Zombie Files: Maya's Calendar - Conclusion

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Memories were swimming through Maya’s subconscious as wild beasts newly released from captivity. Thoughts that were buried deeper than bodies began to rise to the surface of her mind. Dark and dead, these memories should have remained beyond the veil of synaptic fire. Nonetheless, few forces are able to inhibit the mind whenever it becomes unchained. Memories begin to reveal secrets when the mind dares to know itself.

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“…so you just expect me to throw away my entire career? You want me to throw away my future… our future?” Maya’s father was arguing with her mother. They usually argued every night since Maya could remember. The fighting had dramatically increased right before Lucas was born.

            “I don’t want you to put your work before your family, Oscar,” Maya’s mother sobbed back in response to Oscar’s questions. She was holding her newborn son to her breast. Her black mascara had become two trails running from her eyes to her chin. Maya had often stayed up at night listening to her mother cry herself into restless sleep. Maya was always determined to stay awake until her mother had stopped weeping. “I wish you would stop drinking. You’re upsetting your children.”

            Oscar looked at Maya’s mother as if she had started speaking a foreign language. The glass of expensive cognac tilted in his left hand. His right hand instinctively made a fist. “It’s my fault now, Izzy? I didn’t want a second fucking child! I can’t afford to feed all of these hungry mouths, plus your fat ass!” Maya looked up at her father and folded herself into a corner of the living room. She was absolutely mortified by him. His red eyes and dark beard reminded her of a monster. His breath and volume always managed to take precedent over the words coming from his throat. There were times when he would jerk Maya around by the arms, leaving plum bruises on her tiny biceps. She had never known what he did for a living, other than terrorize the family. Maya only knew two things about her father: he was never around for more than a few days, and he was angry whenever he was.

            Maya’s father was a brilliant man, although she had never seen that side of him. Oscar had PhD's in biomedical engineering, nuclear medicine, and behavioral genetics. During these last ten years, Oscar and his science colleagues had discovered preventative cures for certain types of brain cancer. Once the treatment was FDA approved, people flocked to their doctors in hopes of acquiring the miracle drug. Unfortunately, for Oscar and the rest, years of lab research did not catch the cure’s only fault; it killed the patient after two years of regular dosage. Oscar and his team were both financially and morally bankrupt. Several of his closest friends committed suicide. He drowned himself with guilt and alcohol.

            “Why do you even come around here anyways?” Izzy screamed at the drunken Oscar. “You never have money. You don’t even look at me with sober eyes anymore!” Izzy had set her newborn son, Lucas, down in a playpen. The baby was asleep. The baby could sleep through anything.

            “If I wanted to look at a hippo with sober eyes, I would just go to the damned zoo! There’s more of ‘em there and they smell a helluvalot better than you!” Oscar threw his empty liquor glass after he spat the hateful words. It missed Izzy’s head by an inch. With tearful eyes, Maya watched the glass shatter…

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New York City was a nightmare. Every single building was reduced to rubble. Heartless stared into the horizon as he landed the fighter jet in a patch of rubble near the Hudson River. The roads were not visible. Asphalt and grass were hidden deep below concrete, brick, and metal. Along with the toppled buildings, military vehicles littered parts of the area. M1A2 and M1A3 tanks speckled the terrain as well as a dozen M1126 Stryker ICVs. From Heartless’ deduction, everything looked inoperable. It was as if World War III had taken place in the United States. No, the comparison was an understatement; an undermining of reality. It was truly the end of all civilization. There were no people living in homes or opening up businesses. There were no vacations. Class status and pretentiousness could hang themselves from the necks of savagery and barbarism. Everyone unlucky to still be alive was a nomad and a killer. These were the new inalienable rights.

Heartless unbuckled himself and spooned the unconscious Maya out of her seat. Her respiration had increased and she was wheezing with each breath. Heartless did not look worried. Instead, he searched the rubble with unblinking eyes. After a while, his eyes stopped on a seemingly random section of debris. “I found you,” he whispered with the slightest of grins.

A small opening could be seen underneath a wreckage of automobiles and shattered cinder blocks. This was the illusive welcome mat of Oscar Puerto. To the everyday scavenger, the hole was simply a gap among a series of gaps in the vast wasteland. To Heartless, it was a front door. He sat Maya down like a carton of eggs and began to remove layers of debris. Two metal doors were flush with the ground. Heartless yanked them open effortlessly to reveal an elevator equipped with working lights and controls.

The lift took an anxious Heartless and an unconscious Maya down several meters into the earth. Their metal capsule descended through the hollow center of an eight level parking garage. Yet, the garage was devoid of cars or trucks or vans. It was dark and covered in dust and time. Down here, the elevator was the only mode of transportation. With the grinding of gears, the machine lurched to a standstill. Heartless looked at Maya’s body wrapped beneath the blue robes in his arms with sadness. “Here we go,” he sighed.

