Pulse (14 page)

The eggs should’ve grown into larvae by now, but they hadn’t.
They hadn’t!

It was definitive
proof that her cure was going to work. Though she intended to ask for the assistance no matter what, she threatened Chandler and Suresh’s lives if they ever tried to take credit for her work. Together they finished synthesizing a small batch of highly potent antihelminthics. What seemed like a deadly advantage to the parasite at first—its ability to exist in host blood long after exiting the body—was now working against it. They weren’t racing against the clock to work with dying specimens.

They added the drug to the blood and watched as the organism consumed it.

After a day, the control sample without the drug showed the expected results; the parasite had grown into larvae. But the sample with her drug had not matured. It was nothing short of a miracle. The eggs were still alive, but they hadn’t matured. It wasn’t totally a cure, but it was the best thing they had. Having dormant eggs in the body was progress. They’d need to come up with a solution to kill the eggs off entirely to prevent flare-ups or resistance, but in the meantime what they had would work. 

And the unsettling question of
why
and
how
the super powerful drug was working remained a mystery. It would remain that way until they had sufficient time to discover the specific mutation of Anisakis Nova. The danger in not knowing how her drug worked could be catastrophic, especially if the parasite developed resistance to it. Marla had to be satisfied in knowing an immediate stop to the spread would give them time to do that necessary research.

The three had been in the lab so long Marla wasn’t sure what day it was.
Mexican food and fretful sleep were a memory. The only bit of relief she had was comfort knowing the neighbor girl was feeding Doom twice a day. Even with the threat of humanity being wiped out, the girl still charged Marla a steep ten bucks a day that Marla wasn’t there.

The three had
been running tests to verify the results weren’t a fluke, but it took precious time. The infection was approaching, the nation’s panic level rising exponentially. That didn’t make tests go any faster. But when she was satisfied they had a valid product, she sent a quick email off to Dr. Baker.

Shortly after that
, the lab went into high alert. There was some kind of incident with one of the hosts on the other side of campus. Everyone was on lock down. Suresh insisted they remain in the lab until it was resolved.

Marla was frustrated. It interrupted their concentration and put everyone on edge.
They hadn’t gotten any work done in hours while they waited for security to give them the all clear.

She took the time to triple backup all her work, uploading it onto all of the work servers, uploading it to her external hard drive, and another
encrypted flash drive she kept in her desk. She was midway through typing up the official findings to send to the entire CDC when Dr. Baker walked in the door.

It was barely dawn. The room was all dark shades of blue and black. He could barely make out Chelsea's pale face hovering above him.

After Brian left they stayed in the bathroom, taking their meals there and sleeping on and off. They’d tried staying in Dom’s bedroom, but it didn’t feel as safe as the windowless, enclosed space the bathroom offered.

Chelsea managed to call her friend, who agreed to the plan. Her boyfriend had left yesterday and never came back. She was alone and had planned on going to the evac zone anyway. If they could make it there in time, she’d take them with her.

Then people started fleeing. Dom was retrieving supplies from the storage room when he caught sight of them out the window. They passed the apartment in droves, carrying their children and luggage. The last time Dom checked before going to sleep they were shoulder to shoulder hustling down the road. He and Chelsea discussed leaving right then
, but a fight erupted when a pack of infected started firing automatic assault rifles into the crowd from the strip mall roof. After that the street cleared out.

Across town were the sounds of a city falling. Wailing sirens. Gunshots. Screaming
and shouting almost constantly. Military vehicles with giant speakers rolled by occasionally, telling citizens where the nearest evacuation zone was. That was all Dom and Chelsea needed for confirmation; the bombing wasn’t a joke.

It was a wonder Dom managed to fall asleep at all; the exhaustion of it all was hitting him hard.
The infected were dominating Seattle, their grip tight.

But that morning things seemed quieter. Whatever battle was being fought earlier was dying down. The
brunt of evacuators was gone, making the area quiet. He'd be happy if it weren't for how unsettling it was. Silence had become uncommon.

"Dom, wake up," Chelsea whispered, nudging his shoulder. "Something is going on outside."

Waking up was the last thing he wanted to do, but he roused himself anyway. "What?"

"They have Brian."

Dom's mouth dried up and his heart skipped a beat. He was already shaking as he stumbled towards the window. He dropped to his knees and crawled to it, popping his head up just enough to see.

Brian had a noose around his neck, standing on the tailgate of a truck. The rope was tied to the stoplight pole above him. It changed from red to green, casting the entire crowd gathering around them in an unearthly light.
The crazies set up fires in trashcans close to the strip mall. A convoy of cars that hadn’t been there before were parked in the road and all over the parking lot.

Down the street the sun was just peeking over the edge of the horizon. The mass of infected swayed against each other, their faces turned towards Brian. They were waiting for something.

A man crawled on top of the cab of the truck. He was naked, most of his body covered in something. Dom wondered if it was blood, but it was too hard to tell in the light. He pushed the window up just slightly so he could hear.

“Everyone!” He spread his arms wide. His right arm began jerking backwards wildly. He grabbed it and steadied it with his left. “We were gathered here today to join thisssss fella with one of our own beautiful ladiesssss.” The man had a hard time moving on from
the S sound in his sentences. He slapped his jaw violently when he landed on them until he managed to move to the next word.

“Carl, bring out a lady!”

