Chapter Twenty-Nine ~
The paramedic was on the CB again, trying to get in contact with Jacob
Walsh. Jacob had told him to take the girl around the corner for a while and
then double back. He'd done that, and had been sitting in the back driveway for
over an hour. He felt guilty because he knew Jacob planned to kill the girl,
but it wasn't like he actually knew
her.
She was beginning to move around, and Andrew knew he would have to give
her some more knock-out medicine if the colonel didn't show up soon.
"Where...am...I?" Amy asked weakly from the gurney.
"You're back at the mansion." Andrew answered absently as he
checked the mirror again to see if Jacob had arrived.
"Oh no, you mean you're with the bad guys, too?" Her tongue
was sticking to the roof of her mouth, and there wasn’t an inch of her body
that didn't ache.
"I'm sorry, but I need the money. You know how it is."
"How can you be so emotionless? Are you really a paramedic, or is
that just a cover?" her fight or flight mechanism was beginning to kick in.
"I’m really a paramedic, but this gig’s gonna buy my drugs for a
long time to come." He sat up straighter in the seat and spied Jacob Walsh
sneaking up the driveway toward the ambulance. "It looks like the colonel
has arrived." He put his hand on the door handle to get out and greet him,
but never got the chance. The last thing he saw was down the barrel of a gun.
He fell to the ground, and Jacob Walsh kicked him until he was out of the way.
He slid up into the driver's seat, started the ambulance, and pulled it into
gear. He drove around to the left side of the house, where Amy's room was.
"Okay, this is how it's gonna work."
She couldn't see him because she was
tethered to the gurney. Her heart was beating wildly in her ears. "Let me
guess." She interrupted, "you're going to take me to the office and
I'm gonna give you the thumb drive, or you're going to kill me."
"No, that's not quite how it's gonna go. You see, Jackson burnt the
thumb drive to a crisp. It's just a melted ball of plastic in his candle holder
now."
"Then what could you possibly need me for?"
"You are my bait. I plan
on catching Jackson to throw to the hungry wolves known as my associates."
Amy's mind was trying to work, but the drugs had done a job on her. She
was fuzzy-headed, and her mouth felt as if she'd been sucking on cotton balls.
She tried to form a reply, but fell into unconsciousness.
***
Jacob Walsh turned the ambulance off, un-shackled Amy Petersen and threw
her over his shoulder. He carried her to the patio doors under her suite. All
he needed to do was go in this door and carry her up the steps. He pulled her
hand up and slid it through the fingerprint reader and watched as the little
light changed to green for a fraction of a second, and the door lock hissed as
it was released. He pushed it open, looked from side to side to make sure he
wasn't being watched, and walked through the door. His paramedic buddy had been
able to dismantle most of the security system, but he couldn't turn off the
fingerprint scanner for some reason, and that was okay, because he had her
finger to use.
Jacob took her up to her room and tossed her onto the bed. He went over
to the sliding glass doors and made sure they were locked before he punched a
hole in the wall beside the metal frame. He pulled out the wires and jerked
them apart. Now they wouldn't be able to get in unless they used the door in
the hall. With only one door to guard, he was confident he could keep them all
at bay while he executed his plan across town. The whole scenario here was just
a distraction for his real plans.
"Hey, come let me go. Surely you're not afraid of little old me,
are you?" Amy said from the bedroom.
"I know better than to underestimate you." He walked to the
door and looked over at her. She was hand-cuffed to the bed again, and he
smiled at her dilemma. "You forget I already know the trouble you've
caused. We wouldn't even be here right now if it weren't for you."
"True enough, but I'd be dead, now wouldn't I? That's something I'm
not ready for, thank you very much." She pulled on her arms and legs to
let him see she wasn't done fighting.
"You're definitely a feisty little filly, I'll give you that. When
I realized Jackson was in love with you, it made it easier to formulate my
plan. It's near its execution as we speak." He pulled a cell phone out of
his pocket and showed it to her.
"What are you talking about?" Her heartbeat thumped in her
temples. "Jackson destroyed the virus code. You can't use it now."
"Did he now?" He asked with a vile smile.
"You were duped, just like he was. Like they all were, for that
matter." He laughed maniacally. "I couldn't have asked for a better
plan."
"It won't be known as a good plan if you don't tell someone."
She cajoled from the bed. She was still woozy, and if she moved her head she
felt like she was spinning out of control, but at least her mind was working.
"You see, my darling little Amy..." He began. He stroked the
little patch of fuzz under the middle of his lip, as if trying to measure his
words. "The virus code he destroyed was already developed. The structure
of the virus is intact and on a microchip. I can wipe out the whole United
States if I choose to." He stroked his chin faster.
"Aren't you afraid the virus will spread to other countries?"
She knew she needed to keep him talking.
I'm not afraid of that at all. I have an antidote. You see, what you're
pretty little head hasn't thought of is that I embedded a recall code into the
DNA of the virus itself. All I have to do is punch a code into my phone and the
virus will go dormant. Of course, I'll be able to recall it at will..." He
gave another crafty smile and a final stroke of his chin as he got up from the
bed.
"Why haven't you killed me yet?" Suspicion began to engulf
her.
