“It was here?” Tessa breathed out. “They found it here?” The truth hit Simon like a stone, but still he couldn’t admit it; it was far easier to deny it.
“No.” Simon shook his head. “I mean the nurse; she said it was germ warfare. That no one knew where it came from. It couldn’t have been us.”
“It makes sense.” Tech leaned back, suddenly looking very small in the computer chair; nothing more than a scrawny kid dealing with a man’s world. He lifted his glasses, rubbing his eyes. “Why would someone target a medical base if it was germ warfare?” Tech continued, turning to Tessa and Simon.
They were silent a moment, mulling it over until they heard the main door open and shut. There were footsteps in the hall and Dodge strode in. Tyson and Red followed in his wake. They looked around the room, taking in all the computers. Red looked impressed, Tyson just looked overwhelmed, his eyes wide in his pale face.
“Where are we?” Red asked.
“An underground lab of some sort.” Dodge leaned on the back of Tech’s chair. “You figure out what was going on down here, Tech?”
“These two are who you go to for help hauling bodies?” Tessa looked at the two boys who were smaller than she was. Simon felt bad. He knew what it was like to be looked at that way.
“Yeah, so?” Dodge asked, surprised that she would even question his choice. Red watched the exchange with interest, but Tyson seemed nervous.
“I figured you’d bring someone bigger is all.” Tessa shrugged, looking away from the boys. Dodge and Simon exchanged a look.
“I’m not that small,” Red said defensively. It was true, he was three years younger than Simon, but almost as tall. Tyson wasn’t so lucky.
“I’m not opening this place to everyone until we know what was happening down here. If I want to keep it a secret I need people around that I trust,” Dodge explained calmly. “These two scrabs know how to keep a secret.”
“We know how to keep our mouths shut.” Red jutted his chin up proudly.
“Sure, ‘cause Tyson hardly says anything,” Tech said with a short laugh.
“He does so!” Red defended his friend.
“Will all of you just lay off?” Dodge turned back to Tech. “What do you know?”
“Something you’re not going to believe,” Tech answered, still staring at the screen.
“Well don’t leave me hanging,” Dodge prodded. He spun the chair around so Tech was facing him.
“The virus Prime originated at Haven. We created it.” Tech spun back to face the computer. His eyes scanned the log as he began to read aloud. “It’s all here. June sixth, we inject the virus called Prime into monkey fifty-seven. June seventh, monkey fifty-seven does not seem to be responding to virus. June eighth, monkey fifty-seven is lethargic and is experiencing restricted breathing. June ninth, after slipping into a coma monkey fifty-seven died, three minutes later primitive signs of life returned, and monkey fifty-seven attacked monkey fifty-two. June twelfth, all monkeys fifty through sixty are ill or returned from the dead. Virus Prime will be shelved.” His voiced faded into a silence that filled the room as heavily as water. Tech spun the chair to face the room.
“That doesn’t explain how it got out,” Simon said quietly, still hoping it wasn’t true. “There must be something else.”
“Well the doctors who were working with the monkeys must have caught the virus,” Dodge answered. “That could happen right?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Tech glanced back toward the screen. “They were looking for a weapon, a deadly virus they could use in the war. The people working with the virus would have been in protective clothing. Besides, an entry on June sixteenth shows that all the scientists were still healthy.”
“How the hell then?” Dodge leaned over Tech to read the screen. He backed away quickly. “That hurts my eyes.”
“What’s this?” Red leaned in beside Tech, reading over the screen. He stood up, rubbing his eyes. Tech scrolled to the file Red was pointing out and double clicked.
A video began to play on the computer as well as the TV higher up. Dodge turned the volume up. A nervous looking man stood on camera. He wore one of the white lab coats that always made Simon think of scientists. His dark hair stood up all over his head and his clothing was rumpled. Deep, dark circles sat under his eyes.
“Martin Gray here,” the man began, mopping sweat from his brow as he spoke.
“He was one of the scientists working with the virus,” Tech said. Cages and glass fronted refrigerators lined the wall behind Martin. He stood in a lab.
