The Loki Variation

by James Riley, Sabrina

  Hud began to fidget after an hour or so, and Sasha was running out of hope. She felt like storming the Offices herself, but she knew that was futile.

  Suddenly, in the thick silence of the night, a shrill siren sounded. Instantly there was a commotion everywhere.

  “Those have to be the breach alarms!” Hud exclaimed. “There’s an attack!”

  He lunged towards the door flaps and stuck his head out.

  Nora woke up fearful, and Sasha grabbed her by the hand.

  “It’s okay, honey, you’re safe.” Sasha promised, waiting for Hud to come back.

  When he did, he had a smirk on his face.

  “The Loki Variation is what is going to save us in the end. There’s a bunch of infected, I think. That’s what they are yelling anyway. People are going nuts out there, it’s now or never. I’m going to get back into the building and get Derek. You guys get back to the SUV and wait for us.”

  There was a single second of silent agreement between all of them, and Hud was gone.

  “What about Travis?” Adam asked, already standing to go into action.

  “You take Nora and Ripley to the SUV. I’ll go get him and meet you there.”

  Before Adam could protest, and before Nora could make her question her decision, she yanked her hand out of Nora’s and bolted out of the tent and ran towards the main gate.

  There were floodlights everywhere, but the amount of infected was staggering to Sasha. It seemed like hundreds, and she was surprised they had even made it this long. They had attacked the young guards at the gate, and had almost made it into the camp. There was screaming and running, both towards and away from the gate where the struggle was taking place.

  As she approached the fray, she scanned the writhing crowd for Travis. When she finally spotted him, he was using a pipe to try and beat back the surging mob. As she tried to reach him, several of the survivors from the camp were dragged into the maw of the infected, and she tried not to watch as they were torn into.

  Chapter 65.

  Hud easily found the area Sanjeev had told him about. He burst through the door, it was easier than he had thought, as most of the Officers had been headed out towards the attack.

  Instead of a crowd of uniformed men inside the door, he found Derek and Sanjeev alone. Derek was watching Sanjeev, who was holding a pistol aimed at Hud. Hud put his hands up, confused.

  “It’s not going to work. They know I tried to help you. They have my family. You can’t take him!” Sanjeev was bordering on hysterical. Derek looked at Hud in bewilderment, and shook his head quickly when Hud tried to take a step forward.

  “Sanjeev, please. We can save the others!” Derek pleaded. Sanjeev didn’t look at him, but his arm lowered the gun away from Hud. Derek saw that as his cue to keep going.

  “We can save you too, they can’t get all of us. Come with us, let’s get out of here.” Derek was begging harder than he had ever in his entire life.

  Sanjeev shook his head.

  “They’re not going to let you go. They’re not going to let me go. There’s no point.” He let the hand holding the gun fall to his side.

  “We have to try!” Derek yelled, he was breaking through to Sanjeev. He really did want him to come with them, Sanjeev was not like the rest of them.

  It was very quiet for a moment. No one moved. Derek’s eyes shot from Sanjeev to Hud, and back again. Hud was concentrating on Sanjeev. Suddenly Sanjeev looked up, looked towards Derek, then flipped the gun in his hand so that he was holding the barrel, and walked towards Hud, handing him the gun.

  Derek immediately rose, pulling tubes and monitors off, and began walking unsteadily towards them. He was relieved that Sanjeev was coming too, until he realized that Sanjeev was backing away.

  “No, Sanjeev, come with us!” Derek said, trying to stay on his feet. He was dizzy, and he had to reach to Hud to keep from falling. Hud’s steel arms kept him up, but it was obvious as Hud was pulling him backwards out of the room that Sanjeev was not going to follow. He turned his back on them and walked towards the desk. Derek wanted to beg one more time, but he didn’t have time. Hud had pulled him into the hallway and was dragging him down the empty corridor, letting the door to the room that had been his cell close.

  At the end of the hall, after what seemed like an endless row of closed doors, Hud burst open the doors to reveal a scene of chaos in front of Derek. A moment of clarity hit Derek as he realized that there was a battle going on, between infected and human, and he instantly found the strength to stand on his own. Where was Sasha?

