Omega Virus (Book 2): Gamma Hour

by Jake A. Strife

  Dyonna put her hands on her hips. “Bitch is fish food now!”

  Sister cried out as a mighty undead leaped and grabbed her legs, tearing her into the water with a big splash. The water reddened, and a hand floated.

  “When I get over there, I don’t care; The hell with it, I’m kissing you!” I moved, but my victory cut short as I fell onto my side, clutching at my stomach. A fire burned in my cells.

  “What’s wrong?” Dyonna rushed around the tank.

  “I swallowed the OVNs! They’ll kill me!”

  “Vomit, girlo! Vomit!”

  “It’s too late!” I gasped for air as the virus was taking over and consuming my mitochondria. I’d turn into a monster! One with far too much strength! Get away! Get far away.”

  “Not a chance!” Dyonna reached me and grabbed my shirt. “I can’t do that!”

  “Then you’ll die!”

  She pulled me up, then smacked me across the face. “No way, I ain’t leaving! Now snap out of it and fight! Ain’t there a guy?”

  Zach. She meant Zach.

  I moaned, my inside vibrating. “Yes, Zach; I want to see him!”

  “Hell no, you don’t want nothing!” Dyonna got in my face. “You need to see him.”

  “I don’t think I can.”

  “Yes, you can! Fight for your life!”

  From behind us, the zombeast whale burst from the water, splashing beneath the surface. It leaped out again, this time, screeching.

  “W-What’s that?” I turned my head.

  Dyonna glanced over her shoulder. “Something’s wrong with the zombeast in the tank. I don’t think it’s over yet! You need to snap back to reality!”

  I watched as the orca soared again. Along its side were large lumps. “This is the reality; I’m dying!”

  “No. You. Are. Not!” Dyonna punched me in the gut. Nausea overwhelmed me and everything I had eaten the night before evacuated my stomach in a radioactive green pile. The pain lessened enough so I could stand. The orca exploded out again, and again, splashing, thrashing and screeching.

  “Something’s happening to it.” I wiped my face on my arm.

  Dyonna nodded. “We need to get outta here!”

  Then it happened. The whale emerged again, and a dozen tentacles burst from its sides, spraying us with blood. It splashed and lifted out of the water. Its head elongated as if it had two huge tumors inside of its brain. I stumbled, grabbing my stomach as the pain intensified once more.

  The tentacles splashed the water and slammed into the bleachers. The tumors in its head exploded, and two humanoid torsos appeared. They were both covered in gunk and brain matter. Dyonna and I exchanged glances, and our jaws dropped. Brother and Sister were a part of the orca; part of a new mutation. They’d reached a new evolution. The siblings stared at us with pure hatred in their eyes. The final round had come.

  LEVEL 40:

  EVIL RESIDENCE

  Dyonna’s eyes bulged. “What in the hell we gonna do about that?”

  I balled my hands into fists and glared at the objects of my hatred fused into one. “We have to kill it. This has to end.”

  “I don’t see that happening!”

  My throat burned, and I vomited again. Waves of nausea flooded over me. The rotting topless forms of Brother and Sister were disgusting.

  In unison they spoke, “You have done this to us. You have wronged us; turned us into a monster!”

  I stood straight and fought against the immense pain. “And now we have the pleasure of killing you again.”

  “We doubt that.” They lifted a tentacle above our heads.

  I pushed Dyonna and used the momentum to launch myself away. We tumbled as the massive appendage slammed between us crushing the steel bleachers with a screeching groan.

  “You will fail.” The tentacle swept back and grabbed Dyonna, wrapping around and hoisting her above them.

  She screamed and pounded her fists on the slithery thing as it attempted to crush her thin frame.

  I slashed the air with my hand. “Let her go!”

  “As you wish.” They brought back their tentacle and whipped it, throwing my screaming friend from the stadium.

  My jaw dropped. “No! You sons a bitches!”

  Dyonna’s scream ended and raged filled me from head to toe. I roared, throwing my arms to my sides. The power of the OVNs surged through me once more. I thrust out a palm at G.O.D. freaks and summoned forth a crackling beam, but the attack didn’t come out as magnificent. The beam was thinner and weaker.

