Omega Virus (Book 1): Beta Hour (18 page)

“You
don’t know that!” I whispered.

“You’re
in denial. Again, you have two options.”

“No—”

“Yes!”
He grabbed my shoulders. “One: You kill her now, the merciful thing to do! Or
two: You leave with Jessie and take care of her in your own time.”

I
sucked in my breath. Leave?
On our own?
Kessa and I
were lucky to have made it. With Jessie being sick, then we wouldn't survive
long. But who knew how long she had?

“Well,
Zachary Mastiff,” Wesley asked. “What’s your choice? It's your fate. Your
destiny.”

“I…”

“If
you don’t have the guts, I’ll do it!” Wesley put his hands on his holsters.

“No!
No! No! I’ve made my choice.”

“And
what is that?” he asked.

“I’ll
leave with Jessie.” I looked back to the group. “When she turns she’ll be my
problem, not yours.”

Jessie
turned and looked back. She smiled at me, and I smiled back, but inside my
heart shattered. How could I ever take her life?

LEVEL 21 – ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We found a
temporary refuge
;
a fenced in area under a freeway.
The night grew so cold; I feared we'd freeze to death before morning.

As
I cuddled up against Kessa, I found myself not wanting her. I wanted Jessie.
Thus, I couldn’t help but be depressed.

Kessa
shivered and drove her back end into me. I grunted as she nearly knocked me
down the slope beside us. Homeless people had once resided under the same
freeway. They'd left an ample supply of filthy blankets and makeshift pillows.

I
tried to move my arm, but it'd fallen asleep an hour before. In response, Kessa
mumbled in her sleep. I tried to listen, but I couldn't make out anything
coherent.

I
looked over Kessa's shoulder and watched Jessie. She lay in the middle of Jeff
and Dave, who both refused to get body heat from each other. They needed to
learn dignity came second to survival.

Wesley
hovered near the edge of a concrete wall, watching the night. He had his gun
ready to shoot anything that moved, which gave me cause for alarm; he might
shoot me should I try to stand.

“Not
even any animals,” Wesley whispered. “What does it mean?”

I
craned my neck to regard him. He didn't look my way, but I knew he spoke to me.

I
twisted my arm and slowly pulled it out from underneath Kessa. She shivered
which sent icicles into my heart. I couldn't help it. The time had come to
leave.

“Give
me a way to find you,” I whispered as I approached Wesley.

He
looked at me, grinning wide. “You want to meet again? I see you still want to
save the world.”

I
rubbed my hands over my bare arms. “Plus, you still owe me answers.”

Wesley
reached his coat and pulled out a radio. He shoved it into my hand. “I don’t
know how far we’re going. But I want to stay in this area.”

“I
thought you had the enemy's location,” I asked.

“Some
are up in Ohio, others towards New York.
And then another out
west.
There are a lot of leads, but for now, I'm following the scent
here.”

G.O.D.
Mode had a lot of members it seemed, and it would take a lot of work. The least
I
could do would
be return to help.

“Thanks,
man.” I held out my hand.

He
smacked my hand away. “Don't thank me yet.”

“Why?”
I asked as he pulled off his trench coat. “What are you doing?”

“Giving
you a parting gift, kid.” He said.

“But—”

“Take
it.” he shoved the bundle into my arms.

“But—”
I tried again.

“Just
shut up and get Jessie.” He whispered.

I
continued to stare.
Big shot Wesley, never showing his
feelings.

After
a few moments, he scowled. “You don’t get the fedora. You haven't earned the
right to wear the Zombie Killer Hat.”

I
hadn’t been expecting it, but I kept my mouth shut. I turned to find Jessie
standing behind me. She wore a garbage bag as a cloak. In the dim moonlight,
she already looked like one of the undead. For a moment, I thought she had
turned, but then she spoke.

“I’m
ready.
”
she said.

“You
overheard?” I asked.

“Yes.”
She said. “And it’s the right thing to do.”

With
a sigh, I scanned the group. “Okay, let’s go.”

