Origin Z

by Tony Hartzell

  Abraham spoke up. “Lieutenant, we should detain him until I speak to Reed. There is much more at stake here than breaking a rule.”

  Tin looked at Abraham and moved his gaze to Teeny. Her preference was painted all over her face. He looked back at Abraham and nodded reluctantly. “OK, Doctor. We’ll put him in a secure place until there’s a chance to talk to Reed.”

  Anderson jumped up. “Fuck that, man! This is bullshit!”

  He was angry but was holding on to it. You could tell a hundred things were racing through his mind. He was puffing up a little, like just after an enhancement injection. Tin realized he had to move fast, so he gently pushed Teeny out of the way and opened the door, saying to Anderson, “You better square yourself away, soldier!”

  Tin stared him down like a drill sergeant. “Let’s go, Corporal.”

  He knew he had to keep the upper hand at this point, and he was well aware that Anderson’s control was teetering on the edge of a cliff.

  Tin walked with Anderson out the door of Building 51, headed for the building they were using for a stockade. Johnson was still on guard at the door, and he saluted Tin. They walked the path silently and eventually came to Laudner sitting on his bench throwing peanuts to the squirrels. Anderson growled in his direction, and Laudner jumped up and turned as if he felt the need to protect himself. Rocky was on the edge of his hole chittering loudly again. Anderson reached down, picked up a rock, and heaved it at the squirrel, hitting him with a glancing blow this time and knocking him off the tree.

  Laudner yelled, “Fucker!”

  He jumped over the bench to push Anderson, but it was like hitting a brick wall as Anderson leaned into the push. He pushed Laudner and flipped him backward over the bench. Tin grabbed Anderson’s arm and tried to bend it behind his back. Not even close. He flipped Tin over the bench too. Then he turned to see the squirrel run up the tree and disappear into the hole. Anderson roared and grabbed the bench. He raised it over his head and threw it at the hole in the tree, splintering it into pieces.

  Both Tin and Laudner jumped on Anderson at the same time. Tin going high and Laudner going low, they managed to knock him back a step. But he quickly recovered to shrug Tin off as if he were a child, and he came down with his elbow in the middle of Laudner’s back. Laudner crumpled at Anderson’s feet.

  Rocky showed his face again then, chittering louder than ever. Anderson growled again, jumped in one bound to the hole, and grabbed at the squirrel. Leaping and floating to the ground, Rocky darted this way and that, just avoiding the raging soldier’s grasping fists. After a couple of close calls, Rocky ran deeper into the woods with Anderson following close behind.

  Tin had jumped up just in time to see Anderson chase the squirrel into the woods. Laudner was still sitting on his ass.

  Tin looked at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be special?”

  Laudner turned red and looked down.

  “Go grab O’Reilly, and I’ll grab some tranquilizer guns.”

  Laudner looked at him questioningly.

  “What? You really want to kill him for chasing your pet?”

  Laudner looked embarrassed again. “I’ll get O’Reilly.”

  _______

  Anderson couldn’t see anything except the squirrel. That defiant little rodent was going to be pulled apart and stomped out! Just as soon as he could catch the little fucker! Every time it would try to scurry up a tree, Anderson would jump high enough to make a grab for him. Rocky would jump and hit the ground again to keep zigzagging through sticks and leaves and under roots and fallen logs.

  One of those logs had a hole in it small enough for Rocky to get into and, hopefully, evade the raging man. Once he was in, the man started to pound and break the log apart. Rocky had a second problem, though. There was a fox down at the end of the hollowed-out part where he needed to escape. He could feel it was sick. It didn’t seem to notice him yet. The eyes were rolling, and it was drooling and chewing on its own paw. Rocky darted back and forth in the log, sure death behind him and likely death in front.

  Just at that time, the man kicked through the log and created a hole at the bottom. When the man’s boot was pulled out, Rocky saw his escape and went for it. There was a huge crash, and a big hand came in and started grasping for him. He made a mad dash and was able to avoid it and slip out the opening unnoticed. He ran up a tree ten feet away and turned to see the man with his arm now all the way in up to his shoulder.

