Kenn Crawford - Dead Hunt

“Lucy, relax,” Paul suggested, “now is the best time to let off a little steam or else we’ll all go insane not knowing what’s going to happen next.”

“What is going to happen next?’ Emma asked in a frail voice.

Paul looked at her. She didn’t look as bad as earlier, but she still looked like she would jump out of her skin at any moment.

“I don’t know,” Paul said. “But Mikey is working on something. If there’s a way out of this mess, he’ll figure it out.”

“Be careful,” Lucy said with a smile. “You almost sound like you’re looking up to him.”

“Now who’s cracking jokes?” Paul laughed.

“I’m just gonna have to plaster it all over Facebook and Twitter that big bad Paul has grown fond of our little Mikey.”

“Now, that’s fucking funny,” Paul laughed before Emma spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Umm, guys,” she said sheepishly. “Speaking of Facebook and Twitter, has anyone checked to see if any of those computers have internet access?”

They stared at her, speechless.

“I mean, this whole lab is, like, run by computers, and we know there’s no phone, so how did that doctor guy talk to people? There must be someone he needed to stay in contact with.”

“Who needed to stay in contact?” Michael asked as he came around the corner.

The teens jumped to their feet and ran to the keyboard. Michael followed. None of them touched the keyboard.

“Robin, are you there?” Lucy asked.

“Yes, Lucy, I am here,” Robin replied.

“Do you have internet access?”

“Yes.”

“Great!” Lucy said excitedly. “We can log online and get help!”

“I’m afraid that is not possible,” Robin informed her.

“Not possible?” Lucy asked. “Why not?”

“The internet signal we receive from the satellite is currently unavailable.”

“Unavailable?” Paul said. “How the hell can a satellite be unavailable?”

“There is a problem with the satellite receiver,” Robin explained.

“Receiver? You mean the dish?” Michael asked.

“That is correct.”

“What’s the problem?” Michael asked.

“I will show you,” Robin announced as her face on the computer screen switched to the view of a large satellite dish in the middle of a grassy clearing. The dish lay on its side, a broken wire swayed lifelessly above it.

“What the hell happened to that?” Paul asked.

“There was a storm,” Robin informed them. “The receiver was damaged.”

“Well, why didn’t you fix it?” he demanded.

“I will walk outside and get right on that for you,” Robin replied.

The teens said nothing. Then Paul spoke up, “Did that fucking computer bitch just crack a joke?”

A smile appeared on their faces; it disappeared equally as fast.

“Can you fix it, Mikey?” Paul asked.

“You mean go out there? With those things?”

“You’re right, Mikey,” Paul agreed disheartened. “It’s not like we are tricking a dumb ass bear this time.”

“But maybe we can trick them with smell,” Michael said as he explained his idea. Hours passed as Michael and Paul discussed every possible way of reconnecting that wire. None of their plans even hinted at working.

If they were able to distract those things long enough for Michael to try and fix the broken wire the dish still had to be realigned, which would take brute strength, and Paul couldn’t help him with that and watch Michael’s back. The next problem was even worse: they didn’t know how long those things would be distracted or if they even could be. In the end, it was obvious that they couldn’t fix the dish.

The sleep-deprived girls had already slumped on the floor in the lab, though none of them actually slept. The only thing worse than the nightmares they saw when they closed their eyes were the nightmares they saw when they kept them open. Knowing those nightmares walked around outside meant no one was going to be able to get any sleep.

“Good evening, this is Clay Buffer with the Atlantic Television Networks 6 o’clock evening news. It is with a saddened heart that I report that our very own Jess Jessup has been struck down by what officials are now calling the Margaree Virus, or simply, the M Virus. The death of Jess Jessup has made it painfully clear that the M Virus has indeed left the Margaree area and is spreading. Reports of virus-like activity are coming in from Glace Bay, Christmas Island, Whycocomaugh, Bell Cote, Neil’s Harbor and Meat Cove. Joining us in the studio today is world-renowned biochemist, Doctor Bajeet Chopra. Doctor Chopra, could you explain to our viewers exactly what the M Virus is?”

“Of course, Mr. Buffer, and I thank you for having me. Upon examination of the viral fluid collected from the hosts and victims, it is apparent that a viral strain was introduced into the hosts’ system, modifying the hosts’ DNA into a brand new strand. There is no known organism that can biologically manufacture the DNA found in said viral fluid, so therefore it stands to reason that this new strand of virus DNA, although chemically complex, was manufactured.”

“Excuse me, Dr. Chopra, manufactured? Are you telling us that someone purposely made the M Virus?”

“Yes, and no. The most important detail we are missing is the chemical structure of the original virus strand. We can only test the fluid from an infected host, or its victim, and not the original virus strand that created them. So although it is true that somebody has indeed created the M Virus, I strongly believe the M Virus has mutated from its original purpose.”

“And what was the original purpose?”

“We do not have enough data to determine what the original purpose of this rogue virus strand could have been. We do know that it is not airborne as the CDC originally reported, and we recently discovered that the M Virus is in fact waterborne. It is the most peculiar thing, instead of diluting in water, this particular strand of virus grows stronger. So, the longer it is in the water, the more it mutates. Once the host drinks the water, he immediately starts to undergo metabolic changes as the virus modifies the host’s DNA, which, unfortunately, kills the host in a few hours. As I mentioned, I do not believe this particular virus was designed to kill. If it was, then whoever created it is taking the long way around.”

“The long way around?”

“The M virus does kill the host, but strangely enough, the virus then revives the host’s most basic bodily functions. It is only after this ‘resurrection,’ so to speak, and I use that term very lightly, but it is after the host comes back to life that he or she shows signs of extreme violence and cannibalistic behavior.”

“What you are describing, Doctor Chopra, sounds like… well, a zombie?”

“Not in the true Hollywood sense of the word, but, yes, the host is more or less a zombie.”

“How is that even possible?”

“If we speculate, we could assume that any virus capable of reanimating the dead will most likely have characteristics similar to the Ebola Zaire Virus. That particular strand effectively turns the human host into a mush of viral proteins that, in turn, feed upon healthy proteins. That virus does not affect the skeletal muscle or bones and is one of few viruses known to man that are borderline parasitic. The DNA mutation of the M Virus allows for Adenosine Triphosphate, or ATP.”

“You’ve lost me, doc”

“It is basic biology, really. The oxygen in our cells has a negative charge. Electrons want to be with protons, so the negative charges repel each other. Because the negatively charged cells are always trying to get away from each other, there is a lot of potential energy there. The ATP process can power needed reactions by losing one of its phosphorous groups to form ADP. Food energy, in this case the oxidation of glucose, converts it back so that the energy is made available again. In other words, you use the energy from this process to do what you need to do to keep alive. It then recharges through the oxidation of glucose in a cycle called the TCA, or Krebs cycle, to provide energy for the conversion of ADP back to ATP. What all this basically means is that the M Virus uses the sugar in the host’s blood and combines it with negatively charged oxygen cells, which creates life.”