Parasite ; Sleeper Cells ; Kingdoms of the Dead

by Ian Woodhead

  The flesh around the bite now resembled a bright red sponge, full of black ink. “I don’t know,” he replied. Kenny ran over to Natalie. “Wait, what do you mean by infected meat?”

  The woman pointed at the now unconscious guard, lying by her feet. “Can you believe that he had no idea how to access this terminal?”

  His body no longer looked solid. The end of the guard’s fingers now looked like candle wax, held over a naked flame.

  “What the fuck is happening to him?”

  “Do you think that the other worlds would just allow this one to occupy and plunder them without fighting back? Food World has been contaminating the supplies they sent over here for months now.” She grinned. “It’s amazing what gets past as safe when the chief medical officer just happens to be me.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a large tablet; she placed it in Diane’s undamaged hand. “Here, swallow this. It’ll slow down the effects of the contamination. Don’t worry, As soon as my men get here, we’ll take you to Food World and Mortimer will cure you.”

  Kenny jumped as the outer cell door slammed shut. He turned to Natalie. “How did that happen?”

  She pointed to the now vacant cages. “It doesn’t matter. Look, here’s our ride out of here.”

  The air inside the cages shimmered and the shape of four uniformed men solidified. Kenny’s smile faltered as he recognized the uniform of prison guards. “What the fuck is happening?”

  All four of them rushed out of the cages, pointing their guns at their heads.

  “Turn around and do it now!”

  Kenny grabbed his sister’s hand then obeyed their command. He blinked at the sight of another door on the other side of the cell. He was sure that hadn’t been there earlier. Not that it mattered, it was an escape. He pulled his sister after him and raced towards the open door. As soon as both women were inside, Kenny slammed the door shut.

  “Where are we?”

  Kenny shrugged. “I’ve no idea, Diane. It doesn’t matter though, they can’t get us now.” He looked at their new surroundings, feeling a little confused. At first this narrow corridor seemed to be part of the prison, but if that was the case, why did it look like a hotel hallway? There was even green carpeting covering the stone floor.

  “Please, not this,” whispered Natalie. She turned and slammed her fists against the door. “Let us out!” she screamed. Anything but this.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  She spun around. “I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. Those bastards have been playing with us all along. Those cages opened for a fucking reason.”

  The wall to their left grew transparent and Kenny saw two rows of empty seats on the other side of the partition. “It’s such a shame to see them empty,” announced a voice above Kenny’s head.

  He looked up at the ceiling and spotted a microphone.

  “There’s nothing more entertaining than watching live kills. Don’t you agree, Natalie? How does it feel to be in the game instead of just watching? I will miss you. I’ll miss the tiny squeaks you made every time some dumb fucker ended up dead. I’ll certainly miss how hot you got me, Natalie.”

  “Let us out, Rossini!” screamed Kenny, “you’re lost, give it up, they’ve killed your audience.”

  “Yeah, I will admit that none of us saw that one coming. Still, I don’t suppose it matters that much now. Thanks to some new info that I picked up not that long ago, I’ll soon have a brand new audience.”

  Kenny slammed his hands against the wall. “Let us out, you insane bastard!”

  Rossini’s laugh echoed through the speakers. “Greetings, competitors! You’re now in the private viewing hall reserved for the elite, for the founding members of our magnificent citystate. Only the brightest, the fastest, and the most versatile competitors have the prestigious honor of being chosen to play in this arena. The games are tough but the rewards are even greater. Good luck!”

  “What is all this?” Kenny glared at the woman who stood shaking behind him. “Come on, this is your time to shine, honey!”

  “I had to play my part! Can’t you see that, Kenny? It isn’t a club that you can just drop out off.”

  “Leave it,” hissed Diane, standing between them. “Does it really matter anymore?”

