Omega Virus (Book 1): Beta Hour (14 page)

The
glass panels began to shift by at a high speed. A minute later the conveyor
deposited Jeff.

“Locating
Subject Two: Kessa Brea,” Leon announced.

“Glad
to see you’re alive.” Dave shook my hand as he came to his senses.

I
shook back. “Same here, buddy.”

“How
long has it been?” Dave asked. “Did they ever catch Patient Zero?”

A
sudden beep came from Leon, but I ignored it.

“Patient
Zero?” I asked.

“Where
are we?” Jeff muttered, his breath extending far from his lips.

“Yes,
Patient Zero!” Dave exclaimed. “The first infected person! Or first experiment,
or whatever.”

I
ignored his rambling and shook Jeff’s hand, he said. “Nice job surviving, Zach,
and you're even here to save the day. I commend you.”

“It
was nothing,” I replied.

“There
has to be a Patient Zero!” Dave argued in anger, as Kessa plopped out of the
body conveyor.

I
rushed to her side and blocked her from the other guy’s sight.

“Who's
that?” Jessie asked.

I
didn’t have much of an explanation.

“I’m
his girlfriend.” Kessa stood trembling, but not bothering to cover herself.

Jessie
stared at me blankly. I shrank back as the girls looked at each other, sizing
one another up. A storm brewed between them, but Jessie kept that blank stare.
I could still feel her anger.

“Patient
Zero found,” Leon spoke up.

The
glass panel shook, but the figure behind it didn’t come out.

“There
is a Patient Zero?” I asked.

“System
Error. System failure in ten seconds.” Leon said.

Kessa
still stood nude and stared at Jessie. Her compelling curves distracted Jeff
and Dave. Jessie walked up to her and shoved scrubs into her arms.

“Put
clothes on, jeez, not everyone wants to see your body!” Jessie said.

A
loud bang came from the ice prison.

We
all stared as the muscular figure pounded the glass, over and over.

“System
Error.” Leon said. “Can not contain the experimental subject, Patient Zero.
Please, evacuate.”

LEVEL 17 – RUN COMMAND ESCAPE

Dave took his
eyes off Kessa, long enough to cry, “Patient Zero is real! I told you!”

Jeff
stared at the glass cell as well.

I
shouted at Kessa, “Put the scrubs on quick; this is gonna get bad.”

The
intimidating figure inside the cell raised both fists. Its muscles rippled with
each pound.

Kessa
stepped back; terror splayed on her face. She hopped into the clothes, and Dave
backed into the far wall whimpering. “It's real. Why am I always right?”

“We
need to run. Or at least find a weapon!” Jeff said.

Only
Jessie seemed insane enough to step towards the glass.

“What
are you doing?” I cried.

The
muscle-bound Corpse laid eyes on her and leaned forward, roaring.

“Leon!
Do not release Patient Zero.” I said.

“Order
being processed, Zachary.” The AI responded.

I
exchanged glances with Jeff, who shook his head. Even if Leon prevented the
door from opening, it wouldn't hold up against the force for much longer.

“Get
back, here!” I told Jessie.

As
if she didn’t hear, she stepped forward again.

Kessa
hid behind me. “Let her go! We have to get out of here!”

Patient
Zero looked too strong. We needed to leave.

“Jessie
Bluefield!” I pleaded.

She
glanced over her shoulder, seeming to hear me for the first time.

With
a great crackle the glass containing Patient Zero spidered. The door itself
nearly flew off the track, but it held, barely. Another hit like that, and it
would be too late.

“System
Failure,” Leon spoke. “Resetting into Safe Mode.”

The
room went pitch-black. Kessa screamed and grabbed onto my arm.

A
flashing red light spun on the ceiling. The room went black in between the
flashes, which came only every few seconds. No one moved.

“We
have to go, Jess!” Jeff snapped.

She
shook her head. “But if it’s Patient Zero, maybe we can fix things?”

I
understood what she wanted. If the virus came from Patient Zero's blood, then
maybe a chance existed of producing a cure from his cells. A cure would save
Jessie’s life. There had to be a vaccine. If so, we had a chance to help her.

Patient
Zero went still. It seemed to be confused by the sudden darkness

“Leon?”
I asked, hoping for an answer.

None
came. The computer system had crashed. I cursed myself for not getting the
vaccine info out of it. “Jessie, let's go.”

