Omega Virus (Book 1): Beta Hour (20 page)

LEVEL 23 – DING

Jessie groaned.
On instinct, I rolled out of the bed, taking the blankets with me. On the way
down, my head cracked on the nightstand. Dizziness swept away my senses. She
slowly sat up in bed. The time had come. My heart raced as I searched for my
gun, but I couldn't' find it.

The
girl I loved had gone pale and green veins snaked up around her throat.

Through
cracked lips, her mouth opened and closed, forming words. “Zach?”

I
scrambled to my feet. “You’re alive!”

She
yawned and stretched; her shoulders popped loudly. Still, she found breath but
looked no different than a Corpse, save the rotting flesh. How she hung on, I
had no idea, but I wouldn't complain.

“So
hungry, so very hungry.” She whispered as her stomach growled loud enough to
rival a Corpse's groan.

I
chuckled, as I sat next to her on the bed.

“Oops!”
she giggled. “Excuse me.”

“Let’s
get you something to eat,” I said.

She
stood, and started to fall, but caught herself.

I
cried her name, but she waved it off.

“I
stood up too fast,” she said.

I
pulled on Wesley's trench coat, and rushed around the bed and gave her my hand,
helping her steady herself.

As
we walked around the bed, she stopped me. “I need a sweater. Maybe there’s
something in the closet.”

I
smiled. “You’re pretty scrawny now. I bet something will fit.”

She
smiled and reached as if to punch my arm, but gave up half way and sat back on
the bed.

“Can
you take a look?” She whispered, hanging her head.

“Of
course.” I pulled open the closet. Inside I found a giant collection of gamer
T-shirts spanning all genres. I reached deeper into the closet and found a
couple of hoodies stashed away. Through the dim morning light, I could see one
to be bright pink with a morbidly demonic pony on it—a complete contrast
to the color and the other turned out to be black with a red spider web across
the breast.

“Pink
monster pony, or
gothy-emoish
?” I asked.

“You
hand me anything pink, and I’ll barf on you,” Jessie spoke through labored
breaths.

I
snatched the black hoodie and brought it to her.

“Good?”
I asked. “It fits you, I think.”

“Yes,”
She grinned. “This should suffice.”

I
helped her in and then zipped up the hoodie. The sleeves were long enough to
cover her hands, so she balled up the ends and hid them away. I offered her my
shoulder, and we left the room.

We
hobbled to the stairs, and I helped her down both flights and into the kitchen.
I pulled out a chair at the large island and lifted her up into it.

“What
would you like?” I asked.

“Meat.”
She said, and I hesitated, leaving a heavy silence in the air.

Stepping
away, I searched the cabinets for a can of meat and almost came up empty, but
someone had shoved one in the back.

I
set it down and filled bowls with dry chocolate cereal. Jessie looked at the
can of meat and fingered it, twirling it around and then shoved it to the side.

“I
was just kidding,” she said, her voice weakened.

“Sorry.”
I picked up a single pebble of the chocolate and popped it in my mouth.

“Even
a corpse wouldn’t eat canned meat.” She tried to giggle, but it came out as a
cough

“Too
bad there aren’t enough cans to shower ourselves in it,” I grinned. “Then
Corpses would leave us alone!”

She
gave a fake smile, and then we spent the next ten minutes eating in silence.
Jessie barely had the strength to chew each bite, yet she would shove a handful
in her mouth at a time. When she finally finished the bowl, she reached for the
box.

“More.”
She whispered.

“Right.”
I poured it for her.

Out
of the entire box,
I had one bowl
,
she
ate the rest
.

“Is
there anything else?” She peeked at me from underneath her hood.

I
went to the cabinets but stopped short. A long drawn out groan came from
nearby. I spun to face Jessie, who slightly shook her head. I rushed back to
her side and drew my gun from my belt. The moan broke the silence again and a
shadow passed by the window on the far side of the kitchen, then another
shadow, and another.

“Let’s
get upstairs,” I whispered.

I
grabbed Jessie’s arm and pulled her a little too roughly. Her chair fell, and I
caught her but the wooden seat cracked against the ground, and the moaning
outside grew silent.

“Crap!”
I breathed.

