The Iso-Stasis Experiment (The Experiments) (33 page)

John turned suddenly to Carlos who was bouncing around as much as he was. “He’s such a dick.”

^^^^

“Jake . . . found them.” Cal emerged from the bathroom carrying two rolled up ropes. “Why do we need ropes?”

“Just in case.” Jake made sure both weapons were loaded and handed Cal the rifle. “All ready.” He took the ropes, throwing them over his shoulder.

“How are you fixed on ammo?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I came prepared.”
 
Jake opened the bedroom door. “You and me Cal, we’re hooked up.”

Cal followed him down the hall. “And where are we going? The gathering room is that way.”

“To the roof.”

“Can I have the shot gun?”

“No, you have an M-16.”

“Come on, Jake I feel real cool with the shot gun.”

“The M-16 is cool. No, Cal, the shot gun’s mine.” He looked up at the ceiling as they reached the end of the hall.

“Please.”

“All right . . . here.” He exchanged weapons with her and turned the M-16 upside down. With the butt of it he pressed up on the ceiling, opening a hatch. “Get on the roof.”
 
Extending his arm up Jake jumped once. As he came down he pulled with him a sliding ladder. He motioned his hand toward it signaling Cal to go first.

“How did you know this was here?” She stepped her foot on the first rung.

“Did you really think I didn’t scope this place out? Now up. Hurry.” Nudging her by her backside, Jake gave her a boost up. He watched her climb and then he followed. He could hear
 
Cal running across the roof as he climbed the ladder.

“Shit, Jake.” Cal peered over the edge. “There’s . . . one, two . . . seven of them.”

“I know. Now keep your voice down.” Jake joined her, pulling her down to sit beside him. “Here’s the plan.”

“We have a plan?”

“Yes,” Jake snapped. “You have the shot gun. You concentrate on the close range. They’re going to scatter when we fire so, I’ll try to catch them. Try to be accurate.”

“Me? You be accurate. Let’s just do this.” Cal brought herself to her knees to peer over the ledge. “They are a determined bunch.”

“They are probably hungry. Look . . . when you hang over the edge, be careful you don’t fall. OK?”

Cal laughed. “What are they going to do jump up . . .” Cal shrieked as the snarling jaws of a wolf lunged within a foot of her face. She jumped back.
 
“Fuck.”“

”Are you satisfied, Miss Mouth? Are we ready now?”

Still in shock a little, Cal nodded and slowly raised her weapon again. “I’m ready.” She visually charted out which wolf she would go for first, then second. Within moments they began to fire upon the small pack of wolves.

^^^^

It appeared to weigh nothing as Jake carried the heavy door he had taken from the bathroom in Rickie’s old room into the gathering room. Jake carried that the door along with a hammer under his arm and nails in his mouth. “Cal.” He spoke muffled, lifting his chin toward her to remove the nails, which she did. “You guys can move away from that shelf now.”

“Hey, Sarge,” Rickie said. “Like that’s my door, can I have my poster back before you use it to block the hole?

After giving Rickie a sneer, Jake walked up to the bunch, resting the door he carried against the wall. He slid the shelf out of the way, whistling when he saw the blood stained door and the huge hole in the center of it. “That’s a big hole.”

John’s mouth dropped open. “No shit, Jake. And you just left it there.”

“I put the shelf in front of it.” Jake slid the new door over the old one and lined up a nail. He pounded it twice, driving it in and took another nail from Cal’s hand.

“A lot of good it did though,” John continued. “All you say is wolves, and you leave the shelf to block the door.”

“I thought it would hold them back.” Jake placed in another nail.

“Jake!” John snapped at him. He noticed Jake’s glare and at that moment didn’t worry. “The wolf put a huge hole in the door. Did you really think the shelf would stand on its own?”

“John! Why are you bitching at me?” Jake halted in his pounding to stare him down. “It’s not wise. Trust me.” Without looking Jake reached his hand out for another nail.

“I don’t mean to bitch at you, Jake. Common sense should tell you if the wolf was strong enough to go through a wooden door, it was going to knock the shelf over. You should have at least warned us of that possibility before you ran off.”

