Z-Minus Box Set 2

by Perrin Briar

“Well, you don’t see that every day,” Daniel said.

  He pulled Ian aside. Kate helped Hamish up.

  “What’s going on?” she said.

  “I have no idea,” Hamish said. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

  “Check Ian’s pulse,” Kate said.

  Daniel did.

  “He’s dead,” he said.

  Kate turned a deathly shade of white. Her arms shook and the bin tumbled out of her hands. Hamish pulled Kate and Daniel out of the room, slammed the door, and locked it.

  Z-MINUS: 2 hours 39 minutes

  “What’s the commotion out there?” Jeff said from behind his locked door. “I heard someone shouting.”

  “It’s nothing,” Hamish said. “It’s over now. We just… had a slight problem.”

  “What problem?” Carl said, rubbing his swollen groggy eyes as he stepped from his room.

  “It’s all over now, nothing to be concerned with,” Daniel said.

  Daniel waved for Carl to follow them. Carl frowned, but followed them toward the common room. Kate, still shaken from having beaten Ian over the head and, to her mind, killing him, stood apart from the others, sitting on the breakfast bar stool, staring into space.

  Patrick sat at the radio, having fallen asleep at the controls.

  “What’s going on?” he said.

  “We’re all here now,” Daniel said. “You might as well tell everyone what’s going on.”

  “Going on?” Carl said, snapping awake. “Is it Lindsey? Is she all right? Does she have the virus?”

  “No,” Hamish said. “She doesn’t. Because… Well, because she’s dead.”

  A silence seeped into their souls.

  “She’s what?” Carl said.

  “She’s dead,” Hamish said.

  Patrick moved to push past them into the corridor.

  “Don’t go in there,” Hamish said. “Trust me. You don’t want that to be the last image you have of her.”

  Patrick’s expression was crestfallen. He turned to look back down the corridor. He wanted to go see for himself. The haunted hollow-eyed look in Hamish’s face convinced him otherwise. Patrick’s courage waned.

  “How did she die?” Daniel said.

  “She was attacked by Ian,” Hamish said. “He… He ate her.”

  Hamish felt himself hurl inside his mouth. He caught it and swallowed it back down. He grimaced at the taste.

  “Ian?” Patrick said. “But that’s not possible. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

  “And he died,” Daniel said. “We shouldn’t forget that.”

  “He either died and came back, or he was never really dead at all,” Hamish said.

  “He certainly was dead,” Daniel said. “We all saw it. The defibrillator didn’t work.”

  “Right,” Carl said.

  “He… wasn’t himself,” Hamish said. “He was alive, and then he wasn’t. He was dead. And now he’s alive again. He’s risen from the dead.”

  Another silence. This one disbelieving.

  “What the hell are you saying?” Daniel said. “That Ian wasn’t really dead after all?”

  “No,” Hamish said. “We saw his dead body. There was no way he could still be alive after that. He had no pulse. He was dead.”

  “Then what are we talking about?” Daniel said.

  “I know how it sounds,” Hamish said, raising his hands. “His eyes were dead, like he wasn’t even looking at me, like he wasn’t there. It’s hard to explain. It’s easier if I just show you.”

  “Show us what?” Carl said.

  “That Ian rose from the dead,” Hamish said. “He’s a zombie.”

  Z-MINUS: 2 hours 26 minutes

  The morgue drawer sat as open and empty as it had when Hamish had first discovered it. The body bag lay empty on the floor. Only Kate wasn’t in the room. She remained at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. She didn’t need any more surprises.

  It took some time before anyone found a voice to speak. Ian had been dead and was now alive. He’d risen from the dead. A walking undead. The wind howled and the sleet clawed at the windows with its nails, providing the backing track to a moment of incredulity.

  “He was in Lindsey’s room when I found him,” Hamish said. “He was… eating parts of her.”

  They all turned white. A couple dry heaved.

  “If this is a joke…” Patrick said.

