“The fourth one’s gonna die,” one of the scientists said. “I don’t give him a day.”
“Wanna place a bet?” the other one laughed.
“Hmm. All right. Ten bucks he makes it till tomorrow.”
“You’re on.”
They laughed, then exited the room and locked the padlock again.
After they went up the stairs, I waited a few minutes, then hurried up the steps and found Lucas, still talking to Charlie, something about silencers. I debated whether I should say anything. If I mentioned it in front of Charlie and he was in on it, I knew he might ban us from ever visiting the lab again. I had no idea what they were doing down there and why, but I wondered why it had all been kept like some deep, dark secret. It was also odd that Charlie had made it a point to mention that he was there alone, when he clearly wasn’t. I pondered my best course of action and decided it was best to play dumb and check it out later. I’ll have to bring a lock-cutter, I thought, making a mental note.
A little while later, we bid Charlie farewell, then left to hole up in the apartment for the evening.
* * *
On the drive back, I confided in Lucas. I told him the entire story, and he agreed that divulging what I saw would have been a dumb move.
“Worst-case scenario,” I said, “they’re experimenting on zombies.”
Lucas gripped the steering wheel tightly. “With our serum?”
“They said they used it all up.”
“Do you believe them?” he retorted, pressing the gas so we flew down the street.
“No.”
“If they have our serum, we have to get it back,” Lucas said. “You know how dangerous that stuff is. We already have a zombie and animal epidemic. The last thing we need to add is hybrids to the equation.”
“We’ll have to involve Max. Maybe he can organize a team to go in and look for it.”
Suddenly, Lucas inhaled sharply as a realization hit.
“What?” I asked.
“If they’re creating hybrids—”
“They’re drawing the herds to the city!” I finished.
“Right. How long is that magical zombie repellant gonna work in that case?”
“Yeah,” I said, “but for now, the place seems pretty zombie free.”
Lucas let out a few choice curses. “We have to kill every single one of those hybrids. How could we have been so stupid? Why’d we give them a vial of our serum?”
“When Jackie died, they needed more test subjects,” I said.
“Who in their right mind would want to call zombies to the city?” he asked.
“Maybe they figure it’s safe because the explosion has been repelling most of them. My guess is that they wanna get their testing done as quickly as possible and then dispose of the hybrids.”
“Why don’t the scientists just sedate the subjects they have so the herds will leave and more won’t be called? We kept Jackie sedated.”
“Yeah, but it wore off,” I said. “It stopped working. That’s why they had to…kill her.”
“Maybe they’re testing the barrier of the city to see what it can withstand.”
I bit my lip hard. “That’s a dangerous way to find out.”
“Then again, maybe we’re totally off base,” he said.
“When Jackie was calling them, dozens and dozens came. How come there aren’t that many now?”
“Because the ones Jackie called were already in the city,” he said. “Think about it. The zombies she drew to the lab were people who died inside the city. The new ones can’t cross the border after that explosion.”
“If we barge in there and they’re growing plants in some fancy garden and harvesting eggs for food, we’re gonna tick them off and ruin any relationship we have with them. They won’t tell us anything about the animal epidemic after that, and they’ll probably kick us out.”
“Yeah, I imagine they’d be pretty pissed.”
I shook my head. “I’m tellin’ you, though, I heard a moan, followed by a bunch more of them, along with that weird hissing noise some of them make. It was real quick, but I know what I heard.”
“Maybe that’s why they left Jackie’s body alone,” he said. “Because they have other specimens. Jackie was Jonathon’s friend. He probably felt guilty messing with her, especially if there are other hybrids the lab coats can prod and poke.”
“It’s all starting to make sense…and not necessarily in a good way.”
“How are we supposed to deal with an animal epidemic and crazy, lunatic scientists, all while fighting the living dead?”
“I don’t know. What if they wanna create an army of hybrids?” I asked.
Lucas laughed. “Little buddy, you’ve read way too many comic books and played way too many videogames.”
