RecruitZ (Afterworld Series) (30 page)

Preston parked the car, and we grabbed our weapons and secured them

“I can’t keep it in any longer,” Preston said, a smirk appearing as his eyes glinted with playfulness.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You look so hot in that,” he said, biting his lip.

Heat ran up my spine, and I glanced down at my outfit. I was sucked into a black leather body suit. It was quite the switch from jeans and an oversized top, but I had to admit I loved the feeling it gave me. I felt kind of like a badass.

“Thanks,” I said, grinning. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

We closed the doors and carefully made our way to the skeletal remains of the building. Our feet crunching along the pavement was the only hint we were coming, but that was probably enough.

I circled around the left-hand side of the building while Preston took the right. Neither of us wanted to go under the structure until we were certain where the opening to the underground quarters were. My eyes scanned along the twisted metal and down to the puddles of shattered glass.

“Over here,” Preston hollered. I ducked down and saw him across the way about ten feet. “Come around the outside.”

I jogged around the back of the structure and saw him standing with his leg propped on a rusty metal cellar door.

“You think that’s it?” I asked.

“Washington isn’t really known for having cellars, so yeah. I think this is it.”

I laughed. “Good point.”

He opened one side of the door and then the other, exposing a steep staircase that would carry us deep into the earth. I waited for him to climb down next to me after he closed the doors. There were tiny light bulbs wrapped in wire caging that dotted the pathway and faintly illuminated it. The fixtures looked like something off of an old submarine. The tunnel going down was just as narrow as the one I’d encountered at the MHA facility, but this time around I felt absolutely nothing in the way of fear. I listened carefully as I moved ahead, wondering at what point we’d run into the doctor, if we’d run into the doctor.

We had fewer than five steps left below us when I heard a woman clearing her throat down the hallway somewhere. I stopped and looked behind me at Preston. He motioned to keep going.

My hand rested on my pistol grip, but I prayed I wouldn’t need to use it. At least not until after we’d found out the answers to our questions.

I stepped down from the last step, my foot landing on plywood flooring, and I moved slowly to the side as Preston walked around me. The hallway in front of us was carved out of the earth, but it had been partially covered with stones. I wasn’t sure if it was the doctor’s idea of decorating or if it served a purpose like that of a retention wall. The air was cool but it wasn’t cold. There had to be some sort of heat source. I heard a female cough and stopped. I craned my neck to see past the corner and was beyond surprised. The rustic tunnel led to white walls and glossy floors. There was a glass door that separated where we were from the rest of the cavern, but it was wide open and then I heard his voice.

“We’re looking forward to taking it to the next level.”

It was Marcus.

“I never intended to start another war,” a woman’s voice said quietly. “You’re on a different road than I am. I see that now.”

I glanced at Preston who was listening intently. He placed his hand on my waist, bringing his lips to my lobe and whispered, “Phone.”

I nodded, unable to hide my smile. I really didn’t feel like seeing Marcus today.

“I knew you were worthless. Any woman my brother had the hots for would be,” Marcus yelled, causing the speakerphone to buzz.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” the woman replied. “I think it’s best we hang up now before you say anything more you’ll regret.”

It had to be Dr. Falino in the room. I heard the phone go dead and the woman sigh. What would a doctor be doing with someone who talked down to her like that? Although, it wouldn’t be the first time a smart woman got fooled. I can thank Gavin for that revelation.

Footsteps traveled away from us and a door clicked shut. Preston walked down the hall to the room and I followed. The space was white and completely sterile. There was a desk tucked in the far corner and a phone sat on top near the edge. There was a stainless steel table with several clay models of the human form displayed. Odd. I looked toward the ceiling and spotted a video camera.

“Damn,” I whispered, pointing up toward the camera.

We walked out of range and waited a few minutes. If someone was watching it, chances were that they’d be here in seconds. But no one came in. The door that Dr. Falino exited through was stainless steel with a glass insert on the top, allowing us to see into the next hallway, which was empty.

“Now?” I mouthed.

Preston nodded and we ran to the exit. I went through the door first and he was right behind me. On each side of the hallway, the top portions of the walls were glass, allowing us to see into the rooms. The first two were empty and set up similarly with a hospital bed and cabinets along the far wall. We moved swiftly down the hallway, reaching another set of rooms. These rooms housed technical equipment on one side and the surveillance on the other. Thankfully, the chair was empty in front of the security monitors.

We reached the end of the hallway where another door led to yet another hallway.

“I think we’re getting somewhere,” he whispered.

“Really? You could’ve fooled me.” I smiled as we opened the door and walked through, landing in an almost identical hallway as the one before.

However, immediately to our right there was another door that looked different from the rest. The top portion of the door wasn’t all glass like the others, instead there was a window the size of a ship portal with glass that was several inches thick to match the density of the metal, and there was a hazardous waste symbol displayed prominently on the door.

“Looks pressurized and it probably has a fail-safe on it,” Preston said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“If one door is open, the other one stays locked. You can’t open it until the one you’ve moved through is closed. It’s an airlock system.”

