They made their way down some corridors, Warren went first followed by Murphy and Doc and then 10k carrying Cassandra. Ellie was behind them with her crossbow raised in case some zombies tried to sneak up on him especially when he couldn't defend himself. They came to a door and Warren opened it to reveal a dark corridor.
"Can you see anything?"
"Hold on, little too dark." Warren said lifting up a flash light to reveal the way "There's some kind of emergency lights flashing"
"Dude, it says quarantine" Doc said holding Murphy back when he tried to rush forward. "Can't we just believe them?"
"What are you, high?" Murphy said turning to look at him "We're infected already, remember?" He said pulling out of his grasp and he walked down the corridor followed by the others who had now taken out their flash-lights except for 10k as Ellie was now standing closer behind him to light the way.
"What is this place?" Warren said as they came to a corridor full of doors with small windows in them.
"This isn't a hospital. It's a god damn hall of horrors" Murphy said looking trough one of the windows
"Hey, look" Warren said drawing their attention to another door and Ellie came to see what they were looking at "Oh my God"
In the room was a woman turned and her body and the room was covered in flies .
"I hope God doesn't know about this" Doc said "Cuz if he does..."
"We should give her mercy"
"No. If we open this door, them flies are gonna be feeding on us" Doc said
"Over here" Ellie said shining her flash light on a door. She saw everyone turn to look at her including 10k who had put Cassandra down and was now having a look around. "This one's gone. The door's open"
"What was it?" Doc asked
"Better question is where'd it go?" Warren said when they heard a zombie growl
"Well whatever it is, it's still here" Doc said and the flashing emergency lights revealed a zombie wearing scrubs leaning down behind the pipes but he was moving weird it was like it was moving like a monkey
"Shut the..."
"There's another one" 10K said as the growling got louder
"Murphy. Go talk to them. Do...do that thing you do" Doc said Murphy pushing him forward
Murphy walked forward and got down to the zombies eye level and they froze for a few seconds before they started growling again.
"Guys. These aren't regular zombies. They're some kind of mutant thing" He said when suddenly they charged at him and Murphy quickly stepped back "I don't think they like me!" he screamed and the once zombie got hold of him and slammed him into the wall. Ellie tried to get a shot but another zombie charged and Murphy and soon there was a flurry of movement as Murphy struggled to get them off. When suddenly they heard a crack and they saw Murphy standing there with his hands covered in blood and the zombies were headless.
"Let's go find Merch." He said and he turned and walked down the corridor
"What's he gonna do when he catches up to Merch?" Warren said
"I dunno, but I'm glad I'm not her" Doc said
"Be ready for anything. Let's go." Warren said lifting up her flash light
They had come out of the dark corridors and was now walking down a brightly lit one. Murphy was in front now, followed by Doc, Warren and 10k with Cassandra and then Ellie. From where she was she could hear Cassandra's heaving breathing and she knew 10k could too.
"I can't do it." Cassandra whispered "Stop."
"I can carry you." 10k said tightening his grip "You're gonna be okay"
"I'm gonna get us all killed" She said and 10k stopped forcing Ellie to stop too "Please, Tommy"
"Okay" He said reluctantly and he gently put her on the floor, her back leaning against the wall. He stayed crouched down in front of her and Ellie leaned down next to her.
"Just don't tell anybody my name, all right?" 10K said turning to look at Ellie who nodded slightly giving him a gentle smile promising that she wouldn't
"I won't" Cassandra said to before her eyes drooped and her head would of went sidesway but 10k held her face in his hands.
"Hey." Warren said walking back to them "Is she...?"
"She's still alive" 10k said
"We need to move her somewhere safer" Ellie said and 10k nodded and then stood up before placing his one arm under Cassandra's leg and the other around her shoulders and lifter her up. "You ok?" Ellie asked him and he nodded again. So they made their way down the corridor once again.
They came across and empty room with a gurney in the middle and 10k moved to place Cassandra on it, When her eyelids fluttered and she regained consciousness
"What happened?" She whispered
"You can stay here and get some rest. And we'll come back for you." Warren explained before pulling out a bullet from her pocket "Look. I've been saving this special since New York. I want you to have it. Just in case" She said loading the gun and placing it in her hand which was resting by her leg
"Thank you, Warren" Cassandra whispered
"You got it" Warren said and she left the room
"You hang in there, darlin'" Doc said coming up to her "We're gonna find you some antibiotics, and we're gonna get you straightened out in no time" He then left leaving just 10k and Ellie
10k walked over to Cassandra and leaned down to give her a hug, Ellie saw her whisper something to him but she couldn't hear what. He then pulled away from her and they just stared at each other before he to left the room which left only Ellie. She made her way over to Cassandra, she gave her a sad smile which Cassandra returned she then leaned down to give her a hug.
