Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) by L. Dee Walker Page A

internet.”
    Rolling his eyes, Ian chuckled. “Oh, well if you and your friends said this, it must be so.”
    She flipped him off in answer.
    Erica shook her head. “What virus would do this?”
    Sophia shrugged. “Without testin’, I couldn’t even begin to guess.”
    “One of my sisters suffered from Downs Syndrome. She had it all her life. She barely had enough strength to pull herself out of the bathtub. Every night we had someone on standby to help. However, tonight she had the strength of a small football team when she came at me.”
    “She was able to walk?”
    “Walk, run, and eat my other sisters! She scratched me good too! She’s the one that did this ,” she pointed at her bandaged arm, “to me.”
    Brandon looked over, furrowing his brows. “You mean the crazy girl at the bottom of the tree?”
    Erica nodded. “Yes, that was her.”
    Candice shook her head. “She was infected before tonight.”
    Erica arched a brow. “What makes you say that?”
    “It doesn’t happen that fast.”
    “Oh, so now you’re the expert on this thing?”
    Candice rolled her eyes. “Todd was fine when we got here, but then over the course of a week, he went from sick to deadly.”
    Motioning to her arm, Sophia looked at Erica. “You’re sure it was one of ‘em who did that to you?”
    Erica nodded. “Yes! She was trying to rip my arm off to eat me. I pushed her off and got my ass up the tree.”
    Looking around, Rachel stopped on Montana. “How can you like be so sure we’re safe here?”
    He arched a brow. “What do ya mean?”
    “Like what’s to stop them from just like opening the door, stepping inside, and like killing us all.”
    “Yeah, how do we know while we’re sleeping some of us won’t change?” Pausing, Erica looked at Ian.
    Ian scowled. “Why are you looking at me?”
    Sophia shrugged. “I’d say if it hasn’t already, it’s not gonna… unless there’s a drastic change.”
    She turned back to Sophia. “What kind?”
    “Your guess is as good as mine, Sweetie.”
     
    Eight
    Sophia watched Erica sitting in the corner, groaning in pain, sweating enough that she looked as if she stood in the shower fully dressed. Standing, she motioned with a tilt of her head for Montana to join her. Walking over, she grabbed a cup of coffee, doctoring it for flavor.
    Catching the motion, he stood, walking over as well. Even though he had a full cup on the table, he fixed another to keep up appearances. The other guides noticed and followed him over. Candice watched the group and when the little huddle formed at the coffee station, she figured it was a good time to grab a cup as well and joined them.
    After they were all gathered, Sophia leaned in, whispering. “I have a bad feelin’ about Erica.”
    Candice arched a brow. “What do you mean?”
    “I dunno. She’s more irritable ‘an before.”
    Trevor leaned in, whispering, while sipping on his cup of coffee. He didn’t want it, but it looked better while standing around the pot. “Yeah, but we dunno how she usually acts. This could be the real her.”
    “True, but she was attacked by one o’ the infected an’ now she’s sweatin’ big time. It could mean she’s got it or she’s gettin’ it.”
    Justice winced. “Not good.”
    “You said your friend was fine, but after a few days he was… rabid?”
    Candice shrugged. “I’m not sure rabid is how I’d describe it, but yeah. He turned crazy. He was an ass to begin with. It was worse when he didn’t get his way, but this was… way worse. Not to mention, he wanted to sleep all day. He wasn’t his usual on the go self.”
    “That sounds like a virus. The body tries to fight it off. It fights better when you’re sleepin’.”
    Brandon looked over at Erica, curiously. “How do ya think she got it?”
    “I think Freakazoids pass it through touch.”
    Trevor nodded. “She said it was one o’ her infected sisters who scratched ‘er. What does the scratch look like? Are we talkin’