Dead Man Walking

by Gary M. Chesla

  “That’s how I feel,” Charlie said. “It gives me the creeps.”

  They observed Ben as he continued to pound on the glass.

  Then Ben stopped pounding.

  He just stood there for a few minutes, then he began to turn around.

  “Did you see that?” Eric asked.

  “Did I see Ben stop hitting the glass?” Charlie asked. “Yeah, I saw that.”

  “No, not that. Look at Robert,” Eric said, “I think he is starting to regain consciousness. I saw him move his arm.”

  “I think Ben just sensed that there is someone else in the room,” Charlie said.

  Ben began to stagger towards Robert’s cot.

  He reached Robert’s cot just as Robert opened his eyes.

  Robert blinked his eyes, trying to focus and figure out where he was.

  Robert didn’t have time to focus.

  Ben was on him before Robert had any chance to figure out where he was or what was happening to him.

  Eric and Charlie watched as Ben stretched out his arms as he moved towards Robert.

  His teeth were clacking together and an eerie groaning sound was coming through the intercom speaker long before Ben reached Robert’s side.

  Ben reached Robert’s side as Robert looked up, rapidly blinking his eyes.

  Robert’s scream drowned out all other sounds as Ben savagely began tearing at his face and neck.

  Blood sprayed across the room when Ben ripped open Robert’s throat.

  Robert’s struggles lasted only a few seconds, then his body collapsed against the cot, motionless.

  Ben stood up over Robert’s body.

  Then he slowly turned around, once again facing the mirror.

  His jaws continued to move as he chewed on the large piece of flesh hanging from his mouth.

  Ben’s face and hair were almost completely covered in Robert’s fresh blood.

  His milky white eyes were now mostly red with only a few white spots showing through the blood.

  Then Ben staggered back over to the mirror.

  He pressed his bloody face against the glass.

  His jaws continued chewing the bloody flesh that still hung from his mouth. The large chunks of flesh were now pressed between the glass and Ben’s face.

  Ben again began to pound on the glass.

  “Damn, that was savage as hell,” Charlie finally spoke.

  “Yes, it was,” Eric replied softly.

  “Is that what you were expecting to happen?” Charlie asked.

  “Yes and no,” Eric replied as he looked at the computer screen and noticed that all of Robert’s sensor readings had flat lined. “I did expect Ben to attack Robert but I didn’t expect him to kill him. I assumed that Ben would bite Robert to transfer the biological agent into Robert’s system. Then, I expected Ben to stop. I had assumed that if Ben had become what the biological agent was coded to make him, that it would compel Ben to bite any living being he encountered to spread the agent. It was my theory that the biological agent was programed to spread itself to the living in this manner.”

  “The goal or purpose being to spread itself to every living being that it encountered, until there would no longer be any living remaining?” Charlie asked.

  “Yes. I thought the agent at first was a crude clumsy way to kill,” Eric added. “But if it could spread itself throughout a living population in this manner, it would be an unstoppable force. But by Ben killing Robert, it throws my entire theory out the window, again. Being dead, Robert cannot continue the spread of the agent. The main point of this experiment was to demonstrate the purpose of the agent and show how it was programed to spread throughout the human population.”

  Eric stood and threw down his note pad.

  “I’m going to step outside and catch a breath of fresh air,” Eric said sounding frustrated. “Give me five minutes and let me know if anything else happens that I need to know about.”

  Charlie nodded.

  Eric took a long look at Robert’s motionless body, then left the room.

  Charlie understood how Eric must feel.

  Eric had instructed him to take both Ben and Robert into the observation room and administer a sedative to each of them and the biological agent to only one of the men.

  Eric’s theory was that the man that received the biological agent would become what Joe Reynolds had become.

  He would then attack the man who had just received the sedative, to spread the effects of the agent.

  Eric’s theory was that the biological agent was programmed to spread itself through out any populated area it was exposed to. It could begin with as few as only one person being infected with the biological agent.

  It would only take one person to begin the process. That one person would bite someone and spread the agent.

  Then that person would join in and bite someone else.

  In a matter of days, the domino effect could wipe out an entire country, let alone a single city.

  It was like the old question. Would you rather have a million dollars today, or would you rather I gave you one penny today and then double the number of pennies I gave you every day for one month.

  Almost everyone you would ask would take the one million dollars today, but they would be wrong.

  In thirty days of receiving pennies, you would easily surpass the one million-dollar mark.

  Eric suggested the person that had developed this biological agent must have been asked that question at some point in his life.

  The evil bastard had changed the point of the question from money to dead bodies.

  Would he rather drop a bomb on a city and kill a million people today, or would he rather infect one person with a deadly biological agent today and watch the number of dead bodies double every day for eternity.

  It was or would have been a brilliant approach if Eric’s theory had panned out. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it hadn’t.

  Fortunate for mankind, but unfortunate for Robert Johnson.

  Robert Johnson had become the mouse that Charlie had feed to the snake, years ago.

  Charlie hated that snake and he felt sorry for the poor defenseless mouse.

