by Hamrick, R M
Audra hadn’t had much interaction with the shepherds. As a tagger, she had tagged individual zombies. Shepherds dealt with herds. Audra hoped she wouldn’t be recognized for this trip. She and Dwyn had killed two shepherds - Lars and Lindon - who had been sent to move a herd through the laboratory. If things started going wrong, she could run into the thick woods where the horses couldn’t go. That is, if she could get away.
Another jostle. Audra’s face smashed into his shoulder, but she managed to arch her back away from him. He got nothing that time. The man readjusted in his seat, smashing between her legs. She heard a snicker.
Audra imagined slitting his throat and riding with his body until they reached a place she could string him up. He’d swing in the air like a toy.
“I don’t get it, Manny,” said the man on the other horse.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t get how this little girl got Lars. That man was honkin’ huge.”
They did know who she was and what she had done. Audra wasn’t sure what that would mean for her, but in the moment, she felt a sense of accomplishment out of it.
Yeah, I took two of yours.
“That’s a good point, Blue. I mean... Lindon, I get. Overconfident prick. Course, Lars wasn’t the smartest.”
Blue laughed. “He was a dumb SOB.”
Manny laughed too.
Audra hated to, but pointed to a single-track off the road. They needed to go that way. Manny and she took the lead. Blue followed.
Manny let out a low gruff growl that only she could hear. “You can’t do shepherds like that. You better watch yourself.”
Audra glanced behind her to make sure Blue was still a distance away and not at her back. These two hadn’t harmed her yet because Greenly wanted the location of the corral. Audra did not think her protection would extend far after that. Sure, she hadn’t told Greenly where the army was located, but it wouldn’t be that hard to figure out without her. She was in trouble.
She motioned to another trail, which Manny followed, but not without unnecessarily disturbing the horse to shift her again. After what felt like a lifetime, and not nearly long enough if this was the end of her life, they reached a clearing. Audra pointed to the rusty trailer needlessly.
“Shit, we never thought to look in there,” said Manny.
As they approached, the zoms inside smelled the sweaty horses and sweaty people. They riled, grunted, and groaned.
“There’s an opening at the top. We drop them in,” explained Audra.
“Well, I’ll be...” said Manny.
When they reached the trailer, Manny dismounted on the side Blue and his horse were on. Manny held the reins of the horse and looked at her expectantly.
Audra gave him a quick look before jumping off on the other side of the horse. She sprinted to the edge of the field. When she reached the cover of bushes and pine trees, she turned to check the shepherds. Neither of them had given chase. Manny was pulling something out of the saddlebags. Molotov cocktails. He climbed to the top of the metal trailer, lit them, and dropped them in.
The screams were primal. Audra dropped to her knees. The sounds of banging metal reverberated in her ears as the infected tried to escape their hell. Audra hadn’t known them to know external pain, but being burned alive was too much for even their pain-numbed systems.
Tears poured from her eyes. Audra didn’t care anymore that she might be in the two shepherds’ reach. She deserved to die. She had collected all these people with the intent to save them. Instead, she had pooled them together for mass murder. How could she pretend she was doing good?
Sparks and smoke flew from the top of the trap. After what seemed an eternity, when the screams were still not quenched, the two men mounted their horses and turned them away from the wreckage. They were satisfied with the progress. They kept a good clearance from Audra as they entered the forest line again, but it didn’t stop Manny from calling out.
“We’ll get you. You can’t get our own without paying the price.”
Audra did not respond, but as soon as they were out of sight, she collapsed into a pool of regret.
This wasn’t worth Satomi’s life. This wasn’t worth it.
* * *
“Can you really do what you say you can?” asked Eli from the door as she pored over more tomes inside the laboratory trailer.
Satomi wasn’t sure if the question was triggered by skepticism or an honest concern for her wellbeing. She didn’t look up to figure it out.
“No one’s done it before, but the z-virus has laid all the groundwork, I’m just... modifying it.”
