Viral

by S. K. Gregory

  “The country already fell. Why didn’t he take the chance then?”

  “He did, Gene-Pharm just had a better selling point. They wiped out the zombies. Then they offered a vaccine. You know that thing doesn’t work, right?”

  I stared at the bar. I was the one who worked on it, no, it didn’t work. At least not like the public thought it did. On a certain strain, in the right circumstances and a short window of time, it had the potential to combat it. It didn’t stop people lining up for days to receive it. They’d take what they could get, and with the zombies gone, they would never have to test it out.

  “I need something to help bring them down, or least to get near this Omega guy.”

  “That will be more difficult than you think. I heard a rumor that he died.”

  I heaved a sigh. Didn’t he have anything useful for me?

  “Do you know who took over?”

  “All I have is a codename. Phoenix. Hope they don’t live up to that moniker and burn this country down. Then again, it couldn’t get much worse.”

  Phoenix? Whoever stepped into Omega’s shoes would have to be trusted by him. Someone who had been in the organization a long time. Breton passed his business onto his son, perhaps Omega did the same.

  15

  Jenna

  “How can he be helping you?” I asked. Wesley betrayed me. He lied to me. Was he in on it all along?

  Wesley continued to stare straight ahead, not meeting my gaze. I rushed at him, shoving him hard.

  “You bastard!” I screamed. “How could you do this to me?”

  Wesley didn’t react at all. He was completely zoned out.

  “He doesn’t know what is going on,” Mom said. “It’s a new mind control drug, something your father was working on early on that we later perfected.”

  Wesley didn’t even blink, it was eerie.

  “When?” I asked. How long had he been her puppet?

  “After you moved to the bunker. While you and your father were out, we went in and ‘recruited’ him.”

  “You knew where we were?”

  “I always know where you are Jenna. I’m your mother.” Yeah, the mother who let me think she was dead and had this whole other life. Wait, why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, it was exactly what Dad did!

  “Why stay away then? Why not come to me sooner?” I demanded. She didn’t have to do this. It had been months, all it would have taken was a phone call.

  “I wanted to see what your Dad was doing. I needed time to decide how I was going to approach you too.”

  “And you went with kidnapping? Great choice, Mom.” I moved away from Wesley; I couldn’t look at him in this state.

  “Would you have come willingly? If you knew you were coming here?”

  I wouldn’t have. But finding out that she was alive, I might have at least heard her out.

  “Who’s he?” I asked, pointing at the man.

  “This is Bishop, he works for me.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, Jenna,” he said, offering his hand. I ignored it.

  “What do you want from me? I’m assuming all this isn’t just so you can say hi,” I asked Mom.

  “It’s time you joined me here at Chaos. I want you to work with me.”

  Work with her? I thought she brought meals to old people, not this!

  My mind was racing. This was too much. I had to be dreaming, because there was no way this was my life. I could feel the panic rising inside me again.

  “I don’t want to be here. I want to leave. Now!” I ran past them to the door. I yanked on the handle, but it wouldn’t open.

  “Jenna,” Mom said.

  “Open the door. Now. I want to leave. I need to leave!” I cried, my voice embarrassingly high.

  She sighed in frustration. Walking forward, she pressed her thumb to a panel on the handle and the door beeped and unlocked. She opened the door and I ran through it. A long corridor awaited me. I didn’t know whether to go left or right. They couldn’t put up signs?

  “Where’s the exit?” I asked. I could feel myself losing it. Digging my nails into my forearm, I turned to Mom.

  “Follow me,” she said, turning left.

  I tried taking deep breaths, I just needed to get outside and I would be fine.

  At the end of the corridor, she turned left again to a bank of elevators. She pressed the button to go down.

  “Don’t do that,” she chided, when she noticed my arm. She tried to grab my hand, but I jumped back out of her reach.

  I had drawn blood.

  “You’re a liar,” I hissed.

  The elevator arrived and she motioned for me to get on. She waited until the doors closed before answering. “I did what was necessary, so that you would have as normal an upbringing as possible.”

  “You’re a traitor. I don’t believe a word you say.”

  “Don’t forget I saved your life. Hell, I gave you life. I expect a little more respect from you.”

  “I just want to leave.”

  The elevator doors opened and Mom led the way again. I still didn’t see an exit, just more rooms. How big was this place?

  She stopped in front of a white door. Moving aside, she tipped her head toward it.

  I opened it and walked through, only to find a tiny room with a bed and a toilet. I turned to find Mom standing in the doorway, ready to close it.

  “You can stay in here for tonight. Think over my offer.”

  The door closed, the noise echoing down the hall. I guess she’s sending me to my room.

  “How can this be happening,” I muttered. “This is bullshit.”

  I grabbed the bed and flipped it, letting out a cry of rage. Moving to the door, I started hammering on it with my fists. “Open the door! I won’t be locked up again! Let me out.”

  There was no response. I kicked the door in frustration.

  “That won’t work,” a voice said. A female one.

  “Who said that?” I looked around for the source, but there wasn’t even a window in here.

