The Zulu Virus Chronicles Boxset (Books 1-3)

by Steven Konkoly

  “Yes?” said the scientist, still lurking in the shadows.

  “Dr. Greenberg sends his regards. He’s an amazing man,” said Rich. “We’re lucky to have him.”

  “Can you really get us out of here?” said Chang.

  “That’s our only mission,” he said. “To keep you safe.”

  Larsen didn’t like the sound of that, given their previous conversation with this guy’s boss, not that there was anything he could do to stop them if they tried to take Chang. He could tell this was a serious group. The kind of operatives you didn’t cross unless you had a death wish.

  “Follow me,” said Larsen, hoping this wasn’t a colossal mistake.

  Chapter 43

  David didn’t like what he saw when he entered the security hub. The four operatives sent to retrieve Chang’s data and help them to the aircraft looked like bad news, casting furtive looks around the room and whispering among each other right in front of everyone. They wore the kind of hardened façades he’d only seen on career criminals. Types that would sell their own mothers to human traffickers if it got them ahead in the world. This crew would steal Chang at the first opportunity. He was convinced of it.

  “That’s everyone,” said Larsen. “This is David. He’s a local police officer—”

  The female operative sneered and whispered something to the even scarier looking guy next to her.

  “Problem?” said Larsen.

  She shook her head, remaining expressionless. Who the hell were these people?

  “David is also a former Marine and has been instrumental in getting Chang and the rest of us here alive. He’ll take point, followed by—”

  “I’m Rich. One of my people will take point,” he said. “We’re responsible for getting Chang to his aircraft safely.”

  “David knows what he’s—” started Larsen.

  “I’m fine with it,” said David. “Believe me. More than fine with it.” He didn’t intend to stray more than a few feet from his son out there.

  “All right. One of your people takes point,” said Larsen. “We’ll be moving along the eastern fence, so we’ll only have to cover one hundred and eight degrees.”

  “Negative,” said Rich. “We need to breach the fence at the closest point of approach to the aircraft. From what I understand, you can’t win a running gun battle against the infected. Not in the numbers present in the city. We need to minimize our time on the outside.”

  David tried not to react visibly. Minimize our time on the outside? How did that make any sense? They planned to walk out of here with Chang’s data after getting him to the aircraft. Or maybe they had different plans.

  “No way,” said Hoenig. “Nobody is breaching anything. I have close to two hundred people here counting on that fence.”

  “I didn’t mean blow a hole in your fence,” said Rich. “There has to be some kind of access gate. Something closer than the gate you’re proposing.”

  “There isn’t,” said Hoenig. “Due to the close proximity to the interstate, we get no pedestrian traffic from that direction, hence no need for a gate of any kind. Deliveries and executive vehicles enter through gates on the western side of the campus.”

  “All we need is a few fucking ladders tall enough to reach the top of the fence,” said one of the operatives. “Seriously. This isn’t rocket science. We’re on a one-way trip. Right?”

  “He has a point,” said Larsen.

  “Are you sure you can climb a ladder?” said the female operator.

  The man standing next to her gently nudged her with his elbow, giving her an oddly warm look under the circumstances.

  “I’m fine,” said Larsen. “Not the first time I got a boo-boo. Can we find some ladders?”

  He kept watching the two of them, noticing that they stood awfully close to each other for mercenary commandos. If he had to guess, he’d say they were a couple. A close couple.

  “Hold on,” said Hoenig, adjusting his microphone. “Fitz, you guys find the breakers yet?”

  “Negative,” said Fitzgerald, his voice amplified in the room. “We’re still stumbling around the maintenance building. It’s a big facility.”

  “Have you seen any ladders?” said Hoenig.

  “Ladders?”

  “Yes. Metal. Wood. Any kind of ladders,” said Hoenig.

  “Yeah. We just passed through the landscaping garage. All kinds of ladders in there.”

  “How tall are the fences?” said Hoenig.

