Cartwright sniffed and her phone buzzed. She pressed her earphone and listened. "Very well. Send him in."
What next?
The door opened and a man stepped in. He looked a couple years older than Jen and wore a pair of snug jeans and a T-shirt that showed every muscle. While not a bodybuilder, he either worked out or had a physical job.
Jen's pulse picked up. I hope this one's for me.
Zeke yelled, "Wayne." He rushed the man, who caught his skinny frame in a crushing hug.
"Zeke, I've been worried about you. I thought you died when they nuked Anchorage."
Zeke released Wayne and gestured to Jen. "Jen and Mark saved me."
Wayne's gaze fell on Jen and she swallowed. Hazel eyes.
"Uh," she said, "Zeke saved us more than once, too."
Wayne's eyebrows rose and he looked at Zeke. "Really? How?"
"I had this great katana." Zeke mimicked slashing the air with a sword. "It wasn't real, but it was close enough. It broke on a zombie."
Wayne glanced at Jen and she nodded. "He's amazing with a katana."
"Then we'll have to find you a new one," Wayne said. "We're heading back to Rhode Island tomorrow."
Zeke froze. "But I can't go back. I have to watch over Jen." He turned to her. "What would she do without me?"
Wayne glanced at her and winked. "She can come with us."
Jen's face grew hot. Is he coming on to me?
"Impossible," Cartwright said. "Jen must remain here."
"Then I have to stay," Zeke said. "Sorry."
Wayne sighed. "I couldn't get you to leave Anchorage a few years back when I did, so I'm not surprised I can't get you to join me now."
The door opened and Cindy stumbled in carrying two wooden boxes, one about four feet long and the other half that. She placed the boxes heavily on the table, arranged them side-by-side, and left without a word.
"What's that?" Zeke asked.
Cartwright approached the table. "I'm offering the two of you positions in Homeland Security."
"I'm not into groping passengers at the airport," Jen said.
Wayne snickered, catching Jen by surprise. A sense of humor, too. Take me now.
Cartwright's face hardened more than usual, if that were possible. "Homeland Security, not TSA. You'll both work for me—Jen on the cure and virus mutations, and Zeke as protection for Jen."
Zeke hovered by the table. "But the boxes. What's in them?"
Jen caught Wayne's eye. "He must've been a riot at Christmas."
"You have no idea."
"The boxes," Cartwright said, "are part of your equipment. You'll receive firearms, a badge, and these."
"A badge?" Zeke said. "Do we get a car with a siren and lights?"
Cartwright's pushing too hard. "And what do the badges get us other than a discount at the donut shop?" Jen asked.
"You'll be federal agents. They'll get you access and assistance from pretty much any agency."
Zeke's eyes shined. "Come on, Jen. Sounds fun to me."
Jen frowned. I'm getting boxed in. "Will it get me military assistance when I go after Butler?"
Cartwright ignored her and pointed to the long box. "That's yours, Mr. Tripp."
Zeke pulled the box toward him and lifted it, testing its weight. "What can it be?"
He flipped three latches on it and tilted the top back. An audible gasp escaped his mouth. "Oh. My. God."
Zeke reached in and lifted a deadly, beautiful katana. "Stainless steel, thirty-six-inch blade." He stepped back from the others and gave it a practice swing. "The balance is perfect. I could take out a ton of zombies with this." His eyes met Jen's. "And this one won't break."
Cartwright's face wore the glimmer of a smile. She had Zeke. And she knows that's one way to get to me.
Jen pointed at the remaining box as Zeke removed a scabbard from his. "I suppose this is for me."
Cartwright nodded.
Jen opened the box and reached in, pulling out a tactical tomahawk. Like the one Griffin had in Point Wallace.
"The blade is eight inches and the length with the handle is almost eighteen," Cartwright said. "Doc told me you admired this weapon that someone had in Point Wallace."
Jen hefted it. "Damn this is light and balanced well." The sinister blade looked like it would cut through bone, and the sharpened steel point on the other end would no doubt pierce skulls.
She removed a sheath from the box looped her belt through it before inserting the tomahawk. "I suppose this is mine only if I stay."
