The Zen Gene

by Mains, Laurie

  “I brought the fridge out about ten minutes ago. Why did you want to know that?” he said.

  As he talked he edged a wee bit closer to the kid and he was now standing between him and the back of the van. He was standing close enough the kid needed to crane his neck to see past him.

  “You need to take it out or your truck it will burn up,” he said. Tyler pointed his finger at the van.

  “What?” Nichol said. He was confused by the kid’s warning and the deadpan lack of emotion he showed when he gave it. If he was trying to suggest the van would catch fire because of a bar fridge he would have to put a little more anxiety in his voice because he wasn’t buying it.

  He saw Hunter emerge from the building with a cardboard box in her arms and she spotted him talking to the kid. She put down the box she was carrying, pulled down her mask, and moved to flank Tyler so she could tackle him if he tried to run. Nichol noticed the kid did not turn his head when she came out and he knew he must have heard her. His lack of normal reaction was spooky and he stopped advancing, he was thinking maybe he did not want to take on this weird unpredictable kid. He was beginning to wonder if the kid knew something he and Hunter did not. That thought did not raise his confidence level.

  “Where is the gas tank?” Tyler said.

  “Why are you asking? What has it got to do with anything?” he said. Nichol was getting nervous and frustrated because he did not get the point of this game the kid was playing. The kid was making him look like a fool in front of Hunter. He had to hand it to him if he didn’t have a knife he definitely had a gnarly set. He saw the kid tense up and take a quick step backwards looking at the closed rear door of the van. He turned to face Nichol and he said in the same flat unemotional voice.

  “You should run now.”

  With that the boy spun around and darted away from him and the van. It was Sergeant Nichol’s long experience and instincts as a Military Policeman which took over. He chased after Tyler instead of looking at the van and that decision saved his life.

  Hunter noticed the teen was not surprised to see that she had crept up behind him. He never slowed or changed direction as he charged head down full tilt straight at her. He was bigger than her and looked solid and she tensed her muscles calling on her hand to hand combat training as she prepared to tackle him low and take out his legs.

  He was moving very fast and he anticipated her move. Like a mind reader he waited for her to leap and while she was airborne he abruptly changed direction and sidestepped her. After neatly deking her out he kept moving without breaking stride as he quickly left them both behind.

  Hunter was expecting to hit a running kid but instead found clear air and she landed hard on the packed dirt of the boulevard. Her head and face were down and her body flat on the ground when the time on the failsafe device ran out and that bit of luck saved her life.

  The mechanism inside the fridge lit and released a chunk of magnesium and it burned through the plastic dish of virus and continued through the bottom of the fridge. Inside Tyler’s lab the bar fridge was carefully positioned on top of five layers of fire brick to dissipate the heat after it sterilized whatever was inside but in the van there was nothing to stop it.

  The magnesium burned through the sheet metal floor beneath the fridge turning it to flaming molten steel which dripped onto the top of the full propane fuel tank suspended beneath the vehicle. The explosion which followed was powerful.

  Aided by the gasoline in the other tank and the jugs of bleach and ammonia the detonation blew the van apart and leveled the fence and guard shack. The shockwave continued to expand and intensify as it broke windows in buildings for a full city block in each direction.

  Sergeant Nichol was only ten meters away from the epicenter and his back was exposed to the full impact of the blast. He was upright when it blew and the shockwave picked him up and tossed him through the air. He did not feel it because the explosion rendered him unconscious. He was a limp projectile of traumatized flesh stuffed inside a bio-suit. When he came down his head contacted the blunt edge of the road’s concrete curb. He would have died instantly if he did not give chase and moved that much farther away from the van, but as it was, he was gravely injured.

  Tyler felt the hard kick and intense heat of the blast on his back as he ran. He’d run far enough away from the van to significantly lessen the impact but he was thrown down hard to the ground and rolled a considerable distance.

  Aside from road rash he was not seriously injured and he sprang up and ran to his bike and pedaled hard for home. He did not look back to see the devastation. He knew the magnesium inside the bar fridge had burned through the floor into the fuel tank.

  He designed the failsafe to burn extra hot to destroy the viruses stored in the fridge if the power went off and it worked perfectly except he did not foresee someone moving the fridge. He could smell the residue of unburned gasoline in the wind howling past him as he drove his bike forward.

  Hunter was pounded hard by the blast but remained conscious. It was lucky that most of the force flew over her while she was face down on the ground. She was badly shaken but she managed to regain her feet, survey the damage, and assess the situation. The van was in two sections.

  The lower half with wheels attached was ablaze and the other section which included the roof and sides was upside down twenty five feet from where the van was parked. She located Nichol amidst the burning debris at the side of the road. She patted out the fire burning his hair and checked for vital signs. When she determined he was alive she grabbed his collar with both hands and dragged him away from the smoldering wreckage.

