Part 5 (1/2)
”That's ridiculous. Christa's dead. She's been dead for years.”
”She's not dead, no one's ever recovered a body. That's just what you all wanted to believe. I know that the general conspired behind your back to let us think we escaped on our own all those years ago. I know you were incredibly p.i.s.sed about the whole thing and wanted her back more than anything. I know she was the one piece that would let you keep tweaking the drug over the years, to guarantee its effectiveness. When you lost her, you lost that ability, and you've been trying to find a workaround ever since. It's in your best interests that I find her. I need to know everything you know.”
Judith moved to sit back in her chair.
”You're not totally wrong, Colonel. There's a chance, albeit a very slight chance, that the drug could begin to lose its effectiveness. To date we've seen no evidence of it. Christa's biology is the key to it all. Even though her mutation matured all those years ago, it still changes as she ages. Which, of course, is an early indicator of what the rest of them will do. Because she's the original, it happens in her first. She's like an early warning system for the rest. If they do start developing a resistance to the drug, it will be a bloodbath.”
”I've seen evidence recently to suggest that Christa may be in contact with some freaks. Some freaks that may already be immune to the drug. Can she do that? Could she make them immune?”
Judith chewed her bottom lip. ”I believe she had abilities we weren't aware of ... things we still hadn't discovered. As far as we know, there wasn't anything to indicate she had the ability to block the drug in others. G.o.d, I hope she didn't. That could be incredibly traumatic to the subject, if they just snapped out of the drug's influence. They'd be totally unpredictable. The way the drug separates their mind and body is very stressful to their system. It short-circuits their wiring and stops them from acting on basic impulses. A few times during early testing, some were able to reconnect. That's how we lost that research team. They acted on all those repressed impulses from weeks of repressed urges. It was horrific. They even turned on one another.”
”That doesn't totally make sense with the evidence I've seen. I was shown satellite pictures of a girl that could have been Christa standing at a murder scene with other zombies. There was some sort of connection between the girl and one of the zombies. They were having a heated debate. The other zombie, the female one, just sat there motionless.”
”What! Was the victim the controller?”
”Yes.”
”Jesus, this is bad.” Judith started pacing the room. ”And you're sure the girl was Christa?”
”No, I'm not sure. That's kind of the point of all this. They want someone to go in and get the girl. The ones I've talked with are convinced it's her. I don't believe it's her. Christa wouldn't murder someone in cold blood.”
”No, unfortunately not.”
”What do you mean unfortunately? That's good, isn't it?”
”No, you idiot, it's not good. If Christa didn't do it, then one of the other zombies did it. One of the drug-controlled zombies did it. Drug-controlled zombies are incapable of harm. If they're becoming immune, we are on the brink of war ... again, and worse.”
”What do you mean worse?”
”Worse, because these things are everywhere. They're integrated into every aspect of our lives these days. Those things will turn on their controllers at an alarming rate. On second thought, there probably won't be any war. We'll be wiped out too fast. It'll be spontaneous genocide.”
Judith unlocked a file cabinet in the corner of the office. ”I have some information you're going to need. Is anyone going with you?”
”Yes, Alex.”
”That's a horrible idea. That boy is a sh.e.l.l of his former self. Not too stable either.”
”It was my idea. He'll come around.”
”You better be right. You're gambling with everything and everyone ... again.”
”It's not your call. I have approval from higher up than you this time.”
”Idiots.” Judith pulled two small storage drives from the cabinet. ”I have copies of these elsewhere, but you should read the information on these. It contains information that wasn't in any of the 'cla.s.sified' reports. It also has some predictions on how to deal with the drug if it starts to become less effective. They may help.”
”Thanks.”
”Don't thank me. You're not going to like what you find out. What you need to do is get the girl back here, if it's truly her, and for all our sakes I hope it is.”
Killing It at the Club.
”d.a.m.n it, Andreas, we can't keep doing this. Eventually I'm going to slip up and get caught. This is not a perfect thing. I can't just control everyone at will all the time. Sooner or later, they start to figure it out and it doesn't work anymore.”
