by Cross, Amy
“Is this about Mom and Dad?” she asks. “And Joe?”
“What about them?”
“The fact that you let them -”
She stops herself just in time.
“I didn't mean it like that,” she continues, “I know it's not your fault that they didn't make it, but please, enough with this hero crap. Maybe your friend Elizabeth doesn't want to be rescued, did you consider that? Maybe she got a better offer. Maybe she made a conscious decision not to come back and find us, and maybe she did that because she was sure that you wouldn't end up doing anything stupid. I don't know about you, Thomas, but I don't want to be too close to this stupid rocket when it finally gets going!”
“You're hurt anyway,” I remind her. “I know you're trying to pretend that you're not, but you're still getting weaker. You've lost a lot of blood, so you should stay here.”
“Elizabeth isn't worth -”
“You don't know her like I do,” I reply, turning and hurrying along after Maddy before I lose my chance. She's already disappeared around the corner, so I hurry up in an attempt to makes sure that she doesn't slip away.
Already, I can hear Martha hurrying to follow me. I know there's no point trying again to make her understand, but all I can think about is the fact that there's no way I'm going to leave Elizabeth behind. It's obvious that she's in danger, and I'm starting to wonder whether her father might be in some way responsible. I guess I might be imagining things, but there was something in his expression when he was taking her away, something that made me worry he was hiding something. Maxwell Carver seems to have sealed himself in the core area with Elizabeth and John, and he wouldn't have done that unless he had a plan.
Reaching the next turning, I'm just in time to see Maddy disappearing down a set of stairs. If it's true that Carver has locked her out of the launch preparation area, then following her might be our only chance to get inside, since she seems to think that she knows some secret way to break through.
“Thomas,” Martha says breathlessly as she catches up to me, “please, just -”
“We've come this far,” I reply, turning to her. “I'm not going to back off now, not even -”
Suddenly a scream rings out ahead, and I look along the corridor again. Maddy's crying out in agony, and a moment later I hear a series of thudding sounds as if she's struggling against something.
Chapter Seven
Elizabeth
“Did Maxwell talk to you?” Dad asks as I hurry back into the room. “Elizabeth -”
“I'm getting out of here,” I reply, storming past him, only for him to grab my arm and haul me back. “Let go of me!”
“You have to listen!” he says firmly. “Max Carver might not be a good man, but when it comes to Project Atherius he knows what he's talking about. Did he show you the satellite images?”
“They aren't real.”
“They are, Elizabeth.”
“They can't be.”
“I've verified them myself.”
“But they can't be!” I shout, my eyes filled with tears as I turn to him. He's still holding my arm as if he thinks he can keep me here. “The world can't be dying like that, it's just not possible!”
“Elizabeth, over the past year you must have seen how -”
“But it's going to recover!” I yell. “No matter how bad things have been, I've always known in the back of my mind that eventually it's all going to get better!”
“Elizabeth -”
“Because it can't go away!” I continue. “It just can't! There are five billion people on this planet!”
“It was more like seven billion before all of this started.”
“Exactly! They can't all die!”
“We believe there are around five hundred million left now, after the first year,” he says, still managing to stay calm. “That number is going down all the time and it's going to go down faster now that -”
“I don't believe you!” I shout, stepping toward him and shoving him hard in the chest, pushing him back with such force that he lets go of my arm. “You're lying! You always lie! You always think you know better than anyone, but I'm leaving and you can't stop -”
Suddenly a kind of pure rage rushes into my head, and I take a step back as I realize that Joseph has returned. He's not speaking this time; instead, it's as if he's feeding on something, and a moment later I hear a loud, agonized scream. I turn and look around, but I already know that the scream isn't in the room, that it's something Joseph is hearing. I try to take a step forward, and I immediately realize that I'm about to fall.
“Elizabeth!” Dad shouts, his voice sounding so fuzzy and distant as he rushes forward and catches me just in time. “What's wrong?”
I try to answer, but I can't even move my lips. Instead, I swear I can feel and taste blood rushing into my mouth, and a moment later I start frantically biting down over and over again. It's as if there are fragments of meat stuck between my teeth, and finally I start growling as I turn my head this way and that in a desperate attempt to tear chunks away from the side of someone's neck. I know none of this can really be happening, but I can't help myself as I feel Dad slowly lowering me down onto the floor. He's saying something, but I can't even hear the words as I'm filled with an overwhelming sense of hunger.
“Get off!” I hear Maddy Crozier's voice shouting. “Somebody help me!”
That's when I realize what must be happening. Joseph has caught up to Maddy and he's managed to attack her, and either by accident or design he's forcing me to experience every moment of his feeding frenzy. I try to push him out of my mind, but the attempt is hopeless and I can already feel him flooding into my consciousness. A moment later, I blink and suddenly I look down and see Maddy's bloodied body beneath me, and I watch as my rotten hands reach out and grab her shoulders.
“This isn't really happening,” I try to whisper, but I don't think the words leave my lips.
“Joseph, stop!” Maddy yells, as blood pumps furiously from the wound on her neck. “Joseph, I'll give you anything, but you have to stop!”