  She pulled him non-stop for half a block and turned down a narrow lane pulling him into the rear parking lot of an abandoned machinery factory. Thank God it’s dark, she thought. When she stopped she fell to the ground exhausted. It was adrenaline that drove her forward but now that they had cover she collapsed to the ground beside Nichol. Her hearing was affected and she was in severe pain and stunned by the effects of the blast. She controlled her breathing and concentrated. She was trying to listen for the sound of approaching sirens. She knew the next few minutes would be critical to resolving their situation and she needed to start working on a plan.

  She heard a siren but she could not estimate how far away it was or determine from which direction. Her hearing had been damaged from the compression of the air during the blast. Partly because there was no real alternative she decided it was best to hunker down and wait it out. She was rapidly recovering from the worst effects of the explosion but she had to consider her judgment might be impaired.

  Her concern now was how long she could wait before she needed to seek medical care for Nichol. She could see he was beginning to come round because she could see his lips moving as if he was trying to say something but she could not hear him.

  She needed to start planning a way to get them both out of the immediate area. She could explain the van later by reporting it stolen. She could not allow the local authorities to find her and Nichol wearing Government-issued biohazard suits outside a building where a body will eventually be discovered.

  That damning combination of facts would be tough to explain to the local police. She tried to remember if she closed the fire door at the factory before the blast. If she did not maybe the explosion slammed it shut. She checked Nichol over for damage and through the shredded biohazard suit she saw lots of small cuts and pieces of debris embedded in the skin of his back but no big bleeders. He appeared to be relatively okay though groggy and disoriented and likely concussed.

  She was fairly certain the materials in the cardboard box she was carrying from the lab would not mean much to the police and it was likely blown all over the place. She had no doubt at all the contents of the van were destroyed in the blast but she worried the kid’s computer hard drive might have survived.

  The spot where it sat on the ground was way too hot for her to try to retrieve it. It was not much of a decision to leave it and ru
n. She thought about having dragged Nichol away from the scene and was amazed by what the human body can do when adrenaline kicks in but now she was in a lot of pain as a result.

  They were safe enough for the moment behind a small building that once was a supply shed of some kind. There were more sounds coming from the vicinity of where the van blew up. Either her hearing was clearer or there were a lot of Emergency vehicles arriving she could not tell which. She was beginning to relax a little when she heard the sound of a car engine approaching where they were hiding.

  Chapter 12

  Not That Kind of Doctor

  8:10 PM

  Tyler came in through the back door and when it slammed they all jumped. Andi ran to him, “Where were you? I thought you were in your room.” she said. She looked him over and saw his torn clothes and the road rash on his arms and hands. He smelled of smoke and gasoline and she noticed his hair was singed at the back. “What happened to you?” she said.

  He ignored her questions as he looked at each of them in turn his gaze stopping at Mann.

  “Someone is hurt,” he said.

  “Who’s hurt?” Andi said. “Was it the explosion we heard?”

  “Someone is hurt,” he said to Mann, “bad.”

  “I’ll call an ambulance,” Andi said.

  Her voice rose in pitch and took on an edge of panic as she spoke. She was increasingly alarmed by what was happening but when she stepped to the phone Tyler grabbed it first and stopped her.

  “No. Dr. Mann will help,” he said.

  “What do you mean, no?” she said. “You said someone is hurt. Lee is not that kind of Doctor.”

  “Dr. Mann will help,” he said turning away from her heading back to the door. She ran over to him and grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. They were about the same height but he was wider and heavier.

  ”You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me what is going on,” she said.

  He ignored her protests and gently peeled her hand from his arm. He turned and faced her looking directly into her eyes and kept them locked on hers, something he rarely did and the directness of his gaze caught her off guard.

  ”Andrea will sit down,” he said pointing to the chair where she usually sat and she reacted like he slapped her face. He never spoke to her this way and she was shocked and a bit afraid of him. It took her some moments to recover and then she tried to reason with him but he simply stared at her and pointed his finger at the chair. His meaning was clear: sit down.

  “I think I should go and see what this is about,” Mann said getting up and putting on his coat. “I won’t let anything happen to him. You and Zen wait here and don’t worry. We’ll be right back,” he said.

  Before Andi had a chance to recover from the shock they were out the door and sitting in his rental car. “Where to?” he said.

  Tyler said nothing, he pointed in the direction he wanted him to drive, and then he turned his attention to the car radio. He scanned up and down the frequencies and settled on a station that was playing a type of music he could not readily identify.

  With pointed directions and a few grunts Tyler led them to an industrial area of the city. He motioned for him to slow down and then he pointed to a narrow lane and directed him to drive around to the back of the building. It was a short concrete lane with grass growing up through the slab joints which led to the employee parking lot at the rear of a large factory that was no longer in business.

  The rear parking lot appeared empty but he told him to stop the car and turn off the motor. They were beside a weathered wooden storage shed up against the railway tracks at the back of the lot. Tyler jumped out before the car completely stopped and he watched the boy run across a single set of railway tracks to the rear of an adjacent building which faced onto a different street.

  It took Tyler less than a minute to locate them. He knew they could not have gone far. He found them lying low amongst the broom behind a low concrete wall.

