One (Alone Book 3)

by Mercedes Prunty

  “I’ll… Kill…You!” he breathed at his nephew.

  “No uncle, I just killed you”.

  “Argh…Cough…Splutter…The pain!” Russel screamed out, “It burns”. He began to claw at his own face, his finger nails shredding of skin to the bone.

  “I take this as my cue to leave”, Aksel stated and spun on his heels and walked out the room. He closed the door but didn’t lock it. He wasn’t into containing this virus, he wanted to see how it spread and mutated with each infection. A howl echoed through the corridor and he knew his uncle was a creature now, a slight muffled scream of his uncle’s wife who must have woken at the right moment but the screams didn’t last long, he could hear thrashing, clawing, chewing and howling.

  “How exciting”, he mused talking into a Dictaphone as he walked away, “This virus is quick to change my pets. Much, much, much better than that awful strain we sent to Germany where it could take up to a week to change. Although it did give them all false hope that they weren’t infected and could fight it but this one, well it’s marvellous, they have mere minutes until they are turned”. He then switched off the small machine and whistled as he walked, back down to the lab to see to something just as important.

  ~

  When I awoke the next morning Kaley was nowhere to be seen but I could sense her just outside. I went outside and clambered up the side of the lower end of the roof where she was sitting alone staring into the sunrise, she spoke to me as I climbed up, her voice distant and withdrawn. “Isn’t it beautiful? The sunrise”, Her voice sounded lost and haunted.

  “Yes it is”, I said sitting next to her.

  “Can’t believe it will be my last”, she told me but she held no fear, no worry… No emotion.

  “It might not be, they might be able to cure you at the facility once we take out the big wigs. Not all the scientists are bad remember?”

  “They have no cure Stacie and even if they did the infection is too far gone for one to do anything to me anyway. I will be a true monster before they could give it to me… Plus I won’t be alive once the final fight is done”.

  “We can change it”.

  “What?”

  “The outcome… Just because you see it one way doesn’t mean it has to be that way”.

  “I tried remember with Ollie and that failed. It made his death worse”.

  I sighed, “We are doing the right thing aren’t we Kaley? All of us going here, will any of us survive? Will we actually win and make a difference and stop the next phase of the infection?”

  “This is all for you”, she answered but not the answer to my question.

  I fidgeted at her words causing the snow to shift under my weight and chilling my bones, “What do you mean Kaley? What’s happened? What Changed? Why is it for me?”

  “It’s not me…It’s you”.

  “I’m sorry but I don’t follow, you know people normally say that the other way round”, I tried to make the tension lighter but she didn’t take the bait so I asked, “What’s me? What have I done to upset you Kaley? What have I done that’s changed things?”

  She shook her head, “I see them you know”.

  “Who?”

  “All of them…Monique…Callum…Ollie, my family, all the people I’ve killed”, she said still staring into the sky, “I see them all around me, telling me which choice is wrong, which choice is right, which is the direction we are meant to take but they lied…They told me wrong…And now it’s you”.

  “Are you saying that I’m telling you to take the wrong direction?”

  She shrugged, “Not quite”.

  “Then what do you mean?” I demanded.

  “You will see, we are so close, we are so nearly there I can taste it and when we are there, you will see, it is you”.

  She stood up and plodded over the crunchy snow and then dropped from the roof to the ground, I heard the door open and she went inside. I could feel the others looking at her with a feeling of confusion but she just didn’t care anymore…Kaley wasn’t Kaley anymore…She was just a shell with her face on.

  I stayed there for a while, sitting on the roof watching the sun spread its warmth like a virus spreading through a soul but the sun didn’t warm me, it made me colder and more numb deep inside. I could have told Kaley I saw people too, that I saw Tanya and she helped me with my decisions but then I would be admitting that I was as crazy as she was. I knew she hadn’t always been…crazy… but since Kian arrived she had changed, she wasn’t the girl I had met hiding in the mansion, she had become a force to be reckoned with until now… now she was just…Kaley.

