by Joseph Souza
“String theory? Dimensions? How about translating that into English for me.” The hairs on the back of my neck began to stand on end.
“The subject’s brain is controlling the body by some sort of remote transmission. My theory is that this is taking place on a cellular level and that the coded sequence of DNA has to match up with the body for this synergy to take place. Two disparate pieces to the puzzle. Quantum mechanics reconciling with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.”
“Fascinating, Rick, but how does all that scientific gibberish help us deal with the situation we now find ourselves in?”
“I had a hunch that you’d try and belittle my important discovery.” Rick glared at me. “It’s just like you, too, always trying to downplay my scientific contributions. Why are you always trying to compete with me? Are you that insecure about your own work that you need to denigrate mine?”
“Why would I feel insecure, Rick? I’ve sold over five million novels and had three movies adapted from them. I’m wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.”
“You write fictional stories, Thom, and while there’s nothing wrong with a good yarn while lounging on the beach, it doesn’t compare to the important work being done in genetic research.”
“Fine, Rick. You win, okay? You’re brilliant and way smarter than I will ever be. Is that what you want to hear?”
He shook his head and stared at the hissing head clutched in his hands. “I’m sorry, Thom. I didn’t mean to demean your writing career and all of your many accomplishments.”
“Forget about it.”
“It’s just that this is an enormous development. This discovery could prolong peoples’ lifespan as well as help those suffering from paralysis. You heard what Thorn said about his brother. He got up and walked.” He had a wild gleam in his eye. “I’m running the subject’s DNA through the computer for analysis. Hopefully, it should kick out some results in the next few days.”
“Why so long?”
“You’re talking about a double helix with over 3 billion bases that need to be identified, compared and then contrasted. That’s a lot of computing even for this supercomputer to do.”
“But how are you doing this? What are you matching the strands against?”
“I’ve already downloaded the entire human genome project, which I absconded with on my way out the door, and entered it into my database. In addition, I also have the genetic compositions of thousands of plants and animals, particularly the local species.”
“Is that even legal? Ethical?”
“All legal and ethical questions go out the window now. It’s a gray area of science, no doubt, but an area where all the great discoveries are made. Besides, I’m planning to use it for my own research. If this kind of proprietary information gets in the hands of the greedy biotech corporations, they’ll exploit the hell out of it. And that’s far more dangerous in the long run.”
“So what now?”
“I’m going to be spending a lot of time down here, researching the subject’s biological system.” He unbuckled the strap that ran across her forehead. “Which means I need you to keep a close eye on things upstairs for me.”
“Sure, although I don’t think Dar’s going to be taking orders from me anymore.”
“Just call me if you get into a fix,” he said, staring at the creature’s head. “I wonder what the range of this thing’s brain is? It’s like a cordless phone.”
“Go ahead, try putting it up to your ear, and you might end up like Van Gogh.”
Gripping the creature’s head, which no longer bore any resemblance to Delia, he walked to the furthest corner of the room and held the head up towards the ceiling. The creature’s eyes rolled, and its jaws contorted and gnashed at the air. It was one of the most horrifying sights I’d ever seen, and I had to turn my head away in disgust. Poor Delia. I hoped she had no idea what was happening. I turned in the direction of the body, feeling my knees go week. I began to feel dizzy, and I felt myself falling. When I came to a few seconds later, I realized that I’d fainted on top of the corpse. One of its cold, lifeless hands clasped onto my wrist. Horrified, I struggled to win back my hand. The skin on my wrist tingled from the touch, and it felt like needles pricking my skin. Rick walked over and gently placed the twitching head down so that it aligned back with the neck. He grabbed a tube of antiviral ointment off his bench, dabbed some goop on his finger, and proceeded to rub it over my wrist.
“Can’t be too careful.”
“Am I going to catch anything?”
“I doubt it. I’m fairly certain it’s passed on only through blood transmission.”
“Damn!”
“This stuff isn’t for the faint of heart.”
“I need to get out of here before I pass out again,” I said. “Look, Rick, if Gunner learns what you did to his wife, the guy will go ballistic.”
“And he’ll leave two orphans if he tries any of that shit on me. Besides, this monster isn’t his wife. That woman stopped being his wife a long time ago, and she’s not ever returning. Come to think of it, she was a monster before she died.” He adjusted the head so that it fit snugly in place, strapped everything back in, and then secured it using the fastener. “There’s one other thing I need to tell you, Thom.”
“You mean showing me that headless horseman wasn’t enough?”
“You have to promise me you won’t say a word to the others after I tell you.”
“Sure.”
He paused and clenched his jaws. “I have a way of communicating with the outside world.”
“What? You bastard! And you’ve been keeping this from me the whole time? Christ, Rick, my wife and son are out there and in serious jeopardy.”
“I had to wait for the right time to tell you. I have a shortwave radio that I’ve been using to communicate with contacts around the world. Unfortunately, the shortwave signal seems to be getting weaker as time goes on. Besides, none of my contacts in Boston have been responding in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Jesus, what’s going on out there?”
“It’s bad. Worse than we thought.”
