Once it settled in her stomach her eyelids sagged and her shoulders slumped. She yawned and shuffled back over to the couch and rolled into it, nearly snoring by the time her head hit the pillow. Beyond her the refrigerator door sat ajar and fluids began dripping out of it onto the floor.
Some hours later, after sunrise, Jackson walked in from his watch and stopped dead in his tracks. “What is that smell?” His eyes sagged from sleep deprivation, but he still sniffed the air and walked directly toward the source. The open refrigerator jumped out at him as his eyes washed over the room. He walked toward it and noticed the empty tray on the floor. He turned away and moaned as the smell of rotten food punched his nose, and he quickly closed the door. “Foul.” He covered his nose with his sleeve and breathed through his mouth. He looked down at the empty tray with blood stains inside. “A steak or ground beef?” As he scanned the floor he started walking in Beverly’s direction.
She slowly sat up on the couch and looked over at him.
“What have you been doing? None of that food’s any good.” Jackson spoke through his shirt with a muffled voice and pointed back at the refrigerator.
“I know. I was just so hungry. I was only looking.”
“What happened to the meat that was in that tray?” Jackson pointed to the floor with his eyes.
“Nothing.”
“No.” He bent forward and his eyes narrowed to slits. “I can see something on your face.” He walked around and grimaced when he saw stains smeared all over her mouth. “Did you…did you eat rotten meat?” He looked closer. “Oh my God, you did.”
“I was just…”
Without hesitation Jackson raised his AK and aimed it at her head.
Upstairs the bedroom door opened and Kathleen stepped out. “What is going on out here? Uh…” She scrunched up her nose. “What's that smell?”
Jackson tilted his head upstairs while keeping his eyes trained on Beverly. “She turned!”
“I have not! Listen, I’m talking, my brain still works.” Beverly’s head swiveled from side to side as she looked at both of them with bulging eyes. “I just got so hungry was all.”
“She ate rancid, raw meat out of the fridge like a wild animal.”
“Really?” Kathleen looked at her and started to walk down the steps.
“I’m fine! Please stop pointing that gun at me. You’re making me very nervous.”
Jackson flicked the safety off. “You should be. I reckon you’ve never been this close to gettin’ shot before.”
Kathleen walked into the kitchen and saw the empty tray as well. She covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve, and lumbered over to see Beverly. “Wait a minute. Let me see.” She leaned in toward Beverly’s face and stared at her mouth.
“You look so white, Beverly.”
“I feel better. I got so hungry, that’s all.”
Jackson laid a hand on Kathleen’s back. “Yeah for raw meat, Kathleen, think about it and please back away from her. She’s been pukin’ her guts out on crackers and soda. She finds raw meat in the fridge, rotten and raw, and look at her, no problems. Don’t you find that odd? It should have made her sicker. Must’a been the drugs holding it off, but she’s turnin’.”
“Wait.” Kathleen closed her eyes and laid fingers on her nose.
Jackson shook his head. “Believe me, she’s not gettin’ better. She may feel all right, but she’s gettin’ worse.”
“Kathleen? Do you believe that?” Beverly looked at her with long eyes.
“I’m not sure. It’s strange you know, very strange.”
Jackson took a few steps back and tapped his boot on the floor. “Kathleen, come here, please.”
Kathleen backed up beside him, both still looking at Beverly.
Jackson leaned in toward her ear and whispered while keeping his eyes on Beverly. “Let’s run a simple test, just to see if she’s tellin’ the truth.”
“What are you talkin’ about?” Kathleen looked back with a raised eyebrow.
“We gotta be sure. Just follow my lead okay?”
“All right, this better not be one of your crazy ideas.”
Jackson raised his gun back up to Beverly’s head and waved the muzzle over toward the door. “Walk outside now.”
“Why?” Beverly’s mouth tightened up.
“Do it!” Jackson took one step closer with the gun still pointed at her face.
“Okay! I’m going!” Beverly turned and slowly walked out with her hands up. Once out on the porch she turned and stared at them both. “All right. We’re outside. What’s the point of all this?”
Jackson looked over at the dead crowding the barrier. “It’s simple, watch this.” He walked over to the edge of the porch, above where several of the undead milled around, and let his hand dangle over the side just out of reach. The twisted souls reached and stepped on each other trying to get it, but it hung too high. He reached up and ran his hand under his coat around his body, then reached back down and waved it over the group again. This time a din of groans accompanied their struggle, and the shoving and pulling and climbing increased until some of them made it halfway up the railing standing on heads, bodies, and limbs of others. “See? It’s the scent. I’m irresistible, your turn.” He drove the butt of his rifle into the head of the highest one and the whole pile collapsed and put them all back on flat ground. He pointed at Beverly with the gun and stepped out of the way. “Put your arm over the side and let it sink way down, so they can smell it. Go on.”
Beverly put her hand down and waved it over the crowd. At the sight of another hand coming down they continued their frenetic lunges for live meat, however, as the currents of air delivered her scent to their nostrils they started to relax.
