Catalyst (Book 1): Decay Chains (24 page)

Consumed with the task at hand, which was not landing atop a cop car, it had never occurred to her that one would lurch forward and hit her. Her body smacked into the car’s roof and rolled off the edge. Her head cracked on the sidewalk. She was dazed, but halfway to her feet, when rough arms wrenched her off the cement. Resisting was out of the question.

Callous hands forcibly unarmed her, cuffed her, and flung her in the back of the car. Her suspicions were confirmed. She was being arrested. Ian and Josh opened fire from the windows of the van. Purdy shot from in front of the van as the cop ducked inside the driver’s seat.

The street was littered with the dead, the dying, and the undead feeding freely. A trail of cop cars lined the streets on both sides, their owners neatly packed behind them. The cops opened fired on the car she was inside, which didn’t make sense to her. But right now, nothing did.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

DAY ONE—MINUTES INTO EPIDEMIC: 00:00:58

They think I’m the terrorist because they saw me on the rooftop kicking ass. Maybe they’re taking me to a hospital—

“I have the female with the marks on her neck,” the cop said. “Do you want me to go back for the others?”

Stormy panicked when the car drove off with her inside. Once the daze wore off, it was obvious this guy was no cop. She didn’t feel like an idiot though, not when two blocks down from Vallexor the real friggin’ cops cleared the barricade and waved the vehicle through with barely a glance.
These guys must not talk to each other. Not when they’re shooting at me one minute and waving me off the next.
Part of her was peeved, but the rest felt relieved. Wherever this vehicle was going was probably a place she wanted to blow straight to Hell.

If she focused, she could take this guy out, but then she would never know where he was headed. To test the waters, Stormy leaned up on her elbows and reached for the front seat.

“Don’t.” The driver motioned with his handgun. “They told me you were smart, but you’re not acting like it.”

Stormy took a deep breath and tried to remember her training. She settled back down on the seat, making sure to avoid her injured side and counted the car’s turns. The angle at which the sky appeared through the windshield meant they were on a bridge. Overtaking the driver now would be a disaster.

About ten minutes after the car merged on the highway, it exited again, stayed on a relatively busy road, stopped at three lights, and then parked in a strip mall. The name on the sign told her everything she needed to know. They had arrived at Corporate Worldwide Realty and Investments. Big blue and yellow letters spelled out the end of humanity. She wasn’t sure what the “R” and the “I” stood for, if anything, but she made a mental note to ask Ian later.

She didn’t put up a fight as the driver gripped her arm and guided her inside the stately realty setup. The lobby was a lush, yet artificial expanse. Just beyond it lay what looked like a boardroom, complete with a huge meeting table and rolling chairs. The driver led her through a break area and storage room, and then pushed her in front of him as they took the stairs up one floor.

She wasn’t ready for what waited inside.

The room was dark except for the bluish glow coming from three huge flat screens along the main wall. The televisions displayed aerial views of the supers going to town on Vallexor Industries. Stormy couldn’t find a news emblem on any of the screens.

“Come in, come in,” said a balding man whose huge glasses kept diving off his nose.

The driver pushed Stormy and she pushed back with all her weight until he forced her inside. The balding man got up from his chair in front of the televisions and walked around a lab setup to greet her properly. She met him in the middle, but didn’t look him over the way he was doing her.

The lab brimmed with endless counters full of vials, computers, and giant machines that hummed productively. There was an intermittent pounding noise too, but she couldn’t identify the source. When she looked center again, the man’s lips had edged into a prideful smirk.

“You know my work?” he said.

Stormy pointed to the televisions. “This is your doing?”

“Right you are. I’m Doctor Easton. Pleasure to meet you, Stormy Theo.”

Dr. Easton held his hand out to shake hers.

She shook her head. “You murdering bastard.”

“My, my. You shouldn’t say such things. It’s impolite. Come sit.”

Dr. Easton led Stormy to the chairs in front of the television. The driver followed until Dr. Easton sent him off. The doctor sat down, leaned over the side of his chair, and returned with a handgun pointed directly at her.