Jessie
shook her head and put her hand against the glass. “Let’s try to kill it, and
maybe we can harvest what we need.”

“We’re
not scientists!” I argued.

She
turned back. “Don’t you understand?”

“We
don’t even have weapons!” Jeff shouted.

Kessa
backed away. “The girl's possessed! Y’all can die, but I wanna live!”

Zero
lifted his arms, and in a sudden great release of air the cell exploded. We all
threw up our arms as Patient Zero staggered out and collapsed to the floor.

Jessie
pointed. “See? It’s weak. Let’s kill it now!”

I
held my breath, as she kneeled next to it.

As
the light flashed off, Jessie cried out. The light came back on, and Zero stood
a full seven feet tall, holding Jessie by her neck, high off the floor. She
kicked wildly, trying to get free.

“Jessie!”
I cried and charged.

The
great Corpse hurled Jessie at me, and we both flew into a wall panel, which
dented in behind us. Jessie whimpered as we got back up. I choked trying to
catch my breath, but the cold burnt my lungs.

Patient
Zero wailed, as if in pain.

“We
have to go.” I wheezed.

A
sudden beeping came from Leon's station. The lights flickered back on, and we
found the towering form of Zero above us. Every vein pulsed, and all of its
veins rippled. Precise scars littered its body as if it had been the subject of
many experiments.

“Leon,
how to kill Patient Zero, now!” I cried.

“Data
found.” The A.I. replied.

Zero
spun on the computer terminal as if it understood.

“Patient
Zero is halfway to a Lv02 Infected.” Leon began. “There is only one way to stop
the Lv02—”

Before
we could find out, Zero grabbed the console and hurled it into the wall,
shattering it.

“Well,
crap!” Jeff said.

Zero
turned on him; it’s red, bloodshot eyes flared. It stomped toward Jeff, and his
eyes went wide. But he didn't back down. Instead, he pulled back and blasted a
punch into its face. Our friend picked up steam; he unleashed a barrage of
combo punches into the Corpse. With each attacked Zero took a step back. Jeff's
strength surprised me.

“We
need to run!” Dave cried, making a break for the exit.

The
door slid open, and he met face to face with a pint-sized Corpse. A little girl
in a pink dress started in, groaning and reaching for him.

“What
the hell?” Dave stumbled back.

Behind
her were more undead children, all dressed in formal wear, and they all came
towards the door. The entire hall had filled; the power outage had freed them
from their individual labs.

I
dodged past Dave and slapped the switch beside the portal. The door slid
closed, but the girl leaped through, landing on Dave.

“Kill
it!” He begged, holding back her snapping jaw.

Jessie
came to his aid and kicked the Corpse child with the flat of her foot. The
undead rolled onto her back. Jessie stomped onto its rotting skull with both
feet, crushing it.

“I
can’t hold it back forever!” Jeff gasped for breath.

His
knuckles were bloody from bashing Patient Zero, who looked less than amused.

“Someone
do something!” Kessa ducked and covered her head.

“Sorry,”
I said as I grabbed the child’s arm. I stomped on one end and twisted it
around, snapping the bone in half. I couldn’t have been more nauseated, but I
had to fight through it. I needed her bone as a weapon.

A
loud crack echoed through the room as Jeff stumbled back. Zero stood, fist out,
heaving.

Jessie
cried out as Jeff looked up in a daze.

Zero
walked towards him, and its jaw opened wide, elongating like a snake about to
swallow its prey. Dave and Kessa screamed, but Jessie ran up and kicked behind
its knee, knocking one leg out.

The
Corpse twisted and threw a punch, connecting with her chest. She flew like a
ragdoll into the glass panel system, which shattered, leaving large chunks of
thick glass, and Jessie out cold.

With
an unbridled rage, I attacked. I vaulted off of the wrecked computer terminal
and jumped, bringing the bone above my head. I stabbed into its skull with all
my strength. Which might've killed it, had the bone not been weak and my hands
too slippery with blood. The bone spear merely grazed of it.

Zero
turned its head to regard me.

Kessa
pleaded, “Get away from it!”

It
looked at her, and I quickly rolled away before it turned back.

“Regular
Corpses were bad enough.” I breathed. Panic-stricken, I looked for another
weapon.

A
thick, jagged chunk of glass sat by Jessie's leg. I glanced at her bite wound.
A fire lit under my heart. Even though Zero hadn’t been the one to bite her, I
still wanted to take him out.

