Everything Dies | Season 3

by Malpass, T. W.

  ‘Are you good?’ Salty asked as she stabilised herself.

  ‘Yeah, I’m good,’ Raine said, her eyes fixated on the cause of her fright.

  Unlike the others, this particular passenger was in an early stage of decomposition. Her flesh was intact—weatherworn and decayed, but intact. With the bodies being exposed to the harsh elements for around a year, she was too preserved to not be infected by the Necro-virus, but she was held completely lifelessly in her seat.

  There was no reaction to Raine’s proximity or the noise she’d made when she’d stumbled. The woman’s head was bowed, her chin resting on her chest. Because of the steep tilt of the fuselage, her long hair hung forwards to obscure her face.

  ‘What?’ Salty asked, noticing his partner had stopped moving.

  ‘Come over here and take a look at this,’ she said.

  Salty made haste and climbed down a few sections to get alongside her. He immediately froze when he saw the unusual corpse.

  ‘I’ll be damned. Did someone take it out?’ he said.

  Raine responded to his question by wedging her legs between the brackets of the seat behind her so she could free up both hands. She brushed the oxygen mask hanging down from the overhead compartment aside and reached out to grab the woman’s hair.

  ‘Careful, Miller,’ Salty said.

  She gave him a look to suggest there was no need to state the obvious and yanked the woman’s hair upwards to lift her head.

  The skin of her cheeks and forehead flaked away like old paint, and as Raine moved some more hair from her face, it revealed a pretty nasty bite mark on the right side of her neck. However, there were no visible puncture wounds or bullet holes near her head or anywhere on her body.

  ‘Do you think this is like what we saw with that herd back at the lighthouse?’ Salty said.

  ‘I don’t think so. This is something new. It’s like it’s gone into stasis.’

  Raine suddenly had a thought. She pondered over it for a moment before drawing her combat knife. She wiped both sides of its blade on the thigh of her cargo pants and brought the sharp edge up to her open palm.

  ‘What the fuck are you doin’ now?’ Salty asked.

  ‘Something dumb,’ she replied, pressing the blade into her own flesh and slicing her palm open.

  The blood began to flow from the cut and dripped onto the sloping floor of the aircraft.

  ‘You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me,’ Salty said when the details of her foolish idea became clear to him.

  ‘Just keep your wits about you,’ she said.

  With that, Raine put her knife away, pulled the woman’s head up by her hair again, and slid her bloodied palm down her face. Quickly withdrawing her hand, she watched the blood drip from the nose of the corpse and between its slightly parted lips.

  They both waited for something to happen, as if a combination of two elements had been mixed to create a volatile chemical reaction.

  Raine counted ninety seconds in her head, which seemed like forever, but still nothing.

  ‘Maybe if they don’t get any blood or flesh for so long, they just power down and that’s it,’ Salty said.

  ‘Have you ever seen that happen before?’

  ‘No, but a lot of time has passed since we encountered them in numbers. Who knows what happens to them over long periods?’

  ‘I think you should leave the theorising to Fost—’

  Before Raine could finish her sentence, the creature awoke and lurched for her, clutching at the front of her shirt with both hands. Raine pushed back on the chair behind her to try to create more distance between them.

  The creature fixed its discoloured, ravenous stare on her as if it had been faking its dormancy or the taste of blood had reanimated it like connecting an electrical wire to the mains.

  Salty reacted immediately, pulling his hatchet from his belt, ready to bury it in their enemy’s skull.

  ‘No!’ Raine yelled, raising her hand to block his swing.

  Confused, Salty held back and watched Raine free her shirt from its dead grip. She dragged herself clear from the seat so she was at a safe distance and readjusted her clothing.

  ‘We’re taking her back,’ she said.

  ‘Say what now?’ Salty replied. ‘For what purpose exactly?’

  ‘Foster hasn’t had a fresh specimen for months. It behaves differently. Who knows what information she’ll be able to get from it?’

