“We must move,” said Steve and switched his vision towards the hosts under the control of the Collective. The rush of power, the raw strength of the bulk that rushed through the stairs, their behavior nothing but a carbon copy of a foot soldier that Steve had thought about through a simple equation based on the principles he had used for his business, they need only to use their weight and strength to do what is needed of them. They do not need to be fast, smart or have independent thought. Just like a good soldier they must follow orders and merely act on what they are told.
While being a very simple process, it was proving to be highly effective as the minions of the Collective rushed through the stairs and began to drop on their victims. While still unable to control them perfectly, the control he exercised was enough to stop anyone from escaping. The mass of the minions also ensured that the exits were blocked and emergency access became inaccessible.
The screaming, the horror, the crying, the sea of emotions that washed over everyone was exciting. They could do nothing against his power and even for those who were armed in this section of the airport, it was impossible to take a shot without hurting anyone who was not guilty. Not even they were sure of what was going on. He could smell their fear. He could sense it on his skin. It was repugnant, but at the same time, he was amazed that he could grasp this much into their mind.
The next step was to have the core of the Collective move and take action. He summoned it, not sure how, but he called out to it (almost “unto it”). He could feel as if something new was moving through his veins like an aphrodisiac. From the air ducts, large dark blobs emerged.
These blobs he had seen in the apartment. They were obscure and the light seemed to do little to give insight as to what could probably be inside them. The blobs moved rather slowly, but when they did they produced a sound like feet over sand. The granularity inside the blob could sometimes be seen as if millions of tiny spores composed every foot of it.
If Steve was right, there were more spores in this airport right now than humans in the world. That would mean that with only one spore he could get every single one of them, no matter where they were.
As they moved into strategic positions, the blob exploded into a dark cloud which rapidly moved around the large rooms. The immediate panic of the non-infected was rapidly silenced by the infestation that came onto them. Nostrils, mouths, skin--every piece of contact the Collective could get into a living being would help them get closer to controlling them one bit at a time.
The Collective would infest those whom it would deem significant to the cause. Those few that it had placed in a middle ground were cannon fodder and could be used to either feed or sacrifice for the good of the Collective. The rest were rapidly killed. Steve could see this, as if a switch had been turned off in them, with their brains and feelings rapidly becoming vacant and the host invasion converting into a feeding ground for them.
To most, the sight of this would be revolting and impossible. To Steve this was indeed the sign that progress had finally come and that what he had waited for all along was about to happen.
Change.
--
Jean had somehow managed to pay her Uber driver with a gift card that she had, but had never felt more ashamed of what had happened back there. She was disgusted when the driver offered to let her pay through “other means” and she immediately threw down the money and walked away, defeated but having kept her dignity.
As she moved around, lost in thought, there was something that she did not catch onto and would come to sense only after she had moved past the initial TSA checkpoint without anyone stopping her.
“What’s going on?” asked Jean as she looked around her. The airport floor was deserted. A quick examination of the area revealed that something had happened here. Some baggage had been thrown around. Chairs were broken and the terrible silence could mean nothing good.
As she continued to walk around, she saw something in the ground. At first she thought it was baggage, but on further examination, she had to stop herself from moving further into what seemed like a scene taken from a horror movie.
A person--she could not understand if it was a man or a woman—was face up on the ground covered in some sort of black goo that was crawling all over it. She wanted to examine it further and take a sample but knew this was not a good idea. When it hit her, she was already running towards the map of the airport.
The digital monolith continuously showed locations around the airport, even some of the service and emergency locations that could be used in situations just like this. Jean tapped on the screen and looked around to see where she was located, then ran towards what she was looking for: a security station.
As she had suspected, no one was there to stop her. They were all gone but had left the main doors open. Why? The logic seemed strange to her but she could figure out more about it as she prepared herself with what she needed.
At the security station, she found there was a magnetic lock. Thinking about how to get inside the station, she looked around, trying to find anything that could assist her. One of the immediate items was a fire extinguisher, which she swung against the door. After almost giving up on the third try, the fourth turned to be the one. Breaking through the door and opening it, it turned out that the door was not as sturdy as the lock they had put on it.
Once inside, she looked for the emergency cabinet and picked up the one particular item she would need for this situation--an M40 protective gas mask, which she rapidly donned. When she turned to face the cameras she saw movement on the second floor. People were behaving erratically, except for one figure who seemed to be standing still where he was, as if he was observing everything that was happening around him.
--
Steve was immediately pulled into the Well again. This time he could hear the sound of something like a heavy train moving through tracks. Remembering the previous heartbeat he had heard during the last time, he assumed this was the Collective growing.
-She is here.
Those words made no sense to Steve, and he was pulled into one specific part of the first floor where a memory was played back to him from a part of the Collective currently feeding on one of the bodies they had left on the first floor.
