What Remains_Mutation

by Kris Norris

  “Whoa. Wait a second.” She held up her hands. “I wasn’t serious, I mean… We can’t destroy the place until we get the serum. While I agree it’d take out a bunch of those bastards, we can’t risk losing those vials. Regardless of how good it’d feel to watch the birthplace of this godforsaken infection burn.”

  Cogan smiled. “I never said we wouldn’t get the vials first.”

  “Now I’m just confused.”

  He shrugged. “We’re firemen, right? So let’s set some shit on fire.”

  Her face paled and Sully didn’t miss the way she had to force herself to swallow as her hands twitched at her sides.

  She plastered on a fake smile. “But the point of your job is to put out fires. Unless you guys do some pretty weird crap where you’re from.”

  “Think of it in the same terms as setting a back fire to stop a raging wildfire. Only we’re going to start one in order to give us enough cover to get in and out. Let’s see how good our friends are at hunting us in a building full of smoke and flames.”

  Harper’s façade faltered as shook her head. “I’ve seen these things walk right through flames. They don’t even seem to register they’re on fire.”

  “That was the old strain. The ones that didn’t display these higher functions. Kace said something about the parasite turning on more of the brain in order to gain better control. If that’s truly the case, there’s got to be some drawbacks to go along with the advances we’ve seen. And I think one of them is a slightly increased sense of self-preservation. Not to the point they don’t still attack on sight, but a bunch of them back in the lot tried to get out of the way of the truck. They actually side-stepped.”

  Sully slapped his leg. “Fuck. You’re right. I saw a group of them move to the side. Didn’t think much of it at the time, but I’ve never seen them do that before.”

  “My guess is… That in order to move more like humans, they have to become more human. Well, as human as ‘still wanting to eat us’ equates to.”

  Harper glanced away, her back uncharacteristically hunched. She seemed divided. “So you think that these advanced zombies will shy away from fire. Like animals do instinctively.”

  Cogan sighed. “God, I hope so. I can’t know for sure but… Either way, it could be our last chance. Even if they aren’t afraid, we should be able to stop more than a few between the smoke and the fire. Avoid the rest.”

  “You boys do know I said all those things about wanting to bring firemen along for Barrett and Rhys’ benefit, right? There was never any question as to who I wanted as backup. I also knew your superiors would need a better reason than that I wanted to be alone with you guys to send you along. I never really thought we’d have to deal with fire.” She shivered. “I’m actually not fond of them. Fires.”

  Sully laughed. “Yet you get involved with three firemen?”

  “Trust me. I see the irony. But all joking aside. I’m not used to navigating buildings full of smoke, either. Didn’t come up in my line of work that often.”

  Sully moved over to her, taking one hand as he placed it on his chest. “We’ll be right there with you. We’ll guide you through. Trust us.”

  “I do trust you. It’s the flames I’m not so certain of.”

  “We’ll take care of the fire. You just need to get us to Lelin’s lab.”

  “And you call me reckless.” She huffed, still looking as if she wanted to jump out of her skin, before giving them a reluctant smile. “Fine. Just don’t disappoint me.”

  Sully grinned, remembering the first time she’d said that to Jake. “Wouldn’t dream of it, darling.”

  * * * *

  “Well, it doesn’t look like much, but for better or worse, it’s all we’ve got.” Cogan stared at the supplies, hoping his idea wasn’t about to kill them all.

  Sully shouldered up beside him, nudging him in the ribs. “One hell of a plan, bro. I just hope our assumption’s right.”

  “That’s why we’ll try the ring around the truck first. If those advanced bastards run through, we’ll bugger out of there. If not then we’ll commit.”

  Harper moved forward, tugging at the protective gear she’d donned. “How the hell do you guys move fast in all this shit? I feel like I’m wading through water, and I don’t even have the damn oxygen tank on yet.”

  Sully smiled. “We weigh a lot more than you do, darling. The suit doesn’t equate to almost half our body weight.”

  “Still.” She sighed. “I take it back. I’m not sure I could best any of you on a good day, kung-fu moves or not.”

