Zoey shook him a few more times for good measure and then let him go. She hopped off of him and went back to Teddy—blood-red tongue lolling out of her gore-slathered mouth.
Teddy, stunned at the savagery he had just witnessed, looked over at the dead man who lay just feet away in a puddle of his own blood and piss. He turned his attention back at Zoey and stroked the side of her head with a trembling hand. “Good girl…”
Zoey, seemingly unaware of the uneasiness in his voice, happily barked in response and wagged her tail.
A light shone into the dorm as the other officer stepped into the doorway. The beam focused on the man’s mauled corpse laying on the floor. He gasped and took a step back. “Sweet Jesus!”
Zoey’s grin went away and her hackles stood on end once more. She snarled and bolted out away from behind the bunk and charged towards the officer.
The officer hastily sighted his rifle and fired a burst of automatic fire at her, but only managed to splinter the wood floor.
Zoey leapt up at him and opened her mouth, ready to strike.
He fired again.
Zoey yelped in pain as a round tore through her right hind leg. She floundered in the air and landed against the man’s chest.
The officer stumbled backwards and landed on the snow with an oomph.
Zoey tumbled off of him, rolled back onto her feet, and darted away down the footpath hobbling on three legs.
“Nasty bitch!” the man snarled. He quickly got back on his feet, pointed his rifle at her, and fired as she ran away. He was focused—so focused that he didn’t even see the burly brute approach him.
Teddy knocked the rifle’s barrel up towards the sky and drove his closed fist against the side of the man’s head with full-force.
The officer’s helmet flung off of his crewcut head and the lower portion of his jaw snapped to the side. He turned towards his assailant in a bewildered daze.
Teddy quickly spun the man around and wrapped his arm around the man’s throat in a tight chokehold. He pulled the officer off-kilter and inside of the dorm.
The officer rasped uselessly for breath as he clawed at the forearm that was wrapped around his throat in a vice grip. He kicked his legs out in unbridled panic and tried to twist and worm away—the thought of using his holstered sidearm never even occurred to him as anxiety trumped reason.
Teddy gritted his teeth and pulled the man deeper into the dorm. His veins stood out in his arms and he broke out in sweat despite the fact that the temperature was well below freezing. He closed his eyes and squeezed tighter.
There was a sickening snap and the officer’s body suddenly fell limp.
Teddy let the dead man drop to the floor, stepped over him, and went outside to pick up the rifle. He picked it up and scanned the pathway and adjacent alley, ready, but saw no one.
He turned off the tactical light and lowered his weapon as he stared sorrowfully at the splatters of blood in the snow. His eyes followed the drops to Zoey.
Down the footpath, Zoey stood with her injured leg raised against her body. She stared back at Teddy with her tongue lolling at him. She perked her ears up and seemed to smile at him despite the pain she must’ve been in.
Teddy stared at her and couldn’t help but smile back. He waved a beckoning hand in the air. “Come here, girl… You did well.”
Zoey, however, didn’t come towards him. She gave him a few barks, turned, and vanished down one of the many darkened alleyways.
Teddy was disheartened, but he really couldn’t blame her. His travel companions never seemed to do very well so he figured she was making a better decision than most humans. He turned and went back into the dorm to figure out his next move.
He knew that getting inside that building would require more than a simple pass card. It would’ve been perfect if those fucking officers had left with the rest of them, but lady luck never seemed to do him any favors so it was not as if he had expected things to be easy.
Teddy stared down at the dead officer and delivered a volley of swift kicks. “Prick,” he muttered.
As he stared at the inert body at his feet, he noticed that the man was about the same size as him—he realized with sudden clarity that he had something far better than a simple pass card.
CHAPTER 20
The fit wasn’t as close as he had hoped. His legs felt like overstuffed sausages in the black BDU pants and his crotch felt like someone was working him over with a monkey-wrench.
Despite the shortcomings, everything else fit pretty well. He had ample room in the shirt—thanks, malnutrition—and the padded armor fit perfectly with some minor adjustments to the nylon straps. He didn’t find anything particularly useful in the uniform’s many tactical pockets, but he did find a pocket knife and an extra magazine loaded with thirty rounds.
Teddy, decked out in in full FEMA police regalia and carrying an assault rifle, managed to walk right up the hill, past two sentries, and into the administration building’s lobby without so much as one raised eyebrow cast his way. The lower portion of his face was obscured by a balaclava and his riot helmet sat tilted atop his head.
Hell, if he knew it would’ve been so easy, he would’ve tried it weeks ago.
Smoke hung thick in the lobby and the fire alarms emitted a piercing, ceaseless wail while the emergency strobes flashed repeatedly. Strips of shredded paper littered the floor and bullet-riddled computer drives sat heaped in front of the reception desk.
A voice came through the Motorola clipped to his duty belt: Alpha-Ten to Command, be advised, sanitization protocols underway—completion time is estimated at twenty minutes, over.
Hock responded: Command to Alpha-Ten, I suggest that you hurry it up. I don’t like sitting out here in the open. If anything pops off outside, we’re moving out—with you or without you. Copy?
