Plague Town (11 page)

“Oh, yes,” Heald said grimly. “Would you like to see him?” The bastard was enjoying this, and totally expecting me to say “no.”

Simone had had enough.

“General, I don’t see how this is necessary—”

“Yes,” I said.

They both looked at me in surprise.

“Ashley, are you sure?” Simone put a hand on my arm.

I nodded.

“I want to see Matt,” I said. “I need to. Then I’ll make my decision.” Part of me wanted to do it out of machismo, just to show Heald that I could take it. Another part of me needed to say good bye. And I needed to know what I was up against. To know what it was like to see someone I cared about come back as one of those things, and really
feel
it. It would help me decide what to do, although I already had a pretty good idea what my answer would be.

“Fine then,” the General said brusquely. “Right this way, Miss Parker.” He waved his hand toward the cages. I slowly moved past him, once again looking neither left or right so I wouldn’t see the Mengele-esque experiments on the tables.

Heald trailed after me, no doubt wanting to see my face when I saw Matt again. I held up a hand.

“No way,” I said. “You stay back here.”

“Miss Parker,” he replied with deadly calm, “you do not give the orders around here!”

“If you ever want me to obey
any
orders, especially yours, you’ll back off and give me my space.”

Heald drew in a breath, but Gabriel stepped in front of him.

“I’ll show her, sir,” he said. “It’s safer for me.” His tone was respectful, but I got the feeling he wouldn’t back down if challenged.

“I suppose you’re right.” Heald sounded pissed, though, as if agreeing gave him indigestion. “Just make it quick.”

Choke on it, pal.

Gabriel took me by the arm, his hand right above my elbow, and led me to the back of the room.

We stopped in front of the cage farthest from the lab entrance and stood a good three feet away from the bars. As we did so, agitated moans filled the air. A capture pole rested on the wall next to the cage, the hook end spattered with blood.

“Is he in there?” Stupid question. I just wanted to put off the moment of truth a few seconds longer.

Gabriel shook his head.

“No,” he said.
“It
is in there. It’s not Matt any more. Try and remember that. It’ll make things easier if you can avoid humanizing them.”

I bit my lip and turned to the cage. The size of a large closet, it contained four zombies, all male. The way they all focused on me, hands clutching between the bars, pupils what I’d come to recognize as Corpse Dead White.

The latest Crayola crayon color.

His point seemed like a good one, especially as Matt stared at me with those dead eyes, no recognition there whatsoever. Every bit of personality had left the building. And yet... even though his only expression was mindless hunger, he still looked enough like himself that it hurt my heart to see him.

It.

Shit, I couldn’t do this. No way I could let what remained of Matt end up on one of those cold metal tables. There might not be anyone home, but what
had
been there had died trying to save me.

As though he read my mind, Gabriel suddenly leaned in close and spoke quietly in my ear.

“It’s not true, Ashley.”

I looked up at him, startled.

“Huh? What’s not true?”

“The General was lying to you. Matt wasn’t coming back to save you.” He kept his voice pitched low so no one else would hear him.

“What do you mean?” My volume rose slightly and Gabriel’s hand tightened on my arm, eyes flicking back toward the General. I dropped my voice and continued. “I heard him call my name when he was running back toward me.”

“Ashley, the only reason he was heading back in your direction was that a half dozen zombies were blocking his escape route.”

“You’re lying.” Even as I said this, I knew Gabriel had no reason to lie, at least not about this. But I still didn’t want to believe him.

“Stay back from the bars,” he said loudly. “They can reach through if they try hard enough.” He dropped his voice back down. “I’m not lying. And you shouldn’t think badly of him either for running away. Not everyone can handle it. Matt panicked. Wasn’t thinking clearly. Otherwise he wouldn’t have left you to begin with.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked. “I mean, what’s the point?”

He peered closely at me.

“You deserve to make your decision based on the truth. And the thing in this cage... it’s not Matt any more. There’s nothing left of him but a rotting shell. It won’t know you, or thank you for saving it from the vivisectionist’s knife.”

