He turned his head back to Sarah and made a last-ditch attempt to throw his body into the forklift. The wheels spun furiously as the rubber burned, and Sarah pushed her foot down on the accelerator as hard as she could.
She aimed her pistol again at his face and then unloaded the rest of her magazine. The bullets did nothing to damage him, but as they bounced off his head, the force of them, little by little, pushed his head back and moved him more and more off-balance until he staggered backward and broke through the railing.
Sarah immediately slammed on the brakes and the forklift lurched to a stop just before hurtling over the edge itself.
But Kenny wasn't so lucky, and his body sailed through the air and landed with a huge splash into the vat of sulfuric acid.
Sarah dove out of the cab of the forklift and crawled around behind it, using it as cover, as splotches of acid landed on the catwalk and the forklift. She got up and moved to another part of the catwalk that was safe, holding onto the railing and watching Kenny.
He sank down into the vat, with just his shoulders and head above the surface of the liquid. At first he seemed more annoyed than anything, but his arms stupidly thrashed as he tried to get out. His attempts were in vain, struggling to reach the edge of the vat and pull himself out, but not being able to navigate the liquid.
The acid steamed as his flesh dissolved, and a terrible stench wafted up into the air.
The armor covering his body began to melt and mix in with the acid. Any last remnants of skin remaining on his face melted away when it bobbed below the surface, leaving a terrifying view of mangled bone and metal. He shifted his remaining eye up to Sarah, his teeth clenched in a scowl, as he slowly began to sink into the liquid. As parts of his skull melted away, he was submerged completely, and then he was gone as the sulfuric acid ate through his whole body and turned him into nothing more than floating bits of genetic material.
Sarah staggered backward and collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. The whole series of events had been incredibly overwhelming, and when she was finally able to, she picked herself up and left the building. She returned to the warehouse, using cover outside to get there without being detected by the roaming undead, and then she sorted through the mess that Kenny had left. She found the glutamic acid and tried to bring as much of it with her as she could, ending up being only a few boxes that she could carry on her person. She also found the bag with the unknown bottle of chemicals that Trevor had given her, and with that, she exited the warehouse and found a tractor-trailer sitting nearby to escape the plant with. The collapsed storage tank that had blocked her path before had burned down into a smoldering ruin, and she used the semi to punch through it and head for the exit, leaving all the death and chaos behind her.
19
THE PROJECT GOES ONLINE
Sarah almost didn't make it back to the lab, being so exhausted that the tractor-trailer nearly careened off the road and crashed many times. But she did make it, and eventually, when she was near enough to the woods without getting too close, she abandoned the truck and carried the boxes of glutamic acid plus the bag Trevor had given her all the way to the lab. It was in the early hours of the morning and still pitch-black out. She hobbled on her bad leg and winced every time her right hip shifted forward due to the pain in her ribs, but she was determined to walk through those woods and that tunnel by herself and deliver the final item. She had gone through Hell and back, Trevor had tragically lost his life, and all the rest of them had sacrificed so much; she wasn't going to stop now.
When she made it through to the other end of the tunnel, the scientists had automatically opened the passageway doors for her. She stumbled through the narrow path and into the bright lab. When she walked in, every scientist had stopped what they were doing and stared at her. None of them spoke a word and instead waited for her to tell them the news.
Vanessa looked behind Sarah but didn't see her husband. She was the first one to notice, and when she met Sarah's gaze and Sarah shook her head, Vanessa broke down. Ron consoled her as she wept, devastated that her husband wouldn't be there with her at the completion of the project.
The rest of the scientists continued to look at Sarah, a general swell of depression running through the crowd, while they still waited to hear if she completed her mission, and if she really had the right ingredient in the boxes propped under her arm.
"I got it," she announced. "The final item." She stepped forward and set the boxes of acid down on a workstation. "Trevor didn't make it," she said glumly, looking sympathetically at Vanessa. "But without him doing what he did, I wouldn't be standing here with this right now. He was a hero."
Vanessa raised her head from Ron's shoulder and looked at her, tears welling in her eyes, but she seemed a little calmer.
Some of the scientists opened the boxes and looked inside, removing the bottles of glutamic acid and bringing them to various areas of the lab. One of the scientists also looked in the bag with the unknown bottle that Trevor gave her, yet the scientist didn't seem confused by it, simply taking it as well and adding it to his workstation.
Sarah collapsed in a chair and closed her eyes while the scientists worked. Ron came up and talked to her, thanking her for everything she'd done. He treated her wounds while the rest of his team took all the items she'd acquired and integrated them into the project. All throughout the rest of the night, the scientists worked feverishly to bring the project online after all this time. At various points, Ron paced around the lab, and some of the others went outside with the cigarettes they'd been saving for a much-needed smoke break. Sarah just sat and observed it all, and it was like watching surgeons pacing around, waiting on the results of a near-death patient to see if he was going to make it.
Eventually, Sarah closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, not able to stay awake any longer. When she opened them again, the sun touched the forest outside and all the birds began to chirp. But still the scientists were locked away in their hole, oblivious to this all.