  Foxy Loxy was thinking about flies. They were landing and leaving his nose and eyes. Laying eggs and living from his sickness. He tried to eat them, but they were too fast. Biting at the ones on his paw, he bit his paw instead. It felt good to chew it, so he kept doing it. Now there was something big trying to grab him. It took his paw and was dragging him now. He didn’t want to leave this place. It was nice; it was his place. He bit the thing hard and didn’t let go when it pulled away from him.

  _______

  Anderson was enraged. He wasn’t even able to think straight anymore. He knew he had seen the fucking tree rat run into this log! He was punching and kicking it to break it open. When he kicked the bottom, the toe of his boot made a hole, and his foot stuck. He tried to pull it out and slipped to the ground.

  “Aaarrrggghhhh!” He screamed his frustration. Jumping up, he punched with all his might and broke a hole in the top of the log. He reached in and started groping around for the little shit.

  “I’m going to get you, you little fucker!”

  He felt something with fur brush his hand.

  “Aahhh hahh!”

  He grabbed and caught something and started dragging it out of the log. Then he felt a sharp pain in his hand.

  “God dammit!”

  The little bastard was biting him. He didn’t let go, but neither did the animal. It kept biting. When he had it at the hole, he realized it wasn’t the squirrel. It was something else that was biting the shit out of his hand. He let go of the leg he had a grasp on and reached in farther to grab its body. When he got hold of it, he squeezed. The guts oozed out between his fingers. He pulled his hand out, and it was covered in blood—his blood and that of whatever it was that had bitten him. He started rubbing it off to see how badly his hand was damaged.

  That was when he heard running water to his right. He was starting to get his wits back and realized that he needed to wash the blood off to see how badly it had bitten him.

  He walked to the water, calming down as he did. When he reached the creek, he stepped in and scrubbed the hand where he had gotten bitten. The wound was healing, so he started pushing the edges of the rips in his skin together. Once his hand was clean and tended, he started cupping water and dowsing his head with it, rubbing his face with his hands and dragging his jaw down. He was thinking about how badly he had fucked up. He had thrown Tin and pushed Laudner over a fucking squirrel! Holy shit! He plopped down on the bank of the creek and put his head in his hands.

  _______

  Tin was at the edge of the woods looking and listening when O’Reilly came running up to join him. Laudner was close behind with tranq guns and zip-tie cuffs.

  “I heard which way he went. I’m going to go straight at him. O’Reilly, you take the left flank. Laudner, follow the lakeshore on our right flank.”

  Laudner had a sour look on his face. “He had better not have hurt Rocky!”

  Tin turned and pointed a finger at him. “Corporal, we are apprehending a dangerous and enhanced soldier. You need to get the fucking squirrel out of your head!”

  Laudner stiffened and saluted. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

  Tin nodded his head. “OK. Move out.”

  Tin was weaving in and out of trees when he heard Anderson scream.

  “Aaarrrggghhhh!”

  He knew that O’Reilly and Laudner would have heard too. It sounded as if he was about one klick away. When he arrived,
both O’Reilly and Laudner had their tranq guns trained on Anderson. Tin stuck his in his belt and moved up slowly.

  Anderson stood up at attention.

  “Sorry, Lieutenant. I lost control, but I’m all right now.”

  Tin shook his head. “No, you aren’t, Corporal. I need you to turn around and cross your hands behind you.”

  Anderson looked ashamed and turned around. Tin moved up and zip-tied his hands together with three sets of zip-tie cuffs.

  SUSTENANCE

  Raines was being kept in a secured room in the stockade. The rooms were really meant to house animals that were being used for experiments. So they had large glass windows for observation. The glass was thick enough to resist the full-on charge of a large ape. So they were as secure as any jail cell.

