the door opened.

  Kyle stood there with a towel wrapped around his waist. “You suck at tying a man up, Anya.”

  Relieved, I joked, “I haven’t had much practice.” It was as he neared the bed in the early morning light I saw the dark circles under his eyes. My stomach dropped. I knew I wasn’t imagining that his eyes looked sunken in, also.

  It must have shown on my face, the despair, because he dragged me up into his embrace. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

  “No it isn’t,” I groaned. “I won’t be okay without you.”

  “No more tears,” he ordered, tenderly wiping his fingers across my cheeks.

  I forced a smile. “Okay, I’ll try my best.”

  “Let’s go feed you. I know you’re probably hungry after last night,” he teased.

  “Famished,” I drawled.

  Surprisingly, neither Viktor nor my dad were outside the bedroom door when I opened it. We showed up in the kitchen where Paulina and my dad were sitting, drinking mint tea. Paulina got out of her seat as she saw Kyle and came over to give him a hug. A foot shorter than him, her head rested on his chest. I insisted on being the one to cook Kyle’s breakfast, making him bacon, eggs and toast. He ate it slowly, not able to finish. It wasn’t until he was rushing to the bathroom to vomit that I realized he wouldn’t be able to eat anything anymore.

  I was in the bathroom, running my fingers through his hair as he hung his head over the toilet. Melanie came into the bathroom, handing me a wet towel. Thanking her, I used it to wipe Kyle’s face. I saw Viktor over her shoulder and, from his still-wet hair, figured he must have been in the shower earlier.

  By noon, Kyle’s skin was taking on a yellowish hue.

  By dinner time his cheekbones were more prominent and he looked as if he’d lost twenty pounds.

  By the following morning his muscles were cramping in pain.

  Kyle wouldn’t live past today, decisions had to be made. My family would no longer leave us alone together. Viktor told me my dad wanted me downstairs to talk. I kissed Kyle’s temple, telling him I’d be back in a few minutes. He was tied loosely to the bed for comfort and drifting in and out of sleep.