  We packed up our things and took off into the chilled air of day, Kian led our party as he roughly knew the way as he had been out on patrols in Norway doing supply runs.

  He made sure we stayed just on the undergrowth of the trees just in case the satellites were overhead, he wanted us to be a surprise to his ex-employers.

  We crossed over the border into Norway and were greeted by more snow, the temperature was a good few degrees cooler this side and we were all feeling it. Kian knew of an old clothing store that they had looted but the rebels had kept a few pieces of clothing hidden in the store just in case any of them had to leave in a hurry, they all wanted to overrule the facility and their idiotic regime but they knew that it might not work and they could end up running blind in the snow but at least some clothes would keep them alive but even I had to admit the shop was a long way from the point of Norway they needed to cross the ocean from. I knew the rebels would never make it this far but apparently the shops nearer the helicopter and plane yard were monitored which made me think of something.

  “Kian if the shops are monitored won’t they see us coming?”

  He shook his head, “No I mean monitored in the way that the head security people would do random checks to make sure no rebels were hiding in them which meant we couldn’t hide things that close”.

  “Did your people really think they could get this far?” I asked, “In the cold?”

  He shrugged, “We had to tell them something and that was the best we had”.

  “How many rebels are there Kian?”

  “Around a fifty or so, maybe more maybe less as they keep killing us off. Most of the civilians have an idea of what is happening on the other levels but they choose to hide from it and ignore it because they are safe and not out here but others choose to want to rebel. Us rebels have given out information on the C.U.R.E and what it means but…Some people ask what is there left to fight for and others just hand us in to get rewards”, he looked down at his snow covered boots, “Once there and if they catch me Stacie they will kill me or experiment on me, you have to make sure you and Kaley carry on. I know innocent people might get hurt in the process or killed but I guess what I’m trying to say is…”

  “The lives of the few to save the many”, Ruth added, “She gets it, that’s what her and the girl have been doing all along right, the lives of the few for the lives of the many”.

  I watched as Kaley rolled her eyes, “Yup that’s my motto, along with let’s kill everyone just cause I want to”.

  “Why you little bitch”, Ruth hissed.

  “Fuck you, you don’t know shit about me or what’s gonna happen and you won’t either way”.

  Ruth’s face paled more than what was normal for her infected colour, “So you know don’t you, when I’m going or is it that you are going to kill me”.

  “Your infected Ruth, it could be any second you flip out and try to kill us but I will make sure that doesn’t happen”, Kaley snapped.

  “Guys come on this isn’t helping anyone”, I tried to calm them down, “We need to go”.

  “No this little brat needs to grow up and see that life is precious and she can’t just drop everyone to die when she wants them to, not just to help her special cause”.

  “My special cause will save this whole goddamn world, what will your special cause do?” Kaley hissed.

  “My special c
ause? Girl what are you…”

  “AAAWWWOOO”.

  A howl sounded out in the cold air, “What was that?” Ruth asked looking alarmed.

  “AAAWWWOOO”.

  It sounded again, much closer this time, “AAAWWWOOO, AAAWWWOOO, AAAWWWOOO”, a whole chorus sang into the wind.

  “Wolves”, Kian whispered, “They must have tracked us”. Just as he said it we saw them, a pack of them all peering out from a long forested land with hundreds of snow covered trees and dark shadows, their eyes glowing an off yellow colour, the virus inside them peering out to greet us.

  “Kian?” I whispered, “What do we do?” I had to admit the wolves actually made me feel a little frightened, they were wild animals, wild beasts and I had no idea what their tactics were like or how they would fight. With humans and creatures you knew…It had become second nature to me but animals, I couldn’t let them get Cain or the others.

  “We need to take out the alpha and hope that that scares them off”.

  “And how do we know which is the alpha and won’t they just attack anyway with or without an alpha? They are infected, will they still work the same way?”

