Tainted Cure (The Rememdium Series Book 1) (25 page)

Turner disappeared inside the bathroom, returning with a handful of damp towels. He offered some to Jesse and Susie. Regina could see the young girl was too traumatized to reach out for any, so she nudged Jesse’s arm.

“Here, let me help you,” Jesse said, wiping the blood and gore off Susie’s cheeks.

Regina turned and watched the men on the other side of the bars. No, they weren’t men. They were boys, most looked barely old enough to buy alcohol. Their haughty attitudes from before no longer visible, it was clear to Regina from the looks on their faces they were scared.

Forcing herself not to wince as Martha patched her up, Regina turned to Walt. “What happened?”

Clearly worried, Walt paced back and forth in front of the reception desk. “Ain’t no way to say this easy, so I’ll just spit it out. The White House and Pentagon have been overrun and ain’t no longer runnin’ the show. The internet is down, and so are the land lines and cell towers. Power’s still on but at this rate, I don’t know for how long.”

Regina’s mouth dropped open yet no words came out. She was too stunned to say anything. Instead, she reached out her hand and found Jesse’s.

Walt continued. “Martial Law has been declared, and accordin’ to the conversation we heard between them boys and their lieutenant, all untested citizens are to be terminated immediately. They got a handle on the few infected that snuck inside the gym earlier, and now they’re just stayin’ put, barricaded inside, waitin’ for straggler troops to return. Once everyone is accounted for and they’re finished with carryin’ out the order, the troops are to evacuate the area and return to base.”

“Ain’t no way! You musta heard wrong. They wouldn’t do that—just leave us on our own to fight those things—try and survive without help? No. No way. I don’t believe it. The government wouldn’t kill innocent civilians either!” Allsop yelled and ran over to the bars. “Right? Tell them they misunderstood!”

“Are you for real? Surely you aren’t so naïve?”

“No one asked you to open your trap,” Walt yelled at the soldier who spoke. “Don’t open it again because I’ll be more than happy to shut it. Permanently.”

“Enough!” Regina yelled. She focused on the solider, squinting to read his name tag. She couldn’t make out his name so she counted Chevron’s and tried to remember what rank two stripes signified. “Corporal, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. Corporal Gary Bennett.”

“I’m Regina Parker, Chief of Police in Rockport. No time for games or to pussyfoot around. Be straight with me, and I promise the same. Is that the plan? To kill innocent people and then scurry out of town?”

Cpl. Bennett nodded, unwilling to look Regina in the eye.

Anger boiling, Regina brushed Martha’s hand away and stood. “Would Lt. Pack be the one who gave the go-ahead to slaughter the residents of my county?”

“That’d be the one,” Cpl. Bennett replied in a gruff whisper.

Regina turned her gaze to Reed and Walt, afraid if she looked at the corporal any longer she’d snap. “Where is this upstanding man?”

“He’s at the high school. All personnel are to report there to help. They want to leave the county by noon.”

Regina looked over at her daughter then to Reed. They were her reasons for living.  She knew hundreds of other people crammed inside the high school felt just the same for their loved ones. There was simply no way she could just leave. If she abandoned them now, so much blood would be on her hands she’d drown.

She wouldn’t leave, even if that decision meant the red clay of Hot Spring County would be her final resting place. The first dilemma cleared, Regina focused on exactly what their next moves should be.

Regina walked over to the bars and peered at all of the men. “I’m not gonna let my town, my county, go without a fight. It’s as simple as this: you’re with us or against us. Which side are you on?”

All but two, including Cpl. Bennett, raised their hands. Regina gave them a curt nod and turned back to the rest of the group. Motioning for them to move to the front door, out of earshot of the others, she waited to speak until they were far enough away.

“Walt? You’re the tactical one, and have the most experience in dealing with the military and their procedures. Any ideas?”

“Yeah, get the hell outta dodge.”

“We ain’t gonna leave our town to be slaughtered like sheep!” Martha whispered.

“Two hours ago we were,” Walt countered.

“Things have changed dramatically since then. We’re stayin’,” Martha insisted.

Walt huffed. “I know, I know. I’m just blowin’ steam here. Okay, so we’ve got about an hour to do this. We can each take a Humvee and head to the school, grab as many people as we can hold, get them to safety, and continue the extraction until ain’t none left.”

“What if the other guards start askin’ questions, or try to stop us?” Reed asked.

“We’ll just tell them the orders changed, and we are to take them to the morgue to be incinerated. I guarantee you right now, those soldiers inside are just as scared and freaked as we are. The less people they have to worry about on their plate the better.”

“So where are we really takin’ them?” Turner asked. “We can’t take them all home. Too time consuming and risky. Are we bringing them back here, or maybe the hospital?”

Walt smiled for the first time in hours. “Actually, I have a better idea. The place is big, insulated, has food, water, medicine, clothing, and bathrooms. It’s a perfect spot to keep everyone.”

Regina returned Walt’s smile. “Walmart?”

Walter nodded. “Every southerner’s second home, right?”

Regina looked at Reed, who was staring out the front window. “What do you think, brother?”

“I think that’s the best plan I’ve heard all day. I’m afraid we aren’t going to have time to change clothes, though. Company’s coming.”

The rest of them turned and looked out the window. A large group of infected, maybe one-hundred or more, stood in the parking lot across the street. They weren’t moving yet their attention seemed to be on the jail.