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Two double doors opened to reveal a large display of computers, beakers, microscopes, and temperature chambers. Florescent lights garnished the ceiling while white tiles covered the floor. The laboratory was the antithesis of the outside world. It was completely sterilized from top to bottom. Seven scientists were working diligently, each one clothed in formal wear under a white lab coat. The oldest looking scientist turned his head in Heartless’ direction.

“No,” the balding man said with a rasp tone. His stubble jaw dropped to reveal coffee stained teeth. His hands instinctively coiled into fists. “Someone get this goddamned freak out of my lab!”

“I’m here to help, Dr. Puerto,” Heartless said with trepidation.

“You’re not here to help! I don’t even know how you found this place, you abomination. If you’ve come to kill me, let’s get this over with, but I will not allow you to destroy my research!” Dr. Puerto was in a loud rage. The six other scientists heard this and made their exit through double doors via the far wall. “I know you stole the serum and the M.A.C. blueprints, fool. You’re probably walking around here like you own the planet.” He glanced up at the scar on Heartless’ chest. “And you’re probably realizing that just because you can’t turn doesn’t mean that you’re invincible.”

“Oscar, please.” Heartless outstretched his hands. “I have your daughter.”

“M-my daughter? Maya?” Oscar ran over to Heartless and took Maya from him. His eyes instantly started to flood. He could not believe that she had grown so much since he had last seen her. “My baby,” Oscar cried as he gently inserted her into a bedchamber. Thick Plexiglas separated her from the rest of the laboratory. Without hesitation, Oscar reached for Heartless’ throat.

Heartless was surprised by Oscar’s strength. Oscar was shorter than Heartless and was at least one hundred pounds lighter; however, his power lifted Heartless into the air. Oscar had a modified version of the serum coursing through his veins. The serum made Heartless immune to the infection, but it had morphed his appearance, unlike Oscar. Oscar still looked as frail as he did when Heartless saw him two years ago. His physiology, however, was greatly altered. Oscar raised Heartless up by his throat and slammed him into the floor, crumbling a group of tiles into small pieces.

“What the hell are you doing, Oscar,” Heartless managed to mouth. His throat was crushed under Oscar’s right hand. His left hand punched Heartless in the stomach. Blood shot out of Heartless’ mouth. “Stop, Maya is pregnant. We have to get the baby out before she turns.”

That was all Oscar needed to hear. His remaining paternal instincts kicked in with a primal scream. He picked Heartless up by his dirty blonde locks. Heartless managed to throw two hay makers, hoping to surprise his attacker. Oscar took both punches to the face without making a fuss. Only a dribble of blood dropped from his bottom lip. He centered two punches to the face of Heartless. The effect was bone breaking.

“Aaarrgghh!” Heartless’ face made the sound of firecrackers. Blood oozed from his mouth, nose, and forehead. He felt completely helpless against Oscar as he slid across the slick floor. It would be suicide to fight such an advanced form of the serum, Heartless thought to himself. Fear washed over his brain. It was a feeling that he had long forgotten. As he tried to pick himself off of the floor, Oscar had managed to make his way to him, wielding a katana.

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“Do you want to know something interesting?” Oscar questioned as he hovered over the fallen Heartless. “A katana isn’t that reliable when it comes to killing the infected. It takes years to be accurate with such a weapon. It’s all about control.” Oscar flipped the katana into the air and caught it before it fell between Heartless’ eyes. “Now, for killing freaks like you…it’s perfect.” Oscar raised the blade.

“Please, you have to believe me,” Heartless pleaded as he looked up with bloody vision. “I helped Maya. I’m not the father of the child either. I saved her from a rapist and a group of torturers. They had captured me as well. I swear it, Oscar. Why would I be dumb enough to seek you out?”

Oscar’s glare did not waiver. The katana was balanced above his head. He began to smile. “You know, it makes sense, but I’m done making sense. I mean, what are we doing down here, huh? The world has already gone to shit. Honestly, my world was gone long before the outbreak. Now, it’s all pointless.” He brought his blade downward.

 “Dad…no!”

 Maya’s muffled voice made Oscar’s arm stop before the katana touched Heartless. The sharp steel clanged as it hit the tiled floor. Oscar floated to Maya’s bedside. He opened the bed chamber and hugged his only daughter. Oscar wanted to kill Heartless because he felt guilty for Maya’s situation. He thought that if he was there for her, she would have been taken care of. When he thought of his ex-wife and his son, he began to cry.

“I’m so sorry, Maya. Everything’s my fault.” Tears and snot poured from his face. “If, if I had been smarter, I would have found a way to protect you and your brother. If only I had one more year…six months at least.” Maya looked into her father’s eyes. For the first time, she saw the man that he truly was. Excited, her wheezing had increased and she was beginning to cough.

“No, dad, you did everything…cough…Mannys…cough…infected…cough…came too quick.” Her eyes started to close and her breathing stopped.

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“I have to get the child out,” Oscar said as his eyes blinked uncontrollably. He touched a control pad that was attached to the bed chamber. The Plexiglas closed and needles started to protrude from the head of the chamber. Four needles injected Maya in her arms and legs. A thin wire arose from the foot of the machine. It sliced into Maya’s stomach and filleted her abdominal flesh, exposing fatty tissue and blood. The baby boy was visible inside of her, but it was very small. Nevertheless, it was alive.

