Project Lazarus (24 page)

Travis Hilfin, the dead man from Project Lazarus was on the run.  His close friend and confidant, a ghost psychic named Gardenia Hall was on his trail. 

Travis was running for his life.  Or what was left of it.  He was now part of the living dead thanks to the men who killed him.  The men from the government and military who shot him execution style the minute the dead man was raised left him in a state of disarray.

Funny thing, he felt in limbo and he was in limbo.  Even though, the dead were being raised, Travis never should have risen from the dead.  It was a freak phenomenon.  The dead from long ago were only being raised.  But he didn’t know about Rachel and Joey Rimple’s baby son Troy, his trip back from the dead was hailed a miracle before the town of Cotter exploded with dead people.

Travis, with his military training, was an astute survivalist.  He was intent on running from the men who would track him down in Cotter.  He had to get out.  Just like anyone else somewhat alive or dead… he had a story to tell.

Gardenia Hall was seated in an open field of grass.  It was muggy and the air stifled her.  Geraldine, her grandmother, had taught her how to hone her psychic powers.  Meditation was part of it.  So, she meditated, working to keep her mind still among the madness of it all.  Her thoughts of Travis alive then dead, then alive again, permeated her mind.  He was a dead man no matter what, she figured.

Try to concentrate, she warned herself.  She could feel his presence on the run.  He would have to hide from dangerous men, now roaming the streets of Cotter, behaving like normal people or the living dead.  But these men had an agenda and they had pictures to back it up.  They were there to find and kill Travis.

How could she help a dead man?  Could love, the kind of kindred spirit love, she and Travis had, unspoken, yet known, transform space and time?  She dreamt of him so often in the past years, it was a communication she longed for.  Night after night, she would rest her weary head, wondering if he would come back to her in her dreams.  Now he returned, the unrequited, but in a way she didn’t expect.

Travis had to outrun the men who would kill him.  He had to get out of Cotter.  Gardenia had to find a way to save Travis.  She knew only one way.  She would have to do the impossible.  Find the Amazon man.

The Amazon man was locked up.  Still meditating, orchestrating the movements of the living dead, allowing them to slowly take over the living.  He was on a mission to restore the balance.  The balance was destroyed when Charlie Dempster made the Amazon man raise his son Dylan from the dead.  The Amazon man raised the man in Project Lazarus only to exact the order of things.  While this information was only known to Charlie, the Amazon man and Commander Henrid, Gardenia could see the Amazon man was behind the upheaval. 

In her head, she could hear his plans.  She could feel his presence.  This was a true visionary.  His powers were much greater than hers, or so she thought.  In this messed up confusion, she was about to find out just how powerful she truly was with her psychic gifts.

The images came in waves.  Then the man appeared himself as a vision before her.

“Who are you?” The vision of the Amazon man asked.

She couldn’t believe her eyes.  She squinted and lifter her hand to block the sun from her eyes.

In a vision, standing before her, was a wild man.  A man from a place she would never see but in a book.  A man with extraordinary gifts.  A man with scraggly hair and a scrawny figure, dressed in white and disturbingly missing both thumbs.

“My name is Gardenia.  You are the Amazon man.”

He nodded.

“No one can contact me but you.  How did you get through?”

“I….,” she stammered, “I don’t know.”

“Only love could bring you to me.”

Gardenia said nothing, her mind trying to block it out, the face of Travis.

“The love for another.  I see him.  You have great abilities.  We aren’t so different.”

Damn, she thought, she didn’t want Travis revealed.

“You don’t search for me.  You search for him.  What do you want?”

“Nothing,” she whispered.

“Not so.  You want something.”

“You have all the answers.  Why do you come to me?”

“Your vibrations are static in my plans and I can’t have you holding things up,” he answered angrily.

Gardenia slightly frightened answered calmly, “It is not my goal to ruin your plans.”

“Then again I ask you.  What do you want?”

“You already know Amazon man.”

“You want him safe.  Perhaps, you want his life restored this man you think of.”

“No.  He can’t come back..  You and I both know that.  It would upset the balance of things,” she implored.

“You are wise,” he smiled, “you want him safe then.”

“Yes,” she nodded, “can you do that for me?”

“If you find me.  I will make sure he is safe.”

“Show me then.  Show me where you are.”

The vision of the Amazon man became blurry and her mind whirled into a frenzy of woods and trees shrouded in more trees.  She saw the path to the military facility in the woods clearly and directly.  Immediately, she stumbled to her feet.  She started walking, forgetting the vision of the Amazon man.

“Where do you travel?” Asked a voice in the distance.

“To find you,” she answered back.

“Hurry.  Time isn’t returned.  You can’t go back.”

