Scarlet Memories (Book 2): Metamorphosis

by Jessica T. Ozment

  “Charlotte? What are you doing here?” He asked her as he rushed to her side. She sat up immediately and turned in his direction. Her eyes stopped to rest on him; they seemed rather distant.

  “He killed them…He killed them both. No, he murdered them!” Charlotte said to Ian. She grabbed onto his shirt and pressed her sobbing face closer to his.

  “We’re going to die down here if we don’t leave now! I’m not even talking about the trouble Jeremy’s going to cause!” She exclaimed, snapping back to reality.

  “This fire and smoke are deadly. We need to leave this floor. Come on!” She cried. Her finger was pointed at the elevator doors. There was no time to think so they rushed to the doors and waited for them to open. They watched as the light that indicated what level Jeremy was on flashed to the first floor.

  “He’s trying to leave?” Ian scowled. “Oh god! What is he thinking? He’s gone off the deep end.”

  “I have to stop him!” Ian cried.

  So, he followed her into the elevator and watched as she pushed the level 3 button.

  “Why to level three?” Ian questioned Charlotte.

  “You’ll see.” She breathed, squeezing out some of the water in her hair.

  “Wait! Where’s my mom?” Jamie screamed out at Ian, throwing himself at the closing doors. Ian barely caught him before he sped off down the hall. He clutched his shoulders and looked down at the tear-filled eyes of the unknowing boy. The poor kid looked extremely pale and sniffled lightly underneath the makeshift raincoat he’d made for him. Ian struggled with what to tell him. He wanted more than anything to be honest with him. After all, he was sure he would extend the same courtesy. He decided they didn’t have time.

  “She’s already gone, buddy. She left.” That was all that Jamie needed to hear it seemed.

  He had grown to trust Ian and maybe even look up to him. Ian hoped that when he told him the truth, he wouldn’t resent him for lying. Now was not the time to explain his mother’s death. It was an accident, or that is what Ian would tell him. He was far too young to understand the science behind it. Ian closed his arms around the boy and held him tightly. He would never know how truly sorry he felt.

  “We’ll see her soon, okay?” He assured, pulling back to stare into his sweet face. He watched as the boy eased up and nodded back.

  “Okay,” He agreed.

  “Charlotte, where are you taking us?” Ian pressed again. He wanted answers. He was tired of the secrecy. Ian saw Charlotte raise a hand to her forehead as she debated for a moment. It seemed she decided to play along.

  “We’re going to the surveillance room. We can control everything from there. Just follow me when these doors open, okay?” She asked as she steadied her hands and geared up for the doors to open. It seemed she had indeed regained her composure.

  “You heard that, alright guys?” Ian asked the others.

  They both nodded their heads in agreement as the elevator stopped. They quickly exited and followed Charlotte as she ran down the empty hallway before them. There weren’t any military personnel clouding the hallways or guarding doors.

  “Must be because of Jeremy. They were probably trying to find him.” Ian guessed.

  “At the very least, we have the Grunts at our disposal. The coin had flipped.” Thought Ian. Charlotte came to a door down the hall from the elevators and took a key card from her pant pocket. She scanned the card and the door came open. The four of them slid inside as fast as they could.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Jeremy waited impatiently for the elevator doors to open up. He had almost reached the top level; the closest to freedom he had gotten to in over a year. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest with emotions of elation! He simply could not remain still. Jeremy paced the floor as he could not wait to taste the fresh air and sunlight outside. Since being in the lower levels of the building, Jeremy yearned for some vitamin D. He would enjoy every second of sunlight and freedom, once he obtained it.

  “I won’t take it for granted like some people I know,” Jeremy muttered to himself. He loathed Ian.

  “He’s such a spoiled little city-rich brat.” Jeremy thought as his blood pressure began to rise.

  “He better hope I don’t see him again.” Jeremy raised his fist in the air and shook it lightly.

