by R. Brewer
“What is that?” Chuck whispered. “It looks like they’re freezing it.”
Jodie shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe decontamination, or something. What I’m more curious about is what’s holding it up.”
“Maybe it’s like the train we were on,” Chuck said. “You know, an electromagnetic field.”
Ahead of them was a preparation area. Boxes of the white and yellow suits sat on the floor. “I have an idea, Chuck. What size would you say you are? Maybe extra, extra, extra large?”
* * *
Nick crept down the corridor as silently and quickly as he could, glancing back to see if everyone was keeping up with him. They needed to find some way to move up one floor to access the auto fleet garage. Nick felt as if they were walking in circles until he finally saw a sign depicting steps hanging over a door. It was a stairwell, possibly a way out, if it wasn’t already filled with the creatures.
While Nick hoped and prayed that Jodie was safe with Chuck, he also knew that his own responsibilities were mounting moment by moment. The group with him was growing weary. Lack of food, water and sleep, combined with constant exposure to terror, had forced him into a level of exhaustion he’d never experienced before. He worried that, if they didn’t get out and get to safety soon, a fate too terrible to imagine awaited them. Coming up to the stairwell door, Nick gritted his teeth. He turned to address the group. “It’s just one floor up to the auto fleet. Just one. Everyone be very quiet and stay right behind me.”
Nick checked the ammunition in the automatic weapon, seeing that the cartridge was half full. He didn’t even really know how many bullets that was, but was determined to make each and every one count if he had to fire them. “Ready?” he whispered.
Christy nodded. “Okay, guys?”
Noah, Fester and Evan nodded.
“Let’s go,” Evan said as he stepped past Christy and grasped the door handle. “When you’re ready, Nick.”
Nick raised the gun, pushing the stock back into his shoulder. “Ready, Evan.”
Evan quietly pulled the door open and Nick moved in, seeing him motion for Christy, the boys, and Hunter to follow. Evan came into the stairwell last, gently closing the door behind him.
Nick moved up to the first blind corner and spun around, quickly aiming the gun up the stairs. Seeing nothing, he moved one step at a time until a strange sound made him stop in his tracks. He turned back, seeing Hunter crouching low, growling at the door behind them. A shadow flashed past the square window in the door and Nick realized they needed to move fast. “Keep up with me,” he said, taking the stairs two at a time, spinning at the next corner, taking aim at the empty stairwell. Up ahead, ten steps away, the exit sign loomed over the doorway.
Nick lowered the weapon and burst up the stairs toward the door. Slowly, he leaned his head next to the small square window and looked out into the auto bay, seeing a fleet of Gypsum vans. A key cabinet hung on the wall next to the vans. The letters GC10 were inscribed on the license plate of the van nearest him. As he turned to look at Christy, he heard the sound of the door opening a floor below echoing through the stairwell. Hunter began to growl again.
“Quick, let’s go,” Nick said, opening the door to the auto fleet area and looking around. “Go ahead,” Nick said, ushering them past as he kept the automatic weapon pointed down the stairs. As she passed him, Nick stopped Christy. “The first van is GC10. The keys are probably in that cabinet over there,” he said, pointing. “Get it started. I’ll be right there.”
Nick trained his weapon on the stair landing just below him. Behind him, he heard Christy sorting through the keys. “He said GC10. I’ve got it,” Christy said. “Come on.”
Nick backed up slightly and wedged his foot in the door, holding it open to make his escape. He took his eyes off the landing for a fraction of a second, but that was all it needed. The creature was on him instantly. It slammed into him with a force he’d not ever felt the likes of, sending him careening into the auto parking area and the gun skidding across the floor.
It had him in a bear hug around the chest, pinning his arms to his sides. Nick could feel the hot breath of the thing on his face, its jaws snapping and clamping inches away. He pushed off with his feet, rolling over, pinning it beneath him. Finally able to wrench his arm free, he pushed down on its neck, forcing its face away from his. Somewhere in the distance, Nick could hear Hunter barking frantically. Christy was screaming. He shoved the thing down as far away from him as he could and looked up.
