“Good luck with that Spiderman,” I said sarcastically.
“Do you have a better suggestion?” he challenged.
“Yeah, run as far away as you can.”
“This isn’t going to turn into Mission Impossible,” Dr. Kettering said, “I have a contact on the inside. He is the one who leaked all the information to me about what happened. If we could get inside he can provide us with an ID card that would get us into the lab.”
“So your suggestion is to walk in the front door?” I asked.
“Right now, Breton will have everyone out looking for us. The one place he won’t be looking is at his own building,” he said.
“They know what we look like. You used to work there,” I pointed out.
“That’s why I’m thinking that only one of us goes in while the others keep watch.”
“Don’t look at me,” I said.
He turned to Danny, “The truth is you’re probably the only one they wouldn’t shoot on sight.”
“That’s comforting. I’m sure they’ll let me walk right in,” he said, indicating his clothes. He wore grungy jeans and hooded sweatshirt. He looked like he had been sleeping rough. Maybe he had. I felt a pang of guilt; I shouldn’t judge him on his appearance. I had spent a few nights sleeping in bus shelters with my mom as a kid.
“You could wear a disguise. Go in as a computer tech. I could crash their system so they’ll have to let you in,” I said.
Dr. Kettering raised an eyebrow at me.
“Well if you’re going to do this, you might as well have a fighting chance.”
“It’s a good plan. I could get my guy on the inside to escort you to the server room and pass off the key card.”
I nodded, “If I can tap into their security system, I can tweak their cameras and buy you some time.”
Danny looked back and forth between us, “Hang on, I haven’t said I’ll do it yet.”
An alarm beeped on the wall above the fireplace.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Someone’s coming and I can guess who. We need to get out of here now,” Dr. Kettering said.
“Gene Pharm?” I asked.
He nodded, “Hurry.”
We went into the kitchen and into the garage. A small grey van was parked inside.
“Get in,” the doc ordered, unlocking the van.
Danny climbed into the front seat, so I opened the back doors.
“Wow,” I said when I saw what was inside. The back was decked out with computers and monitoring equipment.
I leaned round the door to look at the doc, “Are you CIA?”
“Get in the van.”
I jumped inside, checking out the hardware. It ranged from an old CB radio to up to date listening equipment. Why did he need all this?
The van moved backwards and I almost fell over. Dr. Kettering screeched out of the garage as I clung to the workstation in the back.
Something struck the back of the van and I threw myself to the floor.
“They’re shooting at us!” Danny yelled from up front.
The van went around a corner and I rolled across the floor. Bullets weren’t going to kill me, his driving was.
This was really happening. I was going to get killed over an email.
Chapter Six
Danny
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I muttered, tugging at the tie around my neck. I looked like a total geek. I wore a shirt and tie, nerd glasses and I was carrying a small tool kit. It was my worst nightmare come true. We were parked a couple of streets away from Gene Pharm HQ and I was about to go in as a computer tech.
“Kill me now,” I muttered.
Jack fixed a button to my tie. It was a smiley face. “What the hell is that?” I asked.
“It’s a camera. So we can see what’s going on,” she explained.
She handed me an earpiece. “This way we can talk to you to.”
“Sure from the safety of your van, while I risk my life.”
“Man up,” she replied.
I scowled at her, easy for her to say.
She had already crashed the computers in the building. A relayed call had come in a few minutes later and we had promised to send a tech straight away. Now I was waiting.
“What if someone asks me a computer question?” I asked.
“If they knew about computers they wouldn’t call you in.”
The doc was staring at his watch, “That’s enough time. Go on in.”
I got out of the van, clutching the tool kit tightly. This was never going to work. I was going to get recognized straight away and then they were going to shoot me or experiment on me. Maybe I could just run now. Disappear. It couldn’t be that hard.
“Don’t screw this up,” Jack said in my ear and I nearly had a heart attack. Clutching my chest, I bent over trying to get my breathing under control.
“Nice one, genius,” she said, “If you do that inside, you might as well let them lock you up then and there.”
I straightened up. She was really pissing me off, “I can do this!” I snapped.
Marching towards the building, I was determined not to look like a chicken in front of her.
As I stepped into the lobby, my heart rate sped up. I walked slowly towards the reception desk, where two guards sat in front of a display of monitors. Both of them looked like wrestlers.
The lobby had marble floors and a huge metal sculpture sat in the middle with the Gene Pharm logo on it. A globe with Gene Pharm embossed on it. Their full name was Global Gene Pharmaceuticals, but everyone shortened it to Gene Pharm. They started out as a small company, but now they were a global brand. They had their fingers in a lot of pies.
“Hello,” I said. My voice came out as a squeak. Clearing my throat, I tried again, “I was told there was a problem with your computers?”
One of the guards pushed a clipboard towards me, “Sign in here.”
I scribbled the first name that came into my head. The other guard stood up. He was at least six three and looked like he could crush me with one hand. He pointed to the computer in front of him.
