Everything Dies | Season 3

by Malpass, T. W.

  Raine’s eyes narrowed, and she chose not to reply.

  ‘I think that’s more than enough for today,’ Foster said.

  ‘Damn right. Time everyone stepped out for some air,’ Salty said. He wasn’t taking no for an answer and virtually pushed Jason and Crawford to the door.

  Raine remained for a moment, still staring at Ethan, and then followed the others out of the lab.

  Ethan relaxed and took a few deep breaths.

  ‘It’s OK,’ he said, clutching the shoulders of the undead woman. ‘You did well.’

  ‘What are you doing, Ethan?’ Foster asked.

  ‘Giving them what they asked for.’

  Foster shook her head.

  ‘Get out of the way and let me restrain it,’ she said.

  ‘Her,’ he said. ‘And there’s no need for that. She won’t harm anyone.’

  Foster ignored his advice and headed to her desk to retrieve more cable ties. Her strides soon shortened, and Ethan noticed she was about to faint.

  He rushed over, managing to break her fall inches from the ground. He flipped her onto her back and supported her head.

  ‘Geraldine?’

  She was only out for seconds and instantly tried to sit up when she came round.

  ‘Stay where you are,’ Ethan said.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘I’m just tired, overworked.’

  ‘Bullshit. We both know what that was. I’m going to get you some water. Don’t move,’ Ethan said.

  Although she was now in full possession of her faculties, her head was a little muzzy.

  Despite Ethan’s protests, she forced herself to a sitting position and saw the undead woman hadn’t moved or reacted to her being grounded. The creature sat motionless, perched on the chair and staring straight ahead.

  5

  Salty caught up to Crawford when she was halfway to her cabin.

  ‘Crawford, wait up!’

  She looked back but carried on walking at pace.

  ‘You said they were testing to see if he could walk among them. I didn’t sign up for… whatever the hell just happened in there,’ she said.

  ‘They’re gonna vote on whether we should take him out,’ Salty said.

  This time, Crawford stopped and faced him.

  ‘Maybe that’s the right thing to do, Jake. Did you see what he did? I’ve seen some crazy shit since the outbreak, but I’ve never seen anything like that.’

  ‘You’re just gonna wash your hands of this? Or are you thinkin’ about taking the chopper and bailing like you planned to do last time?’

  ‘What do you think we just witnessed in there? Doctor Doolittle of the dead? He’s becoming one of them, and you’re too close to him to see where this is headed,’ Crawford said.

  ‘Murder. Cold-blooded murder is where this is headed,’ Salty said. ‘You gonna be part of that?’

  ‘Listen, I feel sorry as hell for the kid, but if the others decide to end this, I’m not gonna stand in their way.’

  ‘Sounds about right for you—just stand aside and let someone else do what you don’t have the guts to do yourself.’

  ‘Fuck you, Jake. They could be doin’ him a favour. You ever think about that? Have you really taken a good look at him? He’s sick, miserable. He might want this to be over more than anyone,’ Crawford said.

  ‘Of course I’ve seen it, but that should be Twilight’s call. No one else.’

  ‘I’m tired. I don’t want to discuss this any longer,’ Crawford said, starting for her cabin again.

  ‘Yeah, no problem. Go hide out in your cabin and have a drink to celebrate,’ Salty said.

  He stopped following her, and she didn’t try to continue the discussion. Instead, she raised her right hand over her shoulder and flipped him off.

  ‘Looks like that little stunt he pulled hasn’t gained him any friends’ came a familiar voice from behind him.

  Salty turned to face O.B., who was standing with his hands clutching his belt.

  ‘At least you don’t have to worry, Pyle. If you get bit, there won’t be any debate. People will be lining up to put a bullet in your head,’ Salty said.

  ‘And I’d welcome it, as should he,’ O.B. said.

  Salty looked the hard-nosed young man up and down, scoffed, and shook his head.

  ‘She’d be fucking ashamed of you if she could see you now,’ he said.