I searched those denim blue eyes for any sign of a hidden agenda. Either he was the world’s best liar, or Gabriel was being straight with me.

“Is it vivisection if they’re already dead?” The words came out without thought. Weird, the things that pop into your head in times of stress.

Gabriel took it in stride.

“Now you’re getting into philosophy.”

I looked at Matt again, wondering if I’d have gone back for him, if the situation had been reversed. I think I would have. Did that make me braver than him, or just stupid?

Either way, I still knew what I had to do.

And apparently the General had reached the limits of his patience, which was approximately that of a two year old with attention deficit disorder.

“Well, Miss Parker?” he said, stepping up from behind. “Do you like what you see?”

I will remember all of this,
I thought.
And I will pay back this shitty excuse for a man. Pay back for all of it.

I looked up at him.

“Now that you’re here, no,” I replied.

I turned my back on him and stared at Matt, remembering our times together. It’s not like I’d thought we’d end up married or anything. If asked whether or not I loved him, I’d probably have said no. But he’d been a decent boyfriend, and had done a lot to help me heal my trashed self-esteem.

He didn’t deserve this.

“I’m sorry, Matt,” I said softly.

The zombie cocked its head as if it understood me, and that freaked me out. It shoved one hand through the bars, ignoring or unaware of the skin sloughing off as it reached for me. I knew better than to react.

General Brasshole, however, did not. He reached past me and smacked the hand with his gloved fist.

“Looks like your boyfriend wants to hold hands, Miss Parker.”

I’d had enough. I rounded on him, grabbing him by the front of his hazmat suit.

“What
exactly
are you trying to accomplish by being a total prick?” I demanded. “Piss me off?” He tried to push me away, but I was too strong. “Well, good job!” I continued, my voice rising. “But with an asshole like you in charge,
why the hell would I want to join your team?
”

Gabriel grabbed my arms while the General helplessly—and furiously—thrashed in my grasp. He did his best to pull me off Heald without hurting me. Several techs tried to pry my hands away.

“Ashley, let go!”

I registered Simone’s voice even through the curtain of red that had descended on me. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason I listened to her and dropped Heald as swiftly as I’d grabbed him. The techs caught the jerk before he fell against the cage.

Gabriel pulled me backward, holding me in case I decided to go for it again. He needn’t have bothered; all of my rage-fueled energy evaporated and I sagged against him, sick at heart and exhausted in mind, body, and spirit.

His grip changed from restraining to supporting almost immediately.

“Are you all right?” Simone put a hand on my forehead. “You’re running a fever again. You need to be in bed.”

“Bed?” Even through the distortion of the helmet I could hear the icy rage in Heald’s voice. “The little bitch needs to be put in one of these cages!” He shook off the techs and straightened up, either ignoring or unaware of several pairs of zombie hands pawing at him through the bars. Fingers grazed his hazmat suit without finding purchase.

“While I don’t condone it, her attack on you was provoked,” Simone said with forced calm. “This girl has been through hell, and cannot be expected to adjust to the situation instantly. She needs time.”

“Time is a luxury we don’t have, Professor Fraser.” Heald glared at me. “Get it through your little Barbie head, Miss Parker. These things are a threat to the human race.” He seized the capture pole from its resting place against the wall, thrusting the business end into the cage and into the nearest zombie.

The wood and metal clasp penetrated Matt’s chest by about an inch before Heald pulled it back out. There was a squelching sound that I could’ve gone the rest of my life without hearing.

“Do you see that?” He shook the pole at me. “It didn’t feel a thing. It is not human any more, it is the
enemy
.” He gave a flourish with the pole, like a poor man’s Darth Maul, flipping it so the butt end now faced the cage. “And the sooner you get this through your empty head, the more chance you’ll have of surviving!” He punctuated his last sentence with another vicious thrust of the pole into the cage.

I don’t know if what happened next was an accident or some dim recollection of motor skills past. As the pole stabbed towards its chest, what was left of Matt seized it clumsily with both hands and shoved back. The business end hit Heald’s faceplate, shattering it as the bloodied hook and clasp went through to slice the General’s forehead.