  Hud pulled Derek down the steps and right into the throng. They were mixing in with the other survivors, or at least trying to, and heading not towards the gate, where Sasha probably was, but towards the darker area, towards the road that Derek recognized as where they had come in from and parked the SUV on.

  Derek was going to protest, he was going to tell Hud they needed to find Sasha and Nora, but when he opened his mouth, Hud screamed and fell. Derek struggled to keep him up, but Hud was too heavy and they both fell to the ground.

  Chapter 66.

  Sasha elbowed her way to Travis, and grabbed him by the shoulder. He spun around, and for an instant, was ready to use the pipe on her, but he recognized her just in time.

  “Sasha! Get back!” He yelled, his voice sounding rough and scared.

  “Let’s go, let’s leave!” She tried to yell, but it was so loud, she wasn’t sure he heard her. She tugged on his shoulder again, and turned to drag him, thinking he would get the idea. But she felt a resistance. When she turned around to tell him again that they were escaping, she saw why. A wild, screaming, black eyed monster had wrapped his strong fingers around Travis’s neck from behind. Travis’s eyes were wide, and Sasha flinched at how much he looked like a scared little boy.

  “Travis!” She screamed, trying to pull Travis away, but the infected lunged forward and sank his teeth into Travis’s neck. Sasha screamed again, wordless agony. Travis instantly went limp, and Sasha still refused to let him go. Suddenly a noise right against her head deafened her, and she felt blood splatter on her face. She opened her eyes to see the dusty-haired man, his shotgun raised.

  “No!” She lunged at the man out of anger and without thought, and he instantly aimed the barrel of the shotgun at her. Sasha’s heart stopped, and she saw Derek and Nora in her mind, waiting at the SUV for her. Everything slowed down, and Sasha was acutely aware of everything going on around her. The dusty haired man’s face was full of rage and hatred as he cocked his shotgun to prepare to blow Sasha’s head off. At the same time, a shadow rose up behind him, revealing itself as an infected woman. She looked too haggard and thin to have any strength, but she had enough to jump on his back, knocking the gun out of his hand before the shot went off, dragging him down to the ground. The moment the gun hit the ground, Sasha snatched it, and ran away faster than she had ever run before, sickened at her relief in hearing the dusty-haired man’s screams.

  Chapter 67.

  Hud was grasping his calf, and Derek watched in horror as blood seeped between Hud’s fingers.

  He looked back towards the building, they had run further than he thought. But standing on the steps was a mousy looking man in a uniform, holding a pistol aimed towards them. He couldn’t see them clearly in the middle of everyone around them, but Derek could see that right behind him stood another larger uniformed man, holding a bloody-faced Sanjeev.

  “It’s them!” He yelled at Hud, who was squeezing his calf and groaning. Derek used every ounce of strength he had in him to help Hud to his feet, and he pulled him behind a large dumpster a few feet away. They only had seconds before the mousy looking thug found him, or worse, one of the infected got to them. Once behind the dumpster, Hud began ripping off his uniform.

  “What are you doing? We gotta go!” Derek was pulling at Hud trying to get him to try and stand.

  “Put this on. Gimme that gown.” Hud barked.

  It took a second before Derek rea
lized what Hud was trying to do. Switching clothing would allow one of them to escape, and since the mousy looking thug was looking for someone in a hospital gown, it wasn’t going to be Derek if he switched clothes with Hud.

  “No, I can’t let you-“

  “Just do it, Derek. Now!” Hud roared, and Derek realized he wasn’t going to do anything but waste time by arguing. He pulled the gown over his head and started putting on Hud’s uniform, reluctantly. He glanced around the edge of the dumpster as he was pulling on the boots, and saw the mousy thug and the larger one behind him getting closer. They didn’t seem to know exactly where Hud and Derek had hidden, but they were moving in the right direction. Sanjeev was nowhere to be found.

  “Go! Get to the SUV, Sasha is waiting for you!” He winced at the pain in his leg.

