The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (30 page)

“
Turn on the lights. They’ve got juice down here.”

“
I can’t find the switch.”

I walked into a huge, empty room and flashed my light beam around, only to see something moving just to the right. When I turned, I saw shadows. I let out a trembling breath, whipped out my gun, and aimed.

Pointing her gun and flashlight, Val inched closer. “What is it?”

Halfway across the room, my fingers touched cold glass. There was a glass divider from ceiling to floor. I shined my flashlight in, and a face jumped at me, pounding the glass. My heart lurched. It was a hissing zombie with snapping jaws and tattered skin. More came and pounded on the glass with dead, bony fingers. There had to be at least a dozen of them.

Val’s face was suddenly etched with deep lines of shock and confusion. “They’re keeping test subjects down here! You were right, Dean! You did hear moaning!”

“
They were looking for a cure before we even arrived,” I reasoned.

“
Do you think they were down here when you guys stayed in this building?”

The thought terrified me. “I hope not.”

“
Thank goodness I was safely across the street, even if it was in jail.”

“
But why would they hide this? It is completely understandable to have live test subjects if they’re working on a cure.”

Val stared at their torn, ripped skin as they angrily pounded on the glass. “They’re giving me the creeps.”

“
Yeah, me too. Let’s go.”

We hurried out and walked to the next room. I noticed a cart with gowns, surgical masks, and gloves. I didn’t know what kind of crazy viruses could be floating around. “If we’re going in, we should wear these.”

“
Right,” Val said. “Always better safe than sorry.”

After we slipped into the gowns, Val entered the next room and flicked the lights on. I peeked in and was amazed to discover that there were cages of squealing, infected monkeys lining the walls; all of them had the same white, empty eyes, and I jumped back in shock when they reached out for me with their matted, furry little hands.

Without another word, we entered the next room, and I shuddered when I heard a growl. The gun shook in my hands. “Zombie,” I said.

Val turned the light switch on. “Nope.” She swept her beam across the cages. “Dogs.” Then she nudged me, and an angry look crossed her features. “Talk about animal cruelty!”

I stared at the canines’ white eyes, every breed from poodles to Rottweilers. Big and small, the ferocious Fidos were snarling, growling, and barking, with drool dripping from their hungry jaws. They all looked stark-raving mad, ready to devour any flesh they could sink their teeth into.

“
Come on!” Val said. “I can’t be in here. It’s horrible.”

All the rooms held different species of infected animals, everything from rabbits to squirrels, rats, raccoons, and mice. Clearly, Block A was home to the contaminated animals, like some sort of psychotic Noah’s ark.

Val slammed the last door in anger. “They’re experimenting on animals.”

“
So we don’t have an epidemic on our hands?” I said.

“
It doesn’t mean it can’t spread to the entire population. There are infected animals running amok.”

“
What if they collected the infected animals from the streets and brought them down here to study them?” I asked. “We brought them samples, but maybe that wasn’t enough, so they scoured the city for live test subjects.”

“
I wouldn’t put that past them,” she said, “but there’s only one way to test that theory.”

“
To keep looking?”

“
Yep.”

We moved down the corridor, looking for any hints or clues that would tell us if the animals were captured or purposely infected.

“
I need to see B Block,” Val said, studying the map on the huge directory once again.

We followed the corridors and pushed through a set of double-doors, only to be greeted by a long moan. My breath hitched in my throat, and I kept a study grip on my gun as I peered ahead. We continued through the research area and into Block B. “Should we go back?” I whispered.

“
Don’t you wanna see what all the moaning’s about?” she asked.

“
It’s pretty obvious that it’s a zombie,” I said. “I say we turn around and head back upstairs.”

Val pondered. “Let’s go get the others and show them this freak show.”

“
Yeah. We’ve gone far enough alone.”

“
Well, it was worth it,” she said. “I can’t wait to interrogate Charlie about this little zoo he’s got going on down here. Surely he knows something.”

“
He has to,” I said, “and that really pisses me off. I’m sick of being lied to.”

As if the undead agreed with me, a faint moan echoed in the distance.

Chapter 30

I moved toward the moan and pointed to a door. “It’s coming from there.”

She aimed her gun. “Let’s check it out.”

“
Why? We already know what it is,” I said.

“
I want to see for myself,” she said.

I sighed and used Charlie’s keycard to open the door. I pointed my gun toward the darkness as bile rose up in my throat.

Val flicked the lights on. The shelf wall contained specimen jars with what looked to be human parts and vials of human tissue. There were also tanks in the room, some holding zombie heads and others filled with freaks of nature, like two-headed sharks. Some held eyeballs, snakes, and other creatures and parts of creatures that I couldn’t identify. There were glass containers, beakers, microscopes, syringes, forceps, and other chemistry hardware on the various lab tables.

Val gagged. “Is that a human foot?”

I glanced over at the tank holding a well-preserved human leg and gasped. “What is this?”

“
Some crazy crap!”

