Pulse: Retaliation (Anisakis Nova Book 2) (15 page)

35 – The Infected

Washington State: 63% Infected

Daniel McIntyre liked Michelle a lot. He saw her at the meeting point a mile away from I90 and immediately went to talk to her. He liked her hair, how it was kind of shaved on one side but somehow long, too.

"I'm Daniel," he said.

"Michelle."

"I like your necklace," he said, nodding to the chain of shriveled eyeballs resting against her chest. Some were still juicy and wet. Others had been there a while. "Who were they?"

She patted it fondly. "This is March, November, April, and June. Um, September, October, and July. I guess I should put them in the right order, huh?"

Daniel shrugged. "They look good like that."

"Thanks." Michelle straightened the necklace. "Trying to get every month of the year. I ask them their birthdays first before I cut their throats."

Many infected had gathered at the meeting point since he started talking to Michelle. The strip mall parking lot was huge, big enough to accommodate the fifty cars that were supposed to arrive. It might take a while, Daniel thought, since they weren't very good at driving. Or following directions. Even he was miffed that he was sent away from the clinic for this task. His job was to bring new healthies in. He liked that. He usually took one for himself before putting them in the truck.

Sometimes he just talked to them. Other times he opened up their guts to see what it looked like inside. It made him feel good to do those things, though he wasn't sure why. He didn't think about it much, even when the healthies screamed and begged
why why why!?

"I don't cut their throats. They die too fast," Daniel said.

Michelle shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat."

They talked another hour about anything they felt like. Sometimes about what they liked most about killing the healthies, sometimes about the way the parasite felt inside of them. Michelle said she could feel it swimming under her skin, but Daniel never really felt it in there. Sometimes he saw the tiniest of worms go across his bloody eye, but only every once in a while.

Finally all the cars arrived. They loaded up and lined up to get onto I90. Traffic was bad, but that was good. It meant more people.

Their job was to get to the checkpoint, then attack it. They were to do whatever they needed to kill all the army guys. Healthies would fight back, too. They always did. It was what made it fun.

Daniel and Michelle were almost in the front of the line. The guy in a red sedan, who Daniel didn't like because he was naked, was in the lead. As they entered the freeway they made sure they were all in different lanes so they were spread out.

As soon as someone hit the checkpoint they'd get out of the cars and kill everyone. Infect a lot, too, because that was the plan. Daniel even had a gun he planned on using. He wasn't great at it, but if he pulled the trigger enough a bullet was bound to hit someone.

Daniel would save a few for himself to have fun with. Some for Michelle, too.

It took a while to get to the checkpoint, but finally the weirdo in the red sedan pulled up. He fired a gun at the army dude and all of a sudden the infected were in motion. Everyone was out of their cars.

Daniel scanned the area for an easy target with his new gun. Beside him, Michelle pulled a screaming toddler from the car and held a machete to its throat. Inside, the mother was already dead, her throat cut before she realized what was happening. Michelle looked up and pointed her machete, her iron-like grip on the child's jacket keeping her in place.

"That! That looks like a January!"

Up ahead, practically running straight at him, was a woman with a red bandana. She seemed to be heading for a van. Daniel wasn't sure how Michelle knew she was a January, but he wanted to impress her. If he did her a favor, maybe she'd do one for him.

He raised the gun and tried to figure out the sights. His first few shots hit nothing or dinged on cars. Then, by sheer luck, one hit the woman in the side.

Daniel screamed in delight, his whole body consumed by bloodlust. The gun was powerful. He liked the feeling of their blood on his hands, but he could kill so many so fast this way!

"Definitely a January. Gotta go get her." Michelle tossed the toddler to the ground and smiled at Daniel. "I'll be back!"

As Daniel watched her sprint away, he felt proud of himself. A few cars away a handful of teenagers were trying to escape. He brought the rifle up. He'd done a good job and needed a reward.

36 – Dom

Dom ran after Chelsea, his boots thundering on the wet highway sending giant splashes of water up his calves. He clutched his gun in his hands, knowing he’d have to use it. Chelsea ignored his screams, his begging for her to stop. She went straight to the crossfire where Matt and Allie were. Her handgun was drawn and ready.

Soldiers took cover behind the blockade, firing into the traffic. They weren't paying as much attention to what was behind them. She disappeared around the side of Matt's van.

It smelled of cordite and car exhaust as he neared. The sound of automatic gunfire was deafening as he followed Chelsea's footsteps and prayed the soldiers wouldn't see his shotgun and fire on him, too.

The rainwater ran pink as he approached the wreckage blocking Matt's van, blood running down the highway and pooling inside potholes.

He found her beside the van clutching her side. Red blossomed from a wound, already soaking her tan hoodie. Her eyes were wide, shocked and looking everywhere but nowhere all at once. Matt was beside her pressing his hand against hers. Inside the car, Allie was crying.

Crouching down, he laid his shotgun over his knees and took Chelsea's hand in his. It was cold and shook violently. They needed to get her out of there. They all needed to get out.

"She got hit!" Matt shouted over the gunfire and screams. "God, she's bleeding so much!"

Dom's stomach was in knots. He heard something scraping nearby. A tall, slender woman dragged the tip of a machete across cars. She wore a horrific necklace made of eyeballs. She smiled wickedly at them, tilted her head up and screamed a primitive catcall.

Without another second of hesitation, Dom dropped Chelsea's hand and took up his shotgun, aiming and firing. Gore exploded from the infected woman’s chest as she flew back.

Another replaced her, walking over her dead body and headed straight for them. Dom fired, the shot taking out half the infected's head.

"Get Allie," Dom ordered Matt. He took advantage of the brief reprieve in oncoming infected to get Chelsea to her feet. Matt was helping Allie from the van, telling her she needed to be brave.

