Chapter 18: Chapter 14 - Alice Attracts Crazy Guys
After making a successful journey through the pipes, the group consisting of Alice, Zeel, Kaplan, Matt, and Spencer wanted to rest but knew that they had no such luxury.
A moment of rest was one moment longer inside The Hive, which also translated to one more opportunity to become a Zombie.
On their way to the train and their subsequent exit, Zeel remained on high alert.
His intuition was never wrong, it was his ability after all. Right now his intuition was warning him of constant impending danger, but that could have also been a misinterpretation on his part.
His Intuition was vague at best, which left a high probability that his waning consciousness was interfering with his ability.
Passing by a certain lab, Alice walked inside as if in a trance. Zeel wanted to urge her to walk by but knew that the mind was a fragile construct.
Zeel stopped and slowed trailed behind Alice, then everyone did the same. Nobody wanted to be the one left alone in such a scary scenario. Movies, though often bogus, held profound lessons about universal Survival.
One such rule was to never be alone in horror situations.
Alice began spouting incoherent statements repetitively. Had it not been for Zeel's sensitive ears, he would not have had an inkling of what she said.
"Blue for the virus. Green for the antivirus," Alice repeated.
Zeel grabbed Alice and shook her.
"Blue for the virus. Green for the antivirus. What do you mean?" He asked.
Alice snapped out of her trance and yelled "There's a cure!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Zeel, feigning innocence.
He didn't want anyone to turn their attention to the stash on his back.
"There's a cure. The process can be reversed. There's a cure! You're gonna be okay Kaplan!" Alice said as she scoured the lab looking for the potential antivirus but failed to find anything after several minutes.
"We should leave," Zeel urged, but Alice ignored him completely.
Alice couldn't find anything even after several minutes, but she was unwilling to give up. She took a deep breath and dove into her memory banks.
"This is where they kept the T-virus," Alice murmured.
"How do you know all this?" questioned Matt who had a nagging suspicion in his mind.
Matt had a conjecture he was afraid to voice but seeing the journey was coming to an end, his courage suddenly shot up.
"I know this because I was gonna steal it. I was your sister's contact," Alice replied still searching the lab.
"You betrayed her?" Matt asked with anger in his voice.
Zeel gripped his knife in frustration, he wanted to kill Matt the moment he raised his voice to Alice.
"I don't know," Alice replied shooting a cold gaze at Zeel.
Alice didn't know how and why, but she could tell when Zeel was growing agitated.
"I can't remember the truth. I don't remember the truth. I don't understand! It's gone. It's not there. I can't. I just can't. It's over," Alice had a minor break down since she really felt as if it was her fault everything went wrong in the first place.
Zeel noted that Alice didn't have a hero complex, but she wanted to help where she could at all times. This was a direct contradiction of his personality that only helped when there were benefits to be gained.
However, as if by divine intervention, Alice's memories returned the moment she needed them the most.
∞∞∞
"I can help you get the virus. I have access to security codes, surveillance plans, the works. But there's gonna be a price," Alice said.
"Name it," Matt's sister said.
"You have to guarantee that you will bring this corporation down," Alice replied with disgust in her voice,
Suddenly, Alice remembered her fake marriage to Spencer. They were indeed guards of The Hive's entrance. Their relationship extended a bit out of professional boundaries.
They were making love the night before and when she woke up in the morning, she found a letter that said 'Today your dreams come true'.
Then as if the veil had been lifted, Alice had complete clarity, every piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
"Spencer?" Alice asked half in confusion, half in anger "You, did this?"
Spencer did not deny the allegations, only keeping a certain distance from Zeel as a precaution.
"We can still make it out of here. Come with me. We can have everything we've ever wanted. Money's out there waiting. You wouldn't believe how much," Spencer said with infatuation in his eyes.
Despite not recovering the entirety of his memories, Spencer knew that he loved Alice very much.
"Is that how you thought all my dreams were gonna come true?" asked Alice coldly.
Zeel watched the confrontation with an amused smile. It was strange because he never really saw relationship problems back in Universe 0.
"So you two were a thing? Guess she had a thing for crazy guys," Zeel said in mock sadness.
"You don't know how right you are," whispered Kaplan.
He was currently hiding near the stairs since he knew Spencer had a firearm on his person. Yet, Kaplan was still surprised at the type of men attracted to Alice.
First, you have the murder Spencer, who killed everyone in the lab, and second, you have Zeel, who kills without even batting an eye.
Suddenly, Zeel's ears perked up as he stared in a particular direction. There was a sharp sound at a low frequency. It was similar to new chalk against a new chalkboard.
"Something is coming!" Zeel said.
"You shut up! It's your fault she doesn't see how good of an opportunity this is," Spencer yelled.
However, his attention to Zeel blinded him from the slow-moving Zombie behind him.
*bite*
The zombie bit into Spencer's neck while Matt tried and failed to steal the gun.
Spencer fired a shot, hoping to at least kill Zeel before he made his escape.
Zeel slowed his perception of time and barely managed to clutch the bullet inside his hand before throwing his body back. He had to disperse the momentum or the bullet would tear through his hand and penetrate his chest.
"I didn't want to shoot you," Spence said, "Might need the bullets,"
Alice kept a stoic face, not minding that Zeel had just been killed.
"Where is the antivirus?" she asked.
"It's on the train where you found me. Couldn't have been standing more than three feet from it," Spencer said in a mocking tone but then paused and turned to the collapsed Zeel in the distance.
"It was in the silver case and if I get it right. He picked it up," Spencer said with interest.
Spencer walked over to Zeel, picked up the case that had fallen from his back, and left the room.
"I don't know what we had but it's over," Alice said just before he exited.
Spencer didn't reply to Alice, only aimed the gun in her direction but ultimately shook his head and left.
He jammed the door before leaving as a safety measure.
"That's why you shouldn't date men who are not me!" Zeel said getting up much to Alice and Kaplan's surprise.
"It will be pretty fun when he doesn't find that antivirus inside," Zeel said, showing off his belt that has several small vials followed by a slightly larger vial with a helix pattern attached to it.
"When did you do that?" Alice asked, feeling a bit amused by the entire situation.
The antivirus needed to be stored within a certain temperature sensitivity or it would go bad.
"Well, my suit is a bit special you see, comes with a lot of benefits, call it smart fabric if you will," Zeel said as he posed for Alice to see the vials better.
However, Zeel's gaze drifted to Kaplan who was hyperventilating on the side.
"Should give him the antivirus since it stops working after a certain period of infection," he suggested.
Alice walked up to Zeel and gave him a hug, but she jumped back instantly. Touching Zeel felt weird, it felt as if she would fall into the abyss that was his heart.
Alice cautious took the antivirus and proceeded to inject Kaplan.
After everything was taken care of, Alice asked Zeel "Wouldn't he just return once he finds nothing inside the case?"
"What makes you think he would have that opportunity; think I would play dead for nothing. The Red Queen was programmed so in the case of an outbreak, nobody would be allowed to leave," Zeel said giving Alice the hint she needed to solve the remaining puzzle.
"And no warning was given to us. The Red Queen has never been desperate since we left," Alice said in realization.
"So what you sent him out there to test the trump card?" Kaplan asked looking much healthier than previously.
"Yeah," Zeel replied.
He could feel something watching them since earlier, but that gaze left along with Spencer.
Matt was busy trying to open the door, so he paid no attention to the ongoing conversation.
Then like a demon rising from hell, the television flickered on.
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The_Young_Flash
The_Young_Flash Another chapter for the night, yeah. On a roll.
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