by Perrin Briar
Undead Ian and Lindsey stood glaring down at Daniel, who was curled up on the floor. They fell upon him, holding him down and sniffing him all over. They grunted, got back up on their feet, and turned to face the others.
“Get in here quick!” Kate said to Hamish.
Hamish struggled to his feet, half-crawling, half-walking toward them. So much for his early warning.
“What were you doing outside?” Kate said to Hamish. “We thought you were in your room!”
“I… had… had to… warn you…” Hamish said, teeth chattering.
He felt stupid for what he was saying. Clearly they had coped well enough without him. He’d only ended up risking their lives further.
“We have to… attack them,” Hamish said. “There’s no other… way of keeping us… safe.”
Patrick looked into the eyes of the two men and one woman he’d once considered not only colleagues, but friends. But they weren’t his friends anymore, weren’t his colleagues. They were monsters.
He opened his eyes and roared. The bellow helped. He brought the rolling pin down on Jeff’s head. It knocked Jeff forward, but didn’t cave in his skull. It wasn’t until the second and third strikes that skull fragments spilled across the floor.
Kate roared as she took on Ian, spilling his teeth. The skin from Lindsey’s face had been peeled back, her stomach left hanging and severed. Kate and Patrick teamed up, beating the hapless creature to a pulp.
Daniel was on the other side of the room. He got to his feet. Everyone was panting for air, recovering from their exertions. With Daniel standing on the opposite side of the room there was a clear divide.
“Good job,” Daniel said. “For a second there I thought they had us.”
“They did have you,” Kate said. “Why didn’t they attack you?”
Daniel shrugged.
“I must not be to their liking,” he said.
“No,” Kate said. “You’re going to have to do better than that. Why didn’t they bite you?”
Daniel’s eyes met each of the others in turn. He focused them on Kate.
“Why do you think?” he said. “Go on. You’re a smart girl.”
“Because you’re infected,” Kate said.
The expression on Daniel’s face changed then, from the friendly face they all knew to a pointed maniacal grin. He spread his arms wide and took a bow.
“Well done,” Daniel said. “Yes, I’m infected.”
“But I did the blood test…” Hamish said. “You can’t possibly be infected. Unless… No…”
Hamish felt weak, like he was going to collapse.
“Go on,” Daniel said.
“You created a distraction,” Hamish said. “You let Jeff out of his room. Then you switched the labels so it looked like Carl was infected…”
“Very good,” Daniel said. “More astute than I gave you credit for. Yes, I switched the vials and let the moron Carl march out to his death. If he didn’t have the heart to survive, then its best he did kill himself.”
“You bastard!” Patrick said.
He sprang forward and swung for Daniel, but Daniel was too fast, and dodged, putting himself in front of the door.
“You opened the doors,” Hamish said to Daniel. “You let them out.”
“Of course I let them out,” Daniel said.
“Why?” Kate said. “I don’t understand.”
“None of you understand,” Daniel said. “You don’t have the intelligence. Nor the ability to see the breadth and scope of what I was trying to achieve.”
“It’s because of you Carl is dead?” Patrick said.
“An unfortunate sacrifice, but a necessary one,” Daniel said. “As you will all be.”
“What do you mean?” Kate said, voice trembling.
“You’re infected,” Daniel said, his grin wide and victorious. “Welcome to my world.”
“No…” Kate said.
“You’re lying!” Patrick said.
“Am I?” Daniel said. “Feel yourselves, let yourselves sense your body. You’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
“If we were infected, the undead wouldn’t have attacked us,” Kate said.
“Even an undead can tell the difference between rotten food and fresh food,” Daniel said.
Patrick dropped the rolling pin. He wrapped his arms around his stomach. Tears shimmered in Kate’s eyes.
“We’re all infected?” Kate said.
“Not all of you,” Daniel said with a glance at Hamish. “How will you cope with him as the only person not infected, I wonder?”
“How?” Kate said.
“By adding my blood to your coffee, of course,” Daniel said.
“Why?” Kate said in a desperate plea that struck Hamish to the bone. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because the world turns,” Daniel said.
He turned and ran into the storm, lost in its wintry embrace. Patrick drew the door closed and bolted it shut.
“Now what do we do?” Patrick said.
“I don’t know,” Kate said. Then, more forlorn and broken: “I don’t know.”
Z-MINUS: 41 minutes
The survivors scrubbed at their skin as if it would cleanse them on the inside too. Though outside it howled like it was the end of the world, the survivors felt strangely at peace, protected in their private enclave.
The revelation of Daniel’s betrayal, though not fully explained or understood, went some way to soothing their broken spirits. But they were not entirely at ease. It was visible in the way they jumped when something banged outside, expecting it to be Daniel with a tool of destruction.
But Hamish knew Daniel wouldn’t attack them like that. The look in his eye when he’d run outside into the freezing cold, into the arms of death, was not the look of a sane man. He wouldn’t come back. It was too easy. He would come up with some other way of getting back at them, if he was still alive.
People like Daniel never died easy, not when there was a harder way, and there always was. It was because they believed they had purpose. They knew what they wanted, what they needed to achieve, and they didn’t stop until they got it. It gave them superhuman drive.
