“They scratched Jewel before you saved us,” I lied.
“Well, then. You’re just in time. The centrifuge is about to stop. When it does, we’ll test the new vaccine on your sister.” I assumed his gun had something to do with that. “Where is Kaylynn, and your dog? She’ll want to sample this vaccine. There’s more than enough.”
My mind went straight to his Vectors, his failed test subjects. “What if the vaccine doesn’t work?”
Sanders smiled. “Nature will do as it must.”
Like that made any sense. “What do you mean?”
“I understand if you’re hesitant to have your sister injected with an experiment, but take a look at her. She’s fading fast. This batch has the greatest promise.”
Jewel was about to pass out. I had to do something. Sanders was acting so cool and collected, innocent of wrongdoing, unaware of the truth that I knew. Taking Cody’s blood and keeping Vectors locked in a freezer—none of it made sense. The spinning machine beeped. The centrifuge ended its cycle. Sanders rushed over, unclamped one of the green vials and inserted it into the pistol’s grip. His eyes then quickly turned to my sister. He held the syringe firmly. “It will work this time.”
My joints locked up. “You’ve tried this before?”
The once cheerful Sanders considered me, his eyes frowning. “There’s no time for this, Jeremy. If I don’t administer this to your sister—” I pointed the Glock at Sanders, balancing the weapon in my hands. The doctor stopped where he stood and took a backward step. Both of his hands rose to his shoulder level. “Jeremy . . .” he uttered. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Where are the other doctors?” I said, not willing to give him an inch. “Why aren’t they helping you?”
“I can save your sister right now—” I pulled the slide back. That should’ve been enough to convince Sanders to drop the chatter and answer my question, which I already knew the answer to. Or thought I knew. “If I tell you, will you put down that dangerous thing?”
Cooperation. Finally. It’s not too much to ask for, is it? I lowered my aim to Sanders’s feet, and he moved closer to the window. His eyes turned from me and focused on the bees. “This isn’t my fault,” he said. “I can’t be held responsible. This chamber is a controlled environment, an experimental haven for a hybrid strain of Apis mellifera, known as the Africanized honeybee. You would know them better as killer bees.”
That was Sanders’s idea of an answer? I didn’t ask for a biology lesson. Apart from Vectors, he couldn’t have chosen a more chilling topic. I fought the urge to scratch myself. Damn my fear of bees.
“Do you understand the risks we take when we try to control nature?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“We can make progress, improve life, know our place in the world—or create a disaster.” Sanders put his hand on the glass and spread his fingers. “Warwick Estevam Kerr inadvertently created the killer bee when his altered queens escaped and invaded Europe and the Americas. They made history by killing and replacing queen honeybees. Apis Mellifera is more aggressive than the regular honeybee. They were the perfect catalyst for our experiments.” Sanders readjusted his glasses. “Just like Kerr, our experiment flew right out of our hands.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Everything.” Sanders stared at the floor. “The Aggressor Phylum is our named project for a biologically engineered insect, able to carry a deadly agent to a military population, and then designed to die shortly thereafter. No trace. No evidence. It was to be the greatest military weapon of this century—but our work was seized and used as a weapon before it was ready.”
I couldn’t take Sanders seriously.
“Among the Japanese records from their Second World War experiments, we found a file called Shinryaku-mon, which means The Aggressor Phylum. They injected strains of it into their prisoners, hoping to create a mindless, controllable army. Fortunately they never found a way to control the infected. They abandoned the project and incinerated their subjects, but they learned how to remove a person’s learning, memories, and their empathy. They reduced human beings to savages. Infect the enemy and he will destroy himself. Can you think of no better weapon?”
Why do grownups talk so freak’en much?
Sanders sighed. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Jewel coughed, raspy and shrill. Her condition was getting worse. I couldn’t allow this conversation to go on, but that last part made me think. “You can’t be held responsible for what?” I asked.
He gestured at the bees. “I created them!”
I finally understood. The Vectors and the bees.
Zombees!