  “Ten feet?” said Fitzgerald.

  “That’s about right,” said Larsen.

  “Fitz, I need you guys to grab the sturdiest-looking ladders in the garage. Anything that will reach more than fifteen feet. We’re putting Larsen and his crew over the fence. Use your best judgment.”

  “Easy enough,” said Fitzgerald. “Where do you want them?”

  “Southeast corner of campus,” said Hoenig. “We’re putting them over as close as possible to their aircraft.”

  “Give us about twenty to thirty minutes,” said Fitzgerald.

  “Thirty minutes,” said Rich. “Nothing takes twenty minutes.”

  “They’re hauling ladders three-quarters of the way across campus,” said Hoenig. “It’ll take you ten minutes to even find the maintenance building. This is a big place.”

  While the newly arrived commandos grumbled, David decided to clear the air—or muddy the waters. It all depended on your perspective.

  “Before we step off, I want to make something clear to the four of you,” said David.

  “Okay,” said Rich, with a smug look.

  “I don’t know what your game is,” said David. “But if you try to keep us off the aircraft, or snag Chang before we get to the aircraft, I will kill at least one of you. That might be all my meager police officer abilities allow me to accomplish, but I guarantee I’ll take one of you with me.”

  “Jesus,” said Rich. “You need to fucking chill out. Seriously. That’s not what this is about.”

  “Really?” said David.

  “Really,” said Rich, actually looking sympathetic for a change. “I’d love for Dr. Chang to accept our invitation to slip out of the city without risking his life in the skies above, but he’s made it clear that he’s going to fly you, your son and the other couple to safety. I’ve accepted that. My boss has accepted that. That’s the plan. No tricks. No bullshit.”

  David searched their faces, seeing nothing hostile. Most of them wore neutral masks, probably the result of doing this kind of work for years. Their leader looked genuine, though he quickly defaulted to his own version of a dispassionate expression.

  “Chang?” said David. “What do you think?”

  The scientist rubbed his face before taking a few steps toward the middle of the room.

  “Greenberg trusts them,” said Chang. “If Greenberg trusts them, so do I. And if the rumors are true, some of them have seen this before. Firsthand.”

  “Seen what?” said David.

  “Whatever is going on in this city,” said Chang. “A small unsanctioned group of American operatives are responsible for bringing this virus to Greenberg’s attention. I believe a few of them are standing in this room.”

  The operative named Rich and the man standing next to the woman nodded at the same time.

  “The mission was sanctioned by the U.S. government,” said Rich. “Pretty far off the books, but sanctioned nonetheless.”

  “You’ve seen this before?” said Larsen.

  “In Russia, but not on this scale,” said the leader. “We entered a city of less than one hundred thousand mostly infected people. The Russians crushed that city. They basically executed an entire city, infected and uninfected alike.”

  “I never heard of any of this,” said Jack Harper, who stood next to David’s son.

  “Nobody has,” said Rich. “The U.S. government. The E.U., Russia. They kept this really quiet, for obvious reasons.”

  “We’re wasting time,” said the man standing close t
o the female operative.

  “Then let’s get moving,” said Larsen.

  David interjected. “We won’t need a point man, or woman, if we’re taking the closest point of approach. Is it fair to assume that your team is extremely proficient with their rifles?”

  “Five in five times three stationary,” said Rich. “Times two moving.”

  “Say what?” said David.

  “Five headshots in five seconds against stationary targets. Three times in a row before a miss,” said Rich. “Two times in a row against moving targets.”

  “That’s pretty fucking good,” said Larsen.

  “Pretty fucking good?” said the female operator.

  “Exceptional,” said Larsen, looking at David. “Where were you going with your comment?”

  “These four will defend the primary threat axis, shifting and reacting proactively,” said David. “The rest of us will handle the easy shit.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” said Rich. “Are we done here?”