The survivors sat round, heads in their hands. It might not have been the end of the world, but it was the end of their worlds, and that made all the difference.
“You might not be infected,” Hamish said.
“Not infected?” Patrick said. “You heard what Daniel said. ‘Welcome to my world’. We’re doomed.”
“He’s a madman,” Hamish said. “You can’t believe what he says.”
“He sounded pretty confident when he was saying it,” Patrick said.
Hamish knew he wasn’t infected. He could feel himself, clean and without stain.
“Anyone fancy a game of ping pong?” Hamish said.
Kate ignored him. Patrick glared at him.
“I’ll take that as a no, then,” Hamish said.
Patrick sneezed. Hamish and Kate turned to look at him.
“Sorry, it’s dusty in here,” Patrick said.
Kate and Patrick shook their heads.
“I don’t understand how someone could do this to us,” Patrick said. “Someone we know and trust.”
“You let your guard down,” Hamish said. “What made it easier for him to infiltrate you. Trust.”
“So it was him all along,” Kate said. “Not Dr. Scott who infected us. Everything we figured out was right. We just focused on the wrong person.”
Kate was right, Hamish realized. Daniel had instigated it all. It was him, not Dr. Scott who had set up a system to destroy them. Why and for what purpose, Hamish had no idea. There was no understanding the mind of a madman.
“We have a decision to make,” Kate said. “A tough decision.”
“We’ll go into our rooms,” Patrick said. “Wait for the helicopter to come.”
“I’m afraid that’s not enough,” Hamish said.
“What do you mean?” Patrick said.
“The virus cannot be allowed to leave this place,” Kate said. “There’s no cure yet because this virus hasn’t existed for millions of years. We haven’t encountered it before. It’s from another time. We’re not prepared to defend ourselves against it. We need to give the rest of the world time if they’re going to build a strong defense.”
“What about Daniel?” Patrick said.
“He’s infected,” Hamish said. “He’s mad. He’s no longer thinking about what’s best for the rest of the world, only for whatever’s best for his plan.”
“This goes much further than Palmer Station,” Kate said. “Don’t you see? We’re a drop in the ocean. Nothing that happens here matters, and yet it is everything.”
“What are you talking about?” Patrick said.
“The fate of the world rests in our hands,” Kate said. “It begins here. If the virus escapes and seeps into the world, the world is doomed. We were worried about contaminating the local area and wildlife. We should be just as worried about it contaminating us. Imagine this virus reaching a major city. Imagine it infecting our friends and family, infecting a single airport. How long before it spreads across the world, tearing apart the human race? It won’t take long, especially when it only takes a few hours for the virus to consume its host.”
“But it won’t get out of here,” Daniel said. “We’ll be locked in our rooms.”
“Dr. Scott thought he’d protected you all, but somehow Ian still contracted the virus,” Hamish said. “Our rescuers will come and get infected. The virus will spread. This time there will be more people around, more potential carriers. We cannot contain the virus here.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Patrick said. “We just sit here, waiting for it to consume us?”
“No,” Kate said. “We destroy it. Here. So it can’t spread. Destroy it before rescue comes.”
“How do we do that?” Patrick said. “Sit it down and give it a good talking to? By the time the storm ends, the rescuers will be here. And we don’t even know how Ian was infected in the first place.”
“That’s precisely why we need to take action,” Kate said. “We’ll destroy this center, set it on fire, burn it to the ground. That will kill any trace of the virus. By the time the helicopters get to us, they’ll be too late to stop us. I doubt they’ll even try. Not after a storm. Fire is the only way to kill a virus. That’s why a body’s temperature rises – to burn the virus out. We have to cleanse ourselves.”
Kate looked pointedly at Hamish. He couldn’t meet her eyes, knowing what she was communicating.
“You have to burn the place down,” Kate said. “The center. Burn it out of existence.”
“With the storm outside?” Patrick said. “Good luck. It’ll snuff out any fire before one has a chance to get a grip.”
Kate’s eyes hadn’t moved from Hamish’s.
“Then do it before help arrives,” Kate said. “Just as they descend to help us, the center will already be aflame.”
“What about Daniel?” Patrick said. “He’ll try to ensure the virus spreads. He’ll attack those who come to rescue us.”
“I’ll take care of him,” Hamish said.
“Didn’t you see him earlier?” Patrick said. “He ran out into the storm. There’s no way he could survive something like that.”
Kate and Hamish’s eyes glanced up at each other, and then away again. They both knew the truth. Daniel would still be alive, somehow. There was no stopping madness in its tracks, not when it had a strong grip.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Patrick said.
“What do you want to do?” Kate said.
“First, we need to know if you’re really infected,” Hamish said. “We need another blood test.”
“I’m not sure I can spare the blood,” Patrick said.
“Take it,” Kate said, extending her arm. “Whatever happens, we can’t let Daniel win. No matter the cost.”
Z-MINUS: 32 minutes
Hamish had finally gotten the full use of his fingers and limbs back. He used them now to drop small amounts of blood onto the slides and peer at them through his microscope. Hamish’s body was weak and broken, running on vapors. It would soon all be over. And so he persevered.
