Zombie Soap 2: Conspiracy

Twenty-Two

Jeannie/Echo

"I think I remembered something," Echo announced.

She sat on her bed, legs crossed and good arm resting on her knee. Her other arm was still wrapped in gauze, showing no sign of the wound healing any time soon.

Daniel sat beside her, like he'd done since the day they met. He rarely left her side, and when he did, it was only to shower or bring her food. He was the one person in this facility who seemed unafraid and at ease. Everyone else gave her a wide berth or treated her like a dangerous animal. If not for him, she'd have lost her sanity weeks ago.

He set down the tablet he'd been reading, something he'd brought in a week ago, and adjusted himself on the mattress so he faced her. With a quirk of the lip, he asked, "And what's that?"

"You'll think it's weird," she said with a self-conscious grin.

He raised a dark eyebrow, and the corners of his mouth twitched as his eyes sparked with interest. "That doesn't lessen my desire to know."

Heat flushed her neck, spreading to her cheeks and ears. She cleared her throat and stared at her lap. She wished her hair would fall out of its braid and cover her face, but Daniel's handiwork with a brush was nearly perfect. "Uh... I don't know why, but I think I recall soap."

Daniel snorted. "I'm sorry?"

More heat scorched her cheeks, and she regretted saying anything. She'd become accustomed to Daniel's presence, and sometimes she forgot to be nervous around him in case she said something odd. "I remember a friend, at least I think he was, but he had this weird obsession with soap. I distinctly remember going to Bath and Body Works with him. I also recall some kind of silly game he used to play, but it's hard to explain. I can't tell if he used to fight people over it or if he was playing around."

"I suppose there are stranger obsessions," Daniel said with a laugh. His mirth lasted for a moment before his smile fell and his eyes turned serious. "It's funny you should mention soap though. That's what caused the virus."

Echo laughed and swatted his arm. "No way. Soap keeps you clean; it doesn't kill you unless you eat it."

"I'm serious! There was something in one of the major generic brands that made people sick. The company issued a mass recall, but everyone thought it was a joke until it was too late."

Huh. The one thing that was supposed to be beneficial turned out to be humanity's downfall.

She shifted and fixed him with a firm gaze. "What exactly is this virus? Is it like a superflu? You told me the other day that your sister turned."

Daniel flinched and closed his eyes as he worked his jaw. He was silent for a moment before he looked at her with a grieving expression. "It's a lot to ask you to believe, but the zombie virus is real. Most of our country's population died within three days."

Echo blinked. He was serious. And if she was a carrier, that meant... This was why she lost her arm. A fuzzy memory of unbearable pain, followed by the stars and her screams piercing the air flashed before her eyes.

She immediately moved away as the implication sank in. "Oh my god. I- we, your sister; I'm so sorry."

In an effort to leave the bed, she tripped and stumbled to the floor. Her head spun with the revelation, and she half-crawled, half-ran to the bathroom and threw her head over the bowl to vomit. Had she killed anyone? How had she become infected if everyone else died from the virus? On one hand, she wanted answers, but on the other, she was afraid to find out the truth. Sometimes the past was best left forgotten.