Scarlet Memories (Book 2): Metamorphosis

by Jessica T. Ozment

  At no surprise to Ian, the door was unlocked. The only negative thing was that the lights didn’t come on when he walked in. It would be hard to see without them. Ian’s heart beat faster as a cold sweat rolled down his face and chest. His green eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness when he heard a soft noise come from inside the station. Ian grabbed his bag and opened it immediately. He pulled out his hand gun and held it firmly in his hands. The cold of the metal seemed to wake him up inside and steady his hand.

  “Hello?” He blurted out, as he raised the gun in front of him. He was trying to make a preemptive move before something rushed at him. He heard another light tapping noise not far from where he was. He peered out in front of him.

  “WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?” He wondered.

  Ian was concerned. He stopped moving and stood there, silently listening. Whatever was in the room was much closer to him now. He could hear its movements clearly and feel its presence. Ian suddenly fell to the ground as the thing in the gas station rushed him. He couldn’t make out what it was due to the darkness surrounding him. Seconds later, Ian felt a cold, wet nose rubbing against his cheek as a long tongue licked him on the hand.

  “This wasn’t one of the Cold Ones!” He divulged, getting to his feet quickly. He headed for the light coming in at the front door and pushed it open. He then stepped outside and waited with the door open for it to come out.

  Slowly, the creature walked out. It was a dog! A beautiful German Shepard.

  “What are you doing here girl?” Ian asked her as he kneeled down to pet her. She looked a little worse for wear, but this was the first time he had seen an animal in over a year. He was beyond excited. Ian tardily reached out and allowed the dog to sniff his hand. He wanted her to trust him. He slowly placed his hand on her side and stroked the soft almost fluffy fur there. Ian pulled up on the dog’s head and looked deeply at her features. She had beautiful honey and yellow colored eyes. They were only accented more by the warm tones of the brown and black of her fur. Then Ian noticed she wore a collar. It was a maroon color with a few silver studs on the sides. Upon further examination Ian found that it read, “LUCY,” on a metal plate on the chain.

  “Well, that’s a fitting name. I like it. What are you doing all by your lonesome out here, Lucy?” Ian asked putting more emphasis on her name. She perked up at hearing it and barked jovially. She was excited to see humans again. There was no telling how long she had been held up in the gas station. The others soon came over to meet Lucy, who loved all over them. She was playing with Jamie who was overly excited to meet her.

  “Where did she come from?” Sam asked when she walked over to Ian. She seemed a little reluctant to touch Lucy, probably because she saw the dog was a German Shepard. She eventually gave in as the others surrounded the dog, showering her with affection.

  Lucy’s mouth lay open as she stretched her body out on the parking lot’s asphalted ground. She lightly panted as the group played with her and patted her fur coat.

  “You think we should feed and water her?” Jamie asked Sam. He had his arms wrapped around Lucy’s neck, squeezing her tightly. They were already old friends. Lucy didn’t seem too concerned with the pressure he was putting on her. She just looked rather happy to be in such good company.

  “I’m sure we have some water we can spare.” Ian chimed in, snatching up a water bottle from his bag. He was down to four bottles now.

  “Hopefully, I’ll find more supplies inside the station,” He added.

  This reminded him that he needed to take a break from the dog and thoroughly check that out.

  “Sam, why don’t you come with me and we can check the store out.” Sam nodded as she jumped back to her feet from kneeling on the hard ground. A sudden rush filled her head and ears.

  “Hang on. I need to drink some water. I feel pretty faint.” She too grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it down swiftly. Adjusting her jeans around her stomach, Sam began walking to store.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Sam poked her head into the store. It was rather dark inside, and she had to immediately cover her nose because of the rotting smell that overwhelmed the air. She nearly threw up all over herself because of its intensity. She decided she needed some fresh air. She took a step back out and happened to look at the windows of the store. Something caught her eye, giving her an idea.

