by SD Tanner
Louise replied, ‘No reason why not. Each new strain of the virus interacts with her DNA in a different way forming another evolution.’
Lydia asked the next logical question, ‘Is her counter virus contagious to humans? I have assumed she isn’t contagious because the people she lives with don’t appear to be infected.’
Shaking her head, Louise replied, ‘No, the counter virus is designed to target an activated hunter virus only. Kinda like cat flu is fatal to cats, but has no effect on humans.’
He’d lived with Ip long enough to know she was not contagious, but he was still worried for her and said, ‘What you just said was the designer virus Ip carries is still evolving. The designer virus is interacting with her DNA and she’ll probably continue to change, but you’ve no idea how she’ll change.’
Sounding happy, Ian replied ‘Well summarized. Subject seven was uncharted territory. Doctor Battersby was fascinated by her and he ran most of his tests on her.’
He fought the urge to punch the little man and said angrily, ‘Battersby was an asshole. Ip is a woman, not a goddamn lab rat.’ Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to remain calm and asked, ‘Is she still human?’
‘What makes us human?’ Louise asked. ‘Her DNA has a few very minor alterations, but I’m not sure that disqualifies her as a human. She looks and behaves like a human. She always seemed a little detached when she was here, but who could blame her. She ate food, she felt pain, and she seemed to have normal emotional responses. I never thought she wasn’t human. The designer virus damaged her brain and she lost her speech center, which contains our ability to understand language. She may never speak, but no one knows how she may evolve and that doesn’t make her any less human. Battersby was an asshole and he treated them all as if they weren’t human, but he was wrong.’
Angry, disgusted and feeling powerless, he thought, none of this was right and asked sternly, ‘Why didn’t you stop him?’
‘How?’ Ian asked defensively. ‘We’re lab techs, not soldiers.’
Ian was starting to annoy him badly, and although he knew he was transferring his anger, he really did want to punch the man. Lydia seemed to sense his frustration and, moving the conversation on, she asked, ‘Is it possible the counter virus Ip carries could be replicated so it can be used as a weapon?’
‘Well it better be,’ Ian replied candidly. ‘That’s the reason all this was being done in the first place. I would love to finish the research, but we need samples from her.’
Lydia turned to him and said, ‘He’s right, TL. We need samples from Ip.’ Looking at Ian, she said bluntly, ‘And, Ian, you need to understand that aside from having a problem with language, Ip appears to be as human as I am, and you will treat her with respect or I’ll throw you to the hunters myself.’
Looking mortified at Lydia’s implication, Ian said apologetically, ‘Oh no, I didn’t mean to say test subj..…I mean Ip isn’t human, I’m just a really crappy communicator. Seriously. Everybody says so.’
Rolling her eyes, Louise said, ‘Yeah, he really is. I’ve been stuck in here with him for eight weeks, but he’s an okay guy.’
Lydia gave Ian a stern look, then turned back to him and said, ‘If we want to look at replicating the virus we need to get some samples like blood, saliva, hair, skin, possibly organ cells and an MRI from Ip.’
Sighing, he thought, we didn’t think this through. When they decided to replicate Ip’s abilities, they didn’t consider what it might involve. There was no way he could subject Ip to a barrage of tests without her consent, but he wasn’t sure how to ask her whether she was okay to give samples.
Shaking his head, he said, ‘I need to talk to Gears. By the way where is Battersby?’
Louise shrugged and said almost casually, ‘Oh, one of the test subjects broke free and ate him.’
Smirking, he said sarcastically, ‘Oh, what a shame.’
Suddenly looking lost, Louise said sadly, ‘Unfortunately, it also infected most of the staff. The whole place was gone within an hour. We just happened to be in here recording data, and we locked the door and stayed here until we saw you on the cameras outside. We recognized Ip, and we knew that she could kill the hunters, and you’d be able to get to us.’
‘What happened to all the other people who were used this way?’ Lydia asked.