There she was, that meddlesome woman from the CDC whom Steve thought he had gotten rid of. He was furious, and the Collective could feel it.
-Do what you will.
Steve pulled back to himself. As he did, there was a pounding sound in his head, like a tap that continuously beat on the back of his head with melodic rhythm. He started tapping the back of his head and snapping fingers as he heard it and began laughing maniacally as he moved to a table where he could see the soldiers of the Collective awaiting orders.
“Move, bring her to me!” yelled Steve at the top of his lungs, and the soldiers of the Collective started moving as a mass. They were uncoordinated, now that their numbers had increased, but he could feel the power in his veins--will power completely consumed, becoming obedient to him and only him. Even if they could not do more, they were an extension of himself and they were nothing else but a tool to achieve his goals.
When they moved, it pleased Steve to no end, but as he continued to observe them move, he asked for the rest of the Collective to follow through and hunt her down on the first floor by infesting it with spores.
The rest of the Collective complied, and the blobs rapidly moved through the air ducts and onto the first floor. From top to bottom they began to drop spore bombs everywhere inside the first floor until large portions of it had small spores floating around all the time.
Unknown to Steve, Jean could see everything that was happening and could not believe it. At first she assumed he had a weapon or some other means to control the crowd. Even when they moved, she continued to assume this, but as she saw the large clouds of spores moving around everywhere, she panicked.
The door closed again. She had made sure to cover the hole she had made with every piec
e of cloth she had found inside the security room. She had also moved lockers and any other heavy items to prevent them from getting inside, but she had come to the horrible realization that she had become trapped inside this room with no exits.
The air ducts had become her logical exit, but seeing that the spores were coming from there, she had also made sure to take a pair of jackets and completely cover them, to ensure they could not get inside.
As she continued to observe the cameras, there were signs that the crowd was slowly moving towards the first floor. They seemed to be in a zombie-like state, as if they had no will of their own. To Jean this was impossible. How was Steve achieving this was beyond her understandings of a potential biological agent? But however he had achieved it, it had to do with the spores and the mold she had initially found.
“What do I do?” asked Jean, almost silently as if afraid of being heard. She started to think of her next steps, but she had basically placed herself in a cell and was just waiting for them to figure out she was there. Then she remembered something.
She had her phone. At first she thought about calling 911, but she immediately discarded that idea when thinking about how she had been ridiculed so far and that probably no one would follow up on it.
The only other person she could follow up with, even if she was not very happy to do it, was Chad.
Chad had given her his phone number while they were in the hospital, in case they would need anything. Although they had had a falling out, maybe he could help her in her current situation and do something for her. She pulled up the number and dialed it, hoping for the best.
Chapter 22
An Urgent Reprieve
Chad had become erratic after what Cheryl had told him. He had rushed back to the office and had gotten one of the large service vans they used to transport some of their clients. It would serve him well to get all the chlorine dioxide he would need.
He had already bought most of it out of his own pocket. Cheryl mentioned that she would help reimburse him, but Chad had mentioned that she should forget about it, that if he was doing this out of his own pocket it was fine, as they were both sure this was going to work.
He had managed to acquire four barrels of it. The people who sold them to him were cautious and warned him that he was transporting it in a vehicle that was not built for that purpose. For the first time in his life, Chad told them to mind their damn business and to keep loading the barrels or else.
What “else” meant was beyond him, but the employees were not there to argue or start up a fight. They were there only to load barrels and to give him a warning that they had to give to everyone, just to make sure they would not be sued in case anything happened.
Chad was not stupid and knew well what they meant, but he did not have time for any of it.
Once ready, Chad floored it, going above the speed limit down the highway and back to Cityplace to do what Cheryl had told him to do. Trying to concentrate back onto what she had told him, he was immediately distracted by a phone call which he answered right away, thinking it was Cheryl.
“Hello?” asked Chad, and a very familiar voice came through the speakers of the van.
“Hey, honey, everything all right?” asked Nikki. Chad was caught by surprise by the call and had completely forgotten to call her back. “You didn’t call me after you told me you were going to be done. Do you need to pull extra time again?”
“Yes, sorry….” said Chad, and after a moment that seemed like an eternity, he continued. “I am taking some of our clients back to their hotel. Not everyone is staying here, but I’m already on the last one, so I will be there shortly.”
“Are you sure?” asked Nikki with that tone that made him know she was not pleased with what was about to come out of his mouth.
“Yes, the last one and I’m back home. I also asked for the day off tomorrow,” said Chad. Nikki was caught by surprise.
“Really? Don’t they need you at the office after everything that happened?” asked Nikki.