Hamish’s emotions were a study in despair. As he progressed through the blood samples he became more and more desperate.
Hamish swallowed after he looked at his own blood’s test results. He was clean. He shook his head gently after analyzing Patrick’s blood. His shoulders shrinking. He was infected.
Hamish reached over and picked up the final glass vial. It had ‘Kate’ written on the side. His hands were shaking. He took a moment to steady himself. He ran his fingers through his hair.
Please, God. Please let this test come back clean. Take me. Please don’t let her be infected. Please.
He’d never been a religious man, but he found himself bowing his head and praying, pleading with the God he’d spent his life denying, and though he still couldn’t truly believe in an omniscient presence, he wanted to believe. Wasn’t that what most people did? Wanted to believe? Most didn’t really believe there was a giant boat with Noah at its helm, most knew Abraham’s willingness to murder his son due to hearing voices in his head wasn’t the greatest moral teaching, but they all wanted to believe in some supernatural higher power, even if they did have to put up with all the nonsense to do it.
Hamish’s whole body was shaking when he finally managed to peer through the microscope. He looked at it for no longer than a few seconds, but it was enough. He shut his eyes, curled up into a ball, and sobbed.
Z-MINUS: 23 minutes
“You’re all going to be fine,” Hamish said, smiling at Patrick and Kate. “Your results are clean.”
“Clean?” Patrick said. “But Daniel said we’re infected.”
“Daniel ran out into the storm,” Hamish said. “I think it’s safe to say he’s a few slices short of the loaf. It’s best not to trust the word of a madman.”
“You’re sure?” Patrick said.
“One hundred percent,” Hamish said. “I checked each blood sample three times. There is no doubt.”
“I could have sworn I felt a twinge earlier,” Patrick said.
“It’s probably just the stress,” Hamish said. “You’ve been under a lot of pressure the past few days.”
“Oh, that’s such a relief!” Patrick said. “Isn’t it, Kate? I thought I was a goner!”
Kate didn’t say anything, didn’t look at Hamish, and just stared into space. Perception was a cruel gift, Hamish thought.
He moved to the refrigerator and filled three glasses with water. He took a deep breath and carried them on a tray to Patrick and Kate.
“Here,” he said, giving them each a glass. “Take these.”
He gave them each a single large green pill.
“These will help boost your immune system,” Hamish said.
“Boost?” Daniel said. “What good will that do?”
“It could help stave off the infection in case you did somehow contract it between now and when the rescuers come,” Hamish said.
Kate didn’t take her eyes off Hamish. He felt like a fraud. But she was the first to pop the pill and wash it down. Patrick followed suit. It wasn’t that Patrick didn’t trust Hamish, he’d just known Kate longer.
They settled down in their blankets, snuggling and getting warm. It was the kind of calmness that settled in on long Sunday afternoons after a hard week at work. They drifted to sleep, fighting to keep their eyes open. The pill was already taking effect, and what with their exhausted bodies, there was little resistance. Patrick was already snoring lightly.
Hamish stood up to get the things he needed. A hand reached out and gently touched him on the knee. Kate was awake, but barely. Her eyes were drifting closed, but she forced them open again.
“Stay,” she said.
Hamish couldn’t leave her. Not when she looked at him like that.
&nb
sp; “I’m here,” he said.
Kate took Hamish by the hand and pulled him close.
“What did you give us?” she said.
“A sedative,” Hamish said. “A powerful one.”
“We aren’t uninfected are we?” Kate said.
Hamish shook his head.
“No,” he said. “I’m sorry. I needed to do this and couldn’t think of another way.”
Kate nodded, and seemed to almost drop off, before starting awake again. She seemed to take relief in finding Hamish standing over her. Her eyes crinkled, pained.
“I’m scared,” Kate said.
“Don’t be,” Hamish said. “It’ll be painless. It’ll be like falling asleep.”
“There’s something I wanted to tell you,” Kate said. “It’s strange. Daniel and I… We were in the middle of nowhere in the freezing cold. He was handsome, I was horny. We used each other to get what we wanted. But I can’t say we would have lasted long. If we weren’t here and out in the world… I can’t imagine spending time with him. Our relationship would have melted the moment we got off the plane at Punta Arenas, and you know what? I wouldn’t have cared.”
They were words to Hamish’s ears. He’d dreamed of her saying such things to him, but never really believed he’d hear them in her sweet voice. They gave him courage, girded his spirit. He would need it.
“I… I’ve always loved you,” Hamish said. “I’ve always wanted to tell you the way I feel about you, but I was always afraid you would reject me. To be your friend was better than you being disappointed in me, never wanting to speak to me again. You’re the reason I took this job in the first place.”
Kate smiled. It was soft, weak.
“What took you so long to tell me?” she said.
Hamish smiled back. He kissed her softly on the cheek. It was the happiest moment in his life. He felt at peace, letting himself be honest.
Why hadn’t he done this sooner? If he had, they might have enjoyed many happy years together. Instead, they were dead and dying. He wept for all the lost time and happy memories that never had the chance to exist because he never had the guts to confess the feelings he had for her. And now he had to put her down, like a rabid dog.