An involuntary cry broke from her lips as her hands beat against the surface of the examination table. The stillness in the room only matched the stillness in her chest.

The heart monitor was silent. Her heart was not beating.

“No!” she rasped.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, but all she could do was let out a terrible gasping sob. Forcing air into her lungs, she felt them expand then contract. She held her breath and waited for the terrible burning agony of her body raging for oxygen, but it never came.

Maria returned her gaze to the monitors, straining to read and understand what she witnessed. Trying to control her growing terror, she focused on the monitor nearest her. It was for her respiratory system and it was silent. The next was cardiovascular; it too showed no data. The one with the constant feed of data was for her neurological system.

“Please, please, please,” she whispered, hoping this was all a nightmare. Maybe she was delirious with the fever the doctor had told her about. Perhaps she was in the throes of her illness and this was a terrible nightmare. That had to be the truth. The truth couldn’t be laid out on the screens. It couldn’t be.

Staring at the silent screens, she wished she could cry, but tears wouldn’t come.

The world felt so cold.

Chapter 8

The snap of fingers before her face pulled her out of the darkness. Maria’s eyes focused on the form of Dr. Beverly Curran. The doctor was across a table from Maria, her face looking pale and tired.

Seated, but still restrained, Maria sat with heavy cuffs holding her wrists and ankles flush against the armrest and legs of the chair. A restraint was also across both her chest and her waist. Confusion filled her as she tried to recall the moment when she had passed out. All she could remember was screaming.

“Maria,” Dr. Curran began gently, “I’m sorry I left you alone to discover what you are.”

“You made me into a fuckin’ Scrag,” Maria rasped. Anger filled her and her hands twitched.

“A different sort of Inferi Scourge,” Dr. Curran corrected. “A thinking Inferi Scourge, a speaking Inferi Scourge. You’re Inferi Boon. You’re exactly what we need to defeat the Inferi Scourge.”

“Why am I restrained if I’m what you wanted?” Maria spat out furiously. Her voice sounded raw. A part of her newly-restored brain was trying to adapt to her condition and she realized she was taking short intakes of breath so she could speak.

Dr. Curran ran her fingers lightly around the edges of her pad. “When you see me, what is your first desire?”

“To punch you in the face,” Maria answered truthfully.

“The one desire all Inferi Scourge have is to spread the virus,” Dr. Curran said. “We need to make sure that we were successful in removing that from the strain we gave to you. You’re being monitored right now as we speak.” Dr. Curran lifted the pad. Information was scrolling across the screen.

Maria blinked rapidly, wishing she could cry, but her dry eyes just ached. “So, what are the results telling you? Huh? That I’m pissed off?”

“I understand your-”

“No! No you don’t! I don’t have a heartbeat! My body doesn’t feel right! I don’t feel right! I feel like my body is wrapped up in cotton and I can’t quite feel it! Do you know how that feels? No, you don’t, because you’re alive and I’m not!”

“You’re alive in a new way,” Dr. Curran assured her. “Who you were before death still remains.”

Maria howled in anguish. “You killed me!” The sound was terrifyingly like that of the mindless Scourge Scourge.

Dr. Curran visibly shrank back in her chair. The fingers that were clutching her stylus trembled. “Yes, we did. But it’s the Modified Inferi Scourge Plague Virus we gave you that brought you back to life. You’re not like the others.”

Emotions boiling, Maria fought the urge to scream again and keep on screaming. The rational part of her brain sliced through the maelstrom of fear and anger. She could still reason, could still talk. Despite the numbness of her body, she could still move. Her still heart yearned for Dwayne and his reassuring touch. Despite what had been done to her, she was still Maria Martinez. Desperately, she clutched to any shred of hope she could find.

“Can you change me back?” Maria whispered.

Dr. Curran’s attention never diverted from the screen of the pad as she answered, “We have an antidote.”

Maria let out a cry of relief.