“The computers started acting up about a half hour ago. It’s probably a virus or a malware problem.”
I stared at him blankly.
“Oh God,” Jack said in my ear, “Quick say something techy!”
“Uh, may the force be with you?”
The guards face creased in confusion, “What?”
“I said techy not trekkie and that was still wrong,” Jack hissed.
“It’s, uh, hard to say. I need to see the server room.”
The guard looked at his colleague as they sized me up. Damn, I was blowing this big time.
“Sorry, late night last night. Sci-fi marathon. Still not really awake. Can I see the server room?” I said.
“I can take him, I’m heading that way,” someone said. I turned to find a young guy, not much older than me, dressed in a lab coat. I hoped he was the doc’s contact.
The guard nodded and I hurried after the lab coat guy.
He led me up two flights of stairs to a hallway. We stopped outside the server room, “Here it is,” he said. He passed an ID card to me.
“Go inside, count to sixty, then head down the hall to room 108. That’s the lab. You’re looking for a vial marked x01.”
He walked away before I could ask him anymore questions. I went inside the server room and started counting.
“The cameras are down, go!” Jack said, making me jump again. I wrenched open the door and hurried down the hall looking for room 108.
I found it at the far end, and after swiping the ID card, I went in. It was an office, but another door lead off it into the lab. As I went to open the door, someone pushed it from the other side. In a panic, I threw myself behind one of the desks. Cowering on all fours, I peeked around the side.
Another lab coat appeared this one a woman. She was staring at a clipboard in her hands and hadn’t seen me. She left the office.
I leapt up and swiped the card again at the lab door. Nothing happened. I tried again.
“Oh, God, it’s not working,” I said.
“You have it facing the wrong way,” Jack replied.
“Oh.”
I turned the card over and swiped it. The door buzzed and unlocked and I went inside.
I blinked against the bright lights. The room was lined with fridges. There were hundreds of vials in them.
I opened the first door and started sifting through them, going as fast as I could.
“Danny?” the doc said in my ear, “Some of those are extremely lethal, please be more careful.”
I slowed down, terrified one would break. In the third fridge I finally found the x01.
“Uh, guys. There isn’t just one vial here.” I moved the camera up so they could see that there were at least a dozen vials of x01.
“I didn’t think there would be so many,” the doc said. “Bring them all.”
Was he crazy?
“Find a cooler and put them inside.”
I did as he said, moving slowly. I knew what this stuff could do. I zipped up the cooler and left the lab. I listened at the office door for anyone on the other side. When I heard nothing, I slipped out into the hall.
“Danny, I’m going to create a distraction so that you can get out. I’ll set off the fire alarm. Head down the back stairs and out into the parking lot.”
“Got it,” I said. Thank God, she told me about the alarm before setting it off or I would have had a meltdown.
There were voices down the hall, I ducked into a doorway. Two men walked by in suits.
“Are the infected ready for transportation to Trinity?” one of them asked.
“Yes, the trucks are ready. Your helicopter is standing by to take you there, Mr. Breton.”
So that was Breton. Infected? The people from the train?
A few seconds later, the alarm went off. I made a run for it to the stairs. Racing down them, I reached the parking lot and ran back for the main road.
I leapt into the van, “Go!”
The doc was behind the wheel and drove away. “Did you get them?” he called.
I held up the cooler. “Got them.”
Jack looked slightly impressed, “Nice job,” she said.
I grinned, “Piece of cake.” Now if I could only get my heart to slow down.
Chapter Seven
Danny
The doc parked the van in a parking lot and came into the back. He took the cooler from me and opened it. Removing one of the vials, he held it up to the light.
“What are you going to do with it,” I asked.
“We’ll use it to prove our story,” he said.
“Yeah, but you don’t need all of it. Isn’t it dangerous to leave lying around?”
He looked distracted, “Yes, I just need to do some tests.”
I left him to it and sat up front with Jack. She had her laptop opened and was playing a game on it.
“Is that World of Warcraft?” I asked.
She closed the laptop, “Maybe, why?”
I shrugged, “No reason. It’s a good game.”
“You play?”
“Oh yes, I play all the time up in my mansion. Right before I have my butler bring me my champagne and caviar.”
She rolled her eyes at me and scowled.
“I’m starving. Do you think we could order a pizza?” I asked. I could really go for a pepperoni and mushroom right now. When I scored some cash, I would usually buy myself a slice from a vendor I knew. My mouth began to water at the thought of it.
The look Jack gave me suggested the answer was no. She pulled out a power bar from her bag and tossed it to me. It wasn’t much, but who was I to complain. I wondered what else she had in there. I carried my whole life in one backpack and it looked like she did the same.
“So do you live alone?” I asked her.
“Yeah I do. I don’t have much family.”
“I know the feeling.”
“Do you…do you have a home?” she asked.