“How bad? And tell me the honest truth.”
“No one has dropped any bombs yet, but the usual suspects are making veiled threats. The world financial collapse has created chaos everywhere.” He turned to face me. “The stock market has collapsed and the Dow and the Nasdaq have been temporarily shut down. So has the Nikkei. Your considerable stock portfolio has been rendered worthless. Gold, silver, food, and water are now the de facto global currencies.”
“What about Boston? Have you heard what’s going on down there?”
“The only thing I can relay to you is that the National Guard has been called in, but they’re not able to control the mobs roving the streets. My lone contact told me that he’s witnessed people being pulled out of their cars and beaten. Returning to Boston might not be the best idea, Thom. Your best bet at the moment would be to stay here, not that you have any choice with the snow. Hopefully, Margaret and Stephen have remained secluded inside their condo. Did you purchase any weapons like I advised?”
I shook my head. I thought his advice had been ridiculous at the time.
“That’s a damn shame,” he said, shaking his head.
“Did you tell anyone about the situation up here in Maine?”
“I did, but I don’t think any of them took me seriously. They have their own problems to worry about. They probably thought I was bullshitting in order to prevent people from flocking up to these parts.”
“So there are no other reports of people reawakening in any other corner of the world?”
“None that I’ve heard. For whatever reason, we seem to be the only ones dealing with the problem.”
I stared down at the monster still twitching on the cot. “Why here of all places?”
He shrugged. “Epidemics have to start somewhere, Thom, and they’re usually in isolated agricultural areas where the host jumps from one species to the n
ext.” He walked over to the bench and wiped it down with a sanitary wipe. “This epidemic, if it is indeed a viral infection, is an important evolutionary marker. It triggers a rare speeding-up process that many scientists believe is responsible for—for lack of a better term—the missing link responsible for the Homo Sapiens species. It’s just a hypothesis, but this event may be an example of our DNA rapidly evolving.”
“Or devolving.”
“I never viewed it that way, but you may be right, although again, evolution renders no moral judgment.”
“So this could be the apex of our species’ upward trend? Then it’s all downhill from here?”
“Those are layman’s terms and completely nonspecific to the scientific method. But for the sake of clarity, yes.”
I moved to the door. I needed to get the hell out of here. The brutish grunting in combination with the putrid odor was making me sick. If I could just put a bullet in its head, I would have gladly done so. If ever in the same condition, I hoped that someone might do the same for me.
“I’m going back upstairs now. Are you sure that thing won’t escape?”
“Its musculature is very rigid and not well defined, though that may change as the genetic material syncs up with the brain.” Rick turned his back to me. “For the time being, its fast twitch muscles are quite atrophied and limited, so I don’t believe it will be a problem. In any case, the door will always remain locked.”
“Jesus, I hope you’re right.”
“Do me a favor, and don’t tell any of the others upstairs about what’s going on down here. Best to keep that between you and me.”
“I’d never tell anyone about what I witnessed down here. In fact, I wish I could forget it myself.”
“If you could throw a few logs in the fireplace, I’d really appreciate it. Winter’s starting early, and it’s getting cold up there. There’s some logs and paper in the bin. We’ll need to retrieve some more firewood later.”
I closed the door behind me and hobbled up the stairs, where I found Gunner sitting on the couch feeding Amber. Emily was playing on the floor with one of her dolls. Thankfully, her fever had broken, and her life had been spared. I went over to the bin, removed a few logs, and threw them into the fireplace. Then I proceeded to build a rip-roaring fire.
Chapter 12
I FELT HORRIFIED AT THE REALIZATION that my wife and son were on their own, and that I had no way of contacting them or insuring their safety. The sad fact is that I had wanted to buy a handgun and learn how to shoot it in the event of a robbery or break-in, but Margaret had been against us having any guns in the house. She was vehemently against all gun ownership. The only way I could have pulled it off was if I had hid the weapon from her, and hoped she never found it. But what good would that have done now?
Rick’s words rang in my ears and filled me with guilt. I had no choice but to admit that he’d been right by moving up here and building a life for himself and Susan. For many years now, he’d been warning me to prepare for the coming collapse; the feds couldn’t keep printing money forever. Although he had no idea about the scope and enormity of things to come, the fact that he’d quit academia had stunned me at the time. He and Susan had then moved to Maine, where he’d built up this farmstead, kept a large supply of food, ammo, and water, and made his household as self-sufficient as possible. That Dar and I were now dependent on him for our survival filled me with regret and guilt.
The warmth of the fire began to permeate the house. Outside, the snow continued to pile up all along the driveway. Dar and Thorn sat at the kitchen table playing cards and drinking beer. The cards, which Thorn had brought with him, had explicit photographs of naked girls on the back. Thorn went into the kitchen and pulled a few more beers out of the fridge. Upon seeing me, he asked if I wanted one. I raised my hand up, and he underhanded me one through the air. It landed smack dab in the middle of my palm. I popped it open, glanced outside, and saw no sign of any of the creatures stumbling about.
