The Blood of the Infected (Book 2): Once Bitten, Twice Live

by Stanton, Antony J.

  “I will undo these but you have got to stay here with us. We need to keep an eye on you. You’ve lost a lot of blood and we'll need to give you more medication. Do you understand?”

  Darby nodded and Handley looked carefully into his eyes before reluctantly untying his bonds. It just did not feel quite right, given the fact that he was almost certainly at best only a short while away from turning and becoming a real source of danger. Still, with his final few hours it seemed to be the least they could do to allow him to be as comfortable and content as possible, palliative care in practice, as long as it did not bring anybody else into harm’s way. Darby sat up on the bed, rubbing his wrists and looked around ruefully.

  “So am I gonna become one of them zombies then?” He looked so very sorry for himself, it was utterly heartbreaking.

  Singleton shrugged and tried to meet his gaze but found it unbearable and looked away as she spoke.

  “You were bitten so it is possible but we don’t know enough to be certain. It may be that you have natural immunity or it’s even possible that none of the contamination passed into your blood. I just don’t know for sure but at least there is a chance that you won’t.” It was not the first time that she had used this tenuous argument and it was no easier this time.

  He nodded, taking the information in and seemed to be happy with it, as though he just could not process the fact that he was possibly ill. He seemed to be in denial, like Samuels before him, and possibly even like Abbott as well. Singleton thought that it was probably a good way to leave it. If he was happy then let him remain thus. She wondered if it were actually just as simple as him being in denial, or was this perhaps the first symptom of the condition taking hold of his brain? The logical, rationalizing processes starting to break down? He tried to stand up but he did not have the strength and Newman caught him under the arm.

  “You’ve lost a lot of blood, son. Take it easy. Why don’t you rest here and we’ll get you whatever you want?”

  He nodded and sank back onto the bed.

  “I’m parched and starving. I could do with a drink and some nose bag, and I need a wazz.”

  They all laughed, a collective, explosive release of tension.

  Newman saw to Darby’s needs and Singleton attended to Bennett, leaving Handley to check the laptop they had got from Isabelle. Singleton could not face the disappointment. Bennett had been running a bit of a fever but it seemed to have calmed down somewhat at the moment and his pulse had stabilized. As she looked over him he stirred and his eyes flickered open so she took the opportunity to help him drink a little. He actually managed a vague smile of appreciation before his eyes drooped once more and he slumped back.

  Just then Handley called out to her with a shaky voice. “Boss, you better come quick.”

  Singleton practically ran to his side and peered over his shoulder. “What is it? What have you found?” She could not contain the desperate note of eagerness in her voice.

  “I’ve just been checking the desktop," Handley said. "This icon caught my eye.”

  It was entitled, ‘URGENT – ANY SURVIVOR PLEASE READ.’

  With trembling hands he opened the file and they both took a few quiet moments to take it in.

  ‘To whoever finds this computer, if you are reading this then I assume I am already dead, or something else I can’t even contemplate. Please read carefully – this may very well be the most important task left for you to complete before you too surely die.

  My name is Dr Jason Boxall. I have been closely associated with the development of the drug Mnemoloss, or the Dem-buster as you may know it. Hence I bear much of the blame for what has befallen the patients who have taken it, for which I am eternally sorry and will carry that enormous guilt to my imminent grave. I am writing this at the research facility of GVF Labs, where I have just arrived with my family; my wife Julia, and my children Isabelle and Rory.

  The government here, like in many other countries, has declared martial law. I have brought my family to these laboratories as it is a secure building and I hope will be free from attack from looters, civil unrest and most importantly from any of the people suffering from side-effects of the drug. There are an increasing number of these apparently crazy people on the streets and the situation seems to be growing out of control. With my remaining time available before it is too late for me, I have got to do whatever I can to try to help find a cure and reverse the tragedy befalling us all. Since this is where the drug was developed, this is the best place to try and find that solution.

  I have just recently suffered a bite from someone who has taken the drug - my own mother to be exact. There are countless reports that anyone who has been attacked by a user of Mnemoloss has gone insane, so it seems likely that I only have a small amount of time left to me in full control of my faculties. Hence I will be as brief and to the point as I can.

  Since the first reports started to come to us that users of Mnemoloss were demonstrating undesirable side effects including but not limited to headaches, nausea, dizziness, loss of mental faculties, aggression and unprovoked displays of violence, we at the lab here have been looking more closely into the drug and ways of reversing its effects. The drug was created to aggressively target brains suffering from dementia and alter that illness. It is clear that there were fundamental flaws in the drug that are responsible for what is now occurring.

  We have recently devoted a considerable amount of time and effort into testing and retesting Mnemoloss and attempting to establish the causes for its failure and potential means of rectifying it. In my limited time available I will try to provide all the information that I have in order to help your quest to reverse my mistakes. This laptop contains much of the data that I gained during the drug’s development, as well as the findings over these final few days. I will highlight below which files on the computer are of utmost importance. For myself I wish for nothing. I pray only that all my family are safe and that you are successful in this most vital of endeavours. I am so sorry for all that I have done. Words cannot express the enormous depth of my guilt and remorse.

