The Dead Live On

by Cooper Brown, Julie

  Mojo and Jack ran towards the storefront and could see through the glass, Troy had picked up a glass jar that looked to be filled with olives and slammed it in the face of a corpse as he turned to fight the infected that had surrounded him. The scene played out in silence until another scream broke from Kristen’s throat as she watched the attack in horror, unaware of the infected trudging up behind her. Mojo moved to go in but Jack stopped him. There would be no time. It was too close to her and in that second, Mojo screamed out her name and she turned to look as the monster pulled her down by her hair and bit into her. Still, Mojo struggled against Jack and broke free to run towards the door. Kristen looked at him and shook her head; ‘no’. He could see she was screaming the words “go back’ but he could not hear them over the loud buzzing of his own racing pulse in his ears. She held the palm of her hand out to him to signal him to stop. When she saw that he moved no closer, she ceased trying to get away and relaxed her body, giving herself over to the infected and making peace with her death.

  Mojo watched the death of Kristen and his eyes filled with tears, but still a sob did not break from his throat, though he felt he would burst from the strain of keeping it in. He broke from his trance as Jack grabbed his elbow and pulled him to the bus. The dead were on all sides now, the noise having attracted them. Kate was in the drivers’ seat and slammed the doors shut as she pulled out of the station and onto the road leading to the highway. He had nothing to say and sat in the very last seat near where they had stored the two extra cans of gas they had managed to accumulate. He was not in the mood for talking now, lost in his memories of life before the infected. There was no one from Tank’s left but him, and he was feeling really lonely for the first time ever in his life. Kristen had meant the world to him and he was blaming himself for her death. He had told her to stay on the bus, she had decided not to. Classic Kristen, always doing the complete opposite of what he asked. He had loved her though, and this was hard for him to take. Finally grief had taken over; he put his face in his hands and wept pitifully. Angel stood watching him in silence and began weeping a bit herself. She hugged Teddy tighter and went to sit in the seat directly behind Kate.

  “Not much longer now.” Jack said as he walked up to stand beside Kate as she weaved in and out of the cluster of vehicles in the road. They had been driving for seven hours but it felt like a lifetime.

  “I hope not, we are almost out of fuel again. Do we have any left from the station?”

  “No, I put all of it in the last time we stopped. We’ll get there before we run out. We’re only about twenty miles out now. We’ll make it just in time, probably.” He said as he looked at the gauge. A quarter of a tank should do. He had never been there but had a great photographic memory and was elated that they were approaching their destination. He was worried for Pat and his son. He knew Dale was with them but anything can happen. He couldn’t wait to wrap his arms around Ethan.

  “So, the key is in the shape of a heart? Can I see it?” he asked.

  “Sure. You can hold onto it if you want. You’ll know what to do with it, I don’t.” She handed them the key and it was wet with the sweat from the palm of her hand where she had kept it since Angel had given it to her, afraid that if she put it in her pocket it would somehow disappear, destroying their only chance at survival. After drying the key off with his shirt tail, Jack inspected the key and noticed a pattern of tiny rivets on one side and micro sized grid marks on the other. The grids were almost impossible to see, but he knew what to look for which enabled him to recognize them immediately. Definitely a key produced by O’Dey. He palmed it as well and they rode again in silence until they made it to the clearing where the entrance was kept.

  He didn’t have a radio anymore and could not contact Pat to let him know of his arrival. He didn’t want them to be shot upon entering. He knew that Pat possessed the sense to realize it would be him coming in the door, because you had to have a code to enter. Dale he wasn’t all that sure about.

  “Stop here.” He told Kate and she looked around in questioning. They were in the middle of a field and she saw no shelter in sight. Jack recognized the look of confusion and told her, “Its underground, the entrance is hidden. Let me out and wait here.” Kate opened the doors and stood up to watch him as he bent to the ground and lifted a flap of grass. He punched a few numbers and she heard a faint beeping and several loud clicks the lock on the door was released.

