The Orphans (Book 2): Surviving the Turned (32 page)
Beyleu opened his mouth to say something, but Nulty shot in, unable to stand the wait. “What? What the hell does it mean? God, you scientists take your sweet time. Spit it out!”
McBelle looked up, tears in her eyes slowly coming out. She tried to speak, but her lips only quivered. She pointed to the open incision directly at the heart. “The heart exploded. The drug that we gave them—the X-74—it keeps them alive even with the heart being in this condition. There is no cure, General Nulty. We are trying to cure those that aren’t curable. They can't be saved. We have been wasting our time.”
The general walked around the gurney, staring at the two remaining patients. “So the only thing we can do is kill them. Kill or be killed. The day just became much darker for America and its hope to keep her land safe. We need to make an announcement to the world. We have to let people know that the only hope they have lies within themselves.”
The Turned patient behind him was screaming relentlessly as it fought the restraints, unable to free itself. It stared at its arm for a moment. It held the restraint with one hand and pulled with everything it had. The general jumped when something wet and sticky hit the back of his neck. He put his hand back to wipe at it, looked down, and saw the blood. He started to speak, when he looked up at the shocked faces of the three doctors shaking their heads no and pointing behind him. The Turned was sitting up on the gurney, its arm ripped off brutally by its own strength. It leaned forward, ripping its hand off from its wrist, freeing its upper half completely. Nulty tried to back up, but the Turned reached forward, wrapping its one arm around the general’s neck and leaned in, ripping the flesh from his neck. His green dress uniform became soaked in blood. If the Turned was capable of smiling, it would have. The doctors screamed, running for the door to hit the emergency button. The general fell, twitching and shaking from the blood loss as it pooled around him on the floor.
The End
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Gabriel: Only one gets out alive
Pat’s Story
By Shaun Phelps
“I have been all around my old home town
I have searched everywhere I know
I can't find any trace of my girl in this place
Now there's nothing to do but go”
Pat had just re-started one of his favorite Bluegrass songs, Midnight Train, as he turned the corner to E&T.Something about this song always seemed to soothe his soul, and Pat thanked the Gods for the hundredth time that his 8-Track player still worked.Bluegrass was one of the last untarnished memories Pat could still hold on to.Everything after 1964’s draft had turned the world from bright and full of opportunity to a competition between lifelessness and fear.
He pulled into the employee parking lot and turned off his car with a sigh.Pat was stuck working the weekend shift this beautiful Sunday morning.He usually preferred working morning shifts, and always enjoyed the opportunity to get out of his house; but this Sunday was different: Pat’s granddaughter, Christy, was playing at the volleyball tournament in Ames.The odds were against her, as a part of one of the smaller schools, but Pat hated missing an opportunity to see his granddaughter.She lived just far enough out of town, and was just involved enough in the exciting life of a teenager that she didn’t have much time to share with lonely grandparents.
Pat held down another sigh as he exited his car.Ultimately the chances of him talking to Christy were slim even if he did go.He’d be hidden in the back and he would barely see a glimpse of the game as the greedy hordes of parents snapped shots and vied for their children’s attention—directly behind the greedy hordes of teenagers holding signs and vying for their hopeful date’s attention.At least Pat wouldn’t be stuck at home watching TV show re-runs and eating stale pizza.The world could be worse.
When Pat entered the building he was immediately greeted by Chuck, a slightly older, but better kept, man.He was polite, yet abrupt.
“Hey Pat!Glad the traffic didn’t hold ‘ya!Been a slow night I tell ‘ya!Not a single peep except a couple lab nerds who are more married to their job than their night lives!Well, I’m all clocked out, I’ll see ‘ya in the evening!”Chuck left just as quickly as his deluge of conversation hit.This was nothing new, Chuck liked to spend his spare time at the gym, staying pumped and enjoying any view he could find.The earlier he got there the better chance he had of running into a young pretty girl he could do his pumps around.
Pat clocked in, checked the screens, and made sure the office was in order.Immaculate as ever. For any differences they may have had, Chuck and Pat were both men of order.They shared military experience, though for different reasons, and as a result had found a lot of common ground.Keeping a tidy shift was an easy way for both of them to show their mutual appreciation.
The first few hours passed without much activity.The large collection of screens monitored up and down hallways and labs.There was a little activity in one of the labs, Dr. Fox, he believed, but it was just his obnoxious assistant wandering around.Eventually the assistant settled on a couch and that removed any sort of interesting spying Pat expected to be doing for the shift.
One thing Pat learned early on in the job was that creepy lab assistants, if watched long enough, did some creepy things.No one talked about it.It was sort of a trade secret for security guard entertainment.As long as no one broke any laws it was just a quick chuckle or a slightly painful snort of soda out of the nose.
