Tainted Future (The Rememdium Series Book 3) (16 page)

“Okay, Walt, don’t take this the wrong way, but are you out of your fucking mind? Zombies? As some sort of biological weapons? Jesus, how much TV did you watch before all this happened? Yeah, we sent the dead out to do our dirty work, then decided to watch how it played out, up close and personal. Think, Mr. Addison. Had that been our plan, we wouldn’t have risked our lives, announced our presence, or worked on keeping your friend alive.”

“He’s right, Walt. That man there saved your life by shootin’ the one sneakin’ up behind you.”

“Whose side are you on, Kyle?” Walter hissed.

“I’m on the side of livin’, that’s what side I’m on. Whether these men are soldiers or not, they tried to help. That one there—”

“Clive. Clive Winters. Say it’s nice to meet you, but that’d be a lie.”

“Okay, Clive Winters. He saved your ass from endin’ up like Shaun. In this world now, that means everythin’. To me, at least. On behalf of our little group, I’d like to say thanks to all of you. We all coulda died out there. Or worse.”

“You’re welcome, Kyle. As I mentioned before, this is not a government installation, and we aren’t soldiers,” Dirk offered. “All of us are ex-military, except Dr. Berning here. We take orders from no one. The only reason these men were topside is because our sensors picked up movement outside. Unfortunately, the equipment only picked up your thermal signals, since the others in the forest no longer generate heat.”

“If you ain’t workin’ for ol’ Uncle Sam, then what in the Hell is this place? Why all the secrecy? The bio suits? Comin’ topside and holdin’ us at gunpoint?”

Everett realized if any headway was to be made, it wouldn’t happen unless he stepped in. After all, he was a civilian, too, and certainly looked the part. He hoped they’d believe him; realize an old man posed no threat.

Stepping forward, Everett pushed his fears away. He cleared his throat, looking directly into the eyes of Walter Addison, who he sensed was the leader. “Stop. Just, stop it. Who we are, or used to be, doesn’t really matter at this point, does it?”

“Yeah, it sorta does,” Walter answered. “After what happened to us before we made it up here, our trust meter broke.”

“Fair enough, Mr. Addison. Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Dr. Everett Berning. Born and raised in Little Rock, attended college and taught microbiology and chemistry for years in Georgia. That is, until my entire family, all seven of them, died. A wonderful man named Dr. Jason Thomas—who, like me, also lost his entire family—brought me here to work on a project. A project fully paid for and put together by him and no one else. These men here were hired by Dr. Thomas, each chosen for a particular skillset. Yes, they are all former members of the military, but the key word is
former.
They work for no one, including me. In fact, they are only here to help me with my research, which has now morphed over to finding some sort of cure for this unholy plague.”

  “You’re…you’re workin’ on a cure?” Walter stuttered.

“Yes. Well, I’m in the first stages of my research, but that is the goal. Now, recall Mr. Addison, it was you and your group attempting to remain concealed in the woods while searching for us, not the other way around. Am I wrong?”

The conversation was interrupted as Mike Bailey walked out from the room. The look on his face, the blood-stained hands, were enough proof needed to know he’d ended the life of his friend.

“Please, come this way, Mr. Bailey. We need to get that blood off you quickly,” Everett whispered. “Dirk? Is it okay by you if we take them into the cafeteria and give them the answers to what I assuming they were searching for? That was your ultimate goal—to find out what we knew—right, Mr. Addison? To gain as much information as possible; give you a leg up in a hostile world?”

Walter nodded. “Yep, that was the plan. A poorly executed one, I might add. We didn’t know—hadn’t seen any evidence—the munchers were up here already.”

“Deadly surprises are around every corner nowadays,” Dirk said. “This way, please.”

An hour later, Everett’s voice barely above a whisper from talking almost the entire time, the room was finally silent. He’d made sure not to mention anything about
Rememdium
, Daryl’s betrayal, the botched rescue in Laredo. Everett simply stuck to what he’d learned since the outbreak. A few times, he’d worried Kevin or one of the others would interrupt him and spill Everett’s shameful secret, yet they never did.

