Phase 21 “The Truth”
Dominique's level of anxiety was through the roof because he had spent hours trying to get in touch with Kaien and Allen without success. Since their previous expedition exactly one year ago, nothing even remotely similar to this had taken place. Even Benji and Nathan, whom he had called for assistance, were unable to shed any light on the matter. And what irritated him even more was the fact that their supervisor did not want to send in any kind of rescue squad at all. ‘Coward!’ Dominique cursed in his head.
Dominique had a horrible feeling right from the moment their superior requested them to complete this bizarre task. What other choice did he have? Imagine if a group of zombies had set up their camp in an old, deserted hospital in the middle of a dense forest, and in order to find out what they were up to there, you had to break into the building. The number of the monsters numbered in the hundreds, if not even more, and their size was comparable to that of residents of a small town.
Although Dominique strongly disapproved of the wacky plan, Kaien and Allen were eager to carry it out since they believed there was a chance of uncovering the truth about the zombies in this location. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the zombies to congregate in specific locations. That is why they were keeping their fingers crossed that they would be able to discover who or what was responsible for this dangerous infection. They may possibly put a stop to everything after this mission.
Thus, the mission commenced, and despite a lot of difficulty, Dominique was able to lead them to their destination. After coming across a large number of the walking dead, Kaien and Allen made it to the entrance just in time. They fought with valour and caution, but there were simply too many of the zombies. Despite the fact that Kaien and Allen gained stronger with each bite they took, the zombies rather hurt them than bite them. It seems that the virus had acquired the knowledge necessary to deal with the broken ones.
Dominic swore angrily, “Benji, I can't contact them at all!” He pounded the keyboard with his fingers. Benji and Nathan were also very busy tracking Kaien and Allen using the device that they implanted into the infected blood. Once they drank it from the bottle, the device, which was another advanced tracking system that they had managed to construct, would turn on.
“Damn, the storm is killing the signal,” Benji cursed back.
“Look!” Suddenly Nathan pointed to the screen in front of them. “They’re here but... It’s weird...”
“What's weird?” Dominique asked.
“Their heart beat,” Benji answered instead of Nathan after he examined the other screen, “It’s like they’re in a deep sleep...”
Once the tracking device was already in their blood, it had the capability of revealing information about their health status, such as their heart rate and the severity of their wound. After the switch was on, it lasted for a total of three hours. And for now it had already been about a half an hour.
“Seriously, I've had enough of this!” Dominique shouted. “I’m going there to help them. I have a very bad feeling that something really bad happened there...”
“But Dominique, the order...” Nathan could not finish his sentence.
“To hell with the order!” Dominique hissed as he readied himself, putting on his armour and his weapons. “Allen and Kaien are probably hurt or even on their way out of this world. I couldn't care less about the cowardly order given by our supervisor. They can take refuge in their secure room, while our friends are suffering and dying outside!”
“Stop, Dominique. I and Nathan will go instead.” Benji stopped Dominique as he continued, “You’re the only one able to back us up if anything happens, that’s why I need you to stay here.”
Although Dominique had the need to argue, he was convinced that it was in the best interest of everyone involved. Behind the scenes, he was the only person who could think quickly and come up with a smart strategy. In the meantime, Benji and Nathan had been working together for such a long time that the two of them would make a more effective rescue team than he would on his own.
“I’ll make sure they’re okay,” Nathan promised as he and Benji got ready. Dominique helped them as he prepared the guns and the temporary vaccine, in case Nathan or Benji got bitten. In ten minutes, both of them departed, out to the snow storm.
In the heart of the forest, in a large iron trunk, Dominique was finally by himself. The idea for the trunk came from their dim-witted supervisor so Dominique, Nathan, and Benji could help Kaien and Allen on the mission. They were completely on their own in the woods. The rest of the army had positioned themselves outside the woods to create a perimeter where the zombies could not cross. Dominique swore once more, “Such a coward.”
Dominique sighed and continued to make contact with Kaien and Allen. He continued to speak into the microphone, but there was still no response. When he heard screaming coming from the other line, he became quite horrified.
“Kaien! Are you okay?!” Dominique was terrified, then he heard Allen’s scream. “God! Allen! Allen! Please tell me you’re okay!”
The line went dead again and the storm was to blame. Dominique was sweating hard. He alerted Nathan and Benji about the scream and urged them to make haste, but zombies did not make it easy for them to enter the building. Dominique was in an extreme state of anxiety, and he was sweating profusely. He did his best to lead Benji and Nathan to the right direction. They had been going for half an hour when they reached the halfway point. Thankfully, nobody has been bitten, yet.
Dominique heard a tremendous blast and then felt his body being tossed from his seat, much to his horror. He was slammed into a nearby desk and groaned in pain. In front of the door, which was constructed of solid metal and would not be easily broken by either humans or zombies, Dominique could make out the figure of an elderly man.
The old man in the traditional robe mumbled, “You should care more about yourself than them.” Dominique attempted to shoot the old man in the leg with his gun that he hid in his pocket, but the bullet was destroyed. He struggled but it was pointless. It seemed as though all of his strength was being sucked out of him.
“Finally the time has come, the time for me to rise again!” the old man laughed like a mad man. “All thanks to you... You’re the reason for all of this. You fool! You’re the one who started all of this!”
“What... Do you mean?” Dominique managed to speak even though he could not see clearly anymore.
“Enough... Let’s dance with the undead, shall we? So the souls of you, five ignorant beings, will be awakened once again...”