The scientist nodded. “That’s what happens when a vaccinated person gets bitten by a zombie. This is different.” He held up the syringe. “It’s a pure strain of the virus that doesn’t react violently with the vaccine in your system. You won’t get sick. The change will be gradual. It won’t make you ill until the fourth day.”
“So you’ll have three days to get the H1NZ1, and get back here,” Hart added.
“But you know I’ll come back,” I protested. “I won’t leave Lucy. You don’t need to inject me with anything.”
Hart shrugged. “Well if you’re planning to come back anyway, then what’s the difference?”
“Have the others agreed to this?” I asked. I’d always hated needles but knowing that this one contained the virus that turned people into monsters made me fear it.
Hart laughed mirthlessly. “Of course not. They didn’t have a choice. I had to have them held down while they were injected. I was hoping that, given your circumstances, that wouldn’t be necessary with you.”
I had no choice. If I didn’t agree to be injected, they’d force it on me anyway. And like Hart said, I was planning on coming back here with the H1NZ1, so what was the difference? I looked at the scientist. “Do it.”
He came forward, lifted the sleeve of my T-shirt, and pushed the needle into my shoulder muscle. I winced and drew in a sharp breath. He pressed the plunger on the syringe, and I felt a stinging sensation spread through my arm.
When he was done, the scientist left the room.
“Good,” Hart said, smiling. “Now, time is of the essence. So, let’s go and meet your friends and plan how we’re going to get that chemical.”
“No,” I said. “I want to see Lucy first.”
He gave me a thin-lipped smile. “Of course.”
* * *
The facility’s hospital was modern and well equipped. Like all hospitals, the wards smelled of disinfectant, and there was a constant bleeping from various machines that were hooked up to patients.
Hart led me past the main ward to a small corridor where the doors were all closed and, I assumed, locked. He pointed to a window. I looked through it to see Lucy lying in a hospital bed. She was lying, curled up, beneath the sheets. There were no machines attached to her, no drips, and no tubes. None of those things would do her any good. The only thing that could save her now was the antivirus.
Hart was looking into the window of the room next to Lucy’s. There was a woman in there lying in exactly the same curled-up position as Lucy.
“My wife, Kate,” Hart said.
I nodded.
“I’m relying on you, Alex,” he said.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get that chemical.”
“Okay. Now, let’s go and discuss that with the others. We need to get started as soon as possible.”
I followed him along the corridor. I didn’t want to leave Lucy here but I was acutely aware that I had a ticking time bomb running through my veins that had to be defused.
If I didn’t get the H1NZ1 back here from the mainland in time, that bomb was going to blow, and it would mean the end of everything.
6
The others were waiting in a large lecture hall, all of them sitting on the front row of seats like the most attentive students in the world. The fact that we all had the virus in our systems was definitely motivating; Hart had been right about that. I took a seat next to Johnny. He turned to me with an accusing look in his dark eyes. Tanya, Sam, and Jax just ignored me.
They probably blamed me for the situation we found ourselves in, but I hadn’t forced them to come to Apocalypse Island. In fact, I’d told them I should come alone, so I refused to be held responsible for any of this.
Hart took the stage, and as he did so, the lights in the room dimmed. A large screen came to life, displaying a photograph of a building identical to the one we were in now, except that the five-story building on the screen was located in a fenced-in compound, and beyond the fence, rolling green hills were visible.
“This is Site Alpha Two,” Hart said. Unlike Alpha One, where we are now, Alpha Two is on the mainland. It’s in a remote area of the Scottish highlands. A fifteen-foot-high fence protects the facility, with razor wire running along the top. The security there was high level, as it is here.
“When we flew over the site a week ago, we ascertained that the fence had been compromised in some places, and that there were no signs of life inside the compound.”
The screen changed, showing a blueprint of corridors and rooms. “This is the fourth floor of the building. The lab at the end of this corridor is where you are most likely to find the H1NZ1. This is where the chemical was synthesized. There may also be a supply of the chemical in the storeroom here.” He pointed to a different room on the blueprint. “We’ll provide you with maps of every floor, as well as weapons. We want you to have the best chance possible of retrieving the H1NZ1 and bringing it to the rendezvous point.”
The screen showed an overhead satellite image of the area, Site Alpha Two no more than a small box on the terrain. “This area here,” Hart said, indicating a point that looked like it was a couple of miles from the building, “is where we’ll land the chopper to drop you off. We can’t land any closer to the building, because the noise of the helicopter will attract all the zombies from miles around. You’ll have enough to deal with inside the building; there’s no point attracting more to the area. So you’ll exit the chopper here, and remove yourselves from the location quickly.
“When we pick you up, we’ll use this helipad to the north of the facility. It was used to transport staff from one site to another. We can’t wait for long in the pick-up area because the noise of the helicopter will bring all the zombies our way. We’ll be there at 1300 hours on Tuesday. Today is Sunday, so that will give you plenty of time to locate the chemical and get back to the rendezvous point, and also means that you’ll get back here long before the virus in your blood has a chance to do anything to you. The noise of the helicopter will bring any zombies in the area our way, so when I say 1300 hours, I don’t mean 1305, or even 1302. Be there on time for all our sakes.”
