She took Dal’s hand, refusing to give him space. “They said, ‘Have fun dying’ and ‘Have fun killing all your friends.’ ”
“Look.” Mr. Cecchino turned the girl’s head. Even through the blood spatter, Dal saw the red dart marks on the back of her neck. The black veins seemed to have originated from there. “Do you think the Russian poison made her like this?”
Dal had assumed the red darts carried some kind of illness, like a bad flu or something. But what if Mr. Cecchino was right? What if the Russians had cooked up a bioweapon that turned people into homicidal maniacs?
“We may have alerted the Russians with all the noise we made. We need to go.” Lena pressed a soft kiss to Dal’s cheek.
The gesture froze him with shock. He didn’t deserve her kindness. He didn’t deserve the Cecchino family.
But for whatever reason, they accepted him. When Lena and Mr. Cecchino looked down at him, he didn’t see a hint of loathing in their eyes. He swallowed and climbed to his feet, reluctantly retrieving the poker. The end was coated in gore. He did his best to wipe it clean on the back of the sofa.
Mr. Cecchino squeezed Dal’s shoulder. “We need to get that transmitter on campus. Everyone needs to know about this.”
“Amen to that,” Lena said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
No one addressed the obvious. No one said a word about the fact that the black veins had spread another two inches across Mr. Cecchino’s arm, or that he might very soon become a raging homicidal monster. The very thought almost bent Dal in half.
Their best hope was to get the broadcasting equipment, then figure out a way to get the message out. It was their best hope of saving Mr. Cecchino. They needed doctors. Scientists. People with more know-how than the three of them had.
They hurried out the way they had come, slipping back into the alleyway behind the Goodwill. The sky outside was a dark purple, stars speckling the sky.
Even before they reached the far end of the alley, Dal heard the strange sound. It was grunting and growling, not unlike the sounds the girl in the Goodwill shop had made.
He pointed to his ear, then to the far end of the alley. Lena and Mr. Cecchino nodded. They heard it, too.
They cautiously peered around the corner.
There, in the middle of the street, were three people. Their faces and necks were covered in black veins. Their eyes were bloodshot. They growled and gnashed their teeth. They moved in a group, scanning the buildings around them like a hunting pack.
Dal sucked in his breath. They looked just like the girl who had attacked them in the store.
“Infected,” Lena breathed. “They’re all infected with the Soviet poison.” She threw an anguished look in her father’s direction.
The three infected moved down the street in their direction. They entered the mouth of alley just as Dal, Lena, and Mr. Cecchino ducked behind a dumpster. Dal pressed his cheek against the brick building so he could see through the narrow gap between the dumpster and the wall.
The monsters sniffed around the edge of the alleyway, barking and growling to one another like a pack of dogs.
Dal felt pressure on his forearm. He glanced down to find Lena’s hand clamped around it. One look at her face told him everything she was feeling. She was terrified of the crazed sick people, but she was more terrified for her father.
Mr. Cecchino didn’t look good. The front of his shirt was soaked with sweat. His breath came in short gasps. Red glazed the edges of his eyes. The infection in his arm was spreading before their eyes.
Dal refused to imagine Mr. Cecchino like the woman in the Goodwill shop, or like these three in the alleyway. He squeezed Lena’s knuckles with his free hand.
Somewhere in the distance came the sound of breaking glass. A collective growl went up from the infected. They turned and loped away, disappearing from sight.
Dal’s mind raced. Thousands of people had been hit with those darts. They could not rule out the possibility of thousands of homicidal maniacs roaming the streets within the next few hours.
“Let’s go,” he said. They had to move now, and they had to move fast.
Chapter 20Campus
THEY HURRIED TO THE mouth of the alley. The street beyond was empty except for the dead bodies. The infected had disappeared in search of the sound that had captured their attention.
The junior college campus was just past the storefronts and across the street. They jogged to the street corner in a tight group. Dal made sure Lena was always within reach.
As they paused to survey the campus, shouting erupted. Three students sprinted out from between the buildings, shouting as they raced across the lawn. A pack of four infected tore after them.
Now was their chance, while the infected were distracted. “Come on.” Dal grabbed Lena’s hand and yanked.
They dashed across the street with Mr. Cecchino, dodging through the cars parked along the sidewalk and the dead bodies littering the road. They reached the campus lawn and cut across it. Dal led them toward the auditorium near the front of the campus.
Just before they reached it, he glanced back. The shouting of the students had drawn other figures. They were now being chased by no less than seven infected.
“Should we help them?” Lena asked.
“We can’t.” Mr. Cecchino pulled his daughter into the recess of the auditorium. “We have a job to do. We can’t get distracted.”
“But ...” Lena’s eyes flicked to her father’s face. Argument died as she took in the clammy skin and bloodshot eyes. It was clear to all of them that Mr. Cecchino was getting worse by the minute. Getting the transmitter was the best way to help him and everyone else who was infected.
The first of the infected caught up with the students. It