  “Almost,” said Hoenig. “Overwatch reports helicopters inbound.”

  “Fuck,” said Larsen.

  “What’s wrong?” said Rich.

  “This can’t be a coincidence,” said Larsen, glancing at his watch. “This isn’t the first flight of helicopters to spend some time in the area. They’re probably responding to the OV-10 flyover.”

  “Then we wait for them to leave,” said Rich.

  “What if they don’t?” said Emma Harper.

  “Then we take them out,” said the man still standing near the female operative.

  “Three helicopters armed with miniguns?” said Larsen.

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Rich. “My colleagues get a little excited when it comes to helicopters.”

  “We’ll wait them out,” said David. “One hundred rounds per second kind of intimidates me.”

  Everyone briefly laughed, finally cutting the tension in the room.

  Chapter 44

  Scaling the fence turned out to be far easier than Larsen expected. They placed two expandable, reinforced aluminum ladders side by side against the fence, and Rich’s team was up and over within ten seconds. They fanned out, forming a tight screen around the landing point, and scanned for targets. To help those in the group who were not equipped with night-vision gear, Fitzgerald shined a flashlight fitted with a red lens at the ground on the other side. David and his son were next, dropping to the grass on the other side and rolling to absorb the impact of the ten-foot fall. Larsen cringed when they hit the ground. No amount of rolling was going to help his leg.

  “Good knowing you, man,” said Fitzgerald, holding a hand out for him.

  He shook the security officer’s hand, patting him on the shoulder.

  “If the fence is breached,” said Larsen. “Make sure Gary collapses everything on the main auditorium and seals that section. The cafeteria is open to the outside windows.”

  “I’ve talked to him about that,” said Fitzgerald. “Good luck.”

  “You too,” said Larsen, turning to the Harpers. “Up and over.”

  He followed closely behind the couple, making sure they didn’t get caught up on the decorative spikes at the top of the fence.

  “One at a time,” he said. “Emma, you first.”

  Jack gripped her arm, steadying her as she placed her feet on the top rail of the fence, between the spikes. David stood below, coaxing her into jumping. A few moments later, Emma dropped on top of David, the two of them tumbling onto the concrete sidewalk in a tangled mess. Jack flung himself over in pursuit, landing in a deep crouch that must have pulverized half of the cartilage in his knees. The three of them were on their feet a few seconds later.

  Chang was next, nimbly rolling to his right and taking a position next to one of the new operatives. Damn. That was too smooth. David glanced up and nodded, moving toward the fence to help him. Timing David’s arrival, Larsen stepped between the spikes and launched himself forward, dropping like a rock onto the hard ground, his legs buckling to the point of near failure. He rose slowly and unsurely on his injured limb, shifting his rifle into position.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  “You handled that landing like a pro,” said Rich.

  “Not my first rodeo,” said Larsen.

  “SEAL?”

  “That obvious?”

  “I was briefed,” said Rich. “The guy on point was a SEAL.”

  “What about the rest of you?” said Larsen.

  “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

  “Sounds like the kind of story you tell with a few drinks.”

  Rich chuckled. “More like a few bottles.”

  A suppressed gunshot cut their conversation short.

  “That’s our cue,” said Rich.

  Two more snaps cut through the night.

  “Twenty plus tangos approaching from the north,” said the female operative. “Fucking helicopters started a party.”

  “I don’t think they’re headed in our direction,” said Larsen.

  The mass of people lingered in the street, stopping at the fence. A few decorative lampposts still shined deeper inside NevoTech’s campus. The sooner Hoenig figured out the lighting situation, the better. A sharp metal-against-metal screech pierced Larsen’s ears; one of the ladders scraped against the inside of the fence and slammed into the ground. One of the security guards must have knocked it over.

  “They’re headed in our direction now,” she said.

