Z Strain

by SJ Morris

  If those four men that Chris and Troy talked about were there, I didn’t know what I would do. I don’t think I could play nice with them, knowing what they were like but it didn’t seem that Chris or Tom would let them in.

  I prayed that Dan, Lance, and everyone else back at the house hadn't already.

  Chapter 13

  I pulled up to the little box outside the chain-link fence and pushed the call button.

  “Hey, Mom! Is everyone okay?”

  “Tyler, it’s so good to hear your voice. Yes, everyone is okay and we have a few more people along with us. There will be three cars coming in behind me.”

  “More? If you keep going out and bringing in more people we’re going to have to think about expanding!”

  “Why who else has arrived?”I said very seriously.

  All I could think was,‘Please don’t be here, please don’t be here.’

  “Mark and Mary showed up about an hour ago and some family members of Dan and Kristen too. That’s it so far. Why? You sound worried.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m just worried about people, the people we invited, getting here safely.”That wasn’t entirely bullshit.“Open the gate, please and don’t forget the other cars behind me. I don’t want the spike strips coming up as they’re driving over them. We already changed Troy’s tire and I’ve had my fill of changing tires in the last few days!”I had to end on a positive note or Tyler would have bugged me every second for the better part of the next few days, unless I told him who I didn’t want to be here.

  The gates opened, the spike strips disappeared into the dirt, and we moved to the next gate. As soon as we pulled up to it, the gates closed behind the second police cruiser Chris was driving, and the metal doors in front of me opened. That was definitely a good fail-safe to be sure the infected did not get in when we were coming or going. I was extremely thankful for all of my husband’s secrets. Some more than others, though.

  We unloaded everyone out of the cars and got Jasmine to the infirmary downstairs. It definitely felt weird being down there, knowing what was behind the shiny silver doors to surgical suite A.

  Tom looked at me knowingly as he laid Jasmine on one of the beds in the front of the main open treatment area.

  We both looked at the doors at the far end of the room and just looked at each other. Neither of us knew what to do. Now that Troy was here, we’d have to show him and ask him to make that decision. I also had to keep in mind that when the monster was a little boy, he had a loving mother and that mother was upstairs, thinking her little boy was gone.

  He was, but not in the physical sense.

  There was nothing left of the sweet Cooper I only got to know for a few hours, but I doubted that Nicole would see it that way.

  Dan’s mother, Nancy Bakers, who had arrived a few hours before we got back, was a retired combat medic who had worked as a surgeon when she retired from the military. Dan’s father, Tony was here too. He was a carpenter, so he was upstairs catching up with Dan. No need for him down here.

  Nancy, though, she was definitely an awesome person to have around. My skills as a doctor were limited and it seemed like I was now going to be off the doctor hook, per say.

  She immediately went to work on Jasmine and determined she did indeed have a concussion. We checked her over for scratches and bite marks but found none. Tom looked so defeated as he held this stranger's hand.

  “What’s the matter, Tom? It’s just a concussion. You didn’t hit her with the door on purpose. She’ll be fine.”

  “I know. I just feel really bad that I didn’t say anything before I broke the door down.”

  “You know the infected are attracted by sound. We’re all learning a new way to fight and survive here, you can’t think of yourself as the exception. We’re only a few days into this new chaotic mess we now have to call living.”

  “I know.”He seemed to just get sadder and then started rubbing his thumb over the top of her wrist.

  “Alright, I call bullshit. You don’t feel bad about knocking her out…Well, you do but that’s not it. What else is going on, Tom? I know we’ve only known each other for a few days but you can talk to me if you need to. You need to get it out. I know this from what I went through with Jack. I kept everything in for so long, it started to eat me alive. When I finally talked to someone about what I was going through, I felt so much better. Talk to me.”

  “Well... She looks like Melissa. It’s scary, actually, how much she looks like her. We were going to have a baby and get married but when I went away to boot camp, I lost both of them.”

  “I’m so sorry, Thomas. Losing people you love is difficult, especially with so much death around us now. She’s not Melissa, but I’m sure Jasmine will be happy to know that someone is worried about her and helping her now.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. It’s just that when I saw her, it seemed like Melissa had never left me like she was still alive.”

  “Melissa may be gone, but this beautiful woman is here and safe because of you. If you help Nancy here with taking care of Jasmine, I’m sure when she wakes up she’ll be very happy to get to know you. Even if you did accidentally knock her out!”

  Tom just smiled at me and I knew he was going to be okay. It’s hard to figure out what’s going on with people that you’ve known for years, let alone someone you just met, but I was happy that Tom knew he could talk to me if he needed to.

  He might be a big, bad, marine but we all have things that can get to us. I needed Tom to not be upset.

  We all did if we were going to make it through this.

  Troy came through the door to the infirmary and his eyes went wide. He looked like a kid in a candy store for the first time. He already had his hands full of notebooks and his laptop.

  “Where should I hook up and put my stuff?”

  “Well, I think we should set you up down there, but I want to show you in first.”I pointed down to the end of the room where the surgical suite that held Cooper was.

