Trepidation

by Chrissy Peebles

  Nick blew out a long breath. “Because I don’t want you holding it against me for the rest of my life. If we hadn’t come, you’d always carry around those what-ifs. I know firsthand that that’s no way to live. I’m here to prove to you that Charlie is crazy.”

  “It’s really about taking out the hybrids, Nick. You’re just here to take them out, so don’t use me as a scapegoat.”

  Lucas clapped my shoulder. “Are you gonna believe the truth once you see it for yourself?”

  “Yes, I can handle the truth,” I said. “I just need to know, one way or another.”

  Charlie unlocked the main doors to the hospital. “We don’t have electricity in the hospital, only the lab. There’s no way a generator could give enough juice to this entire facility.”

  My heart pounded as I walked in.

  Charlie grabbed a lantern from the main desk and turned it on to light our way. Our footsteps echoed as we walked down a long corridor, making a few twists and turns. Flashbacks of the old lab still haunted me, and strolling down that pitch-black corridor reminded of the first time I’d had to escape Charlie’s grip. When he led us down the stairs, I began to get really nervous. My only consolation was that he was a wimp, and he was only one person. Of course, he could have a whole army of hybrids down here, at his beck and call, I thought eerily. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and my hands began to tremble as I was overcome with a really bad feeling.

  Charlie took us through a maze of corridors and opened a few secret doors with codes. We walked down more stairs. He led us into a lab and flicked the lights on. It wasn’t creepy at all; in fact, it looked like a modern lab, equipped with microscopes and lab tables and all kinds of other equipment. The walls were crisp and white, and I didn’t see any sign of foul play.

  “Is this where Jackie’s being held?” I asked.

  “First, I need to ask for a favor,” he said.

  “What?” I asked.

  He peered intently at me. “I’m going to need more serum.”

  “What!? And why would you think I have any?” I retorted.

  “Cut the crap. I know you have a whole bag...and I want it.”

  “Sorry, Charlie. That’s not gonna happen,” Nick said, “and I suggest you control your tone when you’re talking to my brother. Besides, who told you such a crazy thing anyway?”

  “Jackie.”

  Lucas chuckled. “Sure she did. Just how gullible do you think we are?”

  Nick stepped forward. “Look, if we had a silo full of serum, we wouldn’t give you a drop of it. So are you gonna release those hybrids on us or what?”

  I knew Nick was egging him on. He wanted to know where the hybrids were kept because his mission was to destroy them, before they came after Max and took out Fairport. Suddenly, something sharp pierced my skin, and I screamed. When I stepped back, I gasped at the sight before me: Charlie was holding a syringe and had injected me with something.

  “Now, Nick, your brother’s a dead man,” Charlie said, “but I have an antidote to save his life. All I ask in return is that bag of vials. And don’t go trying to fill them up with piss or something, because I’ll be checking the contents.”

  Nick lunged for Charlie, and Val held him back. He pulled out his gun and threatened Charlie with every kind of torturous assault he could think of, spewing out a chain of curse words I’d never heard him say before.

  I rubbed the spot on my arm where the needle had been inserted; it was swelling up like a mosquito bite. I wanted to cuss Charlie out, too, but I was too overwhelmed with shock and panic.

  “Stop it, Nick!” Val yelled. “Put the gun down. If you kill the spineless jerk, Dean’s as good as dead.”

  “Yeah, just take a deep breath and think about it, man,” Lucas added. “I’d like to blow his head off, too, but we gotta be smart.”

  When the fear let go of my throat for a moment, I asked, in a trembling voice, “What did you inject me with?”

  “Anthrax. Death will occur within four to twelve hours of exposure.”

  “How could you?” I screamed.

  “Dean saved your life!” Val shouted. “How could you do this to him?”

  Charlie looked at her hard. “And I saved Dean’s life so I think we’re even. Remember when those gang members shot Mikey when Dean was on guard duty? Dean took down one gangster but two more had guns trained on him. My hybrid shot the remaining thugs and saved Dean’s life. And do you have any idea why? Because I put Dean and your whole group on my ‘do not kill’ list to the hybrids. But that favor is over and done with as of today.”

