Pathogen, Ch. 9

"Maryanne, get behind me," Lt. Nightingale ordered calmly. "Do it now, but don't make any sudden movements. Understand?"

Marnie's throat tightened with a dry swallow, her eyes darting back and forth to her zombified classmate and the Glock her mother had pointed at his face. "Mom, wait," she begged. "Y-You don't have to shoot him!"

"She's right, Lieutenant," Julian squeaked, still crouching behind Marnie's hip. "Trev's a good zombie; we swear!"

"You're still on my list, Kiddo," Lt. Nightingale snarled, never taking her eyes off Zombie Trevor. "If you value your life, pipe down and let a grown-up handle this!"

Marnie had to think of something and fast. Bianca would never forgive her if she let her mom scatter Zombie Trevor's brains all over the basement walls. While she didn't know for sure if Julian was right about Zombie Trevor being "good", she was positive that the zombie had some capability of independent thought. Killing creatures that could think was never okay.

Before she could regret her decision, Marnie sprinted across the basement, stopping between her mom and Zombie Trevor with her arms flung out wide. She was terrified, but she tried to control her trembling voice as she stared right into Zombie Trevor's eyes. "It's okay, Trev," she said softly. "Mom won't hurt you. Mom is nice. Mom is not a snack."

Zombie Trevor stared up at Marnie for a few tense seconds before settling back on his haunches like a gorilla. "Ma... no... snaah," he gurgled. He still seemed agitated though, which worried Marnie that he might change his mind in a second. "Need... snaah," Zombie Trevor growled. "Hun...gree..."

That last word was so frighteningly clear, it sent chills down Marnie's spine. "Okay... we'll find something for you to eat," she promised, glancing at Julian for help. He'd already scurried to the chest freezer under the basement stairs, digging through it like his life depended on it because it did. Before she could yell at him to hurry up, Julian pulled out a box of frozen breakfast sausage patties. A second later, he set it down and slid it across the concrete floor to Marnie's feet. Tapping into her long-forgotten pee-wee soccer league skills, she kicked the box over to Zombie Trevor in a heartbeat.

Within a second, Zombie Trevor had torn the freezer burned cardboard open and was gnawing a patty like a baby would a teething ring. Julian crept closer to Marnie and her mother once the zombie was otherwise occupied, then tugged on Marnie's sleeve. "Gimme your phone," he whispered, "quick! Earbuds, too!"

Marnie had no idea what Julian was up to, but she did as he asked without question. He went straight from her lock screen to her Spotify app, and within thirty seconds she could hear a saxophone solo playing through the earbuds in his hand. To her shock and honest disgust, Julian then crawled across the floor and put her earbuds in Zombie Trevor's ears. Zombie Trevor whipped his head around in confusion for a moment, still with that frozen patty clamped between his teeth, until his eyelids slowly drooped. A minute later he was curled up on top of a flattened cardboard box, grumbling and sucking on the sausage patty like a pacifier.

"He should be good for a while now," Julian panted in a stage-whisper. "Um... maybe we should go upstairs and talk... without firearms present?"

Lt. Nightingale looked down at the Glock in her hand, removing the magazine and chambered bullet from it with a sigh. "Negative. Go home, Julian; Marnie, you are to go straight to your room. I need to make a phone call, now."

"No!" Marnie snapped, only remembering to whisper after Zombie Trevor growled at her. "You can't tell anyone he's here, Mom. They'll probably think we're crazy if you do!"

"That was not a request," Lt. Nightingale said curtly. "There are forces at work here I am not at liberty to discuss with civilians... that means you and your boyfriend. It's better for everyone if you just butt out and let me do my job."

Marnie took a step back, shocked, confused, and honestly a little hurt. "Your job?" she echoed. After a few seconds, she glanced back at Zombie Trevor, and something in her brain clicked. "You know what happened to him," she realized. "That news report the other night... you knew something was going on, but you wouldn't tell me then either!"

