Science Fiction Smackdown II Entry (Zombie-Fun-Excitement-Spectacular!!!!)

Chapter 14: The Snow

"Already started?" David wheeled to face Tim. "Already started what? Do you mean to say that this snow is artificial?"

Tim swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing, then nodded. Meanwhile, Amy stuck a hand out into the storm. A snowflake, fat and lazy, drifted into her hand. Amy gasped.

"It isn't cold!" she exclaimed.

Oliver pushed past her. "Warm snow!" he said, delighted.

"You come back in here at once, Ollie!" Jenna demanded. Oliver stuck out his tongue, then ran away from the door, giggling.

David turned to Tim, narrowing his eyes. "There's no such thing as warm snow. So, therefore, this isn't really snow, is it?"

"Not exactly," Tim admitted, "but it's harmless. Well, should be harmless."

"Get Oliver back in here!" David barked.

"I'm trying!" Jenna sounded exasperated. Oliver, still giggling, would allow Jenna to come almost within arms' reach, only to dart out of her grasp.

"Don't panic," Time cautioned. "I'm pretty sure it's harmless."

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"You ever hear of a vaccine drop?" Tim asked.

Amy shook her head.

"They do it in countries with rabies — you drop a bait treated with with vaccine from a plane. Then wild animals eat it, and they're vaccinated."

"So this is for animals?" Amy asked.

"What kind of animals?" said David, "And what kind of vaccine? That stuff may be warm, but it looks like snow."

"Look, it wasn't my idea — wasn't our idea. I don't think it'll work, frankly."

"You don't think what will work? What is all this?"

"There's a group on the mainland — they're sort of in competition with us. Pally with your army friends, though. That's the only way they'd have managed to pull this off. Why, in fact - "

"What is the snow?" David hissed through his teeth.

"A vaccine. An experimental vaccine. Meant to be inhaled. They were hoping to try to seed rain clouds with it. I suppose they've succeeded. Damned fools."

"But if they succeeded," Amy barely reached Tim's shoulder, and she looked up at him beseechingly. "If they succeeded, how can they be fools?"

"Because," Tim replied. "It hasn't been tested. It might not be effective, especially not in this airborne form. Heck, those morons don't even have any live test subjects, so how they can be so confident?"

"No live test subjects?"

Tim snorted. "They couldn't reproduce our methods to keep our zombies alive but not frenzied. What can I say? They're idiots; we radioed them all the details, more than once."

"You're in contact with them? Can we call — er, radio — them?" David asked.

"I suppose," Tim replied, his tone doubtful.

"Look, I just want to confirm that it's safe," David pleaded.

"Well, okay. But we have to go back to the other building."

Tim sighed and led them out into the snow.

Amy shielded her head with her hands, completely failing in keeping the snow out of her hair. "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked.

"Pretty sure," Tim confirmed.

Amy ran through the snow, reaching the other building before the two men

"Odd," Tim said, as he reached the door a few moments later.

"What?" David asked.

"Your friends. The woman and the kid. Where'd they go?"

David shrugged. The strange warm snow was deep enough now to cover everything with a thin dusting of white. "They were out here in the snow a moment ago -"

"It's weird," Amy said, nervousness in her voice. "Shouldn't — shouldn't there be footprints?"

David glanced around quickly. The girl was right. The snow was deep enough that something should have shown. "That is odd, Amy, you're right. But we'll look for them as soon as we've heard from Tim's radio friends. I don't want to stay out here until we know it's safe."

"But Jenna and Oliver are out here somewhere! In this — this snow."

"Come on, Amy," David called.

Amy hung back. "I — I'm not sure I want to. We don't know where they are, and if the snow is dangerous, then - "

"Then I need you to get out of it. And we need to keep from being separated. Let's go in, please."

David swung the door open, and pushed Amy inside. In a moment, they were within the large, inner room, the heart of the wooden structure. Tim was already seated at a rough table, a black metal radio with a battered microphone sitting in front of him.

"Just let me tune this," Tim said, slowly turning the dial. Amy watched apprehensively as the sound of static rose and fell. The static started to form a pattern. "Odd," Tim murmured, "There shouldn't be anything on this frequency - "

A familiar, terrible, mechanical voice began to fill the room.

"Not again!" Amy exclaimed.

Note: The prompt this time around included: Jenna and Oliver go missing and a radio broadcast is picked up . . .