Uh… the voice hesitated. 10-4, Command, we’ll, uh, make it fast, over.
“I guess I better hurry up too,” Teddy said as he neared the elevators.
The silver doors slid open and an officer escorted two coughing researchers out into the lobby.
The officer wasn’t wearing a helmet. He laughed as he passed Teddy, reached over, and knocked his knuckles on his helmet. “Relax, man, there aren’t any roaches in here—just eggheads! You don’t need to march around like you’re ready for war.”
Teddy gave him an uncomfortable laugh and quickly stepped into the elevator. He reached over, tapped the pass card against the reader, and repeatedly pressed the close button. “Can never be too careful, I reckon.”
Just as the officer had begun to turn around at the sound of his unfamiliar voice, the doors slid shut and the lift made its descent.
Teddy let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the wall.
Attention—priority alert, a voice said over the intercom, an emergency has occurred. All staff are required to evacuate the facility immediately.
The elevator reached the bottom and the doors slid open. The ceiling of the concrete corridor was thick with black smoke and shredded paper covered the floor like confetti. All of the lights were on a dimmed, reduced setting as the back-up generators supplied power. The insistent wail of the fire alarm became almost deafening as it reverberated off of the walls down the passageway.
Teddy hurried forward. Breathing became harder and his eyes began to water. He knew how dangerous smoke inhalation was and thought it’d be a damn shame to come so far just to die a few yards short of his goal.
He passed long windows that looked into office areas and saw officers wearing gasmasks hurriedly running entire stacks of documents through industrial shredders. While one group was busy handling documents, another was smashing computer terminals to bits with sledgehammers and fire axes.
As he passed another set of windows, he saw two people wearing silver flame retardant suits and hooded respirators standing in the middle of a laboratory. They had chemical flamethrowers attached to their back and swept the room in a steady stream of flames. Glass b
eakers bubbled over and shattered, the sealed bio-freezer ruptured, and racks of test-tubes popped like firecrackers. In just a few sweeps of their flames, months’ worth of research and experimentation was reduced to molten glass and charred ashes.
Their dirty little secrets were all being scrubbed away.
Nothing to see here, folks—keep moving, pass go and collect $200.
Teddy shook his head and kept moving. He passed three other sets of laboratories, all of which had been blackened and destroyed by flames, before turning a corner and passing through a set of double-doors that led to the observation bay.
Ahead of him, three white-suits carrying submachine guns were headed towards the bay’s sluice door.
Doctor Gatsby stood at the far end of the hall with his hands extended towards the white-suits. His lab coat was stained with soot. “Please, don’t! I implore you! You’re ruining everything!”
The white-suits kept walking forward. One spoke. “We have our orders, doc.”
“At least allow me to take some of their blood for research before you do what you’re about to do!” Gatsby shouted. “You owe me that much!”
“Orders are orders—just stand back!” a white-suit commanded.
Teddy started walking down the hall, weapon ready.
One of the white-suits turned as he approached. “What are you doing down here, soldier?” he asked. “If you’re here to help with the test subjects, then you should know that you can’t enter the room without the proper PPE.”
Teddy kept moving forward, faster.
The other two white-suits stopped and turned. One of them raised a hand and shooed him away. “You can’t go in with us! They’re infectious!”
Teddy raised his riffle and pulled the trigger repeatedly as he swept the weapon side-to-side.
The white-suits shuddered violently as the bullets ripped through them and formed red splotches across their protective fabric.
Gatsby ducked and covered his head.
Teddy stopped pulling the trigger and watched as the white-suits collapsed to the floor. He focused his attention towards the doctor and started walking forward again.
Gatsby paled as he raised his hands above his head in a sign of surrender. “Have you gone crazy?”
“Crazy?” Teddy asked. He reached up and pulled the balaclava down from the lower portion of his face. “That’s rich coming from you.”
Gatsby’s eyes widened and he trembled with fear as recognition struck him. “You…” He swallowed hard and took a few cautious steps back. His eyes danced anxiously between Teddy and the patients in the observation bays. “What are you going to do?”
“The right thing,” Teddy said. He took his pass card and pressed it against the sluice’s reader. A light above the door flashed green and a hydraulic locking mechanism unlatched.
“You can’t!” Gatsby shouted. “They’re all carriers! Just one of those individuals has enough viral load to take down an entire settlement!” He furrowed his brows in frustration. “I’ve already explained this to you, goddammit!”
“And I’ve already explained that I think you’re full of shit,” Teddy said. He pulled on the sluice door and cracked it open. The sealed room gave a loud hiss as it sucked in air.
“No!” Gatsby screamed. “Don’t!” His gaze darted down towards one of the submachine guns that the white-suits had dropped and sprinted towards it.
Teddy hurried pointed his weapon at him and fired.
Gatsby’s body convulsed as bullets struck him. He landed hard against the tile and left a bloody smear as he slid to a stop in the middle of the corridor. He gave one last raspy breath, twitched, and then lay still.
Teddy frowned and pulled the sluice door open all the way. A second alarm started blaring and a robotic voice announced: attention—biohazard warning—containment door has been opened without proper pressurization protocols—environment has been comprised.
