Our Undead (45 page)

Kerrick:
Don't worry. He's cool.

She looks at the pilots,
who are still standing on the outside with her, and then back at
everyone else. If the children are fine, then it must be okay. She
puts her gun back into its holster, coming down off the adrenaline,
but still feeling a little shaken.

Kerrick:
Aw, come on. And I thought I was the baby.

Erika:
Shut your mouth.

Kerrick's snide remark is
enough to get her to walk inside. She'd rather risk fighting a
zombie than let Kerrick win an argument any day of the week. She
does, however, keep both eyes on Abe while entering.

Pilot:
Excuse me, ma’am, but what do we do with the
hawk?

Erika:
Just leave it.

Surprised but obedient, the
pilot and co-pilot join the rest inside the white room. With
everyone inside, Erika activates the lift with her remote, and the
door growls shut. The whole room lowers itself back into the
ground, and so does the flight pad, bringing the helicopter
underground and sealing off the surface with imitation desert
turf.

Already half way down,
Sharp and Kerrick have made sure to inform Erika on everything that
has happened since they have been out. They give her an even
briefer version of the story Margaret told them and all the details
they can from the time they discovered the colossal mob of
infected. It's all pretty easy for her to accept and she takes in
all the information well. She has been through enough as a member
of The Mav-Elite and it has given her a strong
constitution.

Erika:
I'm
really sorry to hear that you guys had such a rough time out there.
I sympathize with you, I really do, but do you really think we're
going to be able to just walk this fella around without having
every person we pass by react the same way I did? I would hate to
see you have to try talking all of them down.

Sharp:
You
have a point. The grunts are pretty skittish aren't
they?

Margaret:
What can we do?

Erika:
I
can radio Professor Gavine. She can bring some men to pick him up.
I'm sure the doctors are gonna want to take a look at
him.

Margaret:
They're not going to hurt him are they?! I don't want to be
here if Abe isn't going to be safe. I'm serious. We can leave right
now. Just bring us back up.

Sharp:
Calm down. That won't be necessary. I'll make sure nothing
happens to him.

Sharp already has a sense
of the unusually deep connection shared between Margaret and
the
goof
. Usually
he wouldn't care, but there is something about the passion in her
face whenever she talks about the undead thing. Sharp had never
imagined that one of them could become domesticated, not those
slime drooling, clumsy, groaners that he had killed so many of.
Erika can clearly see the concern, not only in Margaret's face but
in Sharp's as well. They both look quite anxious, although,
probably for different reasons.

Erika:
Maybe I can tell her to leave the men
behind.

Erika unclasps the
transmitter from her vest and dials three digits. Everybody listens
to the ringing that comes from it, until it is interrupted by a
fair and unclear voice.

Erika:
Hi,
Gwen. Yea, I'm gonna need you to meet the boys and me at the
elevators in Block-A. Yea. They, um, brought back some survivors so
bring a truck, and make sure to come by yourself… Yes… Oh, and
Gwen, please bring a large bed sheet… Yes, that's right… Oh, you'll
see… Thanks… Okay, guys. She'll be meeting us down in the
shipping/receiving area.

A few more minutes of
descent, and the elevator comes to an abrupt stop.

Erika:
We're here.

Kerrick:
Problem with the door?

Erika:
I'm
keeping them closed until Gwen gets here, smart-ass. She should be
here any minute.

She gets a notification
seconds after finishing her sentence.

Erika:
…
and there she is… Hi, Gwen. We're here, inside of lift one… Yea,
we're gonna come out, but first you have to come in... Please, just
trust me, professor… Okay, bye… Guys, she's coming
inside.

Sharp:
Good.

Erika:
But
uh, maybe you might wanna shield that guy or turn him around or
something. Let's ease her into it, huh?

Billy takes initiative and
helps Abe turn around so that now he is facing the back wall of the
room. He nods at Erika, letting her know that it's okay to open up
the elevator. She presses a button on her controller, and the doors
open up to the ever-busy shipping and receiving area. They see Gwen
immediately, standing in the dead center of the split as the two
halves of the door separate. She is holding a large white sheet and
walks right in before the lift even gets the chance to open fully.
Right away, Erika triggers the door to close as soon as Gwen gets
inside.

Gwen:
Hello, all. These are the survivors. Welcome. So, what's the
problem?

Erika:
Uh,
right. Well, this is Margaret. This is Billy, and uh
*ahem*
this is
Abe.

Gwen:
It's
always nice to recover more survivors. I can't believe there was
anybody still out there. Your foot…

Erika:
Yea, she's got a break in her ankle, pretty bad they tell
me.

Gwen:
I'm
sorry about that, but it could've been worse, much worse. Uhmm,
might I ask, what is so fascinating about that back
wall?

She is referring to Abe,
who is still standing with his back turned away from
her.

Erika:
Yea, that's why I told you to bring the sheet. See, the thing
about Abe is…

Erika signals for Billy to
turn Abe around. Gwen recoils with shock and surprise when she sees
what he looks like from the front.

The large elevator doors,
once again, get to whirring open, and the group of people walk out
and down its ramp. Everyone tries to retain calm expressions, like
bad actors, pretending as if one of them
isn't
covered down to his knees with
a white bed sheet, but it's hard enough not grabbing any attention
when their group looks completely beaten up in the first place.
Luckily, a transport truck is not too far away, waiting for them at
the bottom of the ramp, with a man sitting in the driver's
seat.

