by A. Giacomi
“No, you don’t have one fucking idea what happened, and your assumption is going to get my friend killed!” I scream as I turn to face him. The intensity of my stare must frighten him because he no longer looks so brave, and his gun trembles slightly. “You need to let me go now!” I say as I begin to crawl out the window.
He fires a warning shot that grazes the side of my head. Pressing my palm to the wound and then bringing my hand into view I can see the black-ish red ooze leaking from the gash. The bastard shot me! He had really shot me. “You don’t want to do this!” I say shaking my head and re-entering the room. I would have to take him down or he’d blow my head off and I would never save Cam.
“Halt right there!” another guard screams as he enters the room, gun at the ready, but before he can approach me, Vincent appears behind him and snaps his neck. The guard falls to the ground leaving the last guard to stare on in horror. He points his gun at Vincent, but I’m on him before he can fire again. Pouncing on top of him I tear off an ear, he is more concerned with screaming than shooting now. Chewing on his face, then his throat, then his shoulder, it’s impossible to stop. The desire to continue is intense; the voices urge me on like I’m winning some sort of race.
A hand at my shoulder silences the beast. “Eve we need to go, now!” Vincent screams. “Cam will die if we don’t leave immediately!”
Thank god for my voice of reason. I pull away from the guard and grab his gun, making sure to shoot him in the head before taking off. Vincent grabs the other guard’s gun and we both jump out the window racing toward whatever took Cam.
We would not be able to return to the Capital, the help and protection we had been hoping to receive would never happen now. Vincent and I had made sure of that the moment we laid hands on those guards, but we had no choice, it was kill or be killed, and if it was Marcus who grabbed him, perhaps we weren’t safe here anyway. How the hell did he get in under their watch? Why hadn’t Cam made a sound? I feel an ache in my stomach, maybe Cam was already dead, and maybe a heart could be sacrificed without keeping him alive.
As we continue our run, I catch another glimpse of the red eyes in the distance glaring back at us. “Marcus stop!” I scream after him. A soft laugh can be heard as he enters a rather large vehicle. He tosses a limp body inside the vehicle and then dives into the driver’s side. When he turns on the vehicle, the lights blind Vincent and me, forcing us to stop where we were. I couldn’t see anything. It was as though we were caught in a beam of light that just kept getting stronger. He was heading straight for us!
I take Vincent’s hand and dive to the right just in time. As we eat some dirt, the large transport truck flies by us. Laughter is heard as it pulls away from us into the dark night. Marcus was gone, Cam was gone.
“What now?” I yell at Vincent, perfectly beside myself. I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“Well, we need to get out of the Capital, that’s what! If we don’t, we’ll be killed for what we just did to those guards back there, and we’re no good to Cameron then.”
I nod, trying to regain my sanity. “Okay, okay…we need…a truck! Where the hell are we going to get one big enough to blast through whatever comes our way? I’m sure they’ll be hunting us at any moment now!”
Vincent points to something in the darkness that I can’t see. “What about this?”
“What about what?” I say annoyed, clearly not seeing what he’s seeing.
Vincent runs toward a large tree. There’s something under it and a large tarp covers it, you could miss it if you didn’t look clearly because the tarp was dark and there were no lights anywhere.
Pulling the tarp away, Vincent discovers some sort of off-roading vehicle. It wasn’t a car or a dirt bike, it wasn’t particularly big, but it looked like it might be fast, and perhaps that would be enough.
PART 2: SAVIOR
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DR. AUGUST
The child stirs, waking me from my nightly nightmares. It had become difficult to sleep after all I had seen. I see images of Eve being bitten over and over again, although I never saw the act, the bite wound still fills my thoughts. They had believed it to be an animal attack, but what animal other than a shark would take a bite that large out of her arm? I should have known then that it meant the start of something terrible. Something that I helped cover up for so long. I needed to right my wrongs somehow and I felt that caring for this child was at least a start.
