General Population (18 page)

"I must say," said Krazek, "I haven't lost my touch, not one bit."

The wizard approached the wolves and attempted to scratch behind the ears of Eric, who dodged the man's touch.

"Oh come now, boy. I've always wanted a dog since I was a boy."
 

Eric snarled at Krazek and assumed an attack position.

"That will be enough of that," said Himmelreich. The doctor stepped into the circle with hands behind his back. He was dressed in his best suit and glasses. Drahomira and Havel Statsny accompanied him, dressed for a fancy dinner.

"Of course," said Maddix. "I knew you figured into this somehow."

"Indeed, Herr Benbrook. And I must say you have been quite unpredictable. Almost ruined the whole plan. Still, I thank you for your cooperation."

"Fuck you."

"Now, there is no need for such crude language."

"I don't understand why you would help these monsters escape. They will swallow you whole once they are done with you," said Javier.

The vampires laughed at the notion.

"Herr Larouche, they will not harm me. They cannot harm me. Thanks to some collaboration with Herr Ketter, my blood is no longer palatable."

"Besides, my dear," said Drahomira. "We've grown quite fond of the doctor and his vision for the future."

"There is no future with your kind set free in the world," Tara snapped.

"Certainly no future for you, my lovely." Havel licked his fangs in anticipation.

"Just tell me one thing, Doc. How did you make him look dead? How did he resist the blood?"

"So you think this is the part where I tell you the
master plan
?"

"Just tell him, Doctor. It is your best work yet," said Drahomira.

"I do suppose I have earned some, what do you call it? Bragging rights."

Ephrain and Krazek chuckled.

"During the war, I had the distinction of being one of the Fuhrer's top medical specialists. I had no love for the Third Reich, but I finally had access to the type of human subjects I had been craving my whole career."

"You talk like you were curing cancer. You're a monster," Javier growled.

"I am a god among peasants. While your simple-minded kind waged wars against one another, I was learning to cheat death. I was close."

"Cheat death?" said Maddix.

"Yes, Overseer. I was given the honor of creating the perfect soldier, and what I had discovered was that the only way to create a soldier that couldn't be killed was to make one that was already dead."

"The zombies, that was you."

"The other scientists had it wrong with their narrow-minded selective breeding. Blonde hair and blues eyes do not make the perfect soldier. So I turned to biological studies. I crossbred various types of species to create the perfect infectious bacteria. You have seen some of that work here."

"The wasps," said Tara. "You created a venom that affected the brain and turned everyone into zombies."

"I did, and they worked as designed. I must admit my last experiments did run amuck and almost wipe out humanity. It's a risk you take when you work with infectious diseases. When the Americans invaded I injected dormant cultures into some of the patients. One of them made their way into the United States and somehow the culture mutated into what you refer to as the
zombie virus.
Such a lackluster name for my first big breakthrough."
 

"It doesn't make sense, though. Everyone that got stung tried to kill us; what are those things?"

"Something I discovered after gaining some knowledge from the wizard. Nobody imprisoned here could willingly take any action against you. So I created a creature that could tap into the brain and create an involuntary reaction. The only problem was my venom did not have any effect on other species. The Statsnys were willing to hear me out and allowed me to experiment on some of their clan. I may be the first scientist in history to actually touch the brain of a vampire."

"You helped him dissect your people like rats?" said Maddix.

"Some sacrifices are for the greater good," Havel replied.

"And through those sacrifices I was able to improve on the original formula. The wolves saw my work and agreed to surrender some of their own as well. "

"They removed his brain," said Tara.

Maddix looked at Tara, puzzled.

"That's why he looked dead; they took out his brain."

Himmelreich clapped his hands together. "Magnificent, Fraulein. Not the whole brain mind you, just enough to render him immobile. Removing too much can result in the death of the patient. That can be quite dangerous for the surgeon if the body spontaneously combusts."

"But why?" Maddix asked.

"I needed to test the involuntary reflexes in the vampire. Once I did that I could reformulate the virus to adapt to any creature in the realm. You see, once the wasps injected the venom into the brain the subject loses control of it's complex brain functions, it can no longer make decisions on its own. It begins to eat away at the gray matter until there is just enough to keep the subject alive but take away its cognitive reasoning. All that's left is the fight or flight instincts. Since the subject is not willingly attacking you, the protection was not in effect. I tested it out on some of the constables before releasing the lot of them."

"So anyone stung is—" began Javier.

"A vegetable, Constable Larouche. They will never recover. The vampires and werewolves may heal over time, but they will never be the same. They will be like wild animals scared of their own shadows. They will eventually starve to death."

"Those were my men you piece of Nazi trash!" Javier quickly aimed his pistol and fired on the doctor to no avail. Havel Statsny was already in front, blocking the path of the bullets.

"You won't be needing that anymore," said Krazek. Magical energy flowed from his hand, and the gun flew from Javier's hand and into the forest.

"Thank you," said Himmelreich. "The French have quite the temper, don't they?"

The escaping prisoners all laughed at Javier.

"Enough of this," said Ephrain. "Can we get on with it? I'm a little anxious, Doc."

"Yes indeed," said Himmelreich. He motioned for the two werewolves. "Please take care of the overseer and his friends. His service to the cause has been quite exemplary, and he deserves a proper funeral with full honors."

The two looked at the doctor and snorted in confusion.

"For God's sake. Take them into the forest and kill them, and then bury what's left."

The wolves started to usher the three toward the woods, but Maddix resisted the push of Eric's snout.

"You won't get away with this," said Maddix. "You've killed most of your clans, and the Founding Fathers will stop you like they did before."