“David believes that virus Prime is beyond our control. He is petitioning for the remaining sample to be destroyed.” Martin shifted uncomfortably, eyes darting away from the camera. “I can’t allow that to happen. I’ve seen what it can do, and it is nothing short of miraculous. I believe that God has handed us the next step.”
“Oh crap.” Red sank onto the couch. “That’s Adam’s dad.”
Tech quickly paused the video and turned to Red. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, he has a picture of him in his Bible,” Red said. He continued in a pleading voice. “You can’t show him this. He’ll freak out.”
“We won’t show him, kid. No worries,” Dodge said. Red nodded, still staring with awe at the screen. “Tech.” Dodge motioned. Tech started the video again.
“I am injecting myself with the virus.” As he spoke, Martin carefully slid a needle into the crook of his arm, pushing the virus into his vein. “God has shown the way, and it is eternal life. He has shown us the way.” Martin let the needle drop to the counter and lifted his arms toward the heavens. “We will be as His only son, Jesus. Though we shall die, it will not be eternal, because God will bring us back.”
“This guy is totally cracked,” Dodge said quietly. The others nodded without taking their eyes from the screen.
“I’m leaving this file. I’m sure you’ll find this video, but I will be gone by then, spreading the word of God. I’ve already said goodbye to my wife and sons, though they don’t know it. In the end, I think they’ll realize I did what was best.” Martin reached out and turned off the camera. The screen froze with his arm half covering his face. For a moment, the room was quiet.
“He thought this was God’s will?” Tessa asked softly. “How could he think that?” The question hung in the air.
“Because he was crazy,” Simon said.
“Totally ape-shit bonkers.” Tech nodded. “It’s the only way.” Behind him, Red giggled. Everyone turned to look at him,
“Ape-shit?” Red asked. Tyson began to smile, but the others just stared at him like he had gone crazy. “Monkeys? They tested this on monkeys and the guy went ape-shit crazy?” Red began to laugh again, and this time Tyson joined in. Simon tried to fight the grin spreading across his face.
“One stupid scrab!” Dodge slammed his fist down on the desk, shaking the keyboard and monitor. The laughter stopped. “One stupid guy thinking he is doing God’s work and we end up like this.” Dodge stood and began to pace the room, hands on his head. “That scrab. That crazy asshole scrab.”
“Calm down, Dodge,” Simon said quietly.
“I’m calm. I am so unbelievably calm.” Dodge kicked a computer chair, sending it sailing into the wall where it crashed down to the floor on its side. This seemed to calm Dodge and he took a few deep breaths, refocusing on the issues at hand. “Okay, what else Tech? Are there any more videos?”
“No,” Tech said with a sad shake of his head. “There’s a communications log, but I can’t hack it yet.”
“Was this the lab they used for the experiments?” Dodge asked.
“It might be.” Tech shrugged helplessly. “I really gotta keep looking to tell you that.” He rubbed his eyes again. “This screen is driving my eyes bonkers.”
“I don’t think this is the lab,” Tessa ventured slowly. “Look, the wall in that lab is blue. It’s white here.”
Red leaned back and looked down the hall, turnin
g with a grin back to Tessa. “She’s right. It’s white out there.”
“Good.” Dodge nodded. “Good. That means we can move everyone in here safely. We don’t have to worry about what the hell else they were testing.”
“It’s going to be tight,” Tech pointed out.
“I don’t care. You saw the way those things were out there,” Dodge snapped. “They are gonna work their way over the wall soon.”
“What’s going on out there?” Simon asked. “How will they get over?”
“By trampling each other until the pile of bodies is tall enough that they can get onto the wall.” Dodge answered grimly. “We’re going to need to be safely down here by the time that happens. Tech, you keep working on the communications log. Try to find a way to communicate with someone outside these walls. Everyone else, it’s time to let the others know we found a safe house.”
“There won’t be enough beds,” Tessa pointed out quietly.