  “We should’ve let him died in that house,” Claire said. “We should’ve never rescued him with Steven and Rachel.”

  Trembling terror blanketed my siblings’ and friends’ faces. I’d never seen them so horrified. The gnawing sense of anxiety overwhelmed me. There was no CDC anymore, no ER to rush me to. I’d been injected with a deadly virus, and there was nothing anyone could do for me—anyone but the man who’d injected me. I’d been delivered a death sentence, and it hadn’t come from Z’s men or those disgusting zombies. A million thoughts plagued my mind. I tried not to let the dark thoughts consume me, but worry began to swallow me whole.

  “I have the antidote,” he said in an unnervingly calm voice. “All you have to do is get me what I want.” He laughed. “See? One doesn’t have to be armed with a gun to get people to comply. Heck, I didn’t even need my fearless hybrids. You followed me down here because you think I’m weak and stupid, but I outsmarted all of you.”

  “This is sick!” Val shouted. “What gives you the right to play God?”

  He pointed at his watch. “The clock is ticking.”

  Chapter 37

  Before my brother could even decide what to do, the door burst open, and I instinctively ducked as a spray of gunfire flew in our direction. We hid behind a huge stone pillar. Val knocked a table over, and we huddled behind it. She grabbed her gun and started firing back as Z and five of his men ran directly at us.

  “Dean!”

  I turned to face Steven, who was cowering behind the overturned table.

  “Steven?” I said. “How did you find this place?”

  “I got one of my dad’s scientist friends to talk and brought Max to the exact location. Z got his hands on that same scientist so I’m sure that’s why he’s here.”

  Steven pointed his gun as he glanced around. “Where is he?”

  “Who?”

  Steven didn’t answer, but I’d never seen him looking so angry. We all wanted to take Z down, but I think Steven wanted to be the one to actually do the deed. He sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I see him!”

  “Don’t play hero, Steven. You can’t just rush out there alone to take him out. His men will gun you down in five seconds flat,” I said, ducking to avoid the incoming rifle fire.

  But neither my words nor the bullets seemed to faze Steven. In slow motion, he pointed his gun right at Charlie. “Die, you sucker!” he shouted.

  Suddenly, much to my amazement and dismay, a bullet hit Charlie straight in the forehead.

  Z wasn’t Steven’s mark after all! It was Charlie all along.

  The man who had my antidote crumbled to the ground in a trembling heap.

  Val ran over to him and shook him. “No!” she screamed. “We weren’t done with him. Dean needs him!”

  My stomach lurched as I watched Charlie die, taking with him the secrets of how to cure the deadly disease he’d injected me with—not to mention the answers about Jackie that I’d so desperately longed for so very long.

  Steven lowered his gun, and a satisfied grin crossed his face. “He killed my father. My dad died so his virus wouldn’t get out. And now he can’t make any more hybrids.”

  Charlie’s eyes fluttered open as he stood. He growled and peered at us with white, dead eyes. Steven shot him again and the zombie fell to the ground.

  “How could you?” Val said.

  Steven showed no remors
e. “What? That mad scientist needed to pay. I know he was your friend but—”

  Claire cut him off in a hurry. “That’s not it, Steven. Charlie injected Dean with anthrax, and he was trying to trade the antidote for something. Now we’ll never get it, because you killed him. He was also going to tell us where my cousin was, because he kidnapped her. Now we’ll never know that either. He’ll take Dean’s cure and my cousin’s whereabouts to the grave!”

  Steven looked at me. “I-I just got here,” he stuttered apologetically. “I had no idea. I’m so, so sorry. I guess I...I was just bent on revenge, seeing red, and I—”

  “You idiot!” Lucas said as he made his way over to us. He stared at Steven intently, his eyes blazing with fury. He hit Steven with the butt of his gun, and Steven fell sideways, out cold.

  “Lucas, stop! This isn’t who you are,” Val said. “He’s just a kid, a teenager who lost his dad. Give him a break.”

  “Well, that so-called kid just gave your kid brother a death sentence, and I’m not gonna stand by and let him get away with it!”