  “I think we could strip the windows of advertisements and we could see without having to use our flashlights. We need to conserve battery life.” Sam mentioned to Ian as she took in the fresh air.

  She placed a hand on the inside of the window and touched the peeling posters. Sam felt along the window and found that a corner was pulled up, so she ripped down the rest. It tore with ease, making a slight tearing sound that was satisfying to Sam’s ears.

  “Yeah, it’ll work. I can already see better in here.” She confirmed. She reached into her bag and pulled out an old shirt and wrapped it around her mouth and nose.

  “The smell is horrible and there is too much dust, I almost can’t take it, but that’ll help for sure.” She verbalized.

  Sam took a step back into the dark store and noticed a big difference with the shirt covering her mouth. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the light and slowly moved further into the store. She promptly noticed the place looked relatively normal. It didn’t look like there was any sign of trouble. In fact, there was little disturbance at all.

  The shelves were still in their original spots and none of the stores items were thrown to the floor. Sam walked over to an aisle and began rummaging through the goods sitting there. This isle was used for storing personal hygiene products. Sam found several toiletries that would be useful to the group and loaded up her bag; continuing down the aisle. Sam’s eye scanned over a small pink box lying on the floor of the store. She bent down and picked it up.

  “EZ PREGNANCY.” The box read. It was a pregnancy test. Deciding that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to throw it in her bag, she chucked it in with the rest of the supplies.

  “I found some food that is still good,” Ian announced to Sam. He had been looking on the canned goods aisle. His bag looked a little fuller than usual.

  “Looks like you hit the motherlode!” Sam detected. She smiled at Ian and turned to face a hall that was at the back of the store.

  “Hey, you think you could pull off some more of those posters on the windows? I can’t see back here.” She added. She turned toward the door and watched as he walked over to the windows and started pulling down the advertisings.

  “Yeah, there are more rooms back here but, I can’t see what I am looking at,” She told him as she pointed behind her. She watched as Ian turned around.

  “That better?” He asked her, facing in her direction.

  Sam watched his face quickly change from calm and complacent to horrified in no time flat.

  “Sam watch out!” He yelled at her. She turned around so hurriedly that she slipped and fell on the ground. Looking up, she saw what scared Ian so badly. A Cold One was standing behind her the entire time she was talking to Ian. It hadn’t attacked her knowing that she was there. It stared down at her with disgusting yellow and white fluid pouring from its mouth and onto the floor. Its eyes were red as all of the blood vessels popped and she could see a large bite mark on its neck. This was a fresh Cold One.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Ian’s heart dropped to the floor.

  “Am I seeing things clearly?” He asked himself.

  Sam was about to be torn to shreds by the Cold One lurking behind her if he, in fact, was at all. He didn’t want to be right. Ian pushed his emotions aside and pulled the gun he had been holding up to eye level with the Cold One. He aimed carefully, taking a breath in as he pulled the trigger. The Cold One was reaching for Sam. Its dirty nails grew longer and pointier as it fell closer and closer to her. “I didn’t even know they could do that!” He thought horrified at what the strange and sharp nails would do if they got a hold of Sam.

/>   The gun went off and clipped the Cold One on the side of the head. It didn’t quite pierce its brain. Ian had to take a second shot. He cocked the gun again and took aim. By that point, the Cold One had fallen on top of Sam. It was thrashing at her wildly with its dirty infecting nails. Ian aimed down the barrel of the gun and shot the monster between the eyes. It fell back down on top of Sam immediately, no longer throwing its arms around.

  “Babe…Babe…” Ian called out as he rushed over to Sam’s side. He could see her stirring underneath the massive heap of a creature.

  “I’m ok. Can you get this thing off? It stinks, and it’s heavy as hell!” Sam cried at Ian.

  He pulled at the dead Cold One’s arms and got him off to the side of Sam.

