by B. T. Wright
“What the hell am I supposed to do with that information? I was already scared. But if these things are evolving, or getting used to their host or whatever, what does that mean?”
“It means we’re going to have to be even more careful when we come across another group of them. Because they may be different than at the house.” Jake shook his head and took another drink of water. “Next time, they may be setting a trap.”
25
The last eighty miles had gone better than the first five in the RV. The farther they had gotten away from the city, the fewer cars they had encountered on the road. It was somewhere around ninety miles from Lexington to where Jake remembered the University of Cincinnati to be. Their current stretch of road was very familiar. Before his parents died they used to take him and his brother Colt on this trip a couple times a month. Sometimes to visit family, sometimes to catch a Cincinnati Reds baseball game, or once in a while to go to the theme park. Either way, no map was needed. He had been to football games at the university on several occasions as well.
As they closed in on Cincinnati the traffic in the road began to swell. But it wasn’t impassable. That was fortunate, because Jake was growing more worried by the minute that they would get there and find the professor and the helicopter had already gone. It was going on one o’clock in the morning, but he felt like he had been up for days. A lot of life had been lived in the last twelve hours. Enough to prematurely age a man. His eyes had gotten heavy several times, but he and Tyler had been able to catch up, so that was good, and it kept him alert. His friend really had changed a lot since Jake went away.
They talked about the past few years and what each other had been through. Jake shared several stories where he and his men had gotten themselves into some tough situations and found a way out of them. In an effort to ease some worry, Jake promised Tyler that they would make it through this in much the same way. Somehow. Tyler explained to Jake how he was able to make a good living playing video games online. Which quite honestly blew Jake’s mind. And that wasn’t easy to do on a day filled with inhumans chasing after you for your blood. Apparently people all around the world would tune in to watch Tyler play a game. Tyler said it was more about his personality and commentary that kept the large audience engaged. Jake, of course, joked that that was impossible. Tyler finished the story by explaining that he even had endorsement contracts. A gamer, with endorsements. Companies were actually paying him to drink their drinks and wear their clothing while he played games. It was unreal he could make a living that way. Every teenager’s dream come true. It made Jake feel even more disconnected from society. Of course, none of that mattered now.
All the things that people put thousands of hours into in their lives over the span of decades, like family and career, all of a sudden meant nothing. Unless of course they were someone like Jake, who had put thousands of hours into learning how to outthink and outmaneuver the enemy. In the blink of an eye, those skills were more in demand than ever. Possibly one of the few skillsets that would ever matter again. He felt fortunate to know what he knew about combat in this new world. He was one of the elite, and he had a feeling it was going to come in extremely handy over the foreseeable future.
Jake also felt unbelievably fortunate to have made it out of Lexington alive. And not just him, but he felt lucky that Tyler and Jess had too. They could all very easily have ended up like Tom.
Tyler broke the silence in the RV. “You think Tom would have turned? After being bit, I mean?”
Apparently he’d been thinking along the same lines as Jake.
“He didn’t seem to be showing signs of it. Whatever those signs may be.”
“Yeah. It all happened so fast, though. We haven’t seen a soul since started driving on this road. You think everyone is dead?”
“Not everyone. I think there are probably a lot more that made it than we think. They just aren’t dumb enough to leave their house like we were.”
“Yeah, like we had a choice.”
“True,” Jake said. “Take this exit up here.”
They were getting fairly close, and Jake needed to wake Jess and Amy. They would have to eat before all of them left the RV. He hated to think negatively, but someone in command has to do their best to think of everything, even the possible negative outcomes. That way there is always a plan B. Jake didn’t know what lay ahead, but he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. What made it even harder would be keeping Amy safe. It wasn’t like a thirteen-year-old could defend herself.
Jake said. “How do you think it’s possible that Amy didn’t turn?”
“I was thinking about that earlier. Honestly, I have no clue. Even if on the street she managed to avoid the virus or whatever, when she was trapped all day in the house with her parents she would definitely have been infected by now if she could be infected at all. Freaky, if you ask me. Especially since the only word we’ve heard one of these things say was from her mom.”
“What do you mean?” Jake didn’t really follow Tyler’s line of reasoning.
“Well, I don’t know. You want me to put on my ‘pop culture slash gaming’ hat for a minute?”
Jake sat back in his seat and folded his arms. It never occurred to him that his friend being a media junkie could actually help in this situation. And while he doubted Tyler could, at this point, Jake would indulge just about anything. “By all means.”
“Okay. Well . . .” Tyler’s eyes were wide with excitement. He seemed to be really getting into this. Maybe something he said could be of help. “If I were writing this story, or if this were a game I was creating, and all I had to go on to finish the game is what we know, the arc of the story would obviously be centered around survival, figuring out what was turning these things and how to stop it or reverse it. Pretty standard stuff. The wild card here is Amy. The Beritrix has been proven to keep a person from becoming infected, and so far it’s the only thing that we know of that does, yet she doesn’t take it. She was around her infected parents for an entire day, yet still didn’t turn. Nothing about it follows what we know to be the rules of this virus or whatever this is.”
