My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road (24 page)

Dad had instructed us to find the circle on the map in case we ran into trouble in David City, so that was a solid backup plan on his part. If only we’d followed his route, we would’ve crossed paths for sure.

“What about Cody?” Kaylynn asked. “Where’s his dad and brother?”

Sanders nodded. “They’re here. Cody’s been very helpful since he arrived.” His phone buzzed. Sanders took it up and swiped his finger on the screen. I couldn’t see it, but the screen had something that looked like a text message. It was nice to know that some of our technology was still working, even if my mom was the first to say that texting is the one thing the world can live without. An elated smile replaced Sanders’s deadpan lips. “This is great!” he exclaimed. “The new vaccine shows positive results. We may be able to fight this infection by morning.”

I shared a quick glance with the girls, who seemed relieved in more ways than one.

“Really?” Jewel said. “You can cure Kaylynn?”

Sanders put his phone into his pocket again. “Well, no,” he said. “You can’t exactly cure this infection, but we can contain it and immunize against it. We’ll run a trial—make sure it’s not lethal. I’ll bring the three of you to the lab later, after you’ve had something to eat.”

I couldn’t think about food right then, not with my parents gone, a cure almost ready, or the thought of Cody nearby, hiding somewhere. I wanted nothing more than to return the knuckle sandwich he gave me.

“Where’s the lab?” I asked.

Brushing against the wall, Sanders moved down the narrow vestibule to a curved gate. “If you will follow me, I’ll show you.” He slid the gate open, revealing a small, circular elevator.

“Shouldn’t we keep a lookout for our parents?” Jewel asked.

“I’m afraid that’s out of the question,” Sanders said. He had read my mind. “You must wait about twelve hours for the Vectors to lose interest and move on before we can go outside.”

Having no other choice, I stepped into the elevator. Considering the five of us, including Chloe, we were about to travel to an unknown area in a tight spot, for who knew how long. The claustrophobic in me went into a squeamish fit. But after I’d stepped inside, I could tell that this elevator was meant to travel to an observation deck at the top of the tower, and we were on the main floor. The elevator only went up. The lab couldn’t be in the tower. It was much too small.

The others followed next, and Sanders entered last. He closed the gate and turned around, his black smartphone in his hand again. After swiping his finger across the screen a few times, the elevator jolted and then it made its way down.
Down?
I wasn’t expecting that. The tower door vanished as we descended. I should’ve known. We were about to enter a
secret
lab.

“That’s a nasty cut, Jeremy,” Sanders said. “You’ll need a butterfly bandage, I think.” Reminded of my lip, I touched it. In all the recent excitement, I’d completely forgotten about it. “And how did you find this place? Did you see your car and assumed we were here?”

“Not at first,” Kaylynn answered. “I don’t know how to explain it. I just felt drawn to this place.”

“Before the infected surrounded us, you mean?”

Kaylynn gave him a slight nod. “How did you—?”

She stopped abruptly and gave me a hurried glance. Something was troubling her. I had a good hunch as to what. She had mentioned something in Lincoln that made her want to stay in David City, right before the Vectors invaded the place and wiped the town clean off the map. I decided not to ask what was wrong. Not with Sanders present. The doctor smiled at her again.

“How did I
what
, Kaylynn?” he asked.

“How did you know we were here?” she said.

Nice recovery.

The elevator was slowing down. “This facility has a network of cameras. We saw you coming a mile away, a good thing too. If this vaccine works, we can immunize you. We’ll make all survivors immune to this atrocity.” The elevator came to a full stop. Stainless steel walls replaced the stone on the other side of the gate. Sanders pulled the gate open and led us into a lobby with a polished white floor, white walls and really dim lighting.

On the floor was an American eagle perched on top of three letters:
D. B. C.

Sanders stepped to another elevator and motioned us to follow him. I couldn’t shake my weird feeling to run, or to ride back to the surface. Chloe was more receptive to danger than I was, but she looked fine, and Sanders didn’t seem to have a problem bringing a dog down there. We walked into the chamber where Jewel had pointed at the letters on the floor, brow scrunched.

“D. B. C . . .” Jewel paused for a second. “What does that stand for? Dysfunctional Butt Clinic?”

Jewel and I snickered while Kaylynn did this headshake, eye-rolling combo. As for Sanders, he had a serious frown and raised his phone. I wanted to know who he was communicating with. Just then, the thick metal doors closed and our elevator went up, effectively trapping us under the ground. “This is the Department of Biological and Chemical agents. Ever heard of it?”

This
was
a secret government facility. Called it!

All three of us shook our heads. “No,” I said.

“I’ll explain on the way down.” Sanders directed us to the other elevator, its doors wide open and waiting. We made it inside and we let Sanders take us down farther. “The museum was built as a front for biological and chemical weapons research and development shortly after the end of the First World War. It almost closed after the Second World War ended, but the research our soldiers captured from the Japanese has kept these doors open ever since. Secretly, of course.”

“What kind of research?” Kaylynn asked.

More importantly, I wanted to know how Sanders knew all of this. He wasn’t old enough to be considered a dinosaur, so it’s not like he was there to see it happen.

A small smile crimped his cheek. “The human condition,” he answered. “What the human body can endure. What foreign agent causes what? Unit 731 was a terrible experimental program, which cost the lives of thousands. I’m certain you never heard of it in school. They focus on Nazi Germany, for some reason.”

The second elevator stopped and the doors opened to a small commons area with a long corridor ahead of us. On either side of the corridor were two doors: one read
Security
and the other read
Canteen
. That word made my stomach growl like a famished wolverine.

“Place your weapons on the security counter,” Sanders said.

I nearly balked. “Why do you want us to do that?”

