Everything Dies [Season Two]

by Malpass, T. W.

  4

  Raine quickened her pace to try and remain in earshot of the footsteps. In the caverns and winding corridors of the outer roadway, it was nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact location of the sounds.

  Shadows danced on the surface of the jagged rock face, right up to its high ceiling. Every time Raine caught a glimpse of the figure’s shadow, it altered in its size and shape. One moment it appeared to be in front of her, and the next, it was looming above her, as if the pursued had suddenly turned pursuer.

  She broke into a steady jog and passed the huge blast doors and vehicle entrance. She followed the footsteps into another cave entrance, which led to the ventilation system control, and further than that, Crawford’s cabin.

  The temperature immediately fell in the wider space and there were palpable levels of damp in the air.

  Raine trod cautiously and spied a moving shadow just behind some storage containers stacked three-high. As she approached them, she heard the mumbled whisper of a man.

  Father Edwards sat on the floor, his back against the first container. His wiry hair sprang out from his head in asymmetric clumps, clearly set that way in the crazed states of a restless sleep. The skin around his eyes had darkened and he seemed to have aged five years in a matter of days. He clasped his hands tightly together in prayer, rocking back and forth in search of solace. Although his eyes were closed, they could not stem the flow of his tears.

  ‘Father, what are you doing out here?’ Raine said.

  Edwards opened his eyes, startled, but seemingly unable to focus on her. His focus shifted everywhere but in her direction, as if he was seeing something beyond what was present amongst the relics of the storage cavern. Then he began to mumble to himself again, soft and low.

  ‘Hateful day when I received life. Accursed creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.’

  Raine moved closer to him, realising that he wasn’t entirely present and his ravings were not meant for her. She waved her hand in front of his face and it brought him out of his self-induced trance. He lifted his head to look at her, a pitiful expression contorting his face.

  ‘I didn’t mean to hurt your friend,’ he said.

  ‘OK. Don’t worry about that right now,’ Raine said. ‘He’s gonna be fine.’

  ‘No, he’s not. None of you are. This place is damned and we sit in the belly of the beast, slowly being digested by its sickness.’

  Raine was about to ask him to clarify what he was trying to say when she noticed the blood seeping between his interlocked fingers. She saw the end of a silver object peeking out from the top of his grasp. It was the priest’s crucifix, clutched so desperately that it had cut into his skin.

  ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s get you back to the living quarters where it’s warm.’ As she reached for him, he turned sharply and grabbed her arm instead.

  ‘Listen,’ he said, pricking up his ears. ‘There, there. Don’t you hear it?’

  Raine heard nothing but the whistling of the airflow through the vast spaces in the cavern at first. Then it came again, and this time, she did hear it—the tormented wale of the dead. Because of its hollowed-out structure, the facility carried the haunting proclamation all the way from the holding area. She’d heard something similar hundreds of times since the outbreak, but whether it was due to the specific ambiance of their surroundings, this one was different. It sounded more human—a lament for its soul.

  ‘They weep—plead for release,’ Edwards said.

  The conviction in his voice sent a shiver down Raine’s spine.

  His hands began to tremble, a state which soon afflicted the rest of his body.

  ‘Maybe we should let Osgood or Foster take a look at you,’ Raine said.

  This time, Edwards recoiled more violently, his eyes wild with fear.

  ‘They know what he’s doing in there. They’re in league with him.’

  ‘The scientists?’

  ‘I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve witnessed the depths of his sadism. He’s trying to capture the essence of God by baring witness to their suffering.’

  ‘Who is? Grant? Doctor Grant?’

  ‘In his torture chamber. He wants to stare into the abyss so he can claim its secrets for his own. He’s creating abominations down there—down in the dark.’

  Raine still didn’t understand fully what he was trying to communicate, but she could see by the fear that had taken hold, something he’d seen in the laboratories had affected him profoundly.

  She chose to leave Edwards be for a while. Eventually, his mania started to subside and she was able to get him to his feet and lead him back to the inhabitable section of the facility.

  5

  Ethan stared at his reflection in the mirror on the wall adjacent to his bed. His face in half-shadow, it was hard to recognise the person looking back at him. The solemn rock ballad from his iPod drowned out the background noises that echoed through the facility.

  Wringing his hands, he closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall behind him, hoping that his exhaustion would count for something and sleep would take him, if only to grant him short reprieve from the torment. But succumbing to the darkness inevitably brought the memories to the forefront of his mind in vivid detail.

  The first flash he saw was the moment when he hurled the large rock down onto the corpse of Adam Gill at the nature preserve and the horrendous cracking sound his skull made.

  Ethan’s whole body lurched forward as one horrific image transitioned into another. The criminal from the group that infiltrated their sanctuary, pressed against the glass doors of the visitor centre, was the next thing he saw. In his mind’s eye there was no turning away—no hiding place. He was forced to watch the swarm of hands and mouths mince his meat, turning a human being into a bloody harvest.

  Worse still was the image of Vincent Graham stumbling across the reef towards him, blood pouring from a gruesome wound in his neck. Behind him, Emily’s freshly reanimated body followed her father in their awkward march across the rocks to greet their emotionally shattered mother and wife, to reunite their family in its ultimate demise.

