by A. R. Wise
"Mom," said Annie.
I was startled by her and turned with my hand over my heart as I gasped. "Hi, honey. What is it?"
"If you don't need anything else from me, I'm going to see if I can get into the steeple." She was carrying a box of ammo and had her hunting rifle strapped over her shoulder.
"Good idea." I pat her shoulder and she was about to head off when I stopped her. "Annie," I said and then paused.
"Yeah, what's up?"
She was startlingly beautiful. Her curly red hair and blue eyes were too gorgeous to have come from me. When I looked at her, I saw her father, and I wanted nothing more than to pull her into a long hug. Instead, I just said, "I love you."
"Love you too," she said and turned to leave.
I gripped her shirt and stopped her from leaving.
There was something I needed to tell her, but was afraid to say. There was a secret I'd been hiding from my girls, and they deserved to know, but I wasn't strong enough to admit it yet, and this wasn't the right time.
"You're perfect. Always have been."
"Okay." Her smile turned to a smirk as she eyed me quizzically. "You all right?"
I nodded because I didn't want to give voice to a lie.
"Just be careful."
"I'll be fine up there. You need to be careful down here," said Annie. "The Rollers need you. They wouldn't make it without you."
That wasn't what I wanted to hear. I let her go, and watched her run off. Zack walked in through the vestibule and I ran to him. He was surprised when I thudded into his chest.
"Whoa, darling," he said and gently pat my back. "What's going on?"
"Just hold me, you lunkhead. I just need a moment to feel safe. Just one moment."
He didn't ask why, and just put his arms around me as I pressed my face into his chest. It felt so safe in his arms, and I cherished the few seconds we stole.
Then it was over, and we walked back outside into hell - together.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - NOAH'S FLOOD
Kim Laporte
"Get out here," said the soldier as he stood behind William.
The facility's rear entrance opened into a dim mine shaft. There was a nearby light off to my left and the open door blocked my view of its source. The soldier was frantic, and pulled at William's shirt as the wave of gore continued to pour out of the corridor. The river of blood and body parts flowed into the mine and then off to the right, following the shaft's decline down into the pit carved into the earth.
"Get out here now!" The soldier pushed William down to his knees and held his assault rifle with one hand. He tried to point the weapon at us, but it wavered in his grip.
Hero was going to walk out first, but I put my hand on his chest to keep him back. I stared at the soldier and a grim calmness came over me. The blood continued to flow past my feet, like bath water slowly receding, pulling the fleshy pulp of zombies along with it. There was no smell of decay, probably a result of the biological alterations that the scientists caused, but the stench of metal was pervasive. I could taste the zombies' blood with every breath. Crimson dripped from the bottom of my saturated gown. I saw chunks of brain on my arm, and felt the slime of tissue on my cheeks. It was as if I were a demon, stepping out of hell, ready to unleash torture upon anyone that stood in my way.
"You can't kill me," I said. "I'm the one with the cure in me."
"Stay back!" He took his hand off William's shoulder to steady his gun. He set the stock against his shoulder and aimed down the sights. "I know what you guys did in there. You released the virus, and then blew up the rest of my squad. You're insane. Stay back or I'll kill you."
There was a dirt bike to my left, which I assumed the soldier had used to come find this entrance. Its engine was off, but the headlight was still on, which provided the only illumination in the mine.
"How did you know about this exit?" asked William. "I thought none of Jerald's men knew about this one."
"Your friends told me." He clicked on the laser sight that was under the muzzle of his rifle. It shined somewhere on my head. "Stop right there!"
I paused and kept my gaze steady. "I'm the one your general has been looking for. You can't shoot me."
"I know who you are. I stayed back to guard the two scientists when the rest of my squad chased you down. I was listening when you bombed them." He tapped a device that was perched on his right ear. "They told me you were headed out this way, and how to get here. They want you captured too. We can't risk letting you leave. I'm going to keep you right here until General Scott gets back."
"Gets back from where?" I asked, making sure to take full advantage of his willingness to divulge details.
"From killing the rest of your group." He sneered and took pleasure in aiming at me. "As long as we've got you, we don't need anyone else."
He was about my age, handsome with sharp features and black hair. He had blue eyes, and pale skin. I took another step towards him, and his face darkened with anger. "Get back, bitch. I'll blow your leg off. I'm not kidding."
"You can't shoot me," I said and took another step. "I'm too important, especially if you're going to kill the rest of the Rollers. You need me. If my family dies then I'm the only one with the cure."
I took another step, and he stood his ground. I was within arm's reach of him now.
"I'm not fucking around, lady. I'll shoot you and then scoop up your blood for them to get the cure out of. Don't fuck with me."
"You want to know your mistake?" I asked as I inched closer.
"What?" he asked as if I were telling a joke.
I remembered Ben's admonition of me in the building above Hanger, when Stitch and I cornered him. He'd calmly faced off with me, and then explained that he could've grabbed my gun before I could pull the trigger. Now it was time to test his theory.
"You let me get too close."