Cartwright leaned against her desk and crossed her arms. "I understand why you want to go after Butler, and you could do that, but you would be dooming many people."
"Not if I kill him."
"Killing him won't stop the virus," Cartwright said. "We've got to stop the dead from coming back. Emergency protocols have been put in place, but they aren't enough."
"We heard about the protocols on the way here," Jen said. "I'm not surprised that killing people who may not be infected doesn't work well."
Cartwright took her seat. "There are more than that. Armed personnel are stationed at all hospitals to make sure the recently deceased don't reanimate EMTs go out armed. All pet mammals have been quarantined."
Jen lowered her eyebrows. "Just the mammals?"
Cartwright nodded. "We've determined that the virus only infects mammals. But even with the quarantine, there are plenty of strays and other wildlife that die of natural causes, then reanimate and infect others."
She clasped her hands together and leaned forward, her elbows resting on the desk. "The truth is we're just barely staying ahead of it. There have already been multiple outbreaks that could have spread out of control. With the military and national guard committed to the threat in the west, we rely on federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, and it isn't enough. Local militias have been formed to help fill the gap."
Jen swallowed. Two threats, Butler and the virus, and I can't battle them both at once.
"OK," Jen said. "I'll stay and help with the vaccine." She walked to the door. "But once it's ready, I'm out of here and on Butler's ass. And I expect your help in getting to him." And in the meantime I'm going to find out what's going on with those whacked-out zombies downstairs.
5
The next morning Jen and Zeke strolled out of the administrative office. A shower, a good night's sleep, and fresh clothes had done Jen wonders. She stopped in the lobby and pulled her access card out. "I wonder how much of this place we can get into?"
Zeke scratched the shaved side of his head. No longer in a ninja costume, he wore a T-shirt with sleeves he'd carefully ripped off, and a pair of black cargo pants. Somewhere he'd found gel and had turned the hair on the unshaven side of his head into a series of spikes. "We should be able to go anywhere." He pulled his Homeland Security Agent badge from his pocket. "Bad boys. Whatcha gonna do?"
"Put that thing away, Dirty Harry. I don't think it's going to do much for you while we're here." She smiled. "But once we're on the road again, we'll travel like a boss."
Zeke shrugged and dropped the badge back into his pocket. "So what are we going to do? I'm already bored." He adjusted the katana scabbard on his back.
Jen strode to the elevators. "Cartwright's supposed to be in some meeting for the next few hours, so let me take you on a tour of the basement."
Zeke followed her into the car. "That doesn't sound very exciting."
Jen punched the bottom button. "It's right up your alley."
"Why?"
"They've got zombies down there."
Zeke's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Can I kill some?"
When they arrived on the lowest level, Jen made a beeline to the card reader by the door. Let's see how much Cartwright trusts me.
She slid her card through the reader and the door answered with a buzz and a clunk. She pulled it open and stepped into the hallway.
It looked the same as it had the night before. Buzzing ligh
ts hung overhead, glinting off the tile floor. Not a speck of dust lurked in the corners, and the air held a slight tinge of ammonia.
"What's this?" Zeke asked.
Jen peeked in the first door's window. A young man lay in a bed with an IV in his arm. His sunken eyes stared at Jen. "Not sure. I don't know if they're treating them here, or using them to test the vaccine. I'm guessing they're guinea pigs."
She led Zeke to the windowless swinging doors that led to the zombies and pushed one open.
The zombies went into a frenzy, straining at their chains as soon as Zeke and Jen entered the room. Zeke reached back and gripped his katana's handle, ready to pull it into action.
Looks like they're only quiet when one of us is out here.
She strode to the lab door and pointed at Zeke. "Wait out here for a minute."
Zeke shrugged and leaned up against the wall with his arms folded.
Jen pushed the door open and eased it shut behind her. She didn't even need to press her ear to the door to know the zombies were still going apeshit. Guess that disproves that theory.
"Miss Reed," Dr. O'Connor's voice came from behind her. She spun. He sat on a stool, loading a syringe with an off-color liquid. "You're just in time."
Jen pulled the door open and waved Zeke in, then gestured to O'Connor as Zeke entered. "Dr. O'Connor. Doctor, this is Zeke."
