Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation (30 page)

“What the fuck just happened?
”
Vazquez asked.

Megan ran to the corner and threw up when she saw Mane’s body. Not only had the creature torn out Mane’s throat, it also opened up his femoral artery and gutted him.

“How is this possible?
”
Steele asked no one in particular. “That bastard was only on Mane for a few seconds.”

“Come on you two,
”
Mears said to Megan and Steele. “Let’s go join the others. Something weird is happening here, and I think we’re better off in a group.”

Megan wiped her mouth and walked past Mane’s body.

Steele put his arm around her shoulder and tried to turn her head away from the sight of their fallen friend.

“Wait a minute,
”
said Megan as she looked at Mane’s body.

“Come on, Megan,
”
Vasquez ordered. “You don’t need to look at him.”

“No,
”
Megan insisted. “Look at Mane’s body.”

“What about it?
”
asked Vasquez.

“It's not happening,
”
Megan said.

“You’re right,
”
said Steele in a somber tone. “He’s not reanimating.”

The others stood there for a few seconds and stared at Mane’s lifeless body.

“Like I said,
”
Mears said as he broke the silence, “something weird is going on here.  Come on, we need to get back to the others.”

7

Abandoned Gas Station

Spicewood, Texas

The reunion inside the gas station was short lived as Darren related to David, Joe, and Samantha what he’d witnessed outside.

“Wait a minute,
”
Joe said as he tried to back the story up. “You injected a creature with a needle full of an antipsychotic drug, and within seconds the bastard fell to the ground in a seizure, unable to move?”

“That’s exactly what happened,
”
said Walt as he paced around the room excitedly. “My theory worked.”

“Maybe this was just luck,
”
David added. “How do we know it’ll work on all those fuckers?”

“I wondered about that too, David,
”
Walt answered. “But when I saw Jonas
’
reanimated body rifling through the drug cabinets in the pharmacy, I realized that these creatures retain a certain amount of their memories after they reanimated.”

Walt looked at everyone’s face and knew he’d lost them.

“Let’s back up a second,
”
Walt said.

“Yes, please,
”
Darren said as he smiled.

“Do you all remember our talk in the basement about the role dopamine plays in addiction?
”
Walt asked everyone.

The others nodded.

“Dopamine has been linked to increased muscular or motor activity, and increased dopamine levels have also been linked to huge increases of impulsive behavior.”

“We’re with ya,
”
Joe said.

“In an exaggerated sense,
”
continued Walt, “high levels of dopamine can also be linked to the elimination of free will. I know that’s a dramatic thing to say, but hear me out.”

Walt paced back and forth and swung Stevie around as he explained his point.

“Remember that dopamine can release behaviors from inhibition,
”
Walt explained.

“And if I remember correctly,
”
Darren said, “higher dopamine levels can create similar or repeated reactions of behaviors to similar situations. Right?”

“Exactly,
”
said Walt. “Dopamine can create repeated responses to similar situations, and if we take this to its dramatic conclusion, we can say that free will is thereby eliminated in the face of increased dopamine.”

“That’s why addicts seem like they’re out of control and don’t have a choice, right?
”
asked Joe.

“Exactly,
”
Walt answered. “Once the addiction takes over, the addict has lost control and will always choose that behavior, which results in feeding their addiction. They are satisfying that reward signal the dopamine has triggered.”

“I still don’t see the connection with the infected,
”
David admitted.

“This is where I venture into uncharted waters,
”
Walt said as he looked at David. “It seems as though the infection is somehow reactivating the central nervous system as it reanimates the dead. So that’s pretty solid proof that the infection can manipulate the human brain.”

The others nodded their agreement.

“And because of Darren’s information,
”
said Walt as he pointed at Darren, “we know the infection is actually cutting-edge bio-nanotechnology. So what if, and I stress ‘what if,
’
after they reanimate the body, the nanites then manipulate the dopamine levels in the brain to increase motor activity to control aggression and eliminate the free will of the host body?”

No one had an answer.

“What if the nanites purposely triggered the ‘addiction switch
’
and created a compulsive reward-seeking state in the host?
”
asked Walt rhetorically.

