Ominous Ordeal (Jane Zombie Chronicles Book 5)

by Gayle Katz

  “What happens to them?”

  “They continue their transition and turn into zombies, or their bodies just give out and they die, but we’re hopeful that you’re strong enough to make it through the medication regime. It’s going to be painful, really painful. Think of it as punishment for being such a jerk earlier.”

  “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

  “But you didn’t. Your mistake.”

  I feel a wave of something toxic making its way through my body and I’m starting to feel nauseated. “What happens if I make it through?”

  “We’re not exactly sure. I’m a nice guy so here’s a tip. Just try to relax. If you need rest, don’t fight it. Your body will need time to adjust to your new state of being. Don’t worry about anything. We’ll take good care of you.” I see a smug look cross his face.

  “Please stop,” I plead.

  Malik ignores my plea and instead proceeds with the second injection. I see one of them turn to the other and move his lips, “Now we wait. Let’s see if her body assimilates these serums or rejects them. If she survives, Brie will be pleased. If she doesn’t, nothing lost.”

  Chapter 13

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  I must have dozed off because when I wake up, I’m no longer strapped to the exam table. Able to move my limbs again, I’m back in a new cage. I’m not surprised, but definitely feel dejected. When is this nightmare going to end?

  I’m surrounded by zombies in other cages. They’re going nuts, making their bloodcurdling retching sounds, so I guess I’m not one of them… yet. I look around for my friend.

  “Cate? Are you here?”

  No response.

  I try to look at each of the holding cells to see if she’s here. Each cage is holding a different monster and none of them seem to be Cate, unless she turned into one of them. Hoping for the best, I decide to stay positive. She might be lying down. She might be out of her mind. She might be unconscious. I don’t know where she is and I’m scared. She seemed like such a nice person, and I would hate if anything else bad happened to her.

  “Cate! Where are you? Are you here? Answer me.”

  Still no response.

  “Ca—”

  I stop talking when I see Brie walk into the room.

  “She’s not here.”

  “What?”

  “I heard you calling to Cate.”

  “And?”

  “And she’s not here.” Brie walks in front of my cage and I can see that something is different about her. She looks haggard, not as put together as she usually appears.

  “Where is she?”

  Brie stares at me. She doesn’t say a word.

  “Don’t just stand there! Tell me! Where is she?”

  “She didn’t make it.”

  “Didn’t make it?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

  “She’s gone.”

  “You mean dead, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why? Why would you do that? You took advantage of her kindness and then you killed her!”

  “Not at all. She gave her life in pursuit of a higher calling – finding the cure. She died for the greater good so that the rest of us would be better off.”

  “The ‘greater good’? ‘Better off’? Just admit it, you murdered her.” The anger is boiling within me. I didn’t know Cate well, but what I did know of her was sweet and innocent. It was a mistake that she was here. She and her family didn’t deserve what happened to them. Brie is playing God and she has no right. With all of these thoughts and feelings swirling around in my brain, I can’t seem to control myself. “How do you think she felt when you killed her?”

  She just stands there.

  “How would you feel if I killed you?” I rush the bars of my cage and try to grab her.

  “How are you feeling?” She changes the topic of the conversation abruptly, maintaining her calm demeanor.

  “How do you think I feel? Why don’t you come in here with me so I can show you? Does it even matter to you?”

  “Of course it does. I want my patients to survive the change and become stronger.”

  “Your patients? Is that how you’re referring to people forced under your thumb now?”

  “Sorry. Sorry. I apologize for the lab lingo. Sometimes it just slips out.”

  “It doesn’t just slip out. It’s honesty. That’s how you really feel. I’m not even a human being to you, am I? I’m just a lab rat. One day you’re gonna find out I’m not your patient. You might think you’re all high and mighty because you have whatever cause you’re hiding behind, but just in case you’ve forgotten, I am a person.”

  “Yes. Yes. Of course. I apologize.”

  “Yeah, sure you’re sorry. I imagine it’s a tough job, playing God and all.”

  “Listen, no one else is coming up with a better cure that works for everyone. If you think I’m trying to create my own Frankenstein monster, fine, but there are real people dying from this zombie plague. That’s why you’re here. That’s why we’re running these experiments. Think about it. If we perfect this cure, everyone won’t die. Some will survive. They’ll be able to fight the virus, evolve, and grow stronger.”

  “Right. You’re touting a cure when it’s really something else completely.”

  “I know you don’t believe me yet…”

  “Why would I believe you, or anything you say? You’re a liar. You can’t even keep the story straight about your arm.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You told me you lost it in a zombie attack with Lance, but your crony says you were born like that. So which is it? Or do you have a completely different story now? I know it might be hard to keep all of your lies straight.” Despite the pain of losing my one potential ally surging through me, I stand up to make my point.

  “As I was saying, I know you don’t believe me yet, but I hope to be one of the people who evolves.”

  “What? Why? Why would you put yourself through torture like that?”

