Read Online Plagued by Nicola Barnett - Free Book Online

have
nothing here for you,” the woman whimpered.
     
    She moved her short blonde hair behind her ears
and held her hands to her face, sobbing quietly. There were remnants of beauty in
her features — she had large brown eyes, a small, slightly up-turned nose and
very high cheek-bones which gave her an elfin beauty. But as her condition
worsened those eyes had become sunken, dark circles encompassed them and her
skin had turned pale and lifeless. Her lips were cracked and bloody and her
teeth were discoloured.
     
    “We’re not here to hurt you. We heard you crying. We
came to help,” Sarah said with a small smile, stepping in front of Mark
cautiously.
     
    The woman looked up and moved her hands away from
her face, studying her guests suspiciously. Mark placed the crowbar on the
floor slowly.
     
    “You can’t help me now,” she sniffed. “It’s too
late.”
     
    “You’re infected,” Mark said and the woman nodded
sombrely.
     
    Sarah walked closer to her gingerly. “I’m Sarah,”
she said, “and this is Mark.”
     
    “I’m Adrianne,” she said with a cough.
     
    “We’re — we’re leaving the city,” Sarah stuttered
nervously, “maybe you could come with u—”
     
    “I can’t. I’m as good as dead and you know it. If
you two don’t get out of here when I change, you know what will happen,” Adrianne
cried into her hands.
     
    Sarah looked at Mark hopelessly, her tortured face
wrenching his heart. He couldn’t blame her — he had once felt compassion for a
stranger in need.
     
    “You could come with us, you don’t have to d— to
stay here alone,” he said.
     
    Adrianne shook her head and broke into a coughing
fit. “You can’t come anywhere near me, you might catch it.”
     
    “It’s okay,” Mark said. “Sarah’s already had it and
I can look after myself.”
     
    Adrianne looked at Sarah confused. “Then how is
she alive?”
     
    “I don’t know,” Mark said, “but I don’t think she
can catch it again.”
     
    Adrianne sank into her hands again. “It doesn’t
matter anyway, I’m okay with dying. My entire family is dead — my father ripped
my mother’s face off with his bare hands. The woman he loved,” she croaked, her
face wet with tears. “I heard what happened outside. What you did to Kev.”
     
    Mark and Sarah exchanged a look of surprise and guilt.
     
    “Don’t feel bad,” Adrianne said, seeing their
exchange, “you had no choice. It wasn’t the man I love out there. Love doesn’t
survive this, it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference and I can’t keep living
knowing they’re gone. That everyone I love is gone . You two are lucky to
have each other.”
     
    Sarah’s face reddened when she realized Adrianne’s
assumption, but didn’t correct her. It didn’t seem important. She glanced at
Mark and he was already looking back at her, he pursed his lips in an almost
invisible smile, he also stayed silent.
     
    “There must be something we can do to help you. We
can’t leave you here to suffer,” Sarah said miserably.
     
    Adrianne shifted on the bed and looked up at Sarah,
her eyes wide and serious. “Yes, there is something you can do,” she said and
coughed up fresh blood into her palms. “Kill me.”
     
    “No!” Sarah yelled, stunned at the request. “I
can’t do that! There must be something else we can do!”
     
    Adrianne smiled warmly, her eyes showing her
appreciation. “There isn’t any other way. It’s been over an hour now and it
only took my Dad ten minutes to change. I can already feel it in my mind, my
thoughts are... erratic to say the least.” A troubled look fell on
Adrianne’s face and she looked down at the floor, a look of concentration on
her face.
     
    Mark watched her as she listened to something that
wasn’t there. In the corner of his eye, he could see Sarah looking at him
pleading him for a solution. He looked at Sarah without expression and then
returned his indifferent glare to