None of the men had asked a question during the entire horrific presentation. It was the first time in his life Everett had ever completely commanded the attention of others. In stunned silence, they listened, hanging on his every word. Occasionally, one let out a gasp or an “Oh, shit” but nothing more.

Everett considered broaching the subject of the other danger posed by Arkansas Nuclear One in Russellville. Dirk, and the others, had not taken the news well when he broke it earlier in the day upon their return from burying Porterfield. After the load of shit he’d just handed out to the men, he couldn’t get the words to leave his tired throat.

“Guess we know why you lost it when you thought Jesse took the drugs,” Walt whispered.

Kevin stood, stretched, and then walked over to fix more coffee. “Yeah, was kinda edgy that morning. Hadn’t been that long since ol Doc here dropped the good news into my ears. Plus, only a few hours since I had to put down my best friend. Wasn’t anything personal against her, I can assure you. Is Jesse your daughter?”

Walt laughed. “No. Not sure what to call her, exactly.”

“That’s cryptic, and rather creepy,” Dirk said.

“Jesse and my son are an item. He, uh, just proposed to her yesterday. Back in the normal world, I suppose I’d call her my son’s fiancé. You know, because they’d be plannin’ a weddin’? Considerin’ the way things are now I don’t think there’ll be one. Ain’t no one to perform the service anyhow. Or care, for that matter. I’ve never been too fond of the girl. She’s a former drug addict, which in my book, especially in light with what you just shared, makes her a big liability.”

“Interesting. Quite the dilemma for you as a father, and as a survivor.”

“Bet when you go back and share all this happy news with your group, that girl will no longer be interested in drugs,” Kevin added.

“Since we’ve been so forthcoming with information, I think it’s your turn, Mr. Addison. How did you even know we were here?” Dirk asked.

Kyle chuckled. “Walt’s son took a nasty tumble down the mountainside yesterday, right close to your graveyard. We saw y’all. Kinda freaked when we noticed the bio suits. And the weapons.”

“Ah, the assumption was made we were military, burying our secrets. I understand your concerns about us now,” Dirk responded.

Kyle shrugged his shoulders. “Live and learn, right? Okay, so, next question. Dr. Berning, you’re sure this disease ain’t airborne? We can only get sick if one of those munchers gets a bite in, or we happen to find a stash of coke and snort it up?”

“Yes, Mr. Pender. I’m quite sure. The samples I’ve tested showed no signs of fungal spores, which means airborne transmission isn’t possible. The fungi converge inside the brain, not the lungs.”

“Which is why the only way to stop them is take out the brain. Makes sense,” Walt added. “I just, good Lord. I can’t wrap my head around all this mess. Bodies controlled by fungus that crave human flesh. Un-fucking-believable.”

“Yeah, you can’t even begin to imagine how surprised the doc was when he figured it out. Choked him up,” Kevin muttered.

Everett stiffened. Dirk noticed and stood. “Warton? I’ll need some help securing Mr. Kilpatrick’s remains in a bag. I’m sure these gentlemen are ready to head back to their camp.”

Kevin settled his gaze on Everett. The eerie smile made Everett’s skin crawl. “According to the doc, we’re supposed to incinerate any tainted remains. Remember?”

“Warton—hallway. Now.”

Kevin and Dirk stormed out into the hall, leaving Everett standing in the middle of the room with five sets of concerned faces staring at him.

“What’s up his ass?” Kyle asked.

“I’m afraid Mr. Warton hasn’t been the same since all this happened,” Everett whispered.

“Yeah, well, none of us have,” Walt interjected. “And the thought of havin’ to play mortician and burn a body don’t make things any better, either. You sure that’s the only way, Dr. Berning?”

“Quite.”

“Then why did you let them bury Porterfield?”

