Level Six

by Dean, Jane

  “What happened to the O negative subjects?” asked the Major in charge of the base sat to the doctor’s left.

  “Their outcome was more dramatic that what you’ve just witnessed.” Dr. Myers said. “If they survive the first day, they became something magnified to the subject with any other blood type. Their height, strength and abilities are extreme and again the long term results aren’t there for us to provide. I’m afraid one of our O negative subjects lost his mind and was euthanized shortly after the drug was administered.”

  "It will take too much time to test for O negatives." A scientist sitting next to the Major stood. "We can't wait to test everyone. It's my opinion that we vaccinate those who want to chance the vaccine."

  "Dr. Hume, what are your conclusions? If we do vaccinate globally what sort of world would we be looking at?" the Prime Minister of Britain asked.

  "If we look at all sides, Mr. Prime Minister. It's my opinion that, the biter epidemic can be contained, but we would be faced with a world made up potentially of three types of humans."

  "We have to warn people that a certain percentage of the population won’t react well to the drug,” Kat yelled.

  "Dr. Myers," Dr. Hume raised his voice. "You'd have to agree that living as a stronger although distorted being is a better alternative to a walking corpse bent on destroying life. At least a person would have some kind of life."

  “I agree.” Dr. Myers said. “But if we only vaccinate suitable candidates, those advanced beings can work to protect the rest of the population while we work to modify the vaccine. I think we can see the logic in that course of action." Dr. Myers leaned forward pressing his palms on the table and looked between the Major and his colleague.

  The Major stood and addressed the room. “It’s final. The drug will be shipped and administered and it will be left to individual countries to test before vaccinating.”

  * * *

  "Jesus man watch out!" Tod yelled from the front seat. The small car careened off a curb and bounced against the side of an SUV. Ursa’s already sore head hit the passenger window with a dull thud.

  "Do you want to drive?" Marshall yelled at him. He straightened the wheel and brought them back onto the road.

  "No, man. No. You're doing fine,” Tod said. Ursa watched from the backseat as biters dove onto the car or walked out in front of them. Marshall swerved to miss some of the larger bodies in their way and Ursa focused out the window to divert her attention from the squish of bodies being run over by tires.

  She could see Marshall’s tense expression in the rear view mirror. He’d been locked in a rigid state for hours and the strain was pulling at his features. "They're all following us,” he yelled.

  Tod turned to look out the back window. "We're like the fucking Pied Piper Man!" Ursa turned to look out as well. The street behind them was filling with biters.

  "Oh my god, some are running,” she said. Melissa began to whimper on the seat next to her. "It's okay baby. We'll make it. Hang on we're almost there."

  The crowd of biters was also growing in front of the car. Marshall gave up trying to drive around them. He directed his focus straight ahead and didn't waver. Biters clung to the sides of the car and onto the roof. "Hang on,” Marshall yelled.

  Through the bodies lying on the front window, Ursa could see the marina approaching quickly. "What are you doing!?" she yelled. Marshall hit a curb hard. The car bounced up and hit the road hard. Biters tried to hang on but dropped to the road in dead heaps.

  "We're going in!" Tod shouted. The small car drove down the dock, bounded and skidded across the damp wood.

  Ursa held her head as another pain shot behind her eyes. She blinked back tears and tried to focus out the window as they neared the end of the dock.

  "Let's hope they can't swim!” Tod yelled. The car shot off the end of the dock. The car struck the water and began to sink quickly. "Holy shit,” he said undoing his seat belt.

  "Swim for it,” Marshall yelled. “Quick roll down your windows now and head to the boat out in the bay."

  "Okay, Melissa. Hang on to me,” Ursa said as she rolled down the window as the water level crept up the side of the car. Melissa steadied herself enough to wrap her arms around Ursa's neck. She undid the girl’s seat belt. “You got me? Good, here we go.”

  Ursa held onto Melissa and climbed out through the open window. Ursa caught her breath and turned to look back down the dock. She could make out some biters still following as they floated in the freezing water.