  “I’m upset, too, but beating up a teenager is no way to handle things. Now lay off!”

  Suddenly, another bullet whizzed past my head, reminding me that we were going to have to fight our way out of yet another lab. I aimed and fired once again, squeezing off one shot after another. When more of Z’s foolish followers poured in the door, a cold chill shot down my spine. And when I saw a few hybrids shooting at them, I gasped.

  It was all out war now between Z’s men, Max’s men, the hybrids, and the newly turned zombies who were shot.

  “We need to get outta here,” Val said. “We can’t take them all on!”

  Nick nodded. “Get to the exit. I’ll cover you.”

  “There’re more coming from behind,” Lucas shouted.

  When I glanced over my shoulder, I was shocked to see even more men pouring in.

  Nick waved Max over to us and pointed to Z’s men. “Look!”

  There, rushing forward, were Max’s teams, coming in fast, fearless, and furious, shooting semiautomatics like trained soldiers.

  Now, we just have to wait for Z and his gang to wave their little white flag, I thought. If the hybrids don’t eat them first. We’d taken down Charlie, Z’s men were almost out of the way, and the only catastrophes we really had to deal with were the hybrids and the disease that was coursing through my veins.

  Max’s men jumped into action, and the room thundered with gunfire. Most of the hybrids who were fighting had been shot in the head. Bullets pelted the walls as Max’s team fought like trained military commandos. Max was a brave leader, and his troops were just as courageous and bold as he was.

  When Max made his way over to us, he saw Steven and bent down to feel for a pulse. “Was he hit?” he asked me.

  “He was...avenging his dad’s death, and he got knocked out in the process.”

  His eyes widened in shock. “Charlie’s dead?”

  I pointed to his lifeless body.

  “Get Steven to safety,” Max commanded. “I’ll cover you so you can get to the door.”

  “Got it,” one of his men answered. He threw Steven over his shoulder as easily as a linebacker hoisting a sack of potatoes, then carried him out of the lab.

  Max and his other men stood up and started firing again.

  Suddenly, horrifying screams echoed through the room, and panic ensured. I peered over and realized the men we had killed during the shootout had turned into zombies, and they were attacking Z’s gang. Max let out a rapid-fire round and the first line of zombies dropped to the ground.

  One zombie made it through the rain of bullets and swiftly headed in my direction. I shot it, and it fell forward, slamming its face on the floor. I jumped down as more gunfire flew at me. Crisscrossing fire echoed all around me, and bodies continued to fall. I continued to fire through the ear-shattering noise of shells exploding all around me. I was quick and accurate and made every shot count.

  “I’m hit,” Z finally shouted. “Cease fire!” He crashed to the floor, and his few remaining, unzombefied men ran to his aid.

  Max motioned for us to stop.

  “Since when do we take orders from a psychopath?” I asked.

  Max ignored my comment and pointed his gun directly at Z.

  Z stood up and looked at us, then down at the blood saturating the floor. “Listen,” he said. “I came here for the same reason you did—to kill Charlie and those hybrids, so he wouldn’t send them after me. My men already took down most of Charlie’s undead army. A few got out and came up here to fight. You should be thanking me because I killed rooms full of those freaks. I’d never seen anything like it before in all my life. Charlie had to die, one way or another. He was a menace to society.”

  Like this guy has any room to talk, I thought.

  Claire stood up, and Nick tried to pull her behind the table, but Max held him back.

  “We’ve got a plan,” Max whispered. “Just let this play out.”

  “Then let me go, not Claire,” I offered. “I’m a dead man anyway.”

  “He’ll see right through you,” Max said, shaking his head.

  I drew a sharp breath. I didn’t want Claire anywhere near Z’s men, because I knew they’d love to make an example out of her. Every one of their guns was trained on her as she approached them, and I held my breath.

  Claire dropped her weapon, and it clattered to the floor. “I want to switch teams, Z. You killed those hybrids. Clearly, Max can’t protect me like you can.”

  Z coughed. “It’s too late for that, love. I’m dying...and I only have one dying wish.” He picked up a walkie-talkie and said, “Do it.”

