Flesh-Eater (Book 1): Fear the Fever (17 page)

H
olding his ID card up to the scanner, Caleb stepped out into the sunlight, just as the little girl was attacked.  His instant reaction was to run towards her.  He had no idea what he would do once he got to her, he had no weapon on him, but he had to do something.

He watched in horror as the flesh-eater’s head exploded before his eyes, making him pause in his step.  The girl dropped to the ground, clutching her hand to her neck.  Someone was screaming, he could just hear it through the ringing in his ears from the gunshot.

One of the men, the one who had been yelling at the monitor, had picked the little girl up.  He was cradling her in his arms, and walking towards him.  He looked like he was speaking, but he couldn’t understand what he was saying.

The girl with the long auburn hair gripped his shirt sleeves, bringing his face down to her level.  “Are you a doctor?  Can you help her?” she asked desperately.

He took a moment to process what she had said.  “N-no,” he stammered, his brain clicking into gear.  “I mean, I’m not a doctor, but bring her inside, I’ll see what I can do.”  He led them inside and directed them down the corridor to the elevator while he secured the doors behind them.  “Third floor,” he said, hurrying to join them.

“There’s so much blood,” the other girl whispered, her voice catching in her throat.

“Put pressure on it,” Caleb said.  “Like this.”  He showed her where to place her hands.  “What’s her name?” he asked.

“Caitlyn,” she replied, and he remembered hearing someone yell that out when she was attacked.

“Hi, Caitlyn, I’m Caleb,” he said, smiling down at her.  “We’re going to get you all fixed up.”  Her breathing was laboured, but even so, she managed to lift the corners of her mouth into a small smile.

“Hi,” she uttered under her breath.

The elevator doors opened to a wide corridor lined with windows and doors.  “This way,” he said, walking out in front.  He opened the door to his lab.  “Colton, I need you to get the first aid kit from under my desk,” he instructed.  “Lay her on the table.”  He took off his coat, rolling up his sleeves to wash his hands.  “Caitlyn?  I’m just going to clean your cut, okay?”

She nodded, her eyelids drooping closed.

“I need you to stay with us now, Caitlyn.  Can you do that?” he asked, as he looked down at her frightened face.  She moved her head gingerly, letting him know she understood.  “This might hurt a little, okay?  I need you to be strong for me.”  He grabbed the first aid kit from Colton’s hands, pulling out the saline solution and a gauze swab.  He poured some over her wound, and more on the swab, gently dabbing at it.  Caitlyn sucked in a sharp breath.  “I know, I’m sorry sweetie, just a little more,” he said, trying to be even more gentle.

He sprayed some antiseptic over the gash, then secured another swab over it with some tape.

“She needs to rest.  There’s a couch through there,” he pointed out the door, across the hall.  “Someone should stay with her.  She’s lost a lot of blood…”

“I’ll go,” one of the girls said.

He watched them leave, waiting to speak until Caitlyn couldn’t hear him.  “I don’t know if I can help her.  I don’t have a cure…”

“That’s why we’re here,” the guy with the gun said.  “We think we can help.”

“W
e found one of your experiments torn to shreds in my shed,” Zeke continued, placing the container with the mama mouse on the table.  “This is all that was left of her.”

“We caught one of her babies too.”  Zuckerman shoved the jar onto the table alongside it, a scowl on his face.  “You plan this?” he demanded.

“What?  No!  We’d never!” Caleb said incredulously.  “Look around you.  Does it look like I’m breeding flesh-eating mice?  What would be the point of that?”  He took a breath, blowing it out slowly.  “We develop supplements to aide people, not to destroy them.”  He looked at the psychotic mouse racing around the jar, clawing at the glass and baring its tiny teeth.  “They’re a mix of amino acids, minerals and metabolites.  My supplements are completely harmless.  There’s no way they caused this.  None of the other test subjects have…” he trailed off, unable to take his eyes away from the tiny hairless terror.

“Can you run tests?  Find out what happened to make it that way?” Zeke asked.

“I can try,” Caleb answered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.  He picked up the tag, seeing the letter L engraved on the back.  “She escaped just over a week ago.  This helps, I know which supplement trial she was on.”

“There’s more,” Zeke said, pulling the collar of his tee down, exposing the tiny puncture wounds.

“You were bitten?” Caleb asked.

“You were bitten?!” Harper demanded.  “When?  Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Calm down, Harper.  I made Chad and Z promise not to say anything.  I didn’t want to worry you.”

“You knew about this?” Harper spat, glaring at the boys with her hands on her hips.

“I kept an eye on him, Harper.  You were never in any danger,” Chad said.

“Wait, I don’t understand,” Colton interrupted.  “You were bitten, but you didn’t turn into one of them?  How is that even possible?”

