Nadya’s Nights: Knight of the Living Dead
Night Five: Virus
Chapter Thirteen: Self Destructive
by Indy McDaniel
Copyright © 2010 Indy McDaniel
“What the fuck did you do?” Nadya yelled at Knight, who was looking rather perplexed himself.
“I don’t…” he started before looking back into the wall safe the vials had been in. “Oh, goddammit. They must’ve had a weight sensor underneath the things. Fucking Raiders of the Lost Ark bullshit…”
“You now have four minutes, thirty seconds to reach minimum safe distance,” the helpful voice from the loudspeaker told them.
“Shit!” Nadya cursed, heading for the lift. If they were lucky, they could sneak out with the rest of the employees. “Let’s get the hell outta here. You, too, Candy Swallows.”
The woman looked both reluctant and a bit annoyed but she followed along with them.
As they reached the lift, Knight reeled forward and puked all over the floor. It was mostly liquid with a few indecipherable chunks of something mixed in. More alarming were the streaks of crimson. “I’m not feeling so hot,” he muttered before hurling again.
“Son of a bitch,” Nadya cursed, reaching down and grabbing the vials from him before he dropped them. She slipped them into her jacket pocket then started to drag him into the lift. She glanced over at Candy, who looked more freaked out by the puke than she had by the machine gun in her face. “Little help?”
Candy kept her distance. “What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s been infected by some of that shit in your vault,” Nadya snapped, trying to drag Knight. “Which is one of the reasons why we came for the antidote.” She gripped Knight’s jacket and tugged on him hard, managing to get him halfway through the lift doors. “Goddammit, I’m not exactly Lil Miss Muscles over here. Are you gonna help or do we all get blown the fuck up?”
Reluctantly, Candy moved forward and took hold of Knight’s legs. Together they managed to carry him into the lift. “Plutoxin 7 doesn’t act this quickly unless there’s been a large dose administered. Where was the point of injection?”
“It wasn’t so much an injection,” Knight said, breathing heavily. He leaned against the wall, pulled his jacket open and tugged the top of his tank top down to reveal the punctures from the broken vial. The skin had grown an angry red with streaks flowing out from the wound, tracing along his veins. “Maybe you can tell me why they put that shit in glass vials. Seems pretty fucking stupid to me.” He turned his head as he went into a coughing fit.
Candy covered her mouth and leaned in close to examine the wounds. While she was playing doctor, Nadya deactivated the emergency stop and hit the button for ground floor.
“You now have four minutes to reach minimum safe distance,” the intercom announced.
“Thanks a fucking bundle, bitch!” Nadya yelled back at it. She knew yelling at the intercom wouldn’t do anything but it made her feel better.
“How long ago was this?” Candy asked Knight, her eyes focused on the wound.
Knight hacked up a particularly nasty wad of green and red phlegm and shrugged. “Couple hours ago.”
“Based on the wounds, you should’ve only been exposed to a minimal amount of the virus. Infection of that degree should take at least a day to get this bad,” Candy said, shaking her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” Nadya said, looking down at him. “I thought that shit you took was supposed to keep you amped up and moving.”
“What shit?” Candy asked. The curse word sounded strange coming from her mouth. “What did you take?”
“Epinephrine,” Knight told her. “Virus was slowing me down. Not a good thing when you’re planning on breaking into a heavily secured building.”
“You idiot!” Candy said, standing up and moving away from him.
“Been saying that all damn night,” Nadya agreed.
“Why? What happened?” Knight asked worriedly. His skin had grown a good deal paler and sweat was pouring out of him. One hand was clutching his gut. He seemed to be growing weaker and deader with each passing minute.
“That degree of infection would’ve taken a long time to work its way through your system,” Candy explained. “Your immune system may have even had a chance to fight it off on its own. The epinephrine you took sped up your heart and allowed the virus to progress much more rapidly. Judging by your current symptoms, I believe your heart is infected. All of the blood it pumps out now will carry the virus through your body.”
“How long before he goes walking dead on us?” Nadya asked.
“At the current rate,” Candy shrugged. “Less than an hour.”
“Really glad we managed to get that antidote,” Knight said. “I’ve still got a couple syringes. C’mon, let’s get that shit inside me and put this infection into reverse. Double fucking stat!”