  ‘Then it’s just as well she can’t see me now. I know for sure. I saw those things tear her to pieces while she was still alive, those things your best bud in there treats like family. It’s about time you put aside your dislike for me and woke up to that.’

  O.B. pushed past him to get back to the compound, leaving Salty to chew on his words.

  Salty didn’t linger for long. The icy breeze turned his thoughts elsewhere and forced him to take shelter.

  6

  Foster opened her eyes and glanced around the room. She was lying on Ethan’s bed with his hooded top draped over her legs.

  She felt groggy, traces of a headache nagging her brain. Coming to her senses, she realised she was alone and staggered to her feet to look for Ethan.

  She found him still in the lab with the creature he’d used in the ill-fated demonstration. It was now standing, following his movements with its demonically discoloured eyes as he made a fresh pot of coffee.

  Foster edged into the room when she saw it standing there.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked, running her hand through her dishevelled hair.

  ‘You’re awake! How do you feel?’

  ‘Terrible,’ she said, never letting the motionless creature out of her sight.

  ‘You fell asleep in my arms, and I carried you to the closest bed,’ Ethan said.

  ‘How long have I been out?’

  ‘Almost four hours.’

  ‘What?’ Foster said.

  At first, she was full of confusion about how she could have allowed herself to sleep for so long after what happened that morning, until her concern turned to the idea of Ethan being alone with the creature for such a length of time.

  ‘You needed it. You were exhausted.’ Ethan lifted the steaming coffee cup to offer it to her, but she waved her hand to decline.

  ‘No one else has been back?’ she asked.

  ‘No one. They’re probably still trying to process it.’

  ‘No, Ethan. They’re probably deciding when they’re going to come in here and put an end to all of it,’ Foster said angrily.

  ‘Seeing the look on their faces may have even been worth it,’ he said, taking a sip of the hot coffee.

  ‘Are you really that eager to die?’

  ‘I’m tired, Geraldine.’

  ‘And what about me? I thought you didn’t want me to come to harm?’

  ‘I’ll make sure they know what happened had nothing to do with you,’ Ethan said.

  ‘That won’t matter to them,’ Foster said. ‘And for God’s sake, please restrain the specimen. If they know you’ve had it free in the lab like this, it’ll make things even worse.’

  ‘They won’t know.’

  ‘Fine. Then do it for me. It’s making me uncomfortable,’ Foster insisted.

  ‘Her name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Proctor, and she’s quite docile.’

  His comment sent a shiver down the back of her neck.

  ‘How could you know that?’

  Ethan moved to the desk and picked up the red leather wallet sitting there.

  ‘It was in her back pocket. I read it on her driver’s licence.’

  Foster approached him, frowning at him like he was the most curious scientific discovery.

  ‘How did you do what you did before?’ she asked.

  Ethan set the cup down. He could see the way she was looking at him. It was very specific, and he recognised it because he’d experienced it several times from other people.

  ‘I could hear them when I touched them, even befo
re I was infected. Their thoughts don’t often make sense, but there’s something in there from the person they used to be.

  ‘After I was bitten, it turns out they can hear me too. They understand me, and I understand them, though not in words. It’s more of a feeling, like communicating with an animal.’

  Foster’s eyes spilled over with tears. For the entire time since the outbreak, she had viewed the phenomenon through the lens of a microscope, seeing nothing but the plague that had descended upon them.

  ‘You say you understand them. What is it they want?’ she asked.

  His expression was something caught between a smile and a grimace.

  ‘To live,’ he said.

  ‘But how—’

  She stopped asking her next question as she saw him double over in pain, clutching his stomach.

  She put her arms around him and guided him to the nearest chair.

  His face contorted as he tried to cope with the violent cramps attacking his gut.

  ‘Hold on. I’ll get what you—’

  Ethan grabbed her arm before she could leave.

  ‘Not yet,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘Not until I can’t take it anymore.’

  ‘But you must. You have to—’

  ‘I don’t want it to get easier. Do you understand?’

