The Life Beyond (12 page)

“I see,” Joshua said, blades of steel cutting through his voice. “How can we get past it?”

“The scientists on that floor are allowed to enter. Use one of their retinas to get past the check.”

Use one of their retinas? The thought of what that might mean made me sick to my stomach.

Mr. Bender grabbed a pen and paper. “This is the password,” he said, writing it down. “When you’re inside the lab, you have to make sure that no one triggers the alarm.” He paced around, frowning. “There’s only one exit that isn’t manned by security.” He nodded, lost in his own thoughts. “Destroy the security cameras. Then take the elevator and go down two floors. That’s where the E.M.’s are kept.”

“E.M.’s?” I asked.

“Enhanced Mutants.”

Joshua shook his head in disbelief. “Weepers? We saw the collars. You use them.”

His dad hesitated. “Yes. They are part of a Weeper army program we’ve been working on for years.”

“Years?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I felt like someone was squeezing all the air out of me. The government were behind everything.

Mr. Bender went on. “The security guards won’t think you’re down there. They’ll assume you’ve used the air shafts to get out. They might summon the E.M.’s - Weepers - to help with the search. But you should be gone by then. Once you’re on floor – 6, you need to cross the floor to get into the goods lift. It’ll take you up and outside.”

“And how are we supposed to survive a floor full of Weepers? They’ll attack us,” Joshua said.

“They’re held in cages and only released when they’re needed.”

“Why don’t you use the cure to help people on our side of the fence? You could heal the people infected with the virus,” I said.

Mr. Bender sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Shame and exasperation were written across his face. “It’s expensive to produce and our government isn’t really interested in investing in wasteland. Most of our resources go into army building and our wars. It’s just the way it is.” After a moment, he added. “I’m not sure if the cure would take effect on subjects that have been infected for a while anyway. We’ve tested it on subjects that had been infected hours or days ago, and it didn’t have the same impact on everyone. A few died and others turned anyway but with recently turned mutants our success quote is 80 percent.”

“How recent?” I asked, my mind on Dad.

“Six to eight days since signs of the first symptoms.” He paused. “Why … is Zoe …”

“It’s too late for that,” Joshua said.

His father hung his head, took a slow, deep breath. “This is your only choice if you want to get the cure. I wish I could get you into that lab but I can’t.”

“Don’t lie. You could but you don’t want to. You choose your new family, I get that.” Joshua’s voice was bitter.

Mr. Bender put a hand on his son’s shoulder. He didn’t shake it off. “I don’t —” he stopped himself. “I’ll try to distract them with false alarms. That’s all I can do.”

On the other side of the room I could see that Tyler was starting to look better. His eyes were open and he could stand on his own.

Mr. Bender went on. “You’ll have to steal one of the military cars. We are not allowed our own vehicles.” He unlocked a drawer in the lab and pulled out a key. This should work on any of the SUVs.”

“They’ll know you helped us,” Joshua said.

“They won’t suspect me. I’ve never given them reason to doubt my loyalty.”

“I bet you haven’t.”

Joshua turned away from his dad then and took my hand. His palms were clammy. “What do you think?”

This plan was insane, suicidal even, but we had no choice. “We’ll do it. We have to.”

“Maybe I should get the cure on my own,” Joshua said.

“No. We go together,” I said.

I looked over at Tyler, who gave me a silent but firm nod.

Joshua gave us both a sad smile before he turned to his father. “How can you live with yourself? Have you never thought about doing something against this government and stop what’s happening?”

“That isn’t as easy as you might think.” He walked up to the drawer he’d taken the gun from and pulled out more weapons. He handed them to Joshua, Tyler and me.

“I want tranquilizer guns as well,” I said. I didn’t want to use real bullets on humans.

He took three more guns from another drawer. “These are much stronger than the tranquilizer they used on you. They’re meant to be used on Weepers.”

I put the tranquilizer gun and the other one into the holster Joshua’s dad handed to me.

Joshua grabbed a sweatshirt that was draped over one of the desk chairs.

His dad handed us our dirty and bloodied sneakers and the backpack with our camera. We pulled our shoes on. Tyler had to steady himself on the wall but at least his face wasn’t ashen anymore. I could only hope that he was strong enough for our plan.

Mr. Bender led us to the door and then indicated for us to stop. He unplugged the camera above us. Outside, the hall led straight to an elevator.

