The Colony

by Kathleen Groger

  General DeCarlo stared at the Bug. “But you can make it?”

  Dr. Collins answered this time. “In theory. The cell-line from the Seed Plot Project is stored in a secure vault at Zigotgen.”

  Seed Plot Project? 300 Seed Plot. John and Frank thought it meant the seminary. But it didn’t. Three hundred test subjects. And I had been number 115. Dizziness made me sway me into Megan.

  “So, she—” General DeCarlo yanked my arm pulling me away from Megan. “She is basically one of them?”

  “Yes. And it seems the aliens work with a hive-like mind mentality.” Dr. Morgenstern pointed at the jar. “We’ve received reports from other zones. Drone crafts were able to record the synchronized movements of the Raspers. Dr. Leventhall’s team at another facility caught one and is in the process of a detailed autopsy.”

  The general’s hand tightened on my arm to the point where I would have a nasty bruise. I twisted to pull away. He increased the pressure. “Explain what you mean.”

  “It’s almost like what one host knows, the rest learn. As if they suck all the memories and information from the hosts’ brains and send it back to their colony. Our study of this behavior leads us to believe there is some type of a queen in the collective, similar to bee hives.”

  I would have collapsed if the general didn’t have such a tight grip.

  It was true. I hadn’t wanted to believe it before.

  Collective. The Rasper had said they wanted me to join the collective. They knew my name. They did work as a unit. It was all starting to make sense. The way the horde of Bugs lined up in the street. The way the Raspers seemed to get smarter and now came out in the daylight wearing sunglasses. The way they kept finding us. Their coordinated movements. We were so screwed if we left this rock dungeon. Hell, we were screwed staying here.

  But what didn’t make sense was why they wanted me. That question nagged at the back of my mind.

  “So, if you kill this queen thing, the rest of the damn things die?” General DeCarlo pointed at Dr. Morgenstern.

  She nodded. Her sleek hair bobbed, then went back into place perfectly. “That is our current theory. And when I contacted Zigotgen, they set in motion a protocol to test chlorine’s toxicity on the aliens.”

  I pulled and twisted. The general gripped my arm tighter.

  “Let her go.” Adam stood. The soldier kept the gun trained on him. My heart beat faster at his words, but they were useless.

  “Hold him.” The general ordered. Soldiers clamped down on Adam’s arms, forcing him back. The general was about to say something else when an alarm screamed through the room and the ceiling lit up in blazing crimson.

  “What’s happening?” Alarms and lights never meant anything good.

  A soldier burst into the room. “Sir, we’re under attack.”

  “By whom?”

  “The aliens.”

  General DeCarlo released my arm. “How did they get so close without us knowing it?”

  “Sir, they’re our soldiers. Or were our soldiers. They knew—know—our codes, procedures, everything. And they’re making demands.”

  “What do they want?”

  The soldier focused on me and pointed at my chest. “They want her.”

  No. This couldn’t be happening. The Raspers were attacking. Demanding me. Why?

  “Soldiers, come with me. Doctors, guard them. Do not release them until I come back.” General DeCarlo swept from the room. The soldiers exited and the lock clicked place.

  Locking us in.

  Adam leaned into me and brushed his shoulder against mine.

  Dr. Morgenstern and Dr. Collins stared at the door, ignoring us.

  I took a risk and smashed an empty container to the ground. Using a shard of broken glass, I cut Adam and Megan’s ties. Dr. Morgenstern didn’t react. Dr. Collins gave a one-shouldered shrug.

  They were after me. Me. I leaned against the wall, then slid to the floor. There was no reason they would want me, specifically. My body shook and I wrapped my arms around my knees. I had been unknowingly vaccinated. I had been followed and tracked by a company that might have killed me.

  I glanced at the map. The red-lit areas, or the Rasper infested areas, covered more of the map by the second. The green areas were clustered north by the Canadian border. And there were tiny green dots throughout the Midwest. But the entire east and west coasts were almost solid red.

  Dr. Morgenstern broke the stillness and walked to the map. “It doesn’t make sense. How are they spreading so far, so fast? What is it that makes some people become Raspers?”

