The Alpha Plague 3 (8 page)

Another glance down at the pulped mess on the driveway and Rhys laughed. “I think you’ve done that.” He shrugged and offered her a tight-lipped smile. “That was close.”

Before Larissa could reply the scream of more diseased sounded out behind them.
 

Rhys grabbed the two stool legs he’d dropped earlier and Larissa removed her second one from the side of the creature’s head.
 

At first they heard the patter of feet as it came around the side of the house. Seconds later four more diseased appeared. Arms out in front of them they sprinted with their usual clumsiness. Appearing as if on the verge of a fall, they ran with a forward tilt, but as always remained on their feet.
 

Although smarter than the movie zombies, when the diseased sensed prey they didn’t seem able to do anything but attack. They continued toward Rhys and Larissa at a flat out sprint.
 

Rhys picked the one at the front. He used the creature’s momentum against it and speared it in the centre of its face. The stool leg passed straight through it and out of the other side with a wet
squelch
. Rhys let go of his weapon and evaded the charging monster. It stumbled past him for several more steps before it fell to the ground, the pressure of the impact driving the stool leg all the way through its head. When he glanced at Larissa he saw she’d done the same with another one of the four.
 

Rhys and Larissa took another diseased each. Slower than the first two, the second pair seemed to approach with a modicum of caution.
 

The one that focused on Rhys snapped at the air between them. Its teeth clicked and it released a phlegmy death rattle before it lunged forward.
 

Although not as thick as his baseball bat Rhys swung for the diseased with the stool leg anyway. The
ting
of the thin and hollow pole rang out and a vibration ran all the way down to his tight grip. It dazed the thing and nothing more.
 

Rhys didn’t give it a chance to recover. He swung for it again and again. With his teeth clenched he swung and swung. Each hit struck on or around the creature’s temple.
 

After several heavy swings Rhys’ hands tingled from the vibrations. The monster swayed, clearly dazed by the attack.
 

Rhys seized his moment. With both hands on the stool leg he lunged the sharp end forward into the diseased’s eye. A shot of rancid air belched from the fresh hole.
 

After he’d jumped aside Rhys watched the monster fall to the ground face first. Like the other one he’d just killed the crash landing drove the pole farther into its head as it lay limp and lifeless.
 

When he looked across at Larissa he watched her lose it on the fourth and final diseased as she drove jab after jab after jab into its bloody face.
 

“Larissa,” Rhys said.
 

She continued to stab the thing.
 

“Larissa.”

Jab, jab, jab.

Rhys spoke louder. “Larissa!”

She finally stopped and looked at him. A deep frown crushed her face and she panted from the exertion.
 

“I think we’re done here.”

As one they both remained silent and listened. The horrible noise the things made was simultaneously the best and worst thing about them. Every time Rhys heard it, it sent ice through his veins, but at least they announced their arrival. Silence hung in the air.

After a few seconds Rhys turned back to Larissa. “Thank you for saving me.”

A sharp nod and the hatred Larissa had looked at him with since they’d crossed the river seemed to dilute ever so slightly. She almost smiled when she said, “Welcome.” Almost.

With a diseased by his feet Rhys squatted down and rifled through the things pockets.
 

“What are you
doing
?” Larissa asked.
 

“Looking for a phone.”

Larissa then dropped down and searched the two diseased she’d taken out. Rhys saw her pull a lighter from the pocket of one of them. A sturdy Zippo lighter, it clicked when she opened it and sparked when she struck the wheel. The flame seemed strong. She snapped it shut again and slipped it into her pocket.

Rhys checked the last of the five, the one that had jumped through the window to attack him, and he felt the small slab in its pocket. “Ah-ha.” He pulled the phone out. The screen had been cracked, but the green battery light on its side remained on. Rhys pressed the home button.
 

“Fuck it!”

“What?” Larissa asked.
 

“It’s one of the new ones.”

“The ones that need breath, voice, and skin scent recognition?”

