JUNE – and The Aeternae - S01 E11

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JUNE – and The Aeternae - S01 E11

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 11

FOLLOW THE COMPASS

Larry Forbes lead his team into the woods, the sound of a screaming Luke and his girl had attracted them during a patrol mission around the neighbourhood.

They held their torch firmly and crept the woods carefully, breaking a couple of rusty fallen tree branches on their way as they walked slowly to avoid unnecessary attraction.

Larry spotted Rose’s camera on the floor and made a quick turn around with his torch to discover the zombie walking close to Scarlett, the zombie was about squatting to begin feeding as Larry Forbes ordered his men to open fire.

“Fire!!!” He barked the order as his team of police opened fire at the zombie, this distracted the zombie and left an unconscious Scarlett on the floor bleeding profusely.

The zombie let out a screeching sound as bullets pierced into its body and exit at the other end like a hot knife cutting through butter. They kept on firing at the zombie as it walked majestically towards them.

“Go get the girl!” Larry Forbes ordered pointing at a couple of officers who lowered their weapons and ran behind the zombie to help Scarlett. The rest of them team kept firing at the zombie as they began to run out of bullets.

“Shit!” A cop cursed in frustration as his gun was completely empty of any bullets, the zombie grabbed his neck and tore him to pieces right in front of the team of police firing at it.

“Come on, let’s go!” Larry Forbes barked as the team retreat, some who still had bullets left kept firing to distract the zombie as the team ran out of the woods for safety, carrying Scarlett along. The zombie made a turn and ran the opposite way.

“Call an ambulance now!” Larry Forbes ordered breathing heavily as Scarlett lay on the ground unconscious.

A few minutes later, an ambulance arrived and Scarlett was immediately placed on a stretcher and carried into the ambulance. Her nose was covered in an oxygen mask as the life monitor connected to her gave out a beep sound. Larry Forbes hopped into the ambulance and closed the door as the ambulance sped away taking Scarlett to the hospital.

**********

FLASHBACK

Grenville, Tennessee – 4th July, 1990.

Shortly after the cops had taken some samples from the hole and left, Dr Thomas arrived at the scene to see things for himself. The hole had been restricted with a barricade tape. A danger warning was written on the tape for anyone intending to come close.

Dr Thomas went below the barricade tape ignoring the danger sign. He coughed as the fumes emitting from the hole thickened. He got closer to the hole and brought out a piece of paper to take down some observations he made. He squat to have a closer look at a glowing moving worm-like creature, he opened a glass jar and picked up the worm, placing it inside and enclosed the jar. Shortly his cellphone rang, startling him.

“Shit!”He cursed and pulled out the antenna to answer the call.

“Thomas, are you at the site?” Patrick asked over the phone.

“Yes sir, I’ve got something. The cops are gone anyway and they seem to have barricaded the hole. I think they found something.”

“You gotta get out of there now! Immediately!” Patrick said over the phone.

“Yeah. I’m done, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Be careful.” Patrick said and ended the call. Thomas stood up and insert the phone into his leather jacket and made an attempt to turn back but missed his steps causing him to roll uncontrollably into the hole.

“D--n!” He said and stood up grunting, he scanned his environment and noticed the cave was dark, there was no smoke anymore. He raised a brow and switched on a torch he was holding to locate the exit to the hole he was trapped in but couldn’t find any.

“What the hell?” He said turning around quickly to locate the exit but couldn’t find it.

“I came in through there” He said to himself and pointed the torch up but all he could see was a dead end with no sign of any exit. He picked up his phone to put a call through to Patrick but noticed there was no signal.

“Shit! Shit! What am i gonna do!?” He said panting out of fear as he could hear a footstep approaching from deep inside the hole.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” He screamed and got no answer. The place began to fill up with dark smoke causing him to cough uncontrollably. Dr Thomas stood as a creature walked closer, he could see it’s gigantic figure from a shadow at the side of the cave walls.

“Oh my God!” He said as his eyes widened at the beast approaching him. He heard a whoosh sound as the creature stood right in front of him immediately. Thomas froze, loosing consciousness of his surrounding as the glass jar he was holding fell off his grip and broke into pieces. Thomas’ eyes darkened immediately, his iris turned red and he collapsed as the dark smoke consumed him.