  She nodded. She did understand.

  7

  The air in the rec room lay still. The whole compound was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

  Raine paced up and down from the foosball table to the kitchen space, pondering the awful and seemingly inevitable decision she now had to make. She was so full of tension, when she turned towards the south wall, she was tempted to run and smash her head against it.

  Instead, she stopped and faced the dartboard, drawing her knife from the sheath attached to her belt. She flipped it so she held the blade at its tip, drew her arm over her shoulder, and launched the knife at the board.

  The throw was on target, but it struck the wire frame and bounced away, skidding across the floor a few inches from her feet.

  Raine picked it up and walked back so she could throw it again. This attempt also arrived tip first, just wide of the target, embedding itself in the plaster wall next to the board.

  She strode forwards and yanked the blade from the hole it had created to reset herself.

  Her third toss was much firmer and stuck into the board close to the bullseye. Before she could return to the board, she sensed eyes on her.

  She turned around to see Jason standing in the doorway.

  ‘Why don’t you come to bed?’ he asked.

  ‘It’s too early to sleep,’ she said, wiping her nose on her forearm.

  ‘Then let’s get drunk. I have half a bottle of whisky with our names on it,’ Jason said.

  ‘You want to get drunk now?’

  ‘Especially now.’

  ‘Where’s Jake?’

  ‘He’s been circling the compound in the sled for the past two hours. Seems he’s having just as much trouble coping with the tension in this place as you are.’

  Raine relaxed her body, deciding her knife-throwing therapy was over for now.

  ‘What do you think we should do?’ she asked.

  ‘There’s a question! I do know there’s been a lot of talk about what should be done with Ethan, but no one has suggested asking him what he wants,’ Jason said.

  Raine smiled.

  ‘I knew there was a good reason I started sleeping with you,’ she said.

  The mood in the rec room soon changed when they heard a shout ring out along the corridor.

  From that distance, it sounded like it was coming from the main storeroom, and they recognised the voice as belonging to O.B. He was clearly in distress, and they both raced out to make a left turn into A section.

  O.B. stood facing the weapons locker with his hands on his head. The locker door was open, and its contents had been cleaned out, both guns and ammunition.

  ‘What the fuck is goin’ on?’ Jason said on seeing the empty storage space.

  O.B. clenched his teeth together and pushed Raine and Jason aside so he could leave the room.

  They followed him as he headed along the corridor towards the north exit. Before he reached the door, he drew his pistol.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Raine asked.

  ‘What does it look like? She stole the weapons to protect him from us. Either that or they’re making a run for it,’ O.B. said.

  ‘You don’t know that,’ Raine said.

  ‘Who else would take them?’ O.B. asked. He flung open the doors so forcefully that they smashed against the outer walls of the compound.

  He continued his march into the snow in the direction of the laboratory building.

  Jason caught up to him first and attempted to restrain him by wrapping his arms around his chest.

  ‘Hey, man. Just chill for a second. Let’s talk about this,’ he said.

  O.B. was in no mood for talking, and once he felt Jason’s arms constraining around him, he struck out with his elbow, connecting with Jason’s mouth and knocking him to the cold ground.

  Raine knelt to pick him up, and Salty arrived on the sled. He’d seen the commotion and the scuffle that ensued on the way in. He cut the engine and jumped clear of the vehicle.

  Anna jumped away too and started to run after him, but he turned to her and pointed to the compound.

  ‘Go back inside. Go on, girl,’ he said.

  She reluctantly obeyed, realising all was not well, and trotted to the doors left open by O.B.’s tantrum, glancing back in concern for her companion.

  Rather than confronting the aggressor, Salty ran to Raine, who was still helping a dazed Jason to his feet. The blow had split the middle of the man’s bottom lip, and it was already swollen and bleeding.

  ‘Talk to me,’ Salty said, readying his rifle.

  ‘Someone broke into the storeroom and stole the guns and ammunition. O.B. is convinced it was Foster,’ Raine said.

