Zeke stood in the doorway, laughing. He rushed over. "Sorry." He chuckled again and wiped tears from his eyes as he pulled her to her feet. "After all we've been through, I never expected you to get freaked out by a zombie in a cage."
Jen put a hand to her chest. Her heart felt like it was going to explode through her ribs. She took deep breaths until it calmed.
Zeke stopped laughing and put an arm around her. "Are you OK? I didn't mean to laugh."
Jen managed a smile. "Why not? I would've laughed at you."
He chuckled. "It was funny."
"Miss Reed." Dr. O'Connor and Randy stood at the old lady's cage. "Time to complete the experiment."
Randy unlocked the door, and O'Connor examined the old lady. "Blood pressure and heart rate unchanged. EEG shows decreased brain activity."
"What does that mean?" Jen asked.
"We believe the more active the virus becomes, the more it stimulates the brain," Randy said. "It's a good sign that the activity is down in the test subject."
"Significant," O'Connor agreed. "This is the first vaccine to achieve it."
He removed the IV from the old lady's arm. "Everyone leave the cell, please."
Jen stepped outside the cage with Zeke. Randy held the door open.
O'Connor turned off the ventilator and removed the old lady's mask. "Life support removed at 8:53 a.m." He rushed from the cage and Randy slammed it shut, securing it with the lock.
The ECG showed a continued heartbeat. The old lady's chest rose, and a startling gasp came from her lips. Her eyes opened, showing only the whites, and the old lady took a huge wheezy breath, then went still. The ECG flatlined.
"Time of death," O'Connor said. "8:55 a.m."
"How long before she turns?" Jen asked.
Randy kept his eyes on his watch. "Between forty and sixty seconds."
"Twenty seconds," Randy said. "Thirty...forty...fifty...sixty."
Jen watched the old lady. She hadn't moved.
"Seventy...eighty...ninety."
O'Connor licked his lips. "I think we may have done it."
"One hundred...one hundred ten...one hundred eleven."
"Randy, unlock the door."
Randy looked up from his watch. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we wait a little longer?"
O'Connor held out his hand. "Nonsense. The poor woman's been dead for more than twice the time of any other reanimation. Give me the key."
Randy handed O'Connor the key, and the doctor removed the lock. Jen and Zeke exchanged a glance. Zeke already had his hand on the hilt of the katana.
Jen slipped her tomahawk from its sheath. "Not sure that's a good idea."
O'Connor bent over the woman with a stethoscope in his ears, listening to her chest. "Remove the monitoring equipment from her."
Randy hurried to the other side of the bed and removed the blood pressure cuff from the old lady's arm.
O'Connor straightened with a smile. "I do believe we've done it."
The old lady's yellow eyes shot open and fixed on O'Connor.
6
The zombie rolled off the table and landed cat-like on the floor. Jen grabbed O'Connor by the collar and yanked him behind her.
Randy turned to run but the zombie sprung onto his back, knocking him to the floor. Jen shoved O'Connor at Zeke and reared the tomahawk over her head. She brought it in a wide overhead arc and drilled the point into the old lady's skull. The zombie slumped and Jen pulled her off Randy.
Randy's lab coat was torn and bloodied. Is that his blood or the zombie's?
He scrambled to his feet, breathing harshly, and bent over with a hand on his back.
"Are you bit?" Jen yelled.
He shook his head. "I've got a bad back and the test subject just made it worse, but I'll be OK."
"Jen!" Zeke held O'Connor on his feet outside of the cage. The doctor's head sagged.
Jen pointed the tomahawk at Randy. "Stay where you are."
"What do you mean? I just told you I'm OK."
Jen backed out of the cage, shut the door, and locked it. "No time to argue. If you still have those baby blues in a half hour, then I'll let you out."
"Let me the hell out of here now." The lab tech rattled the cage door.
Jen sheathed the tomahawk and put an arm around O'Connor. "Let's get him in his lab."
The caged zombies continued with their racket. That shit's getting old. I'm with Zeke. We should drop them.
