They Call Me Daring

Chapter 23

"This is ludicrous." The Doc ran a hand through his crazy hair.
"Aren't we all?" I muttered.
"This-it's-" He jammed a hand wordlessly at the diagram me and Meg had spent all night drawing. Then he sighed, squinting down at the paper. "What are the little spiders for, anyway?"
"Those are Liam's stick people." Meg said without cracking a smile, and Doc eyed me.
"Great. So you expect me... to follow a crazy plan which I calculate has a..." He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, muttering under his breath. "an approximate 5% chance of actually succeeding."
"Approximate." I reminded him cheerfully.
"Yes. And that's if we're lucky." He huffed and fell back into his spinning chair. The lab was dark, a single naked lightbulb buzzing directly above us, shedding like on the three of us. Flickering shadows darted about the ghostly shapes of desks. "Liam..."
"Yeah?"
"Do you... Do you really expect me to go through this?"
I blinked. "Yes." I answered immediately.
The Doc sighed and shook his head. "Liam-"
"What other idea have you got!" I exclaimed. We had been going over the plan for at least half and hour, and he still didn't get it. "'Cause I'd personally be quite happy to hear it."
"You don't understand-"
"No, see, that's exactly it." I growled suddenly, slamming my hands down on the table between us and making them both jump. "I do understand. Which is why I know we have to do something."
"It's too risky! The ingredients and materials required for something of this magnitude-"
"I can get whatever you'll need. Anything, you name it." I blurted out. What did I have to fear of the city now?
"And even then, something dangerous enough to wipe out every zombie within a ten mile radius, if the formula isn't precisely correct in every aspect, it could take all of us out in one blow!" He cried in despair. "Liam, if I make one mistake-"
"Don't." I replied evenly. He stared at me, the flickering lightbulb flashing off his glasses. But I could still read his face like an open book. The  terror in his eyes shone like a beacon. We would need to work on that.
"Doc," I began. He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. "no, just listen."
"Fine." He grimaced, looking reluctant.
"I-We- need you to build this thing."
"But we've been getting along just fine! We've got a whole system worked out! We can survive-"
"Yes, we can." I said slowly. "But face it, Doc. This isn't living."
"But maybe we'll eventually be able to take back the world-"
"Doc, they are adapting. If they fully evolve to accept the sunlight then... You know we won't stand a chance, even with preparations. We might last a day. Maybe two. A week? But they'll keep on coming, man. They won't stop. They don't have to. But we do. And they will over power us. They will take us, eat us, poison us. The point is, we, human kind- we will fizzle out of this world unceremoniously, unremembered. Forgotten." I sighed. "We are the last of the humans, Doc. We are humankind's last hope. We've hung on this long, and it doesn't seem right that we should drizzle out of the history books, leaving nothing but a bloody smear. We will take back our world and fight to the last breath, or die trying. The point is, whether the bomb works correctly, or kills us all, we will go out with a bang. That, doctor, that is living."
Silence. It lasted almost a minute. Finally, Meg cleared her throat while the words were still soft in the air.
"See Doc, whether you make the bomb or not, we're all going to die. It's only a matter of time. But if you help us with this... At least we have a chance." She pleaded, her eyes wide.
He nodded, and ran a hand through his hair.
"So you'll do it?" I said excitedly.
"I-It's nuts... only a complete nut-job would ever attempt something that crazy..." I felt my heart sink. Then the Doc looked up, grinning.
"Apparently I'm the right man for the job."