“These kinds of people would kill you,” Kara told the girl, assuming the man she spoke of was just someone unpleasant. Walter gave her a disapproving look. He was the kind of man who would lie to a child.
“So would Judy’s daddy,” the girl stated. “Now I want Shoes.”
The little girl began walking toward a house. She stumbled and fell to her knees. Walter rushed over to her and put her back on her feet.
“Let me help you.” Walter took the little girl’s hand. “My name’s Walter, what’s yours?”
“Alice Carter. I live there.” Alice pointed to the house she was heading for.
Kara Taggart rolled her eyes. “Come on, Walter. We’ll put the little girl in her house and then move on.”
“We can’t leave her alone,” Walter frowned.
“And we can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“Have you seen all the broken windows we passed on our way here?” Kara pointed across the street where there was just such a window. “Wouldn’t you rather be at home where we have a large fence around the property?”
Walter thought about it. “I guess so.” He took a breath. “But if no one is in that house, we’re bringing Alice with us.”
“Not without Shoes.” Alice had been listening to them. Apparently she wasn’t going anywhere without shoes, even though she was already wearing a pair.
They reached the door to the house and Walter tried the knob.
“It’s locked, silly,” Alice giggled. “Daddy always locks the door when nobody’s home.” She stood on her tiptoes and reached a small hand behind the mailbox. She pulled down a key and stuck it in the lock of the door. Kara didn’t believe the girl actually lived there until the door opened. And if she was right, nobody was home to look after her.
“Shoes!” Alice called into the house. “Shoes!”
There was a low woof and a basset hound came waddling around the corner. Its loose skin swung from side to side as it hurried toward the girl.
“There you are, Shoes!” Alice knelt down as the dog approached her. It gave another low woof just as it reached Alice and proceeded to lick her face.
“Does Shoes have a leash?” Walter asked.
Kara couldn’t believe she was agreeing to this. She should probably just leave them all behind.
“Yup.” Alice opened a closet next to the door and took a blue leash down from a hook there. “Wanna go walkies, Shoes?”
The dog woofed twice and lifted its front legs slightly in a hopping, almost hopeful manner. The way the loose skin slid over the dog somewhat disgusted Kara. If she had to choose, she much preferred cats. Alice clipped the leash to the dog’s collar.
“Would you like me to take him?” Walter offered to take the leash. Clearly, he believed the girl when she said no one was home and didn’t want to take the time to check. Kara was perfectly okay with that.
“I can walk him myself,” Alice stated proudly.
“All right then.” Walter let the girl keep the leash.
“Can we get moving now?” Kara wondered.
“What if Shoes poopies? We need plastic bags.” Alice looked back into the house.
“Oh, didn’t you hear? Today is ‘don’t pick up dog poo day’,” Kara sighed with sarcasm.
Alice closed the door to the house and locked it. “Oh, okay then.”
11:
Mathias
Mathias Cole lay on his bunk staring at the ceiling. The white stucco stared back at him, mockingly. At least, the little bit that kind of looked like a face did. He needed to get out of here. He was making himself sick with worry about his little brother, Danny. The morons in charge weren’t telling anybody what was happening on the surface. They weren’t even telling the surface. He tried every way he could think of to get out of that damn complex, but it was just that; it was too damn complex. Everything was locked down tighter than a CEO’s blackmail pictures. All he could do was lay there and stare at the damned ceiling.
“Cole!” Someone hammered on the door. “Cole, are you in there?”
Mathias sat up and got off his bunk. It took him only two steps to reach the door of his little cell of a room. He pressed the big button next to the door and it slid open with a faint hiss and a grating groan. Most doors were totally silent here, but Mathias’s luck insured that he got the noisy one.
“What do you want, Roy?” Mathias grumbled. Roy was a scientist who thought he was Mathias’s friend. He hadn’t seemed to get the memo that scientists and mercenaries just couldn’t be friends. Too much work tension between the two groups. Not to mention that the scientists were creepy, arrogant, and too smart for their own good.
