Chapter 14: The Crimson Rain

Brown

I stood near the bunker's airlock door, double-checking every strap on my tactical vest while Rex stood right at my knee. Outside, through the heavy glass window, a thin, reddish drizzle was lightly falling from dark, heavy clouds.

It was just a gentle sprinkle, barely speckling the gravel path and making the mountain rocks slick. To anyone else, it looked like a strange, harmless weather anomaly. They had no idea this light mist was just a warning, and that the rain would soon turn into a heavy, crushing downpour.

"Listen to me, Rex," I said, keeping my voice low and firm. "You cannot bite to kill. Strictly non-lethal. Avoid their throats, heads, and main blood vessels completely. Just use your claws, or bite down on their arms or legs just enough to pin them so I can carry out my mission. Got it?"

Rex tilted his big head, looking right at me, and gave a loud, sharp bark to show he understood.

Before I could unlock the heavy outer door, the System's cold screen popped up right in front of my eyes:

⁠[MISSION ALERT: TARGET DETECTED ON MOUNT IRONWOOD GRAVEL APPROACH.]⁠

⁠[WARNING: INITIATING RESTRAIN AND CURE PROTOCOL.]⁠

I unlocked the heavy blast door and stepped outside onto the path, with Rex right beside me. The faint red mist hit my gear, feeling cool and damp. The outside air stank faintly like rust, wet blood, and mud. A strange red fog hung low over the ground, floating around our boots like smoke.

Further down the winding gravel path, a dark figure was stumbling around in the light red drizzle.

I started walking toward it slowly, taking careful steps and keeping my breathing steady. Even with my heavy, full-figured body, I moved as quietly as I could. But as Rex stepped forward next to me, his heavy paw snapped a dry stick hidden under the wet gravel.

CRACK.

The sound echoed through the foggy air like a gunshot.

The zombie turned around right away. Its eyes were milky white with no life in them, and thick blackish veins popped out all over its neck and forehead. It let out a scary, throat-scratching scream, turned around, and came running straight up the gravel path right at us.

"Now, Rex!" I yelled.

Before the creature could get to me, Rex jumped forward. He launched his heavy, strong body into the air and dug his sharp claws right across the zombie's chest. The hard hit knocked the zombie off balance, sending it sliding into the wet gravel with a splash of reddish mud.

I rushed forward, using my mind to pull the pre-filled blood syringe out of Chamber 1 of my magic storage space. In a quick flash of blue light, the cold, heavy syringe popped right into my hand.

I moved in to stick the needle into the creature's shoulder, but the zombie spun around with crazy fast speed. It slammed its heavy arm right into my chest, catching me totally off guard.

The heavy hit knocked me back hard. I slipped on the wet rocks, and my big frame bumped hard against the cold concrete wall of the entryway. All the air left my lungs in a sharp gasp.

The zombie hit the mud again, but its back twisted in a gross, unnatural way. Its bones made loud cracking sounds as it forced itself back up onto its feet like a broken toy. With a crazy twitch of its head, it roared again and charged, slamming its whole body straight into my chest.

The heavy hit knocked me flat on my back onto the cold, red-stained gravel.

My head hit the ground, making me see bright spots for a second. The monster climbed on top of me, snapping its teeth just inches away from my face. Gross black spit dripped from its mouth onto my neck. I jammed my arm under its chin, using all my strength to keep its sharp teeth from biting my skin.

"Rex! Pin it! Hold its legs!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Rex didn't wait a second. He clamped his strong jaws down on the monster's ankle, biting hard while digging his sharp claws deep into its leg. The zombie screamed in pain as Rex pulled back with all his power, pulling its heavy weight off my chest.

Seeing my chance, I pushed the monster off me with everything I had. I scrambled up off the ground, gasping for air, and used my heavy weight to jump forward, slamming full force onto the zombie's back.

THUD.

The zombie hit the muddy gravel face-first, completely trapped under my big body and Rex's strong bite. It thrashed around like crazy, tearing up the dirt, but I pressed my knees hard into its shoulders, holding both of its arms flat against the ground.

