by Aline Riva
“You killed innocent people!” he yelled, “My people, you killed them, I just want you to die!”
Every other word had been punctured by the sound of his steel fist slamming into his enemies face as Mortiz became unrecognisable, his features bloodied and torn and bruised and swollen as Rick dealt another punch, then still holding his throat, as Mortiz staggered and swayed he pulled him to his feet as anger blazed in his eyes.
He saw something move behind him down in deep water, and Rick started to smile as he stood there, grasping his enemy by the throat as victory blazed in his eyes.
“You stink of death,” Rick said darkly, “You fucking reek of the undead... And I'm not the only one who can smell it...”
The battered gaze of Mortiz took on a look of confusion as he tried to speak, but then it rose from then water, huge and majestic, its jaws wide as Rick stepped back, pitching Mortiz into the mouth of the mutant shark. The jaws slammed shut as the shark hit water and bit down, turning the sea crimson as it submerged, taking the body of his enemy with it.
Rick looked to the water and smiled.
“Cheers, Nemo!” he said as he drew an exhausted breath, then as he turned and staggered and Lois jumped up to the barrier, he was thankful of her company as she helped him back down to the sand once more.
“Rick!” she exclaimed with relief, blinking away tears as he leant against her, battered and bruised and barely focussing.
“I need to do something...” Rick said breathlessly, then as he indicated to the entrance to the underwater walk way, David joined Lois, and between them they supported him as he weakly made his way over to the attraction.
“What are we doing in here?” Lois wondered as Rick sank down weakly into a chair behind the desk and watched as on the monitor, an image came through of the underwater attraction and the carnage left behind, where Nemo was on the bottom, chewing up the last of Mortiz as the water clouded red.
Rick looked at the controls and then found what he was searching for: Barrier control. He pressed the button as his head throbbed and his vision blurred, but managed a smile as he watched the shark spot the raised grille, head for it and then swim through to the freedom of the open seas.
“Safe journey, my friend,” he said warmly, and then he got up unsteadily, helped by David and Lois, as the sound of helicopters thundered in the distance.
“I called for help,” Carrie explained, “We've all got a way out...”
As they went back outside, the exhausted group looked up to see the choppers in the distance. What was most surprising of all was to see a mounted platform had suddenly sprung up in the middle of the sea where before there had only been water. A boat was speeding towards the barrier, too.
“We're saved! We made it!” David exclaimed, as hope shone in the eyes of the survivors as they looked to the approaching rescuers.
“We made it!” Lois exclaimed joyfully, turning to Rick.
He swayed on his feet, the throbbing in his head turning to pain heavy as a hammer blow as the world turned dark, then he slumped to the ground, lying motionless on his back as blood ran from his ear. Lois dropped to her knees beside him, calling his name and then looking up at David in utter disbelief. The helicopters were closer now, and she looked up as tears streaked her face.
“Please hurry!” Lois yelled skyward.
On some vague level, Rick thought he heard her and he dragged his eyes open briefly, looked up and saw distant helicopters dark against the stark morning sky, then as the others stood and waited for rescue, exhausted and bruised from surviving Fearland, Rick began to slide into darkness, silently recalling only that his name was Richard Alexander Lester, and this day had told the story of what he had fought for, and why he died...
Chapter 11: Vacating Fearland
As Rick's breathing slowed and then stopped, Lois gave a sob as she looked up at David and Tara.
“He's gone!” she wept.
“Get out of the way, Lois,” said Jason, speaking calmly as he could as she shot him a hostile glance and he knelt down, pushing her carefully aside as he felt for a pulse.
“Leave him alone, Jason!”
“I know what I'm doing, I'm trained to give CPR!”
On hearing those words Lois got up and stepped back as Jason started to work on Rick as David and Tara stood beside her looking on as Rick gave no response and more blood ran from his ear.
“Come on, Rick!” muttered Jason as he continued to work on him, and then he suddenly drew a breath.
While this was happening, Toby and Carrie ran over to the landing helicopter, as the boat that had sped from the base came to a stop near the barrier and Jason saw one of the rescuers was an army medic, and he waved to him urgently.
“I just got him breathing again, he needs help fast!” he called out.
As the medic left the boat, a helicopter had landed in a nearby lawn area as above, another hovered, ready to pick off any remaining undead that might be lurking about the park.
As Carrie tugged at David's arm his sights were still set on Rick, since they had been trapped by the horde his only wish had been to escape because death had seemed imminent, but now as he watched the medic fighting to stabilise him, all David could think of was Rick, hoping he would make it – rescue had come out of the blue and he couldn't even feel thankful for it, all thoughts had been blown away by his only wish - that his close friend would survive.
“David,” Carrie said, “Did you hear me?”
His eyes stung with tears as he gave no reply, watching a second rescuer join the medic, kneeling at his side and following instructions as Rick was put on oxygen then transferred to a stretcher. At least he was breathing, that was all he could focus on as Carrie spoke again, then Tara stepped closer, blocking the view as Rick was carried over to the speedboat.