  He shrugged, “No idea but it works for normal wolves”.

  A low pitched growl rumbled out from the tree line and a larger wolf appeared, its fur a musty grey colour with battle scares and lines down its body and face, fleshy strips of meat hung off parts of its body revealing its rib cage beneath. This had to be the alpha and he looked to have fought many battles before and won.

  Kian raised his gun and checked the clip, “I don’t have many rounds left, this is my last clip”.

  Ruth had her blade and Kaley her gun but it wasn’t full either not after the fight we had back in Hamburg. Cain had his pistol which I coaxed from his fingers as he stood frozen in terror. I did have my rifle but not many bullets and my bow and arrow but that would take time to aim and before that they would be upon us. I moved him behind me and aimed at the alpha with Cain’s pistol, its eyes zoned in on us like it knew we would be trouble. It snapped its jaws and howled causing its followers to charge, the wolf nearest to the alpha was the fastest and ran slipping through the snow like butter, Kian shot out a few bullets and hit it head on, it squealed before falling to the snow in a cooling puddle of strange, dark and gunge like blood. This angered the alpha who growled louder and the others quickened their pace. Ruth let off a few rounds but missed the moving target, her aim going wild as the virus made her vision impaired, Kaley was by her side in an instant and used her power to throw the diseased mutt into the air, it swung back and smashed into a large tree, it wasn’t dead but its back legs were broken and it whined in anger as it still tried to run, not angered by the pain but angered by the need and want to feed and not being able to reach it’s prey.

  “Thanks”, Ruth smiled to Kaley.

  “Forget it”, she snapped, “Just because you think I’m a killer doesn’t mean I want to see everyone dead” and with that she turned and sent out another wave at a wolf heading towards Kian, he shot it but only hit its abdomen, it was hurt but still running, blood dripping onto the pure white canvas. She took it down and crushed it with her mind but that was all she could do, she fell to her knees holding her head.

  “Shit”, I hissed as one launched at me and Cain, lifting the pistol I shot it dead as it jumped in mid launch but its twin was right behind it and pounced onto my chest knocking me and Cain flying.

  “Argh”, I cried as I tried to angle the gun to the beast’s mouth but its snapping jaws restricted my movements. Suddenly the gun was snatched from my hands and BANG…Cain shot the wolf dead. He helped me push the wolf’s dead weight off me then took aim at one which was closing in on Kaley who was suffering again after using her gift. He shot three times hitting the wolf only once but the wolf knew how to dodge bullets and it did with ease, slaloming through us until it neared its prey.

  “Kaley”, I shouted as I grabbed Cain’s hand and took off into a run taking back his gun and shooting at the animal but it was too fast, “KALEY!” I finally screamed she turned just in time and looked at Ruth in fear who was closest to her and Ruth ran, not shooting and she didn’t wield her blade she just ran and jumped.

  Whoosh, the wolf pounded into Ruth who couldn’t even scream but she had done it, she had saved Kaley. The wolf’s jaws clamped down on her throat pulling on her and ripping it clean out. She gasped and gargled for air just as I reached them and stabbed my claws into the animal’s head killing it and kicking it to the ground.

  BANG, BANG, BANG!!! I turned to see in all the commotion the alpha had sprung into a run charging at us, BANG, BANG, BANG… “Yelp!”

  Kian shot the alpha down, it hissed and gargled just as Ruth was doing now until Kian reached it and shot it point blank and rendering it dead. A few whimpering howls echoed from around us as the alpha went down but no more wolves appeared from the woods, for now we were alone.

  “Dnt… Tst… He…r”, Ruth tried to say looking wide eyed up at me, “Kek…Yey…Bdd, sh…eeee…Kll…m….e”.

  “Shh”, I said stroking my hand over her forehead, “Shh…That was so brave what you did there”.

  “Dnt…Trs…T…Hr”, Ruth gargled as Kaley came and knelt down beside her.