With my sore, shaking hand, I raised the heavy syringe, lined it up with the big muscle on its neck, and poked the needle deep into its skin. I pushed the top all the way down, sending my dark blood straight into its body.

The moment my blood went inside, the zombie froze completely.

The crazy moving stopped right away. The black veins on its neck faded fast, its white eyes rolled back, and its whole body went completely limp, lying softly in the red mud while making quiet groaning noises.

I pulled out the syringe, breathing heavily as mist and sweat ran down my face. My arm hurt where I had drawn the blood earlier, but a nice, warm feeling started spreading through my body, slowly making me feel less tired.

"System," I panted, looking up at the blue screen floating in the air. "How do I store it?"

⁠[COMMAND REQUIRED: FOCUS ON CHAMBER 2 AND RECITE THE STORAGE INITIATION CODE: "CONTAIN TARGET."]⁠

I focused my mind on Chamber 2 of my storage, looked at the groaning creature, and said clearly: "Contain target."

A soft, low sound filled the air. A bright wave of blue light wrapped around the groaning zombie. In just one second, the whole body vanished into thin air—sent straight into Chamber 2.

⁠[CONGRATULATIONS: YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INJECTED AND STORED YOUR FIRST RECOVERING ZOMBIE IN CHAMBER 2.]⁠

⁠[ANTIDOTE TRANSFORMATION IS NOW UNDERWAY.]⁠

⁠[BLOOD REGENERATION INITIALIZED. YOU MAY NOW RETURN TO YOUR FORTRESS.]⁠

"Oh, wow..." I breathed, pushing myself up from the mud and rolling my sore shoulder.

I put the empty syringe back into Chamber 1 of my storage and motioned for Rex to follow me. We ran out of the light red mist, went back through the big blast doors, and locked ourselves safely inside Mount Ironwood.

I led Rex into the bunker's lower floor. I checked the screen to make sure Chamber 2 was holding the recovering zombie safely before heading upstairs to our rooms.

Once inside our room, I sat down hard on the edge of the big wooden bed, my muscles hurting from the rough fight out in the gravel. Rex walked over, shook the red moisture off his fur, and lay down right by my feet with a happy sigh.

After resting for a few minutes, my stomach suddenly made a loud, hungry growl. The sharp pain in my belly reminded me that I hadn't eaten a single bite of food all day with all the packing, driving, and fighting.

I stood up, walked over to the food shelves, and grabbed a bottle of clean water, a few snack bars, and a pack of beef jerky. I opened the water bottle, taking big, thirsty gulps before eating the food fast. The salty jerky and sweet bars tasted amazing after working so hard.

While eating my snacks, I grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV on the wall.

The news was total chaos. The news lady's hair was messy, her eyes were huge with fear, and her voice shook as videos played on the screen.

"...reports confirm emergency services have completely stopped working everywhere," she said quickly, her hands shaking on her desk. "A light red drizzle is falling across the region right now. Scientists have not yet confirmed what this substance is, and teams are still working around the clock to determine its cause or how harmful it will be. However, officials strongly advise all citizens to stay away from the liquid entirely until further notice. If you are inside, lock your doors right now. The sickness is—"

I chewed my jerky slowly, staring at the screen with a cold, serious feeling. In my past life, the TV news stopped working completely on Day 12. But right now, on Day Zero, with even this light red drizzle falling, the world outside was falling apart ten times faster than before.

Suddenly, loud, scared screaming started off-camera in the news room. A dark, twitching shadow jumped into the TV screen, slamming the male news guy backward over his desk hard. Live on TV, the female news lady screamed in terror as an infected worker bit hard into the man's neck, spraying blood on the camera before the screen went totally black.

I stared at the black TV screen, taking another sip of water as I thought about town.

I leaned back against the wall, listening to the light red drizzle beginning to patter heavier against the thick walls of Mount Ironwood, thinking to myself: Are Mavel and Ginger still locked inside that police cell crying for help... or have they already been turned into monsters?