As their kissing increased in intensity, Tommy stepped forwards, making her back away towards the bed. She gave in willingly, following his lead until she felt herself fall back on the sheets. Marla breathed in as she felt Tommy’s hands pushing under her T-shirt, the chill in the air making her sigh as he felt for her breasts.
Rolling on top of him, gripping his hair in one hand, she kissed him fervently. What was the point in waiting? They had waited long enough. Shifting backwards, she undid the buckle of his belt, almost sliding off the bed in her impatient anticipation. She heard Tommy laugh softly as she whipped out his belt and began to unbutton his jeans, feeling the eager hardness beneath. Tommy moved up into a sitting position, and cupping her cheek in his hands he kissed her again before wrapping his arms around her.
Monday, 12
Marla stirred in her sleep and rolled over in bed, waking in the moment that she did so. Opening her eyes, she yawned and stretched. Blinking in the sunlight streaking through the gaps in the curtains, she checked the clock: 10.30 a.m. She had slept later than planned. Tommy? Hugging the pillow to her, she smelt his scent on it and smiled, remembering the night before. How had it all happened? It seemed but a waking dream, yet the evidence of him said otherwise.
Swinging her legs off the bed, she strode into the bathroom and studied her face in the mirror. Her eyes gave it away. She smirked, caught her long hair in her hand, and brushed her teeth, still looking at herself in the mirror. Well, Marla, who would have guessed? Tommy, eh? Funnily, it would make her mother happy, she thought, remembering how she still spoke of him.
Replacing the toothbrush, she wiped her mouth and washed her hands before splashing her face with cool water. After drying herself with the towel, she headed back into her room and gazed out of the window. She guessed they would meet again later, when Tommy returned from patrol. It was too soon for her to go out there; she didn’t feel quite ready. Although her stomach was a little sore, it didn’t bother her, but she was being careful in case her ankle turned out to be weaker than it seemed. So far it felt fine and she wanted it to stay that way.
In the distance something moved in the field, far beyond the perimeter of the fence. For a second, Marla thought it was a dead-looker, but it didn’t meander with their recognisable faltering gait. It walked briskly and straight. Leaning on the windowsill, she continued to watch as the blurred outline shifted. In that moment a soldier wandered out of the main entrance to the facility, but she did not recognise him; someone new.
Running to her wardrobe, she flung open the door and rummaged in her rucksack until she found her mini binoculars. Hurrying back to the window, she studied the scene through them. The soldier was in fact a sergeant and, as she’d thought, she had never seen him before. Across the field the figure she had mistaken for a dead-looker turned out to be a man dressed in black. He stood by a tree, facing the road, his back to her. She wondered if he had parked a vehicle there, but none was visible through the trees.
The sergeant approached the man directly. There was only one guard on the gate and Marla didn’t recognise him either. It was a patrol day, so that was nothing unusual. But what were the two men doing in the field? She guessed the sergeant must be armed. He stopped by the tree where the other man was and she watched them.
You’re so paranoid, she thought to herself, even now. This is nothing out of the ordinary, so cut it out. Things are looking up. Normality might even be creeping into your life. Laughing at herself, she turned away from the window towards the bed, which made her smile again. Memories; you could live half a life on the good ones.
Thing is, curiosity had always been her downfall when it came to anything. With a smirk, Marla turned back to the window and raised the binoculars. The men had not moved and were involved in a discussion, which looked heated. The sergeant was waving his hands around. Perhaps they were arguing, she thought. It certainly looked as much, and then the other man turned.
“Will Acre?” she gasped, almost dropping the binoculars. Instinctively, she stepped back from the window, as if the two men had the wildest chance of seeing her from such a distance with the light bouncing off the glass. Dropping the binoculars on the bed, she sat down, feeling time freeze for a second. Dread deafened her and she sat staring at the wall for a minute. She needed to talk to Tommy right now, but he was on patrol. “Damn it,” she mumbled. What the fuck is he doing here? Caballero sent him away to be charged for what he did. Or so she had thought. What is he still doing here?
