Dan looks to the other car. “What did you say happened to the keys for her car?”
Thomas burps. “She said he’s got them.” He nods towards the black guy.
Dan bites his lip. “Maybe we can get it.”
“How would we do that? You feel like reaching out and going through his pockets?” He drinks again and notices Dan staring at him. “What?”
“You’re really sweating. Are you feeling all right?”
“Sure, I’m just a little hot.” A bead of sweat drips from his nose.
Dan reaches over and touches his cheek. “You’re burning up.”
Thomas realizes Dan is right. His skin feels like it’s on fire. His whole body is soaked with sweat. “My system is probably just a little hyped after all the stress I’ve been through,” he mumbles. “I don’t think that’s any wonder.”
Dan doesn’t look convinced. “Thomas?” he asks quietly. “Could it be a fever?”
“Why would I have a fever?”
“You sure you didn’t get a scratch?”
“You checked my back.”
“Yeah, but … we didn’t check you everywhere. Are there any other places on your body that’s hurting?”
Thomas scans his body. “Nope. Just my foot, but that’s from the glass, and that can’t be … that can’t be …”
The words die out as an image appears in his mind.
The floor of the bedroom. Broken glass strewn all over. Glittering in the afternoon sunlight. Red from the blood of the girl, who has been walking around on them for hours.
The blood of the girl … the blood … Oh, no …
The truth finally sinks in.
SIXTEEN
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Thomas screams and bangs his fists onto the steering wheel, harder and harder, more and more uncontrollably, until his hands are starting to hurt.
Finally, he sinks back into the seat, panting. “Why didn’t I … think of it before? Goddamnit …”
“What … what is it?” Dan croaks, staring wide-eyed at Thomas.
“The shards of glass were covered in the blood of the girl. I’ve been infected.”
Several long seconds of silence pass by inside the car. Thomas closes his eyes. His foot is suddenly throbbing a lot worse than a minute ago. The pain is radiating all the way up to his knee. Perhaps it’s only his imagination, but all of a sudden, he can almost feel how the infection is making its way up his bloodstream. Headed for his organs. Headed for his brain.
“Can’t we … can’t we stop it?” Dan asks. “Maybe if we make a really tight bandage?”
Thomas shakes his head. “It’s too late. I can feel it. Even if we cut off my whole damn leg …” He sighs. “Why the fuck couldn’t I just have watched where I was going?”
More silence.
Thomas feels like he’s somehow full of emotions and completely empty at the same time. Random memories seem to pop up. His first bike. His parents’ divorce. The day he met Jennie.
Is this what it feels like when your life passes in front of you?
He can’t really grasp it. That his life is over. Only yesterday his greatest concern was breaking up with Jennie. Now she’s dead, and soon he’ll be too.
“It’s not fair,” he whispers. “I’m only eighteen, for fuck’s sake.”
He feels something on his arm, looks down and sees Dan’s hand resting there. Dan’s eyes are wet. “I’m really sorry, Thomas.”
Thomas starts to cry himself. The tears just burst out. He sobs over the wheel, letting out a scream now and then, cursing the world, but mostly he simply cries, as the long life he had imagined for himself crumbles and falls away.
As the sobbing subsides, Thomas begins to feel an unexpected calmness. He wipes his eyes and mutters: “Could you please tell my dad I’m sorry for what I said the last time I saw him?”
“I … I will,” Dan whispers. “Anyone else you want me to …?”
Thomas thinks. “My mom lives in Copenhagen. I haven’t talked with her for years. And I don’t really have any close friends.” He glances at Dan. “I guess you’re the closest one.”
Dan tries to muster a smile. Then, his expression turns somber again. “What now?”
Thomas straightens up. “I can’t run for help, that’s for sure. Judging from how fast it went with Jennie, I’m lucky if I have half an hour left. So I guess we got to figure something out quick.”
“Thomas,” Dan says, pointing. “Look …”
Thomas looks out his window. The black guy, who has been patiently standing right outside his door the whole time, is now making his way around the hood of the car with wobbling steps. He unwittingly shoves the girl aside as he joins her in trying to get through Dan’s window.
“Guess that’s our solution,” Thomas says. “They’re no longer interested in me.”
SEVENTEEN
“Hold on,” Dan says. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
Thomas shrugs. “What have I got to lose?” He unlocks his door, opens it and steps out into the cool evening air. “Lock it again,” he says, slamming it shut.
Dan immediately reaches over and locks it.
Thomas just stands there for a moment, looking at the zombies. They, on the other hand, won’t even deign a glance at him. He turns to see the faint figure of the redheaded woman on the backseat of the other car. She has lain down with a jacket pulled over herself.
Thomas takes a step, and a lightning bolt shoots up his leg. He grunts in pain, stumbles and almost falls down. For a moment, he feels lightheaded, as the pain rolls through his leg in slow, intense waves.
Fuck me. Now I get why Jennie complained so much. Need to be careful. If I faint, it’s over.
Out here in the fresh air, he can really feel the fever. His skin is burning and freezing all at once. He’s standing on one leg waiting for the dizziness to subside.
Then, when it finally does, he jumps across the gravel to the woman’s car and
