“All this leads back to the hypothalamus,” Lauren said.
“What in God’s name is that?” Smith asked.
“Part of the brain,” Lauren said, not bothering to turn around and look at him. “Links the brain to the pituitary gland via the endocrine system.”
“Whatever,” Smith said. “But this doesn’t sound like the cure you promised. Just sounds like a bunch of science mumbo jumbo.”
Peter let out an exasperated sigh. “We have to do the science mumbo jumbo to find out why the Goliaths and Droolers are mutating. If we do that, we’ll be better equipped to stop it.”
Smith didn’t seem convinced, but he retreated to his spot near the hatch, silent again.
Lauren studied the whiteboard. “I have two guesses here. Either the hypothalamus is being altered by the prions or it’s experiencing undue pressure thanks to the bony growths in the Goliaths’ skulls.”
The other members of the medical team mulled it over. One by one, Lauren watched their faces fall as they understood the implication of what she’d said.
“That means there’s not much we can do to change how the Oni Agent affects Goliaths,” Peter said. “Short of curing the Oni Agent, there’s no way to protect the hypothalamus and prevent the overproduction of growth hormone, is there?”
Divya and Sean nodded.
“So that’s it? Nothing you can do against those big bastards?” Smith asked.
“Not quite,” Lauren said, feeling the eyes of the medical team on her. “There is one thing we can do. We might not be able to reverse the neurological changes, but the growth hormones rely on a very specific ingredient to form all those new muscles that make Goliaths so deadly.” She waited for someone else to pipe in with the answer, but the others appeared too discouraged to offer a solution. “Protein. They need massive amounts of protein to fuel their muscle growth. The most effective way we can stop more Skulls from turning into Goliaths is to take their food away from them. The more civilians caught defenseless in Skull-infested cities, the more Skulls will continue to feed and mutate into Goliaths.” She stared straight at Smith. “Kinsey must organize an evacuation of all survivors.”
“Easier said than done,” Smith said.
“Easier than fighting a Goliath? Have you ever faced one?”
Smith stood in silence, shaking his head.
Lauren smiled coldly. “Pray you never have to.”
-13-
Meredith watched Dom’s brow furrow. “The pet store?” he asked.
“Trust me,” Meredith said. They pounded down the last couple of steps to the street. Choppers swarmed overhead, their gunners blasting streams of lead at the hordes of Skulls. The entire block near the gun store was up in flames now. “You can go with the others. I’ll grab the antibiotics and meet back up with you.”
“No,” Dom said as they joined the Hunters behind the vehicles lining the streets. “I’m coming with.” He turned to address the group. “Move to the woods and head south. Meredith and I are making an antibiotic run. We’ll call for the rendezvous later.”
Miguel seemed about to protest.
“Move, now!” Dom bellowed. The others followed his command, flitting between vehicles and rubble, moving away from the raging battle.
“Just you and me,” Meredith said, grinning. “Like old times.”
“Like old times,” Dom agreed.
As young operatives, they’d served together in the field on plenty of perilous missions. But Meredith had never dreamed they’d be partners in a bombed-out American city crawling with hostile monsters and indiscriminately aggressive helicopters overhead.
“You remember where that pet store is?” Dom asked.
“I think so.” She pressed her back against a semi-trailer. The sounds of the chaos all around them made it difficult to tell if there were creatures nearby. She crouched and leaned around one of the trailer’s large tires. Across the street, the alley they’d come through was now filled with Skulls, churning and running out in all directions. They wouldn’t be able to use that route again.
The loud clack of claws against metal caused her to turn. She aimed her rifle up toward the roof the semi-trailer. A Skull leapt at them, but Dom caught it with a burst from his SCAR-H before she could pull the trigger. The gunfire echoed off the brick wall. The noise attracted a fresh wave of Skulls.
“Can’t stay here,” Dom said.