We
hobbled into the foyer, and I eyed the front doors.

“Try
to get upstairs. I’ll barricade the doors.”

She
grabbed the rail and began her climb. Rushing over, I grabbed a long table from
the side of the room and pushed it against the doors. Also, I grabbed a few
large and heavy vases and added them to the blockade. Just as I grabbed a sword
from a family crest, and slid it in through the handles, something slammed the
outside.

I
stepped back and held my breath. More slams joined the first. The corpses were
pounding on the door. Gun in
hand,
I made my way back
to the stairs. They continued to pound, but it seemed the doors were holding.

“Come
on,” Jessie gasped for breath.

She’d
finally made it to the top. I glanced back at the door to reassure myself the
wall of defense would hold.

“Where
do we hide?” Jessie asked as I made it to her side.

“We
need to stay near the stairs, so we don't trap ourselves. Let's try the
library!” I said.

As
we went in, I grabbed a heavy couch, bracing all my weight against the floor,
and pushed it before the door. Downstairs the pounding continued.

Jessie
sat down on a love seat and put her face in her hands.

“Hang
in there,” I said.

She
coughed
;
a deep hacking. I glanced around the room and
looked at the tall windows. I went to the far one and sat on the window seat
looking out into the cold. The sun hid behind some clouds, and the grass in the
yard below still appeared frosted over.

“This
has to be the coldest winter we’ve had.” I sighed, glad I had Wesley's coat.

Jessie
didn’t say anything. I looked back to see her with her head still in her hands.
I sighed and stood when my foot bumped something. Kneeling down
;
I found a black camcorder with an open preview screen. I
fumbled with the buttons, and the power light came on. A cassette compartment
popped open, and the tape had a label that read, 'Wedding Video.'

“Aha,”
I said.

A
video with a happy story, it would surely cheer Jessie up.

“I
found something.” I held out the camera.

“What?”
she asked, looking up, mostly hidden in her
hoodie.

“A
wedding video!” I grinned. “It must be a happy one! Let’s watch!”

I
plopped down onto the loveseat beside her. I leaned forward and held the camera
preview window so we could both see and hit the play button.

A
static gray snow covered the screen for a few moments, then a video appeared
and music played. The cameraman aimed from within a crowd standing in a grassy
field; it looked like the backyard of the mansion, only filled with chairs, balloons,
flowers and an arch that had beautiful golden ornaments. Six people stood
beneath the archway; a priest, a man in a crisp black tuxedo, a woman in an
expensive looking wedding dress, and three young girls, the oldest maybe
thirteen. The shapely bride had long red hair running down her back.

“The
woman is beautiful.” Jessie said.

“Not
as much as you,” I said.

Jessie
shoved me with her shoulder and giggled.

The
couple had a great deal of love in their eyes. The man grinned as the woman
said the words. “I do.”

He
had such happiness in his eyes. I had never seen someone so filled with joy.

“They’re
happy,” Jessie whispered. “I wish I could’ve experienced a wedding.”

A
tinge of guilt ran through me; I'd only succeeded in making her sadder.

“Maybe
I should turn it off.” I moved to close the preview pane.

“No!”
She grabbed my hand. “I want to see more.”

“Okay.”

I
left the preview pane open. The video showed the couple putting pricey diamond
embedded rings on each other’s hands and the priest said the famous words, ‘you
may now kiss the bride.' Something overwhelmed me at that moment. An urge
beyond rebuking; I turned to Jessie and pulled back the hood. I looked into her
eyes, and she looked at me with the same joy the couples had in theirs. I
leaned in and put my lips to hers. My lips burned, but I didn't care. I took my
hand and held her face, kissing her passionately. From her lips to her tongue,
the heat almost inflicted pain, but at the moment, I couldn't have asked for
more. What could have been a lifetime later, she pulled back.

“Are
you crazy?” She said.

“It’s
not that easy to get infected, I think,” I grinned.

“You’re
stupid,” she mumbled.

I
took her face in my hands again. “It was perfect. I’d die for you.”

“Are
you sure?” A smile formed on her lips.

“Yes.”

She
used whatever strength she had and flung herself on me. I fell back to the arm
of the loveseat, and she kissed me with every ounce of life force she could
muster. We made out for some time, and I wished beyond anything that it would
last forever. I wanted a lifetime with her.