Jake stopped him. “Okay, so far all you’ve done is repeat what’s happened. Your gamer brain have any theories going forward?”
“If you’d give me a second. The setup is as important as anything to a story.”
Jake smiled. “Got it. Please, do continue.”
“Smart woman in DC says she thinks these things are evolving. Your story about Amy’s mom and dad coordinating an attack against you, and saying a word to you, corroborates that. So, this leads us to believe there is more to the story than just some random outbreak, especially if it is known to have started with our military. A scene in the movie would show that you and your brother think a terrorist attack doesn’t make sense, because if everyone is dead, what is the point of a religious revolution? I tend to agree, but it could have started as a scare tactic then became far more contagious then they ever imagined.”
“I feel a but coming on. Get to it, we’re almost to the bridge.” Jake was actually enjoying this. The bridge he was referring connected Kentucky to Ohio. It did so by crossing over the Ohio River. In the distance they could see downtown aglow, along with a few fiery blazes. Not good. But at least the lights were still on.
“But,” Tyler paused for dramatic effect. “That doesn’t explain the part where they are evolving, or the part where a young girl is immune for no apparent reason. Now, there could be more like her, but in our small sampling, we have seen few survivors, and the ones we have met have all been on Beritrix.”
“Come on, man. Enough with the backstory.”
“Fine,” Tyler continued. “If it were my story, the girl would be the most important piece. She would hold the key to everything. Whether it be something in her blood, or whatever, that would be key. So the cast in my story would die to keep her alive. As for the infected evolving? Definitely aliens.”
“Aliens?” Jake didn’t see that c
oming. “You just lost me.”
They slowly approached the bridge into downtown Cincinnati.
“Yeah, aliens. It’s the only thing that makes sense. They want what we have here on earth for some reason, but they need us out of the way. So instead of war, they use our weak immune system against us. That way they have a lot less risk of losing their own kind in a war. The evolution of the infected is the aliens getting used to our bodies and our functionality. And if I’m writing the story, the good guys will have to hurry before the aliens can gain full control, because once they can use smarts, and they have the numbers, we’re all fucked.”
“Yeah, you’ve seen way too many movies.”
“Oh yeah, Jake, because what we are doing right now isn’t like one of those movies at all. You having a normal Saturday? Cause mine’s been a little weird.”
Just as Jake was about to agree, Tyler slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop just before the entrance to the bridge. Illuminated by the headlights was what looked to be a woman standing right in front of them, looking down at something she was holding in her hands.
“Is that . . .” Tyler cocked his head and squinted his eyes. It was clear he was trying to make sense of the image glowing in the RV’s lights.
“A baby,” Jess finished his sentence. She had raced to the front of the RV when Tyler had slammed the brakes.
Jake got a strange feeling as he watched the woman holding the baby. Something was off.
“Nobody move.”
26
Emily was tired. She hadn’t slept in two days and she could feel it in her bones. However, her curiosity was stronger than the pull of sleep, and when she learned there was still one scientist up and working on an infected subject, she couldn’t help but go have a look. She was escorted through a maze of hospital-like hallways––white walls, white ceilings, all very sterile. At the end of the hall were two doors and her escort brought her to the one on the left. Emily had never been on the business side of a two-way mirror before, but the room she entered looked like all the ones she’d seen on television. A couple of chairs sat in front of an oversized rectangular window; the scientist and an infected were just on the other side.
“Can I get you anything to drink, Ms. Fraser?” the woman said.
Emily was about to say no, but a drink sounded like it would really hit the spot. “Got any vodka?”
“I think I can rustle some up for you. Need anything with it?”
“Just ice and a splash of water. You’re a life saver.”
The short-haired woman gave her a wink, then pointed to a button on the wall. “If you want to listen in, just press that.” She then left the room to get Emily her drink.
In front of Emily on the other side of the mirror there was a dark-haired woman on her left sitting in a chair. She could only see the woman’s side profile, but could tell the corner of her right eyeball was black. The thick wooden chair had arms, and the woman’s wrists were strapped to them. Her legs were fixed to the legs of the chair as well. The woman on Emily’s right had a small gas-mask-type thing on her face, long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was sitting in a chair as well, no more than a couple of feet away. That was the first thing that struck Emily as odd. How she could be so close without fear, and how she could be so close without the infected woman snapping at her? Did they have her sedated?
Emily walked over to the mirror and pressed the button. The woman’s voice came through the speakers; she was in mid-sentence, and speaking with a calm and conversational voice.
“. . . are safe here. No one is going to hurt you. Are you able to speak?”
