Omega Virus (Book 1): Beta Hour (27 page)

“What
is that?” Dave asked as they followed me into the yard.

A
rumbling shortly followed, like a train careened down the street not too far
away. I hadn't seen any tracks.

“I
think we have company,” Wesley said.

“The
ladder!” Jeff said.

“Everyone,
up!” Wesley barked. “All four of you take the turrets.”

“The
turrets? Why?” Dave's eyes grew wide.

“You
like video games right?” Wesley patted Dave’s shoulder.

Dave
nodded. “Of course, but--!”

“Get
your ass up that ladder and to a turret!” Wesley ordered. “It’s time to play a
real life video game!”

“What
genre?” Dave asked.

Wesley
grinned. “Tower Defense.”

LEVEL 34 – TOWER DEFENSE

My head dropped
in despair. “Tower Defense is my least favorite genre.”

I
didn't like the kind of game where multiple units protect a point from wave
after wave of oncoming enemies. From the sound of the stampeding outside the
walls, we were in for a fight.

Wesley
quickly climbed the ladder. At the top of the wall, he drew his twin pistols
and shouted. “Hurry or we’re dead!”

I'd
only made it halfway up when Wesley started shooting. I pulled myself onto the
wall and rushed towards the farthest turret.

“No,
take that one!” Wesley pointed at the one to his right.

I
quickly jumped in front of the gun. My jaw dropped. Filling the streets below
were massive, lumbering Lv02 Corpses like Governor Wayne from the Cornelia
Facility.

“Dammit
Zach, shoot!” Wesley snapped.

I
grabbed the handles of the turret and held in the triggers. I opened fire
first, as the rest of the guild made it to their turrets. The machine gun
blasted powerful rounds, and the
ratatat
of gunfire
filled the air. I faced several Lv02s coming from the south. All the while the
siren continued to blare. The trap had caught us like rats; we weren't meant to
escape.

Bullets
flew, causing sprays of blood and chunks of flesh to be torn off of the evolved
Corpses. One would fall, dismembered, and the next would just stampede over it.
We'd be lucky to stop them with just guns, so I aimed at their legs, trying my
best to slow them down.

My
gun fired and fired. I took out one's arm, then the leg of another. The pair
tumbled into a pile, and I tilted the gun up and shot for the next in line.
Wesley hooted a cheer. I glanced over and saw the look on his face; he grinned
wickedly. In this battle of life or death, he felt more alive than ever, scoring
dozens of ‘points.'

Heavy
fear outweighed my joy. I used to love killing zombies in games, but this
crossed the line.

“We're
winning!” Wesley cheered, as we all fired from different turrets.

I
narrowed my eyes. We were under attack, not in a video game!

The
Lv02s barreled in. Despite taking each down, they continued to force their way
closer, and they truly were never ending. I had a feeling these were the
citizens of Rockport, processed and transformed
;
Grandson's defense.

I
gritted my teeth and struggled to hold the gun steady. The kickback nearly had
me falling over. The fact that my body felt colder, and my fingers were going
numb didn’t help. My vision actually began to blur, and I could smell Wesley's
sweat. It smelled appetizing. My stomach growled, and hunger began to seep in.
I wanted to stop shooting and have a nibble.

“They’ve
made it to the walls!” Jeff screamed.

Wesley
ran around the top of the wall and fired to help Jeff fend off his Lv02s. The
scent vanished, and I could focus again. Cursing, I realized my mind and senses
were fading. I couldn’t let it happen again.
I couldn't allow
myself to lose control
,
it would be too dangerous
.

My
wave of Lv02s grew close. I tilted the gun almost all the way down and fired at
the base. Even though I blasted them apart, the bodies piled up and the Corpses
were climbing on top of their fallen brethren.

The
first behemoth grabbed the wall before me, and as its head rose up, I sprayed
powerful bullets that tore its face apart. The
undead’s
roar
cut off as it fell, knocking back others.