  The little girl gulped water and started to choke. "It's okay. I've got you. Hang on."

  Ursa could see biters falling off the edge of the dock. Her arms felt heavy as they moved to reach out toward the boat parked out 20 feet from them. She could see the Marshall and Tod in front of her. Tod turned and held out his hand to her. They were almost to the ladder at the back of the yacht.

  "Ursa!" Marshall yelled. He was looking back at her from the ladder. His eyes were wide watching something behind her. She looked back to see a hand missing a few fingers reach toward her. She screamed and kicked out. A groan came from the biter before he sank beneath the water. She felt his few remaining fingers clutch at her ankle, pulling her under. She kicked up hard and broke free reaching the surface with Melissa.

  The little girl's grip had loosened and Ursa continued to kick as hard she could to reach the side of the boat. Tod's hand stretched out to her and she clutched at him as he pulled her to the ladder. Melissa was lifted into the back of the boat as Ursa looked back to see Callum fighting two biters at the end of an adjacent dock.

  "Callum!" she screamed.

  * * *

  Dr. Myers entered the lab behind Major Simmons. Using his handkerchief, he wiped at his brow to stop sweat from rolling into his eyes.

  “Sorry about the stairs doctor. It’s a lot faster than the elevator.” The Major led him to a door which opened into a room which had been cleared of excess equipment and furniture. The last desk was being carry out behind them as they entered by two young military personnel.

  Dr. Hume was standing beside a table on which a middle aged man was sitting.

  “What’s this?” Dr. Myers asked. “What’s going on?”

  “We’ve expedited matters Dr. Myers.”

  “What do you mean expedited?”

  “Dr. Hume is testing your theory.”

  Dr. Hume nodded to the man seated on the side of the bed. “You can lay back now. The sedative will work soon.” The man closed his eyes and his body went limp. Dr. Myers ran from bed to bed examining the seven other men laying asleep on the cots. “We’ve assembled the O Negative blood types and have administered Thantos. We’ve given them a sedative to relieve them of most of the painful effects. Hopefully they’ll sleep until their transformation is complete.”

  “You should secure them to the beds Major.” Dr. Myers yelled. “Quickly. The serum may not react the same way with each individual. It hasn’t been fully tested on humans.”

  “You’ve tested on humans doctor? I was under the assumption that testing had only been performed on monkeys until now.”

  “No. That’s not entirely true. I was aware of the threat from another source and took some steps to test.”

  “What were the results?” the Major asked.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t been in contact with the test subject.”

  “The monkeys tested all reacted to the serum but results weren’t conclusive. The outcome may not be good for all these men. We could be introducing the virus into this facility. We’ve got to secure them to their beds and lock down this room.”

  NINE

  Ursa watched as Callum ran from the biters and slip on the dock catching himself before his face hit the wooden boards. A man was moaning and running over the planks toward him. Ursa’s could see that the biter’s face had been ripped open. He ran a few steps, tripped on a warped board and dropped to a knee before stumbling down a small set of stairs. Another Walker ran over top of him, fe
ll and clawed back to stand and continued desperately toward Callum.

  "Get back!" Tod yelled at Ursa. A Walker had drifted in the water close to the boat and was reaching up for her foot. Tod took a large pole and beat the Walker in the face. The thing didn't seem to suffer and continued to paw at the water to get hold of the side of the boat. More were falling into the water. Some sank and Ursa could see their hands waving in the water as they drifted down and away.

  "Marshall, we've got to get out of here man,” Tod yelled. He ran to the controls and worked quickly to start the engine. "Push that button next to the wheel."

  "Marshall ran to the front of the boat, pushed the button and Ursa could hear the motor below her lift the anchor.

  "Callum!" she yelled. He had managed to turn over and kicked the face of the Walker that was almost on top of him. She could feel the boat begin to move. "Quick, swim for it."

  "You can make it,” Tod called after Callum. The boat picked up a little speed and left the Walkers floating after it. Tod took the helm and brought the boat closer to the dock Callum was standing on.