"You have to hold on, you need to keep fighting" Ellie said sadly and she pulled away her eyes glistened with tears. "We've been through so much together, I don't want to lose you"
"I'll never leave you, none of you. I'll always be with you, you just wont see me"
"After loosing Mack and Addy and ….. Garnett. We've lost so many people I don't think this group is gonna survive another loss"
"Yes you will because you are all so strong, and I am so grateful for all the times we spent together. It was like a family and I never had that with Tobias. I love you guys so much even Murphy" She laughed slightly and Ellie smiled through the tears.
"I'm gonna miss you"
"I'll miss you too, but promise me you wont let this world change you. You have such a kind heart and I know you are scared about what you find at the end but what ever the outcome don't let it change who you are and also take care of 10K. He's young and can make rash decisions he needs an older sister to guide him"
"I have always protected 10k and will continue too. I love you" Ellie said leaning down to hug Cassandra again before pulling away and walking out the door to see the others waiting for her.
"Guys, come on. I think I found something" Murphy said running back to them but froze when he saw there expressions "Is she gonna make it?"
"You might want to say your goodbyes" Warren said sadly after a few seconds hesitation and Murphy nodded walking towards the door. Ellie moved from her place in-front of it to lean against the wall her head lowered to the floor, and from the corner of her eye she saw Murphy hesitate as he opened the door and looked back before walking into the room and closing the door. But from the look on his face it wasn't because he didn't want to say goodbye, he had the same look he had when he was up to something. But Ellie dismissed that thought she was feeling anxious and a little creeped out she was probably being paranoid.
"Let's go" Murphy said once he came out of the room after a couple of minutes and he led them down the corridor "Check this out" he pointed to a blood stain on the floor and it looked like someone had been dragged. "This trail of gore leads to here"
"Bio-containment" he said when he came to a stop outside a door illuminated in red. Warren took her hatchet out again and Ellie lifted up her cross bow. Warren then opened the door and they all slowly made their way in.
They came into some sort of lab with desks and computers going around the edges of the room and several gurneys in rows in the middle with big metal containers on top of them with pipes going from the sides. The room gave Ellie a really bad feeling and sh tightened her grip on her cross bow.
"Could this place get any creepier?" Doc said as they walked through the containers
"Yes" Warren said an edge to her voice.
They walked a little bit further until that could hear gargling next to them and turning in that direction they saw a person cut in half on a gurney close to the desk and it was still alive.
"Oh my God" Ellie said "What are they doing here?"
"It's alive" Warren said
"Is that Doctor Merch?" Doc asked and Murphy stepped forward and the person made a noise again
"No." Murphy said "Somebody else. It's the lab tech in the video" The person had his hand on the computer and struggled to move his fingers "He wants us to watch something" Murphy said as the person managed to push a button which revealed a video on the computer.
There was a man called Brendon strapped to a gurney with a woman in a yellow biohazard suit, mask and goggles. She was explaining to him that he reacted to the virus and that it had jumped to humans so he was going to be the first trial to the vaccine. The same vaccine they used on the monkeys, he begged them to stop because he knew what the side affects could be but the woman didn't listen. She injected him and he started seizing on the table and more people in suits came over to hold him down. They could hear the heart rate machine beeping and they struggled to hold him down before the man ordered her to shut the camera off and the screen when blank.
No one said anything at first they were all too shocked but Doc was the first to break the silence.
"The vaccine must have worked, Kept him from turning zombie"
"But it won't let him die." Warren said
"I really don't like these people" Ellie said verging on tears she really didn't want to be hear any more. "Guys I think we need to leave"
"Did Merch do this to you?" Murphy asked him softly and then man gargled out a response "He's trying to say something"
"Kill me" The man whispered and it broke Ellie's heart to hear that. He must be in so much pain "Kill me, Kill me, Kill me"
"We're getting the hell out of here" Murphy said standing up when suddenly Citizen Z's Face popped up on the screen.
