Dead Hunt (10 page)

Paul looked at her. Slightly puzzled and
rather annoyed.

“Who the hell put you in charge?”

“You did!” she snapped back.

“What did I do?”

“Not a damn thing,” she answered as she
turned her back to him and walked away.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he
yelled after her as she disappeared around a corner.

Michael patted him on the shoulder. “It means
you didn’t do a damn thing when we walked in here. So she did.”

Paul’s face still held a puzzled look as
Michael headed upstairs.

Lucy walked into an all white room filled
with computers and laboratory equipment.

“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” she said
to no one as she headed for the open window.

She looked at the greenish stain above the
window, then quickly pulled the window shut and locked it. The
others soon found her in the lab.

“What the fuck is this place?” Paul asked as
he entered the bright lab.

“I need a drink,” Lauren said as she turned
and headed for the kitchen.

“I need a hot shower and get out of these wet
clothes,” Emma announced.

“Something’s not right,” Michael thought out
loud.

“Let’s see,” Paul said. “We are in the middle
of fucking nowhere in some sort of secret laboratory with
flesh-eating zombies outside. Seems about right.”

“Wait!” Michael yelled, running to the
kitchen. The others followed as Michael yelled to Lauren, “Don’t
drink that!”

Lauren paused just long enough for Michael to
pull the glass from her open mouth. He tossed it into the sink,
shattering the glass.

“It’s only water,” Lauren explained.

“Listen, what do you hear?”

Everyone froze and listened intently.

“Don’t hear a damn thing,” Paul told him.

“Exactly,” Michael said bluntly. “Other than
that bear, we didn’t see or hear anything. No birds or crickets.
Nothing.”

“So?” Lauren asked.

“So we are in the middle of the forest on top
of a mountain and we can’t hear a damn sound?”

“Enough with the cloak and dagger bullshit,”
Paul told him, “just tell us what the hell you’re talking about.
What do birds and crickets have to do with Lauren having a drink of
water?”

“This place is deserted, and there’s some
type of high-tech lab here. I don’t know what the hell happened to
the people up here or down there, but the only way for anything up
here to get down there is through the water.”

They looked at him, not quite fitting all the
pieces together.

“Don’t you get it? Water runs down hill. So I
think whatever happened up here got into the water and caused all
that shit down there.”

“Oh, that’s just fucking great!” Paul said.
“It was your bright idea to come up here, and now you’re saying
that this is where it all started?”

“I don’t know if it started here,” Michael
admitted. “I just know we can’t take any chances until we figure it
out.”

“I think he’s right,” Lucy told everyone.

“Oh, look,” Paul said sarcastically. “She
agrees with him… There’s a shock.”

Lucy just rolled her eyes and tried to ignore
him. “Follow me. I want to show you guys something.”

They followed Lucy into the lab. She pointed
to the window.

“That window was opened when I got here. And
look, there’s some sort of stain above it.”

“Yeah, so that stain could have been there
for years,” Paul said.

Michael looked out the window then pushed it
open again.

“Way to go, Einstein,” Paul yelled to him.
“Open the window and let whatever’s out there in here.”

Michael ignored him as he leaned out the
window, his eyes following a tiny, green trail down the side of the
building, then off into the darkness.

“I can’t really tell,” he informed them as
his eyes reached the end of the light cast from the window. “But I
think a trail of that stuff leads down to a creek over there. So
maybe whatever leaked out the window did get into the water.”
Michael thought for a moment. “That has to be it. It’s the
water.”

Paul was not convinced. “Water runs downhill,
so we have nothing to worry about up here, now do we?” he looked at
Michael, “Or should we all just die of thirst because you think you
might be right?”

Emma nodded towards the computers.

“Maybe we can find out what they were working
on.”

They moved towards the computers, but just as
Emma’s hand hovered over the keyboard a voice startled them.

“I would not do that if I were you.”

“Who the fuck said that?” Paul jumped back,
fists closed as his eyes searched the lab. Michael’s grip on the
machete tightened. The monitors turned on revealing Robin’s
face.

“What the…?” Paul looked at the monitor
dumbfounded..