Then she realised that she was not safe; far from it. Caballero had lied. There was no way he couldn’t know Acre was still around, and who was the sergeant? She had never clapped eyes on him before, but then she’d been out of it for days, in the hospital and then recovering; out of the loop. Perhaps someone new had arrived here. Someone who clearly can’t be trusted because he is outside right now talking to Will fucking Acre.
Marla sank her head into her hands and sighed. Wracking her brains, she thought over everything that had happened since she arrived here. Why had Acre tried to kill her and why did he view her as such a threat? Caballero had to be involved, but why? What had she done, so bad as to make them want to get rid of her? Or was it because of Jakob – did they know he had told her things about this place? Perhaps they were things she was not meant to know and placed them at risk somehow.
What was paranoia and what was real? Marla shook her head, unable to tell anymore.
She had questioned Caballero at times, but that was all. At the church he had reacted angrily to what she said, but that was only one disagreement. She had probably saved his life that day when the dead-lookers broke loose. The man had even asked her to interview Robert, which showed trust. Robert? Was that it? Had he asked her to question him for a purpose? Did he want her to think she was trusted when the opposite was true?
Fuck! She stood up, her head spinning with questions. Where are the answers?
Marla tried to remember everything Robert had said in the interview, but some of it was blurry by now. Although she had spoken to Tommy about it, no one else knew; no one at all. Robert had mentioned people not being what they seemed and that he had only got one. She struggled to remember who had been killed that day: one soldier in the basement and some of the scientists. Perhaps he meant the soldier, that he was a terrorist or something? She shook her head. Or perhaps one of those lab guys had been working on something they shouldn’t have been and he discovered it?
Her mind raced with theories. Terrorists, government spies…what on earth is it? Something to do with the virus maybe? Did they engineer it here and release it by accident? No, surely not? That would be…
Sitting down on the bed again, she leaned against the wall and turned off the whirr of thoughts for a second. Robert. Focus on Robert. What exactly did he say? That people were not what they seemed in here; that he had got only one; that Doctor Sleep wanted to read minds and that… She sat up straight. Check down below – the secret places! His parting words had been for her to check the basement, but she had forgotten about it.
Jumping up, Marla threw open her wardrobe to get dressed, but then stopped just as suddenly. There was no way of getting into the basement. The only route was via the weapons area, to which the soldiers only had access before patrols in order to collect guns and ammo. She would have to steal the keys somehow. Closing the wardrobe doors slowly, it dawned on her that there was one other way – through the laboratories. She didn’t have clearance. However, she knew someone who did.
Monday evening
Marla tucked her chair in and walked out of the cafeteria. It was 6.25 p.m. already and there were still many things she needed to do. She walked to the lift lost in her own thoughts. What is too big a risk?
“Marla?”
The doors of the lift opened to reveal Tommy. He grinned as soon as he noticed her.
“Oh, hi,” she said, “come here often?”
He laughed and stepped into the corridor. She let the lift go. “I was actually
coming to find you,” he said, sweeping her up in his arms and kissing her. She kissed him back eagerly. “Patrol went on longer than I thought today,” he continued. “It went well though. We brought three people back.”
“That’s great, Tommy. Three is so cool. ”
“Yep, so I just tried your room, but you weren’t there, so I thought I’d try here.”
“Yeah, it’s impossible for a person to hide in this place,” Marla joked, trying to prevent her mind from wandering on to other things. “Not that I was, from you, of course,” she added nervously.
He laughed again. “So how was your day?”
For a moment Marla considered telling him what she had seen from her window, but she knew that if she told him about her idea, he would stop her. Her conscience raged, yet she pushed it to the back of her mind. She needed to satisfy her curiosity about things before involving Tommy.
The last thing she wanted to do was endanger him all because the powers that be didn’t trust her, and she would never be able to relax until she assured herself that she was being paranoid; that there was nothing to worry about. Perhaps she had only imagined seeing Will Acre. She had been taking so many painkillers, but, no, she knew what she had seen. On the other hand, she could speak to Caballero, but if she had seen Acre, the commander was not to be trusted.
