The NEXT Apocalypse (Book 2): AFTER Life: Purgatory

by Chute, Robert Chazz

  I prefer working with tiny robots. I never dreamed I’d be involved in trying to find the fix for a contagion that turned people into psychotic cannibals. However, going to Echidna’s Level 4 laboratories was our best shot at saving lives.

  I had myself convinced I was doing the right thing until I looked at the patient on the gurney. He remained passive. He was still staring at me, though. I thought I detected fear in Daniel Harmon’s eyes.

  Chapter 18

  DANIEL

  When we landed in Port Credit, the three-man crew of a Light Armored Vehicle was parked beside the helipad. Several men and women wearing protective gear and filter masks emerged from a nearby cluster of green tents to carry me out of the air ambulance. Though I was still strapped to the gurney, they looked at me as if I might bust out at any moment. I wanted to tell them this wasn’t a monster movie, but I couldn’t blame them. Toronto sure looked like a monster movie.

  A small wiry man whose hair was so blonde it was almost white waved from atop the LAV. He waited until we assembled and the helo’s rotors wound down before he spoke. He wore a filtered mask but a speaker was built into it so we could all hear him clearly. In a heavy French accent, the man announced grandly, “My name is Alphonse Fortin. I’ll be your driver today. My crew are Tom and Jerry, like the cat and the mouse. This isn’t an Uber, so for your safety be nice and do what we say. We’re going into a war zone so you must follow my commands to maintain the safety of my crew and my machine. Those are my first priorities. You guys come in a close third place, but without this LAV and my crew, nobody makes it out alive. Understand?”

  Dr. Robinson leaned close to Shelly and murmured, “I prefer Jeff Goldblum’s warning speech at the beginning of Jurassic Park. Scary, but friendlier and more concerned for our safety.”

  “I’d rather deal with dinosaurs,” Shelly replied.

  “As we speak,” the LAV Commander continued, “the Toronto Police, a tank and a few bulldozers are clearing the way to make sure we will get you to your downtown destination. It will be a quick trip. You will depend on us to resupply you and provide you with a safe exfiltration from the laboratory. In other words, this isn’t Uber, but don’t forget to tip your driver.”

  I took a liking to Alphonse right away. Meanwhile, the hunger for meat was back. I could feel the need in my stomach and in my eye teeth. The brain parasites wriggling through my brain made me wonder what Alphonse Fortin might taste like.

  The LAV commander had not mentioned his rank so I guessed he was a private contractor. He pointed to a large white tent to one side. “You’ll find biohazard suits and various sundries there.” He paused to look at Dr. Robinson. “That’s a fetching dress but I note the hem is torn. I suspect you’ll be more comfortable in what we’ve provided. Take your pick but be sure to take extra pairs of socks for the boots, Madam. A good change of socks makes the day better and lets you work another couple hours longer. We’ve loaded the LAV with a lot of supplies so, when you squeeze in, take a deep breath and hold it until we arrive at your destination. If you have any questions, direct them to …. “ He pointed. “Are you Dr. Kenneth Rigg?”

  The Public Health official nodded.

  “If you have any questions, ask Dr. Rigg. I’m captain and king of the LAV. He’s the boss of the mission.” Fortin said.

  Dr. Robinson ignored the suggestion and posed her query to Alphonse. “Do you have enough room for the man on the gurney?”

  “Not to worry, Madam. He’ll have the most comfortable seat in the house. Not only will he be lying down for the entire trip, I’m going to strap him to the outside so he has a nice view.”

  To my surprise, Shelly emerged as my protector. “Are you sure that’s a good idea to have him on the outside? I’ve been downtown. He might be attacked.”

  Thank you, Shelly. I’m one of them, sure, but what if they’re hungry and I’m easy meat?

  “Tom and Jerry don’t want an infected fellow in such tight quarters, even with precautions against contagion.”

  “What if I were to order you to make room for him inside?” Rigg asked.

  I wondered if the government official was throwing his weight around to impress us.

