Chapter Seven
5:50 p.m. – Employee Lounge, Eleventh Floor
Yoshida International Industries Corporate HQ
Stanley felt uneasy after seeing the movement by the door, unsure whether it was his brother spying on him to check if he wasn't doing anything behind his back. Lane was the kind of person who would do such a thing, and if he caught you, he would go ballistic. While Stanley usually would have been innocent, he wasn't sure if Lane would gather the right idea from the hug he shared with Isabel.
He was at the window, staring down at the hundreds of people running amok in the street below. Some of them were even huddling around the entrance but it was hard to see straight down. The speeding cars were now gone, with the only vehicles remaining now sitting abandoned in the middle of the road and the sidewalk.
When he had enough, he turned around to see Isabel lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling in deep thought. They hadn't had much time to reflect on what they had witnessed over the course of the day, but Stanley wasn't going to let it catch up to him until they were safely out of the city. Isabel couldn't shut it all out, and seemed to be facing it all now. A lone tear could be spotted trickling down the side of her face as she whispered 'Nadia' to herself.
Stanley figured she needed to be on her own for a while so he returned to the window and shut his eyes. The disturbing image of Isabel's lifelong friend with blood-coated teeth and glowing eyes appeared straight-away, chomping down on the doctors in the hospital. His eyes reopened at once and he shivered. Why had she had turned into something like that, when just minutes ago she was on their side?
If Lane knew something, which Stanley suspected, he wanted to know everything he knew. He just didn't know if Lane would spill.
***
It was now 6:04 p.m. The chopper was meant to arrive any minute now, but Stanley was nervous about whether he'd be allowed onboard. Lane hadn't been seen since his berating over an hour ago, but he knew he'd be coming soon to escort them to the helipad.
"Are you alright?" he asked Isabel.
"Yeah," she said, wiping another tear from her eye. Stanley knew she was lying, but he didn't want to pressure her.
"Okay, come on, we'd better find Lane. There's supposed to be a helicopter coming."
She nodded and slid off the couch, not bothering to question him about the chopper. Stanley limped to the door, his leg still in pain. He had taken painkillers from the first aid kit earlier, and it made the pain tolerable. The shrieks outside had grown a little quieter, but he figured they were slowly giving up and moving on. He was so used to their shrieks that the hallway was rather quiet by comparison.
"He's probably still downstairs," said Stanley, and he led her towards the stairs. He didn't have access to the elevators, but it didn't matter. Lane had suddenly jogged out of the stairwell, looking quite exhausted.
"What's wrong?" asked Isabel worriedly.
"Nothing," he said, out of breath. I just came upstairs to check if the helicopter had come yet."
The twitch on his mouth when he lied started again and Stanley stared at him. He looked pretty damn uncomfortable at being stared at, which was strange because he was always ready to give a more ferocious stare back. Something was wrong, especially since there were echoes coming from the stairwell.
"Are you sure?"
Before Lane could nod to confirm, he was grabbed from behind by one of the monsters. His eyes widened in surprise as the man dug his teeth into his shoulder blade. Isabel screamed as Stanley ran for his brother, crashing into the other man. He was sent toppling into the stairwell, knocking over the parade behind him like bowling pins. Lane scowled in pain as he collapsed against the wall. Isabel dashed for him as Stanley slammed the door shut and barring it closed. There was a nearby bench and coffee table which Stanley dragged in front of the door. Pounding against the reinforced door ensued as he knelt beside his brother.
Blood spilt profusely onto his shirt. He hissed as Stanley examined the wound, accidentally scraping it with his fingers.
"Go get the first aid kit," ordered Stanley, trying to put pressure on the gash. Isabel nodded frantically and tore off towards the employee lounge.
"How the hell did they get in!? Didn't you hear them coming up the stairs behind you?"
Lane didn't respond. He was too busy staring in horror at the bite mark to listen to Stanley's questions.
Isabel returned with the kit gripped in her hand, but Lane was shaking his head. His horrified look was replaced with defeat. "Don't bother."
"What are you talking about?" asked Stanley, panicking as he continued to bleed. "It's just a bite wound, you'll make it."
He sneered before howling in pain as Isabel applied disinfectant to the wound. "You don't know a thing about these guys, don't you?"
Stanley was confused. "What do you mean? What do you know?"
Lane coughed, hesitating to explain the situation. It obviously had to do with the company.
