Our Undead (44 page)

Gwen:
Yea,
strange, strange that even doctors have not been allowed into
Alyster's lab. I've been kicked out of there more times than I can
count, and your partner comes along and gets an all access
pass.

Erika:
He
said that he's just following orders. He rarely follows orders.
Holden can be a pretty threatening guy. Maybe
he's-

Gwen:
No.
Doctor Alyster is too smart to be threatened, even by your partner.
He would stop working entirely before letting someone into his
workplace, or compromising his comfort. If your boy is with
Alyster, then the old man must be in on it.

Erika:
You
should use that against The General. What's so special about Kush?
Why's he getting special treatment? Apply some
pressure.

Gwen:
I
think I will do that.

Erika:
Look, I wish I could've done more for you. I'll make sure to
keep my eyes and ears open, but I'd better get walking. I've got a
bit of a way to go. Although it would be damn funny to let those
guys get lost out there, I don't want to be late. Good luck in
D-9.

Gwen:
Right. Thanks.

Erika continues on her way
and Gwen watches her walk off before moving on to meet the
doctors.

<><><>

Doctor Alyster is standing
over his desk, looking down into Fausta's glass cage. His face is
lit by the light of two surrounding desk lamps. From here, he hears
the shudder of the sliding door and Holden's heavy approaching
footsteps. He addresses him without turning around.

Dr. Alyster:
Velcome back, Holden.

Only when Holden reaches
his side does Doctor Alyster turn his head up to look at him. His
hands are empty.

Dr. Alyster:
Did you bring miene sandvich?

Holden unzips his vest and
pulls out the last remaining wrapped sandwich from his inside
pocket. He hands it to the doctor.

Dr. Alyster:
Sanks for keeping it varm for me, alshought, I don't know
many people who like zheir cold-cuts heated.

Holden:
You need to get out more. How is Fausta coming
along?

Dr. Alyster:
Fabulously! Her hels hasn't decreased, as a matter of fact,
it seems to be
in
creasing.

Holden joins the doctor,
looking down on Fausta the mouse. The little ball of white fur is
staring back up at them, looking very spritely and
energized.

Dr. Alyster:
As you vitnessed earlier, Fausta vas able to break shrough
two peecess of sin vood at a time before feeling tired. Now, vhile
you vere just out, she has broken shrough shree peecess of vood,
and she does not show any sign of fatigue vhat so
evah.

Holden:
Progress… I should warn you. I met one of my team's members
in the cafeteria. She tried to interrogate me.

Dr. Alyster:
How do you know zhat she vas not merely being
curious?

Holden:
Because Blaze has no tact. She wanted to know more than she
let on, and it was clear that the doctors were the ones who wanted
her to do it. You should expect some tension. Maybe you should work
faster.

Dr. Alyster:
No!
I should not have to vorry.
You vill take care of anyone who attempts to introod. It is no
matter anyhow, I vill vait until tomorrow and zhen let Feleidah
know zhat it is time to test on zhe human zubjecks. For now,..
lukevarm cold-cuts!

The little man waddles off
to his messy desk to eat his sandwich, leaving Holden at the high
desk. He peers down with intrigue at the mouse. If the little one
survives the night, human testing would begin, and he would soon
know the true power the little parasite. So impatient, waiting for
Eternity to be perfected.

<><><>

The D-9 lab looks just like
the rest of the laboratories, except many beds are lined up in a
row to one side, all of them covered by curtains. Two security men
stand attentively at each side of the door. When she enters,
Professor Gavine spots Doctor Rohan where she usually sees him,
sitting at a high desk, looking into a microscope. She calls out to
him as she approaches.

Gwen:
So
Rohan, what was this about… a parasite was it?

Rohan:
We
listened to what that Blaze lady had to say and paid close
attention to the skeletal region of the patients. We ran cerebral
spinal fluid tests on two subjects, one of our fevered ones and one
that has already turned. It seems we missed a few things the first
time around. Remind me to apologize to that female super
soldier.

Gwen:
So,
what did you find then!?

Doctor Rohan slides one of
the microscopes over. Gwen takes it apprehensively and looks into
the scope.

Gwen:
A
parasite… There're so many. This… was in their spinal
fluid?

Rohan:
That's right.

Gwen:
So
you were right then. It's not the virus we thought it was… Have you
been able to figure out how it works?

Rohan:
That part we haven't figured out yet, but I think you're
missing something very important. Look again.

Gwen puts her eye back down
to the lens.

Rohan:
This is not a regular parasite, Gwen. There are human
technologies integrated into it. It's some kind of… I don't know,
cybernetic parasite. Among many other things, there is one thing
you must now know for certain.

Gwen:
This
was man made.

Rohan:
Aaaah, good.

Gwen:
Feleider… Son of a bitch. Where's is Doctor
Keung?

Rohan:
Tending to the patient that has already gone through the
metamorphosis. Tranquillizing.

Gwen walks over to one of
the beds and swishes the curtain open. Inside, a live zombie lays
face down on a hospital bed. She can't see its face because it sits
comfortably in the hole at the head of the mattress, but it's
entire body wriggles and shakes the bed. Fortunately, the harnesses
clasped tightly to its wrists, ankles and mid-section make it
impossible for it to get up. Doctor Keung acknowledges Gwen's
presence when she enters.