“Wesley!”
Dave screamed as his gunfire cut off.

I
looked back to see
a
Lv02 holding Dave by his head. It
stood on the wall lifting him several feet in the air; he flailed about
desperately. Wesley leaped onto Dave’s gun, spinning it around and hanging off
the wall. He blasted the Lv02 in the gut.

“
Whooooo
!” Wesley howled.

The
gun quickly disemboweled the Corpse, and its guts poured over the ground. Dave
fell back, crying out.

I
could only hope he hadn't died in the crossfire;
a
Lv02 before me roared and grabbed my turret. I fired, blowing off its hand, but
it smacked the gun, and I stupidly held on, swinging over the side of the wall.

Another
Lv02 reached for me, and I pulled up my legs. The next Lv02 leaped up into the
air and grabbed the top of the wall next to me. Seeing its long thick hair, I
knew I had but one option.

I
swung my legs forward, brought them back building momentum. At the last second,
I leaped towards the Corpse. I grabbed its hair and caught a huge handful in
one hand. The Lv02 barely noticed me as it climbed up onto the wall. I dropped
down to the side and grabbed the turret; spinning it inward I blew apart its
spine. It collapsed down into the yard.

“They’re
never going to stop coming!” Jeff yelled.

“We
need to figure out another way!” Jessie cried.

“There's
no other way!” Wesley shouted. “We’re just going to have to hold out!”

Wesley
ran back to my side of the wall and started firing his guns again, but they
both clicked one after the other.

“You
were saying?” I cried.

“We
may need to rethink our strategy!” He nodded.

A
Lv02 grabbed the wall in front of Wesley. The Zombie Killer spun, pulled a
dagger from the back of his belt and stabbed it right into the monster’s eye.
The Corpse roared and fell away.

“How
many more of those you got?” I tried to ignore the sweet smell of his sweat.

“That
was the last one.” he shrugged.

He
planted a kick right into the next Lv02’s face as it came up over the wall.

I
aimed my gun up as one leaped, and the force of the bullets sent it flying
back.

“No!”
Jessie screamed.

I
spun to see
a
Lv02 grab her turret and throw it into
the distance.

“We’re
down a gun!” Dave cried.

“Make
that two!” Jeff added as his gun came to a slow cranking stop.

He'd
run out of ammo, Jessie’s gun had been destroyed, and Dave still fought to get
back to his turret. We were losing. I looked into the yard where the fallen
Lv02s were getting back up.

“Our
way back is about to be blocked!” I shouted.

“Fine!”
Wesley yelled. “Jump!”

He
leaped off the wall and landed on a standing Corpse. Jeff and Jessie jumped
too. I was about to jump when I looked to Dave, who stood on the wall,
hesitating. I tried to warn him, but I couldn't get the words out. A Corpse
swung its long arm and whacked him with a loud crack. He flew through the air
like a baseball and disappeared outside over the wall.

“Dave!”
I screamed.

“We
can’t help him!” Wesley shouted, “Come on!”

“I’m
going after him!”

The
Lv02s in the yard were healing, and pulling themselves together. Wesley grabbed
Jeff and Jessie and pulled them inside the barracks.

I
no longer had a choice. I ran around the top of the wall, ducking and jumping
over the swiping hands of the Corpses. Looking down, I spotted Dave. He stood
across the street, Corpses and a building cornering him. He turned to face the
door, but the siren hadn't stopped. He’d kill himself!

I
jumped off the wall and came down in a tumble. Rolling, I landed on the
sidewalk. I spotted a parked car. One I could only hope had the keys inside. I
jumped in and pulled down the visor; this time, keys fell into my lap. I
started the car and slammed the gas. The car flew forward as I spun the wheel,
slamming right into the two corpses blocking Dave’s escape. He ducked, and one
hit the door. It lit up like a Christmas tree.