I slugged him. “Whatever.”
Chapter 19
We arrived back at the apartment at around four p.m. and immediately told Max everything. He promised to meet with the others and discuss our recent findings, then gave us a couple cans of grape soda, four cans of tuna, and a bag of chips, along with some hard-boiled eggs from one of the women. It wasn’t exactly the Big Mac and fries I’d been dreaming of, but it stopped my stomach from growling as loud as the zombie bear we’d killed.
On our way into the apartment, we stopped to talk to the guys in the lobby. Lucas told them our bear story and about the squirming, legless zombies and the crazy woman who lived above them.
Then we made our way up the rope ladder to the fourth floor. Inside the apartment, I turned on the lanterns and plopped down on the worn-out couch. With my hands still shaking from all the excitement of the day, I threw a few chips in my mouth and washed them down with the warm soda.
Immediately, Sparkles came over, curled up around my feet, and fell asleep.
A few minutes later, the door clicked open, and Val came in. “Hi, guys,” she said. “Looky here.” She proudly showed off a black leather bracelet, woven with diamonds.
“Wow, sis. Is it real?” I asked.
“They said it is.”
“So…how’d you earn it?” Lucas asked, smirking.
“Well, it seems I’m some sort of celebrity for kicking Todd in the nuts. The girls can’t stand him, so they rewarded me for doing something they’ve all wanted to do for a long time.”
“Good for you,” Lucas said. “Wanna share my dinner?”
“Nah, I’m good,” she said. “Had some nice, juicy Spam downstairs with the other gals. They gave me a bracelet for Claire, too, since they don’t care for the jerks who left you two out to dry. I wanted to give it to her, but she’s been out with Nick all day.”
“They should be back soon,” Lucas said. “So…what else?” Lucas asked. “I know diamonds are a girl’s best friend and all, but it isn’t like you to get all gushy-mushy over a bracelet.”
Val grinned, then opened the door, stepped outside for a moment, then stepped back inside holding an M-4 assault rifle. “Can you believe this?”
“Whoa! I want it,” Lucas said.
She handed it to him, then reached around the door and brought a second one in, grinning from ear to ear.
“I want one!” Lucas begged.
“Sorry, buddy, but they’re for Claire and me.”
“Will you let me borrow yours sometime?” Lucas asked.
She winked. “We’ll see.”
“Good. I’m tired of these wimpy rifles and handguns,” Lucas said.
“Then talk to Max. It’s not my fault I’ve got kick-butt connections and you don’t.” She plopped down next to me and smiled. “As for you, little brother, I guess congrats are in order. The guys told me all about your safari adventure, Land Rover and all.”
Lucas sipped his drink. “You shoulda seen it. Dean nailed that zombie bear in one shot. He saved our lives, and that makes him a hero.”
I sighed. “It wasn’t really anything. I didn’t even think. I just sorta…acted.”
Sparkles barked at the door as
Nick and Claire came in.
Claire picked the dog up, relishing the tongue-bath she got.
Instantly, Lucas whined to Nick, “Can you believe they gave the girls M-4s? How do we get our hands on some real weapons?”
“M-4s jam easily,” I said. “My rifle, on the other hand, won’t, and I won’t be wasting half as much ammo as Claire. I’m good with what I’ve got,” I said, pretending I wasn’t jealous.
Claire smiled at me, then turned her gaze to Val. My sister was as excited as a little girl on Christmas morning, eager to go play with her new toy. Claire was equally happy to have her own assault rifle. They’d let her borrow them a time or two during missions, but she’d never had one of her own, and I was happy for her.
Nick came over and snagged some of my tuna.
“What have you been up to all day?” I asked.
“Claire and I took down a houseful of zombies. There were a lot of people hiding there, all infected, so we had to take ‘em all down. We secured the house and looted supplies for Max. A zombie got the slip on me. If it wasn’t for Claire, I’d be toast. She shot the thing seconds before it lurched for my carotid.”
