The well-dressed man, who called himself Alvin, smirks at me. I'm hoping that he plans on answering my question. I can tell the majority of the other teenagers are staring at him as well, wondering what exactly happened to the outside world.
"Ten years ago it was the year 2050. I had a scientist as my brother. His name was Jeffrey. He served in the military, back in the year 2045. Somehow military training ruined his brain, causing him to go insane. He developed a virus, which turned people into zombies. The world knew about zombies, because they were a work of horror fiction. Jeffrey told me how he planned on filling the world with zombies, then how he would rule as their king. I didn't tell the police about this. I didn't think he would actually engineer a virus. He used our parents' wealth to hire local criminals, then got them to inject as many people with the virus as they could. Jeffrey even managed to hire criminals from overseas, and paid them for injecting the virus into unsuspecting people. The zombie virus spread quickly across the planet. The military couldn't contain it, so they decided to establish safe zones. Jeffrey started to feel regret, so he gave me instructions on how to cure the plague. He was eaten alive attempting to get me to the San Diego safe zone. While I stayed at the San Diego safe zone, I started reading the instructions of how to develop the cure to the virus. It involved using kids to face horrible life at a prison-like building. The idea was that the children would release certain chemicals from their bodies depending on their actions inside the building, which would be sucked into the building's vents. The chemicals would travel through the vents, and into the central command building which was connected to the Network. The chemicals would be tested, then delivered to the San Diego safe zone where a cure would be established," Alvin explains.
We're all shocked. Alvin's brother-Jeffrey-is the cause of this global zombie infestation. Apparently, we were placed into the Network so our response chemicals would be processed into a cure for the zombie virus.
"I feel a connection to Lucy, why?" I ask Alvin. Alvin glances at me, then at Lucy. He smiles widely.
"You two were the first candidates for the Network operation," Alvin reveals."We kidnapped you first, Danny. Then we captured Lucy shortly after. You two aren't related, but quickly became best friends after using you two as test subjects. Over the next couple of years, we captured many boys and placed them into the Network program. We decided to use a secluded field in Los Angeles as the building grounds of the Network. This Los Angeles safe zone became a outpost for Network employees, and guards. Danny and Lucy used extremely advanced technology to build the Network, and its command center, in a matter of days. Danny and Lucy made the two places, since we injected them with a serum that made them incredibly smart. You two are also immune to the virus, the only people in the entire world that are. You two became the co-leaders of the Network program. Both of you are the ones who sent Mason into the Network, including the rest of the boys. Me, Danny, and Lucy were the only three employees of the program still working at the command center. We have guards watching the place, who rescued any teenager who manages to escape the Network. Our guards saved West first, since he was the first one to be exiled. Me, Danny, and Lucy discovered that we needed more chemicals from new people in order to finish the cure. So Danny went into the Network after we erased his memory. The chemicals barely escape the body if the Network resident remembers everything about their life, so the memories had to go. Every resident was only able to keep their name. I placed Lucy into the Network a few days later. While Adam was aiming his gun at Danny today, the cure successfully finished and I transferred it to the San Diego safe zone. I ordered a group of guards to come pick me up from the command center, so they came and took me here. The San Diego safe zone will distribute the cure once they finish creating the machine to spread the cure all over the planet, but only Danny and Lucy can complete it."
"So we're going to San Diego, so we can complete the machine that will spread the cure across the planet?" Lucy asks Alvin. Alvin nods.
"Yes, then life should return to normal. Don't worry, because we will all escort you to San Diego safely," Alvin explains."First thing tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, anyone who has been bitten must be killed right now."
We stare at Adam, remembering how he was bitten back at the field. He starts to cry, holding his wound as he looks at the guards in horror. All of the guards in the room have trained their guns on Adam, but have expressions of sorrow on their faces.
"Adam, just step outside and let us give you a quick death," one of the guards says.
"One of them has been bitten?" a girl asks, stepping into the lobby. She is about my age, and has strawberry blond hair with blue eyes. She's almost as pretty as Lucy. West wraps his arms around the girl."Hey, West. I'm glad to see that you came back in one piece."
The girl pulls away from West, then strides over to me. She waves in greeting.
"You must be Danny," the girl tells me."I'm Elizabeth, and West is my boyfriend. Thanks for helping complete the cure."
"Yeah, no problem," I reply. I look over at Adam, feeling sorry for him as he sobs. Elizabeth walks over to him, attempting to comfort him as she places her hand on his shoulder. Adam wipes away his tears, then stops sobbing. He opens his arms as if he's going to hug Elizabeth, then grabs her and sinks his teeth into her neck.
West yells as he watches his girlfriend become Adam's food. All of the guards open fire on Adam, riddling his infected body with bullets. The guards retrieve Adam's corpse from the ground, then head outside to dispose of it. West bends down and kisses Elizabeth one last time, then presses the barrel of his pistol to her forehead.
"I love you, West," Elizabeth breaths out, weakly.
"I love you, too," West says. He pulls the trigger, letting the resulting bullet blast a hole into Elizabeth's skull.
Lucy is standing ahead of me, so I move behind her and hug her from behind. She's trembling in fear. Alvin looks visible disturbed from what just happened, then he stares at Elizabeth's body.
"Goodbye, my daughter," Alvin says to Elizabeth's body, sadly. He looks at me."Danny, do me a favor and make sure you keep Lucy safe. I see that you are already keeping her close to you, interesting."
I begin feeling uncomfortable, since everyone is starting to stare at me and Lucy. I release Lucy, then step away from her.
"We'll talk later," I tell Lucy. She nods and I shift my attention to Alvin."Since we're going to spend the night here, where are we going to sleep?"
Alvin gestures for all of us to follow him.
YOU ARE READING
The Network Inspector
Science FictionA teenage boy wakes up in a building unfamiliar to him. His memory is gone, and he finds himself trapped with ninety-eight other teenage boys. None of them know their way out of the prison-like building known as the Network, but all of that will cha...