  “Do what?” Claire said.

  “The stupid hybrids left some bombs behind, and now we’ll put them to good use. There are no teams anymore. We’re all going to die together. If I’m going out, you’re coming with me.”

  “Call it off!” she demanded.

  “It’s too late for that, sweetheart.” He pointed his rifle at Claire’s head. “You were supposed to die in that warehouse, so we’ll just have to take care of it now.”

  Just as he started to pull the trigger, Claire threw a grenade right at him. Just like that, she had the revenge she’d sought for so long.

  Z’s crazed eyes widened in horror as he took his final breath.

  At that exact moment, Max’s men launched a slew of grenades toward Z’s men.

  The explosions shook the room, and smoke swirled.

  Everything was a blur as people scattered and shouted all around me. I thought back to the first time I’d met Claire, that little scared girl. Now, she’d taken down the most vicious enemy we’d ever faced. Her transformation boggled my mind.

  That murderous pig was dead, along with crazy Charlie. Fairport had just eliminated two of its biggest threats and nutcases, and the city could live in peace. Max had once only cared about the people in the apartment complex, but when the citizens of his little utopia had been willing to step up and fight alongside him, he began to see them in a new light. Now, he vowed to protect everyone in Fairport and would help anyone who came to the city.

  We all roared as we charged Z’s remaining men, taking them by surprise. Bullets flew over my head, but I proceeded, ready to take out all memory of Z once and for all. If I was going to die, I was going to die a hero. I squeezed off shot after shot as we made our advance, and a dozen more dropped.

  A victory cheer erupted as the last of them fell.

  I tried to walk but missed a step. I was so drowsy, and it was hard to keep my eyes open. I’d always been a fighter, but I didn’t know how to fight a deadly disease, and we had no idea how to find the antidote.

  Val wrapped an arm around me and led me out of the lab as more gunfire flew over our heads.

  Nick and Lucas motioned for us to stay put while they cleared the way of a few stragglers, mostly zombies stumbling around in confusion.

  “It’s gonna be okay,” Val said.
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  I couldn’t breathe or think or speak as it all sank in.

  “How do you feel?” When I didn’t answer, she asked again. “Dean?”

  I fought to keep my eyes open. “Drowsy.”

  She looked at Claire with a serious expression on her face. “Anthrax doesn’t kill as quickly as Charlie said, and it doesn’t make you feel drowsy this fast. It starts out with stomach flu-like symptoms. Keep an eye on him. I’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going?” Claire asked.

  “To get that vial Charlie set on the table after he injected Dean. I need to see what he actually gave him.”

  “This place is gonna blow,” Claire said.

  Val forced back the quiver in her voice. “Well, if it does, it won’t matter what Charlie did.” With that, she darted off through the smoke, heading back into the lab.

  “This way,” Nick said.

  “We’ve gotta wait on Val,” Claire said.

  “What? Where is she?”

  “She went back in the lab, to check on the crap Charlie gave Dean.”

  “She what!?” He motioned for us to continue, then darted off after her.

  Just as we reached the stairwell, I heard a faint scream. My stomach dropped. “Do you hear that?” I asked. “It sounded like a woman.”

  “Or a hybrid.”

  “What if Charlie’s holding Jackie prisoner? We should check it out.”

  Claire swallowed hard, and beads of sweat ran down her face, but she nodded.

  I veered off toward the scream with Claire right behind me. I knew the place was in danger of blowing up at any minute, but I wasn’t sure how much faith we could put in anything Z said; the man was an expert at bluffing. Still, I had to know who was screaming. Shawn’s words about Jackie and the Polaroids still lingered in my head, and Charlie somehow knew about the bag of serum; no one else could have told him but Sam or Larry. All of that left me with reasonable doubt that Jackie was dead, and if she was alive—even as a hybrid—I had to find her.

  Through the fog in my head, I could hear Nick, Lucas, and Val yelling for me. I followed the woman’s voice to a padded room. The tiny window in the locked door was broken, which was the only reason we could hear her. I peeked in, but it was dark to see who it was.