Erika:
I
thought I asked you to come alone.

Gwen:
I'm
truly sorry about that. I didn't realize the magnitude of the
situation. Bring him around back.

The others walk around to
the back, and Gwen stops at the driver's side window.

Driver:
More survivors, that's great! What's that one guy's
problem?

Gwen:
Stage fright. You'll be taking us to the Care Centre first,
then to Lab D-9. I'll be riding in the back with the
others.

The driver finds her answer
strange but doesn't dare to question his superior. He nods, and
Gwen makes her way to the back. Everyone is already sitting on the
benches inside, except for the pilots.

Pilot:
Ma’am, this is our first time here. I believe we have to sign
in.

Gwen:
That's right. Registration is right over
there.

Pilot:
Thank you, ma’am.

The pair of flyboys salute
the professor and their former travelling companions and start for
the Main Administrative Office. Gwen joins the rest of the group in
the back of the truck, and the driver pulls off for the Care
Centre. When they pull up to it, the driver stops and lets his
passengers know that they have arrived. With everyone still seated
in the back, Gwen delegates.

Gwen:
Erika, if you can just stay with her, make sure she gets
taken care of...

Erika:
Hm?
Oh, sure. No problem.

Margaret:
What's happening?

Gwen:
You're going to get off here and get your ankle fixed
up.

Margaret:
Just me? Where are the rest of you going?

Gwen:
I'm
taking your… friend.. to another laboratory where we have the
proper tools to tend to his specific needs.

Gwen tries to be as vague
as possible. They may be sitting in the back, but the driver is
still within hearing range. Margaret knows, however, that the
"friend" Professor Gavine is talking about is Abe.

Margaret:
What are you gonna do? You're not gonna hurt him are
you?

Feeling the fear in
Margaret's voice, Gwen brings her voice down to a low whisper and
signals for Margaret to do the same.

Gwen:
I
couldn't hurt him if I wanted to. The infected are incapable of
feeling pain, but-

Margaret:
First of all, how do you know that? Are you infected? I don't
want him dismembered, or killed in the name of your research. I
don't want one cell on his body tampered with unless it's in an
effort to cure him.

Gwen:
I
promise you, no harm will come to him. All we're going to do is
take some blood samples. We've never come across a specimen quite
as docile as your friend. We just want to see if there are any
other significant differences between him and the
others.

Margaret:
But he won't listen to anyone else except me. He might be
uncomfortable with you. God forbid you do something wrong and he
lashes out at you, then you'll kill him for sure, and it'll be
cause I wasn't there to watch him.

Gwen is speechless at
Margaret's conviction...

Billy:
I'll go... I'll go with them. He listens to me too, for the
most part. I know how to handle him. I'll make sure nothing goes
wrong.

Another moment of silence
presents itself while Margaret thinks it over. It doesn't take long
for her to conclude that Billy would be fit to baby-sit in her
place.

Margaret:
Fine… It's okay.

Gwen:
Great. Go ahead and get that ankle casted. You'll feel a lot
better when you're finished.

Margaret:
Doubt it.

Erika hops out of the back
first and offers Margaret her arms for support. Margaret takes them
and gets herself lifted out of the back, using Erika to help stand
as they wait for Gwen and the others to leave.

Gwen:
Don't worry. You can trust me.

Margaret is inclined to
believe the professor, especially since Billy would be going with
her. She nods her head, letting Gwen know that it's all right and
that she does trust her, for now, then she let's Erika help her
into the Care Centre. When he hears that a couple of his passengers
have departed, the driver asks if everyone is ready to continue. He
has been listening the whole time, not by choice but because of
vicinity, and his conversing passengers had made it more than clear
to him that there is something strange, quite possibly nonhuman,
hiding under that big bed sheet. He may only be a lowly serviceman,
but he isn't an imbecile. Gwen tells him that everyone is ready and
that he may carry on.

They arrive at their next
stop a few minutes later, pulling up to the double doors with "LD9"
labeled overhead. When the truck comes to a full stop, Gwen is the
first to get out. She helps Billy with guiding Abe out of the truck
as well. With the sheet on his head, his stability is even worse
off than usual, and he stumbles in to Gwen, who instinctively
catches him in a hug to prevent him from falling. Remembering what
is hidden under the sheet, she pushes him away just as fast as she
caught him. He goes stumbling off in the opposite direction, but
Billy hops out of the truck just in time to keep him from falling
yet again.

Gwen:
(huffs)
Sorry about
that.

Billy:
(sighs)
It's all
right.

Gwen addresses the men
still sitting in the truck.

Gwen:
Will
the two of you be joining us?

Kerrick:
We most definitely will
not
be joining you. It's time to
get something hearty in this stomach of mine.
Driver!
To the
nearest cafeteria!

Driver:
Yes, sir.

With that, Sharp and
Kerrick bid Gwen and Billy farewell, and the truck pulls away from
the lab, leaving them at its entrance. Inside of the truck, Kerrick
leans his head back against the inside wall and exhales an extended
breath, satisfied with his last few days of work. Sharp, on the
other hand, does not look quite as unwound.