Blood Water (4 page)

A universe of water. The sound was what shocked
him most. Above the roar of the current and his own
thrashing limbs, there were other sounds – sounds he
couldn't place – sounds that didn't seem to make any
sense. He didn't know how much oxygen he had in his
lungs but it was surely not enough to keep him alive
for more than another minute or so. If he'd had more
of a warning, he might have been able to take a
bigger breath. He refused to believe it didn't matter
any more, that it was irrelevant now. If only he could
reach the bank and haul himself out of the raging
force that had engulfed him . . . But that wasn't his
only concern. The thing that was fastened to his face
was now moving down over his top lip. He had no idea
what it was, or what it wanted, but he wished it would
go away.

His lungs were heaving, the pounding in his head
was increasing, but he became aware of the bank to his
left. As luck would have it, the current seemed to be
pushing him towards it; as it came close, he reached out
and grabbed a tree root, anchoring himself to it, then
pulling himself upwards with every ounce of strength.
Up and up, and all at once the dull roar was gone, air
and sound exploded around him and he sucked in a
huge lungful of air, then another and another; then the
water rose up and he got a mouthful of it.

Suddenly the black slug-thing shot into his mouth,
making him choke, then clutch his throat; he lost his
grip on the root and was pulled back under the water.
As he twisted and turned beneath the surface, trying
simultaneously to swim to the side and reach into his
mouth to find the slug, a strange feeling came over
him: a fuzziness, a wave of confusion and something
utterly foreign. There was an awful, alien sensation of
something moving about in his head, as if someone
had reached in a hand and was rummaging around.
He was paralysed now, unable to struggle, unable to
do anything but drift down towards the river bed, his
eyes open, staring, disbelieving, muddy water gushing
into his lungs. His head felt like it was expanding, ready
to burst at any second from the pressure. Incredibly,
however, he didn't feel like he was dying. Quite the
opposite in fact.

The rain let up a little, and James no longer felt he
was going to crash at any moment. He slowed down,
realizing the lane that led to the research centre
would be coming up soon, and kept his eyes on the road
ahead. Sean saw it before he did – a huge stretch of
water that had collected across the road at the bottom
of the hill; it looked deep enough to swallow them
whole. James slowed the car further and stopped just
short of it.

'Great. Now what do we do?'

'We've got to go through,' Sean said.

'We could get stuck though . . . Engine could get
flooded.'

'We can't go back. This is the only way to get
home.'

And then, to limit their choices even further, a van
drove up behind them, blocking their retreat.

'Oh well,' James said, glancing in the rear-view mirror.
'Here we go.' He eased the accelerator down very gently
and the car started to move forward. At first everything
seemed fine: the water wasn't particularly deep, but then
the car seemed to dip down. Sean caught movement to
his left, and saw a small grey creature, possibly a squirrel,
dart up into a tree beside the road. His head throbbed,
and as he looked ahead again he was horrified to see
that the water was now rising over the top of the car.
He cried out to James, who looked at him as though
he'd gone mad.

'What's wrong?'

'What do you mean "What's wrong"? We're under
water! Look!'

James didn't seem to understand why Sean was
panicking. 'It's not that deep.'

'Not that deep? Are you mad?' Sean could see floating
detritus in the water – leaves, bits of twig, even a crisp
packet. Bizarrely, a large fish passed by, gazing through
the windscreen at them before swimming on. And then,
in an instant, the scene dissolved away and they were
no longer submerged but driving through the flood as
before.

Sean shook his head. 'Sorry,' he said. 'I imagined
it . . . I'm sorry.'

'Jesus, bro, the sooner we get you back home the
better.'

James drove on slowly, still worried that the engine
might become swamped and give up. Sean looked behind
to see that the van was still there, the driver no doubt
waiting to see if they made it through before committing
himself. Suddenly the water dropped away, and the
car was emerging from it. James accelerated carefully.
Minutes later a sign for the Lake Byrne Field Study
Centre appeared. They soon reached the small car park,
and James swung into his usual space. There were quite
a few vehicles parked nearby, though they could see no
signs of life and no lights shone inside the building even
though it was very gloomy.