“Yeah.” Dodge sighed, wiping a hand over his face. “And we’re only going to be able to have food that doesn’t need refrigeration.”
“There’s a walk-in cooler in the lab,” Simon told Dodge, “there’s even some food in there. I guess those people didn’t know they were sick when they locked themselves in here.”
“Good, that will make things a little better.” Dodge’s face flooded with relief. “Tech, will you be okay here alone?”
“Yeah,” Tech answered distractedly. He continued fiddling with the computer.
“Good, I am going to need everyone to help get as much food as we can in here. Once those things breech the wall-” Dodge stopped, obviously looking for a good way to say what he was thinking.
“Once they breech the wall, we’ll be trapped down here,” Simon finished for him, not at all happy about the idea, but it was best to be honest about their situation.
“That’s about it.” Dodge nodded grimly. “But we’ll be alive.”
“Some of us,” Simon said. Dodge looked away, wiping his mouth with his hand before turning back to Simon.
“I’m really sorry about Zeke, kid. I liked the guy too; he was good people for sure. I wish we had time to do something nice for him like we did with Noah.”
“Thanks.” Simon stood. “He was my best friend, the only one I remember having.”
“I get it,” Dodge said. Simon believed him.
With a sigh, Simon started for the door. “No sense wasting any more time now though, huh? Soon I’ll have nothing else to do but whine about how much I miss him.” Simon glanced back to see Dodge smile.
“That’s right.” Dodge followed Simon, slinging an arm across his shoulder and giving him a brotherly squeeze. “Come on people. Let’s get moving.”
Simon could tell something was wrong as soon as they opened the hospital doors; there was something different in the atmosphere, a feeling he couldn’t quite place. The air hung heavy, like right before a thunderstorm. It put everyone immediately on edge. Simon glanced at the others, feeling his heart hammering in his chest. He was glad to see they all looked as freaked out as he felt, but wondered if his eyes looked as feral as theirs, wondered how far gone they really were. Not for the first time, he wondered how the virus might have changed them all.
22
Haven Medical Base
As they approached the rec center, Simon could see the gate to the base. The pile of bodies reached halfway up it, and the zombies who had climbed to the top now were able to reach the top of the gate. It wouldn’t be long before they were through. As they hurried toward the doors Harper, the boy who had been smoking with Matt, came running around the corner.
“Dodge,” Harper shouted. He looked terrified, but relieved to see Dodge and the others. “They’re almost over. We pulled everyone from the walls because they were close enough to reach us. We couldn’t even shoot them; it would just help them get over faster.” Harper stopped, breathing heavily as his eyes darted around trying to watch every direction at once. He still looked high and utterly terrified, his black hair matted to his head with sweat.
“Where are the others?” Dodge asked as he stepped through the door into the gym.
“Here,” Harper answered right behind him. “I was out looking for you. Where the hell were you all?”
The room was alive with voices; they echoed off the high ceilings and doubled their volume and size so that the whole room was a cacophony of fear right down to the cries of the smallest child. They had the look of trapped animals. A few kids quieted when they spotted Dodge, but most of them didn’t even notice. Instead of answering Harper, Dodge slipped his fingers into his mouth and gave a piercing shriek of a whistle. The room fell quickly into silence. Even Dodge looked surprised by the sound he had made.
“Listen up everyone.” Dodge’s voice was loud and commanding. Up close, Simon could see him sweating, his neck tight. “We’re gonna move out. We found someplace that will be safe even once those things are over the wall.”
“It’s safe here,” Matt called, recovered from the knockout he had received that morning. Beside him, Lara nodded. “You going to take us somewhere that’s any safer? They can’t open doors, scrab.”
“And they can’t climb walls either,” Dodge replied sarcastically. “We don’t have time to argue. Stay if you want to, but anyone who wants to come with us needs to grab as much food, clothing, and bedding as they can and follow me.”
Most of the room began to scramble, gathering the few belongings they had, stuffing them into stolen backpacks and duffel bags. Simon and Tessa headed for the pantry, stopping only briefly to grab duffel bags. Others followed them, and soon a whole group was stuffing anything they could find into bags and pockets. When there was no more room, they loaded their bare arms with goods.
