Antivirus (The Horde Series Book 1) (26 page)

Shaking his head, he tried desperately to clear the cobwebs. He had to stay focused. It was his only chance. “Anger…rage,” he spit. “More human emotions.” He blinked his eyes back into focus, staring at the thing that stood inches from him. He could see the veins pulsing in Jon Sherrard’s face, black underneath his skin. The struggle was evident. He pushed harder. “You are flawed.”

Sherrard hit him again and this time, Alders felt his cheekbone break and blood blossom from the inside of his mouth as it was torn open against his teeth. Throwing back his head, he forced himself to laugh, and then locking his eyes back on Sherrard, he spit a glob of blood into Sherrard’s face. “For a supposedly advanced life form, you’re pretty quick to violence,” he said, blood drooling from his lips.

He watched the struggle continue to take place on the creature’s face and figured he was going to get hit again. But instead, Sherrard turned away. He was profoundly grateful.

“Anger is a primitive emotion,” it said, having regained control of itself. “It is part of Perry Edwards. It is not derived from us.”

“Perry Edwards is part of you,” Alders pointed out. “You said so yourself. Perry is human, with human thoughts and frailties. Therefore, you are flawed.”

Sherrard looked at him and Alders could clearly see his lips turn up in a sneer. Human emotions were beginning to rule its countenance and its commentary solidified that as a fact. “Revenge is a complex emotion and one that Perry Edwards possesses in abundance,” it said as it raised a hand. “It will be interesting to weigh that emotion against the satisfaction of seeing you become that which you fear.”

Behind it, Jen Sherrard’s eyes snapped open

Chapter 37

FutureTek Headquarters, Helena, Montana:
Alders watched as Jen Sherrard stepped out of the alcove. Her movements were fluid and human-like, but her face was utterly blank, devoid of emotion. Her eyes, deep black orbs, fastened on him. But he couldn’t tell if they actually saw him.

“Begin processing this human,” Jon Sherrard said, his eyes never leaving the agent. “His body and brain will serve the Nexus as Drew Jackson’s does.”

Jen walked toward him.

“Miss Sherrard,” Alders said quickly, seeing his momentum start slipping away. “Don’t do this. Don’t listen to him.”

“Jen Sherrard is completely under my control, Rick Alders,” Sherrard said. “You are wasting your time attempting to dissuade her from her duties. She obeys me without question.”

“Sounds like you have this marriage thing all figured out, right?” Alders shot back. “Again, more human frailties! You’re full of them!”

Jen Sherrard reached him and took hold of his hand. This time, the tendrils released him and did not meld with Jen’s flesh, instead withdrawing back into the wall. Sensing it would be his last opportunity, he yanked his hand away from her, ready to escape. Except that he didn’t. Her grip was like having his wrist encased in a concrete block. It never moved. She began pushing his hand into the pliable wall once again.

“Jen, stop!” he shouted. “Think of your husband! Think of Jon,” he said, casting a glance at Sherrard’s form, who stood aside watching what was happening with a smile on his face. Yet more evidence of human faults, but he knew that path would get him nowhere now. The creature was too intent on experiencing revenge through Perry’s essence. “Think of the real Jon!” he yelled as the tingling grew stronger. Looking down, he could see gray-black filaments entwining themselves around his hand and his wrist, seeming to meld with his skin.

“Jen, snap out of it!” His voice was growing louder. He could feel the wall beginning to dissolve his flesh, drawing his blood and tissue into it. He saw the tendrils beginning to work their way up his forearm, although now they seemed to be underneath his skin. He had to fight to keep from screaming.

“Can you feel that, Rick Alders?” the creature asked, looking on. “Can you feel what it’s like to be obsolete?”

“Jen, listen to me,” Alders said hurriedly. “Jen Sherrard, this isn’t you. This isn’t the person you are. Remember, Jen. Remember who you are! Remember your husband!”

She ignored him, reaching up and freeing his other hand. She began to press it into the wall on the other side of him.

“Jen, no!”

Her face was blank.

“The baby!” he made one last desperate plea. “Jen, what about the baby!”

A faint flicker crossed her face.

“Yes, the baby!” he said, latching on to the sudden hope that flared within him. “Jen, you were pregnant. You told me that! You have a baby on the way! You and Jon!”

Jen Sherrard’s eyes began to clear, brilliant blue beginning to peak through the shroud of blackness.

“That’s right, Jen,” Alders breathed. “Don’t do this. Free me and let me help you.”

She pulled his hand out of the wall and he reflexively flexed his fingers. They were intact. He couldn’t say the same about his other hand. He was very conscious that the tingling was stronger and he could hear a low buzzing in his head.

“Jen, help me,” he pleaded once more.