  “Now you’re just being nice.” Sully stepped closer. “You could stay somewhere safer and let us handle this. You seem a bit…reluctant.”

  She punched him in the shoulder. “Jackass. I said it was heavy, not that I couldn’t go. Besides, we’ve already had to kill a dozen of them all the way out here. Nowhere’s safe. And you guys don’t know where Lelin’s lab was.” She released an oddly shaky breath. “But for the record, normal people don’t run into burning buildings. Only you guys would think this shit up.”

  “We’ve got fire in the blood, darling. And it was worth a shot asking.”

  She snagged her bottom lip. “So does this mean we’re ready?”

  Cogan nodded. “Unless you’re having second thoughts?”

  “I’m already way past second thoughts.” She gave him a concerned furrow of her brow. “You sure the fire won’t get out of control so fast we’ll get trapped in there?”

  “What’s got me more concerned is that the damn sprinkler systems will kick in and end it early, leaving us with nothing but some smoke. I have to assume they’re still functioning, what with the power grid operational.”

  Harper scrunched her face up, creating a delightful crease across the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, about that.” She pursed her lips. “When things got bad near the end, the few of us still breathing decided to activate the failsafe.”

  Dread turned Cogan’s stomach. “Do I even want to know what that means?”

  “It means no sprinklers. We needed to be able to burn the place down if it got overrun. Destroy whatever else Lelin had brewed in there. But it happened too fast. One minute I was heading off duty, the next there were infected everywhere. I didn’t have time to do more than grab Lelin and bug out.”

  “Somehow I think that was much harder than you make it sound. I seem to recall you offhandedly mentioning something about a second-story window and a couple of broken ribs.” He ran a hand through his hair. “So no sprinklers. I can live with that. Anything else? Some deadly form of nerve gas or self-destruct bullshit we might trip?”

  She shoved at him. “It’s not the damn Enterprise. As far as I know it just deactivated the fire suppression systems. Gave us a way out.”

  “Which actually works in our favor…assuming we don’t get overrun again in the first wave.” Cogan glanced around. Another pocket of infected moved on the horizon, heading down the road toward them. He pointed at the group. “Let’s head out. Avoid having to use more of our limited resources here. And keep your fingers crossed. This could end poorly.”

  Harper nodded, turning then pausing, stepping over to give him a quick, wet kiss. She repeated the endearment with Sully and Jake then hopped on board. Cogan rubbed his fingers across his lips, praying it wasn’t the last time he’d feel her mouth against his. He nodded at Sully, taking a seat beside the man as Jake climbed in with Harper. No one spoke as Sully turned the vehicle around, heading back the way they’d come. The miles seemed to tick by slowly, making the short trip drag out. It wasn’t until the building loomed into view in front of them Cogan’s stomach eased slightly.

  He took a deep breath, the weight of the gear grounding him. It felt right. Familiar. Like a well-worn pair of jeans. This he understood. Had control over. And after feeling out of control for nearly two years, it gave him a small measure of comfort to hold on to what had defined him before the world had collapsed.

  He glanced at Harper, givin
g her a genuine smile when she looked his way. She returned it, adding a simple nod. Her easy acceptance humbled him, as did her faith. He wouldn’t let her down. He wouldn’t let the team down, no matter what the personal cost. Harper frowned, looking as if she was going to say something when Sully hit the accelerator.

  “Hold on. This is where it gets bumpy.” He barreled through the gate. “I’ll get us close to that service entrance we were able to breech the other day. We can toss some of those gasoline bombs in there then use the ladder, throwing more into each level as we go. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get a good amount of smoke built up.”

  Cogan nodded. “Do what you can. Just make sure there’s enough room we can drive away if this goes south.”

  Sully shook his head, angling them toward the building. They passed the Hummer, skidding to a halt closer to the building. Groups of infected turned toward the noise, growling when the four of them jumped out of the truck. The zombies screeched and broke into a run.

