Genesis

by Michael McCarthy

  Ilsa turned, looking at William one last time.

  “I’m going to get some smokes. I love you, Billy.”

  William holstered his pistol, took a deep breath, and turned his attention to Cooper once more.

  “So, where is it?”

  “It won’t do you any good. Not anymore. You can’t go back to the future. You don’t exist there. Not now. Not anymore.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I can’t believe I got two of you.”

  William slapped Cooper on the side of his head with the missing ear. “I asked you what you’re talking about! Answer me!”

  “I never actually thought you would come for me in person. You have balls. I have to give you that. Traveling to your own past. Not smart. You could accidentally change something.”

  “It’s not possible to change the past, and you know that. You can only travel back and observe. Yes, you can interact, but nothing you do can change anything. I’ve already tried. Numerous times.”

  “You’re wrong. Changes can be made. You just have to know how.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Well then, I guess you will just have to take it on faith.”

  “You might find this hard to believe, Dr. Cooper, but I am a little short on that right now.”

  “Well, all it takes is a little chemistry, biology, physics, toss in a little engineering, well, really it’s all just basic applied science. “

  “Look, Doctor. You may have discovered time travel, but I understand how it works. And you can’t change the past.”

  “Unless you know how.”

  “Sure, and I suppose you’re going to try telling me you know how to change the past so that I won’t kill you. Barter for your life sort of thing.”

  “No, I have no plans of telling you anything.”

  “Well, that’s ok, too,” William smiled. “I’m looking forward to ending this.”

  “Oh wait, there is one thing I should probably tell you.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

  Cooper smiled the biggest smile William had yet to see all night.

  “Surprise. It’s a trap.”

  It was the smile more than anything that irritated William. He knew Cooper was lying. He had tried numerous times to change the past, and it was fruitless. But he could go back and learn. Observe, interact, and gain intelligence. And that is exactly what this trip was for. Torturing Cooper was just a bonus. It wouldn’t change anything. History recorded that Dr. Cooper had died on this night, but so had many others. It had always been assumed that one of the undead had gotten him, but maybe it was William’s own hand that did him in. Either way, he died tonight, torture or not, that much was factual. Historical.

  “Your trap seems to be working nicely. I can’t change the past, Dr. Cooper, nor can I really have any true effect on the future, but there is one thing I can do. I can change your immediate future.” William took out a rigging knife from his pocket and used the marlinspike to puncture a hole in Cooper’s chest. He stepped back to admire his handy work, watching the blood slowly squirt out of Cooper’s chest with each breath.

  “I need some fresh air. How about you? Want to come out on the porch for a bit?”

  William opened the front door and steps out onto the porch, taking in a deep breath of the springtime air.

  “Can you smell that, Cooper? That’s the smell of death in the air. You remember that smell, don’t you?”

  William lit a cigarette. The sound of nighttime insects filled the air. If it were not for the large mass of undead creatures heading into the barn, it would be like any other spring night. He would check the barn out when he was finished here…

  SLAM!

  The front door of the house was now shut, and William could hear the locking mechanism clicking over. He turned to see Cooper’s grandson Christopher standing in the front door window, giving him the finger.

  What an idiot.

  Must run in the family.

  Glass won’t stop a bullet.

  William slowly put out his cigarette and prepared to draw his pistol when he heard a noise behind him. William spun around, and standing before him was a naked young man, wearing a mask made of human flesh. William was about to fire when the man spoke.

  “Hello, William.”

  “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

  Che took off his mask and discarded it. William looked at him with shock, then got closer.

  “Not possible. You died in Vietnam.” But in his gut, he knew it was possible. Dr. Cooper had just told him it was, and he didn’t believe him. But what point was there for Dr. Cooper to lie to him? And besides, here was his proof. Che was alive. It was possible to change the past.

  It was possible to change the past.

  That meant…

  “So is what Cooper said true? That this is some sort of trap?”

  “Why don’t you come and take a look in the barn and see for yourself.”

  William was reluctant to follow him, but he had to know what was going on. The old man was dying, and the kid could wait. Neither of them were going anywhere.

  Come to think of it, he wasn’t going anywhere either. Not until he had some more answers. And he certainly would not be going anywhere with Che. Che was dangerous and would be even more so now that he had the advantage. Best to deal with him on his own terms.

  Whatever was in the barn would be there, Che or not.

  William leveled his pistol and fired a double-tap into the back of Che’s head.

  Killing him instantly.

  William stood over the body and lit another cigarette. The second time killing him sure was easier than the first. William flicked what was left of the cigarette into the weeds and turned to head back into the house. There was no consensus on how long it took for them to turn after death, so best to go deal with the grandson inside.