"Come on," urged Stanley. "Tell us what the hell is going on out there Lane."
Lane moaned in pain before finally speaking.
"It was Morton," he said, struggling to get into a more comfortable position. Stanley registered the name, but he couldn't remember where he knew it from. Isabel however, immediately recognized the name and gasped. "He – he screwed up again last night with his project in the labs; ended up killing some of his own employees. That's why he was let go. The project was supposed to be some sort of enhancement drug for the military – increase their senses and dexterity to make them more efficient. It was Yoshida's ace-in-the-hole in the defense industry, but it all went wrong."
Memories of the people sniffing the air back at Nadia's apartment complex to hunt him and their insane agility suddenly flooded to the front of his mind.
Lane continued, talking quickly as though his time was running out. "Anyway, it ended up corrupting the heart or something because the drug mixed badly with the bloodstream. It killed whoever took it in, but then they'd somehow come back to life. Even though their heart had shut down, something brought 'em back, and they started killing anyone in sight by eating them. That's what the eggheads at the lab said anyway. I didn't believe them, until you told me about that news report this morning."
Stanley wasn't sure he understood what he was saying. These people were dead? But they were running around like animals, sprinting and tackling people down with ease before trying to eat them alive. Surely they were just cannibalistic psychopaths.
Lane took one more look at his vicious injury and closed his eyes. "Anyway, once you're bitten …"
He began dozing off into shock, but was kept conscious by Stanley's constant shaking of his shoulder. "What happens when you're bitten? Tell me!"
Lane panted, almost laughing at his brother's stupidity. "You should know. You've seen it happen already, haven't you?"
Stanley realized what he was referring to. Nadia had been bitten on the leg and it was only moments later she gained the same aggressive behavior. The man in the elevator had an injury on his neck also. Could it be …?
"You mean if you're bitten –"
"—you almost certainly become one of them."
Stanley could hear them struggling behind the doorway as Isabel crouched by Lane. "How the hell does that work!?"
"How should I know!? I don't know the specifics; I work the office, not the labs."
"What do you mean by 'almost certainly become them'?" asked Isabel, getting upset about what Lane was saying. She didn't want to leave him behind, and neither did Stanley, but if what he said was right – they needed to distance themselves from him right now.
"Forget it," he said, sounding like he had given up. "Just go, the helicopter's waiting for you both."
Stanley was skeptical. Lane seemed eager for them to leave and head up to the helipad, but Stanley was smarter than that. He didn't know Lane for his noble sacrifices. He was a jealous and selfish bastard. He wasn't sure if he would become noble even if he was facing death. But his story did seem to be the best explanation for what was happening out there, despite several glaring holes.
"Dead, but alive?" thought Stanley. "Whatever."
"GO!"
Both of them jumped in fright at his sudden shout, which seemed to encourage the infected behind the doors to hammer against it stronger. They weren't going to break through anytime soon though.
"No, I'm not leaving you," said Isabel, sobbing by Lane's side.
Lane gave a weak smile. "It's okay sweetheart," he said, caressing her face one last time. He turned his attention to Stanley and he stared at him darkly. "I'm sure Stanley will take care of you. Don't worry about me. Just go."
The pounding grew louder, and Stanley held her shoulders, slowly pulling her back. "Come on. We need to go. It's not safe."
She broke down on his shoulder as they went to find another staircase not filled with those infected freaks that Lane seemed to know a lot about. Comforting her, he glanced back at Lane to give him a look of sympathy, but something else happened. He thought he saw a sinister grin widen on Lane's face before he rounded the corner. Stanley couldn't help but feel that something was very wrong.
6:12 p.m. – Helipad, Rooftop
Yoshida International Industries Corporate HQ
The darkness began overrunning the sky with only small traces of sunlight left as they both climbed to the top of the building. The distinct rotors from the helicopter echoed with the shadows of the two security men glowing in the dusk. One of them approached the two while the other boarded. His nametag read "Mick".
He raised his hand in a stop gesture. "I'm sorry Mr. Parfetti, but we can't let you onboard."
Stanley and Isabel both halted in their tracks. "Miss Perez, your boyfriend asked me to ensure that you got out of the city safely."
He reached out to escort her to the helicopter but she shrugged off his grip. "No. What do you mean Stanley's not allowed onboard?" Stanley could tell that she didn't want to have to leave another person she cared about behind. She was in enough pain abandoning Lane like that.