‘They died,’ Louise replied simply. ‘Three died as a result of the version of the designer virus they were infected with. One turned into a hunter and escaped. The other two died during the resulting attack.’
Their story was disturbing at way too many levels for him to absorb, but he was determined to hear the whole story and he asked, ‘Do you know what happened in other countries?’
Ian shrugged and replied, ‘Well, sort of. We were able to share data with the UK, France, China, India and Canada for about a week. After that, most of the power grids died and we lost satellite connection. Last we heard, every country had been affected in the same way at the same time.’
Curious about whether there might be more people left in other countries, he asked, ‘Do you know if there were many survivors in other countries?’
That question seemed to upset Louise, and looking like she might cry, she said unhappily, ‘No, nobody told us anything much, but I don’t think they knew either.’
Ian put his arm around Louise and said, ‘We both had families, and we don’t know if they survived either. It wasn’t easy to be safe not knowing if they were too.’
Both he and Lydia watched how Ian quietly comforted Louise and he thought maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy. Deciding he needed to talk with Gears, he left to talk in private on the radio. After briefing Gears on everything he’d been told, he asked him what they should do about getting samples from Ip.
Gears said angrily, ‘I dunno how I feel about that.’
‘This was the plan, Gears,’ he reasoned. ‘You said we needed to know how she kills the hunters.’
He could almost hear Gears grinding his teeth when he replied, ‘That was before I knew she’d been tortured by some asshole in a lab. They had her shackled, TL. Ya remember the cuts and bruising she had on her ankles and wrists. She musta jus’ gotten free when we found her. No wonder she was so out of it.’ Sighing unhappily, Gears added, ‘I don’t wanna force her to do anythin’ and I dunno how to ask her either.’
Although he agreed with Gears, he knew replicating Ip’s capabilities was core to their mission. Without a more effective way of destroying the hunters, they would never get back the territory. Trying to find the middle ground, he suggested, ‘How about this idea? I’ll let them run every test on me first and Ip can see what they’re gonna do. If she doesn’t like it, she can refuse. You know what she’s like, she gets her message across.’
Gears still didn’t sound happy, but he said, ‘Yeah, okay, but I’m trustin’ ya to know where to draw the line on this. Don’t let ‘em do anythin’ that doesn’t seem right to ya. Ya feelin’ me?’
He was as shocked and angered by the situation as Gears and he said, ‘You don’t gotta fight with me on this, Gears. I won’t let anything bad happen to her. You know that.’
Returning to the main lab where Lydia, Louise and Ian were waiting for him, he said, ‘Okay, here’s the deal. Any test you run on Ip, you run on me first. If I don’t like it, or she doesn’t like it, then it doesn’t happen. Capisce?’
Lydia smiled at him and said, ‘Capisce.’
After some negotiation, he agreed to only a very simple and largely non-invasive set of tests. Ip watched closely while they performed each test on him first. At the end of each test, they offered her the choice to submit to the test or not. In the end, he decided she was more relaxed about taking the tests than he was and he quickly became fed up with being poked, prodded and scraped. He figured being strapped to a table and being used this way would have enraged him and wondered how she’d coped. At least she’d felt safe being tested that day, and he was happy to be her crash test dummy.
&n
bsp; Ip thinks: I was here so long ago. The pain the fear it did go. Now my life is with the three. Together we are all now free. I hear the kind man worry still. But I trust his care and he has my will.
Still intrigued that Ip might be telepathic, he asked Lydia, ‘Do you think Ip communicates using her mind?’
Lydia was busy labelling blood samples and slides and replied distractedly, ‘Maybe. Why do you ask?’
He said thoughtfully, ‘We’ve lived with Ip for months now. Even though she doesn’t understand words, she does understand what’s happening around her. She might appear a bit detached, but she’s usually more curious than confused. We assume she understands what’s going on, but in her own way and that she has her own frame of reference. And she’s a fast learner. She picks up on stuff real quick.’
Nodding, Lydia replied, ‘Fast acquisition of knowledge is considered a sign of intelligence. Communicating in another language or some other way can make someone appear very different, but it doesn’t mean they are and it certainly doesn’t make them stupid.’