"Wait." Randy stood at the cage door. "He's got a heart condition. There are pills in his bottom right-hand desk drawer. Keys are in his pocket."
Zeke held the lab door open while Jen walked O'Connor inside and lowered him to the floor. O'Connor's complexion had gone pale and his breathing shallow. "Call for help," she said.
Zeke closed the lab door then picked up a phone and pressed a button. Seconds later, he said, "Emergency in Dr. O'Connor's lab. He doesn't look well." He paused. "Right."
Jen rummaged through O'Connor's pockets and pulled out a ring of keys. She rushed to the desk and tried one. It didn't turn. "Dammit."
The next key she tried didn't fit. She glanced at O'Connor. Zeke hovered over him. "Is he still breathing?" she asked.
Zeke's eyebrows knitted. "Barely."
Jen picked a small worn key and shoved it into the lock. She turned it and jerked the drawer open. Hanging files took up most of the drawer, but a small prescription bottle lay in the front. She snatched it up and ran back to O'Connor. Zeke had folded up a lab coat and placed it underneath his head.
Jen opened the bottle and shook out two pills. "Need water."
Zeke dashed to a water cooler and returned seconds later with a cup.
"Hold his head up," Jen said. She placed the two pills in O'Connor's mouth and tipped the cup to his lips. "Come on, Doctor. This'll make you feel a lot better."
The lab door burst open and two emergency medical technicians rushed in. Jen backed away next to Zeke.
The EMTs took O'Connor's vitals, then placed him on a wheeled gurney and rolled him out the door, the growls of the caged zombies filtering into the lab.
Jen sank into the chair at O'Connor's desk and leaned back. "Guess that vaccine didn't work."
Zeke poured himself a cup of water. "But it delayed the change. Maybe O'Connor's on the right track."
Jen grunted in agreement. How much time do they have to get it right?
She opened the drawer she'd found the pills in and replaced them. A name on a file folder tab caught her attention and she pulled it up. In scrawling handwriting, the tab had "Dr. Jeffrey Morgan, Project Svengali" written on it. She pried the folder open. It contained a half-inch-thick stack of papers. The first was a progress report from Morgan on CDC letterhead. What the hell? That asshole actually worked here? Why didn't Cartwright tell me?
The lab door opened and Rodriguez and Daniels strode in. "Dr. Cartwright wants to see you."
Jen eased the drawer closed with her foot and pocketed O'Connor's keys. She pushed past the agents and out the door. Were the human experiments Morgan was charged with performed here as part of Project Svengali?
Zeke nudged her and pointed to Randy's cage. The lab tech stood at the cage door watching them with his arms folded. "Think I can get out now?"
Jen strode up to the cage and looked him in the eye. "No yellow. Looks like you're clean."
Zeke opened the door and Randy stepped out. "How's Dr. O'Connor?"
Jen shrugged. "We gave him the pills and the EMTs took him away. They didn't tell us squat."
Randy ran a hand through his hair. "I came here to work with Dr. O'Connor. He's had these attacks a few times before, and each one seems to be worse."
He thrust out his hand to Jen. "Thanks for being so quick to help him out."
Jen shook his hand. "He'll be OK."
"I hope so." Randy shook hands with Zeke, then trudged toward the lab, stopping at the door.
"I owe you one," he said and disappeared into the lab.
Cartwright sto
od behind her desk, staring out the window when Jen walked in. The doctor broke her trance and sat, then waved Rodriguez and Daniels away. "Dr. O'Connor is stable for now. Please tell me what happened."
"He gave the old lady the vaccine, waited ten minutes, then pulled the plug," Jen said. "She died and didn't come back within two minutes, so Dr. O'Connor assumed she wasn't coming back at all."
Zeke sat on the couch. "Dr. O'Connor went in to check her out and she popped up like a jack-in-the-box. Jen pushed the doctor through the cell door to me and took care of the zombie. Dr. O'Connor's face had paled and he couldn't stand on his own."
"We got him in the lab and gave him his pills," Jen said. "Before we knew it, the EMTs were there."