“I… I don’t know.  I thought maybe you could tell me,” Zeke said, perching on the table.  “Everyone we know who was either bitten or exposed to their blood, has become sick, died and then come back as one of them.”  He motioned to the group surrounding him.  “Except for us.  We’ve all been exposed to it, and not one of us has turned.”  He scratched the back of his neck.  “I’m the only one who’s been bitten, and I
did
get sick, but I never died.”

“What about Caitlyn?” Caleb asked.  “Has she been exposed too?”

They looked at each other.  “No,” Chad said, swallowing the lump in his throat.  “We don’t know if she’s like us.”

“Like us?” Harper asked.

“Immune.  We have to be, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Is that even possible?” she asked Caleb.  “Can we be immune to something we haven’t previously been exposed to?”

“Well, it depends on what it is we’re dealing with.  I guess it’s a possibility.”  He turned to Zeke.  “The only real way I’ll be able to know for sure, is if I do some tests.”

Zeke nodded, “I figured you’d say that.  I made them promise to bring me to you, even if I turned, so that you could use me to find a cure.”

“That’s very noble of you.”

“Not really, I’m just doing what anyone in my position would do,” Zeke said, pulling his sleeve up to expose his arm.  “Take as much blood as you need.  Caitlyn doesn’t have much time.”

“I
need to apologise for earlier.  I should’ve let you in straight away.  I’m sorry,” he said, busying himself with collecting his equipment.

“Don’t worry about it.  You were just trying to protect yourself.  We get it.”

“It doesn’t excuse what I did.  Caitlyn wouldn’t have been attacked if I’d opened the gates sooner.”

“It’s no-one’s fault.  What’s done is done.   We can’t change it now.  Let’s just focus on finding a way to make her better,” Zeke said, taking a seat at the table.

Caleb nodded.  “Okay.  I need you to tell me everything you know,” he said, inserting the needle into Zeke’s arm.

“Of course.  We think my father was the first to turn.  He was bitten by one of those babies before coming down with a fever.  He passed out and was taken to hospital.  They ran all sorts of tests but couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  He died,” Zeke stopped, taking a moment.  “They tried to revive him but it didn’t work.  Ma and me, we were saying our goodbyes, when he sat up and bit her arm.  He just clamped down, like she was a piece of steak.  I didn’t even think, I just picked up the first thing I could, and I swung it at him.  I crushed his skull,” his voice faltered as tears began to trickle down his face at the memories.

“Oh, Zeke,” Harper murmured, covering her mouth with her hand.  “I’m so sorry.”

“I, ah, I drove us back home, and that was when I saw Millie running away from another one.  I shot him.  She was too close and got covered in his blood.  Then Ma turned and I had to shoot her too.”  His shoulders slumped and he dropped his head into his hand, rubbing at his eyes.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Caleb said, pressing a bandage to his arm.

“We live on the neighbouring farm,” Harper began.  “I was outside with the dogs when there was a sound coming from the fields.  The dogs ran out to investigate and… they never made it back out alive.  There was a pack of them… my parents and our farmhands had all been out in the field.  They were all…” she couldn’t finish.

“That’s when we found her,” Zeke added.  “Then Millie turned too.”

“Who was Millie?” Colton asked.

“My sister,” Harper whispered, a pained expression on her face.

“Oh.  I’m sorry,” he said, wishing he hadn’t opened his mouth.

“We were on the bus heading out of town for an away game,” Chad took over, making his way to the table for his turn.  “One of our team mates had the fever when he got on the bus.  He turned on us.  We got away but went back to help.  We found two people still alive.  Our coach had been bitten on the leg, and we amputated, but it was too late.  He turned too.  Our friend had the fever even though he hadn’t been bitten.  We left him to get help.  We never made it back in time,” Chad said.  “When we got back to town, the whole place had shut down.  The hospital couldn’t help so we set out to find some answers of our own.  That’s when we met Tammy and she told us about Zeke’s father.”

“We found the mice, and the tag belonging to this place.  That’s how we ended up here,” Zeke explained.

“Sounds like you have had quite a time,” Caleb said.  “I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for you all.”

“Just tell us you can fix this, Doc,” Zuckerman said.  “So it’s not for nothing.”

“I’ll do my best.”  Caleb collected the samples and took them across to one of the other labs.  He took a dropper and extracted some of each sample, placing a drop of each into petri dishes.  He left them to process, while he went to extract a sample from both mice.  “I need someone to help me.  Here, put these gloves on.”  He threw a pair at Zeke.  “I need to get a sample of its blood.  Can you hold it down for me?”

“Sure.”

He hovered his hand above the mouse, waiting for the right moment.  He grabbed the tail and pulled it from the jar, as it jerked its body to and fro.  He managed to get it down on the table, one hand clamped over the neck, the other pinning down the rear end.

