by Mark Clodi
“I-I-I have you. Ya-y-you fix me. You w-wa-will. Now.” Vic's voice said in a low tone just behind Sentry's left ear.
“Okay Vic. Whatever you say.” Sentry said, nervously, this was not going according to plan, “What do you want me to do?”
“C-c-cure. Y-ya-you said there is a c-ca-c...antid-dote. You will get it and give it to ma-me! The re-eal one this time.”
“Certainly, all you had to do was ask. I don't want you bleeding to death. We need to treat you for your arm.”
“It d-don't mat-ta-ter. J-just get the cure.”
“Okay.”
They lay there for a moment, neither man moving, then Sentry said, “You have to let me go, so I can get the syringe.”
“Tha-thinking.”
“Take your time; I do not want to rush you into anything.” Sentry said, secretly hoping the blood loss would cause Vic to pass out as he played for time.
“I know what to do now.” Vic's said clearly. Sentry felt the man's arm tighten around him and he instinctively started struggling, but the zombie was not suffering from blood loss, nor was it weaker from the damage caused by losing a limb. Arching his head upwards to the fullest extent possible Vic was able to lean into Sentry's neck and bite into it, he took a small chunk of flesh out of the doctor and then slurped at the wound while the man screamed and writhed in his embrace.
“Vic! What have you done! Vic! Oh no! Oh no! You stupid, stupid man.” Finally Vic relented and let Sentry go, the doctor tumbled to the floor and clutched his neck, then screamed when his hands came away bloody. “You've killed me! You idiot, you've killed me!”
“There is no cure, is th-there?”
“We already gave it to you! We gave it to you when you were dying the first time, it didn't do anything!”
“I knew ya-you were sc-screwing me over. Kn-knew it.”
“It wasn't like that; we didn't know it would happen. For God's sake you volunteered! You knew there were risks associated with the program!”
“Ya-you underst-stated the risk.”
“Of course we did! How else could we get volunteers? But I took...” Sentry stopped and climbed to his feet then staggered to the sink and washed out the bite mark on his neck. He pulled bottles of disinfectant out of the cabinet and frantically cleaned the wound. Sentry was at it for several minutes and behind him Vic tried unsuccessfully to remove the restraints keeping him tied down with his one hand. Finally the doctor stopped and then stared at himself in the mirror over the sink, by the glare of the emergency lights he could see his pale face reflected back at him, he threw his head back and started to laugh.
Sentry turned around and looked at Vic when he was done, holding out one arm which he pointed at the man. “The emergency lights went on, the hurricane knocked out power to the facility, we are in lock down. I have new samples of the serum in the lab for testing, I was going to use them later tonight, but I can't even get to them now because all the doors are locked. You've doomed me to die and all I have in here to eat is....you.”
“W-won't w-want me. I-I didn't want Dan, he d-d-didn't look right. I can fu-feel him, in the tha-tha-third room down.”
“You can feel him? What do you mean? I saw your little tricks last night, at first I thought you were whispering to him, but I didn't see your lips moving and I couldn't hear anything no matter how high I turned up the sound.”
“Whispering with my mind. I'll b-be able to do it ta-to you soon.”
“With me, you mean.”
“N-no, only w-works one-one way. M-me to him.”
Sentry thought about that for a moment then turned back to the cabinets to get some gauze and bind his neck wound, “You missed the artery, for that I can be thankful, but I still feel it in me, like a coldness slowly taking over my body. You have killed me.”
The emergency lights went off, coating the room in darkness once more. Sentry moved over to Vic's bed, “Put your arm back down. We need to get you looking like all is normal if Gabe comes in to check on me.”
“Kinda hard to put it b-b-back on.” Vic said, indicating the mess that had been his other arms.
“I'll lay it there beside your body, just you stay still.”