She hesitated a moment and looked back, to see the Amazon man, “I don’t want to go back.”

“Another time another place for both of you.  Don’t  let the memory of him go but let him go.”

“You will keep your promise?” She asked, trembling, “You will save him?”

“Yes.”

With that answer, she began running.  Gardenia Hall was on a mission of mercy.

Little did she know, the powers she harbored could be used for good or evil.

The Amazon man needed her.  He was using her kinship for Travis to manipulate her, draw her to him.  Gardenia Hall would play a large role in his plans.  With her powers, they could command all the living dead faster and easier. 

He had no intention of keeping his promise.  There was a time when the Amazon man was naïve like Gardenia.  After years as a lab rat, taken from his only home, forced to raise men from the dead, he was no longer interested in the good.  He was quickly becoming evil.  He was at war.

It was up to Gardenia Hall to stop the war and the evil in his good spirit.  She might have to kill him to do it.  But she would be a vital part in stopping the war.

Sherriff Traves was getting restless when a rustle caught his attention.   Natalie Winston heard it too.

They looked at each other immediately.  There were footsteps coming from the woods.  It was the wrong direction.  What the hell was going on?

Calista Grandy would never change the plans, thought the Sherriff.

Natalie peered at him nervously, neither of them could ignore the footsteps coming from the woods, hurried now, heavier and restless.  Light like a woman’s, they worried the living dead were among them or worse something had gone terribly wrong.

Suddenly, she appeared before them, Gardenia Hall, her long black wavy hair flowing behind her.  She rushed to the car.  She pounded on the window.

Sherriff Traves looked back at Natalie and began to start up the car.

“No,” she screamed, “I’m not one of them.”

The living dead had become more manipulative.  Their ability to con the living was getting merciless.

“Prove it,” the Sherriff demanded.

Gardenia Hall got down on her knees and searched for a branch, breaking it so it had a stiff brittle end.  She then proceeded to scratch the flesh of her open palm until it bled.

Sherriff Traves watched the blood pour out of the hands of the strange girl before him.  She was telling the truth.  Where had she come from?

He rolled down the window just a bit, still intrepid.

“We’re in the middle of something here,” he said angrily.

Natalie kept her eye on the situation but searched feverishly for Calista Grandy.

“Who are you?  And what the hell are you doing out here?”  Sherriff Traves demanded.

“Gardenia,” she said out of breath, “Gardenia Hall and I’m here to help.”

The name vaguely registered in his mind.  The blood dripping from her hands was becoming scary to him.

He pulled out an old rag and ripped it up.

“Here,” he offered, “wrap up your hand with this.”

She began to wrap the rag around her palm, “Thanks,” she said.

“I know you,” the Sherriff never forgot a face.  “Dale Kargen wrote about you.”

Natalie turned with interest suddenly.  Dale Kargen was a local journalist in Cotter.

“Yes.  I’m a ghost whisperer.”

“Yeah, yeah I remember.  But we got important things out here.  You can’t be here.”

“I was led here.”

“How?” He asked.

“By the Amazon man.”

His eyes steadied on her.  He rolled down the window entirely, “Get in,” he told her.

He opened up the door in the back.

The girl, exhausted from running, hobbled into the car.

He threw her a bottle of water, “Drink this.  Sorry, about before.”

“It’s okay,” she told him, “I understand.  I’m looking for a friend of mine.  Well, I’m trying to help him.  His name is Travis Hilfin.”

“He’s a former government spook, CIA, from here local guy.  What’s he got to do with this?”  Natalie piped in, studying the mysterious girl in the back seat.

Shivers run down the spine of Gardenia when she looked at Natalie.

Natalie extended her hand, “Natalie Winston, reporter.”

Gardenia wouldn’t touch her hand.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she warned.

“I could say the same of you,” Natalie quipped peeking at her watch.  Calista was ten minutes late.

“No, really you should go.  It should be me that infiltrates the compound.”

“Wait a minute.  How do you know about that?”  Sherriff Traves asked.

“The Amazon man.  I can communicate with him.”

Sherriff Traves got a very uneasy feeling.

“You weren’t invited here Gardenia.  I don’t want you involved with the Amazon man.  I know you’ve got special abilities.  He might be using you.  Let us handle this.”

Gardenia didn’t argue.  She would find another way.

“I’m outta here.  This whole thing is out of hand and you’re going to sit by and do nothing.”

“Wait.  Please don’t,” Sherriff Traves begged, as she scrambled out the door.

But the girl was gone as fast as she appeared.

Calista Grandy was approaching the gate.  She hesitated, spooked by the sound of the car door.

What was she getting into or out of?  Hopefully, she was getting out.

But that car door.  Was someone else there?