  “Why? Isn’t it obvious?” She holds up her shoulder and what’s remaining of her left arm. “If we can make this work, not only can we harness the good from the zombie gene, but also repair any human defects. That’s perfection! It’s better than a cure. Can’t you see that?”

  “No! I can’t! You’re tinkering around with nature. Designing a better human will have other unforeseen implications. I would think that as a scientist, you’d see that this type of experimentation comes with its own set of health and environmental problems.”

  “For what we hope to attain, it’s worth the risk.”

  “Is it? Are you prepared for all of the new diseases and plagues that come from your need for perfection? No, you’re probably not. How can you possibly deal with something you’re not prepared for? You can’t! Face it, humans come in all shapes and sizes and we’re already perfect just as we are.”

  “This is not perfect.” She holds up her arm. “Do you know how many patients we’ve gone through? How many experiments we’ve run? Failure like this is disappointing and frustrating, but we have to keep going. I—We can’t stop now. We’ve invested too much. It killed me to destroy samples and inject people with concoctions that probably wouldn’t work, but you have to start somewhere. Look at my hair! It was spot-on for your color, but now it’s turning gray and falling out.”

  “That’s why this whole thing is a farce. You shouldn’t be messing with peoples’ genetic codes, even your own. It’s dangerous.”

  “If I can fix it, I can reverse what happened. My hair will be perfect again and my arm… I’ll have an arm.”

  “You still don’t get it, do you? It’s only an arm. Doctors can set you up with a prosthetic.”

  “How dare you judge me with two of your own. A fake arm is unacceptable. I only want my arm. I deserve my arm.”

  “So you
’re willing to risk your life and the lives of everyone else for an arm?”

  “You think on such small terms. It’s not just an arm, it’s more than that, much more. It’s freedom to do whatever we want without fear. It’s living above and beyond, experiencing everything we’ve ever wanted without any imposed limitations. If this works, there’ll be nothing we won’t be able to do.”

  “Right. If we survive the process… and that’s a big IF.”

  “Right, but if we don’t, our lives weren’t worth much, anyway.”

  “That’s fine for you, but how can you decide that for someone else? You don’t have the right to create life or take it away–”

  “You’re forgetting that I have to go through the transition, too. I’m not above it. I’m not putting others through something that I’m not going to go through myself.”

  “Then you should have started by testing on yourself, not on me, not on Cate, not on other people.”

  “I have to perfect the process first.”

  “By promising people you’re going to find a cure, and then using them as lab rats, and letting them die?”

  “You’re good. I can see that brain of yours is still functioning well. Plus, with everything you’ve been through, the fact you were able to escape earlier tells me your mind is sharp and that’s a very good sign.” Brie changes the topic quickly.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You also managed to steal some sensitive documents, but you dropped some of them when we shot you. As a token of good faith, I’m going to give them to you. I want you to read them and learn more about what we’re doing here. Maybe you’ll come around. The Professor is wise.”

  “Wise? I don’t think so. Smart? Yes. Cunning? Yes. Wise – no way. It doesn’t matter anymore because you and your company transformed him into something evil. You turned him into a monster.”

  “A monster? No. Misunderstood, maybe. Perhaps reading through these papers will help you broaden your narrow, small-minded way of thinking.”

  “How did you even get your hands on these sensitive documents? The authorities should have them.”

  “Just open your mind and read them. It wasn’t just about curing cancer. It was about healing the body from all sickness and any deformities. Making humans better and more efficient machines. We’re just trying to continue his research and achieve his vision. Why stop at curing cancer when there’s so much sickness running rampant?”

  “If he couldn’t do it, what makes you think you can?”

  “Because we have his notes and no one to answer to. And I was his assistant for a time while he was contracted by Scrycor. It gives me an advantage that no one else has. If I can make this happen, the world will shower me with the recognition I deserve.”

  “Your vanity makes me sick. What happens if you fail?”

  “I won’t.”

  “More people are going to die. How do you even sleep at night?”

  “I sleep just fine, thank you. I’m doing good work here. Just because you can’t see it yet isn’t my problem. There are powerful people bent on seeing me succeed,” Brie says.

  “Powerful people? Who are you talking about? Who are these powerful people?”

  She just looks at me. “You’ll see soon enough,” she says as she takes her leave.

  Once she’s gone, I sit down, try to block out the zombies making noise around me, and open the folder with the

  Professor’s notes. There are bloody, black smudges all over most of the pages.

  Chapter 14

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  The first page is just a flurry of notes. The Professor talks about the arguments he was having with the military about his research.

  “The military detail visited today. They’re adamant about getting my research now that we’ve managed to cure the CEO of Scrycor. I don’t know if they meant it or not, but the head guy came within inches close to my face, invading my personal space. It felt like he was threatening me, but he didn’t come right out and say it. I got the message, though. They want me to work faster.”