**********

A few minutes later, Thomas woke up at the comfort of his couch at home. He opened his eyes as the bright red iris faded to it’s natural brown colour.

“What the hell happened?” He said yawning, feeling completely exhausted. He had no memory of how he got out of the hole or what the creature looks like. All he could remember at the time was finding himself at the house and nothing before that.

He stood up sluggishly and felt a burning sensation on his chest. He rushed into his room and pulled of his shirt and stood in front of the mirror to have a look at what might be burning on his skin.

“What the f--k!” He said to himself as he fixed his gaze on the mirror revealing a tattoo on his chest.

“Something isn’t right, I have to call Patrick!” He said to himself and ransacked his room looking for his cellphone. After minutes of searching, he finally found it. He pulled out the antenna and punched in Patrick’s digits. Just as the call was ringing, his iris turned red again and his mood changed instantly.

“Hello? Are you alright?” Patrick asked over the phone as Thomas kept mute and scanned his environment like it was at an unknown place.

“Thomas are you alright??”

“Talk to me buddy, are you okay?”

“Thomas! Come on talk to me!”

“I am fine Patrick, I’ve never been better in my entire life. I feel great!” Thomas responded solemnly and smirked.

**********

PRESENT DAY

“There is no residential home behind the garden’s fence. There is no way a dog could have come in from the outside” Patrick said staring at the puppy as June held her tight to her chest.

“So how did she get there?” June asked and raised a brow.

“I don’t know. Which is why you should take the dog to the vet clinic, maybe the owner will show up there in search of her.” Patrick responded and shrugged.

“No! I’m not letting go off Millie!” June insisted caressing the puppy’s fur.

“Oh you’ve given her a name already?” Patrick asked as Doris laughed at the father and daughter argument.

“Yes! She’s staying with me. If her owner comes around, I’m sure we’ll sort it out.”

“Fine, you can keep her.” Patrick finally gave in to the idea of keeping the dog as June doesn’t appear to be satisfied, she raised a brow to the understanding of her father.

“Oh! I’ll have Dylan get her food from the pet grocery store right away and I’ll call a Vet to check up on her broken leg as well.” Patrick said and sighed.

“Thanks dad!” June said all smiles and walked away holding Millie on her right arm and held her crutch firmly with her left arm as she made her way up the stairs.

“You two are absolutely amazing!” Doris said laughing as Patrick smiled and watched his daughter walk up the stairs.

June got to her room and lay Millie on the bed, she stood facing the mirror and touched the bruise line on her face. Just then, she noticed a small piece of card on her shelf. She took the card and read through it. She Gasped in surprise and buried her mouth in her palm.

“I hope you like the Gift? Love – Alex”

The paper read. June smiled heavily and turned around to find Millie sleeping adorably.

**********

Rose sat on the couch alongside her mom as they watched an episode of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. Nicole let out a laugh as she watched the show, ignoring the fact that Scarlett isn’t home yet and it’s almost midnight.

Rose glanced at the wall clock furiously, she had been waiting patiently at the living room for Scarlett to return and the show doesn’t seem to interest her at that moment, seeing Scarlett was all that mattered to her.

“That good for nothing b---h!” she murmured to herself and shot another glance at the wall clock, it was almost midnight already and she had begin to worry about her sister. A part of her is furiously angry with her and the other part is worried she isn’t home yet. She clenched her jaw not knowing what to do, just then she heard the ring of the retro wall phone. She stood up hastily and head to where the wall phone was mounted.

“Go check who it is” Nicole said laughing as she fixed her gaze on the comedy TV show.

“This is the McCarthy’s” Rose answered.

“Hello. This is the Grenville chief police” Larry Forbes said at the other end causing shiver down Rose’s spine.

“is my sister in trouble?”

“Not exactly, she’s at the hospital now.”

“What?! Hospital? Why?” Rose asked.

“A zombie attacked her at the woods, She’s admitted at the Grenville medical center.”

“We’ll be right there in a jiffy sir, thank you.” Rose said as her voice began to shake.