  His clout didn’t matter. “Well, sir, here’s the thing: Tom and Jerry and I have been together in Afghanistan. Despite how ugly my cat and mouse are, I’ve grown attached to them. If you insist, you can make room by running along behind. I’m not a believer in the idea that the customer is always right, you see.”

  Rigg stared at Alphonse sourly, shrugged and pulled out his phone. Maybe he meant it as an intimidating gesture, like he was calling the Prime Minister’s Office to have Alphonse replaced.

  The LAV commander did not look worried that he was about to get called down to the principal’s office. “This taxi is leaving in a few minutes. There’s already clean up crew working on the lab for you, so suit up quickly.”

  At this, Thomas Dill looked like he was close to a panic. “There are unauthorized personnel in Echidna?” He wheeled on Rigg. “This is not what we discussed, Ken. There is proprietary information and sensitive data in those labs — ”

  “That you don’t want the government to see?” Dr. Robinson said evenly.

  Dill glanced at Dr. Robinson. I saw his expression shift from furious to a wheedling appeal within a second. “It’s not about keeping secrets. What would be the point of that now? It’s that we don’t need people who don’t know what they’re doing messing around, possibly misinterpreting information that could help us resolve this situation.”

  “It’s a crime scene,” Shelly said. “I’m sure they’ll be careful with your precious lab.”

  “The advance team is a group of security specialists and engineers,” Rigg said. “They’re checking the lab’s life support, filters and containment systems so we can work there. From what I’ve heard, you don’t want to work in the lab in the condition it was in.”

  “When we get there, you’ll be glad the second insertion team turned down the duvet and fluffed the pillows for you,” Alphonse added. “Now, get your Hazmats, unless you’d like to go without any protection?”

  Dill stalked off to the white tent. Since the brain parasites got to me, I’d felt a gradual shift in the way I perceived things. The world appeared to move a little slower. I caught the shifts in Dill’s expressions. Thomas Dill was scared, but furious, too.

  “We saddle up in ten minutes,” Alphonse called. “Run, run! Tom? Jerry? Strap that moose to the hood of my car! We’re headed downtown and I want to show the zombies what happens when they mess with us!”

  The LAV crew laughed at his joke and at me. I would have laughed, too. Of course, I also wanted to eat them all. I stayed mad about that until a large woman in a biohazard suit appeared by my side with several hypodermic needles.

  “Hey, stupid.” The woman waved a gloved hand in front of my eyes as if I was blind. “Can you understand me? I’m going to take some blood samples. I’ll also give you something to help you sleep so be a good boy and don’t move. The LAV Commander wants a smooth, quiet ride and for you to be cooperative.”

  I thought about telling her I may be a zombie but at least I’m not a vampire. I tried, but I could say nothing. I wondered if I looked like a baby on the cusp of being able to speak. Little kids, when they’re at a certain age, have very expressive eyes. They haven’t learned to talk yet but they sure look like they have a lot to say. I once owned a beagle who had that same look.

  The woman drew several test tubes of blood. She did so with some difficulty, fumbling with the samples. When her stiff gloves compressed as she worked, I realized the last two fingers on her left hand were missing.

  “I’ll give you the next shot in the arm. That should give you a nice long nap.”

  That was the only injection I didn’t mind. I welcomed a long dreamless sleep. Maybe I’d wake up back in my apartment in sweat soaked sheets to discover all this was only a nightmare, easily dismissed, soon forgotten.

  �
��Don’t move for this next one. I’ve only ever done this injection on unconscious monkeys.” Since she was a tad clumsy, I got nervous when she moved from drawing blood to sticking a fat needle in my neck. The woman pulled a large bore syringe from a steel case. She pushed the plunger, long and slow. The fluid seemed viscous and, going in, the injection felt ice cold. I growled.

  “Easy, big fella. When you wake up, they’ll probably be vivisecting you. On the other hand, maybe you’ll be special. We’ve never attempted human trials before but … well, in times like these, like the man says, ‘ethics give way to pragmatism.’ Oh, and Mr. Cavanaugh said to tell you, ‘Send the bitch my regards.’”