  Hurt and Hiding

  8:20 PM

  Hunter was holding her breath partly from the pain but mostly to hear what was happening around them. She hoped Nichol would not pick this moment to start moaning. She did not want to clamp her hand over his mouth but she would if necessary. They did not have great cover but she could not move him again. There was no way she could drag Nichol another centimeters. Listening hard she tried to figure out which direction the vehicle was coming from. She knew it was nearby but that was all. Her heart rate spiked when she heard the engine shut off and a door slam.

  She was already in damage-control mode trying to anticipate what would happen next and she was about to toss her unregistered and illegal weapon into the weeds. She was reaching to unclip her gun when the kid stuck his head over the top of the wall and scared the shit out of her. When she saw him she reflexively jerked backwards and the sudden movement sent a searing jolt of pain through her rib cage and her vision grew ugly black spots and she came close to passing out.

  When her vision cleared and the pain subsided she looked up and he was standing there looking at her. He wore an expression on his face which was impossible to read. She did not know what to make of this weird kid showing up again. She didn’t know if he now had a weapon and came back to seek revenge for them taking down his lab or if he was going to help them. Whatever else he was the kid was hard to read and definitely way out there.

  She didn’t take out her weapon because, in spite of everything that happened, the kid did not feel like he posed a threat to them. She could see by his face he was thinking about something and then he thrust his open hand out and said. “Come wiss me if you vant to live.”

  She could not stop herself from laughing and it hurt like hell. Her eyes did not leave his face and she noticed when he said the line from Terminator he never cracked a smile. It was like he believed the words he said. The pain, the situation, and the weird kid all combined to make her feel disconnected from reality and slightly giddy.

  She could smell the creosote from the railway ties and the acrid smell of urine on Nichol’s clothing and the colours around her seemed to intensify as the unreality of the day kept unfolding. It was like being in a weird non-plot surrealist movie. Her head was pounding from the blast pressure and she briefly wondered if she sustained a head injury and was imagining this whole thing.

  She figured she had a broken rib from the fall and judging by the pain there could be more damage. Pain, she realized, was a handy way to gauge the truth or substance of reality. She was trying to think of something to say to the kid when Dr. Mann stuck his head over the top of the wall and said, ”Patricia, what a nice surprise.”

  Mann examined Nichol and he did not like what he saw. Tyler was right he was badly hurt and fading in and out of consciousness. It took a lot of effort but he and Tyler managed to drag Nichol over the tracks to the car and lift him onto the back seat. He could not imagine how Hunter dragged a man this size as far as she did. When they tucked Nichol’s legs in and let go of his torso the orientation of his head shifted and his eyes popped open and swiveled around alarmingly before he vomited all over the rear seat of the car. Tyler thought it was funny and laughed loudly and he shushed him to be quiet.

  The area was overrun with police and fire fighters and he did not want to attract any attention. He went back over the wall and gently helped Hunter to her feet. He let her stand unaided and watched her for a moment but she looked like she was going to pass out and he supported her as they walked to the car.

  “I’m okay,” she said.

  Her words were grunted through clenched teeth which adequately portrayed to him the amount of pain she was experiencing and the fact she was definitely not okay. There was no room in the back and he asked Tyler to get into the car first and put Hunter on his lap but he flatly refused to do it.

  Mann had to let go of her to adjust the car seat back as far as it would go. While he tried to talk Tyler into holding her she fainted and Tyler instinctively caught her before she fel
l to the ground.

  From there it was easier to convince him since he was already holding her he should drag her in on top of him in the front seat. He helped him pull her dead weight onto his lap and he could see having her on him made him uncomfortable. While they were driving Hunter regained consciousness and began to move around and Tyler squirmed beneath her trying to limit contact. For a while he was worried the boy would open the car door and toss her out. When she regained full consciousness she hugged her chest trying to minimize the amount of movement she had to endure from the road they were traveling on.

  “Your friend needs immediate medical attention and so do you,” he said, “how do you want to play this?”

  “We can’t go back to the base because of the van and we can’t show up at the Emergency room in this bio-gear,” she said. Her words were puffed out of her mouth through tight jaw muscles in short sharp breaths.

  “I have a change of clothes at the motel. They should fit him.” he said gesturing over his shoulder at Nichol who was out cold in the back seat. “What are you wearing underneath?” he asked.

  “Underwear,” she said.

  He drove them out of the area being careful to avoid the street with the burned out van. There were firefighters working at putting out the grass fires from the explosion. He took out his cellphone and called Andi. He assured her over and over again they were both fine.

  When she slowed down on the questions he asked her to bring a pair of her jeans and a top to his motel room and a first aid kit. This prompted more questions but he lied and told her there was a police car up ahead and he needed to hang up. His room at the Thunder Bird Inn was at the back of the motel well away from the road. He was glad they had some cover from prying eyes as he and Tyler awkwardly dragged Nichol out of the car and into the motel room. He was surprised when Tyler went back out to the car and picked up Hunter and carried her in.