  The doors opened. Jeremy peered out, aiming his shotgun straight ahead of him. He knew there would be a significant military presence because of his escape. If he had thought about it, Jeremy would have taken the soldiers bullet proof jacket from downstairs. Instead, he would have to make do without it. He slowly pushed past the doors and carefully preceded through the lobby. It was oddly quiet. He hadn’t spotted anyone or any signs of movement.

  “Maybe they didn’t notice me come up?” He guessed, twisting his neck around to check in all directions.

  “Surely, they know something is going on downstairs? Maybe they are all too busy with the fire?” He hoped.

  Jeremy decided he wouldn’t linger on it too much; he needed to keep his guard up. One slip up and it would cost him his life. Something that he held dear and was obviously willing to murder for.

  “I won’t turn back now.” He affirmed. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on anything that could be spying on him.

  Jeremy shuffled through the lobby. He swiveled around on his heel to get a 360-degree view of the entire room.

  “If they’re here, they are hiding quite well.” He uttered underneath his breathe. He allowed his feet to lightly touch the ground so that he didn’t make a noise. He crouched down, holding his gun at his hip, turning the corner. He immediately spotted one of the men in uniform. He was kneeling with his gun in the air; aiming down his sights, searching for the escapee. Jeremy crept up beside him, quiet and alert, trying not to make a sound. He was flanking the soldiers left side. As he came across the room, Jeremy noticed a desk in a nearby room adjacent to the soldier Jeremy was creeping up on. Behind it, there was another soldier ready to shoot. This one was aiming right on top of Jeremy. It seemed he hadn’t noticed him yet.

  Jeremy lowered himself to the ground and took aim at the other man. It only took him seconds to acquire his target; he gave no warning when he shot the soldier in the upper left shoulder. It pierced right outside the bullet proof jacket and sent the soldier flying backwards. He hit a large black filing cabinet on the way back, sending files and various office supplies into the air. Jeremy heard a loud thud then aimed his gun down on the soldier he had spotted first.

  This time the soldier had a clear view of Jeremy because he had already given his position away by attacking the other soldier. They both had their guns pointed at one another, ready to pull the trigger at a moment’s notice. Jeremy gripped the combat shotgun tightly as sweat began running down his cheeks. He wouldn’t allow his hand to shake. He didn’t want to show a sign of weakness.

  “Are you going to shoot me?” Jeremy asked the soldier, who had quickly walked directly in front of him. Jeremy decided he would close in as well. He walked forward with his gun steady on the soldier.

  “Put your gun on the ground and surrender. I’ve got more guys on their way now. Resistance is futile.” The soldier stated coolly behind a smirk. His voice didn’t skip a beat. He was quite confident in the fact that he could take on the escaping terrorist.

  “I think I will make that decision myself. I call the shots!” Jeremy informed him aggressively. Jeremy watched as the soldier’s eye caught movement behind him. He allowed it to stare for a moment. Immediately, he saw the soldier rip his glance back.

  “There must be another one.” Jeremy thought suspiciously. He planted his feet firmly on the ground.

  “I’ve got to think of something quick!” Jeremy thought. He felt he was cornered.

  “What did cornered dogs do? They lashed out. “Jeremy only had a few seconds to make his mind up. He understood that he only had one option and that was to create one last diversion.

  Jeremy spied a grenade on the side of the soldier’s
jacket. If he could somehow manage to make it to him, he knew that he could take it with some force. Without a moment to spare, Jeremy rammed forward, with the barrel of his gun still facing the soldier. The soldier’s knee-jerk reaction was to back up immediately. He had completely forgotten the wall was directly behind him; so, he had nowhere to go. Jeremy landed on top him, just as the soldier lurking behind him came into view. Jeremy pulled at the grenade in the man’s jacket and clutched it in his hand carefully. After a moment of tugging, the pin finally came loose and Jeremy chucked it in the other soldier’s direction. As he did, Jeremy jumped behind the desk next to him for cover. He brought his knees to his face and covered his neck, bracing for impact.