She
nodded, and I glanced back at Wesley.

He
held out his hand. “I’ll be waking the
Tweedles
up
for their shift soon. I won’t let Kessa freeze. Now you can thank me.”

“Of
course,” I smiled. “Thank you for everything.”

“Good
luck.” He whispered as we slid silently down the ramp.

At
the bottom, I stepped on something that made an aluminum crunching sound and I
froze. Jessie sucked in her breath. Still only silence remained.

I
held up the Zombie Killer's coat, and she shook her head. “You earned it, not
me.”

Forcing
a grin, I took her hand, which felt warmer than I'd expected it to be. She had
a high fever, which meant it wouldn’t be long. I cringed at the thought of
pulling the trigger.

“Are
you okay?” she asked.

I
pulled the trench coat on and shook my head. “Sure.”

We
squeezed through a hole in the chain-link fence and moved into the woods.
Looking around, we both knew we needed to stay quiet and find shelter. While
traveling miles from the Cornelia base, we'd passed Corpse hordes, some of
which numbered in the thousands.

Neither
of us spoke as we walked on for hours. Even in the quiet, Jessie's breathing
comforted me. So long as I could hear that, I knew she hadn't joined the
undead's
ranks, and wouldn't be taking a chunk from my
neck. Jessie swore she didn't feel cold, but even with Wesley's trench coat
wrapped me, I still froze. I couldn't feel my toes.

After
awhile she said, “It won’t be long.”

I
gasped. “Don’t say that! You have plenty of time left!”

“I
didn’t mean it that way.” She said. “There’s a building coming up.”

“Oh?”

I
couldn’t see anything through the darkness.

“It’s
not too far; I can see it.” She assured me.

“You
can see in the dark?” I asked.

She
sighed. “The only positive side-effect.”

I
hadn’t meant to mention the virus; I felt bad.

“Lead
the way then,” I said.

Jessie
walked out ahead, then glanced at me, “Watch my back. Not backside.”

My
face burned with embarrassment as I kept pace.

We
skirted a clearing, and soon enough I spotted the structure, a two-story,
mansion. Out front sat a fountain, with the statue of a woman holding a tilted
vase. Water no longer ran.

Guns
readied, we approached the courtyard. We stepped through the tall frosted
grass. With each crunching step, I held my breath. Upon reaching the fountain,
we found the frozen water.

“Let’s
get inside before we freeze.” I murmured.

“Do
you think there are Corpses in there?” she asked.

“Maybe,”
I said. “But I’ll handle them.”

She
shook her head. “We both will. I’m not useless yet.”

“Just
be careful,” I told her. “Getting a chunk ripped out won’t feel good.”

“I
know.” She said. “Trust me, I know.”

Once
again, said the wrong thing. We walked up the stone steps, as I shook my head
in self-disgust. Jessie motioned to the door. I held my breath and tapped with
my gun, several quick times.

If
anyone were home, dead or otherwise, hopefully, we’d hear
them
coming. But after a few moments, all remained quiet. I tried the handle, and
the door opened without a problem. I nodded to Jessie, and we both slipped in,
guns raised.

I
could barely make out the foyer through the dim moonlight shining in the
windows. The darkness didn't bother Jessie; she kept walking. I followed,
nearly blind.

“I
can’t see,” I whispered. “I’m the useless one.”

She
hushed me. We entered another room, and Jessie moved away. I stood blind and
alone.

“Jessie?”
I whispered.

She
didn’t respond, and I no longer could hear her breathing; I cursed.

“Jessie?”
I asked, growing worried.

Footsteps
came from the other side of the room. Every hair on my body stood on end and
fear flooded me.

“Jessie,
is that you?” I whispered, trying to stay calm.

A
blinding light erupted from the center of the room, and I cried out, shielding
my eyes.

“Quiet!”
Jessie whispered.

I
lowered my arms to find her holding a flashlight.

“You
scared the crap out of me!” I whispered. “Don’t ever do that again!”

She
grinned. “At least let me have a tiny bit of fun.”