He ignored the recording and stepped inside the observation bay. The people inside were cowering against the wall and stared at Teddy’s rifle uneasily.
Ein stood in the middle of the crowd with an elated, disbelieving expression. “You actually came…”
Teddy smiled at Ein, nodded, and then turned his attention towards the others. “Listen, I’m not here to hurt any of you, but the people I just shot most certainly were here to do you harm… You need to leave this place. There are more of them waiting outside and a few are armed… It’s risky, but this is your only chance to get out of here—take it and give them hell.”
People in the group looked at each other doubtfully.
“Go!” Teddy bellowed.
They ran past him and funneled through the door, and out into the corridor. They picked up the weapons that the white-suits had dropped and scattered off in every direction.
Ein stepped forward.
“I’m glad to see that you’re in one piece,” Teddy said. He looked down at the tattooed datamatrix code on Ein’s hand. Poor kid. He couldn’t even imagine what sort of hell he had been subjected to in the name of science. When he looked up at his face, he noticed that Ein was staring at him with a bewildered grin. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Ein simply shook his head. “I just… can’t believe it… How did you manage to get down here and why are you dressed like a cop?”
“It’s a long fucking story… It went to hell up there, kid,” Teddy said. “I’m just happy to see that you’re—”
Ein stepped forward and gave him a hug. “Thank you…”
Teddy was taken aback by the hug. He gave an awkward hug back and patted his back. “It’s nothing, really… I promised you, didn’t I?” He broke away from the hug and grinned. “Now how about we get the hell out of here?”
Ein nodded and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. He looked around and frowned. “How are we going to do that exactly?”
Teddy looked over at Gatsby’s corpse as it lay in a growing pool of blood and stared at the man’s clothes. “What size pants do you wear?”
Ein thought for a moment and then shook his head. “I have no clue anymore.”
“Well… I guess it doesn’t matter since we don’t have many options,” Teddy said. “Do you mind a little blood?”
“Can’t stand it.”
“Then you’re really going to hate this next part.”
CHAPTER 21
Teddy stood in the elevator with Ein as it ascended. He had his face obscured by the balaclava once more and kept his eyes hooded by the helmet’s visor. He had his rifle slung over his shoulder and kept one arm wrapped around Ein to help him stand.
Ein wore Gatsby’s bloody lab coat and the man’s slacks—which fit him like clown pants. Splotches of blood slicked back his long, scraggly hair—the only purple dye that remained was at the tips. He slouched forward, grimaced, and pressed his tattooed hand against the elevator wall.
“Keep that hand in your pocket or they will spot you right away,” Teddy said.
“Sorry, but I think I’m going to hurl,” Ein said queasily as he stuffed his tattooed hand back inside of his coat pocket. “These clothes smell like blood and piss.”
Teddy chuckled. “You look green at the gills alright, but that only adds to the disguise.”
“Was all of this necessary?”
“Since they didn’t have a closet full of fresh lab coats, I’d say that beggars can’t be choosers.”
Ein sighed. “It’s not even very convincing.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Teddy said. “You look pretty fucked up.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Ein looked down at the bloody clothes. “I have all of these theatrics going on, but not a single wound… Looks fake.”
“I could knock a few of your teeth out if you’re going for an authentic look,” Teddy shot back.
“Hardy-har-har.”
“Seriously—relax, kid. Everything will be fine. People aren’t going to do much scrutinizing. They’ll see th
e blood and that’ll be enough for them… Besides, with all those people from the observation rooms running around, those cops are going to have other things to worry about soon enough.”
Ein looked skeptical. “Are you sure about that? They seemed to be headed in different directions.”
“There’s nowhere for them to run, really.” Teddy shrugged. “They’ll cross paths soon enough—it’s probably a good thing we got off of that floor before they did.”
As if to illustrate Teddy’s point, gunshots echoed from the floor below.
A voice shouted over the Motorola: Alpha-Ten to Command! We’re under civilian fire!
Hock responded: Alpha Command to Alpha-Ten—what civilians? We’re monitoring your perimeter and nobody came in.
Feedback warbled. Negative Command—hostiles came from inside the facility! They’re wearing hospital gowns!
Alpha-Ten—those are the test subjects! Neutralize them, goddammit!
The gunfire continued.
Command, our security contingent got ambushed—we need backup!
Copy, Alpha-Ten. I’ll send what I have from the train—hold them off and do not let them escape or it will be your ass!
“See?” Teddy said. “Problems of their own.”
The lift came to a stop and the doors slid open.
Teddy kept an arm around Ein and led him through the empty lobby. A squadron of breathless officers came barreling through the front doors with their rifles ready.
“What in the hell is going on down there?” one of them asked Teddy.
“Damn roaches,” Teddy said. “Some white-suit fucked up royally—they let them out somehow and now the roaches are killing everyone!” He pointed a hand at Ein. “This one is lucky that I got him out in one piece.”
“Take him to the train with the others.”
“Already on it,” Teddy said.
The squadron brushed past them and gathered around the elevator as they tried to cram themselves inside.
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