The Zombie Effect

by Sampson, Roger

  “You’re right. I’m sorry,” Jack murmurs.

  He stands to go back to the console. He feels like shit for making it worse instead of better. Beth grabs his hand as he turns away. He turns back. She leads him to sit back down. He does. She leans and kisses him warmly. Jack is taken aback by this sudden show of affection. But it is more than welcome. “What’s that for?” he asks.

  “I never thanked you,” she replies warmly. Jack looks at her trying to recall something he did that she would be that thankful for but comes up empty. He looks into her eyes. He’s trying to hide his feelings, but he sucks at that too. “For helping me with my research paper in Mr. Morgan’s class,” she states with a warm smile. She gets Jack isn’t the most experienced person at consoling someone. But he is trying. He is reaching out to her. And she loves that. She loves Jack. She doesn’t like it one bit. But she does. And right now, when the world is going to complete shit, it’s alright to admit that. If only to herself. Jack takes a moment to recall the memory she’s talking about and smiles.

  “Which time?” he responds with a little sarcasm. A lighter mood is welcome right now. Beth smiles.

  “You were always the smartest kid in class. I hated that,” she lies. That was one of his most endearing qualities. But never tell that to a boy. It goes straight to their head.

  “Why?” he asks.

  “Because in spite of my obvious signals, you never asked me out,” she proclaims. Jack takes a second to process this statement. She’s telling him she had feelings for him too. He wasted a golden opportunity and didn’t even know it.

  “What?” Jack replies in horror.

  “For someone so smart, you can be pretty stupid,” she continues. Jack’s face flushes with embarrassment. He really needs to work on his interpersonal skills he thinks to himself. But back to the matter at hand.

  “What signals?” he asks inquisitively.

  “I asked you to tutor me,” she reveals. Jack isn’t there yet.

  “So?” he asks.

  “At my house,” Beth replies with widening eyes, hoping Jack will comprehend the flirtatious nature with which she tried to express her feelings for him. Jack sits up, connecting the dots in his mind. “On the weekends,” Beth continues, walking him through the beats where she all but asked him out herself. Jack is finally connecting the dots. He feels even more stupid than before. He stares at Beth with wide eyes.

  “Unbelievable.” He scolds himself for being so stupid.

  Beth laughs. “My mom made you food,” Beth pours it on. Jack laughs.

  “She made awesome snacks.” Conceding his stupidity. The thought grabs Beth like she walked into a wall. Her face turns sad in an instant.

  “I wanna see her,” she breathes. Jack stops laughing and looks at her. She no longer looks like the mom Beth remembers. It’s not a pretty picture.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Jack pleads. Beth looks at Jack with begging in her eyes. She searches for closure. Jack is not certain she will find it. But he can’t fault her for wanting some. He doesn’t want her to have to go through that. But she is anyway. Jack gets up and nods to her. He extends his hand. Beth takes it and stands. Jack softly cups Beth’s face in his hands. He gently kisses her. She wraps her hands around his. “Alright,” Jack breathes.

  CHAPTER 15

  The animal holding facility at Barrister is a twenty five by thirty foot rectangular room enclosed with Plexiglas exterior windows and contains rows of cages and Plexiglas pens built in the walls and stacked in the aisles. There are apes, mice, rats, dogs and rabbits housed here. The noise is like that of a pet store. But there is no happy ending for these test animals.

  The red orb eyed mouse creeps in through a vent shaft. It peeks into the room. The noise level increases as the animals all sense its presence.

  Jack and Beth approach Observation Room B. Beth spies Rachel through the Plexiglas as they enter the room. Rachel now more resembles someone in need of an exorcism than her mother. Her corpse has turned green/black and she writhes against her restraints like a wild animal. Beth covers her mouth and tears up. Rachel is not even a shell of her former self. Cliff enters the room with a thermos in his hand. “I asked you not to bring her here,” Cliff bemoans.

  “I wanted to come.I’m OK,” Beth expresses. Cliff studies Beth for a moment, unable to figure out why anyone would want to be in this room. The grotesque form her mother suffers in right now won’t help anyone. But he won’t deny her if that’s what she wants.