Pat was just getting relaxed as Dr. Fox entered the building.He had a weary look on his face.Pat had never built much of a rapport with Dr. Fox, unlike Chuck.Dr. Fox was a military man, through and through.Much more a man tailored to Chuck’s taste than Pat’s.Pat and Fox exchanged nods and Pat returned to the monotony of staring at empty hallways.
Pat had just gotten into the rhythm of swiveling his chair to and fro when the phone rang.It was Dr. Fox.
“Is there an emergency?” Pat asked, not used to hearing from anyone on a Sunday, especially from Dr. Fox.
Fox requested emergency services to check on Rogers.Pat remembered watching Rogers lay down and looked at the screen.It was obvious Fox was trying to get a reaction from Rogers and it wasn’t happening.
“Give me just a minute,” Pat said, dialing the in-office health department.
Kiley, a fairly pleasant nurse answered the phone.They exchanged general pleasantries before Kiley accepted Pat’s transfer.
“He’s going to be a real killer,” Pat laughed and enjoyed a quick quip with Kiley before transferring the phone and going back to his swivel chair security patterns.
Pat’s frustrated musings were interrupted by an incoming truck.The truck driver, Ben, was a tolerable waste of space.Ben was a man of excess.He smoked too much, he ate too much, and his breath always seemed to suggest he was in the process of drinking too much as well.Regardless, Ben made for pleasant conversation and that helped break the monotony.
The break didn’t last long and the monotony quickly returned when Ben’s truck was loaded.Pat checked his phone, trying to understand how to flip through the screens on his T9 to see if his granddaughter had text messaged him yet.She had promised she would.At this point Pat wasn’t certain he’d know if she’d text messaged him or not.He held his hopes for a regular phone call.If he didn’t hear something soon he would call her.
For all the frustrations in dealing with modern technology and the flippancy of a teenager, Christy was a shining beacon of hope in Pat’s life.He lived vicariously through her successes, and he hoped very much she was enjoying a winning game right now.
Pat’s daydream was interrupted by a flashing light on one of the lab screens, and what he saw on the screen shocked him to the core.In his mind’s eye he was 18 again in the killing fields of Vietnam.He had seen his share of violence, had killed some people—some of which he never knew if they were on his side or the enemy’s—and he had gotten out alive.To this day any loud yells or sounds similar to a helicopter would set Pat’s heart racing and his body wanting to run with it.
What Pat saw in front of him set every bit of adrenalin in his body pumping.Kiley was laying on the floor covered in blood and gore.Dr. Fox was attacking Rogers with an axe.Both were covered in blood.Pat could feel the scene playing out as much as he could see it.It took him a moment to pull his eyes from the screen long enough to use his shaking hands to call for help.
“Gutenberg!We’ve got an incident!Get out front and meet the police, I’m going to call them now!”Pat immediately followed through with his statement and tried to keep his thoughts collected as he dealt with a myriad of questions from 911.Pat wanted to scream at the man on the other side, but his training demanded he stay calm.“No, I don’t know her condition…”“…With an axe!”“Assaulted a nurse!”The sentences sounded like gibberish in his head but it was apparently enough to convince the police.
Pat stared at the video footage after hanging up the phone.“He’s going to be a real killer,” some of the last words Pat had said to Kiley kept running through his head, over and over, as he stared in disbelief.Guilt was starting to overwhelm him as he stared at her prone and bloody body.Through the haze of guilt he thought he saw movement.He tried to focus.It was Kiley, she was moving.Death throes?Kiley certainly looked to be spasming—until she pushed herself straight up off the ground.
Pat’s posture straightened and he squinted his eyes at the screen watching in horror as Kiley started ripping into her own flesh.“…Kiley…?”Pat whispered before looking to Gutenberg.
“You see this, Gutenberg?How the hell did she get up?What is going on here?” Pat demanded to a silent audience.
Gutenberg wasn’t paying attention.He was busy looking for the police.Gutenberg wasn’t a bad guy, just a guy with a goal, and a security job wasn’t his goal. Gutenberg heard his name repeated and turned to see a very pale security guard with a very blank stare.Gutenberg looked past Pat and gasped in surprise.
“Wow!She looked like she was a goner!” Gutenberg exclaimed.Visions of medals and awards flashed in his mind as he considered saving her from this terrible situation.“We need to get up there!” He exclaimed.
Pat, still in a state of shock was sobered by the ignorance of the man standing in front of him.“Son…There is no way she is alive.We need to wait for the police…” Pat’s sage advice fell on deaf ears as he watched Gutenberg start himself on his final course in life.
