Dead Endz by Kristen Middleton

corridor.
    “So, where are we?” I asked.
    “We’re in Atlanta, in some kind of temporary holding cell at the C.D.C.”
    My heart began to race. “We’re at the C.D.C.?” I wanted to shout with joy. Finally a break! My mother and sister had to be somewhere close.
    “Yeah, but don’t get too excited. There have been a lot of zombie attacks and things aren’t looking good here for anyone. I think that’s why they were holding you in this place, to study you and keep you from leaving.”
    “I still don’t’ understand why they would do that?”
    She stopped again and stared at me. “From what I could tell in the last few conversations from these quacks, you beat the virus.”
    “What?”
    “Yeah, Wild. The soldiers were talking about you. They said your blood is good. Some scientist wearing a lab coat came in and performed a few tests. When it was all said and done, I overheard them say your body’s built a natural immunity to the zombie virus. You know what that means?”
    “That… they might be able to create a vaccine or something?”
    She sighed. “What it really means is that your life is no longer your own, especially if you’re caught. You’re a gold mine to these guys and they won’t let you go if they catch you. Not ever.”
     

Chapter Seventeen
     
     
     
    As we continued to search the facility, my mind was racing. I still couldn’t believe what Nora had said, that I’d actually beaten the virus? Did that mean that Allie was alive and well? I could only pray my sister was doing okay.
    “Supply room,” said Nora, after opening one of several doors in the hallway. The room was a little dark but we did our best to rummage through the shelves, which unfortunately, were mostly barren.
    “Thank God,” I said, finding a large unopened bottle of water. I took a few sips and listened as Nora crunched down on some crackers she’d apparently found.
    “Cheap skates only fed me once a day,” she said through a mouthful of crackers. “At least they had an I.V. in you for a while, although,” she said, “you look like a twig right now.”
    I had noticed my legs were bonier than ever.
    “Here,” she said, handing me some crackers. “Knock yourself out.”
    My stomach growled in response. “Thanks.”
    “So much for finding something else to wear,” she said.
    It was true, the supply cabinet held a bunch of cleaning and medical supplies but no clothing.
    “I wonder where our stuff is,” I said. “Not that I had much when I arrived…”
    Nora grabbed my arm. “Listen,” she whispered.
    Shouts and gunfire echoed somewhere in the building.
    “We have to get the hell out of here,” she said.
    “Wait”, I said, then grabbed a metal walking cane I’d noticed sitting on one of the shelves. It seemed heavy enough and could possible do some damage. “Okay, let’s go.”
    She snickered at my weapon and then looked around for something to defend herself. When she came up with some sort of hacksaw, I couldn’t believe her luck. It might not do much against the soldiers, but it would probably come in handy against the zombies.
    “You know what they use this for?” she asked.
    “No, not really.”
    Her eyes grew round. “Lobotomies.”
    I shuddered. “Wow…that’s disturbing.”
    Nora smiled wickedly. “Come on, Wild, let’s go give some.”
     
    ***
     
    We made our way down several hallways until we reached the front entrance of the building, where we found two other soldiers on the ground, dead.
    “Okay, those guys certainly weren’t killed by zombies,” I said, noticing the bullet holes.
    She nodded. “Yeah, and from my experience these last few days, they might be renegades.”
    “Renegades?”
    “Yeah, thieves basically. You haven’t run into any of those yet, huh? Lucky you. There are some real assholes out there taking total advantage of this new zombie apocalypse. Believe it or not, some people are having the time of their lives right now.”
    “That’s right,”