“Do I?” Joseph's voice sneers in my mind. “After everything you did to me, now you turn around and preach the merits of mercy?”
“Let's just try to think for a moment,” Maddy continues, pressing a hand against the side of her neck, although this doesn't do anything to stop the flow of blood. “Let's just calm down, Joseph, okay? I can help you, but only if you agree to work with me.”
“How many times have you said things like that to me before?” Joseph asks. Maddy might not be able to hear him, but I can, and his anger is growing.
In a flash, everything changes and I find myself sitting in some kind of bar, with Maddy on the seat opposite. She's talking, but all I can hear is music in the distance, and all I can feel is Joseph's trepidation. That's when I finally start to understand that he was falling in love with Maddy a long time ago, but a moment later the image changes and I see her standing next to a car at night. She's smiling, and now I feel Joseph's sense of absolute, utter betrayal. His love has changed to hatred, and then I blink and I once again see her bleeding on the floor.
“This doesn't have to be the end,” she stammers, visibly weakening now as the pool of blood grows on the floor beneath her. “Nothing ever has to be the end, not while there's a chance to turn things around. You're a good man, Joseph, and maybe I didn't see that before, so let's see if we can work together. Please, Joseph, I know you're in there somewhere, I know you can remember a time when you and I... when we had something worth fighting for.”
I can feel Joseph's body shuddering with rage, but slowly Maddy reaches up and puts a hand on the side of his face, and now the rage subsides slightly.
“I've been such a fool,” she continues. “I let Max blind me with all his promises, and I lost sight of what's really important. I don't know if you can forgive me for that. I don't think I can forgive myself. All I can do is try to make it right.”
“Elizabeth!” Dad shouts, shaking me gently. “
What's happening to you?”
I try to reply, but all that emerges from my mouth is a faint, soft groan.
I blink, and I almost see Dad's face, but then instead I watch as Maddy reaches out with her other hand, placing it on Joseph's rotten cheek.
“You are in there, aren't you?” she says with a faint, weak smile as more blood runs from the wound on her neck. “That's right, listen to me. Stay calm, Joseph, and pay attention to everything I'm about to say to you. That's really important.” She presses her hands tighter against the sides of his face, and I feel that pressure on my own body. “We can make this right, and we're going to start doing that right now by coming up with a plan together. There's no need to fight, Joseph, not when we're on the same side. You're so rotten, I can't believe that your body is still able to move around, but I can only assume that your passion is keeping you going. Your bravery. Your heart.”
“I don't have a heart,” he sneers. “Not anymore.”
“Don't listen to her,” I try to say. Although the words don't leave my mouth, I have to believe that Joseph can hear them somehow in his mind. “She's lying to you.”
I wait for him to admit that I'm right, but his rage is subsiding more and more with each passing second.
“I can sense you,” Maddy says softly, adjusting her grip on either side of his face. “Is that weird? I know you're in there, Joseph, and I don't even know how, but it's like I can sense you being close. Despite everything that's happened to you, despite all the horrors, you've survived. And if you've made it this far, then you – and I – still have a chance of escaping.”
“She's planning something!” I try to warn Joseph.
“That's right,” she says, adjusting her hands again. “Nearly there.”
Suddenly she grips his head tight and gives it a firm twist, and she screams as she tries to rip his entire head away from his shoulders. Joseph's anger roars into my mind again as he realizes what she's doing, and then he pushes her hands away. I see the panic in Maddy's face as she realizes that she's failed, but she immediately reaches up and tries again.
“Die, damn you!” she screams. “Why can't you just -”
Joseph bites down hard on her face, and I feel his teeth bursting through Maddy's nose and eyes. Blood rushes into Joseph's mouth, and I can feel fragments of bone jarring against his rotten teeth. A moment later I feel Maddy's nose in his mouth, and then entire plates of bone as bubbles of blood replace her wailing cry for help. She's still struggling wildly, as if she thinks she can somehow survive, but Joseph's anger is overwhelming and now I can feel him using his fingertips to dig through the mess at the front of her skull. Her hands reach up and touch Joseph's shoulders, but her grip is weakening this time and finally I feel her body slump down as Joseph bites harder and harder into her skull. Finally a fresh taste bursts into my mouth, salty and slightly sweet, as Joseph reaches her brain.
“Elizabeth!” Dad's voice shouts, sounding so far off now, as if he's trying to get to me from a whole other world. “What's happening to you? Elizabeth, wake up!”
Chapter Eight
Thomas
“Okay, that's totally gross,” Martha says as we stop in the corridor and see the horrific mess that's being made of Maddy Crozier's corpse. “Even by the standards of the past year, that's...”
Her voice trails off, but she's absolutely right.
The zombie is kneeling over Maddy's body and eating out of her skull, and I can't help but stare at the bloodied mess that I think used to be her brain. Having already fed on Lucy Hoyle earlier, this creature seems to be absolutely ravenous, but I don't actually think that it's eating Maddy's brain so much as it's chewing through her head and then letting the mangled pieces fall from its mouth. It's almost as if, instead of absorbing any nutrients, the zombie's just going through the motions of eating, as if that's the last action that it remembers from its time as a living being.