After retrieving a bottle for her, she begins to settle down. I exit the tent in need of some fresh night air. As the child guzzles away at the bottle I hear some faint sobbing in the distance. Slowly I venture toward the tearful moans, someone was in pain and from the sound of it, emotional pain, so I felt there was no danger in seeking out the source. I pass a few tents before finding a young woman slumped outside of her tent, her face hidden by her long dark hair. She lifts her head in a panic before I can introduce myself and ask if I could be of any assistance. Wiping her face feverishly she attempts a smile.
“Oh hi there, didn’t think there would be anyone awake at this time. I didn’t want to wake my bunk mate in there so I decided to come out here for some air. I don’t like people seeing me like this, but this whole situation is just crazy isn’t it?” she says as she attempts to laugh.
I nod, not knowing her particular situation fully, but it was clear that she was alone here, and that had my sympathy. It was difficult enough to deal with a zombie outbreak, something that still seemed unfathomable, let alone being without loved ones and friends. I imagine friends would be hard to come by in the apocalypse. It was human tendency to help themselves before helping others, a natural instinct that we fought daily, but that goes out the window when helping someone else meant risking your life for someone.
The small one in my arms begins to cry, gaining the young woman’s sympathy. She rises to greet the little one with a smile. “Aww is she yours?” she asks trying to be polite, clearly I was too old and bared no resemblance to her.
“No not mine. A friend’s…” I say trying not to give too much away.
“I see, so she lost her folks huh? Well, that just makes me feel all sorts of stupid for crying. At least I remember mine, she’ll never know hers and that’s just awful.” Tears begin to well up in her eyes again. “May I hold her?”
I am hesitant to give the baby to her, but perhaps it would comfort both of them. I didn’t exactly have a woman’s touch, I wasn’t soft or gentle. Even though I tried my best, I still felt rough around the edges when holding a baby. I had never been great at it, it just seemed terrifying holding something so tiny, something so dependent on you to live. The pressure was suffocating, which is why I never had children. My wife had a couple from a previous marriage, but I never engaged them much, I felt inadequate, although I loved and cared for them in my own way.
As I gently place the babe in her arms, her eyes light up. “I always wished I’d have one of these you know, but now with things the way they are I’m not so sure it’s a good idea, you know?”
“I understand you completely, dear. Tell me more about yourself, how did you end up here?”
Her smile fades a moment. “It’s a long story. Not a happy one, but the bottom line is I left a big city thinking I’d never find another living soul, then I stumbled upon a small town full of crazies, where I met someone I thought I could spend the rest of my life with, but I messed that up pretty good. I’m real good at messes, but not so much the cleaning up part.”
“Well then, let’s start with names, my name is Walther, but most people call me Dr. Augustus or August for short. This little one here has no name yet. Any suggestions? I suppose I should give her one, even though I fear it’s not my place.”
“My name’s Rachel, it’s nice to meet you Walther. It’s nice to meet anyone really. Most people keep to themselves in this place. I can’t blame them for being par
anoid, but it gets really lonely. You’re the first person to talk to me, not even my bunk buddy will look at me. She treats me like one of the infected.” She sighs.
“You look perfectly healthy to me. I say keep trying, she’ll warm up to you. It’s hard to make it through the days without friends, my dear,” I say as I take the babe back into my arms.
“You have a point there, Walther. Thanks for letting me hold her, made me feel a bit better actually. You should give her a name soon…I know girls names are so hard. There are so many beautiful ones and you want it to be perfect for her. Maybe you’ll be lucky and she’ll guide you to it.”
Smiling, I thank her for her sage advice. “Take care of yourself, Rachel. I do hope we meet again.”
She gives us a small wave and then disappears inside her tent.
As I walk back to my tent my head begins to flood with names Alice, Cara, Sadie, Lia? But none of them seem quite right and I have given up just as soon as I put the little one down to rest some more.