“I got you a way out!” Roy crowed triumphantly.
“What?” Mathias rubbed his eyes. Surely he wasn’t talking about out out.
“I told Christopherson that I needed some research materials I had left back at my house last time I was there,” Roy started babbling. He was nervous for some reason. Energetic, excited even, but nervous. He wouldn’t meet Mathias’s eyes either, although that wasn’t new. “I explained to him how I really needed them and he said I could get them, but that I’d need a security escort. I got you on the escort list!”
A huge grin broke out on Mathias’s rugged face showing every tooth. Maybe he could try to be friends with Roy after all. “When?”
“Like, right now, grab your gear.” Roy was literally hopping from one foot to the other. He looked like he was going to explode.
Mathias dragged a pack out from under his bunk and slung it onto his back. “What are we waiting for?” Living in the facility meant living out of your bag. You never knew when they were going to assign you to different quarters or send you out on a month-long assignment.
Roy stepped aside and let Mathias walk out of his room. He headed down the white hall, following the blue arrows. All of the halls were a seamless white, made of something similar to glass. Behind them was some sort of screens that once you punched in your destination on handy consoles located about, would light the way for you with coloured arrows. Most people who worked in the facility had a tracker on them so that the building knew where they were and where to direct them. It was actually a little creepy. Without it, though, it was all too easy to get completely lost in the generic, white facility. Mathias knew first hand because he didn’t like his whereabouts known, so he often didn’t have his tracker on him, like now.
Roy must have keyed in the destination before knocking on Mathias’s door because it was lit up before he even stepped out. Mathias didn’t actually need these arrows, as they were heading to a location he went to often enough. Roy’s short little legs hurried to keep up.
It was strangely busy in the facility. Lots of people were buzzing about, following their own lighted arrows. Mathias had noticed that, ever since the incident, there seemed to be more people here. Which was saying something because there was already a small city’s worth. It looked like more security had been brought in. He had even run into an old colleague who had been called in from Australia.
“Who else is on the team?” Mathias asked.
“East, Chant, Edelstein, Cole… well, you know you… LeBlanc, Coombs, and Grey.” Roy clearly had taken his time memorizing the list. He so desperately wanted to be friends with the hired goons.
“A seven man team? What do they expect out there?” LeBlanc was good; he wanted to ditch just as badly as Mathias. Chant and East wouldn’t stop him, but Coombs was unpredictable and Edelstein would definitely stand in his way.
The happy grin that had plastered Roy’s round face fell. “You know exactly what they expect to find out there.”
“It couldn’t have gotten that bad, could it?” Mathias knew what had been let loose, but for it to spread that quickly seemed unlikely.
“Do the math.” Roy waved a hand around his own head.
“I don’t know the math,” Mathias grumbled. There was that scientist/mercenary barrier that often popped up.
&nb
sp; “Right,” Roy sighed. “So, three rats got out, yes?” Roy ticked off a finger.
“Yeah, we caught the other three,” Mathias nodded. That had been an interesting few days, trying to hunt down six white rats in a white complex.
“So, those three rats are going to infect other rats, either by biting them, or procreating, or possibly even just by nuzzling.” Roy ticked off a second finger.
“Okay, more infected rats.” So far, he made sense.
“Now, we have a pretty large number of rats infecting more and more as they go. Infected rats spreading everywhere. These rats are going to come into contact with people. Say, homeless people.” Roy ticked off one more finger. “The extra aggression is going to make them hostile toward these people, provoking them to bite. Now we have infected poor and homeless people.”
“Rich people can run into rats too, you know,” Mathias said smugly.
“Fine, some rich people too. Now we have infected people, but these people haven’t been altered yet. Still following me? They’re more like carriers, like the rats are at this point. The people may only be a bit more irritable, if even that. There are no symptoms.”