  The grenade went off with a loud boom, catching the soldier square in the chest. Blood, guts and bits of flesh flew everywhere around the lobby. The smell of gun powder and cleaning chemical rent the air. There wasn’t much left of him; only a bloody stump. It wasn’t even recognizable as human. The ceiling where the soldier stood had caved in, revealing wires and AC components. Thinking light on his feet, Ian searched the other soldier that had been caught in the crossfires. In his jacket he found a few more grenades. He carefully stuffed them into his jeans pocket. Jeremy quickly sprang back up and headed for the front doors of the building.

  Once there, he noticed that he was locked in from the outside. Jeremy assumed it was some sort of security system that wouldn’t allow anyone to exit without permission.

  “What am I going to do now?” Jeremy scowled. He looked down at his pocket.

  “But, they were glass doors, and glass doors could be blown apart!” Jeremy concluded excitedly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two grenades. He grabbed both pins at the same time and threw them at the front doors. Jeremy ducked behind the nearest wall as the grenades went off and blew the doors apart, sending shrapnel to every part of the lobby. Smoke and fire had begun to build in the building, and Jeremy was now experiencing shell shock. He could barely hear and his balance was off. He even had a gut-wrenching headache.

  “I’ve got to get out of here before they find me!” He pressed. He wanted to remember what freedom was like and he was so close.

  Dizzily, Jeremy slowly made his way to what was now a giant hole in the building. He stumbled over rock and metal as he neared it. He could barely make out the parking lot and streets outside, but he could already taste the sweet success of getting his freedom. He grinned happily as he miss-stepped the whole way. Jeremy almost reached the opening when a stray bullet caught him in the upper shoulder and threw him to the ground.

  He was shocked by the pain he felt in his arm.

  “God it hurts!” He cried as he jumped to his feet.

  Now, they would stop at nothing to kill him. He couldn’t give them that chance. Jeremy jumped up as fast as he could with the remaining energy that he had. He clutched at his injured arm and threw the shotgun strap over his shoulder. It stung like hell but, he didn’t care. He ran out past the dusty sun damaged cars and street signs. There was a cold and desolate feeling all around Jeremy. It looked like a ghost town. All of the shops and restaurants were abandoned, along with hundreds of empty vehicles sitting precariously in the middle of the streets. He could taste his freedom finally but, the pain in his arm was getting worse. He’d made it out of the building even though he was stumbling considerably. He turned once more to look back at the place that controlled him for the better part of a year. Jeremy saw in huge letters stretched across the top of the building “CDC (CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL)”

  “So, this whole time we were in a government facility?” He asked himself.

  “It doesn’t matter now.” He mumbled.

  Jeremy turned around as he saw a giant horde of the undead making its way towards the exposed building. The first thing he noticed was that they looked much more decayed than they did before. In the beginning, they could have been normal, beside the color change in their eyes and a little blood on their clothing or faces. But, these… They looked like they were rotting from the inside out. Most of the flesh that was left on their bodies had maggots and insects feasting on it. Their skin was a pale shade of gray and black. The smell was awful! It burned his nostrils and he could barely breathe. He choked just taking in a single breath and nearly threw up all over himself trying to contain it. He grabbed his shirt and tried to muffle out the smell. It worked somewhat, so he pressed on.

  Jeremy decided he had wasted too much time and made a break for the adjacent building to take cover. He narrowly missed a few stragglers from the enormous horde and popped inside a gas station that appeared to be empty. He shut the door behind him and sat with his back to the door. His arm was throbbing with pain. He needed to clean it up and pull the bullet out, but that would have to wait until the horde was gone. Unfortunately, by the looks of it, it was going to take a while. Any undead for at least a few miles around would have heard the explosion. No one was safe now. At least he could work that bit to his advantage. To his satisfaction, everyone inside the CDC building would be as good as dead. He flashed a cavity filled smile.

  Jeremy let out a deep sigh and muttered, “You’re all going to die now, you should be thanking me…”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Ian, Sam, Charlotte and Jamie all stared at the plethora of cameras in the security viewing room. To Charlotte, it reminded her of the book, “1984.” She knew that she could access any camera in the building through this room.

