Ward Z: Revelation (21 page)

“I knew something was up with this shit,” he said firmly.

“You can't fight us,” the nurse gasped. “You can't even try. It's too late...”

“So you came to help out your pals, did you?” he asked. “That figures. I wondered why your so-called soldiers were about as much use as limp lettuce.”

“We're everywhere,” the nurse explained, barely able to breathe. “You want to kill us? You don't have a hope in hell.”

“Don't I?” he asked, as he felt a tendril from the dead doctor starting to crawl onto his ankle. Without even looking, he turned his rifle around and fired twice into the floor, blasting the man's torso apart. Glancing down, he saw that the main mass of a creature was starting to spill out of the corpse's chest, so he aimed the rifle and fired again.

“No!” the nurse screamed, trying to push back against him.

“You don't like that, do you?” Freeman asked, squeezing her throat tighter. “You don't like it when one of your pals gets killed.”

“We will remember our martyrs,” the woman hissed. “The Great Memnon will take them to join him in the world that is to come.”

“This Great Memnon guy seems like he's in charge,” Freeman replied. “Where can I find him?”

“All around. He exists on -”

“Where specifically?” he sneered, forcing her down onto her knees as he aimed the barrel of his rifle at her forehead.

“No-one knows,” she told him. “The Great Memnon was the first to leave the arks, and he ventured off to explore the promised land. He hasn't told us where he is, but we know he'll return to us one day soon and guide us to paradise.”

“Oh Jesus,” Freeman said with a sigh, “have you guys already got that kind of crap going on?”

“You will die,” she told him, as he squeezed her throat tighter and tighter. “All of you... will... die...”

“Don't count on it,” he replied, letting go of her throat and stepping back. As she gasped for breath, he aimed his rifle and then fired once, blowing her head clean off her shoulders before forcing the rifle's tip down the stump of her neck and firing two more times, blasting her torso apart and sending the remains of severed tendrils flying across the room. Stepping back again, he took a deep breath for a moment as he watched the nurse's dead body slump down next to the doctor.

“Chris...” a voice whispered nearby.

Turning, he saw that Karen's eyes had started to open.

“It's okay,” he said, propping his rifles against the wall before hurrying over to her. “I'm gonna get you out of here, Sis.”

“It's in my mind,” she replied, her voice barely loud enough to be heard. “I can't fight it much longer, it's going to... take over completely...”

“No chance,” he said, looking down at her exposed guts before glancing at the heart monitor. “I'm gonna get you to a proper hospital and they're gonna see you right.”

“It's too... late for that...”

“It's never too late,” he replied, before looking at her intestines again as he saw a thick black tendril winding its way around one of her kidneys. “It's...” He paused, his voice faltering. “It's never too late,” he said again. “They can help you.”

“I...” She tried to say something, but her voice seemed to be choked and all she could manage was a few deep gasps of air.

“Don't panic,” he told her, trying to sound optimistic. “Karen, do you remember when we were kids and I told you that a soldier never gives up?” He waited for a reply. “Do you? Karen, think back. I told you that, didn't I?”

Again, she tried to speak. Again, nothing came from her lips except a faint rasping sound.

“You're my sister,” he continued, “and I don't care what it takes, and I don't care how many doctors I have to take you to see, this can be fixed. We can get this thing out of you, we can sort out your body, you'll have however many operations it takes, however much physio and however much counseling, but...”

Looking down, he saw that she was using a bloody finger-tip to draw a shape on one of the white sheets.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” he asked. “Karen, what -”

Stopping, he saw that she'd drawn an oval object with an opening on one end. He watched as her trembling finger drew a few more curves, followed by two long shapes protruding from the top. Finally, she used the last of her strength to add a bump on the back and then two dots in what appeared to be the head, along with some whiskers.

“What is it?” Freeman asked. “Karen, what -”

And then he realized.

She'd drawn a rabbit, except that it had no legs. Just like the one in her surgery the previous day.

“No,” he replied, with tears in his eyes. “No, Karen, please...” His voice trailed off as he saw the look in her eyes. It was the same look he remembered from when they were kids, playing together in the garden; inevitably he'd end up capturing some bugs or doing something else that was dumb, and she'd always flash him a sad, disappointed look that would snap him back to his moral center. She was using that same look now, except that this time he couldn't bear to accept that she was right.

Her lips twitched slightly.

Staring at the drawing of a rabbit, through tear-stained eyes, he finally turned and looked at the drip-bag hanging next to the bed. Recognizing the label, he realized it was a type of morphine that should, if opened fully, flood her system with sedatives and grant her a quick, painless death.