Jackson looked over at Kathleen with his eyebrows up. “Told ya’ so, now give ‘em some of your scent like I did.”
“This is humiliating. You should be ashamed of yourself for puttin’ a lady through such an ordeal.” Her hand rummaged around under her shirt, making the fabric billow, then she brought it out with stiff, jerky movements and bent over the railing with her arm out. As before there was a scuffle to reach the hand but after nostrils flared and some sniffed the air, they began turning away and went back to testing the barrier.
“I knew it!” Jackson looked down the sight and lined the barrel up with her head.
“No! No, it can’t be. Please! Kathleen, help me.” Beverly’s knees buckled, and she knelt with her hands clasped out in front.
Kathleen watched as Jackson kept the gun trained on her while she begged for her life. She could see his finger tightening on the trigger and one part of her saw a man she did not recognize; while the other saw a husband and future father doing what was necessary to protect his family. She had her hands out and took a step back. “Jackson, what are you gonna do?”
Beverly crouched lower and lower until she fell flat on the ground crying. “Please!” She kept her hands clasped out in front. She buried her face in the crooks of her arms, and, suddenly, she started coughing and hacking wildly, and her hands started opening and closing fitfully. Her whooping cough faded into groans and growls. She put her hands flat on the porch and rose to all fours, continuing to groan, and then her head shot up. The life had drained from her eyes, leaving behind swollen veins, juxtaposed harshly against the whites, and her bottom lip hung down revealing her lower teeth.
Jackson centered the sight on her forehead and began squeezing the trigger. Before he got the shot off she lunged with the speed of a sprinter coming off blocks and knocked the gun out of the way. Jackson stumbled back, feet shuffling, until he hit the large pane of glass behind him. She jumped at him and managed to get her hands around his throat and dragged him down, while trying to sink her teeth into his face.
Jackson pushed up on Beverly’s throat with the side of the rifle. “Help, get her off me!”
Kathleen started to go left and right a few times while standing in the same spot. Her eyes finally caught sight of t
he handle of one of the machetes protruding out of the pile of their provisions. She grabbed it and yanked the sheath off. “Push her up Jackson, as far as you can!”
As he pushed up, she walked over and swung the blade into the base of the skull. It dug in several inches and planted in her spinal column where it stopped with a sickening crunch. The impact forced Beverly’s head to the side where it stayed and kept the gash spread open as blood oozed out. Kathleen jerked the machete a couple times, but it did not dislodge. The creature that had just been Beverly turned and locked its eyes on her with the machete sticking sideways out of its neck.
Kathleen stepped back and gasped. “Jackson! Help me!”
He wheezed as he sucked in air and pulled himself up but stopped as the creature grabbed the machete and ripped it out. Then Jackson’s mouth dropped open as it slowly pulled its head back into place through the snapping and popping of bones without using its hands. When the head aligned back up straight the wound started to close instantly, and within mere moments all the blood that was left had already run out of the gash before it sealed itself up. Only a red line remained as evidence of the injury. “What the holy-Jesus-hell-fuck just happened?” Jackson’s mouth still hung open, and he only snapped out of his trance when the wound finished resealing, and the monster’s eyes reopened.
Jackson leaped into action before it could pounce again and rammed the butt of his rifle into the side of its head. It fell to the deck and looked directly up at him, eyes blazing with wickedness and started to get back up, and he leveled the gun at its head and squeezed the trigger. The bullet entered just above the right eye and brains splashed out on the porch and railing. Some of the blood sprayed the undead on the ground, yet they kept walking without turning or looking. The body lay lifeless except for the occasional twitching finger.
“Do you think she’s dead? Do you think she’s dead?” Jackson spat one word out right on top of the other in rapid succession while standing over the creature ready to fire another round.
“I don’t know!” Kathleen braced herself on the railing but maintained her stare at the thing sprawled on the porch.
“What the hell happened!?” Jackson stared at the body wide-eyed and kicked it in the leg. “None of the others move nearly that fast or heal.” He massaged his throat as his breathing started to slow down.
“No, they definitely didn’t heal before. You shot them everywhere in the basement, and they definitely weren’t healing!”
“What then?”
“I don’t know! The antiviral drug maybe?”
“How could it do that?”
“Beats me!”
“Beats you? She nearly bit me! If you hadn’t saved my life, I’d be her dinner right now. She was strong as hell!”
Kathleen recoiled for a few seconds with her head buried in her hand then slowly straightened up and nodded a couple times. “My God, it almost makes sense when you think about it.” The drug slowed down but could not halt or cure the infection. The whole time, even though her symptoms persisted, she stayed stronger and didn’t get as weak as Michael. Don’t you get it?”
Jackson shook his head a little and opened his eyes wider. “No, I don’t.”
Kathleen pressed on with her hypothesis. “Michael, and the others I imagine, died slow agonizing deaths where the infection whittled their bodies down to nothing before killing them and then…you know.” She waved her hand through the air with a flip of the wrist. “But in this case the anti-viral medication kept her body alive longer, and she remained strong while the infection still did its work. You see, she didn’t even die. She just had some horrible episode and changed over. When she did, she turned into a faster, stronger, and probably smarter version of those things out there.”