I snatched the barrel of the rifle and pushed it aside as I ducked in the opposite direction. The soldier fired his weapon, and the force caused it to jolt out of my hand, but the fight was over almost as soon as it had begun. Hero was waiting behind me and surged at his first opportunity. He was a massive man, comprised of mostly muscle, and it felt like I was caught between a lion and his meal.
Hero knocked me to the ground and then ripped the rifle away from the soldier. The weapon skittered across the stone floor and William started to crawl towards it. There was no need. Hero was the only weapon we needed.
"You fucked with the wrong guy this time, pal." Hero straddled the soldier and wrapped his huge hand over the frightened man's throat. Then he retracted his other arm as far as he could, threatening to deliver a punch that might very well have cracked the Earth.
I caught Hero's arm. "No, don't."
My partner looked at me, bewildered. "Why the fuck not?"
The young soldier sputtered as he tried to pry off Hero's strong grip. The man's face turned purple and the veins in his throat ballooned up as he struggled to breath.
I winked and said, "Because we're the good guys."
Hero's posture deflated and he rolled his eyes. "Now? Really?"
"You're the one that wants to be more peaceful," I said. "Besides, we might still be able to learn something from this twit."
The soldier was still choking and his eyes bulged as Hero stared down at him. "You've got no clue how lucky you are, dickhead. Ten minutes ago, it would've been me pulling her off of you." He couldn't help but backhand the soldier before he let him go.
William had the rifle and looked hilariously uncomfortable as he tried to hold it, like a stick figure trying to hold a bazooka. If he had shot it, the kickback would've shattered him.
"Give me the gun, Willy." I walked over to him and the old man gladly gave me the weapon. I pointed the gun down at the soldier and toyed with him by shining the laser sight into his eyes. "First thing, where is Jerald planning on setting his trap for the Rollers?"
"I'm not telling you shit." The soldier could barely speak, and
rubbed his throat as he sat on the ground.
I started to laugh as if the boy had meant it as a joke. "Oh yes you will. You don't even want to know what I'm going to do to you. I'm serious, kid. I've had a really bad day, and I'm trying to be the good guy here. Don't fucking tempt me."
He glowered up at me and took pleasure in saying, "Do your worst."
I laughed again and then shrugged. "Okay, you asked for it. Hero, take the gun." I walked over to my partner and handed him the assault rifle.
"Even the good guys have to be bad sometimes," said Hero as he took the gun from me.
"And I've got a lot of practice being bad." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the contents. I still had William's lighter as well as several wrapped syringes that I'd taken from the lab. I took one of the syringes and then put the rest back into my pocket.
"What are you doing?" asked the soldier, his bravado lessened by frightened curiosity.
I smiled at him, but didn't answer. Then I walked closer to the facility's entrance, where the mire of decay still flowed, and plucked a severed arm from the mess. I plunged the needle into the limb, retracted the plunger, and then tossed the body part back onto the pile. The syringe was filled with thick, diseased blood. I held the needle up and squeezed the plunger until a stream of blood shot into the air.
"You can't." The soldier scooted backward, terrified.
"Oh can't I?" I advanced.
He was petrified. "You can't do that! What the fuck is wrong with you."
"Lots of shit. I've got issues." I squeezed the plunger again as I pointed the needle at him. A thin stream of blood hit his face and he yelped in shock.
"They're to the north. Not far." He was panicked as he wiped his face, as if the blood could burn its way through his skin if he didn't get it off fast enough. "Just look for the smoke. They're burning the plains to force your friends into a town where they've been storing corpses." He took off his earpiece and offered it to me. "Here, take this. You can hear the updates. General Scott is headed out there now. If you hurry, you can get there before they release the army."
"What army?" asked Hero.
"The corpses. Scott calls them his army. He's been stocking them for years."
"How many of them are there?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I have no idea. Thousands. We've got them stored in towns all over the state."
"Why?" I asked.
"This was supposed to be a safe zone," said the soldier. "Up in the mountains and all around this area was supposed to be where some members of The Electorate lived. They were here until a terrorist started targeting them. They left, and went to some island in the tropics. They left Jerald in charge here because they couldn't move their children."
"What?" asked Hero. "Why not?"
"He's talking about the Dawns," I said. "The girls like Celeste. How many facilities do you guys have around here?"
"We had two," said the soldier. "But one of them was destroyed by your terrorist friend."
"Who are you talking about?" asked Hero.
"The traitor, Reagan."
Hero started to laugh. "Reagan's the terrorist you were talking about? He's not a terrorist."
"He killed hundreds of innocent people," said the soldier. "What else would you call him?"
"He was a hero, a freedom fighter," I said. "He started the High Rollers."
The young soldier nodded. "Yeah, exactly. He started a terrorist organization that's been killing innocent people for two decades."
"Us?" asked Hero. "You're the ones that started a fucking world wide apocalypse! How dare you call us the fucking terrorists?"
"Give me a break," said the soldier. "Don't start with your conspiracy bullshit. The disease started in a lab in the Middle East. Some Arab fucks were trying to create a biochemical weapon. Everyone knows that."