I felt my cheeks heat up. It wasn’t something you wanted to admit to anyone. Hey I’m a homeless loser.
I forced a smile, “Right now I live a drifter’s life. I go wherever the wind blows me.”
There was a look of pity on her face that angered me. I didn’t need it, I did all right for myself. How many nineteen year olds could say they were self-reliant? None of those jerks I went to school with, that was for damn sure. No doubt they all still lived at home having Mommy wait on them hand and foot or in a dorm room at some over privileged school. I shook it off.
What would our next step would be, now that we had the virus? I know the doc planned on using it to blackmail this dude Breton, but wouldn’t he be better off going public? We could sell our stories to the tabloids and make a fortune. Breton wouldn’t dare touch us or he would risk being exposed.
I glanced back at the doc. He had been examining the vial with his instruments. Now I watched in horror as he took the stopper from the vial.
“What are you doing?” I yelled.
He was going to expose us to the virus. He tipped the vial into the floor. I quickly covered my mouth. Jack did the same, her brown eyes wide in terror.
“It’s water,” he said.
“What?” I cried.
“It’s water. This isn’t the virus, we were tricked. They knew someone would come for it, so they put this in its place. I knew something wasn’t right. It was far too easy to get in. And they would have kept the x01 under much better security.”
“So that was a waste of time?” I had risked my ass for nothing.
“Why didn’t they bust us then?” Jack asked.
“We need to get out of here, now. They might have followed us,” the doc said. He quickly threw some things into a bag. We abandoned the van and set out on foot, back into the city. I didn’t like being out in the open. It felt too exposed. We moved fast, watching for any sign of Gene Pharm.
“What are we going to do now? If we don’t have the proof?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know,” the doc said.
“Uh, I heard that Breton guy talking back at the building. He said something about taking the infected to a place called Trinity.”
“Trinity? There’s a lab there. If the x01 is anywhere, it’s there,” the doc said.
“Somehow I don’t think they’re going to fall for the tech support ploy twice,” Jack said.
“We don’t have to. I was there when the place was built. I know a way in.”
“So we’re just supposed to take a road trip?” I asked, “Then what? Are we supposed to just put our lives on hold? This isn’t fair.”
“I’m sorry you both got caught up in this, but if you want to be safe, you will have to work with me.”
We looked at each other. He was right. He was our best shot.
Jack sighed, “Where the hell is Trinity anyway?”
*
Candace
“We’ll be there soon, Marcus. Just as soon as my driver learns how to read a map!” I yelled the last few words to make sure Patrick could hear me.
We were out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by lots and lots of sand.
“...need you to...”
“Marcus? You’re breaking up.”
I pulled the phone away from my ear. No service flashed up on screen as my call disconnected.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I screeched.
This was turning into the worst day ever.
The bus ground to a halt and I had to dig deep to keep myself from losing it completely.
“What now?” I said through gritted teeth.
“I think it overheated,” Patrick said. He opened the doors and stepped outside to check.
Of course this had to happen here and now. It couldn’t have happened when we were back in the city, or near a gas station. No, that would have been too easy.
I threw my phone down on the seat
and drank the last of my water. The plan had been to stock up at the next stop.
Patrick got back on, “I’m going to have to find a garage.”
“Where?” I asked.
“We passed a sign a few miles back. There’s a town not far from here called Trinity.”
I had never heard of it. It was probably some backwater crap hole full of inbreeds.
“How far?”
He shrugged, “Maybe a couple of miles. I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait, I’m not staying out here. We’re out of water.” It would take twice as long if I had to wait on him coming back and to be honest I couldn’t take this bus any longer. I needed out.
“Then you’ll have to come with me.”
I growled in anger and lifted my sunglasses. The heat hit me the minute I stepped off the bus. It was going to be a long walk.
To distract myself, I switched on the video on my phone. I recorded the desert around us, “Here I am, lost, in the middle of nowhere. If I’m found out here, being eaten by buzzards then please note that it was all my driver’s fault.”
He shot me a glare over his shoulder.
“Maybe I could use that in a song,” I mused, “Lost, in the middle of nowhere, without a prayer.”
I tried to come up with a melody to go with it. I guessed this could be productive after all.
*
Jack
I stared out at the desert terrain, wondering how much longer it was going to take. We had been on the road for nearly a day. Driving was the safest option. I had paid for it with my fake credit card.
Danny lay sprawled out in the back seat, snoring. I sipped at my cold cup of coffee.
We were surrounded by what seemed like a million miles of nothing. No wonder they chose out here to hide a lab.
“Do you want me to drive for a while?” I asked Dr. Kettering.
“I’m okay,” he replied.
He hadn’t said much in the past few hours. I really wanted to boot up my laptop, but there was zero signal around here.
“So why did you have all that equipment in the van?” I asked.
“It started out as a hobby years ago, but it came in useful after I was fired. It was the only way I could know what they were up to.”
After Zombie Series (Book 2): Before Page 5