Jenny Undead (The Thirteen: Book One) (12 page)

“What the fuck are you
trying to do to us, Jenny?” Fisher was more worked up than
Jenny had ever seen him. She could identify the hunger in his eyes,
mostly because it was the same gnawing anguish she was feeling.
Everyone in the room was staring at Sully. “You can't just
bring a living in here. We have to fucking live here. It's all we
have.”

“He knows things,” Jenny said.
“Things about us. Things about my mother. He might be exactly
what we need. And he's the only living sample we have right
now.”

“Sample?” said Sully, his head
snapping up.

“
Shut up
,”
said Fisher and Jenny together.

Jenny touched Fisher's arm. “Please. Just
leave me alone with him. If he's lying, I'll kill him myself. Look
at him. He's practically pissing himself. Just give me an hour
alone.”

Fisher drank in the sight of
Sully for a long time before he looked back at Jenny. “I've
been
this
for over a year, Jenny. For
over a year I've been dead. And in that time, I have never hurt
anyone. Not a single person has so much as gotten a paper cut
because of me. Do you understand?”

“I do,” she said.

He turned his white, red-rimmed eyes to Sully
again. “I don't think you do. I've never been this close to
ripping someone apart. I can hear his blood rushing through his
veins. I can feel the vibrations his heart is making. I think you'd
better hurry.”

“Okay, Fisher,” Jenny said.

“I'll be downstairs,” he said.
“Eating.” Sully shuddered as Fisher left the room.
Jenny shut the door. They were in the lab, surrounded by dirty
microscopes. Jenny brought two rickety wooden chairs over, but
couldn't sit down. She was too twitchy. She knew how Fisher felt,
because she felt it too. She wanted to sink her teeth into Sully.
But there were more important things at the moment. She would just
have to suffer for a little while. It would be worth it. She was
getting better at pushing the red away.

She paced around Sully. “Everyone wants to
eat you,” she said.

“It's nice to be wanted,” said
Sully.

Jenny reached over and grabbed the front of his
shirt, making him gasp in surprise. “Is this a game to you,
Sully? Is this fun for you? Because I can call Fisher back. I can
call them all back.”

“I know you, Jen,” he gasped.
“This isn't you.”

Jenny let go and backed away.
She had to. It was hard to restrain herself. “You don't know
shit. That Jenny died in that fucking filthy tunnel. Every hope she
had was gone the second she set foot in that den of Righteous
fucking thumpers.” She
looked down at Sully. “That's not true, though, is it? The
moment she really died was when she trusted you, you lying piece of
shit.”

“Jen...”

“Don't act so fucking familiar,
Sully,” she said. “I am a monster. We're all monsters
here. So I'm going to want some truth coming out of those greasy
lips of yours.” She pulled out her knife and rested the point
on the middle of Sully's chest. He gritted his teeth.
“Why?”

“Why what?” he said, narrowing his
eyes. “Why did I tell you where to find your brother? The
brother you've been crowing about ever since I met you?”

“I know you put him there,” said
Jenny, her voice soft. “Why would you do that?”

“Because,” said Sully, raising his
eyes to meet hers. “I needed you to die.”

“What?”

“Well, not just me,” said Sully.
“Your mother asked me to.” Jenny tried to speak but the
words wouldn't come out. Sully smiled. “The experiment never
ended, Jenny. It's still happening. Right now. This. Just because
you got out, doesn't mean any of it stopped.”

She had him by the throat before he could say
another word. Sully turned red and it took Jenny a moment to
realize that it wasn't him, it was her vision that was red. She had
to control it. If she wanted to find her mother, to cure this
horrible disease, she had to keep it together. It took everything
she had to grind her teeth together so she wouldn't use them to rip
the meat off Sully's bones.

“I'm going to kill you if you talk about
her again,” Jenny growled. “I'm going to eat your
fucking liver. Do you understand?”

“You won't,” said Sully, his voice
high and weak. “You won't kill me, Jenny.” She could
hear his heart beating so fast it sounded like one long
heartbeat.

“Why's that?” she said.

“Because you want to find her,” he
said. “And you'll do anything. Even keep me alive.”

“You're a liar,” she said. “You lied about having a daughter, too, didn't you?”