The
undead caught fire and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Out of
nowhere, the siren cut off. All of the Lv02s that were still attacking stopped
and looked around confused. The one right outside of the car began beeping like
an alarm clock.

“What
the hell?” Dave asked.

I
threw open the car door and tackled him over the side of the apartment’s stoop.
No sooner did a series of explosions rock the town.
Kaboom
after kaboom.
I kept my hands over my head as gore rained down around
us.

Finally,
after hundreds had gone off, everything went silent, save the splatting of body
parts.

I
peeked up to see the bloodiest scene I'd ever witnessed. No video game or movie
compared to the devastation. Gore stained every visible surface.

“What
happened?” Dave asked as we climbed to our feet.

“They
self-destructed.” I breathed. “Someone rigged them to blow.”

Dave
turned to see the blackened spots where the electrocuted zombie had been.

“That
could have been me!” Dave sucked in a deep breath.

“Yeah,
but if that zombie hadn’t hit that door and short-circuited the alarm. It would
have been both, if not all of us.”

“Are
the others okay?” Dave asked.

We
looked up in time to see the doors to the barracks open. Jessie, Jeff, and
Wesley all came running out. Jessie cried and ran toward me.

Despite
being covered in blood, she threw her arms around my neck.

“I’m
so glad you’re all right!” She sobbed. “We heard the explosions, and I thought—”

“I
know.” I hugged her back. “I know.”

Her
overwhelming
aroma,
had my hunger growing. I had an
urge to bite into her neck. It would be playful at first,
then
I could tear away a tiny piece.

“Zach!”
Jeff snapped me to the present. “You’re hurting her!”

My
eyes shot open, and I realized I had Jessie hugged against me so tight she
struggled to get out of my grasp. I quickly let go.

“What
the hell was that?” Jeff asked. “It looked like you smelled her.”

“I…”
I hesitated. “I was just…”

My
stomach growled loudly, and everyone’s eyes landed on me.

“When
was the last time you ate something?” Dave asked.

“It’s
been a day or more,” I said.

“Dave
has snacks in the car,” Jessie said.

“Let’s
get go then.” Wesley agreed and shrugged. “Well, that was fun!”

“You
call that fun?” Dave whimpered.

This
time, Jeff sat in the front seat, and I sat in the back with Jessie in the
middle. She handed me a bag of chips and a bottle of soda. I ripped open the
bag and devoured them in just a few mouthfuls.

“It
looks like you haven’t eaten in a month!” Dave chuckled.

“It
feels like it.” I chomped on another bag.

As
we drove, I ate more than a few bags of chips and downed two bottles of soda.
I'd worry about diabetes later if I somehow survived the virus. It wasn’t long
before we pulled up to the parking lot of a marina. A long dock ran out into
the water and at the end floated a pair of boats, one a large speedboat, and
one a yacht. We climbed out of the car with the remainder of our food supplies,
which I'd blown through. The dock rocked in the water as we went, and I nearly
fell into the dark water.

“Can
you swim?” Jessie grabbed my arm to steady me.

“Of
course,” I said.

She
shook her head. “You’re still so hot.”

“Thanks.”
I forced a smile.

“I
didn’t mean it like that—but you are—but I mean---” She started
blushing.

“Come
on love birds,” Wesley said as he boarded the Yacht.

Jeff
helped Dave on board, and I helped lift Jessie up over the railing. As I was
about to board, nausea hit me like an avalanche. I doubled over and vomited so
bad that I thought my intestines would come out.

Jessie
climbed back out of the boat and came to my side. “Oh God, you’re burning up.”

“Zach,
are you sure your all right?” Wesley stood over us.

“I-
I’m
f-fine.” I stood. “Go on Jessie, get on board.”

Wesley
reached down and helped her up, then said. “Jessie you feel kind of warm too.”

I
looked up at Jessie and met eyes with her. She looked a little pale again. I
knew in my heart then that the temporary vaccine had started to wear off.