by M. K. Dawn
“Good. What did the autopsy tell us?”
Guess they were going to jump right into things. The problem was, Sloan didn’t know what they were about to jump into. There was more to this scenario than had been disclosed. She had the separate pieces but the overall picture had yet to be seen. “My findings would be more conclusive if I knew what was going on.”
The men around the table glanced at one another before Davis answered. “That’s not an option. Give us the pieces and we’ll put them together ourselves.”
Wrong answer. “My findings were inconclusive.”
Davis banged his fist on the table. “How dare you! There are others that could easily examine the body and provide the feedback that we need.”
“You would risk others finding out the truth?”
His jaw dropped. “What do you know about the truth?”
Piece by piece, Sloan’s mind once again went over every detail she’d picked up on the past year. The man from the ER on the day she left for Fort Hood. The hint of a virus on the news before she arrived. An asteroid the world didn’t know about. A failed mission to the surface that resulted in three deaths. A surface that—according to Archer—hadn’t changed, but should have. “There wasn’t an asteroid, was there? It was a cover-up.”
Davis’ eyes widened with the affirmation she needed.
“Why would you do this to us? Lock us down here when the world above is safe?”
“Safe?” One of the officers flew out of his seat. “Safe? The world is not safe! Every day I pray like hell that it was an asteroid that destroyed us! Anything other than what’s happened.”
“General Tao,” Davis snapped, “that’s enough!”
“No! We took an oath to protect the people of this great country of ours and we abandoned them. Now those…those things have been brought here. To our sanctuary. It’s only a matter of time.”
Another officer placed a hand on Tao’s arm. “It’s been contained, Cheng.”
“That’s what NATO said and we all know how that ended.”
Sloan turned to Archer, who had the same confused look on his face as her. She didn’t know if they should allow them to continue and hope someone would slip or ask them point blank.
Archer broke through the uproar first. “What happened?” His voice was calm and direct.
Tao froze and slunk back into his seat as if he had forgotten they were there.
“General Davis? I asked what happened.”
Davis scraped his fingers through his hair but didn’t answer.
Archer’s eyes jumped from one officer to the next. All turned away, unable to look him in the eye. “General Davis…Scott…” Still no answer. Archer’s breaths grew ragged. “Dad. What the hell happened out there? Was there an asteroid or not?”
Sloan snapped her head towards Archer. Davis was his father? The father he loathed? She took in the room. No one else seemed surprised.
Davis ran his hand across the scruff on his chin. “There was an asteroid. Only it hit about ten thousand years ago. It was discovered six months before the world collapsed. Within it, there was a biological substance.”
“Alien?” Archer asked.
The corner of Davis’ mouth twitched. “Alien sounds like little green men. Extraterrestrial. Not of this world.”
Sloan’s mouth went dry. “You tested it.”
Tao spoke up. “Not us. Not the United States. NATO. They ran tests and couldn’t decipher the makeup. Couldn’t replicate it. So they injected small doses into animals. What they discovered was groundbreaking: it had restorative properties.”
“What do you mean?” Sloan thought of Cale’s body and the lacerations that were almost healed.
“Improved overall health. Reversed the ill-effects of aging. Closed wounds. Prevented illnesses. Killed cancer cells.”
Sloan’s heart sank. She knew where this was going. “You moved to human testing?”
“There were no ill side effects,” Davis argued. “The animals were…fine. Healthy and thriving.”
“Animal DNA and human DNA are completely different. Incomparable!” Sloan said.
“Again,” Tao said, “NATO, not us.”
Archer propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “What happened?”
“They obtained two thousand volunteers with various ailments from all over the world,” Davis continued. “Half were given no more than a milliliter of the matter. The others were given a placebo. Then they sent them home to return in a week to re-run the tests. When they returned, all who received the treatment were cured. The only side effect was a slightly lower heart rate—nothing to be concerned about. Stage-four pancreatic cancer: gone. Alzheimer's: cured. Can you imagine what those scientists thought they’d discovered? They thought they were going to rid the world of death and disease.”
“How long?” Sloan didn’t care what they thought they’d found. She only cared about the end result.
“Excuse me?” Davis asked.
“How long before they did the second trial?”
He glanced away. “The remaining thousand were given the treatment on the spot. Again in the small dosage. All were sent home for a month before they were to return.”
Archer dropped his head. “Sent all over the world.”
“Yes.” Tao’s eyes watered. “It’s not how we would have handled things here in the States.”
Davis cleared his throat. “A week later, the calls started to come in. The first set of patients were growing weak, but at the same time aggressive—biting at people in a state of delirium. Then one by one, they began to die. Die…and come back.”
Sloan barked out a harsh laugh. Her thoughts scrambled to understand what Davis was telling them. “Came back? What does that mean?”
“Zzz—” Archer’s voice trailed.
“What?” Sloan gasped. Lightheadedness threatened to overcome her.
“After Cale was attacked, he tried to speak. He kept saying ‘zzz’. I thought he was delusional.”
“I don’t understand!”