Keung:
Hello, doctor.

Gwen:
Hello. Rohan just informed me about your findings. Once you
both have finished letting go of the patients, you'll bring samples
of everything back to the lab in A-1, and we'll go into heavy
testing mode, all right?

Keung:
Great.

The body on the table
writhes, and then writhes with more vigor. With each second that
goes by, the zombie seems to be becoming livelier, until it starts
to shake the bed a little too chaotically.

Gwen:
Would you tranq this guy already?

Keung:
Mmhm, sorry.

Doctor Keung picks up a
syringe of tranquillizer and injects it into the back of the undead
patient's neck. It's movements gradually slow and become less
frantic, until finally, it becomes absolutely still.

Keung:
So,
when are you going to tell Feleider about this? I bet you can't
wait.

Gwen:
First thing tomorrow. I'm almost certain he already knows,
he
and
Doctor Alyster. I'll get to them in time. For now, I wanna
get a look at this thing. We'll test all night if we have to. The
more we know before I confront the general, the
better.

Keung:
I
hope I'm around to see it. I always miss your infamous
debates.

She answers him as she
walks out of the room.

Gwen:
Consider yourself lucky, Doctor. I'll see you two when you
get back to A-1.

Both Rohan and Keung offer
her salutations and continue tending to their business. Gwen walks
out of the office, nodding at the two sentry guards standing by as
she does.

<><><>

The desert air is
uncommonly warm for it being already well into the night. It
doesn't help that Erika is wearing so many layers. Her bra,
undershirt, t-shirt, jacket and vest would have her sweating
bullets if it weren't for the cool breeze that blows mild and
constant. She stands waiting in the mostly barren landscape, which
is now virtually covered in darkness. The only lights are the six
blinking beacons lining the border of the helicopter's landing pad,
about fifty feet away. Those, and the millions of stars scattered
about the sky.

A grey mist rises up the
side of Erika's body and past her face, eventually fading away into
the black. Her hand follows the trail of smoke up to her face. In
it, she holds a cigarette and places the butt in between her lips.
She takes a drag, and the tip burns bright orange. As she exhales,
she can hear a sputtering sound, still pretty far off but getting
closer.

Erika:
(huffs)
Finally…

She flicks the excess ash
from the end of her cigarette and looks up to the stars, searching
among them for her team. The sound grows louder, but the source
stays well hidden, camouflaged against the night sky. Soon, Erika
sees the helicopter's blinking lights almost right above her head.
It descends and makes a safe landing in the center of the pad.
Shortly after, Kerrick and Sharp can be seen jumping out, but then
Erika witnesses them helping out three more unfamiliar
faces.

Erika:
Who
the hell?

The group of five start
walking toward her. One of them is clearly a child, beside him, a
girl with an injury, and beside her, a man who looks to be injured
as well. The helicopter engine powers off, and the pilots hop out
and follow along.

Kerrick:
Why hello there, pretty lady.

Erika:
Hey, yourself. I see you brought back some extra baggage. Is
everyone all right?

Sharp:
We're not terrible. This is Billy, Margaret… and
Abe.

Erika:
Welcome, guys.

Erika can hardly see the
new arrival's faces in the dark of night, so her response is more
casual than one of our knowledge might expect. Billy, Margaret and
Abe all groan tiredly in unison.

Sharp:
They've been through a lot. This one's ankle is fractured.
She's gonna need a cast.

Erika:
I
guess we should get inside then.

Margaret:
Inside? Inside wha-

Erika activates the
elevator before Margaret can finish her sentence, and the large
room starts to rise up from the trembling ground. Like something
out of a movie, the sight of the metal box towering over them wakes
Margaret and Billy right out of the leftover grog from their naps
on the helicopter, and then the door begins to slide open. The
light from inside is so blinding that everyone has to shield their
eyes, everyone except Abe. When the doors finish opening, they
start walking in.

Kerrick:
Well, that was nice.

Erika:
Aaaw, was the light too bright for baby
Matty?

After reprimanding Kerrick,
Erika takes another drag of her cigarette and the smoke floats back
into Sharp's face. He fans it away, disgusted.

Sharp:
I'll never understand why you smoke that
garbage.

Erika:
I
like the burn.

She stops to take one last
drag before entering the elevator room and is about to flick the
butt, when Kerrick grabs her wrist.

Kerrick:
I
think there's enough on there for one more.

He takes the cigarette out
of her hand and takes a toke, finishing it right down to the butt,
then flicks it off into the desert. Kerrick and Erika share a
flirtatious glance while the others walk into the elevator
unnoticed by the two of them. Erika turns away from Kerrick, about
to take her first step into the room, when it finally becomes clear
to her. The brightness of the room reveals every member of the
group, and Erika sees Abe's true nature for the first time. Her
reaction is the same, if not faster than Sharp's, pulling out her
gun and aiming it straight for Abe's forehead.

Erika:
Shit, man!

Sharp:
Hey, now. It's all right, Blaze. He's…
safe.

Erika:
Sure, just like cigarettes are safe.

Kerrick walks by her and
into the room, patting her on the shoulder reassuringly as he
passes.