Page 83 of Zocopalypse (Death Fields 1)

“Chloe,” he calls lifting her head. Panic washes over his features and he repeats her name. When she doesn’t reply he rips off his shirt and presses the cloth to the bleeding wound on her head.

“Hold on, girl, I’ve got this, okay,” he mumbles checking the wound. His fingers frantically search her neck. “She doesn’t have a pulse. There’s no pulse!”

Two women from the fort run over, carrying medical equipment. Cole grabs her in his arms and meets them halfway across the driveway. All around us rockets fire and bullets crack and God, where’s Wyatt?

“Follow them,” Walker says pointing to Cole and Chloe.

“Is she dead?” I ask, frozen in my spot. I can’t wrap my head around what’s happening.

“Alex, girl, I’m really growing to like you, but please follow directions for once in your freaking life. You have got to get off this driveway and into the building—where it’s safe.”

“What are you doing? Staying out here to fight?”

“That’s what I do. All of us. Wyatt, Davis, Cooley. You? You’ve got bigger purposes.” She waves over two guards dressed in the same black as Walker. I notice though that theirs have a patch on the sleeve. The letters FF embroidered in thick white thread. It dawns on me that these must be official PharmaCorp uniforms. “Take her inside. Follow the medics.”

I don’t fight when they lead me away. I’m not a soldier and this isn’t my war. I’m just a girl with a father who is a genius. Whose father gave her information to save the world.

Now it’s time to follow through.

***

I step through the front doors and it’s as though time at PharmaCorp stopped pre-virus. It feels like I’ve entered a time warp, where there’s no virus, no Eaters and no battle raging on the other side of the bullet and soundproofed glass walls of the building. I’m greeted with cool air conditioning, florescent lighting and soothing music piped into invisible speakers.

It’s weird as hell.

Cole and the medical team rush ahead of me, through the entrance and disappear behind a set of doors to my left. I chase them but just before I get to the door I’m stopped by a man in one of the black uniforms. Yep, white “FF” patch on the arm. His name tag says Hale.

“Ms. Ramsey?” he asks. He looks young, Wyatt’s age probably. Same solid soldier build. Same confident shoulders. Do they make them in a mold?

“Uh, yes.”

“You’ve been requested upstairs.”

“But my friend…I need to make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s in good hands. The medical team will give her the best treatment available.”

“But…”

“Please,” he says, his voice kind but firm. “Follow me.”

I do as I’m told, half-dazed and totally confused. He stops in front of an elevator with shiny silver doors and presses the up button. In moments I hear a quiet ding and the doors slide open.

“How?” I ask. There’s no need to expand on the question.

“PharmaCorp runs on its own, private power grid. Mostly solar power, from what I understand. Engineering isn’t my specialty,” he says with a smile and gesturing me inside.

I hesitate, because…well, falling down an elevator shaft seems like a pretty stupid way to die after the last month, but Hale seems confident enough.

I step inside and wait as he presses the button for level fifteen. The top floor.

“Can you tell me who I’m meeting?” I ask.

“The CEO of PharmaCorp.”

“Who is…?” I prompt. “I’m not really up on Fortune 500 companies and the evil bastards that run them.”

Hale doesn’t answer but I note the slight lift of his eyebrow. I’m glad he finds this amusing.

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