  I don’t get it. The Professor was such a hotshot who thought he was smarter than everyone else. Why would he let anyone push him around?

  “I’m doing my best to meet their deadlines, but it wasn’t good enough. They decided to assign a few of their own researchers to help me move forward faster. Given their skill level and their lack of attention to detail, I’m hesitant to give them anything more than busy-work.

  “I don’t know how many times I have to tell them – you can’t just tinker with people’s DNA. You need to do research. You not only have to find the right genes on the right chromosomes, but also find the right entry points to slice and splice properly. Without the proper planning, bad things can happen. They don’t want to listen. It’s like I’m talking to a wall.

  “We have a new subject to test on, but it’s much too early to begin human trials.”

  The next few pages talk about the actual cure, but it’s in science-speak so I don’t understand what I’m reading. A few more pages in, the Professor starts journaling about the spreading infection.

  “We began his gene editing therapy where we thought it would make him stronger and more powerful. I knew we were venturing into uncharted territory and didn’t know what to expect. What we did could help him, do nothing at all, or cause harm – and I’m sorry to say that’s what it did. Even with all of the planning, we were so wrong. We wanted to help and only did the opposite. His body was getting stronger, but he started to devolve into… I’m not sure what. He began to lose the ability to speak. His face became pale. And he became violent. So violent that we had to strap him down. He’s also bleeding, but he’s not cut or injured. I don’t know what’s happening.”

  Included with his notes is a short letter from Scrycor pulling his funding and requesting all of his research and notes.

  “Dear Professor Benjamin Carter,

  This letter serves as the official notice of termination of your research grant.

  While we do not require you to pay back any of the support we’ve issued, you must turn over your equipment, notes, and research no later than the end of the month.”

  The letter goes on stating legal mumbo jumbo about docking his pay, losing his tenure, and other threatening actions that might ensue should he not follow instructions, but the Professor doesn’t seem to pay any attention to their bluster, at least according to his notes.

  “I don’t care if Scrycor isn’t supporting me anymore. What’s most important is that I help this young man reclaim his life. I’m the reason he’s like this and I alone have to fix it. And no one, not even the Fixers at Scrycor, are going to stop me.”

  By this point, his handwriting is starting to get messy. I guess he’s stressed, knowing that someone’s life is depending solely upon him.

  “Things aren’t going well. I concocted a serum that might help, but before I could inject him, he bit me. He really took a chunk out of me. I was bleeding everywhere. And I saw him with my flesh in his mouth. I was frightened, stunned! I finally managed to take control and introduced the serum into his bloodstream. He seems to be getting better. And now I have to create another dose for myself.”

  “I made another dose, but my hands were shaking the entire time. I’m also having trouble focusing. It’s like I’m in a fog. Not a good feeling, but I have to fight through it. After injecting myself with the serum, things got a little better. Not much, though.”

  Oh my. As I’m reading through his notes, his already sloppy handwriting is becoming even more erratic. It looks like as he’s writing, he can’t keep his body steady, thus the difficult-to-read, oddly pointed letters.

  “Out of nowhere, I’m bleeding, too. I might not be able to continue these logs. My hands are shaking again and I’m bleeding all over my papers. I can’t seem to staunch the wounds, either. I tried stopping the injections and the bleeding stopped, but then something worse started to happen. I began hearing vo
ices and my body seemed to move on its own. I didn’t want to lose complete control of my mind and my body so I was forced to take another dose. What I’ve created is far from a cure – it’s maybe a temporary inoculant, but the side effects are almost as bad as the virus. What have I done?”

  There’s more written in his log, but his handwriting is too frantic and I can’t make out any of the words. I guess that he was trying to convey his thoughts, but the scribble and the large smudges in front of me show that he was having major trouble communicating. The infection might have already spread to his brain at this point.

  Also in the folder are emails from Scrycor distancing themselves from the Professor, as well as from the entire university after the infection began to spread. Reading more of the emails, they were the ones who recommended destroying the school after no viable cure was found, probably to get rid of any evidence tying them to the outbreak.

  I guess Brie or someone else managed to ransack the Professor’s office after he was killed, but before the bombs dropped, to steal his research.

  Chapter 15

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  I hear a metal click and a door creak. I stand up to figure out what going on. “Hello? Who’s there?” My eyes widen. What’s going on? I look around and don’t see anything out of the ordinary, except the zombies stumbling around, of course. The lighting in the room is dim, but I can see their shadows lurking about, accompanied by their horrible sounds.

  “Help me…” a man’s voice weakly groans.

  Startled by the request, I reply, “Where are you?” With all of the other noise in the room, I can’t tell where the voice is coming from. I’m looking around, but not seeing anyone.

  “In the corner cage, please help me…”

  I turn to the cage door and notice that the latch is no longer secure. That’s strange. Who opened it? I didn’t see anyone, although I was nose-deep in the Professor’s folder. It’s probably a trap, but I can’t ignore someone asking for help.