“Have a seat,” he said. “Enjoy the show.”

Weaponless and cuffed, she had no choice but to watch the screen. It looked like ant trails were streaming out of Vallexor. A second screen showed a bird’s eye view of a group of men who had asphyxiated when the agent went off and then reanimated. She couldn’t look anymore.

“Why, Doc? You’re supposed to help people. Was the money not right on the legit side of business?”

“I just want the view to be more accurate,” he said. “People living their whole lives obese, hooked on crack, destroying their bodies with sugar and nicotine, focused on reality television and entitlements. The only things getting them off their couches are handouts. They aren’t much different in their current states. The television just holds less interest for them. They still eat their own.”

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

“The civilization that springs forth from the decimation will be so much better.”

“But your targets are major business districts. Go-getters are there—”

“You exaggerate my friendly-fire numbers.”

“You inflate your meaning. No one really cares that much about how others live their lives.”

“That’s not true. You do, don’t you? Why else would you be here?”

“I didn’t ask you about me. I asked you why you attack places that have nothing to do with your warped cleansing attempts. And by the way, that’s not healing people. It’s genocide. A doctor should be able to tell the difference.”             

“I don’t get to have all the say in these things. The heads of the table, their goals don’t perfectly align with mine. I could care less if they acquire a single state, let alone a country or a continent. Resources, especially monetary ones, are what they seek. But I must play their game. A means to an end, you know.”

“Are you working with Matt, Dr. Easton?”

“Matt. You mean the one that retained his mental faculties, right?”

“Yes. Are you working with him?”

“No,” Dr. Easton said. “I worked on the original virus and the two variation strains. Strain II is the one they used today.” He pointed at the screen. “And at Target Three. As I recall, it was quite a success. It’s faster, but burns more. However, something even better is in store. You’ll see.”

“Do you know who Matt is working with or what he’s creating?”

“I heard something, but didn’t put it to memory. It had nothing to do with me, really.”

“What did you hear?”

“You know, that’s another thing.” Dr. Easton pointed at a girl on the television who was swatting at a super with an iPad. “They won’t need to charge those tablets and phones anymore. I’m conserving energy on top of everything else. I’m a visionary and a conservationist. The Earth and tree huggers will thank me too.”

Stormy tried another avenue. “Doctor, what is the end goal here? What does Cold World want?”

“It’s all reversible. That’s where the money and power are, Stormy.” For the first time, Dr. Easton’s eyes left the television and focused on her. “The antivirus is in production now. That’s why it’s all spread out. We could’ve leveled the world on Patriot Day, but we waited for our planned launch date to arrive. That’s a heavy secret for a giddy man like myself to hold. I’m rather proud, as you can see.”

“So you’re infecting people just to cure them?”

“What wouldn’t you give to have your loved ones safe? And some have more than others to give. More than money or time. Some have the power to change the world, to control the world. And most will give it up for the greater good, no doubt.”

“So Matt is trying to get the antivirus,” Stormy said.

“No, not from what I’ve heard. He’s been over at the production center working on his own little project.”

Dr. Easton lit up as he watched the carnage unfold. “Oh, look at that. Stormy, did you see the speed on that one? I’m recording this so I can take notes next time I watch. I can’t wait to see the new strain at work. I’ve made some remarkable enhancements.”

No one had come in or out. Stormy noticed a second set of doors on the far end, but didn’t see any cameras. There had to be cameras though, these people were nuts about recording everything. If she overtook Dr. Easton now, she could make a run for it. The vials atop the table stood a good chance at being the virus or antivirus. She could put either of them to good use if she got them into the right hands.

“Beautiful isn’t it? I think I’m in love with success. It’s weird how God made it so easy to cripple and destroy. I never could cure, not like I can devastate.”

“You know there are lots of sickos like you around here, like that bitch Vector for instance.” She held up her cuffs. “No need for a captive audience.”

“Have you seen enough?”

“I’ve seen and heard plenty.”