"You’re finally figuring it out, aren’t you?" He asked with a
smile so vile it made her skin crawl.
"You didn't...you wouldn't..." She sputtered as her heart
began to beat a tattoo against her chest as the full realization of what he'd
done finally dawned on her. She was the first victim. I’m the host.
"Oh, but I most assuredly did. When Jackson refused to return my
thumb drive I decided the only way to get him to cooperate was to infect you
with the virus. You see, I could've just removed the microchip I planted in you
when he gave me the thumb drive, but he destroyed it. It's his fault you have
to die.”
"Why would you make a virus and not make a copy of it?" She
asked weakly. Tiredness was overtaking her again, and she was trying to
overcome it so she could think of what to do before this maniac not only killed
her, but used her to kill millions of other people, too.
"Do you take me for a fool, Ms. Petersen? I did make a copy of the virus, and of the genetic code I used, but
that stupid terrorist killed the man who had the microchip with the information
on it embedded in his hand against my orders. To make matters worse, the
imbeciles cremated him before I could retrieve it."
When his words sunk in, Amy couldn't help but laugh at how silly this
whole thing sounded. "It sounds like something out of a cheesy end of the
world story." Her voice was starting to slur, so she shook her head and
winced in pain, but was glad she was fully conscious once more. "So how
are you going to stop from getting the virus yourself?"
"It's quite simple, really. I used my DNA in the original sample as
a failsafe. My DNA kills the virus. That means my whole family is immune to it.
It's quite brilliant, isn't it?"
"How do you plan on stopping the virus from spreading to the whole
world? I mean, if you can recall it from me, it's all well and good, but every
person in the United States doesn't have a microchip embedded inside
them." She was amazed she’d even been aware enough to think of it in her
condition.
He laughed in derision, as if he thought her silly to even ask the
question. "There is another way to stop it, of course. It's simple as
simple can be." He toyed with the little patch of hair under his chin
again and continued, "All you have to do is eat some mud. Mud counteracts
the whole DNA of the virus. Except for you, that is. If I activate the chip
inside you, only the original antidote will work because you’re the host.”
"Then why would you need to make an antidote from your own DNA that
would make you and your family immune?" Her head was becoming fuzzy again,
and she squeezed her eyes, trying to concentrate enough to put her thoughts in
order.
"Accidents happen, Ms. Petersen. What if I died after the virus was
executed, and no one but me knew mud counteracted it? I don't want my whole
bloodline wiped out. I never intended to infect any person with the host virus. I was going to infect a monkey as the
original host until Jackson stole the thumb drive and refused to return it. If I’d
gotten it back, you wouldn't be here right now with a microchip inside you
that's going to be responsible for wiping out everybody in this city, and maybe
even the whole country." He moved in agitated anger.
"If you’re going to kill me because Jackson refused to give you the
thumb drive, why am I still alive?"
"Do I have to spell
everything out to you? I trained him,
Ms. Petersen. If I taught him anything, it was to make sure he has back-up
documentation for everything he does..." He trailed off, waiting to see if
she picked up his train of thought.
"You mean you think he copied the thumb drive." While she was
lying on what would most likely be her deathbed, mental pictures of the
children were flashing before her eyes. It left her feeling sad and anguished.
Jackson was the last to trail through her thoughts, but his image dissipated
when Jacob Walsh interrupted.
"That's exactly what I think, and what you better hope." He flipped
his phone open, pushed a button, and waited for the person whom he called to
answer.
"Colonel Walsh! Where are you?" Jackson asked.
"I'm at your house Jackson. You
might want to turn around and come back home."
"Why would I want to do that?" He knew the colonel must have a
reason to call him, and goose bumps appeared on the skin of his arms.
"Tell Jackson why he should come
back home." He pulled her head up by the hair.
Amy winced and said, "Jackson, it's me. You’ve got to come back. He
infected me with the virus." Jacob grabbed her by the hair again and
yanked hard.
"Jacob, what have you done?"
"I've done what needs to be done. This whole country is messed-up. They're immoral and selfish and I'm going to stop them."
"I've done what needs to be done. This whole country is messed-up. They're immoral and selfish and I'm going to stop them."
"Why have you infected Amy? She's done nothing to you. Why did you
involve her in this?"
"You refused to give me what belongs to me. I know you Jackson. I
know you made a copy. Either you bring it to me, or there won't be anything
left of your girlfriend but a greasy stain."
"What happened to you, colonel? I thought you loved this country
and the freedom it represents."
"I love what this country used
to be, son, not what it is now. In case you haven't noticed, the only 'freedom'
this country stands for is that of the low-lifes. I'm going to change that,
though," he finished on a maniacal laugh.
Amy yelled at Jackson, hoping he would hear her from her position on the
bed. "Mud is the antidote for everyone but me, Jackson. I can't be cured unless you saved the
data on that drive. The host virus is in me,
Jackson!" Amy screamed before Jacob walked over and stuffed a pillow
over her face until she passed-out.
"I'm coming Colonel Walsh, don't do anything to her. I'll bring you
the copy." He knew he couldn't hand over the drive, but it would give him
time to devise a new plan.
"Good decision son, she's a good-looking gal." Colonel Walsh
told him before hanging up the phone.
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