“I can't,” he whispered, turning back to look down at her.

Her eyes stared back at him, filled with tears and pleading with him to end her suffering.

He paused, before leaning closer and kissing her on the forehead.

“I love you,” he said finally. “Never told you that, did I? Not since we were kids, anyway, but... I love you, Karen. No-one could ever have asked for a better sister. If it wasn't for you, I would've ended up in a bad way.”

He waited a moment longer, before kissing her forehead again and then turning to the drip. Grabbing the control slider, he opened it all the way and watched as the morphine mixture ran through the clear plastic tube and into his sister's wrist. A few seconds later, he felt her fingers touching his, and he looked down to see that she was trying to hold his hand. Wrapping his fingers around hers, he looked back at her face.

“At least you're still you,” he said calmly, watching as she closed her eyes. “At least the damn thing didn't get control of you in the end.”

As the heart monitor showed that she'd flat-lined, he looked down at her exposed intestines and saw that the black tendrils were moving faster now, as if the creature was panicking. A moment later, he saw the main mass of the creature emerging from behind her liver. Grabbing a set of tongs from the side, he used them to take hold of the creature and slowly pull it up until he could stare straight into its glistening, pulsating black core. After a few seconds, a fine dribble of black liquid began to fall down from the creature, splattering against Karen's body and causing her intestines to start sizzling.

“You nasty little bastard,” Freeman said, with disgust in his eyes. “Is that what you do when someone tries to take you out? You squirt out some venom to try to kill your old host?” He watched as the venom slowed to a trickle and then stopped completely. “As long as I have breath left in my body,” he continued, “I will make sure that not one of you bastards survives.”

Holding the creature closer to the light, he saw that its skin was starting to sizzle.

“You don't like that, do you?” he whispered. “You burn easily, huh? Good to know.”

With that, he began to squeeze the tongs, watching as the creature's center bulb began to tighten and tighten. Smiling, he saw the thick black skin was starting to split open, and thick black liquid began to run down the side and drip onto the floor. Still squeezing, he felt the tendrils flicking out at him, desperately trying to get him to stop, but he continued to close the tongs until they began to dig deep into the creature's body.

“I hope that hurts,” he continued. “I hope you -”

Suddenly he saw two faint slits starting to open on either side of the main body, and to his shock he realized that the creature had a pair of eyes – jet black, but with hints of red and brown - that were staring back at him. Finally, a faint hissing sound could be heard, followed by a high-pitched whine that seemed almost like a scream, before the mass burst entirely, sending chunks of bloody juice dripping down as the tendrils fell still.

“This is my fault,” Freeman said finally. “If I hadn't taken that dead squirrel to her...”

Dropping the tongs, he grabbed his two rifles and reloaded, before heading to the door.

“This ends,” he said firmly. “Now.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Oh God,” Crystal whispered as she stood with her back to one of the cabins, listening to a soldier walking past. Once she was sure he'd left, she peered around the corner and watched him heading toward the trees.

Turning, she made her way past the last of the cabins and began to hurry across the grass. She figured she just needed to get to the top of the road and then make her way through the forest, avoiding any roadblocks, and that eventually she'd reach civilization. Constantly checking over her shoulder to make sure that no-one had spotted her, she scrambled down a narrow slope until she stopped behind a bush and took a moment to catch her breath.

“Please God,” she whispered, “please, I'm a good person, really! I never meant to hurt anyone, this was all just a huge misunderstanding. The medical waste was supposed to be harmless, so please,
please
, you have to let me live. I swear, if you do, I'll be a saint from this moment on.”

After checking that no-one was nearby, she turned and stayed low as she scurried between the trees. Constantly fearing that she could hear something moving behind her, she kept looking over her shoulder, but so far there was no sign of anyone. Stopping to catch her breath for a moment, she leaned against a tree and tried to force herself to stay calm.

“Help!” a voice shouted suddenly.

Turning, she saw a girl running toward her.

“Help me!” the girl yelled. “You have to -”

“Shut up!” Crystal hissed. “Go away! Leave me alone!”

The girl kept running.

“Do you
want
them to hear you?” Crystal asked, finally grabbing the girl as she got closer, and placing a hand over her mouth. “When I let go,” she whispered, “you are going to stop shouting, do you understand? I will not have you giving away our position!”

The girl stared at her with terrified eyes.

“Okay,” Crystal continued, taking her hand away. “Keep your fucking voice down!”

