Zombie Uprising Series (Book 4): The Hybrid

by Robbins, M. A.

  Zeke poured himself a cup of water. "But it delayed the change. Maybe O'Connor's on the right track."

  Jen grunted in agreement. How much time do they have to get it right?

  She opened the drawer she'd found the pills in and replaced them. A name on a file folder tab caught her attention and she pulled it up. In scrawling handwriting, the tab had "Dr. Jeffrey Morgan, Project Svengali" written on it. She pried the folder open. It contained a half-inch-thick stack of papers. The first was a progress report from Morgan on CDC letterhead. What the hell? That asshole actually worked here? Why didn't Cartwright tell me?

  The lab door opened and Rodriguez and Daniels strode in. "Dr. Cartwright wants to see you."

  Jen eased the drawer closed with her foot and pocketed O'Connor's keys. She pushed past the agents and out the door. Were the human experiments Morgan was charged with performed here as part of Project Svengali?

  Zeke nudged her and pointed to Randy's cage. The lab tech stood at the cage door watching them with his arms folded. "Think I can get out now?"

  Jen strode up to the cage and looked him in the eye. "No yellow. Looks like you're clean."

  Zeke opened the door and Randy stepped out. "How's Dr. O'Connor?"

  Jen shrugged. "We gave him the pills and the EMTs took him away. They didn't tell us squat."

  Randy ran a hand through his hair. "I came here to work with Dr. O'Connor. He's had these attacks a few times before, and each one seems to be worse."

  He thrust out his hand to Jen. "Thanks for being so quick to help him out."

  Jen shook his hand. "He'll be OK."

  "I hope so." Randy shook hands with Zeke, then trudged toward the lab, stopping at the door.

  "I owe you one," he said and disappeared into the lab.

  Cartwright stood behind her desk, staring out the window when Jen walked in. The doctor broke her trance and sat, then waved Rodriguez and Daniels away. "Dr. O'Connor is stable for now. Please tell me what happened."

  "He gave the old lady the vaccine, waited ten minutes, then pulled the plug," Jen said. "She died and didn't come back within two minutes, so Dr. O'Connor assumed she wasn't coming back at all."

  Zeke sat on the couch. "Dr. O'Connor went in to check her out and she popped up like a jack-in-the-box. Jen pushed the doctor through the cell door to me and took care of the zombie. Dr. O'Connor's face had paled and he couldn't stand on his own."

  "We got him in the lab and gave him his pills," Jen said. "Before we knew it, the EMTs were there."

  Cartwright steepled her fingers. "Two minutes? We're getting closer." She slammed a fist on her desk. "But not close enough." She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. "We're running out of time."

  "It's not that bad, is it?" Jen asked.

  "When the outbreak started in Alaska, we had time to rally the troops in most of the rest of the states," Cartwright said. "Thanks to you and Doc, we had information up front on how the zombies behaved and how best to kill them. And on top of that, we had troops deployed to most larger cities to avoid major outbreaks."

  Cartwright sighed. "But with all the federal and National Guard troops now on the front lines, we're entrusting local law enforcement and civilian militias. Training videos on how to spot and suppress outbreaks and how to fight the zombies are playing constantly on TV stations, cable stations, and the internet. Despite this, more and more incidents are occurring. I fear we're on borrowed time."

  Zeke moved closer to Cartwright's desk, a definite gleam in his eyes. "Sounds like we should get out there and kick some zombie ass."

  Cartwright shook her head. "Not a chance. I need Jen here until we have a vaccine."

  "I'm betting the mammals are causing the outbreaks," Jen said.

  "Quite probable," Cartwright said.

  Zeke cracked his neck. "We've seen zombie dogs."

  "And a moose," Jen added.

  Zeke's mouth dropped open. "Really? I would've loved to have seen that."

  Cartwright plopped her open hand on the desk, a ring on her middle finger making a loud noise. Jen and Zeke looked at her.

  "We've quarantined all pets," Cartwright said. "But how many squirrels die in a day? Skunks? Beavers?"

  Shit. "It only takes one," Jen said.