Mina is awake and wearing a scowl. “You know it’s not right to simply leave without telling me. I have a duty to keep you both safe and not knowing where you are, makes that trickier.”
“Relax, Mina. We were just down a few tents chatting with a woman. Poor girl has lost everything and needed some comfort that’s all.”
Mina rolls her eyes but does not argue further. She checks on the baby and then returns to her bed. Soon we are all sleeping soundly once more.
***
The next morning I awake to panicked voices outside the tent. There are whispers of an incident in Ottawa. Soldiers found dead, escaped criminals, zombies? I can’t quite make out what anyone is saying. It’s a jumble of many conversations and nearly everyone is out of their tents either spreading gossip or fact. I wasn’t sure.
Mina joins me outside of the tent, baby in tow. I search the crowd for anyone who might be able to share some information. I tap a few soldiers on the arm, but they ignore me and walk off. The next face I see is Rachel’s, she looks pale, something horrible happened and she must know something. Racing over to her Rachel spots me first.
“Rachel what happened? Do you know anything?”
She nods looking shaken. “Yes, ummm…apparently, zombies got into the capital somehow. They tore apart many soldiers last night. I hear that the streets are blood soaked. And they took…” Rachel covers her mouth as if the next words are too painful to say.
“Took what, Rachel? I need to know please!” I say anxiously.
She looks at me glossy eyed. “They took…they took…”
Rachel looks ready to collapse with grief, I shake her trying to have her continue her train of thought, begging, “Please!”
“They took…him…the man I love.”
She’s shaking now, but I must press further, I had to put the pieces of the puzzle together quickly. “Why would they take him? What’s he doing in Ottawa anyway?”
“I don’t know,” she says as she shakes her head. “I don’t know why they want him. Maybe it’s because of her…” She looks up at me with fear in her eyes, she had said too much and perhaps she noticed that I might have understood her because she tries to run off.
I yell after her, “Is it Cameron? Are you speaking of Cameron?”
She halts just up ahead and spins around to look at me. “How do you know his name?” Her eyes are wide with panic.
“We’re his friends. We came to find him. Perhaps you can be of some help to us?”
She begins walking toward me with new interest. “I’ll do whatever I can.”
Rachel follows me as I meet back up with Mina and the baby. It was time to find Corporal Clark Campbell, we needed to get into Ottawa, and now!
As we head back to his station, guards stop us, guns at the ready. It seemed a bit much to aim a gun at compliant citizens, but I suppose no one was to be trusted at the moment. Asking them to see the Corporal only makes them hold their guns more firmly.
“No one is seeing the Corporal right now. He’s speaking to the Prime Minister.”
“Yes, good, that’s exactly why I need to speak to him now!” I say with urgency.
My yelling gets someone’s attention because a window opens on the second floor and Corporal Campbell sticks his head out to see what all the fuss is about.
“What is going on down there? Get the hell out of here. Can’t you see we’re busy at the moment?” the Corporal says seething with annoyance.
“Yes, of course, I can see you’re quite busy, but if Cameron Jackson is missing then perhaps I can be of some help?”
The Corporal’s mouth hangs open, I had given the right answer clearly because not a moment after slamming the window shut he appears at the front door to greet us, asking us to come in and tell him everything we know about Cameron, Eve and some goon named Vincent. I had much more information about those three than he could have anticipated, and after about twenty minutes he asks me to stop talking.
“Enough, enough!” he says waving his hands in the air. “I need to take you to Ottawa straight away so the Prime Minister can hear this all for himself! If only I had known sooner, perhaps we could have prevented this disaster,” he finishes by rubbing his temples.
“Well I did mention yesterday that this was urgent,” I say with an ‘I told you so’ sort of grin which the Corporal didn’t appreciate in the slightest.
Corporal Campbell signals for a few of his men to ready the trucks, we were heading into Ottawa immediately.