He pressed the button and the metal doors slid open. I stepped inside. Mr. Bender touched Joshua’s shoulder. “I know you can’t forgive me. Just know that I love you.”

Joshua gave a nod. He moved inside beside me and Tyler. His face was hard as he clasped my hand and pressed the button saying - 4.

Mr. Bender turned to me. “Look after him.”

Despite myself, I couldn’t help but feel a sliver of pity for him, and a strange kind of gratitude. Whatever else he had done in the past, he
had
helped us today.

Every muscle in my body began to quiver with anxiety as the elevator doors closed. This plan was crazy. But maybe we could succeed.

Yeah, right, I thought. You just have to get into a room with a retina check, past armed guards, security cameras and through a hall filled with Weepers.

We were as good as dead.

Chapter 11

The little button blinked, announcing we’d arrived on the right floor. We were dozens of feet below the surface. Trapped. My hand with the tranquilizer gun was slippery with sweat.

The metal doors slid open to reveal another long white corridor. At the end of the hall was a steel door and in front of it were two soldiers with machine guns. They looked up.

For a moment we just stared at each other, then they raised their weapons.

Joshua, Tyler and I fired. The tranquilizer darts whizzed through the air and hit one of the soldiers in the neck and the other in the chest. Shock registered on their faces but the emotion quickly disappeared and their bodies went slack. Mr. Bender hadn’t been kidding when he’d said those darts were strong.

We rushed toward the motionless guards. Tyler and I bent down to check for their pulse while Joshua smashed the cameras.

Then he punched the open button and the metal door slid apart. Five scientists were working in different areas, immersed in their work. They didn’t even look up as we entered. Cages lined the right side. Most of them were filled with Weepers. Some of them looked like they were children. They didn’t snarl or growl. They were apathetic, their milky eyes unfocused and empty.

Joshua’s body was coiled to fight. “Ready?”

I nodded and raised the tranquilizer gun at the same time as Joshua did. I fired quickly and the dart fizzled through the air. One of the scientists went down. The others realized what was going on and they scuttled through the room like scared chickens. I pushed another dart into the gun and aimed at the next scientist. My hands shook. I had to hit them. Tyler’s aim was off. He still hadn’t recovered from the tranquilizer.

I shot and missed. I fumbled another dart into the gun. This time my dart plunged into the back of a man. He crashed to the ground.

Joshua ran through the room, weaving through shelves and lab tables. The last scientist scrambled toward a desk with a red alarm button.

My heart pounded in my chest. Joshua flung himself over a desk and grabbed the man’s arm. He lashed out but Joshua twisted his arm and threw him face-first onto the ground. The man groaned and went still.

I stumbled toward them, Tyler behind me. “Is he okay?”

Joshua looked up, not releasing his grip on the man. He knelt on the man’s back to keep him in place. Slowly he let up and the man turned his head to the side, revealing a bloody nose and panicked eyes. “Don’t kill me!”

Joshua twisted his arm further. “Did your victims plead with you? Did you spare them? Look at them!” He lifted the man so he could see the cages with the Weepers. “Did they ask you to spare them?”

The man hung limply in Joshua’s grip, too scared to move. “It — it’s my job. I’m serving my country.”

Joshua thrust him forward. “Bullshit!”

I put my hand on his shoulder. Joshua’s eyes flashed up to mine and the anger left. “Come on. We have to hurry,” I said.

He nodded and got up, pulling the man to his feet. He and Tyler dragged him toward the door marked “restricted access”. Beside it was a small keypad and square display with a blinking red light.

The man laughed. “They’ll notice you and be here in a few minutes, then you’ll end up in one of the cages.”

Joshua opened the keypad.

“I won’t give you the password,” the man said.

Joshua ignored him and handed me the paper with the code. I punched the numbers into the keypad, holding my breath. It blinked green and the display flashed to life. “Retina check” it announced. The man squirmed in Joshua’s grip.

I could hear a commotion in the corridor leading into the lab.

“No,” protested the man.

“Then you leave me no choice,” said Joshua, ramming a dart into the man’s arm. He went slack.

“Help me. Open his eyes.” He lifted the man until his face was right in front of the display. I pulled back the man’s eyelid. The red light pointed straight at his retina. Soldiers burst into the room just as the door opened. We dashed into the lab.

The door closed behind us. Joshua stormed toward a freezer unit. He ripped it open and started stuffing vials into the backpack that Tyler was holding.