  “Let’s go, then!”Troy said with a huge smile. He was not going to keep that smile for much longer. I would bet my life on that.

  I looked at Tom and he didn't even look up at me. I guess handling the ghost of his past love and the infected little Cooper at the same time was too much for him to handle. I started to turn away and Tom cleared his throat and jingled the key for the surgical room towards me.

  I grabbed the keys as nicely as I could and walked slowly to the doors. I heard Tom say something to Nancy and thankfully she walked out of the room. I wanted as few people to know about this as possible. I knew this was going to blow up in my face sooner or later, but I was hoping for later.

  I looked over at Troy with a serious expression.

  “You have to not make any sudden movements and please, don’t scream,”I said quietly.

  “Oh no... Do I really want this for my lab? What’s in there?”

  “Well, I told you about the kids we rescued right? One was bitten and turned while he was here. We didn’t know what to do because he’s only four and we already had him inside the cabin. I figured we’d leave that up to you since you know more about the Z-Strain than anyone else.”

  “What... wait a minute...”

  I didn’t give Troy a chance to say anything else. I opened the door and there was Cooper, still infected.

  It was impossible and irrational but I still hoped with everything in my heart that I’d open the door and he’d be back to a little boy. He started thrashing and moaning at the sight of us. The soft restraints were leaving marks in his arms he was pulling so tightly against them that he even started to bleed black infected blood from one of his ankles. Troy gasped at the sight of the infected Cooper and then held his arm up to his nose to stifle the smell. He just stood, staring for a good couple of minutes.

  I brought him around by grabbing some of the books he had in his hands and put them on the counter. He gave Cooper a wide berth and came over to me to put his laptop down on the same c
ounter.

  “We’re going to need to tighten those restraints. You know that, right? He doesn’t have a lot of room now, but he’s already started bleeding and that’s going to make it easier for him to slip out of them.”

  “I know. I think we need to discuss if it’s worth keeping Cooper around or not, first.”

  “Cooper... that was his name?”

  “Yes. He was four and we found him with his friends outside the gates here. They had run from their preschool after some parents showed up for their children but were infected. One of the teachers saved them, but he was already bitten. From what I could tell, it only took a few hours for the infection to take over.

  “Really? That would mean the Z-Strain is taking over more quickly than what I’ve seen before, substantially quicker.”

  “Yes, it would, Troy and I have so many things I want to talk to you about, but what do we do with him? When we went to the school this morning, we found his mother, Nicole. We brought her here too, but she doesn’t know about him. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Well, I don’t know. Why would you leave that up to me?”

  “You’re the one studying them! When we knew he was going to change, I didn’t know what to do. What am I supposed to do, kill a four-year-old? It’s an impossible situation!”

  “Yes... yes, it is. I think the only thing to do is to tell his mother, have her say her last goodbyes and then we have to... um... end it.”

  “I don’t know. Nicole seems pretty out of it and I don’t want her to flip out, or go crazy, or something.”

  “Well, then we keep it quiet. We bring her down here just like you did with me and just show her. No one is around and we’re pretty far underground, so if she screams, I don’t think the others will hear.”

  “That’s not the part I’m worried about. What happens when it’s over? She’s going to tell people that we hid him down here, maybe that we even did this to him so you could experiment on him or something.”

  “You can’t think like that, Abby. She’ll be a mother, mourning the loss of her son. She probably thinks he’s gone already since he wasn’t at the school.”

  “That’s what I mean. She’s mourning his death already. If we show her him like this, she might not be able to take it. I think we should just get rid of him quietly.”

  “Wait. Didn’t you say that he came in with the other kids? Aren’t they going to say something to her if they know her?”

  “Oh shit. I didn’t even think of that. We have to tell her, then.”

  “It’s the right thing to do, Abby and you know it. It’s just how to handle it that's the problem.”

  “I think you’re right. Just bring her down here by herself and show her. Let her decide what’s next.”

  It was settled. We needed to tell Nicole that her son was infected and have her make the decision to end it or see if there was anything that could be done. I needed to use the bathroom and shower.

  I was hot, angry, hungry, and tired. This was the never-ending day, it seemed.

  The never ending three days was more like it. I looked at the clock on the wall above Cooper’s little, thrashing form and it was three-thirty. I had not eaten anything other than the granola bar this morning so I knew I was going to need to eat something before we had our talk with Nicole.

  Troy and I gave each other an hour. He was going to start unpacking his stuff from his car and bringing his lab equipment down here. I was going to get something to eat and get cleaned up. We were to meet back at the infirmary and I was going to bring Nicole.

  I walked past Tom. He was still holding Jasmine’s hand, but he was now sleeping in the chair next to her bed.

  I would leave him be until I brought Nicole down. I might need him to help me restrain her when she saw her son.

  I dreaded what the next hour would bring, so much so, that the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had tasted like nothing.

  I took a shower and changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and cotton t-shirt but I didn’t feel clean.

  I looked at my phone and it was 4:15pm. I had fifteen minutes to get Nicole and convince her to come downstairs with me, without getting her or anyone else suspicious. I opened my bedroom door and there was Chris with his hand up just about to knock.

