Our Undead (46 page)

Kerrick:
And then there were two.

Sharp:
You
know what? I'm thinking I'd much rather go and look for that shady
General; figure out what this whole thing is actually
about.

Kerrick:
D, it's one in the morning. We'll have time for that
tomorrow. It's not like the guy is going anywhere. We're trapped
underground. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get some
real food and then hit the hay. I suggest you do the
same.

Sharp:
(sighs)
I guess you're right. I
could use a good meal. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep
though, with so much on my mind.

Kerrick:
Hey now, it's okay, buddy. One step at a time… A concept that
this grunt at the wheel doesn't seem to get. Driver,
step
on
it!

Matthew Kerrick rubs on his
belly and the driver follows his orders. Luckily, the lanes aren't
congested with much traffic at this time in the morning.

<><><>

Gwen, Billy and Abe walk
through the doors into Laboratory D-9. No security men stand at the
doors this time and no doctors are around, at least none that can
be seen. It's deathly quiet inside. The only sound being that of
their feet clicking as they walk deeper into the room.

Billy:
Are
we alone in here, professor?

Gwen:
We
should be… HELLO!?… Yes, I'd say we are.

Billy:
Good.

Immediately, Billy pulls
the sheet off of Abe's head. The swishing sound turns Gwen around
and she gasps, shocked at seeing Abe's hideous features once again.
Seeing him for the second time is almost as frightening as seeing
him the first, but Gwen quickly settles herself with a calming
inhale exhale.

Gwen:
There may not be anyone in here now, but someone could walk
through those doors at any moment.

Billy:
I
just thought he might like to see where he is.

Gwen:
Hm.
Bring him. Follow me.

The professor leads them
behind a set of curtains. Inside are the typical things one might
find in a room for hospitalized patients; a modified hospital bed,
an empty intravenous stand, a bedside lamp and table, a larger
table on the opposite side of the bed and a cupboard above it.
Billy closes the privacy curtains behind him after letting Abe
in.

Gwen:
Now,
can you.. get him to lay down on the bed, face
first?

Billy:
Sure.

Billy goes about laying Abe
down by first sitting on the bed himself, then inviting Abe to sit
next to him. To Gwen's surprise, Abe walks over to Billy and sits
down beside him. When Abe is seated, Billy jumps off the bed and
lifts the trained zombie's legs up on to it, turning them so that
his legs lay rested along the bottom half of the bed. He then
gently lays Abe's torso flat so that the undead man is staring
straight up at the ceiling.

Billy:
I'm
going to need your help turning him over.

Gwen:
Really?
Um, all
right.

Gwen hesitantly reaches for
Abe's left arm.

Billy:
Don't worry. He won't do anything.

Gwen:
Heh,
sorry. It's just I haven't really handled an infected patient that
isn't being held down tightly by five harnesses. I've seen what
these things are capable of. Usually, he would already be sedated
at this point.

Billy:
He
might as well be. He doesn't do much. He hasn't eaten for a couple
of days either, almost two days. He's probably a little
weak.

Gwen:
If
you say so.

She tentatively takes Abe's
arm in her hands while Billy takes the other side.

Billy:
Okay. You go over and I'll go under. Ready?
Flip.

Gwen lifts and pushes Abe's
left arm over while Billy pushes his right one under. He winds up
laying on his front side. Instinctively, Gwen reaches for the back
of Abe's head to adjust and fit it firmly into the bed's head hole,
but then abruptly stops, remembering the unconventional amount of
freedom Abe possesses. Her hands came just a little too close to
the patient's gaping mouth. Billy catches her hesitation and
decides to fit Abe's head into the space for her. He picks it up
and places it comfortably into the head hole.

Gwen:
(huffs)
Thank
you.

Billy:
You're welcome.

The professor turns away
and opens up the cabinet above the larger table, taking out a small
bottle filled with some kind of clear liquid. Next, she opens up
one of the top drawers and takes out an empty syringe, a couple of
needles, a long thin plastic tube and a little vial. She attaches
the pieces and Billy watches her insert the point of her huge
hypodermic needle into the top of the bottle of clear liquid. She
withdraws the plunger, sucking the little bottle's contents into
the needles barrel, then taps it to make sure there are no air
bubbles, then she turns back to begin Abe's study.

Billy:
What is that?

Gwen:
It's
just a sedative.

Billy:
To
take a blood sample?

Gwen:
Well, I'm actually going to be extracting some of his spinal
fluid.

She pokes the tip of the
needle into Abe's neck and pushes the plunger down, emptying it
into him. Seconds later, Billy can see Abe's body physically become
relaxed, as is someone just let a little bit of air out of a
life-sized balloon.

Billy:
Spinal fluid?

Gwen:
Yes.
As of this very moment, my associates are studying the
cerebrospinal fluid of a couple of our other patients, but none of
them are quite like your friend here. Hopefully, by the time I get
back to them, they'll have discovered something new about this
parasite.

Billy:
A
parasite… It was a parasite that caused all of this? Not a blood
virus?

Gwen:
If
this were a few hours ago, I would be just as shocked as you
are.

