Antivirus (The Horde Series Book 1)

by Michael Koogler

  “This is preposterous,” Kat snapped. “Jon would never hurt anyone! I can’t believe the tale you’re spinning, Drew!” she went on, whirling back to her boss. “Jon could not have possibly attacked you like this!”

  “Kat,” Jackson said, tamping down a sudden spike of anger that his story would be questioned. He had to remain calm if he was going to swing Kat over to his side. Not only did he need her there to help his story, but it would also help matters if he decided to take their relationship further in the near future. He had not ruled out a visit to the woman’s apartment before he vanished and he didn’t really care how the visit ended, although he did believe it would be better if she wasn’t adamantly against him. “I wish I was lying,” he said. “I still can’t believe what happened myself, but there’s no doubt that it was Jon. I had to fight to stay alive,” he added pitifully, holding up his bandaged arm. “You have to believe me, Kat. Jon’s not Jon anymore.”

  “We’ll run blood samples against data we already have on Mister Sherrard,” Martz added. “But your boss is telling you the truth. This would not be the first altercation that Mister Sherrard has been involved in recently, either.”

  “What do you mean?” Kat was horrified. “There’s more?”

  “Mostly classified info,” Alders added quickly. “But I can tell you that Mister Sherrard is wanted, at the very least, for a recent break-in at a home here in Helena. The owner’s dog was killed and Mister Sherrard left a set of prints tying him directly to the home invasion.” He decided there wasn’t any point in telling her about the wanted killer at the Red Lion and the two innocent lovebirds out by the cemetery that Sherrard had also killed. He could tell she was having a hard enough time accepting what she had heard so far.

  “I still can’t believe this,” she sniffed, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. “This isn’t the Jon I know.”

  “I know, Kat,” Jackson said gently, patting her arm. “I’m having a hard time believing it, myself. It isn’t the Jon that any of us know.”

  “Look, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go out to their house and see how Jen is doing,” Kat said, taking a deep breath. “Lord knows that all of this has to be giving her fits.”

  “I think that’s a great idea, Kat,” Jackson added. “Agent Alders said they visited her yesterday and she was under the weather. It might be a good idea for us to keep her company.”

  “Are you coming, too?” Kat asked skeptically.

  “Not right away, but I’ll be along later,” he answered, not wanting to make it too obvious that he wanted to check up on her, as well. As with Kat, he had other, baser thoughts concerning Jon’s pretty wife. She would be vulnerable, too, he knew, which would be perfect. It would definitely be a good time to make a move. “If Jen’s sick,” he added, “I’ll spell you when I come out.”

  Kat nodded and then turned away, but not before casting a cold glance at Bolson and Martz. Shaking her head in disgust, she left the room, her heels clicking smartly on the tile floor.

  “We’re not making a lot of friends out here,” Bolson remarked with a sigh.

  “Well, what did you expect, major?” Alders pointed out. “You’re a bit on the responsible side here.”

  “That’s all conjecture at the moment, sir,” Martz pointed out. “We’re dealing with a potentially new life form.”

  “One that has its roots in a computer virus that you created,” Alders reminded them. “But right now, that’s neither here nor there. What we need to do is find out where Sherrard is right now, before someone else gets killed. The amount of blood under the grate tells me that Jackson popped him several times. If he’s healing himself by taking in human sustenance, this whole town is in danger.”

  “I agree,” Martz said. “But there’s not much to go on. We know he made the roof, but there isn’t anything else anywhere. We don’t even know which direction he went.”

  “Well, we better find out quickly,” Alders said, standing up. Looking back to Jackson, he directed his next comments to the FutureTek CEO. “Get over to the hospital once things get wrapped up here and get yourself checked out, Mister Jackson,” he said. “There’s no telling what kind of side effects, if any, you might experience with those wounds.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Jackson agreed, although he had no intention of heading to the hospital. The wounds were sore, but nothing he could not tolerate. Besides, he had a few other things to take care of before he went out to Sherrard’s house to check on Jen.

