Human Bait

Chapter 17: Research Base

Rekkan shouldered his rifle and climbed down the ladder first. I followed close behind, caught between nerves and excitement. Maybe the scientists here knew my mother, maybe they knew something about the Infection, and maybe I could carry on her legacy... or maybe not. I had assured myself that I only needed a small stroke of good luck to connect the pieces, but now that Rekkan had handed over his fortress to save me and was accompanying me on this reckless mission, I wondered if I really had anything to contribute.

Rekkan and I both surveyed the lab equipment and papers scattered across the tables, him with the focused caution of searching for a bomb and me with the breathless anticipation of digging up treasure. Here I saw no dust, but I also saw no people. Surely someone would have noticed our arrival.

"Hello?" I called.

Rekkan shot me a seething glare.

"They're researchers," I shout-whispered at him, "And they invited you. They're not going to attack—"

A metal door on the left swung open, and a man scurried into the room. A white lab coat fluttered around his feet, and his white whiskers twitched, a bold contrast from the deep tan of his skin. He carried a stack of papers and no weapon.

Warmth swelled in my chest. Finally, I was meeting a non-hostile fellow Southie. I started to take a step toward him, but Rekkan stiff-armed me.

The scientist bustled past us without even glancing our way. He set the papers on the nearest table and shuffled through them, muttering to himself.

The warmth vanished, leaving goosebumps in its place. This place could not possibly get enough visitors to not even react to our arrival.

Something was wrong with this man.

My confidence flagged, and I dropped a step back. To my surprise, Rekkan took one step toward the man and cleared his throat.

"Hey," he said, "We're here to see Doctor Gazira."

The scientist whipped toward us with a flurry of papers. "It's too late." He pushed spectacles up his nose, enlarging his emerald eyes. "The Noble Forces know."

Rekkan's hand closed over the barrel of his rifle, but his voice remained calm. "The Noble Forces know what? Where is Doctor Gazira?"

The scientist bustled back out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

I stared at the shut door for a few seconds, biting my lip. Rekkan had been right—something was very off about this place. All common sense told me to get out fast... but after all this time of searching for research bases, I couldn't give up quite so fast.

I turned to Rekkan and whispered a pleading, "Maybe I can just look around for one minute before we leave?"

I expected him to refuse, possibly with that same glare he sent me before. However, Rekkan just released a pained exhale and tilted his head toward the tables.

"Hurry, please," he said.

I approached the table where the scientist had stood. A neon green post-it note labeled the first stack of papers: Phase One: Freshly-Baked. A dozen photos depicted men, women, and a few children with glazed eyes and various minor deformities. A limp, a broken arm, an untended cut. Below the photos, scribbled cursive covered the papers.

I shifted to examine the second stack, topped by a neon yellow label: Phase Two: Overcooked. I sifted through photos of people with various missing limbs and rotting teeth and flesh. Even the still-lifes captured the wrongness of their movements, the misalignment of their bones and muscles. Below the photos, I found a shorter stack of notes.

When I reached the last page, I swept a glance over the rest of the table. The third stack was even thinner, so small I almost missed it until the photo caught my eye. A blur of color streaked through the frame, moving too fast to distinguish limbs. A neon-red post-it stuck to the corner.

Phase Three: Fully-Fermented.

"Rekkan, look. Are you seeing this? It's just like I thought; the Third Phase has super—"

A door creaked open on the opposite side of the room from where the man had disappeared, and a woman stepped out. Wiry black curls zigged up from her scalp and bushed behind her ears. Olive-green eyes tracked from Rekkan to me.

"Doctor Gazira?" said Rekkan.

"Come in, come in," she said, and she whisked back through the doorway.

Rekkan and I exchanged a glance, and then we started after her, entering a small office. On the closer side, open file cabinets displayed rows of folders, and a single leather-bound notebook splayed open on top of a coffee table. On the far side, Doctor Gazira settled into her office chair and clicked away at a computer.

I started to step forward, but Rekkan's hand clamped over my forearm. When I glanced at him, his eyes remained on Gazira.

Rekkan cleared his throat. "Doctor, I refused your invitation a month ago, but I've had a..." His eyes darted toward me. "Change of heart. Would you still like to study me?"

The doctor gnawed on a fingernail, eyes still locked on the computer screen. "Odd, really. No exponential spread, you see. I'm starting to think..."

My skin prickled, and dread and excitement mingled in my stomach. I took one step forward, as far as Rekkan's grip on my arm would allow. "Starting to think what, Doctor?"

She shook her head. "Starting to think it's not a virus."

Ice poured through my veins. "Not a virus, Doctor? What else could it be?"

"Starting to think it's not a virus. You see?" She grasped both sides of the monitor and twisted it toward me one tiny tug at a time. "It's not a virus." She shook her head again and pushed the screen around the rest of the way, knocking the keyboard onto the floor.

Horror flooded my gut.

The screen showed... nothing. Behind cracked glass, I saw only black.

Rekkan yanked me behind him. I peeked around his shoulder at Doctor Gazira, who jerked her head from side to side hard enough her neck crackled.

"Not a virus. Not a virus. Not a virus!"

Rekkan readied his rifle. "Stay there, Doctor. Don't move."

She snapped up from her chair, and the monitor toppled to the ground to join the keyboard. She grasped the opposite edge of the desk and threw a knee up onto the table.

"Not a—"

Rekkan fired the rifle.