  "Exactly," Cartwright said. "That's why perfecting the serum is so critical. Dr. O'Connor believes that once he perfects it, he can make it deliverable by spraying from the air. That'll immunize the wildlife as well as humans. The military will send back aircraft to undertake that mission when we're ready."

  Agent Rodriguez hurried into the room.

  "What is it?" Cartwright asked.

  Rodriguez glanced at Jen and Zeke. "That task you gave me this morning. I have an update."

  Cartwright stood. "Would you two excuse us, please? I'll let you know if there's any news."

  Jen led Zeke into the reception area. Rodriguez closed the door behind them.

  Cindy walked in. Her pantsuit looked like it had been ironed only moments before. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

  "We're good," Jen said as she continued into the hallway.

  Zeke followed her onto the elevator. "Where are we going?"

  "Outside," she said. "I need some air. Starting to get claustrophobic in here."

  Jen pressed the "L" button, and the elevator doors slid closed.

  I need to tell Zeke what I found out about Morgan, but not here. Once we're away from the buildings and any interruptions.

  The elevator slowed and stopped. The floor indicator showed they were at the fifth floor.

  The doors opened and a crowd of screaming CDC employees pressed inside.

  "What the hell?" Jen yelled.

  A woman with wild eyes shrank against the elevator wall. "Hurry! Close the doors before the zombies get in."

  7

  The crowd pinned Jen to the wall of the elevator. "Out of my way," she screamed.

  She squirmed and pushed off the wall, but didn't go anywhere. "Zeke, we need to get out."

  "Over here," he yelled. He'd been trapped in a corner by the panicked mass. Even as skinny as he was, he wasn't able to squeeze out.

  He raised an arm above his head. Jen notice the gun in his hand just before he pulled the trigger. The discharge was explosive in the tight confines of the elevator and the babbling group of employees was stunned into a momentary silence.

  "Get off this fucking elevator and let us out or we start shooting," Jen bellowed.

  The employees blocking the entrance piled out, and Jen muscled a man in a cheap suit aside. She broke into the corridor, where a swell of humanity pressed back into the elevator as it complained with an earsplitting buzz.

  The doors closed on three people still trying to get inside. Jen pulled a younger man back. "There isn't room."

  He swung his fist at her face and she ducked. His momentum threw him into a tech, who pushed him off.

  Zeke pulled the other two people from the elevator doorway and the doors slid shut.

  "Now look what you did," a gray-haired woman with thick glasses shouted. Tears streamed down her face.

  Jen pulled her pistol and raised it into the air. Zeke followed suit. The crowd quieted.

  "Homeland Security Agents," Jen said. Zeke pulled his badge and raised it next to his gun. He had an odd grin on his face and his eyes gleamed.

  Little shit's having a ball.

  Jen lowered the gun. "I want two answers and I want them fast. Which way are the zombies and how many of them are there?"

  A woman in a nurse's uniform pointed down the hall. "Medical wing. I saw at least eight, but there are a lot of people missing. They may have been bitten."

  Jen removed the tomahawk from its holster. "I suggest the rest of you find the damn stairs instead of waiting around here. Now, out of our way."

  The crowd parted and Jen and Zeke hurried down the hallway. When Jen glanced back, everyone had disappeared. Good. Fewer people we have to worry about becom
ing zombies.

  The tactical tomahawk was much lighter than the axe she'd previously had, but she'd seen Griffin tear zombies apart with his. I'll just have to get used to it fast.

  She stopped at the end of the hall and Zeke peered around the corner, his katana ready to strike. "Nothing."

  Jen stepped into the corridor. A nurses' station stood empty, but an overturned cart of food and paper scattered across the tile floor told her the zombies had been through. Blood streaks decorated the walls like some gruesome avant-garde art.

  A dripping sound came from the station. Slow and heavy. Drip. Drip. Drip.

  Jen motioned Zeke to take the far wall and she huddled against the near one. She took a step and listened.

  Another step and waited.

  She and Zeke were in tune. As much as they'd faced together the previous few weeks, they'd learned each other's tendencies and had become a dangerous team.

  Zeke motioned to the right. Jen nodded. They reached the station. Corridors went off in four directions from the nurses' station. A set of double doors was closed on one, but the others were propped open.

