"We're going to pass my home town." Adrienne whispered to Nuria who tried to pry a weak smile.
"You're...you're from Poolesville?" Adrienne looked in shocked realizing the mother with the young daughter was speaking to her.
"Yes...are you as well?" She said trying to scan this woman's face. Poolesville was a small knit country community and she knew she would have recognized the pair if they were from there.
"No, we're from right near there...Dickerson."
Adrienne smiled. The little girl reminded her of when she was little. Her golden blonde hair covered her delicate face and angel blue eyes. She hid it in her mother's jacket trying hard not to show that she had been crying the entire trip. The mother just held her tightly.
"How old is she?" Adrienne whispered.
"She's 7 today...we had a big birthday party planned for her. We were in Bethesda picking up supplies when the outbreak hit and they was no way back at that point.
"And that's when you heard about the NIH."
"We made it over there, my husband, my older son and us..." The mother just stared glazed a little trying hard not to remember something. Adrienne just waited to comfort her in the silence.
"My son died in the outbreak and my husband left us at Whitman when he was forced to make it to the NIH by himself." She said not realizing that her husband had perished in that futile trip to the destroyed government facility. He had yelled out their name as zombies savagely tore his body apart.
They did in fact pass her hometown. Every thing looked normal, the houses, the school, the billboard with the face of the local Realtor smiled down on them as they passed. They passed the old bank -- which used to be the old town hall -- and drove through the Central Business District of the town. She smiled and closed her eyes trying to keep the image of Poolesville intact in her mind as they left the town.
About half an hour later they finally stopped. Adrienne opened her eyes feeling Lauren H. pulling her arm. "Come on, we have to get off now." Where were they? She wasn't sure but they had stopped in front of a giant brown building that lacked any windows and was guarded by several soldier out front.
"Everyone in a single file line and move in." A soldier called out. All the women huddled together and they gathered their things and made their way into the building.
Once inside they realized how much of a sterile feeling the building had. Fluorescent lights lined a long white hallway with white doors, no windows and white tiled floors. The soldier led the group down the hall and through a small door at the end.
At first the women entered an empty dark room with a large glass window that peered into another empty room. In it, a single chair with straps. A young woman sat in the chair, her arms and legs strapped in, a look of fear embedded in her eyes. The group of woman looked on as a scientist walked into the room with the one chair. He administered an injection into the resisting woman's arms and hurried out of the room, closing a thick metal door behind him. The blunt thud of the door echoed through the room they were in.
"What was that..." Adrienne asked Nuria. The little girl pressed her face against the window intrigued. A few moments later the woman in the chair began convulsing, she screamed as black ooze fell from her mouth. Her shaking worsened like a seizure and after a minute, she fell silent.
All the women gasped as the woman came back to life, her skin beginning to decay instantly in front of their eyes, her eyes turning red and carnal screams were the only things coming out of her mouth besides the black ooze.
"She's a zombie!" Nuria gasped. The scientist came back in escorted by two soldiers. The woman tried to attack him as he got closer but could not break free from the straps. The scientist administered another shot and all of them ran out of the room.
The women looked on again, terrified now, and within seconds the zombie began to scream in pain. Her arms swelled, the ooze fell out like a waterfall from her mouth and her stomach expanded. An audible pop later and she fell silent, dead, the swelling and expanding ceasing to exist.
"Another failure." The women jumped. The scientist had stood behind them.
"What was that? What's going on?" Adrienne demanded.
"The moment the outbreak began we had been testing an anti-virus, a cure-all if you will...with, as you can see, no such luck yet." He walked around them.
"What are you going to do with us?" A woman in the group asked. The scientist smiled.
"Find a cure for the entire world...find a cure from this zombie state and we need women to do it. We tried with men but they resisted the anti-body...women seemed to take it more but still nothing...but now..." He said walking over to the little girl who still had her face pressed against the window.
"NO!" The mother cried. The little girl turned around to see the scientist standing over her. He touched her porcelain face with his hand.
"She is a precious one, isn't she?"
"Don't you dare touch her." Adrienne said. Nuria and Lauren were shocked by her sudden outburst. They haven't heard her this strong since the outbreak...they were sure that it had shocked her into a weakened state.
"Don't you want to save the world?" The scientist asked instructing a few soldiers to take the girl and restrain the group. "The life of one, could save the life of many....think of how many precious children you could save...on the other hand, if you try to stop me, think of all the children you'll end up killing."
"Give us a chance to live." Adrienne pleaded. The scientist said nothing. "Give us a chance to try and survive." She was ignored.
The scientist walked to the window. "Won't you all watch with me?"
The women cried as they were pushed up to the window by the soldiers behind them. Two soldiers entered the room carrying a kicking and screaming girl. Her mother cried hysterically as they strapped her into the chair. Another scientist walked in carrying a large needle filled with the same black ooze that dripped from the zombie's mouths. He drew the needle closer to her arm as the little girl cried pleading for her mother. "Please! Please no! Mommy, mommy! I just want to be 7 at least for one day!" The needle drew even closer, the women watched with bated breath. Suddenly a door slammed open behind them causing all of them to jump and scream.
"Sir!" A soldier yelled.
"What is it?"
"There are hundreds of them!"
"Hundreds of what!" The scientist demanded.
"Zombies, sir! We've been surrounded."
"Where are they coming from!"
"Poolesville, sir...God Help Us All." And the soldier ran out of the room.
"WAIT!" The scientist said and chased after the soldier. He turned around and addressed the group, "I guess you have your chance...although it doesn't seem to be a very good one." And he slammed the door behind them.
"What do we do now?" A woman asked. The little girl was still screaming from her chair, the scientist had stopped what he was doing when he was informed of the news.
"We have our chance to survive...what choice do we have? We need to take it." Adrienne said and the group of women ran out of the room.
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