  “Thanks. I think I saw my life flash before my eyes. He scared the hell out of me. If you hadn’t been there… I would be dead for sure.” She reached for Ian and melted into him as she sobbed softly into his shoulder.

  “I don’t know how much more of this I can take. We need to get to safety. I can’t take being scared to death every day of my life.”

  “I know honey. I promise we will get there. Let’s just pack up and go.” He helped Sam to her feet and brushed her hair out of her eyes. It was a matted mess.

  “Alright,” Sam answered.

  “I think it’s safe to say we found Lucy’s owner. Must have stopped off for supplies and got bitten. It hasn’t been here for long. Must of turned a day or two ago. Lucy must have been here the whole time.” Ian concluded.

  Ian found two more cases of water behind the counter. He took them to the car out front and loaded them in the back of the trunk. He also found a few other useful items in the back. A tire iron which he could use as a weapon if he needed and an extra gallon of gas. He also found some more containers he could use for gas inside the store. He was in the process of filling them up when he saw Lucy begin to stare at the store, hunch down and growl. Her long white teeth were very sharp and threatened to maul without warning. Ian followed her gaze to the back of the store. He slowly walked up to the side of the building and peered around the corner. What he saw nearly made him wet his self.

  It was the Wasteling. It had yet again caught up to them. It was making its way from the back of the store and seemed to be searching for something. It was sniffing the air frantically and smacking its tongue around vigorously, dropping thick mucus to the ground.

  Ian turned back shaking and ran over to the group. He looked into their eyes and whispered to them to get underneath the cars. Without question they listened and rolled underneath, not making a single sound. Ian grabbed the gas cans and hid behind the truck they chose to hide under.

  “It’s gonna smell us!” He worried.

  He didn’t know what to do. He wracked his brain trying to find an answer, until he came up with one. They could use the gas. It wouldn’t be able to smell them. He started to pour gas from the cans all over himself and handed the can to Charlotte underneath the car.

  “Here, do the same. It won’t be able to smell us.” He whispered.

  They had just enough time to get a fair amount on as the Wasteling rounded the corner and stomped over to the vehicle. Ian had decided to get under the truck as well. The Wasteling crept up to the truck with its tongue licking the air. It tasted the enticing smells all around it and looked for the scent of human flesh. Ian could see it had accumulated a few more hands on its many arms. It sniffed the air with its giant head and turned away from the group under the truck.

  Ian saw Lucy jump out from behind the store’s dumpster and bark at the Wasteling. It saw Lucy and charged after her, forcing dirt up into the air behind it with the force of its body. Lucy saw the monster coming and took off towards the highway. The Wasteling followed as it saw Lucy as a tasty new treat that it hadn’t seen before. The monster quickly ran behind Lucy until it spotted the horses grazing on grass in the field next to the gas station. It stopped mid-run and started for the horses. They were too busy eating to notice it leap high into the air and land on Charlotte’s horse. It could smell her scent all over it. Its long razor sharp nails grew out further and it sank them deep into the horses flesh. The area it penetrated was near his heart. The horse immediately stopped moving and fell limp.

  Ian and the others looked away. They couldn’t bear to watch the innocent, lifeless creature be devoured by the savage beast tailing them. It wasn’t fair. Ian snapped back to it and realized they had a moment to spare to make a getaway. He jumped into their ‘new’ vehicle and waved at the others to join him. They quickly scuttled to the car and loaded up, not bothering with their seat belts. Ian spun off towards the highway stopping only for Sam to open her car door and grab Lucy, who was sitting in the middle of the road. She didn’t dare travel back to the store. Lucy knew she would be eaten. Lucy jumped to the back of the car with Jamie and settled into the seat between him and Charlotte. Lucy had found her new human. And Ian thought that was a good idea for Jamie.

