“If you worked for the government,” Edward said, “why did the CRS apparently not know any of this?”
“It was so secret that there was no official record of our science team,” Dr. Bloss replied. “We were stationed not far from here in Rockford. When the outbreak—or the Uprising, as people ended up calling it—began, the rest of my team was the first to be affected. I was lucky, I suppose. I chose the wrong, or maybe the right, moment to go get a late lunch from outside the facility. So I wasn’t in the main lab when it started. I still don’t know to this day who got infected first or how, but I was able to live and find shelter when things suddenly became much worse.”
“But someone in the government still had to know you were there, right?” Rae said. “You said you still have contacts everywhere.”
“You’re correct. There are still certain people who know I exist. Unfortunately, there are not as many as there used to be. If there were, I might have been able to get you sent directly to me, Mr. Schuett, and not to those brainless twits in the CRS.”
“Why not work with the CRS?” Edward asked. “If you’d been helping, you could have shared your research and knowledge with them and stopped things from getting as bad as they did.”
“Oh, there were times when I wanted to. Many times. Then I would find out from my contacts about how this person wanted to control the reanimated as a weapon, or how that person was experimenting on live human subjects. It’s something the government didn’t want the public to know, even if they did declare it in the public’s best interest. The final straw was Atlanta. My contacts were able to tell me things about what was happening in Atlanta before it was burned from the face of the planet. The Z5s and Z6s were no accident, no matter what official line the CRS may have given you, Mr. Schuett. It was people not taking the correct safety precautions, people jumping to conclusions without accurately putting them to the test first. In short, they were doing exactly what my team in Rockford had done, and I wasn’t going to be a part of that again.”
“Then here’s the question,” Edward said. “What does all this have to do with me? How did you make the first Z7? Why release me again out into the wild? Why did you pick me in the first place?”
Dr. Bloss blinked at him. “Mr. Schuett, what are you talking about?”
“What do you mean, what am I talking about? Look at me! I’m that theoretical Z7 the CRS was looking for all those years. If you were the one researching fixing the problem, why just let your answer out to wander in the world?”
Dr. Bloss looked away from them both. “I’m sorry. You seem to be operating under a false assumption. I didn’t do anything to make a Z7. You are purely an accident.”
“Wait, what? How can I be an accident?”
“You’re exactly what the CRS thought you were. Somewhere in your genetic makeup there was just something different. A tiny difference, maybe some junk DNA that wouldn’t even have affected you had you lived out your life naturally. But the virus, constantly trying to evolve, constantly trying to fix your DNA, finally got to a point where it could change. The mistake that was written into the virus in the first place was no longer a mistake when combined with the right random mix. I’m sorry, but you’re completely unplanned, and not part of some great plan to fix everything. You’re just a freak happening.”
Edward held one of the tables for balance. Completely unplanned. Everything that had happened to him had not been for a reason at all. Liddie’s death hadn’t been some sacrifice for a greater purpose, and worse yet there had never been a way to save her. There wouldn’t be a way to save anyone else, either.
“There’s no way to create a Z7 again,” Edward whispered. “I’m the only one.”
“I never said that,” Dr. Bloss said.
Edward looked back at him. “But you just said…”
“That you’re the only one, yes. That you happened purely without any intent, correct. But Z7s? That’s why I wanted you here all along. It happened once, it can happen again. I can be the one to do it.”
“You…you can bring others back? You can make people human again?”
“Only as far as you’ve come back. I don’t think I can ever reverse the change fully. But I do think that, with enough studying of you, I can make other reanimated into Z7s. Maybe not all of them. It’s all in a person’s DNA. But I can do it to some. With enough work, maybe one day I can even do it to most.”
“Zeds as humans again,” Rae whispered. “On a large scale.”
“We can do it, Mr. Schuett,” Dr. Bloss said. “You and I together.”
This was huge. It felt like something Edward should have needed to think about. If Dr. Bloss could really do this, it would change the world. Everything Edward had seen since waking up could be, if not exactly reversed, then at least repaired to some degree. But the colossal possible effects of this were not the first thing that came to mind. Instead he thought of Dana, of Julia, of Liddie. Lives that could have been saved if this moment had come sooner.
There was really nothing to think about.
“Where do we start?” Edward asked.
Dr. Bloss smiled. “We start by celebrating, I think.”
“Rae?” Edward asked. “Can we count on you to help us on this?”
“On the fixing of things or the celebrating?”
“Both, I suppose.”
“I don’t know what I can help fix, but I suppose there might be people who have a problem with helping zeds. I can be your security for that. As for celebrating, if there’s alcohol involved I’m sure me and the others can help.”
Edward smiled. “Do you think you can find something like that?”
“I’m sure we can figure something out.” She pulled out her walkie-talkie. “Hey, Cory. Guess what? I’ve got a special mission for someone.”
They all listened for an answer, but nothing came.
“Cory, you there?”
