After one step, my seething anger overpowered me. I turned back and faced the door. Jessie couldn’t get away with what she’d done. If I let her go, she’d only commit more sins against us.
As I approached, the door slid into the ceiling. Jessie sat in a chair facing away from me, a dozen feet away. I hobbled toward her, and she went to turn, but I got there first.
I grabbed a chunk of her red mane and pulled her head back, causing her to screech. “Let me go! I’ll give you anything you want!”
“No, Jessie! You’re a traitor!” I slammed her head onto the desk.
She grunted, and I yanked her hair again. The bitch struggled, and snatched my wrist, but I smacked her hand and slammed her face a second time.
“Stop!” Jessie sobbed. “Let me explain!”
“Oh, you’ll explain all right!” I slammed the bitch once more.
Jessie wormed her way from my grasp, so I seized the arm of her chair and flipped it, sending her toppling. She landed on her hands and knees.
I stood over her. “You will explain why you betrayed me, Zach, and the Guild!”
My foot found her oversized ass and kicked. Her head conked into the steel desk, and she fell flat.
“Explain!”
Jessie grunted, trying to pick herself up, but landed flat again, giggling. “I’ve betrayed no one!”
The sound infuriated me. The ZPoc had stolen her mind. I stomped her back and kept her on the floor, but she continued to giggle.
I looked around the room. “What the hell so damn funny?”
Charts lined the walls. She had a map of the United States with circles and Xs drawn in red. They each marked a different city, everywhere from San Francisco to Manhattan. There were a couple that stood out. One X, I knew to be Milpeg. Another X, I recognized as Rockport. An X even sat in the Gulf of Mexico.
Jessie struggled under my foot, but I pressed harder. Even with my weight loss, I overcame the tiny girl. “What are you planning?”
“Let me up!” Jessie stopped thrashing. “Or you’ll be sorry!”
“What can you do? You’ve always been timid! I was always the more outgoing one. I always had to order our food, ask for our movie tickets! You made me follow Zach and tell you where he was heading. Pathetic!”
“Sounds like you have a lot of pent up anger, Tiff!” She giggled again.
“Don’t. Call. Me. Tiff!” I stared at the map, trying to figure out what the markings meant.
“He said you were the firecracker of the bunch. Let me help you off your high horse!”
Jessie jerked and flipped around, grabbing my foot and twisting. She pulled me off my feet, and I cried out, landing hard on my back. The puny girl grabbed the radio cord and flung it behind my neck, tying it tight.
The wire dug in, cutting off circulation. I grabbed the cord, trying to get my fingers between it and my neck, but she pulled it so tight, black flashes appeared before my eyes. Panic swept as Jessie rolled over and straddled me. Fury contorted her pretty features.
“Are you confused, Tiff?”
I flailed, but she used her knees to pin my arms.
“I know I am! He doesn’t want you dead! But why? What’s so special about little ole Tiffany Gainsborough? You’re nothing but a tomboy tramp!”
My eyes darted around, but I saw nothing I could use. My lungs burned and threatened to collapse. Of everyone, my ex-BFF might be the one to kill me. I gave up grasping the cord and reached around in a final desperate try. Something had to be in reach.
“Poor Tiff!” Jessie shrugged. “You don’t even understand what’s happening! Just like Zach! He didn’t understand at first either!”
I ignored her taunting and grasped with my fingers; I felt something. One of her high heel shoes! I gripped it tight and smashed it across her face,
Jessie cried, and the strike dazed her long enough for me to kick my legs. She flopped and rolled away, but I scrambled up and hurled the heel at her. It bounced off her ass, and she stumbled.
“Tramp!” Jessie bounded for the door.
“No, you don’t!” I dove, grabbing her shoeless foot.
She collapsed, kicking. I rolled to the side, dodging one kick, but her bare foot smashed into my forehead. This time I became dazed. She slipped away, kicked off her other heel, and ran out of the room, feet slapping the floor.
