by Gayle Katz
Kelly comes down the stairs and sees the big box.
“What’s all this?” she asks.
“It’s evidence that Chris’s boss sent him.” I stoop down to hoist it up again. Jack stops me and takes it off my hands.
“Are you sure? I can handle it.” I assure him.
“I know, but I’m feeling better.” Jack smiles again.
“You’re the boss.”
“Yeah. Uh-huh.” He winks.
We follow Kelly and Chris into the living room. Chris carefully sets the briefcase down on the coffee table. He turns around and takes the box from Jack.
“This is everything we need to end this zombie problem and prove I’m innocent. Do you have a laptop we can borrow? We need to see what’s on these things,” Chris says as he reaches into the box and holds up a bunch of storage devices.
“Yeah. Gimme a minute.” She returns quickly with a computer.
Before popping in the first flash drive, Chris asks, “Where’s your husband?”
“Being held without bail right now in the state police station. Why do you ask?”
“Well, we have to trust someone with this information and I honestly have no idea who to trust anymore. I’m wondering if you trust the police.”
“I think so.”
“Do you have a copy machine here?”
“Yes, upstairs in Marc’s home office. Why do you need it?”
“Because we’re gonna make copies of all the evidence and hide it somewhere. In the event we’re wrong and we can’t trust these people, at least we’ll still have the evidence.”
“Sure. Got it.” Kelly agrees.
“And there’s something else,” Chris tells her.
“What else?”
Chris turns to the briefcase on the coffee table and puts his hands on it.
“Inside this case is the live zombie virus and its cure as well as a mutated strain of the virus.”
“Wh—Why did you bring them here?” She recoils from the case.
“Because we want you to make the cure and then destroy the virus. Can you do that?” Chris explains the final, most important task before them.
“I don’t know. I’m gonna need a mass spectrometer to see what makes up the cure.”
“I can do better than that. I have the recipe for the cure.” Chris opens the file on the computer.
“Recipe?” Kelly raises an eyebrow.
“I don’t know what else to call it. Sorry. Can you do it?”
She hovers over his shoulder and studies the intricate chemical composition closely. “I believe so, but not here. We’re gonna have to go back to the lab. First, we still need the mass spec to confirm the composition is accurate. Second, it’s not safe here do to this type of work. If we have a problem, there’s no containment and we’ll all be screwed.”
;I add my two cents to the conversation, “If this works, I think we should call all the media outlets and multiple police stations just to be on the safe side. We have a list of people who’re involved in this zombie conspiracy, but there may be other people involved who aren’t mentioned. I just want to be prepared for anything.”
Jack rallies us for one more ride, “OK. So what are we waiting for? Grab everything and let’s go.”
Kelly grabs the case.
“And please be careful with that case. If you knock it around or it falls, we’re gonna have problems,” Chris says.
We pile back in the car. Rocky hops in too.
“I’m not sure Rocky can come with. We’re going to a research lab and dogs... well... aren’t the most sanitary. Hell, some people aren’t even allowed in,” Kelly says.
I turn to Rocky and say, “I’m sorry, boy. You’re gonna have to stay here, OK?” I get out of the car with Rocky and take him back into the house.
“We’ll be back as soon as possible.” I stoop down to pet him and he licks my face. As I walk away from him, I hear him whimpering.
***
Back in the car, Kelly is driving and Liz is in the front seat. Chris, Jack and I are in the back seat since we’re the ones in hot water and we certainly don’t want to attract any unwanted attention. Julie is also with us since we couldn’t leave a toddler home alone, even with a brave dog protector. It’s definitely a full house in the car.
When we hit the security checkpoint for the lab, Kelly chats up the guard and is able to get us inside.
As we exit the vehicle, Kelly turns to us.
“How’s everyone doing?” She’s clearly nervous.
“Fine for the moment. Point the way,” Jack responds.
The five of us get into her husband’s building again and walk toward the elevator. We’re heading back to her husband’s office lab. When we get to the office door, all is quiet except for the bright yellow tape screaming at us, CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS.
We slip through the tape and head toward Marc’s office. Once there, we find what looks like a fully functional research lab. And even after being out of the industry for a while, Kelly manages to hop back into it quickly. While reviewing the cure equations, she also takes a sample of the cure for the mass spectrometer to analyze. Her reasoning is to make sure the recipe is accurate. I don’t blame her.
Anxious to have a cure, I engage Kelly and Liz in conversation. “How long is this gonna take? Just curious.”
“We want to get this right. We can’t afford to rush it and get something wrong. Don’t worry. The mass spec will be done analyzing the cure in a couple of hours.” Kelly assures us.
“OK.”
Liz glances at me. “You look tired. When was the last time you got any sleep? Why not take a power nap?”
“I can’t sleep until this is over and Jack is better,” I yawn. I sit down and prop my head up with my hands. My eyelids are getting heavy.
***
I must have dozed off. Suddenly, Chris wakes me. “Jane. Naptime is over. Kelly’s re-created the cure.”