“At the moment I ran off, I really didn’t care.” Jake slammed the hammer into the final nail so hard it rang in everyone’s ear. “I still don’t.”

Seeing that he was getting nowhere with Jake and the ‘hole’ issue, John tried another line of questioning. “So, do you think there are more? Do you think they’ll come back?”

“How the hell would I know? I’m a
Ranger
, not a
fuckin
’ Forest Ranger.” Jake looked at his completed project. “Done, and you can still open it.” He turned to knob immediately bringing into view the scattered carcasses. “Oh man, do they stink.” Jake covered his nose with the back of his hand and shut the door. “We killed them.” He laid his hand on Cal’s back.
 
“You people move them.” Amid the moans that emanated from the group, Jake smiled snidely and walked out with Cal.

Between the forefinger and middle finger of his left hand, Aldo clenched the cigarette. Phone gripped between his ear and shoulder, his right hand rested just above his eyes as he sat behind his desk. “I’m listening.”

“Virus bred,” Bar explained over the phone, “It’s new to this experiment and eighty percent fatal. Someone weak won’t beat it at all.”

Exhaling a long breath, Aldo sat back and rubbed his head. “Damn it.” He took a moment to think. “So, as long as they don’t get bit, they’re fine, right? Graison and my girl, are they doing good taking them out?”

“For the time being they are,” Barb answered. “But his arsenal isn’t that big.”

“How many are we talking about?”

Barb hesitated before answering, “Over the next two weeks, maybe two hundred.”

“
Fuckin
’ Jefferson,” Aldo snapped forward. “He wants to keep the pot again this experiment, doesn’t he?”

“Absolutely, and he’ll try anything. After all . . .” Barb said, “we don’t have the catch this time.”

“Sarge, please,” Rickie pleaded with Jake. “Let me go and shoot with you today.”

“No, Rickie. We have to conserve my ammo. I cannot take a chance on you wasting it.” He tossed Cal the rifle. “Cal, don’t ask . . .” He saw her mouth shut. “I get the shotgun today. You’re already winning the wolf count.”

Cal smiled as she took the rifle. “It’s Cal ten and Jake seven.”

“Don’t rub it in.” Jake tried to move around the room to get ready to go, but Rickie followed close behind. “Rickie, get out now.”

“Sarge, I can do this. You have that cool gun that shoots that red light first . . .”

“Out.” Jake opened up the bathroom door for him. “Give us a moment. We need to mentally prepare for this.”

“Fine, gun hogs.” Rickie jumped as Jake slammed the door on him.

Cal snickered as Jake locked the door. “Mentally prepare?”

“Oh, what does he know?” Jake sat down on the bed with her, shot gun between his legs. “It should be anytime now.”

^^^^

Watching the monitor of Cal’s room, Hawk shook his head at Carl in utter annoyance. “Graison’s so arrogant. I just hate him.”

Carl gave an upward nod of his head. “Do it. Hit the homing device. Let’s get him.”

Ornery was the grin that graced Hawks face as he reached for the button under the counter and pressed it.

^^^^

“What the fuck?” Jake slowly stood up from the bed.

It started as a soft rumble, an odd sound they hadn’t heard before. It grew closer. The sound was almost too deep and thick to be real. Not what they expected, not what had happened the previous on the two mornings.
 
Like the motor on a large truck rolling down the road, the sound came into focus. There was growling, more growling than they had ever heard.

The moment Jake ran to the window to see, it started. A single bang turned to two, then three. Soon it sounded as if sledge hammers, many of them were being pounded against the metal walls of the building. The banging came from everywhere, loud and continuous.

Jake gripped his gun and turned to Cal. “What’s this shit?”

“I think we may need more ammo.”

In a huff that said ‘you aren’t kidding,’ Jake flew out of the room with Cal right behind him.

At the end of the hall, hysterical and holding her ears, Jennifer raced toward them. “They’re everywhere!” she screamed, “everywhere.”

Carlos and John grabbed her under her arms and lifted her off her feet.

Rickie came flying out of his room. “It sounds like night of the living wolves.”

