Dead Frontier/Issue 28

This is Issue #28 of Dead Frontier by Walkerbait22, titled'' Gone Too Far. ''This is the fourth issue of Volume 5.

Issue 28 - Gone Too Far
Melody is strapped to a metal operating table. Wanda lies on the one next to her, but she has since passed out from shock. Melody suddenly recalls Hannah mentioning something about her mother's heart, and wonders if she'll be okay.

The large metal door creaks open and she cranes her neck to see who has entered. It's Dr. Choi, the same man who ordered her to be taken here. She feels an instant rush of anger when she sees him. Melody also notices a dark haired woman in a lab coat; she carries a tripod with a camera and sets it a few feet away from the operating table.

"What are you doing?" Melody asks Dr. Stowe when she sees her setting up the camera.

"We need to have this on record," Stowe replies.

"Why? What are going to do?"

"Ma'am, everything will go more smoothly if you just calm down."

Melody sighs, and then sees Wanda stirring next to her. The older woman's eyes flutter open, and she surveys the room in confusion. Looking down at her wrists clamped to the table causes her to panic. "What...? Where...?" Wanda mutters.

"Take a few deep breaths,"Choi says. "This'll be over really soon." He holds a syringe with a pale-yellow liquid. He finds lethal injection to be the most 'humane' way to kill a patient.

"What the fuck is that?" Melody asks, but neither of the scientists answer her question. Choi surveys Wanda's arm, and then sticks in the needle. He injects the fluid as Wanda screams.

Stowe stands back, trying to keep her face as stoic as possible. This is part of the job, she thinks to herself. Don't let your morals get in the way. General Reese's words echo in her head.

Choi retrieves another syringe filled with liquid, identical to the last, and as he is about to inject Melody, Stowe stops him. "Wait, James."

He turns, the syringe still aimed over Melody's arm. "What?" he asks. "Something wrong?"

"Is this really necessary? To kill both of them?" Stowe says. Melody begins to cry and mutters near-unintelligible pleas for them not to kill her.

"If they actually do come back as an infected after death," Choi says, "it'd make sense for us to test that theory on a few different subjects, don't you think? You know, to see if age or health affects how long it takes to come back."

"James, we don't even know if that's true. You're moving just a little too fast."

"We're not moving fast enough!" Melody flinches when Choi yells. "We can either learn as much about this virus as we can as fast as possible, or we watch the entire population die out. Which do you want?"

"I don't care about your opinions on the matter. I'm telling you to put the syringe down and wait for my orders." Stowe feels slightly hypocritical, since she was the one that told Chloe that ethics don't matter and she ordered to two subjects to be brought down here.

Choi sighs. "Fine." Melody breathes a sigh of relief when the scientist walks away from her. He and Stowe pull up two chairs and watch as Wanda reacts to the injection. Wanda's heartbeat steadily starts to decline, until her eyes close slowly. She takes one last breath and her heart stops. Stowe looks at the camera and records the time of death. She and Choi sit and wait to see if Wiggins's theory about reanimation is true.

Chloe is searching for Dr. Stowe when she sees Wiggins wandering on the floor. He smiles at her. "Connors. What's up?"

She presses a hand to his chest, stopping him. He looks slightly startled. "Is it true?" she asks in a hushed tone.

"Um...I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," Wiggins lies.

"Don't play stupid with me, Joel. The tests we all took. I've heard about the results. Is it true?"

"Chloe, look, the results haven't even come back yet--"

"Are we all infected?"

Wiggins realized she isn't going to back down. "How'd you find out?" Chloe puts a hand to her mouth in shock. Wiggins grabs her wrist and pulls her into a nearby empty office. He shuts the door behind them. "How did you find out?" Wiggins repeats.

"It doesn't matter." She feels her knees going weak and takes a seat on the desk in the office. "What does this mean?"

"It means we're in deep shit, that's what it means. Our whole plan to create a vaccine in the fucking trash."

"How did Eleanor take it?"

"She was...a bit hysterical, to say the least. Last I heard she and James had some of the subjects in the lab."

Chloe stares up at him with wide eyes. "What? Do you know what they're doing?"

Wiggins quickly explains his theory about everyone coming back as infected after death, as long as the brain isn't injured. "Most likely they're testing that theory." Wiggins sees the look on his colleague's face and sighs. "Chloe, don't get involved. James and Eleanor are just doing what's best to find a cure. I'm sure they don't enjoy the testing, but it's all necessary."

"Maybe. But you know James. He can take things too far sometimes," Chloe says.

"Just tell me you're not going to do anything stupid."

"What makes you think I would?" She raises her eyebrows at him.

"Because I know you. You're unpredictable.”

"Look, Joel. As your friend, I'm telling I won't do anything drastic. I want this cure as much as you do."

Dr. Stowe and Dr. Choi sit near the operating table Wanda lies on. Melody has since been escorted to another room due to her panicking. Stowe looks at her watch. “Two hours. Nothing.”

Choi leans his face on his hand. “Nothin’. “ He lets out a hefty sigh. “Maybe it’s a just a bite or scratch that turns you. This was all just Wiggins’s speculation anyway.” He stands and raises his arms above his head, yawning. “I’d love to sit here all night and watch a dead lady but--”

Dr. Stowe lifts a finger, silencing him. “Did you see that?” she asks.

“What?”

“I thought I saw her move.”

“...You haven’t slept in almost twenty-four hours. Maybe--” He halts when he sees Wanda’s chest move. “Holy shit.”

Wanda’s breathing becomes more rapid. Stowe takes another look at her watch and writes down the time. Two hours and twenty three minutes since her death. Wanda’s eyes slowly open, but her formerly blue irises are grey. Stowe suddenly feels a rush of anxiety. She didn’t want it to be true, but it is.

“James, get everyone to the conference room. I don’t care if they’re sleeping; I need every person in this building there immediately.” She never takes her eyes off of Wanda as she gives the orders. Choi sees the look on her faces and knows not to question her. “Right away.”

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