The Demented Z (Book 3): Contagion (21 page)

“Hank’s getting bad.”

“K, let’s move quick then.”
  He turned to one of the doors.
  “Follow me.”  
Without hesitating, he turned the handle and rushed through the opening.

******

Neither of them expected what they found on the other
side. More attackers, stacks of
supplies, weapons, and even chemical canisters were all on the list of
possibilities. Instead they found a
huddle of women and children. Several
began crying hysterically when Tom came into sight.
  Others stared with icy glares of hatred.

Tom kept his rifle trained on them.
  “Nobody move.”
  He shouted.

Abby stepped up next to him.  
“I don’t think they’re going to attack us.”

Knowing she was right, Tom lowered his rifle.
  “Who’s in charge here?”

“They were…the men you just slaughtered.”
  One of the women shouted.

“There are infected in the hall.
  Again, who is in charge?”

A nicely dressed woman, eyes red from crying, stood and
said, “I guess that would be me. She
looked around at the others. “I’m…was…my boyfriend was our leader.”

Tom wanted out of this room.  
“Come with me. Abby, watch them.”

Out in the main room, Tom checked on Hank and Eli.
  Hank was sitting on the floor with his head
hung down between his knees. Eli was up
close to the door, working on his hand with a strip of cloth.
  He looked up at Tom and gave a nod.

The woman shuffled out behind him.
 

“What in the world is going on
here?” Tom asked.

“We’re just trying to survive like
everyone else.”

“How long?”

She wiped her nose with the back of
her hand. “Since the
beginning.”

“You worked here?”

“Some…most of
us.” She said with a shrug of her
shoulders.

“What happened here?”

She hesitated, looking around the
room, unable to make eye contact. “Nothin’…we’ve just been holed up trying to start new.”

“The scientists?”

Worry flashed across her face.
  “The—“ She began nervously rubbing her hands together.
  “They…they got killed.”

Tom decided this wasn’t getting
anywhere and it was time to take a leap.  
“We’re here for the pethromyoxicine.”

Surprise flashed across her
face. “How?”

“Where is it?”

Her head started to turn back
toward the unopened door and then her gaze dropped to the bloody line of bodies
on the floor. Tears began to well up in
her eyes. Her eyes remained on one in
particular and then with surprising quickness, she wiped the tears away and
took a steadying breath. She nodded her
head a couple times, seemingly to herself.

“It’s okay…talk to me.”
  Tom whispered.

She pointed to the unopened
door. “It’s in there.
  Just don’t hurt any of us…please don’t hurt
the children. We just wanted a
purge…start fresh you know.”

Eli suddenly spoke up from next to
the door. “They’re in the hall.”
  He began backing away from the door.
  “Hank, get up.
  Infected are in the hall.”

Tom turned back to the woman.
  “We aren’t going to hurt any of you.
  What does the stuff do?”

“The pethro
wipes them out. It’s contagious for the
infected.”

Anger swelled in Tom.
  “How long have you guys known this?”

Her head dropped in shame.
  “Since the beginning.
  We…the scientists and some of us created
both. It started a long time ago.”

“Why?”
  Was all Tom could utter.

There was a loud
bang
at the door.
  Hank was up off the floor, backing up next to
Eli. The metal door rattled.

“They’re coming in.”
  Eli said, panic filling his voice.
  His butt hit a desk, stopping his retreat.

Tom was still looking at the
woman. He was unable to comprehend what
she was saying. “You did this?”
  He half whispered, the words barely escaping
his mouth. His family flashed through
his mind. Images of their mutilated
bodies came flooding back. It took every
ounce of restraint he had to keep from strangling the woman where she stood.

“The world was a mess.”

“A mess!
  This is a mess!”
  Tom yelled while pointing around the room.

The woman stood emotionless.
  “It was going to get better.
  We were nearly to the final stage.”

The door burst open.
  Angry growls filled the room, followed by a
flow of demented.

“Into the room.”
  Tom shouted to Hank and Eli, while pointing
to the closed door. He turned for the
open door.

Abby was already rushing out of the
room. “I’m coming.”
  She said when she saw Tom.

“Close them in.”
  Tom said.  
He grabbed the woman by the arm.  
“Come on.” He said while turning
for the closed door.

