Impact (6 page)

“We’ll be fine,” she said.

I could see the hidden emotion behind Lucas’s words. Val swallowed hard, and I knew she noticed it too. I hated all the drama and wished Kate and Lucas hadn’t hooked up. It made everything weird and awkward for Val, and we didn’t need a soap opera getting in the way of our fight for survival. None of us could afford to be distracted. She pretended she didn’t care, but the look on her face when Kate and Lucas were flirting made it obvious that she cared a great deal. Tension was definitely in the air between Val and Lucas. I didn’t know exactly what had happened between them, because they didn’t exactly blurt everything out into the open. I wasn’t even sure why they’d broken up, because they both seemed to care about each other, even though they both denied it.

“Right this way, folks,” Asia said.

Our group followed her into the corridor. I stepped over a few beams and some loose concrete, wondering why a hybrid would stay in a building that was obviously about to be turned into ruins. Surely it’s got something better to do than stalking us and risking being crushed, I thought. On the other hand, I was glad it was there so we could dispose of it; we couldn’t let one of those things get loose. Hybrids were dangerous, and they could stalk humans like no other zombie, even plan a premeditated murder. Not only did I want to save some unsuspecting human from its attack, but we also had to prevent the virus from spreading. We weren’t sure how all of it worked, but it was far too risky to let a known hybrid wander around in the world. For that reason, we had to try to kill every one we saw. 

When we got to the end of the hall, I shined my light down on the floor and spotted a bunch of footprints in the white dust.

“Look at that,” Nick said. “Those prints are fresh.”

“And they’re not ours,” Kate said. “We didn’t even walk over there.”

“Something
is
up here with us,” Asia muttered. “From the looks of it, there’re more than one.”

I was unsettled by the thought. We’d killed their creator, and I was sure they were out for revenge—not to mention a fresh meal.

“They’ve gotta be hiding somewhere, and I intend to find out where,” Nick said, pointing his gun down the corridor that swung to the left.

“I’ll wait here,” Jackie said.

“No, Jackie,” I said. “Come with us. It isn’t safe for you to be alone with—”

“Somebody needs to stand guard. We can’t have one of those things creeping down the hall to where Lucas and the others are.”

I turned to face Nick. “If she’s staying, so am I. You have more than enough manpower, and I won’t leave her here by herself.”

“You should go with them, Dean,” she urged. “I’ll be fine.”

“No,” I retorted, refusing to budge. “No one can be left alone.” That was true, but she had that calculating look on her face, and I also had to wonder what she was up to.

“Okay,” Nick said. “You two stand guard here. Holler if you need us.”

With that, the group took off down the hall.

A door creaked open. My breathing quickened, and I pointed my gun.

“Jackie...” a voice whispered.

“Get back inside,” Jackie said.

“You know her?” I asked. “Is that why you were trying to get rid of me?”

“I just saw her,” she replied. “I have to meet with her alone.”

“Just bring her with us. If she’s your friend, the others will—”

“They won’t understand,” she said, grabbing my arm and staring at me intensely. “She’s a hybrid, Dean. They’ll kill her.”

“But—”

Before I could say another word, Jackie rushed into the room, and I was right on her heels. I shined my light around and caught sight of the hybrid, the zombified person who had called Jackie’s name. Instinctively, I pointed my gun.

The hybrid covered her face, and Jackie stepped in front of her, as if to protect her.

“Move, Jackie,” I said. “It isn’t safe. We have to do this.”

“No! She’s just a victim of Charlie’s, like me. She’s not like the others.”

“The others were trying to get you,” the hybrid said. “I led them off your trail, sent them the wrong way. Charlie was their only hope, and you took that away from them. They want revenge, but I’m not like that. When I heard Jackie’s voice, I knew I had to get her alone. I knew the rest of you would want to shoot me on sight, whether I saved your lives or not.”

I met Jackie’s gaze. “This is what hybrids do. They trick you and get your guard down.”

“I know her. I’m telling you she’s
not
like the others.”

The hybrid gazed at me with pleading eyes. “I know Charlie is dead, but with his notes, maybe I can be cured. Please take me with you to the scientists. I’ll be their lab rat, their live test subject. Surely they can find a cure if they have Jackie, me, the serum, and the notes. None of us wanted to turn out this way. We didn’t choose to be turned into...monsters.”

