Dying to Live

by Roxy De Winter

  Pete didn’t question her. He knew she would tell him in due course. Instead, he took two glass tumblers and emptied one tiny bottle into each. When he turned, Xin had sat herself down on the end of the bed. She had her eyes shut and was massaging her temples.

  “Here, try this. It’ll help,” He smiled at her as she looked up and took the glass.

  She took a gulp and screwed her face up at it, but she followed it with another mouthful regardless.

  “Ok, well I guess I should explain why I’ve been acting like a crazy woman,” She began. “Although, given what I’m about to say, you may not believe me.”

  “Right now, to be honest, I’d probably believe you if you told me it was zombies,” He chuckled. Xin looked up at him, straight faced and wide eyed, and took another swig of whiskey. “Oh jeez, you’re going to tell me its zombies aren’t you?”

  “Well, at the moment ‘zombie’ is probably as good a word as any to describe them, but I don’t know enough to tell you exactly what they are...” When Xin looked up, he realised that his jaw had dropped and quickly composed himself. He pulled a small plastic chair over and sat down heavily.

  “Wow,” Was all he could say. Usually he would have asked if this was some kind of joke, but it was evident from her face that it wasn’t.

  “Just so you know, I’m not an agent.” She looked up and Pete nodded at her to continue. “I’m a microbiologist. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that I have all the answers to explain as much as you’ll probably want to know. To put it bluntly, all I know is that there have been some ongoing investigations into alien life forms at the Area 51 military base. Something’s gone seriously wrong with some of the experiments though, and there was a security failure...” She was beginning to just let the words come pouring out and Pete was still trying to digest the ‘zombies’ part when Area 51 and aliens were thrown into the mix.

  “Wait, aliens are real too?” He questioned.

  “Yes,” Xin confirmed.

  He watched Xin drain her glass and swallowed a mouthful of his own.

  “Okay, go on then I’m listening.”

  “Well, back in the sixties speculation was growing about the goings on around here. A lot of the sightings and such were actually due to CIA activity, but I’m sure you’ve heard the conspiracy theories about aliens crash landing and the government taking them off to Area 51 and so on.” She looked at him questioningly.

  “Sure, like the ‘alien autopsy’ video that surfaced in the nineties,” Pete nodded.

  “Yes, exactly. Only this wasn’t a hoax. The cover up was good enough, in so far as nothing more ever came of it, and people stopped going on about it. But it’s out there now and some people don’t fall for the lies.”

  “So, is it all true then? The crash in New Mexico was real?” Pete asked.

  “Parts of it are. Roswell was a landing site, but it wasn’t a crash. The spacecraft wasn’t destroyed until after an armed unit had blown it up. The alien wasn’t dead when they found it either. Although, I heard they tried pretty hard to change that.”

  “So, aliens land and they...whoever I mean by they, send the army out to attack? Had it attacked anyone?” Pete was taking the news much better than Xin had expected. If he could manage to still be asking logical questions now, she was pretty sure he could cope with the rest.

  “Not as far as I know, but the powers that be don’t always stick to the protocols you would expect of them.”

  “Okay, so you said they tried to kill it. Why wasn’t it dead?” Pete fought internally to block out the flood of sci-fi movies that were trying to replay in his head.

  “It couldn’t die,” Xin stated simply.

  “I see.” Pete scratched his head thoughtfully, “and naturally this would be of great curiosity to government research bodies,” Pete said, rolling his eyes.

  “Exactly, but that’s where my knowledge diminishes. I know they found something and I know there were experiments. This was all top secret of course. Somebody like me wouldn’t just be given this information but I was being sent out to examine some kind of bonded protein cells. My conclusion would be that they found some kind of cellular extract in the alien that bonded efficiently with human protein cells, creating some kind of hybrid.”

  “Right, so wading through all the science,” he said with an apologetic look. “You’re basically saying that they mixed alien bits with human bits and made zombies?”

