by Jim Kroswell
Bacteria Zombies
by Jim Kroswell
Copyright © 2014 Bacteria Zombies, All Rights Reserved.
No parts of this work may be used without the author's sole permission. This work may not be lent to others without the permission of the author. The characters of this book belong solely to the author and all rights to these are at the sole discretion of the author.
The bacteria were traveling everywhere at great speeds. Everyone was quite afraid of them invading their bodies. The bacteria had minds of their own. They were hungry for people and the sustenance they provided. People slathered anti-bacterial gel from the tippy top of their heads to the toes on their feet, in an effort to pre-empt any invasion. Hospitals were overcrowded with people infected with the bacteria but they only served as more of a breeding ground, giving the bacteria even more victims. There were many hospitals that were overrun with the small bugs and some were turning away patients except for the most sick and dire cases. The bacteria were not man-made but they had been man-programmed. They were super bugs in every sense of the word, as not only were they immune from antibiotics, they had been injected with man-made DNA and programmed to do unspeakable things to the human body. People at first had thought it had just been a coincidence that the government had shut down all research for new antibiotics for the resistant bugs. Now it was becoming painfully obvious that they were incahoots with the biological research firms that were experimenting with new kinds of synthetic DNA being injected into E. Coli. It all seemed so natural when the ethics committess overseeing such practices said that they were not truly messing with nature, although environmental groups were up in arms. It did not seem as if they had an ulterior motive, it did not seem that they were planning an attack on the world and it did not seem as if they would change life as we knew it. But now it seemed clearer than crystal, and no one knew what to do about it.
Dr. Samuels sat behind his desk with his head in his hands. He had just come from one of the worst cases. Her head was dripping ooze and when she looked at him, her eyes barely able to stay in her head, as bacteria had eaten away most of her flesh, leaving a wet gooey mess, she begged and pleaded for him to make it all stop. He looked away as he could not bare to tell her that he did not know what to do. He had always been the powerful doctor, he had always been the back up, the one who had the answers when all of the others were clueless. Now he was the clueless one and it shook him with fear to his core.
***
She lay with him in her arms. Her poor son had been his and his brown hair was becoming a mangled mess with blood. She did not even know exactly where the blood was coming from. She knew that every second that she sat with him, cradling him in her arms, she was at risk, that she too would be getting it soon. But it did not deter her. She could not shy away from her small son. She was his only comfort and joining him was her's. She brushed his matted her, she however did not dare kiss him. If she were going to get it, she needed to try to be healthy for as long as she could, for him. There were scavengers in the street. The world had turned chaotic and he was nothing more than something to be feed upon in this new reality. Her mind hungered for a solution, for a remedy, but it found no solace in thoughts. She played music and that is where she allowed her mind to be enwrapped. The saddest thing about this situation was that his father was Dr. Samuels, the famed doctor, and in this situation not even he could help. Although the couple had been estranged for years, Dr. Samuels advised the boy not come to the hospital, because that was where the worst of it was happening.
***
Dr. Samuels tapped his yellow pencil on the desk. There had to be an answer. He felt as if a hug boulder hung over his head and that any moment it would snap. The bacteria were everywhere, they had invaded his life and his dreams. Not only were they robbing the world, they were robbing his reality. They were taking everything and they were poised to take his young son. His wife Sharon lay with the boy and his hands shook as he thought of it. If there were any scientific breakthroughs he would be the first to rush to his son's side but there was nothing in the offing. All bets were off and no one had any clues about where this scourge would end up. It could possibly be the case that this was the end of the world. All of the strange things in the bible of mass extinctions no longer felt implausible. Maybe one day people would be writing about the deadly bugs, the bugs that killed the people. What were these things! He knew, he had heard of secret meetings of scientists working on bacteria that could be controlled, that could be tethered to human needs and desires to control other human beings. It was all a living nightmare. They had let it get out of their control. They had let it all go. There was nothing more to be done. Drips of sweat started to drop from his brow. It seems the drips grew more and more steady, like a drum beat of rain falling on a house roof. His endocrine system was going crazy, loss of life was all around him and it was driving him insane. And the most important life of all, the most innocent creature on earth, was at his mercy and he could do nothing. He had always known everything, he was the all powerful doctor. He was the doctor everyone went to when no one knew what else to do. He was the one they clamored towards with the unending questions, with the insatiable appetites for him to solve their problems, and he always could. He always let down his hand and pulled them up into the light, except now. Now he was also in the hole and he knew not what hand would come down for them. They were stuck. He had a team of scientists/doctors at his disposal and no one knew where they should even start. The bacteria were spreading so rapidly. They were invading town after town. It seemed that every second they were getting in a new report that another town was infected and within minutes hospitals were filled with patients, patients who were doomed to die. That was what was scariest about this, there was no cure. There was absolutely nothing. In other situations, at least there were some individuals who would survive illnesses that there were no treatments for. In this situation, that number was zero. There were simply no survivors. The bacteria were ravaging and they didn't care who it was, they were all up to be eaten, eaten alive.
