by B. T. Wright
Jake’s heart was heavy. He didn’t know Jason well—didn’t even know his last name—but he seemed to be a stand-up guy. He didn’t deserve the death he was dealt, but neither did any of the humans that had been infected with these aliens. Even the one that killed Jason.
Just before Jake was able to let out a sigh of relief that his girl, his friend, and maybe the most important one of them all—Amy—made it out of there safe, there was another surprise. When they reached the side of the front parking lot, his breath was stolen entirely. What he saw in that parking lot, amongst the smattering of abandoned cars, was the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen. Hundreds of infected, maybe more, had flooded the lot. It was an ocean of what used to be people there, covering the area entirely. It looked like a football field after the home team won the big game and the entire crowd of fans rushed the field. The exception was that when their SUV became visible, every single one of the aliens turned its head in his direction.
Then they started to run.
Jess screamed.
Tyler gasped, unable to make a sound.
Amy watched in horror. Then she placed the palm of her hand against the window.
“Turn right! Turn right! Cut through the Lowe’s parking lot!”
Jake was able to see that up ahead, the wave of infected was going to cut them off before they made it to the road. Their only shot was a shortcut through the empty parking lot on the right. He remembered the other side would spit them out right back onto US23.
Tyler yanked the wheel to the right. The infected were so close. Jake looked back, unsure if TW would be able to make it.
“Amy,” Jake said as the SUVs turn pinned him against her. “Whatever your thinking, don’t do it. We’re going to make it.”
Jake didn’t want her to try to stop the aliens with her mind. He didn’t think her body would be able to survive it—at least not this soon after the last episode. Jake looked back again, and TW’s SUV had made it into the parking lot with them.
“Turn right up here and follow the road through town.”
Tyler did as Jake said, and TW followed right behind them. The highway ahead looked clear. They had made it. Amy began to cry softly beside him. Jess turned around to see what was wrong. It was the first time Jake had noticed over the last four horrific days that Jess truly looked weary. Her normally bright eyes were heavy, her hair was a mess, and dirt clung to her sweaty face as if it were glued on.
“It’s all right, Amy,” Jess said. “We’re okay now.”
“No we’re not!” Amy shouted. She wiped tears from her cheek with the back of her hand and sat up straight. “I could have saved him. But I didn’t!”
Jake placed his hand on hers. “Saved who, Amy? Jason? There was nothing you could have done about that.”
Amy turned and looked him right in the eye. “You know that’s not true. You know I could have stopped them!”
“Amy, you can’t save everyone,” Jess said. “It’s not your responsibility.”
“Why?” Amy sat forward. Her breathing was rapid. “I’m the reason everyone is in this mess, aren’t I? Aren’t I one of . . . them?”
Jess hesitated. Jake understood why, because he had never really thought of it that way himself.
“N-no. No, Amy, you are not one of them.”
“Then how do you explain all of this?” Amy shouted. “They’re saying my name, I can understand them, hell, I can even communicate with them! Can you do that, Jess?” She turned to Jake and said, “Can you Jake?” Then she looked up at the rearview mirror. “What about you, Tyler? Can you talk to the things that are trying to eat us? No! None of you can! Just stop the car and let me out. They will leave you alone then!”
The vehicle went quiet. Amy was about to pass out she was breathing so hard. Jake put his hand on her back, but for the first time, Amy rejected it. She scooted as far away from him as she could and laid her head against the inside of the door. Nothing any of them could say was going to help her, so they all left her alone.
Jake’s radio squawked and startled all of them. “Go ahead, TW.”
“Jake, uh, we have a problem.”
Jake’s stomach did a somersault. “What now?”
“It’s Mark . . . he’s been bit.”
18
Emily shot straight up in her bed. When she looked around, frantic, she realized she wasn’t in her room at all. She was in what looked like an ordinary hospital room, and she was sitting up in a hospital bed. She jumped when she felt a hand on her arm.
“It’s all right. You just passed out.”
Emily whipped her head to the hand on her arm, then to its owner’s face. The woman staring back at her wore a caring smile. Her skin was mahogany, and her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
“Who are you? What’s going on?”
“Try to stay calm, Dr. Fraser. Everything is fine.”
“Fine?” Emily was shaking. “Everything is not fine! What happened to the patients—to the infected? Please tell me they are alive!”
“Take a deep breath,” the woman said. She was using a calm and even tone, but it was ineffective at soothing Emily.
“Stop telling me everything is fine!” Emily’s voice echoed. The woman took a step back. Emily realized she was taking out her fears on an innocent woman. “I—I’m sorry. Just unhook this thing. I have to get out of here.” Emily glanced down at the IV in her right arm.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that, ma’am.”
Emily ripped the IV from her arm and slid off the bed.
“You aren’t ready to be moving so fast!”
Emily ignored the woman and took a step forward. Her brain felt as if it was swimming, and it made her entire body wobble. She caught herself by grabbing the mattress. The woman moved in behind her and helped keep her upright. The room did a dizzying spin, but Emily was determined. She shook her head a couple of times, hoping to clear the cobwebs, then she not-so-gently brushed the woman’s hands away and started for the door.