  He was currently doing what he had been doing since they had moved him in: standing in the corner, facing the wall, and rocking back and forth. The only sound that he made sounded like mumbles of words not fully formed. He would continue doing this until someone entered the room. Then he would move toward that person with his right arm outstretched, mumbling his unintelligible message. They were pretty sure his left arm had stiffened enough that he couldn’t lift it.

  Tin, Teeny, Marty, and Abraham were staring into the room, where the light was dimmed due to his obvious sensitivity to light.

  Abraham spoke. “He seems to be hanging on to humanity by a thread. He’s trying to communicate, but he lacks the high brain functionality to do so. He shows obvious frustration when we don’t understand.”

  There was silence for several minutes as they watched Raines move from one corner to another.

  Teeny nodded her head. “There is a definite sadness in his eyes when he looks at you, which I believe means he is aware of his situation.”

  Marty moved up to the glass and leaned on it with one hand. “It’s like he’s dead but won’t lie down. Walking and functioning like an animated doll.”

  Tin spoke up, sounding incredulous. “How can this be happening? He should be dead! He looks dead!”

  Teeny walked over to look through the glass of the next habitat, where Anderson was being kept. He had much better body functionality, but it seemed he didn’t comprehend situations or communication attempts. It was as if he was confused. His vitals remained elevated like he had adrenaline running constantly. His muscle and joint movement wasn’t stiff, like Raines’s. He was easily agitated and fully mobile; his situation was very different.

  Teeny was drumming her fingers on the glass, not to get his attention but in deep thought. They all walked over to where she was standing and looked in at Anderson too. He looked back with a puzzled, uncomprehending look, twitching and moving around on his bed. His nose and eyes were oozing mucus. The veins on his neck tensed, and he stood up, rushed over to the glass, and pounded the palms of his hands against it.

  He screamed. “It’s not fair, Coach! I’m first string!”

  Teeny hadn’t moved because she had expected the rush from him. She looked him in the eye while she was talking to the rest. “Raines has a more urgent need for care right now. Tin?”

  Marty looked at her and then Abraham, who looked at her with raised eyebrows. Both she and Tin completely disregarded them both as she continued. “I’m going to need some blood for a transfusion for Raines. He’s type O negative, so we’ll need to find some O negative people who can donate.”

  Tin shook his head. “That counts me out. A positive.”

  Teeny looked at Marty. His mouth dropped open. “What the fuck! I have to do everything around here!”

  Teeny just smiled.

  Abraham finally spoke up. “I guess I’m losing control around here. I wish you would discuss these decisions before spouting them, Dr.…Teeny.”

  She smiled that “I’m so innocent” smile at him.

  “Yeeeaaahhh. I know you’re better than that, Teeny. I’m O negative too, but you’ll need at least four donors to get enough blood to transfuse. I assume you intend to transfuse him and then draw some blood to study?”

  She nodded.

  Tin pointed his chin at Anderson. “And what do we do about him?”

  She looked at Abraham as if to defer, and he shrugged. “It’s your show.”

  She looked back at Tin. “We’ll need blood from him too.”

  Marty got that look of disbelief again and blurted, “Just who is going to draw that blood?”

  Michael walked up just in time to hear that comment and smiled. “Sounds like you’re getting volun-told again, Marty.”

  He shook his head. “Yep. First out of the foxhole again! With the generals yelling ‘Charge!’ from the rear!”

  He turned to see Anderson still standing inside the glass, staring blankly and breathing heavily. “Dr. Abraham, you need to hire someone new so that I can make them do the shit jobs!”

  They all laughed at that comment—everyone except Marty. He just folded his arms across his chest like an angry child.

  They all were recovering from the exchange when Tin noticed the slightest nod from Michael when he and Abraham met eyes. Where had Michael been? He couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t right in the middle of the main event. He needed to keep an eye on that relationship.