A
sudden scream erupted from the camcorder and Jessie fell back, scooping it up
from the floor. “What’s going on?”

The
camera showed a room filled with blood.

“The
experiment went wrong.” A man’s voice said from behind the lens. “The
experiment has gone so very wrong. But what else could I have done? They cut me
off. It’s their fault! Not mine! Not mine at all!”

The
camera swiveled to show a man, the groom from the wedding. He appeared to be a
mess
;
bearded, crazy hair, and gore-covered clothes.

“It's
my wife, Michelle!” He whispered. “Oh, my darling
Maggs
killed her! I gave
Maggs
the injection, thinking it
would clear up her disease. A disease in her blood passed on from me! I should
never have had children! The injection didn’t make her better. I turned her
into a monster! Even as I speak,
Maggs
' is in the
other room tearing apart Shannon. My surviving daughter, Wendy, I told her to
run. There’s only one hope left. I have to get to my wife to the lab at the
base in Houston. If I get there, I can use the cure on her. First, I have to
subdue
Maggs
,
then
find a
way to reverse the damage I have done to her. What kind of father am I? It is I
who am the monster!”

The
video cut off. Jessie and I exchanged glances.

“A
lab in Houston!” I whispered.

“I’ll
never make it.” She said.

“Yes,
you will. We can find the vaccine!” I grabbed her face and kissing her hard.

“Houston
is too far on foot,” Jessie said.

“Yes,
on foot!” I laughed. “But there must be a car in the garage!”

“There
might not even really be—” She tried, but I kissed her again and cut her
off.

“Yes
there is, Jessie,” I said. “He said he could cure his daughter.”

And
right at that moment, there came a crash from downstairs. The barricade had
given way.

LEVEL 24 – ENDGAME

The barricade
downstairs shattered, leaving us with only one option
;
get to the garage, get a car, and get the heck out.

I
turned to Jessie. “We gotta go, now!”

She
hugged her knees to her chest and slowly rocked back and forth.

“We’re
not gonna make it.” She whispered. “We’re not going to make it.”

Not
only did had she begun dying physically; she had begun going mentally, as well.

“We'll
make it, but only if we move!” I grabbed her hands, and had to jerk back they
were so hot.

“Just
leave me.” Jessie pleaded. “You go!”

“You
have to be there.” I pulled her to her feet. “The cure is for you!”

“Please.”
She cried.

I
could hear the Corpses dragging themselves up the stairs.

“Let’s
hope we can still get out,” I said.

“No!”
She cried as I dragged her.

I
shoved the couch aside and pulled open the doors. The stench of rotting flesh
filled my nostrils, and I nearly gagged. Both of the staircases overflowed with
Corpses.

“Please
just leave me,” Jessie begged, her eyes wide.

“We’re
in this together dammit!” I snapped.

I
grabbed her arm again and pulled her toward the far side of the balcony. The
floor below went down twenty feet, but somehow we had to jump.

I
fought against the burn and grabbed her face in my hands. She now stared, with
drooping eyelids. “We’re jumping.”

“No.”
She whispered.

“You
don't have a choice. You're going to live!” I scolded.

I
rushed into the bedroom behind us and tugged the mattress outside. The Corpses
were a dozen feet away. The front-runner had a broken foot, which dragged to
the side, slowing them down.

With
a great heave, I pushed the mattress over the balcony. It landed with a thud
and the Corpses on the stairs turned.

“I’m
sorry if I miss,” I said.

Jessie
cocked her head. I grabbed her, scooping her legs out from under her and
dropped her over the railing. The front-runner grabbed my shoulder and lunged
forward with jagged teeth. I threw myself backward and tumbled over. The corpse
grasped, but couldn’t grab me in time. The ceiling flew away, and I smashed
down. Somehow my leg had bent in the air, and all of my weight came down on my
ankle.

Despite
the excruciating pain, I had to deal with it; it didn't feel broken at least.
From above the front-runner Corpse pushed against the balcony. The railing gave
way, and it fell. I dodged forward and found Jessie crawling on the floor.
Behind me, the Corpse landed on its neck with a crack and went still. One by
one, they fell from above. The staircase Corpses turned and fell as they tried
to come back down.

