The Zyne Project (8 page)

“Ma’am, we heard you the first time. Please remain calm.  Help is on the way.”

Rosa tried another tactic, “Dr. Johns asked me to communicate with you.  He needs some additional supplies to buffer the transfusion we’ve received.”

This time, another voice responded, “Where is Dr. Johns?  Why isn’t he talking to us?”

Rosa thought quickly of the best way to respond, “Dr. Johns is in the medical lab. He asked me to come out here and talk to you.”

Silence…and then…

“Ma’am, please have Dr. Johns come out here and speak to us.  And don’t try to further tamper with the protective film you see hanging over the building.  If you continue to destroy it, we’ll have to take additional measures.  It’s for your protection and ours.”

Rosa wasn’t sure what to say.  She wanted to shriek and curse at them…calling them every horrible name imaginable. But the more logical side of her brain reminded her that losing her cool would only make the situation worse.  So, she calmly responded, “Got it.  I’ll bring back Dr. Johns so that you can speak to him directly.”

As she stepped off the chair, the world swayed, causing her to fall back and sit for a moment.  Her head was pounding in pain and tears formed in the corners of her eyes, spilling down in silent rivers.  Suddenly, she heard a helicopter overhead and imagined it hovering over the building in a menacing bug-like manner.

She knew that the CDC had to follow protocol, but couldn’t believe that she was being contained in this yellowish prison.  Didn’t they realize that there were sane people inside who needed help?  Yes, most of the nurses and technicians had been killed, but there was still one person alive in the laboratory and the cleaning crew was still alive.  And…she and Dan were still ok.

Staring at Jennifer’s body floating underwater in the pool, Rosa realized that she was now in a life or death situation and she would need to think rationally and calmly in order to survive.  Whatever infusion they’d taken was having a deadly impact and transforming them into wild, insane animals with little comprehension of right from wrong.  She wasn’t sure how long she would remain sane, but so far she was able to keep her train of thought steady and wasn’t blacking out.  The only irritants were the constant itching sensations and headaches that were slowly getting worse.

Rising from the chair, she picked up her knife and decided to head back inside and find the doctor who had started this horrific mess.

***

Dan watched the elevator doors close and leaned back up against the wall.  He didn’t blame Bryan and Rosa for being angry.  They were starting to realize how bad the situation was getting and needed to blame someone.

That someone…was him.

And now, all cell service had been cut off and he was stuck with busted vials and extremely limited supplies.  But, he felt a little better knowing where to the find the transfusion buffer. 

Thanks goodness for April
, he thought.

A sound further down the hallway caught his attention.  Remembering that the cleaning crew was still cowering in one of the bedrooms, he made his way to their location and knocked on the door.

“Hello?  It’s Dr. Johns. Please let me in.”

He heard a click as the lock turned and the door opened, revealing four very frightened people inside.  The men and women were pale and silent, waiting for him to give them some good news.

After he shared with them what was happening, the group decided to stay put. They had water, snacks from the minibar that had been stocked for the study, and a bathroom.  Clearly enough to sustain them until the entire ordeal was over.  When asked about the yellow material that now covered the windows, Dan lied and said it was all protocol and that they would be allowed to exit the building shortly. 

No sense in getting these poor people all freaked out
, he thought.

While the majority of them appeared to believe him, one man in particular appeared to question what was being shared.   He seemed to Dan like a shy, quiet sort of person who kept to himself, but was wiser than he let on.  Dan asked him his name.

“Greg,” the man answered simply and looked away.

Dan didn’t have time to try to convince Greg that everything was ok. He needed to search the remainder of the hallway and the storage areas at the far end.  Rick was still missing and needed to be restrained…or killed.  So, it was necessary to get moving and continue his search.

Standing up to go, he looked back at the small group and apologized to them, “I’m so sorry that you’re caught in the middle of this.  We’ll get it under control and then I’ll come back for you.”  He turned towards the door, when a hand caught his arm.  It was Greg.

“Doctor…can I come with you?  I’d sure like to help. It’s better than sitting here.”

Dan hesitated for a moment and then decided to take Greg up on his offer.  He
did
need the help and given Rick’s possible strength, it would be good to have back-up.

“Ok, but follow me closely.”

As soon as the men left the room and shut the door behind them, Dan pulled Greg aside and whispered, “I don’t know if you quite understand what we’re dealing with.  The man who’s missing, Rick, isn’t well. In fact, he’s lost his mind and could be very dangerous.  Are you going to be ok?”

Greg looked at him and nodded.  “Yes, we heard.  He completely tore up that poor woman while we listened in the other room.  I can’t just sit and not try to help.  And, I don’t think you were telling us the truth.  We’re not getting out of here unless we catch him. Am I right?”

Dan hesitated for a moment and decided that the young man, who appeared to be in his early 20’s could be trusted to not panic the group. “Yes, you’re right.  We’re quarantined here until we can treat all of the trial subjects.” He looked down the hall. “Luckily, I think I’ll be able to treat them, but it’s going to be impossible if we can’t contain all the subjects who are still alive.  We could get ambushed and that would be…”

Suddenly, they heard a roar coming from a storage room that was located at the end of the hallway. Both men could tell that the room had been breached as the door was slightly ajar.

