Beatrice, Nebraska, 3 weeks ago. Mistakes were infrequent, but not without protocol. Unfortunately for Edgar, this was the last mistake before an official termination letter. Edgar never got anywhere in life, sure he had a decent job, but that was always teetering on the brink of a termination. He had no friends, his coworkers thought he was lewd and arrogant. But today was not going to be the day he got fired.
Edgar scooped up as much of the contents from the laboratory floor before quickly making the decision to replace the contents of the broken vial with a collection of his own blood hastily drawn before any of his coworkers walked in. The procedure was already completed, the blood was collected for future testing, it would be months before any mistake would be found and he had coveted his coworkers ID number just in case of such a debacle. He replaced the blood, slapped on a new label with the patients name "Olivia Soliz" and instead of his ID, used his coworkers. If the blood were tested months from now, it would more than likely register as a technical error rather than a breach of procedure, Edgar was certain he was in the clear.
Days passed, without a second thought of the incident. Edgar continued working alongside his opinionated coworkers until they, one by one, fell ill and didn’t return to work. Rumors spread through the town that some zombie-like virus was killing people. Edgar had caught some kind of virus too, but instead of dying, something strange came over him. He had always been arrogant and grandiose, but his greed had turned into something more. While his skin turned shades of gray, his body packed on muscles and bulk until he was unrecognizable as the old Edgar. His voice grew deep, his hunger was insatiable.
It was a Friday, payday. Edgar showed up to work in his usual, screaming in the door at 7:59am fashion, but the front door was locked with only a notice pinned to the frame:
Mirro Enterprises regrets to inform patrons and employees that due to recent events, this facility will be closed until further notice.
"Well, crap." Edgar muttered to an empty parking lot, just as the town's emergency sirens belted out a deafening wail. Edgar headed to his beat up subcompact and heard a radio announcer proclaim that Beatrice was under martial law. All residents were ordered to remain in their homes until further notice.
A knock on his window shattered his twisting thoughts. "Hey, Edgar!" It was one of his coworkers, sporting the same grayish hue, but lacking the bulge of muscles. Edgar manually rolled down his window. "I know what you did." His coworker accused. "That’s why everyone is dying. She had the virus, but somehow she was immune, I guess we were too."
It was one of those moments where Edgar could have driven away, never to see his coworker again. So what if he knew whathe did? The company was closed anyway, it wasn’t like he was going to get paid or keep his job. But something told Edgar to hang on a minute, they were immune, that much was clear, but why? Maybe his coworker knew.
"So what does that mean?" Edgar spoke. "It means, everyone else is dying, but we aren't, and I don’t know about you, but I can do some weird things I couldn’t do before I got sick."
"Me too."Edgar confessed and pulled a metal flashlight out of his glove box. He displayed it in front of his coworker and twisted the frame with his bare hands. "I'm like the hulk or something." Edgar laughed in a low, haughty tone.
"I have this freaky X-ray vision, I can see right though buildings." "We could rule the world with this ."Edgar reasoned. "Yea, but we need the blood of that little girl to make more of this virus."
In that shared moment, in an empty parking lot, the decision to break into the laboratory was made. The motley pair found files, gathered equipment and headed out of town on the old closed highway that snaked through the overgrown corn fields. The town had been overtaken with military personnel and forced into house arrest. Edgar and his new best friend weren't going back there, no way, they would never go back to their old lives again, they had a continent to conquer.
“What is taking Olivia so long? Edie’s been back for a long time already.” Sam was ready to move on to find help for Kirsten. She no longer had the energy to stay awake with the fleeting group of survivors, she laid impishly in Sam's arms giving no sign of hope. Sam couldn’t take losing her, she was her beacon of light in this dark, eroding world of chaos. After hearing the new breed of undead that could talk, they needed hope. Sam's own perseverance began to crumble into the lightening horizon. The city still looked as it did the day they arrived, it was desolate and broken. Smoky plumes erupted from various points along their viewpoint. They were close to their destination, but close didn’t mean they would get there anytime soon. Not to mention the fact that they needed to find some supplies for Kirsten’s ever deteriorating condition. Sam doubted that antibiotics would do anything positive for her at this point, but Sam would not allow her to die without trying anything that may save her. The possibility of her turning into one of the undead was not allowed to be spoken. Sam was positive everyone already thought that it was happening, but no one dared to mention their belief.
“I’m sure she will be here as soon as she knows it’s safe, she’s probably luring them further away from us.” Mom explained.
It was true that Sam could no longer hear any conversations among the undead talkers, even with her amplification and intense concentration, all she could hear was the wind rustling through the empty streets and an occasional uproar from a burning building scattered among the ruined city. From what she could hear, they were the only living beings in the city. At least they were the only living beings dumb enough to travel through the city on foot. Sam refused to believe that they were the sole survivors of the apocalypse. Believing in that meant that their destination would be ill fated which would mean that there was no hope. Sam couldn’t let those thoughts run through her, those were the thoughts that got people killed. Without a reason to continue, there’s no reason to try to survive. Everyone else in the group has the option to lose hope, but Sam couldn’t.