“She’ll be alright” Larry Forbes assured as tears began to trickle down Rose’s cheek. She hung up and took out her cellphone to call June.

“Hey” Rose said and began to sob. Nicole noticed the distress in her voice and her facial expression, she mute the TV and stood up and walked up to Rose.

“Hey Rose, are you alright?” June asked over the phone.

“No I’m not”

“What happened?”

“It’s Scarlett” Rose said sobbing.

“and what about her?” June asked curiously.

“She’s at the hospital. The monster attacked her”

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry Rose. Where’s she admitted?”

“The Grenville medical center”

“We’ll be there in a moment. Don’t panic okay?” June said.

“She’s tough, she’ll make it.” June assured as Rose sniffle and wiped her tears.

“Y-yeah” Rose stuttered in response.

“Roseline, she’ll be fine. I’ll see you at the hospital.” June said and hung up as Rose nodded and turned to her mom who had been listening. Nicole appeared to be on the verge of breaking down as well. Rose ran up to her and pulled her into a hug as tears trickle down Nicole’s cheek.

**********

Grenville Medical Centre, Tennessee.

Patrick pulled his car to halt at the hospital’s parking lot. They all got down from the car and rushed into the hospital main building.

“Mr Sinclair” Larry Forbes said standing up to greet Patrick who wanted to ask a nurse some questions.

“Hello Mr Larry, where is she?”

“Follow me sir” Larry Forbes said and led them to Scarlett’s ward. They got in and met Nicole and Rose sitting bedside to Scarlett. Her oxygen mask was still on and a couple of Intravenous fluids were being passed into her veins. Her head was wrapped in a white bandage and the cuts on her face had been covered in brown adhesive plaster.

“I’m sorry about this Nicole. We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise.” Patrick said comforting Nicole as she nodded and smiled briefly.

“She’ll be alright.” Doris assured and held Nicole’s hands.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Rose said and pulled June into a hug completely forgetting she was standing with the aid of a crutch.

“Ouch” June whispered trying to contain the pain.

“I’m sorry”

“No, it’s fine.” June said as Rose buried her head in June’s chest. Shortly, the doctor arrived.

“Hello Mrs McCarthy, Mr Sinclair.” The doctor greeted and checked the level of the Intravenous Fluid.

“What’s her status?” Patrick enquired.

“She’s presently in a coma sir. She suffered a great deal of internal injuries and we should be really grateful Mr Larry and his men got there right on time, because any moment further than that would result in death.”

“We’ve been able to slow down the internal bleeding, we’ll run further tests and give you the feedback if anything else comes up.” The doctor said as Patrick shook hands with him.

“I could transfer her to my facility for treatments but i believe she’s in safe hands over here as well. Please do your best.” Patrick said.

“I’ll do my best Mr Sinclair. She’ll be fine.”

“Please do.”

“Excuse me sir, ma’am.” The doctor said and took his leave.

“I’ll have a word with the management, we’ll give Scarlett the best treatment and if it requires flying her away from Grenville for further treatments, we’ll do just that.” Patrick said.

“Thank you so much Mr Sinclair” Nicole said thankfully.

“It’s nothing. I’ll never forgive myself if i watch anything happen to the rest of George’s family.” He responded.

“I thought you said the monsters weren’t real?!” Rose Growled at Larry Forbes.

“They do exist and i saw it rip one of my men apart. I’m sorry i doubted at first. We’ll do everything we can to keep everyone safe.” Larry Forbes assured as Rose shot him a wicked glance.

“Mr Sinclair, Mrs Nicole i think you’ll need to see this.” Larry said and led them outside Scarlett’s ward.

“We found her camera a couple of metres away from her. We don’t know why she was with a camera at the middle of the woods at that time of the night” Larry said handing over the camera to Patrick.

“She works as an intern at the Grenville Times, I’m pretty sure she traced a story to the woods.” Nicole responded as Rose’s eyes widened. It dawned to her Scarlett had stolen her money to buy herself the new camera to pursue her story.

“That wasn’t the only thing we discovered at the site. A boy and a girl were murdered by the beast, the boy we identify to be Luke Evans and the girl Charlotte Swan.” Larry Forbes said taking June and Rose by shock.