“Don’t break them,” I warned, keeping my eyes on the door.

“Done!” Joshua said. He grabbed my hand and we ran toward the elevator at the end of the room. I hit the button and we half fell into the small space.

Relieved, I leaned against the cold wall while the elevator descended to -6. A glaring red plate with “danger” on it marked that floor. The alarm started blaring. I exchanged panicked glances with Tyler and Joshua.

The elevator stopped. Everything went still.

The doors gave way to a dimly lit hall. A wave of rot, excrement and wet dog smell hit us. I was catapulted back in time to the building in the harbour when we’d found my dad. But this was ten times worse.

I pressed close to the wall and started shaking. I could not – would not enter that hall. The doors began to close again. Joshua’s foot shot out, stopping them.

“Sherry, let’s go.”

He tightened his hold on my hand and pulled me into the room. There were no windows. Rows over rows of long cages filled the room. Hundreds of Weepers stood around, filling almost every inch of the area. The elevator shut behind us, taking the light with it.

A red glow filled the room. It came from the collars around their necks. A single command from the military and the Weepers would attack us.

My body felt paralyzed. Only a few feet from us stood Weepers. They didn’t move, just breathed in and out, their putrid breath filling the air and clogging my nose. They were behind bars but the aisles between the cages were narrow, maybe a metre wide. They were watching us. Every pair of eyes in the hall – hundreds of them – followed our movements. I could feel it. Tyler slung the backpack over his shoulder. “Slowly. No sudden movements.”

I glanced at the cages - electronic locks kept them shut – before I nodded and clutched my gun, my knuckles hurting from the pressure.
They’re behind bars, you’re safe
, I repeated over and over to myself.

Step by step we moved closer to the cages filled with Weepers. Every fibre in my body screamed at me to stop and the thud-thud of my pulse hammered in my ears.

The Weepers stood so close to each other that they hadn’t any room to move in the cages. One at the front watched me hungrily and let out a whine. Joshua moved past me and walked into the alley between two of the long cages. I looked at the Weeper again. It stared right back. Milky liquid poured out of its tearducts, glowing red in the light of the collar, and trailed over its hairy cheeks. It didn’t blink, just looked and then it sniffed.

And one after the other, the Weepers started sniffing the air, their breathing growing faster.

Joshua took my hand. “Hurry.”

Some leaned forward to take sniffs. Their faces were so close, their noses pressed between the bars. They salivated and when they snorted and whined and sniffed some of their drool got on my face and arms. I bumped against the bars twice and they yowled excitedly. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying.

Their sniffing grew more frenzied the closer we got to the goods elevator. Their bodies heaved with every pant.

A beeping sounded in the hall. Some of the collars on the Weepers began blinking.

“What’s happening?” Tyler asked, voice shaking.

“Shit, hurry up!” Joshua dragged me toward the elevator but we were still several steps away when the alarm blared through the hall. The sound pierced through me.

With a click the locks on the cages opened.

“Run!” I screamed.

The Weepers pushed each other, yowling and sniffing, as they rushed out of their cages.

We stumbled toward the elevator. Claws scratched over the floor, metal clanked. I didn’t dare look back. The goods elevator opened and we burst into it. Joshua slammed his fist against the close-button but the doors stayed open.

A wall of Weepers stalked toward us. We were trapped.

I pressed against the wall, wanting to make myself as small as possible. Joshua was right beside me. He pulled his gun while Tyler kept punching the button. Suddenly, the Weepers catapulted themselves toward us with a roar. Joshua fired.

Two Weepers had almost reached us when the shots brought them down. They fell into the elevator, shaking it. Their lifeless bodies pressed against my legs, wiry fur brushing my skin, secretion sticking to my clothes. Their stench – like blood and waste - was all I could smell. Their empty milky eyes and sharp claws were all I could see. But I had no time for that. More Weepers were closing in. My ears were deaf from the gun shots. Several Weepers reached the elevator. Bullets hit them and they crashed to the ground on top of the others.

Pain suddenly burned through my ankle and up my leg. I glanced down. A bite wound on my calf oozed blood. One of the Weepers had bitten me. I gasped for breath.

Joshua and Tyler fired their last bullets at the approaching Weepers. By now six dead bodies piled on the floor of the elevator, serving as a barrier between us and them. A beep sounded and the doors started to shut but the legs of two dead Weepers were in the way. Joshua and Tyler pulled them inside and the doors closed with a clank. I couldn’t move. I could only stare at the bite wound.