“So the infected are actually addicted to killing others?
”
Cheryl asked.

“In a way, yes,
”
Walt answered. “The reanimated bodies are addicted to biting, infecting, and eating other non-infected people.”

“That actually makes sense,
”
Samantha said. “Look at your average junkie. They’d pass by a table full of food prepared by a five-star chef in order to get their hands on a dirty needle.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,
”
Walt said. “Any old food won’t do for the infected. The ‘food
’
has to be non-infected human beings. The infection compels the host to infect as many as it can, thereby propagating their existence. When it does, I’m guessing it is rewarded with dopamine.”

“And we all know that there’s no ceiling of tolerance for a junkie,
”
added Joe. “The dopamine levels keep increasing and drive the host to infect more and more people. The more it infects, the more dopamine is released, and the more agile, aggressive, and stronger it gets.”

“The more a zombie infects others,
”
echoed Samantha, “the greater the satisfaction and the reward is for the creature.”

The gas station fell silent.

“So I’m not getting the connection with the antipsychotic drugs and why they affected that zombie that way,
”
said Darren as he broke the silence.

“Darren,
”
said Walt as he looked at the man. “You mentioned your brother was an addict. Did he ever try and get clean?”

“He did,
”
Darren said. “He was in horrible pain.”

“When addicts detox,
”
explained Walt, “a lot of chemical processes are going on in the body. One of the main things is the sudden and dramatic decrease of dopamine.”

“Dopamine levels decrease,
”
added Joe, “because the addiction is no longer being fed, and the addict is no longer receiving those rewards.”

“I suspect,
”
said Walt, “the same thing happens to the infected if they stop feeding or infecting. They become wracked with pain.”

“But the drugs,
”
Darren started to say.

“Research made a connection between people with schizophrenia and various forms of psychoses and increased levels of dopamine,
”
Walt said. “Antipsychotic drugs work by lowering dopamine levels. By giving that zombie a high dose of antipsychotic drugs, it immediately lowered and shut down its level of dopamine, as well as all the side effects that accompany it
…
like its mobility.”

“Holy shit, Walt,
”
Samantha said, “that’s pretty damn amazing.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not a cure,
”
Walt added. “It’s only a weapon. And we don’t have that much of the stuff.”

“Hey,
”
Darren said, “this is one more weapon we didn’t have a day ago.”

“This is cool and all,
”
David said, “but we need to figure out our next move. Right now we’re inside an abandoned gas station that, luckily, had some bottled water and stale food in it. But our situation still looks pretty grim.”

“Worry not,
”
Cheryl said as she stood and walked over to Walt. “Our fearless leader here has also planned out our next move.”

The others looked at Walt.

“Do share,
”
Darren said. “I’m gotta admit that I’m at a loss of where we go from here.”

Walt took a big gulp of warm water from a bottle he’d grabbed from the broken cooler and smiled.

“Does anyone feel like going swimming?
”
Walt asked with a smile.

Chapter Seven

1

Lago Vista Golf Club

Lago Vista, Texas

Mears finished telling Butsko and Wilder about the odd experience they’d encountered back in the pro-shop.

Steele, Melvin, and Megan walked around the foyer and crushed the heads of any zombie still moving around. The silence of the night was shattered with the occasional grunt followed by the sound of a wet pop as another skull was pulverized.

Vasquez and Fisher stood watch over the hole in the entrance Melvin had made with the Growler.

“Wait a second,
”
Butsko said as he interrupted Mears. “You said they had yellow eyes?”

“Yes, Sir,
”
Mears said.

“After the main attack here in the foyer, and after Melvin saved our asses,
”
Butsko said, “I could’ve sworn I felt something watching us from over there.
”
Butsko pointed toward the back of the foyer where the entrance to the dining room was.

“Isn’t that where we found Cain, Sir?
”
Mears asked.

“Yeah, it is,
”
said Butsko as his mind raced to try and come up with the connection.

“That can’t be a coincidence,
”
Wilder pointed out. “We didn’t fight one yellow-eyed creature in the foyer, and now you both said you saw some.”

“What the hell are they?
”
Butsko asked.

