Tainted Cure (The Rememdium Series Book 1) (23 page)

The soldiers dumped her in the last cell and left without saying a word. She had recognized two Hot Spring County deputies stationed at the front. She begged them to vouch for her, but they never said a word. When they escorted her down the hall, she nearly fainted. The cells were full of men and women, some crying, others begging to be released. She recognized some of the faces but not all. Every one of them looked sick. Several were coughing, others sitting on the floor, unmoving, eyes focused on the ground.

Jesse felt the walls close in around her. She hated being closed in. The building blocked out most of the sounds of the world ending outside, but the noises replacing it from the inside made her head spin. The crying and begging for help ceased ten minutes earlier. Now, the only thing she could hear was weird, gurgling and grunting. The eerie noises made her mind snap. She felt the heat spread from her chest up into her neck. Her breath came in short bursts.

A full-blown panic attack was on the verge of consuming her. For the first time in two years, Jesse wished she was high.

“Hey, honey, you okay?”

Jesse stopped pacing and turned to the front. Inside the cell across the aisle, she saw three women. None of them looked familiar, but Jesse didn’t care.

“No…havin’…a…panic…attack.” Jesse stuttered.

A lady close to her mom’s age with a warm, inviting face smiled. “My mom used to have them all the time. Said the trick to stoppin’ one was to concentrate on a spot on the floor or ceilin’.”

The young girl next to her reached into her bra and pulled out a baggie. “This has always worked for me. Keeps my head straight when things go to shit. And boy, did they ever.”

Jesse’s eyes widened as she watched the girl tap out a line of white powder on the back of her other hand. She didn’t have time to figure out if it was coke or meth because the girl leaned her head down and snorted it up.

“What are you doin’, Eileen! Are you crazy? You brought drugs in here? Shit! What if someone sees you?”

“I don’t think those goons out there give a fuck if I’m high, Aunt Carrie. They’re too concerned on killin’ people, or haven’t you noticed? If this is the end of the line for me, which I’m pretty sure it is for all of us, I’m goin’ out on a high note. Literally.”

“We aren’t gonna die! We ain’t sick, Eileen. They’ll realize that soon enough and let us go. You watch and see.”

Eileen’s laugh was bitter. “Grow up, Susie. You don’t really think they’ll come back for us, do you?”

“Enough, you two. We need to stay positive. Besides, we’re safe in here from all the mess goin’ on outside,” Carrie admonished.

Seeing her own personal demon less than ten feet away, and watching another person get high, the temptation was too much for Jesse. Unable to really form words, she patted the bars. The girl looked over and smiled. “You want?”

Jesse nodded, and the girl closed the baggie and tossed it across the aisle. Without thinking, Jesse opened the baggie and tried to tap some out. Her shaking fingers wouldn’t cooperate.

“No, honey, you don’t need that to calm down! Another thing that works is listenin’ to someone’s voice talk you down. Ain’t nothin’ nice to look at in this hellhole so just focus on the sound of my voice. Put that poison down, okay?” Carrie said.

Unable to speak, Jesse nodded. The woman started to sing Amazing Grace. Though off-key, Jesse didn’t care. She closed her eyes and sang along inside her head, the words memorized from years of attending Sunday school.

For a few seconds, the craving to snort up what was in her hands abated.

As the kind woman neared the end of the first chorus, Eileen and Susie joined in.

“I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind, but now I see…”

Jesse’s breathing returned to normal at the soothing words of the song. She opened her eyes and noticed the trio had joined hands, their eyes closed as they swayed back and forth.

The baggie called out to Jesse.

They aren’t watching. Go ahead! You’ll be better prepared to handle things when all your nerves are on heightened alert. Besides, you’ll probably need the extra burst of energy to stay awake.

The demon in her hands won the battle. Jesse opened the baggie and stuck her nose inside. Judging from the smell, she knew immediately it was cocaine and not meth, but at the moment, she didn’t care. Just as she started to snort up the contents, a booming voice from the aisle stopped her.

“Give it a rest, will you? Y’all sound like a bunch of howler monkeys.”

Jesse freaked when she saw Sheriff Calhoun coming down the aisle. She’d always hated the man, and not just because he’d arrested her once. With nowhere to hide the plastic bag, she shoved it into her mouth and swallowed, nearly choking.

He was a stereotypical southern cop in every sense of the word. Loud, brash, cocky, and full of himself. His large belly stretched the material of his uniform to its limits. His gut was so big you couldn’t see his belt. He had a fat, round face and the meanest eyes of anyone Jesse had ever met.

Today, he looked even worse. Sweat stained the front and sides of his shirt. Droplets of water glistened on his forehead under the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. His cheeks were flushed red and his eyes glazed over. Even though he was several feet away, Jesse could tell he had a fever.

Jesus, is he infected, or simply has a cold? How is anyone supposed to tell anymore? No wonder the soldiers brought me here. They didn’t know for sure, either.

“Sheriff, we were just tryin’ to help calm the poor girl down. She’s scared to…”

Sheriff Calhoun stopped in front of the cell housing the three women. He grumbled, “I don’t give a shit! I said stop your caterwaulin’! My head is already poundin’!”

“You ain’t got no right to hold us in here, Sheriff! We done told y’all we all just got over the flu! We ain’t infected! And you can’t stop us from singin!’” Eileen said, glaring at the Sheriff. 

Sheriff Calhoun didn’t answer the girl’s outburst. He turned and focused his attention on Jesse.

His eyes were bloodshot, his face now the same ugly, gray color as the concrete floor of the jail. A thin dribble of saliva slid from his open mouth. Jesse could see the veins under his skin darken, almost like an invisible hand holding a blue marker drew them on. His mouth opened and closed like he was talking, but no sound accompanied the movement.

This isn’t happening!