She turned another coffee-stained page. Dr. Bren had never considered the potential expansions of her serum breakthrough. She had settled for mindless soldiers.
Eli wasn’t satisfied. “I don’t get it. How can you use the z-virus - something bad - for something good? There’s good stuff in the virus?”
Eli was no longer by the door. Instead, he was looking over her shoulder, trying to glean clues from the notebooks she had open. He really was curious.
“The virus itself doesn’t contain the ‘good stuff’. It replicates inside us until it’s consumed plenty of neurotransmitters, then it sends out peptide signals to boost the brain’s natural defenses and repair functions. That’s why the infected keep going, despite all their damage and the violence against them. If the brain and body live longer, so does the virus.”
“Peptides? That’s what you were talking about with Jack and Jill.”
“Yes, I want to synthesize a peptide. They’re just chains of amino acids... simply. It’s difficult, but I can do it with the right starting supplies. I’ll build the peptide that says to the z-virus that the attack is complete - the virus will skip ahead to the neuroprotective processes that we want for Peter.”
“You trick the virus into thinking it’s done the bad things, so it will do the good things?”
“Yes!” she cried out, raising her hands, proud of her friend for making the connection. “And that will be hopefully enough to overcome Peter’s illness!”
She realized she had just considered Eli her friend. She turned back to the notebooks in silence, but with a shy smile on her face. As much as she trusted him, she knew she shouldn’t. He had manhandled her when they met with Jack and Jill. Maybe he had just done it for show, but it scared her.
“Hey... I have a gift for you,” he said suddenly. Satomi wasn’t sure if he just remembered or if he had just mustered the courage to mention it. She turned on her stool to him out of curiosity. A gift? Better than a favor, she supposed.
“Well, I guess sort of a gift for you...” he said as he pulled two little paper satchels out of his pocket. “Earl Grey, for Peter.”
“You heard us?”
“Uh, yeah, it’s a trailer. I wasn’t going to let you in there and not be able to hear what’s going on.”
“Oh.” Satomi wasn’t sure what to make of him.
His eyes watered as he continued to hold them out. And Satomi finally realized it was an apology.
“Thank you,” she said. She smiled. He grinned back. “Would you like to go have tea with Peter?”
He pulled out one more satchel. “Yes!”
This time Satomi grinned. She began putting up some of the things she was working on.
“Where are you from, Eli?”
Eli shrugged. “From nowhere, really. Was a bit of a wanderer before wandering was the norm.”
Satomi nodded as if she understood. She was reminded again of how traditionally she still lived, even in this world.
“Jack and Jill took me in. Feed me good.” He smiled over his belly. “Guess it’s better than wandering.”
Satomi placed a small bookmark in the notebook and put it on the sorted shelf of books. Questions she had yet to answer still swam in her brain. If Dr. Bren had an inventory of antivirals, then why was there so much research on them and attempts to change the formula? Why had Dr. Bren refused to keep working? In
the end, it didn’t matter much. She’d use what research she needed and leave the rest. And she’d leave here. But what about Eli? They walked together to the trailer’s doors.
“Where I’m from, we can use guards too, y’know... And you wouldn’t have to care for hostages,” she ventured. She didn’t mean for it to be an accusation, but she saw Eli turn his head to avoid her anyway.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he opened the door and let Satomi step out into the cool air.
“Earl Grey! My favorite!” called out Peter, wrapping Satomi in a hug. He smelled of sandalwood. Satomi glanced at Eli, who was happy to let her take the credit. They were both ushered to the table set with pink and white china. Eli struggled to get his girth into the chair, which was anchored a fixed distance from the table. He smiled all the same.
Peter wore a neat gray cardigan, penny loafers, and pressed slacks. However, his hair was uncombed. He turned on the water before sitting down with them. He happily chattered and rambled.
“Still not sure what color to paint the walls.”