“Luke’s dead?” Rose whispered as Larry nodded in affirmation.

“Things are getting out of hand.” Patrick said and clenched his jaw. He held the camera and began navigating it’s buttons.

“I think there’s a file inside.” He said as he took a closer look at the image on the small screen.

“A photo and a 3 seconds video clip.” He added and handed the camera over to Larry Forbes who took a look at the photo.

“It’s blur” Larry said.

“Check the video” Patrick responded as Larry pressed the next button and played the 3 seconds video clip. The zombie could been seen moving at an insane speed beyond what the camera could capture clearly.

“Its not clear enough for a view sir, those bastards are unbelievably fast.” Larry said.

“It isn’t for now, but it will. Could you please allow us keep the camera for now? This footage will be a massive lead for us in getting those zombies” Patrick said.

“No problem.” Larry responded.

“Dad, I think we can get a better result from that footage.” June said as everyone turned to her.

“It’s 3 seconds, which means the creature moved faster than what the lens could capture or what the human eye could see. All we need to do is break down the video in it’s slowest frame rate.” She added as everyone nodded at her brilliant idea.

“And how do you reckon we’ll do that?” Patrick asked.

“Leave that to me dad. We’ll get it done. All i need is a permission to use your computer room, I could use mine but i don’t have all the equipments I’ll need.” June said as Patrick handed the camera over to her.

“Do what you must, I trust you honey.” Patrick responded and gave her the nod.

“You’re good as they say.” Larry Forbes complimented as June let out a brief smile.

“Let me know if any new discovery comes up.” He added.

“Sure.” June responded.

“Rose, Nicole come on let’s go. Scarlett will be fine. You both need to rest.” Patrick said and escort them to where Nicole’s car was parked. He watched them leave the hospital premises before returning to his car to drive June and Doris home.

**********

Grenville Central High School.

Dominic approached Rose and June as they both arranged their books in their respective lockers.

“Hey guys” He greeted.

“Hey” They both chorused.

“June filled me in on what happened to Scarlett last night. I’m really sorry for not being there, I wasn’t aware.” Dominic apologised as Rose slammed her locker shut.

“It’s fine Dom.” Rose responded.

“How is she now?”

“She’s in coma at the moment, the doc assured she’ll be alright. We just hope he’s right.” Rose said facing Dominic.

“She will be fine. I believe so strongly.”

“We hope so.” Rose responded.

“June, I’m really sorry about my outburst yesterday. I wasn’t quite myself.” Dominic apologised to June.

“Dom, I’m not mad at you. I was tho but not anymore. We have bigger things at hand, we all need to work together.” June said as Dominic smiled in relief and nodded his head in affirmation to June’s statement.

“Guys, We have to get to my dad’s computer room immediately. We need to get this shit sorted out and see what information we can get from it to help us know about the zombies better.” June said shaking the camera in the air.

“How do we get there? School isn’t closed yet.” Dominic said.

“Screw the bloody school! You teleport us right to June’s home immediately.” Rose ordered as Dominic shot a glance at June.

“That’s the only way Dom. These people here don’t know what’s about to strike the town. Everyone’s life is in danger. Luke is dead, that creature killed him.” June said.

“Come on, let’s head over to Hugo’s room and we teleport from there.” Dominic said and led them to Hugo’s.

They got to Hugo’s private room behind the cafeteria counter and held hands with Dominic as he teleported them from there to June’s home.

“Come on” June said leading Dominic and Rose up the stairs to Patrick’s private room. June was busy punching in the pass code digits as Millie wagged her tail and joined them at the door.

“You have a pet now?” Rose and Dominic asked in unison, looking down at a happy Millie.

“Long story, I’ll explain later. Come in.” June said as the security door gave out a beep sound and slide open as they all got in. June switched on all the available computers and brought out a floppy disk.

“So what do we do now?” Dominic enquired looking around the sophisticated computer setup.

“Rose could you transfer the files on this camera to the floppy disk?” June asked as Rose nodded.

