After Zombie Series (Book 1): After

by Samantha Gregory

  The doctor glared at me, “Your brother’s dead.”

  Jenna

  I tossed and turned for hours, unable to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw them back in that sewer. I thought of Mom in some containment camp somewhere. Dad wouldn’t risk getting her from it. It was too heavily guarded. I gave up on sleep and returned to the main room. Wesley was hunched in the chair, his chin on his chest, asleep.

  I opened the filing cabinet quietly and went through the files. I found one marked - early trials - Afghanistan 2004. I put the holo disc into the player. The holographic image appeared above the player. Keeping the volume low, I took a seat to watch. The footage began. There were two soldiers in the desert and a third on camera.

  “Is it on? Hang on,” a man said. The image came into focus.

  “This is Captain Steven Marshall,” the camera man narrated. “I’m Simon Clark and this is Hal Baxter. We are testing out a new serum called X01, which has the ability to create a super soldier.”

  Hal sniggered. He was short, with dark hair and stubble.

  “Captain Marshall here thinks he’s pretty super already, but let’s see how this goes. Would you like to say a few words, Captain?”

  “Hi there folks. I’m Captain Marshall.” He was tall and thin, with fair hair, he didn’t look too super, “Before leaving base I was given 50ccs of X01 and now we are out here to test how it works in a combat area.”

  Simon swept the camera around to show their location which just seemed to be a lot of desert. “Test one will be strength and endurance.”

  The scene cut to Marshall, who had now been tethered to a land rover. Simon gave them a countdown and he began walking forward, pulling the land rover. He struggled at first, and then began pulling it with ease. His friends whooped.

  It slipped ahead to the next task. Healing ability.

  They were setting up for the next stunt when Marshall was shot. He fell to the ground.

  The other two took cover as bullets rained down on them. There was more shooting, and then the camera went dark.

  When it came back on, they seemed to have gotten control of the situation, but Marshall was still down.

  “Base this is Clark, we got a man down. Marshall is hit, over.”

  Marshall groaned, rolling onto his back.

  “Marshall? Ha-ha, he’s alive. I think we can tick off healing.”

  Marshall struggled to his feet, looking confused.

  “How you doing, buddy?” Simon called.

  The camera zoomed in on Marshall. There were visible wounds on his neck and face.

  He groaned, raising his head to look at the camera. His eyes had a bloodshot, glazed over look. He bared his teeth and growled. He had turned.

  “Marshall?”

  He lunged at Simon. The camera dropped, capturing only the desert floor. There were screams off camera, as Marshall attacked them. I couldn’t listen anymore. I turned it off.

  Checking the cabinet, I finally discovered a file marked Genesis. The holo disc was missing from it. It figured it was the only one missing. I glanced at Wesley. He had the files last. I crept towards him. He was snoring softly; I reached out to check his pockets, careful not to wake him.

  Nothing. He must have hidden it somewhere. I noticed his hand was closed into a fist. The disc would certainly be small enough to be concealed in his hand.

  I tried to pry his fingers open. He mumbled something in his sleep, head lolling to the side. I backed up, praying he didn’t wake up. When he resumed snoring, I tried again. He jerked upright, eyes open. I froze, but his eyes slowly closed again. His hand slipped off his lap and the disc fell from it.

  I scooped it up. It was Genesis.

  I hurried to the player. The files were dated as far back as two years before I was born. I hit play to watch them chronologically.

  Dad appeared in the holograph. He looked so young, about Wesley’s age. He seemed to be in a basement.

  “All previous testing on the X01 serum has failed, despite the Alliance’s best efforts. The serum does work to a point, but it rapidly decreases brain functions, essentially rebooting the human brain, in order to take effect.

  It leaves the subject with heightened aggression and rage. They become…zombies, for lack of a better word. Devoid of human emotion, all that’s left in them is a hunger. If the serum were introduced at an earlier stage then maybe it could co-exist in the body, but even infancy might be too far along. The subject needs to grow with the X01 in order for brain function to survive. The Alliance are only interested in using it as a weapon, but it has the potential to create a new race of human beings, stronger, better.”

  The next half dozen clips were Dad explaining his failures. Most of it was science talk that I didn’t fully understand.

  “I have successfully merged the X01 virus with a human embryo. I’m calling it project Genesis, because this is the beginning of a new world.”

  So Genesis was a person? I was looking for a vial of liquid. He combined it with an embryo? On purpose? I really didn’t know him at all. I glanced at Wesley. Was he Genesis? Is that why Dad was so interested in him? I checked the date stamp. No, he would have been two or three years old. The date was around ten months before…

  I let out a long breath. The thought tried to form in my brain but I dismissed it immediately. It was too absurd.

  I felt compelled to keep watching. Dad reported on Genesis progress over several months, but never referred to it by name. There was no footage either. He seemed to want to keep it secret. Or he had files elsewhere.

  At first he seemed excited, “Genesis is showing powerful brain activity. Cognitive reaction times are above normal.”

  Two months later, that changed.

  “While Genesis is highly intelligent, there is no evidence to suggest anything other than a gifted child.”

