“I can guess what happened next. We’ve all seen so much death.”
“No, you don’t understand. Something is happening. The biker was bitten, and before his body even hit the ground, he changed. He went after the rest of the bikers before they even realized what happened to him. It was so quick. I’ve never seen the change happen like that. It wasn’t even seconds before...” Her voice trailed off again.
“Well, we’ll be safe once we get back to the cabin, and once you help my Abby, you and she can talk about all of this crap with the other scientist we have, Troy. He’s a bit of an odd duck, but he’s known about the virus long before any of the shit hit the fan.”
“Wait. What? You have someone who studied the virus before the outbreak?” she yelled much more excitedly than I expected.
“Yeah, we do. And, Abby, she studied the virus years ago too. She even had a run-in with the creator of the Perdition Virus. You could say she has a genetic link to all of this.” I regretted my words as soon as they came out of my mouth.
“The Perdition Virus, huh? I’m going to need you to explain that a little more, but first we need to get out of this storm. Look out for those ghouls!”
There was a group of infected milling around in the middle of the road trying not to get blown over by the wind, but the wind was winning. The rain and mud made what was left of the asphalt incredibly slippery. It was like watching grotesque bowling pins fall from an invisible ball. If it wasn’t so dangerous driving a quad in this storm, I’d be laughing my ass off at the undead flopping all over themselves.
Dr. Madison, or Captain Madison, whatever she wanted to be called was trailing close behind us, and even with the storm, we seemed to be making good time, not good enough for me but, beggars can’t be choosers, right? I just hope we make it back in time to help, and that my girls are going to be okay.
I pulled off what was left of the road for the mud trail I had followed to get here. Even in the deluge of rain, I remembered the route back home, and before I knew it, we were pulling up to the fence that surrounded our private eutopia. The gate started opening as soon as we were in view of the cameras. We quickly drove in, and the chain-link closed safely behind. We were greeted by the giant cement wall that surrounded the property and its imposing iron door.
Just as the chain-link clicked closed, giant angry bodies crashed hard against it. The infected had followed us home, and they appeared to be of the newer breed. They thrashed their bodies furiously at the fence for stopping them. They didn’t moan like the undead I was used to dealing with. These screamed as they tore at the metal barrier, trying to get to us. Their eyes were full of frenzied anger, and these infected, they seemed different. Something had definitely changed; something was fundamentally unusual about these new zombies.
It didn’t seem like the chain-link was going to protect us for much longer against these much more aggressive threats, so I was incredibly happy when the iron gate began to open. I knew these things wouldn’t stop until they broke through, and the way they flailed and moved so erratically, that was going to be soon.
I couldn’t let them threaten our home, so I jumped off of the ATV and pulled out my boot knife. I was going to stab them through the chain link, but as I lined up my blade with the face of what used to be a beautiful woman, she stopped clawing at the fence and stared at me. Her eyes only showing the faintest hint of cloudiness or decay. The others that were by her side also froze and stared at me.
It was like I was in a horror movie, more so than on a typical day anyway.
Thankfully this was more of a horror short film than a full-length movie because a small group of deer burst through the trees. The infected quickly changed their focus from me to the deer as they turned and gave chase. The deer noticing the threat headed right for them turned and bound away, but the dead were not far behind them.
I kept my fears of this new behavior to myself as I returned to the quad and got Dr. Nasser inside. I needed to get her to Abby and quickly. I could worry about the evolution of the infected later.
I ran to the steps and into the house with Dr. Nasser and Dr. Madison in tow. I led them into the pantry and down to the hidden surgical suit below ground. Our guest’s faces lit up with wonder as I took them down into the depths of our home, but I didn’t have time to explain the structure or everything we had down here. The focus was on finding out how Abby was doing and getting these doctors in the room with her. We needed their help to deliver the girls safely. I could give them the nickel tour of the compound and all its bells and whistles later.
I burst through the doors, and Doc Bakers looked up at me, then back to the two women behind me.