“Please, just finish the IV . . .”
That was all Emily heard of the woman’s sentence before the door shut behind her. She blinked hard when the sign in front of her in the hallway was blurry. After a moment, it cleared, and she made her way down the hall to get back to the room where all hell had broken loose a while ago. On the way, she wondered how long she’d been out and what they had done with Karen and John One. She remembered the two men with guns debating whether or not to shoot them, and Emily prayed someone had been able to stop them after she passed out.
Emily made a couple more turns and finally was in the hallway that led to the infected’s room. At the end of the hall she could see a few people gathered in front of the door. As she got closer she could see that it was the president himself, along with Elaine’s assistant, Shelley, the secretary of defense, and the two men she tried to keep from shooting the aliens.
“Please tell me you didn’t kill them!” Emily shouted halfway down the hall. She jogged forward and looked the president in the eye.
“Emily,” the president said. “You shouldn’t be here. You should be resting.”
Emily made it to them, out of breath and feeling weak. “Just tell me they are still alive.”
The president looked to his right. Through the glass door Emily could see both of them were strapped to gurneys. The way they should have been before they attempted to inject them.
Emily let out a sigh of relief. There was still hope. Then she remembered what happened before she passed out. “And Elaine? Is she all right?”
The president nodded. “I watched the surveillance. You were very brave. You saved her life.”
Another sigh of relief. David being rag-dolled by John Two played in her head. She already knew the answer, but she still had to ask. “And—and David?”
The president’s face turned sorrowful. “I’m sorry, Emily.”
Emily began to sob. Not cry, not whimper . . . she was full-on weeping.
&nbs
p; “Get her a chair, please,” she heard the president say.
Emily inhaled deeply and shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” Then her mind began to spin forward, assessing what needed to be done next. “How long was I out?”
“About an hour,” Shelley said. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“An hour?” Emily couldn’t believe it. “Get me two syringes, both with a dose of Beritrix inside.”
“Emily, I don’t think—”
“I didn’t ask you to think, Shelley. Did I?” She didn’t wait for a response. “I’m not going to let what happened to David and Elaine happen for nothing. Karen and John One’s Propofol will be wearing off any time now. Get me those syringes.”
Shelley left for the lab adjacent to the room with the infected inside.
“Emily—”
“All due respect, Mr. President, but this needs to be done right now.”
The president gave a faint smile and nod. “I admire your fortitude.” Then he turned to the two military men beside them. “Stay in the room with her, but stay out of her way.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. President.”
“Thank you,” Emily told the president. His gray hair seemed grayer than the day before, and the lines on his face seemed deeper. She imagined that the end of the world was probably having the same effect on her.
“You’re in charge for now, Emily, while Elaine is out of commission. See if you can’t find us a way to stop this mess.”
The pride Emily felt surprised her. She was never one to contemplate her standing in life, but when the president of the United States makes a statement like that to you, it’s hard not to feel some type of way.
“I’ll do my best.”
The president smiled and Emily walked past her two armed guards and inside the room. A flashback of the terror that occurred an hour ago pulled at her fears, but she wouldn’t let them win. What she was doing was too important. She walked over to the two infected. Both of them seemed to still be in a state of sedation. She thought once again about David getting his throat ripped open, and she took a step back from John One on the gurney. She closed her eyes to center herself. She didn’t know why, but she thought of Jake. She wondered where he was at that moment—wondered if he was okay. Though what she saw was horrific, she imagined Jake had seen far worse being on the outside for so long. She needed a friend. Especially if Elaine was going to be out of commission.
Shelley walked into the room with two syringes in her hand. “You sure you want to go through with this right now? We can always sedate them again later if you aren’t up for it, or if you would rather wait and see if Elaine is able to offer any suggestions.”
Emily took both syringes. “Thank you, Shelley, but this can’t wait. We have to get started on finding something that can stop this thing. I’m only doing what Elaine and I already agreed was the best next move.”
“I agree. I just wanted to make sure. What if these things go nuts when you inject them?” Shelley’s eyes watered. “We can’t lose anyone else.”
“It’ll be fine, Shelley. Feel free to leave the room. These boys back here are already itching to shoot both of these infected, so don’t worry about me.” Emily flashed a smile. She hoped it looked more believable than it felt.
Shelley smiled and nodded. “I’ll stay right here if you don’t mind. Make sure you don’t need anything.”
“Thank you, Shelley.”
Emily removed the plastic cover from the needle, then walked around to the left of the two side-by-side gurneys. She gave Karen a once-over. Her skin was a very pale grey, and her black eyes were staring off into the distance. The vein in her right arm was just as visible as the one in her left had been an hour ago when Emily injected her with Propofol. She didn’t hesitate in stepping forward and sliding the needle into Karen’s skin. Karen gave no reaction. It was as if Emily didn’t even exist.
Emily depressed the plunger, and Beritrix coursed from the syringe into Karen’s system. Still no reaction. Emily wasn’t sure what she expected, but she could only hope that the lack of response didn’t mean it wouldn’t work. She finished with Karen and administered the same dose to John One. Now all she could do was wait.