  Cogan grabbed one of the portable gas cans, tossing it to Sully before reaching for the other. “Two rings between us and the building. Several feet apart. Jake, get the first floor flaming, just don’t go too far inside. Harper, shoot anything that makes it through.”

  They moved. Sully headed for the building, dumping a thick layer of gasoline as he arced it around the truck, passing Cogan halfway as Cogan worked in the opposite direction. Jake wedged open the door to the building, tossing in a bunch of flaming bottles inside before diving out of the way. A ball of fire burst out of the door, a cloud of smoke billowing upwards. Cogan glanced at his friend, breathing a sigh of relief when Jake emerged through the smoke, heading back to the truck. Cogan nodded at Sully, activating his flare as the other man did the same, igniting the rings of fluid.

  Flames hissed to life, spreading quickly around the perimeter, encasing them in a wall of fire. The closest group of infected hurdled toward them, seemingly unaffected by the display until all but a handful stumbled to a halt several feet away. Those lurching into the flames appeared on the other side, falling to the pavement as Harper cut them down, the pop of her rifle echoing across the open lot.

  Cogan moved in beside Sully. “Most of them seem hesitant to run through. I say we take the chance before the tides turn and those flames burn out.”

  “Agreed. Jake’s already raising the ladder. Should be ready to go by the time we climb up.” He handed Cogan his weapon. “Like you don’t have enough weight strapped to you already.”

  Cogan smiled his thanks, scaling the side of the truck.

  Harper nodded at them, still killing any infected that stumbled through the flames. “Go. I’ll open up the windows so you can toss more bombs inside then follow you up. Meet you on the roof.”

  A punch of fear hit Cogan hard in the gut, but he pushed it aside. Harper could handle herself.

  He gave her a hardened look. “Don’t be late.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  She turned, aiming at the windows, breaking enough glass they’d be able to throw the bottles through. Jake yelled at him, pointing at the ladder as he started climbing, the end perched by the corner of the building. Cogan gave Sully a shove, trailing after the man as he started along the rungs, boots clanging on the metal steps. More gunfire sounded, the last of the windows shattering above them.

  Jake paused, lighting three bottles before throwing them at the broken pane. Two cracked to life inside the room, sending a ball of flame out the glass. The third ricocheted, crashing to life on the pavement below.

  “Fuck!” Jake pounded one hand on the ladder then started climbing again, pausing to repeat the action at the next level.

  Cogan shook his head. Only Jake would get pissed at missing one damn toss. Hell, Cogan would have been lucky to have gotten one through the small opening from that far away.

  He looked behind him as he reached the second floor, gaging Harper’s position. She’d made her way to the bottom of the ladder but hadn’t started up yet. His focus shifted to the surrounding area. More infected stumbled across the barrier as the flames flickered lower, joined by those running out of the smoking building.

  At least they’d made it this far. Better than any previous attempt. Though getting in was only half the issue. If they couldn’t make it back to the truck or the Hummer with the vials, any success would only prove temporary.

  He pushed the thoughts out of his head, continuing upwards when Harper gained the first step. She kept her body sideways, gun still locked against one shoulder, picking off more targets as she went. Pride swelled in his chest. Damn, she was good. Looking every bit as natural on the ladder as she did with the bow in her hand. Or the rifle.

  He sighed, passing the halfway mark as Jake crested the top, jumping down to the roof before turning to glance at their progress. Sully joined the man, waving Cogan along.

  “Cogan!”

  He turned, heart skipping as Harper started firing, downing infected as they swarmed around the bottom of the ladder, more of them trying to climb the truck. He headed back down, only to have her wave him away.

  She twisted, focusing her efforts on gaining height instead of the pale flesh moving below her. “Stop worrying about me and climb!”

  “Then move faster!”

  She glared at him but increased her pace, making it to the top as Sully opened fire, killing those lumbering up behind her. She didn’t look back, her trust in Sully more than evident. Cogan jumped to the rooftop, grunting from the force of the impact. Damn, it’d been far too long since he’d played the role of a fireman. He shuffled sideways, making room for Harper when Jake dashed by him, his gear noticeably absent.

