Omega Virus (Book 1): Beta Hour (31 page)

LEVEL 38 – FINAL ZONE

I threw my arms
to my sides. “Call it back! I’ll do whatever you want!”

“I’m
afraid once the Lv04 is released it’s out of control.” Grandson said. “It
really is a shame. You’re so close to them aren’t you? That’ll change one day,
or maybe not. I can’t be sure of anything anymore.”

“Stop
all of this!” I said, “So many have died! Millions—”

“Billions
of lives lost, actually. Our high score tops any other.” The sound of my voice
saying such things chilled me to the bone.

“What
is there to gain?” I shouted.

“Tick
tock, Mr. Mastiff,
Tickety
-Tock-Tock!” Grandson said.

With
the Desert Eagle gripped tightly, I rushed to the elevator. I smashed the
button on the golden panel.

“Hurry
up!” I said.

The
elevator moved too
slow
. After an agonizing sixty
seconds, the lift finally dinged, and the door opened.

I
stepped into the carpeted, gold-walled elevator and scanned the buttons. There
didn’t seem to be anything lower than B7. So I hit that button and waited,
panic-stricken. The door closed slowly.

“Come
on!” I smashed B7 repeatedly.

The
elevator hummed and clanked as it began its descent. Each beep of the passing
floors spiked my migraine. Beep. I nearly screamed. Beep. My vision blurred.
Beep. My head spun. Beep. I fell back into the elevator wall. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beeeeeee
---

My
eyes shot open, and I realized I had collapsed. The ugly pattern of the red and
gold carpet attacked my eyes. How long had I been out?

Then
it came to me; my friends were in danger.

My
entire body felt as if it were on fire, but also bathed in ice. My skin
should’ve been melting off my body.

It
took every ounce of strength I had, but I lifted my arm and grabbed the
railing. Then a wave of smells hit me. I pulled myself up to one knee and took
a long whiff of the air. I smelled blood. Human blood. And hadn't coagulated
like a Corpse's.

I
quickly climbed to my
feet,
I'd let my equilibrium on
the ship. I tumbled into the wall. “Hold on!” I whispered.

I
kept hold of my Desert Eagle as I stepped out of the elevator, using my other
hand to constantly grasp the wall. Each step and breath came labored.

“What
happened, Mr. Mastiff?” Grandson’s voice came over the speakers. “Did you take
a nap?”

I
ignored him and looked around. The walls were made of silver-plating with violet
orbs of light shining behind glass-covered panels. The light fixtures above on
the ceiling were too bright. I had definitely found the secret base.

“Mr.
Mastiff.” Grandson said. “I can see you, you know, so please don’t ignore me.
It won’t bode well for your friend’s lives.”

“Don’t
talk about them!” I took another step through the futuristic hallway, which
twisted up ahead.

“Why
not? They're my friends too.” He said. “Or should I say ‘were.'“

“Stop
your mind games!” I took another step, feeling as if my feet weight a hundred
pounds each.

“I’m
not playing a mind game anymore.” He said. “The Lv04 was such a good boy. He
actually brought them to me. I don’t know how long before he decides to feast
on their flesh.”

“Let
them go!” I yelled.

“Then
you best hurry up. Neither of us has much time.”

“What
do you mean?” I asked, but no answer came. The speakers had gone silent.

I
took a deep breath and stepped forward again. How would I ever make it? The
hallway looked as if it went on forever. Step by step, I moved forward, going
no more than a foot every ten seconds. My skin itched terribly, and my stomach
began to growl. The smell of blood got stronger. Wherever it came from, it
couldn't be too far.

“Please
hold on,” I mumbled. If I didn’t hurry everyone would die.

I
followed the wall, my shoulder leaning up against the cool metal, which felt
good on my skin, but froze my blood. Before long I reached walls, turned into
glass windows. Outside I could see the deep dark ocean. But where I expected to
see sea life swimming past, I saw nothing.

I
passed more windows, which eventually turned back, into metallic walls. Then I
came to a four-way intersection. Each direction looked the same except the
color of the wall orbs were different. Straight ahead, yellow, to the left,
blue and to the right, green.

“One,
two, three, four.” Grandson mocked. “Is that how many friends you had?”

“What?”
What did he mean, had?

I
lifted my nose into the air and breathed in deep. The blood hit me like a
cannonball. It came from the right, down the green hallway. I hoped beyond hope
it that it didn't belong to the Gamer's Guild or Wesley.

Still
leaning against the wall, I made the turn. I followed the appetizing aroma. If
I found the owner, I would just have to take a quick bite before continuing on
to find Grandson and my friends.

The
hallway curved away from the other halls, and I had no choice but to follow it.
After forty painful steps, I finally came to an open area. I looked around and
narrowed my eyes. The room looked to be some sort of storage warehouse. Large
steel containers with the word ‘G.O.D.’ written on the sides were stacked up in
piles around the room. There seemed to be no method to the madness, they were
just in random spots.

I
stumbled to the first pile of containers and fell against them.

“I
don’t—think—I—can make it.” I struggled with each word, and
breathing itself became difficult.

“You
can make it, Zach.” A voice coughed.

My
first instinct had me wanting to leap around the side of the box and find my
dinner. I wanted to dig into the flesh of whoever spoke, tearing away with my
teeth. But I fought that urge; I fought it hard because that voice sounded
familiar. My eyes trailed to the floor, and I spotted a pool of blood leaking
around the corner.

I
staggered around to find the speaker.

Wesley
sat against a storage contained. Blood covered his him and bore deep wounds.
One of his legs had been cut off below the knee.

“No!”
I whispered and got closer, but as I stepped in the blood, my eyes locked onto
it. I wanted to lick it up, but more so I wanted the meat. I looked back to
Wesley.