Neither Nadya nor Candy made a move towards him.
“What’re you waiting for, goddammit?” Knight yelled at them.
“You now have three minutes, thirty seconds to reach minimum safe distance.”
Nadya spoke up first. “Given the choice between a healthy thief or the antidote, my boss is gonna pick the antidote. We’re gonna need as much of it as possible to figure out a way to replicate it.” She didn’t enjoy saying it but it was true. All things considered, Knight was expendable. The antidote wasn’t.
“Oh, you miserable bitch,” Knight snarled at her before turning to Candy. “You. You’re a doctor. Do no harm and all that bullshit. Tell her you’ll show her how to make more. Just get that shit inside me immediately!”
Candy was silent for a few moments, glancing over at Nadya. “I’m sorry. The antidote was meant for rapid response applications. Once the virus reaches the heart of a subject, it won’t work.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” Knight yelled.
The lift came to a sudden halt. Nadya looked at the floor indicator. They were at level fifteen. Definitely not where they wanted to be. “Shit,” she muttered, tapping at the ground floor button. After a few moments, the lift lurched back into motion. The wrong motion. “Not up, you dumb bastard!” She kept hitting the button.
“You now have three minutes to reach minimum safe distance,” the intercom announced.
“Okay, fuck it,” Nadya said. “Rooftop escape it is.” She hit the Bluetooth earpiece. “Call Sam.” The device let out a beep but didn’t respond. She hit it again. “Call Sam, fucker!” Another beep. Nothing else. She pulled out her cell and examined it. “Oh, you little whore…” she cursed at the phone and its display of ‘No Signal’.
“Well, virus or no virus,” Knight spoke up from the floor. “Looks like we’re all gonna be so much rubble in a couple minutes.”
“Why is it taking us up?” Candy asked.
“Fucked if I know,” Nadya said, grabbing her MP5 and taking position in front of the doors. “But if there’s anything on the other side when it decides to stop, it’s gonna get a fuck ton of holes shot through it.”
With two minutes to reach minimum safe distance left, the lift came to a stop at level thirty. The doors slid apart to reveal five lithe figures clad in body armor and gas masks. If they weren’t the Shadows who’d come crashing through Zada’s windows earlier, they might as well have been.
So Nadya didn’t hesitate in squeezing the trigger on her MP5, spraying from right to left. The figures stumbled back but she could tell none of her rounds were making it through the body armor. As the gun clicked empty, she tossed it aside and charged forward out of the lift.
Xenia stepped in front of her holding a shotgun-like weapon with a barrel big enough for Nadya to fit her arm down. “Down girl,” Xenia said with a smirk as she pulled the trigger on her odd looking weapon.
Before Nadya could attempt to dodge, a net launched from the large barrel. She felt it press into her and force her back into the lift as it wrapped around her. Dropping to the ground, she squirmed and flailed in an attempt to get free. The more she struggled, the tighter the net seemed to get.
She watched as the five masked figures moved into the lift and secured both Knight and Candy. Xenia had her focus on Nadya and knelt in front of her. “Gotta admit, I was surprised to find you shacked up with that werewolf bitch and her crazy cousin. Finding you here, though. Not as surprising. In fact, you might even say I was expecting you.”
“Fucking cunt!” Nadya hissed, spitting at Xenia.
“You now have one minute to reach minimum safe distance,” the monotone voice announced.
Nadya smirked. “Doesn’t matter anyway. I wonder how long it’ll take your asshole employers to dig your rotting carcass out of the rubble? Is there a time limit to Lazarus Serum regeneration? How dead is too dead to bring back? And are you really worth it to them?”
“All very good questions, sis,” Xenia said before standing up and pulling a small radio from her back pocket. “CyberWolf Industries President, Xenia Valentina. Authorization code Echo Sierra Victor eight five two eight. Terminate self destruct sequence.”
Almost immediately, the intercom spoke up in response. “Self destruct sequence terminated. Please return to your previous activities. Thank you and, as always, have a splendid evening.”
Xenia grinned down at Nadya. “There. Now we’ve got all the time in the world for me to answer those questions of yours. Provided you answer a few for me in return.”
