Phil stepped over to his window and gazed down at the Horton Drugs campus. He’d always loved it—the graceful, calm, collegiate look of it. The fall leaves had taken hold again, creating a glorious blaze of scarlets and oranges and golds. He smiled. There was nothing as beautiful as that sight; there never would be.
He opened the window and leaned out. He took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp fall air. A breeze caused the trees to dance in the late afternoon light.
It was so beautiful, but his soul felt filthy with guilt. Sick and putrid. All the deaths. All his fault. Nothing he could do to make it better, to wash it all away, to bring back all those victims.
Nothing at all.
Phil made a sudden decision. He climbed out of the window and stood, teetering, on the ledge. He took in his most cherished view one last time, to last him forever.
Then he closed his eyes and jumped.
CHAPTER 58
Sylvia reclined on her living room couch with the curtains drawn. She preferred it that way. The darkness made it harder to see all the reminders of Todd that surrounded her.
The darkness also made it harder for her to see just how much work she had ahead of her to pack it all up and move. Maybe she should just try to sell off as much as she could and give away the rest.
She knew she’d done the right thing in accepting that job offer in North Carolina. She wanted to live far away from the Horton campus, from where she’d lived with Todd—in fact, she wanted to be as far away as possible from the life she’d had up until now.
The new job was a teaching position at the university out there. She wouldn’t be in the lab anymore, and she sure as hell wouldn’t be designing any bacteria or drugs ever again. No more playing God. No more tinkering with nature. She would be teaching freshman-level biology, and that was good enough for her.
Phil had been generous about giving her paid time off to try to heal and figure out what she wanted to do. She owed him the courtesy of letting him know her plans.
She sat up straight, took a breath and made sure her emotions were in check, then called him on her PortiComm.
“Dennis McKenzie here.”
She frowned. “Who?”
The voice at the other end sounded as perplexed as she felt. “I’m Dennis McKenzie, CEO of Horton Drugs. Who’s calling?”
“Where is Phil Horton?”
“Who is this?”
“Sylvia Creston. I…work there. I’ve been on leave for a few months.”
“Oh. You.” A pause. “Haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Apparently not. About Phil. He…passed away several weeks ago. He’d just turned over the reins to me—”
“Passed away? He wasn’t that old. What happened?”
“You really didn’t hear? Well, he…committed suicide. Didn’t leave a note. Police think he didn’t plan it out, just did it. Jumped out his office window.”
Sylvia gasped. All along, she’d thought Phil took the whole disaster rather casually, considering the death toll. She’d been out of touch with most everyone since going on leave, and so never did hear the news.
“Thank you. I just called to say I won’t be returning to Horton Drugs.” She spoke the words mechanically, as if from a script, and hung up.
REBIRTH
CHAPTER 59
Jenny Russell squinted as she watched over her kindergarten class on their play break. She pawed at her eyes and wondered if she was catching pinkeye or something. Weak morning sunlight just shouldn’t hurt like that.
Her little boys and girls ran screaming around the playground with their typical boundless energy. She usually enjoyed running around with them, but today she’d been dragging ever since she got up. The annual flu bug must have decided to pay her a visit. If she felt like this tomorrow, she’d have to call in a sub so she didn’t spread it and make her kids sick.
Jenny checked her watch. “Time to go back in now! Come on. We’ll practice the alphabet a little before lunch, how about that?”
The kids started filing back into the classroom, chattering and jostling each other. She smiled as she watched them. Her teacher friends envied the rapport she had with her kids. She didn’t think she did anything special, she just got along well with them.
Once back inside, her kids took their seats and squirmed in anticipation of the next activity. She stepped to the front of the room, then leaned against the whiteboard a moment. The number of kids doubled and swam for a moment in her vision.
“What’s the matter, Ms. Russell? You don’t look so good.” Jeffie Lawson, the de facto leader of the class, gazed at her from the front row with concern in his large blue eyes. The other kids whispered to each other and stared at her.
“I’m okay, Jeffie. I just need to sit down a minute.” She hurried the few steps to her desk and sat, never so grateful in her life for a chair.
“Eeew!”
“Gross!”
Jennie looked up to see universal disgust registered on all the kids’ faces. She rubbed at a tickle on her upper lip, then realized it was wet with blood. She covered her face with one hand and reached for a tissue with the other.
“It’s okay, just a little nosebleed. I’ll be all right in a minute.”
* * *
It swam in warm, thick, comforting blood. It swam with others of its kind, in the darkness.
It had no concept of night and day, nor of the passage of time. It just was.
Sudden bright light intruded. It felt chilled, exposed.
It felt threatened.
A sudden desperate survival instinct took over as it quickly sought out another of its kind. The two entwined, becoming one single organism, exchanging essential genetic material, interweaving it in various combinations until the merged organism felt comfortable with its new surroundings. Then the single, modified organism cleaved into two.
And each began to multiply. Each knew the importance of establishing a new colony that could not only survive, but could also defend itself, in the new environment.
The colony prepared itself for a new battle. A battle it intended to win, because evolution only rewards the fittest.
* * *
Jennie checked her watch. Only a couple of hours left in the school day. Surely she could make it that long. Otherwise, she’d have to get someone to sub in or have the school office call all the parents to pick up their kids early. Just wasn’t worth all that for a couple more hours. She glanced around the room. All the kids lay on their little pads on the floor, having their early afternoon naps. At least she could get off her feet for a little bit while they were quiet and didn’t need her full attention.
She slumped in her chair. Whatever she had didn’t feel quite like the flu, but it must be. Maybe there was some crazy new strain going around. She felt hot and achy, and already had that nosebleed, as well as several more bouts of dizziness she’d tried to hide from the kids.
Now it was getting harder to breathe, like she couldn’t get a full breath into her lungs. Panic made her heart race and pound as she felt her throat tighten. Less and less air got in with each breath. She didn’t want to scare the kids, but she needed help.
Jennie opened her mouth to scream. And nothing came out. She clutched at her throat and fought for air. She stood, knocked her chair backward, and staggered toward the door. Her knees buckled as darkness closed in.
* * *
A loud thump woke Jeffie from his nap. He sat up and saw Ms. Russell lying facedown on the floor at the front of the room. The other kids woke up and stared openmouthed at the sight.
Jeffie jumped up and ran to Ms. Russell. Something was wrong with his favorite teacher! He leaned over her motionless body.
“Ms. Russell? Ms. Russell? Wake up!” He reached over and gently shook her shoulder. Nothing happened.
The other kids crowded around, confused and scared. Jeffie didn’t know what else to do. He got down on his knees, placed his cheek against the floor so he could see her face.
Jeffie screamed when he saw the blood dripping from her nose, over her blue lips, and onto the carpet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa von Biela worked in Information Technology for 25 years, then dropped out to attend the University of Minnesota Law School, graduating magna cum laude in 2009. She now practices law in Seattle, Washington.
Lisa began writing short, dark fiction just after the turn of the century. Her first publication appeared in The Edge in 2002. She went on to publish a number of short works in various small-press venues, including Gothic.net, Twilight Times, Dark Animus, AfterburnSF, and more. She is the author of the novels The Genesis Code and The Janus Legacy, as well as the novella Ash and Bone.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
DarkFuse is a leading independent publisher of modern fiction in the horror, suspense and thriller genres. As an independent company, it is focused on bringing to the masses the highest quality dark fiction, published as collectible limited hardcover, paperback and eBook editions.
To discover more titles published by DarkFuse, please visit its official site at www.darkfuse.com.
Blockbuster Page 17