“Come
on.” I lifted Jessie to her feet.

As
I limped towards the door to the garage, Jessie whine, “You're hurt, Zach!”

“There’s
no helping either of us if we stay here,” I said.

She
shuffled along beside me as I threw open the door and we scurried into the dark
garage. I slammed the door, grabbed a shelf, and brought it down to block the
entrance.

I
spun to find a Range Rover parked inside.

“I’m
driving.” I held open her door and helped her inside.

“Thank
gosh,” she said in between phlegm-filled coughs. “I don't have a license.”

I
jumped in the driver's seat with a chuckle. “And you think I do?”

Her
head lolled back. “Now what?”

“We
get this thing going!” I reached for the key but found nothing.

“What
is it?” Jessie asked after a moment.

“No
key!” I said. The door to the garage crashed down, and Corpses flooded in.

Jessie
coughed and stared out the window. “Oh no.”

“Crap.”
I pulled down the visor, nothing. I pulled open the glove box, nothing but an
ID card on a lanyard.

“Hang
on to that!” I told Jessie.

We
jumped as a Corpse slammed into the passenger window.

“C’mon!”
I cried as the undead flooded in, filling the large garage.

I
lifted up the middle divider and searched through the junk. There were tons of
papers. The next Corpse slam cracked Jessie's window.

“Hurry.”
She wheezed.

“I’m
trying!” I said, in full-panic mode.

I
stomped my foot in frustration and felt a bump. I ducked and flung the carpet
into the back seat. A car key sat there like a shining beacon. I snatched it up
and fumbled as I tried to shove it into the key port.

“Zach!”
Jessie whimpered as her window spidered, threatening to shatter.

“Got
it!” I turned the key.

The
engine screeched, and the car didn’t start.

“Dammit!”
I pounded in the wheel.

The
Corpses were almost through.

“Try
again!” Jessie pleaded. “Don’t flood the engine!”

I
turned the key again. This time, the vehicle roared to life.

“Yes!”
I stomped on the gas. The engine revved, and we didn’t move.

“What
now?” I shouted.

Jessie
grabbed the gear and shifted it into drive. I felt idiotic, but I would feel
sorry for myself later. I stomped the gas again. We flew forward,

slamming
straight into the garage door, and bringing it right with us.

The
door fell beneath the rover, and we bounced high as we ran over it. I spun the
wheel, and we sped into the grass. Dodging past hordes of Corpses, I pulled
back onto the road, and we were in the clear. I looked back over my shoulder
and took a last glance at the small mansion; we'd escaped.

“Oh
my gosh.” Jessie breathed. “My heart is going to beat right out of my chest.”
   

I
breathed a sigh of relief. “That was intense.”

“We're
going to Houston?” Jessie coughed.

“Yes,
and we’re going to get you that vaccine!” I cheered.

Jessie
smiled. “Do you think so?”

“You
can count on me. I’m going to save you no matter what!”

“Thank
you.” Jessie leaned over and kissed my cheek.

I
grinned. I would do anything to keep her alive. As we drove on towards Houston,
the radio crackled.

“Did
you turn the radio on?” I asked.

She
shook her head. “No, but do you hear that?”

I
only heard static. “No? Do you hear something?”

“Yes.”

A
further sign her mind had bought tickets to la
la
land.

“There’s
a voice.” She furrowed her brows.

“I
can’t make anything out.”

Jessie
turned the volume dial. The crackling grew louder, but it did sound like
something broke the static. Could it be a voice?

“What’s
it saying?” I asked.

She
hushed me angrily.

“Maybe
we can tune it!” I turned the dial left and right.

“Zach!”
She whined. “Why?”

“What’d
I do?”

“You
lost the signal.” She let her head fall against the dashboard.

As
I watched the road, I said, “I never heard anything anyhow.”

“Well,
there was something!” She shouted.

I
sealed my lips. She hadn’t ever yelled at me like that. It had to be the virus
affecting her mind. I pushed harder on the gas and forced us down the road at
eighty miles per hour, swerving around the wrecked cars.

“I
did hear something,” she said. “It was an emergency service announcement coming
out of Houston.”