“It took you long enough,” Doc chided me.
“I’m sorry, there’s kind of a zombie situation outside, but we got here as quickly as possible. Doc Baker, this is Doctor Emily Nasser, and this is, ugh, Captain, or Doctor Lynn Madison.”
Doctor Madison quickly headed to the sink to wash her hands. “Lynn is fine. All you have to know right now is that I’ve delivered babies before, and so has Dr. Nasser. So, let’s get to it. What’s the current status of the patient?”
Apparently, that was good enough for Doc Bakers because she jumped right into the medical jargon. I didn’t understand much of it, but I heard the word stable, and I was happy with that. Abby was still unconscious and hooked up to a bunch of machines, but I could hear both heartbeats from the babies, which also put me at ease.
I was watching the team of three medical professionals wash up and work together when Jasmine started pushing me out of the room.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked her, confused.
“We’re about to cut Abby open and take out the babies. We can handle it, but you don’t need to be here for this. Plus, you were just out in the shit, so you’re covered in muck. Go get a quick shower and change your clothes. By the time you come back, we’ll have these babies out and ready for you to hold,” Jasmine responded, smiling as she pushed me out of the doors.
I could see there was no fighting this. I was being kicked out. I felt a little better now that there was a trained obstetrician in the room at least. I had done everything I could. The rest was out of my hands.
Chapter 7
Christopher Bryant
I took the quickest shower possible and was right back down at the surgical suite doors waiting for any news about Abby and the girls. It felt like I was waiting forever, and then I heard it. The cry of a newborn child. The sound filled me with happiness. Then I heard it again, and I felt tears of joy fill my eyes. The babies were out, and they sounded healthy.
It took everything I had not to rush through the doors and see how the babies and Abby were doing, but I knew if I didn’t like what I saw, I’d just be in the way. I was going to let the medical professionals do their jobs.
Jimmy came down and brought me some coffee. I think he really just wanted to know if there were any updates. There were quite a few people upstairs waiting on news of the birth.
“So, what’s going on, Chris? Did they tell you anything yet?” Jimmy asked, leaning against the wall, trying to act nonchalant.
“No one has come out yet, but I heard the babies crying. That’s a good sign, right?”
Jimmy smiled. “Absolutely, that’s a great sign! So, I hear it’s two girls, huh? We’re going to have our hands full with them if they’re anything like their mother.”
I laughed, imagining two little Abbys running around. “Yeah, talk about too many cooks in the kitchen, am I right? Those girls are going to boss everyone around and be stubborn as hell, just like their mom. I know it.”
“Well, let us know when you hear any news. Everyone is pretty much congregating in the kitchen upstairs since it’s still raining outside,” Jimmy said, turning to leave.
“Hey, Jimmy, is anyone in the security room?”
“Yeah, Tyler, Chase, and Christine are. I think they’re trying to keep busy while waiting to hear the baby
news. Why? What’s up?”
“When I was out with Merv getting the doctors, the infected that were out there seemed to be acting strangely. It’s like they’re changing, evolving even. They followed us up to the gates, and when I went to put them down, they stopped attacking the fence and just stared at me. Like they knew what I was going to do, and they were trying to anticipate my next move. Some deer ran out of the woods, and they turned to give chase, so I didn’t get a chance to kill them. I was just wondering if any of the cameras on the fences caught any other odd behavior.”
“That is peculiar. I was hoping the infected would die off soon enough, not become more deadly. I hope this is just a one-off thing like maybe they were newly turned or something, but I’ll head to the security room and talk to the kids. I’ll find out if they’ve seen anything out of the ordinary,” Jimmy said as he left me to stew in anticipation.
The door to the surgical suite opened slowly, Jasmine peeked her head out and spoke softly, “Hey, Chris. Come on in. The babies are fine, both girls are healthy and doing well. Dr. Nasser says you can hold them.”
“What about Abby?” I asked anxiously.