O'Connor nodded at Zeke, then turned to a thirty-something lab tech with Clark Kent glasses. "Randy."
The lab tech looked up. "Yes, Doctor."
"You're with me on this one."
Randy wiped his hands on his lab coat. "Yes, sir."
O'Connor swept past Jen and Zeke and paused as he opened the door. "You'll want to see this, Miss Reed."
He led them to one of the cages. Inside, on a gurney, lay the older woman Jen had seen in one of the rooms the day before. Why do they have her in a cage now?
Randy removed the padlock from the cage door and held it open as O'Connor stepped inside. An IV drip ran into the woman's arm and a mask covered her mouth and nose while a machine on a wheeled table next to her made wheezing sounds.
O'Connor waved Jen in. The zombies raised their din to another level. O'Connor leaned toward Jen and Zeke. "Mrs. Jawolski volunteered to be a test subject for the vaccine. In return, her family is living in a government-secured location."
"What's wrong with her?" Zeke asked.
"COPD," O'Connor said. "She's at the end. That ventilator is the only reason she's still alive." He inserted the needle into a rubber stopper halfway up the IV line and pushed the plunger until the contents were emptied. "Randy?"
Randy looked at his watch. "Injection at 8:41 a.m."
Jen watched the old lady's face. Was she supposed to turn? To die?
O'Connor herded them out of the cage. "Now, we wait. Ten minutes." He strode into the lab.
Randy locked the cage door and followed the doctor.
"This science stuff is pretty lame," Zeke said. "I expected something more interesting."
Jen gave him a playful slap on the back. "Now that I think about it, damn near every time you say you're bored, it suddenly gets un-boring and we're up to our necks in zombie shit. How about wishing for something else for once?"
Zeke sighed. "I've got to take a leak."
Jen pointed to the lab. "Saw an open door in the back of the lab with a toilet."
"Be right back." Zeke disappeared into the lab.
The door closed behind him, and the zombie racket cut off. Shit. So it wasn't my imagination last time.
Jen walked up and down the rows of cages. Every zombie stood quiet and followed her with their eyes.
She stopped at one, a fresh-looking woman with a pinched face and wide shoulders. She reminded Jen of her sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Curling.
Jen stood right up to the bars and stared into the yellow eyes. No hunger. No hate. Just blank.
The zombie's eyes flickered and startled Jen. "What the hell was that?"
The lab door opened, and Mrs. Curling flung herself at the cage door. Jen tripped and landed on her ass.
Zeke stood in the doorway, laughing. He rushed over. "Sorry." He chuckled again and wiped tears from his eyes as he pulled her to her feet. "After all we've been through, I never expected you to get freaked out by a zombie in a cage."
Jen put a hand to her chest. Her heart felt like it was going to explode through her ribs. She took deep breaths until it calmed.
Zeke stopped laughing and put an arm around her. "Are you OK? I didn't mean to laugh."
Jen managed a smile. "Why not? I would've laughed at you."
He chuckled. "It was funny."
"Miss Reed." Dr. O'Connor and Randy stood at the old lady's cage. "Time to complete the experiment."
Randy unlocked the door, and O'Connor examined the old lady. "Blood pressure and heart rate unchanged. EEG shows decreased brain activity."
"What does that mean?" Jen asked.
"We believe the more active the virus becomes, the more it stimulates the brain," Randy said. "It's a good sign that the activity is down in the test subject."
"Significant," O'Connor agreed. "This is the first vaccine to achieve it."
He removed the IV from the old lady's arm. "Everyone leave the cell, please."
Jen stepped outside the cage with Zeke. Randy held the door open.
O'Connor turned off the ventilator and removed the old lady's mask. "Life support removed at 8:53 a.m." He rushed from the cage and Randy slammed it shut, securing it with the lock.
The ECG showed a continued heartbeat. The old lady's chest rose, and a startling gasp came from her lips. Her eyes opened, showing only the whites, and the old lady took a huge wheezy breath, then went still. The ECG flatlined.
"Time of death," O'Connor said. "8:55 a.m."
"How long before she turns?" Jen asked.