  This is my final testament. I wish you luck and may God have mercy on your soul and grant you every success.’

  Handley looked up at Singleton. The colour had drained from his face. He was sweating. His eyes were wide and shining and his hands were now shaking. “I think this could be what we need. This may just be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

  She nodded, unable to speak and swallowed heavily. At Headley Court for the last couple of weeks they had all merely been treading water, establishing sensible and safe living practices, both on and off base, just to try and survive. Everyone had been concerned with getting through the day without dying. They were not living for the future, hardly even daring to think about it, just trying to get by. Singleton and Handley had had several discussions during this time revolving around what may possibly have caused the outbreak of infection, where the drug Mnemoloss may have gone wrong and whether it might be possible to do anything about it. As doctors that was part of their training, part of what they had spent their lives doing; looking at symptoms, trying to diagnose them and suggesting the most suitable cure. Dementia, neuro-surgery and the various functions of the brain were not in either of their current realms of medicine. However, as is the case with most practicing doctors, they both had a wide range of experience and knowledge, stemming from early schooling and continuous reading and research throughout their careers. Part of their work at Headley Court had at least involved aspects of the brain to do with aviation. Mnemoloss had generated such a massive amount of publicity that it would have been nearly impossible for them to avoid reading articles on the drug, both from a general, layman’s perspective and also of a more technical nature. Neither of them had actually believed that they would be able to develop a cure for the insanity that now afflicted society; it was just too far removed from their particular fields of expertise. However it seemed that Dr Boxall had spent his last few days
and hours of lucidity basically writing an instruction manual for somebody just like them, to help them do exactly that. Maybe now they had a reason, perhaps even a right, to think of the future. Just perhaps…

  Singleton was in tears. Her knees gave way beneath her and she slumped onto the floor. She made no attempt to get back to her feet but closed her eyes and prayed to whatever god this Dr Boxall had been imploring.

  “Please guide and help us. May the sacrifice of Darby and Samuels and everybody else have been worth it. Just give us a chance. Please…”

  Handley sank down beside her and they hugged, burying their heads into one another’s shoulders, their bodies shaking as their tears dampened each other’s clothes and that was how Captain Lewis found them and he too finally allowed himself to shed a tear. In recent days there had been a fair amount of weeping at Headley Court; tears of sadness, tears of fear and tears of frustration, but not all tears were bad, for these now were being shed out of hope. Surrounded by the smouldering wreckage of abandoned cars and burnt out buildings, amidst the smoking embers of a destroyed civilization, as the blood of society haemorrhaged away, right there on the floor of the medical centre at RAF Headley Court, they nurtured a tiny justified flicker of hope.

  CHAPTER 16

  “We have got to go back.”

  Around the table with Singleton sat Lewis, Straddling, Hutchison, Wood, Vallage, Walkden, and even Denny, all in the same conference room as before. The blue of the carpet seemed to have lost its hue, the dust lay slightly thicker on the table and the air felt a little staler than at the previous meeting. Life had lost any last vestiges of vibrancy. Nevertheless, no one was losing their will to maintain it. Every death reminded them all exactly how precious and precarious their existence really was.

  Singleton was explaining to them the significance of what they had found on the laptop. “This is it. This is what we desperately hoped for. This is the Holy Grail. When we went to the labs we couldn’t have dreamt of finding anything this important. I’d hoped we might find some information, I don’t know exactly what, but something that might help us. But this…” She placed a hand reverently on the laptop. She was still very emotional about it, her eyes were red from crying and her hands seemed to have developed a tremor. She tried to keep her voice level as she spoke. “This really is the jackpot. The main doctor from the drug’s development programme has basically reached out to us from beyond the grave and given us an instruction manual of how best to reverse the drug’s effects. We couldn’t have possibly hoped, not even dreamed, of finding anything like this.”

  The first person to reply was unusually subdued, just quietly expressing a self-realisation rather than addressing the table and it took Lewis by surprise. He had expected to have a battle on his hands to convince them all. He had thought they would be shouted down at every turn. He anticipated that Straddling would be the hardest to persuade, and so he was completely astonished when support this time came from the most unexpected of corners.

  “So we have to return to the labs,” Straddling said, nodding slowly with a scared yet determined steel in his eyes.

  Lewis stared at him with a strange expression as though to ask him if he was being sarcastic. Straddling caught the look and understood it perfectly well.

  “What sonny? Did you expect a wee fight from the gruff old Scottish bastard?”

  Lewis laughed and nodded, feeling quite emotional. He felt goose bumps rise on his arms.

  “Well I’m happy to disappoint ya then,” Straddling continued. “I couldna’ agree more. These labs at GVF, they’re our ground zero. That’s where it all began, and that’s where it all ends. So we have to return.”

