Chapter Five
Brian and Zach said they knew a scientist. Some dude named Fred or something. Apparently Fred lived in an underground science lab he built and he was searching for some kind of cure to defeat the zombies. I think he is full of crap.
Brian took us to Fred's lab that afternoon to visit Fred.
Tania complained all the way there.
"Are we there yet? My feet hurt. Can we have lunch? I'm starving. How come this idiot lives so far away? Are we there yet?" she asked over and over again.
Nellie and I both wanted to smack her but I knew I would never have the heart to do something like that. Nellie would.
Finally we reached the laboratory.
We saw a door hidden under a hill.
A small face peeked out the window above the door.
"Hello, hello!" exclaimed a voice.
A weird-looking scientist opened the door for us. He had blue hair and an eye-patch over one eye. His lab coat was stained with blood.
"Please make yourself feel at home," he said.
We walked inside the little place. There were two couches, a chair and a fireplace. Then there was a small kitchen nearby. No other rooms were seen. Where was the laboratory? The house was small and dirty. It was warm but it smelled like dirt because it was a sod house.
Tania sat down on a couch. Nellie and I did the same.
"Nice to see you again Fred," said Brian, walking in the door.
Fred closed the door. He and Brian remained standing there.
"Ah yes, it is a rather pleasant day to meet my old friend again," said Fred.
"Yeah….Sure…So how have you been lately?" Brian asked.
"Quite good I must say. The time of the zombies is very, very interesting. I have done much research about the disease and I think I have almost figured it out," said Fred.
I was suddenly interested.
"I would like to know," I said getting up.
"Alright young ones. I will tell you all," said Fred, sitting on the chair.
Brian sat down next to Nellie on the couch.
"You see, I took a few deceased zombie bodies and did some tests. It turns out only about sixty percent of humans who were transformed into zombies actually lived. You see, transformation is very deadly. Most humans die before they even transform. If they do make it through, well they have no brain anymore and they cannot control their actions. They are programmed to just go after the remaining humans and kill them. They do not turn humans into their kind. They just kill. Some people say they feast off of brains. I do believe that is true. They eat brains. Zombies do not group together much. It may seem like they do but really they are selfish and they will kill each other in order to get to a human or more specifically, a human brain," explained Fred.
"Okay so did you find a cure and if you did, how?" asked Nellie.
"I did find a cure. However, I didn't find it myself. I just located it. There are some caves a few miles from here. There is a potion there and that is the cure. Find it, bring it to me, and I will see if it works," he said.
"How do you know this?" Nellie asked.
"I put it there years ago. I went back to that place and it was occupied by a demon. That damn demon saw me and broke my arm," he explained.
No wonder why Fred hasn't moved his left arm the whole time we've seen him. I noticed that from the beginning but I never said anything.
"Why did you make it and put it there in the first place?" asked Brian.
"You see, years ago there was some kind of other mutation going on secretly in some other country. It was much like this one only a little different. My cure worked and I put it in the cave because it was safe and no one would ever find it. Looks like I was wrong. It was found and I can't get it back. You guys are young. Could you get it back for me?" he asked.
"Well-" started Brian before Nellie cut him off.
"Sure," she said.
Brian glared at her.
"How did it start? The disease I mean," Tania asked Fred.
"Mosquitoes. Some kind of new Malaria. It started here in Orange County. At Anaheim High School to be exact. I actually went there to check the place out. Very nice school. The whole thing started in some biology class. I found papers identifying who the first person was who started the whole thing. Someone by the name of Shelly Smith," answered Fred.
"No. No way," I said.
I was right all along. I was there. That was my school. I knew her. I hated her. I was a survivor.
"Is there something wrong?" Fred asked me.
"She was there in that class at that time," answered Nellie for me.
"Tell us about it," said Fred.
"Well I was in biology and I saw a mosquito. We were learning about Malaria that day so I thought it was a coincidence. Then I saw the mosquito land on Shelly and she turned into a zombie," I explained.
That was good enough.
"Well then. I do have that very mosquito. I found her in the classroom," said Fred.
He pulled out a jar and opened the lid.
I looked inside.
Sure enough my mosquito friend was in there buzzing around.
"Hello again my little friend," I said softly to the mosquito.
The mosquito flew and landed on my nose.
"Whoa! Get that thing off her!" yelled Brian.
"No, no!" I said quickly. I gently put my finger on my nose and the mosquito flew on my finger instead.
"She likes me. Don't worry," I said.