“Cover your face,” Christy screamed, holding the gun near the creature’s head.
At first Nick didn’t understand what she meant, but looking back at the gun, it finally registered. He turned his head away from the creature, burying his face in his shirtsleeve, and closed his eyes, yelling, “Shoot it.”
The spray of bullets hit the thing in the head, pulverizing its skull. It slowly released its grip and Nick pushed himself back, finding his clothes covered in blood and gore. His hands shook as he tore his shirt off and threw it to the ground, sending buttons bouncing across the concrete. Behind him, the van started.
“Get in the van,” Evan called out. “They’re coming.”
Not waiting to see what Evan was talking about, Nick grabbed Christy and ran toward the van as the side door slid open. He picked Christy up off of her feet and leapt inside. Fester slid the door shut just as the first wave of creatures hit them, caving the door inward.
Evan slammed his foot down on the accelerator and they skidded sideways, the bodies of the half-human, half-mutant creatures bashing into them. The van bucked up and down violently as Evan ran them over. Nick could see a maddening horde chasing them through the structure, barking, screaming and spewing foulness, leaving a trail of rotting flesh in their wake.
Suddenly, something hit the van from above, caving the roof in and shattering the back window. Nick tried to get his balance, but could only turn over and grab the gun before one of the mutants launched itself at the back of the van, thrust its head through the window opening and screamed. Christy grabbed Noah and pulled him back against her, shielding him. Nick fired at the thing. Even though the walls of the van muffled the sound of the gunshot, the pain in his ears was excruciating and he felt his eardrums make a funny pop. The head of the thing exploded outward, its face blasted into unrecognizable bits of blood and gore.
Evan didn't let up on the accelerator and the van skidded around the next turn, heading for a woman in a business suit. Nick held his breath, thinking she almost looked normal until he saw the scales on her legs. She turned toward them and hissed, blasting the front of the van with yellow saliva.
As they hit her, the windshield cracked. Her purse flew through the air, the contents sent scattering out of his field of view. For a moment, she clung to the front bumper as they careened down the exit ramp, her eyes fixed inside the van. Just before she let go, the look of seething hatred she held softened ever so slightly and Nick thought he saw her mouth something. It looked almost like she said thank you. He gasped as her hands slipped off the van and they ground over the top of her body.
Ahead of them lay the exit, closed off by an overhead door.
"There should be a motion sensor to open that door," Evan yelled. He slowed the van slightly and approached the door.
Out the shattered back window, Nick couldn't see any of the mutant creatures, but he could hear the stampede of their collective feet approaching from the floor above. "We have to go, Evan," Nick yelled as the van stopped in front of the door.
The overhead mechanism made a grinding sound and Nick pulled himself into the front passenger seat to watch the door. Ever so slowly, it started to rise. He turned around and slid into the back again, looking out the window. The mutants hadn't rounded the corner from the last turn yet, but he could tell by the sound of them that they were very close.
Inch by inch, the door moved upwards as the horde finally came into view. Evan moved the van forward slightly, waiting for
the door to clear the top.
"Evan, man, we gotta go," Nick yelled.
"Just one more foot," Evan called back, his foot already on the accelerator, revving the engine. "Hang on," he yelled.
Nick had just enough time to sit down when the van lurched forward with a squeal of the tires. He sat up enough to look out the back window. The horde continued to come at them, a wall of decaying flesh and bone, snarling, barking and spitting. Behind the van, the overhead door started to close, about two feet from the ground before the first of the horde hit it full force. Nick could see the feet of the mutants piled up at the door, which continued to move downward until one fell to the ground and thrust its hand through the opening, triggering the safety mechanism and sending it back up again. Suddenly, the door was opening and the horde was loose, trampling the mutants in the front, who were pushed to the ground by the force of the multitude behind them.