  ‘Just fuckin’ great. Another passenger. There’s barely enough room on the back of the sled for you,’ Salty said.

  ‘It’ll be a tight squeeze, but we’ll make it work,’ Raine said as the creature continued to reach for her, straining the buckle of its safety harness, maintained by the sweet taste of blood coating its lips.

  Before departing, they searched the nose of the plane, obtaining fresh blankets, a defibrillator, and a canvas first aid kit full of medical equipment, pills, and injections.

  The only thing left to do was to overcome the small problem of safely removing the creature from the plane.

  Salty had the idea to get the nose section door open from the inside so they could release the creature from its harness, let it fall to the bottom, and then drag it out through the open door.

  Once they emerged from the fuselage, they placed a bag over its head, making it easier to guide the creature over the debris and back to the snowmobile. They tied its legs up behind its thighs and bound its hands together, and Raine rested the creature across her lap for the journey.

  3

  Even the constant annoying squeal from the tracks of the Snowcat couldn’t dampen Jason’s excitement as he drove back to the compound. Over the high-pitched noise, he heard a different sound—rota blades.

  He looked out of the driver window and noticed Crawford’s chopper banking in their direction.

  ‘There she blows,’ he said, grinning from ear-to-ear.

  O.B. acknowledged the helicopter too.

  ‘We should be in range. I’ll radio in,’ he said.

  As O.B. lifted the walkie to his mouth, Jason reached over and placed his hand on it.

  ‘Hold up. Let’s save it until we get back. I wanna see the look on their faces when we roll up, especially Salty’s and Miller’s.’ Jason turned his head to admire the two metal crates stored behind their seats. Written across the front of both were the words ‘Property of the Kikkert Arctic Expedition Company 2016’ alongside an image of the Swedish national flag.

  He faced the road again and caught a glimpse of his passenger’s sour expression.

  ‘Are you gonna wear that the whole way back?’ he said.

  ‘Wear what?’ O.B. asked.

  ‘That face you’ve had ever since we headed out this morning. You should be celebrating, man. Hell, you were the one pushing for this.’

  ‘Finding this much food is good, of course. It’s just…’

  Jason shrugged. ‘Just what?’

  ‘I’m worried people are going to be so relieved that they don’t see the present danger we’re still facing,’ O.B. said.

  ‘You think there’s really something in what Salty found yesterday, huh? It’s gonna be fine. We have eyes in the sky, remember?’ Jason said.

  ‘I’m not talking about that,’ O.B. said.

  ‘Then what’s the problem?’

  ‘Has Miller ever talked to you about Ethan? How he can sense certain things that others can’t?’

  ‘You know her. She’s not the talkative type. I’ve heard Salty make a few comments about it, but I don’t really believe in all that shit,’ Jason said.

  ‘I didn’t either, until I met Ethan. He was the reason Raine and the others were able to escape from the FEMA camp alive. Before the outbreak, he was a tv personality. He helped the police with several criminal investigations.’

  ‘He actually worked with the cops?’ Jason said.

  ‘He acted as a consultant for them quite regularly. He broke a high-pro
file missing child case in the US,’ O.B. said.

  ‘You ever seen him do this thing he can supposedly do?’ Jason asked, suddenly more intrigued.

  ‘Before we made for the border, we tried to escape by sea. Travelled to the coast. On the beach, we came upon one of the dead. It was just lying there, caught up in some driftwood. Ethan touched it, and some part of it transferred itself to him. I don’t know how, but ever since, he’s not been the same. He feels for them and refuses to harm them,’ O.B. said. ‘Why do you think Grant chose him specifically for his experiments? He started to form a bond with those things even before he was turned.’

  Jason swivelled his head as he performed a double take, confused by O.B.’s last remark.

  ‘Wait a second. He hasn’t turned,’ he said.

  ‘He may not be dead yet, but he has more in common with them now than he does with us,’ O.B. said.

  ‘Dude, come on! Foster’s working on a new serum, helping his body fight the infection,’ Jason said.