  Ethan felt the hot bile burn the back of his throat as he heaved. Then fear took the sickness away. He saw the creature from the admin building at the observatory that Raine had unleashed upon him, crawling and reaching for his legs, the muted voice of Raine urging him to ‘Shoot it.’

  Finally, the memory of why he couldn’t, infected his brain—the heavily decomposed creature half-buried in sand and seaweed on the beach. He heard its dissonant and fractured memories when he placed his hand upon its body. Part of it, the part that was still human, called out to him. It wanted him to acknowledge it, even if it wasn’t the creature’s conscious intention.

  He couldn’t take it anymore. He ripped the earbuds from his iPod away and bit down on his fist to prevent himself from screaming.

  He heard footsteps coming along the corridor—two sets. They passed by his door and entered another room nearby. There was a squeak of bed springs and a mumbled voice, repeating the same words over and over, although he couldn’t quite work out what the words were. He did recognise who the voice belonged to though—their resident priest, Father Edwards.

  The second set of footsteps started to move out of the room and into the corridor. They drew closer and stopped right outside Ethan’s door, causing him to hold his breath. He prayed that whoever it was didn’t knock or call out to him. The scream he’d supressed was still fighting to get out, and if he was forced to speak, he feared that would be his only response to a question regarding his well-being.

  Fortunately, he didn’t have to hold his breath for long. The footsteps soon began
again and disappeared down the corridor.

  Ethan breathed out and caught the reflection of himself in the mirror again. The shadow cast covered half of his face, straight down the middle.

  6

  Salty leaned into the open ventilation duct, one hand resting on the head of his hatchet attached to his belt.

  ‘Do you see it?’ he said, peering into the darkness of the shaft.

  ‘I think so,’ Jason replied. The younger man wriggled inside the duct and bumped his feet against metal. The sound reverberated through the particular section of the system they were working on.

  He reached into the gloom, stretching his whole body to try and grab a hold of the filter.

  ‘OK, I see it!’ he said.

  ‘Well? Don’t just wave your hand at it like you’re David Blaine. Really get in there,’ Salty said.

  ‘I’m trying, God damnit. Are you always this impatient?’

  Salty adjusted his cap and smirked.

  ‘Only on my good days.’

  His attention was drawn away from the vent by the footsteps coming from the direction of the inner roadway. Even in silhouette, he recognised the figure’s athletic build and shaven head.

  ‘I’ve been looking all over for you,’ Raine said.

  ‘And you found me.’

  ‘You their handyman now?’

  ‘McCaffrey mentioned the ventilation system was backin’ up. I know a little about it, so Schaffer agreed to come with me to check for blockages. It’s no biggie. To be honest, I was bored and just lookin’ for somethin’ to do around here. This sittin’ around ain’t me. A man could go stir crazy in no time at all.’

  ‘It doesn’t even take some men that long,’ Raine said.

  ‘Huh?’

  Raine flicked her head back to suggest they continue their conversation somewhere more private.

  ‘Hey, Schaffer. I’m just goin’ to have a chat with Miller. I’ll be back in a sec.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah. Take your time,’ Jason said, still struggling to detach the old filter from its housing.

  They moved away from the vent towards the tunnel entrance that led to the reservoir.

  ‘What’s up?’ Salty said.

  ‘You were right about Edwards. I found him wandering around in the northwest corner of the facility in the storage area. He’s right on the edge.’

  ‘If you ask me, he’s already jumped over the edge and climbed back up for another go.’

  ‘He talked a whole lot of nonsense, but he also said something that concerned me,’ Raine said.

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘According to him, he’s been looking in places he shouldn’t. It sounds like Grant has been conducting some more than questionable experiments.’

  ‘What kind of experiments?’

  ‘I don’t know exactly, but Edwards claims he’s creating abominations, and he described his lab as a torture chamber.’

  ‘I’d like to say that surprises me, but I saw how he acted the other day when we were helpin’ them collect more test subjects. As far as he’s concerned, no livin’ person in this place means a damn in comparison to his work,’ Salty said.

  ‘I think it’s time I paid him an unexpected visit,’ Raine said.

  ‘Want me to back you up?’

  ‘Not this time. I think he might be less intimidated if it’s just one of us. May help me get more information out of him about what’s exactly going on here.’

  Salty nodded, acknowledging it was a good idea not to crowd the doctor, and then he paused to recall something else.

  ‘If you do get to talk to him, see if you can find out who Henrick Fause is.’

  ‘Fause?’

  ‘It’s a name Twilight mentioned.’

  ‘I thought you said he couldn’t get a read on Grant?’ Raine said.

  ‘That’s right, but he did notice that name written across the pen I stole from Grant’s lab. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Twilight, he never mentions something unless it’s important.’

  ‘I can’t argue with that. I’m gonna get going. I’ll fill you in at dinner later.’

  ‘You do that,’ Salty said. He waved her off as he imagined what kind of warped experiments someone like Grant would be capable of conducting.