“There!” Meredith pointed to a minivan with a wide-open side door. They ran to the vehicle and ducked inside. Skulls clamored behind the semi-trailer in their search for the source of the new noise. Meredith moved to the other side of the van to survey the street. Her boots cracked something, and she looked down. The scattered remains of finger bones crunched underfoot. More bones littered the van’s interior. Some were split open with their marrow sucked dry. Not a morsel of flesh or sinew was left. She tried not to think about how small those bones were and avoided looking at the children’s brightly colored backpacks abandoned on the seats.
With the back of her hand, she wiped away the grime coating the van’s window. “Looks like—”
“Duck,” Dom whispered. He dragged her to the floor of the van and pressed his body over hers.
A pack of Skulls poured around the van. Their claws clanged on the roof and kicked up debris as they ran past the vehicle. The mob mentality of the creatures was spiking with all the excitement of the gunfire and other frantic monsters cramming the streets. They all ran to the semi-trailer, where Skulls were now stabbing at the metal panels and tearing through the stacks of cardboard boxes inside.
Fear coursed through Meredith. She was helpless to stop this tide of monsters. If they were spotted now, she and Dom wouldn’t last long. Each scraping footstep and bloodcurdling wail set her nerves afire. She could hear Dom’s breathing, shallow and quiet, beside her. The worry in his eyes was evident. He couldn’t hide it from her. Not after the decades they’d known each other.
The stampede started to dwindle. Meredith peeked around Dom’s shoulder and watched a smaller Skull scramble over the windshield. One of its claws stabbed through the already fractured safety glass. It struggled to free its foot. The glass shook, and the fractures grew. Its claw soon came away, and Meredith exhaled. She waited a while in quiet as Dom slowly lifted himself off of her.
“You okay?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” she said, rising to her knees. “I think they’re gone.” She inched between the driver’s seat and front passenger seat. Through the dust covering the spiderwebbed windshield, she thought she saw movement. She soon realized it was a silhouette in the distance. Something far more massive than an ordinary Skull. A Goliath.
It was barreling down the street. The monster lobbed a small Honda into a building. Bricks and broken glass fell around the crumpled car. With its massive claws, it continued tossing aside any cars and SUVs in its way. There would be no hiding in the van while they waited for this Skull to pass.
“Out! Now!” Meredith said. She opened the driver’s side door and leapt out. She rolled and then crawled, desperate to remain unseen by the Goliath. Dom followed. They made it under a parked ambulance. As Meredith drew her boot under the vehicle, the van was lifted off the asphalt. It disappeared out of sight as the tree-trunk legs of the Goliath continued onward.
A second later the van came crashing down, roof-first. Metal screeched. Glass shattered. The Goliath let out a resounding bellow. Meredith could hear the squeals and squawks of smaller Skulls as they were tossed and smashed by the raging Goliath.
She army-crawled out from under the ambulance. Dom’s gunfire near the semi-trailer hadn’t just attracted the Skulls and the hulking Goliath. A chopper was flying low overhead. It shone its spotlight across the swarm. The light illuminated swathes of the creatures, moving in a quick zigzag pattern as if the people in the chopper were looking for something or someone. It didn’t matter to Meredith so long as they didn’t find her or Dom.
“Down this way,” she said. They
ran with their rifles cradled. With the Skulls engaged by the choppers, they managed to move undetected the rest of the way down the street. A storefront with aquariums and cages caught Meredith’s eye. They’d finally reached their destination. She played her barrel along the sidewalk, making sure no Skulls were watching her. She and Dom dashed to the store and through a glass door that had long since been broken.
The shop was composed of three aisles. Two tall shelving units stood in the middle of the floor, demarcating these aisles. Meredith and Dom prowled through each to ensure there were no lingering Skulls. As they stepped over spilled dog food and soggy bedding, Meredith scanned the shelves.
“We need to find the fish section,” she said.
Dom gave a subtle nod. They searched until Meredith spotted a shelf filled with yellow containers full of fish food flakes, replacement filters, and a menagerie of figurines and other decorations for aquariums.
