by Jack Wallen
“Sprechen sie English?” Her German was horrible, but at least it might serve to bridge the gap.
“Ja…I mean, yes. Who are you? Where are you? What has happened?” The choppy German dialect on the other end was speaking so quickly it was almost impossible to discern what was being said.
“My name is Bethany. I and some others are locked in a government building.” Bethany stopped, seeming unsure of what else to say. Finally, she handed me the radio. I was shocked. She admitted there was something I could do better? This was getting interesting!
“Hello. My name is Jacob. What has happened…well…a virus was released into the city of Munich. It’s not safe to be outside. Where are you?” My effort wasn’t much better than Bethany’s.
“I am in, what would you say, my dormitory at university. There are not many of us here. You said something about a virus? What virus? There was nothing of this on the news before the television went blank. I found this radio in the director’s apartment.” The young man’s voice was filled with fear.
“Are you okay?”
There was an ominous silence that convinced me the boy was too afraid to answer; either that, or he was the latest victim of yet another zombie attack.
“There are a few of us in the dormitory. There are a lot of others outside, but there seems to be something wrong with them.”
And there it was. The reality of the new world order imposing itself on yet another innocent victim. Victim―a word this world was going to have to grow accustomed to.
“What is your name, son?” The whole time I had neglected to get the young man’s name. It should have been my first question. Make contact. Humanize the situation. Instead, I just defaulted to victim.
“My name is Georg. What should I do?”
“Georg, you must not try to help those people outside. They are most likely infected with the virus. If you come into contact with them, you could suffer the same fate. We are working on a cure, so the best thing for you is to find a safe, isolated location inside the dorm. Make as little noise as possible.” I hoped my instructions were as clear as they were crucial. If this young man was to survive…
“I think the director’s apartment to be safe.” Georg spoke with some relief in his voice. He was probably happy to have at least a superficial understanding of the situation.
“That’s great, Georg. Stay there, and we’ll contact you as soon as we have the antivirus.” I nearly signed off, but I thought I should add more to the warning. “Georg, remember, the most important factor for your safety is that you remain quiet. The infected are very sensitive to noise.”
“Thank you, Jacob.”
Boom! Crash! Bam!
The horde decided to give us a little reminder of their existence. Only this time, they really meant business…serious business.
“Jacob, this is not good.” Bethany had returned her focus to the main monitor. The zombie horde had managed to collect its huddled masses again for a second attack. It seemed they were actually working together to bring down the front door. The door was starting to show signs that it just might allow the masses safe passage.
“Intercom. You used an intercom earlier. Where is it, and how do I use it?”
“That handset. Push the black button.”
“Doctor Godwin to Room 77 immediately.”
“What are you thinking, Jacob?”
“We have to have a plan for when those things get through the door.”
“You mean if, right?”
“No…I’m pretty sure I mean when.”
“When is when? You mean in a few days or a few weeks?”
“I don’t know. When could be hours, minutes…when could almost mean…”
I didn’t know if it was fate, synchronicity, or just bad luck, but just I was about to say ‘now,’ the horde smashed down the front door, giving them complete access to the inside of the building.
“Now. Shit!”
“Oh, my God! They’ve broken through the door!”
“What is it you want, Jacob? I cannot come to Room 77 as I am quite busy.”
I informed Godwin we had an emergency that was actually more important than the cure. It took him little time to make it from his lab to the media room.
“What is it you want?” The doctor stormed into the room as if he had reason to be pissed off. A part of me wanted to turn around and slap him for being the root of all current evil. But I refrained. I needed him on our side now.
“Take a look, doctor, and tell me what you see.” My voice was calm―well, as calm as it could be given the circumstances.
“God in heaven. We have to hurry. Jacob, Bethany, follow me.”
“To where?”
“The elevator. If we lock down the elevator, the creatures will have no way of reaching us. Come quickly.” The doctor sprinted out of the room. Bethany and I followed.
“What about the stairs?” Bethany was one step ahead of me in every sense of the word.
“There are no stairs from the ground floor. The building was designed so that access to the lower floors could be completely restricted if necessary.” Godwin was already gasping as he ran through the halls.
This goddamn building was full of surprises. I would have hoped the government could have built a door that would outlast a riot. But then, what government could truly hold its people down? If said people could actually find a collective motivation, I would venture to say none. I feared my theory would, unfortunately, never be tested.
We finally arrived at the elevator. The doctor gave us simple instructions. Near the elevator were two panels, both of which had to be activated simultaneously. The only trick was that they were too far apart for one person to do the job. Apparently, this was an intentional design to ensure one person couldn’t be in control of making such decisions. For once, the government did something right, either that or it was just another attempt at overbearing oversight. Godwin ruined that theory by informing me the design was his. Of course.
“I will count to three, and together we will enter the unlock code and then push the Enter key. The code is a five-digit number which we must enter together or the lockdown will fail.”
So much for elegant design. Leave it to a scientist to make something that should be simple insanely complex.
“The code is five, seven, one, nine, two. I will speak a number, and then we will press that number together. Once the final number is pressed, I will say ‘enter,’ and we will hit the Enter key together. Clear?”