'So what exactly do they do here?' Sean asked. 'You
never really said.'

'Oh, you know, we do courses on wildlife and lake
stuff,' James replied.

'Who are the courses for?'

'Anyone. We do special weekends for members of
the public, but we also do research on the fish in the
lake too. That's what I've been helping out with— Hey,'
James said, rushing on ahead of Sean. 'The door's open.
That's not right.'

They called through the open door to see if anyone
was around. No answer.

'Doesn't look like there's anyone in,' Sean said. 'What
should we do?'

'Well, we can't just stand here and get wet.'

'What if something's happened though?'

'Like what?'

'I don't know—'

Suddenly there was a sound like breaking glass from
somewhere inside the building.

'Come on,' Sean said, starting to turn away. 'I don't
like this, let's—'

Another crash of glass. They stood there, unable to
move. Finally James pushed the door further open.

'I don't think we should go in,' said Sean.

'Someone might be hurt.' James clearly expected him
to follow.

Sean had no reply to this, but he still didn't want to
go inside. He had a really bad feeling about the place,
but out here he was growing colder and wetter by the
minute. He had to get under cover, and if James was
determined to go in, maybe it would be all right.

It seemed somehow colder inside than out, and darker
too. The rain had penetrated the building, but not enough
to flood it; the floor was covered with only a thin layer
of water. They walked into the reception area and saw
a large notice board with posters and leaflets pinned to
it –
Walks with Wildlife
and
Discover Algae with the
Expert
were displayed amongst others detailing more
courses and activities. However, it was clear that nothing
was going on right now: the place was deathly quiet.

Sean followed James along a corridor, then into a long
room that looked like a laboratory. At first everything
seemed normal, but as they moved through to the far
end they saw smashed test tubes and other equipment
littering the floor.

'What happened here?' Sean asked, taking care not
to tread on any glass.

'Don't know,' James said. 'This is weird. I've never
seen anything like this before. The caretaker usually
keeps this place spotless, and everything was fine when
I left last Wednesday.' He went across to a whiteboard,
which had recently been rubbed clean. In front of this
was a desk covered with sheets of hastily scribbled notes
and what looked like chemical formulas.

'What's all that?' Sean came and stood beside his
brother, peering down at the notes. The two words that
seemed to crop up more than any others were 'specimen'
and 'host' – though the handwriting was often illegible:
perhaps the writer had been in a hurry.

'Must be important if they were rushing to write it
all down.' Sean picked up one of the pages and tried to
read the scrawled text.

'It looks like Dr Morrow's handwriting,' James said.

'Who?'

'He's one of the scientists here. I help him out with
his research from time to time.'

'What sort of research?'

'Oh, just . . . stuff. You know. Lake stuff. This,
though . . .' he said, leafing through the papers. 'This is
strange . . .'

A word written in red capital letters on some lined
paper caught Sean's attention: dangerous. He pointed it
out to James. They looked at each other in bemusement,
then both felt a chill – as if they were no longer alone.

'Did you hear something?' James asked.

'No, but I think . . .'

They turned round slowly and saw a figure in the
doorway. A bearded middle-aged man was watching
them; his white lab coat was smeared with what
looked like blood, and in one hand he held an axe.
His expression was blank. Sean watched his shoulders
rise and fall as he breathed, and wondered if he was
mentally ill. Then the man spoke.

'James . . . Sorry, I thought you were . . .' It was a
whisper, a painful rasp. 'Don't go.' The man seemed to
come to life now. He slowly lowered the axe and leaned
it against the door frame before coming forward as if
hoping they wouldn't notice it.

'Dr Morrow?' James had been working with the
scientist for several months, but he looked very different
now – tired and drawn.

'What's going on here?' Sean asked.

