Outbreak

Chapter 21

Jason

Sparks and shards of glass are flying everywhere, and I can't hear anything over the screeching alarm. 

"That's not the fire alarm--" Max shouts, and suddenly he's up and talking furiously into his walkie-talkie. We all leap up (except for Quinn), and Emmett looks at us frantically. "I need to get the cure. If I don't meet you at the top, don't wait for me." Before anyone can stop him, he disappears.

Ivy bursts from the stairway, her eyes wide in horror. 

"THEY'RE HERE!" She yells. "WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Max shoves his talkie into his pocket and starts for the stairs. "Kira..." he mumbles, but Ivy slaps him in the face. "She's gone," she says forcefully. "Everyone grab your weapons from your rooms," Eric commands. "And--" "NO!" Ivy literally screams in frustration. "We have to get out of here now! The zombies are already here, there's no time to--" Screams split the air as the zombies invade the unlocked rooms, and bodies start raining from the twentieth floor, down into the cafeteria.

The bodies hit the floor with sickening thuds and crunches, but they keep writhing weakly. Even more horrifying, they stand up. Those aren't human bodies.

Lenny runs to pick up Quinn roughly, and he yells for us to follow him as he makes a beeline for the stairwell. Max runs ahead of him with a guard's gun, and we sprint single-file up the stairs. 

Blood pounds in my ears with each footstep. I hear shooting coming from the front and back of the group. Twice Eric stumbles and almost falls into me, but he quickly regains his balance and somehow manages to sprint up the stairs two at a time while shooting behind him at the wave of lifeless, possessed bodies. 

We reach the top floor, and as soon as everyone is out I slam my shoulder into the double doors behind us and look around frantically. "I NEED SOMETHING TO BAR IT WITH!" Michael appears with a steel pipe and shoves it in between the handles, and with the help of me and Eric we manage to bend it in a shape so that the doors hold. The doors fight to open, and I know it's only a matter of time until it breaks.

"QUINN!"

I whirl around, and Quinn is on the ground, her body thrashing. She's shouting in pain, and she almost looks worse than before.

"This didn't happen with Michael," Mal says worriedly. Michael's eyes are wide in fear. "It's a relapse," he says frantically. "It has to be." 

"No."

When I turn towards him, Max's eyes are pure darkness, his expression blank.

He holds a handgun pointed at Quinn.

"That thing contacted the zombies," he says darkly. "It was a signal. It's all a hive mind, it has to be. And now it's trying to kill us again." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Eric's arm twitch, and suddenly he's pointing his gun at Max. 

"Max," Lenny says slowly. "It's just a relapse. The zombies got in because of the power outage, they--" "And what do you think caused the power outage, huh?!" Max shouts. "They knew one of their own was suffering, they came to help it. They sensed it's pain. Grissom Base has never had a power outage before, ever, Not even a faulty plug. It's her fault. I have to kill it now." 

Max releases the safety of the gun, and Lenny pulls a gun from his own belt, pointing it at his brother. Max stares at him. "You. You too." He laughs in disbelief, shaking his head. "Traitor." 

He points his gun at his Lenny and pulls the trigger.

Michael

Max shoots Lenny. Eric shoots Max. It's as simple as that.

Max and Lenny die immediately, and Eric is standing there. Just standing. His eyes are wide, and he drops the gun. 

He starts to run, but I grab his shoulders and shake them roughly. 

"No. You are not running away from this," I say harshly. "You killed Max - you had to. He was going to kill Quinn. Get over it. You need to help your friends, you're their leader." 

He stares at me, but he isn't seeing me. He's seeing someone else. 

Taylor appears at his side.

"Eric," she says, but he doesn't respond. "Eric!"  She takes a deep breath. "Eric, look at me." Hesitantly, he obeys. 

"You killed someone. A human, not a zombie." Eric flinches. 

"But that doesn't make you a murderer. You killed him because he was going to kill Quinn. Your friend. Why didn't you let Max kill her?" Eric stares at her. 

"I - I wasn't going to let it happen again. Jake, he--" 

Jake?  Who's Jake?

Eric shuts his eyes tight and a tear slips out. "He c-could've lived. Emmett could've made the c-cure. But I k-killed him, I-" His shoulders begin to shake. 

"Eric," Taylor says gently. "Emmett couldn't have made the cure in time. He only figured it out a week ago, Eric. Jake would've killed us all. You saved us." Tears are rolling down Taylor's cheeks now as well. "But he was my brother, and I couldn't forgive you for a very long time. But now I see it through your eyes. I... I forgive you." She envelops Eric in a tight hug, but he doesn't hug her back. He just stands there stiffly.

"I killed him," he whispers. "I killed Jake." "I know," Taylor says quietly. "And you paid the price for it. But I forgive you."

They stand there for a few moments before separating.

Emmett bursts through a door to our right, panting and clutching a vial. Mal starts to go hug him, but he stops him. 

"There's no time. The zombies spotted me, they're not far behind."

I grab Quinn's arms while Ezran gets her legs, and we run for the exit. There's a short flight of stairs, and then we reach the doors. 

The huge, metal contraptions are wide open, letting in a flood of warm sunlight. I breathe it in with relief. 

Then the zombies flood into the room behind us.

"RUN!" Jason shouts, and we burst out of the base, into the open.

The tarmac is hard and gravelly underneath my shoes as we run. "Where to?" Ivy shouts, and Jason points towards a military truck a hundred meters away. We reach it, and Ezran and I lift Quinn into the truck while Eric and Mal climb into the front seats. Once everyone's in the back, I look into the front seat through a small opening. "Why aren't we moving?" I yell at Eric, who's hunched over the steering wheel. "There aren't any keys," he replies frantically. "I have to hot-wire it." 

"Well, hurry it up, because they're gaining on us!" Ezran yells nervously. I turn to see the most horrifying things I've seen since the Earthbite broke out.

A huge wave maybe twenty metres high cascades towards us from the opposite end of the runway. Only it's not water that spills towards us with a terrifying speed.

 Chills go through me at the sight of hundreds of rotting bodies.

"Eric, GO!" 

"Everybody hold on!" Eric shouts, before a violent lurch send us toppling over each other as the truck starts into motion with a bang. As Eric speeds down a road exiting back onto the freeway, I watch in horror as the zombie-wave changes direction, and crams into the small entrance to the underground facility we were in moments ago.

All of those people, unable to shut the doors that are powered by electricity... dead.

 We drive away from Grissom Base, the buildings eventually vanishing behind tall pine trees. But there aren't any cheers or shouts as we leave the compound. 

Only silence.