"You've got company" Citizen Z said "Looks like Doctor Merch and two soldiers headed your way. They should be there any second"
"Heads up" Warren said when they heard the door open and Ellie lifted up her cross bow again just as three people walked in one blue hazmat suits and black gas-mask and the other two were all in black. They were all armed.
"Doctor Merch" Murphy said coming forward and the others followed "We meet again"
The person in-front put the case down and took off his gas mask to reveal not a woman but a bald headed man "Doctor Merch didn't make it" The man explained "I'm here boss, Doctor Kurtz. I'm here to help you save mankind. We've gone to a great deal of effort to find you, Mr. Murphy"
"I've been on a little road trip" Murphy said
"Well your journey ends here. You're safe now"
"This doesn't feel safe" Ellie mumbled "This place feels the opposite of safe"
"And your friends are to be commended for their bravery and commitment" Doctor Kurtz continued like he didn't hear what Ellie said but she could see him looking back at her every few seconds like he was trying to be discreet but she could see it. "Your country, all mankind, owes you a great deal"
"What's going to happen to him?" Warren asked
"Well we'll take him the rest of the way to the lab in California where we'll sequence his genes and clone the antibodies in his blood. Then with any luck, we'll be able to recreate the vaccine that's keeping him alive" Doctor Kurtz explained
"What if I don't want to be your guinea pig?" Murphy asked and Ellie didn't blame him. They didn't seem like very trustworthy people
"Well then you'll eventually wind up just like Brendon Doyle, Patient Zero over there. Speaking of which,
someone should really give that poor creature mercy"
"I'll do it." Murphy said and Warren handed him a knife, he made his way over to Bredon and Ellie could see him talking but she couldn't hear them. But she did hear the knife so she knew he had done it.
"I'm not going" Murphy said suddenly
"Murphy" Warren said "Coming closer to him "This is why we came this far"
"Explain to me again why I should believe anything you say" Murphy said ignoring Warren
"Let's start with you have no choice" Doctor Kurtz said starting to move forward and the men followed "And neither does your daughter".
"My what?" Murphy said sounding confused as he stepped away from Bredon and walked out to stand by Ellie "I don't have a daughter"
"Yes you do, don't tell me you didn't guess. We've been watching you Mr Murphy all of you, we've seen how you've reacted to the zombies you share a connection. Don't tell me you didn't feel a connection to you're own blood?" Doctor Kurtz said looking directly at Ellie
"He's not my father" Ellie said shaking her head. She looked up to Murphy but he wouldn't give her eye contact and she knew then that Murphy knew.
"Oh Ellie, sweet innocent Ellie" Doctor Kurtz and Ellie flinched slightly wondering how he knew her name "We know everything about you, raised in Wales by Melanie and Major John Vernez, real father unknown but from New York where your mother worked and met him 23 years ago. You came to New york when you were 20 with two friends and then the zombie apocalypse happened, you lost your friends and then you woke up three months later in a hospital. Skip a few months you came across a group and three years later Murphy comes along. Does that sound about right?."
"How do you know all that?" Ellie whispered her heart threatening to beat out of her chest.
"I told you we've been watching, now shall I fill in the blanks?. Before you were put in hospital you were taken to a facility where you stayed for two and a half months, where tests were formed on you. You weren't the only one, we took people who had recently been bitten to see how they would respond, we tried some tester vaccines but most of them succumbed to the virus in the end. Some lasted a few days some less and some a little longer. But you outlived them all and you didn't even have to have the vaccine"
"I was never bitten, I would remember that" Ellie said her voice raising slightly
"Whether you remember or not it did happen, That's what the scar is on your wrist" Doctor Kurtz said pointing at her hand and she glanced down too looking at the scar on her wrist. "We took bloods to see what made you different and what we saw was magnificent, you had natural antibodies in your blood and it was destroying the virus. So straight away we began on a vaccine using your blood that could cure everyone, but there were people out there that didn't agree with what we were doing and they took you away from us. Of course they didn't know you had been bitten, it had healed and you had no symptoms except you hadn't regained consciousness. So we figured let them take you, we needed to see how you responded once you woke up and how you adapt to the world. But we didn't want to going out unprepared so we kept watch and gave you the essentials"
"So you left the clothes and the weapons?"
"Did you really think we would leave something so valuable unprotected? No, we sent one of our own undercover, they made sure you were kept alive and when you showed signs of waking up our plan was put in action. We left you alone gave you the essentials and let you out in the zombie infested world. We had enough of your blood to keep running out tests but we under estimated the severity of the apocalypse and we lost track off you. But we found you again when you come into contact with Murphy"
"And what makes you think that he is my father?"
