Omega Virus (Book 2): Gamma Hour

by Jake A. Strife

  Dyonna stomped back toward Mog. “Damn the thing’s gonna shank us, just you watch!”

  We regrouped, and Mog looked over the bite on my shoulder. hands “We’re lucky it wasn’t able to transmit the virus to you. If this were a corpse bite, you’d die! Reckless!”

  I opened my mouth to give him another piece of my mind, but Arik pointed. “Speaking of corpses...”

  We heard the groaning and looked past the trees just beyond where we stood. An army of hundreds, maybe thousands of corpses walked in our direction; a wall of doom.

  LEVEL 28:

  HATRED

  The corpse army shambled our way. That many undead at once had us, well at least me, paralyzed with fear. Instead of running, we stood and

  watched them come.

  I choked out words. “Well, doesn’t that just beat all?”

  Dyonna took a step back. “Hell, girlo, what we’re gonna do now? We don’t have enough bullets for all of that!”

  “Upon analysis, Dyonna is correct.” Dragoon confirmed. “We need two thousand and three bullets. I do not think we have enough.”

  Corpses closed in from the sides. We’d never get past them.

  I pointed across the expanse of water. “We go around that way!”

  “Let’s do it now!” Arik led our escape charge.

  We followed, but after several strides, Mog wasn’t with us. He still stood, staring at the undead.

  I backtracked to him. “Come on, jerk! We need to GTFO!”

  “They won’t attack me.” His eyes searched past the undead; he hadn’t heard a word I’d said.

  “What do you plan on doing? Killing them all? We need your help!”

  “As of now, that isn’t true. I will rejoin you later.”

  I stepped before him, blocking his line of sight. “Why aren’t you coming? It’s not your job to kill every corpse that walks!”

  Anger splayed across his face. “I feel something. So, I cannot come with you.”

  I grabbed his arm and tried to drag him. “We’ll get you some antacids!”

  I might as well have been trying to pull a stone statue.

  “I’m a terrible guardian.” He lowered his head. “I apologize for that.”

  With those words hanging fresh in the air, Mog ran straight for the corpses, and leaped, soaring and landing somewhere in the crowd.

  I furrowed my brows. “You are a terrible guardian!”

  “Tiffany, come on, already!” Arik shouted, halfway around the lake,

  The corpses approached from only a couple dozen feet away. They moved slow but were encroaching the entire field. I couldn’t go after Mog, so I fled, thanking the gaming gods that the stupid things weren’t higher than level ones. My companions were waiting for me, so I caught up with little trouble.

  “What happened to that Mog guy?” Dyonna jogged along the curving path.

  A corpse stumbled from behind a small building labeled restrooms. We didn’t slow. When we passed, Arik stabbed it with a dagger.

  I tried to pace myself. “Mog’s searching for something.”

  “The hell does that mean?” Dyonna scrunched up her face.

  “Who the hell knows?” Arik waved his hand. “Never trust a Lonely One.”

  I gave a heavy sigh. “He means well. I hope he’ll be okay.”

  “I believe I perceive the approximate reason, why Mog departed.” Dragoon jogged.

  “Why?”

  “I sense over one Creeper in this area.”

  “What is that?” Dyonna’s brow creased. “Had enough of those types of guys before the world ended.”

  I rolled my eyes. “A Creeper is a Lonely, remember?”

  “Lonely One sounds better. Creeper sounds like one them bad dates or stalkers, ya?”

  Arik sighed. “A chick called me a creeper once.”

  “Some things you keep to yourself, boyo.”

  We continued to another patch of thin, leafy trees, where we stopped to catch our breaths.

  Dragoon hadn’t broken a sweat, but the hot weather had me feeling faint. “You’re lucky you don’t breathe. Do you even sense heat?”

  She turned her head. “I am the Dragoon Unit X72. I am the first functioning robotic entity.”

  “Don’t tell me what I’m thinking is true!” Arik laughed.

  Dragoon looked at him. “I do not know what you think.”

  “Do you have all the human parts? I saw you naked, but I didn’t get a good view.” Arik beamed.

