Title: Fun With Entomological Eugenics.
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own Eureka.
Characters: Jack, Zane, minor Tess, Jo.
Words: 6850
Prompt: Experiments run amok create unexpected problems and...Zombies?
Fandom: Eureka
Pairing: Implied Jack/Zane, mentioned Jack/Tess, Zane/Jo.
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Language, Sexual Situation.
Summary: A slow day isn't what it appears to be. Then again, it never is.
Author's Note: Spoilers up to 3x16 - 'You Don't Know Jack'.
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Sighing, Jack glanced about the sheriff's office. Life was looking to go pretty smooth today. Zoey was on a fieldtrip to Portland for the next ten hours. Jo was off on a routine patrol and would show up just in time for lunch. No one had called to claim his services. It was ten a.m. on a Tuesday and everything was quiet.
Of course, that meant at any moment something was going to happen to ruin his life for the next week. Until that happened, though, he was going to take his time and enjoy the quiet.
Sitting back in his chair, he actually smiled as it creaked. For once, it was the normal and mundane problem that he only had to deal with. That actually felt nice.
Tentatively, he put a single booted foot up on his desk. He glanced over at the door to see if now would be the time someone would come barging in. When nothing happened, he was almost disappointed. Almost. Not bothering to give whoever a second chance, he put both feet up and sat back.
Nothing happened.
Looking to the door again, he frowned. In any other place in the world someone might have gotten away with calling him paranoid. Nothing bad was going to happen. Everything outside was quiet.
And that was the sure fire kiss off death. Whenever things got quiet in Eureka, some big shit was going down. Of course, as the Sheriff in a town where the walls literally had ears, he couldn't call it that. Big crap just didn't have the right impact.
Putting his hands up behind his head, Jack laced his fingers together. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen. He might as well enjoy the moments of free time before...whatever was going to happen.
Checking his watch made him sigh. Any moment now. Things were going to go crazy and once again, he would have to come racing to save the day. That's what he did. He was the Sheriff, he was the white knight in shiny armor.
Any time now.
He looked to the door in expectation. The sound of crickets chirping made him frown. Dropping his head back against the headrest, he groaned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snorting awake, he blinked blearily up at the ceiling. The shadows had passed over head but he couldn't tell how long he had been asleep. He yawned as he reached up to run a hand over his eyes. They came away with a slight crud making him frown.
The air had to be dusty and for sleep to build up like that. Since he was in the closed there had to be an internal cause. Things never got that kind of dirty, Jo would shoot him before she let it. The air filtration system must have been on the fritz.
Jack shuddered at the idea of having to go down in the tunnels again. That was one place he never hoped to see ever again. As a matter of fact, he was pretty much sick of all underground complexes.
Dragging his feet off the desk, he sat up in his chair. He threw out his arms to the sides to stretch off in another yawn. He finished with a loud moan. That done, he looked over at Jo's desk.
It was as empty as it had been since he arrived that morning. This made him frown.
He realized there were some pretty far flung residences to the town's scientists, but she should have been back by now. Jo never left the station for very long without checking in with him first. Figuring she might have left a note, he looked on his desk. There was nothing that hadn't been there when he fell asleep.
Sighing, he reached in to his front pocket and pulled out his cellphone. Jo's was the third number in the autodial. He put the speaker to his ear and waited while it rang.
After four rings, the phone went to voice mail. "This is Lupo. I'm not available, obviously. Leave a message if it's an emergency."
Rolling his eyes, Jack waited for the beep. "Hey, Jo, I think you've missed a check in or two. Give me a call just to be sure everything's all right. Bye." He closed the phone with a sigh.
This already had the makings of a typical Eureka mishap.
The call made, Jack knew there were a couple options open to him in locating her. Since he had only just called her, he decided to go it casual for now. After all, there was no reason to panic, yet. If she hadn't gotten in touch with him in a hour, then he would panic.
The easiest thing to do in the mean time would be a patrol of the town. That meant he had to get up. He had to get his lazy ass out of the chair and moving.
After two minutes he still hadn't moved. Checking his watch, he frowned at the time. It was thirty minutes after noon. That meant he had been asleep for over two hours. Another bad omen.
Something bad was definitely going down in the town of Eureka. "Oh, crap."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A gentle breeze picked up the fringe of his hair as he stepped out of the sheriff's office. It was a little longer than he normally wore it only for the simple fact that lately he had been too tired to have it cut.
The cool air smelled of dry leaves as it tickled his nose. Before he knew it his eyes were watering and crossing while he sucked in a quick breath. With a chest cracking squeeze, he exhaled in a violent sneeze.
That was the bad thing about the changing weather. Rubbing at his nose he groaned softly. Chirping crickets made him wistful for Summer. Fall was creeping up on them early this year and would spell doom for the little insects. As much as he had liked it as a kid, he was dreading it now.