  “Yes and no. It was hinted to me that they weren’t the only experiments, and I doubt that just splicing the two would have such an effect. But honestly, I doubt there are any records of what happened anymore. At this stage there will be another cover up under way and they will have been destroyed.” Xin sighed and Pete watched as she scooped back the hair that was hanging around her face, and tied it up with a hair band that she had around her wrist.

  “Okay, and we come into all of this, where exactly?” Pete asked earnestly.

  “My bosses told me not to carry on to America, but I have to go and see what’s left and what I can do. That’s why I’m here. I guess I start by examining one of the infected...” Before she finished, Pete cut in.

  “So, you expect to take all this on by yourself? Are you insane? No way am I going to let you try to fix all of this single-handedly.” He was outraged, not at her but at the idea that something so big could fall onto the shoulders of this one woman.

  “Are you saying... you’ll help me?” She asked hesitantly.

  “I guess I am. Yeah,” He said it confidently. He wasn’t guessing at all. He was totally sure that he wasn’t going to stand by and let Xin fight her way through, what was sure to be, one hell of a battle. He definitely wouldn’t let her do it all alone. “So, we’re going to be the ones who would get everyone shouting at their television screens if this was a film? The crazy bastards who go right into the middle of it all looking for the monsters?” He laughed.

  “Are you always so happy in the face of a crisis?” Xin asked, smiling despite herself.

  “You bet. If I’m going to get my brains eaten, then I’m at least going to make some jokes about it before hand,” he smiled, but when she looked away he downed the last of his alcohol in one swig.

  Pete and Xin were just starting to float some ideas around, when a mobile phone buzzed. Pete reached for his own pocket, as Xin pulled out her phone.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed. When she read the message her heart swelled. “I know it’s a big risk, especially since we don’t know how bad it is already. But I think we may need to wait until this evening to do anything. The message was delayed. Looking at the time stamp on the message, this was sent hours ago, but it says that my boss is coming. He’s bringing something important too. We could use all the help we can get.” She looked up at Pete with wide eyes and they both wondered what the, ‘something important,’ could be.

  As it was just a little before dinner time, the two decided to head down to the hotel restaurant for something to eat. Although neither had noticed, they were both ravenously hungry and chatted amicably as they ate. Pete listened as Xin told him about Dr Yuan. He thought that the guy sounded nice enough and she obviously thought highly of him. However, a part of Pete wondered, what kind of person would have just left her to head out into such danger with no argument at all? Pretty soon the subject moved on and Xin was talking about her family. She told him about her father, who had loved her dearly but sadly passed away just a few years ago, and how she regretted that he hadn’t lived to see her receive her doctorate. She told him about her mother, who had moved away to California last year and how she wished their relationship had been better. Before this Xin had hoped to visit her, once she had finished her work in Nevada.

  He found that he liked hearing her tell him about herself and learning more about her. They seemed to have a connection and he felt that they could quickly become good friends.

  “Could I ask you something?” she asked tentatively.

  He didn’t word a reply but sat back
in his chair, smiling, and spread his arms wide in a gesture that told her to ask away.

  “When we were talking on the plane, you said you don’t have a wife or kids, but you said ‘not anymore’? I understand if it’s something you don’t want to talk about...”

  “It’s fine,” he said, still smiling but sadly now. “I did have a wife, Marie. I had a daughter called Jessica too. We had a house in the same town I was born in, in Australia. Jessica was four years old. One night a friend called me quite late in the evening and told me his car had broken down. I’m a pretty good mechanic; I’d always watched my brother work on cars when I was younger. So, I headed out to help him. While I was out, some kids in the neighbourhood were drinking and smoking in the woods behind our house. The police said that the fire started from a dropped cigarette butt. It was so dry at that time of year that the whole place went up. A lot of houses in the neighbourhood were affected, but they all had the time to get out. The fire was directly behind my house. Maria and Jessica probably didn’t wake up until the flames were already licking at the doors...” A single tear rolled down his cheek and Xin reached out and placed her hand on his.

