Z-Minus Box Set 2

by Perrin Briar

  The survivors sat round, heads in their hands. It might not have been the end of the world, but it was the end of their worlds, and that made all the difference.

  “You might not be infected,” Hamish said.

  “Not infected?” Patrick said. “You heard what Daniel said. ‘Welcome to my world’. We’re doomed.”

  “He’s a madman,” Hamish said. “You can’t believe what he says.”

  “He sounded pretty confident when he was saying it,” Patrick said.

  Hamish knew he wasn’t infected. He could feel himself, clean and without stain.

  “Anyone fancy a game of ping pong?” Hamish said.

  Kate ignored him. Patrick glared at him.

  “I’ll take that as a no, then,” Hamish said.

  Patrick sneezed. Hamish and Kate turned to look at him.

  “Sorry, it’s dusty in here,” Patrick said.

  Kate and Patrick shook their heads.

  “I don’t understand how someone could do this to us,” Patrick said. “Someone we know and trust.”

  “You let your guard down,” Hamish said. “What made it easier for him to infiltrate you. Trust.”

  “So it was him all along,” Kate said. “Not Dr. Scott who infected us. Everything we figured out was right. We just focused on the wrong person.”

  Kate was right, Hamish realized. Daniel had instigated it all. It was him, not Dr. Scott who had set up a system to destroy them. Why and for what purpose, Hamish had no idea. There was no understanding the mind of a madman.

  “We have a decision to make,” Kate said. “A tough decision.”

  “We’ll go into our rooms,” Patrick said. “Wait for the helicopter to come.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not enough,” Hamish said.

  “What do you mean?” Patrick said.

  “The virus cannot be allowed to leave this place,” Kate said. “There’s no cure yet because this virus hasn’t existed for millions of years. We haven’t encountered it before. It’s from another time. We’re not prepared to defend ourselves against it. We need to give the rest of the world time if they’re going to build a strong defense.”

  “What about Daniel?” Patrick said.

  “He’s infected,” Hamish said. “He’s mad. He’s no longer thinking about what’s best for the rest of the world, only for whatever’s best for his plan.”

  “This goes much further than Palmer Station,” Kate said. “Don’t you see? We’re a drop in the ocean. Nothing that happens here matters, and yet it is everything.”

  “What are you talking about?” Patrick said.

  “The fate of the world rests in our hands,” Kate said. “It begins here. If the virus escapes and seeps into the world, the world is doomed. We were worried about contaminating the local area and wildlife. We should be just as worried about it contaminating us. Imagine this virus reaching a major city. Imagine it infecting our friends and family, infecting a single airport. How long before it spreads across the world, tearing apart the human race? It won’t take long, especially when it only takes a few hours for the virus to consume its host.”

  “But it won’t get out of here,” Patrick said. “We’ll be locked in our rooms.”

  “Dr. Scott thought he’d protected you all, but somehow Ian still contracted the virus,” Hamish said. “Our rescuers will come and get infected. The virus will spread. This time there will be more people around, more potential carriers. We cannot contain the virus here.”

  “Then what do you suggest?” Patrick said. “We just sit here, waiting for it to consume us?”

  “No,” Kate said. “We destroy it. Here. So it can’t spread. Destroy it before rescue comes.”

  “How do we do that?” Patrick said. “Sit it down and give it a good talking to? By the time the storm ends, the rescuers will be here. And we don’t even know how Ian was infected in the first place.”

  “That’s precisely why we need to take action,” Kate said. “We’ll destroy this center, set it on fire, burn it to the ground. That will kill any trace of the virus. By the time the helicopters get to us, they’ll be too late to stop us. I doubt they’ll even try. Not after a storm. Fire is the only way to kill a virus. That’s why a body’s temperature rises – to burn the virus out. We have to cleanse ourselves.”

  Kate looked pointedly at Hamish. He couldn’t meet her eyes, knowing what she was communicating.

  “You have to burn the place down,” Kate said. “The center. Burn it out of existence.”