“It’s too dangerous,” I said, shaking my head.

“I won’t hurt you,” the girl begged.

“Even if I believe you, Nick or Lucas will shoot you the second they see you.” I turned to Jackie. “There’s no way we can help her.”

“Would you say that about Jackie?” the hybrid said.

I pressed my lips into a grim line.

The hybrid continued with her spiel. “Jackie was healed. If there was hope for her, there’s hope for me. Please don’t give me a death sentence by turning your back on me.”

“No,” I said. “I’ve seen what hybrids can do, up close and personal.” As I said the words, I thought back to being in the lab, staring in horror at hybrids who were feasting on a human body, looking up at me and telling me I would be the next thing on their menu. That horrible image was etched in my mind. The only thing that had kept me from killing Shawn, one of those hybrids, was that I thought he had information about my missing Jackie. Lucas shot him right in front of me, which ticked me off at the time, but the truth was, I had no use for hybrids.

Jackie turned to face me. “We can’t just desert her. She’s my friend.”

“We can’t take her, Jackie,” I said. “They’ll kill her. If she stays here, she has a better chance to live.”

Jackie bit her lip and looked at her hybrid friend. “He’s probably right, Erin. I’m so sorry, but I don’t think it’s smart to take you with us.”

“You could try to explain,” she said.

“I tried before. I pleaded and begged for Shawn’s life, but Lucas shot him in the head anyway. Even though they knew he had information on Jackie’s whereabouts, they still saw him as too great a risk. They won’t allow a hybrid to live.”

“I just want to be cured!” Erin cried. 

“They’re coming back,” Jackie whispered, looking around. “If they don’t see us out in the hall, they’ll come looking for us.”

“Then you’d better go,” she said.

“I’m so sorry,” Jackie said. “I wish there was a way, but they’ll never allow it, not in a million years. If we take you with us, they’ll put a bullet in your head.”

“It’s not fair, Jackie,” the hybrid said. “You got better, and now you don’t even care about the rest of us. Don’t I deserve to be cured?”

“Yes. Everyone does.”

Without another word, the hybrid pulled out a gun and aimed it right at me. “Jackie, I liked you. I really did, but now your boyfriend will be the first to go. You’re heartless, and neither of you deserve to live. I hate to do this to you, but this is the end of the road for you.”

“Erin, please don’t!” Jackie said.

I knew I could take the hybrid down, because she was frail and weak. Still, I didn’t want to hurt someone Jackie cared about. “Fine. We’ll take you,” I said in the sincerest voice I could muster. “We’ll find a way to get you a cure.”

Her eyes widened in shock as she fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. I couldn’t believe I’d so easily lulled her into a false sense of security. It was really just a stall tactic, enough of a distraction so she’d let her guard down. As soon as she lowered the gun, I suddenly struck the back of her hand with as much force as I could deliver. She screamed and dropped the weapon, and the door burst open.

“Hybrid!” Rex screamed.

“Kill it!” Buddy cried.

“No!” Jackie begged.

B
efore Jackie or I could explain who Erin was, her head was shattered by a bullet from Rex’s gun.

Jackie ran over to her fallen friend, with tears forming in her eyes. “Erin!” she said. She looked up at Rex. “She just wanted a cure.”

“I-I heard shouting,” he stuttered. “I thought you were in trouble.”

“C’mon. We’ve got better things to do than mourning dead brain-eaters,” Buddy said. 

“You have no brains for them to eat!” Jackie screamed at him. “You’re a bunch of trigger-happy jerks, and you had no right to—”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, putting my arm around her as another tear fell down her face. 

“I know she was going to kill me, but that was just the disease taking over,” Jackie whispered. “She didn’t mean to be that way. None of us did.”

“She’s in a better place now,” I said.

“I know she is. She never wanted the life Charlie forced on her.”

We hurried back to the room where Lucas was still busy working.

“Dean!” Nick said. “What happened? You just disappeared.”

“Jackie and I heard something and went to check it out, and we found Erin there.”

“Erin?”

“The hybrid. She was...Jackie’s friend. And Rex shot her.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Nick said, looking over at Jackie.