She took hold of his other wrist and began pulling his hand out of the wall. Alders got a good look at it and he knew right away he was probably going to lose it. The flesh had been eaten away and he could see his bones in some places. Strands of black and gray were still interwoven in with his ligaments in his hands and wrists, but they seemed to be pulling out of him as she pulled him free.

And then Jon Sherrard was there, clubbing his wife hard in the side of the head and sending her sprawling to the floor. She attempted to get to her feet, but he launched a powerful kick to her side, sending her skidding across the floor.

Turning his attention back to Alders, the creature grabbed his wounded hand and held it up. As Alders watched in horror, the feeder-like extensions shot out of the sheaths in his hand and encircled his damaged wrists. A moment later, the hard bony edges sliced it off.

Alders screamed in agony and Sherrard shoved the stump of his wrist back into the wall. “You…are…obsolete!” Sherrard snarled, grabbing his other hand and holding it up for him to see. “You…are…nothing!”

“I’m human,” Alders gasped one final time, knowing the end had arrived. “And you…are dead.”

The shape hit Jon Sherrard like a freight train, blasting into him and sending them both skidding across the lab floor. The roar that Jen Sherrard let out was befitting of her new appearance. She was no longer human. Thick black fur covered her entire body. She was powerfully muscled, with long claws and a distinctly wolf-like head. Roaring her hatred, she slashed at Jon’s body, tearing great gashes in his flesh. But even as she wounded him, the damage quickly healed, the furrows closing up.

Jon bucked and threw Jen over his head, before scrambling to his feet. Jen hit him a second time, moving with inhuman speed, and they went tumbling to the floor once again. Her claws continued to slash and tear and the wounds on Jon’s body continued to heal. He threw her again, and this time, she was even quicker to rebound, leaping on his back as he tried to stand, wrapping her long legs around his waist. She grabbed his head, sinking her claws into his skull, and began tearing at the back of his neck with her powerful jaws. Blood and bits of torn flesh spattered everywhere, and with a final savage roar, the wolf tore Jon’s head off.

The effect was almost instantaneous. For Rick Alders, the buzzing in his head disappeared and he was suddenly free, falling forward and crashing to the floor. He looked up in time to see Jen Sherrard still crouched over the body of her former husband. As he looked, the wolf-like features faded, seeming to draw back into her body, until she was once more, a beautiful woman. She looked at him, tears running down her blood streaked cheeks, and then she collapsed.

Alders crawled to her. The stump of his wrist was on fire with pain, but at least it wasn’t bleeding. The immersion into the wall had simply turned it into dead flesh. He reached Jen and turned her over, cradling her head in his lap. Her blue eyes were open, but the light behind them was fading. She was dying.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, feeling a profound sadness rising up within him.

She never spoke. She only encircled her fingers with his and held on as her heart beat its last. And then with a shuddering sigh, she closed her eyes and died.

Chapter 38

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Denver, Colorado:
Rick Alders sighed deeply, and went through all the exercises the nurse had him do with his good hand. The nightmare was now two weeks past, and he had been recuperating ever since. He was bored and extremely tired of his extended hospital stay, but he had been in quarantine since they admitted him, and he grudgingly admitted that he was probably where he needed to be.

While there were still many questions involving his exposure to what they had officially determined to be a new nanite-based life form, what they did know was that he had suffered severe trauma to his hands. There had been some extensive damage to his flesh and nervous system from his contact with the wall with his right hand, but the doctors had done a good job patching him up. He would have scars, but at least he still had that hand. His left hand, though, was gone. The stump was still bandaged, and it itched non-stop, but he knew it was healing. He’d just have to figure out how to live with a prosthetic.

“Very good, Mister Alders,” the nurse said with exaggerated cheeriness, as she lightly pinched each finger. “Are you feeling any additional pain?”

“No,” he said, wiggling his fingers in front of her face. “Feeling pretty good.”

“How about your other?”

“Occasional phantom pains, but nothing I can’t handle,” he answered glumly, casting another forlorn glance at the missing appendage.

“Good,” she said. “I’m told the doctor will be in later this afternoon to visit with you.”

“Is he finally going to release me?”

“That’s up to him,” she shrugged and quickly turned away. She was out of the room before he could think to shoot her a snarky comment.

Sighing again, he laid back in his bed and looked up at the darkened television. He was so sick of television. But there wasn’t anything more he could do. He’d been denied access to any kind of laptop or mobile device, and even his stay at the hospital was unknown to anyone but his superiors. He could watch television, if he wanted, but after he had watched several days of cover-up news coverage of the hazmat disaster at FutureTek headquarters in Helena, Montana, he’d grown bored and shut it off.