“Yes.” Rose responded and collected the floppy disk from June. she plugged a cord into a part of the disk and connected the other end to the camera. She clacked her fingers on the keyboard as June paced up and down the room while Dominic watched closely.

“Done.” She said after a few minutes of clacking the keyboard keys. She opened up the 3 seconds video on the computer as it appears blurry and pixelated.

“I don’t think we can get anything off this, the zombie moved way too fast for us to see anything.” Rose said looking at the footage in disappointment.

“Yes, we can.”

“Come to think of it, most modern cameras shoot videos at a frame rate they believe to operate just like the human eye.” June said and paused as Rose and Dominic both listened attentively.

“The camera shoots at 24 frames per second which is fluid for motion and sound, we need to slow down the footage to display the motion much slower than the human eye could capture. An ideal frame rate to achieve that is probably 960 frames per second if you do the math. The higher the frame per second, the slower the playback.” June said as Rose Gasped.

“960 frames per second? That’s literally impossible June.” Rose protested.

“Yes it is, hand over the floppy disk.” June demanded as Rose handed over the floppy disk. June slid out a chair and sat comfortably facing a computer screen, she inserted the floppy disk into the CPU and clacked her fingers on the keyboard. Rose shot Dominic a glance as he shrugged in response.

June opened the footage and navigate the footage, resizing it from the computer screen aspect ratio to a much more smaller aspect ratio which reduced the blur and made the pixels compact revealing a more detailed footage. She clacked her fingers on the keyboard and broke down the video’s default frame per second and further increased the figure to 960 fps. She saved the new file and wait patiently as the progress bar indicate the saving success percentage.

“I hope this works.” Rose said paying close attention to the progress bar.

Fifteen minutes after waiting for the progress bar to complete, June opened the new video file and played it. The computer executed the video in a step by step slow motion capture. The zombie could be seen speeding towards Scarlett to attack her. June paused the footage instantly and zoomed in revealing the zombie’s face.

“Oh my God!” Rose exclaimed.

“June, you’re f-----g brilliant! This is absolutely brilliant!” Dominic said in surprise at how much June had transformed the video to reveal key details.

“It’s bloody hideous!” Rose said in disgust at the zombie’s face.

“Look over here” June said zooming closer to the Zombie’s uniform, revealing a number on the uniform.

“105-A” June said tapping her finger on the table.

“What does it mean?” Dominic asked.

“That’s a hospital gown the zombie is wearing, that number means he’s patient number 105 or shall i say, zombie 105 rather.” June said turning back from the computer to face Dominic and Rose.

“Which means there are hundreds of others somewhere.” Rose said as June nodded.

“Yes. We’ll find their location and inform dad and Mr Larry immediately.”

“How?”

“Look at the bulgy veins on it’s face, that means it’s an experiment ongoing. Something big is transforming them into the monster they are.”

“Only a large scale electromagnetic field can carry out such a mass operation.” June said.

“If we trace the source of the magnetic field, we’ll most likely arrive at location the zombies are being kept.” She added.

“How do we trace the electromagnetic field? There are lots of them around.” Dominic said.

“We follow the compass, the stronger the electromagnetic field, the more accurate the compass will lead us right to it. All we have to do is follow the compass.” June said as Rose nodded. June opened up her a drawer and brought out a pair compasses.

“Let’s do this.” She said handing over one to Rose.

“Are we taking a car or?” Dominic asked.

“We go on foot. That way we’ll follow each navigation of the compass correctly.” June responded.

“June, you can’t. Your leg” Rose said.

“Leave that to me” Dominic said and squat on the floor placing his hands on June’s bad leg as a ball of green light flew around the cast in circular motion.

“What are you doing?” June asked raising a brow.

“Fixing Alex’s mess” Dominic responded.

“How?”

“I cured your asthma remember? I can do this too.” Dominic said as he paid attention on June’s leg. A couple of minutes after, June felt strength in her bones again.

“How’s it?” Dominic asked.

“I feel great! Wow! Thank you so much Dominic.” June said thankfully as Rose helped her loosen the cast.

“You’re welcome, now let’s go.” Dominic said as they all rushed out of the house following the Compass’s point direction.

June held the compass as they walked the streets of Grenville.