“You
son-of-a-bitch!” I scooped up the glass, cutting my hands again, and thrusting
it toward Patient Zero’s brain stem. With a sickening shlick, the glass slid
right in and severed its spine.

The
Lv02 Corpse fell forward silently and landed flat. I stood above it, breathing
heavily; watching to make sure it didn’t get back up.

“How’s
that,
asshat
?” Dave cursed and kicked Zero’s arm,
which twitched, causing him to shriek and jump away.

I
rolled my eyes and approached Jeff, who leaned against the wall.

“You
alright?” I asked.

He
lifted his eyes, forcing a smile. “You stole my thunder.”

“You
punched a super zombie.” I patted him on the shoulder.

“I
sure as hell did.” Jeff laughed. “But you killed it.”

“Sorry,
I need to take some credit.” I laughed.

“You
damn kill-stealer. You’re as bad as Wesley.” He chuckled.

I
pictured myself wearing the Zombie Killing Hat and his trench coat. I could
pull it off.

“It’s
dead.” Kessa cheered. “You’re so brave, my angel!”

She
wrapped her arms around me and started kissing my neck, her hand slipped down
to my butt, and I jumped.

Jessie
cleared her throat. “Where did you find her again?”

I
turned back. “We found her at the 7n20 being held hostage by a religious
fanatic.”

“You
sure she’s not part of the cult?” Jessie narrowed her eyes.

“Zach,
what is this girl to you?” Kessa glared at Jessie.

I
had feared the moment of their meeting. What could I say? Someone would get
hurt. Kessa or Jessie?
One being a ticking time bomb.

“I’m
his cousin.” Jessie lied.

I
blinked a few times in disbelief. She lied for the sake of Kessa’s happiness.
Or for my own?

Kessa
cheered up. “I thought ya were the other woman! My bad.”

I
gave Jessie an apologetic glance. She smiled sadly and looked away.

“Whoo!”
Dave cheered. “We did it! We showed that Patient Zero bastard good! I wonder
why he was released?”

I
glared at Dave. “The computer terminal was voice controlled. I said your names
and one by one you were released. And if I remember correctly, you kept asking
about a Patient Zero.”

“No
way man!” Dave gasped. “I didn’t say anything about a Patient Zero.”

Jeff
smacked the back of his head. “Pretty sure you did bro.”

Dave
whined. “You can’t just blame the zombie apocalypse on me!”

“The
question is
,
who do we blame it on?” Jeff asked. “This
whole thing seems manmade, considering the way this facility works.”

I
spoke up. “I was able to listen to part of a report on the matter. A scientist
called Beauregard kept mentioning someone or something called, G.O.D.”

“The
Lord would never do such a thing!” Kessa argued.

“Specific
gods do tend to destroy the world.” Dave murmured.

Jeff
added, “Ya know the whole Noah’s Ark thing.”

Dave
declared, “It’s all a God’s fault.”

I
shrugged. “I’d prefer not to get into this argument. But Beauregard seemed to
talk about God in a strange way, I feel like it’s a ‘they’ and ‘they’ are some
secret organization.”

“Well,
crap,” Jeff said. “Let me get right back to praying that a Corpse doesn’t eat
my ass.”

“Stop
mocking God!” Kessa snarled. “He’s the reason we’re even still alive.”

I
walked away from the escalating argument as fast as I could. I found Jessie
kneeling over Patient Zero.

“Are
you going to tell them?” I asked.

“No,
and I beg you don’t either,” Jessie replied.

I
changed the subject, “About Kessa.”

Jessie
cut me off. “Don't worry. I waited too long to express my feelings for you. You
have the right to date whoever you want to. Plus I’m dying, so I understand.”

The
way she said that made me feel like a horrible person like I should throw
myself to the Corpses.

“But—”
I tried.

“Stop
it,” Jessie said. “Words won’t change anything. Let’s focus on getting everyone
out alive. But can you do me a favor?”

“What
is it?”

“Have
you done it yet?” Jessie caught me off guard, and I blushed.

“No!”
I held my hands up in defense.

“Okay,
I believe you,” Jessie smiled. “Just wait until I’m gone.”

My
heart sank. No matter how hard I tried to escape it, Jessie wouldn't be around
long.

“Cross
my heart.” I forced a return smile.

Out
of nowhere the rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire came from down the hall. We all
stopped to face the door. Either help or total doom had come our way.