When she awoke, she was back on the table with new clothing.
“The hell?” she croaked, her throat raw and sore. Lifting a trembling hand, she wiped the back of it across her dry lips.
“Please try to remain calm. You’ve gone through a transformation and need to rest.”
Her mind was fuzzy and disorientated. It seemed as if the room spun around her. Sitting up only made it worse, but after a moment she swung her heavy legs over the side of the bed.
“Let me out of here.” She stared at the camera in the corner, the blinking light seeming to mock her distress. Anger tightened her grip on the edge of the table until her heard the metal groan. Glancing down, she saw near perfect imprints of her hands in the bed. She wondered just how strong she was after the change.
Standing slowly and letting the dizziness pass, she walked to the door and pressed her hands against the smooth metal surface. Making a fist, she punched the metal lightly and a dent appeared.
“Get back on the table. Now!” the voice above her commanded.
“Yeah, about that.” She punched harder, the dent went deeper still. The small window in the top middle of the door broke easily. Cuts appeared in her flesh and then vanished just as quickly. Testing herself, she kept beating on the door harder until the metal screamed and bent inward. She stepped back a few feet and eyed the door. The hinges and latch were the weakest points. Aiming for the edge of the doorframe, she got a running start and used her body as a battering ram. The door bent further outward. She ran at it again, this time creating a gap in the frame that allowed her to see the hallway outside. Two more hits and the door broke off the hinges and hung sideways. Shoving it aside, she climbed over the remains of the door and into the hallway.
There was a guard there, standing immobile in shock. His rifle hung useless from a strap on his chest. Catching a whiff of him, she smiled and lunged. He reacted too slowly for her incredible speed; his attempts to bring up his weapon were useless. Her arms snaked around his neck and her knees slammed into his chest, causing him to tumble backward. Kelle rode him to the floor, tearing into the man’s throat on the way down. She ripped off his helmet, tossing it aside, and bit so deep into his neck that she gagged on the spurt of blood.
The flavor was amazing. His flesh tasted better than any meal she’d ever eaten as a human. His screams died quickly and she fed until she couldn’t eat anymore. His body lay in pieces at her feet and she wore a dress of blood and gore.
The alarms wailed, the red and white flashing lights burning her eyes. Shielding her eyes, she looked at the floor and followed the hallway to the right where the smell of blood was coming from.
The blood trail she followed had cooled and was slippery under her bare feet. Every step added to the tracks already left by that bitch, Molly. Her mind felt strange, like it wasn’t her own. There was an invader. She could feel it swimming through her body, changing things—the same way she’d changed after they’d wheeled a cart full of meat into her room. Her muscles rippled and stretched with every movement. Stepping over the remains of a nurse, Kelle looked through the fist-sized hole in the glass and discovered the twisted body of the doctor. He was the same one who’d spoken to her. Or tried to anyhow. Something was missing from inside her, she felt wrong, as if she was someone else. There was enough left of her own mind that she wanted to find out why. Seeing the ID badge clipped on the doctor’s pocket, she knew it would get her out of here. The hole in the glass was too small to fit through, but that was dealt with easily.
Smashing it open with her fists only took a few minutes, the cuts she received from the sharp edges healed in seconds, before she even had a chance to feel it. Climbing through the glass, she dropped down next to the doctor’s corpse, landing in a crouch with terrifying feline grace.
“I’ll take that.” Grabbing the badge and patting his cheek, his cool skin was still soft and pliable under her touch. “You really screwed the pooch this time, didn’t you, Doc?” Kelle chuckled to herself.
Stretching her arms over her head, she groaned with pleasure at the feel of the strength she now possessed. “I’m really starting to like this new me. Feels so good.” She ran her hands down her body, smearing the blood all over her skin; enjoying the slickness of it along her body. It felt so amazing it was borderline erotic.
Skipping down the hallway, she found a line of cages full of zombies. They called out, reaching for her. Using the keycard she opened doors as she went, the zombies inside immediately followed her. She could feel them in her head, squirming around and bumping together. Commanding them came naturally, there was no learning curve. She thought it and they did it. Easy as pie.
A set of wide double doors ahead had a sign that read ‘Authorized Personnel Only’. “Bingo, my friends.” Talking to the dead horde behind her felt as natural as talking to herself. In a way it was the same. They shared a mind, her mind. She could feel that now. Every minute she was near them, the closer they became. “Stay here, my pets. This is for Mommy’s eyes only.”
Tapping the key card on the scanner near the door, a loud metallic click sounded and she pushed the doors open with a flourish. Florescent lights turned on with the opening of the door. Shielding her eyes with one hand she slapped at the wall with the other until she found the switch, blessed darkness was a cool relief to her burning eyes. The smell was the first thing to greet her, not the sweet, ripe smell that accompanied a beating heart but a nasty rancid odor of chemicals and rotting meat.
“Well, well, well, Doc. You were a baadd boy.” Gurneys with sheet-draped corpses were in a long neat row. A quick count revealed seven in total. “Let’s see what’s behind door number one!”
