“Yes. Disable.” Clark’s voice sharpened with impatience. “Cut the wires or something. Make sure the panels can’t be accessed to unlock the doors.”
“I see,” Oswald mumbled, although from the confused look on his face, he clearly did not, in fact, see.
Clark rolled his eyes, then tensed as the elevator stopped. Only seconds now until Oswald was exposed to the grisly secrets of the basement. He’d have to keep a close eye on the nerd and grab him if he tried to run.
At least nobody would hear his screams down here.
When the elevator door opened, Clark positioned himself on Oswald’s right and grabbed his elbow, hoping to block the maintenance worker’s view of the specimen lab.
“The two panels I need disabled are as follows—the panel locking the door ahead on your right, and the one at the back of the corridor next to the exit door.” His voice brisk, he urged Oswald forward. “We’ll do the lab panel first and then the exit door’s.”
Security to the specimen lab was the top priority. It was crucial his specimens remain tucked inside their cage. However, the door to the exit tunnel was almost as important. If whoever turned off the security panel and tried to release the specimens targeted the tunnel doors next, he was screwed. If they accessed the basement and got into his labs—Clark shuddered.
That could not happen.
But his main problem right now was the specimen lab, or more accurately, the corpses in it. If Oswald got a good look into that room, it was a safe bet his compliance would evaporate. Sure, he was bound to see through the window embedded in the lab’s door, but if Clark’s luck held, Doctor Comfrey would be blocking his view. Comfrey, at least, was clothed and looked like she was alive.
So far so good. Oswald hadn’t seen anything terrifying, and the security alarm hadn’t gone off on his phone. Nor was the basement full of shambling corpses.
“Hurry up.” Clark urged Oswald forward while strategically positioning himself to block the nerd’s view to their right. They’d almost reached their first target when Oswald’s feet stopped moving.
“What the hell…?” Oswald’s voice entered an entire new level of squeakiness. He stumbled to a stop.
Clark’s head snapped around to face him, noting the sudden whiteness to the nerd’s face. Wide, wild eyes joined his slackjaw and pale face.Damn. Oswald had seen the lab specimens. Clark tightened his fingers around his captive’s pointy elbow and forced him forward. Or tried to, anyway.
“Yes. Yes. I’ll explain everything while you work on the door,” Clark said briskly, urging a spooked Oswald forward.
“But…but…those people…” Oswald dug in his heels, and their forward motion ground to a stop. “Are they dead?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Would they be standing if they were dead?” Clark tugged on the skinny elbow, but the tall, stooped frame refused to budge. Good God, who would have guessed such a skinny frame would have so much strength? “They’re sick. That’s all. A severe skin condition.”
“Sick?” Oswald repeated, his voice shrill and suspicious. “They look dead, not sick. For Pete’s sake, that one’s missing half her head. A skin condition wouldn’t do that.” He yanked his arm loose and turned around.
With an exasperated breath, Clark let him go. No use in continuing this charade. At least Oswald hadn’t started screaming and running...yet.
Oswald stared through the glass with fascination. “They look like zombies. Some even have autopsy scars.” He leaned in for a closer look. “Their chests aren’t moving, so they aren’t breathing.” His gaze shifted to Dr. Comfrey. And his head cocked. “Or at least most of them aren’t.” He shook his head without looking away from the glass. “What happened to them?”
It wouldn’t hurt to satisfy the nerd’s curiosity. He wouldn’t be leaving the basement anyway.
“We were working on an innovative medical nanobot technology. Unfortunately, Doctor Comfrey skipped the safety precautions, and the bots infected her.” He sighed, filling his voice with regret. “After that, the bot infected the specimens we had stored in the morgue and...apparently...reanimated them.”
Oswald took a long step back. “Those things can infect people?”
“Yes. By touch. Through an excess of caution, I’ve reassigned everyone in the labs and sealed the basement off.” He studied Oswald’s face. The nerd looked more transfixed than terrified.
This was probably a science fiction dream come true for him. No doubt he imagined himself as the hero in a new zombie show.
“They’re perfectly harmless, as long as they don’t get out and start touching people.”
Oswald make a huffing sound of disbelief. “If they can’t get out, why bring me down here to disable this lab’s security panel?”
“Because I appear to have a hacker problem.” Clark scowled. “Someone accessed the security panel and unlocked the door. I was monitoring the situation at the time, and barely got it locked back down before the specimens escaped.” He paused to let that sink in, then spread his hands and shrugged. “Since I can’t trust the electronic system, I need both doors physically disabled. It’s the only way to prevent remote access.”
“Ah.” Oswald offered a small nod. He peered intently into the glass. The zombies passively stared back. “What did they do after they were infected?”
“What do you mean.”
“How do the bots change them? In movies, zombies become violent, driven by hunger for human flesh or brains.”