  “Where are we on a solution Jack?” Cliff inquires, more to change the subject than to expect a good answer.

  “Working on it,” Jack replies.

  “Work faster. Hicks wants the compound and I can’t get rid of Logan,” Cliff demands. Jack nods compliance. Beth looks at the thermos Cliff has in his hands.

  “What’s that?” she asks curiously.

  “You don’t want to know,” Cliff advises. Jack looks at Cliff and a chill runs down his spine as he thinks he knows exactly what’s in that thermos. Jack can’t help but to wonder if this whole situation is just too much for Cliff. Maybe he is breaking psychologically.

  Cliff sits bedside and removes the lid from the thermos. He pours a sample of its red payload into a cup. Beth’s eyes widen. “Oh my God,” she proclaims.

  “What are you doing?” demands Jack.

  “Buying you time. The compound needs healthy blood to feed. It’s feeding on her tissue right now. Stands to reason if I give it fresher blood it will leave her tissue alone, giving you time to find a way to kill it,” Cliff summarizes. As insane as that sounds, Jack also sees the logic in it. Some moments Jack wishes he didn’t suddenly know as much about the real world. Life was so much simpler when he could sleep late and play pranks. He’s a long way from home in that regard now. People’s lives are at stake. Counting on him. That thought would sober any drunk.

  “Dad,” Beth pleads. Cliff looks at Beth.

  “What?” he answers.

  “Don’t,” she continues. Cliff realizes he looks nuts. And he realizes his loving daughter is trying to reel him back to reality. This must be hell for Beth he thinks. But when they solve the problem she’ll see. Just need to wait until they do.

  Jack’s brow furrows. “Where did you get that?” Jack asks. Cliff looks at him confused. Jack points to the thermos. He is clearly referring to the “fresher blood”, Cliff looks away and sighs. Then he turns back and glares at Jack. Jack does the math. “The animals,” Jack concludes.

  “What?” Beth asks horrified.

  “Don’t judge,” Cliff retorts. “I am trying to save your mother. Do you understand that? If killing an animal helps me save her, what would you do?” Cliff defends himself.

  The room is silent for a moment as the horror and logic of Cliff’s words resonate in Beth and Jack’s ears. They may not like it but the man has a point. Who wouldn’t sacrifice an animal to save a loved one? Jack ponders for a moment and has an epiphany. His eyes light up and he raises an index finger. Cliff stands and Beth turns to him.

  “Misdirection. That’s it,” Jack exclaims. Cliff looks confused. “Give it to her in small but steady doses. We’ll be back in twenty minutes,” Jack continues. Beth looks at Jack sideways like he’s losing it too.

  “What are you thinking?” Cliff interrupts.

  “We’re running out of options and time. Going to test a theory,” Jack proclaims. Jack looks at Beth. “Come on,” he requests. She has no idea what is going on with these two. She feels like she’s in the middle of a psychotic episode. But they believe in what they’re doing. And if this insane idea brings her mother back, that is all she cares about at this moment. She exits the room with Jack.

  Back in the break room, Jason lies on his side sleeping. His raspy breathing pattern becomes erratic. It slows. Slower and slower. It finally stops. Jason lays motionless. His change has begun.

  Cliff uses a dropper to trickle drops of animal blood into Rachel’s blackened mouth. Rachel greed
ily accepts each drop. Wanting more. She gives her full attention to Cliff. Just one wrong move and he can give her a whole fresh source of nourishment. But for now, she takes the trickle.

  Logan enters the room. His mouth agape, he forgets to breathe for a second. Cliff spies him out of the corner of his eye. “Oh my God, is that Rachel?” Logan gasps. Cliff glares at him. “I thought you said she was dead,” Logan continues. Cliff sighs heavily like someone busted with their hand in the cookie jar.

  “She is,” he replies defiantly. That statement slams Logan like a punch in the face. How can she be dead? Logan studies Cliff and looks at Rachel. He’s as excited as he is horrified. The contrasting emotions burn a hole in his stomach.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Logan demands. Cliff stares back at Logan in disbelief. He would never believe Cliff even if he told him. Or the more scary thought, maybe he would. Either way, Logan is not concerned with saving Rachel.

