Author's Note: (Original) Holy Jeebus. I would have NEVER expected such a reception from one story. I think I've received more Story Alert, Author Alert, Favorite story and Favorite Author emails with this one story then I've received for all my other stories. Either you guys really like me, or you're waiting for me to fail. I can't express how much I love all you guys, and all this love you guys have been showering me with. I'll try to update at least a few times a week.
Two: "Quarantine Zone Alpha"
The pair of thumps that closely proceeded a landing jarred me awake. I took a look around and tried to locate Bill, Francis, Zoey and Louis. There they were, sleeping sounding in the chairs where I had left them the just a few hours before. With my knuckle, as not to injure her, I tapped Zoey a few times and whispered into her ears.
"Zoey?" I asked softly, trying to wake her softly without too much shock. "Come on, Zoey, we've almost landed." I continued, her weight shifting and a grunt escaping her lips, but overall still sleeping. Smiling at how cute she looked like that, I persisted. "Zoooooo-eeeeeey..." I droned, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Time to get up, gorgeous..." Her eyes cracked open slowly as she came to, looking about. When her eyes met mine, she smiled.
"Hey..." She droned grogilly, sitting up properly in the seat. "I'm awake now..." From below us came the sounds of landing gears dropping out of the plane, preparing for landing. Rubbing her eyes some, she continued to speak to me. "Man, I slept good..." She yawned a little, stretching her arms. "Better then I have in a while." She picked up Francis' shotgun from the wall in front of her, emptied all the shells, and held it in one hand as she put it close to his face and pulled the trigger, the tell-tale 'click' of an empty gun jarring him instantly awake.
"Gah! Reload!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, looking about and waking half the plane up in the process. Zoey gave a big grin as he realized she'd tricked him. Fixing her with a hard stare, he snatched the gun from her hand and growled in that uniquely Francis tone I've started to appreciate: "You are made of bitch." Flicking Louis across the head to wake him up, he unbuckled his seat belt, setting his shotgun on his lap, re securing the belt so it protected the gun as well. "I hate sleeping on planes..." He groaned, cracking his neck and knuckles.
"IS there anything you don't hate?" Bill groaned as he was woken by Louis shaking him slightly.
"Yea." The husky man responded, giving a slight nod. "Pretty women, and cold beer." He answered in the stereotypically male tone. Louis and Bill, both of which were unbuckled beforehand, started to buckle in.
"Ladies and Gentlemen..." Came the calm voice of the pilot again. "We will be coming into Quarantine Zone Alpha in about ten minutes, so if you would all kindly put your tray tables up, and your seat backs in the full upright position, we can begin our decent soon." She sounded much more relieved, knowing she'd be landing in a safe place soon. Zoey, Bill, Louis and Francis buckled their seat belts as they readied for approach. Looking down at my lap, I tried to figure out how to buckle mine without eviscerating myself with my claws.
"Hey, Zoey. Might wanna help your girlfriend there with her seat belt." Francis chimed in, pointing over her to me. Zoey stuck her tongue out at him and reached over.
"Here. Lemme help you." She took hold of the seat belt and fastened it around my lap, patting my leg as she finished. "All done." She gave me a smile and sat properly in her seat, waiting for landing.
Ten minutes later, the plane gave a lurch and a thump, tires squealing as the plane de-accelerated at a quick rate. Looking to my left, I stared out a window, seeing yards and yards of hastily constructed sheet-metal fencing stretched across the edge of the runway, protecting against, what I could only imagine, the waves and waves of crazed zombies outside. Once our inertia was reduced so we wouldn't rocket off the other end of the runway, we taxied into a boarding ramp for departure. Once we came to a stop and the ramp extended, the cabin opened up, a red-headed woman dressed in a white pilot's uniform stepping out from the cockpit. She noticed us instantly, giving us a nod.
"I assume I have you five to thank for getting us off the ground, right?" Her voice was the pilot in both the radio and the announcements in the plane. Francis nodded.
"Yep. That's us. Glad we could be of assistance."
