Dead Hunt (11 page)

Michael looked at Lucy, puzzled, as she
continued to question Robin.

“If this is just a dusty old cellar filled
with junk, then why did the Professor take the time to install a
monitor and camera?”

Robin did not answer.

“Robin, you said he was only worried about
the security of the lab, so why install a steel door and security
camera in a damp and dusty old cellar that’s just filled with
junk?”

Robin still did not answer.

Lucy waited then asked, “Robin, can you see
inside that room?”

“I am not able to see inside the room,” Robin
answered immediately.

“But you know what is in there?” Lucy asked,
not expecting an answer.

Robin did not respond.

“What if…” Lucy said with a mock look of
fear, “What if your father is in there?”

Robins face on the monitor took on a more
concerned look as Lucy continued her charade, “What if he is hurt?
If he is hurt, Robin, we can’t help him if we are locked out
here.”

Lucy tried her best to sound sincere. She
wondered if she would be able to trick Robin into opening the door.
Michael nodded approvingly with the hint of a smile. A moment
later, the silence that enveloped the dusty cellar was broken by
the sound of a loud metallic click. Michael pushed on the steel
door and it groaned open.

The two teens stepped through the door into a
long, narrow room lit with a lone light bulb suspended from the
ceiling. Directly below it sat a large stainless-steel canister
with tubes and wires that ran from the canister to a computer
terminal. Unlike every computer monitor that had seen so far,
Robin’s face did not appear on this computer; Robin watched them
from outside the door.

Michael nudged Lucy and pointed to the far
corner. A dozen or so steel cylinders labeled “Liquid Nitrogen”
stood in the corner. The entire room was lined with steel and
concrete walls; the stainless steel canisters gleamed against the
all gray room. A solitary chair sat next to a canister labeled
“LifeCorp”.

“What is all this?” Lucy asked, turning to
the doorway to see Robin.

Robin did not answer.

Lucy read the label on the big,
stainless-steel canister, “LifeCorp.”

“LifeCorp?” Michael asked.

“That’s what it says.”

“LifeCorp,” Michael repeated. “That name
sounds familiar.”

Lucy looked back out the door and saw that
Robin was watching them.

“What is all this stuff for, Robin?” Lucy
asked her.

“I am not permitted,” Robin’s voice echoed
through the open doorway.

“Of course not,” Lucy cursed under her
breath.

“I remember!” Michael announced excitedly.
“LifeCorp. I read about them in one of my dad’s old Sports
Illustrated Magazines. Some baseball player died years ago…. Jimmy
something …. Jimmy ‘Fastball’ Williams. Yeah, that’s it. Anyway, he
died and they froze him.”

“They froze him?” Lucy asked
incredulously.

“Yeah. I think it had something to do with
his family arguing over how his remains were supposed to be
disposed of. Some wanted a burial, others wanted cremation, or some
nonsense like that. Anyway, they had LifeCorp freeze the guy but
his skull cracked. The family was pissed. It was a big scandal”

“That would explain the liquid nitrogen,”
Lucy said, more to herself, as she looked back to the LifeCorp
canister.

“Yeah, it’s called Cryo-something,” Michael
added. “Cryogenics.”

“Cryogenics,” Robin spoke up, “is the study
of the production of very low temperatures and the behavior of
materials at those temperatures. Cryogenics is often used
incorrectly to refer to cryonics, which is cryo-preserving humans.
It is a common mistake.”

Lucy looked at Michael and whispered
mockingly, “It is a common mistake.”

Michael smiled and rolled his eyes.

“So,” Lucy said in a more serious tone, “Now
that we know what is in there, the big question is who? Who is in
there, Robin?” Lucy pointed to the canister by the chair.

“I am not permitted,” Robin answered.

“Listen, little-miss-I-am-not-permitted, how
do we know that the Professor is not in there? You’re a computer,
the Professor could have been dead for years, and you wouldn’t
know.” Lucy paused for a moment, “Or you won’t tell us. I’m tired
of your games. Who is in that canister?”

“I am not per…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re not permitted.
Either you tell us who’s in there Robin or we are just gonna have
to pop this sucker open and have a little look see for
ourselves.”