  Kenny took a deep breath and attempted to get a grip on his emotions. It shouldn’t matter what Natalie had done in the past to keep her real identity a secret. Right now, they all needed each other. He glanced past the two girls and studied their current location. There appeared to be only one way out, another metal door at the far end of this corridor, about ten meters away. “Okay, I’m calm. Natalie, what do we do here? How can we get out of here in one piece?”

  She stared deep into his eyes. “I’m not sure it’s even possible, Kenny.”

  “Don’t you dare give up,” he growled.

  The woman shrugged. “How stubborn are you? They’ve been playing with us from the very start, why can’t you see that?”

  “Yes you’re right there, Natalie,” replied Diane. “Right now, they’re watching us three fight amongst ourselves and laughing while slapping each other on the back, because they are oh so clever.” She looked up at the microphone and grinned. “Those grins will soon turn to grimaces when you start to shit out your internal organs. Natalie. Fucking snap out of it and find us a way out of here. Come on, you’re supposed to be the expert.”

  She blinked and followed Diane’s gaze up to that microphone. “Kenny, there’s a metal panel, halfway down the corridor, on the wall. Will you be a sweetheart and fetch me the contents? Oh, and don’t walk past the panel. There are pressure pads hidden under the carpet.”

  He nodded and followed her instructions, listening to Diane’s soothing voice explaining to the woman how important it was to turn their tactics around. He reached the panel and turned the small metal handle. The panel dropped down to reveal a fire axe, strapped to the wall with fabric straps. As he released the straps, Kenny recalled how Diane had used a similar speech on him on more than one occasion. “What do the pressure pads do?”

  Natalie took the axe out of his hand. She grinned coldly and slammed the spike at the end of the axe shaft into the speaker. “Now they can’t hear us, at least not in here.” She gave the axe back to Kenny. “Get ready, young man. I’ll show you.” She walked up to the grey panel and turned around. “Can you see those two pillars at either side of the door? The pressure pads open them. Get ready.”

  “Get ready for what?”

  The woman just shook her head then slowly walked forward two paces. Kenny gripped the handle tight as the pillars slid back. Two dead things shambled out of their hiding places and lunged at Natalie.

  “Get back!” he yelled.

  Natalie stayed motionless as the zombies closed in on her. Just before they could reach the woman, their bodies jerked back and the dead things were dragged back towards the walls.

  “Get them now, Kenny!”

  It took him a second to notice the thick elastic cords wrapped around their ankles. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” he said. Kenny ran forward and pushed the spike into the closest zombie’s eye, then pulled and swung the blade, the razor sharp edge cutting through the remaining zombie’s head. It dropped to the ground. Kenny jumped back as the elastic pulled the bodies back into the walls.

  “What kind of sick fucker came up with that idea,” whispered Diane.

  “This is Rossini’s private game,” said Natalie. “You have no idea how many unwary victims that trap has taken.” She walked up to the other door and tapped three times. “Be on your guard, the pair of you. Shit like that is nothing compared to what’s behind here. Don’t trust anything.”

  The door slid back and a blast of cold air almost took Kenny’s breath away. “Are we outside now?”

  The woman nodded. “Yeah, it’s a walled arena. Don’t let the lack of ceiling fool you though. There really is only one way through this maze.”

  Kenny followed her through the do
or and stopped and gaped. They were now in a fairground. He blinked several times before allowing his eyes to jump from one ride to another. He’d been here before, back when he’d been just a child. Kenny had forgotten all about this place. He bent down and scooped up a handful of dirt, letting it fall through the cracks in his fingers. Until he was left with two objects in the palm of his hand: a plastic toy ring and a small bone fragment. “Natalie, please tell me that Rossini only forced adults to go through this arena?”

  The woman stayed quiet.

  Diane picked the ring out of his hand. She placed it in her pocket, then gently pushed him over to the other woman. “You’re the only one with a weapon, Kenny. You need to stay focused.”

  He shook his head, then give his sister the axe. “I don’t have time for any more of this bullshit!” he screamed, marching past the pair of them. Kenny walked towards the huge carousel, watching two dead things crawling out from beneath it. “Is that the best you can do?”