“Our government decided to involve themselves with the conflicts in the Middle East,” said Sanders. “Without our permission, they bred a swarm of our carrier bees and released them in enemy cities. Once stung, people turned on each other. The news reported the attacks as an insurgency. I know the truth.” Sanders moved away from the chamber, his face full of sadness. “Thousands of people died at the hands of the infected. But it didn’t stop there. We designed the queens to live a long life after they’re enraged. A mutation occurred that no one anticipated. The army released the queens with the drones, and our queens invaded other hives. They replaced the queens and spread a dormant pathogen throughout the entire world. When enraged, The Aggression Phylum activated collectively. Anyone stung within twenty-four hours had turned.”
It took a while, but Sanders finally caught my attention. Not only was he a creep, he was involved in the outbreak that had wiped out the human race. I tried to keep my cool. With my skin itching and my mouth dry, it wasn’t easy to deny how terrified I was. Was Cassidy stung by one of these bees, or that dude from Iowa? I backed away as Sanders neared Jewel and me.
“You call them by a different, but appropriate name,” Sanders said.
“Vectors,” was all I could say. “Did you infect the other doctors?”
Sanders stared right at me. “How did you—?”
“We found a room. Did you infect them?”
“I had no choice. I have to stop this.”
I hugged my trigger. “By killing people?”
Sanders’s arms fall to his side. “You’re right. A failed vaccination has the opposite effect. Furthermore, I needed blood and plasma to assimilate and test more. I did all I could with my colleagues, but they weren’t enough. I had to reach out and find more subjects.”
“So you found more people in David City. Is that why you wanted to collect blood samples?”
He nodded. “Your parents, and Cody’s family. They had the finest blood type.”
“Where’s our parents? Where are they really?”
“They heard the distress call before I could lure them down here. That is the honest truth.”
Like I could believe him. “Did they really go back to David City, or did you just make that up?”
“I watched them go. I don’t know where they are.”
I made a more aggressive stance. “Bastard.”
“I wish that’s all I will be remembered for,” he said this like he was ready—willing—to take a bullet from me. “How would you like to go down in history as the man who destroyed the whole of humanity? Are not the lives of a few subjects worth a chance to survive this?”
“What about Kaylynn? She can control it.”
Sanders blinked. “She can control it?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She can move things with her mind. You don’t know about that.”
“My god.” Sanders placed a hand over his mouth. “If that’s true, the phylum has adapted to the genomes in our DNA. She controls it like queens can control drones.” He had his smartphone. “We learned how to control The Aggressor Phylum by making a neural-frequency. I duplicated it on this device. That’s how I control the Vectors. I even converted the tower of this memorial into a radio to keep them away—or draw them in. That’s how I herded you kids here—and . . .”
He hesitated to tell me, but I had already guessed. “That’s how I covered my tracks in David City.”
I was sick. Mason had mentioned something was wrong with the radio before the Vectors invaded. That’s why so many showed up at once. This man was evil.
Remorsefully, he sighed. “I’m sorry, Jeremy.” His device beeped. He then swiped his finger on the device. “No!” he cried. “They escaped. How did they escape?”
I knew how, but I wasn’t about to tell him.
Sanders ran to a set of keys—the Explorer keys. “There’s not enough power to herd them back. I can’t contain them. I have no choice.” Sanders raised the phone to his mouth. “Activate sequence Three Nine-Nine, clearance five. T-minus, ten minutes . . .” A mist hissed from the walls. Both airlock doors opened. Half of the lights dimmed. The other half flashed red. An automated voice came through the overhead speakers:
Ten minutes until meltdown—evacuate immediately . . .
That didn’t sound good. “What did you do?”
Sanders faced us again, his calm demeanor gone. “You should have stayed in that room. Do you know what you’ve done? You released the Vectors and the agents from Biology! If those strains make it to the surface, it will make the Aggressor Phylum look like the common cold!”
Translation: he was going to destroy the facility. “What do we do?”
Nine minutes until meltdown—evacuate immediately . . .
“Give the vaccine to your sister,” Sanders said. “If she lives—”
Schhwaff!