“Oh, I still like the pink,” said Satomi, happy to see him happy. He was such a gentle soul. She nodded when appropriate. Most of his stories didn’t make sense. Satomi poured them tea and Peter was delighted all over again by the Earl Grey. He seemed to be bouncing back and forth mentally a lot today. Satomi worried, but she couldn’t make much progress without that medium.
Halfway through tea, Peter started to whimper then cry about how lonely he was. He said he couldn’t remember the last time anyone had visited. Satomi was sure that Jack and Jill visited him multiple times a day, but that wasn’t true for Peter in that moment. He sat in the chair, overwhelmed in his isolation.
Satomi patted his hand, but he pulled away. She might not be able to help him now, but she could help him. She’d create that biopeptide and put his brain into super-powered repair. He might not be completely cured, but he might be able to regain some function.
She just needed time.
Peter could not be comforted, try as they might. Eventually Eli led her out, her heart broken. Their Earl Grey tea sat cold and forgotten.
Chapter Fifteen:
Mass Cure
It was long after the shepherds had left before Audra pulled herself off the ground. She couldn’t find the energy within herself to run. Her legs and heart were heavy. Instead, she trudged through the forest. Sharp wisps of smoke spun around the trees, reminding her of the current death. Manny’s scent clung to her front.
The adrenaline in her body fell cold and faded into regret. Once again, she dreaded going back to Osprey Point. If only she had the time and money to seek out an old moonshiner, she’d lose herself until penance had taken its course and her liver.
She took whatever solace the woods could provide, and came upon Osprey Point’s fences before she was ready. She ignored any greetings she received from above as they opened the gate for her, but one message did catch her ear.
“You’re needed in the medical office.”
God, what had happened now?
Another whiff of Manny on her chest. Sickness rushed over her. She pushed it down with a loud utterance. Dropping her backpack right there, she ripped off her long-sleeve shirt. She threw it onto her pack and stomped off in her undershirt. It was the guards’ turns to ignore.
She walked into the medical office. All the partitions between the stretchers had been set aside. Ryder lay on the farthest stretcher, but no one was rushing over to her. She seemed fine, distracted by the two men near the closet. The top and sides of the closet were sealed with white silk tape.
Ziv and Dwyn looked over to Audra. Ziv beamed. Good news. She needed good news.
“You got what we need, Ziv?” Audra asked.
Ziv grinned as he talked and made large energetic motions. “I think I do! It was difficult, but working from the temperature-stable antiviral actually made things a lot easier. It’s just more stable in general. We had only tried to aerosolize that first edition of the cure. We never went back to it after, after -”
Vesna’s murder.
“Are you ready to test it on the prisoner? Is the half zom in there?”
“Yeah. Look, I was thinking on it. Is this... ethical? Isn’t he like a prisoner of war or something?” asked Ziv.
“Better him first than trying it on all of them, right?” encouraged Audra. She had just murdered an entire trailer of innocent people. She wasn’t going to be stopped now by Ziv’s cold feet for something that could ultimately be positive.
She could see the gears turning. He finally nodded and pushed the nozzle of the small tank under the door. Dwyn used another strip of tape to seal around it. Audra heard a click and the faint hiss of gas escaping.
“You look like hell, Audra,” were the first words Dwyn chose to speak as they waited over the gassy closet. “Where have you been?”
She’d have to tell them. She didn’t have to tell them all of it though.
“I went to Greenly to trade for that bio-pep-thing anchor.”
“BY YOURSELF?” Dwyn’s hackles rose.
“Yeah, I needed you all here. I used to handle Lysent by myself, all the time,” she reminded him.
Dwyn shook his head. “It’s different now.” He leaned against the wall with arms crossed, pouting.
“How? Cause they don’t have my sister to hold over me?”
“No. Because you have a family now.”
Audra rolled her eyes. Belinda was family. She had a family then.
“What did you trade?” Dwyn asked.