The women across from Jesse continued to speak, but their words seemed muffled and distant.

The Sheriff’s entire body jerked and Jesse noticed a chunk of flesh missing from his hand. When she brought her gaze back to his face, his eyes were solid black.

Jesse moved away from the bars and didn’t stop until her back hit the wall.

Sheriff Calhoun spun around and lunged at the women in the cell. His sudden movements caught them off guard, and the nice lady with the sweet face named Carrie didn’t have time to move away from the bars. His arm shot out and grabbed a handful of her long, brown hair. Yanking her forward, her face slammed into the bars. Blood spurted from her lips and nose from the impact.

A weird grumble left the Sheriff’s mouth as he shot his head forward and tore off chunks of Carrie’s protruding lips and nose from in between the bars. Jesse heard the women scream in terror.

Unable to help, trapped inside a cage as the next victim, Jesse couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

For a few seconds, Jesse’s mind gridlocked. She regained her faculties when the thing that had once been human only seconds before, tore the arm off at the elbow of the lady with the horrible singing voice. It then shuffled down the hall, crouched down on the floor next to the door, and began to eat.

Jesse’s stomach revolted and she puked. After vomiting, she opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs for help, knowing it wouldn’t do any damned good.

DISCOVERING THE TRUTH - Saturday - December 20
^th
– 9:45 a.m.

Everett’s thigh muscles throbbed and his calves burned. He hadn’t walked so far in years, and in the current conditions, the trek through the woods added to the difficulty level. He was breathing hard and the cold rain made his bones ache.

“Do we need to stop and let you catch your breath?” Dirk Kincanon asked.

“No. I’m fine. Maybe just slow down a bit? This incline is taking its toll on my legs.”

Dirk snapped his fingers to get the attention of the six others walking in front of them. They all stopped and pointed to a fallen tree behind him. “We’ve got time to rest, Dr. Berning. No one is out here except us.”

Everett stepped over to the downed tree and sat. His mind hated the idea of remaining out in the open, yet his body was grateful for a moment to rest. “How much farther do we have?”

Dirk sat next to him and handed Everett a bottle of water. Everett twisted off the cap and took several gulps.

“About half-a-mile.”

Everett looked over at the men. They were about twenty feet away, silent, each fully armed and scanning the wet, quiet woods. One of them held a walkie-talkie to his ear, and the look of worry on his face made Everett’s own fears increase.

These were hardened, former soldiers—ones used to witnessing deplorable conditions—and even they were scared.

Everett chuckled softly and shook his head.

“What?” Dirk asked.

“Oh, just glad I’m not the only one freaked out, that’s all.”

Dirk took a swig of water and nodded. “No, you aren’t. I can’t speak for all of them, but I know I’ve seen some disturbing shit over the years. Human beings are the most vicious creatures on the planet, and capable of vile and disgusting acts. I’ve seen my share of people wearing the mask of humanity that hid the monsters inside them. You know, fools willing to slaughter others for one stupid reason or another. Political, religious, oil rights, territory squabbles, money, race, creed, or even no reason at all. We are a violent breed. The only difference now is the ones slaughtered don’t remain dead.”

“No, it seems they don’t,” Everett whispered. Giving such an answer made him feel sick inside, like he’d slipped off the platform of sanity and was freefalling into madness. Deciding the moment was as good as any, Everett asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Wasting your precious time getting to safety to let an old man rest. Risking your lives to help me. I mean, I’m worthless to you now. I’ve spent the last year trying to recreate a formula it took me ten years to make and haven’t had any success yet. Even if I had, it’s pointless now. I’m no longer useful.”

Dirk raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Now is not the time to have a pity party, Dr. Berning. Just because the world never found out about your discovery doesn’t mean a damned thing. We know you did, which makes you invaluable at the moment.”

“How so? I don’t think fighting drug addiction is still on the radar. There are more important things to fight for now.”

“Exactly! And who better to help do so than the brilliant mind of the man who found a cure for drug addiction? Something no one ever thought possible except Drs. Thomas and Flint. Oh, and you.”

Shocked, Everett gasped, “Are you crazy? Whatever in the hell is going on is way beyond my scope of knowledge. Besides, I don’t have a sample to test, or the proper facilities to keep such a volatile pathogen. And it took ten years for me to find that cure. I doubt I have another ten left in me.”

“Excuses, Dr. Berning. A sample would be easy to obtain, and worrying about releasing a contagious disease on the population is sort of a pathetic joke now, don’t you think? I’m not going to even acknowledge your crack about age.”

“No, no way. Again, out of my scope and expertise. Finding out whatever is turning people into…things…is a job for those at the CDC. A group, a team, all sporting a collective IQ in the thousands.”

Dirk leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I call bullshit. You did what no one else could. The key words in that sentence would be you…did…it. With only two other researchers to boot! I know the loss of your family is what drove you to not give up. You spent ten fucking years, every day without taking even one day off. In my books, that’s determination. That’s grit. And that’s the kind of man we need working on solving this cluster fuck some lesser scientist got us in to. In other words, Dr. Berning, we are doing this because you matter. To us. To the world.”

“Nice speech, Kincanon. Very powerful. Sounds eerily similar to the one Dr. Flint gave me many years ago.”

Laughing, Dirk said, “Probably because I wrote it out and made her memorize it.”

Everett shook his head. “Figures.”

“So, pep talk over. You’re a genius and possibly the new savior of mankind. Back to our discussion about the current situation and why it’s happening. I know you said you didn’t have much time to watch the reports before the EBS took over, but what you did see—did it give you any clues as to what we are dealing with? In all my years of training, I’ve never seen or heard of a biological, even a weaponized one, react this way.”

Everett shook his head. “None. I’m just as in the dark as everyone else. Venturing a guess would be just that—a guess.”