Chapter 10
I headed towards where they formerly housed the youngest sheep, the smell of bleach almost making me gag. I raised my scarf over my mouth and nose to block out as much of the smell as possible before slipping on some gloves. I then opened the door, and stepped inside. I took off my sunglasses and my eyes felt relieved. I smiled slightly, glad my eyes felt better. I gazed around the barn, at the fences dividing it and I decided to start with the closest fence.
“I’ll need a pitchfork to search through all that hay.” I muttered under my breath as I looked around once more. To my relief I saw a pitchfork right by the wall where I was and I grabbed it, turning to the hay inside the fence.
I carefully sifted through the hay and almost felt as if I were going to throw up. Under the hay was a dog and several cats, all piled together. From the way they looked, I guessed they had been trampled by the sheep, and weren’t able to reanimate. Some of the others looked less damaged and looked more wet. I felt sorry for the poor animals, being trampled by frightened or zombified sheep or killed by the bleach that they couldn’t escape from. I covered them back up and turned away. I stumbled towards the door, and as I exited, I was blinded by the harsh light from the sun. I brought my hands up to cover them and heard the sound of Lyn laughing nearby.
“See Tia. This is how you can tell he isn’t a zombie. Zombies don’t try to cover their eyes when they forget to put their sunglasses on.” Lyn’s voice was edged with amusement and she added, “Where did you put them?”
“First, stop laughing cause it isn’t funny. Second, they are in my pants pocket.” I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter in a vain attempt to block off as much light as possible. But I could already feel a headache developing.
“Which pocket?” Tia asked.
“My right one, if you’re in front of me it’s your left.” I responded. I heard footsteps and felt my sunglasses get lifted out of my pocket. I carefully removed one hand from in front of my eyes and held it out. As expected, my sunglasses were shoved into my hand. I slipped them on quickly and opened my eyes. Tia was standing in front of me while Lyn stood off to the side, watching with amusement.
“Did you find anything, Caeden?” Lyn asked.
“Besides dead cats and a dead dog, no.” I shook my head. “Did either of you?”
“No.” Tia said as Lyn shook her head. Tia reached up and twirled a lock of brown hair around her finger as she glanced anxiously at the last barn.
“Well let’s go over there and get this over with, shall we?” I asked, gazing at the barn.
Lyn nodded with a smile on her face and sprinted towards the barn. Tia and I followed at a slower pace, and I noticed Oreo racing right beside Lyn and smiled.
Lyn was standing in front of the barn doors, hands on hips, no sign of having just sprinted to them. Lyn smiled at a camera Tia had pulled out before turning around and dramatically swinging open the barn doors.
“Oh god” Tia gagged as the strong smell of bleach hit her nostrils.
I pulled my scarf over my nose again to block off most of the smell. Lyn looked unfazed as she looked grimly around. “Let’s look for ‘Little Miss’’s pen, the sheep that was the first to animate. She had her own pen so Tia you look and see if this has her name, Caeden and I will look at the other two.”
“Alright.” I nodded and began walking down the barn to one of the other two little fenced in yards. I walked along it, searching for any sign of a plaque when I stopped in surprise.
“They must have really loved Little Miss.” I turned to the others and called out, “I think I found her.”
Oreo rushed over and leaped on top of the fence, sitting down to wait for Lyn and Tia. Surprisingly, Tia got here first with Lyn lagging behind. When they both got close, I nodded to a very fancy gold looking plaque with Little Miss engraved in it. Lyn whistled and pulled out her knife, walking over towards the lock on the gate. She slashed it in half and held it open for us.
“After you.” She jokingly bowed and I rolled my eyes but walked in and stepped aside.
“Are you sure this isn’t disturbing their souls?” Tia asked nervously.
“Yes we’re sure. We’re coming here to uncover how the outbreak started. With luck, it will put them to rest.” Lyn sighed before asking “Anyone know where a shovel is?”
“I found one in the barn I was searching and I saw one on the way into this barn.” I suggested.