  Kenny ran over to the first one and jumped on its head, feeling the skull crush under his boots. His sister screamed but he ignored the noise; she could take care of herself. He grabbed the other dead thing and pulled it out from under the ride. Kenny picked it up and slammed its head into one of the metal bars.

  “Enough of this bullshit, Rossini! We both know that you need me alive.” He glanced to his side, his eyes widening when he realized that the horses on the ride were more zombies, wired into the platform with the ornate poles pushed through their backs.

  “The others were right. We really do all deserve to die!”

  Kenny cried out in shock as a dozen floodlights blasted the area with intense white light. The carousel next to him begin to move. “You need me alive,” he hissed, watching as the other twisted attractions powered up. Kenny did his best to shut out the music accompanying the attractions, keeping his eyes fixed on one moving shadow walking past a Dodgems attraction. Why was he not surprised to see Rossini?

  His arms were wide open, the light catching his gleaming face. The man laughed. “You really are an enigma, Kenny,” he shouted. “As soon as I get my audience back, you’re going to be my star attraction.”

  There were over a dozen men behind Rossini, all of them armed. So much for his grand test. Kenny glanced over his shoulder. He didn’t think either of them had company. That soon changed. Natalie pulled the axe out of his sister’s hand. She jumped onto the carousel platform and ran through the attached dead things and jumped off, screaming. She swung the axe into the first soldier, the edge slicing into his shoulder. Then the woman ripped the gun out of his trembling hands.

  “You’re a fucking psychopath!” she screamed, heading for Rossini. Natalie lifted the gun to her shoulder and pulled the trigger.

  The man dropped to the ground and rolled to the side.

  “I should have killed you years ago!” she fired again.

  The bullet clipped the man’s shoulder. He screamed out in pain. The woman shouted out in triumph and fired again, but this time nothing happened. Rossini jumped to his feet and charged her. He snatched the gun away from her, gripped her head in his huge hands, then viciously twisted. Her body slumped to the ground.

  Kenny took his eyes off the scene just in time to jump out of the way when another soldier came at him. He punched the man in the throat and ran back to Diane. “Time to go,” he hissed. Kenny jumped over the groaning man and pulled Diane through the closest door, into the hall of mirrors.

  “What do we do now?”

  He kissed the top of her head. “We do what we always do, we keep going and try to stay alive.” By the sounds of it, neither Rossini nor any of the men remaining had seen where they had gone. He grinned to himself. “Come on, let’s go see if we can find a way out.”

  “What just happened?”

  “He’s operating his own agenda. Even so, Rossini isn’t a complete idiot. The fat bastard knows that Joseph would slaughter him if he allowed me to perish. You two, though.” He sighed. “You two are expendable.”

  “Do you think there’ll be any more traps in here?”

  “I don’t doubt it, Diane, but I don’t think they’ll be active, not now. Rossini just wanted to scare the shit out of us. How’s your arm?”

  She pulled back her sleeve. “It’s a lot better. I’m not sure for how long though.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.” He said that with more passion than he believed. This world was going to shit. It wasn’t just this perverted fairground he had to escape from, he knew that if he didn’t get her off this world, she’d die, just like the rest of the people on this fucked up planet.

  His heart jumped at the sudden sound of gunfire. It sounded so close. “Come on, we need to move!” he hissed. Kenny didn’t bother to add that he still had no idea where they were going to go. His distorted reflections glowered at him as he passed through the maze. Kenny tried not to look at them, wanting to keep his mind focused on the task of getting out of this fucking madhouse. He found himself turning his head every few moments to find another Kenny grinning back at him. He stopped and grinned back when he found one vital piece of information slowly slotting into place. “I can’t believe I’ve been such a fool.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Kenny wrapped her arms around the woman and squeezed her tight. “You really don’t want to know,” he whispered. “Just take solace in the fact that I think I can save you now, if we can get away from that fat psycho.”

