Omega Virus (Book 1): Beta Hour (16 page)

“Yeah
and as soon as that piece is removed, it comes back to life more pissed off
than before.”

“So
you’re going to feed us to it?” I asked.

“No,
it wouldn’t eat any of you, only other zombies to sustain its strength.”

“Then
where are you taking us?” I snapped.

Wedge
leaned in close, letting her lips graze my ear. “To get your revenge.”

LEVEL 19 – RETRIBUTION

Wedge brought
us for revenge. So did she know about Jessie’s bite? Either way, I wanted it.
Wayne had to pay. A smile crept across my lips. I saw myself placing a gun to
Wayne and shooting him in the gut, and letting him bleed. Then I would shoot
his kneecaps out and throw him into a horde of Corpses.

In
the cloud of darkness, a glimmer of conscience came through. I remembered
Tiffany at the 7n20. She'd been so upset I’d taken a human life, even though
they deserved it. Just like Wayne. She hadn't understood the new rules of the
world.

I
clenched my fists as we walked down the rocky tunnel. With each life taken,
would I lose my humanity?

Before
the outbreak, I never could have imagined taking a life, good or bad. I
would’ve let justice take its course, in the new world justice had died. If I
let Wayne live, then he would only hurt more innocents.

“This
is what you want, isn’t it?” Wedge's whisper snapped me back.

“It
is,” I said.

She
continued. “Are you or your friends up to it? I could do it. I won’t feel bad.
I’m a soldier. It’s my job to kill the enemy. You're just a kid after all.”

“Kids
don’t exist anymore.” My voice iced over.

Jessie
spoke up. “This world is what we make it. You don’t need revenge for my sake.”

I
glanced back to find her looking serene. Had she accepted her death so readily?

We
came to a set of reinforced steel doors. I felt something cold slide into the
back of my waistband. Wedge had given me a gun.

She
leaned in close again. “If you don’t do it, we will.”

Fox
and Biggs brought the rest of the Gamer's Guild behind us.

Biggs
pumped his fist. “I never thought Wayne would let us in here.”

“Shuddup.”
Fox snapped. “Don’t blow this. We need him to open the stores.”

“The
stores?” I asked.

“Hush!”
Wedge hissed.

An
intercom buzzed to life with Wayne's voice. “Fox, deliver the prisoners to the
center of the arena. Patient Zero is being loaded onto the lift.”

“Zero
is really still alive?” Dave gasped.

“Nice
knowing you guys.” Jeff sighed.

“We
killed it once.”

“It
was still half frozen from its hibernation,” Fox said. “This time, we won’t be
so lucky.”

“You’re
gonna fight on our side?” Dave asked.

“Nah,”
Biggs said. “We planned on leaving you to get ripped to pieces.”

Dave
chuckled nervously. “That means you're on our side, right?”

Biggs
didn't answer as steel doors slid open.

Kessa
wrapped her arms around me. “I just wanted to let you know; I love you!”

“We’re
not going to die. Not a single one of us.” I said.

“You
said you could only kill a Lv02 one way?” Jeff asked, “Pray tell what is it?”

Wedge
laughed. “Not easily.”

“Seriously?”
Dave asked, annoyed. “I thought you had a plan!”

Fox
adjusted the gun strap of his AR-15. “We found a Lv02 on the road. It was
loaded with lead, burnt, and blown apart; the bastard was still twitching.”

“Have
a little faith, sir,” Biggs responded.

“Crap,
faith ain’t done nothing for us, and you know it,” Fox replied. “And mother
bugging dead things rule the world now. Forgive me for my lack of belief in a
higher power.”

“Ever
the atheist.” Biggs chuckled.

The
door clanked to a halt leaving a wide-open view of the cave beyond. The
facility had been 3D printed, but this had already been here. Being greater in
size than a football field, it stood large enough to look like a gladiatorial
arena.

“This
is where it happened.” Jessie breathed.