"I was watching you out the window, and I have to admit... you, my friend, scared me." She nudged her head towards me and smiled. "I didn't know what to think when I saw you, but you know what? What you did out there was brave. Thank you. All of you." She went down the line giving us all hugs. After that was done, she addressed me again as the plane began to unload. "I've seen your kind before, girl." She muttered. "People who are infected, but retain their sanity." She continued, taking a seat in front of me. "They say that certain people who contract the virus change, but keep their minds. There's a man here, a scientist, who's been researching them. It's convenient that you boarded this plane. I think you should go speak to him, he might be able to help you understand what you are." I smiled to her and nodded, thanking her. We remained seated until the rest of the passengers disembarked the plane, the pilot standing. "Here... let me introduce you. He's typically a very busy man, so he can be hard to find."
We all stood and exited, the feeling of the very much alive airport a big change from the dead one we left. Across the way, we ran into a sign which read 'Welcome to LAX' in red letters, some people milling about, doing their everyday things.
"I'd often wondered what it would feel like to live in an airport for a week... I guess I'll get to figure out." Louis chimed in, chuckling to himself as he looked around. Some of the stalls in the boarding area had been converted to fit whatever it was people needed. A few of the food shops were converted into clothing stores or living areas. I looked at the pilot's name tag, the gold plate reading 'Jennifer Winchester, Captain'. Jennifer lead us through the gates towards the airport proper, boarding a small monorail along the way.
"How long did it take to set this place up?" Zoey asked, looking about some of the people making minor repairs here and there to walls and doors. Jennifer inhaled some before answering.
"They got it set up in about a day. There were a couple hundred people working here at the time, and another couple thousand who were in the airport when the Infection hit. People just barracaded themselves in, and made homes out of it." As we stepped out of the monorail, we were met by a posse of men in labcoats, looking about the facility. "Oh, speak of the devil. Doctor Ballenfield!" She called out, the group of men parting, letting a shorter, younger man step forward. He smiled as he saw Jennifer.
"Jenny! I see you made it back from Sacramento alright."
"Sure did, Doctor. I wanted to introduce you to some people, one of which I think you'll be most interested in meeting." She pushed me in front of her with a smile. The younger man did a double take and looked me over.
"Jeepus christ..." He mused, poking my arm and looking me all over, dropping to the ground and taking a peek under my skirt, an action I answered with my folding it down so he couldn't. "Oh... hehe... sorry. I forgot myself." Standing back to his feet, he held his hand out. "I can say with all honestly, my dear, it's a pleasure to meet you." I uneasily took his hand which he shook emphatically.
"It's nice to meet you too." I answered slowly. He laughed and patted my shoulder.
"Come my dear, we have much to discuss, you and I."
"What about us?" Zoey asked, stepping forward. The man stared at the group for a moment. He let go of me and walked over, studying them.
"Hum... four uninfected humans... probably Immune..." He mused, staring and examining them. He poke Zoey's arm and Francis' chest. "Nothing special, nor earth shattering here..." He stood and gave a little scoff. "I have neither a use, nor an interested in normal people. You are free to... watch paint dry, or whatever it is you normal people do." He took my hand again and started to walk away.
"What? That's it?" Zoey chimed, her eyes becoming hard. "We risk our lives to bring her here, to SAFETY, and you just scoff us off like dust?"
"Yea, pretty much." He answered.
"No. No, that's not how shit works where I come from. I'm responsible for her, so where she goes, I go, and where you go, she goes. Therefore, where you go, I go." He stared at her for a moment before continuing to talk to himself.
"Hum... female seems protective of the Revenant... Motherly instinct, or something more? Further investigation is warranted. Female shows no signs of hesitation, nor lies, she seems to tell the truth." He stood straight and spoke like he was talking to people. "Right then! You've passed my test. Follow me." Zoey stared at him with a look of dumbfounded confusion, one echoed by all of us present.
"D'uuuuh..." She spoke, holding a finger up. "That's it? You're not going to press your point?" The man gave a little smile and shook his head.