I placed my hand on the door and turned the handle. A strong sucking sound and breeze surrounded me the moment I entered the hallway. Preston stepped inside and the door clicked behind us, securing the vacuum-sealed area. A surge of worry ran through me at the thought of what was on the other side of the doors. What needed to have these fail-safe measures? Suits hung in front of us next to the door, probably best if we put them on.

There were windows on both sides of the hallway, but this time they looked to be one-way mirrors, and we were on the wrong side. My skin prickled as Preston brushed up against me as he walked forward. He grabbed a suit and stepped inside, pulling it over one leg and then the other.

The vacuum pressured hallway smelled like nothing…exactly like nothing would smell if our world actually had that capability. But we were humans built to use our senses like taste, touch, and smell. Coming into contact with a place that was void of smell struck me odd. There was no hint of disinfectant, no small trace of bleach in the air. Yet everything was white, spotless, and glistening.

“Suit up,” Preston said.

I nodded and stepped into the white jumpsuit, zipping it up. He slid a mask over his face and adjusted it as I did the same. He probably sensed that I was about to lose it so he gave me a quick nod and opened up the door. A big gush of wind flew by as we broke the hallway’s seal.

The room now surrounding us was dark, dreary and nothing like I expected. The dark concrete floors were dull, and metal worktables were spread sporadically throughout the space. There was a line of empty gurneys to our left, except for one, which was horizontal to another door.

I hugged myself as I tried to focus on the person strapped to the gurney, taking slow steps toward it. Preston placed his hand on my back as we moved closer. I took a deep breath through my mask and felt the warmth of my breath hover around my mouth.

“Oh, my god,” Preston muttered, dropping his hand from my back.

My gaze dipped to the being in front of us. A female with grey eyes stared straight at the ceiling, but her chest was moving slightly up and down, regardless of her apparent undead status. Her skin was splotchy and missing in some places, but there were just as many places where it was stitched up, and the stitches were tight. That made no sense. If the undead of the outbreak were stitched, their flesh would just rip and the whole area would fall off. I looked behind me and saw Preston taking her in with the same bewilderment I felt. A flood of emotions surged through my veins at the sadness this creature epitomized. It was like she was caught between two worlds.

I took a step back and just as I did the woman began convulsing, her back arching toward the ceiling. The gurney began rattling as her wrists and ankles shook violently. She was having some sort of seizure. Her entire body thrashed continuously, and there was nothing that either of us did…or wanted to do. She was too close to the undead.

The creature’s head lolled to the side, her grey eyes staring directly at me. But then I saw something even more unexpected as her body continued to seize. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and onto the pillow.

The door in front of us was thrown open, revealing a woman in a black suit, carrying a syringe. The woman jammed the tip directly through the undead’s clothes, into her chest.

The creature’s movements began to stabilize with every passing second. Zombies weren’t known for responding to drugs either.

“I’ve been expecting you,” the woman replied coolly, looking up at us. “I’m Dr. Falino.”

***

The doctor led us to her office. It was pleasant enough or as pleasant as a place can be underground and without windows. I noticed several photographs she had hung on her wall, along with a painting, which depicted a girl twirling in the tulip fields. Seemed rather odd.

We sat down in front of her large, pine desk while she walked behind it and collapsed in her chair. She leaned over, and I heard her opening a drawer and rustling around. Twisting off the lid to a pill bottle, she sprinkled a few in her hand and tossed them into the back of her mouth. She grabbed a bottle of gin from the same magical drawer and took a swig, swallowing the pills down.

“That woman was my sister,” she said, glancing at the photographs on the wall. “She was why I kept trying.”

“Trying to do what?” I asked.

She looked at me, void of emotion, and leaned back in her chair as if just the thought exhausted her. “Trying to save her.”

She laughed wickedly, and Preston slid his hand to mine under the lip of the desk.

“You’ve been trying to save your sister and that is your sister out there?” I pointed behind me.

Dr. Falino’s eyes were wild as she steadied her gaze on me. “Yes. And what I’ve learned is that you can only trick nature for so long before she gets her retribution. I’ve tried to fool this disease, change this disease, mutate it—anything.” She shook her head. “But you can only screw with Mother Nature’s plan so much.”

“But we were able to come up with a vaccine,” I replied.

“Yes, my dear. I know. I was on the CDC team that found that little fluke of nature.”

“You helped to find the cure?” I asked.

“It’s not a cure. That’s the problem. It’s a vaccine, but that was enough for the government. So all the poor innocent souls who were already infected never had a chance,” she said, shuffling through some papers on her desk as if she was looking for something. I doubt she was.

“Research was suspended, and the vaccines were manufactured at record speeds and administered even faster. Still what about all those wandering zombies?” she asked, looking at Preston.

Like her sister…

“That’s where Marcus came in,” Preston stated and she nodded her head.

“He was my husband’s brother, and as you know, my husband wasn’t exactly right with the law. I had a tendency to look the other way. It was an awkward pairing, the two of us. Anyway, Marcus learned about my research with the CDC and offered me a position I couldn’t refuse. A chance to help the infected, my sister. The funds were unlimited as I worked on my research. And the resources were unimaginable, too good to be true. Marcus managed to infiltrate the top researchers at all of the main universities. They were at my disposal. He’d already worked his way into the MHA and was able to convince them to let him run not only the security but the administration. It’s the perfect cover.”