  They crossed multiple tentacles in front of their torsos to block the attack. The lightning bolt hit and did nothing but leave a puff of smoke.

  “Dammit, I must figure out a way.” I sprinted the rim of the orca tank, ducking and jumping over the tentacle assaults. I vaulted to the bleachers and turned around to find a tentacle slithering toward me. My eyes shot up, and I spotted a small catwalk running above the stadium. A fake out might be the only way I’d make it past their defenses.

  I leaped off the ground, a dozen yards into the air. My feet landed on the cool steel.

  The tentacle wrapped around the end of the rail and pulled. Before it collapsed, I dove straight for the pair of torsos.

  A tentacle snapped and whacked me, throwing me back, but another tentacle snatched me out of the air and pulled me toward the pool.

  The slimy appendage stopped, holding me out before them. “You cannot win, Tiffany Gainsborough. This game is beyond you.”

  “You’re wrong.” I grinned and dug my fingers into their soft flesh.

  My power focused, and I surged it into an attack. Electricity flowed into the tentacle. The siblings stared, unimpressed, but then the tentacle exploded in a shower of blood and gore.

  I landed on my tiptoes and launched as my heels touched the floor.

  “Give up!” Another tentacle hit me.

  As I crashed into the bleachers, denting the benches, I felt the vibration, but it didn’t hurt. The lack of sensation meant the virus had killed my pain receptors.

  They struck again and sent me tumbling to the side. My head struck a concrete step, and white-hot flashes appeared before my eyes. A third strike hit, and I fell, bouncing to the bottom. I couldn’t keep taking damage, or I’d be dead for sure. The tentacle came in again, but I scrambled away, dodging.

  “Stop fighting it,” they sang.

  “Never!” I leaped and grabbed onto a rope hanging from another catwalk.

  A tentacle came for me again, but I kicked out, swinging the rope around the limb. It tightened and cut into their flesh, severing the appendage.

  “Enough!” A tentacle grabbed me. Suckers bit into my skin with tiny sharp teeth. “Now we’ll extract the virus from your blood!”

  With a crushing strength, they squeezed, trying to pop me. My blood was getting sucked out through every pore. More power pulsed through the tentacle with each passing second.

  I tried to fight back, but I was helpless, I kicked. “No!”

  “Struggle if you want. There’s no getting free. We grow strong as you grow weak!”

  I thrashed to no avail. “I’ll kill you!”

  “Big words for a child who will die and allow us to kill her friends.”

  “No one else will die!”

  With every drop of Omega Virus, I gave one great push. The tentacle loosened its grip just enough to slip away. I grabbed the appendage and twisted hard, ripping it free.

  The monster had nine remaining tentacles. I spun on my heel and spotted a broken bleacher. I ran over, grabbed a part, and snapped it in half. Another tentacle came, and I swiped my new blade. The appendage took the hit and severed.

  There came a tinge of help. “Four down, but I gotta go faster!”

  The evil pair roared and lashed out. As I leaped, the eight tentacles followed. I hit the catwalk, and kicked off, launching myself straight back at them. With my impromptu sword, I leaped across the pool slicing away. When I landed, eight tentacles fell away. I dropp
ed the sword and walked toward the edge.

  Asshole number one and two floated with no tentacles to attack. “How can you be so strong? You should die any moment!”

  They didn’t need to know death was creeping around the corner; that I was growing weaker.

  “How is it, knowing you lost?” I raised my palms. Electricity crackled through my fingertips once again. But something had to be wrong. They didn’t look afraid; faces calm and serene. The scenario grew worse; they smiled and then cackled, throwing their heads back in mad laughter.

  I furrowed my brows. “What’s so funny?”

  “We have not lost.”

  I shook my head. They were screwing with my mind again; they had to be. With a roar, I launched the lightning beams straight for them. They had no way to defend or stop it.

  Twelve more tentacles burst out of the side of the orca and whipped, blocking my desperate attack.