“Yeah,” said Sully. “But I'm
your only link.”

“Link to what?”

“Your past. Your family's past. The reason
you're not a rotter right now. Hell, the reason you're not dead
right now.”

“How are you the link?” said Jenny.
“I only met you a few years ago. You're just an Expo
rat.”

“Let me go,” he said hoarsely.
“Stop choking me and take a step back.”

“Why should I?”

“Because if you do, I'll tell you
everything.”

“I was young when I went
to work for her.”

Sully and Jenny were sitting on opposite sides
of the room. The only way he would talk was if she stayed on her
side. She sat in her chair, feet propped up on the wall, glaring at
him.

“I'm supposed to believe you worked for my
mother,” said Jenny. “Doctor Anna Hawkins.
Really?”

Sully gave a humorless laugh that sounded like a
cough. His face was grim. “I was a scientist back
then,” he said. “Not as good as she was, but better
than average. I was Anna's lab monkey.”

“Anna? First-name basis?” said
Jenny. “I don't remember you.”

Sully nodded and shifted in his chair. “I
wasn't allowed around the test subjects,” he said. “I
made people uncomfortable. And when your grandfather came in, after
everything started to go to hell, well, I was barely a person to
that son of a bitch.”

“Why did he come?” said Jenny.
“If he wasn't involved in the beginning, why did he step in
on my mother's research? She was the top pathologist in the
country.”

“Jen, you
do
know what happened, don't
you?”

Jenny stiffened. “I know what they say
happened.”

“They?”

She shrugged. “People. Everybody. They say
she did it. She was contracted by the government to monitor the
patterns of an inert virus. Harmless. For checking bioterror
threats or some shit. They say she switched the harmless stuff for
the plague. They say it's all because of her.”

Sully nodded. “That's what your
grandfather thought. He thought Anna fucked up. I heard him say
it.”

“He thought it was an accident?”
said Jenny.

“You sound surprised.”

She shook her head. “I just always assumed
it was him.”

Sully shrugged. “Maybe it was. He was a
sadistic fuck. And he loved rubbing it in your mom's
face.”

“Sadistic,” Jenny repeated. A memory
of pain shot up her spine. It must have showed on her face because
Sully frowned.

“Do you think she did it?” he
said.

“I think she was weak,” said Jenny.
“Maybe someone threatened her and she caved. I don't
know.”

“You think Anna Hawkins was weak?”
Sully said. He snorted.

“She didn't stop him,” said
Jenny.

“What happened to your dad,
Jen?”

“What?”

“Your father. What happened to
him?”

“He skipped out on us,” said Jenny.
“Everyone blamed my mom and then he left. He left Casey and
me alone with her.” She sniffed. “Which is none of your
fucking business.”

“I agree,” said Sully. “But
that poor woman had no one to talk to. She was scared. Afraid for
you and Casey, afraid for herself. And afraid for your
father.”

“What are you talking about? Enough with
the fucking theatrics. Just tell me.”

Sully sighed. “I don't know who it was,
but I think your dear old granddad was working for them. Your mom
didn't know who they were either. The only thing she knew was that
they took your father. And if she didn't do exactly what they told
her to, they were going to kill him.”

“You're lying,” said Jenny.

“When the test subjects didn't work out,
it was too late to find new ones,” Sully continued.
“Scientists were forced to use their own kids. Even your
mother. The army was given the green light to do what they had to
do if anyone resisted. The researchers were told the children
wouldn't be harmed. But your mom knew better. It was everyone's
last shot at curing the plague. At first she put you and Casey in
the placebo group. But when your grandfather came, there wasn't a
placebo group. He gave Casey the real thing, and he did...other
things to you.”

“I'm kind of familiar with that
part,” said Jenny.

“But you might not be familiar with what
came next,” said Sully. “She said no. She said she'd
rather die, she'd rather all of you die, than to continue doing
what she was doing. And that's when you started attending your
special night sessions.”

Jenny stared at him. “I was the
punishment?”

“From what I can tell.”