  “I did.”

  The voice sounded like it was on the other side of the wall. Another prisoner?

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “My name is Jessica.”

  The name sparked a hint of recognition, but I couldn’t place it.

  “Is there a way out of here?” I asked.

  “Yes. Co-operate.”

  I closed my eyes and sighed. She was probably a guard, not a prisoner.

  “Great advice,” I muttered. I returned the bed to its correct place and lay down. My heart was still thumping, but I could feel the panic pass. F

  “Have you calmed down?” Jessica asked.

  “Yes, I’ll behave,” I shot back. “For now.”

  Let Mom play her mind games. She wasn’t going to win.

  I have to get out of here.

  16

  Jenna

  Lying on the bunk in the cell, I realized that I seemed to spend a lot of my time locked away lately. The last time I was with Chaos… Did Mom do that? Was she the voice on the other side of the glass? Or was it someone else?

  Weeks of testing me, forcing me to face zombies in a bid to find out what I could do. Could she have really stood and watched that happen? This was the woman who lost the plot if I came home five minutes past curfew. Who else could it have been though?

  The rage I felt inside when I thought of her doing those things to me was unbearable. I would never forgive her, not ever. My own parents both treated me like a lab rat. They both lied, lived double lives and came home every night pretending we were this nice, normal family. I hated them.

  And Wesley? What was Mom going to do with him? She already demonstrated what happened to people who were no longer useful to her. She wanted me to join her, hopefully that meant that she wouldn’t hurt him, at least not yet.

  I lay awake all night, worrying, seething, plotting revenge. I would get out of here and I would run as far away as I could. I would leave them all behi
nd. Let them all kill each other.

  Morning came, the door unlocked and Mom came in. She wore a white blouse over black pants, her hair was pulled back in a bun.

  She folded her arms. “Well? Now that you’ve had time to think, what is your answer?”

  I opened my mouth to unleash a torrent of abuse on her, but she interrupted me by saying, “Before you tell me, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

  She stepped out of the cell and motioned for me to follow.

  Great, who else is going to come out of the woodwork?

  I trudged after her into the hallway. A girl was waiting. She was my age with long red hair and an uncanny resemblance to me. Not identical, but she had the same color hair, the same eyes and nose.

  “Who is this?” I asked.

  “This is Jessica. She’s your sister.” This was the girl I was speaking to? Wait? My what?

  “What? You had a child with someone else?” Was it that Bishop guy?

  “No, Jenna. She’s your twin sister. I told you we had IVF; it usually results in multiple births.”

  “What? Why…How could I not know about her?” Jessica flinched when I raised my voice.

  “Because I never told anyone. Your dad doesn’t even know about her. Say hello, Jessica.”

  She raised her hand to wave and mumbled a hello. She kept glancing at Mom and I could tell from her body language that she was afraid of her. My sister!

  “Go and get some breakfast, Jessica. We’ll be along in a moment,” Mom said.

  Jessica nodded and hurried off down the hall. She glanced back at me, eyes wide, before disappearing around the corner.

  I leaned against the wall, feeling dizzy. “I have a twin sister that no one knew about?”

  “It wasn’t a conventional pregnancy. The idea was for me to have the baby and hand it off to Chaos to be raised here. Your father wasn’t there when I went into labor. I was at a Chaos safe house at the time, but he tracked my phone.

  Jessica was born first and my contact got her out before your dad arrived. Then you were born. He never knew. I never even knew. Hidden twin something or other. My father saw an opportunity, a way to have the best of both worlds. It was decided I would continue with the marriage and we could monitor both of you to see which one developed any abilities with the X01.”

  “This is just too much,” I muttered.

  “Neither of you seemed to develop abilities. Jessica was bigger than you, the stronger twin. We had high hopes for her. Then you were shot and I got to witness first-hand what happened. What it did to you.”

  “You must be so proud of your zombie daughter,” I snapped.

  “You surprised me Jenna. When you were put up against the zombies here, you annihilated them. I’ve never seen that determination, that strength before from you. You could be an incredible warrior. And the head of Chaos one day.”

  I sank to the floor. It was her all along. She wants me to lead, why? “Jessica is the eldest.”

  She crouched down beside me. “Jessica is normal. She may have been the stronger twin, but you are stronger mentally. Taking over the company would be too much for her. She’s…fragile.”

  “I don’t want it. I don’t want any of this.”

  Mom reached out to place her hand on my arm. “I really want you to consider what I’m offering you. This could be the start of a dynasty. Me, you and your sister together. A family.”

  “My family is gone. You and Dad destroyed it.”

  Mom reached out and gripped my face, lifting it to look at her. “You only started showing abilities when you were killed. There is a chance that Jessica has latent X01 in her body. We could start testing again. Push it to see if she develops like you? What do you think?” There was a hardness to her voice that I have never heard before.

  She was threatening Jessica now? She was willing to hurt and even kill her own daughter to get me to play ball. She’s a monster.

  I don’t know Jessica, but I can’t let anyone get hurt because of me. I would have to find another way to get out of here.