She sunk low to the ground and waited.  Her military suit dripping in sweat clung to her body.  She didn’t breathe until she saw Sherriff Trave’s car.

She was dressed in green military fatigues that Natalie Winston could easily fit into.  Her blonde hair was pulled back into a cap.  It would be very easy for them to change places.

But Calista was beginning to have her doubts.  Could she trust the Sherriff?  The risk she took just talking to him was insurmountable but now she was going to leave with him?  And what about the reporter?  Would she slip up on the inside?  Could Calista live with herself if the reporter died because of her?

“Don’t over think it,” she heard her Grand Daddy’s voice inside her head, “Just go ahead.  You’ve got a good head on your shoulders Calista.  Make your decision now.”

It’s said the most successful people in the world make very quick decisions.  For better or worse, they seem to go with their gut.  It’s the thinking and over thinking, the rest of us mere pigeons, partake in that lead us to the path of destruction.

Knowing her decision was made, the consequences yet to be determined, she heard the odd noise, spotted the car and walked towards it anyway.

The two women locked eyes, the moment they saw each other.

Calista kept her eyes fixed on Natalie, in a different world, they could pass for twins.  It was perfect.

She felt at ease for only a moment.  There was always the fear of the dreaded warning signals, fired up because of her.  Would they notice she was gone?  Would they ever find her secret hide away cabin in the woods?  She found it after years of searching.

She stared at the odd girl in the car, wondering what possessed people to walk into the face of danger.  But she didn’t care about the answer.  Not so much.  Not anymore.  She had seen more than enough of her share of carnage in that building and she was determined to do what it took to survive.

She hopped in the back seat.

Sherriff Traves turned around, smiled a long heavy sigh, “Calista, thank God.”

“The noise,” she murmured.

“We had a bit of an incident.  But everything’s okay now.”

“What incident?” She asked.

“A girl, Gardenia Hall, she has powers.”

“Yeah, yeah I know about her,” she whispered, gazing a nervous stare, “What about it?”

“She was here.”

“She was here?” Her voice escalated in fear. “Oh man, what was she doing?  She could screw up everything.”

“Says she wants to find the Amazon man,” Sherriff Traves told her.

“For what?”

“Thinks she can communicate with him.  Get him to stop all this.  I don’t know really.  She took off.”

“Well, she’s not gonna get too far,” Calista said keeping an eye on the guard tower above in the distance.

Out of the corner of her eye, Natalie Winston, knew better.  She watched Gardenia climb over the fence, slide open the door and slip into the compound.  She must have seen the door when Calista came out.  She must have been hiding.  Perhaps, there was more to this communication with the Amazon man than they previously thought.  She didn’t dare tell Calista.  It would terrify the poor girl.  Sherriff Traves couldn’t be told in private, not now with Calista in the back seat of the car.

Natalie didn’t see it as bad thing.  Maybe Gardenia could be an ally on the inside.

She watched Gardenia disappear into the distance.  It was time to get things moving.

“I’m Natalie,” she said addressing the girl in the back of the car.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” Sherriff Traves apologized, “Natalie this is Calista.”

“Nice to meet you.  Ready for this?” Calista said.

“Ready if you are….” Natalie hesitated.

“Intel first.   I want to update you on what’s happening on the inside.”

“Here,” Calista offered her some papers, “This is a map of the ground floor and upper floor.  Memorize it fast.  They’re holding the Amazon man and Charlie Dempster in separate rooms next to each other.  You’ll want to get to Charlie first.  There’s a man, we know him only by his last name, Adams…Mr. Adams.  Steer clear of him.  He’s coordinating the communication of Dempster and the Amazon man.  Charlie’s wife, Millicent, is being held on the upper floor.  There’s a contact by the name of Grady Freshman.  He saw the whole thing go down with the Lazarus Project.  He’ll be an excellent source for you.  He’s also a witness to all the killings.”

“All?” Natalie asked, hesitantly, “I thought you told the Sherriff they only killed people who saw the dead man raised.”

“Things have changed.  Real paranoid in there.  They kill on sight.  Keep your mouth shut and go with the flow.  Stay tight with Grady.  He knows about the switch.”

“Can he be trusted?”  Sherriff Traves asked.  He was annoyed and worried a new insider might be a threat to their plans and to Natalie.

Her eyes twitched nervously, “Of course,” she said defensively, “look if you don’t want to do this, let me know and I’ll get back inside.  But I’ve gotta move.”

“No, I’m sorry.  It had to be asked.  Natalie is putting her life at risk here.”

“We’re all putting our lives on the line,” Natalie assured them, “Sherriff Traves is going to help me get out.  Calista is going to get me in and she faces this strange world on the outside now.”