“
It’s like we’ve stepped into Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. Tell me I’m dreaming.”

“
Not unless we’re sharing this nightmare, little brother. Let’s check out one more room,” Val said.

I followed her out of the room with my hands shaking. We knew A Block was for infected animals and B Block was the experimentation unit, but I was terrified to see what lay beyond that. My hands were shaking as Val flicked on the light in the next room.

There, we saw a body strapped on a table with a sheet over it, like something we’d see in a morgue. It wasn’t moving, so I could only assume it was a cadaver or possibly a dead zombie. For a moment, I feared it might be Jackie, and my heart began to thump wildly. “What is it?” I asked.

“
I don’t know,” she replied.

I inched closer and pulled the sheet off, scared to death of what I might find under that thin layer of fabric. A trickle of sweat ran down my back, and when I stared into the eyes of a familiar face, I gasped deeply. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Larry, the man who had helped run us off the bridge and tried to break into the lab with explosives, was lying there, with heavy leather straps buckled across his neck, wrists, and ankles. He was naked, and a long, stapled incision ran down the length of his abdomen. He flexed his arms and strained against the iron hold, but his bindings wouldn’t budge. Pearls of sweat shimmered on his pale face, and I couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under his eyes and sunken cheeks.

Val pulled the gag out of his mouth.

“
Help me,” he whispered. “They’re crazy.”

“
Who did this to you?” Val asked.

“
Scientists. Lunatics! I-I don’t know they’re names. They just…I…it’s all a blur.”

Val touched his forehead to see if he had a fever. “What happened?”

“
They captured us, that day we tried to break in. All I remember is a smoke bomb, gas. I passed out, then woke up down here. Then the experiments started. You’ve gotta help the others,” he whispered.

“
Who?” I asked, cautiously unbuckling his restraints. He was so weak that I didn’t know if he could even walk, so I didn’t think he was much of a threat.

“
Sam and some of the gang members we met up with. They captured us all. Threw in something to make us all pass out. We woke up in this nightmare.”

“
Z’s gang wasn’t lying,” I said. “The men didn’t return because they’re being held here, like lab rats!”

“
This is horrible,” Val said. “It doesn’t even seem possible…or real.”

I was horrified at how the world was falling apart without governments in place, without society and civilization and all the checks and balances that come with it. Kingsville was using zombie battles for entertainment, now humans were being treated like guinea pigs against their will. I couldn’t believe they hadn’t snatched me in the middle of the night. I was pretty sure Jonathon had spared us that fate only because I’d saved Steven’s life in the sewers. Our cooperation was the only thing standing between where we were and where Larry and the others were. The worst part was the absolute disregard for the value of human life. When one of the research subjects died, the uncaring, unremorseful scientists just moved their chop-shop operations to the next unfortunate man or woman. Survivors of the zombie apocalypse had far more to worry about than infected animals and undead creatures. Now, they had to worry about the heartless monsters whose hearts were supposedly still beating.

“
I lived here,” I said. “Why didn’t they do this to me?”

Larry fluttered his eyes open. “I once asked the lab idiots why they took me, and they said they’ll take anyone who crosses them, like they get to be judge and jury. I guess that helps ‘em sleep at night.”

“
Let’s get you out of here,” Val said.

“
Wait…you’re gonna help me? Even after what I did to you?”

“
Can you walk?” she asked, ignoring his question.

“
I think, but my legs are pretty numb from all the injections.”

For a minute, I actually felt bad for the guy. I couldn’t even imagine the unspeakable experiments they’d done on him.

Larry wiped the sweat away that was rolling down his forehead; clearly, he was burning up and likely running a fever. “I hate them!” he shouted, with anger and hate dripping from his voice. “They have no right to put people through hell like this!”

“
You’re right, Larry,” Val said. “No one should be treated this way.”

I grabbed a hospital gown off the shelf and handed it to Val. I had no idea where Larry’s clothes were, so the backless gown was better than nothing.

She helped him slip into the thin cotton garment.

“
I need to find Sam,” Larry said.

“
We need to get out of here and find Nick first,” Val muttered. “I didn’t expect to find a house of horrors down here.”

“
Sam’s in D Block,” Larry said. “That’s where they cage people up. I’m only over here because this wing contains all the medical rooms. This is the recovery room.”

“
We’ll come back for him and the others,” I said.

“
No! We can’t leave them!”

“
Those people tried to kill me,” I said. “I think they can wait till I bring backup.”

“
I promise you they won’t hurt you,” Larry said. “They just want out. You can be our knights in shining armor.”

Val’s eyes darted nervously around. “I don’t know where D Block is.”

“
I can show you,” he said. “It’s not far. They can’t handle another evil experiment.”

I stared at him hard.

“
I’m sorry about what I did to you. You might hate me, but there are human beings being tortured down here, man. They’re injecting them with poison, taking daily tissue and blood samples and performing crude surgeries on us. They’re heartless. Right now, you’re their only hope.”