“Care for a visitor?” a voice sounded from the doorway, and he quickly looked up. The woman standing there was tall and slender, dressed casually in slacks and a blouse. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and she offered him a smile.

“Well, if it isn’t Kathryn Hale,” he said, returning her smile. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I was in the area and thought I’d stop in,” she said, sidling into the room.

“Denver is a long way from Helena, Montana,” he countered. “Somehow I don’t think you’re just stopping in.”

“Actually, I am,” she said, pulling up a chair and sitting down. “I’m laying over in Denver and will be on a plane to Nassau tomorrow. Figure it’s time to get out of the states and just disappear for a while.”

“Can’t hardly blame you. I’m surprised our wonderful government is letting you take the trip,” he added sarcastically.

“I’m not much use to them anymore,” she shrugged. “Systemtech made good on their offer and bought out what remains of our company. As of last Friday, FutureTek has been absorbed completely into the corporate monster that is Systemtech.”

“Really? That’s a surprise. Everything you guys were playing with will be locked down for years by the government before Systemtech gets their hands on it.”

“I don’t think Monroe believes as you do. He flew what remained of our staff to Spokane. He paid us all off to sign everything over to him, agree to a non-disclosure, and walk away rich men and women. After he cut us a check, he was on the phone with his lawyers before we were even out of his office.”

“I suppose all’s well that ends well for you guys, then,” Alders smiled.

“Yeah, and I just wanted to thank you. I also wanted to say I’m sorry,” she added. “I was kind of a jerk to you when you were questioning Jon before everything went crazy. Turns out, you were right. He was the killer. I just couldn’t accept it.”

“You know it wasn’t really Jon,” he reminded her. “It was Perry and that stupid virus the government created.”

“Better be quiet,” Kat said, shooting a glance at the door. “They still have spooks out in the hall. I’m guessing they’re probably listening to us right now.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he sighed. “It’s not like you’re a civy with no clue as to what happened. What’s the status in Helena anyway? As you can probably imagine, I don’t get much info on the tube.”

“Still quarantined,” she shrugged. “All of downtown is still basically shut down while the government deals with the situation.”

“They’re calling this a situation?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Talk about understating the obvious, right?”

“I guess,” he forced a chuckle.

“I just wish it could have all ended differently,” she said, the sadness reappearing in her voice. “Jon and Jen were my best friends. It’s still hard to believe that they’re dead.”

“I’m truly sorry for your loss, Miss Hale. They seemed like they were good people. They would have probably made great parents,” he finished softly, thinking back to those last few terrifying moments of the nightmare and Jen’s recognition of the baby she carried.

“I know you did everything you could to save them in the end,” Kat went on, sniffing back the tears. “I think it would have meant a lot to Jen.”

A shadow passed over his face. The horror of that night was still fresh, and he could not let go of the image of Jen Sherrard dying in his arms. He hadn’t known her all that long, but he grieved for her nonetheless. She had saved his life by killing her husband, or whatever had taken up residence inside his body. And in doing so, she had died. Her baby had died, too. He could never forget that.

“Anyway,” she went on, standing up, “I just thought you should know.”

“So what’s next for you?” Alders asked, wanting to change the subject, hoping she wouldn’t leave. He was immensely grateful for the visit.

“I just want to disappear,” she said softly. “Find a place to live somewhere off the grid. I think I’m done with technology for a while. How about you?”

“I’ll probably do what I’ve always done,” he answered thoughtfully. “I’ve seen some things that I can’t unsee, and that’s probably a threat to some people. I suppose if I remain a high-profile agent, I won’t disappear somewhere, if you know what I mean.”

“Um, should you be talking like that?” she said guardedly.

“I figure that as long as they know that I know, I’ll be okay. Besides, they know I’m a lifer and not a liability. I’m pretty sure they’ll keep me around.”

“Well, for your sake, I hope so,” Kat replied. She stuck out her hand. He took it with his remaining one and they shook. “Mister Alders, it’s been a pleasure.”

“The same, Miss Hale,” he said with a smile. “All the best.”

With a nod, she turned and left, leaving Alders alone again. He settled back into his bed again, looking up at the blank television screen. He had a lot to think about and he knew it. He was mostly truthful with Kat in that if he stayed high profile, he would probably be alright. He thought he was in enough of the government’s good graces that they would trust him not to go blabbing his story to anyone that would listen. But he wasn’t sure that staying with Homeland Security was what he wanted to do.

A knock at the door forced his future decisions into tighter focus. Looking up, he saw two men enter. Both wore standard black suits and both wore mirrored shades. They looked almost identical. He couldn’t describe them if he tried.

“Agent Alders,” the lead man said, stepping toward his bed. “We’d like a word with you.”