  Cogan snagged his arm, pulling the man to a halt. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Jake brushed off Cogan’s grip. “If we leave the ladder the way it is, they’ll be an endless stream of infected shadowing our every move. But if I lower it…make the gap too large for them to jump…we might catch a break and strand the bastards that don’t fall off on the ladder.”

  “And how the hell are you going to leave a gap and live to tell about it?”

  “I can jump an eight-foot hole in my sleep.”

  “From a sprint, yeah. But standing on the end of a damn ladder? Shit, Jake, we’ve never done that.”

  “I can make it.” He caught Harper as she leaped off the ladder, steadying her before jumping up, grabbing the lowest bar and pulling himself up.

  Harper turned, hissing out a breath. “Damn it, Jake. What the hell?”

  Cogan grabbed her when she looked as if she might follow the man. “He’s moving the ladder. Ensuring those motherfuckers can’t follow us.” He placed a finger over her lips as she gaped at him. “I know. But if anyone can jump back here and actually make it, it’s Jake.”

  Harper kicked at the roof, anger flushing her face. “I swear, when this is over you boys are so getting a lesson in ass whipping.”

  “He’ll be okay.”

  “He’d better be or…”

  She punched Cogan in the arm, doing the same to Sully when the man jogged over to them.

  Sully gave her a quizzical look before motioning to the other side of the roof. “The vent’s going to be tight with the tanks, we might…” His voice trailed into a rasp. “What the fuck is Jake doing?”

  Harper huffed. “Apparently the man can fly.”

  Sully frowned. “Fly?” Understanding dawned in his eyes. “Shit!”

  He gave Cogan a hardened glare but moved over to the edge of the roof, watching Jake as he manipulated the controls, swinging the ladder back. Harper darted farther over, positioning the rifle at her shoulder. She paused, chest barely moving as she fired, killing two closing in on Jake.

  “Damn. Nice shot.” Cogan raised a brow. “I thought you preferred your bow?”

  “Ammo’s hard to come by. I prefer a damn sniper rifle.” She smiled. “But I’m not bad with the bow.”

  “Right. Not bad.” He moved in beside Su
lly, lowering his voice. “Jake better damn well make it.”

  Sully grunted, nodding when Jake signaled to them. “He’ll make it.”

  Cogan held his breath, willing the man over as Jake poised himself on the tip, balancing before launching forward. More gunfire echoed in the background as the scene developed, every detail of the moment slowing until it seemed to take on a life of its own. Jake reached for the edge, his fingers brushing the lip as Sully lunged for him, catching the man by the wrists. Jake’s body slipped slightly, hitting the wall with a resounding thud. Cogan leaned over, taking hold of one arm as they pulled the man up, tipping backwards onto the roof. The air felt thin as Cogan concentrated on breathing. If Sully hadn’t reached for him…

  “Bloody hell, Jake. You ever pull a stunt like that again…” Cogan looked at the man, shaking his head. “I’ll let Harper decide the punishment.”

  Jake winked as Harper stopped beside them, foot tapping the rubber covering. “You’ll all be getting a suitable punishment. Mark my words. But I’d like to get this over with first.” She extended her hand to Jake, twisting his arm into some kind of lock as she helped him up. He glanced at her over his shoulder, nothing but a raise of his brow as a response.

  She held his back tight to her chest, maintaining control. “You pull shit like that again and I’ll shoot you myself.” She sighed out a weary breath. “And you were fantastic.”

  She released him, motioning to the air vent Sully had uncovered. “Shall we? Before they figure out another way up here.”

  Cogan whacked Jake on the shoulder, shoving the man forward. “Just because it worked doesn’t mean it wasn’t insane. But like she said. Nice work.”

  Grunts sounded behind them as infected tumbled off the end, more quickly taking their place. Cogan gave the scene one last look then made for the vent. Phase one complete. Now they just had to find a way to the lab and they might actually live through this.

  Chapter Twelve