by J. B. Havens
When the moaning pus sack was within reaching distance, Tristen side-stepped him, pushing the man forward onto his knees and slamming the hatchet down into the zombie’s skull at the same time. The razor sharp blade sank deeply through the bones and brains beneath. When he jerked the blade out, blood and brain matter splattered onto his face.
Rage consumed him. It built in his belly until he was sure he was going to puke it up. His hand holding the hatchet trembled as he fought for control. Staring down at the body of the zombie at his feet, all he could see was his dream; his mother’s body, stripped of flesh and piled at his feet.
“Argh!” he screamed, sinking to his knees beside the body. He slammed the hatchet into its face, cleaving bones and parting flesh. Ripping the weapon free with another splash of fluid, he brought it down into the creature’s throat, blood and flesh sucking wetly each time he jerked the blade loose. Again and again, he hacked at the body until it was unrecognizable and he could no longer lift his arm. He collapsed on his hands and knees beside the decimated corpse, his chest heaving from exertion and his throat raw.
“Feel better?”
Lifting his heavy head, he saw Marge standing nearby with her hands on her hips just looking at him. Letting his head drop down, Tristen rolled over onto his back in the grass, the blades scratched and stuck against his sweaty skin.
He didn’t so much see her sit beside him as feel her presence there. The perfect blue sky above him seemed to be mocking the entire world with its beauty. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, just a pristine cerulean from horizon to horizon.
“You wanna talk about it?”
“Not really, Marge. But I suppose you’re going to make me.” His voice was rough as sandpaper. A bottle of water appeared in his hand as if by magic. Sitting up, he took a long swallow of the cool water and slouched forward with his hands in his lap. Fiddling with the bottle, he began to talk.
“My mom came home from work early with a bite on her hand. I was at home with my sister because they’d cancelled school that day. She’d tried to get us a babysitter, but the sitter wouldn’t answer her phone. I remember being so happy, I had a test that day that I hadn’t studied for. I guess none of that matters now. I still don’t understand why she even went to work that morning, but her and my dad both did. My best guess is that they wanted to believe everything was going to be okay, that if they kept acting normal, things would be normal again too.” He rolled the bottle back and forth between his palms, enjoying the cheerful crinkle of the faded plastic wrapper.
“She took some medicine and went to bed and after a while, she called me into her room. By then, we’d seen it on the news and knew what was going to happen. She told me to take my father’s gun from the lock box and protect my sister.” Tears ran unacknowledged down his cheeks, he just kept speaking, ignoring them as they dripped onto his shirt. He didn’t want Marge to see him cry.
“I couldn’t do it. I tried to, when she died—b-before she turned. I wanted to kill her, to make it so she wouldn’t come back as one of those things. I was too weak, though. I just shut the bedroom door and made sure she couldn’t get out. Dalia was bawling something awful, too. Mom—it—would pound on the door at night trying to get out. I would huddle in my bed with Dalia buried against my chest. I gave her my headphones, so the noise wouldn’t be so bad. Did you know people can cry in their sleep? Dalia would. All night long tears would just leak out of her eyes like a fountain.” He took another drink, needing the distraction more than the water. “We stayed there until the food ran out, then we went to our old babysitter’s house. She was the first zombie I had to kill. It was easy, she was so weak from being trapped inside her apartment. I shot her in the head. Her brains flew out onto the wall, just like in the movies. I covered her with a blanket and we dragged her body into the back room. We stayed there for a while until we ran out of food again.”
“Tristen, sweetie, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Marge placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.
“No, it’s okay. I think I need to tell someone. Molly wasn’t exactly the chatty type.”
Marge snorted. “You’ve got that right. Okay, I’m listening, kid”
“We left there and just ran, I was so scared. The zombies seemed like they were everywhere. Dalia wouldn’t talk unless I made her. I was more afraid for her than for myself. I’d promised Mom that I’d take care of her and I was failing. One night, we were so tired we slept on the school playground, hiding under the jungle gym. You couldn’t see us unless you were right above us. I made Dalia go far to the inside, under the slide where she was more protected. It was so cold that night, I gave her my jacket but she was still shivering.” He paused again, remembering how cold it was that night, how he kept shivering so hard his teeth were clicking together. He’d been terrified that the zombies would hear the noise, so he’d covered his mouth with his hands.
“You know how you can smell them sometimes before you see them?”
Marge nodded in understanding.
“It smelled so bad, I knew there had to be a couple of them, a horde or something. You know how they sometimes group together. I put my hand over Dalia’s mouth, keeping her quiet. I’ll never forgot the look in her eyes. She was more scared than I’d ever seen her. I just kept thinking if we were still enough and quiet enough, they’d walk on by. And they did. They didn’t see us. They shuffled on through the park like we weren’t even there. I realized that night that we were lucky, but next time we wouldn’t be. I knew we needed to find a place, a real place, for us to be safe.”
“Is that when you met Molly?” Marge asked quietly.