Vic complied with Sentry's request and lay his arm back down by his side, the doctor slid the torn off appendage, still cuffed, under the bed and then sat it next to the stump, pressing them together as if there were no damage. Sentry then pulled another thin blanket out of the small linen closet and spread it over Vic's body. There was still an ungodly mess on the floor, but in the dark it might not be noticed. Sentry was another matter entirely; blood and water had coursed down his jacket and onto his scrubs beneath it. The closest change of clothing was in his office down the hall, but there was another blanket in the closet. Shrugging out of his jacket he tucked it into the closet and wrapped himself up in the blanket.
As Sentry reached the door, Gabe loomed into sight. Sentry pulled the door open and said, “Well I guess you were right Gabe the hurricane is going to cause problems.”
“Doctor? Are you okay? What happened?”
“When the lights went off I was started and lost my balance. I fell and, of course, cut myself on the corner of the counter top. It couldn't have happened in a better place, I had all the medical equipment I needed to patch myself up, but I need to change clothes. Are the prisoners okay?”
Gabe looked dubious, but before he could say anything Ritchie called out from behind him, “Gabe, what does this light mean?”
“Just a minute Ritchie! I'll be there in a second!” Gabe turned back to Sentry and said, “The prisoners are all fine, the place locks up tighter than a drum when the power gets cut and the backup generator has kicked in, we only lost power for about a minute. Do you need me to help you Doctor?”
Sentry looked beyond Gabe to Ritchie's worried face, “No, no I will be fine, just a scratch really, go show the new guy what to do. It is good training for him.”
“Okay, just call me if you need anything.”
Sentry went to his office and pulled the blanket off his shoulders, he checked his bandage in the mirror and stripped off his soiled clothing and tossed it into a pile on the floor. As he pulled on clean clothing he felt the numbness in his neck radiating down his arm, his right hand felt noticeably colder to his left.
“It’s psycho-sematic.” he said out loud as he put on his shoes. “I am fine, he only nipped me and I can get through this.”
However, he was unable to convince himself and the weight of had happened then sank in, he was going to die. Sentry slumped into his office chair by his computer; the slight movement caused the screens to come out of sleep mode and to show views of Dan and of Vic on the screen. Vic was up, moving his arm beneath the blanket, Sentry could see that his arm had fallen back to the floor again and as he watched the zombie pulled it back up by the chain under the blanket. The man was showing reason and intelligence and before the lobotomy he had almost seemed like he was back to himself. Then Sentry glanced at Dan, he saw the zombie staring straight up and shifting from side to side, occasionally his pallid face and opaque eyes would stare directly into the camera, showing a complete lack of reason or intelligence.
'How long did it take for Vic to regain himself after he died? A day or two, but that was before the blood was added to his diet.' Sentry thought. After the blood had been added, he recovered in a few hours. Almost all of the blood was gone now; they only had four units left from the clinic.
Sentry flipped his computer to a new view and then changed it again and then yet again. He knew what he had to do.
Chapter 12
Heather was still asleep, the thunder and generator could not make a dent in the fatigue she was sleeping off from the day’s work. Doctor Sentry took care to disable her first. He went to the lab and grabbed the sevoflurance gas mix and the syringes of anesthesia then approached his sleeping colleague. Sentry held the mask of ether in front of her face, but not touching it and opened the valve. A slight hiss and
a sweet smell filled the room. Heather didn't wake up and after a minute of allowing her to breath in the vapor Sentry felt sure he could attached the mask to her face with its elastic cord which would keep her sedated. Sentry then prepared a syringe and injected her with a anesthetic that would should keep her unconscious for as long as two hours, long enough to get done with his preparations for the night.
Gabe and Ritchie were going to be more of a challenge. Sentry had to get them separated from each other, which should make it easier.
But how? Then a thought came to him.
He approached the guard station and asked, “Can we bring Pitatchi and Williams into rooms two and three Gabe?”
“Right now? Wouldn't you rather wait until the regular power is back on? It is getting pretty bad out there.”
Sentry shook his head, “I could wait, but this next batch needs to be used or I lose about thirty hours of work. It's just a simple shot. I shouldn't have any trouble administering it if you can get the men on gurneys and secure them.”