  It seemed that having been coerced into going to the laboratory the first time, having faced the horrors that existed there, been humiliated and shown wanting at crucial moments, and then expended so much effort and energy, both physically and emotionally, he was now a total convert. Like a born again Christian, he was as much a zealot as Lewis or even Singleton herself.

  There were not all nods of approval from around the table though. Denny and Vallage were both shaking their heads, Hutchison looked pale and aghast and his eyes were bulging. “We can’t go back, we can’t go back,” he murmured quietly under his breath, breaking out into a sweat just at the thought of it.

  As Lewis had expected it was Denny who was most vociferous about his fears. “From what you’ve said that place is crawling with the Great Impure. You went there for one day and lost two men. How long do you think we would last if we actually tried to survive for any length of time?”

  Lewis nodded and was about to answer but it was Wood who spoke up. Lewis checked himself and remained silent. He was well aware that the plan would carry more weight if it was backed by various people, rather than just Singleton, Handley and himself.

  “Yes sir, that’s very true,” Wood said, “but then we were trying to cover as much of the building as possible in just one day. We were working through it with limited manpower and only the ammo we carried. We were not able to actually secure the building as we went and therefore we were leaving ourselves open to attack, from behind as well as from in front. I assume if we went back we would proceed differently, secure it section by section and make safe the areas we wanted to use.”

  Denny was still not happy. “It won’t work. We have survived here for the past three weeks now, we’ve had the strictest of security regimes and nevertheless we’ve lost several men. Every time we go off station we jeopardise ourselves. If we were to relocate to these labs where it’s not at all safe, then even after securing it section by section we’re laying ourselves open to massive losses of life. Where would we go for example to maintain and repair the vehicles? Where would we all eat? Where would we have our medical section? No, it’s just too unsafe.”

  As well as Hutchison he seemed to have the support of Walkden and Vallage. It was Singleton’s turn now to try and convince them.

  “Look, I don’t want to go back there any more than anybody else does. It was…” she shuddered just thinking about it but took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. “Well, we may well experience some loss of life if we went back but to be brutally honest this is more important. What we’re talking about is the potential cure for mankind, and surely that’s worth taking the chance for? We could possibly save some people and prevent any others from becoming ill. Without this, let’s face it, we’re lost anyway. We have just got to try. This is unequivocally the one most important thing left for any of us to do, without any exception.”

  She spoke passionately and found it hard to control her voice without it breaking. It just seemed so obvious, so undeniable, that this was what they absolutely had got to do, and so it was totally incomprehensible to her that anyone would argue differently. She had expected an instantaneous, unanimous vote to return to the labs as soon as possible and she was taking the rejection from various parties personally. Lewis put a hand on her arm to try to calm her down.

  “Well it’s no good if there are none of us left to develop the drug, nobody left to cure the sick,” Denny argued, getting louder and going red. “We have a safe environment here. We have medical facilities here. Why can’t we just develop the cure here? You say that this doctor has left you a virtual instruction manual? So use it, but use it from the safety of a well-defended military base, not from a perilous and unsecured civilian lab.”

  “No,” she replied, somewhat sharply. “We need access to the facilities that they have at GVF. They were created there. They will have the resources and the equipment to make the cure there. We just don’t have the equipment here. We can’t do it.”

  Lewis sighed and stood up. “Okay I think we’re getting nowhere fast. Why don’t we take a break to cool off and talk about this again later.”

  Denny was adamant though. “There’s nothing to discuss. It’s an insane idea and it won’t work.”

  Lewis looked down at him with a sad, resigned expression. He had expected
an argument and he had expected to have to persuade people that this plan, as terrifying as it most definitely was, really was necessary. But he was still disappointed that his commanding officer was so closed to reason, so unable to see that there was no alternative. Yes, it would be extremely hazardous to return, none of them wanted to go through that hell again. It would be much easier and more comfortable for them all just to remain safe where they were and wait until the infected died out through hunger or disease or whatever causes ended their rampage. But as Singleton had said, this was now the single most important labour for any of them to undertake. Indisputably. Without exception. He shrugged and the assembled all stood and made to leave the conference room.

  As they filed out Straddling surprised Lewis again by taking him by the arm and steering him away from the others. “I’m on your side with this laddie,” he whispered conspiratorially in his ear. “This isn’t over just yet.”

  When Singleton re-entered the medical centre she was extremely deflated. She flopped into a chair and held her head in her hands and failed to notice that Handley was jigging around in excitement.

  “It’s no good, they weren’t convinced,” she started to sob. The last twenty-four hours had been a real roller coaster of emotions and this disappointment had hit her hard. “They aren’t going to go for it. I couldn’t get Denny to see that we have got to relocate to GVF.”

  Handley’s enthusiasm was hardly diminished though. “Well what did everyone else think?”

  “Half of them seemed in favour of it, at least I think they were.” Singleton blew her nose and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. “Even Straddling, amazingly enough.”

  “Well in that case I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Handley practically dismissed the subject as though it was unimportant. “I’m sure with the help of the others we’ll talk them around. And there will probably be somebody else to speak on our behalf too.”