“Get the one you saw in here please.” Lyn said pleasantly, slipping on some gloves and bending down to begin sifting through the hay.
“Try the less trampled area.” I heard Tia suggest as I exited the pen, heading for the far wall.
When I got back, I found Lyn frozen in place, one boot lifted up, and Tia’s mouth frozen in a silent scream. I glanced at Lyn’s boot and saw a piece of either plastic or glass embedded in the bottom.
“Lyn…” I stood frozen in terror as she leaned down and removed the shard from her boot and held it up to the faint light.
“It's just plastic.” Lyn shrugged, carefully setting it down and reaching for the shovel I held in my hands.
She had just resumed digging when Tia spoke up, her voice soft as she fidgeted with her skirt. “Why would something sharp be in a sheep’s pen?”
Lyn swore and began digging where I assumed the piece of plastic had become embedded in her boot. Soon, she uncovered the remains of a syringe. I quickly slipped two biohazard bags out of my backpack and she carefully dropped the syringe in one. I placed that bag into the other bag for safety.
` “What could that have been?” Lyn asked as she got up and began heading to the exit.
“What do you think? The remaining liquid was white, bleach nowadays is clear. The syringe was broken, and we haven’t found the needle…” Tia trailed off with a shiver before continuing, “And it was in the stall of the sheep that started the outbreak.”
Lyn sighed, “I know. I just wish it wasn’t.”
“Well nothing we can do. Let’s just get this to the nice people who let us in this place. We’ll give it to them and then report back to Titania.” I grimaced at the thought of what was most likely in the syringe.
Chapter 11
“Hands up!”
“Wha-” I jumped as I heard the voice.
Ahead of us, people stood in gray suits. I lost count of how many there were when I got to 100. One stood in front of the rest, and he had a gun raised in our direction.
“I repeat, put your hands up!” the voice shouted again.
“Ok ok.” Caeden muttered as he sat the biohazard bag down in front of him and raised his hands. Me and Tia followed suit.
“Slowly and clearly, remove your weapons and place them on the ground.” came the next order.
“Sir, to take all of our weapons off would take a while.” I protested, not liking the thought of being unarmed.
The man hesitated before responding, “then remove all visible weapons.”
As I placed my visible guns on the ground, I saw Caeden’s sunglasses darken with his mood, and I found myself groaning, wondering if they’d be so idiotic as to order him to remove them. When we had all stepped back, away from our weapons, I stepped protectively in front of him.
“Sir.” I sighed and waited to hear the order.
“Me?” Caeden asked.
“Remove the sunglasses please.”
“I’m sorry sir. I can not do that.” Caeden shook his head.
“It's not a request sir. Remove the sunglasses.” The man sounded more stern, and I sensed an edge of annoyance in his tone.
“I know sir. But I still can not remove them.” Caeden replied.
“Remove them now, or we will assume you are going into amplification and trying to hide it and shoot you and your companions where you stand.” The man adjusted his aim to face Caeden.
“Are you willing to give me immediate medical treatment once I remove my sunglasses?” Before the man could respond Caeden went on, “I have Retinal Kellis-Amberlee, meaning if I do not have eye protection, my pupils will get permanently damaged unless provided with immediate medical attention.”
“Sir, how do we know you are telling the truth?” The man took a few steps forward and I could see his grip tightening on his gun.
“Oh for crying out loud!” I exclaimed, “Why not ask for his medical card?”
“Ma’am, this is none of your business.”
“Not my–” I broke off, laughing, feeling a hand steady me as I leaned backward and almost tripped. “He’s my brother and business partner!”
“Ma’am, despite that this still does not concern you.” another individual stepped forward, this time it sounded female.
“Caeden, just show them your medical card.” Tia begged.
“Fine.” he shrugged and reached into his pocket, pulling out the small plastic card. He stepped forward and placed it on the pile of weapons.
One of the nice people darted forward, grabbed it, and darted back, showing it to the man in front. He nodded and the one who had taken Caeden’s card, darted and placed it back on the pile.