I
spied a wooden beam sticking out like a fishing rod dipped into the arena.
They'd strung her up there. Anger boiled within, but Fox jammed his gun in
between my shoulder blades.

“Ow!”

“Gotta
make this look real until he plays his hand.” Fox reminded me.
   

I
led the procession of prisoners to a metal platform above the arena. We all
stepped on, save the Link Brigade. I watched Wedge’s eyes as Biggs flipped a
switch, lowering us. When we stepped off the lift, it went back up. A ploy or
not, I didn't look forward to being a sitting duck.

“I
don’t like this!” Dave whimpered.

Jeff
elbowed him. “Quiet! None of us do!”

I
watched the three Link Brigade members walk around the rim above. Halfway there
I spotted a silver tube leading up into the ceiling. It looked like an elevator,
probably from Wayne’s office. Sure enough, the door opened, and the bastard
stepped out.

“Ah
yes, there it goes.” Wayne’s voice boomed through the cavern. “Come, come,
children, move toward the center so I can get a better look at you.”

“Don’t
give him the satisfaction,” Jeff said.

“I
want a good view if they decide to blow his brains out,” I replied and walked
towards the center. I didn’t look back to see if the others followed.

Wayne
said. “As I'm sure you've noticed, the Omega Virus is not contained. In fact,
it’s spreading, evolving even! If left alone, the zombies will change; grow
stronger, and faster. We discovered this when we found
a
Lv02 rampaging Houston. So many soldiers fell. And the speed at which they
turned was far greater than ever anticipated.”

I
arrived at the near center of the arena and stared up at Wayne. Fox stood to
his left, and Biggs to his right. I didn’t see Wedge.

“Patient
Zero, however, is different. He was the first infected in a controlled
environment. We plan to experiment on him until he becomes the ultimate weapon.
This is why we continue to test its strength! Every day, the greater it
becomes! Today we will see how it fares against the five of you!”

I
slowly shook my head. “Five teenagers. Coward.”

Wayne
lifted his hands wide, “Wedge, bring Patient Zero to us!”
   

The
arena rumbled, and I spied the lift coming from above. I took several steps
back to get a good view of the platform as chains lowered it. From my vantage,
I couldn’t yet see Zero.

Wayne
unleashed a string of pissed off curses. “What is the meaning of
this!
What happened to Zero?”

I
continued walking back until I bumped into something. I glanced back to find
Jeff and the others.

“Who
put Zero back into hibernation?” Wayne screamed. “Smith if you did this, I’ll
kill you!”

Patient
Zero kneeled on the platform, frosted and chilled to stillness.

A
bright light stung my eyes like an intense camera flash. Hidden in that light,
came a flying figure holding a long spear. My jaw dropped as the meteor
collided with Zero, and in a cloud of icy dust and flying shards, Zero
exploded.

Wayne
roared. “You!”

A
familiar black hat floated down from above. The black bowler with a vibrant red
feather landed at my feet once again.

“I’ll
be damned,” Jeff said.

“Oh,
that is freaking awesome!” Dave cheered.

I
picked up the hat and regarded Wesley James. He stood up from one knee and spun
the iron lance around, holding it off to the side. He didn’t look our way but
kept his eyes locked onto Wayne.

“We
need a Lv02!” Wayne snarled.

I
saw Wayne turned around and began searching for something on the ground. He
stood back up. Fox held an AR-15 aimed into his stomach.

“You
would betray me?” Wayne’s voice shook.

“To
betray would mean I had once been loyal.” Fox’s voice echoed. “You killed
Wolfe; he was like my brother.”

“Then
his is like revenge?” Wayne chuckled.

“Hand
over the Omega Virus,” Fox said, no emotion in his voice.

“You
can’t do this! You are not authorized to handle it! You do not have the
knowledge!”

Biggs
appeared beside Fox, setting down a large shiny suitcase. He then took over
holding Wayne at gunpoint. Fox kneeled down and examined the case, then stood
again.

“Escort
Governor Wayne upstairs, we’re taking him as a P.O.W.”