“Yeah. A corpse won’t get you into one of these. You need to be living and breathing to access it. We could be here forever trying to find one of the old ones with just fingerprint access. I mean, who even has those phones anymore?”

Rhys threw the handset to the ground.

Chapter Ten

About sixteen weeks ago

It got worse every day for Vicky. The second the security guards stepped aside to let her into the Alpha Tower the anxious buzz in her stomach began. By lunchtime she’d lost her appetite. When she finally got ready to leave each day her guts writhed like she’d swallowed a bag of snakes. It took until well into the evening before she could climb into bed for another fitful night’s sleep.

All day, no matter what task she set her mind to, she could only think about the experiments that went on in the Alpha Tower’s penthouse. She watched every person who entered the building and thought about his or her equal over in The East. Innocents didn’t deserve to die for the sake of government paranoia.

Before she’d found out about the lab upstairs she would have stayed late if a job needed to be finished. Not anymore. The second it hit five o’clock Vicky left work. One day she even left her computer on in her haste to get out. She got a bollocking the next day for that one. Security risk … blah blah … waste of electricity … blah blah blah.
 

A swipe of her card through the card reader and she left the Alpha Tower for yet another day. When the main door opened she felt the fresh summer breeze and filled her lungs with a deep inhale. The sun, magnified by the bright windows in the city, blinded Vicky and she had to squint to see clearly. Her eyes already burned from lack of sleep so she fished around in her handbag for her sunglasses but couldn’t find them. She must have left them at home.

Vicky blinked repeatedly until she finally saw the unmistakable figure walk toward her. Broad and tall, he stood straight and proud. He’d come to meet his woman, and nothing could make him happier. Vicky’s heart lifted as she stepped toward him. After a quick glance around to be sure nobody could hear her she spoke with a lowered voice. “Brendan? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to meet you from work.”

“That’s really kind of you, but
how
did you get into the city without a pass?”

After he’d looked at all the people around them Brendan lowered his voice too. “It’s quite easy if you have enough confidence in your blag. Most of the time I have people apologising to me as they let me in.”

“You come here often?”

“Sometimes. It’s nice to check it out, you know?”
 

Before Vicky could reply, Brendan put an arm over her shoulder and she breathed in his musk.
 

“Come on,” he said, “let me buy you a coffee.”

***

“Urgh,” Brendan said, “how
tacky
.”

When Vicky looked up at the coffee shop’s sign she couldn’t disagree with him. The flashing neon letters had been written in joined up writing. It read ‘Caffeine’. Smoke curled from the back of the ‘C’ like the smoke from a car’s tyres; almost as if the drink would turbo charge you for the rest of your day.
 

Despite the tacky veneer the sight of the shop made Vicky’s mouth water as she anticipated a strong and hot cup. “They make a
great
coffee though. And it’s the most efficient coffee shop in the city.”

Vicky led the way and put her bankcard into the machine as soon as she’d entered the shop. She ordered her coffee, and then ordered Brendan’s. Black no sugar; the man never changed his mind.
 

When Vicky stepped onto the conveyor belt she gripped the moving handrail that ran along beside it. Made from rubber, she held it for balance and turned to Brendan, who’d stepped on behind her.
 

The pair made small talk as the belt weaved a mazy path through the shop. They had people both in front and behind them. Their chattering voices joined the hiss of steam from the coffee machines. The baristas moved like they’d mainlined the product. Each one ran from one machine to the next as they prepared one of the many coffees on offer.

Most businesses in the food and drink industry tried to keep things simple for efficiency, but coffee shops seemed to go the other way. A new coffee came out every week.
Gingerbread dry Grande latte Milano froth monster
seemed to be the latest. Vicky often felt like she needed to learn another language to order exactly what she wanted. Instead, she always opted for a gingerbread latte.