“Yes, yes, infected but not zombified,” Mathias sighed. Sometimes the scientists treated the mercenaries like children. Other times, they spoke in terms that went miles above their heads. Mathias could never find a happy medium with them, and that was just one of the reasons he didn’t like them. The other was he didn’t always agree with what they did. In fact, in this particular place, he rarely agreed.
“Don’t use that word,” Roy glowered. The scientists hated the word ‘zombie.’ Everybody else had quickly latched onto it. “Now these infected people are going to infect others, by sharing a fork or a bottle, possibly from biting, from kissing.”
“To be fair, I don’t think homeless people get a lot of action,” Mathias joked.
Roy just frowned. “Either way, they spread it. And remember that the rats are still spreading as well. Seven to ten days after the first rat has bitten someone, they become altered.”
“A zombie.”
“Altered. Now, you know what they do, right?”
“Try to rip your guts out and show them to you.”
“Pretty much. But they will almost always try to bite you, at least once, which will make you infected. It’s the prion’s way of spreading itself.”
“Prion?” Mathias always thought of the thing as a virus.
“A prion is an infectious agent made up of protein,” Roy explained quickly, as if this made sense. “Although it’s not a true prion; we managed to combine it with a virus. Anyway, some people will get away with only a simple bite and bring the infection with them; others will die on the spot. Those that die on the spot-”
“Become zombies.”
“Become altered.” Mathias could tell he was really starting to piss Roy off, but he couldn’t help it. Zombie just sounded so much more honest. “Those altered are going to try to bite more people. Those just carrying it will carry it all over the world, spreading it through blood and saliva contact.”
“And sex.”
“Yes, yes, and sex.” Roy rolled his eyes. “That first batch, who was infected by other humans, will take only three to five days to become altered. When they do, they will attack others. Human to human infection also leaves most altered smarter and more violent. Many will still have the capability to run, and some will be able to perform more complex tasks, like opening doors, climbing ladders, removing obstacles-”
“Yeah, yeah, I know all that stuff. I’ve seen them.” Mathias involuntarily shuddered. Those poor bastards volunteered, thinking it would lead to an early release from prison. Turned out to be an early release from life.
“Of course. But that means the attacks will spread a lot quicker. Especially since the altered will be trying to kill others, making them become altered quicker. A faster spread. Also, the further down the human-to-human contact chain someone is, the faster they turn, if they manage to survive the attack. And all this time, the rats are still spreading and people, altered by the rats, are still spreading…”
“Okay, okay, I see your point. The shit can hit the fan. What am I saying? The shit has hit the fan.” Mathias thought about Danny being alone on the surface. “Do you know how bad it is up there?”
“No, they don’t tell us much more than they tell you.” Mathias knew that was a bald-faced lie, but let it go. “We have a prediction, though.”
“And what’s your prediction?”
“Well, there’s a time we call the ‘boiling point’,” Roy made little air quotes with his fingers, “which is when there are enough human to human altered in existence, that the problem can’t be ignored. It’s almost like an infection explosion where they suddenly seem to be everywhere, infecting more and more people.”
“And when do you think this boiling point will occur?”
“Our calculations predict that it could occur anywhere between two days ago and four days from now.”
“So we’re right in the hot zone is basically what you’re saying?” Poor Danny, he had to get to him.
“I’m saying, I have no idea what we’ll find out there.”
Mathias didn’t quite believe him, but nodded anyway. Why would he choose this day in particular to go outside? Surely, it wasn’t for his benefit. They had almost reached the prep chamber where the others were surely waiting. Mathias stopped Roy for one last question. “When I find my brother, will they let me bring him down here?”
Roy looked at his feet and shuffled them. “It’s highly unlikely.”
“Then where else can I take him to keep him safe?”
Roy shrugged and used the pass hanging around his neck to open the door. Mathias let Roy step through first. He always worried about being led into some sort of trap down here and being killed off for some experiment. If Roy went in willingly, then it must be okay. Well, that was the hope.
