“Now you know my secret. You can choose to have me arrested, and turned into one of those blood jackets. Or you can help me,” said Lucy.
“How?” said Johnny.
“I know the director of pathology. He’s a twisted man. Now that he’s discovered the protective qualities of infected people’s blood, he’ll pursue that line of inquiry ruthlessly. His methods entail great suffering. He has to be stopped,” said Lucy.
“But the defense works, you saw it. We need to make more of it – give it to soldiers, to regular people,” protested Karys.
“Even if that means sacrificing infected people like me?” said Lucy.
“Who said anything about sacrifice?” said Karys.
“This isn’t like blood donations from the old world,” said Lucy. “If you take blood from an infected person, you’re critically weakening them at a time when their immune system’s most stressed. The only subjects Harvey has access to in DC are newly-infected people. Their bodies are at their most vulnerable. Taking their blood would almost certainly trap them in the hallucinatory phase for as long as Harvey keeps them alive.”
“How can you be so sure?” said Karys.
“Because I used to be part of his team, OK?” said Lucy. “I know Harvey. I’ve seen what it’s like for someone trapped in his lab. What it does to their mind. Now that Harvey’s found a use for infected blood, every infected person the Government captures could end up being tortured in this way. I stood by and let it happen once before. I can’t let it happen again.”
“So you’re saying for the sake of a few infected people, we stop protecting our soldiers? We just roll over and let the D4s win?” said Karys.
“There’s an alternative,” said Lucy. “But it comes with a catch. You might have your way after all, Karys – we’ll have to capture one of the creatures alive.”
She paused and watched the group digest the significance of what she was suggesting. It was a series of expressions she’d seen before. People who know they could die if they proceed. People who feared they might die if they don’t. People with nothing left to lose, and people with everything to lose.
“Who’s with me?” said Lucy.
“Like I have a choice,” grunted Ruth.
“I’m out,” said Johnny. “I’m a farmer, I ain’t no soldier. I’m grateful for what y’all did for us, but I ain’t brave enough to return the favor. Sorry. For what it’s worth, y’all did right savin’ Pete. I know he don’t see it that way right now, but I do. We can’t help your mission, but we’ll keep your secret.”
Lucy nodded. “I understand. What about you?” she added, turning to Karys.
Karys looked around the group. “I’m in,” she replied, anxiously.
“Can we trust her?” said Ruth, eyeing up the botanist.
“You can. I swear,” said Karys.
“The people in DC can’t find out about Lucy,” said Ruth.
“They won’t. I promise you,” said Karys.
“Alright then. If we’re gonna do this, we need to start immediately. Harvey’s plans will already be moving at speed,” said Lucy.
Johnny and Ruth helped Pete to his feet, and guided him to the pickup. He broke down once more as he caught sight of his wife’s burning body. Lucy took her place up front beside Karys, who pulled them back onto the road.
Lucy’s felt the burden ahead sink across her shoulders. She thought of Harvey mistreating countless others, just as he’d abused Lopez, and anger stirred within her. He’d had the gall to claim it was in the name of science. The around him had the conceitedness to pretend they believed him, so long as it got them what they wanted. He was getting away with it all, unpunished, and that couldn’t be allowed to stand.
There was another way, and she was going to prove it. But she knew it wasn’t going to be easy. As the pickup rumbled over the abandoned road, Lucy stared into the rear view mirror. She watched the woman’s burning body shrink into the distance, and she thought of Dan.
TWO
Another way
____________________________________________
The flaming torch warmed her face in the cold room. Lucy barely recognized herself in the mirror. She ran a hand through her long, soft hair. As she did so, a clump came away in her fist. She stepped back in disgust, and her heel tapped against something firm. Lucy turned and stared at Shona’s body, which lay prostrate on the floor. Beside her, a slither of purple UV light leaked out from under the closed bathroom door.
A horn blared outside. Lucy dropped the torch and rushed to the window. The moonlight illuminated the tracks below, which ran along the harbor. A figure was stumbling towards the tracks, clutching their ribs. The horn sounded again.