Flipping the sheet off the first table, Kelle found the body of a small boy, twelve or thirteen maybe. His left leg was missing from mid-thigh down, the wound ragged and torn. No doubt that cause of death. The doc had opened the chest cavity and removed all the organs. She didn’t know a lot about anatomy but there should be something in there at least. Leaning closer she gagged at the sharp chemical smell that preserved his little body. His face looked strange, smushed and half formed, like someone pushed on the clay before it was dry. Kelle felt his face, squishing and shifting the skin around as if he was wearing a mask. Tracing her fingers into his hair she felt the incision then. Catching the edge, she pulled forward, the boy’s face folded down and exposed what was left of his skull. The doctor had cut off the top of his skull and the brain was missing.
“Eww. Come on, dude. What the hell? Waste of perfectly good brains here!”
Each corpse she looked at was the same. Hollowed out chest and bellies, empty brain buckets. Only three remained. “One, two, three!” she sang, ripping the sheets off them one at a time.
“Hello, Mother. Hello, Father. Hello, Brother. Here I am…at camp…” Shrugging and giving up on the song, she stared at the empty bodies of her parents and brother. The doc brought them here from the store. Each had a neat bullet wound to the forehead. She knew she should feel something, anger or sadness maybe, but the emotions she did feel felt far away and fuzzy. Like a radio that needed to be tuned, she could sort of hear the song, but it was distorted.
Leaving the bodies behind, she made her way over to a long bank of computers. In all the confusion, some idiot had left his on. Sitting down, she saw file after file, some with videos and some just reports. One of the videos showed the doctor and a few assistants slowly dissecting a live zombie, their monologue stating their purpose of discovering an alternative to brain trauma for killing them. They were unsuccessful.
One video file caught her eye. It was labeled, ‘Alphas Transformation’. Clicking it on it, she sat back to watch.
The screen showed the back room of the grocery store, Molly opened the cooler and her undead family burst free and attacked. She relived it in her mind as she watched. She felt the sharpness of their teeth, the searing pain as her mother and brother tore her apart. She saw herself die.
“This is fucking
weird as hell.” Shuddering she moved to close the file, but what she saw on the screen froze her in place. Her family stopped feeding and stood. They put their backs to the door as if they were guarding their now dead victims. “Why did they stop?”
The doctor had made audio notes on the video file. His voice was loud in the otherwise silent room. Apparently sometimes the dead do speak.
“The behavior we see here is consistent with the other Alpha subjects we have observed in the field. The attacking zombies seem to sense their queen’s transformation. They stop feeding before the point where the Alphas would be unable to turn. Often they guard the queen until the subject has risen and the transformation is complete. In the field, the attackers often bring food to their queens, no doubt to assist in completing the extreme physical changes we have observed with the two Alphas in our custody. I believe now, without a doubt, these new infected undead operate on a hive mind basis. The queen controls the workers and the workers protect the queen.”
Men in black combat gear burst onto the screen, three shots rapidly flashed and the undead version of her family fell. Quickly and efficiently they laid out body bags and hauled all five of them out of the store.
The video ended and Kelle clicked on the newest file, which was a report. Reading quickly she was amazed by what she learned. Words and phrases flashed in her mind as she read. DNA marker… Predisposed to violence… Virus mutation. Something in her DNA made it possible for her to become what she was.
Snapping back to the present, she laid down on the barn’s dirty wooden floor. Curling up like the child she used to be, she didn’t so much fall asleep as stop being awake. She had no fear of being killed in her sleep, her children would protect her.
Chapter 2
The wind blew tiny crystals of snow and ice into my face. If I were still human, I’d never survive out in this mess. Heedless of which direction I traveled, my only goal was getting as far from that damn house as possible. After that business with Ethan, I felt certain that my humanity was gone. It was something I would have to learn to live with. I tried not to think about what I’d done, the guilt of it would destroy me.
When I fed, Molly Everett disappeared and I turned into a monster. Just one taste and the virus—the evil—that made me different, took over.
Pulling my backpack straps tighter and keeping my thumbs hooked in them, I trudged through the snow that was over my knees. I was high-stepping like a Nazi just to get through the drifts. My goal was the trees ahead. At least in the cover of the forest, the wind would be less direct and the going easier. I did my best to empty my mind, to forget about everything for a moment and just walk. My only focus soon became simply putting one foot in front of the other. Time seemed to slip away and soon the snow subsided as dawn arrived.
I’d have to find shelter soon, my eyes were already beginning to water and itch, even with the sunglasses I wore.
The trees ahead thinned and opened out onto a road. I had no clue which one, but even covered in snow it was obviously a two-lane black top. Shading my eyes, I looked in both directions. There wasn’t so much as a deer track marring the perfect white blanket in either direction. I backed up into the trees and continued on, keeping the road to my left shoulder. I was sure I was alone, but I didn’t want to advertise my presence either.
Maybe fifteen more minutes of walking brought me to the outskirts of a town. The tree line ended and I was forced to leave the shelter of the woods. Deep silence surrounded me. Even with my heightened hearing, I couldn’t detect anything. Not even a bird chirping. I entered the town, following the curve of the road. Tracks crisscrossed the street. I couldn’t tell whether there were from zombies or humans—and I didn’t really care. I needed to find shelter and hide from the sun. And then, I’d be off again as soon as it set.