“He loved horror movies—anything that tried to scare the shit out of you. His favorite monster: zombies.”
***
Sloan hugged the toilet seat and emptied the contents of her stomach. As soon as that word—that ridiculous word—left Archer’s lips, she knew she was going to be sick. She rushed out of the room and stumbled into the bathroom just in time. Zombies were not real. They couldn’t be. There had to be an explanation. One based on science and not movie magic. The asteroid and the substance within it was the key.
She splashed cool water on her face and rinsed out her mouth the best she could. The taste wouldn’t completely leave until she brushed her teeth a few dozen times.
The hall was quiet. No one had followed her. Archer must have known she needed a few minutes to process. Back in the boardroom, everyone sat there, silent, waiting. “There’s no such thing as zombies.”
“Of course not,” Davis said, “but there is a vast universe out there with endless possibilities of life.”
“So this isn’t a zombie apocalypse but an alien one?” Archer asked.
“We don’t know. It spread so quickly, there was no time for an investigation. A week was all we had to get the attendees here. To save humanity.”
“It’s not airborne,” Sloan said. “Or else we would have all caught it. I was around someone the day I left for Fort Hood that was believed to be dead but came back. He was pretty heavily clothed, so I didn’t get a good look at him, but he was aggressive. Said to have bit people. If it was airborne, I would have contracted it.”
“Our scientists on the outside came to that same conclusion days before we lost contact with the outside world,” a thin African American man—the one who tried to comfort Tao—said. “I’m General Harald, by the way.”
“The aftermath of the asteroid,” Archer said. “The cities burning. We bombed our own country? Our own people?”
“It was spreading,” Davis sai
d. “Those things were popping up everywhere.”
“Spreading how?” Sloan asked. “And why so fast? It took the people from the experiments weeks to…change.”
“Through the bite,” Tao said. “When they became…when they die and change…their teeth become serrated.”
“And small holes form,” Sloan added; she’d seen it during the autopsy. “It’s feeding off human flesh…but from the inside. The bite,” she glanced at Archer, “is how it spreads.”
“What do you mean, from the inside?” Davis asked. “Those things tore into those men. Jones had his throat ripped out. Martinez and Cale had chunks of flesh torn.”
Sloan stood and paced. It was there, scrambled in her head. She just needed to make sense of it all.
“To get through the suits,” Archer said. “When we found Jones and Cale, the things were not with them. Nothing …” He clenched his jaw. “Nothing fed off them. Whatever attacked wanted to get through the suits. To get to the skin. To bite and spread whatever this is.”
Sloan sank back into her seat. It was all beginning to make sense. “There were no organs left in the body,” she said, silencing the room. “Just an unidentifiable mass where the heart should be. Even at the cellular level, I’ve never seen anything like it. Tentacles spread throughout the body. What I found most disconcerting was the tentacles only reached the parts of the brain that controlled movement; motor skills.”
“What does that mean, doctor?” Tao asked.
“Cale’s attack was not mindless, not instinctual. He waited until I drew closer. Hunted me like a predator.” She waited. Didn’t they understand what she was getting at? “This thing—creature, alien—is not using the brain of its host. It’s intelligent. It’s why when I hit Cale on the head he didn’t die. His movement slowed and he became disoriented, but he…it…got back up. It only died when I pierced what I thought was Cale’s heart. I also don’t think they use our eyesight. They go off smell—maybe something else.”
“Host?” The word slipped off Harald’s lips.
Sloan hadn’t realized she’d said it, but a “host” was exactly what they were to this…alien species. “Yes.”
“This is unbelievable,” someone said.
“I should examine the other two,” Sloan said. “Have they…reanimated?”
Davis shook his head. “That won’t be necessary. They both succumbed to their injuries and are locked in the cold chambers ready for bio-cremation.”
“So they only come back when bitten and die naturally, allowing the virus to spread. Not when instantly killed from the attack?”
Davis’ eyes flicked to hers. “Yes.”
“If those creatures have no self-control…maybe it didn’t spread as badly as you initially believed it to.”
Davis’ body deflated and for a second he didn’t look like the commanding officer he was known to be. More like a man who’d seen his fair share of defeat. “A silver lining I suppose. I need to debrief the President.”
“Sir,” Sloan stood, following Davis’ lead, “I would like you to reconsider my request for autopsying the remaining bodies.”
“Request denied,” he snapped.
She opened her mouth to argue but Archer directed her attention to the time. Eight-fifteen. Where had the day gone? She would make the request again tomorrow, when they were all better rested.
“Thank you, Dr. Egan. For everything you’ve discovered.”
“You’re very welcome.”
The room began to clear, leaving only Sloan, Archer, and Davis.
For a moment, Sloan thought Davis would leave without a proper goodbye, but he turned and grasped Archer on the shoulder. “I’m sorry about your men, son—Cale especially—but I’m damn happy to see you survived.”
Archer pulled away from his father’s touch. “You knew what was out there and still you ordered that mission.”
“I know it doesn’t matter now, but I voted against you commanding it. I didn’t want you anywhere near the surface.”
“But still, we went up.”