“Yes, but I wrestled that one out. I want to spend an extra day with you and the kids after what happened during our vacation,” said Chad as he was texting his boss about it while driving in the fast lane, keeping an eye out for traffic and his message. “I think it’s the least I can do, and we both agreed to it in the end. Besides, the meeting was a complete success and I am getting an extra bonus for it, so one day won’t hurt us.”
“Wow! I really don’t know what to say to that… Is everything all right?” asked Nikki, knowing quite well that something had happened to Chad. Not only was it uncharacteristic of him to make those decisions, but it meant that something very stressful had happened to him and he was trying to get away from it. “Did something happen?” she asked him.
“No, not yet at least. But we can talk about it later when I get back home,” said Chad, trying to drive carefully as he saw yet another call coming in. “Honey, I need to go. I’m getting a call from the office and I need to take it.”
“You promised,” said Nikki.
“The day off tomorrow is still on. I am not working and we’ll get to do something as a family, all right?” asked Chad. Nikky simply agreed, although she was sure they would have a long conversation once he came back home and could not hang up on her.
“Hello?” asked Chad.
“Chad, this is Jean,” said Jean. Chad simply sighed at this and looked at the phone attached to the dashboard. “Listen to me, please,” she insisted.
“What now?” asked Chad. He was unsure why she sounded so muffled when she spoke.
“Something is happening at the Dallas Airport. That guy Steve we found at the apartment is here and he has people under his control,” said Jean. Chad almost flipped the wheel on the van to get to the nearest exit, but he had already missed it. As soon as he could, he started moving to get to the closest exit and stop the van. “I am trapped,” she told him.
“What does that even mean, trapped?” asked Chad as he furiously tried to get through traffic and onto the ramp. “Where are you?”
“In one of the security rooms on the first floor. The entire airport is deserted and people are dead,” said Jean. Chad began to have another panic attack just like he had when Cheryl was speaking to him. “What do I do?” she wanted to know.
“What do you mean, what the hell do you do? Call your bosses and tell them you are trapped and this terrorist nut has taken over an airport. It’s the Dallas International Airport, for crying out loud!” yelled Chad as he managed to get the exit just in time and changed the GPS to take him to the airport, which was still a considerable distance away from his current location. “Do something, lady!”
“I can’t. No one will listen to me, and I can’t do anything,” said Jean with a tone that was almost like mumbling. “I just can’t.”
“Jean, listen to me. You need to do something about this and you need to get it done now. People are going to die, if they haven’t already done so. If you fail to act now, something horrible is bound to happen worldwide,” said Chad as he floored it again. Even a van like the one he was using could pick up considerable speed on the highway. “You have the authority to call in and demand that actions be taken.”
“No, I don’t. There are problems and then the money and--” said Jean, who was interrupted again by Chad.
“To hell with any of that. You have the proof right now where you stand that people are dead. What more do they want? And if no one does anything, they have only themselves to blame, but you cannot blame them if you don’t get them involved,” said Chad, since he had an immediate echo of things that had happened to him in the past, projects where he had failed and where he had been blamed by not taking the proper actions. Even in failure a team is a key factor, and not making decisions even when those decisions could make no changes, meant that nothing was tried. And if no one tries anything, nothing happens and nothing changes. “Tell them, if they do not act on it, then let them fail, but you need to continue contacti
ng people until someone does something about it, you understand?”
“But what if they don’t….?” said Jean, but the communication began to break up. “. . . could it be?”
“What was that? You are breaking up,” said Chad. He heard Jean speak again, but this time only in bits. It reached the point where the conversation was garbled and eventually it was disconnected. “Damn.”
Chad tried again a couple more times to get ahold of her, but nothing happened. Seeing there was no answer, he feared for the worst and pushed the phone buttons until he contacted Cheryl back.
“Cheryl, something happened.”
--
“Hello?” asked Jean and saw her phone. She had no signal at all. She tried turning the signal off and on, but nothing picked up. When looking for a wireless signal around the airport, there were none visible. “What?”
--
-They are coming.
The voice of the Mastermind carved on Steve a reminder that he was not alone in the world and that he had much to learn.
-We have blocked their communications. Yours will suffer, too.
When the Mastermind mentioned this, Steve noticed that the soldiers of the Collective were now struggling to follow him through. It seemed as if whatever the Mastermind had done to stop communications from going in or out of the airport, that was also tampering with his connection with the rest of the Collective.
He dropped into the Well. The heartbeat of the ever growing machinery that it had become inundated his senses and rapidly moved towards the closest soldier of the Collective who was on the first floor.
“Where is she?” asked Steve, his voice becoming an echo that boomed all around him.
-Here.
The Mastermind had part of the Collective try to reach for Jean inside the security room, but they could not get past the air ducts or the door. While very small amounts of material were inside the door, they could not get inside her to take control.
-She is covering herself to prevent our control. You must take her for the Collective to improve our knowledge.
Burning Mold Page 16