  The video file flicked to Dad in our kitchen, I recognised the horrible green and brown colour scheme that Dad had picked out. The date was 08/24/20. “Genesis is two years old now. The X01 serum appears to be gone from the system. I’m chalking this one up as a win though,” he smiled at the camera, “’cause I got something beautiful out of it.”

  He set the camera on the counter. I don’t know if he knew it was still recording.

  He lifted a plate with a chocolate cake on it, topped with two little pink candles.

  “Happy birthday, Jenna,” he said, placing the cake in front of two year old me. I waved my chubby arms and tried to grab a handful of cake.

  I looked up to find Wesley standing beside me. I hastily wiped away the tears that were falling.

  “This is what you didn’t want me to see? What you figured out back at the compound?” I asked. “After everything, I’m just another experiment. A failed one.”

  Wesley looked uncomfortable, “It doesn’t mean…” he shrugged helplessly, unable to find the words.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I wasn’t a hundred percent certain what he had done. And would you have even believed me?”

  I went back to the cell and threw myself back onto the bed. I started sobbing into the pillow. My whole life was a lie. How could Dad do that? Oh, God, did Mom know? She had to know. She carried me for nine months; she had to know what was going on.

  I lashed out at the wall with my fist. I hated him so much.

  Deep inside me, somewhere, was the same stuff that created zombies. That was what I was. A living zombie.

  Twelve

  Jenna

  I had no idea what time it was when I awoke. It felt like days had passed. Wesley was on the floor by the door, sleeping. He hadn’t come all the way into the room, but he stayed close by. I was glad he was here. As surprising, as that was. But he was just another pawn like me in Dad’s game.

  I got up and went to the bathroom. Wesley was on his feet when I came out.

  “Are you…okay?” he asked.

  “Fine. Let’s get going.”

  Wesley seemed relieved that
I wasn’t talking about it. He was probably worried I’d go to pieces. There would be time to deal with this later. Now we needed to get out.

  We left the lab. We didn’t have much time left to get out of the city. Instead of heading for the platform, I headed deeper into the tunnel, with Wesley at my heels.

  “Shouldn’t we head topside?” he asked.

  “We could but I have a way to get to the edge of the city fast.”

  “You do? What is it?”

  “We’re going to catch a train.”

  “Are you crazy? The trains are crawling with AS.”

  “Actually they aren’t. They have maybe four guards and usually only in the front two carriages. They do sweeps from time to time but the back of the train should be clear.”

  “Okay, how the hell do you know that?”

  “That would be telling,” I grinned.

  About thirty yards in, we came to a junction. The train would have to slow down here. Hopefully enough that we could get on it.

  “We can hide here,” I said, pointing to a small alcove.

  “I’m telling you this is a bad idea. They’ll catch us.”

  “And how long will it take us to get there by foot? This is the quickest way.”

  He sighed, but didn’t argue. He probably knew better by now. We crouched in the alcove. So far we had heard the trains pass every hour, so there should be one along within the next fifteen minutes.

  We sat in silence in the near darkness. My mind was still reeling from what I learned about myself. The thought of facing Dad again, knowing what he had done to me, I didn’t think I could do it. God, everything was such a mess. I wanted more than anything to be back home in my room, so I could curl up under the covers and just forget about the world for a while. I had to focus on what was happening now. If I thought about this too much, I would fall apart.

  Wesley kept shifting position beside me. He didn’t seem to be able to sit still.

  “What is wrong with you?” I whispered.

  “Nothing,” he muttered.

  I could hear him drumming his fingers against his leg.

  “You need a fix, don’t you?”

  His body tensed beside mine, “No, I’m just anxious about getting on the train.”

  “Liar.”

  “What’s it to you, anyway?” Wesley snapped.

  “That stuff will end up killing you.”

  “I am not having this conversation with you.”

  We were interrupted by the rumble of the train.

  “Get ready,” I said.

  We stayed tight to the wall so we wouldn’t end up squashed. The train slowed as it approached the junction.

  “Let’s go,” I said. We ran for the back carriage. The train had navigated the junction and was beginning to speed up.

  We leapt at the small walkway on the back carriage. Wesley landed and swung himself over the rail. I misjudged the jump. I managed to catch the rail with my hands, but my feet slipped off and I began to drag.

  The train was getting faster. I felt my grip slip and I cried out, just as Wesley grabbed me by the arms and hauled me over the rail beside him. We stumbled back and fell through the door into the carriage. We both managed to stay on our feet, quickly taking in our surroundings to check we were alone. The carriage was empty.

  “You know,” Wesley said, “We have enough people trying to kill us, you don’t have to help them do their job.”

  I glared at him. I headed up the carriage to check it out.

  “You’re welcome,” he muttered.

  The carriage was loaded with wooden crates. I tried to prise the lid off one, but it was nailed down tight. I moved to the far door and carefully raised the window blind. The carriage beyond was similarly loaded, but it had a guard. I gasped and dropped the blind causing it to clatter against the glass.

  “What did you do?” Wesley said.

  I backed away, waiting for the AS to come running in. After a few minutes, I relaxed. He mustn’t have heard me.

  “There’s a guard,” I whispered.

  “I told you this was a bad idea. We should get off now.”

