answered, “They aren’t decomposing corpses like in the movies, Zack. They’re people who’ve been infected with a virus.”
“A synthetic virus,” I pointed out. “So, that means that someone made it, right? This isn’t a natural thing.”
“It used to exist in nature,” Brianna mumbled, looking at Elliott. “It might still in some places.”
“I did it. I’m the one who created the virus,” Elliott declared quietly.
“What!” Zack and I both gasped simultaneously. “Why would you do that? Are you the one spreading it?” I forced myself to ask.
“No! Absolutely not! We came here to stop it from spreading, to try to find a way to cure the people infected.” Elliott looked back and forth between the two of us, a look of panic on his face. “I started the research two and a half years ago. I was looking into rare viral plagues for my doctorate. Brianna studied folklore and mythology, so she was helping me brainstorm some of the more obscure illnesses that have been described in folklore.”
Brianna interjected, “Almost every culture on the planet has some myth associated with the walking dead or reanimated corpses. There are references to legions of the undead found as far back as ancient Sumer. We theorized that there could be a virus or bacteria that caused these outbreaks and primitive medicine simply didn’t recognize the symptoms.”
“You study folklore? Seriously? I would have pegged you more for a pre-med student,” my brother interrupted, eyeing Brianna speculatively. God only knows what was sloshing around in that brain of his.
“Zack, concentrate on the topic,” I snapped.
“Anyway,” Elliott broke in, “Brianna was able to find records which seemed to point to the last known outbreak of whatever turned people into ‘zombies’ for lack of a better term. Supposedly, four members of the same family rose from the dead before their burial and attacked the rest of their village. It happened sometime in the summer of 1942, during the height of World War II, near the Carpathian Mountains. Brianna is awesome at tracing folklore, and we were able to find the abandoned village with the help of a local guide.”
Brianna explained, “According to the local folklore, the undead were beheaded, burned, and buried at a crossroads. Since there was really only one crossroad near the village, we had a pretty good idea where to look. Elliott took soil, water, and air samples. Then we gathered samples of anything from the village that seemed even remotely promising, and we went home.”
“I was able to isolate two inactive, or dead, samples that didn’t match any other categorized virus. From there I started analyzing it and trying to replicate its specific molecular structure. I was able to reproduce it almost exactly. It took me over a year, but the discovery earned me a research spot with the Centers for Disease Control. All I’d ever wanted was to work for the CDC, to be able to find cures for the diseases that were killing people.” Elliott paused, rubbing his face with both hands. “I never dreamed…Shit.” He got out of the chair and started pacing. “I had my own lab, and they wanted me to continue synthesizing the virus for experimentation. I was working on suppression medications and a vaccine, but I was working off theory alone. What I didn’t know was that another team was using the samples I created and experimenting with them on live test subjects. They started out with rats, then apes, then they moved up to humans. I found out by accident. I received an email I wasn’t supposed to see, believe it or not. I was baffled. I purposely made friends with one of the members of the other research team so that I could find opportunities to access their research results. I worked even harder on the meds and vaccine. The more I uncovered, the more I realized that they weren’t preparing for an eventual outbreak. They were planning one. I was certain they were weaponizing the
“A synthetic virus,” I pointed out. “So, that means that someone made it, right? This isn’t a natural thing.”
“It used to exist in nature,” Brianna mumbled, looking at Elliott. “It might still in some places.”
“I did it. I’m the one who created the virus,” Elliott declared quietly.
“What!” Zack and I both gasped simultaneously. “Why would you do that? Are you the one spreading it?” I forced myself to ask.
“No! Absolutely not! We came here to stop it from spreading, to try to find a way to cure the people infected.” Elliott looked back and forth between the two of us, a look of panic on his face. “I started the research two and a half years ago. I was looking into rare viral plagues for my doctorate. Brianna studied folklore and mythology, so she was helping me brainstorm some of the more obscure illnesses that have been described in folklore.”
Brianna interjected, “Almost every culture on the planet has some myth associated with the walking dead or reanimated corpses. There are references to legions of the undead found as far back as ancient Sumer. We theorized that there could be a virus or bacteria that caused these outbreaks and primitive medicine simply didn’t recognize the symptoms.”
“You study folklore? Seriously? I would have pegged you more for a pre-med student,” my brother interrupted, eyeing Brianna speculatively. God only knows what was sloshing around in that brain of his.
“Zack, concentrate on the topic,” I snapped.
“Anyway,” Elliott broke in, “Brianna was able to find records which seemed to point to the last known outbreak of whatever turned people into ‘zombies’ for lack of a better term. Supposedly, four members of the same family rose from the dead before their burial and attacked the rest of their village. It happened sometime in the summer of 1942, during the height of World War II, near the Carpathian Mountains. Brianna is awesome at tracing folklore, and we were able to find the abandoned village with the help of a local guide.”
Brianna explained, “According to the local folklore, the undead were beheaded, burned, and buried at a crossroads. Since there was really only one crossroad near the village, we had a pretty good idea where to look. Elliott took soil, water, and air samples. Then we gathered samples of anything from the village that seemed even remotely promising, and we went home.”
“I was able to isolate two inactive, or dead, samples that didn’t match any other categorized virus. From there I started analyzing it and trying to replicate its specific molecular structure. I was able to reproduce it almost exactly. It took me over a year, but the discovery earned me a research spot with the Centers for Disease Control. All I’d ever wanted was to work for the CDC, to be able to find cures for the diseases that were killing people.” Elliott paused, rubbing his face with both hands. “I never dreamed…Shit.” He got out of the chair and started pacing. “I had my own lab, and they wanted me to continue synthesizing the virus for experimentation. I was working on suppression medications and a vaccine, but I was working off theory alone. What I didn’t know was that another team was using the samples I created and experimenting with them on live test subjects. They started out with rats, then apes, then they moved up to humans. I found out by accident. I received an email I wasn’t supposed to see, believe it or not. I was baffled. I purposely made friends with one of the members of the other research team so that I could find opportunities to access their research results. I worked even harder on the meds and vaccine. The more I uncovered, the more I realized that they weren’t preparing for an eventual outbreak. They were planning one. I was certain they were weaponizing the
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