“Here!” Meredith lowered her rifle and grabbed a plastic bottle.
Dom examined the label, which was covered with colorful tropical fish. “Fish antibiotics?”
“Yep,” Meredith said. “It’s the same stuff pharmacists give people. Only, the FDA hasn’t cleared it, so they market it for fish.”
“Smart,” Dom said. “Of course people raid the pharmacies and hospitals first, but who goes to check a pet store for antibiotics during the apocalypse?”
“Me.” Meredith couldn’t help the wry grin forming across her face. She and Dom packed up all the antibiotics they found. “Should be enough for Spencer, right?”
“And anyone else who needs it.” Dom indicated his own injury.
“Goddamnit, Dom,” Meredith said. “We need to take care of that.”
“We don’t have time. Better to get further away from the madness out there first.”
“Just let me take a quick look.” Meredith pulled the blood-saturated fabric from his leg. She probed the wound and saw Dom wince slightly. There was a fairly large gash, and Meredith’s heart sank. She wondered if Dom had been ignoring it out of practicality like he’d claimed or if he feared to confront the reality that it might be a Skull-inflicted wound. “You know, we do have a couple of chelation treatments. I think Renee still has them in her pack.”
Dom grimaced. “I know.”
Meredith used her water supply to wash away the congealed blood. There was already a thin layer of pus forming in the wound. “Damnit, Dom,” she said again. “What’d you do to yourself?” She cleaned the wound. A glimmer of something caught her eye. “This is going to hurt.”
She pinched the glimmering object between her fingers and pulled out a shard of glass. Dom cringed, but seemed relieved at the sight of the glass.
“Better than a Skull claw, huh?” he said.
“Yes, but take a couple of those antibiotics. You’ll get an infection if you don’t.”
Dom nodded and unscrewed the cap to one of the plastic bottles. “Looks just like pills for people,” he remarked before swallowing a couple.
“Yep. It’s a poor man’s way to skip the pharmacy.” She finished patching up Dom’s wound with a strip of gauze and then stood. A weak squeaking caught her ears. “Did you hear that?”
Dom’s brow furrowed as he listened intently. Meredith definitely heard the squeaking again. They shouldered their weapons and crept toward the sound. It was coming from the rear of the store. She heard a slight scratching, too. Dom signaled for her to move forward; he’d cover her.
She whipped around the shelf with her rifle at the ready. But nothing jumped out. Nothing growled or swiped at her with deformed claws. The squeaking sounded from a wall lined with aquariums. Most were broken. But two on a middle shelf were still intact, and Meredith swore the noises were coming from within there.
“Mice,” she said, then peered into the neighboring cage. “And rats.”
The small creatures were nothing but flesh and bones. Clumps of fur hung off their pink skin in ragged tufts. They appeared glassy eyed and weak.
Dom lowered his weapon. “Poor things. Their water and food is all out. Can’t believe they’ve lasted this long.” He immediately moved to a nearby shelf and cradled a pile of boxes in his hand. He used his knife to quickly cut them open and poured their contents on the floor. Seeds, nuts, dried carrots, and little brown food blocks spilled everywhere. “Can’t leave these guys to starve.”
He took the tanks down and opened the lids. Gently, he tipped the aquariums over so the small, weak creatures could get to the food. Several mice began nibbling their long-awaited dinner. A rat lapped up water from a nearby puddle. “Now we can go.”
Meredith couldn’t help smiling to herself as they walked to the exit. Even in the death and destruction surrounding them, Dom’s proclivity for saving those who were defenseless—animals and humans alike—shone through.
“You think they actually have a chance?” she asked.
“Might have a better chance than us,” Dom replied. “The damn things are smart, especially rats. Had a couple as pets when the girls were younger. Cuddly animals.”
Meredith shot him a look she knew bordered on disgust, but Dom appeared absolutely serious.
“Seriously, they make great pets.”
They stopped by the front entrance of the store. The distant sound of thumping chopper blades and gunfire continued. Skulls howled louder and, from what Meredith could tell, closer. A small pack of the creatures ran along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street.