The screen went black and the lights in the room came up. A scientist with dark hair and glasses came down from the back of the room and ascended the steps to the stage.
He said, “My name is Doctor Gorman. The H1NZ1 you’re looking for will be held in glass vials, which are kept in small metallic boxes about the size of a deck of playing cards. The designation H1NZ1 will be stenciled on the boxes. Bring back as many as you can. The vials are encased in foam rubber within the metal boxes, so don’t worry about them breaking if you have to handle them roughly.”
“Any questions?” Hart asked.
“This is bullshit, man,” Sam muttered.
“That’s not a question, it’s a statement,” Hart said. “Any questions?”
“How do we get to the fourth floor?” Tanya asked. “There must be security doors with digital locks just like there are at this site.”
Gorman spoke up. “We’ll provide you with access cards for the entire facility. They will open every door. The electricity on the mainland is still working thanks to the army, so the digital locks will all be functional.”
“Anything else?” Hart asked.
“Yeah,” Johnny said. “After we get back here, how long does it take to make the antivirus that’s going to cure us?”
“It will take an hour to produce it once we have the H1NZ1,” Gorman said.
“Let’s go, man,” Sam said, standing up. “I want to get this shit over with.” He started for the door at the back of the room.
Hart nodded. “The chopper is waiting. We have a selection of weapons for you to choose from in the hangar.”
7
The weapons were laid out on a wooden table in one of the hangars. There was also a third Chinook in here, this one being worked on by a team of mechanics. The hangar smelled of burnt metal and oil.
I looked at the array of wea
pons on offer and felt overwhelmed by choices. There were handguns, rifles, machine guns, boxes of ammo, knives, baseball bats, and axes. There were also five backpacks so we could carry the H1NZ1 boxes and still use our weapons.
“Awesome,” Sam said, picking up an assault rifle that I recognized from various video games as a Heckler & Koch MP5.
“Is that a wise choice?” I asked Sam. “If you fire that thing, you’ll attract every nasty in the area.”
“Fuck you, Alex. I’m taking it.” He began loading ammo into one of the backpacks. Then, maybe because he realized I was right about the noise the gun would make, he also took a baseball bat.
Since being injected with the virus, Sam’s attitude toward me had gone from friendly to aggressive. I wanted to tell him that none of us were happy with the situation, that we had to make the best of it, but I didn’t think talking to him was a good idea right now. Let him take time to come to terms with what had happened to us. Maybe he would realize it wasn’t my fault.
“Don’t forget water and rations,” Hart said, pointing to another table that held survival gear. As well as canteens of water and military ration packs, there were glow sticks, flashlights, waterproof matches, lengths of para cord, and five sets of folded papers sealed in clear plastic bags. I assumed these were the maps of Site Alpha Two. The door cards were in the same bags.
I picked up a baseball bat from the table and also selected a handgun. The gun was in a leather holster, which I attached to my belt.
“Jesus,” Sam muttered. “He tells me not to bring a gun, and then he chooses a Desert Eagle.”
“That’s loaded with eight .44 rounds,” Hart said. “Will you need any extra cartridges?”
I shook my head. I was only planning on using the gun in the direst of circumstances because of the noise issue I had mentioned to Sam. One of those circumstances would be if the nasties cornered me. In that case, one of those eight bullets had my name on it.
Pushing that thought from my mind, I loaded water and rations into my backpack, along with a handful of glow sticks, matches, a flashlight, and a length of para cord. I had no idea if all of that was going to come in handy, but I didn’t want to find myself in a situation later where I wished I had something that I hadn’t bothered to bring along.
Johnny also took a pistol and a bat. When I saw the worried look on his face, I wondered if he regretted leaving the Survivor Radio studios to join us. He might have been a prisoner there, but at least he never had to risk his life by going into a huge facility that was probably full of zombies.
Tanya took a bat and an MP5, shooting me a rebellious look as she picked up the assault rifle. Okay, I got the idea; for some reason I was being held responsible for everything and everyone was mad at me. I turned away from Tanya’s gaze and watched the mechanics working on the Chinook. I was used to being the outsider, the person everyone in a group thought was weird, and avoided. But I thought that a bond of friendship had been forged between Tanya, Jax, Sam, and myself. We had been through a lot together.
And it was all very well for Tanya to be picking up an assault rifle and shooting me a dirt look but I was still right about the use of guns in the building. If we went in there all guns blazing, we wouldn’t last more than a few seconds. Every zombie and hybrid in the place would know our location, and it was only a matter of time before we ran out of bullets.
Jax took a bat, a knife, and a Desert Eagle. She attached the knife and sidearm to her belt and then went to the other table to load her backpack with survival gear.
Hart stood watching us with a grim expression on his face. We were the only chance he had of curing his wife, and he was probably thinking that the probability of us returning alive, and with the H1NZ1, was very low.
“Is everyone ready?” he asked when we had all slung our backpacks over our shoulders.
We nodded like a group of condemned prisoners about to face a firing squad.