  “Kate, get them and come on.” he said as he dug under another flap to find the handle and pulled a hatch door up. A stream of pale blue lights beamed from the shaft and she ushered Angel out the door towards Jack as she looked back at Mojo and told him to come. He didn’t say a word nor did he lift his head. When she saw Angel standing next to Jack, she walked to the back to rouse him from what she thought was sleep. Two thirds of the way there she noticed a large amount of blood pooled around his feet, she stepped through it anyway and shook him by the shoulders. His head fell back, his Ohio State cap fell off his head and his arms flopped out to the sides. She saw the pocket knife fall from his hand and hit the floor with a dull thud and a faint splash as it landed in his blood.

  He has slashed his arms, wrists to elbows. The grief had been too much for him. She was angry with herself for not checking on him sooner. He seemed like he was a good man and she was sad to lose him. Losing all of the people she had lost had really bothered her, but they were so close to some kind of safety and he had almost made it, he would have made it if he hadn’t done this. She turned and headed toward the doors of the bus, partly afraid that he would change and his corpse would rise up behind her and take her from behind. She stopped and looked back at him just to make sure that he wasn’t, she didn’t want to have to ‘kill’ him, too.

  “Kate, what’s going on?” Jack asked from the door. “Get him up, let’s go.”

  She walked off the bus and looked at Jack, she shook her head and said nothing as she moved down into the hatch and pulled Angel down into it above her so she could support her as she went down. Jack followed last and pulled the hatch down behind him, pressing a button and engaging the locks before he descended.

  Chapter Thirty Four

  “Daddy!” Nine year old Ethan cried as he ran to his father, slamming into him so hard that r Jack’s breath escaped him from the impact of it. He wrapped his arms around Ethan and decided that that was not good enough. He picked the boy up off his feet and hugged him tight. Ethan wrapped his legs around his fathers’ waist and buried his face in his neck and sobbed.

  “Ethan, it’s okay, son. I’m here. Shh. It’s alright.” Jack soothed him and stroked his hair lovingly, his eyes tearing up as well. He thanked God that his son was still alive.

  “But I thought you were dead. I thought the zombies got you and I was so scared! I was trying to be brave but it was so hard.” Ethan said between sobs and tried to dry his eyes.

  “I’m okay, see. Look. I’m not hurt at all. A little tired. Now, let’s get in here. We have to figure out how this works.” They walked from the hall into the main room where Pat was waiting with a knowing smile on her face, and tears misted her eyes. He hugged her tightly and she reciprocated. “So, happy you are here. I knew you would make it. Now, who are your friends?” She looked to Angel and Kate.

  “Kate,” she stepped forward and shook Pat’s hand. She had guessed her age at around forty-five but Pat was in fact sixty- three. Her strawberry blonde hair lay just past her shoulders and she had a wide beautiful smile. Kate felt a small pang of jealousy as she thought for a moment that Pat was Jack’s lover.

  “And this little doll is Angel, Dr. O’Dey’s daughter. Pat, where is Dale?”

  “Dale didn’t make it. He sacrificed himself for us. We were rushed before we could make into the field. I picked Ethan up and ran, Dale stayed behind to cover us. I turned and saw him being taken down.” Jack looked to Ethan and Pat answered his unasked question.

  “Ethan did not see, I kept his face in my shoulder.” Ja
ck nodded, it wasn’t like Ethan hadn’t seen it before. He just wanted to keep him from seeing more he if he could. “All right, I’ve got the girl and the key. We need to get this started. Did you find the control room?” He asked.

  “Yes, and there was this as well.” She handed him an envelope containing a letter and instructions from O’Dey. “You want to read this first.” Jack removed the papers from the envelope and began reading…………

  If you are reading this, then I have obviously perished. I’m going to run through this quickly, I have no time to explain further than what is written.

  There is a key to the control board you will need to launch the chem-bombs. If you have the key, then you must have encountered my daughter. If she still survives, please tell her that I love her with all of my heart, and because of her the world may be right again. Now, I have some more information for you. The chemical that is being deployed should dissolve all organs of the human body, leaving only the skeleton.