An arrow hit Sanders in the chest. My heart plunged like a meteorite as the doctor looked down and touched the shaft. He stumbled back, his hands flying for something to brace himself with until he slammed into the centrifuge. The crashing of metal and the breaking of glass muted the blaring siren overhead.
Green fluid lapped under the machine as a pool of blood spread under Sanders’s body. He was dead, his phone still in his open hand. The vaccine, every vial, was ruined—except for one—inside the syringe gun. I never heard what Sanders had to say about Jewel.
I spun around and caught sight of Cody. Bites covered his arms. Scratches marked his chest. An unrestrained stare accompanied his low brow. I stood there, surprised that Cody had killed a man who wasn’t infected. Jewel’s delirium fell into unconsciousness. Her little infected body shook. Cody walked to us, but not before I snagged the smartphone, the car keys, and the vaccine thingy from Sanders’s body. Cody stepped over the dead doctor and spat on his lifeless face.
“Say hi to my dad and brother. We’ll kick your ass in Hell soon enough.” His cold eyes found Jewel, and then me. His lips curled with a hopeless smile. “Looks like this is the end of the line for us, Jeremy.”
“What line? We have to get out of here!”
Eight minutes until Meltdown—evacuate immediately . . .
There was no urgency in Cody. None at all. “We’re as good as dead, Jeremy,” he said. “We ain’t leave’n.”
Cody staggered around the room like he was an emotionless void. I glanced at Sanders’s cold, lifeless body. He didn’t have all of his bacteria in the same petri dish, but he had sense enough to evacuate the place—or the sanity, at any rate. The facility had become nothing but a morgue combined with an asylum, all strapped to a bomb. And Cody had no interest in leaving it.
He obviously didn’t want to blow up into a million pieces all by himself, either. That wasn’t his choice.
“Stay if you want,” I said. “We’re going.”
I walked to Jewel and jostled her shoulder. She wouldn’t wake up. The sudden crunching of glass startled me from behind. I put the vaccine gun in Jewel’s lap before Cody grabbed me. Something deep inside me went off right then. I’m not much of a fighter. I had taken a few self-defense lessons. After watching hours of hand-to-hand combat on TV, how hard could it be? If I let Cody take control, it was game over. I jabbed my elbow into Cody’s rib, super hard.
When he doubled over, I slapped him with my pistol. He reeled back, but not for nearly as long as I’d wanted. Before I could take aim, Cody charged and tackled me to the floor. My head smacked into the edge of a countertop, and I saw stars on my way down. The room spun. “We’re all infected!” Cody screamed. I struggled against his grasp. “We’re going nowhere.”
Wincing in pain, I tried to sit up.
Cody grabbed my neck and pulled me into a headlock. I’m not sure when I let go of my gun, now lying next to the green pool of contaminated vaccine. I thrashed my head back, hoping to smash Cody’s nose. He dodged and jabbed me in the side. It hurt a lot.
“I can’t let anyone else get infected,” Cody said. “Not by me, you, or her, or anyone!” He made me face my unconscious sister. Hs breath singed my ear. “Don’t pick fights you can’t win.”
Seven minutes and counting—evacuate immediately . . .
I wanted to bite Cody, but I kicked at his knees instead. I stomped on his feet. No use. Cody was better at counter-measures than I’d thought. Only Kaylynn could stop him, but she was holding back the undead.
The dragging of a metal bat met my ears.
She was in the room with us.
“Get lost, then!” I said.
Kaylynn entered the lab with no problem. Her dark hair shrouded her face, her hand held fast to her bat—dragging behind her. Her pace was uneasy. Her jacket sleeves were torn. Cody loosened his hold, but not enough for me to slip away. His skin burned against mine. The fever was doing its job. I couldn’t wait for Kaylynn to attack Cody and give him what he deserved.
But when she looked at us, my hopes fell apart. Behind her purple bang was a pair of blood-red eyes.
She was still in Vector Mode. “Kaylynn?”
Without answering, she leaned towards us.