  “Yes. Yes!” They chanted together.

  “Screw this.” I ran.

  Fighting was futile. If they regenerated, there was no defeating them on my own. I needed another way even if it meant dropping a nuke on their mutant asses. I darted around the outer rim and made my way for the exit. Two tentacles slammed and blocked the hall. I skidded to a stop, and backed up, turning to run the other way.

  “There is no escape, Tiffany!” They giggled.

  I ran for the other exit on the opposite side, but tentacles smashed the ground before me, sending cracks webbing through the concrete.

  Their voices twisted and warped. “You can’t keep this up forever!”

  I ran away again as tentacle after tentacle slammed only inches away, trying to crush me. Ahead, under the bleachers, I discovered a door. If I could get inside, the ceiling might offer protection and I’d have time to think.

  A high swipe came at my face. I dropped my legs, and slid, smashing straight through the door. I cried, as I tumbled through the dark and into the far wall.

  “How can I beat them?” I laid flat on my back. “They’re too strong!”

  I stared into nothingness and listened to them thrashing their tentacles. They slammed them into the concrete ceiling, dropping dust upon me. Before long, it’d give way, and I’d die. I had no chance of winning the fight. They were right. I needed to give up and die.

  I closed my eyes. “Zach, I’m so sorry. No more lives or continues. No quarters to put into the machine. This is where I die, and the game over screen appears.”

  I listened to the repeated slamming. Not much longer. My energy had depleted to near zero.

  “Tiffa,” Zach spoke in my mind. “What did you always tell me?”

  I kept my eyes closed, tears pouring away. I’d reached my final delusions, the ones just before death, just how people thought they could see angels in the hospital rooms with them or even family members. Were the gaming gods coming to claim me so I could play games in a grand arcade?

  “Tiffa, what did you always tell me?”

  I no longer fought to stay conscious. “I don’t know, Zach, I can’t remember.”

  “It was something very important. You need to remember.”

  “I told you I can’t. Please just let me die!”

  “I would pause the game and refuse to play. Fear made me; because you were so much better.”

  “Oh yeah.” I smiled. “I remember. How lame you did that.”

  “You’d yell and tell me to play the game, or you wouldn’t be my girlfriend anymore.”

  “Was I that mean?”

  Zach chuckled. “You weren’t mean. You gave me the push needed to defeat the enemy.”

  My smile turned into a wide grin. “Hey… Now I remember you becoming way better than me at that game.”

  “It was because you told me to stop pausing and to fight.”

  My eyes opened as an epiphany hit. The delusions were correct. I told him never quit and that every boss was beatable; just to stand strong and keep trying even if getting beaten for hours. Just keep trying until you win. Never rage quit.

  “Okay.” I found enough energy to sit. “I have to keep trying.”

  I climbed to my feet and staggered across the room, stopping to lean on the doorway. “Tiffany, you can do this!”

  I stumbled out, with almost zero strength left.

  The evildoers turned, and both smiled. “So, you face your doom.”

  I walked toward the edge of the tank. “No, I’m here to kill you.”

  “How?” They laughed. “You do not understand how to fight us. You will never kill us.”

  I continued walking and held my palms outward. “I’ll blast you to hell.”

  “Try, Tiffa.”

  When the name Tiffa came from their filthy mouths, rage formed within me. One that felt so strong, so very filled with disdain, that my power returned tenfold.

  Rage; pure unbridled rage exploded through me. “No one calls me Tiffa, but Zach!” An explosive energy burst from my hands, sending electric beams toward then.

  They threw their tentacles to block, but this time, their defense shattered, because this time, I had righteous fury; ultimate power. I roared and put every ounce of my strength into my attack. The blast bore through their shield, and each of the dozen tentacles vaporized and fell as ash into the water.

  As the smoke cleared, the enemy remained. “What do you intend to do? You are out of power. You are at zero percent. In ten seconds, we will regenerate and then you will die.”

  I stared at them trying to summon power back into my palms.

  “Ten, nine, eight.”

  I growled, still filled with anger.

  “Seven, six, five.”

