Page 48 of Rebirth

“Sophie,” I say, extending a hand.

Bert eyes it for a moment before grasping it in a firm shake. His palm is rough and calloused. A working man’s hand.

“So Nathan says Kara’s taken ill?” I glance behind him but I can’t see inside the tent.

Bert nods glancing at Nathan before reaching to his back, scratching an itch he doesn’t quite seem to be able to reach. “Been sick for days. Fever, chills. Thought we had her on the mend but she’s gotten worse.”

He tries to scratch that itch again and I notice the beads of sweat on his brow.

It isn’t hot out here. As a matter of fact, the morning is cool. Under the canopy, the sun’s rays don’t penetrate the camp.

“Anybody else sick?” I ask, turning my gaze to the rest of the camp. Almost all their eyes are on me and someone coughs.

Not creepy. Not creepy at all.

It’s mostly women, a few older men. Maybe about ten people.

I glance at Nathan but his attention’s on Bert. I thought he’d said they had about fifty people…

“A few people have got the flu. Nothing to worry about. No one’s as bad as Kara,” he says.

The three precede me inside the tent and I take one more look behind me, eyes scanning the group of people watching us before I follow them inside. There’s hardly anything inside the tent, not that I expected much. There’s a small bowl of water that sits beside the mass of blankets on the floor.

I don’t immediately see the woman, not until I step farther into the tent and pause next to Nathan and the other two who have stopped, somber gazes fixated on the blankets.

And then I see it. Peeking out from under the blankets, there’s an arm so skinny it’s almost completely skeletal.

My brow dives as I move into action without thinking. My hand’s on my pack as I swing it across my shoulder. I’m about to open the zip when a heavy hand stops my own.

Ice prickles up my arm and my gaze darts to the hand, Bert’s hand, the air stopping in my lungs. His hand is freezing, even though he’s sweating like he has a fever. But that’s not what’s caused me to pause. What’s set my heart into a staggering pace is what I see on his hand, peeking just underneath the cuff of his shirt.

Bert pulls his arm back and I pretend I didn’t just see the dark network of veins spreading along his arm. Pretend I don’t see a thing as I give him a stiff smile.

“Just getting my tools,” I say to him and he glances at Nathan, who gives him a curt nod.

A lump forms in my throat as I take out a fresh pair of gloves and slip them over my fingers, all the while aware of the three people whose attention has switched solely to me.

“How long has she been sick?”

The woman, Kara, hasn’t moved since we entered the room, and judging by the health of her arm, I don’t have much hope that when I pull back the covers she’ll even be there. Alive.

“F-few weeks,” Bert answers, reaching back once again to scratch that itch that he isn’t able to reach.

I nod, jaw clenching as I crouch. The other three step back and the hairs along the back of my neck stand on end.

Whatever’s going on here, it’s clear it’s no simple flu.

And I think they already know that.

But like with everything in my life, I face this with the same blind bravery my father instilled in me. James Jericho Seltzer would turn in his grave if he saw me bending to fear. So I reach forward, and I pull the covers away.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SOPHIE

The first thing I hear is a screech before there’s a flurry of movement.

I stagger back, hand on my gun and eyes wide as the creature before me snaps and snarls, bloodshot eyes locked on to me and mouth snapping like a dog gone mad with rabies.

---