  Upon further research of the virus before the death of Dr. Pierce, he discovered that the virus will eventually mutate enough for the change to be instantaneous with contact of any kind and killing them may be harder than usual, by this time you may have encountered this. In any case, the chem-bombs will destroy all human life left outside these walls. If there are any other survivors and you feel the need to try to rescue them before you set this plan in motion, and then do so with the knowledge that you may not survive your rescue attempt and will not be able to deploy the bombs, failing to rid this country of the dead. We were able to discover that the air will be safe to breathe within a month, but the soil will take a little over seven months before it will be safe enough to use for crops. So you will be here a while. Everyone try to get along, it should not be too hard considering what trials you may have endured together.

  Now, about your stay here.

  This facility is equipped with generators that have the capacity to sustain you at full power for one year. So if you don’t run at full power, you energy reserves will last longer. The air filters are high quality and the air you breathe in will not grow stale, nor will you suffocate down here. You have sufficient ventilation.

  You’ll find a food storage wing with enough non-perishables, as well as frozen meats, bottled waters and sodas to sustain up to fifty people for a year, which also means a lesser number of you will also lengthen its duration. You will find plenty of room here and several activities available in the rec room area. I hope you enjoy your stay, I mean this with sincerity. You have made it and I am happy for you. Angel, if you are there. I love you.

  Precisely follow the instructions on the next sheet.

  To unlock the control panel you will need to enter 6588 into the keypad beside the panel.

  Once entered the cover will slide back and the board will give you a pattern in a sequence of colors, something like the game ‘Simon Says’ only much faster. It was not my intention to make it flow so quickly, I ran out of time so I didn’t have a chance to reset it.

  You will need to be very fast, with perfect hand/eye coordination, it will only allow you to make one error, when that happens, all lights will go out and a three tone beep will signal the next play of the sequence. If you get it wrong, the access board will lock for three hours, at which time you may try again.

  If you are not among infected and the door is securely locked, then this will not pose a problem. But given the situation, as soon as possible is the best option no matter how safe you think you are.

  Once you have completed the sequence and unlocked the control board, then enter the key into the slot and wait for the green and red buttons to light up. The screen will prompt you to enter the code activating the time lock, enter L365KZ. This will set the lock to disengage after one year exactly and not a moment before. I have put that setting in place because I am not completely sure that all Infected will die immediately. There was no chance to discover if the Infected with the advanced strain would be destroyed as quickly, so to be sure that none remain, you will be locked in. Once it’s set, there is no manual override. Make yourself comfortable.

  The screen will then prompt you to activate all locations, hit the green button and wait for the map to appear. When all lights across the map are green, push the red button. It’s as simple as that.

  Unfortunately I have no failsafe in place in case of malfunction. I pray that this solution succeeds.

  I wish you the best of luck.

  Dr. Carl O’Dey

  “Have you looked around in here Pat?” he asked.

  “Yes, and Ethan has already found the recreation room and the kitchen.” She answered smiling as the boy hugged her.

  Jack moved to the board and entered 6588 into the keypad. As O’Dey explained, the cover slid back revealing a simple computer screen. Lights were scattering across the screen and finally settled in the pattern of a triangle, easy enough; but then there were several different colored lights, that pulsated out from the pattern. Realizing that he had to repeat this pattern and correctly, he struggled to remember the first ones he saw light up and where they were. He hit the wrong one. All the lights disappeared and he heard the three toned beep that Dr. O’Dey had mentioned. Kate turned to Ethan who had been chasing Angel in a circle around them as they were trying to access the controls.

  “Ethan, why don’t you take Angel, and show her where the rec room is ? She hasn’t had this much fun in a while and I’m sure you both could have much more fun in there.”

  “Sure. Come on, Angel. They have a lot of games!” He said as he took her by the hand and led her to the corridor. Kate turned to see if Jack had succeeded in his color chase or if they had to wait for three hours before they could try again. She saw that they would not have to wait.

