Chapter 26

"Doctor, he is more than just going to help you," said

Harrington. "He's going to be your test subject."

I almost snapped when he said it. I was even more

unhinged when his thoughts seeped in. I still didn't quite have a hold on this

reading the thoughts of others. Sometimes it happened involuntarily.

"If this asshole has any thoughts about double

crossing us or try to poison us, the kid will die first," his slimy mind

thought. "Whatever he injects into the kid, he will inject into us, provided

the brat lives!"

As the senator escorted me to a lab where Joshua was

being held, I tried to mentally nudge the senator into letting Joshua go, but

it wouldn't work. I postulated that those with strong wills dedicated to a

singular purpose could resist my "mental nudging." I quickly recalculated the

odds of my plan, due to the senator's resistance, with a possible success rate

of only 68.624%. I concentrated on sending my plan to Joshua and Joshua alone.

He looked back at me and thought, "I trust you with my

life, dad!"

"Senator, as I look around this room, it seems to be

missing some key equipment that I will need to carry out your wishes," I said. "Unless

I have these items, there is no way I will be able to develop what you are

asking for."

"What do you need?" he asked. "I'll have my men gather

it for you."

I used as much unbelievable medical jargon as I could

to confuse and dumbfound him, but at the same time sounding believable.

"I will need static curtains for a clean room; an

electron microscope, not to be confused with a regular microscope; a

centrifuge; leaded test tubes; a Hoskins incubator; static free slides; halon

gas; a trioptic grater; titanium couplers; and all the antiseptic you can find,"

I listed. "I will also require Bunsen burners, a refrigeration unit, Kneivel

blades, septic lenses, barometric cream and a hypodermic gun."

Harrington had a confused look on his face. He had no

clue what half of the items I listed were, and that's because I made up half of

them.

"Okay Doctor," he began, "why don't you gather the

items yourself and be back here in say 4 hours?"

"But 4 hours isn't nearly enough time," I falsely

protested. "I'll need at least a couple of days and a well fueled vehicle to

gather these items as most hospitals and medical centers have been picked clean

and/or overrun."

"Tell you what Doctor," he said. "I'm feeling

generous, you have 8 hours and not a second more! And Doctor, one second past

the deadline and you have to find a way to bring this one here back from the

undead."

The senator arranged for a vehicle for me to be

waiting at the gate. As I drove around the corner, I broadcasted what was going

on to T and T2. It seems that transmission and reception of thoughts are easier

with those who possess the ability to do so easily. I also decided to share my

plan with them. We fought our way into Peachtree General Hospital Storefront

Clinic and cleared out a few dozen DCs in the lab.

T used his Antithesis Field to suspend my

self-replicating cells which allowed me to draw blood. I also took a sample

from T2 and centrifuged the samples with the serum that Em had given me. My

thought was that when I administered this serum, it would need a little extra "umph!"

to kick it up a notch.

I began to gather the equipment needed to put on my

show for the senator and the rest of Joshua's captors. I loaded the equipment

in the vehicle along with other items to pretend that they were the fictitious

items I had mentioned before. I dropped off T and T2 on my way back to the gate

of the high-rise. I attempted to broadcast my plan to Joshua, but due to the

fact that his telepathic receptors were not yet activated, it was a most

unpleasant experience for him. Joshua collapsed on the floor in pain.

"What the hell is wrong with the brat?" yelled one of

the guards.

"Do we have a defective specimen, Doctor?" asked the

senator.

"I don't believe so, senator," I responded. "Before I

proceed, I would like to complete a full workup on him to ensure that any

treatments that I administer would be beneficial vice detrimental."

Joshua slowly opened his eyes and began to recognize

me. He became agitated when he realized that we weren't in the ARC.

"Wha—where are we dad?" he asked anxiously as he sat

up.

"It's okay, Joshua. You're fine," I reassured him. "These

gentlemen seem to think that I can recreate the serum that caused the change in

Cisco and myself."

"But that is insane," said Joshua as he nodded in

understanding of my plan. "What happened with the two of you was a freak

accident and we still don't know what the lasting effects will be. Besides, he

burned the notes to the formula."

"That, my boy," began the senator, "is why he is going

to test any possible serum on you first."

Joshua and I began to setup the lab and I began to mix

chemicals that amounted to nothing more than a saline solution. Time and again

conferring with Joshua while filling him in on more of the plan. We were just

about ready to go when it happened. Another hoard was approaching the gates.

"Well Doctor, it looks like you are out of time," said

the senator. "We need what you have now."

"Senator, we haven't had time to test this serum yet,"

I said convincingly. "We have no idea what will happen when it is administered."

"That is why you are going to administer it to him

right this second," said the senator. "No more stalling!"

I recalled a magician from when T and I were kids. The

Amazing Randy and his ability to conduct sleight of hand. He was sweet on T's

Aunt Drusilla and to gain favor with her, he showed us how the prestidigitation

worked by manipulating his digits and hiding an object on the back of his hand

by grasping it with his two middle fingers. I immediately picked up the saline

solution and when the guard and the senator looked out of the window at the

hoard, switch it with the vial with the mixed solution I had been hiding. I

drew the serum into the syringe emptying the vial. I placed it in my pocket and

placed the saline solution on the counter. I found Joshua's vein on the first

try.

He winced as the needle pierced his arm. He laid back

on the gurney and began to drift in and out of consciousness. I could see on

the molecular level that Joshua was changing, but his ascent was much more

rapid than any of the other instances. I theorized that the retardation of my

blood mixed with the serum caused his rapid change. However, I was uncertain

how my blood would react in his system.