It
happened so fast. A gunshot rang out, and Fox stumbled back and tumbled into
the arena.

“Fox!”
Biggs cried.

Without
a word, Wesley ran toward the twisted form of Fox at the edge of the arena.
Whoever had shot
him,
remained hidden. Wedge appeared
and kicked Wayne in the gut, sending him over the edge and into the arena.
Wayne screeched and landed hard. The female Link jumped, landing on the
Governor's stomach.

“Zach,
what’s that red dot on your back?” Kessa asked.

I
looked at her confused. Jessie shoved me, and another gunshot went off. Dirt
and pebbles exploded from where I had been standing. This time, I saw the red
laser sight on the stone, moving around frantically. Two more gunshots rang
out, and the laser vanished.

“I
got him,” Biggs shouted from somewhere above. “Smith was sniping.”

That
settled
,
I walked to stand above Wayne, who didn't
move. Wedge kneeled over Fox as Wesley kicked Wayne’s body.

I
turned to the Zombie Killer. “I have questions for you.”

He
lifted his hand dismissively.

Wedge
spoke to
Fox
, “Sir, hold on. We’re going to get you
out of here.”
   

From
beside us, Wesley shouted. “Get your ass up!”

I
glanced over to see him give the villainous man another strong kick in the
side. Governor Wayne didn't response, and I had a feeling he wouldn't ever
again.

“Help
me!” Wedge begged Wesley.

He
stopped and looked back. “Get one of the kids.”

Wedge
turned to, and Kessa quickly came to her aid. Fox’s face had gone pale and
contorted in pain. Dave came to help as well.

“You
killed the corpses in the halls, right?” I asked Wesley.

He
gave a slight nod.

“We
need to talk. What do you know about the Omega Virus? I saw a video of Tiffany
and me as children; a memory I don’t have. I also heard a recording from a man
named Beauregard and something about G.O.D. Mode.”

“We’ll
talk later; I promise,” Wesley said. “First, I have some revenge to settle.”

“But
he’s gone,” I argued.

Wesley
laughed. “Come on you bastard! Do it!”

“Do
it?” I asked.

“No!”
Jeff shouted.

I'd
taken my eyes off of him for a second, but in that time, Governor Wayne had crawled
to the open case of Omega Virus vials. A single one had vanished from the
center. My eyes trailed to Wayne’s hands. Sure enough, he held onto a vial. A
look of desperation splayed across the man’s wrinkled face.

He
stabbed an injector gun into his gut and pressed the button. The virus emptied
into his body. Wayne’s eyes rolled back, and he went limp. Seconds ticked by,
but nothing happened.

“Well,
that was anti-climactic.” Jeff gave a nervous chuckle.

“In
games, that usually never goes well.” I breathed. “We’re lucky I guess.”
   

“Damn
you!” Wesley yelled and kicked Wayne’s body. “You god damn cheater!”

I
reached for Wesley. “Come on. Let’s destroy the virus vials and get out of
here!”

“No!”
He shoved me.

“Are
you that obsessed with games and high scores?” I shouted.

“Games
and high scores?” Wesley whispered seeming to have a realization. “To climb the
ladder, one needs to defeat those at the top.”

“What
do you mean?” I asked.

He
looked back at me. “Don't you understand? This is the ultimate game.”

Wesley
shoved me back and scooped two injectors up from the ground.

“What
are you doing?” Jeff gasped.

We
could only watch as he injected two more vials into Wayne’s body.

“Stop!”
I drew my gun and fired into Wayne three times
;
once
in the head.

“Asshole!”
Wesley snapped.

A
chunk of Wayne's head had blown off. He wouldn't resurrect now.

I
glared at Wesley. “Tell me why G.O.D. Mode is doing this? What is their plan?”

“Once
you control life and death. You’re on your way.” Wesley shook his head and
snatched his hat from my hand.

“On
your way to what?” I asked.

Wesley
grabbed a final vial and drove into Wayne’s skull, injecting the virus once
again. He looked back at me grinning as Wayne’s body began to twitch.