“David!” she said urgently, “There's room for us all in the chopper, we have to leave - now!”
“I just want him to make it,” he said as tear ran down his face.
For a brief moment Tara's eyes clouded with sadness.
“I know, we all do! Now let's go!” she urged.
As the boat sped off towards the raised structure out at sea, David turned away, towards the chopper in the distance sat waiting on the nearby lawn.
As Lois wiped her eyes and turned from the sight of the boat cutting through the water, she felt a thump and looked down to see someone had just run into her – someone whose presence flooded her heart with warmth.
“Flossie!” she said in surprise.
The child looked to the end of the pathway, where a large mutant lion lurked. She held up her hand, a silent signal to go, and the lion regarded her for a moment, then turned and padded away towards the zoo area.
At that moment she understood, and Lois looked at her with wide eyes.
“You told the animals to attack?”
She caught a slight nod to Flossie's head as her mouth half smiled and her dark eyes glittered.
“We have to go!” Tara said quickly.
Lois placed her hand on Flossie's shoulder.
“I'm not leaving without her. She's the one who told the animals to fight back – she can speak with them, I just saw it with my own eyes! She helped to save us all!”
Tara and David looked in surprise at the mutant child who still clutched her icky stick, now minus its usual brain snack.
“Did you, Flossie?” David said in surprise.
She cast him the same look, and in an instant he knew that look meant Yes.
Then as a soldier came over, he looked to the mutant child with mistrust, and Lois placed her hands protectively on Flossie's shoulders.
“She's coming with us, she's animal virus infected and not dangerous. She's also my daughter! Her name is Flossie Lester!”
As the soldier nodded and then turned back to the chopper, David and Tara exchanged a look of surprise.
“Well I guess that's Flossie adopted,” Tara said quietly.
David thought o
f Rick and as he recalled how he had befriended the child first and they had formed a bond, a spark of hope lit in his heart.
“I'm glad,” he said as they headed for the chopper, “She deserves a chance. After what we've been through, I reckon we all deserve one...We all deserve some happiness...”
Tara said nothing in reply, catching the look in his eyes as she knew his thoughts were still very much with Rick. Then they reached the helicopter and climbed in to join the others, David pausing to help Flossie on board, then the door was closed and as the blades turned and they hovered higher, the helicopter took off, flying the survivors away from Fearland, across the sea to the secret base.
After the ordeal the group had suffered in FearLand, all were exhausted, sore, aching, bruised and tired. After the choppers landed and the platform was lowered and the watertight doors above sealed, they were led away down two levels to the main building, as they all got the odd sensation of something like being inside a vast lift that was slowly descending, as the structure once again slowly and carefully slid below the water once more. After taking a lift that went down many floors, the doors opened to a wide, softly lit open area where corridors ran off left and right.
As the group stepped out and looked around, there was no sense here of being underwater, instead in this windowless area it felt more like being below ground than sea, there were no sounds of the sea as the current passed by, no windows through which the sea could be viewed – though after the ordeal at the undersea walk every member of David's team was thankful for that.
Then a woman in combat clothing walked over to them, giving Carrie a warm smile.
“It's good to have you back,” she said, “The Professor?”
Carrie shook her head.
“She didn't make it, But I have her papers right here.”
She handed them over to the woman, who glanced at them and then looked back at Carrie.
“I'll have these sent to the upper floor. You can join the research team as soon as you feel ready – but not for twenty four hours. You've been through a lot, I can tell. You can show the others to the guest accommodation and then get yourself some rest.”
Carrie nodded, then she glanced to David and looked back at the woman.
“This is David Harley,” she said, “He's been fighting against the outbreak since it began. He was in the Arctic with some students when it started...You might want to talk to him about that.”
David look at her, unsure of why she had said that as he silently recalled his time at the safe house and the conversations he had shared whilst getting to know the others during the time they had sought shelter there.
“I'm Captain Tina Swan,” she said, “In charge of this place and the military side of the project. We have a vast base here and are ready for just about anything – it was set up by the government ten years ago in case of a globally catastrophic pandemic, here we have both military arms and man power and a scientific research facility as well as a state of the art medical centre... your friend who came in with the head injury...Who is closest to him, please?”
David wanted to step forward as he thought of Rick, but resisted the urge to volunteer as Lois spoke up.
“That's me,” she said quietly as she stood there with Flossie in front of her, the little girl looking up at the Captain as she clutched her empty icky stick.
Tina hesitated, kindness reflecting in her grey eyes, in her uniform she looked strong and athletic and had an air about her that said she was certainly the right person to be in command of this base, her short blonde hair framed her face and she wore just a touch of mascara, and in that moment as she leant closer to Flossie and spoke to her, it was clear the Captain was very maternal.
“You must be Flossie Lester.”
Flossie just looked at her expressionless, unsure of the stranger who might possibly steal her icky stick as she clung on to it tightly.