“She’s still out cold, but no one really seems to know why. Her heart rate and blood pressure are all normal, but she’s not waking up. We pulled the breathing tube out because after the girls were out, she started fighting it. That’s when we expected her to wake up, but she hasn’t yet. I’m sorry, Chris. We’re just going to have to wait and see what happens next. You know Abby, she’s strong. Maybe her body just needed to rest.”
“I hope so. Can I go in now?”
“Sure, go ahead. Go be a daddy,” Jasmine said, smiling.
“Hey, can you go let Tyler know that he’s a big brother? He’s in the security room.”
“Sure thing. I’ll grab him. Let Doc know I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks, Jaz.”
I slowly walked into the room, and there was Abby, laying in the hospital bed, covered in blankets from head to toe. She looked like she was sleeping. I reached under the blankets and grabbed her hand. “Come back to us, Abby. You’ve got two beautiful baby girls who need you. I need you,” I whispered to her, kissing her hand.
Doc Baker came in and stood next to me. “She’ll be all right, Chris. All of her vitals are stable, and there were no complications with the caesarean. We’ll take care of her. How about you go see your daughters?” she said, grasping my shoulder.
“I hope you’re right, Doc. I need Abby to be okay. We all do. She’s been through so much already. We can’t lose her, not like this.”
“Like I said, all of her vitals are fine, so there’s no need to let your mind wander to the worst possible scenario. I know, I know,” She said rubbing my back supportively. “That’s easier said than done. But, let’s get you to those girls. Have I mentioned how adorable they are?”
Doc led me through the doors to the second surgical suite that was now modified to be a makeshift nursery. There were two bassinets, and each had a screaming, pink, wiggling newborn inside. Doc left to check on Abby, and Dr. Nasser, who was watching over the newborns, smiled up at me, “Congratulations, Dad! You have two beautiful, healthy babies here. They’re both absolutely perfect. Do you have names for them? Baker just told us to call them ‘A’ and ‘B,’ so they could use some names.”
The prospect of naming the girls without Abby hit me hard. I never thought I’d have to worry about this. In all of the scenarios that ran through my mind, Abby was always right there by my side. “We never really talked about names. We just found out they were girls when Abby went into labor. She didn’t want to find out before the birth. She wanted the genders to be a surprise.”
“That’s okay, we’ll stick with baby ‘A’ and baby ‘B.” Hey, that guy Troy has already taken blood samples from the babies and disappeared to his lab. Do you have any idea what that’s all about?”
“Oh, yeah. There are probably a few things I should tell you.”
I held each of the girls as I relayed the story of what Abby had been through, about the Anti-Virus 1015, Dr. Brigantine, and her genetic testing, all of it. Dr. Nasser was enamored the entire time I spoke. She didn’t say a single word until I finished telling her what I knew about the virus and what we had all been through this last year or so since the outbreak started.
Dr. Nasser seemed to take everything well enough. “So, you’re telling me it’s possible Abby’s genetic makeup could be the key to a cure or at least some sort of inoculation against the ghouls?”
“Yes, it’s possible. Troy’s been working on it for quite some time now. And since Brigantine inseminated Abby on purpose, the girls may have something to do with it too.”
Dr. Nasser looked me over thoroughly. “I can trust you, right, Chris? You seem like a decent human who’s genuinely worried about the state of the planet and the well-being of the human race. I mean Merv vouched for you, so that has to mean I can trust you.”
“I would hope you could trust me. I owe you my life for helping Doc with Abby and these beautiful girls here. Why?” I asked, putting baby ‘A’ back in her bassinet slowly as not to wake her.
“Well, we have a doctor of our own back at the main Wawayanda camp. He showed up a few weeks ago with a bunch of armed men saying they were scientists and soldiers who worked for the government at a facility up north, but they were overrun, so they were looking for sanctuary. I’m a firm believer in the do unto others as you would want them to do unto you philosophy, so we let them in. We took their weapons, and I had the lead scientist explain what he’d been working on before we agreed to let them stay, but after I heard what he was doing, I almost had no choice. He said he was close to a cure, and I want to believe him, but there’s something off about him. Something I can’t seem to put my finger on. Maybe we could get Troy and our scientist in the same room together to come up with a solution for this whole world ending epidemic. What do you think?”