  Derek hesitated for a second, not wanting to leave Hud. He looked around the edge again, in time to see an infected monster jump onto the mousy thug from behind. They were too close, if the uniforms didn’t get to them, the infected would.

  “Go now, Derek!” Hud screamed.

  “I’ll come back for you. I’ll get the SUV and come back for you!” Derek’s voice broke as he made the promise to his friend. He turned and ran, surprisingly fast for how weak he had felt just moments ago. This was what a real adrenaline rush was supposed to feel like. He made it across the short distance to the darker area where the road began, stopped behind a wooden pole, and peered back towards Hud.

  The infected had found him. He was holding them back momentarily by swinging at them, and then his face changed. A split second before one of the infected lunged at him, Hud put the pistol to his temple. Derek screamed and looked away as the shot rang out. He gagged, then caught his breath and ran before the Loki victims tracked his scent.

  Chapter 68.

  Sasha didn’t slow down until she had run through the gate and alongside the entire perimeter of the camp. She expected to be jumped on at any second, by either an infected monster or by a uniformed murderer trying to stop her escape.

  When the SUV came into view in the dark, she saw Adam standing outside, bent a bit to keep a low profile. Even in the dark, Sasha could see Nora’s pale face in the back window, and Ripley’s sparkling eyes beside her.

  When there was only a few yards left between her and Adam, he finally stood up fully to greet her. That’s when Sasha saw the white, frail body of an infected leap on top of the SUV.

  “Adam!” She yelled, but it was too late. The wild creature dropped down onto Adam, and Adam yelled. Still running, Sasha threw the barrel of the shotgun upwards and squeezed off a shot. The infected shrieked, and fell backwards. It tried to stand up, but Sasha put it down by hitting it with the shotgun like it was a baseball bat. The sound of it connecting with the skull of the monster reverberated in her ears, louder than the sound of her own voice screaming.

  She whirled back around to Adam, who was already sitting up, holding a hand over a bite on his face. There was a trickle of blood already down his cheek, and his eyes were wide and terrified.

  There were no words she could use. She had watched two of her family members brought down by the Loki Variation after making it this far. She didn’t think she could go on, the tears were coming and she felt an incredible urge to just let it go and fall down and die beside Adam. But she remembered Nora, who was totally dependent on her, sitting in the car. She had watched Adam get attacked too, and Sasha looked to find Nora just inside the back passenger window, her eyes covered with her tiny hands, her mouth contorted in a silent scream.

  Sasha dropped to the ground, and pulled the small pack off her back. She didn’t say anything, but pulled Adam over to let him lean on her as she took out the bottle of sedatives from the pack. He was bleeding a lot, the infected woman had gotten him in several places. He wasn’t going to bleed to death though, he was going to change. Shaking, Sasha poured a handful of the pills into her palm and brought them to Adam’s lips. He looked up at her, resolved. He chewed the pills, and swallowed them roughly.

  Sasha ran her fingers through his dark hair as he rested there. She told him she was so proud of him, that he was braver than anyone she knew. She thanked him for saving Nora’s life. She cried, wiping the tears before they fell on Adam. He just watched her, his pained expression turning into relaxed as the medication took effect. She didn’t care how much time she sat out here with him. She continued stroking his hair, talking to him, and catching her tears until he couldn’t look at her anymore. His eyelids fluttered, and eventually, he went limp. She let the sobs come, then, as she gently laid him on the ground and gathered up her pack. She cupped his face one last time in her hand, took the SUV keys out of his hand, and got inside.

  She fought to regain control of the tears as she beckoned for Nora to join her in the front seat. She locked the doors, and waited for Hud and Derek, holding Nora and hoping there was a Heaven for Adam and Travis and Lily.

  Chapter 69.

  Hardly any time had passed since Sasha had entered the SUV, but she heard someone approaching and her heart pounded. She expected to see Derek and Hud coming near, but instead, she saw several uniformed men. She started the truck and backed out, taking down one of them. With a start, she realized they were infected. The others pounced onto the vehicle, clinging to the windshield wipers and trying to break through the glass. Sasha screamed.

