Part 8 (2/2)
The two shook hands before Guillermo walked down the driveway with his new pack. A handgun was sticking out of the side pocket, and he had taken a machete from the garage. He climbed the ladder and looked back to the house, waved at Jonathan once more, took a deep breath, and dropped down over the wall.
Jonathan could not help but smile. He was ecstatic to finally meet someone new. The signs were always there that others survived. The gunshots from the other day came to mind, but now he knew for sure. He pulled another ladder from the shed. This one was much longer, but it would work for when they came back. He laid it down against the wall by the other one. Now it was back to work. He had muscle to examine.
Back inside, he concluded that the muscle was not only still fresh, but it was also very warm. This muscle could have come from a normal living person. He was baffled by how the flesh and blood was as dried up and thick as they were, but the muscle was in such great condition.
The flesh was cold to the touch. He noticed this each time he had to touch the dead girl. All of these findings went into his notes, and the increase in curiosity told him he needed to take a look at the brain.
The gentle breeze blew the smell of the dead girl away from Jonathan as he stood in the backyard staring at her. Her cold skin looked even paler in the sun. Why didn't they sunburn? Jonathan decided to worry about that later. With her movement restricted to the best of his ability, he knew that the only way to study her brain was to remove the top of her skull.
He was not able to find a precision cutting tool, instead he held the cold stainless steel handle of a s.h.i.+ny new hacksaw. Used for cutting through metal, it would easily do the job. Why his father bought most of the things he had was beyond Jonathan. With the smaller ladder brought to where the girl was bound, he prepared to work.
So far he was not enjoying any of the things he has had to do. After all, this girl was once a person just as he was. However, he knew he needed to do this for the sake of his future, and the futures of Guillermo and the other survivors. He had with him a gla.s.s plate, and he put on some rubber gloves that made that squeaky stretching sound when he curled his fingers into a fist. The plastic model of the brain from his room sat next to him on top of the ladder.
Jonathan looked down at the girl from his spot on the ladder. He was not really sure what would happen to her as he began removing her brain, but he was sure she would forgive him. After all, the girl she once was probably would have done what she could to find an end to this.
He pressed the sharp, serrated, high-speed steel blade against the girl's hair on the back of her head. At first, he lightly drew the hacksaw back and forth. Instantly, hair fell to the ground, followed by small chunks of skin and thick black clots of blood. The skin surrounding her skull was easy to work through.
It only took a few good pa.s.ses before he hit the skull. Applying more force now, Jonathan had to grit his teeth as he listened to the grinding of the steel blade on bone. Slowly, he work his way around the girl as the blade worked its way through her tough skull. Tilting and holding her head as he went about this gruesome act.
After a couple minutes of slow, tedious work he was ready to remove the top of her head. He could hear the bone sc.r.a.pe against itself as he turned the top of the skull to free it up. He gave a gentle pull and the top of her head came free. The yellow tank top girl seemed to have not noticed any of what he was doing, and she didn't care that the top of her head was now missing from its place.
Her brain was mostly gray and pretty well solid looking. Jonathan expected it to look much more like mush by now. It was, however, covered in what appeared to be dark maroon veins. Only they were more like plant roots, or a creeping vine. They subtly pulsated as they pumped whatever b.l.o.o.d.y liquid they contained.
Deciding to look past the veins, he was uncertain of what part of the brain to examine. Carefully taking the small vegetable knife, he carved out a piece of the frontal lobe. The dark, viscous liquid pumped out of the veins as he cut through them. This seemed to have no effect on the girl. The piece of brain was moist to the touch and appeared to be healthy. He placed this on the plate.
Opening an anatomy book he had brought out with him, he looked at the different functions of the brain. Some of the blackened blood from his gloved fingers spread across the pages as he flipped through.
The cerebellum seemed to interest him the most. He was curious if the girl would continue on if he was to remove this part of her brain. Jonathan carefully lifted the back part of her brain up to find the cerebellum. She seemed to shake and twitch as he moved this fascinating organ around. Once he was confident he found what he was looking for, he brought the knife in and cut into it to remove a good piece.
This caused the girl to twist and jerk violently. Her spasms brought about choked moans. Than in the matter of seconds, she stopped moving completely. Jonathan was not surprise, but found himself disappointed as he did not want her dead just yet. He was sure the brain was the key to their continued existence. As he stepped back onto the ground he did a quick examination of the girl's limp body.
Quickly grabbing a knife from inside, Jonathan ran back out, lowered the girl to the ground, and cut her chest open. Inside, her lungs were black, yet they were moist and soft. A terribly putrid smell escaped as he cut one of them open. A quick glance in her lungs gave him reason to believe that they didn't absorb any oxygen.