There was a pause. “Rae? We’ve got a serious problem. Some old acquaintances of both us and your friend Edward are here.”
“Who?”
“Merton and the CRS.”
Chapter Forty
Despite Dr. Bloss’s assurances that he would be fine at the library while they went to find out what was going on, Edward and Rae insisted he come with them. Edward wasn’t sure what Rae’s thoughts were on the matter, but he had a suspicion they wouldn’t be able to come back for him later. Unless this was just a small group sent here to scout the area and find if Edward or Rae was really here, the CRS and Merton wouldn’t be people they could fight off and expect to never come back. Their only option, as Edward saw it, was to run.
They all got into the car, and Rae sped down the roads without any of the care she had shown on the way here. Edward stared out the back window as the library disappeared behind them. All of Dr. Bloss’s research was in there, fifty years worth of studying zombies in a way the CRS had never even thought to try, right along with all of his equipment. If the doctor really could eventually find a way to turn all zombies into Z7s, he would have to start now from scratch. For a man as old as Bloss, there was no guarantee he could remember key details or even that he would live long enough to recreate it. But as long as they kept the old man with them and alive, they still kept hope.
There was no sign of intruders at the Culver’s, but all the ATVs had returned. Edward noticed that, even in the group’s hurry to get back here, they had all still parked the ATVs facing away from the store. The better to escape, Edward realized.
Rae pulled the car into the Culver’s parking lot, making sure it too was lined up for people to get in easily from the main door and then go straight on out into the street. Cory had reported before they left the library that the two groups were close but not quite here yet, so there was at least enough time to grab all the supplies Rae had packed away inside. Rae ran inside with Dr. Bloss toddling along behind her. Edward, seeing the way he moved, brought up the rear and did his best to act as the doctor’s shield. If anyone from Mer
ton was here yet and decided to take a potshot just for giggles, it would be better for Edward to get hit instead of the doctor. Edward could survive any body shot. He just hoped any theoretical snipers didn’t realize who he was yet and aim for the head.
Dr. Bloss, looking all around himself like the Culver’s was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen in the world, ran right into Rae as soon as they got in. She’d stopped at the old registers and stared at something on the floor in front of her, but Edward didn’t see what it was at first. All he saw was Cory, Luke, and Jojo standing around with guns in their hands. Edward moved around Rae and Dr. Bloss to see that all weapons in the room were pointed at Larissa. The girl was on her knees in front of them with her hands on her head. There were tears streaming down her dirty cheeks, but no one looked sympathetic to her.
“What exactly is going on?” Rae asked.
“I caught her sneaking outside to make a call to someone. That’s how we found out,” Cory said.
“Did you check her phone to see who she was calling?” Rae asked.
“No, it looks like it’s programmed weird. Nothing I’ve seen before. Some really new model. But I did overhear her say something about where we’re located, and that you guys had gone to the library.”
“Did you ask her anything else?” Rae asked.
“No, we figured you’re running the show and would have a better idea what to be asking her.”
“Okay then, talk,” Rae said to Larissa. She snapped off the safety once again on Spanky.
“Please don’t kill me,” Larissa said.
“I’m not going to kill you,” Rae said, pressing Spanky’s barrel against her head, “if you start talking. Are you still working for Merton?”
“Yes. I’m so sorry. I never actually quit them. They gave me a job, to keep track of you. They’d never actually trusted me with anything important before, and I just wanted to prove I could do it.”
“I can’t really say I blame you. There might have been a time when I would have done the same,” Rae said, but she didn’t move her rifle from the girl’s head. “If you told them this was where we went, why didn’t they come after us sooner in the week?”
“You weren’t a high priority at the moment, except I guess that changed when that woman from the CRS called them and said Schuett was on his way here.”
“Woman? Which woman?” Edward asked.
“Her name is Dr. Chella. She’s the one that gave me the phone.”
“Fuck!” Edward said. “That bitch. I thought I was done with her.”
“Not exactly a friend of yours?” Rae asked.
“Only if friends like to cut each other wide open and inspect their insides.”
“Hmph. Typical of the CRS,” Dr. Bloss said. “Why cut a specimen wide open when all you really need is a hole large enough to reach in and feel around with? Can’t really see what you’re doing, but the joy of accidentally finding squishy new things is part of the fun.”
“I really hope you’re joking,” Edward said.
“I think I am,” Dr. Bloss said. “Can never be sure anymore, though.”
“How did she even know to look for Edward here?” Rae asked.
“I don’t know. Something about a map and a van.”
“Crap,” Edward said. “The computer in the van we stole must have still had the map we programmed into it. They must have found it.”
“I didn’t know, and I really didn’t care,” Larissa said. “I just did what I was told. Please, just let me go.”
“Not yet,” Rae said. “How long do we have before they get here?”
“I don’t know. A couple minutes, maybe? They’re waiting outside the south part of town, just far enough away that the patrols wouldn’t see them. I was supposed to give them another call once you and Schuett got back, and they would ambush the place. When I don’t call in, they’ll realize something is wrong.”