  Someone called from the stadium top. “Here, use this!”

  The clouds parted as I lifted my eyes. They were only a shadow against the sun’s glare, but a small box flew toward me.

  Hope filled me as I caught the L.A.B. cube and held in the button, channeling my energy into the deadly weapon.

  “Four, three, two…”

  “You’re dead!” I released my hold.

  “One.”

  A beam of pure green, surrounded by lightning blasted forth and engulfed the mutant siblings. With a large explosion of power, they blew into thousands of gory pieces. I watched as the orca’s carcass sank, never to rise again. With no energy left in my body, I fell to my knees. I collapsed, and as my eyes tried to close, I saw a hat land next to me; A black fedora with a bright red feather sticking out. Someone spoke; the same voice from my delusion. This time it was real.

  “Tiffa, you’ll be okay.”

  He lifted me into his strong, warm arms. With that, I knew I could rest; Zach had found me.

  FINAL LEVEL:

  EPILOGUE

  When I next opened my eyes, I lay in a comfortable bed. Thick blankets covered me, and my head rested on a big, fluffy pillow. I glanced around the room, and although it didn’t appear lavish, or lush, I felt safe. From the nearest wall, a window was half-open, with a warm breeze blowing.

  I blinked several times. “Am I dead? Is this the grand arcade? Because it sucks.”

  “No, Tiffa,” Zach’s voice came. “You’re alive and well.”

  I turned. Zach stood in the doorway. He looked different from what I remembered. He was taller, and had broader shoulders, but he still wore a t-shirt, and jeans, the same kind he always wore.

  “Zach!” Tears formed in my eyes. “It’s been too long!”

  “I know. After Dave told me you ran off to face two G.O.D. Mode members, I thought for sure...”

  “But you saved me. You threw me the lightning cube.”

  “I saw that last attack and figured you needed help.”

  “Just a little.” I giggled and went stone faced. I hated giggling.

  Zach walked over and sat on the edge of my bed. I sat up, but dizziness swept over me, so I fell back into my pillow.

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You took quite a beating, and since I took the OVNs from your body, you’ve been uncon
scious.”

  “You got them out? How?” I lifted my hands and looked at my fingertips, imagining the lightning arcing between my fingers.

  “I can remove the virus from any living being, given I get to them early enough. I can’t do that to corpses; at least not yet.”

  “Yet?”

  He shrugged, “I’ve five more OVN doses to take. Then I’ll be strong enough to end this Zombie Apocalypse.”

  “So, it’s far from over, eh?” I sighed.

  “You didn’t think it was, did you? We still got billions of zombies to kill.”

  My friend’s faces flashed through my mind. “Where are they?”

  “Who?” He grinned.

  “The Gamers’ Guild, and my new friends! Arik, Kiki, Dyonna and Dragoon!”

  Zach chuckled. “Don’t worry; they’re fine.”

  I gave a great sigh of relief. “Each one?”

  “They’re worse for wear, but they all survived. Arik’s leg will take a long time to heal, as will his wrist, but he lived. Dragoon, well we got our top research team working on her and getting her a new arm. Dyonna landed in a tree. That’s where we found her; the little girl, Kiki, pointed her out.”

  “Dave, Jessie, and Jeff?”

  “All downstairs, and waiting to see you, but you’ve been asleep for a few weeks. They worried.”

  “Weren’t you worried?” I hoped in the back of my mind he still cared for me.

  He put his hand on my knee. “I feared the most. I’ve been by your bed every single moment.”

  My cheeks burned red. “Thank you... but please forgive me.”

  “For what?” He tilted his head, a lock of dirty blonde hair falling in his face.

  “For faking my death...”

  “Don’t apologize. All that matters is that you’re alive.”

  I reached up and touched his face. “I have another question.”

  “Shoot.”

  “When I was passing out, I saw Wesley’s hat. I know he’s dead...”

  He lowered his head and sighed. “Yeah... before fading away, he gave me the hat. It’s my job to beat his high score.”

  “Oh please!” I gave a weak smile. “Since when have you ever gotten a high score?”