The Orphans Series Vol. 1: The Orphans (25 page)

             
He couldn't deal with the idea he could have given her something which would make her like Rogers, or flesh hungry ... or whatever was wrong with the rats. He wouldn't know until he had a chance to dissect one and see what really was going on. Unfortunately, he was now listening to foreign doctor who was more in love with medicine than speaking in clear English. "Dr. Sanji, please repeat what you said. I'm confused--what haven't you seen before, and what is wrong with Karen?"

             
The doctor stammered, "I have never seen anyone ... eat themselves."

             
Sanji's phone dropped to the floor, bouncing off of it. Frank heard the doctor yelp, "Karen! Stay back! Stay back, Ms. Randall! Please!
No
!" Then there was a sound of growling.

             
Frank stood still in shock, listening intently. Finally, he screamed, "Is anyone there!?"

             
He heard an even bigger thud, this one sounded like a body, he heard clothes being torn and then the phone went silent. He looked down--the call had been disconnected.

             
He cursed the phone, and, as he was about to unleash another string of vulgarisms, he heard another scream. This one was much closer. It was coming from down the hall. He tossed his phone on the counter.

             
The nurse yelled again for Rogers to stop whatever it was he was doing. Frank bolted for the door knowing he needed to get back to Des Moines, but knowing he must try to save the woman who was now his responsibility.

             
He was already thinking about how if he had left the notes in a foreign country, there would be less pain and suffering here today. He ran for the doorway and around the corner, doing something he usually didn't do--going into a situation completely unprepared. What he saw was nothing he would or could have expected.

             
The nurse was flailing and kicking her legs with Rogers straddling her, ripping at the thin blouse she was wearing, and gnawing into her exposed breast--ripping, chewing and clawing. He was growling. Blood dripped off of his chin back onto her shirt.

             
Frank stopped dead in his tracks. "Rogers! God, get off her! Did you lose it, man!?"

             
Rogers, who was completely unaware that anyone else was near him until now, stared up at Frank. Tilting his head to the side, he was still chewing meaty flesh with his mouth open, swallowing what he could as fast as he could and letting the rest fall from his mouth.

             
Watching Rogers' eyes, Frank wouldn't know he'd spent seven days a week with him many hours a day over the last few months. He noticed Rogers was blinking rapidly--his eyes were dripping with blood. He had chunks ripped from his arm. Frank looked around desperately wanting to find a way out of this.             

The nurse had stopped moving and wasn't twitching. Blood was pooling on the floor spreading wider, reaching further,
creating a red lake.

             
Frank walked slowly to the side of the wall, hoping he could get to the stairs. He tried to stay out of Rogers view, but the movement and sound of his footsteps had made him rise off of the nurse. He didn't walk, but he jumped and ran towards Frank in spurts. Frank thought possibly this was the first time Rogers had run in his adult life. He waited until Rogers got close and lunged for him. He dodged, ducking down, and quickly sprinted toward the nurse, leaping over her and landing next to a red box labeled 'Break Only in Case of an Emergency'. He didn't hesitate sending his elbow through the glass, ignoring the tiny hammer, and reached in grabbing a wood handled axe. It had a silver chopping blade with a pointed end on the opposite side. He also hit the emergency alarm to alert the guard's desk.

             
He held the axe with a baseball grip. He knew from war that those who exercised mercy went home in a body bag. He waited for Rogers to make his move.

             
Rogers came running and, as he was going too fast, he stumbled but never stopped moving. He was almost running like an animal on all fours and jumping into the air every three steps. When he was within five feet of Frank he leapt for him.

             
Frank swung the axe with every ounce of force he had hitting Rogers squarely in the heart. Frank stumbled backwards. Blood from Rogers' chest covered the wall and Frank as he let go of the handle. Rogers grabbed at it, lying on the ground and shaking.

             
Frank wiped the blood from his face with his shirt to try and clear his vision. "Good God! What the hell is wrong with you!?"

             
He ran to the nurse to feel her pulse. As he knelt next to her, he knew that she was gone.

             
A growling from behind startled him.

             
Frank turned slowly, staring at Rogers who was sitting up. Wondering briefly how this could happen, Frank ran towards Rogers, bringing his knee up an kicking him square in the face. It snapped his head back with the heel of his boot, laying him out flat on the ground again. Frank gripped the handle and yanked upwards. The handle snapped off leaving the blade stuck firmly in his chest. He stared at his weapon--nothing more than a short stick. He couldn't believe Rogers was still moving after he had landed the blade perfectly into his heart.

             
He backed slowly from Rogers and knew the questions behind this were going to be unlimited, the backlash immeasurable, and his life forever changed because of it. He knew the Adel police would not understand and he didn't have the time needed to stay and explain himself to anyone. He didn't feel right leaving Rogers to attack again, and he hoped the alarm would alert someone so they could send the police. He couldn't leave Karen at the hospital any longer without knowing for himself what was really going on.

             
He saw an opening for the stairwell and he sprinted for it. Feeling no pain, Rogers didn't wait on the floor. He jumped snarling in front of Frank, blood oozing from his mouth.

             
Frank gripped the piece of wood tight in his hand and, swinging it upward, jammed it through Rogers' chin making the tip of the wood shaft come out the top of his skull.

             
Rogers fell to the ground instantly. Frank could see that he wasn't getting up again--his terror put to rest.