  “It’s not a joke,” Daniel said. “I heard Hamish fighting with someone. When Kate and I found him, we found Ian trying to bite him. Lindsey’s body lay in the corner. It still is.”

  “Is Ian dead now?” Carl said.

  “He wasn’t dead to begin with,” Hamish said. “Not the way we know it, anyway.”

  Patrick shook his head, standing with his hands on his hips, trying to piece the information together. He shook his head again. He was having an argument in his own mind, disbelieving what he was hearing.

  “You’re wrong,” he said finally, failing to find the words or the argument he needed to disprove the facts.

  “I’m afraid he’s not,” Carl said. “I wish he was. But we all have to admit what we saw earlier. We saw Ian die. He was dead.”

  “I have to agree with Patrick,” Daniel said. “There’s no such thing as people rising from the dead. I’m not smart like the rest of you, but even I know that. The doc only thought he was dead.”

  “He was dead,” Hamish said. “No doctor could mistake that.”

  “There have been stories of doctors getting it wrong,” Patrick said.

  “Including the undead eating the living?” Hamish said.

  Patrick and Carl shook their heads.

  “You can bury your head in the sand, refuse to believe what we all know to be the truth,” Hamish said. “But there he was, dead on the cold morgue drawer. And then the next minute he was trying to kill us. He is undead, and we have to come to terms with that and come up with a plan.”

  “Oh man, I can’t believe this is happening,” Patrick said. “I studied hard to get here and now look! I’m staring The Walking Dead right in the face! Meanwhile my brother knocked about with the wrong people and he’s in prison. Sometimes you wonder why you even bothered.”

  “We need to think what we’re going to do now,” Hamish said.

  “We have to get Lindsey out of there,” Patrick said. “And Ian. Put them in the morgue.”

  “Fat lot of good that did last time,” Daniel said.

  “There’s not much of Lindsey left,” Hamish said. “Maybe not enough for her to come back. But she’ll definitely be infected now.”

  “It shouldn’t matter how much of a person is left!” Daniel said. “No one should be coming back to life after they’re dead!”

  “Then what do we do with Ian?” Carl said. “If death doesn’t kill him, what will?”

  “Fire,” Hamish said.

  “Fire in here while there’s a raging storm outside?” Daniel said. “Sounds like a good plan for suicide to me.”

  “Keep Ian locked up,” Carl said. “We’ll deal with him when help comes.”

  “But he could escape again,” Hamish said. “We should end him now, while we’ve got the chance.”

  “No,” Patrick said. “A man is not responsible for his actions when he’s under such conditions. We must wait and let the courts decide what to do with him.”

  “The courts have no jurisdiction here,” Hamish said.

  “We’ll seal the door closed,” Carl said. “Make sure he can’t get out.”

  “You all want to stay in here with that thing in the next room?” Daniel said. “What if it escapes?”

  “He won’t escape,” Patrick said. “It’s locked up tight.”

  “I say we destroy it,” Hamish said.

  “Destroy it?” Patrick said. “That’s Ian you’re talking about.”

  “Whatever that thing is, it’s not Ian,” Hamish said. “I don’t know what it is, but it certainly isn’t him.”

  “You’re willing to kill him, to
let him die just to satisfy your whims?” Patrick said.

  “I’ll even pull the trigger,” Daniel said.

  “You’re not pulling the trigger, and you’re not going to kill him,” Carl said, squaring off against Daniel. “He stays in the room.”

  “And if he gets out?” Daniel said.

  “Then we get him back in again,” Patrick said.

  “After he’s savagely mauled someone,” Daniel said. “I don’t think you fully appreciate what we’re up against here.”

  “I know we shouldn’t turn to killing people the first chance we get,” Patrick said.

  “The second chance, then?” Hamish said. “Or the third? Or until the rest of us are dead and gone?”

  “We’re not killing him,” Patrick said. “Not while there’s still a chance of saving him. Now, I’m going to get someone on the other end of the radio, and I’m not moving until I do.”

  “I’ll help you,” Carl said.

  Patrick and Carl left, heading for the common room. Patrick pulled the microphone over and spoke into it.