“Jesus,” said Jenny. “I feel
sick.” A memory flashed through her mind. She had cried to
her mother. Screamed. Begged. Jenny's mother had tears running down
her face. She tried to talk with Jenny, but the old bastard showed
up and ushered her away from her daughter. Jenny heard her
screaming as Frank forced her down the hall. Jenny had forgotten.
How could she have forgotten such a thing? She had blocked it
out.

“Where is she?” Jenny said. All the
hunger and rage and ice in her body left her, at least for now. She
suddenly felt wrung-out. It was as if those feelings had been
filling her up, and now that they were gone she was shriveled and
boneless, without form, like an empty snakeskin. “Sully,
where is my mom?”

“I don't know, kid.”

“Motherfucker.”

“Honestly, I don't know. The messages come
through others. People come to me and tell me what to do. And I do
them. God help me, I do them all.”

Jenny narrowed her eyes. She knew she couldn't
trust Sully, who was studying her with small, twitchy eyes.
Something wasn't quite right with him.

“How do you know the messages are from
her?” Jenny said.

“I don't,” said Sully. “I have
no fucking idea. But I have to trust in something. And the thought
that your mom is alive and still trying...that gives me
hope.”

“That's where you're wrong,” said
Jenny, and her voice sounded like ice. “You can't trust in
anything anymore, Sully.”

“You should have remembered that,”
he said. “But here you are.”

“Fuck you. You did this. Don't put it on
me.”

“I told you where your brother was. I told
you it was dangerous. But you were the one that went.”

“And you put Casey there with a
lie.”

“It was for the best,” said
Sully.

“The fucking best?”

“They said you were it, Jen. They said to
save the world, you had to die one more time. And there was no way
around it.”

“One more time?”

“I'm tired.”

“No, you son of a bitch. You tell me what
the hell you're talking about.”

“You don't really think you survived those
experiments, do you?”

“What the fuck are you
talking about?” Casey said.

“I'm just telling you what he told
me,” said Jenny. “He said I died in those experiments.
More than once.”

“That's crazy,” said Grayson.
“How is that even possible?”

“Something Bierce did to me,” said
Jenny. “I don't know if it's true. I don't know if anything
he says is true. But I do believe one thing. Guy's a
scientist.”

“So?” said Fisher.

“So he can help us,” said Casey.

“That's what I was thinking,” said
Jenny. “We have no idea what we're doing, and all this book
research is getting you nowhere. We can watch him and make sure he
doesn't do anything stupid, but he can help us figure this out.
Sully has to want to stop all this. Everyone wants it to stop.
Everyone wants the rotters gone. Besides, he's too terrified of
Declan to go back to Expo right now.”

“Jenny, we can't kidnap the living and
force them to work for us,” said Fisher. “Besides, most
of us can't handle having Sully around all the time. This is our
place. We don't have to fight the cravings. It makes no sense to
bring a living in.”

“We have no idea what we're doing,”
said Jenny. “Do you mean to tell me you can't control
yourself long enough for him to look at some blood under a
microscope? I'm the first to admit that Sully's a dick and a liar,
but he knows what he's doing. And this is his thing. This is what
he did when he worked for my mom.”

Grayson pursed his lips and looked at Casey.
Fisher looked away.

“I say it's worth a shot,” said
Casey.

“Yeah, okay,” said Grayson.
“Whatever.”

“This is a bad idea,” said
Fisher.

“What the hell do we have to lose?”
said Jenny.

Fisher shrugged, his face still tense.
“Okay, Jenny. Let's save the world. With an untrustworthy
douche who's already gotten you killed.”

“Could've done without that last part,
dude,” said Casey.

“Where's Trix?” said Jenny.

The other three exchanged dark looks. “Out
with Abel,” Grayson said.

“Should we be worried?” said
Jenny.

“Yeah,” said Grayson. “That
guy is shady. Why did you guys bring him here?”

“He's one of us,” said Casey.
“We don't need a reason other than that.”

“Well, if you want to keep creepy
scientist guy here, you should watch out for Abel,” said
Fisher. “I get a bad feeling about him.”

“Maybe he has a point,” said Jenny.
“Maybe it is the natural order.”

“You say that like hunkering down in a
busted-up museum eating live goats isn't satisfying you on a
spiritual level,” Grayson said.

“It's what I always dreamed it would
be,” said Jenny.