How could it not be? I was just given an explanation as if I were back in kindergarten.
“Ready? Begin. Five. Press. Seven. Press. One. Press. Nine. Press. Two. Press. Enter. Press.”
Warning, lockdown system deployed. Lower level now inaccessible. Warning, lockdown system deployed. Lower level now inaccessible.
Suddenly, I felt very claustrophobic. I realized we were at least safe from what was above, but how safe were we from what was within? The possibility that either I or Godwin would make that final turn did not escape me. I verbalized these thoughts to the doctor, who immediately decided to retreat to the lab to continue his race for a cure. He hadn’t even bothered to think ahead enough to realize the danger the future now held for us.
I was actually surprised that irony didn’t take over and turn me back to the dark side as the lockdown system was deploying. I still hadn’t figured out the exact pattern to the transformation. I had managed to pin down the physical warning signs, but what was triggering the change? It seemed random, but not without a sense of humor. Hell, I was surprised my mind was still as intact as it was. Luckily, I always returned from temporary zombification with my sanity. I hoped that luck held out. I knew, however, it was only a matter of time before I made that final transformation.
I stood in the hall staring at the lockdown device and wondered if I should disarm it and go up top to join what will soon be my only true family. I probably wouldn’t last. I wanted to think my palate ran to better than fle
sh, bone, and brain. After experiencing the finest cuisine in―oh, who in the fuck was I kidding? Once turned, I would eat whatever gray matter was in front of me. Interesting. An endgame scenario occurred to me. I could give Godwin a time-frame in which to find a cure. If he failed, I would go up top. There was simply no way I was going to lose what was left of my sanity below ground. Plus, a zombie Battle Royale inside this fortress wasn’t what I had in mind for my last moments on this good, green earth. And as for my last meal? There was no way in hell it would be Bethany. I’d rather a thousand zombies tear at my flesh while my brain was still mine to comprehend the exquisite agony.
My endgame needed an accomplice. I decided I would let Godwin know. I had to. He was most likely going to suffer the same fate, and I wanted to plant the seed in his mind. That seed might be the only insurance I had that Bethany would be safe.
After dropping my bomb on Godwin, I was surprised when he finally agreed that my endgame was a necessity. At first he had balked, saying something about having to spend his dying moments searching for a cure. Eventually, he realized there might come a time when humanity’s best interests lay in the survival of someone―anyone. Right now, that best hope was in the angelic hands and brilliant mind of Bethany. Finally, Godwin saw the truth in my madness. I was actually somewhat surprised that he would release his specimen so easily. I wasn’t about to bring up that fact. Not now. Not when everything was coming apart at the seams. I was still in mid-descent into hell, and an army of my soon-to-be comrades was plotting and scheming our demise right over our heads. Okay, so maybe they weren’t plotting and scheming so much as they were yelling and screaming. And smashing and breaking…and…chomping and chewing. Given the noise they were making above, they were hell-bent on making their way down here.
Godwin reassured us they wouldn’t make it. Funny thing, reassurance. Under normal circumstances, it would ply my heart and mind as it did when I was a baby and my mother would rock me to sleep, soothing me beyond the nasty waters of a nightmare. Now reassurance was filed under nothing more than false pretense. There was no reassurance now. There was nothing but survival among the ever-growing disorder. And survival was only for the fittest, strongest, and smartest. I was none of those at the moment.
Damn, I needed sleep. But before succumbing to exhaustion, I had to switch batteries in the recorder. Things were starting to feel a bit climactic, and I wasn’t about to miss a beat―just in case.
In the room sufficing for a bedroom, Bethany was already tucked in and softly breathing sleep into her lungs. The warm glow of the hall light bathed the skin of her face, neck, and shoulders, making them look as inviting as anything I had ever experienced or imagined. At that particular moment, I couldn’t remember ever seeing anything so overwhelmingly beautiful. She was every piece of art I had ever seen and every piece of music I had ever heard collapsed into one brilliant moment. If I wasn’t in love, I knew it would be something I would never know again.
The logical conclusion of that moment was for me to gently sneak into the bed, curl up next to her, go to sleep, and hope I didn’t wake up with a swatch of bloody neck hanging from my teeth. Yes, there was a large part of me that wanted to tuck myself away inside a closet just in case. But I rarely worked on “just in case,” and I wasn’t about to begin now.
So yeah, I knew I was bound for that bed.
Chapter 23: Loss
Piercing screams jerked me violently out of my dream state. I sat up in bed to see Bethany already heading for the door.
“Bethany, is that what I think it is?” I so badly wanted her to come back to bed and tell me I was just having a nightmare.
Screams and wailing.
Bethany looked back at me with absolute fear in her eyes. I got out of bed and crossed to the door.
“If one of us is going to check this out, it’s going to be me.” I gently nudged her out of the way and opened the door enough to squeak into the hall. The screaming sound was joined by a thunderous crash. Both sounds were coming from the direction of Susan’s room.