“Remember drinks and try to get more than just junk,” Dodge called as he pushed through the throng to start filling his own bag. Soon, half the shelves were empty and no one could carry any more.
Dodge led the way back through the gym. Simon was dismayed to see five kids had decided to stay with Matt and Lara. They sat nervously as Matt looked smugly at Dodge. Dodge hardly glanced Matt’s way, too focused on getting his group to the relative safety of the underground lab. Simon and Tessa stayed at the door ushering everyone out. Simon kept half an eye on Matt’s group, hoping they would change their minds.
“Are you sure you want to stay?” Simon asked as the last kid stepped through the door. Tessa was already halfway out.
“No, we’d much rather come with you to your fag party,” Matt sneered and laughed. The boys around him laughed uneasily. Simon tried to catch Lara’s eye, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Matt, whoever stays here is going to die, even you.” Matt was a scrab, but his death would weigh heavy on Simon’s conscience, and he wasn’t sure he could handle anymore guilt.
“Simon, come on,” Tessa urged, glancing worriedly toward the gate. The zombies were almost over.
“Yeah Simon, go on,” Matt teased.
“Please,” Simon begged the group. They turned away. Tessa took his arm and pulled him out the door. As it shut behind him, Simon felt a familiar sense of failure set in. He pushed it to the side, turning to run after Tessa. He heard the door open and close, and when he glanced over his shoulder one of the boys was running after him. Just one, but it was enough to boost his spirits. Then he got a look at the gate.
More than a dozen zombies were over the wall, already lumbering toward them. The zombies outside were no longer silent. They made a wild, wordless chattering sound, like there were a million giant gnats flying around the base. The boy caught up to Simon and both boys doubled their pace to catch Tessa as she rounded a corner onto the road to the hospital. Behind them, the zombies closed the space between them.
The street in front of the hospital was chaos.
Another group of zombies were advancing on the others. Tessa skidded to a halt, almost dropping her duffel bag. Simon and the boy ran past her. “Keep going.” S
imon called.
Tessa snapped out of it as Dodge emerged from the hospital, bat in hand. He cracked open the skull of the nearest zombie and grabbed Red’s arm, shoving him toward the door.
“Everyone get inside and follow Red.”
Red stumbled to the door, the other kids following on his heels. Someone screamed. Simon turned to see a small boy get swamped by three zombies. Rage filled him. He plowed through the crowd, shoving his way inside and diving for the waiting area chairs and the remaining weapons hidden there. Only one more bat remained; they’d left all the guns below. He snatched it and went back outside.
Simon slammed the bat down on a zombie reaching for one of the little girls. The sickening crack reverberated through his arms and turned his stomach. The thing fell to the ground. Someone took the girl’s hand, pulling her toward the doors. Almost everyone was inside. He spotted Tyson helping the boy who had run out after them. The kid’s leg was bleeding badly.
“Tyson, watch out,” Simon yelled as a zombie lurched toward Tyson. He spun, letting the other boy fall as the zombie latched onto his arm. Tyson screamed.
Simon ran for him, absently slamming the bat into a zombie’s face as it reached for him. He leaped over the injured boy crawling for the door and cracked the bat into the back of the zombie’s head. It let go of Tyson and turned on Simon. He took another swing and it fell.
“Get Tyson,” Dodge ordered, stooping to lift the other boy. Simon helped Tyson toward the door. They made it through the front door and Dodge slammed it shut behind them. The zombies pressed against it, fists pounding. “You okay?” Dodge breathed heavily, supporting the other boy.
“Yeah.” Simon wiped snot from under his nose, refusing to let go of Tyson or the bat to do so.
“Let’s get downstairs before they get through the door.”
They hobbled through the double doors, finding Tessa and a few other stragglers ahead. A weight lifted from Simon at the sight of Tessa.
“We’re coming, wait for us,” Simon called.
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