"Why should I? You've pressed yours enough." He inhaled a little. "I've had dozens upon dozens of Revenants walk through this Quarantine Zone, all in the escort of Mundane companions. And do you know how many of those Mundanes even showed a sliver of the affection you've shown today?" He held up a single finger. "One." His finger turned to point to Zoey. "You. You're the only one who's ever shown that they MIGHT actually think that this poor, unfortunate soul..." He put his hands on my shoulders and gave a little hug. "...might just be a person under all that different exterior." He flashed the 'follow me' signal, prompting everyone to follow, which they did.
He lead us through the airport to what appeared to have been, at once point, a large security office, but had recently been retrofitted into a laboratory. Several computers were set up around the room, and a few research assistants walked about and checked several machines. Entering the room he turned around and extended his hand. "Jake Allistair Ballenfield, Genetic Engineer, Applied Physicist, and Criminal Justice Major."
"Genetic Engineering?" Zoey droned, her eyebrow raising.
"Applied Physics?" Bill added, equally confused.
"Criminal Justice?" Francis barked out.
"That's a hell of a set of degrees, doctor." Louis chimed in, running his hand through his non-existent hair. Jake gave a little laugh and nodded.
"Yea, I was going for a set that was distinctly me. Something that if you were going for later in life, they'd just sign you up for the Full Ballenfield." He laughed again, but then stopped. "No, that sounds horrible." Shaking his head, he moved to a computer console, jiggled the mouse some, bringing a spread sheet up. "Alrighty, before we go, there's some information I need from you, my dear..." He stared at me for a moment with his hands clasped together, both pointer fingers pointing at me. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to recall your name."
"You're not the only one." I answered softly, giving a little chuckle. "I can't remember it either."
"Wha-at?" He stretched out, smiling. "Don't remember your name, that's... that's ridiculous." I shrugged some.
"Ridiculous or no, I don't remember." He grimiched as he moved to another computer, shaking the mouse again, a program waking up.
"Well, we can't have that. Can't have you going around the rest of your life being called 'you' or 'White-Haired Revenant Girl'." He chuckled a little and pressed a button on the second console. "I've got a little program here I think you'll find most interesting. It's a Random Name Generator, very similar to the one used in older games, such as the X-Com series. When I hit a button, it will generate a name from the official Name Registry, generating a new first and last name for you. I'll run names off, and you tell me if something tickles your fancy..." He watched the console until a name popped up. "There we are, how about Samantha Cross?" He muttered turning to face me. Wrinkling my nose, I shook my head. "Right..." He generated a new one. "Jenna Homburger?"
"Ugh!" I reacted instantly.
"Yea... my thoughts exactly..." Generating a new name, he added as a secondary thought. "There's always a Homburger..." The new name popped up again. "Okay, this one's promising. What about Emma Windsor?" I thought for a moment.
"I... don't hate it... I think I can get used to that one..."
"Emma Windsor? You sure?" I gave him a firm nod. "Right then! Emma Windsor it is! While I go ahead and register you with the system, I want you to re-introduce yourself to your friends. You'll be working with them more and more in our business." He turned to the first console and I turned to my new friends.
"Emma... beautiful name." Zoey smiled, shaking my hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Emma." I shook hands with everyone, finally happy to have a name. A minute or so later, Jake's clapping broke the reunion, turning all our attentions to him.
"Alright. I'm sure you all have a few questions for me, so I'm going to let you ask me." Francis was the first to chime in.
"What the fuck is a Revenant?" He asked blatantly, letting the shotgun rest in his arm.
"A damn good question at that!" He answered instantly, looking over the first console, loading up the internet, which I was very surprised to see still functioning. "In common fiction, a Revenant is a soul who's purpose on earth remains unfufilled in death, and in an attempt to gain peace in the afterlife, they walk the earth once again after death, trying to find what remains to be done, and to fufill it. By this definition, a Revenant is a person who contracts the F.E.V., but only suffers physical mutations, in essence, retaining all memories of their past lives..."
"F.E.V.?" Zoey chimed in. Jake's expression turned to a frown.
"Yeeeeeaaaaa, you might call it the Green Flu, a poor descriptor at best. Unlike the Influenza Virus, which infects the person's respiratory tract, the F.E.V. is directed absorbed into the hosts' body at a cellular level. It directly mutates a person's genetic structure..."