  Robert had been brutally sacrificed for nothing.

  His death was not executed in the humane manner that he and Eric had intended.

  In fact, he was savagely mauled by a monster that ripped out his throat.

  Yes, Eric felt frustrated because he had been wrong.

  Because Robert had been killed so ruthlessly and because this program would have to go on, using more test subjects until some results were achieved.

  Charlie had hoped he would not have to go through what had happened today another time.

  Now it looked like today would become like the movie “Groundhog Day”, doomed to be repeated over and over until he and Eric discovered the answers that they needed and the answers the military demanded.

  “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be buried away in a meaningless job for a few years than to continue with this madness,” Charlie thought.

  Charlie walked over to the two-way mirror and looked in to the observation room.

  Ben was a mere few inches away, separated by only a one inch thick panel of shatterproof glass.

  The appearance of the grotesque being that Ben had become in only an hour, was both sad and terrifying.

  Charlie could barely see Ben’s face it was so thoroughly covered in Robert’s blood.

  Ben had been smearing the glass with that blood for the last twenty minutes, making it difficult to see anything in the room.

  Charlie moved over to the right bottom corner of the window, trying to get a better look at Robert’s body.

  Ben followed Charlie as he moved to the side of the window, reinforcing Charlie’s belief that Ben and Joe had both somehow sensed his presence, even though there should not have been any way they could have seen where Charlie or Eric were.

  Charlie was not even sure those milky white eyes were capable of
sight.

  After Ben had smeared the window in front of Charlie beyond the ability to see into the room any further from that corner, Charlie quickly moved over to the left lower corner for a look.

  His next move would be to get a chair and stand above the bloody smears to see into the room.

  So far, Joe or Ben had not shown the ability to use a chair to block Charlie’s view from further up on the window.

  Charlie took a quick look towards Robert’s body.

  It was still hard to get a clear look but Charlie continued his efforts to see inside the room.

  As he stared into the room, something looked different.

  Charlie ran over to his desk and dragged his chair over to the window. He climbed up on his chair and looked in above the bloody smears.

  He stared at Robert’s body for a moment, then jumped off the chair and ran out into the hall.

  When he ran out the front door, Charlie saw Eric standing in the parking lot having a smoke.

  “Eric,” Charlie called out and waived at Eric when he saw he had his attention.

  He met Eric at the edge of the parking lot, “You need to come look at something.”

  “What is it?” Eric asked as they started walking towards the door to go back inside the building.

  “I’m not sure, but your theory may not be dead yet,” Charlie said. “I could be wrong but come look and see what you make of this.”

  “Don’t keep me in suspense. What did you see?” Eric asked again.

  “It’s been what, a half hour since Ben killed Robert?” Charlie asked.

  “Yeah,” Eric replied. “So?”

  “I looked at Robert’s body before I came outside,” Charlie answered. “It looks just like Ben’s body. The skin is dark gray. The skin on a dead body doesn’t turn that color for at least twenty-four hours under normal circumstances. I believe something has accelerated this change.”

  “But he is still dead, right?” Eric asked.

  “His readings are identical to Ben’s if that means anything,” Charlie said, breathing harder as they walked quickly towards the lab.

  “Even if the biological agent had a hand in changing the appearance of Robert’s dead body,” Eric said, “That fact doesn’t help us. We aren’t concerned with what it does to a dead body, only how it affects a living body.”

  Eric and Charlie walked back into the lab.

  The sound of Ben’s banging against the glass loudly echoed through the room.

  “I can’t see a thing through this bloody window,” Eric said.

  “Drag your chair over next to mine,” Charlie said. “The glass up top is clear.”

  Eric moved his chair over next to Charlie’s chair.

  They started to get up on their chairs.

  When they were both standing on their chairs so they could look over the bloody smeared glass, they looked into the room.

  There were now two sets of milky white eyes staring up at them.

  “I take back what I said about what this biological agent did to a dead body not being important,” Eric gasped.

  “This proves your theory Eric,” Charlie said.

  “It does that and more,” Eric replied, “but this shit is a whole lot worse than I ever imagined.”

  Chapter 12

  Levi, Buddy, Lottie and Matt, Lottie’s boyfriend, were sitting on the cabin porch talking when Jamie’s car pulled up to the cabin.

  It was now 10 AM and Jamie was returning home from getting her hair done. She held the steering wheel with her left hand and her smart phone in her right hand.

  Jamie along with the mother of the bride and all the bridesmaids had an early morning appointment to have their hair done for the wedding.

  Lottie had her hair done first at 8:30 this morning and had returned home an hour ago.

  Lottie met her mother at the cabin at 8:00 AM so Jamie could follow her over to the house where they were all to meet at 8:30 for their appointments.

  When she was done, Lottie told the others she had some things to do and had to leave. Before leaving, Lottie had programed the GPS settings for Goggle maps on Jamie’s phone so her mother could find her way back to the cabin after her hair had been done.