  Salty froze for a moment, numbed by her ominous words. He gazed back to the main compound and saw the open doors to the north entrance blowing in the wind.

  ‘It ain’t Foster,’ he said under his breath. His first instinct was to head back there, but he knew Ethan and Foster were in immediate danger, so he hurried towards the lab.

  Raine sprinted after him, leaving Jason to advance more carefully as he nursed his wound.

  The doors to the laboratory were still unlocked, but they wouldn’t have stopped O.B. anyway. He stormed into the main room, his gun gripped tightly by his side.

  Foster looked up from her desk, startled by his arrival. She jumped to her feet, tipping the chair over.

  ‘What the hell did you do with them?’ he demanded.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Foster asked. ‘Why are you here?’

  ‘No more bullshit, Doctor. Tell me where you’ve hidden them.’

  The soft growl coming from the darkened corner of the room caused O.B. to pause and examine the threat.

  The specimen lurked in the shadows, still subdued by whatever spell Ethan had cast over it.

  O.B. may have destroyed the creature if he’d noticed it was unrestrained, but his anger consumed him, and he moved farther into the lab.

  ‘Where’s Ethan?’

  ‘He’s resting,’ Foster said, her eyes darting to the door leading to Ethan’s room.

  It was all the invitation O.B. needed.

  As he shifted to the door, Foster stood in his way.

  ‘Wait. I’ll go and get him. You just bursting in like this won’t be good for him,’ she said.

  O.B. paused, not to comply but to wonder what she was trying to hide from him.

  Salty and Raine entered the lab at the exact moment that O.B. proceeded to shove the doctor out of his way and force the door open.

  Ethan jumped in fright at his unceremonious entrance and turned his head. He was s
itting cross-legged on his bed, holding a glass half full of liquid—a deep red syrupy substance that also stained the skin around his lips.

  The distinct look of shame that came over him when he knew he’d been seen was all the evidence O.B. needed.

  ‘What is that?’ O.B. asked. Taking a couple steps closer to the bed, he saw the empty blood bag draped over Ethan’s lap. Ethan held up his hands defensively.

  A rage unlike anything he’d experienced before began to burn inside of O.B.’s veins. His temperature skyrocketed, and he immediately snatched Ethan by his wrist and dragged him from his bed.

  The glass spilled from his hand and smashed on the floor, the splintered shards becoming one with the sickly blood.

  Salty and Raine were about to go in after O.B. when he emerged, dragging Ethan behind him. Once he got Ethan into the lab, O.B. let go of his wrist.

  ‘On your fucking feet,’ he said.

  ‘Calm down,’ Salty said.

  ‘Stay back!’ O.B. wheeled around and pointed his gun at the others.

  ‘You sure you wanna point that thing at me, kid?’ Salty asked.

  ‘It’s the only way I can get you idiots to see what’s really going on,’ O.B. said. ‘Stand up!’

  This time Ethan responded to his request, wiping his lips with his sleeve as he got to his feet.

  O.B. shuffled back so he could get a full view of the four people around him. Then he turned the gun on Ethan.

  ‘OK, O.B., you’ve got our full attention. Now start making sense,’ Raine said.

  ‘I’ve never made more sense. She was never doing research. They’ve been lying to us this whole time.’

  Raine shrugged at him.

  ‘In there,’ he said, nodding in the direction of Ethan’s quarters.

  He stood aside to let her by, and Raine ducked her head inside. She saw the blood mingling with broken glass and the red-stained bag lying on the bed. It was all she needed to see.

  Without saying a word, she charged up to Foster, grabbed the doctor’s left arm, and rolled up her sleeve to reveal the discoloured track marks.

  ‘She’s been using her blood and ours to feed him,’ O.B. said. ‘That’s why he’s been able to go so long without turning.’

  ‘That’s not true,’ Foster pleaded. ‘I have been continuing my research. The blood was only given to him in controlled doses to ease his pain.’