“Jesse—you and Susie come with me. We’ll get to Walmart and secure the front glass doors. We’ll lock the back bay doors until we hear one of you drive up.”

“You’ll need help movin’ stuff. I’ll come too,” Turner added.

“We’ll need all the help drivin’ we can get, Turner. You need to come with us. Chief Parker can handle things on her own,” Martha added.

“Mom, I need to help them.”

“It’s okay, babe. We got this,” Jesse added.

“Fine. We got our instructions. Time to quit yakkin’ and move! They’re comin’,” Reed yelled.

“Keys are all in the ignitions. Scatter!” Walt yelled.

“What about us? You can’t just leave us here!” Cpl. Bennett yelled.

Regina turned and said, “Don’t worry. The bars will keep you safe. If we survive, we’ll be back. That’s a promise. Unlike your folks, I took my oath to serve and protect to heart.”

Bailey opened the glass doors and the group scattered, each running to a Humvee. The sounds of the screaming men from inside faded away as Regina, Jesse, and Susie made it inside a vehicle and closed the door.

“This is never going to work, Mom! Never!”

Regina cranked up the Humvee and gunned the engine. Gripping the steering wheel, she held on tight while dodging the dead descending on the parking lot. “Before today, the dead risin’ and walkin’ around was never a consideration either. The word doesn’t hold the weight it used to now. Put your seatbelts on. This will be the craziest trip to the store. Ever.”

Jesse shook her head and muttered, “Guess I won’t be late for my shift after all.”

SNEAK PEEK AT TAINTED REALITY -

BOOK TWO OF THE REMEMDIUM SERIES

RELEASE DATE OF APRIL 11, 2016!

PARALYZED - Saturday - December 20
^th
– 10:15 a.m.

Everett sat on the cold chair in the lab while staring at all the dusty, ruined equipment. Though he’d been to the facility twice to clean up since Daryl Riverside kidnapped him after killing the rest of the staff and test subjects, the area was still messy. Riverside had destroyed all the computers, leaving piles of crushed plastic and metal innards strewn across the room. Everett breathed a sigh of relief when he did an inventory and discovered the only items Daryl ruined were the computers. With no human inhabitants to care for what was left of the workspace on a daily basis, dust had accumulated over all the shiny metal and glass surfaces.

Even though Dirk Kincanon and the others had removed the bodies of Dr. Thomas and Dr. Flint, along with the twenty-five former addicts, the entire underground haven retained the rancid odor of death. The worst of the stench emanated from the lab. Dirk had been preoccupied with giving a proper burial to the twenty-seven innocents slaughtered, neglecting the lab. When Everett returned to the facility for the first time three months after the nightmare in Laredo, he’d been greeted by carnage. Rows and rows of cages housing hundreds of mice for testing were full of rank, rotting little corpses.

Though the stench had faded over time, traces of it remained embedded in every crevice of the workspace. When the small group arrived earlier and the doors were unlocked, the odor nearly made Everett puke.

He was exhausted. Mentally and physically spent, no reserves left to get up and find a pen or figure out what to do next. Everett’s mind was awash in a buzz of white nothingness. Everything around him was familiar yet seemed out of place. Vials, beakers, syringes, cages, computers, all of it. He felt just like he did as a prepubescent boy. One who’d spent countless hours looking through his father’s stash of porn, and then actually seeing his first naked girl. The sensation of not having a clue what to do next left Everett dazed and confused.

The nightmare of the fact dead people walked around eating the living made Everett feel like he was the star of the most colossal horror movie ever conceived.

“Dr. Berning?”

Without raising his head, Everett answered, “Yes?”

Dirk walked across the room and sat down on the other side of the counter. “Have you eaten or drank anything yet?”

“No.”

“I figured. Here,” Dirk said, sliding over a bottle of water and a protein bar.

“I’m afraid you’d be wasting precious supplies, Dirk. I’d just throw it up. My body’s reaction to the unreal chain of events won’t be pretty.”

“If you don’t eat, you’ll pass out. I’m the only one here qualified to start an IV, and believe me, that’s not saying much. Haven’t done it in years. I’m rusty, so it would be painful.”

Everett blew out his breath as he grabbed the bottle. He took two small sips. “There. Happy?”

Dirk’s lips curved into a snide grin. “First thing that’s made me smile all day.”

Everett looked up into Dirk’s face and saw the worry and stress behind the man’s dark eyes. “Huh. Guess we won’t take even the smallest of things for granted anymore, right?”

Dirk leaned across the counter and picked up an empty vial, rolling it around with his fingers. He studied it with mild curiosity. “Nope. Now, stop moping around and tell me what you need from me.”

“And us.”

Everett and Dirk both turned at the sound of Kevin Warton’s voice. The former soldier stood in the doorway, cheeks flushed and hands clasped in front of a slender waist. Everett could see the rest of the men were behind him.

“I…I don’t even know where to start. All this is just too unreal to even grasp at the moment,” Everett whispered. “I’m at a loss as to what to do next. My mind is in total gridlock. Overstimulation of my neurons had rendered me useless.”

“Getting the lab cleaned up and ready to use seems like a good place to start,” Kevin said. In seconds, the lab was full of six men, all of them staring at Everett and waiting for instructions.

“Excellent idea. This place stinks,” Thomas Porterfield added, “I hate the smell of death.”

“If we don’t want to keep smelling it above ground, then we need to get going. We’ve got faith in you, Doc. None of us would have signed up for this gig if we didn’t,” Kevin offered.