  The constant dripping grated on Jen's nerves. Jen stepped behind the counter and stopped. Blood pooled around a half-eaten heart on a shelf. It ran down the side until it ran out of shelving and dripped steadily on an upturned bedpan. Jen took a towel lying on the floor and tossed it over the bedpan. The dripping continued, but much quieter.

  "Which way?" Zeke asked.

  Jen considered the corridors. No use going into the closed one. But which of the other three? Wish I knew the layout.

  Something flashed down the corridor on her left. Her peripheral vision picked it up, but it had disappeared by the time her eyes had snapped that way. Zeke looked in that direction, too.

  "As good a choice as any." Jen entered the corridor. Zeke took the opposite side of the hallway and together they made their way down the hall. The doors they passed were solid, with no windows, and all closed. Jen opened the first one she came to. Baskets of laundry crowded the room, but there were no signs of anything, living or dead.

  A clattering came from an intersection ahead. Something metallic hit the floor and spun, making a racket. Jen put a finger to her lips and motioned Zeke to move ahead with her.

  She reached the intersection and scanned both ways down the corridor. A pan, like the type used to hold surgical instruments, lay on the floor several feet away.

  "We're getting too deep in here," Jen said. "If there were zombies down here, they should've attacked by now."

  O'Connor stepped into view at the next intersection. His glasses gone and his mouth stained red, he glared at Jen.

  "So that's how this shit started." Jen sprinted toward him and O'Connor darted out of sight.

  "Wait for me," Zeke yelled.

  Double doors on Jen's right burst open as she passed them, and two dozen zombies spilled into the hallway between her and Zeke, who skidded to a halt and took a defensive position.

  Five of the zombies turned toward Jen. She gave the tomahawk a hefty swing at the first one, but its light weight threw off her timing and the blade zipped inches from the creature's face.

  Shit. She pulled her pistol and dropped the zombie with a shot to the forehead.

  More zombies flowed from other doors. "Zeke. Run!"

  Jen took off the other way down the hall and around a corner. She had ten yards of corridor before it became a dead end. "Are you shitting me?"

  The last door on the left stood open. Jen sprinted through it, slammed the door shut, and locked the large deadbolt.

  Zombie fists pounded on it, but the thick wood barely shuddered. I'll be safe in here.

  She turned to survey the room and her mouth went dry. O'Connor stood in a corner several feet away, his yellow gaze fixed on her. Jen aimed the handgun at O'Connor's nose.

  "Sorry, Doctor. Consider this your termination notice."

  O'Connor continued to stare. Like the zombies downstairs.

  Jen lowered the gun just enough for a better view of the undead doctor. She stepped to the right and O'Connor's eyes followed her. She moved to the left and he never broke eye contact.

  "What the hell's going on?" she asked.

  O'Connor tilted his head back like he was going to let loose with a screech, but he swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. He lowered his chin and reconnected his gaze with Jen.

  A drop of sweat rolled down her cheek. This is something new. Are they evolving again?

  O'Connor's mouth opened, then closed. Damn thing looks like it's trying to talk.

  Entranced, Jen lowered the pistol to her side. "What are you trying to say?"

  The doctor's jaw worked up and down. He looked like a fish out of water struggling for a breath.

  "Jiinn."

  The blood rushed from Jen's face. Did he just say...

  O'Connor shook his head like a dog with a toy. He glared at her. "Jin."

  You're telling me these fucking things are going to start talking now?

  "Are you saying my name? Jen?"

  O'Connor's head jerked forward, then back.

  Jen gasped. "What the hell?"

  Muffled gunshots came from the distance, getting closer. Jen took a step toward O'Connor. "Dr. O'Connor, is that you?"

  O'Connor's head jerked to one side, and then to the other.

  Jen took a deep breath. Her pulse raced and a rock settled in the pit of her stomach as an unbelievable thought rose in her mind.

  It can't be.

  "Butler?"

  The corners of O'Connor's mouth pulled back in a grotesque leer.

  8

  Jen raised the pistol, her hand shaking. "I'm going to find you and enjoy killing you again, you son of a bitch."