Lucy called out in warning, but the person couldn’t hear her. She tried to open the window, but it had been drilled shut. Wisps of smoke rose between her face and her reflection on the black glass. Flickering orange appeared beside her. The flames had spread to the bedding.
Lucy grabbed a chair from beneath the dresser and slammed it against the glass, striking it repeatedly as the curtains smoldered. She cried out again as the figure below stumbled onto the tracks.
With a crash, the glass shattered around her. The chair fell from the tower, tumbling past dozens of levels until it smashed onto the stone paving. Cold air rushed in, feeding the flames around her. The train’s lights threw the tracks into sharp relief. Lucy cried to the person at the top of her lungs but the clattering carriages drowned her out.
There was a frantic banging at the door – Lopez was calling to her, desperately. Lucy gasped as she turned around. Shona stood before her, surrounded by flames. Her head was tilted to the side. Her eyes were directed downward, forlornly, at the package in her arms. She rocked, gently, cradling the bundle within, before holding the infant out to Lucy, with a tear-stained smile.
“Mother,” whispered Shona.
Lucy edged backwards, but Shona grabbed her hand. She forced it onto the infant’s belly, where it rubbed against the stub of the child’s sticky umbilical cord. The infant wrapped its hand around Lucy’s little finger and she froze, unable to pull herself away. The baby’s purple-hued eyelids fluttered, and its lips quavered. The child’s eyes opened, revealing two yellow irises. They stared up at Lucy. She screamed, stumbling backwards into the window ledge. The train blared its horn. Cold air swept by as she fell. The deafening clatter of the engine swallowed her.
***
Lucy awoke, panting. Her heart was racing, and her cheeks were wet. She sat up, causing a faint creak from the camp bed, and rubbed her face, letting out an exhausted sigh as she pieced together the reality around her.
She shoved on her boots, not bothering to tie the laces, and pulled her jacket on as she slipped out from the tent. The half-moon shone strongly across the clear night. The air was chilly, but mild for spring. Fireflies danced around the back of the parked trucks.
Lucy gave the night watchperson a wave, and crossed the dirt yard to the medical trailer, where she ascended a short flight of metal steps and flicked on the light inside. She clicked the metal door shut behind her and blinked sharply as the neon glow prodded her tired eyes into action. She drew the blinds across the trailer windows, and necked a liter of water from the side.
She fetched a blood pressure kit from the shelf, took a seat in the medical trolley, and tore off a couple of strips of tape, which she dangled from the counter.
Lucy slid an armband onto her upper arm, then squeezed the hand pump until the band had inflated, and she could feel her pulse strongly. She clenched her fist a dozen times until her veins bulged, while using her other hand to scrub the crook of her elbow clean with an antiseptic wipe.
She lifted the syringe out of the kit box and snapped off the plastic sheath. She placed the tip of the needle against her vein, and pierced her skin. Keeping her arm as still as possible, she retrieved a piece of tape and lay it across the syringe, securing it into position. Carefully, she took the IV bag, and connected it t
o the rear of the syringe, then opened the nozzle.
She lay back against the raised trolley and continued to do fist clenches while her blood flowed into the bag. Within ten or so minutes the bag was full. She re-sealed the nozzle, removed the syringe, and clamped a cotton pad over her elbow pit – securing it in place with more tape.
With her operation cleared away, she flicked off the light. She allowed a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, then crept out into the cool night. Animals called to each other in the distance. Where, or what they were, she couldn’t say. In a way, not knowing was better. Hiding the full IV bag beneath her jacket, she gave the watch person a wave, then crossed back over to her tent, where she slid it beneath her pillow.
She tried to sleep but her mind was racing. Lopez needed her. Jack and Fliss were at risk, too. Now that Harvey knew infected people could be used, none of them were safe. She shuddered at the thought of department teams tracking down innocent families, extracting their blood and making them weaker. As happened to Lopez, they would become trapped in an endless cycle of hallucinations, unable to make it through the transitionary phase. She had to put an end to it. And there was only one way.