  He drove off as fast as he could without squealing the tires of the car. Leaving the monster behind to feast on the unlucky horse. Once they had safely made it a mile down the road, Ian finally relaxed. He was tensed, waiting on the Wasteling to appear on the road behind them. When that didn’t happen, he knew they were home free. The Wasteling was so hungry it was preoccupied with the horse meat it was shoveling into its mouth. It didn’t even notice them make a clean get away. It seemed their luck was turning around.

  “Charlotte, we have to talk about that thing you call a Wasteling. It’s been following us for miles. Why does it want you?” Ian demanded an answer. He knew there was more to her story than she was letting on. He watched Charlotte look down at the floor board from the rear view mirror.

  “I mean it. I am not accepting anymore lies from you. I will throw you out of this vehicle. If I am going to protect you, I need to know the truth. Why is it perusing you to this degree?” Ian stared at her cold eyes. She was staring off somewhere distant as if she were trying to recall a memory.

  After a long moment, she opened her mouth to speak. “It’s following me because I could have stopped his lover from turning.” She wiped away a tear that had fallen down her face.

  “I suggested to Penelope that she and Reese take on the experiment. They were spearheading the development anyways. Who better to jump in and take over? But, the truth was that I loved Reese. And after a time of not getting what I wanted, my thoughts turned to a more malicious intent. I wanted her dead. She was actually the first test subject and when that failed, Reese wanted us to work with his DNA to save her. The result is what you see today. A hideous and atrocious monster.”

  “What went wrong with Penelope?” Sam asked Charlotte. She was now turned all the way around in the front seat to face Charlotte in the back. She wanted to look into her eyes and try to see if she was lying. If she had her way, Jamie wouldn’t even be back there next to her.

  “She had a very different reaction to the serum than we had hoped. Her body went through a massive change. Her body was shutting down little by little. A fever raged on and we couldn’t pin point the infection. She couldn’t take it and turned into a Cold One. There was nothing that we could do to save her. We had to put her down.” Charlotte stared out of the window of the small white Honda.

  Outside the wind was picking up speed and the clouds were changing to a dull gray color. It was getting ready to rain. Ian watched as the clouds gathered together tightly, as the sky got darker and darker.

  Charlotte continued, “That’s when Reese got the serum, too. He became the Wasteling and tried to seek revenge. We managed to get him outside the CDC walls and we avoided him ever since. I had no idea he would follow me to such great lengths. I wouldn’t have come if I’d known.” She answered. Her words seemed sincere, but it didn’t change the fact that she lied to the group about what happened. They have almost been killed three times by that monster and she was to blame, but she was bare now. No more secrets were being withheld.

&nbs
p; “We can’t stop again unless it’s to fill up the car. Or it’ll catch up. We have to make it to the other CDC facility. Sam and I should switch out. Once we are there I don’t ever want you to come near us again. You had your chance to tell us the truth and you’ve done nothing but a lie. The CDC will have a way to protect you there.” Ian growled. He had surety in his eyes. She was messing with the only thing he had left in this world. He wasn’t going to let her take that away from him. He didn’t care what she had been through. That was on her.

  “I understand. Since we are being honest, I should probably tell you why we chose the both of you as test subjects…” Charlotte offered.

  Ian looked at Sam and turned to Charlotte.

  “Spill it.” He ordered her. He was tired of her being conniving.

  “You and Sam are unique, in that you’re the first humans to conceive a child since the apocalypse began. When I told you the cure was within you, I meant it literally. Sam has the cure because the baby is the cure. There have been studies on this occurring naturally in the populous when a mother suffers from organ failure the fetus sends stem cells to the affected organ to heal it. This is initially, the same idea as what we were trying to achieve with the both of you. We needed healthy donors.”

  Both Sam and Ian’s jaw dropped. Neither was expecting news like this especially, at this time. They were not trying for a baby. The two hadn’t even discussed the idea.

  “What do you mean, baby? Sam you’re not… Tell her you’re not…” He stopped talking and stared into Sam’s confused eyes. He could tell from her expression that she had no clue what Charlotte was going on about.