Hissers II: Death March (27 page)

“You know what, I don’t need to know.”

“Sorry. I’ll tell you about it someday. It’s okay, just…what’s the saying? Worse for wear?”

“I’ve heard that one before.”

“Besides, Doug saved me. He’s like some big bear from another time that you can’t stop.”

Connor eyed Doug, watched t
he way he was checking the doors to see which ones were open. Olive trailed behind him, discussing something, but he couldn’t hear their conversation.

“He’s big,” Connor said. “Like, really big.”

“He’s a singer in a band. Or was, I guess. Johnny Cash songs, which, admittedly, I’ve come to enjoy, even if I’ve only heard Doug sing them.”

“Yeah, I had an album by The Water Tigers that did a cover of
‘I Still Miss Someone.’ Superfast and cool, with this double kick pedal thing going on. Good song.”

“Yeah, not sure that’s the original tempo. Anyway
, I told him about the drive, about why you were coming here, so he brought me. I told him you have a plan. Do you?”

“I think so but don’t bet the house on me yet.”

“What’re you, forty? Who says that?”

“Sorry,
I’ve been with Olive for a while now. She talks like an old soul. Or so she says.”

“
Yeah, I saw her. She’s, um….pretty hot actually. Must have been a fun trip for you.”

Connor felt his cheeks g
etting hot. Was Amanita actually jealous? Did that kiss mean they were more than friends now? He sorta knew that girls generally didn’t like other girls so it could mean nothing. Still, things had changed, that was for sure. He saw her so differently now. She was attractive, cute, and he kind of didn’t mind her swearing so much anymore. Her prior need for attention, that had been a turn off for him, seemed long gone. Being surrounded by death and murder will do that to you, he thought. She was more normal now. And still very cute. It was hard to fight it but he did feel an attraction to her, both mentally and visually. “She’s a good person,” he said. “Used to be a stripper.”
Oh my God why did I say that!

“Hmmm… really? Well, she’s got the body for it, I guess.”
She seemed even more annoyed now.

“I didn’t mean it like that. She didn’t strip for me or anything.
”

“Good God, Connor. Gross. What is she
, a megaslut?”

“No!
I mean, we just drove and… look, she’s fine, and she saved me in the woods. And we were able to see some of the info on the drive.”

“
Wait, the drive, it works!”

“Sort o
f.  There’s weird bits of chemistry or something on it but we couldn’t tell what the hell it was. We need to see these scientists here. But I imagine they’re dead, just like everyone else. I’d bet the house this was a pointless trip.”

She sat upright. “Wait again, are we in the right place?”

“As far as we could tell. We got the address from some coffee shop—”

Am glanced at his and Olive’s shirts. “The one she plays baseball for and you apparently work for?”

“Yeah. Too bad they didn’t have pants, I might actually be comfortable for once.”

“Try running with half the skin missi
ng from your legs. Anyway, if this is the place what do we do?

“I don’t know. Like I said we don’t even know if anyone is here.”

“No, they’re here, Connor. We heard them on the radio just last night. They were alive, we think, but—”

“You heard them!
Where? How? What’re we doing sitting here? What about Nicole’s father?”

“I
have no idea, but there’s more—”

The building rumbled as the spider monster outside slammed against it.

“Forget more, we need to find the labs.” Connor said.

“Connor, listen, those
guys in the lab…they’re here but may be dead now. They were trapped—”

“Am, don’t say that, we’ve come t
oo far. Someone must be alive. Let’s find the lab and get to them before it’s too late. It’s gotta be here somewhere. Maybe on the top floor, or in the basement.”

“Connor, listen to me for a frig
ging second.”

“What?”

“They were trapped in the labs and they can’t get out. They can’t get out because…they said there were hissers inside the building.”

***

Olive didn’t know about this Doug guy. His words were overly brazen. His eyes definitely lingered on her body for too long when he spoke. And what sort of creep ran around with a fourteen year old girl?

“The labs are in the basement,” he said,
studying a map placard on the wall. “Normally, I’d suggest finding a back way in, but with their air running out—”

“Or already gone,” Olive offered, still trying to catch her breath from her run outside.

“—we’re gonna have to go down there guns blazing.”

“Do you have any guns?”
Olive asked.

“No, nothing
. What about you?”

“No.
Gave them to the ocean. Don’t ask.”

“Well then we need to go down blazing
something
.”

“Y
ou’re sure these things are down there?” Olive asked. “It’s possible they left, you know. We could be wasting time worrying about it.”

“Well,
Olive, I know what we heard on that radio. I know they were alive a few hours ago and were under siege. But I’m not taking chances unless I’m swinging something long and hard or shooting bullets outta something.”

Olive looked from him to Amanita, watched him glance in the girl’s direction as well. “
Not for nothing, but how did you two meet?” she asked.

“Who? Me and Am? We sort of bumped into each other, I guess. Is this really the time to discuss it? People are dying downstairs.”

“No offense, Doug, but you’re a big guy, you’re dressed completely in black, you’re covered in blood, and you were holed up inside this building with a young girl that looks like she’s been through worse hell than you and you want me to go down in a basement with you.”

“What’re you suggesting, darling?”

“Nice. I’m not suggesting anything. I’m assessing my safety. As well as that young girl’s safety.”

She flinched as Doug got in her face, his brows furrowed. “If you’re even suggesting I hurt that girl after what I been through to get her to her friend here, then you and me ain’t friends.”