  He’d gone too far. “Arik, you’re being a creeper.”

  He hung his head.

  Dragoon gave a solid nod. “A scientist named Beauregard created me. And yes, Arik, I have every anatomical part of a female human. I can also carry a child in my womb.”

  “Okay!” I ran between them. “I don’t need or even want to learn why you’re built that way.”

  “I do.” Arik giggled; a bona fide creeper.

  “Beauregard sounds familiar. What can you tell me about him?”

  “He was one of two scientists working on the Dragoon project. The other’s named Grandfather. My databanks come from a cloud-based system. I do not know where my thoughts originate.”

  I nodded. “Grandfather is one of that family of freaks. But what about Beauregard? Where is he now?”

  “He in is stasis and hidden away in a laboratory, away from G.O.D. Mode.”

  “Where is his lab?” Dyonna regarded. “Maybe the guy can help us with those freaks.”

  “He encrypted his lab coordinates within my databanks. I require the access code.”

  “Damn, that’s inconvenient, ya?”

  Dragoon looked into the sky. “His research was important. Before entering stasis, he was working on an anti-virus.”

  Arik stopped and tilted his head. “What the hell is a stasis?”

  I wanted to smack him. “He froze himself, moron.”

  “He must not be that important if he thinks he belongs in a fridge.”

  Dragoon turned to Arik, with a set jaw. “Beauregard is important. He entered stasis because he’s infected with the Omega Virus. The cure needs administered when wakes, or he will die.”

  “Let me get this straight.” I rubbed my temples. “He can make the anti-virus but has the virus. He’s in stasis, and can’t wake until the gets the anti-virus?”

  “Correct. It was taking too long to create. So, he left his machines in control. I need the code to access his whereabouts.”

  Our shoulders slumped in unison.

  “This crap is just too damn complicated.” Dyonna waved her hand. “I wanna go home, take a hot shower, and eat at the buffet down the road.”

  “Sushi!” Arik frowned.

  I glanced back. The corpses were halfway across the lake. “Let’s get moving. We’re sitting ducks for anything that attacks.”

  Arik entered a brisk walk. “Where can we go? We’re in Los Angeles, and I’ve never been here.”

  “What is our aim?” Dragoon trotted with us. “I’ve downloaded maps of all the cities in the world and can direct us anywhere.”

  I shook my head hard. “It’s not about having a map. We’re tracking that jerk, Garrett.”

  “Don’t even say his name!” Arik gritted his teeth.

  Dragoon slowed to a halt. “Garrett Rose? I know where he is.”

  We stopped and stared at her. “You do?”

  “He’s located three hundred forty-two feet from out location, in an underground lab, once belonging to G.O.D. Mode.”

  “He’s captured?” I facepalmed. “Idiot!”

  “The base has been empty for months.”

  Arik scratched the stubble on his chin. “What could he be after, there?”

  I wracked my brain. “What is he doing in a base?”

  Dragoon looked back at the corpses. “I know not. But we must proceed, or you will die.”

  “Take us to Garrett. We have to get to him before Brother and Sister. We need the OVNs from my locket!”

  “
Quest accepted.” Dragoon turned and sprinted away.

  “Would you do her?” Arik caught me off guard. “I mean she’s built like a human.”

  “W-What? I’m not into girls, real or robotic, so get your mind out of the gutter!”

  “I might.” Dyonna took off after Dragoon.

  Arik watched her and cheesed. “Oh please, I would love to see that!”

  “For the love of the gods!” I turned and left him in my dust.

  We ran until we reached a hill on the north side. At the top, we paused. In the distance stood a fence surrounding the park. Beyond it were the streets, and the corpses walked along, but nowhere near as many as the ones across the water.

  Dyonna looked at our android. “Why’d we stop, robot, girlo?”

  Dragoon closed her eyes and then nodded. “The target is getting closer.”

  “Where?” I looked around but saw nothing. “Where’s the lab?”

  The ground shook beneath our feet, and moments later my answer came. Hidden beneath a patch of fake grass, a pair of steel doors lifted out of the ground, opening wide. The platform rose to the top of the hole, and standing with his back to us, was Garrett Rose.