“Well ain’t this perfect!” Cody tightened his hold. “Your girlfriend’s here, and she looks hungry!”
Letting her bat go, Kaylynn made her way to us as Cody held me in place. Jewel was still out cold. I should’ve been more scared by the idea of Kaylynn’s teeth chewing on my skin, but I was too brokenhearted for it, even with her approaching red eyes and lightly scratched cheeks. I didn’t care what she was.
I could never be afraid of her.
That’s when Kaylynn’s secret finally clicked for me. Fear. It was about fear. Vectors had a natural attraction to fear, just as bees do. If that’s what Kaylynn meant, did it mean the infected would leave us alone if we shut off our fears? It was a long shot, but I had to try it.
I faced her. “Don’t let yourself become afraid.”
“Huh?” Cody replied. “What’d you say?”
If this was going to be the end of my life, I would rather let Kaylynn devour my body instead of some stranger. Who knows where their teeth have been.
Six minutes and counting—evacuate immediately . . .
Kaylynn staggered to me, her face in my face. Nose to my nose. She stared hard at me with a bloodthirsty longing behind her eyes. There was also sadness. Regret.
“What’s she waiting for?” Cody asked. “Bite him!”
I held my courage. Her breath scorched my face.
I’m sorry, Jay . . .
I heard her voice, but her mouth didn’t move.
Kaylynn yanked me away from Cody. I landed on the floor next to Jewel. When I looked back, Kaylynn had her teeth in Cody’s neck. He screamed and fought back, pulling away and covering a chunk of his neck.
Blood oozed through his fingers as he went for Kaylynn’s bat. Before he could swing, Kaylynn had her hands up, and Cody’s feet left the floor. Using her powers, Cody levitated into the air. And then, with the thrust of her hands, Cody soared across the room and crashed into the chamber of bees. Hundreds of swollen marks popped up on his body as the insects attacked.
He fell from view and screamed no more.
Cody was dead.
Dozens of Zombees buzzed into the laboratory. Unless we took off, they would swarm the place and come for us. Kaylynn just stood there, her head
jerking from one cloud of bees to another, flying around her.
I didn’t want to believe it, but the blood dripping down her chin told me that she was gone.
I ran to Jewel and took up the vaccine gun. It wasn’t fair. The math didn’t add up. With just one dose, I could only save one infected sister or one infected friend. And I had no guarantee that it would work. Why did Sanders have to knock over the centrifuge? There was enough for everyone. And what did he mean if Jewel survived the vaccine? What would happen then?
Jewel coughed. Really hard. She was slipping away.
I had no answers. I had a choice to make. Now.
I shot every last drop into Jewel’s shoulder.
She winced for a second and nodded off again. I let the gun fall, wondering how long it would take for the vaccine to work. Kaylynn shifted around, her red eyes focused on me again. I held out hope—was it really too late for her? She wasn’t dead dead. I felt her warm breath on my skin. Her heart was still beating. If we found a way to contain the infection, she could come back.
A swollen hand rose from the chamber of bees.
I can’t control this, Jay . . . Get out of here . . .
Kaylynn’s voice hit me again, deep inside my brain. Her mouth didn’t move. The voice in my head belonged to her, not my imagination. Her staggered movement hinted that she was holding back. With the last of her humanity, she was helping us. A zombified Cody pulled himself through the broken window. I took up the Glock and aimed at his stupid, swollen head.
“Jeremy . . .?”
I turned back in time to see Jewel’s brown eyes before I could shoot. She looked better. The vaccine had worked. I wrapped my arms around her, relieved that she would make it. I kept her head tucked in my chest. I couldn’t let her see Cody feasting on Sanders.
“Hey,” Jewel uttered. “What’s the siren for?”
Five minutes and counting—evacuate immediately . . .
Jewel’s face turned to me in terror. “Oh shit!”
I put my Glock away and helped her up.
“Where’s Chloe?” she asked. “Kaylynn?”
Taking hold of my sister, I pulled her to the exit.
My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road Page 19
