DEAD FACTIONS - the Zombie War Narratives - a Novella (8 page)

Tonya, not able to hear the Doctor’s last comment, looks again through the vent to see him pull the syringe and drug vial out from under the counter. He holds the needle up, thumps it and inserts it into his own arm. Shocked, she tightly presses her hands over her mouth, to hold back a gasp. Her eyes grow big. Richards looks around the corner and then looks up as if to have heard something.

Tonya crawls back rapidly through the air ducts. She shakes with emotion and is scared. It is just unbelievable! She does not want to accept that there is no one left to trust and fears the worst for the four of them. Reaching the end of the air duct tunnel, she taps the vent. Patrick stands up to remove the cover and assists her down. She makes her way out holding her stomach. Feeling sick, she runs to the small bathroom inside the meeting room, “RALPH!”

Patrick looks at Chief in disbelief. “What do you think that’s about?” Chief does not have a chance to reply before Tonya returns. She sits staring at the center of the table. Chief rolls his chair closer to calm a distressed Tonya; and Patrick comes over to place one hand on her back. She begins to tell them what she has seen and heard. After a moment, Chief says quietly, “It's time to start playing the game.”

Tonya looks down and removes what looks to be a silver stud from her boot. Patrick looks at her strangely, “What are you going to do with that?”

Tonya tosses the stud in the air and catches it, “Putting things in our favor. Now, go tell them I'm sick and that I need to see the Doctor.”

Corey awakens and has a killer headache, so severe it somewhat smothers the fire sensation from his chest. He grabs his head and tries to sit up...but that does not last long. Sitting up causes some serious nausea. Looks like lying down is the only option. After lying back, he looks around at all the equipment and attachments. Curiosity makes him reach for the IV to look at the monitor. As his right arm is extended, he notices a silver colored band tightly affixed to his wrist. The band is made of a very strange metal that shows flexibility when bent. Even more odd is that it has a short vial connected to it. He sits up again, but slowly. He begins to wonder the whereabouts of the others.

Dr. Richards arrives to examine Tonya and finds her stretched out on the mahogany table. Looking her over he begins to ask a series of medical questions. As he adjusts his glasses, he reaches for a small flashlight in his lab coat pocket. After a few clicks of the tiny light to verify it is functioning, he moves back towards Tonya. As he leans in to begin his examination, Patrick grabs him from behind. Tonya jumps up and attaches the stud on the back of his neck.

“What is this?” asked the Doctor, confused.

“A small explosive...now be a good boy and behave,” Tonya smiles.

Moments later in the General’s office, his assistant phones “Sir, there is a faint tracking signal coming from within the base.” The General orders a search and slams the phone down.

From his room, Corey hears a lot of traffic going up and down the hall. He eases off the bed and begins releasing the attachments, but he is afraid of removing the band. It appears to be somewhat permanent.

The commotion in the hall is also noticed by Tonya who decides this is as good a time as any…and presses a stud on her boot. At that same instance, the General’s assistant sees that the signal is gone and contacts him again.  The phone takes the brunt of his anger after the message is delivered.

Tonya turns to the Doctor, “We know about your experiments and that you are injecting yourself with the Devil. Confess what you are doing to Corey…and Sister Tonya will absolve you of your wrong doing… OR
(touching his neck)
your penance will be …
Boom
!”

Corey cracks the door to his room and looks out. Seeing a guard...Corey whistles to get his attention. He steps back into the room and waits for the solider to come in.  Upon the soldier’s entrance, Corey picks him up by the neck and tosses him across the room knocking him unconsciousness. “Whoa!” Corey is impressed with his increased power.  He quickly removes the guard’s uniform and starts suiting up.

Back in the meeting room, Richards stands with his hands out as if to help express himself, "Let me explain!”

Tonya puts her hand in front of his face moving her finger back and forth like a metronome, “I wouldn’t make a lot of sudden moves…..Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. It’s time to get down to business Doc.”             

Before she can say more, Corey walks into the meeting room, dressed in a soldier's uniform pointing at his arm, “Actually, it is time to tell us what you have done to me!”

Tonya, relieved to see Corey, rushes to help him to a chair, “Yes, Corey, the Doctor was about to tell us…from the beginning.”