“I can't do this,” said Sully,
looking around. “This shit is old.”

“What the fuck do you expect?” said
Jenny. “It's the zombie apocalypse.”

Sully shook his head. “We can't even power
this place up. I need light. Lots of light. I need to fire up the
equipment.”

“Fisher's working on power,” said
Jenny. “He's been working on it all night.”

“What do you mean?”

“They had solar in here in the end,”
said Jenny. “They took the panels down in the end so no one
would steal them.”

“So you're hooking up solar panels?”
said Sully, looking impressed. “Will it work?”

There was a whirring sound and a light above
them flickered to life. It was weak at first, but after a moment of
quiet buzzing, the light bulb blazed with light. Several lights
under the microscopes glowed.

“Yes, it will work,” said Jenny.
“Now compare the samples and tell me what you see.”

“Like what, for instance?”

“I want to know how we are different from
the rotters, and how we're different from the living. Look, Sully.
This could mean a cure. My mom said we were the cure. We have to
try.”

“She said you were the cure?” said
Sully. “When?”

“There was a note,” said Jenny.
“The point is we all want this bullshit to end. And as much
as I don't trust you, we need to help each other.”

“What about the others?” said Sully.
“Can you guarantee one of your friends isn't going to chew on
my face?”

“You'll be safe,” said Jenny. But
even as she said it she could feel the clutch in her chest, the red
around the edges of her vision. Her hands were shaking and she held
them behind her back. “What do you need?”

Sully looked around. There were a dozen or so
microscopes in various states of repair. The room had a thick layer
of dirt on everything. Jenny couldn't even tell what color the
counters were because they were so covered in dust and dirt. Plants
were sprouting between cracks in the floor and vines weaved through
a broken window. The light shining from above made it look like
some kind of greenhouse experiment.

“Centrifuge,” said Sully.
“I'll need a centrifuge.”

“Do you know where one is?”

“No,” he said. “But I'm sure
you can figure it out. I'll need alcohol or vinegar or other
disinfectant.”

“We have water,” said Jenny.

Sully sighed. “I guess that'll have to do.
Eyedroppers?”

“We have those,” said Jenny,
recalling some of the supplies she'd seen in the basement. “I
can bring a bunch of equipment up. Slides and whatnot.”

“Fine,” said Sully. “I'll need
syringes.”

“No.”

“I need to be able to draw the
blood,” said Sully.

“We'll do that,” said Jenny.

“Whatever. Just get the
centrifuge.”

“Why do you need a centrifuge?”

“To study the blood,” said Sully.
“I'm no pathologist, and I'm not as good as your mom, but I
do know a thing or two about research. I'll take a look and see if
I can figure something out.”

“Can you teach us to do it?” said
Jenny.

“Why?”

“We can't protect you from Declan forever,
Sully,” said Jenny. He stiffened, staring at her. “You
must have realized he wouldn't be happy with you for organizing my
death.”

“It crossed my mind a time or two,”
he mumbled. He looked at her. “I thought you wanted to kill
me.”

“I did,” she said. “I do. But,
I can't. If I kill you, where do I draw the line? But I won't stop
Declan from killing you.”

“Understood,” he said. “I'm so
sorry, Jen. You don't know how it tears me up inside. Knowing what
I did. I'll help you. Of course I will.”

“I'm not forgiving you, Sully.”

He nodded. “You have good reasons for
that.”

“Someone will be watching you,” she
said.

“Someone like you?” he said.

“Not me,” said Jenny. “I have
centrifuges to fetch. Just get this place cleaned up and we can get
started.” She turned to leave.

“Jen?” said Sully.

“What?” she said, her voice
harsh.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “I know
you had a pretty good life. Considering. Sorry it turned out the
way it did.”

“I had everything,” said Jenny.
“And you took it away.”

“You might want to consider the fact that
you never really had any of it in the first place. It was always
borrowed time for you, cupcake.”

Jenny barely felt the few steps she took to
close the distance. Sully's eyes bugged when she punched him. In
moments he was laid out on the floor clutching his nose, which was
bleeding all over the place.

“You might want to clean that blood
up,” said Jenny. “You know, because of
science.”

She resisted licking the blood off her knuckles
as she left.