Trepidation (32 page)

“You didn’t have to steal his car,” Charlie said.

“Well, I didn’t want him to come with us,” Nick replied.

Val glanced over from the front seat. “He would have put a bullet in our heads the second we let our guard down.”

Charlie huffed. “Take me to my lab at the hospital so I can show you Jackie
is
alive.”

“And what’s the catch?” Claire asked.

“You’ll have to do something for me. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.”

“Fair enough,” Nick said. “What is it?”

“I’ll tell you once you see that Jackie is really alive. You might be more willing to consider my proposal when you see her pretty face. And I’ll even throw in a bonus for you to sweeten the pot. I’ll give you one vial of the cure...the one I made that cures hybrids.”

“So why can’t we make this deal, right here, right now,” Val said. “Why go to the lab where all your minions are awaiting your return?”

“No, I want to go where all his minions are,” Nick said. “Please Charlie, by all means, take us there.”

Charlie looked at Val. “I swear they won’t hurt you.”

“If they come at me like a pack of wild animals, all bets are off,” Claire said.

Charlie smirked. “They won’t. I have complete control of them.”

“And I’m just supposed to trust you?” I asked.

“And I’m supposed to trust you?” Charlie retorted.

“Unlike your word, mine is solid,” Nick said. “We just want what’s rightly ours—Jackie and that vial that cures hybrids.”

“Fine, but if you try any tricks, you’ll never lay eyes on her. And don’t think I’m dumb. I know you want to kill my army. But that won’t happen. You know why? Because my hybrids will snap you in half like a twig.”

“You think so?” Nick asked in a cocky tone.

Charlie nodded. “I know so.”

I
knew Nick was up to no good. Sure, he wanted Jackie back if she was alive, but he’d given no indication that he believed she was. He wanted Charlie’s notes on the how to fix the formula, along with a sample, but I knew Charlie wouldn’t just hand those over so we could take it to another lab for another scientist to take all the glory. Nick was as good as Charlie was at manipulating people into doing what he wanted, and he had the guns and muscle to back it up when they didn’t.

I was also sure he would expect Lucas, Val, Claire, and I to take down the hybrids, and it seemed Claire was on the fence about that. She was afraid they’d have the upper hand and would slaughter us. I pondered the deal. Charlie wanted us to go into his lab and see Jackie so he could ask us for something. If we complied, then we’d leave with Jackie and a vial that cured hybrids. However, if we said no, I was sure he’d unleash the hybrids on us. If we refused to go, we would never know where the hybrids were being kept. Because we’d searched the entire hospital before. And we’d also never get our answers about Jackie. So I guess we all decided on risking it and seeing how it all played out.

We parked at the hospital, and the parking lot seemed to be devoid of zombies. I kept my hand on the gun in my holster, just in case, and I slowly let out the breath that was frozen in my throat.

As we walked to the hospital, I pulled Nick back. “Remember, he’s sneaky. He took down all those armed gang members with gas and hybrids, so watch out.” When Nick nodded, I continued, “The hybrids are loyal to him. They want to be human again, and they’ll do whatever it takes. That means they’ll stand by him, even if he is lying to them. Don’t threaten or hurt Charlie in any way.”

“He’s up to something,” Nick said.

“Maybe he’s hoping we’ll be some new test subjects,” I said.

“Scary thought, but you might be right,” Nick said.

“Maybe he brought us to his evil lair to sic the hybrids on us,” I said.

“At this point, anything is possible, so stay on guard.”

“Do you believe him? Do you think Jackie is alive?”

“I’m sorry, Dean, but I think it’s malarkey. He’s just using that to manipulate us.”

“But that hybrid said—”

“Consider the source, little brother. It was a hybrid. People like Charlie...they use your emotions. We don’t really know what happened to her, and that haunts all of us, so Charlie’s smart enough to use that to his advantage. Stay strong. Don’t fall for it.”

“If you don’t believe him, then why are we here?” I asked.

Nick blew out a long breath. “Because I don’t want you holding it against me for the rest of my life. If we hadn’t come, you’d always carry around those what-ifs. I know firsthand that that’s no way to live. I’m here to prove to you that Charlie is crazy.”

“It’s really about taking out the hybrids, Nick. You’re just here to take them out, so don’t use me as a scapegoat.”