I
went along with her delirium. “What did it say?”

“It
was President Luigi,” she said. “There’s a survivor camp in Houston.”

“It
makes sense. If this scientist had a lab there where a vaccine is, then why
wouldn’t they have the President there?”

“There
was more,” Jessie said.

“What
else?”

“The
camp is for those who are not infected,” she said.

“Anyone
found with infection should not arrive or be executed.”

A heavy feeling fell over my heart.
Anyone could see Jessie had the virus in
her veins.

“Shot
on sight?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Crap,”
I whispered. “We’ll figure something out.”

She
sighed. “I knew we wouldn’t get the vaccine.”

“I’ll
get that vaccine. If I have to go into the base and find it on my own, I'll
sneak in! I’ll join the army! Whatever it is I have to do.”

“Thank
you, Zach.” She whispered.

We
drove on in silence again for several more minutes.

“Take
a look at that ID we found,” I said.

She
reached to her side and scooped up the badge. I watched her in quick glances as
she studied it, flipping it over and feeling it. She started picking at a
bright orange sticker on the back.

“Find
something?” I asked.

“It’s
got an address under this parking sticker.” She said.

“This
is too easy!” I smiled. “We’ll have that cure in no time.”

She
continued picking at the sticker, finally pulling up the corner and peeling the
rest off.

“Found
it.” She said. “The building—is G.O.D. Mode Games.”

I
sucked in my breath.

“Isn't
that--
”

“Yes,”
I said. “Back at Epic Impossibilities Games, there was a game made by G.O.D.
Mode Games.”

“Oh?
Did it look good?” She smiled with bluing lips.

“That’s
beside the point,” I said. “Governor Wayne worked for them, remember? And
Wesley was connected to them too. They’re behind all of this; I’m pretty sure.”

“So
what do you think?” Jessie asked. “We’re going to find monsters there?”

“Maybe,”
I said. “But for sure no President or survivors. It’s a trap I’d wager.”

“Does
that deter you from sneaking in?” She asked.

 
“I’ll sneak in even if they have multiple
Lv02s and even Lv03s,” I replied.

“What
about Lv04’s?” she asked with a slight chuckle.

“Look,”
I replied. “They could have Lv100’s. I’m still finding that cure!”

She
smiled, despite her bouncing head. “You'd do it for me?”

“What
else?” I said, feeling nothing could break my good mood.

We
exited the freeway and in the distance the tall buildings of Houston became
visible.

“What
do we do after?” I asked. “With the vaccine in hand, we could repopulate.”

I'd
meant it as a joke, but Jessie stared at me from under her hood, I could feel
it. I shouldn't have been thinking about things like that. Although the
prospect of being with Jessie excited me, I didn’t mean it like that. My face
flushed red.

“Maybe.”
Jessie still smiled.

The
warm feeling of butterflies invaded my stomach and anxiety filled me. She had
said maybe. She hadn’t been disgusted by the idea of having children with me
;
of making the world a habitable place again.

“So,”
I said.

“So?”
she asked.

I
continued. “We’re partners then? In it till the end?”

“Why
would I want to be with anyone else?” She giggled.

“That
makes me happy.”

“I’m
glad too.” She replied.

I
held her hand as we continued to Houston. Even at the end of the world, Jessie
made me happy. I'd make her survive; I'd save her.
Jessie, my
one, and only love.

As
we closed in, a morbid scene splayed itself across the skyline. The buildings
had shattered windows, and some were even burning. Wrecked cars clogged the
freeway. Finally, we came to a wall of wreckage, and we were forced to stop.

“It
looks like we’re on foot from here,” I said.

“Okay,”
Jessie replied.

I
helped her out of the rover, and we walked to the pileup.

“I
don’t think I can climb this.” She said.

“I’ll
help you.” I offered my hand.

Together
we made our way across broken cars. Someone had clearly piled up the cars with
intentions. Heavy machinery had to have been used to form the wall.

We
finally reached the peak and stood atop a yellow taxi. My eyes went wide as I
scanned the city to see the devastation in every direction. Wrecked and burnt
cars, lampposts broken in half, the fronts of businesses fallen apart, no hope,
existed in this land.