Infamy: A Zombie Novel (9 page)

Jessica
snuggles close. We share a blanket and the aroma of a nauseously sweet scented candle. I run my fingers through her hair and she falls asleep. A few minutes later I do too.

I don’t know what time it is when
a far-off explosion rattles the windows. Unable to fall back asleep I gently move Jessica’s head to the cushions. Ella is sound asleep as I pick up my flashlight and head to the kitchen. On my way back with a bottle of water I see the study door is open. Curiosity wins me over and I take a peek inside.

A
cherrywood desk takes up the middle of the room. There are also chairs, lots of shelves, piles of paper, a computer and a large-ass supply of chemistry equipment on a table in the corner. I take a closer inspection and accidentally kick Caesar’s bag that he’s so protective over.

“What
dirty secrets are you keeping in here?” I whisper, pulling open the zipper, trying not to make any noise.

Not quite sure what I expect
to find in a bag full of guns except more guns and ammunition. That is until my fingers run across another zipper inside the bag. I open it, feeling around, and come across an old book.

I walk over to the desk
to examine the manuscript a bit closer. The hard cover is black except for an insignia in the middle: an eagle clutching a red circle surrounding a black swastika.

This
shit just got weird.

Why is a
Mexican cartel dude holding a Nazi notebook?

I quickly flip through. I
t’s written in German and English and includes notes from the 1970s, many of them recollecting 1940s death camp experiments. I can read some German (my favorite country to drink in when I was backpacking) so I try to make sense of it as it reads like scenes from that old paranormal computer game about Castle Wolfenstein.

Noises from outside are disorienting. Is someone shuffling down the hall?
I look around for Caesar and start to put the book down. If he catches me he’s going to more than just beat my ass. He’s going to gut me with that fucking machete. Then again, that asshole is probably sleeping harder than Ella.

Chapter 9

Journal of Dr. Joseph Mengele

April 6, 1975

Recently acquired knowledge and inspiration from the viewing of certain horror films and reading of fiction, I’ve again become fascinated with the concept of immortality.

I
decided to revisit and continue research I began in Auschwitz more than thirty years ago during a project codenamed Prometheus. This journal is being kept to chronologically log notes on related experiments.

I feel it
also necessary to recall to the best of my memory the events that occurred within Auschwitz while Prometheus was being conducted. I have scraps of dates in my memory I have jotted down over the years and will compile some of those here. This journal will work as a reference in hopes of revealing details I may have otherwise forgotten or overlooked throughout my research.

All of my original
notes were lost while fleeing Auschwitz in 1945. Records of past experiments were either destroyed or have fallen into enemy hands.

             
Spring 1944

During
the spring of 1944 I was asked in secret by Commander Eichmann to research the concept of an indestructible soldier. At first this task seemed to me a scientific impossibility. I didn’t know how to preserve a life indefinitely or to make one with stronger regenerative properties. Could bullet wounds one day heal themselves? I inevitably came to the understanding that death itself would mark the best beginning for such a scientific expedition into immortality-genetics, and possibly, any supernatural explanations for entrapping the human soul within super-regenerative tissue. I and my team would examine specimens, all on the verge of death, to determine, utilizing an analysis of fading brain functions and the mathematical probability of electro-aura, physical-to-spiritual transference, and whether an afterlife existed, and if so, would it be possible to bring someone back from such a place? The hypothesis of an afterlife however became inconclusive, though the aspects of returning from the dead, well, that is another matter entirely.

Feeling at a loss
, and finding out I was not the only scientist asked to perform this task, I continued my experiments of heritage traits within twins, not giving much thought on Eichmann’s request. This was until several days later when I came across a little girl who began to tell me the tale of “Frankenstein”. She had read the story to her sister the night before. I was no stranger to the book. It was a story far from my thoughts, though about re-animated tissues, for I’d only read it as a young boy.

I ordered an SS officer
to confiscate her books. While doing so they happened upon two titles hidden in the little girl’s barracks. The first, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” the other, “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. The reading of both tales began to spark my imagination of many possibilities. I was consumed by the thought of achieving re-animation and prolonged life, so that not only could someone come back from the dead, but might live forever. Do I dare say it’s something I want for myself?