  ‘Hey, Jake. I seem to remember this being your idea. And here I am, covered in shit, doing all the work,’ Jason called from inside the vent.

  ‘Alright. Quit your whinnin’,’ Salty said, heading back to join him.

  7

  Doctor Foster carefully unwrapped the bandage on O.B.’s injured leg while he lay on the bed where he’d spent most of his time since he’d been shot.

  He shivered, suddenly feeling the cool air around his wound.

  Foster inspected the swollen area of his thigh. The bruising was a yellow and red colour and surrounded the blue thread of the stitches poking up through his skin.

  The doctor then began to press around each point of the wound with her index finger, checking for pockets of fluid beneath.

  O.B. bit down on his bottom lip, doing his best not to give away the level of his discomfort in front of Foster.

  ‘It’s counter-productive to try and be a tough guy in this instance, Oswald,’ Foster said. ‘If your pain levels start to increase at all or you experience any bleeding, I want you to tell Osgood or myself immediately.’

  ‘Don’t worry. He will,’ Darla said. She sat on the other side of the bed, paying close attention to the examination.

  ‘Overall, it’s looking good. The swelling has reduced already and it’s healing up nicely. If things continue to improve at their current rate, we should be able to whip those stitches out in the next five to six days,’ Foster said.

  ‘That sounds awesome. Thank you,’ O.B. said. ‘By the way, you can take my blood if you want to.’

  ‘Excuse me?’ Foster said.

  ‘What Osgood was saying earlier about needing blood samples.’

  ‘It’s OK. We’ve already taken plenty of yours during your treatment. We won’t use it until Miller accepts. That was the agreement.’

  ‘Then you’ll be able to develop the serum?’

  Foster started to redress his wound before she spoke, wrapping the fresh bandage around his thigh. ‘With the new data we’ve obtained, we’re hopeful.’

  ‘And just how sure are you about this data?’ Darla said.

  ‘I can’t be sure at all. I haven’t been authorised to see it yet, but Doctor Grant has, and he is more excited about it than I’ve seen him.’

  ‘Once it’s developed, you’ll know for sure that it works?’ O.B. said.

  Foster shuffled uncomfortably, nervously reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair from her forehead. ‘Lift your leg higher for me, please,’ she said as she continued to wrap the bandage.

  ‘What’s the problem?’ Darla said, regarding her suspiciously.

  ‘It’s just… a little more complicated than that.’

  ‘In what way more complicated?’

  ‘It’s hard to know for certain unless the serum is injected into the body of an already infected subject,’ Foster said.

  Darla suddenly sat up in her chair. ‘I fuckin’ knew this was too good to be true!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ O.B. did his best to swivel around to look at her without moving his leg.

  ‘They want to use us as guinea pigs. Infect us with that shit so they can test their new super drug.’

  O.B. turned back to Foster.

  ‘Is that true?’

  ‘I shouldn’t really be telling you any of this, but yes. It’s the only way to be certain.’

  Foster began to speed up the dressing of his wound to try and cut short their conversation.

  ‘How long were you plannin’ on keepin’ this little detail from us?’ Darla said.

  ‘Until the serum was ready for testing. Then we were going to ask one of you to volunteer.’

&nb
sp; To the surprise of both O.B. and Foster, Darla immediately responded.

  ‘I’ll do it.’

  ‘No, you won’t,’ O.B. said.

  ‘He’s right. You’d never be strong enough. Your withdrawal has taken too much out of you. Neither of you are in the right shape right now. It would have to be one of the others and it would have to be their choice. If no one agrees to it, then Osgood and I have already decided it will be one of us.’

  ‘You’d risk becoming one of those things?’ Darla said.

  ‘This serum is the culmination of everything we’ve worked for since we became part of this project and we were sent here. It might just be the culmination of everything we’ve worked for our entire careers in medicine. It has to work. If it doesn’t, there’s nowhere else to go.’

  For the first time, O.B. and Darla saw the desperation in the eyes of one of their new hosts. As much knowledge as they had, they were clinging onto a vain hope, just like every other survivor, and if that hope were to falter, they would be lost like everyone else.

  ‘I’d prefer it if you’d both keep this to yourselves until we know we have a workable serum,’ she said.

  ‘Sure, we can do that. Can’t we, Darla?’ O.B. said.

  Darla scowled, holding back her response and perhaps changing it in the meantime.

  ‘I guess we can. For now, at least.’

  O.B. smiled at Foster as she tied off his bandage.

  8

  Raine entered the communal laboratory and broke the eerie silence with a tentative ‘Hello?’

  The only sounds that came back were the various clicks and whirrings from the computers and medical apparatus on the benches around her.

  Raine’s scientific knowledge was limited to say the least. Everything she passed looked delicate and confusing. Her attention was drawn to a monitor displaying the image of some kind of digital recording. When she got up close to it, she realised that the recording had been placed on pause.

  The still image was of two creatures. They were chained with reinforced restraints on opposite walls, facing each other. The room’s surroundings suggested the video had been captured in another testing area somewhere inside the facility. The heads of both were covered in sensor pads. Wires sprouted from them, obviously connected to machines out of shot.