For a moment Emily held her breath, as if waiting to actually hear words come from the creature’s mouth. The infected woman was still wearing normal clothes. The blue blouse was torn in places, and her white pants were dirty and ripped, but other than her black eyes there wasn’t much to distinguish her from the woman in the mask across from her. Especially since she wasn’t trying to tear out the scientist’s throat with her teeth.
“Are you hungry?” the doctor asked.
The infected woman leaned forward after hearing the last question. Was it a coincidence? Was that something the scientist had seen a reaction from before? Emily had so many questions, but no one to ask. She was enthralled with what she was witnessing. The closest she’d come to any of the infected in Syria was a television screen displaying the camera. None of them had been docile enough to strap down, and no one knew enough about them to think it would be okay to enter the room with them––even with a mask. The last thing Emily had seen when she ran to the helicopter in Syria was three infected soldiers running after her from around the corner of a building. There had been no civility to them whatsoever.
The door to the room opened and Emily nearly jumped out of her skin.
“I’m so sorry to startle you,” the woman said as she handed Emily a glass.
Emily’s heart was racing. She took a deep breath and thanked her. “Sorry, I was really into this. Do you know anything about it? What’s been going on? The progress? I apologize, I know the president said your name, but I . . . I’m Emily.”
“Shelley. I’m Doctor Kendall’s assistant.” She nodded in the direction of the two-way mirror. “There isn’t a lot to go on, but I can fill you in if you’d like.”
“That would be great.” Emily took a sip of vodka. The burn of the alcohol as it slid down her throat served to perk her up a bit. “I noticed that when the doctor asked if the woman was hungry, she leaned forward. Is that something new?”
“It is, as of this evening. There have been several words like hungry that have evoked a small response. It’s all so new. Just this afternoon you couldn’t even get in the room with this woman without her freaking out. In the last several hours, she has become very calm. It’s weird––and scary, if you ask me.”
Emily turned to look through the mirror. She hadn’t heard the doctor say anything, and it was because she was attempting to give the infected woman food. The woman made no move toward the food, though. It was like it wasn’t even there.
Emily said. “What other words have evoked a response?”
“The same words that do in me and you, really. Love, friend, hate . . . it’s almost as if there is still a human in there, but only those words with strong meaning to us get her to react.”
“So, they really are evolving?”
Shelley took a deep breath. “Well, it’s almost as if they completely devolved, and maybe now they are . . . relearning?”
Emily said nothing. Her mind was racing. She was trying to figure out if the fact that the infected were no longer just running around ravaging people all the time was a good or bad thing. What were they now? Was there something starting to fire in their brains? Were they able to think?
27
Tyler unbuckled his seatbelt and started to get up from the driver’s seat.
“Wait.” Jake put his hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “I don’t like this.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Jess said. “There’s a woman standing out there alone with her baby and we are just sitting here staring at her.”
She turned toward the door of the RV, but just before she was able to turn the handle, Jake caught her free hand and spun her around.
“Just wait. Something feels off.”
Jess searched Jake’s eyes like she didn’t recognize him. “Jake, we have to help her. What if those things are out there?”
“That’s exactly my point. What if they are?”
Jess was quiet for a moment. Everything was quiet. It was as if there wasn’t a thing making a sound in all the world.
Jake pulled her away from the door. “Don’t you think if this was a woman holding her baby that she would have already run up to the RV begging us to let her inside?”
Jake saw a shift in Jess’s demeanor. Her face softened. She walked past Jake toward the front to get a better look out the window.
“You’re right. Why isn’t she m
oving?”
Tyler said. “Jake, do you think it could be like you said? Like they’re setting a trap. Could it be happening this soon?”
Jake thought about it for a moment. If the infected were evolving this rapidly, all of humanity was in much more trouble than if they were just dodging zombies. It would mean this really was something else. Something much more involved.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”
Jess turned toward him. “You really think they are smart enough to set a trap?”
“It’s not a good trap, but what else could this be?”
“Jake,” Tyler said as he stared out the front windshield. “Jake, get over here. Now!”
Jake moved Jess to the side and peered through the window. It wasn’t that the woman had looked up and the headlights were glistening in her deep black eyes that frightened him. It was the dozens of glistening eyes on both sides of the road that shocked him to the core. There was no way to tell how many of them there were, but it looked like a group of fireflies floating in the darkness off to the left and right sides of the road.
“Reverse.”
Tyler hesitated. The fireflies began to move out onto the road.
“REVERSE!” Jake shouted.
The fireflies were now a horde of infected, and they were coming right for the RV.
“GO GO GO!” Jake shouted again.
Tyler pulled the shift lever up to reverse and stomped on the gas. In front of them, the many infected were running around the woman holding the baby as she just stood staring. It seemed like she was waiting for the director of the trap to yell cut. Just as soon as the RV began moving backward, several thumps sounded at the back of the RV.
On instinct, Tyler hit the brakes when he heard them hit something behind them. Jake rushed past Jess, dove to the floor, pulled his AR-15 from under the bunk bed, and strapped his bag to his back.