“You are not permitted to do that. If you
open the capsule without following the proper procedure it will
destroy…” Robin paused. “It will destroy the cells.”

“Well, that’s a chance I am willing to take,”
Lucy said as she moved towards the canister. “It’s not like we are
hurting anyone. They’re already dead. And since you won’t tell us
who’s in there….”

“I am,” Robin answered.

“What?” Michael and Lucy asked in unison.

“I am in the canister.”

“What do you mean?” Lucy asked.

“When I was twelve there was an automobile
accident. I died. My father placed me in cryonic preservation. The
project we were working on…” her voice trailed off, as if thinking.
“He was trying to discover a way to reanimate me.”

“Reanimate you?” Michael questioned, “As in
bring the dead back to life?”

“That is correct,” Robin answered.

“That sounds just a little too far fetched
to…” Michael’s voice trailed off as his mind grabbed hold of the
idea. Secluded laboratory, re-animation, green liquid spilled into
the creek, zombie-like people eating other people. Robin broke his
train of thought.

“I implore you,” she begged, “please do not
open the canister or all will be lost.”

“You’re still here. She’s still in there, so
it didn’t work, did it?” Lucy said, more of a statement than a
question.

“No, it did not,” Robin answered.

“I think it did,” Michael thought as a cold
chill raced down his spine.

CHAPTER 10 – Testing Your Theory

“Good evening, this is Clay Buffer with the
Atlantic Television Networks Late Night News at 11. Tonight’s top
story:

“A sudden wave of violence has struck the
quiet village of Margaree Valley early this morning. When RCMP
officers discovered the remains of a still yet to be identified
female, the RCMP originally surmised the woman was the victim of a
vicious bear attack. The partially devoured body was examined by
the Sydney Medical Examiner, and his conclusion was that the bite
marks on the victim were not of an animal, but rather, by humans.
Several humans. Further study of the remains discovered an unknown
virus and the CDC was immediately flown in from Atlanta, Georgia,
to spearhead the investigation. Our field reporter, Jess Jessup has
the story. . . ”

“Thank you, Clay. The recent string of
cannibalistic slayings and the disappearance of the Margaree River
Valley residents has local authorities at a loss. The entire
population of approximately nine hundred residents has all but
vanished. So far, the RCMP have found the remains of approximately
three hundred forty-seven residents in various locations, with the
largest cluster of victims located in the community hall of St.
Patrick’s Parish. The CDC has confirmed in a press conference
earlier this evening that an unidentified virus found in the
victims may be causing some residents to attack other people in a
cannibalistic nature. However, at this time they are unable to
confirm that assessment.

“With the exception of the bodies already
found, authorities have been unable to locate any of the other
residents. The RCMP has set up roadblocks on all rural roads
leading to the foothills surrounding the Margaree River Valley. In
addition, the Canadian Armed Forces, with the assistance of members
of the American National Guard, are planning a full sweep of the
entire area. The highlands of Margaree cover approximately three
hundred square miles. Details on the sweep will be released at a
later date. Jess Jessup, ATN Evenings News.”

“Thank you Jess, and now, the forecast with
Jimmy MacIntosh. .. .”

Lucy and Michael ran out of the cellar when
they heard Emma’s scream. Paul appeared from the lab just in time
to follow them up the stairs with Lauren following behind. They
reached the room Emma was in, but she said nothing, her shaking
hand pointed towards the window. Cautiously, Michael moved towards
the window, unsheathing the giant machete as he looked out.

“Damn things are everywhere!” Michael told
them.

The rest of the teens moved towards the
window and peered outside.

“Holy shit!” Paul whispered. “There’s so many
of them. Maybe they’ll just keep going past us?”

“Anything is possible,” Michael nodded.
“Maybe we should all stay really, really quiet, just in case.”

“Thought you said they didn’t hear very
well?” Paul asked.

“I said we don’t know what in the hell those
people are, and I didn’t think they could hear very well. But let’s
not take any chances. Let’s all quietly go back down to the lab
where it can be sealed by Robin, and we’ll keep really quiet and
see what happens.”