Robin looked at Paul. “My name is Robin. Have
you seen my father?”

“Your father? Is this some kind of sick
joke?” Paul asked, looking around the lab to see if someone was
playing a practical joke..

Lucy raised her hand.

“Shut up, Paul.” Then turned back to the
computer and asked, “Who is your father?”

“Professor Patrick Heslin,” Robin’s eyes
turned towards Emma, her hand still hovering above a keyboard. “And
he will be very angry with you if you touch that keyboard.”

Emma pulled her hand back.

“For Christ sake Emma, it’s just a computer
program,” Paul told her.

“What happened here?” Lucy asked.

“What happened? Are you serious?” Paul asked.
“It’s a computer. How in the hell is it supposed to know… Why are
you even talking to it?”

Lucy waved him off in a gesture to be
quiet.

“My name is Robin.”

“You said that already,” Paul said
sarcastically. “Not a very smart computer either.”

Robin’s eyes seemed to focus on Paul.

“The Robin 1 Mainframe controls all the
electrical and electronic components of this laboratory,” Robin’s
eyes narrowed on Paul. “And you were not invited here…Paul.”

“What the…?” Paul was stunned to hear Robin
speak his name.

Robin turned to Emma. “Your name is
Emma.”

Robin looked at the others. “I do not know
your names.”

“This is stupid,” Paul cut her off. “So it
remembers names, big deal. So now we’re supposed to introduce
ourselves to a stupid machine?”

“Artificial Intelligence,” Emma announced.
“I’ve read about it, but never realized that it could be so
complex.”

“It’s artificial, all right,” Paul smirked
then headed for the main house. “Maybe there’s some booze or
something to drink.” He looked at Michael, “Since we can’t drink
the water.”

“Good old Paul,” Michael laughed. “Even in
the face of danger, he insists on being an asshole.”

“I heard that!” Paul’s voice sounded from
another room.

“I was not sure of your intentions,” Robin
informed them as she looked back to Lucy. “So that is why I did not
make my presence known when you first arrived. I had to be sure you
meant no harm.”

“So what happened here?” Lucy asked again.
“I’m Lucy, by the way. That’s Michael, and this is Lauren.”

“It is my pleasure to meet you,” Robin smiled
as she looked at each of the teens, then turned back to Lucy. “I do
not know what happened. We were working on the experiment and
then….” Robin stopped.

“And then what? What experiment?” Lucy
asked.

“I am not permitted,” Robin replied. “Have
you seen my father?”

“No. Not permitted to what? We need to know
what happened here.”

“If you find my father, he will be able to
explain everything to you,” Robin answered.

“I already told you,” Lucy argued, getting
irritated. “We don’t know where he is. What experiment?”

“I am not permitted.”

“Arrgghh!” Lucy exhaled in frustration. “Of
all the computers in the world, we get the stubborn one!”

Lucy took a deep breath. “Ok, Robin, here’s
the deal. We will help you search for your father, and then you
explain to me what experiment you were working on.”

“My father will be able to…”

“Not your father,” Lucy cut her off. “You!
You agree to explain everything and we will help you find Professor
Heslin.”

Robin was quiet for a moment and then spoke.
“Your proposal is acceptable.”

“Ok, guys!” Lucy said to everyone as Paul
re-emerged carrying a bottle of scotch. “We need to do a complete
sweep. First make sure all the doors are locked…”

“The doors are locked,” Robin informed
her.

“And the windows…?” Lucy asked.

“The locks on the windows are mechanical. I
do not control them.”

“So what’s the point of controlling the door
locks if anyone can just break in through the window? That doesn’t
make much sense.” Paul queried.

“No, it does not,” Robin agreed with him.

A second later they heard a loud rumbling
sound as a massive steel shutter closed over the laboratory window.
They heard another loud rumbling and a steel door slid from behind
a wall and slammed closed. It locked with a metallic thud.

“The laboratory is now completely sealed,”
Robin announced. “Is there anything else you wish to comment on,
Paul?”

“Ummm. Nope. I’m good,” Paul replied
sheepishly.

“Robin,” Lucy asked. “Are all the windows
sealed with these shutters?”