“It's your call doc. C'mon Ritchie let's go wake the dead.”
Sentry waited for a moment, then leaned into the security station and dropped medication into both men's coffee. Maybe I won't have to get them alone after all. The mickey fin he had slipped into their drinks would make them sluggish in a few minutes and have them dozing within half an hour.
Thunder crashed so loudly it overcame the noise from the generator. Sentry thought quickly, adapted his plan and stepped after Gabe and Ritchie, “Ah Gabe?” he called as the man was preparing to unlock the cell, “Maybe you're right, this might not be the best time. Who knows how long this storm will last? If we have problems we might need to transfer the patients and no one is going to want to do that in this storm.”
Gabe paused and nodded, “That's what I was thinking, but you know the risks better than I do. So, you lose thirty hours of work then?”
Frowning Sentry said, “Better that than to have a problem we can't handle.”
“Okay doctor, whatever you want. C'mon Ritchie let's get back to the station. “
Sentry ducked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee, calling across the hall he asked, “Can I top you two off?”
“Sure, thanks doc!” Gabe said, followed by a more subdued 'Thank you' from Ritchie.
“Alright, I am going back to the lab to do what I can. See you a bit later.”
“Okay Doctor Sentry, call us if you change your mind.”
Sentry went back to the lab and checked to make sure he had enough anesthesia for Gabe and Ritchie. The side of his face was numb and coldness radiated down his arm to the tips of his fingers. The doctor reflexively continued to squeeze his hand on that side closed.
I hope I have a half an hour.' Impatient, he returned after only fifteen minutes, using the pretext to refill his coffee. Ritchie was slumped over the desk; Gabe was on the floor, bleeding slightly from where his head had struck something on the way down.
A surge of adrenaline coursed through Sentry, 'I am going to do it!', he hurried down the hall for a gurney and the syringes. Upon his return he gave both men shots to keep them out and then hoisted Gabe up onto the gurney. He wheeled the man into medical room three and then went back for Ritchie. Finally, he took the last gurney and gathered up Heather. By the time he pushed her into room three he had lost most of the functionality of his left hand and his vision was getting blurry. He fumbled with the nylon webbing restraints, but was eventually able to tie all three people down. Once that was done he stepped back into the lab.
'I can't stop now, I must finish this. I should have taken care of Vic first.' Sentry looked around the lab for something innocuous he could use as a weapon. For a moment his eyes rested on the next two strains of his serum sitting in the controlled environment section of his lab. Either of them would have, in theory, given him endless life without the need to die first. Neither had been tested and Sentry was not sure what effect they would have if he used them now. Vic's strain was...virulent. 'Focus!' he berated himself. Thinking there was little time for subtly, the doctor left the lab and went to the end of the hall where he pulled a heavy metal fire extinguisher off of the wall. Halfway back to Vic's room it slipped out of his grasp and hit the floor.
“Damn it.” he said softly as he grasped it with his right hand. He swung it around so it hung down his back, leaving his elbow sticking up by the side of his head. When he entered Vic's room he propped the door open with a medical cart, 'I don't want to get locked in by a random surge of the electricity.'
“Hiya doc.” Vic's voice called warily. “What'cha got there?”
Sentry swung around to reveal the fire extinguisher.
“There aren't an-any fires in here.” Vic said, hardly stuttering.
“You might be surprised.”
“Are you serious? You plan to bash my head in with a fire extinguisher?”
Sentry stepped forward, a grim look on his face. In bed Vic pulled his hand up to protect himself. His severed arm was no longer attached in the handcuffs on the other end of the chain; the empty cuff was in Vic's good hand.
