Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation (33 page)

“How do you mean, Sir?
”
Vasquez asked.

“I’ve always had a head for numbers and science and stuff like that,
”
explained Butsko. “This led me to heading up various research and scientific facilities for the military. Mind you, I wasn’t part of the research. I was just the muscle that protected it and made sure all the secrets stayed on the base.”

Butsko drank some water as he put his thoughts in order.

“I’ve been privy to some pretty amazing technology over the years,
”
he continued, “but I never heard so much as a whisper about bio-nanotechnology until it was out of control.”

“I’ve wondered that myself,
”
Melvin said as he poked his head from the back of the truck. “I worked for a game developer who wanted to incorporate nanotechnology into the story of one of their games. I did a lot of research and none of it suggested that we were at the stage of practical testing.”

“Maybe it was just something the military kept closely guarded,
”
suggested Vasquez.

“I considered that,
”
said Butsko, “but there’s never been a secret the government could keep that tightly guarded. There would have been at least some whispers and rumors in the hallways and on various watchdog websites. But there was nothing.”

The three of them sat in silence.

“Well, I guess there’s no point in straining our brains too much,
”
Butsko finally said. “It is kind of like building a secured fence after your dog has already escaped. We need to focus our energy on stopping these things.”

“Agreed,
”
said Melvin, “but it does make you wonder where all that cutting-edge research was being done.”

Butsko bolted upright as they passed a road sign.

“Melvin!
”
Butsko shouted. “Make sure everyone is awake, locked, and loaded. We just passed the sign for Marble Falls. We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

8

Parking Lot of Opie’s Barbeque

Spicewood, Texas

Darren led the way across the street toward Opie’s Barbeque. There were four vehicles in the parking lot that looked functional and another six that were smashed up with flat tires and opened hoods.

Samantha, David, Cheryl, and Walt formed a tight box formation with Darren at the point. They moved as one. Whenever Darren slowed down, everyone slowed down. Darren was impressed with everyone’s level of awareness.

Darren constantly scanned the area and was surprised by the absence of the infected. There weren't even a few stragglers around. Cheryl and Walt were in the back and were making sure that nothing would sneak up on them from behind.

Darren led the group to the side of the restaurant where they had a good view of the entire parking lot.

“I think our best bet is that church bus over there,
”
Darren said as he pointed to the parking lot. “The wheels and windows are intact.”

“The gas tank is open,
”
David pointed out.

“We got that covered,
”
said Walt as he patted the gas cans.

“Walt, you take the driver’s side and start the engine,
”
Darren said. “David, check the tank to make sure it’s clear, and fill it up with the gas. The rest of us will secure the vehicle.”

Darren led the group to the vehicle as he swung his carbine back and forth. He still saw no movement. Darren was glad they didn’t have to fight off the infected, but he was also uneasy about it.

Where the fuck are the infected?
Darren thought.

Walt opened the door to the church bus. The bus could seat twelve people and looked like it’d been kept in good shape. There were no rips in the seats and it was clean. Walt hoped whoever had maintained the inside of the bus had taken equally good care of the engine.

Walt took the flathead screwdriver Darren gave him and thrust it into the ignition. He twisted it and heard the engine rumble and stop. Walt tightly gripped the screwdriver handle and twisted again and the engine roared to life.

Samantha, Cheryl, and Darren scanned the area around the church bus as the noise of the engine disturbed the silence. David ran over to join them.

“Over there!
”
Cheryl shouted as she pointed to the right. “I see movement over there!”

Before Darren could say anything, three zombies ran from behind a semi-truck parked in the street.

“Get in, everyone,
”
Walt said as he appeared from the door of the church bus.

“Go!
”
shouted Darren. “I’ll take care of these bastards!”

Darren aimed his weapon at the quickly approaching zombies and squeezed the trigger. The zombie in the middle staggered and fell to the ground. Darren knew he didn’t have enough time to aim at the two remaining creatures. They were spread out too much.

A few feet in front of the zombies, Darren saw a Subaru Forester turned over on its side. He took aim at the exposed gas tank and hoped there was gas in it. He squeezed the trigger and the car exploded just as the zombies ran past it.

Darren was about to turn and head into the bus when he thought he saw movement through the flames. Darren squinted, but saw nothing.

Don’t go getting paranoid now
, Darren thought.

As he slung his carbine over his shoulder, both zombies caught in the explosion ran through the flames directly at Darren. It took Darren a second to react, and he fumbled with his carbine.

Darren swung the butt of his rifle at the zombie on his left and hit in on the side of the head. The creature fell to the ground as the flames consumed it. The other zombie jumped on him and threw Darren off balance. Darren tried to push the zombie off him, but the flames and smoke that billowed off the creature disoriented the soldier. Darren and the flaming creature fell to the ground. He wrestled with the creature as he felt his clothes catching fire. He reached into his shirt pocket, removed two of the syringes, and thrust them into the creature’s chest. Darren waited, but after a few seconds, realized the drugs were useless against this monster.