“Yeah, well, so am I,” she said, sniffling. “So am I.”

“We killed the other hybrids,” Kate said, “every single one of them.” She glanced around. “Where’s Asia? We thought she came back.”

I blinked and shrugged. “I haven’t seen her since she left with you.”

“Something’s happened to her,” Claire said, her voice frantic with worry. “Why does she always insist on running off alone? We’ve warned her about that so many times.”

“We’ve gotta go find her,” Nick said.

“I almost got the safe cracked,” Lucas said. “Gimme a second, and I’ll go with you.”

“It’s about time you got that thing opened,” Buddy said, leaning against the wall. “I still say we coulda done it a whole lot quicker with a gun.”

“Yeah, and summoned the lunch line, you idiot,” Nancy said. “Use your brain, man.”

“Not sure that’s possible,” Jackie mumbled, garnering a chuckle from a few of us.

“You can’t shoot open a safe!” Kate said. “This isn’t Hollywood.”

“He’s on the last number,” Nick said.

Lucas’s hand moved slowly over the dial to forty five. A bead of sweat dripped down his face. After a few tense seconds, he smiled.

Click
.

“We did it,” he said.

We all clapped and cheered.

Lucas reached into the safe and pulled out all kinds of notes, folders, and notebooks.

“Make sure we got the right stuff,” Val said.

I bit my lip hard. “Just take all of it.”

Lucas looked through some of the notes and nodded. “This is definitely the right stuff.” He stuffed them in a plastic bag, then put them in the backpack he’d brought along.

“Did you get everything?” Buddy asked.

He nodded. “Yup. As they say, it’s in the bag. Let’s go!”

We took off back down the hall and made our way to the place where Nick and the others had been, but there was no sign of Asia.

“Look, your little friend’s probably devoured already. I’m sorry to be so cruel, but we’ve really gotta go,” Buddy said.

Nick looked at him hard. “We leave no man or woman behind,” he said in a stern voice. “When they had Damon, our entire group charged to free him. Now check the floor again!”

Footsteps and moans echoed from down the hall. I pointed my gun out in front of me and took a deep breath as shadows lumbered up ahead.

Val nudged me. “There are too many to fight.”

“I know, but Nick’s right. We can’t leave Asia,” I said.

“We can’t stay either!” Buddy cried out. “Besides, if she was smart, she woulda headed out of this death trap.”

We were really at our wits’ end. If we stayed and fight, without proof that Asia was even there, we were putting all our lives and the cure at potentially unnecessary risk. My guess was that she got separated accidently and moved on. She was a tough cookie, but I feared for her safety with all the gang members, hybrids, and zombies infesting the place. We had to start looking for an exit, but I hoped we would run into her soon or that she’d be waiting for us outside.

“For once, I think the idiot is right,” Nick said. “Come on. Jackie, you lead the way,” he said, since he wasn’t sure which way to go.

Still upset about her friend, she bravely took charge and led us through some corridors, to a stairwell. Along the way, I watched for any movement, knowing some sort of enemy could jump out at us at any moment. We left the stairwell and entered a different part of the building.

I shined my flashlight up high and looked at the big crack spreading across the ceiling. Nick and Lucas let out a few curses. The crack grew in intensity, spreading out like a massive spider web. Seconds later, part of the ceiling dropped, and dust clouded everything around us. Like a scene out of one of those multimillion-dollar Hollywood productions, the concrete floor broke apart and fell down to the floors below. Steel bent and twisted, windows shattered, and doors were smashed into pancakes. The building groaned deeply as plaster and concrete rained down on us. I covered my head as tiny chunks of falling debris and plaster smacked me in the skull. Other than that, there was really no time to react. All I could think to do was grab Jackie’s hand and pull her the other way, then glance around to make sure the others were all right. By the time it all settled down, Claire was bleeding from a gash on her head, Lucas was carrying an unconscious Kate, and Val was coughing and struggling to breathe in all the dust. 

Jackie motioned us back the way we came.

“We can’t go that way!” I shouted, shaking my head.

“It’s the only way out,” she said, coughing. “Either we face that hungry horde of zombies or we die in this cave-in!”

Suddenly, as if we needed more trouble, a shadow emerged in the darkness.

“It’s just Nick,” Val said.