Sarah was still exhausted and groggy through the early morning, her eyes drifting open and closed for extended periods of time. The general tone of the lab seemed to shift toward the end and the scientists seemed much less animated, focusing far more on one specific task and not moving around very much. By the very end, they were all huddled together, and then finally Ron looked up from the scrum and expelled a long sigh. Sarah perked up at this and watched him head toward the other end of the lab.
"I think that does it," he said.
Suddenly Sarah felt like she was energized. She sat right up in her seat and was fully awake. The scientists all followed Ron to the back as he carried a tube of liquid with him. Sarah got up and followed them and they all took a place against the zombie's cell, intently watching him.
"Here goes nothing," Ron said.
All of the scientists had a laser focus as they watched the results of their nine years of work. Even Vanessa seemed entirely composed as she stood amongst them.
Ron walked over to one end of the cell and opened a panel. There was an empty slot and he carefully slid the tube into it then pressed a couple of buttons. He joined the others at the glass and watched the zombie, who stared at them all in mild confusion.
The undead creature had pressed himself to the glass to watch them as they approached at first, but then when they all surrounded him, he became confused and didn't know what to do, the chemicals being pumped into his cell to sedate him still doing their job well.
But now a new chemical was pumped into the cell. There was a hiss of air and Sarah could see a pink mist flood the tiny space. The zombie seemed oblivious to it as he continued to stare at them. They all waited until the hissing noise stopped and the strange pink cloud seemed to dissipate.
The scientists remained still, carefully studying the creature. Sarah waited breathlessly.
Then suddenly, the creature's eyes turned away from them and seemed to glaze over. He just stared blankly ahead, no longer reacting to the
ir presence.
Sarah watched, wondering how long it would take to see him start to turn back to a human. She wondered if the process started internally first, or if she would see the hue of his skin turn back from an ashy, cracked gray to the smooth pink tones that he started with. But as she waited and watched, none of these things seemed to happen.
"I think that does it," Ron said. "The project is a success."
Sarah backed away from the cell and looked at all the scientists, her face twisted in confusion. Each of them, rather than being confused like her or reacting in jubilation at Ron's words, seemed to have a heavy sense of dread come over them. With looks of utter glumness, they each turned to each other and shook each other's hands.
"What's going on?" Sarah asked. "Is it working?"
But none of them answered her. Ron didn't even look at her.
And then the alarm went off in the lab.
None of the scientists reacted to this, but Sarah wheeled around and looked toward the security panel in the distance. She ran across the lab to see what the screens were showing, and she scrutinized each mini-screen to see where the disturbance was. And when she found it, her jaw dropped.
A squadron of enemy soldiers was heading through the woods for the tunnel, and following behind them all was Jack Glass himself.
20
FULL CIRCLE
"He's coming!" Sarah cried.
She ran to the other end of the lab to warn the scientists of Glass's impending approach. She didn't think he would be able to find how to get into the lab even if he knew it was there, much like Kenny had been turned away. But with Glass himself coming, it was certainly cause to be gravely concerned.
But no matter how much she waved her arm or yelled and screamed, none of the scientists seemed to do much more than look at her.
Sarah was beside herself at the reaction. "Did you hear what I said?" she shouted. "Jack Glass is here! With about six others! We have to lock this place down!" She started wandering around the lab, searching for what buttons Trevor had pushed to shut the power off. "We have to get armed! Ron, where do you keep the guns?"
All the scientists just continued to stand around the cell, sadly looking at the zombie inside who still just stared blankly ahead and hadn't moved.
Finally, Ron broke from the group and slowly sauntered toward the security screens on the other side of the lab. Sarah huddled right behind his shoulder, practically breathing down his neck as she asked him a flurry of questions. They watched as Glass and his men entered the tunnel, stomping through the water and coming out just in front of the passageway. Sarah's crazed objections and questions turned into whispers as she continually glanced from the screens to the passageway door.
"I don't think he'll find his way in here!" Sarah told Ron. "But we have to arm ourselves! Surely you have a cache somewhere in the lab for an event like this, right?" She looked around on herself. "All I have is my pistol and knife."
Ron ignored every single word she said like she wasn't even there. Then he pushed a button on the security panel and both doors to the passageway opened.
Sarah staggered away from him, the most incredible shock she'd ever felt coursing through her body. She stared at the open door to the passageway as a huddle of footsteps clapped through, growing louder. "What did you do?" she muttered. "What are you doing?" Her voice became louder and more frantic. She pulled the pistol out of her holster and pointed it at the open doorway.
When the first soldier stepped into the lab, Sarah opened fire. The soldier was completely taken aback, not even having his weapon raised. But the bullet just bounced off and caused him to stagger a little, then he raised his rifle and shot Sarah in the shoulder. Her blood splattered on the wall behind her and she stumbled. The pistol dropped out of her hand as pulsating numbness ran through her arm. She staggered backward and leaned on the wall for support as she watched the rest of the soldiers funnel into the lab. Then Jack Glass, who had been nearly hunched over in half to duck his head under the ceiling of the passageway, stepped into the lab and stood upright, his towering presence casting a shadow over her.
