Note: Thanks for the reviews. Any feedback is welcome. :)

This chapter is longer than most but I didn't want to stop when 10 ended.

-10-

"Helen!"

In short breaths I looked around. My eyes squinted in a futile attempt to weed out the darkness. One hand pressed on the wall, holding all my weight as the other clinched my shirt to my chest.

"Helen!" His voice echoed off the walls of the barren hall.

"Shawn!" I cried back. "Where are you?"

I could scarcely breathe. My lungs constricted on themselves, leaving my mouth dry from short intakes of air. My chest started to burn and I became dizzy in short order.

A stale breeze drifted pass; carrying a scent so nauseating I nearly collapsed. Swallowing hard I forced myself to step forward. The bumpy texture of the wall vibrated under my palm as I felt my way. My heart beat at a speed I thought impossible but the sound of it in my ears resonated on a severed delay. The thumps I heard didn't match the blood pumping through my veins. There was another source.

And it was coming from behind me.

With trembling lips I whispered my brother's name again.

Thump… Thump… Thump…

Footsteps. Behind me was the sound of someone walking very heavily and very slowly. I closed my eyes and forced my head to turn. Upon command, my eyes wouldn't open. They were glued by fear and it took all my determination to open them.

There, in the hallway shrouded by a light, was him. Shawn. I knew it was him though the light illuminated from behind him and he was nothing more than a silhouette. Normally he would best me by inches but he has hunched over to match my height. His shaven head hung slightly to the right as he used the same wall I did for support.

He was hurt and tears came to me in immediate response.

"Shawn!" I half yelled. My voice cracked and my throat burned. I was going hoarse but I squeezed his name out anyway.

"Helen… Don't come… Trap." Words tumbled out of him with great effort.

I couldn't stop. My feet were on a collision course and I wouldn't leave my baby brother. I couldn't… Aside from Mickey, he might be the only family I had left.

I neared enough to see the creases in his face before I was brought to an abrupt halt. Even if Benny hadn't given a description of 'The Lady', I would have known her anywhere.

She stood behind Shawn; her demonic face peering out from over his shoulder. Free of emotion her cold eyes stared ice straight into me. Her delicate hand swung from her side and toward the middle of the hall. In it was a knife with a blade sharp and dripping with blood.

Shawn's blood.

My throat went through the motions to vomit again but the consequences never accommodated that action. It was in that moment I understood what was going on.

"NO!" My voice returned with full volume.

Her fingers released the knife; but it didn't drop. For a few short seconds the knife hung lifeless in the air before darting my way.

There was no time to duck from the blade. Glistening in places not soiled with blood, the weapon flew through the air. The point aimed for my heart and a split second I contemplated death.

I wanted all this to end and if I died I knew I would find peace. But that wouldn't do. Not at all. Somewhere out there was a small child who depended on me and I couldn't let him down. I wouldn't let Mickey die.

I threw up my palm and mentally shouted at the inanimate object to stop. The tip just scratched my skin before the knife clattered to the floor.

"No touch. He mine," her voice penetrated into my mind.

I glared. "You no touch, Witch!"

Her hand flung from her side. A gust of wind, strong and full of force, crashed into me. All at once the breath was struck from me as my feet left the floor. I flew backwards down the entire length of the long hall and collided with the EAC concession stand at the end.

Instincts shut my eyes hard as I braced for impact. The impact never came. The pain never manifested. My equilibrium was thrown off and vertigo threatened to accommodate me in any misery I wished.

"Helen? Hey, you okay? Come on, Helen! Wake up."

I opened my eyes slowly to avoid by head from imploding. A set of very worried eyes took on a little relief and Simon released a pinned up breath.

I sat up slowly, allowing Mack to help. Turning my head I searched until I found Mickey safely asleep in his stroller.

"What happened?" I asked even though I didn't need an answer. I was buying time as I tried to sort all the new information in my head out.

"You just up and passed out," Benny replied squatting down. "You sent us for a real scare there, missy."

I touched my temples lightly. As I suspected the pain was quickly dissolving. Lowering my hand I inspect my right palm. In the middle was a scratch almost an inch long. In my vision…dream…whatever it was, the knife had cut deeper but the effects in the real world weren't as harsh.

"I'm sorry, but I had no control over it. Shawn…he had to tell me."

Simon rested his hand gently on my shoulder. "Helen? You aren't making much sense here."

I nodded. "I know and I think there's something I need to tell you. All of you."

Over the horizon the sun was making a slow ascent. Morning was half an hour away but that was all we needed.

I stood and brushed myself off. "Come on, guys. Let's get inside and I'll explain there."

-11-

Unlike my dreams, the halls of the EAC were not graced with blood and gore. Stadium cups and other over-priced souvenirs decorated the floor. Still, it was better than the carnage from my dreams.

We didn't venture far in before we chose the closest stairway and sat down. Mack and Benny sat a third of the way up. Simon leaned on one wall far enough up so his feet barely touched the landing. I took up residence on the bottom step and stationed Mickey at my side as I leaned my back on the other wall.

I looked up at the trio and gave them all a small smile. "What I'm going to tell you might sound a bit unbelievable."

"Hell, after what we been through I don't think there's much that can be unbelievable." Benny returned my smile seriously.

I chuckled shortly. "Alright, you asked for it. When all this started I texted my brother. Remember?"

They were all as familiar with my story as I was with their's. Mack and Benny had been at Mack's house, sitting on the front porch. Simon was in the grocery store and I was surfing the internet. Funny how three totally different paths could lead the five of us (six if I were to count Cherokee) together.

"Whatever is going on, it started with the cell phones," I continued. "October first, around three o'clock in the afternoon, all hell broke loose. Everyone, and anyone, who used their mobiles got a big dose of major brain wave reprogramming."