  She wheeled the truck around with enough force to drop all but one of them, and she slammed the gas pedal to the floor as the other one lost his grip and fell to the ground. She headed back towards the camp’s gate, kicking up a cloud of dust behind her.

  The gate area was abandoned now, aside from the bodies scattered in the dirt. Sasha recognized Miranda, her once friendly face now frozen in a state of terror, staring up at the sky, her neck bent at a wrong angle. Sasha sobbed. Where could everyone have gone?

  She did another circle around the entire camp, becoming almost hysterical, and driving at such erratic speeds that Nora bounced around the front seat dangerously. When Sasha came back around in front of the Offices again, she realized that there were people watching. Infected people. As soon as she slowed down, they burst from the shadows, coming at them from every angle. Sasha screamed and stomped on the gas pedal.

  “Derek! Where are you!?” She was screaming. Her eyes scanned the area, hoping to see Derek come running towards her. She was sobbing almost uncontrollably now, she was barely controlling herself. She had made it this far.

  She moved as slowly as she dared, staying just out of reach of the mob of infected. She wasn’t driving the Mauler, it wouldn’t take them long to break through the glass and get to her and Nora. She had to keep moving towards the road that led back the way they had originally come, back towards the Interstate. But she couldn’t force herself to leave Derek behind.

  “What do I do, Derek?” She screamed again. Nora was watching her in horror, crying violently as she watched Sasha completely fall apart.

  “I don’t know what to do! Where are you!” Sasha was becoming hoarse after so much screaming and crying. She was choking on her own breath, her face covered in her tears. She didn’t bother to wipe them away.

  She had reached the fork in the road, literally. If she veered to the right, it would lead her away from this place, up towards the Interstate that had led them this far. She could follow it West, to where the rest of the world was alive, she could save Nora, she had the papers Hud had given her, she could show the world what had happened and save everyone else from further destruction caused by the Loki Variation.

  If she veered left, she could circle around again, give Derek and Hud a little more time to get to her. She couldn’t stand the idea of them making it to where the SUV was parked and finding it gone. If they had made it. She refused to believe with Hud’s expertise and Derek’s abilities, that they would have been caught, but there were so many of the infected now.

  Sasha’s hands were white on the steering wheel. The lunging mob was closing in as she slowed to
almost a stop, trying to make up her mind. She looked over at Nora, who looked more frightened than she ever had, tears leaving streaks down her dirty face. She had been through so much. Sasha’s heart physically hurt as she realized what she putting Nora through at this very moment. Their escape was right in front of them, right there. And Sasha was agonizing over going for it.

  “I’m so sorry, Derek. I’m so sorry.” She repeated this to herself in gasping sobs as she pressed down on the accelerator and pulled the steering wheel to the right. She could barely see through the tears as she left the circled road around the camp and entered the street that met with the Interstate. She could hear the crowd of shrieking animals behind her, and glanced in the mirror. She gasped at how close one of them had gotten, it was a uniformed soldier, he was running at the SUV faster than the others. All it would take is for him to get inside, and everything would have all been for nothing.

  She sobbed again, and cursed herself for letting them get so close to Nora. She began apologizing again to Derek as she pressed forward, leaving the monsters behind.

  “Wait! Wait, Sasha, stop!”

  Nora’s voice was shrill and forceful, and Sasha’s head snapped to face her when she realized she was finally hearing it.

  “Stop! It’s Derek!” Nora said again, pulling on Sasha’s arm.

  Sasha pushed on the brake and looked out the back window. The uniformed soldier who had almost made it to the SUV was still running towards them, weakening with every step. The mob wasn’t chasing the SUV, they were chasing him, and as Sasha watched, the features of Derek’s face became clear.

  Sasha took one last look at Nora, still in disbelief that she had finally spoken, and put the SUV in reverse. The engine roared as the vehicle was thrust backwards, and she cut the wheel a few yards in front of Derek. Nora slung the door open, and Derek leaped inside. Nora was hugging him before the door was shut, and Sasha had the car moving forward again as the fastest of the infected were almost able to touch the SUV.