“I can only secure the laboratory,” Robin
explained. “My father was only concerned with the security of the
laboratory due to the nature of his work.”

“Which was what?” Lucy asked.

Robin smiled.

“It was worth a shot,” Lucy said returning
her smile before turning to her friends.

“Paul, you check the rest of the house and
make sure every window is locked. Lauren, check the fridge and
cupboards and find out how much food is here, and see if there’s
any bottled water. Emma, go upstairs and start checking the rooms,
and look for Professor Heslin.”

“What about me?” Michael asked as Robin
opened the steel door.

“Check the cellar for wood and tools to board
up the rest of the downstairs windows. I don’t think those things
can climb to the top floor, so they should be ok for now. We should
get the lower level secured first, then worry about the
upstairs.

“I’m on it,” Michael said and quickly
disappeared.

Lucy started looking around the lab for clues
as to what had happened, notebooks, scraps of paper, anything. She
spotted the microscope sitting on a work table and moved towards it
to look when she heard Michael yelling to her from the cellar.

“Hey, Luce. . . I think you should come take
a look at this.”

She hurried down the cellar stairs to find
him standing in front of another steel door.

Paul made his way back to the laboratory
still carrying the bottle of scotch. He looked at a row of small
monitors and noticed each one had a numbered label that started
with the word CAM. He flicked the CAM-1 switch and a room appeared
on one of the monitors.

“Cool,” he mumbled under his breath.

One by one he flicked on the monitors. Some
were of rooms. A couple showed the grounds surrounding the complex.
He stopped at CAM-9. Michael and Lucy were standing in the basement
staring at a huge door. Paul watched them on the tiny screen.
Neither of them moved. He flicked CAM-10. It was one of the rooms
upstairs, and he saw Emma looking inside a closet. He watched as
she pulled a shirt off its hanger and tossed it on the bed. Her
back was to the camera.

“Now this is more like it,” Paul muttered as
Emma turned just enough so he could watch her undo the tiny buttons
of her wet shirt.

Paul had no idea why someone would install a
camera in a bedroom, but right now he was thankful they had. When
the last of her buttons was undone, Emma paused as if she could
feel someone’s eyes watching her. She turned towards the door. It
was still closed. She held her shirt together and walked to the
door, walking out of the camera’s line of sight.

“Damn!” Paul said, disappointed, his eyes
still glued to the tiny monitor.

He glanced at CAM9. Lucy and Michael hadn’t
moved. He turned his attention back to CAM10.

Emma opened the door and looked into the
hallway, peering both left and right. It was empty. She closed and
latched the door before returning to her previous position by the
tiny bed as her shirt flowed behind her. Paul licked his lips in
anticipation.

Emma pulled her arms through the sleeves and
let the shirt fall to the floor. Paul watched excitedly. With a
move few men can understand, Emma reached behind her with one hand
and unclasped her bra. How women could do that so easily, and with
only one hand, was beyond him. Emma’s wet bra fell to the floor,
her breasts now in full view.

“Nice tits,” he whispered.

His gaze was so focused on Emma’s naked torso
on the CAM-10 monitor that he didn’t even see the group of shadowy
figures appear on CAM-6 and slowly stagger towards the lodge.

CHAPTER 9 – The Cellar

Lucy looked around the cellar; piles of old
junk, broken furniture, rusted tools and dusty, old boxes lay
everywhere. Next to the steel door, a computer monitor sat silent,
its dusty screen blank. Lucy looked into the blank screen.

“What’s behind the door, Robin?”

No response.

“I know you can hear me, Robin. What’s behind
the door?”

Robin’s face appeared on the dusty monitor.
“It is only storage. Nothing to be concerned with.”

“Just storage, huh?” Lucy asked, not
believing her. “Then open it.”

“I am not …” Robin paused for the tiniest
moment, “Able.”

“You’re lying,” Lucy told her. “Open the
door.”

“Lying?” Michael asked. “Can computers
lie?”

“This one can,” Lucy answered.

“There is nothing of interest behind the
door,” Robin stated.

“Then why are you here?” Lucy asked her with
a quizzical look.