  “We came up with a theory.” I stood and glanced at Adam and Megan.

  Dr. Morgenstern turned to face me and frowned.

  Adam shook his head. I tried to smile at him, but I think my expression came across as pain-filled. She could help us get out of here. We needed to give her something. “We think that only left-handed people turn into Raspers and righties die when injected.”

  “What? Why do you think that?” Dr. Collins walked to Dr. Morgenstern’s side.

  “Before I killed the Rasper who carried that Bug, he said humans have to be balanced to become Raspers. And left-handed people tend to use a balanced amount of both sides of their brains.”

  “All three of you are left-handed?” Dr. Collins asked.

  Megan shook her head. “No. Just the two of them.”

  Dr. Morgenstern seemed to have slipped into deep thought. She absently tapped her nails on the table.

  I debated about asking her what she was thinking, but before I spoke, the door lock clicked open. General DeCarlo walked into the room accompanied by a group of soldiers. “Doctors.”

  Dr. Morgenstern gave a tight-lipped head bob, then she and Dr. Collins scurried to the back corner of the room. General DeCarlo’s hair was sticking out on the side and his uniform was torn. His disheveled appearance pleased me.

  He didn’t seem to notice that we were all untied.

  “Goddammit. We’ve held them off for now, but we can’t keep battling them head to head. Ten percent of my men became Raspers and turned on the rest.” He smacked his fist onto the table, cracking its fake wooden top. “They got close because they transformed our own damn men who went out on patrol. They led the bastards right back to us. We’re not only battling the enemy, but ourselves. We need to stop the damn things. Doctors!”

  Dr. Collins and Dr. Morgenstern jumped as the general shouted the last word.

  “I need answers. Now.”

  I ran my hands across my forehead and down my cheeks. Exhaled. My throat burned.

  Dr. Collins shoved his hands in his lab coat pockets. “Sir—”

  General DeCarlo’s eyes narrowed into lizard-like slits. He turned to me. “The aliens and their hosts found our little hideout, thanks to you. Seems they know all about you, Val. Had a real hard on to find you. They demanded you before we killed them.” He laughed, a maniacal, twisted laugh.

  The man was seriously messed up. I refused to play his game and kept my mouth shut.

  “It seems they want you to join them. And it gave me an idea. Doctor, the key.” He held out his hand.

  Dr. Morgenstern walked forward. Placed the silver key in the general’s palm.

  He removed the jar from the cabinet, set it on the table, and closed the distance between us. He leaned down to my level and breathed stale coffee breath into my face. I wanted to pull away and gag, but I held my ground. He wasn’t going to bully me.

  “Since they already think you are one of them and specifically asked for you, I think you should go to them.”

  “No!” Adam yelled and pulled me back behind him.

  “Oh, how touching.” The general laughed in a way that sounded more like a cackle.

  “We’re…” Adam didn’t say anything else.

  “No matter. You’ll be joining her.”

  “What are you talking about?” I stepped out from behind Adam. He didn’t need to protect me.

  “You two will go wi
th a group of my men to a ‘hive’ we believe is in Washington, DC. We are going to test the doctor’s theory first-hand. There, you, with the help of my men, will kill the damn queen thing. With luck, it will destroy the rest of the Colony.”

  “No, she’ll be killed.” Adam said.

  “I don’t care if they kill her as long as you two kill the queen first.”

  A lump the size of a golf ball filled my throat. I wanted to rip the gun from the closest soldier’s side and put a bullet through his head.

  As if he knew what I was thinking, Adam reached for my hand and squeezed. “No. We won’t do it.”

  “Well, then. It seems you need to be persuaded.” General DeCarlo stepped away from us and moved to the table. He picked up the jar and in a flash was at Megan’s side. He pulled her in front of him, hostage-style.

  “No. Leave her alone.” I stepped toward him. Adam yanked me back when the general set the Bug down and withdrew his pistol.

  “You will either do as I order, or your pretty friend here dies. By Bug or gun. Your call.”