An electronic arm reached out from within the bed chamber and retrieved the infant. It disappeared back into the machine, taking the baby with it. Oscar seemed to take pleasure from seeing the baby. As he watched metal arms stitch his daughter together, Heartless had made his way to Oscar’s side. He reached into his cargo pants and revealed a journal labeled Maya’s Calendar.

“She would want you to have this,” Heartless said. Oscar took the journal and began to look through it. The pages described Maya’s two year journey after the epidemic. Some pages were her goals while other pages discussed her fears. Oscar flipped onward to discover details about Izzy and Lucas. The words made his head spin. He could not bear to read any more.

“Thank you,” Oscar whispered as he closed Maya’s journal and placed it inside of his lab coat. Suddenly, his left arm throbbed with an intense pain. His skin was being scraped and gnawed apart by Maya’s teeth.

She had finally turned due to the bite she received from the Manny in the prison. The serum that Heartless had injected her with had run its course. Maya’s tan face had turned pale, making her abundance of scars more visible. Her eyes were glossy and as yellow as urine. Her mouth was a bright tomato red. She was transformed forever.

“Holy shit!” Heartless went to grab the fresh Manny.

“No!” Oscar yelled. “You dare touch my baby?” Oscar’s eyes were wide and crazed. His looked frightened Heartless more than their confrontation earlier. Oscar turned his attention back to his undead child. “No one will ever touch her again.” He closed the Plexiglas and left the Manny moaning and clawing with unending stamina.

 

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WARNING! PERIMETER BREACH!  WARNING! PERIMETER BREACH!  WARNING! PERIMETER BREACH! WARNING…  Everything went dark as the announcement blared overhead. Red lights started to flash in the four corners of the lab. Oscar snapped back to reality and quickly grabbed gauze from the counter top next to him. He wrapped his left arm and walked over to his katana. At that moment, there was a loud explosion from above.

“You have to get out of here, Heartless,” Oscar said as he stared at the ceiling. He pointed his sword at the doors that his scientist team had used earlier. “You can get to the surface from there. No promises, though. Take some serum with you. Only the green strain, Heartless. The red will probably kill you.”

“They must have seen the F16,” Heartless said as he filled his cargo pants with syringes and green serum. “It was stupid of me, but I had no options. I had to get her here.”

The ceiling crashed in on itself. Seven troopers dressed in black rappelled into the laboratory. Each trooper was equipped with goggles and a silenced assault rifle. Grenades outlined their belts. As soon as their feet touched solid ground, they started shooting. Oscar and Heartless dove behind a row of temperature chambers.

“Who are these guys?” Heartless said. He ducked low as thin red lasers searched for life. The troopers looked as if they were ex-military. Where they came from was anyone’s guess.

“In the study of eschatology, they say that there would be many players in the end times,” Oscar murmured under his breath. He had never been a religious man, but after he witnessed the death of this last family member, he was rethinking everything. He shook his head and stood with the katana in his right hand.  “I think I’ll use the bomb,” he said in a regular voice.

All seven troopers aimed their guns at Oscar and unloaded rounds of ammunition. The bursts from their guns illuminated the room. Oscar gracefully waved the blade in front of him. Every bullet was reflected away from his body. It looked like something from a Japanese anime. Heartless viewed the display of skill with enhanced eyes. He saw that Oscar was deadly accurate with the katana; each bullet was swatted away intentionally, like a bubble.

“Go,” Oscar said as he jumped into the group of troopers. Before Heartless could see what was happening, three arms and a head torpedoed into the air, followed by long arches of blood. There were no more gunshots. Now, the loudest sounds were screams. Heartless headed for the exit.

After ten minutes of continuous crawling, Heartless made his way to the surface. His fingers were tipped with his own blood courtesy of the rocks and bricks that he had to peel back in order to see sunlight. He was a mile away from where he initially landed the jet. Twisted metal and destroyed stone were his only landmarks. Heartless was about to catch his breath when a bright flash blinded him. BOOOOOM!!! A loud rumble came after the light and was followed by a force that threw Heartless on his back.

Three minutes had passed. Heartless dusted himself off. His back was bloody with scratches.

“He used the bomb,” Heartless said as he reached into his cargo pocket and grabbed a dose of green serum. He injected it into his neck with a soft grunt. Without reason or planning, he picked a direction and started walking.

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My mother would have loved to see that I’ve gotten much better with grandpa’s katana. I’m finally able to slice a Goon’s head off in a single, clean motion. I think that I’m good enough to start making a change. Before he died, my grandpa said that I should find a man named Gerard who could lead me to a member of the legendary Bartle Four. Together, he thinks we can end this apocalypse. Oh, and I can’t forget about my dog, Munchie. I’m so happy he can smell Goons.

~Ezekiel, age 13

FIN

  

-Terry