  “Oh no, Pete. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m so sorry,” She apologized.

  “No, its fine,” he said, composing himself quickly. He didn’t go on, but he didn’t need to. Instead they talked about other things; their work, their interests and hobbies. They discovered that they had similar tastes and that they shared opinions. Soon enough, they were laughing again and Pete was glad that he had told her.

  They seemed to forget about the impending danger as they sat there, but were quickly reminded of it when they heard a loud crash of breaking glass and shouting coming from the reception. The atmosphere that had been so relaxed and easy going just five minutes ago, became tense and unsure. People were looking at each other questioningly and the bar staff were hurrying towards the lobby. There was more shouting and people began to leave their tables to go and investigate the noise themselves.

  “Here we go again,” Pete sighed, getting up from his seat. “We should see what’s going on.”

  Xin stood up and followed him towards the double doors that led out into the reception. Mentally, she chastised herself for becoming distracted from her objective. She had come here with the intention of scoping out the situation and so far had done nothing.

  Pete followed the growing crowd into the lobby and saw that the smashing sound, had in fact, been the glass front of the hotel breaking under the impact of a car colliding with it. The car was now a crumpled, mangled mess that was wedged half inside the building and folded around one of its metal supports. It took only a quick glance towards the driver’s side of the car to know that the woman who had ploughed into the building was infected. Her hair was a dirty blonde and hung in ratty tails across her face. Although her face was covered in blood and dirt, Pete could see the snarl curling her lips. She struggled in frustration, trying to get out of the car and lunge for the nearest spectator. The crumpled door did not want to budge under her attempts. Judging from the wreckage, if it did give in to her struggles, then her legs would be trapped anyway. Even so, this did not reassure Pete and Xin. There were people rushing around, trying to figure out the best way to get the woman out.

  “What shall we do?” Asked Xin.

  “I’m thinking,” Pete responded. It was almost possible to see the cogs working away inside his head.

  “Okay, well in about five minutes that’s not going to help us anymore,” Xin said, pointing to a group of staff members who were striding towards the car. The manager was leading them with a crowbar in his hand.

  “We can’t let them do that,” Pete said, shaking his head. Acting on impulse, he quickly pushed his way through the crowd and placed himself between the car and the approaching posse.

  “Please Sir, stand aside. We have this situation under control...” The beak-nosed manager warned Pete dismissively.

  “I’m sorry, but you haven’t. Not if you’re intending to use that crowbar on the car door,” Pete said calmly.

  “Excuse me?” The manager spluttered indignantly. “There is a woman in that car that needs help. Step aside and let us deal with this.”

  “Listen buddy, there’s gonna be a whole lot more to deal with if you go barging in there with that.” He inclined his head toward the crowbar.

  “And who are you, exactly, to be telling me what to do?” He asked pompously. The manager flicked his head to dislodge a stray lock of slick, black hair that had fallen over his forehead.

  Pete’s temper was gradually rising. His frustration was not eased by the self-righteous glare of this idiot. He took a step towards the manager but felt Xin’s hand close around his arm. She had found it harder to struggle through the crowd with her petite build. The time it had taken her, combined with Pete’s stalling, had given her time to think of a plan. Pete watched the manager’s face visibly soften as Xin smiled at him.

  “Please, excuse my friend. He is right though... I’m a doctor you see,” Xin added, before anybody could argue. It wasn’t technically a lie; she just wasn’t the right kind of doctor for this situation. “If you move anything, there is a great chance that you could do more harm than good. I trust that somebody has already called the emergency services?” She asked, trying to sound authoritative.

  “Oh, yes of course. They are on their way right now. Would you take a look at her?” The manager asked.

  Xin exchanged a nervous look with Pete. Reluctantly, she agreed and directed the staff to disperse the crowd. As they hurried off, she whispered to Pete.

  “We have to do something...” Xin hoped that she had said it meaningfully enough that he would understand her line of thought.