“I hid,” the girl stammered. “I hid all night! Those things were all around me, they were everywhere, I thought they'd get me at any minute but...” She looked back, as if she thought she was being followed. “Eventually I just had to run. They're monsters, they have these tendrils and they -”

“I know,” Crystal replied. “Believe me, I've seen the little bastards.” She paused for a moment. “I recognize you. What's your name again?”

“I heard trucks,” the girl continued. “Did help come?”

“Help came and then help was taken away again,” Crystal explained. “We can't trust those soldiers. Whatever's going on, we just have to get as far away from here as possible.”

“And then what?”

“I have no idea.”

“But think,” the girl continued. “You're a smart person, aren't you? In this situation, what's the best thing to do?”

“Get help.”

“From where?”

“I don't know! There's a diner nearby, or we could just head straight for the main road. Someone has to pass by eventually.”

“And do you think they'd stop to help?”

“Of course!”

“But why?”

Crystal stared at her for a moment. “Why?” she asked incredulously. “Because that's what you do when you see someone who's obviously in trouble. You stop and you help them.”

“I see,” the girl replied with a faint frown. “So that's your best idea, is it? Hope for a lucky break?”

“Do you have a better one?”

“I don't, no. Do you?”

Crystal paused, starting to feel distinctly uneasy.

“Humor me,” the girl continued. “If going to the road wasn't a possibility, what would be your next choice?”

“I don't know,” Crystal replied, taking a step back. “Why am I the one who has to come up with all the ideas?”

“Because that's the whole point of the simulation,” the girl told her. “To test things, to see how people react when they come face to face with the truth.”

“Simulation? What are you...” Pausing, Crystal stared at the girl for a moment before a sudden flush of realization crossed her mind. “I've seen you before.”

“Of course you have,” the girl replied. “I can't believe it took you so long to recognize me.” She stepped forward. “I think you know me by this body's old name. Beth, wasn't it?”

“Oh God,” Crystal said, taking another step back. “What do you want from me?”

“We thought this would be a good opportunity to simulate a hostile encounter,” Beth told her, “in order to determine how humans would react. I must say, as a species, you're more resourceful than we'd expected, although you're still prone to making serious mistakes. There's also a lot of variation from one individual to another, but I've seen nothing so far today, since the others arrived, to make me think that this process is going to be difficult.”

“No!” Crystal shouted, turning to run before Beth grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the ground.

“Your usefulness has ended,” she said, crouching next to Crystal and forcing her against the mud. “We have learned a great deal from you, but now -”

“I can help you!” Crystal stammered. “I'm smart, I know things! The others, they're dumb, they ran around like headless chickens as soon as this started, but if you need someone to help you plan ahead, you have to let me live!”

“I do?” Beth asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“Kill the others if you want,” Crystal continued, “I don't care. But me? I'm the smartest human you'll ever meet. I know how to get things done, and I know how other humans think. I'm sure we can come to some sort of mutually beneficent arrangement. I really wouldn't want much, just a guarantee of safety after you've done whatever it is you want to do to the rest of the world. Believe me, I would be
so
useful to you!”

“Fascinating,” Beth replied, staring down at her. “I never anticipated this. Some humans will
actually
try to sell out the rest of their species in order to guarantee their own personal safety.” She paused for a moment. “We'll be sure to take that factor into account and perhaps use it to our advantage,” she said finally. “
If
we meet someone who might actually be useful, that is.”

“Wait -”

Before Crystal could finish, Beth opened her mouth wide and two sharp tendrils began to emerge. Although she let out a brief cry of pain, Crystal quickly fell silent as Beth began to feast.

***

“Did you hear something?” Lizzie asked suddenly, looking back toward the trees.

“Like what?” Lincoln replied.

“I don't know, like...” She paused, waiting for the sound to return. “It was like someone crying out, just for a second.”

“I didn't hear a thing.”

“Huh.” She turned to him. “Shouldn't we be getting back? You obviously don't believe me about the lake.”

“I'm skeptical,” he replied, looking out across the water, “but that doesn't mean I've completely dismissed the idea. Right now, all possibilities are very much on the table.”

“So what are you waiting for?” she asked.

“Do I seem to be waiting for something?”

“We've been down here by the lake for an hour now,” she pointed out. “Earlier you were talking about how urgent the situation is, and now it's like you're okay with just hanging around like this. Shouldn't you be out there coordinating the search or putting some kind of plan into action in case those creatures get beyond the perimeter?”

A faint smile crossed Lincoln's lips.

“What's so funny?” she asked.