“Let’s go,” Hart said. He led us out of the hangar and across the asphalt, beneath the night sky, to the Chinook. He waved to the pilot, and the engines began to hum, the twin rotor blades spinning lazily at first, and then picking up speed until they chopped the air with the familiar droning sound that gave helicopters their nickname.
The rear ramp descended, and we walked up it and into the cylindrical interior of the Chinook. A row of pull-down seats made of red canvas and metal poles lined the walls. I sat down and stowed my backpack by my feet. The helicopter was huge, allowing everyone to sit some distance from their neighbor, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Hart sat across from me, his eyes sad and weary. He probably didn’t hold much hope of our group returning alive with the chemical needed to save his wife.
I was wondering if I was ever going to see Lucy again. If this mission went badly, and I died at Site Alpha Two, she would turn into a hybrid, and be killed. I would have failed her.
Never in my life had I been so responsible for someone. Before everything had turned to shit, I had forced myself to go to my dead-end job during the week and spent the weekends zoning out on video games. The most responsibility I’d had was to my teammates during online-gaming sessions. At that time, Lucy Hoffmeister had been nothing more than a faraway dream, a fantasy.
Now, I held her life in my hands. The old Alex would have balked at such a thing, preferring to lose himself in a world that wasn’t real. Now, the real world had hit me square in the face, and it had changed me forever.
The Chinook lifted straight up into the air, making my stomach lurch. Then we flew over the sea toward the mainland, leaving Apocalypse Island behind.
8
We descended after a silent, thirty-minute flight. It was noisy inside the belly of the Chinook, but nobody even tried to make conversation over the constant hum of the engines. Tanya sat studying her maps while the rest of us simply sat staring at the walls.
When we touched down, the rear of the helicopter opened, revealing a grassy field beneath the stars. The night was clear and dry, the moon bright and almost full, splashing the field with silver moonlight. It was a good night for zombies.
“Come on, people,” Hart said, “let’s move.” He made sweeping motions with his hands, ushering us off the chopper and out into the night. As I was about to step onto the ramp, he grabbed my shoulder and looked into my eyes earnestly. “See you in a couple of days, Alex. Don’t let Kate and Lucy down.”
“I won’t,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt.
He nodded, and then disappeared back into the helicopter. I walked down the ramp and into the long grass.
“We need to leave this area now,” Tanya said, adjusting her backpack before marching away across the field toward a low stone wall.
We all followed, advancing across the field toward the wall as the Chinook lifted into the air, its rotors flattening the long grass behind us. Hart had been right about the noise; if there were zombies in the area, they were sure to hear the chopper and come this way.
We seemed to be in a farmer’s field. The farmhouse sat in darkness a couple of miles away, and the night breeze smelled of cows. I couldn’t see any in this field or the next, but we passed an open gate in the wall, so the cattle might have wandered off, leaving only their smell behind.
Tanya stopped and took out a map from her pocket. “The compound is a few miles beyond the farm,” she said, pointing at a low, dark hill in the distance. “Over there.” She turned to look at us all. “Do we go tonight, or wait until morning?”
“Let’s do it, man,” Sam said. “The sooner we finish this bullshit task, the better.”
“I’m with Sam,” Johnny said. “We should get this over with.”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” I pointed at the farmhouse. “Maybe we should hole up in there for the night and go to the facility in the morning. It’s already late, and we’ll be getting tired soon. I’d rather spend the night in that farmhouse than in the labs.”
“I’m not tired at all,” Sam said.
“I’m ready to kick ass. For some reason, I feel a sense of urgency. Oh, wait, maybe it’s because I have the fucking zombie virus in my blood.” He looked at me sharply.
“I didn’t make you go to Apocalypse Island,” I reminded him. “In fact, I said I’d go alone.”
“If it wasn’t for your stupid girlfriend getting herself bitten, we wouldn’t be here at all,” he said.
The emotions that had been simmering inside me all day boiled over, and I lashed out at Sam. My punch, which I had been aiming at his face, connected with his shoulder. He was fast, and even as I was withdrawing my fist for a second blow, he drove his own fist into my stomach, forcing the air out of my lungs in an explosive whoosh. I fell down and lay in the grass, clutching my belly and trying to breathe.
Sam stood over me. “If anybody gets killed on this mission, I’m blaming you, Alex. Their blood will be on your hands.”
“Stop it,” Tanya said, pulling him away. “You two can fight it out when we get back with the H1 stuff, and we’ve all been given the antivirus. Until then, we need to work together or none of us will be going back alive.”
Sam glared at her but seemed to take her words on board. He backed away and sat on the stone wall, sulking.
I managed to suck in some breaths and stagger to my feet. I stood with my hands on my hips, looking up at the stars while I breathed slowly and tried to ignore the pain in my stomach.
Jax put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay, Alex?”
I nodded.
Johnny pointed into the dark, at the place the helicopter had landed. “We should get moving.”
I turned to see at least a dozen zombies shambling toward us. They were the slow-moving kind, trudging through the grass with hungry determination.
Tanya set off toward the farmhouse. “Come on.”
Undead Rain Trilogy Box Set Page 33
