On the third stop, Violet saw the fight was still going on. Three doctors were being ripped open by at least ten biters, and two soldiers at the end of the hall were trying to fight the others off with knives. It seemed their bullets had run out. She hurriedly pressed the button to close the doors, wanting to be as far away from this floor as possible, until she saw Joe step out of one of the offices. Her eyes widened, and she waved her arms to try to get his attention. It worked; he caught sight of her and smiled, a reassuring sight despite his bloody lip and black eye. Slowly and silently, he slipped past the dead and moved for the elevator.
But then the doors shut.
“No,” Violet cried, banging her fists against them as the metal box rumbled toward the ground floor. She hurriedly pressed the button for Joe’s level, groaning as the elevator continued to stop at every stop on the way down. Finally, she was at the bottom. She jabbed at the button to close the doors so she could go back up again. But, of course, it had to stop at every single floor on the way back up, too. Violet swore at the thing with as many words as she could think of, in as many languages as she knew.
After an eternity, the doors opened on the right floor. Joe waited on the other side. The biters behind him were still busy feeding. He stepped in swiftly, pressing the button to close the doors again.
“It might’ve been polite to hold the elevator for me,” he joked.
Violet hugged him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Where are the others?”
“We got separated. You turned a few of the soldiers, and they turned others. We tried to run. Somehow, we lost each other.”
Violet’s heart was racing. “Did you see which way they went?”
“I think they ran up the stairs, to the floor above us.”
After numerous stops at every level the elevator was capable of traveling to, Joe and Violet stepped onto the floor they needed. Violet held on to her shard of glass. Joe had a polished baton. This hallway was deserted, but still wrecked like the others.
“How long has it been going on for?” Violet asked, her voice low.
“About five hours,” Joe replied. “It was crazy. We couldn’t leave the closet for ages, because there were so many biters outside. Then they started to move around the building, and even more people got infected. They were turning really fast; do you think that’s something to do with your blood?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if you infected the first lot, then they infected the others, maybe that would explain why they seem to come back quicker.”
Violet shrugged. “Maybe, I don’t know.”
“Something to think about.”
“I’d rather not.”
Joe grinned. “Good point. Let’s just find the others and get out.”
“Stop right there.”
Violet froze. She knew that voice. She and Joe turned, coming face to face with Gobber. He was bruised and worn down, but unfortunately still alive. His gun was pointed squarely at Violet’s face. “Doctor Ross is looking for you,” he said.
“Tell him I’m busy right now.”
Gobber smirked. “Funny. Get in there.” He pointed to a room behind her, another office. It wasn’t like they had much of a choice, so Violet and Joe trudged inside. Gobber shut the door behind them, and then moved over to the desk. He sat down on the chair, motioning for Joe and Violet to sit in the seats opposite.
“We’ll wait here for a while,” he said. “Until backup arrives.”
“Just let us go,” Violet said. “We should all get out of here.”
“You think I’m scared of them?” Gobber asked, pointing to the door with the gun. There was more screaming now, and it was getting louder. The biters were close. “I’ve got bullets; they don’t frighten me. The good doctor needs you, mutant, and he’ll pay me extra to bring you to him.”
“Is money actually worth anything anymore?” Violet asked.
“It will be when I ship out of here next week.” His eyes narrowed at Joe, who’d been sitting silently during their conversation but was staring at Gobber intently. “You got something to say?”
“No, I just…I don’t want to be rude or anything, but what’s with your tooth?”
Gobber’s smile flickered, but he just leaned back in the chair and said nothing.
Violet noticed the door behind him, which she assumed led to a private bathroom, was opening silently.
I should warn him if there’s a zombie in there.
I’m definitely not going to.
But it wasn’t a zombie; it was Frances. She was in bad shape, but she was alive. Gobber put his feet up on the desk, eyes on Violet. “Listen, sweetheart, don’t take this personally. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I hate you, but it’s not a personal thing. I just hate what you are. And who you are. And everything about you.”
“It sort of sounds personal,” Joe mused, purposefully keeping his eyes off Frances, who was getting closer. She had a knife in her hand.
Gobber sneered. “You know what? I think you’re right. It is personal. Oh well, you two will be dead soon, and then we won’t have to worry about—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence because Frances plunged her knife into his neck, practically growling with anger as she did. Gobber twitched for a moment as the blood poured from the wound, spraying the table in front of him. Joe yanked Violet to her feet, pushing her out of the room before things started to spin. Frances followed, holding her side and groaning with every step. She closed the office door behind her, but made no effort to follow them down the hallway.
“Come on,” Joe said to her.
She shook her head, moving her hand and showing them the bite that had gone clean through her clothing. The blood meant nothing to Violet; Frances was almost fully infected.
“Get as far away as you can,” she breathed. “They’re looking for you.” She went back into the room and closed the door behind her.
Joe eyed Violet. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know why she helped us”
“Maybe not everyone is bad?”
“Let’s just find the others.”
Joe agreed. “We need to be prepared for anything; who knows what else they have in this place?”