"Highly unlikely, and my colleagues here will undoubtedly start new families. It's a brave new world. Besides, who do you think arranged to have me sent here?"

The blood drained from Maddix's face. It would have to be an inside job. There was no other reason to commit a human scientist to a realm built for monsters. The setup ran deeper than he had realized.
 

"Enjoy your retirement, Overseer," Drahomira called as she blew a kiss in his direction.

If I make it out of this
, thought Maddix,
I am going to torture that bitch.

The five of them walked for several yards into the woods. The bodies of zombies were everywhere, torn apart from claws and teeth. The Statsnys had apparently had a few run-ins with the infected. It was ironic to know that the instrument of their escape wasn't a loyal servant, but a wild card strategically planted.

"Here," growled William.
 

None of them looked back, expecting the worst. It would be painful, that much was for sure. To be mauled by a wolf would be horrific. Tara closed her eyes tightly and waited for the end.
 

They could hear the two wolves growling and snarling in preparation for the final pounce that would end their lives. But, it never came, and yelping replaced the growling. The three turned to see Eric and William engaged in a fight with another wolf, different from the ones they had seen before.

"Run!" shouted the wolf. "I can't hold them forever, Chief!"

"Roberts?" said Javier.
 

His constable had completely turned and was now fighting their captors. If there was such a thing as luck, it was on their side.
 

They ran quickly, searching for anywhere they could lay low long enough to gather themselves. The forest was confusing, and the brush was thick where they were, but they managed to find a secure place to hide. The yelping of the wolves stopped, and it was silent.

There was no telling who had won the fight. Could Roberts have taken them both? Javier hoped that was the case. Even turned, he still considered him to be one of his own. They had served together and protected each other in the worst of times.
 

Tara tapped on Maddix's shoulder and pointed to the horizon. There where hundreds of prisoners headed toward the gate. Creatures of all kinds were making their way back into the real world.

"This is bad," whispered Tara.

Maddix shook his head in defeat. "It was stupid of us not to see it sooner."
 

"Monsieur?"

"This was never a prison. It was a training ground to help them learn to be more like us. So they can infiltrate and take over."

"I don't follow you," said Tara.

"Last time, they were easy to spot. They were like wild animals. Now they've had a taste of civilized society. They'll blend in more. Now they are a gang of domesticated monsters. And we fell for the bullshit."

Tara rested her head on Maddix's shoulder. They would figure it out and make a plan, that's what they were best at, but for now they would lay low and wait. There was no way for them fight this right now. Safely hidden in the thick of the brush, they rested and waited.

The night gave way to day and Maddix opened his eyes abruptly, not realizing he had fallen asleep. Tara was still lying next to him and Javier sat awake staring through the growth of foliage.
 

"Javier?"
 

"Monsieur?"

"What happened? Why didn't you wake us up?"

"No point, monsieur. You were both exhausted. Sleep was the best thing for you right now. I'm used to little rest."

Maddix sat next to him and looked around. "Have they all gone?"

"It would seem so. I watched them all march for hours. Then one or two would come through and finally nothing."

Maddix gently shook Tara awake. She opened her eyes and rubbed the sleepiness out of them.
 

"Good morning. Welcome to the apocalypse."
 

"That's not funny. What's going on?" asked Tara.

"We think everyone has gone through the gate. We should check things out."

Tara agreed, and they stepped out of the brush. In the daylight, they realized that they weren't far from the circle despite all their running the previous night.

"We must have double-backed on accident last night," Maddix remarked.

"There is blood over there," said Javier. "I think that's where Roberts—"

"If he's okay, we'll find him, Javier," Tara reassured. "They would need silver to kill him."

"Or eat his heart," stated a raspy voice.

The three of them took a defensive stance back-to-back.
 

"Who's there?" Maddix questioned.

"It's Tanya, Overseer."
 

"You're dead," said Javier.

"No, I'm four feet to the left of you, under these leaves."

Confused, the three of them followed the sound of the voice. There was a pile of leaves shaking as the voice spoke. Javier slowly knelt next to the pile and pushed the leaves away. Underneath was the head of Tanya, covered in blood but still alive.

"Hello, my dear," said Tanya.
 

Maddix and Tara smiled to each other in relief. Javier gazed at the head in total bewilderment.

"Don't just sit there, help me find the rest of me, it makes this so much easier."

The three of them searched the area frantically, finding pieces everywhere. They laid them on the ground, attempting to reassemble them as best as possible. Try as they might they could not find every piece of Tanya's body.

"It's okay, some of it will grow back. It's just quicker this way."

At first slowly and then picking up the pace, every part of Tanya began to fuse together and heal. Soon she was sitting up and then standing as the missing pieces of her miraculously healed up. She stood there naked and covered in blood, but alive and walking.

"Thank you," said Tanya. Her raspy voice healed with her renewed vocal chords. "A few inches and they would have chewed my heart out. There is no coming back from that."

"I never read that in the journals," said Maddix.

"That's because few humans are capable of ripping a werewolf’s heart out. It's how we establish dominance."

"Of course," said Tara. "Alpha-dog pack mentality."

"I am happy you are alive," choked Javier.

Tanya just smiled at him. She was glad to see him alive as well.

"Why didn't you go with the others? Why did they turn on you?"
 

"I had my suspicions of them. They knew I wouldn't go along with it. A century here really opened my eyes and tamed my animal impulses, but now …"

"Now what?" said Maddix.

Tanya's eyes went yellow and narrowed. "Now I want revenge for those in my pack who died."

"Good, so you're in."

They watched as Maddix walked toward the clearing. There was a determination to his strut.

"Where are you going?" shouted Tara.

"Where are
we
going? We're going home."

To be continued …
 

The Story will continue … but first—

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