“Get back here!” I tried to run, but as my injured foot slammed the floor, I screeched and hopped, falling against the wall. “Dammit!”
I limped after Jessie. She reached the end of the hall and turned the corner. I bit through the pain and rounded the corner too. She hadn’t made it far. Jessie wasn’t great with her agility.
“You’re not getting away!”
Jessie reached an elevator and smacked a button. She turned around and stared, wide-eyed. As I charged, she mashed the button. The elevator doors opened, and I tackled her. We crashed inside, and the doors closed behind us.
A computerized voice came over the speakers. “Please state desired floor.”
“Lab A!” Jessie crawled back, but I grabbed her shirt and ripped it in half.
The elevator clanked and lowered. I straddled the bitch and smacked her. “Who are you? What are you?”
“You’re worst enemy.”
I pulled her face to mine. “I hate you!”
“Good!” She headbutted me, and I fell back grabbing my bleeding nose. The elevator opened, and Jessie escaped again.
“Don’t think you can hide!”
I followed into the hall. Both sides had windows and different labs. Inside were various machines. Many contained corpses or different animals tied to tables, cut open but still thrashing. One room had a tank of dark red liquid. I slowed to a stop as I saw a body strapped to the wall. A naked man hung there with tubes connected to his wrists. They’d drained him of his blood, which ended up in a tank.
I turned to leave but spied a police badge pinned to his chest. A sickening sensation came over me as I opened the door and entered.
My hands flew over my mouth. “Charles!”
I hurried to him and tried to lift his head, but his neck was stiff. I gasped and stumbled back.
Charles was dead.
They’d killed him in the most horrific way. I felt faint.
The door opened behind me, and Jessie appeared, smiling. “Oops, you found the Gamma subject. The only immune person we’ve ever discovered.”
I fought my forbidden tears. “Why did you kill him?”
“To make the virus stronger! It was the key to the next level of evolution. We needed the blood of an immune to give us a weapon against those failed experiments, the Creepers.”
Jessie held up a small silver sphere.
I furrowed my brow. “What is that?”
“Should I explain? So, here’s how it works. The Gamma Spheres, if swallowed will grant amazing speed, surpassed senses, and super strength! Just like the Negastar, the avatar of the Omega Virus.”
This girl before me wasn’t Jessie. No, this bitch was part of G.O.D. Mode. I didn’t know how she did it, but she stole my BFF’s face!
“You’re Sister!”
With a wicked grin, Sister popped the Gamma Sphere into her mouth and swallowed. I reached back and blasted her in the face. She didn’t move an inch. I may as well have punched a wall.
“You used Charles’ blood for those abilities!” An impossible fury burned. “Where are the others?”
“Do you want to know?”
I held my aching hand. “Are they alive?”
Sister smiled through Jessie’s lips and backhanded me. As if I were a rag doll, I flew and slammed into the tank of blood. It shattered, drenching me. She appeared in a flash and grabbed my throat, lifting me up the wall. “I don’t care if he wants you alive, I’m killing you now, bitch.”
I spit in her face, which contorted with rage. She slammed me so hard the wall panel dented, and the wind blasted from my lungs.
“Sister,” a voice spoke from the
doorway.
The superpowered freak dropped me and turned around to face her lover. As she’d stolen Jessie’s guise, this guy had Jeff’s.
“Brother? What’re you doing here?”
“I was already on my way.” He wrapped her in a hug. “A little birdy told me Devil Code learned of your location.”
“The Negastar?”
Brother nodded. “Yes, Zachary Mastiff is here.”
Hope filtered into my heart. Zach had come for me.
“We have Gamma Spheres now! Together we can defeat them all!”
“No.” Brother remained calm. “The effects are only temporary. We need the OVNs to make it permanent. That idiot has the locket and they’re inside of it!”
My locket had an experiment? For years, I carried something so insane? How? Why?
“I thought the soldiers were after him!” Sister threw out her hands.
“They never caught him.” Brother’s eyes closed. “And now he’s snuck inside and stolen a jet.”