Lucas clapped my shoulder. “Are you gonna believe the truth once you see it for yourself?”

“Yes, I can handle the truth,” I said. “I just need to know, one way or another.”

Charlie unlocked the main doors to the hospital. “We don’t have electricity in the hospital, only the lab. There’s no way a generator could give enough juice to this entire facility.”

My heart pounded as I walked in.

Charlie grabbed a lantern from the main desk and turned it on to light our way. Our footsteps echoed as we walked down a long corridor, making a few twists and turns. Flashbacks of the old lab still haunted me, and strolling down that pitch-black corridor reminded of the first time I’d had to escape Charlie’s grip. When he led us down the stairs, I began to get really nervous. My only consolation was that he was a wimp, and he was only one person.
Of course, he could have a whole army of hybrids down here, at his beck and call
, I thought eerily. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and my hands began to tremble as I was overcome with a really bad feeling.

Charlie took us through a maze of corridors and opened a few secret doors with codes. We walked down more stairs. He led us into a lab and flicked the lights on. It wasn’t creepy at all; in fact, it looked like a modern lab, equipped with microscopes and lab tables and all kinds of other equipment. The walls were crisp and white, and I didn’t see any sign of foul play.

“Is this where Jackie’s being held?” I asked.

“First, I need to ask for a favor,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

He peered intently at me. “I’m going to need more serum.”

“What!? And why would you think I have any?” I retorted.

“Cut the crap. I know you have a whole bag...and I want it.”

“Sorry, Charlie. That’s not gonna happen,” Nick said, “and I suggest you control your tone when you’re talking to my brother. Besides, who told you such a crazy thing anyway?”

“Jackie.”

Lucas chuckled. “Sure she did. Just how gullible do you think we are?”

Nick stepped forward. “Look, if we had a silo full of serum, we wouldn’t give you a drop of it. So are you gonna release those hybrids on us or what?”

I knew Nick was egging him on. He wanted to know where the hybrids were kept because his mission was to destroy them, before they came after Max and took out Fairport. Suddenly, something sharp pierced my skin, and I screamed. When I stepped back, I gasped at the sight before me: Charlie was holding a syringe and had injected me with something.

“Now, Nick, your brother’s a dead man,” Charlie said, “but I have an antidote to save his life. All I ask in return is that bag of vials. And don’t go trying to fill them up with piss or something, because I’ll be checking the contents.”

Nick lunged for Charlie, and Val held him back. He pulled out his gun and threatened Charlie with every kind of torturous assault he could think of, spewing out a chain of curse words I’d never heard him say before.

I rubbed the spot on my arm where the needle had been inserted; it was swelling up like a mosquito bite. I wanted to cuss Charlie out, too, but I was too overwhelmed with shock and panic. 

“Stop it, Nick!” Val yelled. “Put the gun down. If you kill the spineless jerk, Dean’s as good as dead.”

“Yeah, just take a deep breath and think about it, man,” Lucas added. “I’d like to blow his head off, too, but we gotta be smart.”

When the fear let go of my throat for a moment, I asked, in a trembling voice, “What did you inject me with?”

“Anthrax. Death will occur within four to twelve hours of exposure.”

“How could you?” I screamed.

“Dean saved your life!” Val shouted. “How could you do this to him?”

Charlie looked at her hard. “And I saved Dean’s life so I think we’re even. Remember when those gang members shot Mikey when Dean was on guard duty? Dean took down one gangster but two more had guns trained on him. My hybrid shot the remaining thugs and saved Dean’s life. And do you have any idea why? Because I put Dean and your whole group on my ‘do not kill’ list to the hybrids. But that favor is over and done with as of today.”

“We should’ve let him died in that house,” Claire said. “We should’ve never rescued him with Steven and Rachel.”

Trembling terror blanketed my siblings’ and friends’ faces. I’d never seen them so horrified. The gnawing sense of anxiety overwhelmed me. There was no CDC anymore, no ER to rush me to. I’d been injected with a deadly virus, and there was nothing anyone could do for me—anyone but the man who’d injected me. I’d been delivered a death sentence, and it hadn’t come from Z’s men or those disgusting zombies. A million thoughts plagued my mind. I tried not to let the dark thoughts consume me, but worry began to swallow me whole. 