  “This is Palmer Station, over,” he said. “Come in, over.”

  He repeated the phrase over and over, calmly, clearly, and succinctly.

  Hamish followed Daniel into the kitchen. Daniel poured himself a cup of coffee. Kate still sat at the breakfast bar. Something was eating her. With all the strange occurrences going on, Hamish supposed she was entitled.

  Hamish sidled up to Daniel.

  “You mentioned earlier you wanted to pull the trigger and kill Ian,” he said.

  “Don’t tell me you’re part of the suicide police too,” Daniel said.

  “No,” Hamish said. “I just wondered how you’d do that. There’s a gun here?”

  “No,” Daniel said. “It was just a figure of speech.”

  “That’s a shame,” Hamish said.

  “Not if one of them got their hands on it,” Daniel said with a nod to Patrick and Carl.

  Hamish took a seat beside Kate.

  “Would you like some coffee?” he said.

  Kate shook her head. It was barely perceptible.

  “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” Hamish said.

  Kate shook her head, but there was clearly something on her mind. Out the corner of his eye Hamish could see her eyes were bloodshot. She held a worn tissue in each hand.

  “I can come back,” Hamish said.

  “No,” Kate said. “I don’t want to be alone.”

  With the other guys sat in the communal area, and no one wanting to stay in their rooms, there was no chance of being alone. But Hamish supposed it was possible to be in a room full of people and still feel alone.

  “What’s wrong?” Hamish said.

  Kate didn’t look at him, but at her hands in her lap.

  “I murdered him,” she said.

  “Murdered who?” Hamish said.

  “Ian,” Kate said, her voice crackling under the pressure of speaking his name.

  “If you didn’t, he would have murdered me,” Hamish said. “And believe me, he wouldn’t have felt the same remorse you do.”

  “But I still killed someone,” Kate said.

  “Technically he was already dead…” Hamish said.

  He could see by her downcast expression and the way she looked at her limp hands that she didn’t see it that way.

  “I’m sorry,” Hamish said. “I can understand why you feel bad, but you shouldn’t blame yourself. He was already dead. I know if it were me in his situation, you would be doing me a favor. As he’s not here to say it, let me say it now… Thank you.”

  Kate smiled.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “It’s better to be dead than to be one of those monsters,” Hamish said.

  “I’d have to agree with you there,” Kate said. “I promise to do you the same favor if you ever become one of them.”

  Hamish laughed.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll do the same.”

  Kate extended her hand. Hamish took it and they shook hands with smiles on their faces.

  “Let’s just make sure it never comes to that,” Hamish said. “Speaking of which… Follow me.”

  Hamish approached Daniel. He didn’t want to have to consult with him, but with Patrick and Carl in a state of denial he needed all the help he could get. He tapped Daniel on the arm. He’d finished his coffee and stood looking out at the snowstorm. Hamish nodded toward the corridor. Daniel and Kate followed him toward it.

  “What’s up?” Kate said.

  Hamish turned to the empty morgue drawer.

  “Doesn’t anything seem out of place with this?” he said.

  “Are you shitting me?” Daniel said with a withering look.

  “With the morgue drawer itself,” Hamish said.

  “Except for the fact it’s empty and there was a body in there not more than a few hours ago?” Kate said.

  “Yes,” Hamish said.

  His expression was serious. Kate frowned and took a closer look at the drawer. She shrugged.

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “Morgue drawers like this don’t have handles on the inside,” Hamish said.

  “What are you saying?” Kate said.

  “I’m saying someone opened the drawer from the outside,” Hamish said.

  “Someone…” Daniel said, before shaking his head. “I don’t buy that. Why would anyone do that?”

  “Maybe they heard a noise like I did and got up to check on it,” Hamish said. “They would have thought it possible Ian wasn’t dead after all and opened it.”

  “If that was true, why didn’t someone admit it?” Daniel said.

  “Exactly,” Hamish said.

  “You’re saying something more sinister might be afoot,” Kate said.

  “It might,” Hamish said, nodding.