"Whoa, hold up a bit. You're saying this as if you know… I mean really know for sure what happened."

I gave Simon as sincere a glance as I could. "I do; and if you give me a minute I'll explain it all to you. I'm not sure I can accurately describe it because I might not know the technical terms, but I'll do my best.

"I sent my brother a text message. So I used my cell phone but didn't get the whole erase and reprogram treatment like the zappies. I'll use Layman terms. All those who used their cells to answer or make calls had some form of mind altering…thing sent straight to their brain. It stripped away everything but their basic instincts of survival. Morals, ethics, beliefs…all gone.

"Under the code that stripped them was another set of instructions. It opened parts of their minds that were once locked. Your dreams weren't dreams. These things can communicate on a telepathic scale. Add this on top of the fact that everything that made them human is gone and you have a true monster. A sure guarantee that we would ultimately kill ourselves into extinction.

"Only problem is that those waves didn't reach everyone. It only infected those who had cell phones."

Mack took advantage of the pause I took to take a breath. "I might be old, but I have a Mac at home. I know a thing or two about computers. I can follow ya, but why would someone want to kill off the human race?"

Hanging my head, I sighed. "That wasn't the intent. Originally the signal was only targeted for the U.S. But there was a miscalculation and the signal ended up in air across the world. Once the mistake was found it was too late to stop it."

No one interrupted. I knew there was some doubt hanging in the air but I still had time to change the tide and eliminate that doubt cold in its tracks.

"The zappies have telekinetic and telepathic powers so they can read minds. Right now, they have lost all of their life's experiences so they can only retain that information but not understand it fully.

"When I passed out it was because my brother was trying to warn me. Today is our last day before we hit another bump. Only this bump will cost us our lives if we don't find a way over it.

"You see, when people listened to the code, or whatever it's called, they were subject to the full effects of it. It's in the air, so we have all been exposed but on a minuscule scale. So small that we retained our sanity but enough to open our minds to their influence.

"We have five senses. Right now you have been exposed through feel. It's in the air so your skin will absorb some of it. There is a certain amount of electricity in our bodies that would attract the signal. Smell isn't an issue since there's nothing to smell. Same with taste. That leaves sight.

"When I texted Shawn and he texted me, we were exposed to the sight factor. The signal was embedded in the text because it was carried through the airways. Shawn figured this out yesterday when the Lady caught him. Since we were both exposed he initiated a connection with me that opened my eyes."

I paused long enough to gather a bottle of water from the undercarriage of Mickey's stroller. Though I didn't want to, I turned to examine the expressions of my comrades.

"Alright…Let me see if I have this straight. The zappies are like super zombies. Someone was out to destroy America but it backfired and since you were…infected, I guess that's the way to say it, you also have some of this extra ability?" Simon's frown indicated that he believed me even as he doubted me. He was truly confused.

"I guess that's one way to put it. Only, what abilities I have are different and not as potent as the zappies. Sorta like getting a shot compared to taking a pill. They got a mainstream dose while my dose was diluted."

"Question," Benny said raising his hand slightly. "How do you know this?"

I drew in a breath and prayed I could tell them accurately enough for them to understand. I can sometimes trip over my words and now wasn't the place. We were short on time and only I knew what was in store for us. I had to get them up to speed before they could make a logical decision on their next move.

Logical…now there's a twist on irony to use that term.

"My brother, Shawn, realized it when the zappies captured him. He wasn't aware of his ability until then. Since his ability is diluted he isn't able to read people's minds but he can read the minds of the zappies since they didn't retain the concept of privacy. They all share their thoughts so he was able to pick up on them.

"All this time I wasn't dreaming of the Lady was because Shawn was interfering without realizing it. My nightmares were a combination of his influence and my own fear. But once he was in contact with the zappies he was privileged to the information they share. And that information includes the origin of The Signal."

Everyone waited with quiet patience as I finished off the warm water.

"The knowledge of what happened is fragmented some but not too bad. I don't know who sent The Signal but I do know it was sent from somewhere near the Mediterranean Sea. It was intended to be a declaration of World War III and the enemy wanted to eliminate the U.S. from ever being involved. The plan was to infect America and while we were in chaos and our allies were attempting to analyze and help us, they would strike a crippling blow to the world that would insure world domination."

"Since this isn't more of your sarcastic humor, Helen, I believe you. It's scary enough to learn about a search for power leading to this, but what does it have to do with your brother?" Simon leaned forward slightly.

"Since the signal was broadcast worldwide, we no longer have to fear a war of country against country. Right now the war is us, the norms, against the zappies. Where we've been on the run Shawn took a more straight forward approach. He chose to fight."

Mack was a sharp old man and fast to make connections. His wit impressed me and never stopped to amaze me. "So, he kills a few of 'em zappies and they want to kill him? If they're stripped of their humanity then how is it they're seekin' revenge?"

"In some deranged sense…" Simon spoke slowly so not to stutter, "I guess they see it as an act of survival."

"Simon's right," I responded quickly. "But that's not it. Shawn didn't just kill a few of them. He helped to exterminate hundreds of them. Approximately four hundred to be exact."

Despite the situation I turned that last sentence over in my head. Great is the way I talk since I contradict myself. It's not wise to use 'approximately' and 'exact' in the same phrase. Regardless, the others knew what I meant so all was well in the land of technical speech.

I leaned forward until my elbows came to rest on my knees. "That's not all of what I need to tell you. You all have to decide for yourselves what you want to do next and I'm sorry but you only have half an hour to decide."

"This is serious, aint it?" Benny asked.

I looked at him without a single hint of emotion. I was on overload and felt more mechanic than organic and I know it showed. The lack of emotion might be what was needed to drill the intensity of the situation. They needed to know the truth.

"Your life will depend on it."