A New Infection

Chapter 2

When Freddie had been called home from his cream of the crop middle school, an experience more rare than a blue moon, he hadn't expected the world to end. He hadn't expected, even using all his 175 point IQ to find a girl in her mid-teens in the room that was the entrance to his makeshift secret base where all his operations were held. Today had been full of surprises. 

~

"Moore? You're going home." The class burst into whispers, the loudest the kids were allowed to get at any time. It was strange to be called home, because at Caltech-Middle school, everyone was always present from the beginning to the end, or the students would not come at all. This was especially true for Freddie - leaving was almost taboo for the nine-year-old prodigy in 7th grade.

Finding out he left school was because there were mysterious, possibly lethal gases on a skyscraper made him want to puke since it seemed like an insane theory made up by pessimists. However, his foster parents were adamant.

"This is what the scientists have come up with. Now get inside the bunker, or you will be turned into the living dead. Your flesh will crumble off your limbs and you won't be able to think straight," his dad explained. 

The only reason he finally settled down into a home was that some nice people decided that they wanted him. Although, it was hard for his foster dad, Ryan Warren, to keep up with him. Probably because I'm smarter than Albert Einstein. Freddie thought wryly. Though my parents were twice as smart as me... He sighed. Four years ago, his biological parents had left on a rocket bound for Jupiter. Supposedly, the systems were flawless and his parents should have been back in three years.

"So, basically, zombies."

His foster mum nodded, "I know that it will be hard for your intellect to believe something like this, but it is the only rational explanation. Containers have been found in the tallest buildings in all the main cities in the world. They're filled with unknown gases that could be potentially lethal. We need to take shelter." 

"But I could -"

"No," Freddie's father cut him off, not a smile in sight. He was normally a jovial man, and his lack of humor had made Freddie shift uneasily.

"They've tried anything and everything. There's a countdown, and it's not stopping or leaving. Everyone has tried to do something, but nothing has worked." His mum tried to calm Freddie down.

"Seriously, let me try," he said earnestly, "and maybe I can decompose the particles and maybe destroy the "doomsday" clock..." The wheels in his head started turning, formulating solutions, cost, risk and a number of other factors that would have to be addressed before he, a nine-year-old prodigy, astounded the world with his intellect and saved the human race. It shouldn't take more than eight hours.

~

In the present, Freddie scoffed at his hope and naivete. If only he'd known. If only. Internally he shook his head, bringing his attention back to the intruder. Surprisingly enough, she seemed sane. He'd found others that also seemed to be in control of themselves. At a distance. He grimaced as he remembered the rushed and uncomfortable situation of finding out the infected, as he'd dubbed them, couldn't open doors. Enough! He was getting distracted again.

"I mean it," Freddie tried to deepen his voice, display control, even if he wanted to squeak and dive into another room. "How did you get into my secret base."

"I- uh..." the girl seemed to hesitate, before gaining her confidence. "Wait, did you say secret base?"

Freddie face-palmed, screaming at himself for giving it away. Swiftly, he tried to recover from his blunder, almost stumbling over his words in his desperation. "What are you talking about? Do you have a secret base, 'cause I certainly don't."