He considered her point and asked, ‘So, why does she always seem slightly detached?’
Lydia laughed and replied, ‘If she doesn’t understand our words then maybe she just gets bored listening to us.’
‘Did you just call me boring,’ he quipped, giving her a cheeky wink.
Winking back at him, she replied, ‘Maybe, but feel free to prove me wrong.’
Both Louise and Ian seemed keen to continue their research and wanted to process the test results immediately. He was surprised they wanted to stay on at the lab, but suspected they were cocooned in their tiny world and happy to stay that way. He could sort of understood where they were coming from. Leaving them with a radio and the supplies from their truck, he told them they could radio the Base anytime. Electrical power was not an issue for them and they were both keen to get hold of tablets and music systems. Lydia promised to bring them back with her the next day. He told Louise and Ian to seal the entrance after they left to stop any hunters from getting in again. As they headed back to the Base, he felt relieved to be leaving the claustrophobia of the lab and he wondered how many other labs across the country had run the same tests. He thought, desperate times call for desperate measures, but he didn’t agree with their methods.
***
Ip thinks: I hear the whispers back again. These are not the foolish bald ones. These must be the very new ones.
Ip speaks: What are you now I want to know?
Super hunter: We are the ones who rule this earth.”
Ip speaks: How is that I ask them back?
Super hunter: Because we rule and others serve.
Ip speaks: Who serves you now? Who is your pack?
Super hunter: We are pack and we are yours. We rule the ones you call the bald.
Ip speaks: And of humans do you rule them too?
Super hunter: For as long as they live, but they now become few
Ip speaks: If I am you and you are me. Then I am ruler so should I be we?
Super hunter: Yes you rule with us too for it is what we do.
Ip speaks: How do you rule the foolish bald? Their minds are small and eat and kill is all they do.
Super hunter: We speak to them as we speak to you. Their will is small and they think few
Ip speaks: That is true they are not much. But I didn’t know I could speak as such.
Super hunter: So now you know where you belong. It is home you should come.
Ip speaks: I am content where I am now. Why should I leave to join another crowd?
Super hunter: For you are us and we are you. You live with those who do not belong to you. Come rule with us for we are pack and we do want you back.
Ip speaks: I will think further still. What you think makes me ill. I have learned much today. What I will do I cannot say. I close my mind to you now. You have left me with a furrowed brow.
CHAPTER TEN: No honor among thieves (Pax)
‘Will ya sit the hell up?’ Gears shouted.
Seeing Ip kick Gears in the head again made him chuckle, and he thought Ip could make her point without saying a word and she certainly kept Gears sorted. Chortling happily, he said, ‘Serves ya right for makin’ the poor girl sit on the transmission hump.’
Ip was lying on her back in the middle of the HUMVEE on the gunner platform with her head between the front seats and her feet resting on the back seats. Every time the truck hit a pothole, her feet bounced and landed on or near Gears head. The HUMVEE had four seats, but there were five of them travelling the 130 miles to the Major’s base in Alexandria and, as the smallest and lightest of the five, Ip sat on the platform. They were only four hours from the Major’s base and Gears discomfort, and his entertainment, would soon be over. Their plan was to recon the Majors base to find out if they really were the US Army.
One way or another, they were also hoping to liberate a bird from the Major’s base. Kat had found a trained, but unqualified pilot called Hatch who’d arrived at the Base a week earlier. When they questioned the 32-year-old man, he’d told them four years earlier he’d completed flight training with Army Aviation, but dropped out before finalizing his qualifications. He cheerfully admitted that during his training, he’d developed a serious drinking problem and, although he could fly, he was quite unreliable. Despite his questionable history, he liked him. Hatch clearly had a wild side and that thoroughly resonated with his own take on life. Gears, on the other hand, had reminded Hatch the Base was a dry dock and he was to keep his shit wired tight. Gears can be such a miserable sonofabitch, he thought.