  “Let me take her back to Hicks. Maybe we can help,” Logan lies. Cliff is not buying it.

  “No,” Cliff retorts. Logan stands for a moment pondering his next move.

  “What are you going to do?” Logan asks, treading lightly.

  “Reverse the process and then tell the CDC,” replies Cliff. Logan again ponders the options before him. The last thing he wants is to turn this information to the CDC. And as much as he likes Cliff, this is business. He has to take control of this.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Logan announces.

  “What are you talking about?” Cliff inquires, his tone turning hostile. It’s time for Logan to tell him how it is.

  “You’ve done well Doctor. Get the files ready. We’ll transport her tonight,” Logan commands. Cliff begins to see the inevitable writing on the wall. What he feared most is happening right now.

  “You can’t do that. We have to report this,” Cliff advises, playing the ethical long game. Ironically Cliff left ethics in his rear view a while ago. Logan gets it. And somehow he knew it would eventually come to this which is why he kept ammo in his back pocket.

  “While we’re in the reporting mood, we should call the IRS and the Department of Justice,” Logan warns.

  “What?” Cliff exasperates, not ready for the ultimatum. Logan releases the second barrel.

  “Embezzling grant money is a crime,” Logan accuses. Cliff sighs in anger. “I told you to seek help for your gambling problem,” Logan continues, keeping rhetorical pressure on Cliff’s throat. Cliff glares at Logan.

  “What do you want?” Cliff asks angrily. Logan, satisfied that Cliff is finally on the same page, smiles.

  “You have two hours,” Logan insists. Logan exits the room. Cliff stands catatonic for a moment. He can’t believe this is happening. He still thinks he can save her. Maybe he is crazy. Maybe this whole experience has only proven Cliff to be the fraud he was always afraid he was. He now has two hours to find out.

  CHAPTER 16

  Jack types feverishly on a console in the lab. The ape that attacked Rachel lies motionless on a table in the clean room. Beth stands next to it in her protective suit. She carefully injects the ape with a syringe containing the latest trial cocktail they’re working on to save Rachel. The monitors indicate the compound defiantly resisting the latest solution. Beth looks at Jack and shrugs her shoulders to indicate she has no idea why it’s not working. Jack pounds the counter in frustration.

  “That’s at least fifty combinations! What are we missing?” he complains.

  “Maybe it’s invincible,” Beth replies, not meaning to sound as sarcastic as it was.

  “Nothing’s invincible,” Jack bellows.

  Beth stares at the ape for a long moment and then her eyes widen as she looks at Jack. “Counter the Beryllium,” she says revelatory. Jack looks up at her.

  “What?” he inquires.

  “That’s what mom said. Counter,” Beth repeats. The synapses in Jack’s brain calculate this information for a moment. He stares at Beth. His eyes widen. He plops down at the console and types. Beth approaches the safety glass and tries to see what Jack’s doing.

  “What are you doing?” she asks.

  “History lesson,” pipes Jack. Jack suddenly realizes they have been approaching this all wrong. Sometimes answers are found by looking back, in history, instead of forward. He continues to type while Beth watches on in hope.

  “Got it. January, 1952. Aurintricarboxylic acid. Tested positively in reversing Beryllium poisoning,” Jack exclaims triumphantly. Beth ponders for a minute.

  “Ammonium salt,” she concludes. Jack looks up at her and smiles.

  “Yes! Mix that with the Prednisone and add saline, then add Ciprofloxacin,” he instructs. Beth nods yes and smiles. She turns back toward the fridge and pulls two containers out with syringes. She lays out all of the materials on the workbench. She collects the elements in a beaker and swirls it together. She carefully pours the contents of the new solution into a syringe jar and seals it. She fills four syringes with the new solution.

  “You sure this will work?” Beth asks Jack, looking up at him.

  “Nope. But we have no time,” Jack replies hopefully. Beth nods that she understands.

  “Ready,” she announces.

  “Inject the ape,” Jack requests.