Everett blushed. “I’ve had a lot on my mind since all this happened, Mr. Addison. By the time I realized they’d gone to bury him, I was too late to stop them.”

“If it’s such a big deal, do you plan on diggin’ him back up and disposin’ of him properly?”

“That’s been discussed, yes.”

Walter cocked his head. “And the verdict?”

“Due to the cold temperature outside, and the fact he’s encased in thick plastic, we decided to wait.”

“Well, I certainly don’t want to do the same. The thought of diggin’ Shaun back up later makes no sense to me. Like you said, it’s cold outside, and there ain’t no leaves or brush to catch fire. We’ll handle him once, then be done with it.”

“A wise decision, Mr. Addison,” Everett offered.

The men stood and gathered their items. Walt paused at the door. “We need to head back to our group. They’re probably worried, since we’ve been gone longer than we anticipated. Just two final questions, then we’ll take our friend’s body outside and burn it.”

“I’ll answer them to the best of my abilities,” Everett said.

“No, these questions are for them,” Walt said, motioning toward Winters, Rice, and Denton. “Y’all have any idea where those things came from? We ain’t seen hide nor hair of one since we arrived. Hard to tell since they seemed burned and everythin’ happened so quick, but I swear, it looked like they were wearin’ flight suits.”

Everett’s heart jumped into his chest.
The pilots! Oh, my God. We should have gone back!

Clive Winters nodded. “Yeah, it did to us, too. My guess would be they came from the wreck. When humping the trail up here on Saturday, a jet crashed about three klicks south. We were lucky it had already deployed the missiles, or we’d all be dead. Porterfield—the one you saw us burying yesterday—he and Warton searched the wreckage on Sunday. They didn’t find any bodies, only the metal box with the blow inside. That’s how Porterfield ended up turning. He snorted some. So, it seems, did one of the pilots.”

“God, turned into a zombie from tainted coke. Unreal,” Allsop said. “Do you think there’s more out there?”

Clive shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. My guess would be no. Warton said there wasn’t much left at the wreckage site except the tail. He guessed it was an F-15, and that’s a two-seater. Unless those flyboys came across others who fled to the hills, we’re good. For now.”

“What a nightmare,” Bailey whispered.

“You mentioned questions. Was there another?” Denaryl Rice asked.

Walt turned and looked at the rest of his men. Everett sensed something unspoken passed between them.

“No, you answered both. We’ll be on our way. Appreciate the intel. Good luck with your research, Dr. Berning. You pull it off and you’ll be the new sa—”

“Please,” Everett held up a hand. “Don’t say it, Mr. Addison. I’ve heard it before, and believe me, the title is a misnomer. Before you leave, I’ve got a question of my own.”

“Shoot,” Walt answered.

“You seem the type who was prepared for this, so I’m guessing your camp isn’t exposed to the elements. Perhaps you’ve taken shelter in a cave, like us? Am I right?”

Walt’s eyes narrowed into small slits as he studied Everett’s face. “Why do you ask?”

“Please, Mr. Addison, stop looking at me like I’m plotting something sinister. Since all this happened, we haven’t come across other survivors, and it’s nice to finally meet some. Knowing others have made it this far gives us all a ray of hope the human race can continue forward. Now that we’ve come across corpses up here, I just wanted to make sure you and the others are in a safe place. If not, I wanted to offer sanctuary here. Nothing can penetrate these walls.”

“Mighty neighborly of you, Dr. Berning. We’ll certainly take it under consideration, should we have to leave our current location.”

With that, the group left, including Denton and the others. Only Everett and Denaryl remained.

“They’re in a cave. Guaranteed. Sure doesn’t look like they’ve been hanging their hats in a tent. Don’t worry, Doc. They’ll be safe, if what you think might happen in Russellville, comes to fruition.”

Everett nodded as Denaryl stepped into the hallway.

“I don’t think, I know,” Everett whispered to the empty room. “Soon. None of us will be safe much longer.”