Randy kept his eyes on his watch. "Between forty and sixty seconds."
"Twenty seconds," Randy said. "Thirty...forty...fifty...sixty."
Jen watched the old lady. She hadn't moved.
"Seventy...eighty...ninety."
O'Connor licked his lips. "I think we may have done it."
"One hundred...one hundred ten...one hundred eleven."
"Randy, unlock the door."
Randy looked up from his watch. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we wait a little longer?"
O'Connor held out his hand. "Nonsense. The poor woman's been dead for more than twice the time of any other reanimation. Give me the key."
Randy handed O'Connor the key, and the doctor removed the lock. Jen and Zeke exchanged a glance. Zeke already had his hand on the hilt of the katana.
Jen slipped her tomahawk from its sheath. "Not sure that's a good idea."
O'Connor bent over the woman with a stethoscope in his ears, listening to her chest. "Remove the monitoring equipment from her."
Randy hurried to the other side of the bed and removed the blood pressure cuff from the old lady's arm.
O'Connor straightened with a smile. "I do believe we've done it."
The old lady's yellow eyes shot open and fixed on O'Connor.
6
The zombie rolled off the table and landed cat-like on the floor. Jen grabbed O'Connor by the collar and yanked him behind her.
Randy turned to run but the zombie sprung onto his back, knocking him to the floor. Jen shoved O'Connor at Zeke and reared the tomahawk over her head. She brought it in a wide overhead arc and drilled the point into the old lady's skull. The zombie slumped and Jen pulled her off Randy.
Randy's lab coat was torn and bloodied. Is that his blood or the zombie's?
He scrambled to his feet, breathing harshly, and bent over with a hand on his back.
"Are you bit?" Jen yelled.
He shook his head. "I've got a bad back and the test subject just made it worse, but I'll be OK."
"Jen!" Zeke held O'Connor on his feet outside of the cage. The doctor's head sagged.
Jen pointed the toma
hawk at Randy. "Stay where you are."
"What do you mean? I just told you I'm OK."
Jen backed out of the cage, shut the door, and locked it. "No time to argue. If you still have those baby blues in a half hour, then I'll let you out."
"Let me the hell out of here now." The lab tech rattled the cage door.
Jen sheathed the tomahawk and put an arm around O'Connor. "Let's get him in his lab."
The caged zombies continued with their racket. That shit's getting old. I'm with Zeke. We should drop them.
"Wait." Randy stood at the cage door. "He's got a heart condition. There are pills in his bottom right-hand desk drawer. Keys are in his pocket."
Zeke held the lab door open while Jen walked O'Connor inside and lowered him to the floor. O'Connor's complexion had gone pale and his breathing shallow. "Call for help," she said.
Zeke closed the lab door then picked up a phone and pressed a button. Seconds later, he said, "Emergency in Dr. O'Connor's lab. He doesn't look well." He paused. "Right."
Jen rummaged through O'Connor's pockets and pulled out a ring of keys. She rushed to the desk and tried one. It didn't turn. "Dammit."
The next key she tried didn't fit. She glanced at O'Connor. Zeke hovered over him. "Is he still breathing?" she asked.
Zeke's eyebrows knitted. "Barely."
Jen picked a small worn key and shoved it into the lock. She turned it and jerked the drawer open. Hanging files took up most of the drawer, but a small prescription bottle lay in the front. She snatched it up and ran back to O'Connor. Zeke had folded up a lab coat and placed it underneath his head.
Jen opened the bottle and shook out two pills. "Need water."
Zeke dashed to a water cooler and returned seconds later with a cup.
"Hold his head up," Jen said. She placed the two pills in O'Connor's mouth and tipped the cup to his lips. "Come on, Doctor. This'll make you feel a lot better."
The lab door burst open and two emergency medical technicians rushed in. Jen backed away next to Zeke.
The EMTs took O'Connor's vitals, then placed him on a wheeled gurney and rolled him out the door, the growls of the caged zombies filtering into the lab.
Jen sank into the chair at O'Connor's desk and leaned back. "Guess that vaccine didn't work."
Zombie Uprising Series (Book 4): The Hybrid Page 3