“Where’s Jack?” I sit up quickly, looking around for him.
“We have him laying on the table ready to go, but we wanted to run it by you first.”
“What did he say?”
“He’s up for it.”
“OK.”
“We’re gonna strap him down, though, since we don’t know what to expect. We hope this neutralizes the virus, but we can’t be sure until we test it.”
I get up and walk over to Jack, restrained on the table, Kelly talking to him. I get to his side and grab his hand. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You need the sleep.”
“True, but it’s more important that I’m by your side. I’m the one who did this to you. I should be with you to help you through it.” I touch his hand.
“It’s not your fault,” he replies, gripping my hand tight. “I keep telling you that.”
“Ready?” Kelly asks us.
I look at Jack.
“Yes. I’m ready. Let’s do it.” Jack squeezes my hand.
With Chris and Liz watching, Kelly nods and prepares to inject Jack with her new concoction. She punctures his skin and pushes the plunger down on the injector. What we’re calling the cure shoots into his body.
“How do you feel?” I ask him.
“Um. A little hot and sweaty, but OK.” His voice is confident.
“That’s to be expected. Your body’s fighting off the virus. It’s gonna be a heated battle so be prepared.” Kelly warns him.
“I feel it already.”
“You might pass out because of the stress on your body, but that’s normal and nothing to be afraid of.” Kelly discusses potential side effects.
“Uh-huh. How long will it take?” I ask.
“I’m not sure.” She confesses.
“How do we know it works?” Chris asks.
Kelly shrugs, “I’m really not sure about that either. My gut tells me Jack will know first. He’ll start to feel better, but we have to wait and see.”
I kiss his hand, still firmly clasped in mine. “I love y
ou, Jack. Everything is going to be OK. You’re going to be fine. Just be strong.”
Jack closes his eyes.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” I fear the worst.
Kelly checks his vitals. “He’s fine. Don’t worry. Like I said before, his body is fighting the sickness inside of him. Let him rest.”
Chris puts his hand on my shoulder to reassure me.
“Kelly, once we know the cure works, we have to produce more and push it out to everyone in need. Until then, we must destroy the virus and the mutation. It can’t fall into the wrong hands. We can’t let it ever spread again. How do we do kill it?” I ask.
“That’s a tough one. I guess the only way we could destroy the virus may be to insert the sample into the autoclave and hope that there’s enough heat to rupture the cell membranes. That would make the virus inert.”
“In English please.”
“We’re gonna turn up the heat and sterilize it.”
“You can do that?”
“Well this machine here can.”
“OK. Do it.”
I go back to Jack to see how he’s doing. He’s still passed out, but he’s breathing and he’s got the color back in his skin. I slip my fingers into his hand and I feel them move. I look up and see Jack opening his eyes.
“Jack!”
“Hey, Beautiful.”
“How do you feel?”
“Amazing. I feel like I’ve gotten the best sleep of my life.”
I lean over and kiss him. I can feel him kissing me back, but then he interrupts our moment.
“Uh. Can you untie me? I’d like to participate more in this kiss. That is if you don’t mind,” he jokes.
“One second.”
I run over to the others and grab Kelly.
“He’s up and feeling much better. Can we remove the restraints?”
Kelly comes back to observe Jack.
“He does look much better. How encouraging! Yes, take off the straps and let’s get him moving around.”
We each take a strap and undo it. Seconds later, Jack jumps off the table. He’s in my arms and life just got that much better.
“Your turn,” he says to me. “You’ve had some relapses too. We know it works. Kelly?”
“Sure thing. Why don’t you lie down? It’ll be easier that way.”
“Uh. Um. Sure. OK.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be here the entire time. When you wake up, I’ll be the first thing you see.” Jack smiles.
I nod and take Jack’s place on the table. I’m nervous, but try to relax. As I look up, I concentrate on Jack’s handsome face. He holds my hand as Kelly loads another shot into her syringe and changes the needle.
“This might hurt for a second or two, but then it’ll subside. Just like Jack, you might lose consciousness because the cure here is pretty powerful stuff.”
“You’ll be fine,” Jack says.
“OK. I’m ready. Go ahead. Do it.”
After giving permission, Kelly injects me with the new concoction. Immediately, I feel a warming sensation moving throughout my body. I start to sweat. “Jack!”
He squeezes my hand. “You’re doing fine. Everything will be OK. You believe me, right?”
“Yes. I do.”
“If you pass out, don’t worry. I’ll be right here by your side the entire time.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“How is she doing?” Kelly’s voice sounds distant.
“Fine. I think. How long was I out for?” I hear Jack's voice fading, like I’m falling down a well.
“About an hour...” And that’s all I hear.
***
There’s that utterly revolting zombie stench again. It’s overpowering. I can’t breath without choking on it.
“You stink!” I hear someone say.
I stand up and look around, but I can’t see anyone. Jack isn’t here. I’m alone or so it seems. I guess my eyesight is still a little shoddy. Maybe I’m dreaming? No matter, though. My senses will get better now that I have the real cure swirling inside of me.