  Had he known what was really going on his in body, though, he might have thought otherwise.

  Chapter 28

  Campbell Residence, Helena, Montana: Perry Edwards was evolving. Everything about him was changing and, as he began withdrawing his feeding filaments from the desiccated body of the man lying in front of the basement tool bench, he realized that the changes would likely continue. He was metamorphosing into something that was wholly alien and, in his eyes, beautifully efficient. And yet, as superior as he already was to the rest of humanity, there was no end to what he could become as he absorbed more and more inferior life forms.

  The bullet wounds in his body—he had suffered four of them at Drew Jackson’s hands—had been mostly healed. They were now just puckered little scars on his legs and torso. Even the scarring would be repaired shortly as the intellect within him continued to fine-tune its knowledge of the host body, Jon Sherrard.

  Of course, there was also the matter of Sherrard, himself, but Perry knew that would not last much longer. Since suppressing his former friend’s consciousness, Perry had figured out that he could fully control Jon’s body without his help anymore. Better yet, he no longer needed to rest. His strength was enough now that he could keep Sherrard’s consciousness quelled, at least until the intellect within him had figured out how to eliminate it once and for all.

  It was that alien presence, though, that gave Perry his only concern. He no longer feared humans. He could survive them—would survive them. He would absorb them, each and every one, and grow ever stronger and more powerful. He was now quite literally the dominant life form on the planet. But the intellect still frightened him. The Horde virus was what was driving the changes within the body he now ruled. It existed outside the physical sense, but was ever-present along the body’s electrical pathways and synapses. He wasn’t yet certain what the Horde had become after it escaped from cyberspace, but he knew it was definitely alive. It was there, just underneath the surface—a malevolent power that, for the moment, seemed content to let him use it for his own designs. But Perry could not help but wonder what would happen if the Horde decided to take full control. As strong as he felt, he wasn’t certain he could stand up against the strength of the thing that gave him his own power.

  Still, that was a question better left to later. He had no idea how much of his own thoughts the Horde could understand, but he knew that it was better not to be thinking in terms of eliminating it. Right now, they lived in an acceptable symbiotic relationship, both existing as parasites in the body of Jon Sherrard. And that body was still in need of sustenance.

  Wrapping the alien tendrils around the remains of the man, he dragged the corpse back into a darker section of the basement, depositing the body behind a row of metal shelves stocked with food products and everyday useful items. The family it belonged to might have been preppers—not that it mattered to him. Humanity was marked for extinction, whether they were prepared or not. They just didn’t know it yet.

  The sound of the basement door opening at the top of the stairs drew his attention and he quickly moved through the darkness, withdrawing the feeding tendrils and positioning himself underneath the stairs. The basement in the old house was largely unfinished and the stairs were wooden and open. He would be able to easily see the feet of someone descending into the basement.

  There was a clicking sound as the person at the top of the stairs flipped the light switch on and off, wondering why nothing was happening. In fact, he had taken care
of that almost immediately upon entering the home, drilling into the fixtures with his bony extensions and severing the internal wiring. It was a process that would be harder to discover and would likely keep any additional potential feeding sources occupied long enough for him to immobilize them.

  “Mom?” the voice of a young girl called out. “The light’s not working in the basement.”

  “Well, Daddy’s down there,” a female voice replied from deeper in the house. “Tell him to check the fuse box.”

  “Daddy?” the little girl called down into the darkness.

  When there was no answer, her little feet began slowly descending the stairs, and Perry felt the feeding filaments begin to slide out of their finger sheaths.

  “Daddy?” she called again, her feet stopping only a couple stairs down.

  Perry could see them and, while her location at the top of the stairs wasn’t optimal, he could take her easily enough. He didn’t need to see her. The alien extensions could sense her quite clearly. The filaments slipped through the opening between the stairs and were moving around her ankles when she abruptly turned and stomped back up the stairs.