Hero and I both stared dumbfounded at William. The old man sheepishly looked down and cleared his throat. "That's not exactly true, son."
The soldier glanced back and forth between William and us. "Yes it is."
"I am fucking lost," I said. "How does he not know the truth?"
"None of them do. There aren't many of us that know what really happened. Only the Electorate, and those of us that are working with them know the truth."
"What's going on?" asked the young man. "What's the truth?"
I pointed at him. "You're working for the fuckers that started the apocalypse. They used it as a way to thin population and then created these facilities to farm genetically superior bodies that they could do brain transfers with."
"It's not quite that simple," said William. "It's more of a merger…"
"Shut up," said the soldier. "What else? What else were they lying to me about?"
"Probably a hell of a lot," said Hero.
The young man pointed at me and said, "They told me the reason one of you had the cure was because you're the ones that helped develop the disease. How did you get the cure if that's not true?"
"I was kidnapped by one of their scientists. He was trying to create a super virus. That's what caused the Greys."
"The what?" he asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"The Undying," said William. "They call them Greys. One of our scientists defected, and developed the new virus. We've never been able to create a cure for the new virus like we did for the original."
"Are you sure?" asked Hero. "Because Celeste was immune. She got bit when they attacked Vineyard, and she never turned."
"She's immune to the original virus, not the mutated one. All of the Dawns are immune to the original strain, and so are we." He motioned to the soldier and himself.
"They were Poppers," said Hero. He saw the soldier's confused look and explained, "That's what we call the ones that decay after a week and get all bloated."
"Their stomachs expand from a build up of gas," said William. "The Undying have an overload of beneficial bacteria to prevent that from happening."
I remembered something that the soldier had said about Jerald's plan. "Didn't you say that they've been storing bodies in towns for years?"
"Yes," said the soldier.
"Then he's storing Greys. Why would he store Greys if he didn't have a cure for that strain yet? That's suicidal." I looked at the old scientist. William was hesitant to answer, but I could tell that he knew more than he was saying. "What was the plan?"
"We were only a couple years away from closing down the DIA facility. Once the Dawns came of age, we were going to start the transfer process. Jerald thought he could capture Patient Zero," he motioned at me, "which is what we called you, before the End Date."
"What's the End Date?" asked Hero.
"That's when we transfer the rest of the Dawns. Once it was done, the plan was to release all of the Undying. We were even trying to develop a stronger strain of the virus to be more effective." He motioned down at the trickling blood that escaped the facility. "And we succeeded."
"I can't believe this," said the soldier. He was shaken, and sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest. "This is crazy. We killed billions of people on purpose?"
William sighed and nodded. "We didn't have a choice. If you want, I can show you thousands of reasons why the world is better off today than it was twenty years ago. The world as we know it would've ended if someone didn't do something. It might be hard to accept, but The Electorate saved the world."
"And then developed a virus so strong that they could kill off every living creature on the planet."
William looked down, closed his eyes, and said, "The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe."
"What?" asked Hero.
"It's a quote from Einstein," said William. "I memorized it because it scares me to death, and helped me come to terms with what we did. He was talking about the development of the atom bomb, and how humans were destined to destroy the world with it. He was trying to say that if a sword is made, a sword wi
ll be used. The minute we developed the power to destroy the world, it was only a matter of time before we finished the job. It's in our nature. In the years before the apocalypse, humans weren't just destroying the planet through pollution, we were also on the brink of nuclear war. If it weren't for the apocalypse, things would've been much worse. I've been telling myself that every night since the virus was let out."
"Spare me the teary eyed soliloquy, asshole," I said. "I've got lots of swords I haven't stuck in anyone yet." I squeezed out another stream of blood from the syringe for effect.
"So then, on the End Date you were going to release the Greys whether you had a cure or not?" asked Hero.
"That was some people's plan, including Jerald's," said William. "There were others of us that didn't want that to happen - who didn't think it was necessary."
"And you were one of those people?" I asked.
He nodded quickly. "A lot of us were. Even though we would've survived, we didn't see the need to kill any more people."
"Why would you survive?" asked the soldier.
"Because we have homes in secure areas, on islands in the Pacific. The virus can't get there. The creatures can't travel that far underwater, we would've been safe there."
A terrible thought occurred to me. "And even if the virus crossed the species barrier, it still couldn't get to you if it wasn't in the birds or the fish."
He looked back at me, ashen and ashamed.
"You mother fucker," said Hero. "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You manufactured the virus so it would kill everything? Why the fuck would you do that?"
"I never wanted this to happen." William was terrified as he faced off with us. "I was one of the people fighting against this."
"You didn't fight hard enough!" I said as I kicked a wave of blood at him.
"What did you expect us to do? I'm not a terrorist like you two."
Hero chuckled and shook his head. "Mother fucker, you need to reassess your definition of that word. You helped develop a disease that could wipe out all life on the planet, and you're calling us the terrorists?"
"Why would they want to wipe out everything?" I asked.