“His destination?”
“The Los Angeles base... I know not why.”
Sister turned. “Let me finish this slut.”
Brother grabbed her arm. “Leave her! We’re going after Garrett.”
“But I—”
“I’m sorry, we must hurry.”
Sister kneeled and with a single finger, lifted my chin. “Do not follow us. Your friends are mine. Stay here and enjoy the last of your days.”
She spun on her bare heel and walked past Brother. He watched her go then looked back. “I spared you this time, old friend. But the next we meet... well... hope we won’t.”
Old friend?
Brother left. As the door shut, I struggled to look at Charles. I couldn’t leave him in such a humiliating position, so I unclasped his restraints and lowered him. His lifeless eyes stared into nothingness. I closed them and my fists trembled. A second friend died because of my weakness. I wanted to stay with him and cry, but I promised no more tears.
Zach was close, but he couldn’t have been farther away. As soon as I left that room, I followed Sister’s footprints left with Charles’ blood; I’d save Arik and Dyonna, then kill both of the corrupt siblings; at the same time.
LEVEL 21:
BOTTOM PLATFORM
To abandon Kiki’s body had been tragic, but leaving Charles fueled me with a rage I’d never known. Murdered for his blood; for his immunity to the Omega Virus, just to create a weapon—It left me murderous.
As I hobbled out of the room, I noticed my blood-soaked bandage. I couldn’t tell if my wound had reopened, or if the blood belonged to Charles.
Even if Brother and Sister weren’t in a hurry to catch Garrett, they’d outpace me with minimal effort. Every step caused excruciating pain.
“You can do this!”
At the end, I found elevators. The panel above one showed a floor indicator, and the light lowered by the second. It had just passed B4. I attacked the button on the second elevator. The other elevator descended and stopped at the bottom; B14. The G.O.D. Mode base went ridiculously far underground.
Why were they going so deep? They’d said they were taking a jet. Regardless, I’d follow them to Hell if need be.
My elevator dinged and slid open. I hurried in and found a cage with grated floors and walls; no control panels.
“Now what?”
A computerized woman spoke, “Please select the desired floor.”
“Bottom level!”
“Invalid command. Please select desired floor.”
I slammed my fist on the grated wall. “I don’t have time for this!”
“Invalid command. One attempt remains.”
“What? Wait!”
A series of clanks shook the elevator. I grabbed the railing as it dropped. Zero gravity took over, and I closed my eyes, screaming and holding on for dear life.
The elevator came to an abrupt halt and my head hit hard, sending stars across my field of vision.
I climbed back to my knees in a daze. The lift fell at an angle, and I landed on my ass. The door opened in between floors. As I came to my senses, the brakes groaned, but held. Not for long.
I scrambled into the small opening. Even having lost so much weight since the ZPoc started, my boobs and ass got stuck. I cursed my curves as the groaning reached its crescendo.
I grasped the doors and pushed. With a grunt, I popped out. Just as my foot made it through, the brakes snapped, and the elevator plummeted. A few seconds later a loud boom echoed up the shaft. I cursed; I’d come way too close.
My eyes trailed forward, and I found myself in a new hall. A wall sign read B14; the bottom floor. It was likely deep in an old coal mine.
Once on my feet, I hobbled along the hall. The only sources of illumination were the emergency lights along the floor. Up ahead I heard the loud humming of an engine.
“Hurry! Hurry or they’ll leave us!” A door to my right flung open.
I backstepped into another doorway. Four men emerged wearing lab coats. They rushed out of the lab behind them, each carrying a briefcase and pistol. As they ran, other doors opened, and more scientists came bursting forth.
These assholes did the synthesizing of the Gamma Spheres, meaning they caused Charles’ death. I wanted to kill every one of them, but with more than a dozen armed men, I had no chance of victory.
Someone came up behind me. “Who are you?”
I turned to see a scientist with long blonde hair and glasses. I blinked in shock, unable to think of an answer. Her eyes narrowed, and as she reached for her gun holster.