I
rolled my eyes. “That wasn’t fun for me.”

“Let’s
continue our search.” She handed me the flashlight. “Now that you’re not
useless.”

“Yeah,
yeah.” I took the light.

The
next few rooms were bedrooms. They seemed to be guestrooms. We didn't find any
personal belongings. When we found the kitchen, we stopped.

“Let’s
search all of the cabinets for food,” I said. “There has to be something here.

“You
start on this end,” Jessie said. “I’ll check the far side.”

She
went off into the dark. I almost envied her night vision. I started with the
cabinets. To my surprise, each and everyone sat stocked with food. I sifted
through, finding everything from canned beans to cereals that weren’t expired.
I ignored the foods that required preparation.

A
loud and sudden thud came from behind me. I spun expecting to find Jessie, but
instead my light landed on the silver door of a walk-in freezer.

“Jessie?”
I asked.

She
didn’t answer. Did she accidentally lock herself in? I took a few cautious
steps toward the door, and another thud came from inside.

“Jessie?”
I asked again, loud enough for her to have heard me if she were in the room
elsewhere. But she didn’t answer.

I
walked up to the freezer, turned the handle and pulled the door open. My light
landed on the face of an old man, with green frozen eyes. He hissed, and I
stumbled back into the counter. The Corpse wore a full black, butler’s outfit
and his hands held a silver tray with teacups that sloshed about dark, putrid
liquid. He walked slowly, probably as he had in life.

I
lifted my gun, ready to shoot, but he collapsed, a butcher knife in the back of
his head. Jessie reached down and pulled the blade out.

“What
were you thinking?” She scolded.

“I
thought you were stuck in there!” I argued.

“I
had stepped into the walk-in food pantry.”

I
held my hand over my heart, trying to calm down. “This place is packed with
food.”

“Tell
me about it,” she responded,
then
stared at the dead
butler. “Somebody has a sense of humor. Sticking this guy in the freezer.”

I
shrugged. “Wasn’t there a game with that one chick? You could put her butler in
the freezer. It was the only way to get him to leave you alone.”

We
shared a small chuckle and then walked back to the foyer.

A
large center staircase led to a landing, and two smaller ones branched off onto
two separate balconies that ran along the upper walls.

“After
you.” Jessie rolled her hand.

We
walked upstairs, and I tapped on the first door on the left. Satisfied no
Corpses were inside, I opened it and found just a bedroom. A pink, canopy bed
sat in the center with stuffed bunnies all over.

“A
little girl’s room,” I said.

Jessie
sighed. “Sad, isn't it?”

I
nodded as I checked the closet.
Nothing of out of the
ordinary.
The next room looked similar but with violet and an affinity
for unicorns. There were statues and wall prints of ponies even. We made our
way to the center double doors. With a shove, we pushed them open and stepped
in guns ready to fire. Again, no bodies or Corpses, but we did find an amazing
library that stretched twenty feet high, with a chandelier above. It would have
been normal except the amount of blood and bones on the floor.

“What
do you think happened here?” Jessie asked.

“A
massacre,” I responded. “Probably the entire family.”

“But
where’s the Corpses that did it?” She asked. “The doors were shut.”

I
shined the light around the room. There were no other ways out or broken
windows.

“I
don’t know,” I said. “Maybe it was the butler, and someone locked him in the
freezer before escaping?”

“Something
is off.” She sounded worried.

“Let’s
finish checking the East rooms. There still may be something in there. And we
need to find a place to sleep for the night. I'm not sleeping with unicorns or
bunnies!”

Jessie
giggled. “What's wrong with unicorns and bunnies?”

We
checked the first room on the east side of the hallway.

The
room belonged to a man. Large deer heads hung mounted on the walls. Each of the
eyes on the three creatures shined with what seemed like a deep animosity,
almost as if they were alive.

“I
hate taxidermy,” Jessie said. “How can people do such things?”

“An
acquired taste, I guess,” I whispered.

A
large king sized bed against the far wall, appeared soft and comfy.