He spent a moment feeling around in the lungs, not really sure of what to look for. There was nothing that stood out to him. After all, he had no real experience with any of this. Deciding that this would be something for another time, Jonathan ran back inside to tend to the brain.
A small lab was set up in his bedroom, but he didn't have enough equipment to run any serious tests. It was there that he examined the brain fragments and a sample of the thick blood from the large veins under his microscope. The cellular activity was much higher in the cerebellum than it was in the piece from the frontal lobe.
Large traces of a chemical that Jonathan believed to be the one used to reanimate the dead was found in the blood sample, and it was in full control of the body. It kept the brain working in overdrive, sending signals to the muscles. Why it caused them to violently attack people was still unclear to him.
Over the next hour the activity in the brain, along with the reactions from the chemical, ceased. He sat and stared at his samples for an hour after that. Jonathan knew he was smart, yet he wasn't smart enough to know what to do next. At this time, none of the data he had gathered really helped in any way. Besides, the lack of a sophisticated lab was holding him back.
After cleaning up the lab he had set up for these experiments, he showered. Walking into the kitchen in his pajama bottoms and slippers, Jonathan opened and closed all the cupboards looking for something to eat. Although he kept everything stocked in the kitchen, he just wasn't sure what he was in the mood for. Finally, he settled on a steak from the freezer and a baked potato to celebrate the occasion of finding other people after all this time.
After his supper he went to sleep, hoping to meet the rest of Guillermo's group in the next couple of days. He was pretty sure the man had mentioned a young woman. He wondered about her. Hoping she would be his age. There was also the thought that with his luck, she would be hideous.
Chapter 14.
Bradley had made it safely to Deacon's house with Emalynn and the children before Guillermo made it back. Roger had climbed onto the roof and kept watch from there to await his return. The group was becoming increasingly nervous as time went on.
”He should have been back by now, right?” Emalynn asked with worry in her voice. Her wet eyes were wide with fear and dismay.
”I'm sure he's fine, Ema,” Bradley replied. With his arm around her shoulder, he held her tightly, yet he too was worried about his new friend.
”Look what we found,” the twins said together with eerie timing. The group turned in unison to see that each child held a fluffy cat. Andy's was orange and white while Amie's was black, brown, and white.
”There are millions of them in a room back there,” Amie said. The smile on her dirty face almost touched her ears.
”Actually, there are about twenty, and we really do need to put them back,” Deacon said trying to remain pleasant.
”Ah, can't we keep them out for now?” Andy and Amie both gave the group their best puppy dog faces.
”You sure can.” Sophia said. ”Just don't let anymore out, ok?”
”Ok. Thanks.” The twins said together again as they ran off down the hall with their new friends.
”I'm naming mine Herbert,” said Andy.
”What a dumb name for a cat. I'm naming mine Princess s.h.i.+rley.”
The group sat down to eat another small portion of rabbit and vegetables for supper. With the extra security, they sat in the living room and ate. The kitchen table was busted into pieces, probably to extract a weapon from it.
Bradley took a plate of the stringy rabbit meat, cat jerky, and vegies up to Roger, who did not seem to care either way if Guillermo made it back. He sat on the roof mostly to stay away from the rest of the group, none of which he liked much. Roger ate with his fingers despite having a somewhat clean fork. The creak of the boards caused Roger to roll to his back and face out into the yard behind him.
Guillermo crept slowly through the yard, noticed Roger on the roof, and waved happily. Roger nodded his acknowledgment and turned back to his food without much care. Guillermo shrugged and walked toward the sliding gla.s.s door.
Bradley noticed him from inside, stood up, and walked out into the backyard. Noticing Guillermo's knew outfit, Bradley said, ”You stop by South Willard before coming back?” he laughed as he hugged his friend.
”I don't know what that is, but I found something better I'm sure. I'll explain when we are with the rest of the group. Everyone made it ok, yes?”
”Yeah, we are all here. It is a little more comfortable now that we spread out in the main level of the house. We will probably still sleep in the attic at night though.”
The rest of the group was happy that he had made it back. They were far happier after he handed out the supplies that Jonathan had given him. There was even a few of Jonathan's action figures for the children, which they enjoyed very much. Guillermo explained all about outrunning the devils, meeting Jonathan, and what he referred to as his ”safe house”.
”So we need to plan our move. Now that you know where it is can you lead us there quickly?” Bradley asked.
”Si. If we have a clear day within the next day or two we will easily be able to make it there in one shot. I know exactly how to find the place.”
”What if we get there and he turns out to be a cannibal?” Deacon asked, laughing at the three men's earlier fear of him and Sophia.
”Being a better man, I'm going to ignore that little jab,” Bradley said with a smile, ”but what I'm not going to ignore is the awe'. Do you plan on going with us?”
<script>