Billy:
But
I thought that it was a chemically made disease… caused by dumping
in Crater Lake. I was right. That's all nonsense, isn't
it?

Gwen:
Perceptive kid. That story was a cover up, yes. That's where
the conspiracy began for you, but what I would now like to know is
where this parasite came from, and how it came into existence in
the first place. I was unsure before, but upon making this new
discovery, it has become abundantly clear to us doctors that we are
being lied to.

Billy:
From what I know about viruses and parasites, one destroys
and the other… uses?

Gwen:
You're not too far off. In all actuality, a virus
is
a type of
parasite, but the variety of species is in the thousands, probably
more. What we need to do is figure out what type we're dealing with
and how to counteract its evolution, but that could be
difficult.

Billy:
Why
is that?

Gwen:
Well,… this parasite isn't exactly normal. I've already seen
it through a microscope and…

Billy:
And…

Gwen:
The
parasite we found has been.. cybernetically enhanced. Which would
mean to say that-

Billy:
It
was engineered by man.

Gwen:
Heh,
right again, kid.

Billy:
This is nuts. It's like some sort of movie or something. I
bet it's some evil genius, who no one ever sees. The person, who
ever it is, is probably behind this, and people like us are none
the wiser.

Gwen:
The
way things are going around here, I wouldn't say that that is too
far-fetched. Uh, would you mind pulling your friend's shirt up? I'm
going to prepare him for extraction, and I need his back
clear.

Billy does her this favor
and pulls Abe's shirt up, exposing his partly disintegrated back.
Billy had never seen it before. It looks like a big slab of
yellowy-green cottage cheese. Professor Gavine skips injecting Abe
with lidocaine, as he can't feel pain anyhow, and goes right on
ahead to picking up the larger of the two needles she has readied
for him.

Gwen:
Now,
I'm going to need you to roll him half way up, and hold him
steadily on his side.

Billy:
Like this?

Billy rolls Abe half way up
so that he lies resting on his right arm. Abe's eyes are half open,
and Billy can't help but think to himself that this is the first
time he has seen Abe asleep. It isn't very attractive. Gwen turns
back to Billy after putting on a pair of medical gloves.

Gwen:
Yes.
Hand this to me when I ask for it. Now, don't
move.

She gives Billy the little
opened vial, which he takes, places down and returns to holding Abe
with both hands. Gwen slips the thin tube into the needle and feels
along Abe's lower spine for the point of insertion. When she finds
it, she pokes the six inch needle into Abe's back and advances it
little by little, withdrawing the plastic tube every once in a
while as if checking for something. She finally stops when the
needle's point has gone deep enough. This time, she slides the
stylet from the needle completely.

Gwen:
Okay. Hand me the tube.

Billy hands it to her, and
she holds the opening under the needle. Before long, a cloudy but
watery liquid starts trickling out from the needle stuck in Abe's
back, like a keg of infected beer. She collects about four
millilitres worth of the fluid and then hands the collection tube
back to Billy.

Gwen:
Careful.

Next, she reinserts the
stylet into the needle and promptly slides it out. She neglects the
regular act of applying pressure with a cotton swab, but it doesn't
matter because no blood escapes from the puncture wound.

Billy:
Say, is there a jerk or like, an asshole type commander
around here? Some sort of scumbag authority figure you all have to
abide by, because I can almost guarantee that he or she is in on
it; the conspiracy. Although, it probably won't help you to know
anyway.

Gwen takes off and disposed
of her used gloves.

Gwen:
Why
wouldn't it help? You can let your friend rest now, and bring down
his shirt.

Billy:
It
wouldn't help because no matter how much pressure you put on this
person in charge, he or she will never give away their position.
Why would they?

Billy's natural talent for
impressing grownups works it's magic on Gwen. The image of
Feleider's stupid face pops into her head. Billy's description fits
him perfectly.

Gwen:
So,
if confronting him… or her.. won't help, how would one go about
making sure that the truth is given to those who deserve
it?

Billy:
Well, you wouldn't be able to get the information by force
because this false leader would have the entire army at his
disposal, and I doubt he would hesitate to have you arrested and
held in containment.

Gwen:
That
would not be good.

Billy:
No,
it wouldn't. Based on what I can tell, I'd say the best thing for
you to do would be to find out everything you possibly can about
this new parasite before you confront anyone, and when you do, you
should use the information against them in more of a… legislative
manner.

Gwen:
Something tells me you know what I'm going to say, but…That
would just take too long, wouldn't it?

Billy:
There
is
something else you can do.

Gwen:
Go
on.

Billy:
Confront him…

Gwen:
But
you just said-

Billy:
But
let the big men I met on the helicopter do it. That guy, Denver
Sharp, was pretty hell bent on getting some face time with a man
named Feleider.

Gwen:
The
General. So you know about him already.

Billy:
I
know a little, and I think letting a super soldier handle it would
be the best idea. No offence, but he won't be as easy to push
around, and if this Feleider
does
try to have him arrested, I
don't think any jail will be able to hold him
anyhow.