  “Okay, Mom. I’ll do as you ask. Leave Jessica alone.”

  Mom smiled. “That’s my girl.”

  ***

  Jessica

  So that’s her. My sister. Angela spoke about her so much over the years, I never thought I would get to meet her.

  She didn’t seem to happy to see me. Well, more shocked than anything. That was understandable. Angela never told her about me, she said it would have been too difficult for her, knowing she had a sister she could never see.

  I headed for the dining hall to grab some breakfast. Lifting a tray, I made my way to the front of the queue. I didn’t have to wait in line. I’d grown up here and everyone respected the boss’s daughter. The cook had my favorite waiting for me. Oatmeal, orange juice and a slice of toast.

  “Thanks, Lucy,” I said.

  “Anytime, sugar,” she replied, giving me a smile. She called everyone sugar.

  Taking my tray to a table in the corner, I sat down to eat. The cafeteria was mostly empty.

  Jenna had quite the temper. I wondered if she got that from our father. Angela didn’t really talk about him much. I could tell they weren’t happy together. If Angela persuaded Jenna to stay here with us, then hopefully I would never have to meet him. Knowing that he experimented on his own children made him a monster as far as I was concerned. That’s why I had to stay here, his experiments made me sick. So sick that I couldn’t even go outside.

  I finished my oatmeal, hoping to spend a few hours in my room working on my latest drawing. I knew that Angela was excited to have Jenna here, so I might not have time later. I was nervous about getting to know her. It was going to take a long time to undo the damage that our father did, I just hoped she saw sense.

  I waved to a few people as I left. Everyone here was like family. The organization was designed to ensure that people were given proper medical care and medication. It had over two hundred employees and I knew most of them by name. Jenna would like it here, once she got used to it. And once Angela convinced her that our father was bad news.

  I just hope she likes me.

  17

  Jenna

  I walked around the Chaos building in a daze as Mom showed me what it had to offer. Wesley trailed along after us, with no clue to what was going on. I kept glancing back at him, but he didn’t acknowledge me in any way. I don’t know why she hadn’t sent him back to Dad. Or was she holding him hostage, showing me that she was in control. Like I didn’t know that already.

  “Chaos was created in 1975 by my grandfather. He was a young idealist who believed the corrupt government would run this country into the ground. He gathered some like- minded people and they formed Chaos. Do you know why they chose that name.”

  I shook my head. Who cared why they called it that? Probably because it sounded bad ass.

  “Too many people live by the status quo. They become complacent. Sometimes a little chaos is needed to shake things up and make them realize that they are being controlled.”

  “And you think that violence is the way to go?”

  Mom shook her head. “I understand your anger, but you really need to put it aside and listen to me. No, violence isn’t always the answer, but sometimes it is necessary. Do you think the people at Gene-Pharm would hesitate to kill you if they got the chance?”

  “They already did,” I pointed out.

  “Then you see…wait, what?”

  I may have left out some details when I filled her in on what happened while Wesley and I were on the run. She knew about the bullet that turned me full zom, but not about what Lewis did.

  She took a step toward me, reaching out a hand to take hold of my chin. She made me look her in the eyes. “What didn’t you tell me?”

  “Breton had his guy kill me. It was the first time the X01 kicked in.”

  Her jaw tensed. “How?”

  “I was strangled.”

  Mom looked livid. “And the one who
did it?”

  “He’s long dead. He took Breton senior out too.”

  She turned away, breathing hard. What right did she have to be angry? After everything she said and done, now wasn’t the time to start acting like a mother.

  She snapped her fingers at Bishop, whispering something in his ear. He nodded and left the room. We were currently in a lab. Two guys in white lab coats were working on something in the corner. Were these all Dad’s experiments? I wondered if they had more zombies here too. They seemed to have plenty when they were testing me.

  “What was that about?” I asked, when Mom returned to my side.

  “Nothing. Shall we continue the tour?”

  “I’d rather just leave.”

  “To go where?”

  “Anywhere but here.”

  She nodded slowly. “Back to him. Why am I not surprised? No matter what happens, Tom always comes up smelling of roses. He fakes his own death and you run back to his side. He started a goddamn zombie plague and is celebrated as the lead scientist who saved the country!”

  “You hate him,” I said. “You really hate him.”

  She glared at me. “I spent twenty years of my life playing the dutiful wife to that man. Do you think I wanted that? You think I didn’t have other plans? I was in training to take over Chaos from ten years old. It was supposed to be a simple assignment, find someone in Gene-Pharm to turn to our side. Even after he knew what they were, what they were capable of, he still wouldn’t choose our side. Whenever I brought Chaos up, obviously I didn’t tell him I was part of it, he would get all high and mighty. He is a narcissist. Everything is a problem and only he, the great Tom DeLuise can solve it. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him in his sleep.”

  “That’s not my fault. What do you want from me? I think you are both as bad as each other.”

  She gripped my arm, fingers digging into my flesh. “We are not the same. I need to know that you are on my side, Jenna. That you’re not going to go running back to your father the first chance you get.”