  I had no idea who Mr. Cavanaugh was or what she was talking about. I fell out of hunger and into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 19

  CHLOE

  I slipped out of my party dress and dumped it into a trash can and a woman in full protective gear whisked it away. I washed up, scrubbing my skin raw with cleansers that smelled like a mixture of bleach and toffee. The underclothes my escort provided were, thank God, in their original packaging. The underwear fell into the sad category of granny panties and were too big. It also felt weird to think some unknown person had provided me with underwear. I put my hair back in a tight ponytail and pulled on a biohazard suit of my own. It was so bulky on my small frame, I felt like a little girl trying on my mother’s winter coat.

  As I exited the tent, I saw the woman who’d taken my dress. She was down by the water burning my clothes in an oil barrel. Damn, that was the best deal I ever got at Winners.

  “Doctor?”

  I turned to find Constable Priyat in an environmental suit identical to my own. The difference was that she wore a belt around her middle that carried her weapons.

  “Call me Chloe, please.”

  “Then call me Shelly.”

  “You ready for this?”

  “No. I was there. Nothing can prepare you for it.”

  “What should I expect?”

  “That it will look like a movie but with more blood and torn flesh. I think the worst was seeing an overturned baby carriage. Somebody took their baby and ran but … it was pretty wild down there. Fortin is right. It’s a war zone.”

  “Yeah. Rigg calls it an epidemic but somehow, that sounds way too clinical.”

  “You know what’s weird about it?”

  “Everything is weird about it.”

  “I was going to say, seeing the normal next to the abnormal.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “You know those sidewalk signs you see outside a Starbucks sometimes? ‘Come out of the heat and into a cold frappuccino’? That sort of thing?”

  I nodded.

  “Three cannibals chased my sergeant down the street. He was trying to run and reload at the same time. Anyway, they knocked over the sidewalk sign as they ran after him. He turned and got two of them. Amazing shots. He put two down with two shots, right between the eyes. Probably more luck than skill but, if these things were still human, they wouldn’t charge us like that. People — normal people — run from trouble. They dive for cover. They don’t keep coming when two of their buddies get shot in the face.”

  “What happened with your sergeant?”

  “I shot the third one. I wasn’t so steady. I emptied my weapon into the bastard. Shot him in the back. When the sergeant rolled the man over, he looked like a kid, a skater dude. He might have been nineteen but I don’t know if he was even that old. I went over to him and looked and the first thing I thought was I wish the guy I shot didn’t have so much acne.”

  “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

  “The sergeant got bit. He turned into one of them in a few minutes.”

  “What symptoms told you he was turning into one of them?”

  Shelly shrugged. “He said he was hot but we were all hot from running around and carrying so much gear. It’s July. I was hot and had a pounding headache. As soon as I shot that kid I looked for a nice, safe place to throw up. I looked more like I was about to turn zombie than my sergeant did.”

  “What happened to your sergeant? After, I mean.”

  “I’d reloaded by then.”

  “Oh. ”

  “Don wasn’t the first cop I had to put down. I’m telling you this because, when we get downtown, don’t let your guard down, not even for a second. Don’t be fooled. Everything’s changed at once.”

  “I understand.”

  “No, you don’t. You don’t but you will. You ever see some shit? Car accident? War zone? Anything?”

  “I had an anxiety attack the night before I took my MCATS.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Never mind. I saw your partner get attacked — ”

  “And you saw me shoot him. Seems like I end up shooting the good guys, doesn’t it? That’s what this disease does. You ever see To Kill a Mockingbird?”

  “I read the book in high school.”

  “Remember the scene where there’s a rabid dog and Atticus shoots it with the rifle? That’s how you have to think about your patient: a rabid dog. Be careful. I don’t want to have to shoot any more good guys … or you.”

  I think I managed to put on a brave face. I was tempted to break into a whine but I sensed that wouldn’t be received well from Shelly Priyat. She’d already dealt with plenty.

  “The woman who got me into this stupid suit took my gas mask. I hated that thing but now I feel like the Michelin Man. This thing is bulky.”