  “Not now, Chris. I really don’t have the time for anything and I really don’t have it in me to have anything else happen right now, please.”

  “Troy told me what was going on and I wanted to ask if you needed my help.”

  “Oh, okay. Yeah, I guess I could use your help, thanks. Sorry for the attitude. I’ve just had about as much as I can take right now and there’s still more to come.”

  “No need to apologize, I get it. It’s been a rough few days for all of us.”He said with honest sincerity in his voice.

  “Can you head downstairs now and already be in the room waiting for us? If she sees you coming with us she might think something’s up.”

  “Sure. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”Chris turned and walked away without another word. He was just as unhappy to be a part of this as I was, but he still volunteered.

  I knew that I was becoming more and more fond of Chris, which still scared me.

  However, that was something to think about another time.

  Right now, I had to find Nicole.

  I walked around the house a little, pretending to check on everyone. Kristen was in the kitchen, preparing what looked to be a turkey with all of the Thanksgiving fixings. She told me that Nicole might be outside with the kids.

  I walked outside and Troy was just coming in with what looked like his last load of equipment since his car was now empty. He nodded and kept heading back towards the house without a word.

  I followed the sounds of laughter and children playing to the back of the house. There were a few picnic tables in the yard. Some had coloring books and crayons on them, others had cookies and juice boxes, and another had Nicole.

  She was sitting by herself under the shade of an apple tree, just watching the kids play. She had tears in her eyes, but as I sat down next to her she quickly wiped them away.

  “How are you doing, Nicole?”

  “I’m good, I guess. Kristen got me some fresh clothes and I was able to get cleaned up and eat something. Everyone here is really nice.”

  “Good, I’m glad.”

  “I know what you are doing out here, Abby.”

  “Really?”I was surprised to hear that and I highly doubted she was right, but I was not going to stop her from trying to sort it out for herself.

  “Yes. I know you’re worried about me. I lost my only son. I have no other family I can turn to. Even if I could find them, they probably wouldn’t still be alive. You came here to give me something to do. Give me a job to keep me busy and get my mind off of what’s happened.”

  “Ah, yeah. That’s exactly what I was going to do. Are you okay with that?”She gave me the perfect way to get her downstairs and I was going to take it.

  “Yeah, I guess. I don’t think watching the children play is the best for me right now. I miss my little Cooper so much that it hurts to see them. It makes me mad that they made it and not my Cooper, which is scaring me.”

  “You have every right to feel sad and angry. As long as you don’t act on those feelings, we’re all going to be able to get through this... together.”

  “Thanks. You are all such good people here. Thank you for taking me in and for taking care of the children you saved.”

  I’m not going to kid you, that last comment stung a little and almost brought me to tears. I knew it wasn’t my fault that Cooper was infected, but I still felt like I should have done something more, something to make it right.

  I just had no idea what that could have been.

  I told her I needed help getting some supplies from the downstairs storage rooms and she followed me willingly. I showed her downstairs and we got to the doors for the infirmary. I almost couldn’t bring myself to do it, but I kne
w that I had to. If it were one of my kids, I would want to know and be able to bury my child, to say goodbye, and have closure.

  So, I reluctantly pushed through the doors. I saw Tom waiting with Jasmine, who was apparently still down for the count. Tom refused to even look up at us. It seemed like Nicole was so out of it, that she didn’t realize where we were.

  I came to a stop at the surgical suite doors and knocked very quietly. I heard a whisper that it was okay to come in and I turned to Nicole with tears in my eyes. She looked at me with a puzzled face.

  “I’m sorry,”I mumbled as I opened the door.

  Nicole looked past me, to the thrashing monster that used to be her little boy and just stared. She didn’t or simply couldn’t move.

  Either way, she remained as still as a statue.

  After a few moments, tears sprung from her eyes and she looked around at everyone in the room, angrily.

  “We wanted you to know where he was. I didn’t want you to think he had somehow gotten away from the daycare and was alone, looking for you. I know that would tear me up inside.”I said to break the silence.

  “You know nothing! You kept my poor boy tied up in this room while I was walking around looking for him! How dare you? Let him go immediately or I will call the police and have you all arrested for kidnapping my son!”She was obviously not handling this well.

  “Nicole, please. This isn’t Cooper anymore. He was gone yesterday when he was infected. What you’re looking at isn’t your little boy anymore.”

  “Yes, it is! I’ll show you. You let him out and I will show you!”She stepped all the way into the room and straight for the bed he was tied to.

  Chris came around from the back of the bed to hold her back and she fought him ferociously. Troy just stood there and watched, solemnly.

  Tom came up behind me to see if we needed to help but saw that Chris had her restrained enough and he went back to sitting with Jasmine. This was definitely not turning out the way I wanted it to.

  “Nicole, Cooper is gone. I wanted you to be able to see him and to tell us what to do. How should we help him? Troy is nowhere near finding a cure for this and even if there was one, it probably wouldn’t be for people that are already infected. It would be against the infection being able to spread and kill people.”