“You're smart,” he replied. “Resourceful, too. If it hadn't been for you, the other people in that cabin with you would most likely have died a lot sooner. All things considered, Ms. Miller, I'd say that you show great potential. Other people could learn a lot from studying you.”

“I'm not smart,” she told him. “I just... I did what anyone would have done.”

“Not quite.” He looked out across the lake for a moment. “Almost since the dawn of human history, cancer has been trying to break through. Did it ever occur to you that maybe cancer isn't something to be fought against, something to be destroyed? That maybe it's the natural next stage of life on this planet? I mean, sure, cancer isn't pretty and it most often ends up killing its host, but sometimes evolutionary change takes time to reach its final form. Humanity has tried everything to beat cancer, but it just seems as if cancer is an essential part of life. What is cancer, anyway? It's the uninhibited reproduction of cells that have gone into overdrive. Some people might say that it's the essence of life itself. Who are any of us to say that cancer should be snubbed out? Like larvae bursting from a cocoon, maybe cancer is the process by which the next stage of intelligent life is going to arrive?”

“No,” Lizzie replied, “that's... That's just crazy.”

He turned to her.

“Look beyond your fears,” he said calmly. “Look beyond your own sense of self-preservation, Lizzie. See the bigger picture.”

“You make it sound like...” She paused for a moment, watching him with growing suspicion. “You make it sound like you're on their side.”

“I told you the truth earlier,” he continued. “I really
was
at Leadenford Hospital and I really did deal with Doctor Andrew Page. I took a sample of the cancer and then I really did leave him to die when the missiles hit. Believe me, it wasn't easy and I suffered for a while after that. I drank too much, I let my work slide, I got sloppy... Then again, when I say that
I
suffered, what I mean is that Doctor Lincoln suffered. I can access his memories, his emotions, his knowledge, but only as an observer.” He paused. “I was also telling the truth when I said that Doctor Lincoln took the cancer sample to a laboratory so he could study it. What I neglected to mention, however, is that there was a certain... breach of security. A contamination event took place.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, taking a step back.

“I think you understand precisely what I mean.”

She stared at him, horrified by the calm, confident look in his eyes.

“You're one of them,” she whispered.

“Don't run,” he replied. “Don't panic and do something stupid, Lizzie. You're smarter than that. Hear me out.” He took a deep breath. “This doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. When you uploaded that video of the deer online, we immediately realized that we'd found the survivors of Leadenford, the specimens that escaped in the waste bags. We came here and sealed the area, and then we decided to conduct a few experiments. For one thing, we wanted to know how humans would react when they came face to face with us. The original plan was to just kill you all once we were finished, but now I'm starting to see that you have other uses. Lizzie, you don't have to die. You can work with us instead, help us to create a new world where our two species can live side-by-side.”

She shook her head.

“Think it through,” he continued, with a hint of earnestness in his voice. “Don't let your natural aversion blind you. Two creatures living in one body, working together... That's not actually a bad solution to the difficulties of life, is it? I mean, humans already have something similar going on in their guts. You have millions of bacteria in your body already, Lizzie, and without them you'd die. Parasites aren't necessarily a bad thing. We gain from you and you gain from us, it's win-win. Doesn't that make sense? Doesn't that sound like a very social approach?”

“It makes you sound like a monster,” she replied, her mind racing as she tried to work out how to get away from him. Glancing back through the trees, she realized that she had to warn the others too.

“Join us,” Lincoln continued. “Work with us. You already have cancer in your body.”

“I'm never going to be like you,” she said firmly.

“It's growing in your guts,” he replied. “I can sense its mind awakening. You have bowel cancer, and it's trying to break forth from your body, Lizzie. Let it happen. I can help you, I can guide your cancer as it develops. There doesn't have to be any pain or suffering for either of you. Think about it, you could be the first example of a human who recognizes and nurtures her cancer instead of trying to destroy it.”

She took another step back.

“Lizzie -”

“You killed all those people.”

“They were idiots,” he continued. “We only want to work with smart humans, people who have the intelligence to maybe see things from our point of view. There are hundreds of us in the world now, and we're not going away. A tipping point has been reached, soon there'll be millions, then billions...”

“I'm not going to help you,” she told him, taking another step back until she bumped against the pier's railing.

“Then what
are
you going to do?” he asked. “Fight? Cry? Scream? Rail against the dying of the light? Come on, Lizzie, you're so much smarter than that. You have an open mind. Don't let fear make your decisions for you.”

“Go to hell.”

“On the contrary,” he replied, stepping toward her, “the Great Memnon promises paradise for those of us who work to further the development of the species. He'll let you enter paradise too, Lizzie, if you just help us.”