Dr. Samuels slammed his palm against his head and let out a howl. There had to be something, something that he was missing. The answer was there. The answer came to him. He had to find those who did this. He had to switch hats and become a detective. The menacing ones who did this would maybe have a clue as to how to stem it. They had done something to the fabric of life and he needed to know what scissors they yielded to shred it so. He wasn't exactly sure where to begin, but he thought about the hospital gossip and of those there were always several. They would know something, at least where to start looking. Herbert was the loudest mouth at the hospital, he would have his secretary call him in.
***
Samantha lay in the hospital bed. She knew that her time was coming soon. Her boyfriend had said that he wanted to come see her but she begged him to stay away. He actually hadn't exhibited any signs of the outbreak just yet and it would have ripped her apart if she knew that she would be the cause of his demise. She had sores all over her body and all of her internal organs, she was told, were failing her fast. Goo dripped from sores that lined her face and hands and were actually another major reason she didn't want Renaldo to see her. He would never be able to rip these horrific images from his memory and she knew that. If she did ever get better she never wanted him to know the true extent of the monster she had become, the mound of rotting flesh that she now was. The bacteria were inside of her and it was almost as if she was bending to there will because there were simply so many of them. The strangest thing was though that she sometimes felt like she could hear them talking to her, telling her to do things. She figured that it was the result of them attacking her brain and her descent into delusion. However sometimes,
she felt as if they almost had a voice, like she could hear the voice of the bacteria. They seemed to be speaking in unison to her and sometimes seemed to be having a conversation with her. She simply attributed it to her delirium. She had been sick before, she had had sorts of colds and the occasional fever and intestinal infection, but to her recollection, she never felt like the invading creatures were ever trying to talk to her before. Samantha lifted her puss engorged hands to her face and began to sob.
***
She held him in her arms, Dr. Samuels son, her son, the one they had created together. She found it ironic that the prodigal son that he had so often cherished, had so yearned for, was now nothing more than a heap of bones whom he had abandoned. She was there, she was trying to console the poor soul, while his father bandied around the city, acting like the super hero he always envisioned himself, always held himself up, always dreamed himself, to be. She felt disgusted by the golden halo he had so judiciously placed upon his head and felt the whole thing was nothing more than a sham if he could not even bring himself to attempt to console his own flesh and blood. She was the one risking everything, she was the one who could become infect any moment, while Dr. Samuels was miles away, safe in his little sterile office. She imagined that he never even left his small hole, his safe place, to mix with the common folk, the dying folk, that waited upon his every breath, waited for some sign of hope for life. She needed to shake off this negativity, for little Wesley's sake. He needed her, and he needed her to be in her purest form. He was waning and her heart was breaking, she felt it wasn't her felt if her mind turned towards the evil, towards the callous, as it tried to escape this inevitability. Wesley shuddered in her arms and then he looked up, "Mom, what is happening to me?" "It's okay dear, you know Daddy is going to come up with a cure. He always does, doesn't he?" "Yes, he always does. He's my favorite. My eyes hurt and my skin hurts." "Show me where it hurts dear." Wesley motioned all over his body and his mother's heart broke just a little bit more. She didn't know why she gave him false hope, but it was the only medicine she had at her disposal, small little pills of hope, and what is stronger than a hope that a parent is going to rescue a child, especially in the mind's eye of a child. She pulled Wesley closer to her and hoped, hoped that Dr. Samuels, her horrible horrible husband, would save their child.