Caleb inserted the needle, pulling back the plunger.  “Okay, that should be enough.  You can put it back in the jar now.”

Zeke did as he was instructed.  “Now what?”

“Now, I run some tests.  You guys should relax.  Help yourselves to something to eat in the cafeteria downstairs if you like.  I’ll let you know, as soon as I know anything.”

“Thanks, Caleb.”

“No, thank you.  We have a real shot here, Zeke, and it’s all thanks to you.”

As Caleb walked to the lab, he quickly stopped in to check on Caitlyn.  “How’s she doing?” he asked Tammy, who was still sitting vigilantly by her side.

“She’s been sleeping the whole time.  I think the fever might be starting to take hold of her now, she’s been quite restless the last few minutes.”

“How long does it normally last for?  Before…”

“I don’t really know.  I haven’t actually seen anyone turn yet.”

Caleb nodded, “Oh, okay.”  He shifted uncomfortably.  “I, ah… I’m going to need to take a sample from her too.”

“Oh, of course.  Go ahead.”  She stepped away from the couch, making room for him to work.

“Thanks.  I’d better go run those tests now.  Hopefully I can help her before it’s too late.”

“You will,” Tammy said, a look of purpose on her face.  “I know it.”

C
olton had been watching Harper since he first saw her on the monitor, destroying the freaks.  There was something intriguing about a woman who could wield a weapon like that.  He waited until she had had something to eat, and was sitting at a table by herself.

“Harper, was it?  Mind if I join you?” he asked, taking a seat anyway.  “I watched you out there,” he motioned out the doors to the parking lot.  “You’re pretty badass.  You mind me asking what you do, or rather,
did
for a living?”

Harper raised an eyebrow, “why d’you want to know?”

“No reason, just curious.  I’ve never seen a girl fight like that before.”

“Well, that’s probably because we’ve never had the dead come back to life before.”

“Good point,” he grinned, leaning back in his chair.  “So you’re not military or anything like that?”

“Nope.”

“A cop?”

“Nope.”

He chuckled, “straight to the point.  I like that.”

Harper sighed, rolling her eyes.  “Are you seriously trying to hit on me right now?”

“What?”  His face reddened, and he shook his head, sitting straighter in his chair.  “No.  I mean, who would do that?  Right?”  Harper cocked her head to the side, folding her arms across her chest.  “I mean, not that anyone wouldn’t want to hit on you.  I’d
definitely
hit on you, it’s just…  I mean, that would be in bad taste, right?”  He fidgeted in his seat, this was not going as he had anticipated.  When he looked back at her, he saw that she was smirking, clearly enjoying his reaction.  “You’re fucking with me?” he asked, laughing and flicking the mop of hair off his face.

Harper laughed too.  “Yeah, I’m fucking with you.”

“Well, in that case…”

She grinned at him, leaning across the table as if about to divulge a big secret.  “I’m fucking with you, but you’re right.  It would be in poor taste, hitting on a girl amidst what could be the end of the world.”  She braced her hands on the table.  “Let’s get through the next few days first.  You can try your luck then.”  She winked at him, as she stood and walked out of the cafeteria, not giving him a chance to respond.

Colton chuckled to himself.  She was his kind of woman.

“She must like you,” Zeke said, joining him at the table along with Chad and Zuckerman.  “We haven’t really seen her smile much lately, let alone, laugh.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”  He rubbed his hand along his jaw, thinking about how to word what he was about to say.  “Look, I don’t wanna sound like a dick here, but,” he paused, searching for the words.  “Harper is… she’s our family.  Don’t go messing with her just for the hell of it, okay?  I know she comes across as this hard chick who can look after herself, and believe me, she can, but she’s also vulnerable right now.  She’s lost a lot these last few days, and the last thing she needs, is someone dicking her around.”

“Hey, I totally get it.  She just looked so sad, I wanted to make her smile,” Colton said, shrugging his shoulders.

Zeke eyed him, trying to decide if he believed him.

“We’re just protective of her, is all,” Chad jumped in.  “You’re a good guy, we can see that.”

“Thanks.  And don’t worry.  I won’t do anything to hurt her.”

“Damn right, you won’t,” Zeke said, unconvinced.

Harper popped her head around the doorframe.  “When you’re all done with your pissing contest, Caleb wants to see us in his lab.”  She turned on her heel and carried on down the corridor.

“How much of that did you hear?” Zeke asked, falling into step beside her.

“Enough.”  She sighed.  “I don’t need you fighting my battles, Zeke.  I’m a big girl.”

“I know.”

“Colton is harmless.  He’s just having a bit of fun.  In light of everything, I don’t see any harm in it.  Go easy on him, okay?”

Zeke smiled, “Sure.  I just want you to be happy, Harper.”

“I know.  It’s going to take some time, but I’ll get there.  We all will.”