by Eric Gene
Jason despite his pain, had swung into fight mode, picking up a sword he'd gotten from Haven 13. Luckily it had fallen close enough for him to pick and swing at the nearest zombie.
Off went its head just as Jason steadied himself for the onslaught.
Although his pistols were safely stashed in the hostler hanging on his waist, he knew it was suicidal to use a gun out in the open. For all he could tell, another band could be close by, and once they heard the gunshots, he would have more to deal with. He totally wasn't ready to empty his ammo on bands he could easily slip past, he still had two weeks before he got to his destination.
Moving gracefully, he hacked off the heads of the zombies that came close to him. Twenty had gone down in the space of ten minutes, and there were more incoming.
Having dropped the ones that proved to be of immediate threat, he switched to his pistols, retreating as he dropped off those that came from afar. About twenty more went down as he emptied his pistols.
That seemed to have done the trick. There was none in sight nor within range of his hearing. Letting out a sigh of relief, he reloaded his pistols and was about stashing them when a zombie lurched at him from the right.
Ducking swiftly, the zombie flew over him and landed a little way from him. Pointing, he was about pulling the trigger when he noticed something odd about the zombie. It looked fresh.
This was a teenage boy who still had most of his flesh intact, unlike the others who had open wounds that never seem to heal. It looked as though, this one was healthier than the others.
Taking advantage of Jason's hesitation, it lunged for him, but was met with a side stepping maneuver in which Jason pulled out his sword, made a three sixty turn and slashed his back. The teenage zombie let out a near human shriek that puzzled Jason even more.
Hoping not to be caught off guard again, he pulled the trigger, and sent a bullet into the zombie's right eye.
Cautious, Jason approached the body and examined it. The clothes looked slightly new, although the stench told him it hadn't been washed in a while.
Ransacking the dead body further, he ripped off the shirt to reveal a near human skin. Only a few blisters could be seen on the back and it's chest, there was no decay.
Rising to his feet, Jason spat on the body as his mind ran through the occurrences of his current travel.
Never had zombies turned to flee before. But since the horde at Haven 13, the bands he had encountered had a few that turned to run away once he'd decimated most of them.
Now he was faced with a near human zombie. If Scott was right, then the havens were bound to get themselves infected without the aid of the zombies.
Commander Blair had mentioned that they were making researches in order to cure the zombies. Although he hardly bought into it, this encounter buttressed what Scott had told him before the infestation.
Havens were creating zombies in a bid to get a cure.
Chapter 5
Double Crossed
While the rest of the world was gradually forgetting about China's rough play with another virus, twelve of the world's richest sponsored the continued development of the SARS-CoV 2.1 virus.
They had gotten to the last phase of the plot, and it was now a matter of three weeks before the world would experience another pandemic unlike the first. This was bound to spring up all over the world, at once.
Yielding to the rhetorics of Mr. Mao, each of the twelve had paid Dr. Hans a visit alongside their families. Each man and woman, chose a different date and was flown to China where they were transported to the facility. It was a foundation run by Mr. Mao, but had an off the grid facility underground. Not even the workers on the surface had an idea of its existence.
Only those who were handpicked by Dr. Hans and Mr. Mao knew about its existence. They were all bound by secrecy through death.
Unknown to the twelve, Dr. Hans had a trick up his sleeves to secure his own interests. He knew that the twelve could bail out on him at any time, and they had the power to make him disappear once his job was done.
To him, they were ordinary humans consumed with greed. The lust for more power and money had pushed them to him.
Whilst he thought of the virus as a means of restoring world order through global chaos, they saw another avenue to make money. He wasn't going to deny them of their desire so long as he got to accomplish his vision.
The world was in dire need of cleansing from the human pollution, and that was only going to come about by a drastic decimation of its population.
In the vaccine he injected each stakeholder, was the virus itself. He had cultured a virus he could control by emitting a particular frequency through earth's satellite. Once he triggered the virus, he only had to wait underground for as many years as it would take to accomplish his objective, before running the inhibiting program that would quell the virus. The satellite was the remote control, and it had both programs to trigger and to shutdown the virus with or without human interference.
True to his imagination, they'd all been aghast at his revelation of what the vaccine contained. They had all agreed to clear teleconferencing since he already knew their faces. There was no point hiding further.
"Don't bother sending your assassins, you won't find me. But if you insist, just be sure to secure yourselves from the world's outrage, and all our dealings from the year 2018 up till this moment, would be published" he told them smugly, noting the contortion of rage that had taken over their faces.
"Seeing as I am a man of my word, I assure you that you'll live through it all. On the plus side too, consider this an opportunity to bond with your loved ones while the rest of the world struggle to survive"
"So then, thanks for your sponsorship so far ladies and gentlemen. Please be sure to go underground as soon as possible as, the virus would take effect on Friday the 25th of December 2020. Do have a Merry Christmas" he told them before signing off.
Just as he signed off reclining in his chair, a sudden explosion shook the walls of his underground shelter. He had failed to factor in one thing; the live conferencing had given them ample time to pin his location. That was all they needed to snuff him out of existence.
~~~
Jason fought off a few more bands of zombies before arriving at his destination; Haven 20. Discarding all his weapons, he pretended to be a regular survivor so he could be granted entry. Once in, he was enlisted among the Haven's laborers.
Taking his time, he listened in on the whispers going round in the haven and discovered to his horror that the laborers were more like guinea pigs. Those who had stumbled upon the haven, were first thrown into the laboring unit where if they proved to be of better use, they were transfered to the military unit for training.
But for who showed little to no sign of promise for the military unit, they were signed up for research. These were the expendables used in their quest for a cure.
"Is there a way I can sign up for research?" Jason had asked one of the laborers once. They were taking a break from the field work they'd been on all day, and Jason had offered to give him half of his food ration for the break.
It had been an easy deal in exchange for information, and the laborer Ben was a stash of information.
"Wait what?"
"How do I get into the research unit?" Jason repeated his question, to which Ben placed his hands on his mouth.
"Research is not meant to be spoken about" he whispered.
"Huh? Why?"
"Look man, I know you've not been here for long, but if there's any piece of advice I can give you, it's to avoid the guys in lab coats by all means"
"Why? What are they known for?" Jason asked, perturbed. Ben kept glancing around as he spoke
"We've lost quite a number of men thanks to them. Whatever it is that they do in their tents, it's definitely not good news"
"OK Ben, now tell me how I can get in?"
"Wait, haven't you been hearing what I've been saying? Don't try getting close to research, they're
bad news!" Ben said with a groan. His hands were clenched in frustration.
"Hmmm, looks like the deal's off then" Jason said with a smirk. Ben looked at his plate and then back at Jason.
Just as his hands rushed to grab Jason's plate, Jason shifted it away from his reach, smiling. His right brow was raised tauntingly.
"Alright fine, there are two ways to get into research" Ben groaned in frustration. He like most persons who had trouble with being overweight, his stomach made the decisions on behalf of his brain.
"There are two ways to get into the research unit. One is to either fall sick and faint while working, or take the path of suicide"
"And what part is that?" Jason asked.
"Infiltration."
"Well, since you're keen on dying soon, I doubt you've got plans to fake being sick" Ben said, glancing over his shoulders.
Mulling over what Jason had up his sleeve, his forehead creased in thought. He made to say something but changed his mind, instead he pulled the plate closer and proceeded to devour its content.