“The next day we did. We’d been walking all day, trying to find an empty apartment or house or something. We were so hungry and Dalia was getting weak. I didn’t stop when it got dark, I had to risk it. We had to find shelter and food or we would’ve died. A small horde of zombies was after us, we were running through the streets, just trying to lose them when we found the apartment building where Molly was. We thought we could climb in through a window but couldn’t reach and got trapped against the wall. I started firing my father’s pistol, hoping to kill enough of them that we could get away when Molly showed up. She was…scary. She saved us though.”
“She told Betty the rest. About the girl that showed up and tried to kill her.”
“That was the worst.” Shaking his head at the memory. “She protected us, but… She punched her hand through that girl’s body and ripped her freaking guts out.”
“Betty and Molly, and the zombies like them are different,” Marge offered. “They’re stronger. Betty protects us and I know Molly would too. She left because she wanted to make sure that you and your sister were kept safe.” Pausing, she looked over at him and waited until he met her eyes. “Do you feel better now?”
“Yeah, I kinda do.” He shrugged. He did feel better, a little lighter somehow. “What about you? What’s your story?”
Her face fell, hardening to stone. “That’s not one I’m going to tell. Let’s get back to work.” She rose, reaching down a hand to help him to his feet as well.
I think we’re going to be happy here, he thought, liking the bond that was growing between him and Marge. She wasn’t his mom, but he enjoyed having a grown up boss him around more than he wanted to admit.
Chapter Nineteen
When I came to, I was flat on my back. Above me, the ballasts that held the florescent lights flashed across my line of sight as I was wheeled down a hallway. I was on a bare gurney, I could feel the cold metal through the back of my shirt. I tried lifting my arms, knowing it probably wasn’t going to work and it didn’t. The attempt felt futile, like when you could see your keys dangling from the ignition of your locked car and you try the door anyway.
I was able to lift my head and part of my shoulders up, but not enough to see very well. A guard was in front of the gurney, just past my feet. A large set of double doors opened ahead and they wheeled me through.
I didn’t know where Kelle was, I’d rather have her in sight than need to worry about a knife in my ribs.
“You guys selling tickets or something? I’m gonna need at least a seventy percent cut, just so you know,” I said as I was brought to a stop in what looked like an operating room.
“You’ve got a real smart mouth, you know that?” a gruff voice replied from above me.
“Maddox, don’t antagonize her. Leave us.”
Glancing around I tried to find the owner of the cultured voice. Craning my neck, I could see the body of a man in a suit back by the doors, but I couldn’t see his face. The guard, Maddox he’d called him, had his back to me and was standing rigidly in front of the suit. The door opened and shut and the unmistakable sound of polished dress shoes sliding across the floor came closer.
He stood by my right side and leaned down so I could see him more clearly. He had perfectly styled black hair, smooth skin, and a sharp jawline. Eyes the color of storm clouds stared down into my own.
“Hello there. My name is Dr. Reeves.”
“Good for you. Now untie me.” I jerked on the straps in emphasis. I could break them, I had before, but I remembered the powerful looking guns the guards had. I needed to know who, or what, I was dealing with before I attempted escape.
“All in good time. First, we must run a few tests.” He walked away and came back moments later pushing one of those carts with the silver tray for a top. Turning my head to the side I could see vials for collecting blood, a butterfly needle, and the other supplies he’d need for taking blood samples. He rolled up my sleeve and prepped my arm while he began to talk. “I’m the chief medical officer for Double Helix Industries. What we did before the outbreak is of no consequence. What is important, however, is what we do now.”
He slipped the needle into my arm with practiced ease. I hardly noticed the sharp pinch as it slid into my vein.
“My associates and I have been searching for a cure and hopefully an end to this madness,” Dr. Reeves continued. “Then you and the other girl came along. You really are most remarkable, you know. A real gem. Your blood could hold the key to the virus. Your mutation, while not unique, is unlike any we’ve seen before.” He finished filling the vials and removed the needle. The tiny wound healed almost the moment the needle was gone. “See? Absolutely fascinating. I saw from the previous administrator’s notes that your heart had been almost entirely removed, yet you were still able to turn. If we could find out why, it just might be possible to defeat this thing.”
“And? You have my blood, now let me go and I’ll be on my way.” I pulled harder on the straps, making them groan as they stretched.
Moving quickly, he pushed my gurney across the room and through a second set of double doors into a giant cube-like room. White floor, clear walls, a narrow bed, and a sink/toilet combo were the only ornaments. “I will free you, but if you attack me, the guard watching from your security camera will pump gas into this chamber and you will suffocate and die. The little research we’ve been able to do on your kind shows that oxygen is still a necessity. Do we have an understanding, young lady?”
Arching an eyebrow he waited for my reply. “Yes. I won’t rip your throat out and feed on you like the carrion you are, but if you call me ‘young lady’ again, I won’t make any promises. I have a name, asshole. It’s Everett, Molly Everett.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Ms. Everett.” Nodding politely, the weirdo doctor unbuckled the straps at my wrists, ankles, and then the big one across my chest. He didn’t waste any time in sprinting to the door either.