  _______

  Raines’s skin was cold to the touch, and he even smelled as if he were dead. But he was definitely still moving, with just a hint of recognition of what was happening around him. Tin and O’Reilly escorted him to the table for his transfusion. Looking back and forth between them, he sat and then lay on the table. Marty moved up with the large needle for the transfusion.

  He pointed his chin at Raines’s leg. “I don’t think anything will come out, but incise the artery in the left leg.”

  Teeny did as he requested and confirmed, “Nothing but a little black ooze.”

  Marty moved the needle to his arm and then realized that it would be hard to get it into his collapsed veins. After two attempts, he was pretty sure he hit one. Marty nodded at Teeny, and the others watched as Teeny turned on the machine. The blood made its way down through the tube, pushing the air out of a ventilation valve at the needle. Teeny let blood flow out of the vent for a few seconds before closing it to redirect the blood into Raines’s arm. There was a moment of panic as some of the blood escaped out of the hole around the needle. The blood ran all over his arm and puddled on the table. After a few seconds, she could see the veins popping out as the blood filled them. There was a change in the muscle and skin where the veins were now filling with the fresh blood. Teeny looked and prodded the skin and wiped away the blood that had spilled across his arm.

  She looked closer. “Look! Where the spilled blood touched his arm, it looks like it is healing too!”

  His entire arm and shoulder were looking much better now. Teeny soaked up blood from the puddle and squeezed it into his mouth. He gave a loud moan and started poking his tongue out to coat it in the blood. As it soaked in, he was able to move it more and more. His lips where it touched were getting more pliable, and his neck and head were starting to move back and forth more easily.

  Teeny and Marty stood back now as they all watched Raines’s body take on a more natural tone, but he wasn’t quite back to normal. He began to say something that started as a mumble but recovered enough for them to understand. “I…I th…thought I…I was dead.”

  Abraham stepped forward. “We were pretty sure you were as good as, Corporal. Somebody please check his vitals.”

  Teeny looked at Marty, and he gave her a wide-eyed, defiant look. She ticked and moved to listen to his chest with her stethoscope.

  She looked at her watch. “About forty beats per minute. I can see it beating in his neck too.”

  Marty was loading the third bag on the IV stand when Michael stepped up and stopped him. “We should see if ingesting the blood helps as much as infusing it. Rub
bing it on his skin and mouth has had an effect that would make you think it might.”

  Teeny looked at Abraham. He thought for a second then nodded. “Try it, Marty.”

  He pulled down the bag. “Anyone have a nipple for this bottle?”

  No one smiled. He ticked and rolled his eyes as he moved up to lift Raines’s head so that he could pour in the blood. Raines was able to get up to one elbow now. He accepted the blood and started making sucking sounds as he forced Marty’s hands higher. After draining the bag, he fell back to lie down on the table and close his eyes.

  “UUhhhh. There’s that.”

  He didn’t speak it perfectly, but they could all understand what he said. They all traded looks as he started flexing his fingers and feet.

  Tin had a disgusted look on his face. “Jesus wept! He needs blood to survive.”

  Raines opened his eyes then and looked at him. After a few seconds, a realization came across his face. He leaned back on his pillow and pushed the palms of his hands to his eyes. Black ooze and blood squeezed out from beneath his hands, and a moaning sound came from him that made everyone’s skin crawl. It sounded as if it were coming from a monster straight out of the Saturday afternoon Creature Feature.

  _______

  What was left of the Spartan Team was standing outside the habitat where Anderson was being held, adjusting their light armor. Anderson was standing inside the glass watching them, eyes bloodshot red. He was staring at them with a big smile, with mucus and spittle leaking from his nose and mouth. Tin and O’Reilly were all business, but Laudner was shifting nervously from foot to foot. The behemoth moved over to stare at him alone. Laudner locked eyes with him for about three seconds before looking away. Anderson laughed like Satan himself and moved over to tear the table that he was to be using for a bed from the wall. He flung it at the glass, making a loud boom-clang-clang that made them all jump back.

  Laudner shook his head. “Holy fuck. Are you sure these tranq guns will take him down?”