***
Samantha sobbed and sobbed. It seemed like hours. She could hear moaning in the rooms on either side of her's. It was as if the entire hospital was moaning all at once, together. Then, in the midst of her cries, she heard foot steps headed towards her. She looked up and the thick black wavy hair of Renaldo was coming towards her. She gasped. She didn't know where to run. His face was not his own. She saw horror on his face. It was like he was looking at a monster and the disappointment that emanated from him was palpable as a physical force, pushing her down. She told him not to come and he ignored her and now he was to administer the final blow. "What happened to you? You were so pretty!" She couldn't really believe what she was hearing. She had deep feelings for Renaldo and she was at once torn by the sadness instilled by his exasperation but also at his unbelievable shallowness. She squeezed her eyes shut and he sat in the chair that was next to her hospital bed and sobbed with his head in his hands.
***
Dr. Samuels had requested Herbert be sent to his office and there he was standing before him. He had blonde curly hair and a sharp nose that always seemed to be stuck pointedly in everyone's business. "Herbert, how are you?" "You know Dr. Samuels everything is in disarray. Everyone is going crazy." "Calm down Herbert. I need for you to tell me something and I need you to be very honest and tell me everything you know." Herbert had a perplexed look on his face but there was something seedy in his eyes and Dr. Samuels knew that he could not trust him completely. "You know I would tell you anything, Dr. Samuels." "I need to know what you know about the genesis of the bacteria project." "I don't know what you're talking about. The bacteria are everywhere. Everyone is dying. It's just horrible, we're all going to die, you're going to die and so am I. Oh, it's just terrible." Dr. Samuels walked over and stood next to Herbert and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "This is important and I need for you to be calm and try to think. I'm not talking about the bacteria that is here right now. I'm talking about a project from several months ago. I heard about it in gossip. There were some doctors talking about a type of bacteria that could be programmed through DNA, programmed like you could program a computer, to do what they wanted, and make the human or animals injected with the DNA, do what the doctor's wanted. Try to remember. Do you remember when this was going around the hospital. I know you know something Herbert and I need for you to calm down and stop crying and tell me what you know! Now dammit!" Herbert drew in several very long sniffles and let out huge bawling cries. After several minutes of looking down he began to utter something. "I can't hear you Herbert, speak up." "I can't. I can't. They said they would hurt me." "Who would hurt you?" "I can't, don't you see. They said they would hurt me, and I believe them." "We're all going to die! They can't very well hurt a dead man, can they!" "You're right. It was Dr. Lawson, and another man, a very heavy set man. I had never seen him at the hospital before. He wore a coat and tie and a grey hat. I can't remember anything else." "Herbert, what were they talking about, were they talking about a special project, a special task force, something that they were experimenting on... anything, think!" "Yes, yes, they were saying all of that. It is so fuzzy right now. But yes, they were agitated that I had walked in, but I could hear them before I walked in and I stopped to listen for a minute, just a minute. Oh, we're all going to die." It was then that Dr. Samuels lost Herbert, and Herbert lay on the floor in convulsive crying and Dr. Samuels thought, what an utterly worthless imbecile.