I thought about everything Dr. Nasser had just shared. Abby had come back from Brigantine’s compound about five weeks ago and that Peter guy who came up here with her was in the wind. We knew he was after the weapons in the bunker, and we knew there was some kind of struggle in that bunker leading Peter and those with him to flee. “What’s the name of the scientist guy?” I asked, needing more information.
“Dr. Stuart Dodges. Why do you ask? Do you know him?”
“I think I remember Abby saying his name. I think he used to work with Brigantine, the insane mind that brought us the Perdition Virus in the first place.”
Dr. Nasser was shocked by my words. “What? You mean the men I’ve got living with my group was part of this whole plague?” She questioned angrily.
I put my hands up to try and calm her. “Woah let’s not get too excited about this. Let me talk to Jimmy. He was with Abby at the compound, so he knows names and roles better than I do. We could ask Jimmy if this Dr. Stuart Dodges was one of the good guys trying to help or one of the bad guys who we need to bring to justice.”
With the babies safely tucked in and being taken care of by Tyler and Jasmine, and Abby being monitored by Lynn and Doc Bakers, Dr. Nasser and I were off to find Jimmy to get some answers.
We found Jimmy, Chuck, and Kamil outside trying to secure the animals in the barn and putting away anything that might fly away or become a projectile in the more substantial storm that was threatening to hit us. It was still raining from the last storm, but thankfully the wind had calmed. Unfortunately, what little weather knowledge those in our group did have all pointed to a much larger spring storm brewing, so we needed to be prepared.
Dr. Nasser and I began helping Jimmy feed the animals while we questioned him.
“Hey, Jimmy. I know you don’t like to talk about your time up at Brigantine’s compound, but Dr. Nasser and I have some concerns that some of the people from there may have made their way up to Nasser’s group. Do you recall a man by the name of Dr. Stuart Dodges?” I asked him.
Jimmy
continued to shovel hay into the stalls with the horses while we talked. “Stuart? Yeah, sure, I remember him. He was a squirrely little shit, but he helped Abby and me escape. If I recall correctly, he said he was staying behind to try and save his work. There were a bunch of soldiers with him that were attempting to protect the compound while it was being overrun. We didn’t stick around to find out what happened, though.”
“So, Stuart is a good guy, someone you would trust?” I asked as Dr. Nasser stopped what she was doing to watch Jimmy’s reaction.
“Yeah, he helped screw up Brigantine’s plans of creating an antivirus just for her people and her plan to nerve gas the planet, so I’d say we could trust him. I think he even had a real shot at creating a cure or whatever for all of this. He’d been working with the virus since the beginning I think, so if anyone has a shot of fixing this mess, my money would be on Stuart for sure. Not to sell Troy short or anything.”
Dr. Nasser spoke up. “That’s good to know, Jimmy. Thank you. I appreciate you putting my mind at ease. I don’t know what I’d do if I found out that a man living and working side by side with me and my family was a complete sociopath.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be able to do much of anything until this storm blows over. It looks like it’s going to be a big one. I should get back to work.” Jimmy said, patting one of the horses.
“Yeah, thanks, Jimmy,” I said, turning to Dr. Nasser. “It looks like your group is safe for now with those guys. I think getting Stuart and Troy together like you said, might be a great idea, though.”
“I do need to get back to my group to make sure everyone is safe and that Merv and Owen were able to get the supplies back. I think Jimmy is right though, we’re going to have to wait until this storm passes. It looks like it’s going to be a bad one. Maybe we should get back inside ourselves and check on your girls. Maybe Abby is awake.”
Z-Strain (Book 3): Fallout Page 4