  “With the storm outside?” Patrick said. “Good luck. It’ll snuff out any fire before one has a chance to get a grip.”

  Kate’s eyes hadn’t moved from Hamish’s.

  “Then do it before help arrives,” Kate said. “Just as they descend to help us, the center will already be aflame.”

  “What about Daniel?” Patrick said. “He’ll try to ensure the virus spreads. He’ll attack those who come to rescue us.”

  “I’ll take care of him,” Hamish said.

  “Didn’t you see him earlier?” Patrick said. “He ran out into the storm. There’s no way he could survive something like that.”

  Kate and Hamish’s eyes glanced up at each other, and then away again. They both knew the truth. Daniel would still be alive, somehow. There was no stopping madness in its tracks, not when it had a strong grip.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Patrick said.

  “What do you want to do?” Kate said.

  “First, we need to know if you’re really infected,” Hamish said. “We need another blood test.”

  “I’m not sure I can spare the blood,” Patrick said.

  “Take it,” Kate said, extending her arm. “Whatever happens, we can’t let Daniel win. No matter the cost.”

  Z-MINUS: 32 minutes

  Hamish had finally gotten the full use of his fingers and limbs back. He used them now to drop small amounts of blood onto the slides and peer at them through his microscope. Hamish’s body was weak and broken, running on vapors. It would soon all be over. And so he persevered.

  Hamish’s emotions were a study in despair. As he progressed through the blood samples he became more and more desperate.

  Hamish swallowed after he looked at his own blood’s test results. He was clean. He shook his head gently after analyzing Patrick’s blood. His shoulders shrinking. He was infected.

  Hamish reached over and picked up the final glass vial. It had ‘Kate’ written on the side. His hands were shaking. He took a moment to steady himself. He ran his fingers through his hair.

  Please, God. Please let this test come back clean. Take me. Please don’t let her be infected. Please.

  He’d never been a religious man, but he found himself bowing his head and praying, pleading with the God he’d spent his life denying, and though he still couldn’t truly believe in an omniscient presence, he wanted to believe. Wasn’t that what most people did? Wanted to believe? Most didn’t really believe there was a giant boat with Noah at its helm, most knew Abraham’s willingness to murder his son due to hearing voices in his head wasn’t the greatest moral teaching, but they all wanted to believe in some supernatural higher power, even if they did have to put up with all the nonsense to do it.

  Hamish’s whole body was shaking when he finally managed to peer through the microscope. He looked at it for no longer than a few seconds, but it was enough. He shut his eyes, curled up into a ball, and sobbed.

  Z-MINUS: 23 minutes

  “You’re all going to be fine,” Hamish said, smiling at Patrick and Kate. “Your results are clean.”

  “Clean?” Patrick said. “But Daniel said we’re infected.”

  “Daniel ran out into the storm,” Hamish said. “I think it’s safe to say he’s a few slices short of the loaf. It’s best not to trust the word of a madman.”

  “You’re sure?” Patrick said.

  “One hundred percent,” Hamish said. “I checked each blood sample three times. There is no doubt.”
>
  “I could have sworn I felt a twinge earlier,” Patrick said.

  “It’s probably just the stress,” Hamish said. “You’ve been under a lot of pressure the past few days.”

  “Oh, that’s such a relief!” Patrick said. “Isn’t it, Kate? I thought I was a goner!”

  Kate didn’t say anything, didn’t look at Hamish, and just stared into space. Perception was a cruel gift, Hamish thought.

  He moved to the refrigerator and filled three glasses with water. He took a deep breath and carried them on a tray to Patrick and Kate.

  “Here,” he said, giving them each a glass. “Take these.”

  He gave them each a single large green pill.

  “These will help boost your immune system,” Hamish said.

  “Boost?” Daniel said. “What good will that do?”

  “It could help stave off the infection in case you did somehow contract it between now and when the rescuers come,” Hamish said.

  Kate didn’t take her eyes off Hamish. He felt like a fraud. But she was the first to pop the pill and wash it down. Patrick followed suit. It wasn’t that Patrick didn’t trust Hamish, he’d just known Kate longer.