He rose from his chair. “Good. It’s time for you to go.”

She couldn’t stop herself from gripping her chair’s arms. Dr. Easton wrenched her up and nearly pulled her shoulder out of socket. She had noticed the oversized metal door before, the one right across from the stairwell. The one with the pounding coming from inside. It was the only sound besides the humming in that dark room. Dr. Easton flipped a switch and the room lit up like a beacon. Every wall shared the same metal lining. The whole room was one big laboratory, but according to Dr. Easton, the production center was somewhere else.

“I want to see this. It will be the highlight of my day.” Dr. Easton uncuffed her. “I like to watch how they interact with their prey.”

He looked like he was about to burst out of sheer joy. Stormy spit in his face, but his smile didn’t wear off. The heavy door swung open without a noise.

Dr. Easton slung her into a storage room full of supers. “Meet the Beta group.”

Stormy slammed straight into a towering super, changed course, and railed at the door. Dr. Easton used the door to push her back inside and then slammed it shut. He reappeared in the door’s window slit, sipping wine. That was the last thing she saw before she turned back to snap the neck of the super, whose hands had already dug into her shoulders.

“Now, Ms. Theo, you’re rather familiar with my work. You’ll notice this group didn’t turn out quite right. You may do as you like with them.”

Stormy wanted to panic, but didn’t have time. The ten-by-ten room crawled with supers. All crowding around her. She had work to do.

“Farewell Stormy,” Dr. Easton shouted through the door. “You know, I’m not doing this because you disagree with my worldview. It’s about Matt, honestly. He pissed off the higher-ups and well, they know just how much you mean to him. It’s business really. Just dirty, foul play in business. That’s all.”

“I don’t forgive you, Doc. Rot in hell, you son of a bitch.”

It was obvious what he meant. These supers kept on coming, but they didn’t have the speed of their onscreen counterparts. And they were charred from head to toe.

Stormy struggled to think between hits. She took an elbow to the face right before kicking a female super into the two behind her. It seemed like they were funneling more supers in somehow. They just kept on coming and she was running out of steam.

Crashing noises came from the other side of the door, but didn’t register right away. Being captured outside Vallexor wasn’t part of the plan, but it did have a plus side to it. Hopefully, the guys followed her here. They weren’t ready for an attack, but it was a golden opportunity. Jane said they didn’t have a headquarters, but this sure as hell looked like one.

Stormy hoped and prayed the crashing sounds belonged to a rescue party. She was stomping on a super’s head when she heard a spray of gunfire in the lab. Blood smears on her side of the window blocked her view, but a grenade pop clued her in. After the grenade went off, the light over top the door flashed orange. She was pretty sure her friends were here. Perfect timing too. One super remained alive in the room with her. She shouted Stan’s name and hoped more supers didn’t miraculously appear.

She dropkicked the male super. He faltered a bit and then sturdied himself and barreled at her juggernaut style. She dove out of the way and listened to him crack his neck as he plowed into the metal door. Then the door opened, which confused her. That is, until Purdy’s head and rifle popped inside.

“Girl, look at you all killing supers and shit,” Purdy said.

Stormy panned around the room and realized that it looked awesome. Just her and seven dead supers. Purdy stepped over a corpse to hand her an M-4. They took turns shooting the supers in the head. Something flashed through the lab door. She did a double take at the ten-by-ten room of horrors, and sure enough, the body count was down to six.

She pointed to a blood stain on the floor. “Where’s that one?”

“Oh, shit,” Purdy said. “Be on the lookout for that SOB.”

Stormy scanned the lab. She didn’t find the missing super, but the boys were already at work. Stan guarded the far exit and Josh was on post at the stairwell door. Ian stuffed his bag full of lab equipment.

“Ian,” Purdy said.

Ian tried in vain to jam a laptop into the small exterior pouch of his backpack. “What?”

“Look out for supers.”

“Okay, got it.”

“Where’s the doctor?” Stormy asked.

“Who?” Purdy asked.