Walt swung Stevie at Darren’s attacker and realized the futility of his action. The flames from the zombie had engulfed Darren, and the soldier screamed as he tried to get away from the fiery creature as the flames kissed his skin. Walt watched as Darren tried, uselessly, to put out the flames and heard the pitch of Darren’s voice get higher. Darren was being burned alive. Walt did the only humane thing he could think of and slammed Stevie onto Darren’s head.

Cheryl exited the bus just as Walt delivered his blow and turned her head in horror.

Tears filled Walt’s eyes as he pried Stevie out of Darren’s skull and watched the two bodies as they burned. Walt looked down at Darren’s clenched fist and saw the two empty syringes.

“We need to get out of here, Walt,
”
said Cheryl softly as she placed a hand on Walt’s arm. “There was nothing you could do.”

The six zombies were about thirty feet away when Walt looked up. He and Cheryl ran into the church bus. Walt jumped behind the wheel, put the bus into gear, and drove off.

Out of the side window, Cheryl, Samantha, and David looked at Darren’s body, now completely in flames, as they drove off.

“Holy shit,
”
Samantha finally said as she broke the silence. “Those things came out of nowhere. What the hell are we gonna do now?”

“We’re going to do exactly what we planned,
”
Walt said as he wiped a tear from his eye. “We’re going to Schoepke Springs. That’s our best chance.”

Walt believed this was their best chance, but he couldn’t ignore the voice in the back of his head as it shouted,
What if it wasn’t
?

9

Along TX-71 E

Spicewood, Texas

Fi looked around as she walked along TX-71. There were thousands of similar creatures who she figured were on the same journey as herself.

The large group of creatures walked in silence, but they all knew they were headed to the same destination. Fi realized that the closer she got to the mysterious destination, the better she felt. All that anger and pain that used to well up inside her stomach was gone. Each step brought her closer to the place she had searched for.

Fi had no idea what to expect when she reached the location, and she suspected that none of her fellow travelers did either. The only thing she knew for certain was that she was headed in the right direction.

Besides her pain and anger ebbing, Fi also noticed that the closer she got to the mystery location, the better she felt. Her limbs were no longer stiff, and her head was clear. She could remember things from her past. She remembered when she was first infected. Back then, she couldn’t think or plan her actions. Fi remembered how she’d acted purely on the instincts to feed and infect others. Then, after the first time she’d experienced the anger, she’d been transformed. Her wounds had slowly repaired themselves, and her mind had gradually cleared.

Fi was one of the yellow-eyed creatures.

Fi was the first of the yellow-eyed creatures.

Fi still didn’t know exactly what she’d transformed into, but she knew she was different from the masses of the infected. They were mindless monsters who existed to fulfill one purpose—to infect others.

Even though she didn’t know what her and the other yellow-eyed creatures
’
purpose was, Fi knew it was something loftier than just the simple propagation of their new species. The yellow-eyed creatures were there for something even more important.

Something bigger.

Up ahead, Fi saw the weather-beaten sign and knew that was where she and the others were headed.

A small smile crossed her lips as she saw the words,
Schoepke Springs Two Miles Ahead.
This was the destination. She felt it in her bones.

She looked around at the others and saw the same looks on their faces. They all knew this was the place they needed to go. This was the place they would discover what they were and what purpose they would serve.

All around her, Fi saw the reflected glow of thousands of yellow eyes in the early morning sun. The eyes looked focused with the promise of finding the answers to what they were and what they were to do.

The yellow-eyed creatures continued on to Schoepke Springs.

10

Schoepke Springs

Spicewood, Texas

The short trip to Schoepke Springs was uneventful, and Walt and the others were grateful for that. Losing Darren hit everyone hard. Darren hadn’t been with the group for long, but in that time he’d proven to be a friend and a leader. Without Darren’s knowledge as to the nature of the infection, Walt would’ve never developed another defense against the creatures, and Darren had saved them all several times.

Walt turned off of FM-71 and headed north on Texas Spur 191. As they drove by the Spicewood Community Library, he felt that things were too quiet. The last zombies they’d seen had been in the parking lot of Opie’s Barbeque.

Something doesn’t feel right
, Walt thought.

Cheryl took a seat at the front of the church bus.

“I’m sorry about what happened to Darren,
”
Cheryl said.

“Me too,
”
Walt said, emotionless. “I should’ve never left him alone out there with those things.”

“Don’t do that to yourself, Walt,
”
said Cheryl. Then, after a few seconds, she added, “Darren was a good man, and none of us will forget him.”

Darren’s burning corpse flashed through Walt’s mind, and then Walt remembered the syringes in his hand.

“They didn’t work!
”
Walt blurted out. “The damn things didn’t work.”

“What didn’t work?
”
Cheryl asked.

“The antipsychotics,
”
Walt answered. “I saw two empty syringes in Darren’s hand.”

“You don’t know that, Walt,
”
said Cheryl. “Maybe he didn’t use them until it was too late.”

“Yeah, maybe,
”
Walt repeated. “But what if…
”

Walt never got to finish.

From the side of the road, a bloodied deer darted out from behind some bushes. Walt swerved the bus to the right to avoid hitting the animal.

“Holy shit!
”
David yelled from the back. “Was that a deer?”

“Yeah,
”
said Walt as he got the bus back under control, “and from the looks of it, I’d say something was making a meal of it.”