Free Undead Rain (Book 3): Lightning (Fighting the Living Dead) by Shaun Harbinger

here as soon as we can,” I said. “Hart said that patient zero had become something more dangerous than a hybrid but he didn’t say it was so fast.
    “He probably didn’t know,” Jax said. “They would only know what the people here at Alpha Two told them. Most people who knew how fast that creature was probably didn’t live to tell the tale.” She put the Desert Eagle back into her holster. “But I agree that we need to get the hell out of here as soon as we can. This place is much more dangerous than we thought.”
    “So what do we do, man?” Sam asked. “There’s a shitload of zombies right outside the lab where the H1 is. If we go down there and start shooting, that thing might hear us and come to check out what’s making all the noise. Then we’re fucked.”
    I looked out of the window at the dark, rainy night as if it might offer some inspiration. It didn’t. We couldn’t just stay in this office all night; we had to make a move. Each passing second we spent in this building could too easily be our last, and my nerves were so fraught I felt like I might snap at any moment and make a mad dash for the exit.
    It became all too clear why Hart had injected us with the virus; he had sent us somewhere so dangerous that any sane person would abandon the mission and run for safety. I would never do that because of Lucy, but the others would and I couldn’t blame them. By injecting us with the virus, Hart was forcing us to see this mission through to the end. We had to ignore every survival instinct in our body that told us to get the hell out of Dodge. Because failing the mission would kill us anyway. We would become monsters.
    So let’s get it done , I told myself. There has to be a way to get that chemical.
    My thoughts were interrupted when the door opened. I spun around, bringing my bat up, ready to fight. When I saw the woman who walked into the office, I lowered it.
    She was in her fifties, with blonde hair that was cut short in a pixie style, and blue eyes behind thick-rimmed glasses. Her white blouse and tweed skirt made me think she was an office worker rather than a scientist, but she wore a nametag that said she was Doctor Lisa Colbert. She looked at Jax and me as she entered the room, but she didn’t react to us other than to say, “This is Dave’s office.” It was said as a matter-of-fact statement rather than an accusation regarding our presence here.
    “Doctor Colbert,” I said gently, “We didn’t know there were any survivors here. Is there anyone else alive in this place?”
    She pondered for a moment and then shook her head. “No, only me. Nobody else made it. Vess got them all.”
    “What are you talking about?” Jax asked. “Who is Vess?”
    Doctor Colbert turned her eyes to Jax. “Vess.” She said the name in a hushed tone, as if she were afraid to speak it too loudly.
    Sam raised an eyebrow. “This is bullshit. She’s crazier than a box of frogs.”
    “Doctor Colbert, who is Vess?” I asked her, ignoring Sam.
    “Vess,” she whispered, turning to me, her eyes wide. Her gaze seemed to become far away, and I wondered if Sam was right and she had lost her mind. It would be understandable, being the sole survivor in a building full of monsters. She had probably known most of the people who were now roaming the corridors in various states of decay before they had become zombies. What would that do to someone’s mind, to be hunted by creature that used to be friends and acquaintances?
    She turned to the door and waved for us to follow her.
    “I’m not following some crazy scientist,” Sam said.
    “Wait here, then,” I told him. “She’s survived for this long, maybe she knows something we don’t about the building. I want to see what she’s going to show us”
    “Probably her collection of dismembered dolls,” Sam muttered, following us out into the corridor despite his announcement that he wasn’t going anywhere.
    I pressed the button on the walkie-talkie.