Zombified (Book 1): The Head Hunter

by Sowder, Kindra

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Because someone has to and now after you blew it, it might as well be me.”

  “Do you even know what you injected yourself with? Or what it’ll do to you?” Jenkins asked him, glaring at him and looking him directly in the eye as anger caused his nostrils to flare. “Or what you injected me with?”

  “Have a little faith, Colonel,” Caesar said as he smirked, knowing that even though he had only managed to inject a small amount of the serum into Jenkins, it would have some effect. He just wasn’t sure what that would be yet and only time would tell.

  Heat flared within Caesar’s belly, stinging at first and then burning and cramping. He cried out and curled around the pain, his vision blackening around the edges as his veins started to sting as if on fire. He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself as nausea crept from within his stomach and up into his throat. He swallowed it down, but then his vision went entirely black as the pain became too much, and everything went silent.

  ***

  Colonel Jenkins couldn’t believe that that stupid scientist had injected him with something for which the consequences were unknown. It had angered him so much that he had sincerely considered committing violence against the man, but it seemed that karma took care of that all on its own when Meldano began to cry out in pain, blacking out shortly after. He decided that it would be best to leave the man in the lab he loved so much, dragging him into the room and engaging the electronic locking system that was normally automatically activated when a biological agent was free, but could be turned on manually if you knew the codes.

  Jenkins didn’t work directly for Area 51 but had been given those codes when he was brought in to speak to the scientists who collaborated in the lab here on Floor X just in case. He turned to his companions, seeing the case of emergency equipment in the small room that was just off to the left of the conference room, and made his way there.

  “We need to leave. If Meldano said there were those things here in the building we need to find somewhere safe to stay until we can figure all of this out,” Jenkins ordered, picking up a gas mask that was hooked up to a metal oxygen tank. From the looks of it, you could strap it to your back, put on the mask and be on your merry way.

  “We don’t even know what it’s like up there, Colonel. What if it’s worse?” the man in the button-down and suit pants asked. The other man had been relatively quiet the entire time, not saying a word and only observing what happened around him. Jenkins ignored him.

  “That doesn’t matter now. The office has been compromised, especially after the stunt Meldano pulled. We need to get out of here and get out fast, before that stuff he injected himself with turns him into something that could kill us all.”

  The woman took one of the gas masks in her hands and looked at the colonel. “He got you with it, too. Who’s to say that you won’t turn into something that could kill us, too?”

  Jenkins thought about that for a second, staring at each person in turn and shrugged, deciding it didn’t matter. It wasn’t a full dose. Barely even a fraction of one so he wasn’t worried in the slightest. The soldiers he had brought with him followed closely, watching their superior’s back as if someone would turn against him, which he knew they wouldn’t.

  “I’ll be okay.” He picked up a mask and tank and handed them to one of the men. “Now, let’s put these on and get going. We don’t know if that mist is still floating around outside. If any of you want to stay behind that’s on you, but I’m going, and I don’t care if any of you tag along.”

  Each person looked at one another, the question hanging in the air. Who would stay and who would go? It was just a matter of decision making now, and Jenkins needed them to make the decision quickly before he decided just to leave all of them there to fend for themselves. He watched as heads nodded and the woman began to strap on the oxygen tank, placing the gas mask firmly over her face.

  “These tanks last a few hours, so that’ll be long enough for us to see what it looks like outside. If the mist is gone we should be able to remove them,” she said with an echo as she spoke into the mask. Air hissed in and out of the mask, the fluorescent lights reflecting off the thick plastic covering her face as she looked out at everyone.

  Jenkins nodded and followed suit, the other two men strapping the tanks to their back and placing the masks over their faces. Each one of them came from different walks of life, and he liked that they could take orders and follow directions, even if he knew they wouldn’t last long once they left the building or even the floor.

  “All right, let’s go,” Jenkins said as he pushed out of the spare room, through the conference room and out into the hallway. He knew the elevators were down so the only way to go would be the stairwell, climbing each flight of stairs and hoping they didn’t run into anything dangerous on the way. Jenkins and his soldiers removed their guns from their holsters as they approached the door that Meldano had come out of, opening it as quickly as he could to find nothing except the dead bodies he had expected on the landing.

  A strangled cry came from the woman, whose name he still didn’t care to ask for, as bloody arms and gnashing teeth were all he saw.

  ***

  When Caesar awoke, he could barely stand the light, even if it were only the dim lights of the laboratory. He opened his eyes and instantly regretted it, blinking past the circular aura that formed around each light bulb that he could see. One hand came up instinctively to cover them, but he noticed something about his vision as well as the flesh that covered his hand. Confusion washed over him in a wave and his ears rang slightly, the sound fading the longer he was awake. His body felt odd, like he was floating on clouds, barely feeling the ground underneath him as reality came screaming back at him. His mind was fuzzy as he stood, staring at his hand and arm in shock. A blue network of veins had formed beneath his skin, branching out from where he had injected himself with ‘Faith.’

  “Wha . . .?” he began until he saw his reflection in the shining metal on the side of the laboratory refrigerator.

