by Gayle Katz
Marc drops the gun, both his hands shaking, “I—I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t. I just wanted to scare her so she’d leave me alone.”
I get down on the floor where Laura is convulsing and scoop her up in my arms so she’s lying on my lap.
“Someone, call 911!” I shout. “We need to get her help now!”
Laura grabs my hand. With the other one, she holds up the picture she brought with her from Kelly’s house.
“This is the guy who experimented on me,” Laura whispers. She points to the Colonel in the picture she’s still holding. “Everybody knew. They didn’t do anything to stop it. Don’t let him do it to anyone else.”
I wrap her in my arms. “Someone pick up the fucking phone and call for help!”
I look up to see Kelly push Marc against the wall with a thud.
“What the hell did you inject her with?”
“It was a mistake. I didn’t mean to.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a strain of the zombie virus that’s so potent, there’s no treatment.”
“Why would you ever have something like that within arm's length? Where anyone could grab it?”
“I didn’t know if they’d eventually come for me too. I needed to be prepared, to protect myself.”
“What can we do to help her?” I ask from the floor, crying as Laura quivers in my arms.
Marc holds his head with both hands, pushing his hair back slightly as he looks on hopelessly, “Nothing.”
“Nothing? I can’t accept that. Think!” his wife screams at him.
Kelly releases him and he slumps to the floor, in shock over what he's done. “Oh god. There’s nothing. She won’t even turn. The body can’t handle it. There’s nothing we can do. I’d advise you to say your goodbyes to her now.”
“C’mon, damn it! Stay with me!” I shout at Laura. She stops convulsing. Her eyes close. Her breathing stops. Her chest falls for the last time. She’s gone.
Chris takes the picture from Laura’s dead hand and shows it to Kelly. “The psychopath infecting, experimenting on people, and calling the shots is the Colonel. I thought he was just part of the conspiracy, not the orchestrator of it.”
“You knew about this all along?” Kelly asks Marc.
“I can’t say anything else. Bad things will happen,” Marc mumbles.
“Open your eyes, Marc. Bad things are already happening. You just killed a young girl and Lord knows how many other deaths you’re responsible for.”
“Look at the other person in the photo, Jack. It’s Professor Carter. They’ve been working on this for close to a decade,” I say, still siting on the floor with Laura.
“Holy shit. That is him.” Chris takes a closer look at the picture.
“What are we going to do now?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Chris replies. “I gotta think. Gimme a minute.”
Silence.
“We’re gonna tie him up. Kelly, call the police, tell them what’s going on. Jane, we’ve got to get outta here before the police come. No matter what’s on the recording, we’re still fugitives. We gotta get the Colonel and find some solid answers or else we’ll be screwed,” Chris urges.
“Sure. Fine, but are there any better inoculants here? Jack needs something. He’s fading fast.”
“Liz?”
“I need a second to look around.” She starts looking over the office inventory.
“We have to go.” Chris hurries us along.
“Liz, can you take care of Jack again? Please, please don’t let him die or turn. I can’t help him right now, but you can. I have to go with Chris.”
“Go! I’ll make sure he stays with us.”
“Thank you.” I hug her.
Chris turns his gaze to Kelly, “After you deal with the cops, go back to your house and stay there. Lock the doors. I’m still not sure who we can trust.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll be back soon, Baby. I love you,” I whisper into Jack’s ear.
“C’mon, Jane. We gotta go now.” I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and see Chris peeling me away from Jack.
***
Back in the car, Chris fishes around in his bag of tricks. He pulls out his last burner cell to call his boss. The phone rings a couple of times before we hear someone pick up.
“Hello?” the faint voice says.
“Joe? Is that you?”
“Yes. Chris. So good to hear your voice.”
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine. What do you need?”
“Joe. It’s the Colonel! We believe he’s the mastermind behind this whole zombie shit storm. He’s the one we want. Where is he? Do you know?”
“Yes. I know. I’m already back at the research base. The team is ready to take him into custody. We have Intel saying he’s heading for the nearby private airfield to grab a flight to D.C.”
“D.C.? Why is he going there?”
Chris and I hear gunfire on the line.
“Joe?”
Nothing.
“Joe!”
No response. The line is disconnected.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
“What should we do now?”
“We gotta get to that airfield and stop him. If he’s got the virus, he might be planning to sell it to someone. We can’t let that happen.”
Chris hits the gas and the car flies forward. The screech of the tires fills my ears and the smell of burnt rubber invades my nostrils.
“Slow down.”
“We can’t slow down. He’s gonna get away.”
“If you kill us getting there, he’ll definitely get away.”
***
Ten minutes later, we arrive at the airfield and park in front of the metal fence surrounding it. We see a small white plane and a large black truck on the tarmac. The driver’s side door opens. A man gets out. It’s the Colonel.
“We can’t let him get on that plane.”