As they sped away, Nick could see them piling up, arms and legs entangled, screaming and spitting at each other. "They're getting out, Evan. We have to stop them," Nick said, feeling the gravity of what they'd just unleashed on the rest of humanity. "You have to stop," Nick yelled.
"I can't," Evan said. "That would be suicide. We have no weapons except what you have in your hand and there are thousands of them. It looks like most of the staff left in the Gypsum installation must have been infected."
"But we can't leave Jodie and Mei," Nick said, moving toward the front of the van again. "They'll never make it by themselves."
"No," Christy cried out, grabbing his arm. "We're not stopping. I'm not taking Noah or Fester back there. There's nothing we can do."
Nick looked into Christy's eyes, the eyes of a mother who would do anything to protect her son. The realization that she was right slowly settled into him and he crouched down next to her. "You're right. I'm sorry." Nick turned and sat on the floor next to her, watching the horde massing outside, some fighting, others running in groups, spreading over the open desert like a massive virus.
The van careened down the desert road at a precarious speed. "If anyone from Gypsum is still around, it won't be long until they figure out what just happened," Evan said. "We need to be out of here before they cordon off the area and start exterminating those things. They'll be looking for us, too."
"Okay, Evan," Christy said. "Just please be careful."
Nick kissed Christy on the cheek and turned toward Noah and Fester. Hunter lay in between them, his head on Noah's leg. "Okay, guys?"
"Yeah," Noah said.
Fester didn't respond, except to lower his head.
Nick realized, even though Fester's parents had already been killed, they were being left behind, too. "You were really brave back there, Fester." Nick put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Both of you," he said, reaching out to Noah and grasping his shoulder.
CHAPTER 23
Jodie watched as Chuck shoved a candy bar in his mouth and slid the respirator over his face. He gave her a thumbs up.
"Sorry, pal, but that has to go," Jodie said, pointing to the Hello Kitty bag strapped around his neck. She tried to make out Chuck's response, but the mask and a full mouth of chewy candy nougat made him unintelligible. “What’s that?” she said.
Pulling up his mask, Chuck swallowed. “I said, I need it for my candy bars. I’ll hide it,” he said, slipping it over his head and stuffing it under his suit.
The sight of his face shocked Jodie. “Chuck, turn your head this way a second,” she said, pointing to her right.
“Do I have something on my face?” Chuck asked. “I probably got some grease on it in the tunnel.”
Jodie reached out to touch his cheek. “No, Chuck, that’s not grease. It’s skin.”
Chuck reached up and felt his face. Jodie watched his eyes light up as his fingers slid over the smooth patch of skin. Abruptly, he grabbed his respirator and slid it on. He nodded at Jodie, gesturing toward the hallway behind her.
“You two up next, or what?” a man’s voice called out.
Jodie pulled her respirator down over her face. “Yeah. We’re on our way.”
“Well, hurry it up. The guys need a break,” the man said, turning and walking out of the hallway.
“Let’s get out of here before we end up having to work a shift,” Jodie said. She moved quickly through the auditorium area, coming to a door, Chuck in tow. They were back in what looked like a medical wing. A cluster of signs marked the intersection of corridors ahead of them. “S Wing, Transport, Propulsion Laboratory, Medical,” Jodie said.
“The other side of this sign says Cryogenics. Isn’t that where the lovely couple we had the pleasure of viewing earlier were headed?”
“Yeah,” Jodie said. “Let’s give it a try.”
Chuck nodded. He turned and led the way toward Cryogenics. Ahead of them, a door opened and two men clad in hazmat suits stepped into the hallway, walking toward them. They nodded in acknowledgement as they passed.
“That must have been the relief crew,” Jodie said. She gestured, noticing another sign pointing down an intersecting corridor. “Cryogenics this way.”
They approached the door leading into the Cryogenics area. Jodie stopped to listen, hearing what sounded like a heated argument coming from inside. She moved closer to hear.
“You knew what you were in for when you agreed to head this lab,” a man said. Jodie thought the tone of his voice was irate. “You have to think of the bigger picture.”
