Diana Rowland - Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues

They took me back to “my” room, let me shower the blood off, gave me fresh clothes to change into, then left me alone. I didn’t know what time of day it was or how much time had passed since I’d been taken, but I curled up on the narrow bed and fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

It might have been half an hour or ten hours later that I woke up, but either way I felt fairly rested. I lay there quietly, ignoring my need to pee while I listened, doing my best to get some sort of clue as to where I was.

The place smelled like new paint, but beneath that there was a faint scent of rust and brackish water. My first instinct was to wonder if I was on a ship or barge or something, but if that was the case, I thought that surely I’d be able to feel some sort of motion or rocking, even if it was docked. Instead I could hear and feel an occasional low rumbling, as if a truck was driving by. Great, so I’m close to a road. Yeah, that really narrows it down.

It didn’t matter. The important thing was to break the hell out however I could. Then I could figure out where I was and how to get to safety.

And warn Marcus.

A fierce ache squeezed my chest at the thought of him. I still wasn’t completely certain of my feelings for him, and I knew it was far too soon to think about whether I was in love with him or anything like that. But I did trust him. We had issues to work out, but I was absolutely certain that he would never throw me under the bus. Pietro was the one who’d betrayed me. I didn’t fit into his bigger plan for Marcus and whatever schemes he had going.

I let out a low laugh. His bigger plan was tiddlywinks compared to what Dr. Charish was up to. I couldn’t imagine that he had any idea. He loved his power too much. There’s no way he’d want to have to answer to some government or corporate type.

The light abruptly increased. They knew I was awake. I sat up and raked my fingers through my hair as a guard I didn’t recognize entered with another tray. Brown eyes, mole on his chin. I mentally tallied the number of different faces I’d seen so far. At least half a dozen, plus Philip. Maybe not so low-budget after all?

There was a slice of brain on the tray again, which didn’t fill me with a warm fuzzy feeling. If they were feeding me so much it had to mean that they had more tests or other bullshit planned.

I ate quickly, then attended to my various personal needs. McKinney and two guards came in as I finished and marched me across the hall again. For an instant I thought perhaps it was a different room, because every speck of blood had been cleaned up. But no.

Dr. Charish was on the other side of the big window, of course, as well as two other lab-coated people I hadn’t seen before. The blue-suited man wasn’t there. Beside Dr. Charish was a new observer: mid-forties perhaps, dark-skinned with an angular face, wearing a black suit that was a somewhat nicer cut than blue-suited guy. I got the unmistakable impression that this was who Dr. Charish was working with. Or for. This was who was really interested in this whole super zombie soldier thing.

“Morning, Doc,” I said, baring my teeth at her. “Who’s your new pal?”

“Good morning, Angel,” her voice came through the speaker above me. “I trust you slept well?”

“Like the dead,” I answered.

She chuckled low in her throat. “Funny. Well, let’s see what you can do for us today.”

The door opened. A sick feeling began in my gut that increased to near panic levels as McKinney and a black man in white t-shirt and grey sweat pants walked in.

Clenching my fists by my sides, I watched in helpless rage as McKinney pulled his gun.

“No, not again,” I pleaded. I looked over at the doctor. “I can’t do this again!”

“Well, you’ll need to give it the old college try then.” The doctor’s voice chirped from the speaker. “Oh, wait. You didn’t go to college, did you?”

Fury burned through the sick feeling. I’d never killed anyone in my life, but I was more than ready for her to be the first. “Don’t shoot him,” I pleaded with McKinney. “You don’t have to do that. I swear I’ll try.” I turned to the new dude. “You do know that’s what he was going to do, right? He shot the last guy on the gamble that I could turn him into a zombie.”

The new guy’s expression didn’t shift, but I saw a muscle in his jaw leap. “Yeah,” I continued. “That’s right. You have to die for this to work.”

McKinney lifted his gun, pointed it at my head. “He knows how the soldier program works. Just do it.” Except he slurred the word soldier oddly.

“Wait…are you saying soldier with a Z ?” I asked. I laughed despite the horror of the whole situation. “Oh my god, seriously? You’re calling it a ‘Zoldier program’ because it’s zombie soldiers? That has got to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!”

To my surprise, McKinney shrugged and chuckled, though the gun didn’t waver. “On that I have to agree with you, but unfortunately it wasn’t up to me.”

Jesus, this guy was a fucking psycho with his weird mood swings. Scared the ever living shit out of me. I shot a look toward the window. Black suit dude was scowling. I had a feeling “Zoldiers” had been his idea. Figured. A name that stupid could only come from the government. Besides, if they were with an Evil Corporation, their suits would be nicer.

I took a deep breath and turned back to the new guy. “What’s your name?”

He flicked a glance at McKinney and received a whisper of a nod in response. “Name’s Aaron Wallace, ma’am,” he told me.

“I’m Angel.” And I’m going to be your Angel of Death today , one way or the other , I thought miserably. “You, um, should probably sit down,” I said, waving in the general direction of the wall. I gave a nervous gulp. “I…I’m sorry. This is going to hurt.”

Aaron moved to sit and leaned against the wall, still keeping his back straight and stiff. “It’s all right ma’am. I’ve been injured before.”

I knelt down beside him, met his eyes. I wanted to tell him that he needed to run, get the hell out of here. Tell him that he had no idea what he was getting into. “There’s no going back from this,” I whispered. “There’s no cure.”

He gave me such a sweet smile that it almost brought me to tears. “It’s all right. I’m ready.”

I wished I was.

Taking hold of his shoulders, I leaned over and bit him hard, the same place I’d bitten Philip, right on the meat of muscle of his traps. Aaron let out a soft hiss as I tightened down, but didn’t twitch at all. I bit harder, tasting blood, then released him, swallowed uncertainly, and bit again. C’mon, killer instinct , I silently begged the parasite. I can’t do this on my own . Blood filled my mouth on the third bite. I could feel tears leaking down my cheeks as I tried to pretend I was simply eating a really tough piece of steak and did my best to tear the flesh.

I sat back on my heels and looked up at McKinney. “It’s not working,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I swear, I’m trying. I swear. Maybe it’s too soon. Let me try some other time. Please!”

McKinney regarded me, mouth twisted in thought. “I’m not ready to quit trying yet. There’s one thing that’s different.” And with that he lifted the gun and shot Aaron twice in the chest, in an almost exact duplicate of the wounds on Philip.

Aaron jerked, eyes wide as he fought to get breath.

“No!” I screamed. “It’s not working. I’m not going to be able to save him!”

“Philip was dying when you tried to turn him,” McKinney replied, utterly calmly. “Perhaps being near death is a requirement. Now, try again.”