  “Yes. When the services get here all hell will break loose if she’s alive to bite anyone... but we can’t kill her. Think of how that idiot would react.” Pete rolled his eyes.

  “What if the car happened to... blow up?” Xin said innocently, keeping her voice low.

  “That might work. We can only make that happen if there’s a fuel leak though.” Pete turned towards the wreck, where the woman was now leaning through the shattered windshield and trying to claw her way over the bonnet. There was smoke coming from under the hood and thankfully, a slowly forming pool of fuel. He pointed it out to Xin, who nodded thoughtfully.

  “Alright, you go and distract anyone else that is still milling around...” She started.

  “I think I should do it, Xin. It’s dangerous. If you’re too close when it goes up, you’re going to be hurt,” Pete said.

  “Yes, but I’m the doctor. I’m the one who is meant to be helping her. How will it look if you approach the car? We don’t have time for this,” She argued. In the background, as if to back up her statement, was the distant sound of sirens.

  “Okay, just be careful,” Pete said with resignation. A frown creased his forehead, displaying his displeasure at the whole idea. Without another word, he tucked a book of matches into her palm. Xin curled her fingers around them and nodded once.

  The lobby was big. Big enough, he hoped, that the explosion would not cause more problems than it solved. Pete lured the remaining receptionist away, making up a tale about somebody fainting.

  Xin hesitantly made her way towards the vehicle. The scratched silver paintwork still caught the afternoon sun light and glinted in her eyes. She squinted against it, shielding her eyes with her hand. The twisted creature that was trapped inside of the car, watched angrily as Xin drew closer.

  “Alright, let’s do this,” Xin said to herself. She looked around, checking that she was not being watched. Feeling only the gleaming eyes of the thrashing woman upon her, Xin struck one of the matches and let it fall to the ground.

  When Pete looked over his shoulder, he saw Xin running from the car. A burst of fire mushroomed outwards. Even from where he stood, Pete could see the zombie. Somehow, it had managed to pull itself over the steering wheel. He watched as the zombie was sent reeli
ng in the blast. The broken shards of windscreen speared her head as she jerked backwards. He saw splatters of gore burst out from the impact and her face mutated in anger. A secondary explosion jarred her further and the light left her eyes. She grew still, just as the scene was engulfed with leaping flames.

  The force of the blast knocked Xin from her feet and she sailed forwards. Pete rushed to her immediately, leaving the confused receptionist stood staring at the scene that was unfolding. As the fire alarm and sprinklers started up, Pete knelt beside Xin.

  “Are you alright?” He fussed.

  Xin was slightly dazed. She couldn’t remember how she had ended up on the cold marble floor and her head was ringing.

  “I think I banged my head,” She moaned, raising a hand to touch it. “Ouch! My elbow too, by the feel of it!” Pain jolted through her arm as she flexed it.

  “Let’s get you up and get out of here,” Pete decided, offering a hand to help her to her feet. Xin took it and shakily found her feet.

  In the ensuing chaos that erupted, they managed to sneak back to their rooms. They decided it was probably best for them to leave right away. The emergency services would eventually discover the match and suspicion could fall upon them. The last thing they needed was to be investigated. Not only could they accuse her of starting the fire, but the police could still be on the lookout for a rebel scientist. So, in order to avoid arrest, they hastily recovered the cases they hadn’t had time to unpack, and left without being seen. They made their escape through a fire door and found themselves outside in the car park.

  4.

  ‘Frank Burton is my name. My friends all used to call me ‘Captain’. It’s not an official title but I am a qualified pilot. What seems like a long time ago now, I flew for all of the popular airlines. But I did some things that I’m not exactly proud of and I lost my reputation as a commercial pilot. I started to take the odd contracted jobs from wherever I could get them. I was contacted by ZanChai Pharmaceuticals, at very short notice, to take a client out to America. I needed the money, so I left the squalor of my apartment and my lonely TV meal for one and headed out. I remember the flying conditions were great that night. The flight went smoothly; it was just the landing that caused the problems...’