“The stereochemistry of certain HBRS carbon chains allows for rapid chemical signaling across its artificial nervous system, behaving similar to a mycorrhizal network.
“Even absent a functional brain, an infected body will still persist, almost indefinitely.”
–Mother, “Notes on HBRS-15.21”. 4 Years After.
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Another bloody fight.
Liam held his daughter close, keeping the mobile crib firmly between his arms as their group marched down the street. Sweat rolled down his cheeks, the sheer mass of his go-bag weighing heavily, though this did not concern him now that he was once again safe within the security of a hazmat suit. No undead would be picking up their scent today.
The many apartment complexes of Tartarus rose besides, their crumbling, graffiti-laced walls and broken windows a stark contrast to the vibrant glory of Asphodel. Silhouettes shambled within the nearby alleys, giving Liam pause as they passed each one.
Evelyn led their party undaunted, once again beneath the suit herself. Her M16 stayed brandished for all to see, and though she was not one to point it flippantly, just about everyone they passed gave her a wide berth. Liam had first protested against this strategy since it would only further attract attention, but not much time passed before he realized the error of his belief. If it wasn’t for the Hunters prancing around, with their silver wolf-skull badges and own arsenals exposed, then there were groups of soldiers accompanying Pandemonium’s more aristocratic bosses. Hell, perhaps one-in-five rezzers had a firearm of their own, and their willingness to use them at the slightest provocation became their own form of protection. Thugs only targeted weaker rezzers, it seemed.
It also helped that most rezzers donned the most ridiculous of outfits, making a gun-wielding duo in hazmat suits hardly a spectacle to catch the eye.
And Chantelle hobbled behind, watching the buildings and other pedestrians with a frantic suspicion that surpassed Liam and Evelyn both. Including her in this quest would no doubt trouble her later, but their benefactor was still drafting reinforcements thousands of miles down south in Mexico, and they could not wait for her to give them permission.
At least Leah’s sleeping this one out. His daughter finally chose to not make a fuss while they brought her about, though Liam suspected that this was more fatigue than ease. Since uncovering the fever, the poor girl had hardly been able to sleep more than an hour at a time, and had been growing weaker by the day…
Chantelle closed in. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“And we thank you eternally,” Liam said. “I’ll make sure that Leah does not blame you for trusting us.”
“I still think I could find whatever meds you’re looking for, if you just give me a list.”
Evelyn slowed down herself. “It’s not that simple, Chantelle. Our bodies are more complicated than yours and we can’t just stitch a wound shut and call it a day. Viruses and bacteria can grow inside, weakening our natural defenses. For newborns, this can be even more devastating if we don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Her respirator gargled as she breathed deep. “That is why we have to take this risk. This could be anything from the common cold to meningitis, but if we don’t know, there’s no way to help her.”
Her red eyes blinked. “Even all the way out here?”
“There’s nowhere better. We don’t need medicine.” She paused, studying their destination in front. “We need diagnostics.”
Liam gulped at the sight of Mother’s Grace. Another location that he had only visited once before, and that was in the dead of night. By day, this place truly stood as an even greater fortress against the chaos besides. The whitestone walls rose to the sides of the main road, and a multistory bridge connected buildings in between, hovering above the main round beneath. The giant white banner hung from this juncture, with a red cross in the middle to match, easily visible from miles away. Snipers in green scrubs were perched on the roof, and more guards waited at the entrance to the emergency room below.
“You sure this is a good idea?” Liam asked. “It’s going to be quite hard to sneak Leah by those lot.”
“There’s a busted window by the rear,” Evelyn explained. “It’s in a blind spot for the snipers, and Mother never kept patrols nearby. I used to use it to sneak in and out when I was a teenager. With any luck, Dr Frankenst– Er, Stein, won’t have found this gap either.”
Chantelle shushed them. “Don’t bother. Leave this part to me!” She strut forth before they could get another word in.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Even with a prosthetic for a leg and an arm that disappeared into bone before the elbow, Chantelle marched up to the guards with a swagger that could not be dismissed. The buttons on her white dress shirt glittered in the sunlight and her silken black hair rolled down her shoulders. One of the guards held a hand up to bar the path.