  “Daddy’s not down there!” she hollered at her mom, slamming the door shut and plunging the basement back into complete darkness.

  The lack of light, however, was not an issue for him anymore. Withdrawing the filaments back into his body, he moved around to the front of the stairs. He could hear the mother and daughter talking upstairs and knew that if he was going to feed, he would have to do it quickly. They were speaking about the missing father and that could easily escalate into a situation where he would have to leave and seek other sources. His food was here; he might as well make the best of the situation.

  Absently licking his lips in anticipation, the body of Jon Sherrard, controlled by the mind of Perry Edwards, began to walk slowly up the stairs.

  Chapter 29

  Sherrard Residence, Helena, Montana: It was dark when Drew Jackson limped up the front walk of the Sherrard residence. The puncture wound in his thigh was hurting worse than before and he wondered if he should have taken Alders’ advice and gone to the hospital to have it checked out. But things were moving quickly now, and he had a few shots he wanted to get in before disappearing.

  Kat met him on the front porch, an anxious expression on her face. “I’m worried about Jen,” she said and then stifled a yawn.

  Jackson knew immediately how to play things in the direction he wanted. “I’m worried about you, Kat. You’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Why don’t you go on home and get some sleep?”

  “I can’t leave Jen right now, Drew,” she replied wearily. “I think she’s really sick.”

  “You won’t do Jen any good if you’re too tired to stay on your feet,” he pressed. “Go on, go home. I’ll stay with her for a while. Come back in the morning after you’ve gotten some sleep. You’ll be in a lot better shape to help out and we can decide if maybe we should get her to a doctor.”

  “You’ll spend the night here?” Kat asked doubtfully.

  “In light of what’s going on with Jon, I think it’s probably a smart idea if someone stays here with her.” He hooked a thumb back toward her car. “Look, I’m good for a while. I’ll make sure she’s comfortable and just kick back in the living room and watch a movie or two. That will keep me up and busy, in case Jon decides to come back.”

  “What will you do if he does?”

  Drew had no problem showing her his gun, which Alders had given back to him before he left the office. Because of the murders of Bethany Edwards and his own dog, as well as the attempt on Jackson’s life, Alders seemed to think that Jon might be targeting those that he knew and possibly had a grudge against. The attack last night hadn’t been random and Alders figured that if Drew was armed, he might be able to stop Sherrard if he came back.

  Jackson, himself, had no issues with that at all. He would have kept his weapon anyway, but Alders’ insistence that he carry it only added believability to his own story. If Jon did indeed come around, he planned on pumping the entire mag into Jon’s brain. Then he would cut the head off the beast and ride the hero train all the way to the bank. For Drew, it was all about options, and he played the game as well as anyone.

  “If Jon comes back and is violent, I’ll do what I have to do to protect Jen,” he said, somewhat gallantly. “I promise you that I’ll try to talk to him, first,” he added after seeing the look of alarm on Kat’s face. “But chances are, Jon isn’t who he used to be and if he comes back, it will be for one reason only.”

  “I just can’t believe what’s happening,” she sniffed, clearly upset.

  “None of us can,” he agreed solemnly. “Now go home, Kat. I insist.” Not waiting for an answer, he limped past her and onto the porch. “Get your things and scoot.”

  “All right,” she sighed and walked with him into the house. “Jen’s in the bedroom. She’s got a fever but seems to be sleeping right now.”

  “Where’s their dog?” he asked. Jackson had never liked the big wolf and had insisted that Jon keep Dakota outside when he ever came to visit. Heck, depending on how things went tonight, he might look for an opportunity to kill the thing.

  “Out back,” she replied. “I made sure he’s fed and watered. You won’t have to worry about him.”

  “Good,” he replied. “Now go. I’ll hold down the fort.”