  From down the farmhouse driveway, headlights illuminated the trees and front of the house.

  The Cavalry to the rescue.

  Only whose backup was arriving first…

  The only thing he knew for certain was that he had no backup of his own, so they weren’t on his team, no matter how things were about to play out.

  William could only stand there. They had already seen him, and from the size of the transport, he was certainly outnumbered.

  This will be interesting.

  The black Humvee rolled up the gravel driveway of the farm and parked several feet in front of William, blinding him with brilliant white light.

  William dropped his line of sight down, trying to preserve what little night vision he had remaining. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see U.S. Government plates on the vehicle.

  The lights dimmed on the Humvee, blanketing the area in darkness once more.

  It was an interesting decision from a tactical point of view, and indicated to William that their intentions were not hostile. He could see two people inside the vehicle. Both looked like soldiers. But barely. The driver looked so young that he must have just gotten out of high school.

  National Guard, William presumed.

  The driver’s side window rolled slowly down, and William’s suspicions were mostly confirmed.

  “Dr. Cooper? Don’t shoot. We’re here from the United States Marshals Protective Service Division. My name is…”

  William cut him off.

  Might as well run with it and hope for the best.

  “I don’t give a fuck who you are. Who you are is completely irrelevant. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m terribly sorry, Dr. Cooper. There has been a Level One Evacuation Order. We are here to transport you to a safe facility. I have my paperwork here.” The driver extended some paperwork out the window for William to examine.

  It was working.

  Get rid of them. With or without prejudice.

  “Paperwork can be faked. And knowing my name doesn’t prove whose side you’re on.” William pointed to the bo
dy of Che. “As you can clearly see, I have the situation under control. I do not need your protection, and I do not know who you are. I am going nowhere with you. Now please leave.” The paperwork was pulled back inside the vehicle, and the window rolled back up.

  William stood there, holding his ground, and wondering what the kid was doing inside with Cooper. Not like it mattered. There weren’t many places in the house that they could hide.

  Both doors of the vehicle opened simultaneously, and with tactical precision and swiftness, William found himself quickly confronted by both of the U.S. Marshals, weapons not fully on him, but in ready position.

  “Dr. Cooper, I’m sorry, but we have orders to deliver you to the Command Center. You’re coming with us, whether you like it or not. Restraints are optional. We have about five minutes. Do you need anything from your house? Time is critical,” the closest Marshall asked, extending the evacuation paperwork for William to see.

  William grabbed the paperwork from his hand and scanned it. They were going to take him to the Central Command Center inside Cheyenne Mountain. There was no way he could go there. Someone would surely know what Dr. Cooper looked like there. But, it looked like they had one more pickup to make.

  Code name Genesis.

  That could be interesting.

  “Time is one thing you don’t have to lecture me on. I’m done here. Let’s go.” William had formulated his plan. He would find out what he could, be helpful along the way, then kill them when an opportune moment arouse. If he had time, he would double back and kill the boy.

  William looked back at the house one last time. He didn’t really have any other choice. The time machine would have to wait. It was worthless without the key anyway. He started walking to the Humvee.

  “Not so fast, Sir.” The larger of the U.S. Marshals stepped in front of William, blocking the path to the Humvee. “I need your evacuation password.”

  William stopped in his tracks. “Are you fucking serious?”

  “Protocol, Sir.”

  William thought for a moment, then bluffed.

  “You’re wasting valuable time. This won’t look good in my report, Private.”

  “I’m a Sergeant, Sir.”

  “We’ll if you want to stay one, I suggest getting me to the command center.”

  The young Marshal was flustered and looked to his friend for support, but found none.

  What was he going to do? His orders were to bring this guy back to the command center alive. He could possibly hold the key to solving this whole mess. This guy was supposed to be some sort of biological weapons genius or something.

  “Sorry, Sir!” he said, as he stepped aside and cleared a path for William to get into the Humvee.

  “They’re gone.”

  Christopher had been quietly listening to the events unfold in front of the house. He looked out carefully through the window and could see three men getting into a Humvee. William was one of them. He was getting away. “I’m sorry, Grandpa. We improvised a bit. Che wanted to make some changes to the plan.”

  “You weren’t supposed to make any changes to the plan. You were supposed to go straight to the mineshaft.” Cooper could barely talk, the blood slowly filling his lungs making each breath more painful than the last. “You need to go. Now!”

  But Christopher just stood there. He could not bring himself to leave his grandfather’s side.

  The sound of breaking glass came from the kitchen.

  Christopher took a few steps and positioned himself so that he could see through the foyer door and into the kitchen. The undead had broken through the window on the kitchen porch.

  “They’ve compromised the porch.”

  Cooper nodded. “Get to the mine.”