The conversation rolled from there, with Chantelle gesturing angrily with her surviving hand and bobbing her head about, all while the guards stood and watched.
“Be ready to book it,” Evelyn whispered, now accentuated from beneath the respirator.
Liam chuckled. “I think she’s got this.”
As if to prove the point, the guards began to slacken while Chantelle escalated her confrontation. Soon enough, she waved them forth. The pair moved closer, and the guards stepped aside, their beating red eyes shifting nervously to each other.
“You sure this is cool?” one guard muttered to his friend.
“The Head Huntress trumps the boss,” the other said. “I ain’t about to get purged defying her orders.”
“And I’ll make sure that you don’t,” Chantelle said. “So long as you don’t get in our way.” She blew them both a kiss.
The guards grimaced, but neither made a move as the group moved through the entrance.
Not bad. It warmed Liam’s heart to see just how much this once wretched girl had risen up in the world. Chantelle had certainly earned her worth to achieve the stature she’d gained.
“Where do we go from here?” she asked. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to Mother’s Grace and I don’t remember the way.”
“Follow me,” Evelyn said. “Even if Stein relocated some equipment to different wings, there are some places that’d never change.”
The moans of the dead cascaded throughout the halls as nurses and physicians rushed from one patient to the next. Ichor overflowed from injuries, broken bones were snapped back into place, and internal surgeries were conducted without the slightest bit of concern for sanitation. More than one body lay on a table with their raw organs displayed for all to see.
Not that any of these patients minded. Without a sense of pain or chance to catch an infection, they simply laid where they were told and watched others passing by, more bored by the exercise than distressed over their circumstances. Some even chatted casually with the doctors who attended them, even as scalpels and forceps probed the depths of their bowels.
Thank goodness for the masks. If he had to breathe an ounce of this pungent stench, Leah wouldn’t be the only one with a sickness to combat. Liam checked the timing on their shared oxygen tank, and breathed easy knowing that they still had hours remaining.
Evelyn paused at the end of a hall. “Perfect. Right where she left it.” She drew a lockpick from her pocket and glanced over her shoulder. “Do me a favor and keep watch.”
Liam and Chantelle obeyed, interposing themselves in the middle of the hall to keep others from seeing what they were up to. It did not take long before the door clicked open.
They pushed through the opening and locked the door behind, with Chantelle staying outside.
Only a single device could be found here, encompassing the width of the room. A padded slab clung to an attached gurney before disappearing into a circular hole like an oversized, plastic donut. Lights shrouded the interior. Clean and clear without the slightest hint of rot. The MRI, as Evelyn had explained.
Liam finally had the chance to remove his hazmat mask. He set Leah’s crib next to the gurney and ripped off the damned thing, breathing deep. That’s one problem out of the way. Evelyn followed soon after.
“You sure you know how to work this?” Liam asked.
She frowned. “I’ve seen bits and pieces before, but we’re gonna have to wing it.” She started fiddling with the device.
“Is that such a good idea? Doesn’t this machine emit… Radiation, or something?”
“Not enough to harm a child.”
“Unless the owners were to change the settings because their immortal bodies can take it,” Liam countered.
Evelyn shook her head. “That won’t happen. HBRS pseudo-cells are just as sensitive to radiation as ours, which was why the military dropped nukes early in the outbreak. Rezzers wouldn’t remove safeguards so flippantly because they know how badly it could fuck them up.”
Liam stroked his chin in thought. He’d never known that bit before.
Leah blinked from the gurney, taking in her new hospitalized world. Liam rubbed her stomach as he sat and waited.
“Any luck?” he asked.
Evelyn sighed. “Afraid not. It looks like they put in an administrative lock on the controls to keep people like us out.”
“Well, how the bloody hell will we get by that?”
“I don’t know.”
The door opened behind. Liam and Evelyn scrambled for their weapons, but they were a beat too late. Chantelle stood with her arm raised in the air, with the pair of guards they’d sidestepped ushering her forth. Another rezzer remained behind, this one with dark hair and sallow cheeks above a white lab coat.
But all of them gawked the moment their eyes fell to Leah.