  Everyone was happy to see that Jamie was back. Before GPS and smart phones, Jamie had been known to have gotten lost a few times.

  Back then, she had used her cell phone to call home for help.

  “I told you it would work,” Lottie grinned then looked at Levi, “Pay up Dad!”

  Levi took five dollars out of his pocket and slid it stealthily back to Lottie so that Jamie wouldn’t see what he was doing.

  Jamie got out of the car and flung her head sideways, tossing her short hair slightly to the side of her head.

  “Well, how does it look?” Jamie asked.

  “It looks like it always looks Mom,” Lottie said. “As short as your hair is, there isn’t too much you can do to make it look different.”

  “Sounds like someone is in a bad mood,” Jamie replied.

  Matt laughed, “She’s just annoyed because the beautician changed her part from the right side of her head to the left side.”

  “It was so all the bridesmaid’s hair would look the same,” Lottie frowned, “I don’t like to be like everyone else. If Logan wasn’t my brother I would have told her to leave my hair alone. How come you didn’t have to have a part on the left side of your head?”

  “Because I don’t wear a part in my hair,” Jamie smiled, “and I’m the mother of the groom, not a bridesmaid.”

  “Well, Jamie, I think your hair looks great,” Levi said, interrupting the conversation before he had two grumpy girls on his hands.

  “Lottie, I think your hair looks good too,” Levi smiled. “You can live with it for one day, but I kind of like it.”

  “That’s what I told her,” Matt added. “Trust me Lottie, you’re still different no matter which side you have your hair parted.”

  Lottie looked at Matt, “And what do you mean by that?”

  Matt looked startled.

  He had opened his mouth when his better judgement told him he should stay out of the conversation between Lottie and her mother.

  He should have learned long ago not to get between a girl and her mother, no matter how much he felt like he could help. It never ended well.

  Any hint that he was taking someone else’s side against Lottie and he would be in the doghouse for a month.

  He wouldn’t be surprised to see another poll on Lottie’s Facebook page tonight, asking her friends how long he should be banished from their apartment for this indiscretion.

  “I, I, I…..” Matt started to stutter, but he was saved by Buddy before he could say anything.

  Buddy let out a long whine, stood and pulled against the leash in Levi’s hands, as he looked out past the edge of the porch and into the woods.

  “It looks like Buddy has to go to the bathroom,” Jamie said.

  “I just took him for a walk twenty minutes ago,” Levi said.

  “If he goes to the bathroom on the porch or in the house, someone else is going to clean it up,” Jamie said. “I’d take him for a walk, but I have to go put on my makeup.”

  “I’ll do it,” Lottie grumbled as she got up off the bench and took Buddy’s leash from her dad.

  She started off the porch with Buddy, who appeared to be in a hurry to get into the woods.

  “Don’t let him get into any mud,” Jamie called out, “I just washed his feet this morning.

  Lottie just raised her arm and waived as she went out through the yard.

  “I know, don’t let him get dirty!” Lottie shouted over her shoulder, then thought to herself, “But he’s a dog Mom, that’s what dogs do, they get dirty. They like being dirty.”

  “Are you sure you want to put on makeup?” Levi asked, “I don’t think you really need it.”

  “It’s all part of the outfit,” Jamie smiled, “It’s so I will look like all the other women in the wedding
party.”

  Levi smiled at Jamie as she walked to the cabin door.

  Jamie stopped and turned as she reached the door.

  “Is that little monster still in there?” Jamie asked.

  Levi laughed, “No, Logan picked up George about an hour ago. George was going to get brushed and fitted for his bowtie.”

  Jamie laughed, “I hope they don’t put the bowtie on him until just before the wedding starts. He’ll tear it off and eat it when no one is looking.”

  Levi chuckled, “No, he doesn’t get to wear the bowtie until the wedding starts. Logan just hasn’t decided which tie they want George to wear, the red or the blue bowtie.”

  “They should let George decide,” Jamie replied. “They should put both ties on the ground in front of him. Whichever tie he doesn’t eat, he gets to wear in the wedding. I think that would be the best way to be sure he makes it up the aisle without having what’s left of the tie hanging out of his mouth.”

  “I think they are more concerned about George having a wedding dress hanging out of his mouth by the time he gets up the aisle,” Matt laughed.

  “If the wedding is delayed for any reason,” Levi grinned, “I hear they plan on giving George a roll of toilet paper and letting him entertain the audience until the wedding starts.”

  “I don’t think that is funny,” Jamie said as she went inside the cabin.

  “I think it’s funny,” Matt said to Levi.

  “Well, you didn’t have to clean up ten rolls of chewed up soggy toilet paper last night,” Levi smiled.

  Lottie followed Buddy into the woods.

  Buddy followed the path that led from the cabin to the wedding venue a hundred yards further into the woods where the trail ended.

  Unlike most dogs that went for a walk in the woods, Buddy’s nose wasn’t glued to the ground.

  Buddy walked through the woods with his nose held high as he intently sniffed the air.

  His tail stood high as he sniffed and followed his nose down the path.