  “Good job.” She told him.

  “You mean good job, Pat. I couldn’t try it again. Her hands move quicker than mine. I would have hit three or four at a time, I was so nervous. Now, to activate the time lock.”

  Jack entered the code into the control board and the number 365 appeared at the top left hand of the screen and at the top right of the screen 8,759hrs.59m58s appeared. Time lock activated. So far, so good. He opened his hand to look at the heart and he held it to his lips and kissed it. He prayed that this as the key, the slot was just that, a slot. It had no indicative shape to let him know that what he had was indeed the key. He looked at Kate and Pat as he dropped the key into the slot and heard a click and high pitched beep. The screen then displayed the message…

  “ACTIVATE ALL LOCATIONS?”

  The breath that he had been holding expelled as a heavy high, and he felt as if a ton of bricks had been lifted off of his chest. They had the right key. He commenced to follow the remaining directions.

  Ethan and Angel travelled down the corridor in search of the fun room that Ethan had found. He must’ve gotten turned around. The halls were confusing and there were many doors. Though there was light, they were dim and the shadows between the doors had a sinister look to Angel. As they passed a set of double doors, Angel looked up and saw a picture of an eagle. She stopped to reach up to touch it and asked Ethan what it was.

  “It’s an Eagle. It’s the presidential seal. That’s a big word, huh? Say it. Presidential, go ahead.” Angel looked at him and watched his mouth as he said the word.

  “Pres..identhal.” She said.

  “NO, pre..si..den..ti..al. We gotta work on that for you. Anyway. It’s the presidential seal. I only know because my dad works for him.”

  “But are vere people in vere?” Angel asked him.

  “No, Angel, it’s THERE. I’ll teach you later. No, no one’s in there. I been here a long time,” (when in fact it had only been a day and a half) “I’ll show you.” Ethan grabbed the handles of the door and as Angel gasped, she stepped back in fear of what may come out of the doors. They were locked. Ethan looked at her and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Well, can’t get in so we can’t tell. Come on, I think I know where
we’re at now.” Ethan took Angel by the hand and led her further down the corridor. She glanced back at the double doors, and clutched her teddy even tighter.

  Chapter Thirty Five

  “But I don’t wanna play this game,” Angel cried, throwing her controller in the floor. “It’s just like the scary monsters outside and I don’t like it!”

  “It’s not real, Angel! They can’t hurt us!” Ethan bit his lip as his fingers danced over the controller, shooting down several virtual zombies with an Uzi. A hidden zombie attacked his avatar and Ethan struggled to shake him off.

  “If they can’t hurt us, why is your guy limping?” Angel said smartly.

  “I can use this plant,” he said while putting the game on pause to access the inventory menu. “See this green plant can be mixed with this red plant and it will make a super healing juice. It’ll make him better! Pick up your controller and play!” Ethan tried to convince Angel, but Pat entered the room and gave him the stink eye.

  Ethan’s hands dropped down to his sides, the controller fell to the floor and he watched the scene. His avatar was still being brutally attacked by zombies and quickly fell to the ground at their feet. Bright red splashes of blood slashed across the scene and simulated dripping down into the puddle at the bottom of the screen. The screen faded to black and the words ‘YOU ARE DEAD’ appeared in bold, bloody letters as well as an option for a ‘NEW GAME’ in the bottom right corner.

  “Now, turn it off. Why would you want to play such a horrid game? I don’t know why it was even brought here. Come. I’ve made you hamburgers with mac and cheese. After dinner, it’s bath and bedtime.”

  “Why can’t I come back here and play? Dad set off the bombs, right? We’ll be okay. It’s not like I have to go to school tomorrow.” Pat looked at him with so much love. He should not have even known that such chaos was devouring the world. All his little friends were more than likely dead, and it broke her heart to think of what his future may hold. They couldn’t even be sure the threat had been eliminated for another year, until then, they would make the best of it, and she would try not to worry.