Marla told her thoughts to be quiet and smiled. “Same old,” she replied.
“I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink or see a movie or something?” Tommy asked.
“That would be really cool, but I promised Ellen I would see her tonight.”
He grinned, unperturbed. “Okay, maybe tomorrow then?”
Marla nodded and smiled. “That would be great.”
With a slight frown, Tommy looked at her in that way of his, where she imagined him trying to penetrate her thoughts. “Is everything alright?” he asked.
“Yep, why wouldn’t it be? I’m fighting fit now, almost…”
“That’s not what I meant. You’re not up to something, are you?”
“What would I be up to?” Marla asked innocently.
“I dunno,” he replied as a sense of foreboding crept up on him. “I know that poker face. Don’t do anything crazy that’s gonna get you in trouble, please. And if you do get yourself in trouble, you have to tell me what’s going on. Deal? I don’t want anything happening to you.”
“Tommy, don’t worry,” she said, pressing the button for the lift.
“I do worry…”
Balancing on tiptoe, Marla kissed him on the cheek. “You don’t have to,” she told him as the doors of the lift opened and she stepped inside. Smiling, she blew him a kiss and the doors closed. As soon as they did, her smile dipped and she wondered if the thing she was about to do was simply too damn crazy, even for her.
***
Marla caught sight of Jakob sitting at a far table on his own. She studied him for a while before surveying the cafeteria. There was no one else she recognised; on any other floor but her own and Ellen’s that was usual. It’s now or never. Biting her lip, she strode towards him and said, “Hi,” offering her brightest smile. “How’s it going?”
Jakob looked up and grinned back. “Great. How are you?”
“I’m okay.”
“What are you doing up here?”
“I was meant to be meeting Sylvia, but she doesn’t seem to be here,” Marla lied.
“On this floor?”
“That’s what she said. She wanted to ask my advice on something. Guess she didn’t want to bump into anyone she knew.”
“Women,” Jakob remarked, “the eternal mystery.”
“Ah, you know us well.”
“Do you want a coffee, sandwich, or something?” Jakob asked, rising from his seat.
“It’s okay, I can get it.”
“No, no,” he insisted, “let me. I’ve been meaning to invite you for a drink or something. We don’t seem to bump into each other so often.”
“I guess not, but here we are,” said Marla, smiling for all she was worth. “You look well. How’s your leg?”
“Yes, I am well, thanks. My leg is good. I’m glad to see you’ve recovered from your accident. I’m sorry I didn’t visit you in hospital. I wasn’t sure if to.”
“It’s okay. I got your card. The nurse gave it to me, so thank you. Seems like everyone heard about it.”
“Well, not much out of the ordinary happens in here. Except for what happened to me, of course. How could I forget,” said Jakob. “Anyhow, would you like a bite to eat or a drink?”
“Erm, yeah, if it’s not too much trouble. A tea would be great and something hot. I’m not sure what they have today.”
“There’s lasagne. They’ll have to warm it up though, if you don’t mind the wait.”
Marla smiled at the extra time it would take. “I don’t mind at all. Then you can tell me everything you’ve been up to.”
“Right, I’ll be back soon.” With that, Jakob walked towards the service area.
Marla sat down; no one was looking her way. While trying to keep an eye on Jakob, she leaned back in her chair so as to peek under the table. Below it was his bag. There were two pockets and a zip along the top, which was closed. Removing her boot, she pretended to examine her ankle while deftly sneaking her hand into one pocket after the other, all in vain.
She gazed towards the service area, but Jakob still had his back to her and was talking to the woman serving. Once more, Marla stretched her arm down and this time she managed to unzip the bag. Dipping her fingers inside, she felt around until she touched a plastic card. Quickly, she pulled it out and slipped it into the inside pocket of her jean jacket right at the moment that Jakob turned and nodded her way. The lasagne was obviously ready. Whoopee, she thought, not caring, as she zipped up the bag and rested her unbooted ankle on the chair next to her, just in case he’d noticed her dipping beneath the table.