  Kat did just that, gathering her things and departing. She held some minor reservations about leaving Drew alone in the house with her friend, but she was too tired to think too hard about it. Drew had never been anything but proper and decent. Besides, she’d be back in the morning, and hopefully Jen would have turned the corner by then. If not, they could both get her to the doctor.

  From the living room window, Drew Jackson watched Kat get into her car and leave. As soon as the tail lights disappeared around the bend, he left the window and started moving about the house, casually looking around. He wasn’t searching for anything in particular; he was just killing time, making sure he was going to be well and truly alone with Jen before he visited her in her bedroom.

  Fifteen minutes passed before Drew finally made his way down the hall to the back of the house. Jen’s bedroom door was closed and he hesitated only a moment before knocking softly. He was committed to his plan. When she did not answer, he opened the door carefully and looked inside. The bedroom was dark, but a light was on in the master bathroom, casting a very dim glow into the room. Drew could make out Jen’s figure on the bed, a sheet draped over her legs. Licking his lips hungrily, he stepped into the room and let his eyes adjust.

  “Jen,” he whispered. “It’s Drew. I’m just here to check in on you.”

  She did not answer, but he could hear her breathing. It was rapid and seemed to rattle in her chest. She definitely didn’t sound well at all. He stepped into the room and closed the door and then, just to be certain, he flipped the lock. He stood there for nearly a minute, his eyes taking in her form in the dim glow. If he was going to make good on his designs, tonight was the best opportunity he would have. He knew he wouldn’t get another.

  Taking a deep breath, he slipped off his shoes and padded silently over to the bed. Jen was lying on her back, her forehead covered with a sheen of sweat that reflected the dim light from the bathroom. Her lower body was draped in the bed sheet and her torso was clad in a thin white shirt that was just damp enough to be enticing. He paused, looking down at her for some time, his eyes wandering over her form. She was actually quite beautiful. Jon was lucky. Too bad for him that he wasn’t around anymore.

  As gently as he could, he eased himself down into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, being careful not to disturb her. She continued sleeping, her breathing shallow. Taking a deep breath himself, he finally reached out and ever so gently, so as not to wake her, ran his hand along the flat of her stomach and over the rise of one of her breasts, lingering there long enough that he knew he was taking a big chance. Final
ly, his hand had continued up to caress her shoulder and that’s when her eyes snapped open.

  “Drew?” she mumbled, reaching up and pressing her bandaged hand to her forehead, wincing as she did so. If she was embarrassed by his presence at her bedside, she didn’t show it. She was simply too exhausted to care. “What are you doing here?”

  “Hey, Jen,” he replied, doing well to mask the sudden shakiness in his voice. “Kat went home and asked me to check in on you.”

  “Oh,” she said groggily.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, leaning slightly closer. Sick or not, her lips looked incredibly inviting. If he leaned forward to kiss her, he knew he wouldn’t stop.

  “I just want to sleep, Drew,” she said, rolling away from him. “Please, just go. Tell Kat I’ll be fine.”

  Anger flared up within Drew at the perception that she had rebuffed him. Before he knew what he was doing, he had reached out and grabbed her shoulder, roughly rolling her back toward him.

  Jen came back around, her eyes going wide with shock. Before she could vocally object, he was on top of her, pressing his mouth eagerly to hers. She fought him and tried to scream, but he kept his lips pressed to hers, muffing her screams. He started to roughly grope her as he pressed her to the bed, his hands trying to slide up her shirt.

  And then suddenly, Drew Jackson found himself flying across the room. Just like that, everything that he had set up, was shattered apart, and he knew it. He crashed into the door, splintering the frame and sending him sprawling into the hall on top of the broken door. Shaking his head to clear the fuzziness in his brain, he looked up in shock to see Jen crouched on the bed. Her very form was feral, almost animal-like, and her lips were pulled back in a snarl. She was literally growling at him, her eyes narrowed and almost glowing in the darkness.