  Beth carefully takes a syringe and injects it into the ape. The compound ignores the solution in the monitor. The solution attacks a compound cell. They struggle as if in a street fight. The Beryllium dissipates. The bacteria slows down and then stops and free floats. Soon a second cell repeats this process. Then another. It’s working. Beth’s eyes widen. Jack smiles and slaps his hands together. “Fuck yeah!” he shouts.

  “This would probably kill a healthy person,” Beth soberly concludes.

  “You’re right. Get more doses ready,” Jack responds. Beth returns to the work station and fills more syringes.

  At the moment the only thing that matters is trying to save Rachel. Jack realizes for the first time that in spite of his outer delinquent attitude, he loves these people. They are like family to him. Saving Rachel to Jack is tantamount to saving himself. They have always been kind to him.Always welcomed him with open arms. Made him feel safe. Allowed him to be who he is so he could grow. He never appreciated that until this moment. Now he has a chance to do something for them. He has to take it.

  Back in medical, Lorna runs her face under the eye wash station. She sobs in pain and looks like death warmed over. She sobs uncontrollably as she realizes there is something really wrong with her. The only thing she can think to do is wash it out. She has to clean it out. She doesn’t have time to get to a hospital. What the fuck did that asshole Jason give me? she thinks to herself. She looks at herself in the mirror, and it’s not getting any better. She convulses and vomits red and black tar into the sink. She cries out. She looks in the sink and she sees a tooth. She looks up at the mirror in horror at the absence of a tooth on the bottom row.

  She reaches slowly for the next tooth. It splits off at her touch. Her eyes bulge and tears fill her reddening eye sockets. She convulses and vomits a large clump of blood and stomach tissue. She shakes violently in fear and holds the sink for support as her legs fall out from under her. She looks up at her face in the mirror and her nose looks crooked. She imagines it’s the trauma getting to her. She touches it and it moves. Her eyes bulge again and she takes it in her fingers. It comes off in her hand. She screams as blood floods from her nose into the sink. She gets woozy and her eyes roll back into her head and she collapses, slamming her head on the sink on the way down. Her right eye flies off her face into the corner of the bathroom. She lies motionless with blood and pus running from her eye socket and the hole that once housed her nose.

  The red orbs the mouse sees through surveys the animals in the holding area. It approaches another mouse. The live mouse sniffs it. The zombie mouse clamps down on the live mouse’s throat and blood splatters the cage around it. Splatter hits a bunny and an ape in the mouth. The
live mouse collapses in the zombie mouse’s grip. The mouse clamps down hard, severing the live mouse’s head as the torso rolls to the side. The zombie mouse buries its head in the torso and slurps loudly.

  The bunny writhes and kicks out the door to its cage. Its eyes turn red and it bleeds from the mouth. It hops to a dog cage and attacks the dog. The ape breaks out of its cage and attacks the ape in the cage in front. Blood sprays around the holding area as animal after animal attack one another. The first zombie dog disembowels a live bunny. A zombie ape rips the head off a bunny. They attack each other. The holding area turns into a slaughterhouse. No survivors. Surveillance monitors document the horror.

  In the break room, Jason lays motionless. Then a convulsion. He twitches. His red, pus filled eyes open. He rises. He stares at nothing. He lowly growls and surveys the room. He turns toward the exit. An intern walks by and notices Jason. The intern spies Jason’s grotesque eyes and quickly scampers away. Jason lumbers to follow.

  The Barrister Institute Security Control Center is a large, glass encased enclosure with a fifteen foot security console which monitors all goings on at the facility. It also has three individual work stations with computers and a small arms locker.

  Parker sits at a console monitoring the ladies’ locker room video feeds. Thanks to the work of the now intelligent zombie mouse, the alarms in animal holding are out of commission, so Parker is unaware there is a problem there. Given the institute’s 300+ cameras, if he’s not looking for the issue, he won’t see it. Plus the institute has a very small security staff since they’ve never needed one.

  Cliff strolls in and approaches the small arms locker. He opens it and removes a Glock 22 and two clips. This draws Parker’s attention. “Sir?” he inquires.

  “Logan Gibson from Hicks is in the building. I want to know where he goes and what he does. Radio me if anything odd happens,” Cliff instructs.

  “Yes sir,” Parker says and he rises and heads out of the office. Jack and Beth both enter.