by Jeff Olah
“Pretty simple on the surface,” Shannon replied. “Everything in this entire world boils down to reaction time. I’ll give you a quick example.” She looked around the room. “Let’s say Ethan and Griffin were to get into a fight, and with everything else being equal, Ethan’s mind was able to process the information instantly, like a computer, without the hindrance of reason or deduction. He was able to react a fraction of a second faster than Griffin. Who do you think would win?”
“Obviously the one who reacts faster?” Frank said.
“Exactly, that’s what Marcus Goodwin was attempting to create. He was trying to circumnavigate the mind. Make it process information faster—much faster. And for a while, it seemed to be working. He sold the rights to the program to the government and worked with them to perfect it over the last seven years, but never got it exactly right.”
Leaning forward in his chair, Frank said, “What happened, how did that turn into this?”
“One of the side effects of the injectable was that it shut down other parts of the brain. Parts that are necessary for impulse control and empathy. Basically, over time, it shut down everything in the brain except the most animalistic tendencies—kill and feed.”
She paused and looked around, checking to see if the others were following her. They looked confused because they were. She continued anyway. “Then things got really bad.”
Frank nearly laughed. “They weren’t already?”
“Not compared to what was coming. Those that were attacked by the test subjects began showing similar symptoms, and not within hours or days. It was more like minutes—transferred through the subject’s blood. The project then turned into something completely different. We didn’t know how to stop it and Marcus Goodwin didn’t want to. He was determined to find a way to fix it without going back and starting over. That’s why he got rid of the other biochemists and brought on Emma. He figured he could give her just enough data so that she would keep working on the project.”
“So my sister was trying to fix this thing but wasn’t actually aware of what she was doing? That’s not possible, she’s smarter than that.”
“No doubt, but she was only working with the newer trials. She never got to see what had taken place before she arrived. That would have changed her, I would have known. She and I communicated every single day. Goodwin made sure of it. I was supposed to act as a sounding board in the event that she ever started to drift. I was supposed to keep her on track. That was my real job. I had every—”
“Enough,” Ethan said. “Where is she, where’s Emma? I don’t really care about how we got here, only how to find my family. None of that other stuff matters right now. Maybe later, but not now.”
She stared back at Ethan. “What’s happening out there does matter, it’s what’s going to prevent you from getting out of this town, getting to your parents, to Emma. Trust me, the more you know about what’s out there—the more we all know—the better we’ll be prepared to fight and to survive.”
He sighed. “Where’s Emma?”
“Okay, your sister is going to be in one of two places and neither are going to be easy to get to.”
Ethan’s voice came out flat and cold. This time with much more weight behind it. “Where?”
“Goodwin most likely got out early and took her with him. He’d either try to get back to Blackmore or stay in the city at BXF headquarters.”
“Blackmore?”
“A massive medical research facility in the Sierra Nevada’s. Goodwin had it built specifically for this project. That would be my first guess.”
Ethan stood and walked to the dry-erase board. He wiped it clean and wrote only nine letters.
BLACKMORE
“Tonight I’m going to get my mother and father.” And stepping away from the front of the board, he pointed at the thick dark letters. “And then I’m going here. You can come if you want, but I’m leaving within the hour.”
19
The room went quiet and one by one, the realization of what they were now dealing with washed over the group. Cora and Griffin stood first and moved out into the lobby as Ben, Frank, and Carly started for the truck at the opposite end of the building. Shannon stayed in the room with Ethan, and without speaking, moved toward the door. Stopping before walking out into the hall, she turned and waited for him to approach. “I’m sorry.”
Ethan stepped closer and was standing only inches away. He was a full head taller and looked down into her bloodshot blue eyes. He didn’t speak right away. Instead, he searched for the right words. After more than ten seconds, the awkwardness of standing face to face and staring into each other’s eyes got the better of him. “I actually don’t know what to say. Not at all.”
“Ethan, I completely understand if you want some time to yourself. I get that what I’ve told you is probably still not making sense. It’s a lot to take in, and I know you think that those things don’t matter, but they do. Once we leave this place, this town, you’ll be glad—”
His eye’s drifted to the hall and then back to her face. And as she stopped speaking, he wrapped his hands around the back of her head and leaned in. As a looked of disbelief washed over her face, he put his lips to hers. He pulled her in close and kissed her hard.
She didn’t struggle at first, but she also didn’t initially kiss him back. And as his hands dropped into her hair and then to her shoulders, she felt something. Something that wasn’t there and hadn’t been there for months, maybe years. As he pulled her body into his, she let go. Shannon kissed him back as if she was the one who initiated whatever this was. She wanted this, maybe she always did.
It ended as quickly as it began. Abruptly pulling away, he felt more self-conscious than when he’d leaned in to kiss her. Stepping back, he now had trouble maintaining eye contact. Ethan awkwardly reached for her hand and she let it drop into his. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I should be apologizing to you, maybe to everyone. You’re right, I really don’t know what to think right now, but I just need to get to them. My parents and Emma, that’s all I can think about. With what’s happening out there, I can’t stop imagining what they’re going through.”