  ‘Is that what’s really going on? Foster was part of the Lazarus Project. She believed in it just as much as Grant did. She and her colleagues were the ones who created this fucking mess in the first place. Do you think she would just abandon her life’s work? I can guarantee you, whatever experiments Grant had planned for Ethan, she wants to finish them.’

  Jason shook his head.

  ‘If all that were true, Raine would never support it,’ he said.

  ‘She feels like she owes Ethan because of what he’s done for the group. She still hopes Foster can perform a miracle, but deep down, she knows this only ends one way.’

  Jason laughed out of sheer discomfort and tried to concentrate on what he could see through the Snowcat’s windshield.

  ‘Jesus, you should get some better sleep at night. That’s some grade A paranoia right there,’ Jason said.

  ‘All I care about is keeping this group safe, and if you want to protect Miller and the others, you should perhaps start seeing things a little differently before you start calling it paranoia.’

  ‘And what about Raine? She might not talk too much, but I know her well enough to know she doesn’t see things your way,’ Jason said.

  ‘She’s still holding on to whatever glimmer of hope Foster is feeding her, but time’s running out. She’ll see through her bullshit and come around to my way soon enough,’ O.B. said. He sank into his seat and pondered over his own words, all the time moving his thumb back and forth along the coarse outside edge of the walkie-talkie.

  4

  Foster answered the knock at the lab door and opened it to Raine, looking cold and weary. She was clutching the enhanced first aid kit from the crashed plane and handed it to the grateful doctor.

  ‘This is wonderful,’ Foster said, unzipping the canvas pockets to examine its contents. ‘Where did you get it?’

  ‘Long story. It’s not all we brought back for you.’ Raine beckoned to someone outside, and Salty appeared at the doorway, guiding the creature with the bag over its head from behind.

  Foster rocked back on her heels at the sight of the specimen.

  ‘What the hell did you do?’ she asked.

  ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Foster. We’ve dragged this fucker a long way,’ Salty said as he strained to force the unruly creature inside and towards the centre of the lab area.

  ‘It’s been a long time since you had a live specimen. We thought you could use one,’ Raine said. She removed her hood and scanned the room for something to use as a restraint.

  Foster realised what she was searching for and acted swiftly, rummaging through her desk drawer to grab a handful of cable ties.

  ‘Over here.’ Foster ushered Salty to shove the creature over to the east wall, where there was a fixed metal bracket previously used to house shelving.

  He pushed its back against the bracket and then released the wire binding its hands.

  Raine stepped in to help Foster hold its arms above its head so Salty could secure the cable ties to the metal frame. As it was happening, the creature could only try to snap at them from beneath the bag.

  Once its wrists were bound again, Salty did the same with its ankles, and then they all moved away from it.

  ‘That’ll do for now, but if you need it to be moved so it’s easier to work with, just let us know,’ Raine said, rubbing the grime of the creature from her hands onto her cargo pants.

  ‘What exactly do you expect to get from this?’ Foster asked.

  ‘You’re the scientist. You tell us,’ Raine replied.

  ‘Where is he?’ Salty asked.

  ‘Where he usually is. In his quarters,’ Foster said.

  Salty headed off in the direction of the door, and Raine followed.

  She noticed Foster’s irritated expression, implying she required more of an explanation for their unexpected gift.

  ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ Raine said. ‘Then we’ll talk.’

  ‘Good,’ Foster said.

  Salty and Raine entered Ethan’s bedroom and were immediately struck by how dark it was. There were no windows, and the only light source came from the flickering images of the movie playing on Ethan’s TV.

  Ethan sat up when he saw them, surprised to have visitors.

  ‘Hey,’ he said.

  ‘Hey,’ Raine replied, reaching across the wall to feel for a light switch.

  ‘Leave it off… please,’ Ethan said.

  Raine sensed the fear in his voice and brought her arm back to her side.