The rest of the day passed rather monotonously. We saw no signs of activity out in the driveway. The dead must have moved on, figuring there was nothing here for them to consume. The accumulation of snow appeared to be a foot or more and was still growing. It came up past the wheel of Thorn’s Harley, and some of the drifts seemed even higher. The snow, I realized for the first time, was our friend, and these creatures would have a difficult time getting around in it.
Darkness fell. Gunner joined our card game once his kids had fallen asleep in the other room. Thorn got up every fifteen minutes or so and grabbed another handful of beers. I had quite a good buzz as the card game wore on. Dar hardly touched her brew, while Thorn talked incessantly during the game. I could tell that he was used to being the life of the party. Handsome and with a noticeable swagger, I pegged him as a hard-drinking ladies’ man with a quick line for every occasion. His stories and jokes were hilarious, though, and mostly bullshit, but he seemed to be a natural born storyteller. He boasted about having served time in prison for dealing drugs. He claimed to have completed a degree in English Literature from the University of Maine in three years, and said he’d written most of a novel, at one point asking if I’d take a look at it once we got out of this jam. He even bragged that he’d once won ten thousand dollars in a game of Texas Hold’em. At some point during the night, we switched games, and he taught us how to play it.
By ten that evening, we were all pretty drunk, except for Dar, who’d been nursing her beer all night. The fire roared and crackled in the other room, and we laughed, swapping stories and drinking lots of beer. For the moment, we seemed to have forgotten all about our sorrows and despair, and reveled in our solidarity in the face of crisis. When Thorn announced that the case of beer had been polished off, a collective groan went up. At that moment, Rick emerged from the basement, tired and gaunt. The light from the crackling fire illuminated his leathery face, which in the flame’s glow now appeared macabre.
“What the hell’s going on up here?”
“We’re having a little pity party. To the end of the world,” Thorn said. “Why don’t you sit down and join us, boss?”
“You’re all drunk, even you, Thom. I’m extremely disappointed.”
“Relax, Ricky Ricardo,” I said, holding up my can. “Grab a beer and chill out.”
Thorn picked up the empty cardboard case and held it aloft. “Any chance you got more brewskis, boss? Because we’re all out.”
A furious look came over Rick’s face. “There’s an army of flesh-eating monsters walking around out there, and you’re all sitting here playing cards and getting drunk? Do you think they’ll give two shits that you’re drunk? I promise you, I won’t bail any of your sorry asses out if you keep this up!”
“He’s right. We need to be prepared at all times instead of screwing around and getting drunk,” Dar said, throwing down her cards.
“Thank you, Dar. And if any of you other assholes don’t like it, then feel free to walk out that door right now.”
The lights flickered. We stared at each other in confusion. A strong gust caused the windows to rattle and the house to sway. Rick went over to the door and turned on the floodlight. The driveway lit up like a theater. To my horror, an army of dead were climbing through the snow and inching towards us. Some carried tools such as hammers, axes, and shovels, which indicated that they were adapting to their environment. They looked hungry and tormented, and seemed determined to fill their bellies. Rick raced over, grabbed one of the rifles and threw it to Dar. She caught it and moved over to the door.
“What about me?” Thorn asked.
“No weapons when you’ve been drinking. Now sit your ass down and shut up.”
Thorn fell back in his chair and sulked.
Rick turned and looked at me as if I were a child. “I’ll talk to you about this later.”
Rick and Dar stood by the door. As he reached for the door handle, the lights suddenly flickered and went dead. We sat there in complete darkness, lis
tening to the groans out in the driveway.
“No one move!” Rick shouted. “Dar, come with me.”
Rick removed a flashlight from one of the kitchen drawers and tossed it to me. He grabbed another one and led Dar out through the kitchen and to the opposite side of the house. A few years ago, he’d built a cement patio and covered it with a metal roof. The roof had been built at a forty-five degree angle so that the snow would slide off it. He’d wisely stored his snowblower and other tools on the patio so that he could access them come winter.
Darkness blanketed the kitchen. I turned on the flashlight and directed the beam outside, illuminating the faces of the dead. Some were naked or dressed in underwear, or wore flimsy clothing. Decomposing faces appeared with bites and bruises. The thermometer outside registered eighteen degrees, and the wind chill certainly made it feel colder, but the arctic conditions seemed to have no effects on these beasts as they continued to high-step through the piles of snow.
I went over to the drawer and pulled out another flashlight and handed it to Gunner. Then I ran to the pantry to see what Dar and Rick were up to. Through the window I could see Rick cleaning the excess snow off his generator. Dar stood behind him, flashing the beam of light onto it so that Rick could start the engine. She momentarily lifted the beam of light up towards the backyard, revealing at least twenty of the creatures high-stepping through the snow. One gnarly looking beast stood only a few feet away. Part of its shoulder and jaw was missing. Rick yanked back the cord, but the generator failed to turn over. I opened the door, stumbled out into the freezing cold, and took the flashlight out of Dar’s hand. She removed the rifle from her shoulder, took aim, and put a bullet through the creature’s head. Rick stood up and stared at the dead man in the pile of snow. Gray brain matter sprinkled over the fresh layer of powder.