***
The blood stained streets were not a fabrication. Many soldiers had died trying to retrieve Cam along with Eve and Vincent. From what Corporal Campbell had heard, Cam had gone missing in the night. They had found Eve in his room, and suspecting that she had eaten him, attacked her. Which she and Vincent didn’t take lightly, they tore anyone who got in their way to shreds, leaving chunks of them behind for the clean-up crew.
Shortly after their escape, more zombies arrived, almost out of nowhere. The remaining soldiers were tasked with taking them down; this had apparently taken all night, which explained the mangled pieces of people everywhere. Some was zombie, some flesh was former human. It was a battle between the living and the dead last night and unfortunately the dead had what they wanted now…Cameron.
Our car soon reaches an underground facility. The kind I was much too familiar with already. The Prime Minister greets us upon arrival, which was odd. You would think him to be hidden behind multiple guards and doors first, but here he was greeting us with haste.
“Hello Agent Murray, I do apologize for not seeing you sooner, and welcome Dr. Augustus and?” He eyes Rachel and the baby.
“Perhaps we should sit down first. This is going to be quite a lot to take in,” I say as I point toward the doors leading us inside the facility.
“Of course,” he says politely.
We are soon deep inside the facility. A large room with metal doors awaits us. It resembled a bomb shelter with impeccable décor on the inside. A large table made of cherry wood awaits us, as does the Deputy Prime Minister. She is already seated ready to take notes.
Once we’ve all taken a seat. Prime Minister Lessard asks Mina and myself to start off explaining our hand in all this. I explain that Eve and Cameron were former students of mine at Guelph, and that Eve had become infected on one of my digs in Egypt, and that Vincent Engel, had been my colleague, another one infected in Hierakonpolis, Egypt. I explain about the mythology of the place, the Dark King, the Eye of Ra, and the possibility of demons. The Prime Minister nods, he had already heard this all from Eve, but I suppose hearing it a second time only made it more real and solidified his fears, he mutters, “How exactly are we supposed to fight demons?”
Mina decides to take over at this point, “Well we’re not sure, but it has something to do with The Eye of Ra.” Mina takes the small baby in her arms and s
its her atop the table. She removes her swaddling and unzips her onesie to reveal a glowing mark on her chest.
The Prime Minister and his staff look on in disbelief. Their thoughts frightened me, the little one was exposed now. I prayed they would agree that protecting her would be more valuable than disposing of her.
Once the Prime Minister has composed himself he asks, “So what is this child exactly and how does the stone function?”
I look at Mina and decide to field this question. “This is Eve’s child, while in the CSIS facility testing had been approved by Agent Marcus Williams and Special Agent Vallincourt. Eve was carrying a child fathered by Williams, or so she thought, the true father is a man by the name of Cameron Jackson. After going into early labor, Eve was told that the child had not made it through delivery, but here she sits. Mina and I discovered the child in one of the cryo-facilities that Williams and Vallincourt had placed Vincent in. I’m not sure why they needed to keep the baby in stasis, but it is clear that she is not fully human, nor fully dead. I believe the only reason she remains alive is that the core of her is a piece of the Eye of Ra. The stone is useless without all pieces accounted for, and my fear is that Williams will stop at nothing to retrieve it and carry out whatever mission the Dark King asks of him.”
Prime Minister Lessard sits back in his chair and looks at us in disbelief. “If all you’re saying is true, then this child needs to be protected. We don’t want our enemies gaining any extra power from acquiring her.”
I nod and give a sigh of relief. Tiny Eve would be safe and secure after all.
But then he adds something I dreaded, “Just one thing Dr. Augustus, we would like to perform some small tests on the child. We certainly don’t want to harm her, but we do want to know more about her. Study her.”
My anger builds. “She’s just a child!”
“I understand that, Dr. Augustus, which is why I want you to perform the tests as you see fit. I know you have some experience under your belt, and you yourself have said you worked tirelessly to find a cure for Eve. So some simple tests should be no problem for you.”