The sounds of boxes being tossed around and metal clanking erupted and sifted towards them. They could also hear someone growling in a deep, inhuman voice.  Dan pulled out his gun and grabbed the knife from his belt, handing it to Greg who looked a little uneasy. 

“I know it’s not much, but you need to be armed.”

Greg nodded his head and the two men began creeping towards the storage area. Suddenly, Dan realized that they only had weapons and no way to restrain Rick if they were able to catch him.  They would either kill him or he would kill them.

A guaranteed mission failure…

He turned to Greg and motioned towards the elevator. “We’re making a mistake going down there like this. First, we need to go downstairs and get a sedative. I need to examine Rick to see if I can help him.”

The men turned around and quickly made their way to the elevator. After pressing the call button, the doors slid open and they got inside, but just as the doors were closing they saw Rick stumble outside.

Then, the doors shut and they began to descend to the first floor.

“Shit,” said Dan, “I hope he doesn’t hurt any of the other people up there.”

Greg just stared at him frightened and concerned.  As the elevator landed on the first floor and the doors once again slid open, Dan thought he heard sounds coming from the common area, but quickly moved in the other direction towards the medical clinic. 

Need to get the strong sedatives loaded
, he thought.

Motioning for Greg to be quiet, the two men crept towards the clinic. The metal doors were shut and it was quiet inside.  Carefully, Dan pushed the doors open and they slowly entered.

Greg’s eyes widened and his lips pursed as they passed the dead nurses and the unconscious technician.  As they got closer to the last laboratory marked Laboratory A, Dan took a deep breath and said a little prayer to himself.  If Rick had destroyed this room, they would be completely out of luck.

As he peeked around the corner, gun pointed straight ahead, he was surprised and relieved to see that the laboratory hadn’t been completed disrupted. A chair was lying on the floor, but the vials lining the walls were unbroken.  And most importantly, the glass casing that he assumed held some of the anti-therapy virus/gene concoctions was unharmed.

Ok, before I do anything, I’ve got to find the sedatives and load them into a few syringes so that we’ve at least got a chance
, he thought.

A built-in sink contained several drawers. He tugged on the first few and pulled out three sterile syringes. Dan then walked over to the glass enclosure and pulled out a mixture that was simply marked “zzz”.  In preparation for the trial, the technicians had jokingly marked the sedatives with the letters “zzz” to emulate the “zzz’s” their patients would experience in the event of an injection. 

Dan quickly and expertly filled the syringes with the sedative, careful to not spill any and ensuring the right amount was extracted.  He purposefully filled the syringes with enough liquid to cause a severe blackout in just about any sized person, but not enough to stop the heart or other organs.

Once he was done, he packed the syringes away in a small black case.  Looking quickly around the room, he spotted a number of lab coats hanging on the back of the door.  He pulled one off and put it on, slipping the casing into a front pocket. 

Dan then searched for the vials of the anti-therapy or what the technicians called “buffers”.  After rifling through the glass enclosure, he finally found what he was looking for. 

A row of vials marked “Z-“ was neatly hidden behind a row of other vials marked “Z”. Dan knew this had been done on purpose.  The study had been carefully orchestrated and in order to keep the optimism alive and the technicians on track, the anti-therapy infusions had been hidden.

Yep, we were arrogant and dumb,
Dan thought bitterly.

He carefully moved the vials filled with the gene therapy buffer into one of the sturdier wooden cabinets and locked them in with a key he had pulled out of his pocket. It was a skeleton key that was able to unlock every door and cabinet in the Illusions building. After securing the vials, he looked over at Greg and nodded grimly. 

 “Ok, I think we’re ready. Let’s go back upstairs.”

The emptiness and silence downstairs were disconcerting, but there was no time to worry or do a quick perimeter search.  Both men thought about Rick upstairs, potentially doing severe damage and felt anxiety creeping into their minds. They got back into the elevator and pressed ‘2’.

***

The altercation with Jennifer and interactions with the people keeping them hostage exhausted Rosa and she knew that if she didn’t rest for a moment, she wouldn’t make it any further. She barely had any energy left to spare, so she decided to lay down on a couch located by the front door and take a short nap. Sleep was a sweet escape, but a short time later, different sounds woke her up.

And waking up was
not
a pleasant experience.

Her head felt like it was on fire.  Every few minutes, strong pain would shoot through her sinuses and erupt in the center of her skull.  It felt as if someone was setting off fireworks in her brain. 

This must be what death feels like,
she thought. 

Suddenly, she felt something dripping down her neck.  Reaching up, she touched the liquid and saw that it was crimson.  Blood had begun leaking out of her ears.  Shaking now, she reached for a nearby box of tissues and quickly dabbed her ears. 

She was falling apart.

Don’t give up,
her inner voice commanded.

Find the doctor…he can help you…

Standing up, Rosa threw the tissues on the table and walked over to the elevator.  Each step was painful, but she didn’t care.  If she stopped now, she had a feeling that she would end up like Jennifer.

Pushing the elevator button, she waited for it to arrive.  Once inside and on her way to the second floor, she leaned up against the wall and looked at her reflection in the mirrored walls.  Gasping, she could see that her face was changing.