"Well when we took prisoners to trial the vaccine on we needed to make sure they were relatively healthy so we did some tests which included blood tests. And when we heard Murphy had survived being bitten after having the vaccine we ran some more test on the blood we had to see if maybe it was a genetic thing and to our surprise and delight your name popped up. Murphy is your biological father and the vaccine running through his blood came from you that's why he responded so well"
"If what your saying is true, then why do you still need me if she has natural immunity?" Murphy asked glancing back at Ellie who had a blank look on her face.
"Because something went wrong with the vaccine, Ellie here still looks human you on the other hand look more dead than alive. So we need you to see what went wrong and her to make a cure that works and when we saw that Ellie was part of the group that was bringing you here we knew it was fate, you were both being brought to were you needed to be"
"Well I'm not going and neither is Ellie" Murphy said and Doctor Kurtz stepped closer the men following
"What are you doing?" Warren said lifting up her hatchet and Murphy stepped back grabbing onto Ellie had he did pulling her with him.
"Just a precaution."
"Now just hold on a minute." Doc said holding up his hands as he stepped forward "Ain't no reason to just bad. He's just nervous. Right, Murphy? He's actually very civic minded. And I think we are all just trying to absorb what you just told us"
"Really, this is so unnecessary" Doctor Kurtz said " No one's going to harm you, Mr. Murphy or your daughter, quite the opposite" There attention then went to the door when they heard banging.
"Just a zombie. Give it mercy so it won't attract more" Doctor Kurtz said calmly
"Zombies can't open doors, can they?" One of the men in suits said and that snapped Ellie out of her daze, all of their heads shot up to look at the door and they saw someone step in. 10k took out his knife and Ellie lifted up her cross bow and she moved away from Murphy and towards 10k, she may be feeling a bit out of it but she wasn't gonna let her friends get hurt.
The person that stepped through the door was Cassandra who was breathing very heavily, it looked like she had turned but like the guy said zombies couldn't open doors and she had a bite mark on her face.
"Don't shoot" Cassandra said and Ellie turned to look towards Murphy and he didn't look surprised like the rest of them did.
"She's a zombie. Mercy her" Doctor Kurtz said
"I'm not dead" Cassandra said and Ellie saw Murphy walk closer to her before he said or more like demanded.
"Kill him." And as soon as the words let his mouth Cassandra sprung in action she grabbed the closest guys gun and spun him around as the gun went off and aimed it at the other guy in black. Ellie and the others dodged out of the way and they heard her growl as she hit the guy sending him to the floor.
Doctor Kurtz fired his weapon then straight at Cassandra and she went down, Ellie saw Murphy run forward then towards the door and Kurtz aimed his gun at him.
"Murphy, wait!" Warren shouted and when Kurtz went to shoot at him Ellie fired her crossbow and sending an arrow into his hand and he yelled out in pain just as the gun went off but his aim was off. But before he could aim it at her she raced after Murphy who legged it when the gun went off.
Murphy's Pov
Murphy ran out the door before Doctor Kurtz could shoot him, he ran through the corridor with the dead zombies in. He could hear Ellie shouting for him but he didn't slow down, she was doing exactly what he hoped she would do and soon he was at the door for the contamination room, he opened the door and went in leaving it open for Ellie to run through but as soon as she was in he locked it. He grabbed Ellie's arm and pulled her to the other door but he was distracted by a voice.
"Murphy. Murphy!"
Murphy let go off Ellie and looked around to see if he could find the source of the voice and found a camera and he stepped towards it. "You" He snarled "You set me up, you bastard. You set us all up!"
"No! No, I didn't." Citizen Z's voice replied "I had no idea this was gonna happen. I swear. You have to believe me"
"No, I don't! I don't have to believe anything anyone says ever again! Especially you!"
Ellie's Pov
"Murphy you need to calm down" Ellie said not use to seeing him this angry
"How can I calm down Ellie!" Murphy shouted going towards her but stopped when he saw her flinch slightly
"You have got to listen to me. You're infected with the virus" Citizen z said bringing his attention back to him "If you attempt to exit the lab without going through decontamination, you're gonna set off the fail safe"
"And why should I care?"
"Damn it, Murphy! Listen!"
"I lost everything!" Murphy shouted "Including myself!"