“This facility has sensitive agents. It’s a safety—”

“I don’t care if this place has a nuclear bomb,” I said. What’s with all these grown-ups taking our guns away? “We’re not going anywhere without our stuff.”

“This place has a particle accelerator . . . very much like a nuclear bomb.” Sanders’s blistered tone made me gulp. “One stray bullet could turn this part of Kansas City into a hot crater, hotter than the eruption of Mount Saint Helens.” Sanders gestured at a cloth on the counter and pulled it off. Under it was a pink, camouflaged bow. “I promise, no one will touch them.”

“I left my rifle up there.” Jewel pointed up.

Talk about a pickle. I wasn’t willing to leave my Glock out where anyone could grab it. Besides the .500, it was all we had. At the same time, this was the last place we had to worry about Vectors coming to get us.

“What about this?” Kaylynn twirled her bat.

Sanders smiled. “It’s not necessary, but harmless.” With a nervous twitch, Sanders picked up his phone. “I’ll find you some food while you deposit your things.” Leaving us like that, Sanders walked to the canteen.

I huffed. “Better do what he says . . .” I tossed the empty shotgun on the counter, but Kaylynn grabbed my wrist before I could set the Glock down. She whipped that purple bang from her eye. “What’s wrong?” I said.

She looked back and whispered, “Something’s not right about this place.”

I think I understood what she meant. It’s not every day you stumble into a top-secret facility that you’ve only seen in the movies, and a strange acronym that you’ve never heard of before. Now was my chance to ask. “You felt the same way in David City, right?”

She nodded. “
Exactly
the same way.”

“What does it mean?” Jewel asked, but we couldn’t answer. Sanders was coming back.

Like the other people we had run into before, he didn’t know about my .500. I decided to leave it in my pack, just as the doctor returned with bagged snacks, a six-pack of generic soda, and a first aid kit. “Is that everything?” he asked, examining the hardware that I had discarded. I nodded, and so did the others. “Good. Come with me. I’ll show you to our rec room.” The way he said that buried the needle on my Creep-Meter.

Sanders led us to a four-way corridor, each hall as long and dim as the tunnel that we had just come from. Sanders marched on. In passing, I read signs above the halls:
Biology
to the right and
Chemistry
to the left. And then there was another sign that said
Research and Development
. The corridor ended at what resembled a military-style barrack, complete with private rooms, showers, restrooms, and lounges. Several lab coats hung on small hooks, and around the corner was a room with a big screen plasma TV. Nice. After weeks of dealing with the undead and crazy people alike, I was in desperate need of a seriously long boob-tubing session.

“I’ll let the other researchers know that we have new guests.” Sanders gestured at the TV room while handing each of us a snack bag and a soda. “Please stay here and make yourselves at home until I come back.”

“What about Cody?” Kaylynn asked.

I grumbled. Why did she keep asking about him?

“I’ll be sure to let him know you’re here as well.”

“Thank you, Doctor Sanders,” Jewel replied.

I frowned at my little sister. Little traitor . . .

Jewel and Chloe stepped in first. Kaylynn and I entered next. A sliding door closed on us, accompanied by a
click
. I didn’t have a chance to know if Sanders locked it before Kaylynn and Jewel sat down with their snacks. They pried the bags open, finding applesauce, cheese crackers, and thawed frozen burritos inside. Tasty, but for reasons I didn’t understand, I was no longer hungry. I was uneasy. A cold feeling in my bones was so strong that I didn’t bother to treat my lip.

“I didn’t see anyone,” I said. “Does that seem strange to you guys?”

The others looked at me. “Mho?” Jewel uttered with her cheeks full of food.

“If people are working on a vaccine here, why didn’t we see anyone else? Where are all the doctors? The federal agents? The military!” I shivered. “It seems so dead in this place.”

“You’re being paranoid . . .” Kaylynn set her sack down. “Nothing looks good to me.”

“Seriously,” Jewel added. “Who eats this stuff?”

“Apparently you,” I said. Was I paranoid? I hadn’t stopped to give it much thought. “Save me some.”

“Ouch!” Kaylynn dropped her soda and reached for her head. “Oow!” I was about to ask if she had bit her tongue, but the way she held her head in her hands was exactly what she’d done on the observation deck. Jewel and I rushed to her. Instead of fighting the pain, Kaylynn stared at the floor with the most mortified face ever. “You guys, we have to get out of this place!”

The horror in Kaylynn’s eyes had no trouble convincing me that something was up. Even Chloe had a nervous sidestep with her whine. Color returned to Kaylynn’s face as her pain appeared to subside, leaving her sweaty and breathless. She wasn’t messing around.

“Why do we have to get out of here?” Jewel asked before I could.

Kaylynn just stared at the wall, shaking.

“Hey, don’t leave us hanging,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Sanders’s frequency. I felt it again.” When neither of us caught onto what she was talking about, she let out a frustrated breath. “He’s using that phone again!”

“He uses it a lot,” I said. “Maybe he accidentally touched the frequency?”

“Or he’s trying to play Candy Cups?” Jewel added.

“Then why did I hear screaming?” Kaylynn asked. “I think . . . I
know
he’s keeping Vectors down here!”

“And you called
me
paranoid . . .” I smiled.

Kaylynn gave me a death glare. “Don’t push it.”

If Kaylynn was telling the truth, it didn’t make sense to me. She hadn’t steered us wrong in the past, so her claim was worth a look. Without a chance to sit on the comfy couches, I made for the door and looked for a way to open it. There was no handle, and no groove to slide the door back into the wall. I couldn’t locate a button or a switch, just a detailed directory of the facility to look at—divided into four wings.

We pushed against the door with our weight.

We punched it. Kicked it. I even swore at it.

Sanders had us trapped like mice in a cage.

“See?” Kaylynn insisted. “We’re locked in.”