Nine long years after Glass had raided the scientists' lab and tried to wipe them out, the event had repeated itself, bringing all of this full circle.
The frightening purple skull emblazoned on his mask peered into her soul and she felt her body go cold.
Some of the soldiers approached Sarah, kicking the gun across the floor away from her and pointing their rifles at her.
Glass turned to Ron. "Is it ready?" he asked, his deep and enormously rich voice filling the entire area.
"Yes, of course," Ron replied. "Right this way."
All Sarah could do was stand there on the spot and watch in horror and confusion as Glass strolled through the lab without any resistance whatsoever.
The scientists all moved away from the cell in fear as Glass approached.
Sarah broke through the rank of soldiers surrounding her to get a look at what he was doing, and as she got near to the cell, one of the soldiers hit her in the spine with his rifle and sent her crashing to the ground. She cried out in pain and then pushed herself up to her knees as the soldiers surrounded her again. They trained their guns on her, but then they turned their attention to the cell, curious.
Glass peered inside at the zombie who paid him absolutely no attention. He was so tall that he had to bend down a little bit to get a good look. "Well... let me see," he said.
Ron nodded and approached him with a syringe. He pulled the coat sleeve covering his arm taut and jabbed the needle through, pushing down the plunger with his thumb. When he finished injecting Glass with something, he removed the syringe and stepped back.
Glass stared at the zombie, and behind his mask it was impossible to see exactly what he was looking at or thinking. But he just continued to stare, as if waiting for something to happen.
And then suddenly, the zombie's eyes shifted for the first time since Ron administered the mysterious pink gas. Its eyes looked left, then right, then up and down, and finally they rolled around in its head... very unusual actions for a zombie.
The zombie raised its arm in the air and held it there. Then slowly, it lifted its other arm to the side. It dropped them, then turned around, walked to the back of the cell, then turned and walked to the front.
"Impressive," Glass said.
The zombie suddenly became enraged and started pounding on the glass, running around the cell and jumping at each scientist it could see. Then in the next moment it was back to being completely tame as it raised its arms and ran its hands through its stringy hair.
"What the hell's going on?" Sarah demanded, back on her feet now.
Glass turned to her, then he looked down at Ron. "You haven't told her anything, have you?"
Ron looked up at Glass and smiled. "Nope."
Glass turned his attention back to Sarah and it was clear that he was smirking underneath his mask. "All this time you had her running around, thinking that she's... what? Curing the zombie virus, was it?"
"What are you talking about?" Sarah said. "That is what we were doing. That's why I got all those items... to finish the project!" Sarah struggled with her words, reality slowly setting in on her and tearing apart her false notion of what was happening here. "You've been working on this for the last nine years!"
"Yes, we have," Ron said, looking giddy for the first time all morning. "And now that we've finished the Eden Project, Mr. Glass will have complete control over all the zombies."
"What?" Sarah was beside herself.
"What..." Ron said, "do you really think you would've signed up if I called it the Total Domination Project?" He chuckled, and suddenly all the mannerisms that he repeated in front of her time and again took on an insidious quality. The always cryptic and secretive Ron was finally revealing his true colors to her. And as reality began to set in, she finally understood why she had such a hard time pegging him; it was because he was always wearing a mask, never showing he
r the true version of himself.
Sarah took a moment to process all of this. She swallowed a lump down her throat, and her mouth was incredibly dry. "So why did you have me get all these items for you when you had full access to them the entire time?"
Ron laughed. "I initially thought you were smarter, but you kept falling for the same things over and over again. What better way to keep someone busy than to lead them on a wild goose chase?"
"Trevor died!" Sarah shouted. "Why did you let your own man die?" She looked around at the other scientists and then especially at Vanessa. But all the scientists just looked down at their own shoes.
"Didn't you know?" Glass asked her. He looked at the soldiers and snapped his fingers, and they all lined up and raised their rifles at the scientists.
Horror painted all of their faces as the soldiers opened fire, cutting them to shreds with a barrage of bullets and sending thin ribbons of blood in every direction. The bullets shattered the glass of the cell and cut down the zombie, too. And within the span of a few seconds, the scene went from relative calmness to a macabre diorama of death and bitter gunpowder.
Sarah staggered backward, her legs shaky. She looked down at the corpses of the scientists. She looked down at Vanessa. Vanessa had been pregnant.
She tried to speak, but she suddenly found that she couldn't form any words, too shocked by the sudden and wanton massacre.
"You were saying?" Glass asked her as Ron giggled by his side.
She looked at Ron in total disgust. She had him wrong the entire time; he was actually gleeful at the deaths of the very people he spent the past nine years with. And now suddenly when memories flashed in her mind of Ron mentioning that Glass must have had his own team of scientists creating all these new zombies, he was talking about himself. Ron was behind all of this.
"Do you get it now?" Ron said.
"But... But... Why did you need me here at all? If this project wasn't to cure the zombie virus, what good am I to you? What do I have to do with any of this?"
Zombie Apocalypse Series (Book 6): The Eden Project Page 20