  “There will be others at the lab and there will be safe areas where we can get out of the suits for a break.”

  “How long are we going to be down there, Chloe?”

  “No way to tell. I’d like to get in and out quick but Alphonse talked about resupply.”

  “Yeah, that threw me,” Shelly said.

  “Do you need to call somebody and tell them where you are?”

  “I tried.” The cop shook her head. “Couldn’t get through.”

  That didn’t sound right or good. “You mean the cell network is overloaded or — ”

  “Or blocked. Rigg said he’d pass along my whereabouts but I can’t get hold of anyone from my detachment. Things are getting worse. It’s spreading. I think it’s spreading faster than Rigg knows … maybe faster than they want to admit.”

  “Could be.”

  “You’re damn right, ‘Could be.’ You know what usually happens when a cop pulls his or her weapon in the line of duty? Paperwork, interviews, inquiries, desk job, time off, mandatory counseling … it’s a whole rigamarole. You know what happened after I shot that kid and that sergeant? I had to go out and shoot some more zombies. Then me and Don got an order to capture anyone coming out of that lab instead of killing him. That’s how we got the guest on that stretcher. Normal does not apply here. Normal left Earth. I don’t think it’s coming back, either.”

  I didn’t know what to say so I thanked Shelly again.

  “Anything can happen. I know because anything did.”

  As I climbed into the armored personnel carrier, I tried to remember a prayer. I couldn’t think of one, not even the Lord’s prayer. I was so freaked out, I’d forgotten to try to call my parents before they took my cell phone from me, too. They were safe in Vancouver, at least for now. They thought I was still in Aruba. I decided that was for the best.

  Chapter 20

  CHLOE

  The LAV crew could have taken supplies out of their boxes to give us more space. I made the mistake of suggesting we take some of the stuff out of its packaging to make more room, “If not for passengers, to pack in more stuff.”

  “This is more like a survival situation and less like making a jigsaw puzzle out of camping gear for a weekend away, Dr. Robinson,” Alphonse informed me. “The challenge is not making a more comfy ride. As long as the LAV is standing still, we’re more vulnerable. We packed it so we could unload quick and bug out fast.”

  I started to apologize but Alphonse waved me away good-nature
dly. “We’ll get you to the lab, Doctor. Make the risk worth it.”

  We squeezed into the compartment. It was hot inside my suit and the LAV was not built for comfort. The throb of the diesel engine gave me a headache. Between the bulk of our biohazard suits and the boxes, my legs began to ache. I worried a cramp would soon hit.

  Shelly sat beside me, apparently asleep. I couldn’t imagine how she managed that feat but she’d probably been awake and running on adrenaline since the beginning of the outbreak. Rigg kept his eyes on his phone, constantly texting. I wondered what made his phone so special that he seemed to have no trouble accessing a signal. My boss kept his eyes on some far away place, as if he could see through the vehicle’s armor. When I asked Thomas what he was thinking about, he answered, “Golfing. Scotland.” I took that as my cue to leave him alone.

  Though many men in uniform look alike, the LAV’s two crew members could have been brothers. They wore no insignia of the Canadian Armed Forces or any other military. In their biohazard suits, I could only make out their faces. Both had such high cheekbones they seemed underfed. They each wore thin mustaches, as well, as if they were too young to get a solid bristle going. I wasn’t sure which was Tom and which was Jerry at first. I assumed the tall one was Tom and the short one was Jerry. That might have been lazy thinking but it turned out to be correct.

  The taller one stopped in front of my boss. “Your name is Tom, too, huh?”

  “Thomas Dill.”

  “Did they call you Tommy as a kid? I always hated that.”

  “They called me Thomas,” he answered stiffly. “You can call me Dr. Dill.”

  Tom stared at him for what seemed a long time. “You know, Dr. Dill, you’re the guy in the disaster movie who gets eaten by the dinosaurs and everybody claps and laughs.”

  “I’m the guy whose company is destroyed and whose life is already over, or may as well be,” Thomas replied. “Excuse me if I hardly give a shit anymore.”