“I have the antidote,” he said in an unnervingly calm voice. “All you have to do is get me what I want.” He laughed. “See? One doesn’t have to be armed with a gun to get people to comply. Heck, I didn’t even need my fearless hybrids. You followed me down here because you think I’m weak and stupid, but I outsmarted all of you.”

“This is sick!” Val shouted. “What gives you the right to play God?”

He pointed at his watch. “The clock is ticking.”

B
efore my brother could even decide what to do, the door burst open, and I instinctively ducked as a spray of gunfire flew in our direction. We hid behind a huge stone pillar. Val knocked a table over, and we huddled behind it. She grabbed her gun and started firing back as Z and five of his men ran directly at us. 

“Dean!”

I turned to face Steven, who was cowering behind the overturned table.

“Steven?” I said. “How did you find this place?”

“I got one of my dad’s scientist friends to talk and brought Max to the exact location. Z got his hands on that same scientist so I’m sure that’s why he’s here.”

Steven pointed his gun as he glanced around. “Where is he?”

“Who?”

Steven didn’t answer, but I’d never seen him looking so angry. We all wanted to take Z down, but I think Steven wanted to be the one to actually do the deed. He sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I see him!”

“Don’t play hero, Steven. You can’t just rush out there alone to take him out. His men will gun you down in five seconds flat,” I said, ducking to avoid the incoming rifle fire.

But neither my words nor the bullets seemed to faze Steven. In slow motion, he pointed his gun right at Charlie. “Die, you sucker!” he shouted.

Suddenly, much to my amazement and dismay, a bullet hit Charlie straight in the forehead.

Z wasn’t Steven’s mark after all! It was Charlie all along.

The man who had my antidote crumbled to the ground in a trembling heap.

Val ran over to him and shook him. “No!” she screamed. “We weren’t done with him. Dean needs him!”

My stomach lurched as I watched Charlie die, taking with him the secrets of how to cure the deadly disease he’d injected me with—not to mention the answers about Jackie that I’d so desperately longed for so very long. 

Steven lowered his gun, and a satisfied grin crossed his face. “He killed my father. My dad died so his virus wouldn’t get out. And now he can’t make any more hybrids.”

Charlie’s eyes fluttered open as he stood. He growled and peered at us with white, dead eyes. Steven shot him again and the zombie fell to the ground.

“How could you?” Val said.

Steven showed no remorse. “What? That mad scientist needed to pay. I know he was your friend but—”

Claire cut him off in a hurry. “That’s not it, Steven. Charlie injected Dean with anthrax, and he was trying to trade the antidote for something. Now we’ll never get it, because you killed him. He was also going to tell us where my cousin was, because he kidnapped her. Now we’ll never know that either. He’ll take Dean’s cure and my cousin’s whereabouts to the grave!”

Steven looked at me. “I-I just got here,” he stuttered apologetically. “I had no idea. I’m so, so sorry. I guess I...I was just bent on revenge, seeing red, and I—”

“You idiot!” Lucas said as he made his way over to us. He stared at Steven intently, his eyes blazing with fury. He hit Steven with the butt of his gun, and Steven fell sideways, out cold.

“Lucas, stop! This isn’t who you are,” Val said. “He’s just a kid, a teenager who lost his dad. Give him a break.”

“Well, that so-called kid just gave your kid brother a death sentence, and I’m not gonna stand by and let him get away with it!”

“I’m upset, too, but beating up a teenager is no way to handle things. Now lay off!”

Suddenly, another bullet whizzed past my head, reminding me that we were going to have to fight our way out of yet another lab. I aimed and fired once again, squeezing off one shot after another. When more of Z’s foolish followers poured in the door, a cold chill shot down my spine. And when I saw a few hybrids shooting at them, I gasped.

It was all out war now between Z’s men, Max’s men, the hybrids, and the newly turned zombies who were shot.

“We need to get outta here,” Val said. “We can’t take them all on!”

Nick nodded. “Get to the exit. I’ll cover you.”

“There’re more coming from behind,” Lucas shouted.

When I glanced over my shoulder, I was shocked to see even more men pouring in.

Nick waved Max over to us and pointed to Z’s men. “Look!”

There, rushing forward, were Max’s teams, coming in fast, fearless, and furious, shooting semiautomatics like trained soldiers.