  The movie played via an old top-loading VCR. The clunky device sat on a stand directly below the much more hi-tech flat-screen television. They were connected by some kind of elaborate adapter, obviously created by one of the engineers who previously held residency at the compound, helping to merge the hokey wires and ports with the new.

  The scene from the movie depicted a tomboyish girl with a blonde bowl cut enthusiastically thrashing her drum set.

  ‘What are you watchin’?’ Salty said.

  ‘Some Kind of Wonderful, 1987,’ Ethan said.

  ‘I remember this one. Stars the kid who played Rocky Dennis in Mask, right?’

  ‘Eric Stoltz,’ Ethan said. ‘Back when they were still being made, I would have preferred a good horror movie. These days, I’m more partial to some light-hearted romance.’

  ‘I guess you won’t be interested in this, then,’ Salty said, holding out the book he’d found amongst the plane wreckage.

  A glimmer of light flashed over Ethan’s eyes, and he gratefully accepted the tattered paperback from him.

  ‘Have you read it?’ Salty asked.

  ‘No, never,’ Ethan said, tracing his fingers over the slightly raised lettering of the novel’s title. ‘Thank you.’ The two words were delivered in such a heartfelt way that anyone would have been forgiven for thinking Salty had parted with some priceless piece of treasure.

  Ethan carefully placed it on the shelf behind him along with about thirty or so others.

  ‘Where did you find it?’

  Salty and Raine shared a glance, momentarily conjuring a similar image of the blast crater and the twisted debris within it.

  ‘Trust me, you don’t wanna know,’ Salty said.

  Ethan realised that leaving the movie playing in spite of his guests was pretty rude of him. He got onto all fours and scrambled to the bottom of his bed to hit the Pause button of the VCR.

  ‘Don’t you have a remote for that?’ Salty asked.

  ‘I have one, but the batteries died weeks ago.’

  ‘I’ll look for some when I’m outside again.’

  Now that the light projected from the paused image on screen was brighter, it revealed some clues to the young man’s physical condition, clues that didn’t escape Raine’s attention.

  His eyes were discoloured and appeared virtually black in the darkened room. On his forearms and around the exposed skin on his neck, Raine could see the w
eaving tapestry of unhealthy veins beneath the surface.

  Of course, the dressing on his arm was ever present—a constant reminder of his forced contamination at the hands of Doctor Grant.

  Ethan knew what she was looking at but chose not to comment on her curiosity.

  ‘How did your search for supplies go?’ he asked.

  ‘Not so successful in terms of food,’ Raine said. ‘Although, the others haven’t gotten back yet. Maybe they had better luck.’

  ‘Sure. I hear O.B. knows what he’s doing these days.’

  ‘I taught him a few things. He’s a fast learner,’ she said.

  ‘Tell him I said hi,’ Ethan said.

  Salty glanced uncomfortably in Raine’s direction.

  ‘I will,’ she said.

  ‘There anything else you need, Twilight? Anything we can help with?’ Salty asked.

  Ethan smiled at him and shook his head.

  ‘I don’t think so, Jake. Foster does a good job of looking after me, but thank you. It’s good to see you.’

  ‘I’ll be back again. You hang in there,’ Salty said. He grabbed the back of his cap, tugged it hard, and then left the room.

  ‘If you think of anything we can do, just let Foster know, and she’ll pass on the message,’ Raine said.

  As she turned, about to close the door behind her, Ethan called her back.

  ‘Hey, Miller. Back on that helipad, I thought you were crazy. But I understand now… I understand why you gave me a choice.’

  Raine forced herself to look at him again. He’d always seemed like a shell of a person to her, but the insidious creep of infection had hollowed him out to a whole new level.

  ‘Try to rest. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring you something good to eat soon enough.’

  She shut the door behind her and heard the movie recommence before making her way back to the lab.

  Foster greeted their return with a look of condemnation.

  ‘Wow. That was a shorter visit than even I expected,’ she said.

  ‘We’re not his therapists, Doctor,’ Raine said.

  ‘That’s right, you’re not. You’re supposed to be his friends.’