“I don’t know, Sir, but they are faster, smarter, and deadlier than these fuckers,
”
said Mears as he looked around at the dead creatures on the floor.

“That bastard wasn’t on Mane for more than ten-seconds before it ripped out his throat, sliced opened his femoral artery, and gutted him,
”
Mears explained.

“What concerns me,
”
Wilder said, “is that the infected seem to be scared of these new yellow-eyed players.”

“Agreed,
”
Butsko added. “I bet those yellow-eyed things are the cause of that pile of flesh and gore down by the lake we found earlier.”

“They are probably why we weren’t bothered by any infected for that period of time,
”
Mears said. “The yellow-eyed creatures scared away the regular infected.”

“Which means they watched us,
”
Butsko added. “They watched and studied us.”

Butsko shook his head as he looked around the foyer.

“This doesn’t change anything,
”
Butsko finally said. “We must assume that these yellow-eyed creatures are infected with the same bio-nanotechnology. This means they might be affected by the EMP blast as well.”

Mears and Wilder both nodded in agreement.

“Listen up, everyone!
”
Butsko shouted to the group. “Gather anything that might be of value to us. We’ll be heading out to Schoepke Springs in one hour.”

“Steele, Melvin, Megan!
”
Wilder yelled. “Consolidate all the equipment from this Growler and the second M939 truck into the lead transport.”

“I’ll siphon the fuel out of those two vehicles as well,
”
Steele said.

“Shit is pretty weird right now,
”
Wilder said, “but I think our best shot still lies at Schoepke Springs.”

2

Abandoned Gas Station

Spicewood, Texas

Present Day

“I think that’s a solid plan,
”
Darren said after Walt went over his idea to head to Schoepke Springs.

The others looked at each other and agreed.

“There’s an endless supply of fresh water,
”
Walt summarized, “and there’s a fence that surrounds the entire property. It’ll take some time to check and reinforce the fencing, but once we do, we’ll be safe.”

“We fix that fence,
”
Darren said, “and then sweep every square inch of the property and eliminate all the infected.”

“Nice thinking, Walt,
”
Joe said.

“You’re on a roll, buddy,
”
David said as he slapped Walt on the back. “The fucking military couldn’t even come up with a way to deal with the infected. No offense, Darren.”

“None taken,
”
Darren said as he smiled. “You must remember that this infection spread so fast that no one had any time to sit down and study it. What, and whoever, was left of the military after the first few weeks went into survival mode.”

“I appreciate that, David,
”
Walt said, “but remember that it’s not a cure.”

David and the others shook their heads to let Walt know they understood this.

“And besides,
”
continued Walt, “we don’t even have the means to develop a better delivery system for the drugs.”

After Walt explained how the drugs worked on the infected, they took all the antipsychotic drugs Walt had collected from the Will to Power Center’s pharmacy, and filled the syringes.

They each had five syringes for back up.

“I wish there was a way we could get this information back to the military or the government,
”
Joe said.

“Is there even a military or government left?
”
asked Darren.

“I think we should stick to the plan of making our way to the springs,
”
Cheryl said.

“I think we’re all forgetting one important detail,
”
David said. “How far away is Schoepke Springs?”

Everyone went silent.

“We have no supplies, no transportation, and no real weapons,
”
continued David.

The group looked at Walt.

“I’d say, from here, Schoepke Springs is about ten miles,
”
Walt said.

“Shit,
”
David said as he exhaled loudly. “That may as well be hundred miles.”

“What’s our option, David?
”
asked Cheryl angrily. “We’re pretty much out of options here.”

“What about going back to the Center?
”
David asked.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,
”
Walt answered. “When Cheryl and I left, the place was crawling with the infected. Besides, the supplies there are pretty much gone.”

“What about—
”
David began to say.

“No offense, David,
”
Darren said, “but we could suggest a hundred different scenarios, but every one of them would be a guess.”

Joe and Samantha nodded.

“We don’t know anything about what’s going on out here,
”
Darren continued. “I’m new to this area, and all of you have been holed up in the Center.”

“The one thing we do know,
”
Cheryl added, “is that the springs will provide us with fresh water, and there’s a chance of creating a safe perimeter with the fence.”

The others looked at David.