After a visit with Eichmann
, explaining to him my idea was not exactly what he requested, he nevertheless agreed. The concept of immortality was in the best interest of the Fuhrer. He granted me any equipment I might need to furnish my new laboratory, tasking one of his advisers to collect any information I requested.

I soon received
many notes and books on the science of Galvanism (or better known in this modern day as Electro-physiology). We then began on project Prometheus. After a stretch of trial and error, in which many lives were terminated for the project, we finely succeeded in resurrecting a deceased prisoner dubbed subject L2036, (he originally expired after being exposed within one of our gas facilities). Of course, I expanded upon Galvanism by utilizing a number of other methods on L2036, who was resurrected by use of electroshock therapy, chemical injections, DNA-inhibitors, age-suppressors, and a system of magnetic stabilizers embedded in the cerebellum as well as in the pituitary and pineal glands, which are known to secrete massive amounts of Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) during death, or near death, and are known contributors to near-death experiences. Thank goodness for Manske’s research. I’d met him in Munich in the 1930s, not long after he synthesized DMT. This neurotransmitter of the soul is what most scientists merely consider a hallucinogenic compound. I believe it’s a link to near-death experiences, which makes the natural psychedelic an untapped gateway to resurrection. I believe DMT is within the plant kingdom too, but do not have the resources to conduct such experiments. We all die, do we not? Unfortunately, we were only able to stabilize the vital signs of L2036 for 3.7 hours before he expired.

We conducted the same procedure on a number of
other corpses. Results varied dramatically between resurrecting a subject that had only been deceased for a few minutes with one that had been dead for upwards of a day. The longer a corpse remained dead, the more brain damage ensued upon resurrection. Specimens lost self-awareness, only retaining the most basic of functions. In some cases where the subjects were placed in holding cells with other prisoners, prisoners would get violently attacked, bitten, and their flesh eaten.

In
cases of using the procedure on gunshot or open-wound victims, I made a rather astonishing discovery. Wounds healed more rapidly on the resurrected than on the living. Injuries that took weeks and months to mend were doing so in just a number of hours. I continued these types of experiments for almost a year. Consistently, old wounds healed rapidly. Death, however, soon returned, which I note, is partly do to the psychosis that is placed on the resurrected, as well as the difficulty in suppressing experiences with the disreality of death experiences.

It wasn’t until
1945 with news of the Red Army closing in on our position in a matter of days, that Prometheus was halted. Damn the Russians. They made great subjects.

             
Sometime in the 1960s

Since settling
in Sao Paulo, I began to visit movie houses as a distraction from a constant state of paranoia of being hunted. After a close friend was apprehended, my paranoia magnified.

Why do I bring this up? Whil
e enduring a marathon of horror movies, I saw “Night of the Living Dead”. The content matter of the film with these zombies intrigued me greatly. The creatures reminded me of the unstable subjects created through Prometheus, though the film portrayed them as walking dead. In pursuing more knowledge about the concept of the film my search lead me to the novel, “I am Legend”. A revelation occurred to me upon reading it that Galvanism was not only solution in achieving immortality, but that something on a more viral level could achieve the desired outcome.

Prometheus was a titan that Zeus entrusted to create mankind. When Zeus punished the titan for crimes against the King of the
Gods, Prometheus was bound to a rock while a great eagle ate a piece of his liver each day. Since Prometheus was immortal, his liver grew back each night before being eaten again the next day. A remarkable organ, the liver is capable of regeneration. If the entire human body was capable of regeneration also, then I believe this new ability would conquer aging and death. The key to this kind of regeneration I’m convinced can be further found in the human brain and immune system—an area I had already partially begun to explore. I decided to attempt to create a virus capable of causing an antibody against “death”.

April 17, 1975

As I was traveling to
Bertioga to visit the coastline, I came upon a creek bed forty-five minutes into my drive. When taking notice of it, I was compelled to take a walk. After hiking for a while I came across a lone fireplace in the woods. It must have burned down many years ago. As I began to inspect the area, I stumbled upon a door that lay flush with the ground. Inside was a cellar completely untouched by fire. I believe this fate has brought me to my new laboratory.