They also brought Mackenzie with them. Since the loss of Jimmy, he worried about the young man. Mackenzie hadn’t carried himself with quite the same confidence, and he thought he needed to spend some time with people who understood how it felt to lose someone under their command.
They were entering the town of Alexandria that claimed to have a population of 47,723 people, but he very much doubted that was true anymore. As they drove past the town welcome sign, he casually commented, ‘They oughta break that down.’ Pointing at the sign, he added, ‘Ya know, by shamblers, hunters and livin’. That’d be real helpful…and accurate.’
Mackenzie was driving and, as he hit another pothole, he watched Gears pull away to avoid Ip’s bouncing feet. Looking irritable, Gears growled, ‘And who’s gonna do that census, dumbass?’
Snorting, Hatch said gleefully, ‘Imagine that. Knockin’ on peoples’ doors and asking who’s livin,’ shamblin’ or huntin’ in yer household?’
‘Now that would be a suck ass job,’ Mackenzie commented dryly.
Gears was still mock glaring at Ip and said to her, ‘Don’t pretend like ya don’t understand what you’re doin.’ Ip smirked back at him and then snuggled down into the thick quilt they’d used to try and make the platform more comfortable for her. Sighing, Gears rolled his eyes.
They were driving down the main street of the little town, and they saw a middle-aged man and woman standing outside what had once been a bank. They were the first people they’d seen since they’d left the Base early that morning.
‘Pull over,’ he instructed.
The man and woman didn’t move, but watched them warily as they came to a stop. Mackenzie stayed at the wheel, keeping the engine idling while he and Gears climbed out of the HUMVEE and walked over to the couple.
As he walked towards them, he called, ‘Hey. How ya doin?’
Stepping in front of the woman, the man who was unarmed and looking decidedly uncomfortable replied nervously, ‘Umm. Okay. I guess.’
Beaming warmly at them, he said, ‘We’re headin’ up to Camp Elder. Do ya know it?’
His smile seemed to make the man even more nervous and he stammered, ‘Err. Umm. Well. Umm. I’ve not been there.’
People were often worried when he, and particularly Gears approached them, but he thought this man seemed unduly upset. Eyeing the man with interest, he thought, Gears is ugly, but he ain’t that ugl
y. Using his friendliest and widest smile, he asked, ‘So, do ya live in this town?’
Shuffling anxiously and looking at the ground, the man stammered, ‘Err. Yeah. Umm. I guess so.’
Gears let out a frustrated sigh and he said sharply, ‘Ya either live here or ya don’t.’
Sighed inwardly to himself, he didn’t think the sight of a scarred, angry looking 6ft 5 gorilla with no neck was going to make these people feel any less worried. Stepping in front of Gears, he said calmly, ‘We’ve heard the army is takin’ care of folk in this region. Do ya know if that’s true?’
Nothing seemed the man feel any more comfortable and he stammered again, ‘Err. Well. Yeah. They’s here, I guess.’
Behind him he heard Gears clearing his throat as if he might speak again. He thought, if I had Ip’s telepathy shit, I could tell Gears to shut the hell up. Before Gears could say anything else menacing, he said, ‘So, have ya met any of ‘em?’
The man looked at him as if he was crazy and said, ‘Err. Yeah. Aren’t you with ‘em, ‘cos ya look like ‘em.’
Gears obviously had enough and he stepped out from his shadow and said bluntly, ‘No, we’re a different group. Is there anythin’ we should know about those guys?’
The woman clearly didn’t want the man to answer Gears and, grabbing the nervous man, she whispered furiously in his ear. The man was nodding frantically and stammering, ‘Uh huh. Uh huh’. The woman turned, and staring at Gears defiantly, she said, ‘We have to go now.’ Without waiting to hear his reply, she briskly walked away, pulling the man with her and they left in a truck parked nearby.
Gears watched them leave and grunted, ‘Huh.’
Shaking his head at Gears, he said, ‘Ya really need a refresher course in customer relations.’