***
The shelled creature limped to a halt. Lucy, Ruth, and Karys leaped from the truck and raced towards it. They had precious few seconds for the maneuver before it latched onto the ground. Lucy and Karys threw themselves down either side of the creature, as they’d attempted so many times before. The creature’s tough turquoise shell glistened in the afternoon sun. Karys threw a rope under the creature’s legs, which Lucy caught. She threw it over the top of its shell to Ruth, who had placed a wedge between the shell and the ground.
Ruth and Karys heaved against the rope, flipping the turtle-armadillo creature onto its back, and landing it on a tarpaulin haulage sheet Ruth had planted. The group whooped and embraced with delight, as the creature flailed weakly. Lucy admired the screw-shaped tusks along its undercarriage, which had foiled them so many times before.
They threw more ropes around the dazed creature and trussed it up like a parcel. It had the snout of an ant-eater and a long, slender tongue. The creature began to wheeze. Its legs flailed in the air, and foam dropped from the tip of its snout.
“Crap – do you think we should turn it over again?” said Karys.
“If it dies on the way back, we’ll have wasted a hell of a lot of time,” agreed Ruth.
They had been stalking the shelled creature for two days now. They had successfully infected it upon first sight, using Lucy’s blood. But the disease had taken longer than expected to incubate. Only now was the creature properly succumbing to the D4 ‘cancer’ spreading through its body.
Karys let out a yelp and crumpled to the ground, cursing loudly, clutching her foot.
“Mother f–” she groaned, massaging her ankle.
Lucy glanced down at the offending rabbit hole.
“Get back!” cried Ruth, yanking Karys away.
A black, silver-tongued snake slid its way to the edge of the hole and stared at the group, licking its lips rhythmically. A rattling sound emanated from the darkness behind it. The rattling grew, and spread all around them. Lucy pivoted on the spot; suddenly realizing the field was covered in snake holes. Slimy black eyes appeared at the edge of each one, watching her group, and rattling louder by the second.
“Let’s haul ass,” cried Ruth.
With great effort, they dragged the creature up a loading ramp. The turtle-dillo must’ve weighed at least a hundred and fifty pounds. As they shunted it into the back of the truck, Lucy noted its shallow breathing. They attempted to bind its legs, but the turtle-dillo retracted them inside its shell. Instead, they bound over its tusks, then shoved it the final few feet. Lucy eyed up the cage Karys had brought from DC, and prayed it would hold its new occupant.
Re-applying the wedge, and feeding the ropes through the gaps in the metal cage, Lucy and Karys attempted to repeat their capture maneuver in reverse.
“Ruth, we can’t do this without you,” groaned Lucy, heaving on the ropes.
A gunshot rang out from the rear of the truck.
“Try!” called Ruth, over the growing rattling.
Lucy glanced outwards, as a second snake lunged from its hole towards the truck, forcing Ruth to fire again.
Karys and Lucy redoubled their efforts and heaved together, flipping the weighty captive back onto its belly. Lucy gasped as the rope burned her hands.
Sensing the cords slacken, the turtle-dillo drew a deep shuddering breath and lunged for the open cage door.
Karys groaned, taking the full strain. Lucy quickly grabbed hold and helped haul the creature backwards.
“Are you done yet?” cried Ruth, hastily reloading her pistol.
Lucy could feel her energy draining, as she and Karys strained against the creature. Her grip was failing, and days of work was about to vanish. Suddenly the creature collapsed.
“Hurry!” cried Karys.
She and Lucy hastily secured the ropes to each corner of the truck. Tension held the creature firmly in the center of its cage. Its exhausted head slumped onto the floor. Its slender, hypermobile tongue extended outwards and licked the tarpaulin all around it, probing for information.
Another gunshot rang out from the rear, followed by cursing from Ruth.
“Let’s get out of here – I’ll cover you!” called Lucy, taking up the firing position.
Ruth and Karys made a bid for the driver’s cabin. A cacophonous rattling spilled up from the tunnels. Dozens of black snakes poured out of the ground and sped towards the truck. They seemed to be targeting Karys’s side. Was her jacket failing? Lucy couldn’t keep them all at bay.