Chapter Five  

                                                                                      
Chaos Erupts

Richards is seated with his chin resting on his folded hands. He is scared to move, nervous after divulging all he knows.

“Unbelievable!” Tonya staring straight at the Doctor, “Chief, do you believe the shit he is trying to pass off here?”

Chief motions to Tonya, “We need to talk.”

              The Doctor looks over at Corey and sees him nodding off and pale. Richards gets up, makes his way over to Corey and explains his concern, “I really need to get him back to the examination room.”

Tonya walks towards Chief and turns to speak, "Remember, he is not a lab rat!”

Richards reassures the three, "I know. I just need to get him stabilized.” Patrick helps the Doctor lift Corey and get him back to the exam room.

              Chief waits for the door to shut completely before communicating what is beginning to worry him, “I’m not in good shape, obviously. That thing slammed me pretty hard to the ground, amiga.”

Tonya has little patience, “What are you saying?”

Chief still seated holding his side looks at her with candidness, “This is it for me kid, but I’m going to help you get out of here.”

This is not what she was expecting to hear, “We have Richards where we want him, and he will help you.”

Chief looks away...he is firm on his decision, “He is not touching me! Just listen to what I am telling you. I have a plan.”

              As Richards and Patrick get Corey back into the exam room, the Doctor’s concern is split between Corey’s condition and his own fate with a bomb stuck to his neck, “Careful Patrick, help me put him on the table.” He decides to take a chance, “What do you know about this device on my neck?”

Patrick has questions of his own for the Doctor, “First…what is the thing on his wrist?”

              With Corey on the examining table, Richards begins to work on him and answers Patrick, “It is a developmental drug. One that has been tested many times on soldiers infected by walkers, but never on someone infected by a Zly.” Turning away to review test results, Richards continues, “He has shown some positive results. I’m surprised at the abilities he has acquired, even with his infection.”

Patrick has no faith in the Doctor or his motives, “Explain!”

              The Doctor continues to look over the chart, “By this time a large majority of the soldiers that were given this amount of the drug had expired. But Corey shows no signs of physical breakdown, in fact he is statistically better.” Richards looks over at Patrick, “Corey should show signs of increased intelligence and perception, ESP if you will…characteristics of the Lu-Ci-4 drug.”

Patrick is perplexed, “Lucifer? Are you kidding? Is this the same thing you are taking?”

Richards takes a deep breath, “If I answer, can I get this explosive removed from the back of my head?”

Patrick provides a blank stare. The Doctor is not surprised, “I didn’t think so.”

              In the meeting room Tonya situates herself to be at eye level with Chief, “We have time. Think about what you want to do.”

Chief puts his hand on her arm, “Thinking’s done! Tonya, these are evil people. I need you out of here now! Don’t waste the little time I have left to do what I need to do.”  

              In another part of the base, the General hurriedly walks out of a meeting, with his assistant next to him, “I’m on my way to see Richards. Let me know immediately when you pick up that signal.”

His assistant nods and returns to her station “Will do, Sir!” The General continues walking down the hall briskly.

              Doctor Richards looks at Patrick, “That’s the General's footsteps...I have heard them a million times.” Patrick steps back just beyond the entrance so he is not seen when Anders comes in. Hopefully he can slip out when the General passes him.

The door opens, “Where are we with the patient?”

Richards is noticeably nervous, “He did come to briefly, Sir.”

General Anders reaches over as he puts on his reading glasses, “Let me see his chart.” Patrick tries to slip out, but the General turns with the chart in his hands to see him, “What are you doing here?!” 

Patrick gets a bit ballsy, "Making sure your Doctor doesn’t do anything else weird to him.”

              The General walks up putting his finger in Patrick’s face, “Leave now!!!”  Patrick becomes fearful and exits. The door shuts, Anders looks over his glasses to glare at the Doctor. “Explain!”  

Richards pauses... “They know.” 

General Anders becomes increasingly frustrated, “Know what?”

The Doctor tries to continue business as usual and holds up a syringe, drawing from a vial, “That we are performing tests and enhancements on Corey.”

Anders is speechless and red faced, “And why would you tell them?!”