  “Thank you…I’m sorry I was such an ass…I just…Well you know…Thank you…I just… When I saved you just now it…it didn’t mean you had to do it back…I’m sorry”, she sobbed the final part and ran to Kian who held her close, like a daughter he never had.

  “Kek…Yey…Bdd”, Ruth tried to say something but with her throat torn to pieces I couldn’t tell what it was.

  “It’s ok…We are all here with you…I’m sorry”, I cried and then I used my claws to put her out of her misery. Her lifeless eyes glazed over frozen in what it was she wanted to say.

  ~

  Kaley watched as Stacie dug Ruth a snow grave. She sighed to herself, it was all pointless digging graves when they needed to move on but Stacie was adamant that this was what they needed to do, because she had given her life so they could move on together but she knew sooner or later Stacie would see that all this was pointless, that everything was pointless because it wouldn’t matter. Just like how she had killed Ruth wouldn’t matter, that none of it mattered. Ruth had been the closest one to her but Kaley had made sure of that on purpose, she had used her gift so Stacie would think she was weakened even though she felt weak she wasn’t that weakened by it but she needed Ruth to go so they could move on. So when Stacie screamed about the wolf she had locked onto Ruth’s brain and had forced her to move, forced her legs to run with no need to raise her weapons to fight because she was what all was needed. Her infected blood would seal their fate, together they could go on, just the four of them. Then three of them. Then two of them. Then one.

  Chapter Sixteen…

  Aksel Enok was sitting in the warmth of his home, on the same old armchair as always that was situated looking over the fireplace, he had a book in one hand and in the other a glass of whisky. He sat there quite complacent and waiting for the unfolding panic to erupt. For he had left his uncle to turn alone in that room with only his wife to bear witness, but she too would be infected or just plain dead depending on the damage his uncle had sustained on her. He had left them to be found by some poor unsuspecting soul and that poor soul had found them. His throat torn out so he couldn’t scream out the alarm, the pain and rage pumping through his own veins so when he rose from the cold floor he too was running for the kill, closing in on the bloody trail his uncle and wife had already created. He watched it all unfold on a small device he hid inside his book. He smiled as over the CCTV he watched the blood pour as people ran and fell in pure terror.

  He could hear the screams as the panic made its way through the ‘Town’, a stricken knock at his door and yells for help.

  Aksel smiled as he stood and made his way to the door and opened it, “Ah Jenson how can I be of assistance”, he smiled with the book still in his hand but the
camera device facing away from the towns people.

  “Dr Enok there is an emergency, there are infected people running through the facility, they have killed and people are turning. We need the cure, we need it now”.

  “Calm down Jenson, the cure, you think it will really help?”

  “I don’t know, you’re the one who made it, it’s what your uncle used to go on about all the time. We need it or we will all die”.

  “Very well, go home and be with your family and I will go and fetch the cure”, Aksel smiled, “Here take this for me”, he passed Jenson his book and grabbed his lab coat, keys and the small gun he had placed just in reach. He locked the door and turned to Jenson, “I will fix this”.

  “Thank you”, Jenson said looking utterly terrified.

  “No, thank you for telling me”. And with that Aksel Enok left the man standing at his door as he rushed off to his lab. He laughed as he knew the man would see the camera soon enough inside the book and would see that Aksel had known all along but by then it would be all too late to do anything about it.

  Jenson stood there nodding, thinking what a great man Aksel Enok was but if he had looked down at the title of the book he might not have thought so, “How to kill and get away with murder”.

  As Enok made his way to his lab he saw what his plan had become, the walls splattered with the blood of the fools who wished to live under his uncle’s rule. But no more would he or they have to answer to him, for Aksel knew all he had to do was restore peace and he would become their new elected leader but he wasn’t going to lead with them still being human, for them to try and overthrow him, oh no, for he had scientifically founded a way to control his new ‘pets’.