  They had made a habit of keeping the lab completely sterile up until all of this happened. He hadn’t even intended on injecting himself with the serum, but it had seemed like the only viable option to possibly save humanity from whatever this was that was taking their planet away from them.

  He took a step closer to the reflective surface, running his hand over his chin as he inspected his eyes. They had been brown but were now a startling red. Even more of his veins had become visible underneath his slightly tanned flesh, spreading up the side of his neck and toward his face, disappearing just below his jawline. He blinked past the startlingly clear vision. It had previously been slightly blurry when looking at objects that were farther away, but now he could see everything; even the small scratches in the shining metal of the icebox, which he would’ve never noticed before. He made a sound of amusement and turned away from the fridge, looking through the glass of the door to see if there was anyone left in the conference room. He walked to the door and placed a hand on the glass, seeing no one. Upon further investigation, he realized that all the oxygen tanks that had been in a smaller room off the conference room that he could see perfectly from where he stood were gone. He moaned, anger blooming within his chest as he gave the door a good kick, knowing he couldn’t break it.

  He leaned his head against the door and sighed. “Caesar, my man, looks like you may have gotten yourself locked in your own lab.”

  He laughed and stood, removing his wallet and opening it to take out his Area 51 identification card. It had a magnetic strip on the back that you ran through a card reader next to the door. It would unlock it as long as the emergency locking mechanism on the outside hadn’t been triggered. Without even a thought, he slid the card through the reader next to the door, the small red light on it blinking as the computer inside of it worked to confirm who he was. When he had been expecting the green light at the top to come on, the red light stayed
on, and there was a loud screeching sound that told him he was not permitted to leave the lab. Now not only was he angry, he was panicked. He was locked here with no food, water, or supplies of any kind. They didn’t keep that in the lab for excellent reasons, all having to do with new health codes and experimental guidelines set forth by Area 51 themselves. Caesar turned around and leaned against the glass, running his hand over his face as he thought of a way to get himself out of there.

  “Well, well, that Jenkins isn’t as stupid as he looks,” Caesar mused drily.

  The lab was dead quiet as he stood there and thought of an escape route. The glass on the doors was bulletproof because of the constant threat of attacks on any of the field offices because of what they did there. Not only was it experiments like ‘Faith,’ but it was so much more. When everyone wanted to raid Area 51 because of aliens they truly had no idea what they would find, which meant security was evaluated and beefed up to avoid casualties just in case. Now, because of it, he wasn’t entirely sure how he was going to get out of here before he starved to death if he even could after dosing himself. He was still unsure of what the serum would do to him, but that didn’t matter now, did it?

  Caesar spotted a large air vent toward the back of the lab and smirked. That air vent would be his saving grace, and he didn’t care where it led as long as it was out of this lab. He could navigate the entire field office with his eyes closed, which was something he prided himself on because no one else could. Not even the scientists or other highly valuable staff who had been there much longer than him. He practically ran to the vent, kneeling on the floor and inspecting the covering to see if he could even open it. He was in luck. As yet another safety precaution, because Area 51 officials hated not having a backup plan, the cover of the vent was one that could be opened without a screwdriver. Their paranoia was working in his favor, and they had indeed been prepared for anything and everything as far as apocalyptic disasters were concerned. Of course they knew more than anyone too, so that was helpful.

  He removed the vent cover and looked inside, seeing only darkness beyond the light that barely made its way into it. Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart, he shoved his body into the narrow vent, hoping it would lead to deliverance.

  Chapter 6

  Nashville, Tennessee

  May 2020

  Area 51 Field Office

  When Caesar finally emerged from within the air ducts, he was in another lab, but it was one that wasn’t high security like the one on Floor X, so the same locking mechanisms weren’t in place. This one was set up much the same, but with less shining metal implements. It was littered with the same expensive equipment, Area 51’s field offices containing some of the most advanced laboratories besides the massive one in the main office in Nevada hidden beneath the desert sands. The gun was firmly gripped in his hand just in case anything were to jump out to rip out a chunk of his flesh and turn him into one of those things he had seen in the stairwell. That was something he wanted to avoid at all costs. His eyes scanned the lab for any other weapons he could find, seeing nothing that could be of use besides what he was already holding.

  A metal clang rang through the air, causing him to stiffen and raise the gun, moving toward the sound. He wasn’t sure what he would find, but he was prepared for anything. Hope bloomed in his chest at the thought of possibly meeting more survivors, since the only ones he had met up until this point had decided to turn against him, knowing this cure could very well save humanity from whatever this was.

  Once Caesar rounded the corner within the lab, he found the source of the clatter. A few of the creatures he had seen before had knocked over some of the larger equipment, sending it across the floor with a strength that their deteriorating bodies shouldn’t have had. They were right in front of the exit door, requiring him to kill his way out of the lab, if not the entire building entirely. He doubled back and hid against the wall, holding the gun up toward the ceiling with the safety off, waiting for his chance to use the weapon. He took a couple of deep breaths in and rounded the corner again, aiming the gun at the head of the nearest creature. His aim was impeccable as he fired, the first shot hitting it directly in the back of the head, spraying blood, brain matter, and pieces of bone onto the others. They turned with the sound, coming for Caesar in a slow and clumsy stumble that only the dead seemed to have.