“Here you go,” he announced, placing a tray in front of her.
“Thank you,” she replied as the smell of cooked food wafted up, enlivening her appetite despite herself.
“Does it hurt?”
She followed his line of vision to her ankle. “No, not much today. It’s okay, although I still can’t move too quickly on it,” she lied, knowing it was almost back to normal. “Now tell me all your news. It’s been ages.”
“Well, we’ve been making quite a lot of progress in the lab,” Jakob began enthusiastically. “We’re trying to isolate cells. If we can isolate those cells that sustain the undead beyond death then we might be able to reverse the virus, or at least rejuvenate the damaged tissue if it…”
Marla barely heard the rest of his sentence as she contemplated how best to carry out the rest of her plan for that night.
Tuesday, 13
Marla sat on her bed and waited until her watch said 4 a.m. on the dot. Jumping up, she put on her boots and tied back her hair into a neat bun. Removing Jakob’s ID card from its plastic holder, she stuck her own photo and name over the top, with the security coding still showing, and replaced it. If she had to pass by a retina scanner, she was probably screwed and the only option would be to turn back, but it was worth trying. She had to know what was really going on in the facility and why someone didn’t want her here. Luckily, the only security cameras she could remember seeing in the building were around the fence and entrance outside, on the first floor and quarantine.
Grabbing her rucksack, Marla headed out. After locking the door of her room, she made her way quietly to the lift. If I see anyone, I’m going back. But no one came. Inside the lift, she pressed the button for floor eleven and as it rose she felt her heart leap into her throat. When it came to a stop, she hesitated for a moment before stepping out. Tommy would kill her if he knew what she was up to. She frowned for a second before deciding to go forth.
The lettered doors surrounded her in a circle. Remembering which one provided entry to the basement, Marla slid Jakob’s pass into the relevant reader
and the door opened; no retina scan necessary. Breathing a sigh of relief, she walked inside. The first lab was empty. Spotting a couple of white coats on hooks, she thanked her lucky stars and slipped one on before walking swiftly into the next room where Jakob had been attacked.
She recalled the event as clearly as if it had happened the day before and yet there was nothing to suggest anything so violent had ever occurred there. Even the axe was back on the wall, safely behind glass. Marla hurried on, past two offices. Figures moved inside them, hard at work, even at such a late hour, but she didn’t stop for conversation. Keeping her face averted, she kept walking and entered a familiar, narrow passage framed by cupboards of bottles and instruments; everything so neat and tidy. The next lab room opened up. She remembered it was L-shaped and turned with it.
Strange how there is no evidence at all of the chaos of before.
When the glass-doored lift came into view, Marla almost expected to see the macabre bloody fingerprints, but they had been cleaned away, along with everything else. After making sure no one had followed her, she used Jakob’s pass again and the door of the lift opened. Stepping inside, she took a deep breath. The floor beneath her feet began to move down.
No going back now.
She hoped to be able to leave the basement via the door leading to the soldiers’ quarters, although she suspected it to be unlikely. Her only reasonable route of return would be to go back through the laboratories. The recklessness of her plan suddenly dawned on her. It was too risky, even though there were no security cameras. What if someone stopped her on her return? Or what if Jakob realised his pass had been used and she still had to smuggle it back to him somehow? What if there were scientists working in the basement this late? Somehow the possibility hadn’t even occurred to her before, so hell bent had she been on discovering what was going on in the facility.
Why am I so reckless?
The lift stopped and she stared out through the glass. The basement was very dimly lit by only a few bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Gripping the strap of her rucksack tightly, as if seeking strength from it, she stepped out on to concrete. A concrete tomb. Her boots tapped as she took slow steps forward. Remembering the layout, she walked straight ahead, down the narrow corridor. The place had been cleaned up since her last visit. Ahead, she recognised the row of metal worktables from before. Only four of them had bodies upon them. Edging as close as possible to the opposite wall, she ran past, even though they were still and strapped down anyway. When she reached the last one, she turned to look back, realising they were all sedated.
I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven Page 22