  The bastard didn’t see us. He was busy fiddling with something in his hands.

  “There he is.” Arik’s hands trembled then balled into shaking fists. His jaw clenched, and his eye flared with rage.

  “Wait, Arik, he could have a gun!” I seized Arik’s wrist.

  “I don’t care.” Arik’s voice filled with hatred. “It’s his time to die.”

  “I hate him too. But we can’t just rush him.”

  “He didn’t take your best friend away!” A growl built in his throat. He broke free and made his insane charge.

  We tried to catch up, but with his built-up rage, he outpaced us.

  Arik screamed in a furious roar and at Garrett with his dagger. Garrett might not have heard him. Arik might have succeeded; if not for that yell. When the bastard looked up, he lifted his hand; he held a square object. It was a small, metal box.

  A lightning bolt shot out, and struck Arik in the chest, sending him flying and crashing into overgrown grass. Dyonna and I turned to Garrett. His expression turned from that of a surprised curiosity to a maniacal smile.

  “So, you’ve come after me, Tiffany!” Garrett held his arms out to the sides.

  I started into a sprint but froze as he held up the box again.

  He grinned. “No, no, that’ll do! Last time you got too close you took my ear.”

  “And it tasted like dogshit!”

  “You would know, you are a bitch.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. “Dyonna, see if Arik is alive.”

  She nodded and moved toward where our friend landed, but an electric bolt caught her. She blasted off her feet and flopped to the ground. Terror filled me as she convulsed. I stepped toward her, but Garrett brought up the cube again.

  “That. Will. Do.” He giggled, and it turned into a squeal, a snort and then a maniacal clown laugh.

  There was no sign of Dragoon. “You’ve lost it.”

  “Are you with someone else? Charles? Oh, wait, did he die? That’s too bad.” Garrett returned to his squealing laughter.

  I gritted my teeth. “You son of a bitch!” I took a small step forward.

  “Go ahead boobs. Give me another reason to blast you off the face of this rotting rock called Earth!”

  “What do you want then? To talk all day?”

  “The time has passed for idle chit-chat. I want to see you suffer. I need to absorb the pain on your sexy face.”

  “Shut your damn mouth.”

  “How about this?” He shrugged. “I’m benevolent. I’ll let you live, and your friends too. If they’re not dead from my little toy here, but there’s a catch.”

  “Always is... but I’m not letting you go!”

  “Oh, you won’t have to... because the catch is that you become my lover. Give ole Garrett another chance to be a better boyfriend. We can have little rug rats together. We can rule this world! Who needs to join them? We can take down that insane family! What do you say?”

  I lowered my head and looked to Dyonna. She still writhed in pain but hadn’t bitten the dust. I couldn’t see Arik, but I hoped he was alive.

  My eyes landed back on Garrett. If I went with him and did as he said, I’d lose no one else, but I’d never have happiness. The only bright side? No giving birth to the Silver Star. It could be the right choice.

  “Well... Tiffa?” That last part, the name he called me, the name only Zach could call me, filled me to the brim with utter, unbridled hatred. Arik was right, it was Garrett’s time.

  “My decision is...” I dropped my gaze. “To kill you, asshole!”

  With everything in me, I charged. He raised his tiny box, and lightning exploded out of it. I thought for sure I was dead, but in leaped Dragoon. She grabbed the bolt with her bare hands and absorbed the electricity.

  Garrett looked on in shock, his mouth hanging open wide. He glanced at me as I reached him; just as I leaped into the air with more rage than a mad barbarian, dagger above my head.

  LEVEL 29:

  FIRST BLOOD

  Blood sprayed me before I even realized what I’d done. The dagger I wielded, had cut through Garrett’s jugular and into his shoulder. A scream gurgled in his throat as I stumbled back, fighting the urge to vomit.

  I’d just dealt a mortal wound. “It had to be this way. He didn’t give me a choice!”

  Garrett glared with baleful eyes; still alive. He lifted his lightning cube, holding it in my direction. Before he fired, the life faded from his eyes, and he fell to knees, then flat into the grass.