  Caesar back peddled as they neared him, shouting as he squeezed the trigger. One bullet ricocheted off the side of a metal file cabinet, but the others found their home nestled in the brains of the creatures. Within seconds, one of the spider-like beings began to wriggle from within the skull of one of the bodies, morphing from the blob of a jelly-filled sack to the hissing and angry monster that only sought to find a new skull to burrow into. It noticed him, shuffling backward and lowering its front in a defensive crouch, just waiting to strike. Without warning, it launched at Caesar, causing him to fire his last round in the gun and missing his target entirely. He was able to dodge it, and it landed behind him, but Caesar had no other weapons at his disposal besides the empty gun in his hand. He threw it at the creature as hard as he could, the metal bouncing off the shining exoskeleton it developed outside of the human body. The impact only managed to anger it even more.

  It hissed and jumped at him again, but his instincts took over quickly. His hand shot out and grabbed the spider around the mid-section, his mouth falling open in shock at what his body knew to do after the ‘Faith’ serum had been injected. He wasn’t confident that this was an after-effect of the serum, but he wanted to believe it was. The overwhelming urge to crush the spider took over, and he applied pressure to its exoskeleton, causing it to crack under the pressure of his large hand. The creature squirmed and screeched as its insides began to leak out through the cracks of the exoskeleton, running down his skin like warm egg whites. Its legs slowed and it fell silent, ceasing any movement altogether, and Caesar knew it was dead. He dropped the empty carcass to the ground and shook his hand to rid himself of the disgusting slime that had come out of the monster he had just killed. He wasn’t sure how he had done it, but he had, and he was elated, grinning broadly as he silently celebrated his victory over the insect- like being.

  He noticed that one of the bodies near the door was a soldier and, as he walked toward him to see if he had any weapons on him, he noticed it was one of the soldiers who had met him when he first entered Floor X earlier in the day. His red hair was coated in blood and other human body by-products, and his face had been ravaged. The only way Caesar recognized him at all was the copper hair as it gleamed in the fluorescent lights of the lab.

  “Well, I guess this is what happens when you follow Jenkins around, huh?” he said more to himself as he kneeled down beside the body and inspected it for weapons. He was able to find a handgun, the same model he had just emptied out on the remnants of what had attacked him.

  His mind went back to his wife and daughter, hoping that this wasn’t what they had become after their deaths. He didn’t want to believe they were soulless creatures bound to the Earth by these insect-like monsters that stole what they were from them. He sighed and rubbed his face with his hand, taking the gun and checking to see how many rounds were in the weapon. The clip was full, and there was one in the chamber. Caesar was beginning to think these military oafs were a lot dumber than they looked. He hadn’t even fired off a single round at what attacked him, leaving himself wide open for an attack that he had seen coming. His face was a massacre of blood and raw flesh. Caesar rose to his feet and said a silent prayer for the well-being of the soldier’s soul, aiming the gun at the fallen soldier’s head where he knew one of those things had to be making a nice, comfy home for itself before this man would rise as whatever creature they became.

  Without warning, the soldier took a deep, gasping breath, and shot up onto his elbows, reaching out toward Caesar with one bloodied hand. He gripped Caesar’s pant leg, leaving a smear of blood behind, and when Caesar looked him in the eye he fe
lt pity for him. He knew that he would have to end whatever semblance of life ran through this man's veins now. But what did that mean for Caesar after injecting himself with the ‘Faith’ serum? He decided he would worry about that once he made it to a safe place. Who knew what the true effects of it were, but at the time Caesar hadn’t truly thought about it. He just did it.

  His aim was steady as he fired into the brain of the risen soldier, blood, brain, and bone spattering the once pristine floor beneath his feet, leaving a beautiful spray of the same on his shoes. He stood there for a moment and watched the massive exit wound the bullet had left behind, waiting to see if there were movement from within that meant one of those things would surely be making its way out to find a new host. Nothing happened so he turned away from the body and began to make his way toward the ground floor of the building, hoping that this would be much easier than what he had been through inside so far. It would’ve been no love lost if he never saw either creature he had encountered again.

  His military training kicked in, and he crouched slightly as he approached a doorway once he had made it down the hallway, his gun out and leveled at the door. The door pushed in so, instead of using his hand to open it, he nudged it with his foot and, when he heard nothing, slid it open farther. This was an entirely different stairwell than the one he had used to come down to Floor X; the blood smeared on the walls going up the stairs and the absence of bodies on this particular landing making that fact obvious. He blew out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding and made it way up the steps until he came to yet another door on yet another landing, but this one was the one he was looking for. There was a black sign next to it that read ‘L,’ meaning he had finally made it to the lobby floor. Now he only had to reach the armory that would hold what he needed to get to his destination, plus any other weapon he could possibly need.