“No!” I tackled her, and we tumbled into her empty lab. Her briefcase clattered to the floor. I straddled the bitch and punched her in the jaw. I struck until her head lolled. Even though she’d gone unconscious, I jabbed her again for good measure.
A moment later, I turned around with my hair up, wearing her lab coat and glasses. With luck, the others might still be in a panic, and not notice my impersonation. I snatched her briefcase and gun, rushing back into the hall.
I emerged into a group of scientists, and they were none the wiser. My plan worked better than I’d hoped.
We ran around a corner and entered a cavern. On the tracks idled the grandest train I’d ever seen. The side panels bore different colored lights, with a violet paint job. The roof had different looking satellite dishes and doohickeys.
It stretched from end to end of the station; a few hundred feet long. Scientists were loading into the front half while in the back there were soldiers loading tall blue bins and other equipment into the train.
They were this afraid of Zach? Enough to need a mass exodus. Had he brought an army?
“Watch it!” A woman slammed into my shoulder, sending my briefcase flying.
I watched it go sliding toward the gap between the train and the platform, but a guy put his foot in out, stopping it from falling.
“Hey!” He waved.
The guy looked in his twenties and had spiky black hair with green highlights. His eyeglasses screamed hipster.
He rushed over, bringing my stolen briefcase with a boyish grin. “Be more careful with your research. The bosses might revoke your privileges if you lose anything.”
“T-Thank you!” I snatched the case and turned away.
“The train’s leaving! Hurry!”
Before I could respond, he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the still open but moving train. He yanked me inside just before the door slid closed. The train picked up speed, and I stumbled, but the guy held me steady.
I glanced around the train. Rows of seats were against the walls and in each one sat a white-coated scientist. None of them lifted their eyes.
Through the windows, I saw many stragglers waving their arms in a frantic protest, soldiers and scientists alike. They were out of luck. We’d passed the length of the platform and weren’t coming back. The scumbag siblings waited for no one.
My new friend tilted his head back and exhaled. “That was
kinda close.”
I regarded him, and he looked back with his innocent smile. It was strange; he was cute even though he had somewhat of a butt chin. His blue eyes reminded me of Zach’s, and his naïve expression made me wonder if he even understood he worked for psychopaths.
“Are you new?” He broke me from my trance.
I tensed. “Um…”
“No worries!” He looked to the other end. “Two seats! You can tell me all about how you joined!”
He walked over and sat. I didn’t want to chat, but I needed to blend as much as possible, so I followed. He motioned for me to take the seat next to him.
I sat and crossed one leg over the other. “How did you know?”
“Um, duh! You’re wearing flip-flops! You’ve got your toes out like you’re a California girl!”
I looked at my feet, my footwear alone screamed I didn’t fit. “I was on a break. The intrusion caught me off guard, and I’m from Bellaire.”
He elbowed me. “Hometown girl, huh? The intrusion caught us all off guard. Who knew we’d be up and moving to L.A. in the middle of our research?”
“L.A.?”
“City of Angels! You’ll fit right in, toes and all! But that bandage will need changing. The name’s Mikey!” He held out his hand.
I hesitated, and we shook. “My name is...Veronica.”
He pointed to my foot. “So, tell me how you got that wicked cut, Veronica.”
“Enough about my feet. You got a fetish?” I glanced at my now bleeding foot. “Oh my gosh.”
“Here, I was in the medical R&D.” Mikey popped open his briefcase and rummaged. He stared at me, and I blinked, oblivious.
“Veronica, I need your foot.”
His eyes were enchanting, but I realized what he meant. “R-Right!”
I lifted my leg and placed it on his knee. He unwrapped my bandage, and I winced. The gash was hideous, with the stitching had torn.
“Jeez... Holy crap, there’s an exit wound. You got stabbed?”
“Lab accident.” I looked away from the grotesque sight.
“This may hurt—”
Omega Virus (Book 2): Gamma Hour Page 14