  “Did we make it?” Sam asked Charlotte in a hurry as she took a seat next to Ian away from the door. Charlotte didn’t answer her question right away.

  Charlotte settled into the chair in front of the main computer screen and began typing. She entered a series of codes into a program labeled, “Access Panel.” A new window popped up, revealing a link to a camera which tracked Jeremy’s heat signature as he moved about the lobby of the first floor.

  “He’s on the first floor. He’s not going to be able to get out though; the doors are locked from the outside.” Charlotte answered Sam finally; she turned away from the screen to get a look at the group.

  “This is all that’s left?” She thought sadly. She faced the main computer once more, tracing Jeremy’s steps with the curser of the mouse. She could see an eager group of soldiers closing in on his location.

  “They have him now,” She stated with confidence in her voice. She watched as they strategically and effortlessly surrounded him. Suddenly, a small explosion covered the screen and Charlotte couldn’t make out anything. There was a huge amount of smoke and debris in the air, clouding her vision. It took several moments to see anything at all. Once it cleared enough for her to see the damage, Jeremy had gone. She jumped to the next camera, searching for any movement.

  “Nothing.” She sighed impatiently. She had searched through almost every monitor until she finally spotted him. This camera showed video. They were able to see that he was nearing the exit with a grenade in each hand.

  “Is that grenades he’s holding?” Ian shouted, jumping up and moving closer to the screens.

  “What’s he thinking? He can’t possibly be that dumb! Could he?” Charlotte asked Ian, as she tore her gaze from the screen. She was sure Ian knew Jeremy better than anyone else in the facility. It was an immensely easy question to answer. He knew who Jeremy had become. He was a danger to not only himself but, everyone else too and was proving that fact every second he was out on the loose.

  “He doesn’t deserve the satisfaction of leaving this place. Not after murdering innocent people to get what he wanted. Especially someone as close to him as Jerry seemed to be. It doesn’t matter what the situation was.” Charlotte decided.

  “He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. He’s a psycho!” Ian stated rather bluntly. He folded his arms across his chest and sat back into his chair. Ian was trying to relax as much as he could. He was still out of breath, and his head was searing with pain again. Ian reached a hand to his forehead, rubbing out as much pain as he could. I
t was no use; the pounding in his head just wouldn’t go away.

  “We can’t let him blow a hole in the building. If we do, all of the dead will hear for miles around. We would basically be turning our ‘dinner’s ready!’ sign on.” Sam added. She placed a hand onto Ian’s head, feeling for his temperature. As she touched his skin, she decided that he didn’t have a fever. But, it was steadily rising.

  “You need rest babe.” She urged Ian, placing her hands around his neck.

  He grabbed her soft hands and kissed them gently, placing them onto his chest.

  “I know. We can deal with that later.” Ian answered with a sigh.

  “We wouldn’t stand a chance. You guys have no clue what has been going on out there since you’ve been in here. The dead have changed…” Charlotte’s voice trailed off as she interrupted their conversation.

  She nervously grinned back at them as she watched Sam settle down into a seat next to Jamie. He had his knees huddled up to his chin, staring at the screens, waiting for something to happen. His exuberant eyes were traveling hastily across the screen.

  A loud blast sounded off in the building, echoing emphatically through the walls. Even though Jeremy was a few levels above them, they could still feel the floor shake tremendously. A few of the ceiling panels fell out, landing next to them on the ground. The grenades he used had copious amounts of explosives in them. They might not have looked like more than regular grenades, but they packed the punch of a low-grade, short-range missile.

  Ian and the others watched as the smoke cleared on the screens. The only thing stirring was the chunks of celling and papers falling to the ground. As the screen focused in on the lobby, they could see numerous bodies thrown about from the blast; each one mangled horrendously. The white walls were covered in blood, reminding the group of a slaughter house. To make matters worse, there was now a large hole exposing the lobby.