“As wonderful as The Bunker is, we cannot live down here forever.” With that final thought, he left the room.
Archer wrapped his hand around Sloan’s. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Archer didn’t know where he was headed. He just needed to get the hell out of that room and away from his lying bastard of a father. Away from the ludicrous story they had been told. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the truth. Even after everything he’d seen. Aliens? As vast as the universe was, he never thought earth was the only habitable planet. But for an alien species to find its way to them? How could that have happened? At least it wasn’t flying saucers and little green men—that scenario was too Hollywood for him. Scientists screwing with an unknown biological substance wasn’t as far-fetched.
“Archer,” Sloan pulled him from this internal rant, “my hand. You’re squeezing it rather tight.”
“Sorry.” He loosened his grip but didn’t let go. “This whole situation…it’s—”
“Unbelievable?”
Glad he wasn’t the only one struggling to come to grips with it all. “Yeah. I need to do…something. Get my mind off it.”
“I run. Evenings, when the air is crisp, was my favorite.”
He used exercise, too…and sex. The paleness of her skin, clammy hands, and wide eyes warned him not to mention the latter.
“I miss the outdoors,” she said with a touch of longing.
It was late and even though he couldn’t take her outside… “I have an idea.” He half led, half dragged her onto the elevator.
“I hope it’s a hot shower and sleep,” she grumbled.
Archer moved closer and stroked her arm with his free hand. “Is that an invitation, Slash?”
She frowned, her brow scrunched. “No.”
He suppressed the grin tugging at his lips. She was so cute when she was annoyed. “I didn’t think so. This won’t take long.”
The elevator doors opened and he led her out.
“Why are we at The Farm? It’s dark.”
“There’s a little light.” He rested his index finger under her chin and lifted her head towards the imitation stars.
Her face softened. “Wow. I’ve never been down here at night. It’s lovely. Not quite the view I got in the city.”
“I can change the settings if you like. Though I don’t think the animals would appreciate it very much.”
“No. This is perfect.”
“Come on. I bet we can find a blanket.”
“A blanket?”
Archer entered the barn and returned with a couple of turnout blankets. “Guess these will have to do.”
“What do we need those for?”
Archer ignored her question, wanting to show her instead. He ushered her to the open, low cut field and laid out the blankets. “Lie down.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “Why?”
He grabbed her hand and brought her down to the blankets with him. “Didn’t you ever lay out when you were a kid and stare at the stars?”
Sloan rolled to her back. “I wasn’t much into the outdoors.”
“Didn’t you grow up in the country? On a ranch?”
“I did,” her voice caught. “Do you think…”
He faced her. “What?”
“After the asteroid, I accepted my sister and her kids were dead. Mourned for them and moved on. Now…everything’s changed. Could they have survived? Could anyone have survived?”
It was the one question he hadn’t wanted to consider. Though he had no family, there were close friends that he too had mourned. “Davis said communication with the outside was nonexistent. And with all the bombings…I don’t know. Your family would have a better chance than most, considering where they lived.”
Sloan sniffled, eyes wet with tears. This vulnerable side of her was something he’d have to get used to. It was such a stretch from the hard front she normall
y wore.
They laid there for a while in silence. Archer forced himself to clear his mind of everything but the stars. He didn’t want to consider the what-ifs. Couldn’t. In a span of a few short hours, three of his men had been killed by those things. Men trained in the art of combat. Of course, they didn’t have weapons, but who knew if that would have done any good?
“So, Davis is your father. Why didn’t you say anything?” Her voice was back to her normal calm, collected tone.
“Because I disowned the bastard years ago.”
“What happened?”
Archer’s jaw clenched. “I was a small kid. Took a lot of beatings—from bigger kids and him. Never did a damn thing right.”
“Your last name?”
He mentally thanked her for not pushing the issue. “My mother’s. Had it changed when I turned eighteen.”
“I’m sorry.” She squeezed his hand. “I can’t imagine.”
Archer fought the urge to run away from the intimate conversation. He almost never spoke of his childhood; it made him feel like that small, weak child he used to be. But it was different with Sloan. There was no pity in her voice. She didn’t try to fix him or encourage him to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She listened to him speak and moved on. “It wasn’t all bad. I had my mother and sister.”
“Is there anyone you’d like to find? If possible?”
He thought about it for a moment, staring up at the stars. The simple answer was yes. There were plenty he cared enough about to want to learn their fate. A few people he grew up with. Soldiers he’d trained with, fought beside. Was it possible some of those people were still out there, fighting for survival, lost in a post-apocalyptic world? But communications were down—had been for close to a year. The only way to learn the fate of the people on the outside would be to leave the safety of The Bunker. Face those monsters— aliens. Suddenly, that simple answer wasn’t so simple. How many lives would be lost in search of those who might no longer be alive? Was it worth the risk?
“Archer?” Sloan asked. “Anyone?”
“No.”
***
Archer woke early, unable to sleep. Too many thoughts invaded his mind, each more unpleasant than the next. He half expected the conversation from yesterday to be some weird dream.