“I can tell by your skin and your eyes that you're a Type B infected child,” she said, “We've been learning a lot, the study group have worked out the effect the animal virus has on people. We know the virus makes animals protective to humans, and isn't infectious when passed on to them. We also know the only animals who become aggressive when infected are the snake population – and snakes tend to bite smaller prey...cats, dogs...children... You're not the only one, Flossie. And the good news is, we are working on an antidote to help children like you."
Flossie's head tilted slightly, then she just stood there, clutching the stick tightly.
Then the Captain straightened up, addressing Lois as she spoke again.
“Rick is your husband?”
“Yes,” Lois lied, looking at her anxiously, “Please tell me he's going to be okay.”
“How did Rick get his injuries?”
“He was in a fight,” Lois replied.
“Must have been some fight...he's got a slight internal bleed to the brain which is being treated with drugs and a second more serious injury to the back of his skull – he took a heavy blow to the head - the force of it caused swelling to the brain. He's in surgery, the doctors are going to remove a section of skull to make room for the swelling, assuming the swelling soon goes down they can put the bone back, close him up and it's going to be a long recovery but hopefully it's been caught in time to prevent major brain damage. Nothing is certain at this moment, but he's receiving the best care so for now, we just have to wait for the outcome.”
Lois nodded, then she fell silent, using every ounce of her strength not to break down and cry in front of the others – one glance at David told her he was on the brink, too.
“I want to see him as soon as he's out of surgery,” Lois said.
“It's going to be a few hours yet,” Tina replied, “I'll make sure you're informed as soon as he's out of theatre," then she looked to Carrie, “Show these people to their rooms, please. Then I want you to get some rest. Carrie, promise me, rest before you get back to work?”
Carrie smiled.
“Yes Tina, I'll rest.”
Then as Carrie led the others towards a corridor, the Captain spoke again, touching her arm as Lois turned to leave.
“By the way,” she said quietly, “I've made sure all personnel on the base know there's a Type B child on board. They've been educated to know the difference between a Type B and an A-Strain Corpse, no one will harm her. We also know what they eat. We have some cadavers in storage for experimentation, I had a word with the testing area and they dug out a couple of brains for the little girl and there's what she could consider corpse meat that can be discreetly served up when she's hungry. It's okay, we'll take good care of all of you.”
“Thanks,” Lois said quietly, then she went off to join the others as they headed for their new accommodation.
It was late in the afternoon by the time the group had rested, showered, changed their clothing to combat attire the base had to spare, then gone off to the dining area to eat a much needed meal. Tara had gone with them but David had stayed behind, insisting he would eat later – sleep had to come first because he still felt shattered.
Then as he lay on his basic but comfortable bed, he heard a knock on the door.
“It's Captain Swan, came the voice from outside.
David sat up, rubbed tired eyes then swung his legs off the edge of the bed, sitting there still feeling tired as he told her the door was open.
Captain Swan came in, walked over to him and looked at him with interest.
“Sorry to disturb your rest but I understand you were part of an Arctic party at the time of the outbreak?”
“That's right,” he said, running his fingers through hair messed up by sleep, “Me and Tara took a group of photography students on a field trip – most of them didn't make it back. Then me and Tara just kept going – we met the others along the way, it's been a battle that's never stopped. The dead just keep coming for us.”
“The research team have been studying Adrienne's theories,” she replied, “And it a
ll makes sense. Based on computer simulations we've run on the effect there's a theory that the Type A undead strain can mutate in unusual ways in extremely cold temperatures, meaning the mutations in humans can become unique and powerful. Exposing the virus to zero temperatures creates a kind of super gene in certain types of DNA coding...not every infected person would have this phenomenon, but it's possible it could have happened to one of your group...”
David paused for thought as something Lauren had said as the plane left the Arctic came back to him.
“What kind of phenomenon?” he asked.
“Adrienne called it seeding. The seed would be a heavily mutated undead strain infected person with the ability to command the undead like a leader.”
He thought again of what Lauren had seen from the window as the plane flew away from the Arctic and the shiver that ran down his spine felt as cold as that snowy wilderness, for a second, he had been back there...
“Lauren - one of the survivors - she said she saw Justin standing on a hilltop reaching out like he was calling to them...and the dead came to him...” he looked at her, focussing on the Captain's face as he wished he could block out the memory of that place and all that had happened, “You think Justin could be this leader you're taking about? Justin Frazer?”
“Who ever he was before the virus, he's different now,” she reminded him.
David cast his mind back once more, recalling the journey to the Arctic before the nightmare had started...Justin? It didn't seem possible... Then he pushed those thoughts aside as his close friend was still on his mind.
“Any news on Rick?”
“He's out of surgery, he's very weak but seems stable. But he won't regain consciousness until the swelling goes down and that could take a while. The doctor said the longer it takes the worse the outcome, so let's hope he comes around quickly...I'll speak to you about Justin another time, David. You look tired, you should get some more rest.”