MUTATION: ZOMBIES AMONG US

Chapter 12: The Summoner

     Everyone woke up the next morning and were led to prayers by Blue. I guessed that since we were now in a hopeless situation, we could only ask our silent creator for answers. But yet again, I think I guessed it wrong. Lukeman and his comrades were Christians from birth. In fact, it was in the military that his faith was strengthened, having witnessed the bloody wars he had fought. I wasn't that religious as they were though, but whenever we prayed and gave thanks to this God, I sometimes find this strange peace of mind that welcomes my soul, helps me gain control of time, face reality, find my path in space and harness the power yearning to be released.
     We ate a few burgers and drank coke as our breakfast and cracked some jokes among ourselves; Wallace being the main Joker. We seemed like a happy travelling company resting from a tour, settling down and making each other laugh, even though we all feared what would happen next if we stepped out into the dead streets once more. While the others laughed, Blue noticed that I appeared absent minded and laughed a little when I heard some of the jokes. He said nothing and resumed his breakfast.
     When we finished our meal, we packed our things. While packing, I heard Lukeman asked Wallace," Are we near the lab?".
     " Yes", replied Wallace," It's five blocks away from here".
     " Let's hope we don't have to kill our way to get to it then", sighed Lukeman.
     " But even if we get there, we can't begin any research without having a test subject".
     Blue heard Wallace last statement and said," Don't worry sir. God will provide".
     Wallace looked at Blue, thought about it for sometime, smiled and nodded his head. Blue smiled and winked at him before going into the kitchen to get something.
     " At least that answers your question", remarked Lukeman.
     " Yep it does", replied Wallace.
     I sighed, smiled and finished packing my things.
***
     We all hit the streets and walked down the path that led to the Mexica Durado. All of us were armed and walked cautiously towards the lab. While the soldiers walked cautiously with their weapons pointed in all directions, Blue, Wallace and I trailed behind them. Wallace was in front of Blue and me, humming a song to himself. Blue moved closer to me and whispered into my right ear," Is everything all right Joe?".
     His question startled me," What do you mean?".
     " You weren't yourself during breakfast. Care to explain?".
     I sighed and shock my head," Forget about it Blue. I'm just worried, that's all".
     " Worried about what?".
     " About the future. Whether we will live to see the end of this madness", I replied.
     Blue sighed and said to me," Stop living in fear Joe, and start living in faith".
     I blinked at him sighed," Thanks Blue".
     " Your welcome", he said and patted me on my right shoulder," Let's just stay focus and get to the bottom of this okay?".
     " Sure this Blue", I replied and nodded my head.
     Suddenly, Lukeman stopped and raised his right hand to halt everyone.
     " Is everything alright?", asked an anxious Wallace.
     " It's too quiet", muttered Lukeman.
     Lukeman was right. Everywhere became unusually quiet. Tranquility filled our environment and made the place looked like a graveyard. Before I could think that Lukeman probably made a mistake, a loud cry suddenly erupted from the third floor of a building ahead of us. Lukeman pointed his gun at the building and opened fire at the farthest window ahead of him. A creature fell out from the shattered window and landed hard on the ground admist its screams. It was a bony figure with empty eye sockets and a long tongue. Its hair was pale yellow and it looked as though it was the oldest thing alive. It had no claws or toenails, but possessed a human dentation. Instead of attacking us, it gave out another cry and tried to escape, despite the fact that it was bleeding from it's right fore leg. Curiously, Lukeman shot it again on the left hind leg, making the creature to collapse on the floor and groan in pain. We quickly spread out and surround the creature. All of us pointed our weapons at it, studied it, and marvelled at its unwillingness to fight back.
     " This doesn't make any sense", commented Wallace," It's only screaming. Why isn't fighting back?".
     The creature suddenly screamed again immediately Wallace asked his question. This time it was louder than before, startling us all and deafening our ears. It quickly used this as an opportunity to escape and darted weakly towards the building. Lukeman, fed up with it's screams, opened fire at the brute and made a hole through it's skull. It flew down flat and muttered it's death cry.
     " Boss, I think there was a reason for it's screams", said one of the soldiers to Lukeman.
     Lukeman looked to his left and replied without looking at the man," I guess you're right soldier".