"For God's sake, Maryanne Heather Nightingale, just do what I tell you to for once in your life!" Lt. Nightingale snapped. She took a deep breath then, like she was trying to center herself, then cupped her daughter's cheek gently. "I'm trying to protect you, Baby," she said quietly. "This boy might have been your friend once, but not anymore. That... thing... is a monster, designed to kill without thought or mercy."

"His name is Trevor," Marnie muttered, forcing her trembling lips into a scowl. "...and I won't let you hurt him!"

"Uh, time out?" Julian asked, tapping one hand on top of the other to form a T. "Lt. Mom... did you just say 'designed'? Like... Trev was made to be like that? On purpose? Why would anyone do that to him? He's just a kid, Man, like us."

Lt. Nightingale clammed up, which only made Marnie madder. Unable to stand in her mother's presence another second longer, Marnie strode to the boxes and dug through them. A minute later, she found what she was looking for: a collar and leash that used to belong to their old dog, Boomer. After running her fingertips over its bone-shaped license reverently, she buckled the collar around Zombie Trevor's neck and clipped the leash to it.

"C'mon, Trev," she cooed, pulling out his left earbud and scratching the zombie's scalp. "We gotta go. Take your snacks with you."

"Marnie, get away from it!" Lt. Nightingale bellowed. "What on earth do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm leaving!" Marnie fired back, "and you can't stop me! Let's go, Trev!"

Zombie Trevor slurped down the last bite of his half-thawed sausage patty before replacing it with another from the box. It looked like he wasn't going to budge at first, but he obediently got to his feet with his box of patties tucked under his arm. Marnie rewarded his behavior with another pat on the head and popped his earbud back in, hoping the music would continue to keep him calm.

"If you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here with that man-eating monster, think again!" Lt. Nightingale growled. She rammed the magazine into the butt of her Glock while she spoke, but she never had the chance to chamber a round and fire. The minute her hand wrapped around the slide, Julian popped up behind her, armed with a Costco-sized bottle of laundry detergent. Before Marnie could stop him, he swung it at her mother's head; Lt. Nightingale went down a half second later, and when she hit the concrete, she didn't get back up.

"Mom!" Marnie cried, kneeling automatically beside her mother. "What the hell, Julian?! You could've killed her!"

Julian followed Marnie's example, shaking all over like a wet chihuahua. With a gulp, he pressed his fingers to the side of Lt. Nightingale's neck, sighing a moment later. "The bottle wasn't full," he muttered, "and she still has a pulse. Help me get her upstairs."

"No," Marnie sniffed, wiping her nose on her shirt sleeve. "We don't have time. Trevor could wig out at any minute, and she's easy prey right now."

While she sucked up her tears and forced her emotions down into the pit of her stomach, Marnie grabbed a blanket from one of the boxes. After making sure her mom was warm, she folded up a clean towel and tucked it under her mom's head to act as a pillow.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

She and Julian didn't hang around long after that. They left the way they came in, creeping out of the basement doors and into the back yard with Zombie Trevor in tow. When they got outside, Marnie's heart sank at the problem they faced now. They didn't have anywhere else to go. Once Lt. Nightingale recovered, she'd probably send the cops straight to Julian's place. They weren't old enough to get a hotel room; even if they could fool a clerk into giving them one, they lacked the funds to pay for it. After some thought, Marnie reasoned there was only one thing to do: keep moving until morning, then re-group with Bianca and hope she'd gotten the keys to her parents' summer house.

Seeing as she was already in it up to her neck, Marnie dropped Zombie Trevor's leash in Julian's hand and doubled back to the kitchen door. "Meet me in the garage," she called over her shoulder. "...and try not to trigger the motion lights!"

In record time, she had the keys to her mom's old Honda in her sweaty mitt and was hoofing it to the car. Julian already had Zombie Trevor in the back seat when she got there, apparently having figured out her strategy already. Marnie slid into the driver's seat and turned over the engine, thinking Julian would follow suit immediately. When she glanced over at the passenger seat, however, she found him still standing outside the car.