“Glad you saved the little guys, then,” Meredith said. “But now let’s save us.”
***
More gunshots sounded across the property. Kara sprinted to the front of the gift shop and looked through the window. Muzzle flashes exploded beyond the parking lot like pointed lightning strikes.
“You’re sure it’s not the Hunters?” Kara asked.
“Absolutely,” Adam said. “Last time I heard from Miguel, they were near Alexandria. That wasn’t more than a few minutes ago.”
Maggie stood next to Kara. The fur bristled along her haunches, and she growled, baring her canines.
“It’s okay, girl,” Sadie said, petting the dog. “We’re safe inside.”
Kara wished that was true. While it might be harder for Skulls to find them, people would have no issues getting into the restaurant and gift shop. Whatever trouble they’d run into out there could follow them in.
“Do you think these people need our help?” Navid asked. He hovered near where the group had placed their weapons.
Kara admired the young scientist’s philanthropic thinking. But she wasn’t sure charging out into the night during a firefight was such a great idea. After all, Adam was the only one with military training, Navid had hardly any firearms experience, Sadie wasn’t even a teenager, and Maggie had already gotten herself into more trouble today than Kara would’ve liked. She went to the group’s packs and grabbed a pair of night-vision binoculars. Adjusting their focus, she scanned the parking lot and the trees that lined it. There was movement where she’d seen the gunfire. Shapes bled out of the shadows and into the moonlit parking lot. Dozens of them. But they weren’t hunched over like the Skulls. No strange protrusions jutted from their arms or shoulders or spines. They walked calmly, not like a group that had just been in a gunfight.
Adam joined her with a pair of his own binoculars. “What in the hell’s going on?”
“Don’t know.”
She could see the people now even without the binos. They each carried a long gun, and they were circled around something. Kara’s stomach twisted when she saw what it was. A live Skull. Probably no more than four and a half feet tall, it had short horns curling from its forehead. It only had one arm. That arm ended in the characteristic scything claws Kara knew could slice through flesh with ease, but now it looked pathetic. The small monster wailed and ran at one man. He kicked the Skull in the face, and Kara thought it looked like he was laughing at the creature. He leveled his gun and fired.
Th
e shotgun blast resounded. The Skull reeled and fell. Its remaining arm had been blown off. The monster fell to its knees. Another man kicked it from behind. He aimed then fired. The Skull tried to stand but failed again. Its right leg was devastated, hanging off by only a few sinews. Then one man stepped forward and stomped hard with his boot. His foot landed against the back of the Skull’s head. He ground the monster’s face into the asphalt until its flailing stopped. Kara thought she heard laughter coming from the group.
They turned away from the dead Skull and started walking again. The group drew nearer. They carried their guns lazily over their shoulders. Most wore camouflage that looked like it had been purchased at an Army surplus store. Several had long beards, and others sported backward baseball caps.
“Are they military?” Sadie asked.
“If they were, I doubt they are now,” Adam said.
The men used the stocks of their weapons to break the windows of the cars and trucks. They scoured the vehicles for a couple of minutes before turning their sights to the ticketing booths at the entrance to the Mt. Vernon estate.
“Who are they?” Sadie asked.
“Hard to say,” Adam said. “But I don’t think we want to wait around to ask. Grab your stuff and let’s go.”
Kara headed toward her things. Her heart was pounding as she watched Sadie grab a duffel bag with her belongings. If the men were going through the normal tourist entrance, they might have an extra five, ten minutes before they reached the gift shop. She bent to pick up her rifle.
Something creaked outside. A man was leaning against one of the windows to the gift shop, his hands pressed on the glass. He peered inside.
“Down, everyone!” Kara hissed. Navid, Sadie, and Adam immediately dropped.
But Maggie, ever vigilant, began barking. The man yelled something, and more footsteps sounded, headed in their direction.
The Tide: Deadrise Page 10