  They settled down in their blankets, snuggling and getting warm. It was the kind of calmness that settled in on long Sunday afternoons after a hard week at work. They drifted to sleep, fighting to keep their eyes open. The pill was already taking effect, and what with their exhausted bodies, there was little resistance. Patrick was already snoring lightly.

  Hamish stood up to get the things he needed. A hand reached out and gently touched him on the knee. Kate was awake, but barely. Her eyes were drifting closed, but she forced them open again.

  “Stay,” she said.

  Hamish couldn’t leave her. Not when she looked at him like that.

  “I’m here,” he said.

  Kate took Hamish by the hand and pulled him close.

  “What did you give us?” she said.

  “A sedative,” Hamish said. “A powerful one.”

  “We aren’t uninfected are we?” Kate said.

  Hamish shook his head.

  “No,” he said. “I’m sorry. I needed to do this and couldn’t think of another way.”

  Kate nodded, and seemed to almost drop off, before starting awake again. She seemed to take relief in finding Hamish standing over her. Her eyes crinkled, pained.

  “I’m scared,” Kate said.

  “Don’t be,” Hamish said. “It’ll be painless. It’ll be like falling asleep.”

  “There’s something I wanted to tell you,” Kate said. “It’s strange. Daniel and I… We were in the middle of nowhere in the freezing cold. He was handsome, I was horny. We used each other to get what we wanted. But I can’t say we would have lasted long. If we weren’t here and out in the world… I can’t imagine spending time with him. Our relationship would have melted the moment we got off the plane at Punta Arenas, and you know what? I wouldn’t have cared.”

  They were words to Hamish’s ears. He’d dreamed of her saying such things to him, but never really believed he’d hear them in her sweet voice. They gave him courage, girded his spirit. He would need it.

  “I… I’ve always loved you,” Hamish said. “I’ve always wanted to tell you the way I feel about you, but I was always afraid you would reject me. To be your friend was better than you being disappointed in me, never wanting to speak to me again. You’re the reason I took this job in the first place.”

  Kate smiled. It was soft, weak.

  “What took you so long to tell me?” she said.

  Hamish smiled back. He kissed her softly on the cheek. It was the happiest moment in his life. He felt at peace, letting himself be honest.

  Why hadn’t he done this sooner? If he had, they might have enjoyed many happy years together. Instead, they were dead and dying. He wept for all the lost time and happy memories that never had the chance to exist because he never had the guts to confess the feelings he had for her. And now he had to put her down, like a rabid dog.

  Drugging them would not stop the virus, but it would stop them feeling any pain. But there was a chance they could still wake up. He didn’t have nearly as much of the powerful compound as he would have liked, and so they were reduced to the lazy stupor before him.

  He thought about what he had to do, and it made him cry. Could he bring himself to do it? He shook his head. No, he couldn’t. It was what he needed to do, what he had to do. He wasn’t the one that should do it. But it was the only way to stop Daniel and his diabolical plan.

  And Hamish was just going to let it happen, because he was weak.

  Kate mumbled something under her breath.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Hamish said. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “I love you too,” Kate said. “And you have to do this. You must…”

  Her head lolled back and she fell unconscious. Hamish just looked at her, unable to move. The wind howled outside. He was alone, alone at the end of the world.

  He thumbed a tear out of his eye and shook his head. This was no time for emotional weakness. He needed to be strong, tough. Relentless and unyielding. Kate had told him to do it. And so he would do it. He blocked off his emotions as best he could. They beat at the wall he placed around them, a glass-walled prison, but they could not break free, not yet.

  He walked down the long corridor, like the tunnel that greeted the dead after death. He looked at each of the rooms as he passed them, at the various stages of their drama. He moved to the changing room at the end of the corridor and smashed the glass case. He hefted the fire ax. It felt heavier than it really was. He didn’t feel like he could carry it, and so he dragged it behind him, a resigned agent of Death.