Chris throws the car into reverse, hits the brakes abruptly, and then stomps on the accelerator. The car jerks forward, mowing down the metal fence. Victor tries to gather his belongings quickly and hightail it onto the plane, but we manage to wedge ourselves in between the plane entrance and Victor. We get out of the car.
“Colonel! Victor! Stop!”
“Have you lost your marbles, son?”
“No, Sir!”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“The case,” Chris points at the briefcase in his right hand. “Gimme the case.”
“I’ll do no such thing. I’m your superior officer and might I remind you, you’re a fugitive. You have no rights or jurisdiction here. Make yourself and your little girlie friend here scarce and I won’t call this in.”
“Do whatever you’d like, but you’re not leaving here with that case.”
“You want to know what’s in here?” Victor pats the briefcase with his left hand as a smirk creeps onto his face. “I have the original zombie virus along with the cure.”
“Where are you going with it?”
“Wherever I want.”
“What are you going to do with it?
“Whatever I want. I can keep it locked up or I can infect the world. You can’t stop me.”
“You’ve already infected people, haven’t you?”
“I can’t say.” He smiles.
“You’re a monster. You’ve infected and let thousands, maybe millions of people turn into zombies, tear each other apart, and die horrible deaths.”
“Don’t judge me. I did you a favor. Earth can only sustain so many parasites feeding off its resources. We’re reproducing at a rate double that we’re dying. I’m simply doing my part to pare down the population and save the planet. I’m doing what others are afraid to do. Once you grasp that concept, you can thank me later.”
“You’re playing God. That’s what you’re doing.”
“Label it whatever you’d like. Once this thing plays out, I might just be award
ed a Nobel prize for my contributions.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. You’re delusional!”
“You might be interested to know that I also have another strain of the virus.” Victor taps on the case. “One that doesn’t have a cure... yet. I’m meeting with a few interested parties to see what comes next.”
“Interested parties? Holy shit. You’re going to sell it to someone?”
“Maybe.”
“Who are you gonna sell it to?”
“The country with the highest bidder and the best accommodations.”
“How can you do that? You’re an officer of the United States military. You’re sworn to protect the people, not put them in harm’s way.”
“I have a better offer now.”
“What about your Nobel prize? They won’t give it to a traitor.”
“Eh. I’d prefer money anyway.”
“We’ll kill you before we let you go anywhere,” I shout at him.
“You still can’t control her?”
“You know you’re not getting in that plane, at least not with that briefcase.”
“Just try and stop me.”
Chris pulls out his gun and points it at Victor.
“Son, have you just gone batshit crazy? What are you doin’?”
“Don’t move.”
“If you shoot an officer, your life is over.”
Chris stands there still pointing his gun at Victor.
“Either shoot me or let me go.”
“What did you do to Joe?”
“I can’t say. It’s top secret.”
“What does that mean?”
“Listen. I can see you mean business. If you let me go and I can strike a deal, I’ll make sure you get a cut. Let’s face it. That’s the best offer a former military officer, a fugitive is gonna get. You’ll be set for life, Chris. Think about it. I’ll even cut your girlie friend in on it too. But, for right now, you have to let me go.”
“How do I know you won’t release the mutated strain and kill more people?”
“Chris, what are you thinking? Are you considering his offer? After everything he’s done?” I ask.
Victor begins to walk around the car toward the entrance to the plane. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”
This can’t be happening. We have him. Chris can’t let him get away.
“Chris!” I yell.
Without uttering a word, I see a flash of light from the barrel of Chris’s gun. At the same moment, I see Victor fall onto the steps of the airstairs, blood pooling underneath of him, dripping down. The briefcase still handcuffed to him, sitting on one of the steps. The pilot peeks his head out of the entranceway and sees us.
Chris points the gun at him. “Don’t move and keep your hands where I can see them,” he says.
He walks over to Victor to check his pulse and confirm he’s dead.
Chris pulls a small key out of the Colonel’s inner jacket pocket and unlocks the cuffs, separating Victor from the briefcase.
“Get in the car. Move it!” Chris shouts at me.
We rush back to the car, get inside with the case, and drive out of the airport.
“What happened to you back there?”
“I don’t know, but we couldn’t trust him. He could have been planning to sell it to a hostile foreign entity or release the mutated virus here and infect a whole new wave of people. This thing is unpredictable and turns people into ravenous zombies who only want to feed and infect others. Another major outbreak and mankind might have been annihilated. Also, you can bet on the fact that he would have killed us in a heartbeat.”
“Are you OK?”
“I don’t know anymore. I’m used to fighting for the people, but it seems like everyone is against me.”
“Not everyone.” I put my hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him. “Where are we going?”
“Back to the safe house until the heat dies down.”
“What about the cure? What about Marie and Jack?”
“I know. I know, but we just killed a high-ranking Colonel and stole a lethal virus. We need to lay low for a little. As soon as we got into the car, I’m sure the pilot called the police. They’ll be searching for us.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we turned ourselves in? Told them what we know? Plus we should have Marc on tape.”