Stepping out of the cab ahead of Christa and Leekasha, Andreas headed towards the door of the night club.
”Hey, settle down. You haven't gotten caught yet, and you managed to get us a free cab to this place without gettin' busted. Let's just go inside to have a few drinks. Then we'll do what you want. I promise.” He flashed Christa a smile that did more to creep her out than rea.s.sure her.
”Fine. Two drinks, and that's it. Then we do what I say.”
”Absolutely. We'll start with two, and see if you like me more then.”
”No, I'm not drinking. Just you and only two ...”
Motioning to Leekasha, Andreas added, ”I'm not responsible for that one. She's your problem. I don't want any of the girls in here thinking she's with me.”
Before Christa could say anything else, Andreas was already up the stairs and arguing with the bouncer at the door.
”C'mon, buddy. It can't be that full in there. You can let me and my friends in. I've got two hot chicks with me tonight.”
Christa and Leekasha made their way up the stairs, and Christa mentally suggested to the bouncer that it would be good to let them in as there were two attractive women and only one jerk in their party. The bouncer smiled at Christa and nodded in agreement. He opened the door to let them all in, but b.u.mped Andreas as he walked by. Andreas started to reach for the bouncer, but not before Christa said, ”Don't, Andreas. You got what you wanted. Let's go in without causing any more of a stir. We don't need any extra attention.”
The club was indeed packed on the inside. The music blared a techno beat and the dance floor writhed with arms and legs like a snake pit. It smelled of fruity drinks and sweat. Andreas headed straight through the middle of the dance floor, towards a booth at the back of the club. He fondled every female he could along the way, and it took all the energy Christa had to mentally keep the girls from sending their boyfriends after him. All the booths were crowded, but Christa convinced the group in the most secluded one to leave.
An hour and a half dozen drinks later, Andreas turned to Christa and put his arm around her. She batted it away.
”Let's go, Andreas. You've had your fun here. I need to get both of you somewhere safe so we can figure out what to do next.”
”Ah, c'mon, baby, is it really so bad being here with me? You know, you'd be a lot hotter if you just loosened up a little.”
Christa rubbed her fatigued eyes and looked around the club.
Andreas opened another beer. ”I think there's something wrong with these beers. I don't feel drunk at all.”
”For once, I agree with you. For the amount you've had to drink, you should at least be slurring your words. Maybe some of the Pacize is still in your system and blocking the alcohol.”
”Is it supposed to do that?”
”How would I know? I'm no scientist. It's not like I've ever brought someone back before and fed them beers.”
”Well s.h.i.+t, this is a bust. I can't even get drunk because of what those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds did to me. All those years in a d.a.m.n coma, someone owes me something.” He started looking around the room. ”What about her?” he said, motioning to a young, pretty blonde at the edge of the dance floor. ”You could use that little mind game and make her do whatever you wanted, right?”
”Don't even ask. We're trying not to be noticed here any more than absolutely necessary.”
”Humph. Maybe you're trying not to be noticed, but not me.”
They both stared at each other for a while. Christa tried again to mentally suggest to him that they leave, but nothing. It had no effect on him. He tried to slide past Christa, but she pushed him back. He turned his attention to Leekasha, putting his arm around her shoulder. Christa bristled and started to speak, but Andreas interrupted, ”Hey, you said you wanted us to blend in. Now we look like a fun couple enjoying a romantic dinner with the girl that's about to join us later for our little menage trois. What do ya say?”
Christa said nothing. Instead, she tried suggesting to Leekasha mentally that she push Andreas away. Leekasha just sat there silently. Christa tried again. She suggested that Andreas would harm her, that he wanted to hurt her, that he was a bad person and she should run. Leekasha turned this time and looked towards Christa. For the first time, Christa took notice of her dark brown eyes and long black hair. Those eyes looked so hollow. Hollow and sad. Christa tried again, this time more vehemently. He will violate you and leave you for dead ... get away from him. Now!