“Guys, move!” she cried, taking potshots as the first snakes sped under the rear wheels.
Karys hit the gas, thrusting them forwards. The retreat was burning precious fuel, as the engine struggled against the heavy cargo.
Lucy sank back against the truck and stared out. The writhing predators made her skin crawl, as one by one they slipped back into the ground like oil into a drain.
The mission was woefully behind schedule. If Lucy wanted to stop Harvey, they had less than a day to get the sample prepared. But as the truck lurched forwards, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. The last time she’d cultivated the white powder, the consequences for those around her had been fatal. She shuddered as she recalled Captain Rangecroft’s final moments. The deep lacerations across his unconscious face, as he lay dying in the medical ward of Fort Leonard Wood. It had been her idea to try and capture the creature, and he’d paid the price. Just as it had been her idea to ingest the white powder, too, hours later when beasts ambushed the evacuation convoy. Lopez and Jackson had looked to her for help. She told them it was the only way to survive. They listened to her. Now, as Lucy’s truck rumbled on, carrying her infected cargo, a dark truth gnawed deep within. She was the only one left standing.
***
The truck jolted her awake, shaking her from an uneasy dream of oily black snakes. Cool night air blew in through the open back. Lucy sat up sharply as her brain registered the orange glow beside her. Fireflies danced around the cage. More were trickling in from outside, where a stream of glowing bugs weaved through the air.
The turtle-dillo was fastidiously licking one side of the metal cage, coating the mesh in a pink saliva which the fireflies appeared to be eating. Lucy’s eyes fell on the ropes around the creature’s shell; they too were covered in bands of saliva, and populated by clusters of fireflies. Beneath the pink liquid, the rope was fraying. The turtle’s legs slid out from its shell. It rose steadily onto its feet. The thinning restraints creaked under the strain.
Lucy scrambled to her knees and banged the side of the truck, calling out to Karys and Ruth, but as she did so, two of the ropes snapped apart. The turtle launched itself against the saliva-covered wall of its cage, burst through the weakened metal, and through the canvas wall of the vehicle.
&
nbsp; “Stop the truck!” yelled Lucy, leaping out after the creature.
She landed roughly amidst the grass, and sprinted after it. The turtle-dillo was moving with incredible speed as it disappeared into the dark field. Lucy chased after the trail of fireflies following it, but they vanished, one by one, swallowed up by the creature’s swiping tongue.
Lucy ran on, following the sound of its rustling through the knee-high grass. Everything from the sky to the plant life seemed to be a deep midnight blue, and the creature blended into it all seamlessly.
“Lucy, where are you?” called Ruth.
Lucy peered back – Ruth and Karys were nowhere to be seen. The truck stood deserted some distance away, casting light onto the road.
The ground began to rumble. The grass around her bristled. With a soft boom, a flare soared up into the sky, casting green light overhead. Karys stood holding the gun, with her arm pointed firmly in the air. Ruth was beside her. They were some way from the vehicle. Both were pointing past Lucy.
The rumbling grew louder. Lucy turned and squinted across the green-glowing field. Something was racing towards them from the shadows. So many of them. Four-legged. Hooves.
Lucy threw her eyes around the grassland for somewhere to shelter. The turtle was twenty yards away. It had sealed itself to the ground. She sprinted to it, seeing Ruth and Karys doing the same. The three dived behind the tough broad shell and covered their heads as the thundering herd swept through.
The herd spanned the width and length of Lucy’s view, and must have been hundreds strong. The horses’ bellies were swollen like barrels. The shaggy brown hair on their bodies stopped at their necks, revealing mottled black-and-pink skin, covered in warts. A familiar blood-curdling howl rang out across the field, cutting through the hammering of hooves against the earth. The horse whinnied in fear as they stampeded across the plain.
A beast leaped over the turtle’s shell and sunk its powerful jaws into a horse’s neck. In the same motion, it dug its claws into the horse’s body, clinging on from the front with lethal grip.
Convulsive Box Set Page 67
