Arcadium by Sarah Gray

Author:Sarah Gray [Gray, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Tags: young adult, Australia, super team, infection, melbourne, Dystopia, plague, zombies, Sisters, apocalypse, journey
Publisher: Sarah Gray
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

A little before noon we gather in the hotel lobby and wait while Trouble starts the car. As soon as it rumbles to life we push through the glass doors and leave safety. It’s hot again today; the warmth is like a scorching cloud over my skin.

The highway is deserted as we pull out and no one says much; it’s like the tension is a rubber band pulled tight and the first person to speak will snap it in two.

I sit up front with Trouble, Liss is behind me with Henry in the middle and Kean on the other side.

I direct Trouble down Warrigal Road and we begin the slow trawl through a maze of abandoned cars. There are two narrow lanes on either side, a small nature strip and then houses. We weave from our side into the oncoming lane and bump up slowly onto the nature strip, squeezing between a house fence and an upside down car. Then we pick our way back, looking for a clear path.

The car heats up quickly and we wind the windows down just a crack each, even though it must be like forty degrees in here no one is crazy enough to wind them all the way down because at this speed an infected person could easily surprise us.

Sunlight glistens off glossy-leaved trees in the front yards of houses as we pass, and it washes out the scene like an over exposed photo. The concrete seems whiter, the houses seem drearier, and the cars seem as though they’re fading away into history.

I remember this road as one of the busiest, and now it’s nothing more than a dried up vein.

Our lane clears and we pick up speed as we head uphill. “We’re close,” I say.

No one replies and my eyes start searching the landscape for signs of the facility. I’m staring out to my right when it happens, so I’m caught completely off guard.

I hear a huge bang followed by a shattering explosion. Suddenly pieces of windscreen are in my lap and in my hair. A shadow flicks up and over, rolling across the roof. There’s a wild screeching filling the car and the stench of hot rubber stings my nostrils. There’s a brief moment of pause, where time seems to move so slowly, and finally I understand what’s going on. We’re careening off to the left, jarring up the curb and onto the nature strip.

There’s another bang, loud and final, and I hear metal twist and groan. My head slams forward because I’m stupidly not wearing my seatbelt, and my own forehead crushes against my hands on the dashboard. The airbag explodes into Troubles face, but I don’t have one. The world seems to stop but everything in the car wants to keep going.

Henry’s arms flail forward through the gap in the seats but he never comes through; he must be wearing his seatbelt.

We lurch back a bit and everything goes quiet. All I can hear is my own breath, over and over again.

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