"Lane said so. He has business to complete here before he can leave the city, but he will be escorting Stanley out himself."
"Lane is downstairs," said Stanley, confused. Didn't his brother say that the helicopter was waiting for both of them? "He's been bitten, and I'm guessing you know what that means."
Mick looked shocked to hear this news, but he stood his ground. "I'm afraid I still cannot let you on the helicopter. I'm just following orders Stan. Miss Perez, Isabel, please, we need to leave."
His grip was firm this time as he struggled to take her towards the chopper.
"Let me go," she cried. She resisted but he refused to let go. Ultimately, she kicked him in the groin. He collapsed to the ground, grunting in pain as she retreated to Stanley. Before Isabel could speak her objection or Mick vent his anger, the inhuman cries blasted out of the stairwell behind Stanley. Both Stanley and Isabel turned to look as Mick, looking terrified, made a dash for the helicopter.
He climbed aboard. "Take her out of here!" he yelled over the whirring rotors.
The pilot complied without a second thought, slowly lifting the helicopter off the helipad and high into the sky. That left Stanley and Isabel petrified at the sight of a bunch of infected racing out of the stairwell.
"Run!" yelled Stanley, pushing Isabel forward as the horde glanced around frantically, looking for their next feast. There were two more sets of stairs to the rooftop, one of which wasn't very far. This allowed them to escape somewhat easily, even with Stanley's limp from his leg injury from the accident. He barred the door from inside, preventing access to and fro the helipad. He had no idea how they had gotten up to the rooftop in the first place. He was pretty sure his barricade would've held for longer.
6:25 p.m. – Twentieth Floor
Yoshida International Industries Corporate HQ
Stanley led Isabel down the stairs back towards the twentieth floor. Being the secondary staircase to the helipad; that was as far as the stairs would take them. The door was shut, but Stanley was nervous about going through. He opened the door and took a peek. The hallway was clear, for now at least.
"Let's go," he whispered, pulling the door open fully. Isabel nodded, putting all her emotions on hold as they both snuck out into the corridor. The closest primary staircase was halfway across the floor, which would hopefully lead them to the lobby with little encounters. They weren't expecting to come across any infected people at all, since most chased them up to the helipad, but anything was possible.
"We have to see if Lane's okay," said Isabel in a soft voice. Stanley turned and looked at her. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but deep down, he had to find his older brother. It didn't matter how unlikely it was he was still alive or how much Lane had despised him; he was still family.
But that meant returning to the eleventh floor.
"Okay," said Stanley after his hesitation. "We'll find him, but we need to be careful. There might be more of them."
Treading through the lush hallways, he got a fright when the automatic lighting suddenly came on to compensate for the dying sunlight. He wiped the sweat of anxiety off his forehead and pressed on. The staircase was void of any life. They trotted down the stairs, the cold metallic noises echoing under their feet.
The landing for the eleventh floor was in sight, with the door tightly shut. Cautiously, Stanley pushed it open a little and did some more scouting through the tiny gap. No one there. He led her through the doorway out into the hallway.
The stairs where they had left him were on the opposite end of the floor. Stanley felt the need to rush through the corridors, find Lane and get the hell out of the building with the two of them, but he knew he had to be careful. If what Lane had said about these guys were true, then they were extremely dangerous. One bite, and it was all over.
"What's that noise?" asked Isabel as they approached a junction. Stanley paused, hearing a shuffling noise around the left corner. One of them had been left behind in the chase for the helipad, and he wandered by the elevators. The stench radiating from him was almost unbearable.
"There's one of them," said Stanley quietly, trying not to inhale as he watched him groan, sniffing the air. His ears wiggled by themselves in an attempt to listen. Stanley forgot about their enhanced senses and froze when he began turning in his direction. He stumbled as he tried to get out of sight, but he heard a snarl. Too late.
"Go!"
Isabel ran down the corridor at Stanley's command, glancing over her shoulder while he limped as quickly as he could after her. He looked behind him. The man pursuing had a look of frenzy on the little pieces of his face he had left, gaining on him. Stanley struggled to speed up, but he was getting closer by the second.
"Look out!"
