Read End of the Line (Book 2): Stuck in the Middle for Free Online Page B

didn’t go far, enough that I could still hear him over the sea wind. It chilled me even through my coat.
                  “Please Keith, tell me.” I don’t know why I asked. I rather give Dave his coffee and go back to bed, but I worried that Keith might do something stupid.
    “You won’t want to hear it, Annemarie.”
    “Try me.”
    “I have a terrible secret. I can kill you all . I don’t want to. I just want the hunters to leave me alone.”
                  “What hunters? Keith, stop being cryptic.”
                  “They know about the people with the special blood. They want to kill the zombies and us.”
                  I paused for a moment and let what he said sink in. Originally I thought they were rambling delusions of frightened kid.
                  “You’re a carrier?” I could barely see Keith’s face in the light but he looked confused then startled.
                  “Keith—“
                  “I wish I hadn’t said anything—how did you know about carriers?”
                  “Rachel—the leader before Tanya was one.”
                  Keith didn’t respond right away. He looked around the deck like he was searching for someone. “I didn’t meet a Rachel. She’s not here now?”
                  I wasn’t sure how much information to tell him. That Rachel passed the virus on or that she committed suicide because of it. Keith might hear from the others, but maybe not. We avoided the subject.
                  “How’d she die?”
                  “Suicide,” I admitted. “She did it because she was depressed for a long time. She used to be our leader and a lot of us got killed fleeing from the zombies.” That sounded better than the truth.
                  “It was so strange,” he said not looking at me. “I got bitten by a zombie, thought about killing myself, but I couldn’t. I was surprised I didn’t turn—that nothing happened. I got a little sick, but that was it.  Please Annemarie, you can’t tell anyone—People who know my secret end up dead.”
                  I didn’t like hearing that, now that I knew his secret. I didn’t like being his confidant either. At least now I knew how Jim felt. I should have never asked but it was too late now.
                  “I don’t know if I can.”
                  “Please—Annemarie. I shouldn’t have told you, but now you know you can’t tell anyone.” I didn’t like keeping secrets from Tanya. She would become pissed off if she found out but Keith looked at me like a wounded animal. What was I to do?
                  “Whatever you do, do not have sex with anyone.”
                  “I don’t even like using the same bathroom. I scrub the toilet down every time I use it. I don’t know why I got this curse.” He looked down into the water. The whales had stopped singing. Were they scared of our voices?
                  “Go back to bed. I have to bring coffee to Dave.”
                  “Thanks, Annemarie,” he said moving away from the bow.
                  “I’ll see you in the morning.”
                  “Maybe I shouldn’t stay. Maybe Mike can take me back to shore in the morning.”
                  “Stay for now. For the winter at least. We’ll talk again.”
                  He didn’t respond. I watched him go back into the salon. I wasn’t sure what to do. It was hard to keep a secret here. I did swear to Tanya I’d warn her about trouble, but also promised Keith, I wouldn’t snitch.
                  I headed to the bridge and climbed the slightly rusted metal stairs to the upper deck. The boat had been left out the elements for almost a year allowing rust to form in a lot of areas above