Violet knew he was right. They continued down the hallway, checking the rooms. Most were empty, but a couple contained corpses so mutilated they stood no chance of getting back up again. Joe opened the door to another room, and then hurriedly shut it again before Violet could see what was inside.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Remember I said we needed to be prepared for anything?”
“Yeah?”
“There are six biters in that room.”
“Okay…”
“And Toby is on top of a bookcase.”
“On top of a—”
“A bookcase, yeah.”
Joe opened the door a fraction, and Violet peeked inside. Six biters were standing around a bookcase by the back wall, each reaching hungrily for Toby who was, as Joe said, curled into a ball on top of it. He glanced up as the door opened, and gave Joe and Violet an awkward wave. Joe closed the door again, turning back to Violet. “How fond are you of the kid, really?”
“He’s one of us.”
Joe sighed. “I knew you were going to say that.”
“Hey!” Matt was heading toward them down the hallway, carrying a large machete. His arm was wrapped up where he had cut it, thankfully, and he pulled Violet into a hug.
“Glad you’re okay.” He held his hands up at Joe. “I thought the plan was to stay together?”
“Things got complicated.”
“True enough,” Matt said, then paused. “Where’s Toby?”
Joe nodded to the door beside him. “In there.”
“What’s he doing?”
“He’s on a bookcase,” Violet answered.
“On a… okay, right.”
“And Violet says we definitely have to go in a
fter him,” Joe said.
Matt agreed. “We do.”
“Damn. Okay then.” Joe opened the door, and the three of them hurried inside. They were able to kill the first couple of biters quickly enough because they were still distracted with Toby, but as soon as the rest realized, they had to work a little harder. Matt was almost unstoppable with his machete, though, which was far more useful than Violet’s glass or Joe’s baton. At one point, Joe was pinned, but Matt seemed to appear from nowhere, slicing the biter’s head clean off. Soon, all that was left was a mangled heap of corpses on the floor.
Toby climbed down. “Thanks.”
Matt wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve. “No problem.” He looked as though he might be about to say something to Violet, but then his expression changed. Steeling herself, she turned to see why. In that instant, her stomach seemed to fall to her feet.
Joe was bitten.
The bite was on his shoulder, and he wiped the blood away with the sleeve of his shirt. It wasn’t deep, but that didn’t matter. A bite was a bite. Face white, he stared at them, his expression a mixture of realization and disappointment.
“Sorry, guys,” he muttered. “Didn’t see him coming.”
Violet could hardly breathe. She moved closer to Joe, pulling him close. The smell of his blood made her slightly dizzy, but the damp scent of infection was already there. He was going to turn, and it wouldn’t take long. Matt stabbed his machete into the wood of the table, swearing loudly.
“What should we do?” Toby asked, his voice breaking a little.
“Matt, will you do me a favor?” Joe asked, nodding to the machete.
Matt’s eyes filled with tears, and he shook his head. “No. No, no, no…”
Joe smiled weakly. “I can’t do it myself. You’d really be helping me out.” He spoke so casually, as if he was simply asking for a loan of Matt’s car or something. “Come on, mate. You know I’d do it for you.”
Matt wiped his eyes. He would do it; Violet knew that. As horrible as it was, he wouldn’t let his friend become one of the biters. They had made a pact right at the start. He pulled the machete out of the desk, and moved closer to Joe. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“I don’t want to turn into one of those things. No offense, Vi. I just can’t pull off cute-zombie girl like you.”
Violet tried to smile. Matt pulled Joe into a hug, then so did Toby. Violet went last.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Joe kissed her cheek. “Take care of him,” he said, nodding at Matt. “He’s definitely a little bit in love with you.”
“Thanks, Joe,” Matt said, rolling his watery eyes but smiling.
Joe winked at him. “You were taking too long to say it.” He got down on his knees, head down. “Do it quick, okay?”
Matt took a deep breath, then lifted the machete.
“Stop!” Violet cried out suddenly.
Matt froze, the machete hanging in the air just above Joe’s head. “What?”
Joe was breathing heavily. “Can this wait, Vi? I’m on the clock here.”
“We’re so stupid,” Violet said, eyes wide.
Joe raised an eyebrow. “I’m just about to die, and you’re insulting me? That’s cold.”
She was barely listening as she pulled Joe to his feet. “The vaccines!”
Joe’s eyes widened, too. “You think—”
“Maybe one of them can help?”
Matt didn’t sound sure. “We don’t know if they’ll work; you know what happened to Sam.”
Toby added, “And weren’t those meant to stop people from getting the virus? If Joe’s…if he’s already…will it even work?”
Joe shrugged, eyes on the machete in Matt’s hand. “If that’s my only option right now, maybe we could give the drug a try? Let’s be honest… by the end of today, I’ll be dead, or half-dead like Violet. I know which one I’d prefer.”
Matt thought for a moment. “We need to find it. Maybe Joe should stay here with Toby?”
Joe shook his head. “Bad idea.”
“Yeah,” Toby agreed.
“I don’t want you guys risking your lives for me. Let me come and help,” Joe said. He glanced at Toby. “Right?”