The General yelped in surprise and pain, staggering back at the sudden impact. Bits of plexiglas fell to the floor along with the pole as he reached through the broken faceplate and clasped one hand to the wound.

“Damn it!” He turned to one of the techs hovering nearby. “Get me some antiseptic for this, soldier!” He shot me a venomous look as if his stupidity had been my fault.

“Sir...” The tech just stared at the gash on Heald’s forehead, then at the gore-spattered clasp on the end of the pole.

“Well?” Heald snapped. “Get the lead out!”

The techs exchanged terrified glances through their respective faceplates. The first one spoke up again.

“Sir,” he said slowly, “you’re infected.”

“What?” Heald shook his head. “Nonsense! It’s a scratch from this—” He indicated the shattered plexiglas. But as he did, his face went pale.

The first tech shook his head slowly, almost reluctantly.

“Sir, I saw the pole make contact with your face,” he said. “It has hot blood on it.”

“Bullshit!” Denial rang loud and clear in Heald’s voice. “None of the blood touched me. This—” He gestured furiously at the cut on his forehead. “—is from the
faceplate
. Now get me that antiseptic!”

Another tech surreptitiously drew his firearm while the first guy continued to speak.

“Sir, we need to take you into quarantine.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Heald blustered, but he seemed to be losing steam.

“No,” Simone said quietly, “it’s protocol.” She turned to the techs. “Get Dr. Albert down here immediately.”

The General whipped his head toward her, nostrils flaring like a panicked horse. This gave the techs the distraction they needed to move in, flanking him on either side as they grabbed his arms before he could reach for his own gun.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said tech number one, “but you need to come with us.”

The expression on Heald’s face, as reality overwhelmed denial, would have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so serious. I almost found it in myself to pity him.

Almost.

As they manhandled him towards the door at the back of the room, he locked eyes with me, upper lip curling back from his teeth like a mad dog.

“This is your fault, you bitch.” If he could have killed me at that moment, I’m certain he would have. “I’ll be back, and I’ll take care of you once and for all.”

All sympathy I might have had for him vanished.

“Yeah, you’ll be back, all right,” I said coldly as a third tech punched in a code to open the back door. “On one of these tables.” Even as I said—and meant it—I couldn’t quite believe that the words were coming out of my mouth. But damm me if the son-of-a-bitch hadn’t asked for everything he’d gotten.

Heald lunged for me, breaking the grip of tech number two. Gabriel immediately swung me around to place himself between us. I’m not sure how he managed it so quickly, but one arm wrapped around my waist while his free hand suddenly held a gun.

“That’s far enough, sir.”

The techs regained their grip and General Heald was dragged from the room, thrashing and fighting his escorts every step of the way, screaming curses at me even after the door shut behind them.

After a long silence, I finally spoke.

“I want a nap,” I said to no one in particular.

Simone gave a little shake of her head, as if clearing her mind.

“I need to check on the General,” she said, and I couldn’t tell what she was feeling. “Will you be all right, Ashley?”

I nodded. “I just want to sleep for awhile.”

“Gabriel, would you take her back to her room? And get Doctor Albert to examine her again. I want to make sure the fever doesn’t spike any further.”

I felt rather than saw Gabriel nod. More than ever, his arm around me was reassuring. I glanced toward Matt in the cage, and tried not to feel guilty.

Simone turned to leave, stopped, and then turned back to me.

“Ashley, you don’t need to make any decisions right now, no matter what the General—”

“I don’t need any more time,” I said, cutting her off.

“You should sleep on it.”

I shook my head.

“I’m in,” I said. “It’s what I want.”

Simone put a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re sure?”

I nodded and took a deep shuddering breath.

“Yeah. I’m sure.” Then I shrugged. “I mean, what else am I gonna do with a Liberal Arts degree?”

It took a few minutes for Gabriel’s coughing fit to subside before he could escort me back to my room.