***
Dr. Samuels ly on his back on the red leather couch that was in his office. He looked up at the ceiling and only felt sadness in his belly. He had something at least now, he had a name, Dr. Lawson. He was behind this. Dr. Lawson was a shady fellow with not a hair on his head and a round stomach. He always hated the look of him as he would catch his glance at the candy machine. He was evil and he knew it. Dr. Samuels needed to devise a way to uncover what exactly Dr. Lawson was up to and as he hadn't seen him around the hospital in several weeks, he wasn't exactly sure how to proceed next. He looked down at his watch, he hadn't spoken to Wesley in several hours and he knew he needed to call. He half dreaded the conversation, he didn't want to know that his poor son was getting worse, but the odds were that he was. He pushed himself to go over to his desk and pick up the old phone and dial. "Wesley, how are you?" "Is that you Daddy? I'm okay." "Good job Buddy, you have to stay strong. Your mom needs you to be a strong boy." "I know she does. She wants to talk to you, here." "You son of a bitch, you can't even come down here!" "Calm down, please, for the boy. I know, I know, I'm doing all that I can here." "How is it that all you can is never very much!" She spat venom at him and he knew that it was his job to be the infinite sea that absorbed the venom and only returned kindness. It seemed that this was his role in his most intimate relationships as with the rest of the public world. "I have a lead. I need to get to the bottom of this." "What, you're the sleuth that's going to save the world! Just like you, spend your time doing that while your child dies!" And with that she slammed the phone down. Dr. Samuels ear felt like a sledge hammer had hit it and he sat there in a moment of slight dizziness. He deserved that, he knew. He needed to get to his son, but he just could not afford to at this moment. He needed to think of other things, he needed to think of Lawson.
Lawson was a shred cat. He knew this from what he heard in hallways, in snippets of conversations quickly shut down when he entered the room. Lawson was working with someone and these two were somehow behind this all. It was a heavy burden to take out the world, but to a mad man, it may not quite seem that way. Lawson must have some pretty hairy plans.
***
Samantha sat in her bed, a big mess of goo. Both emotionally a
nd physically, she was completely drained. Who was this person next to her that was so loathesome to her at this moment but who once had such an important part in her life. Her life seemed so dismal now that it seemed no one was inside her world at the moment, not even Renaldo. Renaldo looked at his hands. He didn't know how to be there for the love of his life. He did truly love Samantha but did not know what to do at this juncture. He looked up into her eyes as some sort of green goo leaked from her right eye. "Samantha, I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to expect. You know I risked a lot by coming here. They say the hospitals are the worst. Everyone is dying who walks in here. But I had to see you. I'm so sorry, for everything, for you being like this. I should have been able to protect. I just don't want you to die. I love you. I don't care how you look. I'll be here until the end for you. And hopefully, we'll find a way to fight this and the end won't be for a very long time. Just hold on Samantha, I'll figure something out." She couldn't help herself. Her eyes welled up with tears. The tears were mixed with puss, as they were quite infected, and they poured out a whitish greenish fluid, seemingly unstoppable. Renaldo reached down with his latex covered hand and enveloped her hand with his. "I'm here for you. We're going to make it." She wanted to believe him, she wanted to with all of her quickly being eaten away heart. She could barely utter a word and felt maybe she should just not say anything for a moment. She wasn't sure what to believe, her brain was leaving her, with who knows how many infections starting in the folds of her grey matter.
***
Lawson sat in his office. The sun filtered through his grey curtains. His room was dark other than that bit of light. Dr. Terrence Lawson was a dastardly human being. He was also very ugly. There was stains covering his head but not a single strand of hair, only pukey cancerous lesions decorated his top. He had a plan. He was going to rule the world. He had a meticulous way in which he was going to go about this involving the new technologies developed regarding bacteria. He was going to infect every person in the world with his smart bacteria. They were to be genetically engineered to control the infected party using a complex system of neuronal signals executed via hormones. He was a biology major in college and landed upon a paper one night as he was studying in the library about a mad scientist who was trying to get bacteria to control human hormones, thereby curing hormonal diseases. He had lofty ambitions this scientist, and Lawson was just the person to parasitically ride this man's desires for good and twist them to his own agenda. All of the negativity Lawson endured from every person he ever encountered would be turned inside out and he would execute this negativity upon the world. He found the writer of this paper and he befriended him. He learned everything about the bacterial experiments and what the extent was to which he would be able to program them and allow them to control the host species. He learned it all and he learned it deeply, for although Lawson was a deeply evil person, his ability to retain knowledge and his curiosity for the chemical and biological sciences was great, and equally as deep.