  Now that he had a goal, Kenny moved through the interior with drive, pulling his sister towards the exit. “There’s got to be some way out of here. I …”

  Diane pulled him back and pointed at the wall by her feet. “There you go,” she said.

  Kenny dropped to his knees and ran his fingers over the wood. “I don’t know what you mean, Diane.”

  She pushed him aside and kicked at the wall, twice. The sound echoed through the tent. “There you go.”

  Now he could see a spot of light shining through the wood. He pushed his finger into the crack that the toe of her boot had made, grinning when he discovered the wood crumbling at his touch. “It’s rotten!”

  Diane got to her knees and joined him, tearing at the wood; the hole increased in size. “Shit, I think they’re in the tent!”

  Kenny could hear their footsteps clearly now. He pushed his fingers further in. Although the wood was soft, old, and rotten, the thicker pieces would be easy to shift. The tips of his fingers were already bleeding.

  “They’re going to get us!” Diane wept. She then pulled Kenny away from the hole and booted the damaged area again. An ear-splitting crack echoed through the interior and the section of wall fell in. She grinned at him, then dropped down and crawled through the gap. Kenny dropped to his knees and crawled in after her, acutely aware they were almost on top of him now.

  Kenny followed his sister into a brightly lit hallway. The stark contrast between here and the other areas of the building dazzled him. It took him a moment to realize that they’d broken into one of the public areas of the government building.

  He heard a commotion and turned to see Rossini trying to squeeze his bulk through the small hole. He was tempted to run back and kick the bastard right in the face. The temptation only left him when his sister dragged Kenny out of the hallway.

  She pulled him over to a window. “Look out there,” she said. “Everyone is dying.” There were tears in her eyes. “There’s nothing we can do, is there?”

  “Yes there is,” he replied, looking over at a large ornate door at the other end of the reception room. He knew it led to the television studio. He sighed heavily, grabbed her shoulders and kissed her cheeks. “You have to go now,” he said, “we both know that they’ll kill you if you stay.”

  “What are you talking about? There’s no way that I’m going to leave you, not now.”

  He grabbed her wrists and lifted them up. “Just like the others, you’re starting to degrade, Diane. Look at the tips of your fingers.
I don’t want to lose you.” He pushed her away and ran towards the huge door. He pulled it open, darted inside and bolted it from his side, before racing down the corridor. He stopped directly in front of the first room he came to. Opening the doors, he saw Joseph holding out one of the devices.

  “You took your time,” said Joseph.

  He nodded. “It took me a while to figure it out.”

  “Are you ready?”

  He looked at the device, thinking of his sister and of all those people out there on the streets, all slowly dying. “Yes,” he said, taking the device out of his head. “I’m ready.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  It felt so good to feel the warm rain on his skin. Kenny opened his mouth and allowed a few drops to land on his tongue before he returned his attention to the congregation standing just a few meters from him and his companion. “This world is so clean,” he said.

  Joseph grunted. “Ours is clean, Kenny, it’s just not as empty as this one.”

  “Yeah, I remember you saying that there’s plenty of vegetation, just not many animals left.”

  “How long did it take you to remember?” Joseph turned to him. “I was beginning to worry. I had a lot of time to worry, Kenny.”

  “The main bits came back to me only minutes before escaping from the fairground. It hit me like a truck. I saw you standing over me, then crouching down and pushing a needle in my arm.”

  The image of the chase crashed into Kenny.

  It had been just eight days since the first sighting had been announced over the streetscreens. Kenny’s desire to continue looking for employment in the capital had vanished weeks before the first dead person had run rampant through the docks. His days had consisted of avoiding the patrols and hunting through restaurant bins, in the vain hope that they had thrown out anything edible.

  On that fateful evening, Kenny’s luck had already taken a turn for the worse with the news that his sister wouldn’t be visiting him for another three days. His stomach had rumbled in protest, knowing that the prospect of a warm meal had been snatched away yet again.