I took off at a run, but before I could even put a significant dent in the distance, another scream joined the cacophony. That scream was obviously Susan’s. I picked up my pace and turned the corner to find Susan cornered by Godwin. As soon as Susan saw me, she let loose another high-pitched scream that seemed to further enrage Godwin.
“Is he one of them? Is Godwin…?”
“Yes, Susan. You need to get away from him.”
“How?”
Before I could come up with a plan, Bethany was by my side. I hadn’t wanted her here, but I quickly realized that together, we could probably save Susan.
“Bethany, scream with me.”
“What?”
“Trust me, just do it!”
“Hey, Godwin! Over here!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Doctor Godwin!” Bethany added her voice to mine.
“Motherfucker! Let her go!” Bethany nearly went primal.
“It’s working. Keep yelling.”
Susan screamed.
“Susan! We’re going to lure him away from you. Try to stay quiet. Don’t make a sound.”
“This way, you mindless piece of shit!”
“We need to find out if he’ll change back or not.”
“Jacob, we need to kill him!”
“He’s our only chance for a cure!”
Just as we thought our distraction was going to work, Godwin lunged at Susan and grabbed her by the arm. This, of course, sent Susan’s scream to a level I had never experienced.
“Shit, Jacob, we have to do something.”
An idea came at me like a train rushing at a thousand miles per hour. I took a running dive at Godwin, slammed into him, and took him to the ground.
“Susan, run!”
As soon as I had Godwin on the ground, he turned his rage on me and clamped his teeth onto my arm. My plan had gone swimmingly until that point. Fortunately for me, I was already infected, so no harm, no foul. But breaking free from the grip of doom was another issue all together. After some struggle, I did manage to wrench my arm away, but I did so at the expense of a sizable chunk of my forearm.
And of course, that wasn’t all the moment had to offer. My biggest problem came when Godwin jumped at me, and I do mean jumped, and trashed my audio recorder in the process. Godwin began pounding his elbow down, in an attempt to break my grip. Although the blows barely missed my face, they did connect with my recorder, sending it skating across the floor. It took some doing, but I managed to get the doctor into a standing position while at the same time fending off his gnashing maw. And after I did manage to get the best of the man, there was also the issue of escorting Godwin to one of the holding cells. We couldn’t trust him to roam free any longer. Hopefully, Godwin would revert back. Otherwise, we were fucked. I was fairly certain a zombie knew absolutely squadoosh about biochemistry. I was equally certain that without Godwin in the here and now, I didn’t stand a chance of avoiding the downward spiral into that great, dark abyss.
Sadly enough, Godwin was still moaning about the room, smearing blood and drool all over the glass window. The blood was a mixture of mine and his. The drool? I’ll let our captor take credit for that. I watched him slam himself against the window and then rock back and forth for a moment, only to return to slamming.
As soon as I locked eyes with Godwin, my heart leaped off a bridge and tried to drown itself in my gastric juices. I was instantly sick with loss. I could feel it, deep within my bowels. Godwin was not going to be able to find a cure, which meant sooner or later I was going to plunge into the heart of that darkness to never return. Not that I actually had any scientific proof that Godwin wouldn’t turn back and wave his magic wand to cure me of my ills. After all, how many times had I visited zombie-town and returned good as new? My visits, however, were very short-lived. Godwin was racking up some serious tourism time.
Her eyes and cheeks flooded with tears, Susan was sitting on the table besi
de me. The tears were not from loss―we all knew the truth now―Susan was just deeply afraid. It was a horrible sight to behold. A child’s biggest fear should be of playground bullies, of monsters in the closet, of being spanked, or spoken to with harsh tones. A child shouldn’t be afraid of absolutes―the end of the world, of monsters made real, of death, of sickness born from madness.
It seemed as if in the act of escaping from the maw of death, something in the little girl had changed, turned black and ugly. I knew at some point in our lives we all felt the moment innocence was lost, but most people don’t have innocence yanked away at such a young age, and so forcibly. I hated everything that was happening; but most of all, I hated what had happened to this little girl.
And with that realization came another. I had no idea what to say to comfort Susan.
“Why haven’t you turned into a zombie yet, Jacob?” Susan’s voice was gaining on full recovery.
“I wish I knew.” I put my arm around her and pulled her in tight. All I could think of was comforting this frightened child.
“But you’re going to, right?” Surprisingly, all traces of fear seeped away from Susan’s voice.
“Yeah. Probably. My only hope for a cure is in that room.”
“Sucks,” was all she said, and really all that needed to be said.
“By the way…since I now know that man was never your father, does that mean the moaner I killed back at the hotel–”
“She wasn’t my sister. I lied about that. Sorry.” Susan looked up at me with those huge eyes. A tiny part of me wanted to scold her for the transgression. That small part melted away as I looked at her cherub face.
We sat on the table watching quietly as Dr. Godwin’s bitter half slammed itself against the window in vain attempts to reach us.
“Bethany is pretty smart. Maybe she could go into his lab and figure something out.” Susan spoke the very words that had already crossed my mind. Although I knew Bethany’s smarts didn’t include biochemistry, it was still an intriguing idea.