             
He pushed through the emergency stairway that had been inaccessible when chasing Rogers before. He took the steps two at a time, jogging quickly down the three flights, leaving bloody hand and shoe prints the entire way.

             
Frank knew there was no chance he would step back into this building but one more time to destroy all of the X-74. He had so much going through his mind ... his thoughts were racing with Karen, Shaun, Ellie, Rogers, and the poor nurse who died an underserved death.

             
As he flew down the stairs, he contemplated what might happen if a widespread outbreak happened. He truly hoped Rogers was its only victim. This was worse than the cancer he was fighting so hard to cure. He prayed that the strain he gave Karen was one of the other test drugs by some miracle of a chance, but deep down he was confident that he'd given her exactly what had turned Rogers into a ... a monster. Into a creature of unspeakable horror. Knowing that the drug he had worked on for so long had turned him into ... this. He had never in his life seen a man take a hit like that and keep going. He knew it was directly in his heart. The blood movement throughout his body should have never allowed him to take another step. There was nothing in science to explain this.

             
Frank bolted out of the emergency side doors and ran to his pickup, picking up pace as he got closer, feeling an urgency to get out of there. He soaked a half full water bottle on a towel he kept in the backseat and scrubbed his face and hair until it was barely evident he'd just been bathed in blood. He threw on an extra shirt he kept in the truck and figured most people wouldn’t notice his pants which were already dark. 

****

              Shaun got out of the shower and dried off quickly. It was half past ten by the clock on his cell phone, and he read a text message from Ellie: "
Tell your dad, I'm ready to go. I already have a bag of mom's stuff put together for her. x
"

             
Shaun messaged back: "
I just got out myself, but he isn't back, I'm not sure what's taking so long.
"

             
The phone rang and Shaun picked it up. "What's up, Ellie? Are you okay?"

             
"
Yeah, technically speaking I'm good, minus the fact that I'm by myself, mom's in the hospital, and of course I'm trapped here, pacing around, waiting to be picked up.
"

             
Shaun was digging through his closet looking for clothes, and picked out a grey hoody and tan cargo shorts. The brisk mornings of May were still around, and there was a good chance if his dad came back that he would be in the cool hospital for the rest of the day. "I know it's not ideal, and I'm sure he'll pick us up. There's no way he'd have forgotten about us a second time. He probably just got stuck at work. I'm sure he's on his way here now."

             
"
I hope you're right, but if he isn't here soon, maybe you could talk to Greg's dad again about another ride. I'd ask Tina's dad but he would send Lucas to take us, and that would be a scary ride. He's a horrible driver and he still kind of has mixed feelings about me ever since the incident.
"

             
Shaun jumped into his shorts recalling the day perfectly and laughing. "By incident, Ellie, do you mean when you kicked him square in the balls? No, I wouldn't expect you'd want a ride from him, either. I can call Greg's dad. I'm sure he'd give us another ride to town--he's a good guy."

             
Ellie laughed thinking about it, a laugh she much needed. "
Yeah, what happened to Greg?
"

             
"It's one of science's greatest mysteries, but if I had to guess, I'd start the blame with cable. I'll call you back--I'm going to give dad a call and see if he's on his way, or if we need to just go without him."

             
"
Try to remember he's going through some stuff, too, so try not to give him too hard of a time, please.
"

             
"Yeah, poor guy. I'll do my best to handle him with kid gloves."

             
He immediately called his dad. Waiting patiently, the call went to voicemail yet again. Shaun was shaking his head in disgust, and he knew what was going to happen. He'd have to call Greg. He was going to have to explain that his father was forgetting about him again. He was going to have to tell Ellie that his dad had let them down again. Shaun spoke after the beep, "Hey, dad! Where are you!? We're ready to go back to Des Moines. Can you call me back? Ellie really wants to get back to her mom."

             
He paced around for twenty minutes, waiting for his dad, watching his phone. He shook his head and moaned, "Typical! Amazing how someone so gifted in science can be so useless in everything else!"

             
He scrolled back through his phone again and found Greg, feeling guilty about using his dad for a lift again. He dialed and waited for Greg to answer.

             
"
Good morning, princess!
" Greg chimed.

             
Shaun looked at the clock on his wall--it was almost eleven. "Sleep-in-day today, buttercup? Hey, is your dad around by any chance?"

              "
You need a ride back from the hospital? How's Ellie's mom doin', man? Are there any sexy nurses walking around naked?
"

             
"Funny enough, I already got a ride back from the hospital with Ellie and my dad, but then dad went back to the office and's gone MIA. Karen's still sleeping, and we aren't sure if she'll comeback out of it.... And yes, Greg, they're all walking around naked."

             
Greg dropped his phone and picked it up quickly, fumbling with it. "
Are you shitting me!? Are they hot!?
"

             
"There's help for you, I'm sure of it, Greg."

             
"
You're so immature, Shaun! Really, there's a time to joke! Nurse nudity isn't the time or the place...! Anyway, hold on and I'll go see if the captain-of-arms is around.
"

             
Shaun felt good about that comment and waited patiently. He heard Greg yelling for his dad but didn't hear a response.

             
He heard Greg yell loudly in the distance, "
You've got to be kidding me! Really!? In town!?
"

             
He came back on the line. "
Dude ... there was a double murder.
"