Morrow approached them slowly. He seemed in no
fit state to pose a threat, so they remained where they
were. He looked briefly at the notes on the table, his
eyebrows raised, then shook his head.

'It's gone.'

'What has?' James asked.

For a while there was no answer, then: 'The specimen.'

'Specimen?' Sean asked.

'Yes. It's gone.'

'No,' James said. 'How? What happened? Where's
everyone else?'

'Everyone else?' The man looked directly at him now,
as though seeing him for the first time. 'They're dead.
They're here, but . . . they're dead.'

James exchanged a worried look with his brother.

'For some reason it went crazy.'

'What is it?' Sean asked.

'It's an organism I discovered lying dormant in a pool
near the lake a few days ago. I couldn't identify it – it
appeared to be a type of sea slug, but after further study
it became clear that it was a new form of life entirely.
I dedicated all my time to examining it. Imagine my
surprise when I found that it could enter the bodies of
other animals and control them, even learn from them.
But it seemed restless; it didn't like being kept here. All
it needed was some idiot to come along and set it free.
And that's exactly what happened. Holland became
infected. I wondered if the specimen could take control
of a human being, but I . . . I never wanted it to happen.
Oh, God.'

'Infected?' James really didn't like what he was hearing,
and neither did his brother. Sean was remembering the
incident by the bank of the swollen stream, and was
beginning to wonder if it had been real after all.

'The specimen got inside Holland's body. It was able
to make him do anything it wanted. I locked myself
in my room when I saw what it was doing to him. He
killed the others in a terrible rage, then stormed out. I
waited until I was sure it was safe, then came out.'

'He didn't come after you?' Sean asked.

'No. Thank God.'

'This all sounds so . . .'

'Insane? Yes, it does, but that's because this thing is
something no one has had to deal with before. This is a
new life-form, or at least one we haven't identified yet.'

'I think I saw this Holland guy,' Sean said. 'By the
stream in the park. He looked terrible, like he was really
ill—'

'What? You've seen him?'

'I think so.'

'How did he get there? Unless . . . The river.'

'What about it?' James asked.

'While that thing was inside him Holland kept
screaming the word "home". Perhaps it made him
go back to find the pool where it had come from.
You . . . You didn't approach him, did you?'

'No. He mentioned the centre. I think he might
have been trying to tell me where he came from. Then
he slipped back into the water. Although before that
he was violently sick, with blood and everything, and
the . . . that thing fell out of his mouth.'

'The specimen? Perhaps it left his body because he
was no longer of any use . . . I can't think of any other
reason why it would leave its host.'

'I saw it move. It was disgusting. How did it get
inside him?'

'The same way it got out, I presume,' Morrow said.
'Through his mouth.'

'Oh God . . . Mr Phoenix, my teacher, said he might
have a look by the stream to check out my story . . . What
if—?'

'We have to find your teacher and make sure he hasn't
been infected. Where will he be now?'

'At school.'

'The High School?'

'Yes.'

Morrow and James exchanged concerned glances.

'There are hundreds of kids there right now,' James
said, 'and this rain is going to cut the whole town off
soon. They'll be trapped. If we go there we'll be trapped
too.'

'No, no, the school is on a hill, isn't it? It might be
cut off from the town but there'll still be the back roads.
We should get there as soon as we can. If your teacher is
infected, I can try and extract the creature before it does
too much damage.'

'How?'

There was an uneasy pause.

'I have no idea. I'll have to work that out when we
find it.'

Sean and James looked at each other, but in the
absence of a better plan they followed the scientist out
into the car park.