“Do we still have the phone?” Rae asked Cory.
He indicated the phone where it sat next to a register. “Right there. How do you want to play this?”
Rae looked back at Larissa. “Was there any other situation where you were supposed to call them?”
“Um. Uh, yeah, there was. If it looked like you were going to stay at the library for much longer, they were going to reposition and take you there.”
“I’m hoping you mean they were going to try taking us alive,” Edward said.
“Only Rae and the others. You that woman wants dead. They’ve got instructions to aim for the head. They never said anything about the old man, but I guess they don’t care what happens to him.”
“They will once they see what’s at the library,” Rae said. “But we can use that as our distraction.”
“But my research!” Dr. Bloss said. “Letting them have any of it would be like letting a child use a precisely tuned guitar as a hammer for smashing protons.”
“Doctor, I don’t think that actually made sense,” Edward said.
“Of course it does.”
“I’m sorry, Doc,” Rae said, “but it’s either sacrifice everything you have at the library or let them catch us. Cory, hand me the phone.” He gave her the phone, and Rae held it near Larissa’s ear. “Stop crying, and don’t do anything else to tip them off. You’re going to tell them that me and Edward are planning to stick around the library for another hour or so. If you do what we say, we won’t fill that empty little head of yours with bullets before we leave. Got it?”
She nodded, but before Rae could press the call button Edward grabbed her by the wrist.
“What is it?” Rae asked.
He could smell it all around them. That distinctive scent of meat, of prey, of everything that was other than him. “It’s too late. They’re here.”
“Everyone, get low!” Rae said. The ducked down by the counter, but there they could probably still be seen outside through the broken windows. It wasn’t just the smell now. Edward could hear movement all around them, the shuffling of fabric or the rustle of walking through tall grass.
“Larissa, how many people are out there?” Rae whispered.
“I don’t know. No one told me.”
Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Twenty…twenty-four…no, twenty five. I think. Some of them might be farther away than I can smell.”
“Okay, that is just creepy,” Jojo said.
“Can you tell where they are?” Rae asked.
“No, not exactly. They’re spread all around.”
“No areas where they have more people grouped up than somewhere else?”
“No.”
“Not a very good formation,” Cory said.
“Yeah, well, what do you expect? It’s Merton.”
“They’re getting closer,” Edward said. “Any moment now, they’ll be coming on in.”
“Everybody cover the exits,” Rae said. “Cory, go to that window over there and concentrate your fire on the area away from the vehicles. Maybe we can get them to think we’re going that way, and then we go the other.”
“Won’t they see through that?” Luke said.
“Fuck, how should I know? Probably, yeah, I guess they would, but I don’t have any other idea.”
“I do,” Edward said.
They all looked at him. “Well?” Rae asked.
“Give me the phone,” he said. Rae handed him the phone, but she didn’t look very certain.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said.
“I haven’t had the slightest clue what I’ve been doing since I woke up in that Walmart,” he said. “Why start now?”
He pushed the call button and concentrated as the other end rang. After only one ring an all-too familiar voice answered. “We’re already in position. Now would be the time to get out of there if you want to live long enough to get paid.”
“You’re paying me now, Dr. Chella?” Edward said. “You know, I might have been more cooperative in Stanford if you’d done that sooner.”
> “You,” Dr. Chella said. “Did you kill the girl?”
“Why do you automatically assume that’s what we would do?”
“I’ve read Neuman’s files. She’s the sort of loose cannon that would do something exactly like that.”
Edward smiled at Rae. “The good doctor doesn’t have a very high opinion of you.”
Rae rolled her eyes and made a jerking-off gesture with her hand.
“I’m assuming that means the feeling’s mutual,” he said into the phone.
“Doesn’t matter about the girl,” Chella said. “You’re surrounded and there’s no way out. We’re only here for you. If you come out quietly your friends can go.”
“That’s not the way your girl told it.”
“I can only speak for myself. Merton’s problems with Neuman are their own to deal with.”
“And what exactly happens to me if I do go out there?” Edward asked.
“I’d take you and Miss Gates back to Stanford. You for study, and Gates for trial.”
Edward winced. She still hadn’t realized that Liddie was gone. That didn’t matter right now. He was almost ready. He just needed to keep her talking.
“Study? Really? That’s certainly not what I hear you were trying to do when we left.”
“The president has had a change of heart. He wanted me personally to bring you in, as he feels you may be useful for other things.”
“As a weapon, right? A way to control zombies?”
Dr. Bloss mouthed the words I told you so to him. Edward ignored it.
“I’m not just a weapon or a thing,” Edward said. “I deserve the same rights as everyone else. You can’t use me in this way.”
“You are a zombie,” Chella said. “Legally you’re nothing but a dead body. And your dead body is now going to be property of the U.S. government.”
The Reanimation of Edward Schuett Page 27