“Yeah, you’re probably right, but I wish she would leave the Rambo stuff for me to do.” Sam grinned at mom.
“I’m sure we will be relying on you very soon, Sam.” “Psst. Guys, over here!” Olivia waved her arms in the direction of an adjacent used car lot. “I let them track me all the way back to the mall! It was so funny, when I finally left them, they were all looking around like morons.” Olivia was proud of herself with good reason.
“I’m thinking it will take them awhile to retrace their steps back to this area, but we better not waste any time. We aren’t too far from the hospital.” Sam led the group back to their mission at hand.
Sam really wanted to see some acknowledgement of life beyond the undead they had encountered. Even a group of rogue gang bangers would be welcomed at this point. Any live human besides them would be enough to keep hope alive. Well, Sam may get her wish, because the hospital was in the seediest part of the city. The only reason anyone would find their way in that part of town was by accident. Either getting seriously lost, or the kind of accident you end up in an ambulance, otherwise it was advisable to avoid that part of town. Sam and Kat's stepdad had relatives in that part of town, which made travel to the area necessary around the holidays, but even then he would generally be armed just in case. Honestly, meeting up with those kind of people couldn’t be much worse that the undead, right?
As they followed the frontage road along the expressway, the scenery did not change. Usually it was blatantly obvious when you left the better part of town and entered the ghetto, but the apocalypse had managed to erase the unimpeded caste system of the city. They were no longer middle class, small town people, they were just survivors. Sam could see the hospital from her vantage point, the entrance was blockaded by massive piles of looted equipment. Sam was beginning to wonder if they would find anything they needed inside that wasn’t already looted through or stolen. It looked as if the hospital took the brunt of human destruction when the apocalypse hit. No doubt people flocked to the hospitals in search of assistance only to be bombarded by a barrage
of undead and a military force bent on destroying anyone that may or may not be infected. Sam could see an entourage of abandoned military equipment that decidedly had been used to try to stop the epidemic at this hospital. But, like everywhere else, their efforts had not succeeded.
“Stop, I hear voices.” Sam halted the group just across the street from the hospital.
“Are they like the others?” Kat questioned. “No, these sound normal, like people. I think they are inside the hospital. They said something about sending out new patrols.” Sam could hear separate conversations, enough for her to conclude that there were quite a few survivors inside the hospital. Whether or not they would accept their group was another story altogether. If it weren’t for the fact that Sam was carrying an unconscious limp body in her arms, she would have turned away from the hospital and they would continue on to their final destination, but when Sam looked at her sweat soaked mass of blonde curls, she had to take the risk. “You, stay here, I’m gonna try to talk to them and see what happens.”
“I don’t know Sam.” Mom was concerned. “Maybe we should all go as a group, it won’t look as suspicious as you carrying a sick kid. They may think she’s, you know, infected.” Mom didn’t try to talk Sam out of going altogether. Sam guessed she knew that Sam wouldn’t give up on Kirsten even if it meant risking her life for her. She also regarded the possibility that they would assume she was turning. “I’ll go solo.” Sam placed Kirsten into her mom’s waiting arms. She kissed Sam's forehead and Sam made her way across the street.
It wasn’t long after Sam entered the parkin g lot and was discovered by a masked man with an automatic rifle. “Well, well, well, what brings you to this side of town.” The masked man stroked Sam's hair sending goosebumps down her back. Sam was half sure her mom would come after her, but she had Kat and Olivia that needed her as much as Sam did.
“Look, I just need some antibiotics for my arm.” Sam had scratched her arm on some overturned clothing racks in the darkened store leaving behind a thick smudge of dried blood.
“You, by yourself?”
“Ya, I’ve been traveling by myself for a few days. I won’t bother you guys, I just want the medicine.” “We don’t give something for nothing around here.” Sam could see a group of his peers gathering behind him. Sam's group was no match for their firepower. Even with her ability to take out targets she was easily outnumbered by this group of outliers. “How about we talk payment arrangements inside.” He grinned and led Sam into the hospital.
Sam was uneasy about what he would expect from her and she knew that she would be unwilling to pay his fee for the few pills that she requested, but taking the time to follow him gave her more time to plan her next move. The hospital was completely ransacked and almost impossible to walk through. The emergency room entrance no longer resembled a hospital. Blood streaked the walls and floors of the hallways, the smell of rotting flesh enveloped her senses causing an involuntary gag reflex. The sight of what happened here did not phase the group that lead Sam hallway by hallway to the depths of the hospital. Several offices along the way had been boarded up, but she could hear movement from behind the barricades. She was led to the basement of the building where the laundry and cafeteria were stationed. The area was still loaded with military equipment from their apparent failed takeover. Sam just wasn’t sure if they had been thwarted by zombies or by these guys.
“Where did you find this?” The ostensible leader of the rogue group questioned.
“She came to us.” He snickered and flashed a gang sign to his comrade. “Not very smart for a pretty girl like you.” The leader grinned. “Our girls never made it past the third day, the zombie crap killed them. That’s how we ended up here, then the damn military wanted to kill us, so we took care of that.” He explained. “Now, what are you looking for baby? We could use a pretty face around here.”