           Dr. Richards with the syringe still in the air flicks it to the simultaneous sound of Tonya and Patrick busting through the door. With little acknowledgement of the intrusion, the Doctor looks again at the needle, “because they put…”

“Enough!” Tonya prevents the Doctor from commenting further, “We are citizens! We came here for help yet you treat us as vagrants. We are out of here! Doctor, gather Corey whatever medical supplies are needed.”

The General folds his arms, “I can not let you leave with him. Besides, how do you think you are going to get out of here?”

Tonya looks annoyed and gets in the General's face, “I think you are the one with a problem.  Patrick, go grab Corey's bag and the box from the jeep.”
She reaches to her boot and turns on the tracking device.

The phone on the wall rings, the General is slow to reach for it. Not taking his eyes off Tonya, he answers the phone. The voice on phone updates the General, “Sir, we have the signal again.”

Anders desperate to know, “Where is it?!” His face is enraged…his eyes grow large...jaw slightly drops. He disconnects the phone call. General Anders has never been tested like this before nor has he ever felt so powerless. “What is it?”

Tonya walks over to the Doctor and shows the General where the object is located. The stud that has changed everything,

“A small device has been applied to the back of your senior medical officer’s head. When he is no longer useful, I will detonate the explosive.”

              “How did my troops miss those when you entered the base?” 

Tonya smiles, pleased, “Well they don’t give off ballistic residue and they appear to look like studs on clothing. Really a cool weapon I'd say.”

The General walks up to the back of Richards to review the bomb, “What do you want? “

She responds quickly, she knows exactly what they need, “We require a clear path out of here…no obstacles.”

              The General tries to show less anger and takes a lighter approach. He puts his hands in his pockets and kind of shrugs as if her request might be possible, “A path for whom?”

In her mind, Tonya already has one foot out the door. She does not want to negotiate further, “Present company, excluding you.”

The General stays firm, “No can do!”

Tonya states the obvious hoping not to lose any momentum, “You don’t really have an option. You have everything to lose.”

He tries to stay calm and intimidate his younger opponent, “…and you
don’t
? Remember…you came to me for help.”

              “Things have changed. We are going to have to protect ourselves and make our own happy ending. Besides, we will leave you to your bigger agenda, like ruling another country, another weapon to build or another dollar to make. You sacrificed your citizens…for what? You have nothing…” Tonya looks over as the Doctor begins to put a somewhat coherent Corey into a wheel chair.

Patrick returns from the jeep, “Surprisingly everything was there.”

Richards looks at the General for any last direction. There is none.

“Alright, follow me.” The Doctor leads them down the hall and to the vehicles.

Corey calls out to Chief, “Hey Chief, kick it in high gear! We’re leaving.”

“Nah, gonna stick around and get patched up. I’ll be sure to turn the lights off when I leave.”

Corey is confused, “What?”

Tonya pulls his arm, “It’s ok Corey. Come on! You’re holding us up!” Tonya’s mouth tightens as she nods at Chief. He returns the nod.

              The General walks into the hallway watching them. He will not allow himself to feel defeated. He returns to the examination room, sits down and begins to dial, “Assemble a team to follow the civilians that are leaving with Dr. Richards. Tell the team to meet me at the back platform in 5 minutes.”

              The four find a medical jeep to which the Doctor has keys. After loading, they pull off with Tonya driving, Corey shotgun, and Patrick behind Tonya holding a gun towards Richards. As the vehicle moves off the base, soldiers ordered to stand down could only stare at the fleeing four.

              At the platform, the General meets two armored vehicles. Immediately they go to work to locate the runaways. Anders radios to the armored truck behind him, “Start scanning for the signal…Colonel Stevens, tell your men that Richards and Corey are not to be harmed.”

              Several minutes later Tonya begins to tell Corey what they learned at the base, “You gotta hear this! The Doctor back there claims the government went into an agreement some time ago with a foreign group over a weapon. Decades went by and the government never used the weapon…they found letting other countries know it was in their possession provided the power they sought versus actually using it. So this foreign group became frustrated and released the weapon themselves. The casualties were not destroyed, but left in a state from which they could be transformed…transformed into soldiers loyal to this foreign group. Is that not the most absurd thing you have ever heard?”