"Wait a second, doctor... you're talkin' about this thing intimately... like you..."
"...Designed it?" Jake answered Francis' question by finishing it. "Yea... I did."
"Wait, what?" Francis blurted out, his gun suddenly going into his hand.
"Francis!" Bill shouted. "Stand down, Francis!"
"You mean to tell me, that this crack pot created a doomsday disease to kill everyone on the planet!"
"You use the term crack pot as if you'd seen one." Jake muttered softly, taking a step back. Francis pointed the shotgun at him, loading a shell into the bottom of it.
"FRANCIS!" Bill shouted again. "Stand down!" He repeated, trying to get through. Jake's hands went up.
"Whoa, there, man, why don't you settle down a little. Violence never solved anything... Besides, if anything else, I'm the only one who can stop this thing."
"Shut up!" Francis commanded, putting the gun to his shoulder, aiming at the doctor's chest. "This may not solve anything, but it'll make me feel a whole lot better."
"If you'd just hear me out, you-"
"I'm not going to hear out a murderer, 'Doctor'." He barked back, Jake rolling his eyes, muttering something to himself. "What was that?"
"I said you're being an idiot!" He answered him, Francis flaring.
"Oh, that's it!" With a solid pump from the weapon, he fired once, hitting Jake in the chest, the force from the blast knocking Jake back into the consoles, a few sparking and a couple more exploding with the force.
"The hell are you doing, Francis!" Bill shouted, snatching the gun from his grasp. "We could have used him, Francis!"
"Bullshit! He's a killer and a liar!" Francis shouted back at Bill, trying to retrieve his gun.
"Regardless, Francis, he was a scientist! Someone who could have helped, and you just go and kill 'em! You're a damn fool, Francis!"
"Ooooo-kay..." A voice came from the consoles, Jake's body stirring and slowly getting to his knees. "I'm hurt now..." He groaned, cracking his neck. " I probably deserved that... No, scratch that... I did deserve it." He rubbed his chest, now peppered with a few small lead pellets, and grimaced in pain.
"Wait a second..." Bill muttered. "That kind of hit would have killed a man. Why are YOU still alive?" Jake gave a laugh through his pain.
"Let's just say that... We Revenants have a few things that set us right square above normal humans on the food chain." He smiled. "Fringe benefits for joining the club, if you will. The first, and most important is durability unsurpassed... I probably could have taken six... seven more before croakin'... but DON'T! Don't actually do it, please." He gave a chuckling plead, holding a hand out. "Nah, ya missed my organs, which is a boarder line miracle... so here's the deal, if you hear my story out, and DON'T shoot me again... I'll forgive this little transgression." He was still rubbing his chest, his face grimaced in pain.
"Tell me about these 'fringe benefits'." I spoke, approaching the man with caution in my stride. He laughed the pain away and patted my shoulder.
"In due time, Emma, in due time. For now, I need to bring you guys up to speed about what we're dealing with." He typed on a nearby computer that had, miraculously survived the impact with his body. A series of letters appeared in sequence on the screen, consisting of T's, A's, C's and G's. "Okay, I know you guys aren't the sciency type, so I'll skip the 'do you know what this is' question, and jump right to where I say 'It's the source code for humanity.'" He smiled and pressed the backspace key, the letters condensing into the double helix pattern of DNA. "Deoxyribonucleic Acid, or DNA. It's the backbone of us as humans." Typing a few things on the computer keyboard, his fingers flying too fast across the keys for me to descern what he was typing, several circles appeared on some of the points on the helix. "These... are the known human genomes. They define what we do, how we act, and what we think. Different configurations of genomes creates a different person. Now, this guy..." A red circle appeared around a single area. "Is what we called the Shadow Gene..." He typed a few more things. "Strangely enough, it appears in the exact same place in every DNA strand we've studied, which is a quadruple digit number, probably in the nine thousands."