  Christopher understood that the time to leave had come. He spun around and looked out the front door window.

  A large number of undead had gathered outside and had begun to feed on the remains of Che. Christopher teared up, and could not turn back to face his grandfather.

  From the kitchen, the sounds of breaking wood and glass. Plus the unmistakable sounds of the Runners.

  Shit.

  Runners.

  Runners were the most dangerous. They were technically the newly infected and newly turned, they were very enraged. Fast, both day and night.

  Christopher looked out the front door window again. Runners and walkers. Lots of them. He was not confident he could make it out the front with only his K-bar as a weapon.

  Cooper seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

  “In the attic.”

  Christopher understood.

  “What happens to you?”

  It was something Cooper did not want to think about. He was duct-taped to a wheelchair, missing an ear, with a hole in his lung, and from the sounds of things breaking in the kitchen, at least a handful of those things were already in the house.

  It didn’t take a time traveler to know the future this time.

  Go with the truth.

  “I slow them down long enough for you to make it.”

  “I love you, Grandpa.”

  “I know.”

  Christopher began running up the stairs and was almost to the landing when the first of the runners exploded into the foyer and began tearing its teeth into Cooper’s exposed neck.

  Cooper was silent, but the sound of flesh being torn from his body rang in Christopher’s ears as he ran down the hallway, turning the tight corner and then slamming the attic door shut behind him.

  Christopher locked the door.

  It would not hold them for long, but it would hold them long enough.

  Christopher ran to the top of the stairs.

  Weapons.

  There had to be something he could use up here.

  And there it was.

  Technically it wasn’t a weapon, but rather a tool. But like his Grandfather had told him many times before, most any tool can be a weapon if you look at it right. And given the situation, tight quarters, large horde of undead, lone defender, this tool was the perfect choice.

  Sitting on top of his grandfather’s old footlocker from the Coast Guard was Chipper, his grandfather’s trusty old chainsaw.

  Taped to it was a note.

  This was the plan all along. Your actions changed nothing. Remember, you cannot change the past. Live for the present. Fight for the future. And this time, when you go outside, put on the God damn suit.

  Christopher opened the footlocker to find a brand new chemical suit, in his exact size.

  The undead had reached the attic door.

  Christopher could hear them clawing and bashing their heads and fists against the door in an effort to break through. The door was solid and would hold, but not for long.

  Christopher didn’t want to suit up, but he felt like he should. It was his grandfather’s last request, after all. Plus, with Chipper, there would be a lot of blood flying around, and Grandpa was always a bit vague about whether the blood carried any of the virus pathogens or not.

  It didn’t take him long to suit up. The chemical suits were a simple one-piece design, and even a child could figure it out on his own if he had to.

  Christopher picked up the chainsaw and pulled out the choke.

  He was sure to give the fuel bulb an extra pump or two.

  Quick pull on the rope.

  The chainsaw came to life.

  The sound of the chainsaw’s small engine was deafening in the attic. Christopher revved the engine a few times then walked carefully down the stairs.

  When he reached the bottom, Christopher used his leveraged position to kick the attic door open, then launched himself into the tangled pile of undead, swinging his chainsaw left and right, making quick work of the undead that were waiting for him.

  Christopher made his way down the hallway, encountering several of the undead along the way.

  Each swing of the chainsaw was easier than the last, and apart from his arms getting tired, killing those things did not bo
ther him at all. In fact, it was sort of fun. Fun until he reached the landing.

  From the landing, he could look down and see a large number of them feasting on the remains of his grandfather. There was nothing he could for him at this point, but he could at least bury the body. He owed him that much.

  Christopher started making his way down the stairs. It was hot inside the chemical suit, and his facemask was starting to fog up.

  It happened so fast that he didn’t have time to react.

  Falling.

  Falling backwards.

  The ceiling of the foyer came into view. A small water stain, funny, he had never noticed that before. He hit his back hard on the stairs, but felt no pain. That’s odd.

  Christopher came to a rest on the stairs. There was pain now, but different than he expected. Everything sort of tingled.

  Christopher let out a whimper. He could not feel his feet.

  The chainsaw.

  He had slipped on the stairs and fallen on top of his own chainsaw. It must have severed his spinal cord.

  Son of a bitch.

  The front door to the house was open, and a steady stream of those things were making their way into the foyer. It would only be a matter of moments before they started up the stairs.

  So this is how it ends.

  Not with a bang but a whimper.

  To be continued…

  The Motion Picture Genesis screened at the 2016 Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes

  You can learn more about the film at

  ZombieGenesis.com

  “Don’t trust everything you see and hear. What you’re seeing is simply a diversion to the truth. “

  William Riley

  May 8, 2012

  Undisclosed Location - (Classified)