“We don’t know what we recorded. We need something written down, documented, evidence of what’s been going on and we don’t have that.”
I look at the briefcase we stole from the Colonel.
“And you’re OK having that case with a deadly virus just riding along with us?”
“Not at all, but do we have choice? We can’t trust anyone.”
“And Marie and Jack? What about them?”
“If the cure is viable, they’ll be fine. Another few hours shouldn’t matter.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Chapter 15
________________________________________
Without further discussion, we head back to the dingy safe house. We park in the garage, grab the case full of virus paraphernalia, and go into the main house. Once inside, we see a strange box in the middle of the room.
“What’s that?” I ask.
Chris examines it. “I dunno. It wasn’t here before.”
Immediately, Chris waves me aside and pulls his firearm.
“Hello? Is there anyone here?” he asks, checking corners and blind spots in the safe house.
Silence.
“We won’t hurt you, but we want to talk,” Chris shouts into the house.
Nothing. No response.
Chris goes to the first room. He swings open the door, points his gun inside, and slowly steps into the room. Nothing in that room. Chris keeps searching for the someone who left us this plain, nondescript brown package. After a few minutes, he holsters his gun, feeling safe that no one is in here with us.
With a nod from Chris, I go over to the box and sit down in front of it. It’s taped up pretty good. I tear the tape off and open it. Inside, there’s an envelope with Chris’s name on it. I pick it up.
“Chris, there’s something in here with your name on it.”
“My name? Can you open it? I’m exhausted.” He drops himself into a chair.
“Sure.” I open the envelope and scan the message. “Want me to read it to you?”
“Yeah. That would be great.”
“Dear Chris. I’m sure you’ll agree that this zombie situation is getting out of control. I thought you might go to the safe house to seek refuge, which is the reason why I had this package delivered to you. Inside this box is all the evidence you’ll need to clear your name and start your life with Marie. From the documentation leading up to the initial outbreak on the Scarlet Peak Campus to the orders to spin the narrative to implicate you, you’ve got it all. I’ve been collecting this stuff for years. If you’re reading this note, chances are I didn’t make it. Use these materials to clear your name and, most important, help people. You’re a fine officer and a good man. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Best, Joe.”
“Holy shit, Chris! There’s an avalanche of papers, files, recordings, and storage devices in here,” I announce, as I start going through the box like a kid on Christmas morning. “There’s documentation on the chemical compounds of the virus and the cure. Bank records of people being paid. Here’s the note gently suggesting that they frame you. We gotta see what else is on these drives and recordings.”
“Someone is gonna notice all this stuff missing,” Chris warns.
“And?”
“And they’re gonna come looking for it. Joe can’t be the only person who knows about this safe house.”
“Well, what do you wanna do about it? Should we stay here or go somewhere else? Your call, but where should we go?”
“I don’t know anymore. I’m tired, Jane. I’m running on fumes. I need some solid sleep. I need to wake up from this nightmare.”
“I hea
r you, but we can’t stop now. We’re so close. Here’s what I propose. We go back to Kelly, show her everything here, and see if she trusts the cops she called on her husband. If she does, I think we should trust them too. Of course, I also think we should make copies of everything we can in case we’re wrong.”
“OK. Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”
Chris smiles and picks up the case we took from Victor. I grab the box of evidence Joe was kind enough to send along.
***
Under the cover of night, Chris and I hop back into the car, put the box and case in the backseat, and head back to Kelly’s place.
“Who woulda thought we’d be working together? It wasn’t long ago I shot you.” Chris smiles.
“Yeah. I’m still healing. I just hope it doesn’t leave a scar.” I pull my shirt to the side and show him the mark.
“I pray we’re making the right decision here.”
“Have some faith, man. Plus, what are we gonna do? Run from the authorities the rest of our lives? I’m not sure Jack and Marie will last that long without our help.”
Our conversation dwindles down to silence as we approach the house. Even though it’s my idea to come here, I have to admit that I’m nervous. What if I’m wrong? What if I’m leading us straight into a trap? Stop it. So much bad has happened, focus on the good. Chris will be reunited with Marie and I’ll be back in Jack’s arms. Focus on that. We’re doing the right thing.
“We’re here.” Chris shifts into park.
“The moment of truth.” I exhale.
I grab the box, Chris takes the case again, and we exit the car. We walk up to the front door and Jack opens it. Rocky is by his side.
“Jack!” I put the box of paperwork down and wrap my arms around him.
“I missed you too, Beautiful,” he whispers into my ear. He hugs me back.
“Hey Chris!” Jack says.
“Good to see you in better spirits, man.” Chris compliments as he walks into the house with the briefcase.
“How did you know I’d be at the door?” I ask him.
“I’ve been keeping a lookout for you. I was having some issues earlier, but Liz helped me. I still need something more permanent, but I couldn’t keep going without you. I wanted to make sure I knew the second you came back to me.”