“I can hear your thoughts, Jane. You’ll never get rid of me no matter what magic potion they inject into you.” My Professor jumps out of the darkness and startles me. “I’ll always be in here.” He walks over and taps my head.
“Get away from me!” I push his hand off me.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”
“This is a dream. You’re dead!”
“No. You have it all wrong. I’m still very much alive inside of you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m a part of you and you’re a part of me. We’re intertwined.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. Stop fighting me and open your mind. This zombie sickness was born from you and your blood. It’ll always be a part of you, just like me.” He quickly reaches out and grabs my hand. I try to pull away, but he holds on tight.
“Let go!”
He smiles.
“See!” he says. I look down at our connection. “The cure is no match for the sickness!”
He continues to grasp my hand with his infected limb. As he holds on tight, I see the zombie virus that attacked him jump over to my hand, infecting me again. Once he sees the sickness travel into me, he lets go. I fall to the floor.
“No! Why are you doing this to me?” The sickness continues to travel up my arm turning my skin into a bloody, grotesque appendage. I wave my arm around trying to get it off me, but it’s already attached, taken hold.
“Doing this to you? My darling, this power is a gift. You’re trying to eradicate it when you should be embracing it.”
“Embracing it? What the hell are you talking about? The sickness turns people into ghouls and robs them of their lives.”
“For other people—maybe, but you can control it. You can control them, but you have to stop fighting it. Give in to the sickness. Give yourself over.”
The Professor comes closer and tries to kiss me on the lips. I turn my head, but he still manages to kiss my cheek. The moment we touch, the sickness finds another point of entry into me and starts to convert me into the zombie I’ve been fighting off.
“You can’t stop it now. You have no choice. Embrace your power!”
Crying and breathing erratically, I see the sickness starting to envelop my entire body.
I can’t let this happen. Jack and I have come too far to let my dead Professor come between us. I stop crying and can feel my blood boiling as I look at my Professor standing in front of me.
“There you go! Embrace it!”
“No!” I shout. Turning my fear into strength, this imaginary world disappears.
***
My eyes pop open. I’m looking at the ceiling. I turn my head and see Jack jump from his chair to greet me.
“Welcome back, Beautiful. You looked like you were having one hell of a dream. How do you feel?”
“Better, but really tired. How long was I out?”
“A little over an hour. That’s all. I’m glad you came back to us.”
“What do you mean?”
“After we injected you with the cure, you seemed to respond to it, but then it looked like we were losing you for some reason. Kelly couldn’t explain it. This cure is new, experimental. She doesn’t know all the side effects just yet. I just hoped and prayed that I wouldn’t lose you.” He reaches out to grab my hand.
As I sit up, I see Kelly, Liz, and Chris come over.
“Can you tell us what happened while you were out?” Kelly asks.
“I’m not sure.”
“You looked like you were having a nightmare, but we didn’t want to wake you. The cure isn’t easy to stomach, so we wanted to give it time to work.”
“It was a nightmare alright. So am I zombie free now? Is the sickness gone?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“Jack seems to be fine. Right?”
&nb
sp; “Yep. I feel pretty good,” Jack says.
“Chances are you’re both back to being completely human again. Congratulations!” Kelly confirms.
“Finally! It’s about time,” I exclaim.
“How does it feel?” Chris asks.
“Good. Strange. Thank god we can stop the sports drinks. I can’t stand them.”
“Ha. Yeah. They’re an acquired taste, I guess,” Jack says.
“OK. We’ve proven we have a viable cure. Now, what’s the plan?” Kelly says.
“We’ve gotta alert all of the larger media outlets. The truth has got to come out. We have so many lives to save,” Chris adds.
“You know we’ve broken a bunch of laws in order to get this far, right?” I remind them.
“I know. I knew that from the jump.” Chris agrees. “And you know there might be consequences.”
“If doing the right thing has consequences, then bring ’em on. I think the people keeping the conspiracy going will have a larger price to pay.” Liz points out.
“Who knows? For good or for bad, the media is going to eat this one up.” Jack chuckles.
Chapter 16
________________________________________
Immediately after the story breaks, Chris is reunited with Marie after so many years of being apart. She receives the cure and immediately Chris asks her to marry him. Nothing fancy really, just like ours—it’s a simple ceremony for two people who almost missed their chance to be together.
Marie needs physical therapy to regain her mobility. She lost a lot of it when she was wasting away in that bed for years. She’s making slow, but steady progress.
Chris is recognized for his heroic efforts and rewarded for his dedication to discover the truth. He receives a security advisor appointment to the White House and no jail time.
Kelly’s daughter, Julie, receives the cure and no longer has to endure the rough medications she was forced to take before. Now, she can grow up without worrying about anything, except boys and her studies. Her father, Marc, is a different story. He, along with the rest of those implicated in the conspiracy, go to prison for their actions regarding the zombie outbreak. Once the public at large discovered how they were labeled as pawns and expendable, jail was the only place where it was safe for the people complicit in spreading the zombie sickness.