April 30, 1975

After hiring a few local
s to help in demolishing the remaining fireplace, I had them cover the old foundation with dirt to hide the location from any wanderers. They also helped in moving equipment and aided in hooking up some auxiliary power from a nearby power line. To thank them for their work, I have deemed them worthy to be the first in experiencing my new research first hand. They are being given the chance to be immortal by being a part of history. What more could a man ever be ask to be paid for his labor? Of course, they don’t know this. I capture and sedate them one by one . . .

May 3, 1975

I began to study the anatomy of
vampire bats endemic to Brazil. I find it very puzzling that a fictional character such as Dracula holds so much in common with creatures that only exist on the other side of the world. Their saliva holds properties that break down blood compounds. One of the bats I captured is infected with a virulent strain of rabies.

May 4, 1975

Today while feeding my subjects lunch
I infected each of them with a variation of the rabies virus found within the vampire bat. How did I mutate the virus? I used some of my previous research: DNA-inhibitors, age-suppressors, and a new synthetic version of DMT derived from the pituitaries of humans and bats. By controlling each of the subjects’ meals (each subject is male and the same height and body type) I’ve been able to get all three to similar weights. Each subject has been given equal amounts of the virus and placed in one cage to make room for more subjects who maybe acquired soon.

May 20, 1975

One of the men
died overnight, killed by the other two who became violent and confused. I decided to terminate their resurrection and begin autopsies. I already have replacement subjects within captivity ready for testing.

May 21, 1975

After taking a closer look at the first man who died by the h
ands of his peers I found the virus affected his immune system differently than the other two subjects. It appears his body was actively creating antibodies against the rabies virus. He might have survived the infection had he been isolated in another cage. I’ve taken several samples of LV1711’s blood for further analyses.

January 2, 1979

I
’ve found a set of triplets to conduct what I hope will be the final phase of my research: J653, J654 and J655. I refer to them as the Sisters. I’ve also narrowed my efforts and research to three separate solutions. Two are viral in nature. The third is a synthetic formula I’ve labeled Infamy (a derivative of new theories, experiments and formulas fused with those connected to DMT solutions I implemented nearly forty years ago).

J653 (or Lucy as she is known by her sisters) will be given one of the viral samples I’ve produced using Meningitis and a compound that produces a chemical reaction upon death that gives o
ff a large static discharge. This is to restart the body much like my experiments with Prometheus. J654 (or Mina) will be given the Infamy sample. In past uses of Infamy, subjects exhibited signs similar to that of LSD users, only more combative forms of hallucinations, even in small doses. Its true purpose is only revealed after the subject experiences death. This is in reference to my experiments with Infamy in the previous year. J655 (or Carmilla) will be given the hybrid sample of rabies and another compound to aid in the body’s production of antibodies. I’m confident the solution to immortality will be found within these J6 trials.

January 4, 1979

I’ve injected J653
with the Meningitis sample. Allowing time for the virus to take hold before inducing death to evaluate the effects. The desired result? That her body will be able to conduct an electrical current capable off restarting her heart, revive brain functions, and that her body will be stimulated in rapid cellular regeneration.

January 7, 1979

J653 resulted in complete failure. Lucy experienc
ed such excruciating pain throughout her stomach, along her spinal cord, and into her frontal lobes that she hung herself in her cell. This was reported to me by the two remaining sisters after I took care of the situation with the fire. The compound provided to be extremely unstable. Once her body reached the point of death the compound produced enough voltage to cause the body to internally combust. The fire spread from the bed to some of my equipment that will now have to be replaced before I can continue further with my research. Scheisse!

January 14, 1979

I have
acquired more test subjects for further trials. To make up for lost time I will inject both sisters today instead of individually as planned before. After J654 (Mina) is injected with Infamy I will end her life to begin the process of a viral mutation within her brainstem. The desired response is that the narcotic will mutate cells in key location of the body helping reanimate. What I hope occurs is the generation of what I theorize as the Immortality Antibody. I predict Mina will become brain dead through the procedure, but her body will remain functional. I will extract the IA for tests on the laborers who help in replacing my equipment. J655 (Carmilla) injection is a trial of patience. No death is involved, just a daily analysis of her blood and antibody production.