She’d had her fair share of big guys bully her at the bars over the years, let alone over the computer while stripping, and as far as should could tell Doug was no different. Big, bossy, lustful, probably a bit of a drunk too. And like them, she wasn’t about to be intimidated by him. “Are you safe, Doug? What’s your story?”

“I sing Johnny C
ash tunes and rescue young girls from psychopaths. I also eat a little too much, like strong whiskey, and speak baby talk to puppies. What I don’t do, is hurt people so get that outta your head right now. I certainly don’t like people accusing me of anything unethical. And if you don’t believe me, Amanita is right over there. Ask her yourself. Now, are you gonna help me open that locked door downstairs and try to save the world, or are you gonna generalize me based on my appearance?”

He took a step back, folded his arms. The building shook again as the spider monster continued its barrage.

He had a point, she thought. If he wasn’t on the up and up, Connor would find out from Am and she’d know soon enough. Amanita’s wounds could be from anything. It’s not like she and Connor looked fresh from a beauty contest either. She offered her hand. He took it, gave a firm shake. “Okay, Doug, welcome to our party.”

“And you’re welcome to
ours. Now, first things first—”

“Firs
t things first,” Connor said, “we need the airlock override code.” Olive hadn’t seen him sneak up with Amanita by his side. These kids could be stealthy when they wanted to; that would come in handy at some point.

“And how do we find that?” Amanita asked. “It’s probably something on a secret file or something, maybe a key card.”

“Wouldn’t the lab rats already know it?” Doug asked. “Let’s just get down there and they can shout it to us through the door.”

But
Olive saw where Connor was going with this: if they got down there and found the scientists dead or unconscious, they’d be going into an enclosed space with hissers with no way of opening the door to their salvation. It would be best to know the code first. But with the power off up here in the offices, there was no way of getting into any computers and finding it.

“We’ll need it if
they’re dead,” Connor said.

“If
they’re dead then we’re fucked,” Am said.

“Maybe not. If their
equipment is still working down there like we think, we can use it. They have a radio, you said. It’s conceivable they’re on a backup generator power. Labs like this are built to withstand massive power outages, right?”

“How do you know this?”
Doug asked

“I don’t really.
”

“He’s a gamer,” Olive said. Then, when she saw the look in Doug’s eyes: “He plays video games. They’re a little more advanced
now than they were in our time.”

“Guess so. Donkey Kong never taught me nothing about wiring in
a building. Times have changed. Alright we’re on limited time here. Assuming there’s a backup generator we might have a chance to do this. Let’s split up and look for something that might have the code on it. Be superfast about it or our boys down there are gonna be toast. Connor and Am take these few offices on this side of the hall. Olive and me will take the other side. One minute per office and that’s it. If we don’t find anything then I guess we go down with just our prayers.”

Well, at least he can lead, Olive thought, even if this was a dumb plan. She
decided to add her own leadership intuition to the mix to make sure there was some sense involved: “And look for weapons while you’re at it. Anything that’ll penetrate or crush a skull.”

The building shook again, and this time, though it was distant enough to only be an echo on the wind outside, she thought she heard yells.
It could have just been the building groaning, but it sounded like people begging for help. God, she thought, I think they
are
alive down there.

SUNDAY 9:01
AM

Amanita and Connor threw open office doors and scouted the desks for anything useful, but they found nothing related to the secured labs downstairs. What they did find were reports about pharmaceuticals, numerous science and medicine magazines, and printouts of various types of genetic research that meant nothing to them.

“
Shit,” Connor said, slamming another desk drawer.

Amanita came out of a closet
. She was holding a five pound barbell. “Someone was exercising on their lunch break.” She hefted it, swung it about. “I think this will crush a skull.”

“Yeah, if you’re right on top of the creature. And if you can stomach crushing someone’s skull
that close up.”

“They’re not som
ebodys anymore, they’re just dead meat. But you’re right, I’m not gonna get that close.” She let it fall to the floor with a thud.  “C’mon, next office, King Geek.”

“A
nd I thought you were getting nicer.”

“Old habits, Connor. Just makes me feel a little more human. I’ve been stuck with Doug for a while now…I need someone my age to talk to.”

“You mean make fun of.”

“God, you boys. It’s called flirting sometimes.”

Connor felt himself blush, remembering her kiss again. “Are you flirting?”

“Make it out of this alive and I’ll tell you. Now c’mon, next office.”

Together they entered the final office in the line, and per the routine, Connor checked the desk and filing cabinet while Amanita checked any bookshelves, jackets, boxes, and other miscellaneous containers. There was no working clock to tell the time so Connor judged its passage by how many drawers he went through. It was the same situation, nothing to use. No key cards, no operating manuals with entry codes. He closed the drawers and looked at the pictures on the gunmetal desk. A woman worked in here. Two photos of her with young girls, one of her with her husband and another of a small dachshund. A pad next to the phone had appointments on it that would never be met, including one that said Girls Night Out at the end of the month. “Sorry,” Connor whispered, hoping she might hear him, wherever she was.

“There’s jack-
all here,” Am said, throwing down the raincoat she was pilfering through. “And no weapons either.”

“I know, we’re gonna need a better plan.”

“There’s no time.” Olive stuck her head in the door. “We have to either do this or move on. I’m not going to lie about caring about the people down there, but I care if they can help us. Doug’s already going downstairs to see if he can get a situation report. He wants us waiting by the door.”