It wouldn't be too long before snow was piling knee deep on the sidewalks. Well, he smirked, until one of the many snow crawlers came along. There was at least one advantage to living in a town of geniuses.
Turning his head to the right, he looked down the sidewalk to Cafe Diem. The outside tables were surprisingly empty for this time of day. He would have figured that people would be taking advantage of the last warm days before jackets became the norm.
A chill ran up his spine that had nothing to do with the air. It was just a hunch, but whatever might have kept the populous from sitting outside might also be why Jo hadn't checked in.
He started towards the cafe. As he walked, he looked up and down the street. The nagging feeling increased with each step. He couldn't be sure what it was but something was definitely off.
By the time he reached the front of Vicent's cafe his face was sore from the pinched expression. He stopped at the window to look inside first before going in. What he saw through the dusty panes gave him a heart stopping pause.
The cafe was empty.
His fingers were scrambling for the phone in his pocket before he even registered the urge. Looking at the display, he found that it had a full signal strength. The charge was complete. There were no waiting messages.
Swallowing, he flipped it open and hit the autodial for one. There was no response from Zoey's phone after four rings.
His jaw clenching, Jack hung up and hit the second number on his list. His hand shook a little as he put the phone to his ear. He waited through four rings and then the voice mail before he hung up on Allison's cell.
Closing his phone, he felt numb and out of breath. It took three tries to get the phone back in his pocket. Taking a shuddering breath, he made himself remain calm. There was no reason to panic yet. There had to be a very good reason for all of this.
And he was certain that it laid back at GD's doorstep.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Turning off the main road, Jack slowed down so he could watch the scenery better. There wasn't anything wrong that he noticed right away. Everything along the drive to GD so far looked normal. The ice ball that had formed in the pit of his stomach started to thaw.
Feeling a little foolish, he eased his grip on the wheel. After nearly fifteen minutes of tightly holding it his knuckles ached.
The road looked pretty much as it had for the past two years. The trees on both sides had recovered well from the crushing forces last month. At least the gaps provided more sunlight and alleviated the gloomy feel. He wondered how long before...whatever her name was filled them with new trees.
He squinted as the bridge became visible in the distance. Trying to discern the security barrier put a strain on his eyes. Jack sat back when he realized it was futile. Besides, he could wait a lousy two minutes to scare the hell out of himself with the hologram.
Even after all this time driving through it still gave him a pause. He was never quite sure how he had managed to keep from soiling his pants the first time Allison brought him there. That made him frown. He had never really 'thanked' her for scaring the living daylight out of him.
Smiling, he eased up on the gas a little more as the bridge became visible. His foot slipped completely from the pedal the moment he got a clear sight of it. By the time his Jeep reached the bridge it had rolled to a complete stop.
Jaw hanging open, Jack stared at the whole bridge. Where should have been the illusion of an old broken bridge was a solidly built structure. It was all there, perfectly normal looking.
That nagging feeling from earlier returned with a vengeance. Almost out of pure morbid curiosity, Jack took control of his Jeep once more. Giving it a little gas, he eased his cruiser over the bridge. The guard post on the other side was dark as he approached and there was no one manning the gate.
Pulling up to the entrance he slowed down to look at the gate. Nothing happened. His heart leapt in to his throat as he thought of the implications.
"This is not good." He spoke the words aloud more to dispel the creeping quiet than out any real need. Since it was only him in the car, and the whole town apparently, there was no one else to say it to. At least it made him feel better.
Opening the door, he hoped everything was working. He would hate to get caught in that invisible gravity net. Crushed was not a good look for his cruiser. The noise of nature was almost deafening from the silence of human activity. Crickets had never sounded so ominous.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Pulling in to the main parking lot for GD Jack wasn't sure how to feel. There were plenty of cars for this time of day. That wasn't the problem. It was the lack of activity that bothered him.
The parking lot and surrounding area was devoid of human life. He kept looking even as he pulled in to the spot closest to the entrance. Once parked, he was reluctant to even turn off the engine as he knew instinctively it would be quiet.
There was no one left in the town, why should this be any different?
Eventually, he had no other choice but to brave the silence and turn the engine off. It wasn't as bad as he thought.
Shaking his head, he grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. The air was a little cooler here than back in town, but that was normal. He heard the hum of the generators and the other machines working. There was just nothing else to go along with it.
It was true then. He was all alone.
Swallowing, he climbed out of the Jeep. He felt a little unsteady on his feet when he slid out but other wise was okay. Unfortunately, this only added to the surrealness of it all.
Putting on a brave front for anyone who might actually be looking, or watching the security footage later, he closed the car door behind him. He paused to adjust his uniform to give himself more time. It wasn't that he was afraid to go inside and find out what had happened.
He was just really, extremely reluctant.