To Be A Champion

Chapter 48: Lady In Red Part 1

My mini-speech must have been particularly rousing because Morag darts off, leading us towards in the direction of the old drill equipment with renewed vigor. I meant every word I said. This could be our last chance, and any skincoat that stands in our way will not be able to get away from us. I'll kill them all with my bare hands if I have to.

They won't get away with what they've done to these poor people on this island, to my friends. Shona is going to wish we never came to these islands.

We keep running as thunder rolls and lightning flashes. Finally, rain starts to fall. The fat water droplets are cold on my skin, renewing my senses and causing me to run that much faster. The wind howls, sounding like a dying scream. Fitting for the situation, I suppose.

"There's the equipment, just up the beach," Morag points out, and my stomach churns at the few rusty diggers and a tractor with a great drill in the front. The storm is fast and hard, but even with the lowered visibility, I can see how old this equipment is, rusting away from disuse and lack of upkeep.

"Guys, Shona and the other nine skincoats are ignoring the townspeople," Sam states. "She's giving a speech. I'll patch you in."

There's a bit of static in my headset.

"The red god wakes. We are its shepherds. And we rise with it!" Shona declares, and I hear cheers erupt. It must be from those who have succumbed to the fungus.

"The skincoats are around Shona in a ring. They're drinking something." Sam sounds like he's going to be sick.

I gasp. "Oh, don't tell me..."

"It was accelerant. Lots of it. There's-there's wreaths of fungus ripping out of them and coming from the ground under them, exploding from the cracks in the pavement. Shona's... clapping."

"She's lost her mind." Morag stares at the drill anxiously once we reach it. "How-how do we get this big tractor thing started?"

"No idea," Jody replies as thunder rolls. "Paula, Morag, work it out. Nic, you're a jack of all trades. If you know anything about this, help them get it started. Once you've got it running, meet us by the geyser. Five, we're going to distract the V-Types guarding the boulder, pull them away."

I nod. "Rodger that."

"Jody, I'm hooked into Sam's feeds," Frances announces. "The fungus is sprouting everywhere on Mor. Where it's densest, it's forming fruiting bodies. It's going to release spore, go airborne."

I curse, and the blonde beside me frowns in thought.

"And since we're all already infected, it's going to push us into zombiedom really fast. Girls, get that equipment hot-wired now. Five, with me. To the boulder. Come on."

We sprint back the way we came, running as fast as our legs can carry us. Sweat drips down our faces, and I'm breathing heavily. Jody keeps her eyes ahead, face hard and determined. She knows we have maybe an hour, if that, before everything is lost.

The spores will be carried by the whipping wind of the storm. And with how close we are to turning V-Types, it could turn us in minutes. Maybe the rain will wash some of it out of the air, but without the silver mud in it, it won't kill it. The most it will do is delay the process.

We have to get that geyser unblocked.

I will not let Shona win. I have not survived this much to be taken down by her.

Nicole is talking to Paula and Morag, giving them suggestions on how to hot-wire machinery. This isn't one of the things she's well versed in, but she knows some of it from working with Tom these past few weeks on the zombie attractant devices and the control box. Apparently, their hours together included a lot of talk about some of the things they've done to survive and what they've learned in their respected occupations before coming to Abel.