“June we’ve been walking for 30 minutes now, are you sure about this?” Rose said feeling weary.

“Positive. Be patient.”

“Okay.”

They kept on walking as they approached the Sinclair Special Facility Gate.

“Uhm June, we’re at your dad’s special facility.” Rose said as they all fixed their gaze on the gigantic building.

“I think it’s here.” June responded.

“What? You can’t be serious.” Rose said in disbelief.

“There’s only one way to find out.” June said as they all approached the gate and got stopped by a security.

“What do you want?” A security barked.

“I’m June Sinclair, I came to see my father.”

“Mr Sinclair is currently at the head office not here. I’ll advise you to turn around and head to the head office.” The security responded.

“Nope! I want to see him here and i demand you allow us in.”

“Not until i get a permission from Mr Sinclair Miss.”

“Fine!” June said and brought out her cellphone. She punched in Patrick’s digits as the call rang twice before he picked up.

“Yes honey.” Patrick said over the phone.

“Dad we did it. We got the details in the video and we’re at the special facility but the security won’t let me in.”

“Really? That’s great news. I knew you could do it. But why are you at the special facility?” Patrick asked.

“It’s a long story dad. Please come.”

“I’ll be there in a minute” Patrick said and hung up. June shot a glance at the security and rolled her eyes. Shortly, Patrick arrived at the facility main gate and slow down. June, Dominic and Rose hopped into the car as the gates opened.

“Can you tell me what is going on?” Patrick asked as he titled the steering gently entering into the main compound of the facility.

“It’s a long story dad, just trust me on this.” June said as Patrick pulled the car to halt at the parking lot. They all got down as Dominic and Rose scanned the environment, noticing the gigantic satellite dishes mounted on the ground.

“Do you have an idea of where you’re going now?” Patrick asked as June followed the compass’s point and lead the way. They followed behind closely as June arrived at the garage door.

“Dad, what’s behind the garage door?” June asked.

“Uhm it used to be a storage but it’s no longer in use.” Patrick responded.

“Are you sure dad?”

“Yes, why?”

“The compass detects a large scale electromagnetic field here. I think there’s something behind the door.”

“June i don’t think so. We haven’t used this section in years.”

“Dad please open the door.” June insisted.

“Okay.” Patrick said and approached the garage door, he placed his key card on the card reader as the door slide open. They walked the stairs leading downwards to the underground basement as the lights in the basement switched on revealing hundreds of patients as they lay on bed receiving the Intravenous serum into their system.

“What the hell!?” Patrick exclaimed in shock.

“Oh my God!” Rose said.

“Dad! I want the truth, Do you know about this?” June asked turning to Patrick.

“No honey, I swear.” Patrick said truthfully as Dr Thomas came from a section of the basement.

“Thomas?” Patrick said in surprise at seeing Thomas.

“Hello Patrick.”

“So it’s you? You’re the one stealing the serum, you’re creating the zombies.” Patrick said in shock.

“No Patrick, I’m creating them for him.” Thomas responded.

“What? Who?!” Patrick asked.

“For the master.” Thomas said and brought a knife from his pocket.

“What master?” Dominic asked.

“My assignment here is done.” Thomas said.

“Thomas what the hell are you doing? Put the d--n knife down!” Patrick barked.

“He is coming.” Thomas said and stabbed the knife into his neck as blood gushed out of his neck and mouth.

“Bloody hell! Oh my God!” Rose said covering her eyes as Thomas dropped dead to the floor, blood gushed out of his neck and mouth profusely as he bled the life out of his body.

Patrick stood in shock at everything that just happened. The zombies began moving their hands as they all opened their eyes revealing the bright red iris, the varicose veins thicken on their faces as the serum fluid emptied its remaining content into them.

**********

Author’s Note: I know this chapter is really lengthy, I apologise for that and i promise to split longer chapters next time in order to make reading easier.

Another very important information, this is a novel length book with lots of characters you might probably forget along the way of reading. which is why i wrote a characters profile at the first page of the story to get you familiar with each characters, their relatives and their unique abilities. You can always refer to that page to jog your memory about a character that may have skipped your mind. Thanks for reading.