Stanley's eyes returned to what was in front of him and saw a fire extinguisher hurled in his direction. He ducked just in time and heard the extinguisher clatter on the ground, landing before the man. The man chasing however, was so focused on catching Stanley that he tripped over the cylindrical device, sending him sprawling to the ground. He struggled to stand up as they lost him by running through the several cubicles in the main work area.
At last, they reached the stairwell where they last left Lane, but all that remained was a small bloody patch on the ground where they left him and the empty first aid kit. Stanley looked surprised as he saw the stairwell he had blocked was wide open. The bench and coffee table seemed to have been shifted aside and the door wasn't forced open – it was disbarred, unlocked. More growls echoed from the lower floors. They weren't going down that way. More were on their way. They should've stuck with the other stairs.
Something else was on Stanley's mind. If Lane wasn't here, that had to mean …
He didn't want to think about it. There were more important things to worry about, but it was the most likely thing to have happened. He shook off the thought and focused on their current dilemma. There was no way he was going to get through all of those infected with his leg still in pain from the accident and the man that pursued them earlier was still somewhere on the same floor. He needed to rest, at least for a little while. "We need to hide."
"There – there was some office we ran past just before," said Isabel, overwrought by Lane's disappearance. She seemed to have come to the same conclusion as her speech was broken. "We can hide there."
He was skeptical about her suggestion, but they were coming fast, and they both needed to at least hide for a few minutes. Take in all they had learned thus far as well as the disappearance of his brother. "Okay, show me."
Isabel led the way to the office nearby another conference room. Right now, their lives were endangered and they couldn't afford any mistakes. They needed to stay focused.
6:32 p.m. – Sean Morton's Office, Eleventh Floor
Yoshida International Industries Corporate HQ
The office was completely different to the cubicle style ones they ran past just before. It was away from the main workplace and felt isolated. It was very spacious, with a couch lined against the wall with some framed pictures and a mahogany desk housing an expensive computer. All this was accompanied by the large window at the back of the room overlooking all of the glowing skyscrapers neighboring and the chaos on the streets.
Stanley closed the door and pushed the leather couch in front of the door as well as a filing cabinet in order to block anyone from coming inside. Isabel rested her head against the window pane, choking on tears as Stanley took a seat by the computer. She couldn't handle much of what they had gone through today, but it was perfectly normal to have such erratic behavior in such a crisis. Stanley was starting to become frightened of himself because he wasn't doing any of these things at all.
A screensaver glowed back at him on the computer showing the company's logo. He nudged the mouse and it reverted back to the desktop where he was surprised to see a picture of Isabel with Lane at the beach as the wallpaper.
Stanley didn't alert Isabel to his discovery. Instead, he hit the start button and saw that he was logged in under Lane's account. It seemed Lane had forgotten to log out when he last used the computer, but this wasn't his office. Lane's office was up on floor sixteen. Hastily, he pulled out the drawers, searching for any clue whose office they were actually in. That was when he found a small company business card with a picture of a serious elderly man. Underneath his thumbnail image was his name. "Sean Morton."
It was the name that Lane had mentioned just before they left him behind. Knowing Isabel knew the man, he showed her the card. "Who's this guy again? I've seen him somewhere before."
She picked the card from his hand, looking with her watery eyes. She was rapidly shutting down. After a moment, she spoke. "That's Mr. Morton, the man you told me was on the news this morning. He's the one that killed those people. The one that Lane said started all this."
Stanley flinched as he suddenly remembered who he was. So they were in the office of the man responsible for all of this? That meant there was bound to be some files on the computer to do with the so-called project he was working on.
Something else however, grabbed his attention. There was a window minimized on the task bar. Stanley restored it and discovered it was Lane's job application and personal data. It was under the Human Resources directory on the company network. He wondered why Lane would have his job application open during such a time and better yet, why he was working out of Morton's office. As he thought about these things, he saw a notepad lying on the desk. The ink embedded on the paper was fresh.
"AB Negative," he read aloud, examining the words. It was in Lane's handwriting. His gaze returned to Lane's personal data on the application form and wasn't surprised to see that his blood type was, in fact, AB Negative.
Stanley shivered at this discovery, wondering if it had anything to do with Lane's suspicious behavior and that last disturbing smile. But before he could investigate further, power to the computer was suddenly cut off as well as the power for the overhead lighting. Stanley turned to look out the window and saw Isabel looking also, looking scared.
The whole city began to black out, leaving it lit now only by the ominous moonlight.