His
head hung to his chest, and next to him, safe from the blood sat his black
zombie killing fedora with the red feather.

“What
happened to you?” I whispered.

“How’s
it look, Doc?” Wesley asked. “I can’t really tell anymore. I don’t have the
energy to open my eyes.”

I
looked him over and shook my head. “You’ve looked better.”

“Don’t
be so nice,” Wesley said. “I can’t feel my right leg, and I know what that
means.”

What
could I say?

“Give
it to me straight.” He said. “Think I’ll make it?”

My
eyes scanned him up and down. Could I just tell him that in his condition,
survival would be impossible? When he didn’t hear me respond, he chuckled.

“You’re
still too cowardly to tell someone they’re going to die?” He asked.

“It’s
not easy,” I said. “I’ve seen too many die already. I don’t want to see anyone
else fall.”

“Not
everyone is dead, you know.” He whispered.

 
“I have to get to Jessie, Jeff and Dave!”
I said.

“Oh
yeah, you do.” His head lolled from side to side. “The Lv04 took them. That crap
was crazy. I didn’t think I could ever see something move like it did. It
leaped about with long claws, they had to be a foot each.”

“Doesn’t
sound good,” I admitted. “Where did it take them?”

“Further
down.” He said. “You’ll have to go on without me. I think I have to log out.”

“Wesley,”
I said. “I’m sorry. I should have come with you. This is my fault. It’s all
about me.”

“I
know.” Wesley agreed. “It is all about you. This entire game Grandson is playing.
It’s all about Zachary Mastiff. Not the billions that died.”

“I’m
going to put an end to this,” I said. “I’m going to stop him.”

Wesley
laughed, and reached his hand to the side, gripping his hat.

“It’s
dangerous to go alone,” he said. “Take this.”

My
eyes opened wide.

“Y-
you’re
hat?” I asked. “But I can’t—”

“I
don’t think I can take it with me where I’m going.” He responded with another
chuckle. “Plus you need it to kill zombies. Don’t worry; you’ve earned it.
You’re now Player One. Whatever you do, don't lose it. It will save your life
one day, I promise.”

I
reluctantly took the hat and placed it on my head.

“Let
me take a good look.” He said. “It has to be fitting, ya know.”

I
gasped as he lifted his head. A huge long gash had gouged out his eyes.

“Looks
good on ya!” He grinned.

“But
you can’t—”

“Don’t
ruin the moment.” He said, voice stern.

“Thank
you,” I said.

“I
have one more thing to tell you.” Wesley continued. “I was going to tell you on
the ship before my hat went overboard, then I agreed to tell you when you told
Jessie about the virus. And since that’s all cleared up, now I gotta… and I
don’t know how it’s going to affect you and Jessie, especially with what we saw
in the G.O.D. Report Part 2.”

“What
is it?”

“That
marriage scene.” He said. “Between you and Tiffany. There’s still a--”

He
coughed, and blood poured from his lips, but he spit it out.

“As
I was saying.” He continued, “There’s a still a chance it can happen. I mean,
if you want it to.”

“Tiffany
is dead,” I told him.

“That’s
just the thing,” He whispered. “She’s not.”

I
shook my head. “We were there! She shot herself with that gun!”

“But
were you watching her?” He asked. “You had your back turned.”

“You
mean…”

“She
pointed the gun to the side and fired into the water. She didn’t kill herself.”

“How
is that—but---she was bitten!” I said. “She was infected! She would have
died by now!”

“Another
trick.” He said. “I think she was faking her own death for a reason.”

“What
kind of reason?” I cried. “All this time I blamed myself, and she’s alive?”

“Somewhere
out there.” He nodded. “She’s just waiting for you to find her, I bet.”

Guilt
flooded my heart.
If Tiffany had survived, what about Jessie?
What did that marriage scene mean then? And could I even survive to see any of
it through?

“Why
did you wait so long to tell me?” I asked. “I could have found her! I could
have—”

“Don’t
deal in could have, would haves,” Wesley said. “I didn’t because I saw the
special bond you and Kessa shared, and then Jessie. Why do you think I kept
asking if you loved the girls?”

I
stared at him for several long moments.

“Zach,”
Wesley said. “You have to go to Grandson. We heard what he said to you over the
speakers. If he really has a way to stop the virus from consuming you, then you
need to find it. If not for any other sake than to find Tiffany.”

“But
how can I find her? Why should I find her?”

“I
believe she is another piece of the puzzle to all of this,” Wesley said. “If
she was so close to you in childhood, then without a doubt, G.O.D. Mode is
going to target her as well.”

Wesley
spoke the truth, and I knew it. Tiffany would be hunted down, too. I needed to
find her and save her.

“Do
me one last favor,” Wesley whispered.

“Anything,”
I said. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“When
you find Grandson,” Wesley mumbled. “When you find that bastard; kill him. Kill
him in the worst way possible. Kill him, not only for Kessa, not only for the
billions dead, do it for Serenade Kennedy, the only girl I ever loved.”

“I
will,” I said.

“It’s
up to you to take down G.O.D. Mode.” Were Wesley’s final words as his head
slumped to his chest and he gasped for breath one final
time.
Then Wesley James passed from the world.

I
wiped away my tears. “I’m going to do it for you too, Zombie Killer, for you
too.”

As
I stood, I fixed the hat on my head. I felt like some kind of renewed energy
flowed through me. I needed to live for Jessie, Jeff and Dave, but I also
needed to live for Tiffany. I didn’t know if I would end up marrying her like
the hologram showed, but I made a promise, I would save everyone’s lives. No
one else, not a single one of my friends would die. I had become Player One.