She smiled. It was different than the slight upturn at the corners of her mouth she’d normally offer at the beginning of each workday. And she looked happy. She stared at him a moment longer and then moved up onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Everyone here has already told you that they are in for this trip, wherever it takes us. There really is no other choice. We’re only going to survive this as a group. Together. So cut the others a break; you may just find out that you need them as much as they need you.”
She let go of his hand and moved through the doorway, stopping only briefly. “And don’t think I’m letting you off the hook with that kiss—it was good, but you could use some practice.”
. . .
The rear of the armored truck sat flush against the building with its door open into the back hall. The rear cabin was filling quickly and Ben had taken to organizing what remained in the building that still needed to be loaded. He stood at the door and turned to Frank as Ethan approached.
“You guys think it will be any better in the city? Maybe the police or the military have everything under control?”
Frank stood with his back to the wall, staring out toward the front of the building. “I can’t imagine it would be any worse than what we’ve seen so far. I just hope we don’t have too much trouble driving out of here.”
Ethan just listened. He stood across the hall from Frank and looked at him, but his mind was far from the inside of this building. He’d already started to plan how they’d leave the city and what route they’d take to the coast. He was also preparing for the real possibility that he’d be leaving the city to find his sister all alone.
Through the set of double doors, Cora, Griffin, and Carly appeared. They carried their backpacks and spoke quietly as they approached, as if they hadn’t a care in the world and were simply lea
ving on a long overdue camping trip.
Moving between Frank and Ethan, Griffin stepped into the back of the armored vehicle and placed his pack among the others. Turning back to Ethan, he said, “You good?”
For the last six days, he’d run through every imaginable scenario of what the city might look like. He also prayed that the gates of his parent’s community would have somehow protected them from what was happening in the world. He knew that was ridiculous, but the alternative was something he wasn’t yet ready to deal with. Turning to Griffin, he answered, “Yeah, just thinking about what’s on the other side of that bridge.”
Griffin stepped back out of the truck and stood alongside Frank. “We still gonna grab some supplies on the way out?”
“Yeah, you think otherwise?”
“No,” Griffin said. “I just think we may want to create a distraction out near your old apartment. Pull those things to the opposite end of town. Give us some breathing room.”
“What do you have in mind?”
Ben jumped out of the rear of the truck as if someone had just offered him a free ice cream. “I want in, whatever it is. I’m sick of always driving.”
Griffin squatted down and looked through the armored truck and out the front windshield. “That patrol car, I found the keys. It’s gonna be our ticket out of this place.”
Ethan motioned toward the parking lot. “Let’s do it. I’ll go get Shannon and then we’ll head out.”
. . .
He’d kissed her, but he still wasn’t exactly sure why—other than the obvious. And he also had no idea why she’d let him. Even kissed him back, or at least that’s the way it seemed. Ethan had always had an attraction to Shannon, although he didn’t think that was the reason he leaned in and pulled her close. That wasn’t him. He’d never have taken that kind of chance before. He decided to tell himself that it had something to do with what they’d been through over the last six days. What they’d experienced as a group of individuals just trying to stay alive. Trying to stay alive together.
He told himself to forget it happened. To not let it influence his decisions going forward. To go back to treating her like everyone else. This was going to be hard.
And as he left the others and started back down the hall, she appeared. Shannon turned the corner and moved through the ocean of sunlight flooding in through the lobby doors. She was carrying a sizeable cardboard box and an even bigger grin. “You are going to like me so much more when you see what I have in this box.”
20
Tom stepped away from the rear driver’s door of the SUV and looked back toward the stairwell he’d just exited. It was clear, with the exception of the two bodies partially blocking his view of the stairs leading to the fourth floor. He could hear them coming, but he had yet to deduce where exactly the sound was coming from. Turning back toward the opposite end of the third-floor garage, five walking corpses appeared from the darkened corner. Stairwell number two was a no go.
Back to the door, he leaned in and held out his hand. He decided not to ask. He needed to tell her, and she needed to listen. She didn’t look like she was in any condition to make the decision on her own anyway. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to discuss this. We have to go right now. Give me your hand, we’re leaving.”
As she slowly slid along the backseat toward him, Tom inched backward. He didn’t want to have to pull her out and if he could at least get her to step out of the SUV on her own, he knew he could get her to run.
The woman moved into the second row and slipped down into the seat as he looked out past the back bumper. The small group of Feeders had covered half of the one-hundred-foot distance and would be on them in less than twenty seconds.
Back to the door, the woman began climbing out. As she stretched to reach the pavement, he glimpsed her pant leg. The light blue denim was shredded beyond recognition and saturated in blood. Tom flinched as he took a half step back and pointed.