“Well, the bigger picture doesn’t need to include killing innocent people,” a woman said. “There’s been enough pain and suffering. Why don’t they just take what they want and leave?”
The man sighed loudly. “You already know the answer to that. Besides, that’s none of your concern. You were hired to ensure the integrity of the samples. That’s all you need to know.” A phone rang inside the room.
“Yes,” the woman said. “It’s for you.”
“Yes,” the man said. A few seconds passed. “You’re sure?” Another pause. “Better bring in everyone. We don’t want any stragglers. Did anyone else make it out?”
Jodie wondered if his conversation had anything to do with the rest of her group. The more the man talked, the greater she felt the anger roiling inside her. She realized she’d been deceived by these people – her parents, her superiors at the FBI, maybe even some of her co-workers, for her entire life. They all seemed to be up to their necks in Gypsum’s plan.
A few quiet seconds passed. Then, “You’re sure it was her? I’ll be right there.”
Jodie tugged on Chuck’s arm. “We’d better find a place to hide.” She backed away from the room and moved quickly down the hall, opening a door and pulling Chuck with her into a large supply storeroom. Moving to the far corner of the room, Jodie sat down on the floor, suddenly feeling completely spent. She didn’t know if it was emotional trauma or just sheer exhaustion, but she needed a rest and she needed it now. “Chuck, I can’t go on,” she said, pulling off her mask.
Chuck slid his up over his head and Jodie gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Chuck asked.
“Your face,” she said. Jodie looked around the room, seeing a shiny paper towel dispenser mounted to the wall. “Take a look at your reflection,” she said, pointing to the dispenser.
Chuck walked over and bent down to see his reflection, jerking with shock as his face came into view. “What’s happening to me?” he asked.
Jodie shook her head. “It looks like you were right when you said you were still just Chuck. Your skin seems to be growing back. Is it just on your face or the rest of you, too?”
Chuck unzipped his hazmat suit and slipped his arm out, revealing a forearm almost entirely covered with new skin and the start of fingers forming. The new flesh was pink and healthy-looking. He turned away for a moment. “Can you turn around for a minute, Jodie?” he said.
“Huh?” she asked. “Oh. Yeah, sure,” she said, realizing he must want to see what else might be growing. Jodie turned, h
earing Chuck unzipping the suit. She heard him gasp. “I take it things are looking better all around?”
“Um, yeah,” Chuck said. “This happened so fast. I didn’t have any skin about an hour ago.”
“You know, I should have said something,” Jodie said. “I noticed you were growing a little scruff on your chin a while ago. I forgot to tell you because that’s when we were hiding in the hallway and I got a little distracted.”
“I wonder if it will keep growing,” Chuck said, pulling a candy bar out of his bag. “If I get all my skin back . . . no one will even know what happened to me.” He bit through the wrapper and started to chew. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, with his mouth full, "Would you like one?”
Jodie shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m still trying to keep the last one down.” She pushed back and leaned against the wall. “I know we have to get moving, but I need to close my eyes for a little while.”
Chuck walked over to a shelf, grabbed a stack of towels, and brought them back to her. “Here, put your head down on these,” he said, bending down and placing the towels on the floor next to her.
“Thanks,” Jodie said, lying down. “Just give me a couple of minutes." As she lay there, Jodie started to wonder if there were others like Chuck. He was right. No one would know who was what. That was the beauty of her mother’s plan, but, maybe also its flaw. She pushed all thoughts out of her head and let herself fall asleep.
* * *
Nick stood up as best he could and pulled himself into the passenger seat of the van. They’d traveled about fifty miles since leaving Area 51 and Evan had only let up on the accelerator once, to make a left turn. The desert was empty and Nick felt a sense of relief, seeing trees ahead of them. “You’re headed into the Sierra Nevada mountain range?” he asked.
“Yes,” Evan said. “There’s some tree cover and radar is difficult there. We have to hide now. They’ll be looking for us again.”