The elevator started moving.

Joshua squeezed my hand but I didn’t return the gesture. My muscles were frozen. The light went out in the elevator as we started our ascent. The collars of the dead Weepers were still blinking.

Seconds trickled by and the air became unbearably stuffy.

I blinked against the blackness, and tried to remain calm. We had the cure. It had to work. It had to!

I closed my eyes. Numbness claimed my legs and arms as if my body was shutting off. I actually welcomed the sensation.

White light pressed against my eyelids but I didn’t look to see what it was. A breeze tugged at my hair bringing with it cool air. I gulped it down.

I squirmed against the daylight but Joshua didn’t give me time to adjust to the glare. He dragged me out of the elevator and away from the dead Weepers. I followed him blindly, blinking away tears that stung my eyes. I heard the elevator close. We didn’t have much time.

I ran, ignoring the jabbing pain in my ankle and calf.

My vision was blurry but I could make out a parking lot in the distance. Joshua sprinted up to the closest military car, pushing me onto the front seat, while Tyler leaped in the back. Joshua turned the key from Mr. Bender in the ignition and the engine revved to life with a roar.

I looked out of the windshield. Weepers were storming in our direction. Joshua wrenched the steering wheel around. The car did a 180 and shot forward.

“Heads down!” Joshua screamed. I ducked, pressing my chest against my legs a moment before bullets burst through the windows.

Glass hit my back, shoulders and head. I smashed into the door when Joshua turned the car. My head rang from the impact.

With a crack we went through the fence, completely shattering the windshield. I threw my arms over my head. Wind lashed into the car, tearing at my hair and hissing in my ears.

I looked at the backpack between Tyler’s feet, hoping the vials would survive this crazy ride. If they were destroyed, everything would have been for nothing. And unless I was immune, I’d be sure to catch the virus.

Tyler cowered on the backseat, his eyes closed. Blood drenched the back of his shirt. I touched his shoulder. “You alright?”

“Yeah.” He grimaced. “I was just hit by a few shards, that’s all”

Sirens wailed in the distance and dark shadows flashed between the trees around us.

“They’ve sent Weepers after us,” I said, my voice hollow.

“Good chance to test their army,” Joshua said.

We tore through bushes, the massive car taking down anything that was in its path. A few times we almost hit trees. My ankle and calf had started throbbing. What if the virus was already spreading? Eight days, Mr. Bender had said.

“Do you see them?” he shouted over the wind.

I turned and perched on the seat. A few shards dug themselves into my skin and sent a jolt of pain through my knees. The effort of suddenly sitting up flooded my whole body with nausea and I struggled to stay focused. I searched the forest behind us but the shadows were gone. To our left a lake spread out. Mist hung over it and its shores.

Tyler let out an involuntary groan. Blood was streaming out of his arm where he’d been cut by the flying glass.

“Sherry, can you take care of his wounds? I don’t want to stop yet.”

“I — I can’t.”

“What’s the matter?” Confusion rang in Joshua’s words.

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to see his face when I told him the truth. “I was bitten.”

The car swerved and I was thrown against the door once again. My words were met with silence. After a moment I couldn’t take it anymore and looked at Joshua.

He stared straight ahead, lips tight and face paler than I’d ever seen it before. “Tyler, are you okay back there? Can you prepare a syringe? We need to inject Sherry with the cure.”

Tyler rummaged in the backpack but when he looked up I knew something was wrong. “We don’t have any syringes.”

Joshua slammed the breaks and took the backpack from Tyler. He searched the contents and removed the camera equipment. Then he slumped against the seat. “Shit.”

My heart fluttered with fear.

Joshua touched my cheek. His palm felt cold against my skin. “We’ll just have to hurry. The Undergrounders can help us. They’ll have medical equipment. I won’t let it get you. I —”

He swallowed and without a word started the car again.

2 hours and 43 minutes since I’d been bitten.

It was getting colder as the day drew to its end, but sweat clung in small droplets to my skin. It trickled into my ear and dripped from my lashes. I wiped it off with the hem of my shirt, which was soaked and bloodied. Worry clenched my stomach into a tight ball. The sweating, the exhaustion, it was the virus spreading in my body. Would I even notice if I crossed the border between being human and being Weeper?