  The blast of a gun came from just outside the door.

  O'Connor raised his arms in a surrender gesture.

  "How are you going to surrender when you're not really here?" Jen aimed at his forehead.

  "Help," O'Connor grunted.

  Jen licked her lips. How'd I get stuck talking to a dead man who's talking through a dead man?

  "Why the hell would I help you?"

  O'Connor's mouth worked, but no sound came out.

  The door burst open and three security officers rushed in, their handguns cocked and ready. The largest stepped in front of Jen and fired.

  "Hey," she said, "I can take care of myself." She pushed the security officer to the side.

  O'Connor lay flopped over a chair, the top of his skull missing.

  Shit. Now I'll never find out what the hell is going on.

  Jen spun. "Who asked you to do that?"

  She looked up into Mark Colton's soft brown eyes.

  He smiled. "You're welcome."

  "Why'd you kill him?" she asked.

  His brow furrowed. "What? What else do you do with a zombie?"

  She bit her lip. Shut up, Jen. She shook her head. "Think I banged my head on the wall when you shoved me. I'm all right now."

  "You should have someone look at that," Mark said.

  Jen gave him a half smile. "Like I said, I'm fine. Besides, looks like the medical department's become a bit short-staffed."

  A security officer with her blonde hair in a bun approached. "Chief, looks like we're clean."

  "I want all security personnel not on perimeter duty to clear every room in every building on the campus. Start with this one," Mark said.

  The security officer nodded and rushed out of the room, barking instructions on a radio.

  Zeke jogged into the room, relief flooding his blood-specked face when his eyes met Jen's. "There you are," he said.

  Jen pulled his lanky frame into a bear hug. "I don't know why zombies go after you. You wouldn't even make a quick snack."

  Zeke gave her an awkward pat on the back and stepped back. "Except for worrying about you, that was a hell of a lot of fun for me and Crusher."

  "Crusher?" Jen said. "As names go, it's better than Betty, but your katana sli
ces. Wouldn't Crusher be a better name for a mace or a bat?"

  "It's named after a character on TNG," Zeke said.

  "TNG?"

  "Star Trek Next Generation." Zeke beamed. "Wesley Crusher."

  Jen sighed. "If nerdism was a super power, you'd rule the world."

  Mark rolled his eyes. "Let's get you two somewhere safe."

  Two hours later, Jen and Zeke walked into Dr. Cartwright's reception area. Cindy looked up from her computer. "Go right in." Without waiting for an acknowledgment, she went back to work.

  O'Connor's assistant, Randy, leaned forward in a chair in front of Cartwright's desk, while the doctor faced a large monitor with a split screen. On one side was Howell's somber face and on the other was a young woman about Jen's age. She wore wire-frame glasses and sported short frosted hair. Cartwright glanced over her shoulder. "Good timing. Have a seat." She gestured to the empty seats in front of her desk.

  Turning back to the monitor, she said, "Sergeant, I need a transport aircraft immediately. This is a matter of the highest national security."

  "That's what I told the general, ma'am, but he shot me down. There's a fierce battle in Boise and all transport aircraft are needed there."

  Jen took her seat. I hate coming in on the middle of conversations.

  "What do we need the plane for?" she asked.

  The woman on the screen said, "Is this Jen?"

  Cartwright nodded and pointed at the screen. "Jen, this is Dr. Preston. Donna, this is Jen Reed."

  Donna offered a petite smile. "Good to meet you, Jen."

  "Pleasure," Jen said. "What do we need the plane for?"

  "To bring Donna here," Cartwright said. "She works in a CDC-affiliated lab in Boston and is our next best option after Dr. O'Connor."

  "I thought the train ran to Boston," Zeke said. "Why can't she take that?"

  Donna rolled back from the screen so her wheelchair was in view. "Before the disaster, I would've had no problem taking the train," she said. "But now that it's the sole method of mass transportation, it's filled to capacity, which makes it very difficult to navigate in my chair."

  Howell looked off camera. "Be right there." He turned to the screen. "Boise is critical and there's been another major attack. This time it's Phoenix."