Audra suddenly felt cold. Goosebumps prickled her arms. The words burned at the top of her chest, hurting to come out, hurting to stay in.
“The corral.”
Dwyn slid down the wall into a slump. He didn’t look at her, but she could see how wide his eyes were, trying to process it all.
“What corral?” asked Ziv.
Audra put her face into her hands. Rubbed off some of the shame and explained. Dwyn sat in silence. When she told them what the shepherds had done, Dwyn broke down in tears.
“What were you thinking, Audra?” came a voice from the corner. Audra had forgotten she was there.
“I was thinking that we need to get Satomi back,” she turned to justify herself.
“Satomi would never have agreed to this.” Ryder shook her head, tears in her eyes. Audra walked over to their disabled leader. The chest tube had been removed and her eyes were clearer - less painkillers at play.
“Satomi won’t know. She didn’t know we had one in the first place. Doesn’t matter what she’d personally agree to. She’s a hostage and I’m paying the ransom.”
Ryder pulled herself up to sitting with her hands and an involuntary grunt.
“This whole place is built on caring for people. You’ve effectively allowed mass murder,” Ryder accused.
Audra didn’t need her to tell her this. She already knew.
After a moment’s pause, Ryder choked out, “I’m not sure you belong here.”
“What? You’re just now figuring this out? Why do you think I don’t stay more than eight hours at a time? I might not belong here, but you guys need me. You’re not making it through this without some tough decisions and bloody hands. Vesna knew that. Just be happy you can be laid up in bed and hand me the reins.”
Audra had never seen that glare from Ryder, usually happy-go-lucky. Her eyes slanted with sharp ends, matching her spiked hair.
Audra turned to Ziv, who waited quietly by the closet.
“Uhm, it will take some time,” he said awkwardly about his experiment.
Audra stormed off.
Audra didn’t have to be notified of the prisoner’s change of status. His yelling from the closet could be heard throughout the plaza. In the meantime, she had retrieved her bag from the center of Osprey Point, washed up, and changed clothes. She returned fresh faced, but still reddened from her tears.
Dwyn and Ziv and one of the nurses, Mary, met her at the closet.
Dwyn opened the door, tape peeling on all sides, and they looked inside the three-foot by three-foot pine paneled closet. There the man sat, his splinted legs anchoring him, and his arms flailing. His cries were incoherent, but it was clear he was cognizant and in pain.
Ziv watched in horror of his keep’s anguish. Dwyn nudged Ziv into action and they both worked to get him onto the middle patient bed. Mary rushed to give him some painkillers through his IV, which she was thankful was still in place. Audra smiled over their success. These half zoms would be worthless.
“He wasn’t ready to be cured. You should have waited for his body to heal,” said Ryder. Her face wrinkled in tears.
“No time,” said Audra, daring Ryder to argue.
The man whimpered as the narcotics took their course. He’d be OK. This was worth it.
Ryder grimaced and rolled over, no longer facing them. Audra turned back to Ziv. “What’s next?”
“I need the trailer dimensions, number of infected, and size and number of exterior holes.”
“You got it, Ziv.” She turned to leave.
“Audra?” She turned back. “I don’t know about the corral. But this - this cure - it’s going to be a good thing.”
Only because he didn’t know the rest of her plan.
Audra nodded.
“I won’t let you down,” he assured her.
* * *
Satomi scribbled furiously the protocol she’d follow for the peptide synthesis. She sketched out the portions of the peptide she understood. This work table, mottled with indentations and stains, had become her table.
Eli approached her with caution and sat down next to her.
“What is it, Eli?” she asked. Was it sundown already? She wished she could work on this in perpetuity. The idea was brilliant, but the work was hard. She should have a team. Maybe she could work a deal to recruit Gordon and Ziv. Her mind reeled at the possibilities.
“I’m not sure you should experiment on Peter,” he blurted out.
Eli had become a permanent fixture and occasional sounding board in her laboratory. They both really liked Peter. Was he worried about him?