“You’re doing quite well, Vanguard. That you’re this coherent and capable of processing what is happening to you is a very good sign that this endeavor against the Inferi Scourge will be successful. The modified virus has taken control of all your vital functions and you’re operating at a much higher level than the original Inferi Scourge.”

The doctor’s words were not quite as comforting as Maria supposed the scientist thought they would be. Though the restraints on her body were pulled taunt, she didn’t feel any aches or pain. The small twinges from her previous injuries were gone. But then again, so was her heartbeat.

“Once we’re done, we’ll get the antidote and come back to life, right?”

“Our agreement with you stands, Maria. Once you’re done with your duty, you will receive all that was promised to you,” Dr. Curran assured her. She surprised Maria by reaching out and touching her hand lightly. “I realize this is terrifying, but I am doing the very best I can to ensure that this process goes well not just for you, but the other soldiers who will be undergoing the procedure.”

“Am I the first?”

“Yes, you are.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to do this?”

Dr. Curran made a few more notations in her pad, then slowly raised her gaze. “There was some discussion about that, but it was decided that we wouldn’t end up with a volunteer force if we informed you that you would die and come back as a modified Inferi Scourge. Forcibly conscripting soldiers to do this task would have significantly decreased the chances of success. We need all of you to want to make this mission be a success or it’s destined to fail.”

“You should have told me,” Maria insisted.

“Would you have volunteered if you knew?”

Maria considered the question, then answered honestly, “No.”

“There you have it.” Dr. Curran slid her stylus over the screen. Maria saw it alter to now show what looked like the scan of a brain.

“How do you know this will work? You modified the virus, but how do you know the Scrags will see me as one of their own?” Maria asked.

The blond woman hesitated in her imputation. Averting her eyes, she slid the pad into the pocket of her uniform as she stood. “We’re about to find out.”

“What do you mean?” Maria demanded, fear beginning to swell within her.

On what appeared to be an impulse, Dr. Curran leaned toward Maria and said in a low voice, “It’s the only way to know for sure. Security is watching. Don’t be afraid.”

Understanding flooded Maria as she watched Dr. Curran turn and walk from the room. “No, don’t! Don’t!”

The restraints snapped off her body with a sharp click. Maria gripped the edge of the table and pulled herself to her feet. She was certain there was a slight delay between her thought processes and her body’s response. It was throwing off her equilibrium. Staggering from the table, she found her center of balance and managed to stand.

“Don’t do this! Let me out!”

She could barely feel the coldness of the floor under her feet. On impulse, she pinched herself. All she felt was a dull twinge.

There was a loud snapping sound then a whine as the floor before her yawned open. Slowly, a platform rose out of the shaft below. An Inferi Scourge stood in the center of it, shackled, chains securing it the platform. It rolled its head about, its white eyes shifting back and forth in their sockets. It was a male. Its clothes were mere tatters over a body that had once been fit and athletic. Covered in years of filth, it barely looked human with its scarecrow hair. It snapped its teeth together over and over again, shifting its weight from foot to foot. It let out an ungodly howl as the platform leveled with the floor.

Maria stared at it in horror. Whereas in the past she had found herself breathless with a racing heart in the face of the Scourge, her lungs and heart were now silent. She considered calling out, but the Scourge had yet to look in her direction. Instead, she stood in silence, not daring to move, hoping that this test would soon be over and the Scourge would be lowered back into the bowels of the SWD facility.

Instead, the restraints on the creature snapped off and receded into the platform with a loud clanking noise.

The Scourge howled.

* * *

Maria instinctively backed away from the Scourge as it wailed. Her back impacted with the wall and she used her hands to brace herself. Feet apart, she watched the creature of her nightmares howl again. With terrifying swiftness, it launched itself at the door. The force of the impact busted the creature’s chin open, spilling blood from the wound. Slamming its hands against the door, the Scourge’s cries grew in intensity. It was if it knew that its prey was just on the other side.