The noise level increased. How many were there, Jake wondered? To be attacking walls they could not penetrate so fiercely, there had to be a lot. “We’re going to the roof!” Jake shouted and then noticed Carlos leading Jennifer into her room. “Stop, don’t take her in there. Secure all the bedroom doors. Stay in this hall.” He trotted to the end of the hall and lifted the butt of his rifle to open the hatch. The loud crash and breaking glass halted him from jumping for the ladder. With a stern concentrating look, Jake zoomed in on the sound. It came from Fr. Dan’s room. He raced down to his door.

Screams, Fr. Dan’s screams, painful cries for help, but they were drowned out by loud snarling and struggling.

Jennifer grabbed Jake’s arm as he watched the door. “Get him out of there. Get him out.”

Cal pulled Jennifer’s hand from Jake. “No, Jake. Don’t.”

Carlos pleaded also. “Jake, it’s not a way to die.”

“No!” Cal argued as she saw Jake reach for his keys. “Jake, no!”

Jake turned to Rickie who stood frightened staring at the door. He held up the keys to him. “Rickie, it’s your call.”

Rickie briefly glanced at the keys and with an angry look stepped back. “Let him die.”

“Yes!” Jake gripped the keys and stuck them back in his pocket.

The steady thumping against Fr. Dan’s door slowed down. The cries for mercy, for help, all the anguished cries stopped. Jennifer’s long shrill scream and pointed finger proved the end had come for Fr. Dan, as she stared at the pool of blood that slowly seeped under the door.

With the pumping of the chamber, Jake moved to Rickie’s door. “He’s in here.” Jake listened, trying to hear the heavy animal breathing through the pounding that still occurred on the outside walls of their building. “Cal, back me up.”

Slowly, feeling the tension, Cal moved behind him, holding her rifle high. Blocking out the sounds of the pounding desperate wolves, she concentrated on the door.

Jake reached his hand slowly to it, feeling the locked door. In a whisper he spoke. “I’m stepping back.” With a heavy kick, he pounded the door open to expose the large wolf gnawing on what seemed to be Fr. Dan’s arm. The wolf spotted Jake in the same instant Jake had him in his aim. With a monstrous growl, the wolf leaped outward, and with the single shot, the huge furry body flew backwards across the room smashing into the wall. He left a bloody trail as he slid down. “Cal, get to the roof.” Jake ran from the room down the hall. Leaping up he brought down the ladder and he and Cal climbed up.

Lifting himself to the roof he heard Cal firing. Shot, yelp. Shot, yelp. He ran to join her. “You had to get really ahead of me.”

“Why not . . . why are they running?”

Jake shot but they were out of his shot gun range. He lowered his weapon when not a wolf could be seen. “Did you see how many?”

“A ton, I’m guessing forty, maybe fifty. What are we going to do? If we want, we can take them out.”

“Yeah, I know, but the thing we have to worry about is . . . how many more are there?” Letting out a deep breath, Jake reached out and pulled Cal into him. He wanted to hold her. Resting his chin on her head, he peered out. Through the edge of the trees, courtesy of the shining sun, Jake saw them. Their eyes were reflecting in the sun, more eyes than he wanted to see, all peering back at him.

^^^^

“OK, here’s the situation.” Jake stood in the gathering room before everyone. “I hate group efforts. But the way I see it is you have a choice. You can go along with me on this one or you can starve. There are forty or fifty wolves out there, they’re hungry and they want in. We’re their food. It’s not going to be long before they get into our storage building. If they get in there, they get our food. I’m going into storage and getting food. If you choose not to come, you won’t touch what I bring out. If you do come, then we can carry much more in, and all of us can be secure in the fact that at least we can eat. We have two rifles in storage and a few boxes of ammo. Not much. So they will be the least of our worries. Carlos . . . John . . . in or out?”

Considering they really didn’t have much of a choice, they agreed. Then they listened to what Jake had to say.

^^^^

Checking Cal’s weapon, Jake stood at the bottom of the ladder with her as she raised her foot upward. “You know what to do, right?”

“Yes. Rickie will keep me loaded and I keep them off of you guys while you run for supplies.”