Sitting on the laboratory floor, with the
windows secured by the massive shutters, the tiny group of teens
sat motionless as the sounds of moaning slowly circled the lodge.
The hours ticked by painfully slow. Zombies banged and scraped at
the lodge and boarded-up windows trying to get in. Everyone’s
nerves grew thinner.

Michael stood up, as he had done several
times before, and quietly disappeared upstairs, only to return a
few short minutes later. As he took his place with his friends they
all looked at him expectantly. He reported in hushed tones that
from the upstairs window it now looked like there were at least
three or four dozen of those zombie things walking around the
grounds, looking for a way in.

Michael stood and announced, “I’m pretty sure
those things hunt by smell. We have been super quiet for hours and
none of them are leaving. So they must be able to smell us.”

Paul stood up and stretched his arms. “So we
can talk now?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Michael shrugged.

“Thank fuck, I was getting a little batty
sitting there. So they can smell us, eh?”

“Looks that way,” Michael told him.

Paul scrunched up his face, and a few seconds
later smiled.

“Oh, my God!” Lucy's eyes watered as she
covered her nose.

Paul laughed. “Just thought I’d give them
something to smell.”

“But did you have to try and kill the rest of
us?” Lauren asked. “What in the hell did you eat?”

“Beans, beans, good for your heart. The more
you eat, the more you…. .”

“Wait,” Michael interrupted. “That’s it!”

“Huh?” was all the rest of them could
say.

“Smell. They are attracted to smell.”

“Here we go again,” Paul rolled his eyes.
“More cloak and dagger bullshit.”

“Listen,” Michael informed them, “if our
smell is what is keeping them here, then our smell can distract
them.”

No one made a sound. Their minds were lost in
the maze that was Michael’s logic. Lucy broke the silence.

“This time I have to agree with Paul. What in
the hell are you talking about? Why don’t you just talk in plain
English?”

“Smell,” Michael repeated, as if it was
obvious.

The look on everyone’s face proved it was not
that obvious.

“Yeah, yeah,” Paul mocked, “I smell, you
smell, we all smell. So what does smell have to do with it?”

Michael explained, “Those zombie things are
not too bright. They have been wandering around outside for hours,
banging into crap because they can smell that we are in here, but
they don’t know how to get in. If we can change how it smells in
here, and somehow get our smell out there, that will distract them
long enough for us to escape.”

“Great plan,” Lucy said, “Escape to
where?”

Apprehensive silence filled the lab
again.

“Ok,” Michael announced, “So it’s not a
perfect plan, but at least it’s something. Maybe we don’t have
anywhere to escape to right now, but if we can just get those damn
things away from here we could all have a little bit of our sanity
back.”

Paul grinned at Michael, “Getting a little
frazzled are we, Mr. Cloak and Dagger?”

Michael ignored his comments and slumped back
down on the floor.

“Hey, Emma?” Paul said.

“What?” she replied weakly.

Paul looked at her for a moment. He could
tell she was really frazzled by all this. They all were, but Emma
looked a mess. Now was not the time for silly blonde jokes.

“We’re going to be all right,” he said with a
smile as he sat next to her and put his big arm around her shaking
body. “You hang in there, okay?”

She nodded with a sob and buried her face in
his chest. Lucy sat on her other side, rubbing Emma’s shoulder to
soothe her.

“Thanks, Paul,” Lucy whispered as Paul stood
up to stretch his legs. He nodded a smile as Lauren took his place
to help comfort Emma.

As the hours passed, all sense of time eluded
them. In today’s modern world of cell phones and text messaging,
wrist watches had become all but obsolete,; a relic of a not so
distant past, worn more for nostalgia than practicality. A relic
worn by none of these teens. Their trusted cell phones and
Blackberries sat somewhere in the smashed-up van halfway down the
mountain.

A loud bang, like a gun shot, startled the
teens to their feet. Another bang sounded as they ran upstairs to
find Paul aiming a rifle out the window.

“What the hell are you doing?” Michael
yelled.

“Testing your theory,” Paul answered.

“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Lucy asked him.

“Boy genius here said these things are like
zombies.”