“Actually, I was thinking I didn’t want to be left alone with you if you were going to become a zombie, but sure.”
Violet’s heart was racing, but this was good. Five minutes ago, it seemed like all hope was lost, but now they had a chance to save Joe.
“Let’s go,” she said.
The group had been searching for about twenty minutes. So far, they had no success.
“You think they’d signpost this place better,” Joe said impatiently, his breathing becoming heavier by the minute.
Matt shrugged. “I guess a big sign saying ‘anti-zombie vaccine this way’ might be a little much.”
Joe grinned, holding onto his shoulder. They’d covered the wound, but it had stopped bleeding relatively quickly. Violet could already see the veins around it turning black. He was paler than he had been ten minutes ago, and walking seemed to be much harder work than before. He caught her eye.
“Stop checking me out, Violet. We’re busy right now.”
She fluttered her lashes, pushing him playfully. “I just can’t get enough.”
“I feel like I’m missing out by not starting a post-apocalyptic love story.” Joe sighed, then called over to Matt. “Sorry I outed you to Violet; things must be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.”
“A little,” Matt replied.
“I just kind of assumed I’d be dead so it wouldn’t really matter if I mentioned the whole secret love thing. Now I’m caught up in it, and the tension here is killing me.”
Matt’s expression was fixed. “Yeah, at least you’re not still talking about it.”
“That would be awkward,” Violet agreed, smothering a laugh.
They took the stairs between floors of the building; Violet did not want to risk the PMSing elevator again. Everything was much quieter now, and she wondered if the dead had gone. Perhaps they’d chased the last survivors out the front doors? That would certainly make things a lot easier for her and the others.
The next level seemed more promising. There was a lot of lab equipment. In one room, there seemed to be hundreds of vials of blood.
“That can’t all be mine,” Violet said.
Matt shook his head. “Who knows how many survivors they took blood from, or how many of the dead ones they tested.”
Toby was examining some of the vials more closely. “They all have codes and dates; how will we know which are the ones we need?”
“We could look for ones with the most recent dates?” Violet suggested.
“Yeah, if only we knew what today is,” Joe replied. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve stopped writing in my diary.”
“Good point.”
“What are you doing here?”
Doctor Ross had come out of a small room to their right. He was bloodied and his coat was ripped, but he seemed okay other than that.
“We’ve come for the vaccine,” Violet said, keeping her tone confident despite the fact she was terrified.
Doctor Ross’ eyes swept the group and settled on Joe. “He’s been bitten?”
“You can tell?” Joe asked sarcastically, the sweat glistening on his pale forehead.
“Where are the vaccines?” Violet insisted. “You said there were three others.”
“There are.”
Joe held up his hand. “Well, this is your lucky day; I’d like to test one.”
Doctor Ross shook his head. “There’s no guarantee it will work on someone who has been bitten.”
“There’s no guarantee it will work at all,” Violet countered. “But we’re going to try it anyway. Where are they?”
Doctor Ross paused, surveying each of them carefully. Then he looked squarely at Violet. “Come with me.”
“What?”
“I’ve just radioed the soldie
rs I sent out on patrol this morning. They’re coming back to extract me. You need to come, too.”
“No thanks.”
Doctor Ross stepped forward, and Violet saw Matt instinctively move a little closer to her.
“Do you have any idea how important you are?” Doctor Ross asked, his voice almost manic. “Your blood could hold the key to everything!”
“She’s not going with you,” Toby interrupted, the nine-year-old boy standing between Violet and the doctor.
Doctor Ross seemed to sense the way this was heading, and he eyed the machete in Matt’s hand. “How about you all come with us?” he asked. “We can try the vaccine on you,” he said to Joe, “And get you all to safety.”
Violet shook her head. “We’ll never be safe around people like you.” She took a step closer to the doctor. “Tell us where the vaccine is, or my friend here is going to lodge that machete into your skull.”
Doctor Ross’ eyes flicked toward Matt, who smiled.
“In here.” He gestured to the door behind him. On the table in the smaller room there were three vials, clearly about to be packed into a laptop-sized case. Joe, whose legs looked like they were threatening to give out, sat on a stool by the table. Violet eyed each of the glass tubes.
“Which one should we use?” Matt asked her.
She had no idea. Violet turned to the doctor. “Which one?”
Doctor Ross shrugged, his whole attitude changing. “How should I know? That’s why we run tests.”
“Guess.”
Ross’ eyes flicked to the machete, then he gestured to the left-most vial. “That one. That was the one we thought most likely. We were going to test it next.”
“Put it into a syringe,” Violet ordered. The doctor moved to the table, filling a syringe with around a quarter of the liquid. Joe stuck out his arm, but Violet held up her hand.
“Wait.” She glared at Doctor Ross. “You first.”
“What?”
“I don’t trust you, Doctor, but if this is the one you think is the safest, then you should try it first.”
Ross shook his head. “I’m not injecting myself with that.”
“But it would be good enough to test on us?” Matt asked, teeth clenched. Ross didn’t reply.
Alive? Page 28