“Wait… what is that?” His heart pounded against the inside of his chest. “Come on lady, are you kidding me, have you been bitten?”
She looked up with only her eyes. And with her chin still pointed directly at the ground, she shook her head and spoke only her fourth word. “No.”
He again pointed at her obvious injury. “Then what the hell is that?”
Pulling her pant leg up to her knee, the woman looked at Tom and then back at her leg. Covered almost completely in a reddish orange glaze, her leg was stained from the knee all the way down into her shoe; however, as he moved in closer and inspected all angles, he could see that the skin had not been broken.
He took her hand and helped her away from the SUV. “Can you walk?”
She nodded. Then turned and reached back into the vehicle, grabbing a dirty orange backpack. She tossed it onto her shoulders and looked back at him.
“Can you run?”
Again she nodded.
“Okay, I have a car down on the street. I know you saw me drive up. We just need to get there. The far stairwell isn’t going to work. And the one I came up might get real nasty in a few seconds. Let’s go.”
His left hand still holding hers, Tom guided the woman out from between the vehicles, ten feet ahead of the approaching assailants. He clutched his weapon in the opposite hand and turned toward the stairs. Leading the way, Tom was surprised that the woman was keeping pace. He nearly released her hand as she was beginning to move ahead. As they came up to the entrance to the stairs, he slowed. She did as well.
He looked back and estimated they had gained at least a twenty second lead on those approaching from behind. He looked into the stairwell and released her hand. “Give me a second.” Tom stepped over the bodies he’d eliminated earlier and looked down toward the street. All clear.
“Let’s go.”
She reached for his hand again and the pair stepped out onto the third-floor landing.
The shock was nearly as troublesome as the impact. A wayward Feeder, hidden by the stairs above, dropped from the fourth-floor landing. They never saw it coming. The collision tossed both Tom and his new friend down the first six steps, with Tom taking the burden of all three bodies. As they slammed into the railing and then toppled over one another, they separated and Tom slid to a stop along the bottom stair.
Disoriented and slightly confused, he slid away from the steps, and scanned the floor below. The woman, now attempting to right herself, sat directly in front of him and the beast they’d collided with lay on its stomach two feet away. It was positioned head down on the stairs and slowly slithered toward the woman.
His mind moved in slow motion through what he had to do next. There was a real possibility that the creature clawing its way toward them was not alone and an even greater likelihood that others from the floors above were also headed this way. No time left to think, only react.
The woman screamed. She turned her head to look back at Tom and pulled her knees up into her chest. Her face was a deep red and her breath came out warm against the side of his neck. She kicked at her assailant and as it crawled its way onto her lower body, she reached for Tom.
With his back to the floor below, Tom quickly moved to his feet and stepped over the woman’s shoulder. He pushed her away and stood over the enraged beast as it peered up into his eyes. As it swiped at the air, Tom stepped to the side and raised his right leg. Clutching the handrail, he drove his boot down on top of the Feeder’s head, instantly ending the confrontation.
Turning, Tom reached for her hand and felt a slight twinge run up the back of his right leg. “We have to move.” From where he now stood, his view of the third-floor garage was partially blocked, but they were close. He estimated less than ten seconds away.
She stood with his help and pulled down on the straps of her pack. With a better vantage of the floor they’d just left, she looked back over her right shoulder and then clamped down on his hand. Yet again only one word. “Go.”
The sound of rushing wind and then another body f
ell from above. It hit hard against the stairs to their right, and to their dismay, began to stand. Tom and the woman moved quickly in the opposite direction, now heading toward the second floor.
Gripping the railing, Tom released her hand and stepped aside as the woman started down the stairs ahead of him. She moved quickly to the next landing as another body exploded from the fourth floor and slammed into the others only feet away. She looked back as Tom followed her to the next level and paused, waiting for him to direct their next move.
Tom slowed as he caught up to her and leaned over her shoulder. He quickly scanned the vacant first floor and then gave her a gentle nudge on the lower back. “We’re good,” Tom said. “Let’s get to the street. The car is off to the right, maybe thirty yards. Stay close.”
The woman had already begun moving down the stairs before he’d finished his instructions. She reached the opening to the first floor and rounded the last landing before street level.
Tom winced as two more ground shaking eruptions came from behind. He didn’t stop, he didn’t turn. He just kept running.
He held tight to the railing for balance and began taking the steps two at a time. As he reached the street, ready to sprint for the car, the woman had stopped. She was less than ten feet from the exit and held her hands over her mouth. She was trying to stop herself from screaming.
21
With the sun now sitting at its highest point in the sky, the streets of Summer Mill warmed. The snow from the previous storm had all but disappeared and was now replaced by tiny puddles that sat lonely among the few shadows of midday. And although it was still in the thick of winter, the area resembled a beautiful early spring day, with the exception of the numerous bodies littering the streets of downtown.