Pat decided on another course of action.He had already fought in a losing war once.Fighting against an enemy he couldn’t see and couldn’t predict.He remembered very clearly watching pleasant civilians pull guns, and innocent children calling for help until they set off the bomb that damned any compassionate soldier.Pat knew he wasn’t in Vietnam, but he also knew things weren’t what they seemed.If that really was Kiley then he would start writing a Newer Testament as soon as she proved herself.Until then He was going to be prepared.
Pat rushed out to his car and pulled a revolver from his trunk.He attached it to his side and hid it, just to avoid any suspicion from the police when they showed up.There were enough problems to deal with right now.Pat went back inside and watched the screens for Gutenberg.He didn’t have to search long.He watched Gutenberg enter Dr. Fox’s office, and then he heard a table shatter.Gutenberg came running out, bloodied and wide-eyed.
“Run, Kid!Run!” Pat yelled and prayed simultaneously as he watched Gutenberg’s plight.Pat watched as the person who was Kiley tore at every end of flesh available, ripping and sucking, pulling and throwing.It was as if she were burrowing through Gutenberg as opposed to attacking him.
Pat heard the EMT pull up and he ran outside to get help.His calm had completely burst and his adrenalin had brought him back to boot camp.Looking back all Pat could remember was swearing.He cussed at the paramedic from one side of the parking lot to the other even as the police officer drove up.
The paramedic and police officer were too focused on Pat.Pat couldn’t deal with it anymore.In a surprising show of force he grabbed the paramedic and pushed him inside the building.“Get the FUCK in there and I will SHOW you what I am talking about!” He exclaimed, his patience and sanity pushed to the brink.
It quickly became obvious to the paramedic and officer exactly how far Pat’s sanity had slipped when they looked at the video footage and saw nothing but empty hallways.Pat remembered trying to convince the men to wait.Counter to Pat’s instincts he remembered leading them upstairs to the carnage.That was the last thing Pat remembered of E&T.
***
“I have been all around my old home town
I have searched everywhere I know
I can't find any trace of my girl in this place
Now there's nothing to do but go”
Pat came back to consciousness in the front seat of his car.He looked around, confused.“How the hell…” Pat asked himself, looking in the rearview mirror.
Blood.Pat’s face was covered in blood.With the blood came the memories.Screaming, running, shooting.“Oh my Holy God.” Pat said, running his hand down his cheek, wet blood moving and streaking under his fingers.“What the hell is going on?!”
Then another thought, a more important thought, came to Pat’s head.“Christy!”Pat picked up his phone, hands shaking so much he could barely open it.A new voicemail flashed and Pat thanked God for small mercies.He opened his voicemail and listened, it was Christy.
“Hey Grandpa!Mike’s car broke down on the way to town, we are totally going to miss the game!We are stuck in the middle of nowhere, some backroad Mike said was a shortcut from Des Moines to avoid traffic.It’s creepy out here, call me back!”
Pat took a moment to breath.He breathed in deep, and breathed out slow.His hands were still shaking but he needed to sound calm.He dialed Christy’s number.
“Grandpa?” Christy answered.Again, Pat thanked God as he turned down his music.
“Hey baby, yeah, I know where you are.It sounds like you might just need a new battery or something.I’m on my way.” Pat said as calmly as he could, which was not easy.He wasn’t as close to jumping out of his skin as his skin was jumping off of him.“Just give me a few minutes to get my stuff together.I’ll be out there within the hour,” Pat paused, “And baby?Stay in your car, okay?Lock your doors and don’t open them for anyone, okay? No, everything’s okay—just better to be safe than sorry, you know?”
Pat hung up, almost in tears.He then put the car in gear and drove straight for his house.No, he remembered then.He needed to get to his house, but first he needed to visit Andy.
As Pat drove from E&T he noticed odd behaviors immediately.People were running.That wasn’t too odd of a behavior, if it weren’t for the bloody people chasing.“Oh god,” Pat thought.“It’s happening everywhere.”
Pat sped up.He drove around cars and people.If anyone covered in blood got too close he clipped them, making sure not to get anyone stuck underneath his car.If he saw anyone walking and looking impervious he would roll down his window and yell.This was only semi-effective, however.They definitely ran away from the blood-covered mad man in the car, but they didn’t hear his warning.Eventually Pat gave up and drove straight for Andy’s.
Pat ran into Andy’s with the grace of a bull.Andy, not one for excitement, cocked an eye at Pat.“Pat…” Andy greeted, polishing a gun.
Pat stared at Andy for a moment, thankful someone had survived the insanity, and then Pat let the story of all the insanity out of his mouth to wash over Andy.