It made no sense. When he regained consciousness he
was already pulling himself up the bank. How was that
possible? He was like a spectator inside his own body.
He could hear himself gasping for air, could feel his
arms and legs move as he scrambled out of the raging water,
heaving his wet body with energy dredged from somewhere
within. Moments ago he'd been drowning, dying. Now he
was performing a feat of incredible strength – except it
didn't feel like he was doing it. It felt like someone else was.
He watched, perplexed, as his body continued to drag itself
up the muddy bank, seemingly of its own accord, until it
lay down on the ground and rested. He tried to concentrate
on moving his right hand – pain lanced across his head.
He moaned, although the sound seemed to stay inside,
in thought form. He tried moving a foot this time – and
again the same pain. It was as if there was a cold bar of
metal inside his brain that throbbed every time he tried to
do something.

What the hell has happened to me?
he wondered. And then
he remembered the slug thing, and the way it had slithered
into his mouth before he was lost in the floodwater.
Oh
God. It couldn't possibly . . .
He panicked, instinctively
trying to get to his feet and run – as if that would do him
any good. And he was in agony once again, and again he
screamed soundlessly, this time retreating further back
into his mind, into a dark corner where he could watch,
hoping that somehow someone would set him free.

They ran towards the car to get out of the rain.

'I had no idea the weather was so bad,' Morrow said.

'The bridge is flooded. The water is into the town
now. I've never seen it like this,' Sean told him. 'I don't
know how the rain can last this long. There hasn't been
a let-up to allow the water to drain away.'

'Looks like the specimen chose the perfect time to
escape. So much panic and confusion.'

'Where did you find it, Dr Morrow?' Sean asked as he
watched his brother struggle to get a clear view through
the windscreen.

'In a small pool near the caves beyond the lake. It
was dormant, asleep. I thought it was a rock at first, it
was so hard. But when I picked it up it must have sensed
the warmth in my hand and it just . . . came to life. I
don't know how long it had been like that, but some
marine life can remain almost lifeless for years and years
before reawakening.'

'Why didn't it infect you?'

'It was slow and sluggish to begin with. And unlike
Holland I was careful. I'd never seen anything like it
before so I kept it in a jar while I studied it, only taking
it out when I wanted to see how it behaved with other
creatures. I used a mask and handled it with forceps. It's
funny, I thought the precautions I was taking were silly.
I was treating it like any other animal when . . . when
things started to go wrong.'

'What other creatures did it infect?' Sean asked.

'Just fish and one of the pythons. I didn't have time to
test it on anything else, but I imagine the results would
have been similar . . . If it was able to absorb information
from those creatures – basic information like the way
they moved – imagine what it could learn from a human
being . . . Although now I don't think I want to imagine
that at all. Several good people have died. I would be quite
happy to find that thing and destroy it, even if it is one of
a kind. It's far too dangerous. Shame . . . It could be one
of the most important discoveries of the natural world . . .'

'But human lives come first,' James said.

'Yes, exactly. Besides, we have no idea what its agenda
is – if it has one.'

'Agenda? You mean it's not just killing for the sake
of it?'

'I don't think so – at least not completely. When it
was in Holland it seemed agitated, like it was looking
for something. Maybe it did just want to go home.
Maybe it killed them all because it was scared. God,
what have I done?'

'It's not your fault,' James said. 'You had no idea this
would happen.'

He drove as fast as he dared. Sean watched the road
ahead for dangers. They came to two more floods, both
times driving through carefully. Morrow stayed silent
for a while, sitting back in his seat and thinking, perhaps
formulating a plan.

The sky was growing ever darker and the rain was
heavier, if anything. Sean kept thinking of the river
water encroaching on the town, sliding hungrily towards
the shops. It could already be seeping into ground-floor
rooms, pouring into basements. What damage would it
do if it was allowed to rise even further? The visions that
went through his head were almost apocalyptic. He'd
seen news reports of floods around the world: people
on rooftops being winched up by helicopters, upside-down
cars floating down rivers, buildings collapsing,
possessions sinking or floating away for ever. It couldn't
possibly get that bad here, but if the rain didn't stop
soon, it would certainly cause devastation. He wondered
if his own house was in danger. He didn't think so. They
were quite a distance from the river, and higher up than
the town, but . . . Horrible thoughts came into his mind,
setting off his headache again.