"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.