     Everyone followed his gaze and finally understood why the brute only screamed and tried to escape. A wave of fifty zombies crept out from their hiding places, stormed the streets and ran towards us for our blood.
     " Run!", I yelled and immediately took off," Don't open fire until we reach the gates!".
     They heeded to my instruction and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. The zombies growled firecely as they pursued us. I was grateful for one thing however. There was no Crusher, Metallian, Militan or Maneater in sight, meaning that the creature Lukeman killed back then couldn't summon those ones. At least it was good to know.
     A zombie popped out from a store and almost attacked Blue. On seeing it, I immediately opened fire while running and shot it at the chest. It stumbled and fell head over heels before crashing against a broken minivan. Blue flashed a Thank-you look at me and I winked back at him in return. The lab was now in sight, and with eagerness to live we ran straight towards the opened iron gates.
     Blue, Wallace and I rushed through the lab's gates alongside with the remaining soldiers who survived the Metallian attack. We barred the iron gates so as to prevent the zombies from getting in. The soldiers then released their bullets against these foul creatures. If they hadn't listened to me, they wouldn't have had enough bullets for them. Each one of them gave a zombie or two a perfect headshot, and there laid about fifty zombies, all lifeless on the ground
     " That was close", said Blue.
     " I agree", said Wallace," Its good that we have finally found the lab".
     " We don't have much time", I said," Lets get in the lab quick".
     " To do what?", asked Wallace," We need a live patient remember? And we have none".
     Suddenly a zombie rushed towards the gate, smashed itself against it, and obeyed Newton's 3rd Law of motion, Action and Reaction are equal and opposite. It fell back on the ground and paused, breathing deeply. Then it jumped to its feet and grabbed hold of the gates, shaking it furiously and demanding for our blood. We all recognized this fellow as the one I had shot in the chest while being pursued by its friends. The evidence was there. A trail of dried blood ran down from its chest, and even though it growled and bristled like a dog, there were some faint sounds of pain from this zombie. All except one soldier weren't sure whether to put it out of its misery. The soldier slowly raised his gun to shoot it, but I came from behind, snatched his gun and shot the zombie at its arms and legs. It gave a wounded cry before collapsing on the floor.
     I faced the others and said to them, specifically to Wallace," Here's your test subject". Then I said to Lukeman," You and another man should carry that zombie and bring it to the lab".
     Lukeman sighed," Whatever you say Joe". He motioned to two of his men, one was to open the gates while the other was to help him carry the zombie. Although it was rendered harmless, they carried it with extreme care as it tried several times to bite them.
     The Mexica Durado looked as if it was newly built. No traces of zombies or damages could be seen on the outside, although that was only an illusion of what actually happened in the inside. Broken glasses littered on the floor, dead scientists and security guards looking lifeless, bullet holes and blood plastered on the wall, and at the entrance were some tired humans struggling to survive this Apocalypse. The soldiers shot every dead body they came across with, making sure that the dead remained dead.
     We came to a large room were Lukeman and a soldier laid the zombie and strapped it to a table. While Blue helped Wallace take a sample of blood from it, I isolated myself in a corner, took a small sample of my blood, placed it in a petri-dish and viewed it under a microscope. Observations showed that there were some strange genes running through my veins. I hypothesized that these genes were the ones which had somehow made me immune to the outbreak. If Dad had actually made some kind of cure, why would he inject them in himself and me only? Or were these dormant until the Outbreak began? As far as I was concerned, the genes were the only ones I believed that might put a stop to this apocalypse.
     I kept the sample in my pocket and went back to the others. Wallace looked excited as he too viewed the zombie's blood with his microscope. Blue and the rest didn't looked as thrilled as Wallace was.
     " Thank goodness you are here Joe!", he exclaimed," I think you might be interested to have a look at this sample".
     " Oh he would be", said a voice from a speaker hung on the wall.
     It was the same voice, the one that spoke after my gruesome fight against Musa, the same voice that tried to kill my friends.
     " Who's that?", said Blue as he faced the speaker.
     " Joe haven't introduced you to me yet? Hahaha! No need for introduction then, let Chapter Two: The Air Raid, begin!".
     My ears then picked up the sound of a jet. I turned and saw an incoming missile heading straight for the building.