Taking a left at an intersection, I avoided the main street which was lined with shops and big homes. I didn’t want to risk running into anyone, alive or dead. I was starting to lag, exhaustion beginning to slow me down. The sun was sapping my strength.
I walked deeper into the town, looking for a house secluded away from any others. “Come on, dammit. I just want to sleep the day off,” I muttered to myself. My voice sounded strange to my ears among the deep quiet. Walking in the open, surrounded on all sides by snow, was similar to being inside a pillow. Everything was muffled and distant.
My heart hammered as my ears picked up on a sudden noise. Instinct told me to keep out of sight, so I ran for some bushes near the side of a house. I didn’t want to run into humans who shot first and asked questions later. With my blue lips and white skin they’d take me for an average zombie. I wouldn’t blame them for shooting me, but that didn’t mean I wanted to actually be shot. The noise became more distinct as it got closer. A snowmobile.
“Fuck me skipping sideways.” I hung my head and hid myself as best I could. Little good it would do, my tracks in the snow led right to me. What I couldn’t figure out was what the hell these fuckwads were thinking. The noise from the engines would draw in zombies from miles around. They were obviously doing this on purpose and I didn’t want to hang around and find out why.
Since the fall of society, groups of survivors had formed small communities. While some of those communities were your average people, trying to stay above ground for another day, others were murderous bands that relished in the brutality of this new world. The roar of the engine grew louder still, making my ears pound from the noise.
A black blur screamed down the road in front of me, snow kicking up and flying through the air. I considered making a run for it. There was a steep embankment leading to the woods behind the split-level house I hid near. A second snowmobile joined the first and they took turns racing up and down the street. The riders were bundled up in layers with helmets covering their faces, so it was impossible to tell if there were male or female. So far, they hadn’t noticed me, but I was sure it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
As baffled as I was by their behavior, I was just as desperate to move. On hands and knees behind the bush I crept toward the back of the house, pausing every time I heard the engines get louder. My speed would be an advantage. I could probably get to cover faster than they could get to me, but running across the open yard to the woods I may as well paint a target on my back. I hadn’t seen any weapons, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have them. I didn’t need to find out how good my healing was.
One of the snowmobiles came racing into the back yard, followed quickly by the second. I decided to make a run for it. While I was sure I could destroy them physically, the memory of Ethan’s hot blood in my mouth was too fresh. I had a better chance out in the open than I did trapped against the side of the house.
The sun hit me directly in the face when I stood. Wincing, I threw my arm up and that hesitation cost me the few seconds’ head start I needed to outdistance the riders. They’d spotted me. Glaring at them from eyes streaming with tears I made a break for the trees.
One snowmobile cut me off, anticipating my path of escape. Pivoting quickly, I ran to the left trying to get out and around. The hill was just ahead. I can make it. The sound of an engine was close behind me, the sun sapping my strength and speed. Juking to the right, I made a split second decision to change tactics.
Skidding to a stop on slippery snow, I turned and faced my pursuer. Planting my feet, I dug my toes in and leapt with all the strength I could muster. My jump took me sailing sideways into him, knocking him off the snowmobile. We landed in the snow with me riding him like a burr. Not giving him time to react I broke the strap on his helmet and threw it off.
“You’ve made a grave mistake,” I growled, inches from his face. Salivating at the victim below me, I forced myself to only knock him out. A swift blow to the temple did the job nicely. The goal is to NOT eat people.
I hated that I needed to remind myself at all.
The other rider had made a turn and was coming straight at me, impossibly fast. Crouching down slightly,
I kept my eyes on the target and waited. I just hoped my plan would work. What felt like only a split second later, he was close enough. I stepped aside at the last minute while reaching out and snagged the fucker by the throat, getting a good grip up under his helmet. Muscles straining, I jerked him off the machine. Ripping his helmet off with the other hand I ignored the sound of the crashing snowmobile behind me.
The man’s face was quickly turning from red to purple. My anger and adrenaline overrode the last slice of humanity that I was so desperately clinging to. I dropped him to the ground, intent on stomping on his face. He curled up, gasping for air, and clutching his throat.
“W-what…are…y-you?” he gasped the words painfully.
“Just your friendly neighborhood talking zombie. Nothing to worry about. Until you and your idiot friend decided to come after me.”
His eyes bugged out with fear and shock. I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad. Scaring people has always been fun, like Halloween every day. I raised my foot, swinging back to unleash a devastating kick to this dipshits head.
Crunching snow behind me was my only warning before something stung deep into my back. Electricity froze my muscles and dropped me into the snow, stiff as a board. A clicking sound and laughter were all I heard before my eyes rolled back into my head and darkness swallowed me.
Chapter 3
Kelle woke quickly. She knew night had fallen without needing to look. The darkness had a smell to it, a feel that was hard to describe. It was the chill that ran along your neck when you walked down a long black, empty hallway. The knot in your gut was your long-buried caveman instinct telling you that danger lies where the shadows are thickest, in the unknown.
Zombie Instinct (Book 1): Molly (The Beginning) Page 6