  After their most recent attack, Hamish, Kate and Patrick had dragged the undead bodies back into their rooms. They didn’t know if they were alive or dead at the time.

  But as Hamish approached the first door he heard a figure banging on it. Hamish was a ghost, unfeeling and empty. He was the only one left uninfected, though he doubted that was going to last long. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. All that mattered was what he had to do.

  He hacked at the door’s lock, cleaving a gash into it, digging the lock’s fastenings clear. Weakened, Hamish kicked the door open with a single strong thrust.

  Undead Jeff’s face was curled with rage. Hamish wore a mask of impassivity. He unleashed all his fear and hate upon the hapless creature. Undead Jeff reached for him, but Hamish was already bringing the ax across at head height. The creature took the blade at the base of the neck, burying the ax an inch into the monster’s flesh.

  Hamish brought the ax up and around again and again, hacking the thing’s neck from his shoulders. He didn’t stop hacking, even after the ax met bone and tinged against it. He found himself ten minutes later, standing over the mutilated zombie corpse, lying prone and still, its face caved in and unrecognizable. The same as the face Hamish now wore. Unrecognizable.

  Hamish wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, staining it red. He turned and dragged the splattered ax behind him. He hacked another door open, and dealt with Undead Lindsey.

  Ian’s shadow moved back and forth like a caged animal underneath the door. Hamish picked the ax up and held it in both hands and waited for the shadow to move away from the door. He kicked the door open.

  Splattered with thick crimson blood, Hamish headed down the corridor, back toward the communal area. Toward his nightmare.

  Patrick and Kate were fast asleep, in the same positions they had been when he’d left them. Kate was an angel, her face impassive. There was no sign she was dreaming or having a nightmare. Calm. And he was going to end that peace, though she, thankfully, would never know it. Hamish’s mouth was dry. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

  He raised the ax and held it above his head. A whimper escaped his lips. Tears blurred his vision. He screamed and brought the ax down on her neck. Her whole body jerked, spasming, her fingers fi
dgeting. Hamish hefted the ax and hacked at her again, this time severing the spinal cord. Her head lolled to one side, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Her hair was dyed red at the base of her neck. He told himself it was a greater kindness than the one that would greet her if she turned, but it was a speck against a mountain of self-hatred.

  He reached for her, but couldn’t bring himself to touch her. His stomach spilled itself. Kate’s blood dripped from the sofa and puddled, meeting his vomit, stretching across the floor like lovers’ hands.

  Hamish approached Patrick. He looked peaceful, in the land of dreams. His eyelids fluttered, and then opened slowly like shutters. Hamish didn’t need to hear his pleas and cries. It was already hard enough. But something in Patrick’s bloodshot eyes stayed Hamish’s hand, and he hesitated.

  “Get him back,” Patrick said in a weak voice. “For Ian. For Carl. For Jeff. For Lindsey. For Kate. For us all. Get him back.”

  “I will,” Hamish said. “You take care of Kate for me.”

  “I will,” Patrick said.

  His eyes rolled back, his head lolling to one side. Hamish brought the ax down and found Patrick’s neck with ease.

  “I won’t be long,” Hamish said.

  Patrick’s death slid off Hamish like hot butter off a knife, smooth, clean, and without mark. After losing Kate, there was little emotion left to spend on anyone else.

  Hamish stood up. He barely even noticed the loud grinding noise of the ax as it trailed behind him. He forgot he was still carrying it. He let it drop to the floor. He made it another few steps before he fell to his knees and held his head in his hands.

  He wept. He wept for everything he’d done, everything he hadn’t done, everything he hated, loved, dreamed about. Images and memories and snatches of dialogue from forgotten discussions flittered through his mind like wayward bees.

  His eyes burnt and glistened with tears. He heard a moan, so angry and resentful and full of pain that he couldn’t believe it’d issued from his own throat.

  “No…” he cried. “No, no, no…”

  He had blood, death and murder on his hands. Daniel had taken everything from him. In return, Hamish was going to take everything dear from Daniel. He was going to bring his plans crashing down around him, even if it cost his life.