“Don’t waste ammo. They don’t scare. Rickie . . .” Jake looked at him. “We have ropes secured up there and I am trusting that you will not let her suspend herself from the roof to shoot. She wants to do that and I won’t let her. Those bastards can jump.”

“Cool.” Rickie gave a thumbs up to Cal. “No, Sarge, she’ll stay on the roof, unless she falls off.”

“Don’t even joke about that.” Jake patted the knapsack that Rickie held over his shoulders. “We only had enough bottles for four Molotov’s. Cal, you know when, right?”

“Jake.” Cal stepped off the ladder. “Rickie, you go on up.” Cal folded her arms and took the shotgun and the rifle from Jake. “I know what to do. Now what is up with you? Would you feel better if you were on the roof, because I sure as hell don’t mind sprinting for the supplies?”

“No, Cal. You’re getting this all wrong. I’m just going over everything with you, that’s all. We may not run into any trouble, but I’m going to guess as soon as they see us, they are going to make their run for us.”

“Then I’ll be ready.” She threw the armory over her shoulders and grabbed on
 
the ladder. “Jake, you’re going to be out there. I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will.” He reached up placing his hand over hers. “Don’t think I don’t trust you Cal. I trust my life with you and I wouldn’t say that to just anyone.”

“Thank you.” Cal, leaning off the ladder kissed him. “Be careful.”

Waiting until she was on the roof, Jake cleared his throat and headed to the gathering room where Carlos and John waited by the door. “All right,” he handed John the broken broom with a cloth wrapped on top. “This is doused so be careful when you light it. Carlos.” Jake handed him a jug. “You’re our oil man. Follow right behind me and spread it where I lay down the gasoline. I figure once we step out those doors we have about thirty seconds and they’re going to be all over us. You know what you have to do. Do you have any questions?”

Jennifer raised her hand. “What am I supposed to do? You haven’t given me an assignment yet.”

“Um . . .” Jake stuttered. “You stay back with the girls. Keep them calm.”

“Got it.” Jennifer gave a thumbs up.

Cringing, Jake moved to the door and readied the gasoline can. “Get ready. No wasting time. John, as soon as I step out, you light.” Jake opened the door. “Good luck.” He darted out.

He ran straight out about three yards, keeping what he hoped would become a wall of fire, safely away from the building. Drawing a line, he poured the gas close to the ground
 
ran to the supply building, dropping the empty can as he pulled out the keys. Through the corner of his eye he could see Carlos almost to the supply building. John still fiddled with the torch. “John, light it.”

John flicked the lighter. “It won’t work!”

“Light it now!” Like a stampede, the rumble began. The heaviness of their paws hit against the hard ground and the wolves snarled loudly as they made their way toward them. “John, do it now!” Jake could smell them. He got the door open but the wolves rushed closer. They were so close, twenty yards, fifteen yards, ten . . .

Cal held the Molotov cocktail in her hand ready to light it. “What’s the hold up? Come on.” she beckoned, seeing the wolves now no more than five yards . . . “Fuck it, Jake, sorry to waste your cocktail.” Cal lit it, sooner than she was supposed to, and readied to throw. “If I ever hit anything . . .” The homemade bomb sailed down seconds before the wolves reached Jake, Carlos, and John. With the crash of the glass, bang of the explosion and whoosh of the flames, the wall of fire roared. “Yes!” She smiled as she saw Jake at the storage holding up his thumb. “Rickie, give me the M-16.”

“Cal, awesome aiming,” he said and handed her the rifle.

Cal perched herself over the edge, rifle resting in her hands as she squatted, peering through the scope at the wolves on the other side of the fire.

“They’re coming out with the first trip.” Rickie told her. “The fire’s dying.” He handed her another Cocktail. “It’s time.”

Trading the rifle for the bomb, Cal quickly lit it, tossed it and restarted the raging fire. She took back her rifle. “Come on Jake, hurry.” Cal watched the last trip.
 
John ran with a huge box in hand while Carlos, arms loaded followed. “Jake, get out of there.” Then she saw Jake emerge. “It’s over.” She began to lower her weapon. “They did . . .” Cal saw through the corner of her eye that Jake was headed back to storage. “What the fuck? Rickie, I need another.”