  He was bluffing. He had to be. He wouldn’t turn the Bug on Megan—but he had on me.

  “Let her go,” Adam said in a deep, low voice.

  Another peal of laughter rang through the room. “You know what? I have a better idea.” The general waved his hand at the red and green map that was turning more red than green each second.

  “You two.” He pointed at two soldiers. “Take this one to Sector 12.”

  The men each grabbed one of Megan’s arms. And they dragged her from the room, kicking and cursing.

  “No,” I screamed. Icy chills made me shiver, but sweat dripped down my back.

  General DeCarlo faced me. “And so we are clear, she will die if you don’t leave within the hour.”

  I caught Dr. Collins’s eyes and pleaded silently for him to help. He looked away, took off his glasses and started to polish them. Dr. Morgenstern refused to meet my gaze. She was focused on the five remaining soldiers. She tapped on the table with one finger.

  “If you are human, like you claim to be, you’ll help us in eradicating the aliens from our planet, and she’ll live. If you refuse, she’ll die.”

  “You sadistic bastard.” I spit the words at him.

  “One life is nothing compared to the lives of the rest of us. The President has authorized me to use any means necessary to exterminate the alien threat. What’s it going to be?”

  I wanted to kill him. I rubbed a hand across my rules. Trust no one. I trusted Adam and Megan now, but sure as hell didn’t trust the general.

  “On certain conditions.” I took a step closer to him, but Dr. Morgenstern stepped up behind the general and jerked her head to the right. I retreated to the side.

  “You’re in no position to make demands,” the general snarled.

  Dr. Morgenstern reached in her lab jacket pocket and pulled out a gun. “Neither are you.” She raised her left hand and aimed at the back of General DeCarlo’s head.

  And fired.

  27

  Blood, brains, and blowback flew everywhere. Splattering the walls, the floor, me. The general’s body dropped to the ground.

  Two of the soldiers shot the other three, their bodies collapsing in a sick mosaic of arms and legs.

  Holy shit. What was going on? She just shot the general. He was dead. Dead. Blood was everywhere. It was on me. The room spun and I struggled not to collapse.

  Dr. Morgenstern put the gun back in her pocket and pulled her brown hair back from her face. “Now that we have the unpleasantness out of the way, we have lots to do. Albert?” She turned and stared at Dr. Collins.

  His face was pasty and he looked on the verge of being sick. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Coming.” He stepped around the bodies without looking at them.

  She didn’t wait for an answer before she spoke to the remaining soldiers. “I will have to inform the President of how bravely General DeCarlo fought the aliens. Shame they killed him.”

  She then turned to us. “It was the general’s dying wish that you two come with me and Dr. Collins to Zigotgen. Rollins and Jones will accompany us. Put them in metal handcuffs. I don’t trust those plastic ones. We leave now. Get the blood off her or people will ask questions.”

  Leave now? Go to Zigotgen? Metal handcuffs? This was worse than the general’s plan. Zigotgen was probably surrounded by red on the map. I’d thought Dr. Morgenstern was on our side. The reality stung more than the clink of the cuffs around my wrists.

  Jones used a small towel to wipe my hands and clothes. “Good enough.”

  Dr. Morgenstern scooped up the Bug jar and walked out the door. Dr. Collins stayed a few steps behind, like a loyal dog. With my hands cuffed in front of me, Rollins grabbed my right elbow and made me walk with him. Jones did the same with Adam. The doctors led us through the underground labyrinth.

  I kept searching for any way to escape or anyone who could help us, but the complex resembled a ghost town. No weapons or people.

  “Where is everyone?” Dr. Collins asked Dr. Morgenstern in a whisper.

  “Hiding from the aliens.” Rollins said under his breath. I wasn’t sure if anyone but me heard him.

  We walked and walked through corridor after corridor. Red strobing lights bounced off the walls, giving the tunnels a disorienting effect. I thought I saw blackness climbing the wall in one side tunnel. Oh, no. If the black slime was covering the building…

  My heart beat faster and I increased my pace. We had to go faster. I pulled ahead of Rollins and he let me. But he tightened his grip on my arm and tugged me back when we turned the next corner. Two soldiers, armed and angry looking, blocked a regular sized metal door.