We're going to make it
, Dom chanted in his head,
We're going to.

As they walked away from the van, Linda, Anthony, and Magnus came into view. Relief flooded Dom as they took her under the arms and carried her away from the fight. Matt scooped up Allie in his arms, the eight year old almost too big for him to carry.

Something slapped against his foot. He looked down, an involuntary scream escaping his throat. Parasites swam in the water, most no bigger than his index finger. They flopped around his boots with surprising strength.

He covered the rest of the group. They cleared the checkpoint and made quick progress back to the convoy, the fight continuing behind them. Scores of people ran down the highway, too, many of them climbing over concrete barriers off the road.

They helped Chelsea into the truck, settling her limp body into the middle. Linda got into the driver's side and Magnus ran off to get Wayne for medical help.

"Anthony, drive with Jim," Dom said. "Wayne will come with us and help Chelsea."

Just as he left, Wayne showed up. "Go. Drive, infected are coming."

Dom looked back. They had. The soldiers were still trying, but it was obvious who was going to win the fight. Linda honked and started the truck, pulling back onto the highway and taking the lead.

Wayne lifted Chelsea's shirt and immediately applied a patch of clean gauze to the still bleeding wound. "The bullet is still in her. I can't risk taking it out while we're moving or I could cause more damage. We need to find somewhere to stop."

Dom shook the fog of the fight and Chelsea's pain from his mind long enough to respond. "We'll stop as soon as we can once we're on I-90."

He held her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. 

***

The rest stop was empty and seemed like it had been for some time. Garbage was scattered across the parking lot from a tipped over can near the bathrooms. A single Prius, coated in a year's worth of grime, was wrapped around a giant maple tree beside rows of picnic tables.

Wayne and Dom gently pulled Chelsea out of the car and carried her to a small covered shelter that had a handful of metal tables and an area where quick foods used to be sold. She felt cold to the touch and shook. Her lips were white, the same paleness of her skin.

The rest of the cars pulled up beside the truck. Dom heard them asking if there was anything they could do, but couldn't muster up a reply.

"Hold this, shine it exactly where I tell you to," Wayne said and handed a flashlight to Linda. She pointed it at the wound on Chelsea's stomach.

Dom wondered why he wasn't given a task, then realized he was crying. Tears streamed down his face. His voice was caught in his throat.

Wayne pulled various tools from his bag. It was a blur of liquids, gauze, and shiny metal tools that were soon covered in Chelsea's blood. A smashed bullet clinked as Wayne dropped it on the table.

Gauze soaked up blood, so much blood, pumping from her wound.

Her body convulsed before a long, wheezing sigh.

The words, "She's gone."

37 – Dr. Adam Baker

"It's impressive," Henderson admitted. "You've done it, sir."

Adam had never heard such sincerity from the white suited man before, and that's how he knew he wasn't mocking him. They shared a moment as they looked over the behemoth in front of them, which was truly genuine.

Despite the tribulations involved, Adam created a super host. It wasn't because of steroids or a strong host body. He believed beefing up the host would create a super infected, but it ended up being the opposite. In fact, the discovery was an accident.

They had four new men, muscular hearty subjects, to pump full of steroids then infect. Adam came upon a slew of growth hormones he hoped would make a difference in the parasite's development. Eager to try as many combinations as possible, Adam decided to pull another five from the regular crops to infect as well.

It was the weakest of them who grew to be the strongest. The man was anemic looking and could barely stand on his own. Adam thought it would be cruel fun to infect him since the process might kill him. But while the others died, the man started to grow bigger. His flesh started bulking up and took the texture and hue of the parasite's white skin.

Only a day into the infection process, the man was already bigger than Adam's strong suitors. Adam took a blood sample and what he found was intriguing.

The man's white blood cell count was extremely low, indicative of some kind of autoimmune disease. It explained why he was so sickly when he first arrived. Adam hypothesized that, due to the weakened state the body was in, it wasn't capable of fighting the parasite. It didn't stand a chance.

When the parasite began laying eggs, there was no response to attack and destroy the foreign invaders. It created a heavenly environment for Anisakis Nova.

Once the man came out of the coma stage and was somewhat lucid, Adam then began pumping him full of testosterone and growth hormones. At this point the parasite had taken full control of the host body and would, hopefully, respond well to the additional resources.

And it did. Oh, it did.

"Thank you, Henderson. I think we've really hit something here," Adam said as he surveyed his creature.

"Perhaps try and give him a command?"

"Yes. Get the cattle prod ready in case he does something stupid." Adam walked around the man and freed him from his restraints. Pulled by his overdeveloped chest, his arms fell forward. "Stand."

Nothing.

His experiment was a success, but the result was a beautiful monstrosity that lacked intelligence. Both Henderson and Adam took turns giving him orders. Speak, move, turn. He looked at them with dull eyes and sat idly.

"Fuck. Fucking fuck!" Adam slapped the beast's arm. It came back slick with yellow ooze, still clinging to his skin. "Do
something
!"

Suddenly he tilted his head up and took a deep, wet inhale. When he stood, his massive presence sent Adam and Henderson back a step.

A knock on the door. "Dr. Baker?"

It was Liam. The mutant took a step forward towards the voice. Henderson lifted the cattle prod and took a defensive stance.

Ah. That's what its trigger was. Uninfected flesh. As curious as Adam was to see what the monster was capable of, Liam was an invaluable resource. His death would be costly. Not to mention it would send Adam into a rage so pure he might do something reckless.

"I suggest you run away from the door. Now, Dr. Busby."

The mutant lifted his head to the ceiling and let out a thunderous howl.