Both Hank and Eli climbed over the
makeshift barricade, knowing that gunfire would only slow the tide.
  Dozens of demented had already poured into
the room. A pair of blonde teenage girls
led the charge. Had it not been for
their filthy, blood soaked clothes they would have looked like high-
schoolers racing to get an autograph from their favorite
boy band. At the sight of meat their
lips curled back in angry growls, further ruining the high schooler
image.

Tom ripped the door open and shoved
the woman in ahead of him. He expected a
dark utility closet, but instead found a large, organized room.
  It was well lit by several overhead
industrial lights. The walls were hidden
by giant shelving units. Neatly stacked
supplies lined the shelves with identifying tags at the front of each row.
  In the center of the room, several black
countertops with sinks, centrifuges, and analyzers marked it as a repurposed
chemistry lab.

The others rushed in behind
Tom. Abby slammed the door closed and
flipped a large deadbolt into place. The
chaotic sounds of the demented tearing into the barricade filtered in from the
other side of the door. Hank slid to the
floor.

Tom turned the woman around.
  “Where is it?”

She pointed to the far corner.
  Tom’s eyes followed her gesture and he saw
stacks of green cylinders taking up several shelves.
  They looked like oxygen cylinders, but the
shelf mounted labels marked them as pethromyoxicine.

“Help me.”
  Tom said while rushing over to the
corner. “We just spray this stuff out?”

“Yeah.
  Inhalation or fluid contact.”

“How long?”

“High dose takes—“

She stopped when there was an
enormous
bang
at the door.
  The demented wanted in.
  They continued to pound at the door.

“How long?”
  Tom shouted again.

“Minutes…direct contact they’ll be
dead in minutes.”

Tom turned and looked at Hank
slumped on the floor beside the door.  
“What if they have it but haven’t turned?”

“Mixed.
  Our tests…research has shown some clear and
some don’t.” She shrugged her
shoulders. “Not much choice at that
point.”

The metal around the deadbolt was
beginning to warp from the weight of infected pounding into the door.

“They’re going to get in.”
  Abby shouted.

Tom grabbed one of the canisters
and rushed over to the door. He jammed
the plastic tip under the door and cranked the valve.
  A loud
hissing
issued from the end. “Someone grab
another canister.”

Abby shouldered her rifle and
grabbed another canister from next to the woman.

As she ran over Tom said, “Hit Hank
with some, then help me over here.”

There was more
hissing
as the invisible gas washed over
Hank.

“That’s enough.”
  The woman said.

Abby stepped over by Tom and
followed suit, jamming the tip under the door and cranking the valve fully
open. The banging at the door began to
slow and eventually ceased all together.  
They left the canisters wide open.

“Can you make more of this
stuff?” Tom asked the woman.

“Fourth floor has tanks…thousands
of gallons.”

Tom turned back to Hank.
  He had flopped over onto his side, eyes
closed.

******

“How are you feeling?”  
Tom asked.

Hank smiled. “Best
I’ve felt in a long time.

It had taken nearly three days for him to wake up.
  Convulsions and rapid breathing had worried
all of them, but eventually those went away and he opened his eyes to the
world. He was unable to remember what
had happened over the last few days. Tom
spent some time filling him in and letting him know about “The Ark” and the
success of pethro.

While Hank was recovering they spent the time clearing the
entire building. They were all impressed
by the pethro. Even as far back as the
stairwell were piles of bodies. Those
that didn’t die immediately spread it to the others.

Now they all sat in a group next to Hank.

“We will help.” One
of the ex-scientists said.

Tom nodded his head.  
“Okay then, let’s wipe this thing off the planet.”

It took nearly three years and the help of hundreds of
survivors, but the infection was finally eradicated from the planet.
  Tom’s promise was fulfilled.
  Everywhere they went they found more
survivors to help spread the pethro.  
Pilots, planes, and helicopters made work easier.
  Larger cities only needed small doses of the bio-agent.
  Wind and movement by the hordes did most of
the work after that.

With more than 99% of the world’s population wiped out, life
afterwards was far from easy. Sadly it
was the reset that “The Ark” was hoping for.  
Jobs and financial planning were replaced by farming and hard work.
  It wasn’t an easy life, but it was life.

Thank you for reading The Demented: Contagion. I would greatly
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