Jackson stared at her for a few seconds in a daze, and then his eyes narrowed and focused. “Aw shit, I think you’re right. I get it now. It’s like we found an immunity to the disease, but it instantly came back stronger and faster, with different symptoms. I guarantee you she wasn’t that strong before. That was like body builder strength.”
“Not to mention her head zipped itself back up after she pulled the machete out. It mutated. It’s like the risk you run of having an infection come back stronger if you don’t finish a regimen of antibiotics. But viruses don’t mutate that fast. She just went through an entire illness with treatment and mutation in a day. How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, Kathleen. There’s basically no way I can come up with a reason why this might have happened. It’s just quite apparent that it did.”
“I’m so sorry. It was my idea.”
“It’s okay. Let’s just...” He leaned over and held his side. “Let’s just take a more straightforward approach from now on, okay?”
Kathleen cupped her mouth with a hand and nodded her head as her eyes welled with tears. “No more drugs for infected people. You were right. We should’ve shot her.”
“I’m glad you finally came ‘round.” Jackson gazed up in the sky and off in the distance toward the east. “Not too long before noon. There’s not really anything keeping us here now, is there? Today’s the day.”
“You wanna try and find those people down there that sent up the smoke?
Jackson nodded and led her toward the door with a hand on her shoulder. “Definitely.”
They stepped inside and he shut the door, wedged the chair under the knob, dropped into recliners, and passed out.
✹✹✹
“Enjoy it, because this is the last of our food.” Laura took a small bite of her sandwich and glanced around at the others.
Donnie smacked his lips as he chewed and leaned in for another bite. “Well, I haven't been lookin’ forward to it, but we’re gonna have to go back out and find a grocery store or somethin’.”
“How are we gonna get all those things away from the gate?” Meg garbled her words through a mouthful of her Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.
“We have to create a distraction.” Donnie parted his bread and looked inside. “Somebody has to stay behind to keep them interested and then lock up the gate. Jim, I’m lookin’ at you.”
“Why do I have to do it?” Jim kept his head down.
Meg broke in just as Donnie started to answer. “Because, instead of complainin' and questioning every idea maybe you should start pullin’ your weight around here.” She flashed a smile at Donnie, who shot her a sideways glance and then nodded as he took another bite of his sandwich.
Jim looked over to Laura with long eyes, but she did not meet his gaze. His shoulders sagged, and he exhaled. “What do I have to do?”
Donnie stuffed the last bite of sandwich into his mouth, and clasped his hands until he finished chewing then started. “It’s simple, we need to get to the Hummer, so all you have to do is make those things follow you to another part of the fence. If I’m right, they’ll all play along and try to get you, then we can hop in the Hummer and go.” He pointed to Laura and Meg as he explained.
Jim nodded. “Great plan, how do I know you’ll come back for me?”
Donnie blasted a stare at him that might as well have come from a double-barreled shotgun. “Because this is where we live for the time being. You know what your problem is? You think everybody else is as big of an asshole as you are. But you’re just a frightened, little, paranoid child trapped in an adult’s body. It may surprise you, but, despite your apathy back at the gas station, which did get Jeremy killed, I still wouldn’t just leave you here to die at the hands of those things. Do you know why? Because then I wouldn’t be any better than you. And I don’t think I could live with myself if I were like that. So there, that’s your guarantee that we’re comin’ back.” He leaned back and took a drink of water and kept his eyes pinned on Jim.
Jim had hardly raised his eyes from the floor for the last minute and spoke without looking up. “Well, I still need a guarantee. I’ll only do it if Meg stays here with me. You and Laura can go find food. Besides, if I create a distraction
Meg can work the gate. It’s better that way.”
Donnie’s teeth gritted together and his hands clenched until his knuckles went white. “You little piece of shi…”
Meg leaned between them and put up a hand. “It’s okay. Besides, he’s actually right. If he distracts them, I can open the gate, let you two out, and close it.”
“Fine.” Donnie got up and walked out of the room, while the others finished their food in silence. A minute later he came walking back in. “Here, use these for the gate.” He put a chain down beside Meg, a pair of snips, and several plastic ties. “I found them in the supply room. Just run that chain through the holes in the gate and use the ties to lock it, maybe two or three of ‘em. When we come back, I’ll honk the horn while we’re still out of view then just cut ‘em off. We have plenty. I found a whole box downstairs.”
“No problem.” Meg smiled back at him.
Donnie nodded to her and looked over at Jim with a scowl. “Jim, I figure you can walk right up to the fence, don’t touch it of course, and get ‘em all interested. When they’re all really tryin’ to get at you, just walk around the perimeter. Best case scenario, you lead ‘em straight to the back so we can escape. Make sure you stay close to that fence. They seem to understand that the gate’s our exit, so if you back too far away they might just return to the entrance. If you have to, even start climbin’ on it so they think you’re comin’ over. Hopefully that’ll get ‘em.”
The Inroad Chronicles (Book 1): Legion Seed Page 26