  "Swim!" Ursa called again. Callum turned and dove into the water. He surfaced and went under suddenly.

  "Where'd he go?" Tod yelled.

  "I'll get him." Marshall jumped into the water, took a deep breath and went under. Ursa felt like an eternity had passed before surfaced up pulling Callum with him.

  "It's still got me!" Callum yelled. Marshall struggled to make it to the boat and drew Callum up on the back deck with effort. Tod didn’t move to help the men but steered the boat ahead faster.

  "It's still got me!" Callum screamed. Ursa ran to the back and could see a hand wrapped around his ankle. She picked up the pole and drove it into the face of the Walker trailing under the water behind them. The water rippled out behind the man carrying brown ooze from his broken head. She continued to beat the pole down on him until it released its grip and drifted under. Marshall pulled Callum further into the boat and they lay panting.

  "Go Tod!" Marshall yelled ahead and the boat moved quickly away from the marina toward open water.

  * * *

  Kat got up and pushed her chair under the conference table. John grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?” he asked. His tone sounded too stern and she pulled away.

  “I need to freshen up and get away from the crowd for a minute.” He released her and she walked out of the room into the hall. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked down the glass hall way. She asked a passing guard, “Excuse me, can you tell me how I can get to my apartment?”

  “What’s your name,” he asked and pulled out a tablet from inside his jacket. The screen flashed to a floor plan. “Name please he asked again.” Kat Lynton. “Oh Mayor Lynton, yes,” he snapped to attention as he recognized her. He typed in her name and a small red pushpin appeared over a room on the screen. You’re one floor down Room number 209.”

  What’s on the floor below? Will I be kept up by people working? I’m not feeling well and want to lie down for a moment. The man slid his hand across the screen and an image of the floor below appeared. She glanced at it and noted the position of the rooms.

  “You should be fine ma’am,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she said and walked quickly to the elevator at the end of the hall. She waited for what seemed too long and pushed open a door next to her. She was right to think it was the stairs and walked down and was able to find her room. The door opened. She noticed that there wasn’t a lock or not one could see and she opened the closet to see if there were any supplies.

  She found an oversized shirt and khaki pants which were light weight and practical. She needed to roll up the bottoms of the pants. There were also shoes which were too big but fit well enough after she tightened the laces. She didn’t know what to do with her soiled clothes and decided to place them in a plastic bag meant for garbage. In the small bathroom she found a sealed bag of toiletries and pulled out a comb to fix her pony tail and washed the dirt and sweat from her face and hands.

  She left the room and walked quickly and with what she hoped looked like purpose down the hall. She wanted to get a look at the lab and see for herself what sort of testing was going on.

  * * *

  The wind picked up as they sailed quickly down the coast. Tod, not wanting to hit any rocks kept the sloop far from the tree lined shore. “How’s it going Tod?” Ursa yelled over the wind.

  “I’ve got to watch the sails to avoid heading up too far and stalling up. I’m surprised we’re making good time. I’m going to have to train someone to take a shift soon. I’m getting tired.”

  Tod adjusted the sail and moved close to Marshall and Callum who were sitting on the deck. "That's your theory,” Marshall was saying. "One of those fuckers could have just turned biter and that would be it. Game over."

  "I'm trying to be optimistic here,” Ursa said.

  "And I'm trying to keep it real and keep us alive as long as I can,” Marshall said. “Where’s Melissa.” He asked Ursa.

  “She’s below laying down. She fell asleep pretty fast,” she said

  "What'd I miss?" Tod asked and looked in one of the backpacks for a bottle of water. "Do you think the government's trying to do anything?" Tod asked Ursa and Callum.

  "They might be eating each other in the oval office for all we know,” Marshall said.

  "Okay, let's try to figure this out." Ursa sat down and rested her head on her knees. Ursa took Tod's water from his outstretched hand and took a sip.

  "Let's start with your dad,” Tod said looking from Callum to Ursa. "What’s he got to do with the government? Ursa’s told me a little about him."