At least Maddy's stopped screaming. There was a moment when I actually wanted to help her, although I very quickly realized that it was too late. The zombie attacked her with real fury, moving much faster than when it killed Lucy Hoyle, and I almost got the impression that killing Maddy was part of some kind of personal vendetta. That idea seems crazy, of course, although I quickly have to remind myself that this particular zombie also seemed to be able to work doors. Every time I think there's nothing left in this crazy world to surprise me, some other bizarre moment gets thrown my way.
“So do we try to slip past?” I ask finally. “Or do we... wait until he's done?”
“I know this zombie helped you out before,” Martha says cautiously, as she checks the gun, “but I'm not comfortable having this thing running around.”
“Are you going to kill it?”
“It's dead already. I'm just going to put it out of its misery.”
“Is that a good idea?”
“No, of course it's not. Come on, let's stick to my original plan and get out of here.”
She turns to go, but then she hesitates.
“I'm serious, Thomas,” she continues. “It makes no sense to me that you keep insisting on going after Elizabeth, when we can just leave right now.”
I know she's right, but after everything that's happened I don't see that heading back out of the facility is much of a safe bet. For all we know, the fighting is still going on, and it's not as if we know where to find vehicles. At least Elizabeth is pretty resourceful, and John too, so I figure four heads will be better than two once we're trying to survive beyond the facility's gate.
Suddenly I hear a thudding sound, I turn to see that the zombie has fallen away from Maddy's body. Slamming into the wall, the creature lets out a pained groan as blood dribbles down its chin and onto its bare chest, and then it starts trying to get to its feet. At first, the effort seems to be too much, but slowly the zombie manages to stand, and then it turns and looks in our direction. It's already fed twice in the past hour, so I tell myself that it can't possibly still be hungry. And then, after a moment, it takes a lumbering step toward us.
Before I have a chance to react, Martha takes aim and fires, blasting a chunk from the side of the zombie's head, blowing away at least half its face.
The creature takes a step back, as if it's about to fall, but somehow it manages to steady itself.
Martha fires again, and this time she misses completely.
“How many shots do you have left?” I ask.
“No idea,” she replies. “Hopefully enough.”
She fires again, this time hitting the zombie in its chest, and finally the damn thing tumbles to the floor. Landing hard on its side, it lets out a pained roar, but this time it seems to be having a lot more trouble as it tries in vain to get back up.
“It's now or never,” Martha mutters. “If you still insist on going this way, that is.”
“I do,” I reply, stepping forward and keeping as close to the wall as possible in my attempt to pass the zombie without getting too close.
Unfortunately, I have to step straight over Maddy's body, and I can't help looking down at what remains of her mashed and mangled head. I want to think that she didn't feel too much pain as she died, but she definitely screamed a lot, and she spent a minute or so begging for her life first. I inadvertently step in a pool of blood, and then I manage to clear her as the zombie tries but fails to reach out and grab me.
“Should I finish it off?” Martha asks.
“I'd vote for that option right now.”
She comes closer, and then she aims directly at the zombie's head.
“Sorry, dude,” she says, as the creature turns and snarls at her. “This is nothing personal. Thanks for saving my brother, but I really think it's your time to say goodnight now.”
With that, she fires again, blasting the zombie's head clean apart and sending blood and bone splattering against the far wall. The torso slumps down and lands dead on the floor, and I grimace slightly as I realize that at least this particular zombie is finally gone.
I don't know how many of these things I've seen over the past year, but there's still something sickly, grimly fascinating about a rotten human body that manages to get around.
Martha steps around the mess, and then she turns to me.
“I'm not a bad shot, am I?” she says after a moment. “Given that I've only got one eye, I mean.”
“This way,” I reply, heading away from the scene.
I only have to go around the next corner, before I stop again as I see a kind of bridge that leads out across the chamber and directly into the side of the rocket. I'm no expert on space rockets, of course, but as I get closer I can't help wondering why there'd be these extra access points dotted around the place. I guess there were a lot of supplies that had to be loaded into this thing, along with parts of the rocket that needed to be checked. As I step out onto the rickety, wobbly bridge and look up, I'm stunned by the immense size of this project.
“Scary, huh?” Martha mutters, and I can tell from her tone of voice that she means what she's saying. “How long do you think we've got before this thing is due to take off?”
“Hopefully long enough,” I reply, heading out along the bridge until I reach a panel on the rocket's side. There's a circular hatch on one side of the panel, and I pull that open to reveal a handle.
Sure enough, getting the panel open is pretty easy, and I peer inside to see a very narrow space that leads around to a ladder.
“Do you really think this'll lead us up to the top?” Martha asks.
“Maddy was convinced,” I reply, before climbing inside.
The space is even tighter than it looks, and I have to go sideways in order to even have a chance of reaching the ladder. Looking up, I see that the ladder leads through a gap in the ceiling, and – I hope – runs all the way up to the main section of the rocket at the top. At least, I assume that the main section is up there, but I think I remember Maddy mentioning going 'up' so I edge over to the ladder and get ready to climb.
“You realize we could just end up trapped in here, right?” Martha points out. “Like, this would be a really bad place to be stuck when the rocket launches.”