"What are you waiting for?!" she hissed. "Get in already, you dork!"

Julian hesitated for another minute, his caramel face turning red, but Marnie wasn't sure why. Eventually, he climbed into the car and shut the door, avoiding eye contact as he buckled up. Figuring there would be time to figure out what was wrong later, Marnie backed the car out of the garage and took off, giving the house one last glance in the rearview mirror before leaving it behind her.

They rode in silence for a while, creeping along backroads well under the speed limit so they wouldn't get pulled over. Julian squirmed beside her the whole time like he had ants in his boxers, playing with the window. Marnie was cold, though, so every time he rolled it down, she rolled it back up. Between his constant squirming and fidgeting, Marnie's nerves were rapidly wearing themselves raw.

"What's wrong with you?!" she muttered. Julian didn't answer, nor did he even look at her. With a heavy sigh, Marnie steered the car to the side of the road and threw it in park.

"Look: I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier. Your quick thinking saved our necks back there. I'm... still a little mad at you for what you did to my mom, but given the circumstances..." She trailed off when she thought Julian wasn't listening, making her mad all over again. Before she could lose her cool, though, she heard Julian sniffle quietly.

"Hey," she murmured. "Jules... what's wrong? Are you okay?"

When Julian still didn't answer, Marnie reached up and switched on the dome light. His eyes were downcast but definitely full of tears, his jaw clamped down tight in anger and shame. By instinct, Marnie followed his gaze to his lap, noticing for the first time that he had a large stain on the front of his jeans. When she also realized that ammonia smell she'd detected in the basement was still lingering around him, it didn't take long to figure out why he was upset.

"Oh, Julian..." she mumbled. "You should've said something earlier."

"Why?" he muttered, his voice husky from anger. "So you could make fun of me?"

"What? No," Marnie insisted. "I would never! It's... It's okay. Accidents happen, and-"

"Accidents?!" he scoffed. "Your mom shoving a gun in my face was not an accident! I should've been a man and fought back, but I...!" Julian trailed off with another sniff, drawing his knees up to his chest. "Just drive, Pistol," he muttered. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

While Marnie was totally on board with that idea, it wasn't a realistic one. She was so tired, she couldn't see straight anymore, which made sense considering it was nearly dawn. Also, they were running low on gas. Staying by the roadside wasn't a smart move either, so she put the car back in gear and kept driving until they found a gas station half a mile up the road. There were no lights on inside the building, but Marnie was too tired to refill the tank anyway. She steered the car to the edge of the lot and parked under a lamp post, reclining her seat until it was almost flat. Not long after, Julian did the same, rolling onto his side to face the window.

Marnie had almost forgotten about the zombie in the back seat until his head landed on her shoulder. For a second she feared he was feeling peckish, until she saw the empty, soggy box on the floorboards. He burped right in her face - which nearly made her gag - then nuzzled her neck and shoulder like a great big puppy. To Marnie's relief, he was still wearing her earbuds. With his stomach full and smooth Jazz still pumping in his ears, he was as docile as a kitten, giving her the confidence to stroke his hair gently. As she pet him, Zombie Trevor leaned into her palm.

"Mar-nee... nice," the zombie grumbled softly. "Mar-nee... frenn..."

Marnie blinked at the car's carpeted ceiling, trying to chase away the burning sensation in her eyes. "That's right, Trev," she murmured. "I'm your friend... and I won't let anything bad happen to you. Try to get some sleep now... okay? I'll get you a snack in the morning."

She wasn't sure he understood her, but a minute later Zombie Trevor's grumbling snores filled her ear. Julian had passed out already too by the look of him, but it was hard to tell with his back to her. Unable to fight her own exhaustion anymore, Marnie made sure the doors were locked and the engine was off before allowing her eyelashes to meet. Yesterday had been a long, scary, exhausting, and royally sucky day, and today was probably going to be worse.