“The conveyor belt never stops,” Vicky said as she watched two baristas collide when their paths crossed behind the counter. “It’s their policy. If they have to stop the belt everyone on it gets the cost of their coffee refunded. If they don’t stop the belt and your coffee is either made wrong, or simply isn’t ready, the entire shop gets free coffee.”

With a limp jaw Brendan watched the other people on the belt. Some of them shouted at the baristas like they were angry with them. Some tried to distract them with charm.
 

After she’d given him a few seconds to digest the chaos Vicky said, “I even saw someone flash their tits at them once.”

“All to distract them?”

“Yep.”

“So they could get free coffee?”

“Yep.”

Brendan shook his head. “And has it ever worked?”

“
No
! Like fuck. I think that’s why people are so desperate to make it happen. Bragging rights or something like that.
Where were you when Summit City opened? Where were you when the cold war started? Where were you when Caffeine’s conveyor belt stopped?
”

Brendan shook his head as he watched the chaos. “All of this effort for a free coffee.”

***

The coffee cup’s exterior remained cool in Vicky’s hand when they stepped out of
Caffeine
. The design had been the brainchild of a Swedish scientist and had made him a millionaire over night. It managed to keep the outside of the cup cool while the coffee inside stayed hot. It had revolutionised coffee drinking.

After he’d glanced around them Brendan grabbed Vicky’s hand and pulled her over to one of the stone benches in the square. It faced both the Alpha Tower and the only water fountain in the area.
 

Vicky looked across at her lover. “What’s up? You seem distracted.”

A sip of his coffee and Brendan looked around them again with a deep frown. “Since you’ve told me about the, you know,
virus
in the tower.”

Vicky’s heart raced and she looked around too. If someone heard that … “Please don’t mention it so explicitly again.”

After he dipped a subtle nod Brendan continued. “I’ve been trying to find a way to make your problem go away for you and I think I’ve found one.”

“That’s
impossible
, there’s
nothing
we can do about it.”

“Actually, I think there is. I know some people that could jeopardise it and put the experiments back by years, if not forever.”

Vicky had never seen Brendan like this. The man always had a serious side, but he had something almost cold about him today.
 

“What kind of people do you know? And what if it goes wrong?”

“These people don’t get shit wrong. Trust me. Do you want me to help?”

With the sweet yet bitter taste of gingerbread latte in her mouth Vicky’s throat dried and the first rush of caffeine pulled her stomach tight. She looked into Brendan’s icy stare and shook where she sat. After another hit of the hot liquid she drew a deep breath. When she looked back at Brendan his eyes had softened a little.
 

“It’s cool either way,” he said.
 

Many innocent people could die when the virus got out. And that was the thing. The virus
would
get out. Vicky nodded. “Yes please Brendan, I want you to help.”

Chapter Eleven

The
crack
of the mobile phone as it hit the ground echoed through Rhys’ head long after the sound of it had died. He stared down at the broken device on the driveway.
What an idiot
! He held his breath when he looked up and scanned the dark neighbourhood. The shadows could have contained anything, but what he could see seemed clear. Were it not for Larissa’s quick breaths as she recovered from her fight then the street would have been silent.
 

He felt Larissa’s glare burn into the side of his face, and when he finally looked at her he shrugged. “Okay, so that wasn’t one of my brightest ideas.”

Larissa looked around as if to make a point. “You
reckon
? Why don’t you start your own one man band to see if you can get any more of the diseased to come out of their houses?”

Even when she had a valid point she delivered it in a way that made Rhys want to punch her in the face. With his fists balled he took a calming breath. It did little to satiate his desire for violence.
 

After a few seconds he bent down and pulled the trousers off one of the fallen diseased.

“What the fuck are you doing now?” Larissa said.
 

Rhys didn’t reply. Instead, he wrapped the trousers around one of his metal stool legs, both of which protruded from the two diseased he’d killed like flag poles. Both had been driven through each creature’s heads so the entire shaft had turned slick with blood and black slime. Rhys wiped the first one clean. “There’s no way I’m holding these poles with all this gunk on them.”