Cartwright steepled her fingers. "Two minutes? We're getting closer." She slammed a fist on her desk. "But not close enough." She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. "We're running out of time."
"It's not that bad, is it?" Jen asked.
"When the outbreak started in Alaska, we had time to rally the troops in most of the rest of the states," Cartwright said. "Thanks to you and Doc, we had information up front on how the zombies behaved and how best to kill them. And on top of that, we had troops deployed to most larger cities to avoid major outbreaks."
Cartwright sighed. "But with all the federal and National Guard troops now on the front lines, we're entrusting local law enforcement and civilian militias. Training videos on how to spot and suppress outbreaks and how to fight the zombies are playing constantly on TV stations, cable stations, and the internet. Despite this, more and more incidents are occurring. I fear we're on borrowed time."
Zeke moved closer to Cartwright's desk, a definite gleam in his eyes. "Sounds like we should get out there and kick some zombie ass."
Cartwright shook her head. "Not a chance. I need Jen here until we have a vaccine."
"I'm betting the mammals are causing the outbreaks," Jen said.
"Quite probable," Cartwright said.
Zeke cracked his neck. "We've seen zombie dogs."
"And a moose," Jen added.
Zeke's mouth dropped open. "Really? I would've loved to have seen that."
Cartwright plopped her open hand on the desk, a ring on her middle finger making a loud noise. Jen and Zeke looked at her.
"We've quarantined all pets," Cartwright said. "But how many squirrels die in a day? Skunks? Beavers?"
Shit. "It only takes one," Jen said.
"Exactly," Cartwright said. "That's why perfecting the serum is so critical. Dr. O'Connor believes that once he perfects it, he can make it deliverable by spraying from the air. That'll immunize the wildlife as well as humans. The military will send back aircraft to undertake that mission when we're ready."
Agent Rodriguez hurried into the room.
"What is it?" Cartwright asked.
Rodriguez glanced at Jen and Zeke. "That task you gave me this morning. I have an update."
Cartwright stood. "Would you two excuse us, please? I'll let you know if there's any news."
Jen led Zeke into the reception area. Rodriguez closed the door behind them.
Cindy walked in. Her pantsuit looked like it had been ironed only moments before. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"We're good," Jen said as she continued into the hallway.
Zeke followed her onto the elevator. "Where are we going?"
"Outside," she said. "I need some air. Starting to get claustrophobic in here."
Jen pressed the "L" button, and the elevator doors slid closed.
I need to tell Zeke what I found out about Morgan, but not here. Once we're away from the buildings and any interruptions.
The elevator slowed and stopped. The floor indicator showed they were at the fifth floor.
The doors opened and a crowd of screaming CDC employees pressed inside.
"What the hell?" Jen yelled.
A woman with wild eyes shrank against the elevator wall. "Hurry! Close the doors before the zombies get in."
7
The crowd pinned Jen to the wall of the elevator. "Out of my way," she screamed.
She squirmed and pushed off the wall, but didn't go anywhere. "Zeke, we need to get out."
"Over here," he yelled. He'd been trapped in a corner by the panicked mass. Even as skinny as he was, he wasn't able to squeeze out.
He raised an arm above his head. Jen notice the gun in his hand just before he pulled the trigger. The discharge was explosive in the tight confines of the elevator and the babbling group of employees was stunned into a momentary silence.
"Get off this fucking elevator and let us out or we start shooting," Jen bellowed.
The employees blocking the entrance piled out, and Jen muscled a man in a cheap suit aside. She broke into the corridor, where a swell of humanity pressed back into the elevator as it complained with an earsplitting buzz.
The doors closed on three people still trying to get inside. Jen pulled a younger man back. "There isn't room."
He swung his fist at her face and she ducked. His momentum threw him into a tech, who pushed him off.
Zeke pulled the other two people from the elevator doorway and the doors slid shut.
"Now look what you did," a gray-haired woman with thick glasses shouted. Tears streamed down her face.
Jen pulled her pistol and raised it into the air. Zeke followed suit. The crowd quieted.