“Just another day at the office,” Claire said playfully.
“Not true,” Nick argued. “She gave it everything she had, blasting zombie guts all over the place. When she saw that one lunging at me, she shot it into next week. You guys shoulda seen her!” Nick said.
In spite of the legless zombies and zombified grizzly, my story seemed to pale in comparison to Claire’s, because she had saved my brother’s life. It suddenly dawned on me that all was not fair in love and war, because if I had risked my life like that, Nick would have chewed me a new one—or at least subjected me to an hour-long lecture. I wasn’t about to let him get away with it that easily. “Nick, why didn’t you wait for a team?” I asked. “You know it isn’t safe to tackle a houseful of zombies by yourself.”
“Listen, it all worked out beautifully.”
“But you almost got bitten,” Val retorted. “You said so yourself.”
“You’re getting too cocky,” Lucas advised. “You’d better tone it down, Mr. Gung-Ho. Your luck won’t last forever.”
Val glanced at Nick. “You and Claire are both hurt and broken inside. You wanna kill every zombie you see because you blame them for everything that’s happened. Is that it? Is it some kind of revenge thing?”
Nick shot her a look and shrugged. “Maybe. So what?”
“You’re taking unnecessary risks,” she said. “Fight if you have to but don’t go looking for trouble. How many times have you said that to Dean and me?”
“I was upset, and Nick and I started talking about all of our heartbreak,” Claire said. “Nick asked me if giving the zombies a little payback would help ease my pain, and I told him it would. Max was going to send us out with a team, but we beat ‘em to the punch.”
“Claire, this isn’t like you,” Lucas said, “and it’s irrational on both your parts.”
“This coming from the guy who wanted to chainsaw a head off a bear,” I said under my breath, trying to muster up a laugh in a tense moment.
Ignoring my remark, Claire said, “We were both emotional. It just…happened.”
“It just happened?” I said. “What kind of answer is that? You went on some revenge-crazed shoot-‘em-up rampage and almost got my brother killed, and it just happened?”
Claire’s cheeks began to redden with rage. “I don’t get it. For the longest time, you all whined about me not fighting. Now, I go in there and kick butt, and you’re putting me down for that. What do you want from me? No. You know what? Screw all of you! I’m a better fighter now, but I guess my best isn’t good enough for you.” When she stormed off, Nick chased after her, but she turned around and snapped at him, “No, Nick. Leave me alone. I just wanna go to bed.”
Like a scolded puppy with his tail between his legs, he moped all the way back to the living room and collapsed on the brown chair. “Great. Now you’ve all officially pissed off my girlfriend,” he complained.
Lucas threw his hands in the air in touchdown formation. “Gooooalllll!” he yelled like a World Cup announcer. “And he finally admits it!” he said with a laugh.
“I’m sorry, but she isn’t playing with a full deck,” Val said. “She’s not thinking straight. The Claire we know never woulda taken that kind of foolish risk, not for Nick or anybody else. Remember when we met her? She was hiding in that glass house like some spoiled princess while we were out there fighting zombies.”
Nick leaned forward. “She’s grown every day since we met her, little by little, and now she’s a killing machine. I think it was in her all along. She just had to tap into it.”
“Gosh, Nick,” Val said. “It’s like you’re proud of what’s she’s becoming.”
I looked at my brother, then back at Val. “That’s because she’s turning into him.”
“Well, she’s got better knockers,” Lucas said, smiling.
Val wrinkled her brow at Lucas’s joke, then blew a breath. “I wish I could figure you out, Nick.”
“You can’t. He’s too twisted,” I said.
Nick smiled. “Well, at least I’m a special kind of twisted.”
“No argument there,” I said.
“You shoulda seen the fire in her eyes when she took those fiends down though,” Nick said. “It was…epic.”