"Strangely enough, it only appears in human DNA. Mouse, rat, bird, reptile... no other DNA strand has this guy. So, it was thought it was to be associated with something unique to only humans. After further extensive study, it was determined that this Shadow Gene... was associated to human aggression, our tendency for sudden, violent bursts of rage." He stared as the double helix twirled on the screen. "A pipe dream. That's all it started as. There were three of us who discovered this, myself, my sister, and my assistant, Micheal Ross. It was an the last day of the year... 2001. Micheal and I had finished the virus we had planned to change humanity with. He looked at me with this shimmer in his eye and he said 'Jake... this is big... this is the biggest fucking thing since life itself.'" He shook his head some.
"I had to admit, I couldn't help be feel thrilled by what we had done. We had perfected the virus that would save humanity from itself. I was a fool to leave it with Micheal." He gave a defeated sigh. "As I went to present our findings to the scientific community, Micheal stole and mutated the F.E.V. into what it is now, a perversion of science. What's worse, is they kicked me out, calling me a quack for trying to change humanity so drastically. In my rage and depression, I hadn't noticed Micheal had stolen the mutated F.E.V. for a purpose most dastardly."
"I was determined to prove that the F.E.V. worked. I was going to show those motherless sons of bitches that I was right, that WE were right. So I did what any good scientist would... I created three samples from the mutated F.E.V. strain, the one Micheal created, and injected myself with one, and my sister with the other. The F.E.V. changed us, turned us into... something." Bill chimed in after this.
"Wait... you said you created three samples... but you only mentioned using two. What did you do with the third."
"Unimportant." Jake answered instantly.
"It's not. That's a hole in your story, Jake. How do we know you didn't put the sample in the air?"
"First off, the F.E.V. isn't spread by air, it's aquatic. Second off the sample size of what we created was only enough to infect one person each, not enough to infect as many people as it did in such a time frame."
"Still." Bill pressed. "It would make us all feel better if we knew where that third sample went." Jake rolled his eyes.
"I gave it to someone."
"Who?" Bill continued.
"A woman."
"Who?" Came the question again, more stern this time.
"Unimportant." He threw the question away instantly.
"Who!" Bill barked in a commanding voice.
"Un. Im. Por. Tant." He gave a cold, hard stare to the veteran. "That's the end of it. I didn't poison the water with it. That's all you need to know." Bill was clearly unsatisfied in the scientist's response, but nodded.
"I don't like the answer, doc, but I'll take it. For now. But you better be ready to tell us later."
"We'll see." He continued. "Where the hell was I?" He stared at the ceiling for a moment, his mouth agape, before snapping back. "O-oh yea!" He cleared his throat. "A week after that, Micheal released a large dosage of the Modified F.E.V. into the water in five major US cities. Long story short, two weeks later, and everything goes to hell. Then, I start to change. At first, I thought I was turning feral, into a giest, but it turns out the F.E.V. was just changing me for the better..."
"What did it turn you into?" Zoey asked. Jake tapped the duct tape wrapped around his upper arms and legs.
"You seem like a smart girl. Where does this ring familiar?"
"Hunters?" She asked, remembering the hoodie-wearing jumping Infected they had encountered a plethera of in their escape from California. He smiled and gave her an approving point.
"Yep. After everything goes to shit, I start feeling like my muscles are shredding with each movement, so I use started using duct tape for a brace on the important parts."
"Why do... urm... feral Hunters wear it, then?" Jake shrugged at Zoey's question and started to speculate.
"Trinny and I have different theories. I believe it's a instinct thing. When someone contracts the F.E.V. and begins to mutate into a Hunter, they instictively cover their muscles with tape to protect muscles... Trinny, her belief is a little more realistic. She thinks that before they turn fully feral, when they still have some shred of humanity left, the feelings of muscles shredding drive them to take precautions, just like what it did for myself." He turned to me and smiled. "Now! Those fringe benefits I told you about." he took my shoulder and lead me to another corner of the lab, everyone else in tow.
"First and foremost, Emma, there are pros and cons to being a Revenant. I'll go over the pros first. First off, you can probably take more damage then a Mack Truck. Revenant body structures regenerate at a rate that would make Wolverine jealous. We can take bullet after bullet and laugh it off. However... do watch out for Shotguns... they actually do hurt." He gave a cruel stare at Francis, who only rolled his eyes. "Your particular strain has a few more that I don't. You'll love this one. Witch metabolisms are top-notch. It's safe to say you could probably eat constantly and never be full, or get that unsightly muffin top everyone dreads. You will stay thin and sexy all your long life." He chuckled and leaned on a railing as a blush played across my face.
