“It is now inarguable that our initial assumptions were made in error. HBRS-15.21 has accomplished its purpose for some infected subjects. The result just wasn’t what we were expecting.”
–Dr Ava Sherman. Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. 4 Months After.
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Another successful trial.
Mother studied the infected human as it scratched against the cell door of the settlement it had once protected. The eyes were white and lifeless, and it moved with a perpetual stagger, just like the majority of others they had encountered after breaching the outer walls. What made this one unique was its body, however. Not a single scratch or bite could be seen.
“Okay,” Hades said, “you’ve kept me in suspense long enough. How’d you hollow these guys?”
“I took the blood of a recently infected subject and dried it under a vacuum seal,” Mother explained. “This allowed the HBRS pseudo-cells to get ‘frozen’ in a compacted form that could survive briefly when aerosolized. This process loosely matches the conditions of the initial outbreak.” She stared at the empty husk in front. “They never saw it coming.”
Hades stroked his chin. “So you managed to make the Hollowing airborne, huh?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Even in its most stable form, this product will degrade fourty-eight hours after creation. Once the seal is popped, it will decompose in less than a minute.”
“Still gonna have to come up with a cool name for our new bioweapon.” He turned around. “What do you think, Leah?”
She jammed her knife into the skull of her most recent victim, barely paying them mind. “I don’t give a shit.” One of the newer recruits, she had already demonstrated an affinity for mass murder.
“Ah, come on. This is a pretty sweet development. We can remotely destroy any living shithole now.”
Mother winced. “The material cost is steep for every hundred milligrams, and there is a high margin for error during manufacture. We’ll need to use this weapon sparingly.”
Leah yawned, still slicing away. “Just save this shit for the real fights then. Smaller settlements are barely a threat as is.”
Hades stepped closer and gleamed. “I’ve got it. We’ll call this one ‘Raw Hollowing’.” He waved his hand in front, as if he were the CEO of an advertising firm, and this was his flagship idea.
“I suppose that is accurate,” Mother conceded. It bore no surprise. Hades enjoyed playing the simpleminded brute, but he understood more than twice the science than he let on.
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He frowned. “This almost takes the fun out of it though. You think Mother has us Hunters outclassed for good this time, Leah?”
She scoffed. “Please. You know how many survivors I downed fleeing this place? All we’ve got is another way to shock and awe. Hunting won’t end until there’s nothing left to Hunt.” She wrenched the skull of her victim open, as if to accentuate the point.
If only that weren’t true. Leah had made the comment in passing, but there was a bitter truth below that only Mother could see.
“Where you going now?” Hades asked.
“Elsewhere,” Mother said, not interested in extrapolating further.
This fortress had been designed more effectively than most. Based inside a former federal prison, the living inhabitants had used everything from reinforced concrete walls to cisterns to solar panels on the roofs to sustain themselves. With a population of over three hundred, it had seemed nigh impossible to breach, at least without a high blood toll from her kindred.
And yet, Mother had destroyed it in a single night.
She ran a finger along the concrete wall. Fresh blood was splattered throughout, no doubt due to the uncontrolled outbreak. Her tongue salivated at the sight in spite of herself.
How will this game end? Since Cheyenne, Mother and Hades had recruited many rezzers into their group. It was growing by the day, and there were even plans to wall themselves in to create a real community. One for the undead. But their species had a natural enemy, and it was the living that they fed upon. In order to combat this threat, the Hunters had been formed. How else were they to survive, were they to not protect themselves? What would their living counterparts do in response if they were given the opportunity to organize against them? Preemptive assault proved the best defense.
And yet, while Hades and Leah and all the others were trapped in their sustained bloodlust, all Mother could wonder was what would come next.
A cough resonated nearby. Mother paused, peering around the empty hall she’d wandered into. There was a single door where the sound could have emanated from, a maintenance closet locked from the outside. Curiosity got the better of her, and she moved to open it before calibrating the risk.
The knife struck before she saw it coming.
Mother instinctively withdrew a step as her body shuddered, but it was her attacker who became the most disquieted. She was a living girl in her early teenage years with tanned skin and black, wiry hair. Her arms were covered in bruises, and her brown eyes stared wide at the creature in front.
“How?” the girl squeaked.
Mother studied her wound. The stab had come from an improvised shank, straight through the smooth fabric of her lab coat, between the ribs, and into the soft heart beneath. Had she been human, death would’ve been instantaneous.
The girl blinked. “You’re not one of them, are you?”
“One of whom?” Mother asked.
“The Jailors,” she whispered with a shudder.
Mother deduced the rest. This settlement had specialized in trafficking others of their race, and based on the condition of this girl and the cell she’d been left in, she was no doubt a member of some rival group before her incarceration by them.
The girl was so tiny, and so frail, and Mother was not sure what to do. Her body would need extra nourishment to resuscitate itself and her stomach still craved living flesh. She could do as she had done so many times before and embrace the meal for what it was. That was the cold, rational decision.
Instead, Mother stayed in place. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
The girl leaned an inch forth. “You won’t?”
“You’ve been through enough.” She knelt low, the shank still poking out from her chest. “What’s your name, little girl?”
The girl swallowed the lump in her throat. “Evelyn. My name is Evelyn.”
* * *
“–right, Mother?”
She snapped back to the present. “Hm?”