"Homeland Security Agents," Jen said. Zeke pulled his badge and raised it next to his gun. He had an odd grin on his face and his eyes gleamed.
Little shit's having a ball.
Jen lowered the gun. "I want two answers and I want them fast. Which way are the zombies and how many of them are there?"
A woman in a nurse's uniform pointed down the hall. "Medical wing. I saw at least eight, but there are a lot of people missing. They may have been bitten."
Jen removed the tomahawk from its holster. "I suggest the rest of you find the damn stairs instead of waiting around here. Now, out of our way."
The crowd parted and Jen and Zeke hurried down the hallway. When Jen glanced back, everyone had disappeared. Good. Fewer people we have to worry about becoming zombies.
The tactical tomahawk was much lighter than the axe she'd previously had, but she'd seen Griffin tear zombies apart with his. I'll just have to get used to it fast.
She stopped at the end of the hall and Zeke peered around the corner, his katana ready to strike. "Nothing."
Jen stepped into the corridor. A nurses' station stood empty, but an overturned cart of food and paper scattered across the tile floor told her the zombies had been through. Blood streaks decorated the walls like some gruesome avant-garde art.
A dripping sound came from the station. Slow and heavy. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Jen motioned Zeke to take the far wall and she huddled against the near one. She took a step and listened.
Another step and waited.
She and Zeke were in tune. As much as they'd faced together the previous few weeks, they'd learned each other's tendencies and had become a dangerous team.
Zeke motioned to the right. Jen nodded. They reached the station. Corridors went off in four directions from the nurses' station. A set of double doors was closed on one, but the others were propped open.
The constant dripping grated on Jen's nerves. Jen stepped behind the counter and stopped. Blood pooled around a half-eaten heart on a shelf. It ran down the side until it ran out of shelving and dripped steadily on an upturned bedpan. Jen took a towel lying on the floor and tossed it over the bedpan. The dripping continued, but much quieter.
"Which way?" Zeke asked.
Jen considered the corridors. No use going into the closed one. But which of the other three? Wish I knew the layout.
Something flashed down the corridor on her left. Her peripheral vision picked it up, but it had disappeared by the time her eyes had snapped that way. Zeke looked in that direction, too.
"As good
a choice as any." Jen entered the corridor. Zeke took the opposite side of the hallway and together they made their way down the hall. The doors they passed were solid, with no windows, and all closed. Jen opened the first one she came to. Baskets of laundry crowded the room, but there were no signs of anything, living or dead.
A clattering came from an intersection ahead. Something metallic hit the floor and spun, making a racket. Jen put a finger to her lips and motioned Zeke to move ahead with her.
She reached the intersection and scanned both ways down the corridor. A pan, like the type used to hold surgical instruments, lay on the floor several feet away.
"We're getting too deep in here," Jen said. "If there were zombies down here, they should've attacked by now."
O'Connor stepped into view at the next intersection. His glasses gone and his mouth stained red, he glared at Jen.
"So that's how this shit started." Jen sprinted toward him and O'Connor darted out of sight.
"Wait for me," Zeke yelled.
Double doors on Jen's right burst open as she passed them, and two dozen zombies spilled into the hallway between her and Zeke, who skidded to a halt and took a defensive position.
Five of the zombies turned toward Jen. She gave the tomahawk a hefty swing at the first one, but its light weight threw off her timing and the blade zipped inches from the creature's face.
Shit. She pulled her pistol and dropped the zombie with a shot to the forehead.
More zombies flowed from other doors. "Zeke. Run!"
Jen took off the other way down the hall and around a corner. She had ten yards of corridor before it became a dead end. "Are you shitting me?"
The last door on the left stood open. Jen sprinted through it, slammed the door shut, and locked the large deadbolt.
Zombie fists pounded on it, but the thick wood barely shuddered. I'll be safe in here.
She turned to survey the room and her mouth went dry. O'Connor stood in a corner several feet away, his yellow gaze fixed on her. Jen aimed the handgun at O'Connor's nose.
"Sorry, Doctor. Consider this your termination notice."
The Zombie Uprising Series Page 48