  “Someone may have opened the morgue drawer on purpose?” Kate said. “But why?”

  “I don’t know,” Hamish said. “We need to keep everyone close by. Make sure no one goes for a wander or is by themselves for too long. We go in pairs everywhere. It’s the only way to be safe.”

  “What do we tell Jeff?” Daniel said.

  “Nothing,” Hamish said.

  “Don’t you think he deserves to know the truth?” Kate said.

  “We don’t know if he’s infected yet,” Hamish said. “If he is, and there’s nothing we can do for him, he’s better off not knowing, don’t you think?”

  “What about when he asks about Lindsey?” Daniel said. “What then?”

  “We tell him she’s sleeping,” Hamish said. “It’s the kindest thing we can do.”

  None of them liked it, but what else could they do?

  Z-MINUS: 2 hours 16 minutes

  Hamish walked down the corridor, peering into each room as he passed them. He tore his eyes from the morgue drawer, now firmly shut, and moved on. He passed Kate’s room. To think Ian’s rotting corpse could have stumbled into her room instead of Lindsey’s… That it could have been her body Ian feasted on… It was too much for Hamish to imagine and left a sour taste in his mouth. He shook his head of the grisly images.

  He came to Jeff’s door and knocked.

  “Jeff?” Hamish said. “Are you there?”

  There was the sound of rustling movement inside the room.

  “Yeah,” Jeff said. “I’m here.”

  “How are you feeling?” Hamish said.

  “I’ve been better,” Jeff said. “It’s like the worst flu I’ve ever had. And the headache… I’ve never had migraines before. I studied them, of course, prescribed medicine to others, but never with much thought to how the patient really felt. Boy, do I have sympathy for them now.”

  “Do you have any other symptoms?” Hamish said.

  “Sore stomach,” Jeff said. “Slight dizziness. Blurred vision. Lethargy. Bloody nose, ears. Everyone might share the same symptoms, but they might be a little different too. They’ll be variations on a theme.” />
  So, Jeff was infected after all.

  “Something happened to Lindsey earlier, didn’t it?” Jeff said. “Something bad.”

  Hamish hesitated for only a moment. Jeff was a good man. He couldn’t lie to him, but to tell him the truth was enough to make anyone crazy. He decided to only tell him more if he genuinely wanted to know.

  “Yes,” Hamish said.

  He didn’t elaborate. On the other side of the door, Jeff was silent.

  “I see,” he said.

  He didn’t ask more questions. He didn’t really want to know the truth.

  “Are you hungry?” Hamish said.

  “Starving,” Jeff said.

  “I’ll bring you something to eat,” Hamish said, turning to leave.

  “You can’t bring me what I need,” Jeff said. “I need blood, fresh blood.”

  “I’m sure we have some meat somewhere,” Hamish said.

  “No, you don’t understand,” Jeff said. “It’s not just any blood I want. I crave human blood. I can feel it deep down inside me, calling. It can only be sated by human flesh.”

  “What’s calling you?” Hamish said.

  Jeff was silent a moment in an attempt to put the feeling into words.

  “There’s only one way I can think to describe it,” he said.

  “How?” Hamish said.

  “An all-consuming hunger,” Jeff said. “Every part of me needs to feed.”

  Z-MINUS: 2 hours 10 minutes

  “Oh man, I have a sore stomach,” Patrick said after Hamish revealed the symptoms Jeff had listed. “Maybe I’m infected…”

  His eyes were big and round with fear.

  “Oh, man…” Patrick said. “This is just what I need.”

  Hamish had deemed it prudent not to tell them all the details of Jeff’s symptoms. I want human blood. What was he? Some kind of vampire? There was no need to scare them for no good reason. If any of them got to the point of craving human blood there would be little they could do to alleviate their symptoms, besides opening their veins.

  “This is Palmer Station, over,” Patrick said into the radio, more frantic now. “Come in, over.”

  “Any luck?” Hamish said to Patrick.

  Patrick accepted the cup of coffee Hamish handed him.