  “Garrett...” Disbelief filled me. I didn’t know what to think. It was amazing; even empowering! I had triumphed over my enemy. With my hands, I’d taken a life.

  No, It was wrong to kill. The fallen needed pity after becoming evil monsters.

  I squatted beside Garrett and scooped up the handheld lightning cube. A simple device; only a small golden button sat on top. It held so much power.

  “Was it worth it, asshole?” I kicked Garrett onto his back. He wore my heart locket. I removed it and clasped the chain around my neck.

  “I will add this to my database.” Dragoon walked up beside me. “Enemy Garrett Rose; K.I.A.”

  I shook my head. “We need to check on Arik and Dyonna.”

  “I have already checked their vitals. They are alive and only stunned. Both will recover.”

  “Thank you.”

  She smiled. “You are welcome.”

  An android smiling was strange. Her eyes shined with an inhuman sheen; how amazing she even existed.

  As a warm wind blew by, I held my locket tight and flipped it open. The picture stared back at me. “Zach...” Did he remember our past now? No. Then why be with Jessie? Although, with how I abandoned him.

  I examined the locket, and opened the cover, sliding out the picture. A small, visible indent caught my eye. I dug my nail in and pried it open, finding a miniscule silver vial.

  I pulled it out and studied it. “What is this?”

  “It’s called an OVN injection.” Dragoon leaned in close. “One of seven vials. Each contains the nanites; the base of the Omega Virus.”

  “This is what G.O.D. Mode wants?” I placed it back in its hiding spot.

  Dyonna appeared beside us, rubbing her head. “Damn, girlo, that hurt.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  “Ain’t nothing to be sorry about. You killed that shit-faced gremlin.”

  I peeked at Garrett, and my nausea intensified. “I guess, I did.”

  Arik came up the hill, a scorch mark on his shirt. He sighed. “I preferred to kill him.”

  “Does it matter? He’s dead.”

  I handed the cubic weapon to Dragoon. “You hold onto this.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Arik kneeled beside Garrett. “Too bad, I didn’t get in at least one hit.”


  “It only took one.” I nudged Garrett with my foot.

  “Son of a bitch.” He spat on assface’s body.

  Dyonna cracked her neck. “Wouldn’t have gotten zapped, if that bastard Mog was here.”

  “Where would be the fun?”

  We spun to see a figure standing ten feet away, dressed in a long trench coat.

  “Who is that?” Arik cocked a brow. “Guy looks badass.”

  Dragoon lifted her fists. “Danger imminent.”

  Even though he and Wesley shared the same fashion sense, I recognized him as Dante, the Interloper.

  I put my hands on my hips. “Thanks for the help, jerk!”

  “Who said I desired to help?” He grinned ear to ear, revealing stark white teeth.

  “Just whose side are you on, anyway?”

  Dante spread his arms. “My own.”

  Dyonna leaned in and whispered. “Do you know this guy?”

  “Yeah, he let me out of my cell back with the Lonely ones.”

  “Then he’s a friend, ya?”

  “No.” Dante vanished, then appeared feet away, kneeling next to Garrett. “I am not a friend, but I couldn’t leave Tiffany guarded by that wretched colony of Creepers.”

  “Mog said he felt something.” My throat tightened. “It was you! Where’s Mog?”

  “Him?” Dante turned back, still grinning. “I didn’t kill him, if that’s what you think, although he’s asking for it.”

  “Where is he?”

  “I led him on a wild goose chase is all.” He laughed as he lifted Garrett’s arm.

  “What are you doing?” My eyes narrowed as Dante slipped something from his sleeve; an injector. “I said what are you doing?”

  He fizzled into thin air and appeared several feet away, nodding toward Garrett. My eyes followed. The bastard’s flesh bubbled.

  “What in the hell?” Arik’s jaw dropped.

  I took a step back. “What did you do?”

  Dante, swept off his hat, and bowed. “Watching this will be fun. It isn’t my style to get my hands dirty. Garrett, my minion, will serve me well in his final act...”

  “He works for you?” I wanted to charge but Dante spun and vanished into nothingness. “Why are you doing this?”