As the doctor stepped forward swinging the fire extinguisher Vic threw the empty cuff, still attached to his good arm by a long chain, it hit Sentry square in the face. The pain from his bloody nose ruined his aim and the fire extinguisher crashed down on Vic's chest, instead of his head as Sentry had planned. The hard metal edge of the bottom of the cylinder broke ribs and crushed the bone shards through Vic's lungs and heart in several places. This didn't slow Vic down in the slightest. He reached for the fire extinguisher and wrestled to get it from Sentry's hands. He was still handicapped, his other arm had been growing back, but the progress was slow. Vic had hoped that merely by pressing the stump to his arm they would join and give him two sets of hands again and while the flesh did seem to mold together like two sticky bits of play dough, he had not regained the use of his off hand.
As he was fighting for his life Vic called out to Dan with all his might, the other zombie, three rooms away, stirred and struggled to sit up in his bed. Vic had a firm grasp on the bottom of the fire extinguisher but Sentry still had the top and was doing an admirable job holding on to it against the zombie's greater strength. Neither man could pull it away from the other. Sentry inadvertently pulled the trigger as he struggled to get control of the makeshift weapon, the cool powdery foam sprayed out of the nozzle into Vic's face.
This didn't hurt Vic, but it did surprise him and for a moment his grasp weakened on the cylinder, which allowed Sentry to pull it away from the zombie. The doctor didn't hesitate; he swung it around sideways to bounce it off of Vic's head. The blow was not fatal, but it stunned the zombie, which allowed Sentry to line up another one handed shot. Instead of swinging the extinguisher he lifted it and rammed the bottom of it into Vic's face, which resulted in a satisfying crunch of bone. Still not dead, the zombie struggled and brought its arm up in front of his head as Sentry pulled the weapon away for another blow.
Sentry saw that he could get a better angle of attack if he moved the gurney away from the wall. Quickly he unlocked the wheels and pulled the whole thing towards the center of the room. Standing behind Vic's head Sentry swung the fire extinguisher over his shoulder one last time. His breaths were coming in sharp gasps now and Sentry felt a sharp pain radiating from his chest out to the other parts of his body. The fire extinguisher swung over head in a long arch that ended with the base of the heavy steel cylinder smashing through Vic's forehead.
Vic's last moments were twisted in a slow reality of time stop motion. He felt Dan breaking out of his bonds, felt the zombie get to his feet and head to the door of his room, then he felt the cool kiss as the extinguisher touched his forehead just over his eyes.
It was done. Sentry sagged and checked Vic's head, looking for any sign of the rapid healing that he had observed before. Nothing. His ragged breathing was not easing up as he rested from his exertions; in fact the chest pain was getting worse. 'I
gotta get to room three.' Sentry stumbled into the hall and over to the doorway where the security guards and Heather awaited his revival. In his haste he forgot to wedge something into the doorway to hold it open in case the power went off, with a sharp metal snick, the door closed behind him.
Sentry dropped to the floor and laid in the center of the room, overwhelmed with pain, his breathing coming in gasps as his body sought to pull in oxygen it no longer needed.
“Thomas?” slurred Heather, “What's happened?”
Sentry pulled in another long breath and ignored her.
“Thomas? Are you all right?”
Sentry shook his head and continued focusing on his labored breathing.
“What's wrong? Why am I tied to a gurney?”
Sentry stared at her and then lifted his arm to tear away the bandage at his neck.
Heather's head was barely lifted off of the gurney; she was able to twist enough to see the wound on Sentry's neck. “Oh God you got bit....” Her voice trailed off as she turned her head to both sides and took in Gabe and Ritchie, lying to either side of her.
When she spoke again her voice was cold, clinical. “We could have gotten you blood.”
After a deep inhale, Sentry croaked, “I know.”
“Then why? Why do this?”
“I can make it better. I can do it this way. Make it so no one can stop me.”
“How doctor?” Heather asked in a tone that could freeze water.
“I don't have time to explain.”
“Well, use the time you have. The time we have.”
“You'll have all the time you need...after.”
“Tell me now.”
Sentry nodded, though Heather was staring straight up at the ceiling and didn't see the gesture, “I will tell what I can. Series three is in the lab, I think I solved the problems with the second generation formula, based on what we learned from Vic. I went ahead and refined the genetics even more with series three.”