  Rich’s team moved without any further coordination, creating a human shield facing north along East Street. They fired methodically and rapidly, their suppressors quieter than anything Larsen knew existed. Within ten seconds, the mass of approaching crazies had been stopped dead in their tracks. Literally. Several infected citizens poured onto the street, reacting to the cries of the fallen, and were dispatched just as quickly. The efficiency of their gunfire was unparalleled. The street quieted, remaining still—until more people appeared in the distance, followed by more gunshots and screaming.

  “I suggest we get out of here,” said Rich.

  “David, it’s you, me and Josh screening the front,” said Larsen. “Rich’s people will cover the city threat.”

  “Moving out,” said David before starting across East Street.

  David took them through the small park they had used to hide after leaving Chang’s aircraft. The body of the man Larsen had shot between the eyes this morning lay undisturbed at the opposite end of the grassy flat, his feet still in the bushes where he’d suddenly emerged.

  Larsen glanced around, making sure the park was empty. He paused long enough to guide Jack and Emma Harper toward David and Joshua.

  “Can you guys see at all?” said Larsen.

  “Barely,” said Jack. “But enough to follow.”

  “Stay as close as you can to David,” said Larsen. “I’ll be right behind you. Chang?”

  “Right here,” said Chang, appearing to his left.

  “Get in front of me,” said Larsen, grabbing Chang’s vest and tugging him forward. “Follow the Harpers.”

  “I can’t see a thing,” said Chang.

  “You’ll be fine. Once we get out of this little park, we’ll head down the embankment to your airplane. Do not approach the plane until we clear the area around it,” said Larsen before whispering forcefully over his shoulder, “How are we doing back there?”

  Two operatives pushed through the bushes into the park, one of them splitting off to the right, where the dead body lay, the other heading in his direction.

  “So far so good,” said Rich. “We’re mopping up stragglers as they appear, but I think we made a relatively clean break. They seem more focused on the fence.”

  “It’s those damn lights on campus,” said Larsen.

  “Not our problem,” said Rich. “I’m going to leave my team in the park for now. They can cover the city approaches. We just have to worry about the interstate. Let’s go.”
>
  They broke through the bushes, heading down the grassy embankment toward the rest of the group. David and Joshua had already reached the airplane, spreading out to clear the exterior. Chang waited with the Harpers on the embankment.

  “He really landed a fucking plane on the interstate?” said Rich.

  “Yeah,” said Larsen. “It was either that or face off against an Apache helicopter. I figured we were dead either way.”

  “You probably should be,” said Rich. “How is he going to take off without lights?”

  “The aircraft should have taxi lights,” said Larsen.

  “I meant runway lights,” said Rich. “At a hundred and fifty miles per hour, I don’t think taxi lights are going to be much use.”

  They reached Chang and the Harpers a few seconds later.

  “You have headlights, right?” said Larsen.

  “Taxi and landing lights,” said Chang.

  “Is that enough to take off?” said Larsen.

  “It’s a straight length of interstate,” said Chang. “As long as it’s still clear, I just need to see the lines right in front of me.”

  “Fuck,” muttered Rich.

  “I have to admit, this sounded better in theory than in reality,” said Larsen.

  “I’m just throwing this out there. So don’t read anything into it,” said Rich. “We can get all of you out of here on foot. It’ll take a good twenty-four to forty-eight hours to do it right, but—I don’t think I’d want to take my chances flying out.”

  A quick whistle drew his attention to the airplane. David stood in front of the propeller, giving him a thumbs-up.

  “Chang?” said Larsen. “It’s up to you. I’m good with either option.”

  “It’s not just up to me,” said Chang. “Everyone gets a say. Jack? Emma?”

  Jack shrugged his shoulders. “Can you do it without lights?”

  “As long as the highway is clear.”

  Larsen peered west down Interstate 70. “There’s a car in the breakdown lane about four hundred yards from this overpass.”

  “I can hug the left until we get past it,” said Chang. “Throttle up after that. We’ll have plenty of highway left for the takeoff.”