Sitting up and rubbing my wrists, I watched as he shut and locked the door behind himself. The entire room was some kind of Plexiglas hybrid, with steel mesh threaded through it, and I suspected there was much more than met the eye when it came to my cage. A buzzing sound hummed in the background after the magnetic locks clicked and engaged in the door.
“Now,” the doctor’s voice came from a speaker in the ceiling, “just in case you’re thinking you can bust through this glass like you did the last time you were a guest here, I want you to be aware that when this door locks, a circuit is completed. The walls and door are electrified with enough volts to stop your heart—yes, even yours. You know from experience that being tazed is no picnic, this room is equipped with three times the voltage. So please, don’t test the walls.”
I nodded my understanding, turning my back to him, and giving him the finger over my shoulder.
Well, Molly, you really got yourself into a pickle this time didn’t you?
****
Kelle fought as they carried her, trying to transfer her to a gurney. Tying her feet at the ankles just ensured she kicked with both feet instead of only one. One guard had her feet while two more had her upper body. Screaming and fighting, she fought like a wild animal. The guard at her feet lost his grip on her ankles, half dropping her onto the gurney. Bending her knees, she kicked forward as he bent down to get the strap for her feet. Her boots smashed into his face and his nose exploded with a crunch and burst of blood. He fell to the concrete, knocked out cold.
“Ha! K-O!” she cackled. “Isn’t someone going to let me finish him?” Her insane laughter was cut off when the stun gun hit her neck. Her body stiffened and her bladder released right before she passed out.
What felt like only a heartbeat later, but in reality must have been much longer, she woke up on a narrow bed inside a room not much larger than a jail cell. The walls and door were clear glass, possibly Plexiglas, reinforced with wire. The bed she was lying on was too narrow and its mattress under her back was hard and unforgiving. There was a sink and toilet combo in the corner, and nothing else. Her eyes burned from the bright lights above her. Shielding them with her hand, she looked around for any means of escape. A camera’s red light blinked from a different corner, no doubt observing her every move.
“Hello. My name is Dr. Reeves.”
Squinting against the glare, she tried to see out beyond the glass. She made out the form of a tall man in a suit. He stood with his hands behind his back, not moving, just patiently waiting for her to say something.
“Shut the lights off,” she growled, hating that she was stuck in here. The lights blinked off, but she could still hear a strange humming noise. “Where’s Molly?”
“Molly is safe, as are you. What is your name?”
The man’s superior tone and extreme politeness was already getting on her nerves. “I’m Kelle. Best to remember that for when you’re screaming it later as I rip your fucking face off.” She crossed the room in a few short steps, standing right in front of the doctor.
“Fascinating,” he mumbled as he wrote something down on a clipboard that she hadn’t seen in his hands. “Just a bit of advice, Kelle, I wouldn’t touch the glass. It’s been electrified with enough volts to do serious damage, even to one such as yourself.”
Smirking and not believing him for a second she reached out her palm and placed it flat against the glass. The instant her hand made contact, electricity jumped into her with a crack. She didn’t even have a chance to scream as her legs gave out, breaking contact with the glass.
She dropped to the floor, unable to breathe or think as sharp pain like a thousand knives ripped through her chest. Her mouth opened and closed as her body fought to function. The smell of cooked meat was heavy in her nose as her eyes fluttered shut.
Chapter Twenty
Dr. Reeves carried his notes to his office, excitement and curiosity fueling him to continue, even though he hadn’t slept in almost twenty-four hours. Kelle seemed to exhibit less tolerance to light, but greater physical strength and faster healing than Molly. Coupled with her extreme rage and animalistic instincts, she was extremely dangerous. They’d taken her out to have her burns treated in the medical facility, but that proved to be unnecessary. The third-degree burns had almost entirely healed before they got her down the hall to the infirmary. Luckily, they’d been able to return her to the secure cell before she regaine
d consciousness.
Molly, on the other hand, seemed to have minimal personality changes, above average UV tolerance and strength, but slightly slower healing. Both subjects seemed to exhibit some type of mental control over the infected. He would need to test that. Making a note for the response team to gather a few zombies for the experiment, he knew in the meantime that he wanted to see to what extent they could heal and how long it took. For example, would they need to feed to replenish their healing ability? How long could they go without feeding? He knew the average zombie wouldn’t starve to death, but would most certainly grow weaker the longer it went without nourishment.
He wrote furiously, favoring longhand notes that he would enter into his computer later. Dictating notes always felt strange to him and you never knew who was listening, so he hadn’t kicked the habit of writing his notes out longhand. Flipping open his laptop, he sent a status report to the main lab, informing his superiors that his team had captured the two Alphas they’d sought and quickly outlined his plans for experimentation.
He hadn’t had much hope for a cure until now. These two remarkable girls were the future of the human race; he could feel it in his bones. Gathering his notebook, he hurried to the lab to begin running the tests on their blood and DNA. He wanted to expand on Henderson’s initial lab work and isolate the marker that caused the mutation. He was disappointed that the two subjects weren’t going to survive the experiments, but it was for the greater good after all.
When it came to the extinction of the human race, two lives didn’t matter so very much.