He began to grow from a 5'2" boy into a 6' young man.

His weight shifted from approximately 120 lbs. to 220 lbs. His ribs were duplicated,

and his cells began to exhibit a familiar pop. I picked up a scalpel and

cut Joshua out of sight from any of those present, and slowly but surely,

Joshua healed. His breathing and his heart rate plateaued. Joshua had mutated

somewhere on the level of Em and I.

The senator and the guard looked on with reverence at

Joshua's new form. The senator had finally received his prize, or so he

thought.

"Well hot damn!" yelled the senator as he grabbed the

saline solution. "That's what I'm talking about Doctor. You've just saved you

and this boy's life. Now we just have to test the results."

One of the mercs brought in a DC on a dog catchers

choke stick and released him in the lab as he and the senator exited. The DC

approached me and then Joshua. He bit Joshua as I plunged the scalpel into its

frontal cortex. The senator opened the door to see the teeth marks on Joshua's

arm as they began to heal.

"Yes sir-ree Bob, Doctor. You do outstanding work," he

said as he held up the vial. "This right here is going to make my partners and

me very happy. You and the youth are free to take your leave. Good luck making

it through that mess out there."

The senator and the eight other men flanked by heavily

armed mercs made their way to the roof where a Super Huey helicopter awaited

them. They flew northwest as the gate breached. The sound of the droning of the

hoard with the backdrop of the gunfire was deafening. Slowly but surely the

gunshots were replaced with screams being muffled by that horrible droning. I

had to get Joshua out of there. Even though his arm healed, I could tell that

something was wrong. Joshua's mind was all over the place. I picked him up and

put him over my shoulder. We made it to the roof. The hoard stretched out for

miles around. I hoped and prayed that T and T2 made it to safety.

The hoard seemed to be following the copter on its

northwest trajectory, but too many were still inside the makeshift gates as the

last of the mercs fell. I decided to gamble and see if I could perhaps

circumnavigate the hoard underground. If I remembered correctly, Peachtree has

underground malls. I returned to the lab grabbed a pair of workman's gloves and

then hastened to the elevator shaft. I decided to slide down the cable instead

of using the elevator so as not to draw any additional attention from the DCs.

The friction from the cable due to both mine and

Joshua's weight burned right through the gloves. My now invulnerable skin

suffered no ill effects. After landing on the top of the elevator, I placed

Joshua on it and leaned through the escape hatch. There were only a few DCs in

view. I climbed down and dispatched the DCs, as I heard the droning while on

top of the elevator. I raced back to retrieve Joshua and we made our way a few

hundred yards south which I was able to deduce from my vantage point on the roof

would be clear of the dead, even if a few stragglers remained.

I found a maintenance hatch that let us out only two

blocks from where T and T2 were. The truck was gone and there was no trace of

either of them. Although all of my instincts said to stay put, my mind was

flooded with images of Ma, T and me at the amusement park when we were kids.

That day Ma stressed to us that if we got separated, we were to find the

nearest policeman and wait with the officer. I carried Joshua for a little over

a mile, and there was the truck just as I'd hoped. And there were T and T2 clearing

out some DCs in front of a police station.

As I approached the pair, I heard the Psst! sound.

Someone was attempting to get my attention. A quick scan led me to a man, a

woman and a child in an abandoned car.

"Hey mister, be careful, those guys are monsters,"

said the man. "We just watched them kill about 50 of the undead, smiling and

joking the entire time. Be careful."

"Sir, I trust those two with me and my son's life" I

said as I motioned to Joshua. "You have nothing to fear from them. Do you have

a place to stay?"

"Is he okay? Was he bit?" asked the man. "Do you need

help?"

'Was he bit? Why yes, he was,' I thought to myself.

"He will be fine. We were just trying to get back to

my friends over there," I said.

"We were trying to leave the city and decided to check

the police station for weapons and ammo when that large group of the undead

came through town," said the woman. "We decided to sit tight and prayed to God

that they bypassed us."

"Mister you look strong," said the boy. "Can you help

us?

"J.J.! That's not polite," snapped the mother. "I'm

sure this man has his own problems."

"It's okay. Truth be told, I didn't think there were

many living people still in the city," I said. A quick scan showed no malice on

either of their part. They were just trying to survive. "Gather whatever you

can carry and let's meet up with my friends."

"Marv, what the hell happened to you?!" asked T. "We

saw that huge ass hoard and had to fight our way over here. Just like Ma always

said, 'Find the nearest policeman.' The hoard went crazy when that helicopter

took off."

"I'm okay, but Joshua hasn't come to after I gave him

the serum," I said. "His thoughts are all over the place, but he won't wake up.

I think this might be some sort of mental chrysalis."

"Let's get him back to Eli and maybe the two of you

can figure out what is going on," said T. "And who are these fine folks?"

"Where are my manners? This is...you know, in all the

excitement, we never did exchange names. My name is Dr. Marvin Harris," I said.

"This unconscious young man is my son Joshua and these two are T and T2."

"We're so glad to meet some kind survivors," said the

man. "My name is...aaarggghhh!"

It was at that moment that a DC under the car that he

was standing near grabbed him by the leg.

"Jim!" screamed the lady.

"Daddy!" screamed the little boy.

The yells attracted the straggling DCs from blocks

around. As he struggled to free himself, we were slowly being surrounded.

While I wasn't so concerned about T, T2, Joshua and

myself, I kept wondering how to protect this family. That's when I heard one of

the greatest sounds I've ever heard.

"Don't worry dad, I've got this!" said Joshua.