Sam's skin literally crawled with fear, she was seriously outnumbered and had no available means of escape. “I just need some antibiotics and I’ll be on my way.” Sam showed him her arm.
“You ain't got bit did you?” He pulled away from her. “No, I just got this from all the piles of junk laying everywhere. I’m looking for my family.” “Somehow, I’m thinkin you ain’t bein' straight with me, and just so you know, you ain't goin' nowhere. Jaime, come put this pretty little birdy somewhere nice and secure.”
The man he referred to as Jaime grabbed Sam forcefully and pulled her to a small room off of the kitchen. He threw her into the room and locked the door behind her. Sam was not getting out of this one, and she prayed that no one in her group was stupid enough to come after her. Bobbi and Quinn would most certainly be roughed up or worse by these guys and no telling what they would do to the girls. Sam still worriedabout Kirsten, but getting her medicine didn’t seem like a reality anymore.
CHAPTER 14
Olivia didn’t have to mention the fact to anyone that they were worried sick about Sam and Edie. Olivia just wanted to run in there and find them, but putting more of them at risk wasn’t the best option at the moment. Kirsten wasn’t getting any better while they waited either. All Olivia knew for sure was that they had to make a decision soon, because staying here in the open was not going to be safe when the sun set. They didn’t hear the distinct howls from the undead during the day like they do all night long. Olivia assumed they preferred traveling at night rather than the day, but it certainly wasn’t set in stone that they only came out at night. Maybe it was just more comfortable to travel at night, maybe they didn’t decay as much in the dark as they did in the full sunlight, who knew? All Olivia did know was that the sun was beginning its decent to the west and they only had a couple of hours to move.
All in all, they had adapted pretty well to their new surroundings. They managed to find food and shelter for the most part, if it weren’t for the fact that they always were looking over their shoulders for the undead, this wouldn’t be all that bad. Except for Kat. Olivia didn’t have to ask how she felt about everything. She was not one to adapt to unpleasant surroundings. She was used to the mall and the salon and when either of those options were unavailable she would opt for Starbucks or her favorite trendy sushi place. Olivia enjoyed all those things too, but having to rely on each other wasn’t the worse thing she could imagine. When Olivia was home with her mom she was usually lonely, now she felt more at home than ever. She just wished her mom was with them, but she would be even more miserable than Kat. Olivia wondered if she survived the initial outbreak, she wondered if she was still alive. She secretly kept a vigil going in her head, hoping that she would find her when they got to Puerto Rico. I mean, she was already on a cruise ship from Europe, it was possible.
“Hey, Olive, what are you thinking about?” Kat quietly brought her back to the present.
“Just thinking about mom, wondering.”
“I just know that she’s gonna be in Puerto Rico when we get there.” If Olivia could say one thing for Kat, she always spoke with a positive outlook, even if she could clearly see that she didn’t believe a word she said most of the time. Olivia supposed it came from yearsof being everyone’s best friend. She knew what to say and when to say it, she didn’t get to be the most popular girl at Bishop high for nothing. “Yeah, I hope your right.”
“I know I’m right.” She flashed her winning smile, covering the uncertainty painted on her face. “Do you think Sam and Edie are OK?” Olivia questioned Kat while the rest of their traveling companions snoozed fitfully.
“Yeah, if anyone can sweet talk a rowdy croup of gang bangers, I know Edie can .
Thank God Edie could be invisible. If not, how would they know that Sam had been locked away by a group of thugs? She made her way back to the group with ease, but wondered how they would take the news. Surely, Bobbi and Quinn would want to head in, guns blazing, but that was not going to work in this scenario.
Edie re-appeared in front of the group. "She ran into a little trouble. They have her locked in a room." Edie expl
ained. "I'm going in." Bobbi lifted his rifle. "Wait!" Edie stood in the path of his egress. "There's at least a couple dozen, heavily armed men that are much more familiar with a loaded gun than you are. If you go running in at them, they will kill us all. I think we should take the same approach that Sam tried. If we all get in there without them killing us, we will not only be safer than out here, but we can use our powers to figure something out." Edie continued over the faraway howls in the distance that were honing in on their location. It would be a matter of minutes before they were found, they had only one option.
Edie ran out of the relative cover of the dumpsters and waved her arms at the patrol group just outside the hospital entrance. The rest of the group slinked behind her. "My friend is in there." Edie started."We don’t want any trouble, but if you don’t help us we're all going to die." Edie hoped they had a shred of humanity.
"What makes you think we want to help you?" The apparent leader walked to the forefront. "What's in it for us? I already have one of your people, what do you have for me?"
"We don’t have anything, except some really cool tricks." Edie was grasping at straws.
"We don’t need no tricks here. Get out of here before we change our minds about killing you." He ordered his men back inside.
"Wait! Look!" Edie began her vanishing act and reappeared next to the leader. Olivia flashed beside them.
"And I can heal people." Kat added. "Holy..." Jaime, the leader, halted in his exodus. "This could come in handy." Jaime allowed the group to enter just as a horde of undead breached the parking lot.
Undead Rising- Transcendendence Reborn Page 11