  "He's a geneticist,” Callum said. “A Professor at Yale - studies viral infections and mutations. At one time he was in charge of an operation trying to modify the measles vaccine to stop cancer. He's more of a consultant now and tracks viruses."

  “What can he do for us?” Marshall said.

  “If he called Ursa and told her to get to Yakima there must be a government base there or something. He wouldn’t be telling us to get out there. You said he sounded desperate Ursa?” Callum asked.

  “Yes. He said something had happened and that was all I heard. He was very clear about getting to Yakima though. I cut him off as the race started.” She put her chin back on her knee.

  “You couldn’t have done anything anyway.” Callum said. “The race had started and the virus was spreading about half an hour after your call with him. Where could you have gone to get away?”

  "Well. It looks like something broke out and is infecting everyone,” Marshall said.

  "It doesn't seem airborne,” Tod said. "While I was in the house. I watched how it was spread. People were fine until they were bit and then they changed. Some didn't get up at all. Some got away with a bite, laid down and got back up after a few minutes and started attacking again. You've got to come in contact with an infected person to actually change into one of them."

  "I was bit and nothing happened to me,” Ursa said. Tod and Marshall looked at each other. "What? I feel fine."

  "We're still going to have to watch you,” Marshall said.

  Ursa looked over at Callum. "How are you Callum? You didn't come into contact with any of them did you?"

  "No,” he said. "There were a lot of close calls but they didn't touch me thank god."

  Ursa rubbed at her eyes. “I’m really tired, can I take a later shift at the helm?" she asked.

  "Are you okay Ursa?" Marshall asked. "You look different." The three men were looking at her strangely.

  “I think something must be wrong with my eyes. They’re really dry. I’m just tired,” she said and rubbed them before looking up again. “Actually, I do feel different. My headache’s finally gone. I can see things a lot clearer now.”

  “You lay down over there and take a break. We’ll wake you in a few hours.” She nodded and lay down on top of the deck. The rhythmic rocking of the boat relaxed her muscles and ea
sed her to sleep.”

  ***

  Kat walked down the hall and watched many researchers walking or running from various rooms and up the stairs behind her. There weren’t as military personnel on this level. She walked down the hall trying to appear as though she was going somewhere with purpose. A door on her right read ‘supplies’. She tried the handle and the door opened easily letting her slip inside. The light came above her as she did. She looked around to see lab coats, blankets, and other assorted supplies. She put on a jacket and picked up some sheets and returned to the hall. No one seemed to question why she was there and she walked down the hall checking in each window that she passed.

  “Excuse me,” a woman appeared at her elbow. “Can I help you?” She was a small woman with clear rimless glasses.

  “Uh.” Kat paused slightly. “Yes, I was sent by Dr. Myers to get more sheets for the patients.” The woman studied Kat for a moment. Kat looked the woman in the eyes and blinked a copy times. “I’ve gotten myself turned around and I don’t know where the lab is.” She turned around and looked back down the hall.

  “This way.” The woman nodded slightly. “It’s confusing at first. You’ll find your way around soon enough.” She led Kat down the hall at a quick pace. “At first every floor of this place looks the same.” She brought Kat to a door and seeing that Kat’s hands were full with the sheets, placed her hand on the palm reader and entered a security code into the keypad code.

  “Thanks,” Kat said. She walked a couple feet into the room expecting the lights to come on but they weren’t programmed to turn on when sensing movement. The small amount of light from the hall reflected off the chrome of monitors, tables and equipment. She edged into the room and bumped into an empty table. She dropped the sheets on the table and walked slowly around the room starting next to the door looking for a light switch on the wall.

  There didn’t seem to be anyway to turn on the lights. She bumped into a bed. She continued around the bed to a small table where she felt a lamp. After fumbling for some time she found a switch and flipped it carefully. A diffuse amount of light filled the room casting a glow over three beds. The bed she glanced on the bed on her right and jumped back involuntarily into the next bed. Turning to look at the man lying there she dropped to the floor and sat still staring at the two men.