  I glanced back at the other door which was still lying open. The tunnel whizzed by. We must have been going over a hundred miles an hour.

  “By all means,” I said.

  “And what are we going to do if he does a sweep?”

  “We can hide behind the crates.” It was a lame suggestion. He could find us easily.

  “We’ll just have to hope he’s already done his sweep.”

  I dropped into a seat. Wesley closed the door and sat down too. All we could do now was wait.

  Despite the imminent threat from the guard, I rested my head against the seat and closed my eyes. The rocking motion of the train was almost soothing. I tried to shut my brain off for a while. The noise of wood splintering made me open my eyes.

  Wesley had opened one of the crates. He pulled out what was inside and tossed it to me.

  It was food. Bagels to be exact. Typical. We scrabbled around for scraps and the AS ate like kings.

  I ripped open the packaging and bit into one of them. I was starving and it tasted so good.

  “Hmm, anything else in there?” I asked.

  He was too busy stuffing his face to answer me. I checked out the crate for myself. There were cakes and pastries too. I grabbed a cake and took a bite.

  “So how did you know about the train?” Wesley asked, with a mouth full of food.

  “When Dad was working in the city, he used to commute on the train. He took me with him a few times. I could never sit still so I would explore the train. The guards didn’t seem to mind since I was only a kid then.”

  The door opened behind us and we froze.

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” the guard called back over his shoulder. He hadn’t seen us yet. Wesley quickly put the lid back on the crate and we left the carriage the way we had entered it. We stood huddled on either side of the door.

  Did we leave wrappers lying around? If he noticed the open crate, he would know there were intruders.

  Wesley motioned to the ladder beside me, pointing up. I shook my head. The roof? Was he crazy? He ushered me up the ladder and we lay flat on the roof. The guard appeared below us. He stood for a second before retreating inside. The train bucked and I nearly rolled right off the roof. We couldn’t stay out here. There was nothing to hold onto. The guard wasn’t stupid though, he was probably waiting for us in the carriage.

  The train lurched again and Wesley began to slide off the side. I grabbed at his arm. He pulled himself back up and we clung to each other. The tunnel rushed by us. Okay, I could admit it. This was a bad idea.

  Eventually, the train began to slow as we emerged from the tunnel to a station near the edge of town.

  “We make a run for it as soon as it stops,” Wesley said in my ear.

  I nodded to show I had heard him.

  There was a screech of metal as the brakes were applied.

  “Now,” Wesley said. I swung myself over the side, gripped the ledge and dropped to the ground. Wesley followed.

  The window of the carriage exploded as the guard spotted us. He fired at us as we ran for it. There was a stretch of trees ahead of us. We headed into them.

  “Keep moving,” Wesley said.

  When we came out of the trees ten minutes later, the sound of gunshots had grown distant.

  “I think we lost them,” I said.

  He nodded, “This way,” he said, pointing down the road. He winced as he raised his arm.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I think a bullet nicked me.”

  There was a hole in his coat at his upper left arm.

  “It’ll heal right?”

  He nodded, “Yeah, it’ll be fine. We’re almost there.”

  We hiked down the road, moving as quickly as we dared. Hopefully the guards on the train thought we were just hungry thieves. If they knew we were the current most wanted then they wouldn’t
stop coming after us.

  On the edge of the city, a cordon had been set up, probably just for us. I was flattered that they would go to that much trouble. The post was being guarded by two AS but the real problem was the fence. An invisible barrier that stretched out behind the post. It ran up to 50,000 volts.

  The only way I knew it was there at all was because every now and again a spark would light up, as a bug hit it.

  We hid further down the road behind a copse of trees.

  “Any ideas?” I asked Wesley.

  “Well I think the key part of the plan is not to get shot.”

  “Yeah that’s a given,” I said.

  He was silent.

  “You don’t have a plan, do you?”

  “Not really. Even if we managed to take down the guards, I have no idea how to turn off the fence.”

  The two guards were heavily armed; they even had back up weaponry in their truck from the look of it. I had an idea.

  “Can you distract the guards?” I said.

  “I can try. Why what are you up to?”

  “I have a plan. Just get them away from their truck.”

  He ran across the road into some bushes. I went around the outside. After a few minutes he began making bird calls. Idiot. That wasn’t going to draw them out.

  I crouched behind the truck.

  “What the hell is that?” one of them asked.

  “Sounds like a cat being tortured.”

  “Maybe we should check it out.”

  “Yeah. Well, go on then.”

  “Me? You go.”

  The noises grew louder and they both moved out to check it out. I hopped onto the bed of their truck searching for supplies. A few wires, some gun powder and some tools and I was in business. I located the transformer for the box. It was about the size of a suitcase. I rigged up a small explosive device and attached it to the transformer. Shadowing Dad as a kid had its advantages.

  I moved back. When it exploded, the entire fence lit up in sparks.

  I took off running, hoping Wesley had the sense to do the same. Sticking close to the trees, we made it up the road and around a corner. I hid behind a tree while I caught my breath and waited to see if I was being followed. I heard the roar of the truck coming to life, followed by a smash as it hit something. I gasped. Was it Wesley?