Caeden stepped forward to grab it as another order came: “Please hand us the bag.”
“What bag?” I felt my heartbeat quicken as I remembered Oreo in the bag on my back.
“The one on the ground.” the man gestured in the direction of Caeden.
Just then, a familiar voice broke in on an intercom somewhere, “Lyn? Caeden? Tia? Are you there?”
“Ms. Titania!! Oh nice of you to pop in!” I exclaimed happily, “These kind people told us to remove our weapons and had a bit of an argument about removing Caeden’s sunglasses.”
“What?! Are there any signs of trespassers?” Titania’s voice came again. “I got a report about trespassers being spotted on the ranch.”
“Ms. Titania. We did find the trespassers but why do you sound so friendly with them?” the man who spoke first exclaimed.
“Well, Kai, are you referring to the reporters standing in front of you with a live video going of this whole situation as the trespassers?” Titania asked, anger edging her tone.
“Wait- LIVE?!!” Kai shrieked.
“Yes, live. And we are the reporters following Ms. Titania’s campaign.” I folded my arms in front of me as I added, “My brother and I are also the children of Mr. and Mrs. Grion.”
“We are so sorry!” the woman who spoke earlier apologized.
“Just make sure you don’t assume things beforehand. Actually ask questions.” Caeden grunted.
“Now can we please go now?” Tia asked, fiddling with her hair.
“Yes, and I have a small convoy outside, waiting for you.” Titania answered. “Now pick up your stuff and go.”
“Yay” I smiled and reached to pick up my weapons, placing them in their correct locations. I handed Caeden his weapons and he picked up the biohazard bag and we moved towards the gate, just off to our right.
“Wait. you still need to hand over the bag." The woman stepped in front of Caeden and reached for the bag.
“Why should we?” Caeden pulled the bag out of reach.
“It might contain something harmful. We need to burn it.” She reached for the bag again and I was able to read a small tag on her jacket, Jamie.
“Jamie, why are you in such a hurry to get rid of it?” I asked suspiciously, taking the bag from Caeden. Jamie’s hungry gaze followed the bag but she made no attempt to grab it. One thing I noticed, as I looked her in the eye, was that her pupils were unusually large, but her expression wasn’t pained. I quickly took my gun out of my pocket and aimed for her head. Caeden must have heard when I pulled it out and stepped backward. Jamie stared at me in surprise, as I ordered “Step away from everyone please Jamie. Someone get a test.”
Kai passed the order along, and a few seconds later Caeden caught a testing unit. He then tossed it to Jamie who fumbled, and the others around her quickly stepped back. Several guns besides mine were suddenly raised at her head. Jamie managed to slide her hand in the testing unit, her mouth wide in a silent O as the lights settled on red. I didn’t hesitate. I fired once, hitting her square in the forehead. I lowered my gun and watched her blood ooze around her in a large puddle. I staggered towards Caeden, who caught me, and led me towards the gate. Tia came up on my other side, continuously glancing back behind us, at the body of the woman I had shot without mercy.
Oreo popped out of my bag and climbed onto my shoulder as I slid into one of the waiting cars. As I buckled my seat belt, she climbed into my lap and curled up. I pet her, slowly stroking her soft black and white fur. She was purring by the time Caeden finished buckling beside me. Caeden took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and handed it to me. I looked at the screen and smiled. Our site had risen to the top. We were the number one ranked news site in the country. I took out my own phone after handing Caeden’s back to him.
I began messaging all of our “helpers,” other people who contributed to the site. I told them I would be hosting a meeting later tonight so they were to keep an eye open for it. Then I pulled up the ratings board once more and placed it in my lap, angled so Oreo could see it. She meowed and purred even louder when she saw the screen. I then smiled and took my phone back. I pulled up a game in which you had to tap the fish before it disappeared and placed my phone once more in my lap. Oreo stopped purring immediately and watched the screen intently. I laughed as she batted at the little fish as it darted across the screen. I kept my eyes on Oreo as we pulled away from the ranch.