  “Doctors, what are you doing?” the taller of the guards asked.

  Rollins pulled me forward. “General DeCarlo was killed in the attack. His last request was that these two and the docs be taken to the alternative containment center.” Rollins used his do-not-question-me voice.

  “Of course, sir.” The other soldier stepped over to an electronic panel. He typed in a long code and the door rattled open. “There are two transports at the ready.”

  “Thank you. Carry on.” Rollins led us through the door into a darker and colder tunnel.

  He deposited me into the passenger side of a black golf cart and took the wheel. Dr. Morgenstern climbed in the back. Jones drove Adam and Dr. Collins in the other. The lights in this tunnel were spaced far apart, but close enough we never plunged into absolute darkness.

  I turned to look back at the other cart. The doctor pulled a larger-than-normal-cell phone out of her pocket. She pushed in a sequence of numbers. “This is Morgenstern. I need an immediate extraction at 39.6483°N, 77.4650°W. Six total. Two are EDTS. Yes, sir, what we’ve been searching for.”

  “EDTS?” My existence had been reduced to numbers and letter codes.

  She clicked the phone off. “Extremely dangerous test subject.”

  “Adam and I are extremely dangerous? That’s funny. Why are you taking us to Zigotgen?”

  She ran her index finger over her perfectly arched eyebrow. “Because we need you.”

  “For what?”

  She folded her hands in her lap and ignored the question.

  I changed my tactic. “Why did you let me uncuff Adam and Megan before, if you were just going to put me in these?” I shook my hands and the metal jangled.

  Dr. Morgenstern tucked her hair behind her ears. “I wanted to gain your trust so you would tell me what you knew about the Raspers. Besides, it was only a matter of time before you figured out, that with your elevated strength, you were stronger than those plastic things.”

  I wanted—needed—to believe she would take us to safety, not to Zigotgen, wherever it was. But the metallic handcuffs digging into my skin said otherwise.

  It seemed like we drove forever. In reality, it probably only totaled a distance of ten or fifteen miles until the tunnel ended and we faced another metal door, this one g
uard-free.

  Rollins pulled me from the cart and dragged me to the electronic key pad. He typed in a code, then put his eye to the small scanner. It registered his identity and with a loud click, the door slid open.

  He shoved me through the door and waited for everyone to join us in what appeared to be a storage room. Metal filing cabinets topped with papers lined one wall. Random furniture filled the rest of the room. The table closest to me held more stacks of papers.

  Nothing I could use as a weapon. No scissors, screwdrivers, or even a pen among the colored file folders and paper filling every available space. Damn it, there had to be something—anything. I was about to give up when I spied one item I could use. I had to do it now or I’d miss the chance.

  I pretended to stumble and stuck my hands on top of the papers on the table for support. My fingers slid across the small metal paperclip. I yanked it free and palmed it before Rollins pulled me back.

  “Single file up the stairs. Val, you’re behind me. Don’t try anything or the good doc might shoot you with her gun.”

  “You know if you insult me, I can revoke my offer of vaccinating you.” Dr. Morgenstern’s voice was honey laced with poison.

  I whipped around to look at her. “You have more of the vaccine?”

  She didn’t answer me. I tried to make eye contact with Adam, but Jones stood in front of him.

  Rollins spun me back. “Move out.”

  Anger at the doctors, Rollins, the entire situation burned and boiled the acid in my stomach.

  We followed him up the wooden stairs. My eyes bored into the middle of his back. Why wouldn’t she answer me? Did they have more or not? Rollins shifted, breaking my wandering thoughts. I contemplated grabbing the gun he had holstered at his lower back. Could I get it with the handcuffs on before he drew the other gun he had on his hip, or the rifle slung across his chest? Probably not.

  But the longer I stared at the gun, the more familiar it looked. It had a tiny notch out of the handle grip. I knew that gun. It was Dad’s. Mine.