It was clear to all of us that Nick and Claire were broken people, getting colder every day, plagued by painful memories of lost loved ones and a need for revenge. I wasn’t sure they were good for each other or even for us. They took too many chances, likely because they didn’t care if they lived or died, and those were not the kind of people I wanted watching my back, but I didn’t have the nerve to tell my brother that.
Lucas spun toward Nick. “Enough about little Miss Terminator. You shoulda seen your brother today. He saved my neck when he took down that freaked-out bear with one shot.”
Nick gave me a fist-bump. “Yeah, the boys in the lobby were talking about that. Congrats, bro,” he said. “Also, Max mentioned your theories about the basement in the lab. He wants to work out a plan before he goes busting down any doors.”
“What is he? Chicken?” Lucas joked, then stuffed his mouth with chips.
Val rolled her eyes. “Gosh, Lucas. Do you ever quit?”
He shook his head and grinned, allowing crumbs to fall out of the corners of his mouth unchecked.
“So Max doesn’t believe me?” I asked my brother.
“Gosh. That’s just…fowl,” Lucas joked, earning him a slap across the back of the head from Val.
“He just needs to think things out.”
“There are never very many people there,” I said. “If we had a team, we could easily go take a look.”
“Well, we don’t have a team until Max gives us one. He’s worried about disturbing the peace with the scientists. At the moment, everything hinges on your word.”
“So this is about politics?”
“Max wants to deal with the animal threat first, and we need the scientists on our side for that. He did promise to keep an eye on the lab though.”
I was livid. The man didn’t believe me, and I wasn’t even sure if Nick did. “Well, at least Lucas believes me,” I said.
Lucas glanced at Nick. “It’s worth checkin’ out, man. Clearly, something’s going on in that basement.”
“Dean saw chickens,” Nick said. “Maybe it’s just storage for livestock or eggs. There are a lot of mouths to feed around here.”
I shot my brother a look, hurt that he wouldn’t take my side. “Chickens don’t moan,” I said. “They cluck and squawk.”
“Nick,” Val chimed in, “you know as well as I do that they could be up to experimental testing.”
“But why would they hide it from us?” he asked.
“Because they’re using our serum,” she retorted. “If there’s even the slightest chance of that, we have to do something. That s
tuff creates hybrids, and we’ll have to kill any they’ve created.”
Nick thought for a moment, scratching his chin. “You’re right,” he finally said. “We should definitely check it out. Gimme a couple days to get Max onboard though. If they are hiding hybrids down there, we’re gonna need an armed team. Those things think and talk, so we’ll have to play it cool.”
“There are herds surrounding the city,” Val said. “We need to act now and put them out of commission.”
“I gotta go with Nick on this one, Val,” Lucas said. “We can’t go in that lab without backup, because we don’t know what’s down there. I mean, I can take out Colonel Sanders, but if there’s a whole barnyard of zombies down there, that’s a different story. Let’s keep working on Max. We’ll plan to attack in two days, one way or another.”
As Lucas and Nick nodded in agreement, Claire came out of the bedroom. “Hey, Nick,” she said quietly, “wanna go practice on some targets with my new gun?”
“Now?”
“Why not?”
“All right,” Nick said. “Let me just talk to Dean for a minute, and then we’ll go.”
We talked for another hour, but it didn’t change anything. Val seemed to believe me, and even though Lucas wanted to check it out, he kept making jokes as if he didn’t believe me, and Nick was all about having good back up. Finally, I gave up and went into my room and shut the door.
Chapter 20
Morning came much earlier than I expected it to. Val and Lucas went for an early walk, and Nick and Claire were still sleeping. I got a good work out in. I did jumping jacks to get warmed up, then moved onto push ups, air squats, and then pull ups. I had almost worked out every muscle in my body with that little exercise session. I felt great and ready to take on the world. Exercise was still a necessity. I had to be ready for anything. At a moment’s notice I might need to scale a towering barb wired fence, jump over a trash can, climb a fire escape, or leap between building tops in a single bound.
The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 12