Page 10 of Outbreak

“Who the fuck are you?”

Silence.

“What’s your plan here?”

Silence.

“Really? You’re giving me the silent treatment now? What are you, twelve? Tell me what the fuck is going on! Where are we going? Why the fuck did you kidnap me? And why the fuck are you wearing that ridiculous fucking mask? Who are you?”

She’s fucking fuming, and I love it. Ignoring her is just the beginning of her punishment. I’ve got four years worth of pent-up anger over her betrayal to make up for.

“So many questions, Rue,” I taunt while reaching into the bag from the store and grabbing an energy drink and a bag of gummy worms. I toss the bag into her lap and sit the semi-cold can in her cup holder. “This is going to be a long trip. Get comfy.”

CHAPTER 10

Rue

“What the fuck is this?” I ask, holding up the bag of sour candy like it’s poison in front of me.

“Your favorite snack, Rue. What does it look like?” His sarcasm doesn’t do anything to quell the anger and anxiety infiltrating in my whole body.

How does he know what my favorite snack is?

“I told you. I know everything about you,” he answers my unspoken question as if I shouldn’t be concerned by anything that comes out of his mouth.

Who does this fucker think he is?

The rage building inside of me could blow this big ass truck to smithereens. I’m about to fucking combust! Without thought, I rip into the bag of candy and sit back to give him the same silent treatment he’s given me. The first bite into the gritty, sour goodness is tart and just what I need to calm myself down. He might know these are my favorites, but I doubt he knows these are my comfort food. They’ve always been my go-to when I feel out of control. So fuck him, but also… Well, I’ll keep my appreciation to myself.

My anxiety levels are already lowering, and while I still want to throttle this asshole, I can feel my immediate anger simmering down. I still have so many questions he refuses to answer, but I ask another one that he might be willing to explain.

“What did you mean when you said ‘that wasn’t a man’ back there?”

He doesn’t look at me or even acknowledge me for a long minute as I mindlessly watch the trees pass and eat my gummies.

“Haven’t you been watching the news about the virus going around? Social media?” I didn’t think he was going to answer, so his response startles me from my haze.

Not wanting to scare him away now that he actually might tell me something important, I don’t look away from the window as I answer him.

“No. I just know the school said there was a virus and they closed our classes this week. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Something is weird about this virus. I didn’t want to believe internet rumors, but that guy back there…”

“What about him?” I ask, finally sitting up and looking at him. He turns his masked face to me.

“I killed him every which way from Sunday, stabbed him in the heart, slashed his throat… and he just kept getting back up. It wasn’t normal. He had the same symptoms I’ve seen from people who got the virus and died. I think… he was already dead.”

“You’re fucking with me,” I say, rolling my eyes and sitting back. He’s crazy. I’ve been kidnapped by a certifiable crazy person. “Nice try. Dead people don’t just get up.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” he relents.

My arm catches in the cuff as I try to put it by my side.

I’m going to stab him in the fucking eye if he doesn’t lose the cuffs!

I’ll just have to make him believe I’m not going to run again. I can do that. I hate people, but I can play nice if it means he lets his guard down long enough for me to kill him or run. Probably both.

Getting as comfortable as I can, I try my best to figure out where we are. I look for street signs, landmarks, anything really that can clue me in on how far we are from the college. The problem is, I’m not from Louisiana. I moved here for college after I fled Arizona. I’ve stuck to the school and surrounding town since I’ve been here. I don’t even know if we’re still in the state. I don’t think I could have been out that long from the asshole drugging me. It’s still dark out, with no sign of the sun rising anytime soon, so it’s maybe been a couple hours at most. We left for the party before midnight, and we weren't there very long. Long enough to find my boyfriend fucking a dead girl?—

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