The prep chamber was a large, white, cylindrical room with one door, the door they entered by. Inside were all the team members Roy had listed off. Mathias walked over to LeBlanc who was carrying a loaded rucksack like his own, except it had a rifle strapped to the side of it.
“So you’re getting out too, huh?” Mathias spoke to him in a low voice.
“I can’t take this place much longer. I’ll probably survive longer outside with the zombies.” LeBlanc sounded Irish despite his French name and Japanese looks. “You going to look for your brother?”
Mathias nodded.
“Maybe I’ll come with you then. More fire power has got to equal better odds, right?”
Mathias nodded again. “Thanks. What is it that Edelstein is carrying?”
“I don’t know, and he won’t tell me either.”
The always stern and proper Edelstein had a black, hardcase backpack and two metal suitcases. He kept looking disapprovingly over at Mathias and LeBlanc. He clearly knew what was going on. East walked over to them, making their pair a trio.
“Hey guys.” She didn’t have a backpack or any cases, just her rifle and whatever was on her wide belt. She was known for having basically zero personal items, just a locket around her neck, and no one knew whose pictures were in it. Mathais’s money was on her parents.
“Hello, my beautiful East!” LeBlanc threw his arm across her shoulders.
“Fuck off, LeBlanc.” East grabbed his arm and twisted it around behind his back. He was always doing stupid shit with the girls.
“All right, all right, I give.” He grinned as East let go. “Hey, what’s that Edelstein’s got?”
“I don’t know. Chant and Coombs also have some non-standard equipment, but they won’t talk to me either. Guess it’s for whatever their mission really is,” East shrugged.
“What do you mean ‘their’?” Mathias had noticed her self-exclusion.
“Oh, I’m ditching with you guys, didn’t LeBlanc tell you?” East frowned at LeBlanc. Mathias did too.
“What?” LeBla
nc shrugged. “It didn’t come up.”
“I didn’t know you wanted out.” Mathias really didn’t know and he thought he kept up with the gossip. Then again, he had been pretty much out of the loop since the rat hunt.
“I tried not to let it get around ’cause I thought it would improve my odds of escape, but Chant figured it out. I guess it’s for the best, ’cause it looks like they’re getting rid of the trouble-makers before everyone else decides they really don’t like it down here either.” East took a stick of gum out her pocket and popped it into her mouth. “Notice that they got more weaponry than us? We’re being cut loose with as little fire power as they feel comfortable giving us.”
“Maybe we should leave some behind, eh?” LeBlanc grinned. “Like in Roy’s big, fat head.”
“Cut it out,” Mathias rolled his eyes. “We’re getting out, that’s all that matters. Speaking of guns, I gotta go get mine.”
Mathias left the other two and went over to a small, barely visible panel in the wall. He held out his dog tags, and a blue light scanned down them. He was supposed to have dog tags made by the company, but he refused them. He wanted to keep the old ones that he had before he was dishonourably discharged from the Rangers. The company didn’t like this, but they gave in and adjusted the system to read his dog tags. He said it was entirely for sentimental value, but really, it was partly because he knew they built trackers into theirs. They had to give him his tracker separately, one that he carried in his pocket, and no one would notice if it was missing or not. The dog tags had to be visible at all times, just like the scientist’s badges.
There was a click of fine mechanisms running for a moment and then a hiss. Seams appeared in the wall and a hidden panel flipped open. It held a rifle specially made by the company, a few magazines of their own brand of bullets, and a company side arm. Mathias slung the rifle against his bag like LeBlanc, then holstered the pistol. Lastly, he pocketed all of the ammo. He often wondered how much more Keystone could do if they weren’t so busy making all these fancy rooms with their silent mechanisms. Their guns and bullets were of really good quality, but what they had just supplied Mathias with was the bare minimum any mercenary was allowed to have when leaving the complex. At least, when it was a potentially hostile environment and they weren’t just guarding some formal party nor doing bodyguard duty. It seemed they really were planning on cutting him loose. So why did that make him feel nervous?
Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel Paperback Page 20