"Murphy. A tactical nuclear weapon will be launched from NORAD to incinerate the lab. If you go up, you will kill everyone there, including Warren, Ellie, Doc, and the others Do you read me? Murphy, do you read me?"
"Murphy don't do this" Ellie begged but she was distracted when she heard a door opening behind them. Turning around she saw Doctor Kurtz attempting to open the door to the room they were in, turning back around she saw Murphy with a panicked look on his face. Rushing forward she grabbed hold of his arm to stop him from moving "Murphy listen to me, he's not going to kill us he needs us. Its just him you know I can take him. But if you walk through that door you are going to kill us"
"We cant stay here" Murphy said shaking his head
"Murphy please you are going to kill us" Ellie pleaded with him and she could hear Citizen Z's voice in the background trying to get Murphy to stop too. Ellie turned when she heard Kurtz bang on the window and that's when her mind clicked Murphy said 'we can't stay here not I'. She turned her head slowly to see Murphy with his hand raised and she caught a glimpse of a but of a gun before she felt a searing pain in the side of her head and she went crashing to the ground.
"Sorry Ellie but I'm not losing you too" She heard Murphy say and she tried to lift her head but the room was spinning and she could feel herself slipping away. She saw the blurred figure of Murphy leaning down in front of her but then her world went dark.
Murphy's Pov
He felt guilty about hitting Ellie but he couldn't leave her here and he wasn't staying, If he stayed both him and Ellie would be used as lab rats and he wasn't going to allow that. She was all he had left. He was glad that she didn't notice him grab he gun from its holder when she was distracted. He managed to pull Ellie into a sitting position, then he put her arm over his head and he lifted her up in a fireman hold.
He could hear Citizen Z talking to him but he ignored him and pushed the button to open the door. An alarm went off then but he managed to open the door.
"Fail safe activated" A automatic voice said as he legged it through the door "Fail safe activated, Seven Minutes to detonation".
Murphy ran through the door and down the corridor until he got to the lift again, he put Ellie down so he was able to pull down the shutters. Lifting is hand up to run through his hair, he felt something on the top of his face. It was his skin peeling.
Warren's Pov
Warren was currently giving Doc CPR, Kurtz had shot him and not he wasn't breathing. They could hear the alarm going off and they knew that Murphy had ran without decontamination going through , and Warren was worried about Ellie.
"Wake up, Doc" Warren said breathlessly when they heard growling behind them. The two soldiers that Cassandra had killed were now awake and they had turned.
The came towards them when suddenly Cassandra charged out of now where and knocked the closest one to the ground and then she charged at the other one.
"Get out of here!" Cassandra shouted "Get out of here! Now!"
"Wake up, Doc." Warren said to Doc still giving him CPR "Wake up Doc" And finally Doc regained consciousness gasping as he woke up.
"Get out of here now!" Cassandra shouted again as she struggled to control the one zombie.
10k and Warren managed to get Doc standing and they supported him from both sides. 10K grabbed their bags as they ran past and they made there way to the exit.
"Five minutes to detonation" They heard in the background as they ran through the door and with some difficulty they made it to the elevator
"Get the door." Warren said to 10k and once he made sure she could support Doc he lifted up the shutter and once they struggled in he closed it again and soon they were heading up.
Murphy's Pov
With Ellie back in his arms he made his way to the van, he put Ellie in the passenger seat and buckled her in. He didn't want her going forward when she couldn't support he own weight right now. He then got into the drivers seat and started the engine and drove away from the lab leaving Warren and the others behind.
Warren's Pov
"Look." 10k said leaning down in the lift to pick up what looked like dead skin "What is it?"
"Is that all that's left of Murphy?" Doc asked getting more coherent
"It's his skin" Warren said "He shed his skin"
"Keep it" Doc said coughing "Make some awesome boots out of that"
"Where's Murphy?" Warren asked
"And Ellie?" 10k said "Where's the van?" 10k asked when they got out of the elevator Doc draped over their shoulders
"Murphy." Warren said "And he must of took Ellie with him, Come on, let's take this"
They van to a black truck that Doctor Kurtz and his men must of came in, 10k helped Doc lie in the back seat while Warren went to the drivers seat to hot-wire the truck.
"Look." 10k said looking at the sky and Warren turned to see the missile heading for them
"Let's go" Warren said and she rushed into the drivers seat while 10k rushed around to the passenger seat and they quickly drove away.
To be Continued...
End of Season One