Two men led a pregnant woman out from the sports store in the strip mall. It wasn’t until she came closer that Dom realized she was infected with the parasite and ready to burst, like the guy on the news said. Her back was arched so far back her arms dangled behind her, head lolled back, her distended stomach leading the way. 

“Now, thissss lady was ready to give her love to thissss guy. But he sssaid no.” The man shook his head so hard Dom thought it would snap. “Not okay. We’re going to make him pay for it ‘causss thisss girl iss ready to pop!”

The men positioned her in front of him. One pulled a machete from the back of the truck. He poised it over her stomach.

“God, please help me!”

“No God helping you now. I’m going to give you once lassst chance. You want her or not?”

“You’re fucking sick!”

Brian’s voice cut across the street. Dom ducked below the window, dragging Chelsea with him. “Don’t look,” he whispered.

It was silent, then they heard the first howl. He peeked over the edge, compelled to make sure it was all really happening.

Worms crawled up Brian’s body. They converged at his mouth, working their way into his body. Their slick forms caught the rising sunlight and glittered in bodily fluids and slime. Blood spurted from everywhere where they entered his body. It began flowing from his mouth as they ate through him.

Dom bit the flesh of his palm to stop his own scream welling in his throat. The group of infected jumped in glee, jostling each other and laughing.

He wrapped his arms around Chelsea as the world came crashing down around him.

He finally realized
he might not make it out alive.

***

They spent the rest of the day praying the crowd outside would disperse, giving them a chance to escape and make a run for Nina’s. They had less than a day left to make it to the middle school.

Chelsea wanted to talk about what happened to Brian. Why was it that whenever he did want to talk about something, she didn’t? Then the second he needed to not think, she was all over him. The only way he could think to come to terms with what he’d seen was to first ignore it until the memory wasn’t so raw. She wanted to analyze it, replay it over and over until it wasn’t anything anymore.

The day stretched on in silence for Chelsea and Dom, but outside the crazies were in the throes of a wild party. The mixture of frantic glee and painful screaming was unbearable. Dom peeked outside just once. After catching a glimpse of a gang rape, he vowed not to look again until the noise stopped.

“Here.” Chelsea handed him a bag of chips. They were still sequestering themselves in the bathroom. Dom suspected they couldn’t really see them from street level in the apartment anyway, but he didn’t want to risk it. He took the chips, setting them on the floor beside him. “Thanks.”

“What happened wasn’t your fault.”

“I told you I don’t want to talk about this.”

“I know you said that. I—”

“For fuck’s sake, Chelsea! You don’t care that Brian is gone. You’re happy he’s dead. You hated him. Stop trying to console me about it. It’s obvious you’re smug about it and that’s the last thing I need right now.”

Her mouth snapped shut. She stared at the towel rack. “I’m sorry.”

Dom felt his lip quiver. He pressed his hand against his mouth and blinked away the tears. “You should be.”

Her hand was gentle against his leg. She pulled him down, cradling him in her arms. “We’re going to forget everything that’s happened up to now. We’re going to wait for the right moment and we’re getting out of here. We’re going to get to the evacuation stop where guys with big guns who know how to use them will protect us.”

She kissed the top of his head. “We’re going to be okay.”

“I know. But I just keep thinking about what I could’ve said to stop him. Or about how naïve we all were, thinking we could hole up in the apartment and wait it out. You can’t wait out the end of the world.”

“We couldn’t know this was going to happen
,” she said. “We had a good setup. Brian cracked under pressure. I didn’t help any. Being cooped up in this apartment gave us all cabin fever. We’ve all been scared and at each other’s throats.”

“I haven’t,” Dom countered. He had been wrong about one thing; he did want to talk. He felt a heaviness begin lifting off his chest the more he hashed things out with Chelsea. “I’ve been peacekeeping between you two.”

“You know in the movies how one person ends up being the leader?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s you. But you’re so busy trying to keep the peace between people, you don’t see what’s happening right in front of you. You don’t see the breakdown of our group. Brian was cracking on day two. I’ve been on the verge of a breakdown from day one. Meanwhile you’ve been treating us like kids and, well, it enables us to keep acting like it.”

“We’re all at fault,” Dom said, both a question and a statement.

“We are.”

They sat in silence, each of them mulling over the past week. Then Dom perked up, listening. It
was
silent. No more party outside.

He crawled to the window and looked out just in time to see two cars rumble to life and drive away. The group was gone, leaving the strip mall and street barren of life.
Smoke wafted from the trashcan bonfires. Dead bodies, mutilated in all forms, were scattered about, evidence of their debauchery.

“Chelsea, let’s go. Now.”

She came from the bathroom and looked out the window. Without another word they donned their gear and left the apartment.

Jon was infected. Her little boy was infected.

Sadie wore a scarf wrapped around her mouth and nose so she could sit by him and stomach the smell. Jon laid on his back, his bare chest glistening with sweat. She’d given up on wiping away the viscous liquid, since it seemed to come back within moments. She watched the tiny worms crawling just underneath his skin.

If she had just kept a better eye on him. If she had done
anything
.,,

The town was going to be bombed soon. She packed a bag with some es
sentials for her and Jon. She knew the basics of using the revolver the neighbor’s girlfriend left her, but she wasn’t confident. Sadie hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.

She wasn’t going to leave
Jon behind, even though he was sick. Sadie planned on skirting past the evacuation zones and ferrying him to safety. They’d find somewhere she could restrain him and keep him safe until the government came up with a cure.