Patience was not one of Emily’s best attributes.
Especially when what she was doing was so unequivocally important.
19
“Would you please just radio him again?” Tyler said.
It was the sixth time in the last half hour he had asked Jake to check on Mark and see if the bite he sustained had turned him into a monster. Jake was curious too, but he was fairly certain a bite would do no such thing. With the help of Amy, they had already established that they weren’t actually in a zombie apocalypse, so the rules of such a thing didn’t apply in Jake’s mind. If it was truly an alien inside each of their fellow humans, he doubted that alien could splice and turn into two. But Jake also had no idea, because they were right smack in the middle of uncharted territory.
“Relax, Ty. If he turned, we would know, don’t you think? I think TW would either radio us, or at least swerve off the road when Mark’s eyes went black and he attacked him.”
“Relax he says.” Tyler looked over at Jess while shaking his head. “The end of the world is here and your boyfriend tells me to relax.” He found Jake’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Sir, yes, sir!”
“Don’t be an asshole, Tyler,” Jess said. “How many times has Jake saved your life this week? Better yet, how many times has he saved your life since you’ve known him?”
“Rah, rah, says the cheerleader. Now I remember why I hated you two together. It was always two on one.”
“All right, Ty. We get it,” Jake said. “You’ve had a bad day. Wittle baby need a nap?”
“Shut up, Jake. I’m not a soldier—I’m not used to this shit.”
“And you think I am? People running around trying to eat me?”
Tyler found his eyes again, furrowed his brow, and said, “Oh that’s right, I forgot, you wouldn’t be used to war at all would you? You were too busy trying to sleep with your doctor.”
Jake’s stomach dropped.
Jess whirled around in her seat. “What the hell is he talking about?”
Jake didn’t take his eyes off Tyler’s in the mirror.
Jess turned to Tyler. “What the hell are you talking about, Tyler?”
Tyler looked over at her, then back to Jake in the mirror, then back to Jess. “Nothing. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just running my mouth.”
Jess looked at Jake. “That what he’s doing, Jake? Just trying to piss you off?”
Jake didn’t respond.
She looked over at Tyler. “Well, is it? You just trying to get back at Jake, Ty? Next time why don’t you consider someone else’s feelings other than your own.”
Finally she looked back at Jake. “If you’ve got something to say, say it. I don’t need the only fucking people I have left in the world lying to me. Not while we’re all trying so hard not to die.”
“I’m sorry, Jess,” Tyler spoke up. “It was an asshole thing to say, and it didn’t mean anything. Okay?”
Jess faced forward and didn’t say another word.
“Sorry, Jake,” Tyler said.
Jake didn’t feel like accepting the apology, and he didn’t feel like talking either. So he didn’t.
They had already driven through Ashland, the town where they’d all grown up. They had already turned onto I-64 and crossed over into West Virginia. Jake pulled the small Moleskin notebook the professor had given him from his go bag. Inside was the map with the highlighted directions they’d plotted in case the Greenup County dam happened to be the dam that stopped their river run. They were going to be on I-64 for quite some time, especially as slow as they were being forced to drive in order to dodge all of the abandoned vehicles in the road.
They had been lucky not to have run into any complete blockages on the drive. There were a few tight spots going through Ashland, but no
thing their Chevy Tahoe didn’t handle with ease. Jake was still stinging from Tyler’s comment. It just wasn’t something a friend should say. Jake could tell how scared and how stressed Tyler was, but that was no excuse to lash out like he had. Especially with Jess in the car. He didn’t want to have to tell Jess about the night with Emily yet. He just wasn’t ready to hurt her like he knew that revelation would. There had been enough pain going around lately, and the last thing he wanted to do was pile on. But he was going to have to tell her what happened. Jake’s father died young, but he had been around long enough to teach Jake that when a man makes a mistake, he owns up to it and pays the consequences. Better than living the life of a liar. No life is worse than that. Of course if his dad had been around to see what life was like after the invasion, he might have worded that lesson a little differently.
The next few hours were more of the same. At times they were able to drive fairly fast, as the abandoned cars would clear up, then some moments were like driving through a maze. Tyler was doing a good job navigating the obstacles, and TW was keeping up behind them. TW also radioed that Mark seemed to be doing fine. He was in some pain, but the bite wasn’t turning him into an alien. Silver linings, Jake thought.
Jess and Amy had slept most of the way, and Jake hadn’t said a word to Tyler. Instead, he pulled a different Moleskin notebook from his bag and began writing in it. He used to write a lot when he was growing up. Before his parents died he’d mostly played around with fiction. He would sit in his room and write short stories, poems, and sometimes the occasional song—only the words, not the musical accompaniment. After his mom and dad died, his writing became darker. Stories of anguish and heartache as opposed to the adventurous tales of the past dominated his efforts. Since the pandemic, it had been somewhat cathartic for him to pull out the pad and pen and drift off into another world. He had written a few poems, but mostly it was his account of all that had been happening around them. He wasn’t doing it to document this terrible time in human history, more so to help make sense of it. It had yet to work.