"Second off is a little obvious, which can fall as a Pro or Con." He took my hand and looked at my fingers. "Your hands are powerful weapons, but also powerful tools as well. Careful how you use them, but don't be afraid to show them to your foes. You can cut through tank armor with those."
"Now for the cons..." He started with a sigh. "First off, Emma, you're sterile." He spoke plainly. "You'll never be able to have children, no Revenant currently can." He gave a snarky smile. "The pleasure centers are there, don't get me wrong. You can still enjoy a nice nightly romp with your beloved..."
"Doctor... I appreciate that, but can you just cut to the chase... I don't think I'll be having any... romps anytime soon." Jake made a 'pbth' with his mouth and smiled.
"I know plenty of people who think pale's attractive."
"Is this all part of the Revenant lecture, Doctor?" Zoey groaned, to which Jake responded with a solemn 'yep!' and turned back to his computer.
"Anydangway..." He cleared his throat, his smile fading to a serious glare. "Next disadvantage is... well... you're immortal."
"How is that a disadvantage?" I questioned, quite liking the thought of living forever. Jake gave a defeated shrug.
"Depends on how you look at it. The only family I have left is my sister and, well, she's a Revenant too. We'll live forever together... you... you get to sit on the side lines and watch as all your friends, lovers, and everyone else grow old around you, and eventually die, meanwhile, you look just the same, a painting frozen in time." The smile vanished from my face at his description of what the rest of eternity would be like. My eyes stared at the floor as these thoughts bounced about in my head. I felt a hand under my chin, Jake's clawed fingers picking my head up. "No need to cry, Emma. Eternity isn't that bad. You'll be able to make 'back in my day' jokes that'll send everyone reeling." He went back to his computer and started typing again.
"Now, I don't have the kind of equipment I need here to decern why it is you lost your memory, Emma... that and other things are a mystery even to me. But I know who does. I have a collague... well, okay, it's my sister. She's currently operating out of Quarantine Zone Theta, in West Virginia. She's got a much more advanced scientific set up then I do."
"Why don't you have the equipment, Doctor?" Bill asked, Jake turning around and folding his arms, sneering.
"Because someone punted me into the equipment I needed, breaking it." He responded, boring holes into Francis' skull.
"What?" The biker droned, shrugging.
"Because said someone is in your group, I'm assigning escort duty to you for. See to it Emma gets to Quarantine Zone Theta in one piece, and you'll be rewarded." He looked about to one of the higher balconies which had a few research assistants and equipment. "Oh, hang on." Crouching down, he pounced up to the top level, releasing the tell-tale screech of a Hunter. "I need you to deliver this to Trinny, also." I noticed the back of his lab coat had a symbol on it which looked like a broken circle. I've seen the emblem before, but I couldn't place where. Two other symbols were on his sleeves, depicting what appeared to be a mesa in a black, open circle.
"Hey, Jake?" I asked, looking as he turned to face me. "Those symbols on your coat... what do they mean?" He looked at his shoulder and smiled.
"Oh, these? It's my past." He put one hand on the railing, a box in his other, and valted over the railing, landing ten feet to the ground below. "I used to work for the Black Mesa Research Facility, before it exploded, and the one on the back is Aperture, where I interned not too long ago, before being laughed out there. And they called me crazy. Do you know what they're trying to make? Portal technology! Portal! It's alright to make phsycis-bending portal technology, but ooooh! Changing DNA, that's going too far!" He was clearly frustrated at the subject, and I decided it best to drop it. "Here." he continued, handing Zoey the box. "Bring this to Trinny when you get there. It's a combination birthday present and memento."
"You expect us to walk all the way to West Virginia?" Zoey asked, taking the box.
"No-o, Ms. Michell, I expect you to fly!" He laughed. "Little James Bond joke there. There's a plane leaving for Theta in an hour. There's room enough on it for all of you. Just be safe."