“You’re right,
”
David finally said.

“And who knows,
”
Walt said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a working vehicle. I think we’re all due a little good luck.”

Darren walked over to the rack of maps next to the cash register, grabbed a local area map, and spread it out on the counter.

“Looks like a pretty straight shot to the Springs right down Country Road 404,
”
said Darren as he traced the route with his finger. “We turn when we see the big iron gates.”

“Where are we now?
”
Cheryl asked Darren.

“I think around here,
”
Darren said as he pointed to an area on the map to the left of Schoepke Springs.

“That’s exactly where we are,
”
Walt confirmed as he walked over to the counter.

“If we stay on the main roads, it’ll be about eight miles to the springs,
”
Walt said. “But if we cut directly through the woods, we can shave two to three miles off the trip.”

“I think we should stick to the main roads,
”
Samantha said.

“I agree,
”
said Joe. “We might save some miles going through the woods, but we won’t save time. We’ll have to move slower just in case any of those fuckers are among the trees.”

“Good point you two,
”
Darren said.

“Our best bet is to try and find a working vehicle,
”
said Walt. “We find a car, and we can be at the gates of the spring in ten, fifteen minutes.”

“Okay,
”
said Darren. “Is everyone good with this plan?”

“Yeah, yeah,
”
David said as everyone turned their eyes on him. “It seems like the best idea we have that won’t get us killed.”

“Let’s ransack this place,
”
Darren said as he looked around the gas station. “Grab all the bottled water, batteries, and canned food you find.”

“I’m gonna head around to the back of the gas station,
”
Joe said as he walked toward the glass refrigerated cases. “I’m gonna see if there’s any fuel back there, or at least something to carry fuel in.”

“Remember everyone,
”
Walt said, “keep those syringes as a last ditch effort. You’ll need to be pretty close to the infected to jab them.”

“I’d much rather use this,
”
said Cheryl as she held up a crowbar she’d found behind the register.

“Hey look,
”
Samantha said as she pointed out the window. “There’s a few fast food restaurants across the street with a lot of abandoned cars in the parking lots.”

“Looks like we have a plan, everyone,
”
Walt said enthusiastically. “Let’s all meet by the cash register in fifteen minutes.”

The group scattered and took different areas of the gas station to search.

Walt went through the food aisle and grabbed all the various cans of food that were left behind. As he placed a can of creamed corn in the duffle bag, he had a moment of exuberant enthusiasm. For the first time in a while, he and the group were being proactive and deciding their own fate. For far too long they had hid away at the Center hoping the infection would just go away. It was now clear to them all that this infection wasn’t going to ‘run its course.
’
If they intended to survive then they needed a plan. Walt realized how close they’d all come to dying back at the Center, but now they were in control of their destinies. Whether this was a good plan or not, only time would tell, but it was at least
their
plan.

Walt grabbed two cans of green beans and continued to walk down the aisle.

4

Lago Vista Gold Club

Lago Vista, Texas

Everyone pushed aside their exhaustion and worked quickly as they gathered up the gear. The goal was to get the hell away from the clubhouse. It felt like they were in the eye of the storm, and at any second a new wave of the infected would attack from the surrounding woods.

And then there were the yellow-eyed creatures.

No one had any idea what those things were. As fast and deadly as the infected were, the yellow-eyed creatures were faster and even deadlier. Wilder didn’t like dealing with the unknown and wanted to get as far away from Lago Vista as he could.

Steele, Melvin, and Megan put all the equipment from the soon-to-be-abandoned trucks into the lead M939 and the Growler that Melvin hadn’t wrecked.

Wilder and Butsko knew that everyone had used a lot of ammo during the attack, and hoped there was enough left to not just get them to Schoepke Springs, but to fight their way through the infected.

After the equipment was consolidated and moved onto the truck, Wilder had everyone take a personal inventory on ammunition.

“Not much,
”
Butsko said after he heard everyone’s tallies. “Not much at all.”

Wilder redistributed the ammo and gave everyone four magazines for the M4s and two magazines for the Beretta pistols, totaling one-hundred-and-fifty rounds each. There were also two-thousand rounds left for the fifty-calibre machine gun mounted on the Growler.