The Z Directive (Book 2): Mutation

by Thompson, Chris

  The lights flickered and the sound was issued again, the source decidedly closer than it was the first time.

  “Jack, where’s that sound coming from?” Tyrone asked.

  “Not sure.”

  “Doesn’t sound like a normal one.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Jack, what’s wrong?” Emma asked urgently over the radio.

  “Sounds like a different type of infected on this floor,” Jack responded, while still peering around the corner. He saw movement and tucked back a little, though still cautiously looking for the source of the sound. Then the lights flickered and the corridor went completely dark for a few seconds, as if to foretell the arrival of the new and perhaps more deadly antagonist, but when the lights returned all Jack saw was a pair of lab coat wearing infected shuffling out from around a corner at the far end of the laboratory. They stumbled forward, stopping in the intersection and looking around aimlessly. Jack leant back to obscure himself as much as possible, but guardedly kept watching because he was certain something else was coming. There was another terrible, muffled groaning that made him feel it was a sound of pain more than anything else, and then he saw a leg take a step forward into the junction. It was massively muscled, so much so that there were rips in the gray uniform and part of its boot had burst open to reveal skin that was hued red. Another leg stepped into view - equally bulging - and with it came the rest of the creature it was attached to.

  “Oh shit,” Jack muttered as his awestruck gaze fell upon the monstrosity. It was so powerfully built it took several seconds for Jack to fully recognize it as human. The torso was even more grotesquely muscular than the legs, but that wasn’t the most alarming thing, what disturbed Jack more was the strangeness of the hands. There appeared to be extremely long, bony protuberances where the fingers of a normal hand would have been, except these were smooth and inflexible, and so long they were barely above the floor. In fact, the fiend sagged as it walked and its massive talons scraped along the metallic surface. It was definitely the source of the strange new sound, as it was issued again as the monster came to a stop at the junction. Its jaw didn’t open when it roared and, unlike a number of other infected Jack had seen, it didn’t snap its jaws at the air or twitch in the same way. Instead, it simply turned around, doing a full, slow circle counter clockwise, stopping for a brief second when its eyes looked towards Jack’s position. Jack's hands gripped his weapon tightly, thinking it might have been about to start advancing towards him. However, it simply turned away and started to follow the other infected. A half dozen more creatures appeared in the junction behind it, following the muffled groans of the monster as it went down the corridor, to disappear from Jack’s view.

  “What did you see?” Tyrone asked.

  “Definitely something new. It’s moving off to our right, let’s see if we can get ahead of it by heading back the way we came then going down the corridor grid,” Jack instructed, turning and retracing his steps to eventually pass by the corridor that led to the elevator lobby and head down the right passage to travel parallel with the infected group. Eventually, they reached another T-junction, with the left turn being much like the other. He could see ‘Laboratory 3’ written on the glass wall of another laboratory, which was visually indistinct from the other. After a few minutes he saw the pair of infected which had advanced in front of the muscle-bound one, then the creature itself. It seemed to be moving towards something, but Jack had no idea what it was, so he waited for the creature and the other infected to pass through the intersection, and once they were clear, led his team forward. They followed the undead group until they reached the farthest corner of the third laboratory. Once there, he saw there was a turn to the left, and when he looked down it he was surprised to find a large metal door in the center of the corridor, reminiscent of a bank vault door from Jack’s limited perspective. The regular infected appeared and bumped up against the door and slowly, they reached up with their hands and began to exert their strength against it, as though trying to push it inwards. Then came the half dozen others he’d spotted, making Jack wonder if the muscular one had taken a different avenue. The zombies all began to push against the door, which they only did in the presence of the living. Then he heard the pained, muffled groan of the new creature and it slowly moved into frame.

  “It’s here,” Jack reported. Tyrone and Smith moved up beside Jack and both took a quick peek down the corridor at the new creature.

  “That’s one ugly son of a bitch,” Tyrone whispered as he stepped back.

  “Because the other infected are so attractive,” Smith commented with heavy sarcasm dripping from her words. Tyrone looked at her severely. “Sorry, sir. Too much time with Bridges.”

  The big infected neared the door, swatting one regular infected out of the way with its massive left hand, then it reared back with its right and swung it overhead in a heavy chop. Jack expected the bony-protuberances to be knocked back from the heavy metal door, but to his incredible surprise they seemed to carve into the metal, slicing down quickly and powerfully until they came to a stop and then it made a more exasperated, pained roar from its seemingly locked jaws and ripped them free, shards of metal tearing away in the process.

  “Okay, that’s new,” Jack declared. “It’s carving into the door.”

  “I heard some rumors that there was a new type of infected that were carving into the hatches of tanks and other armored vehicles, but I thought that was just shit people were saying,” Tyrone said. He leant forward and they watched as the creature repeated its action, carving deeper into the door and ripping strips of metal away. It began to attack more earnestly, cleaving into the door with both hands and ripping away larger strips with each rending attack. Jack was inclined to believe it was best to avoid the creature for now, to secure the rest of the laboratory and then deal with the new monster when they had to. Then he heard something that sounded like a scream. It was faint and obscured, as though it was behind a... door.

  “There are definitely people on the other side of whatever that vault door is,” Jack declared.

  “Sounds like it,” Tyrone confirmed.

  “We going in?” Smith wanted to know.

  “I don’t think we have a choice. Whoever’s on the other side of that door might have more information than Jeff if they worked on this floor,” Jack responded.

  With a deep breath to steady himself, Jack stepped out from around the corner with his weapon raised.

  “Take boney out first?” Tyrone asked softly.

  “You and I take boney. Smith, pick off the others,” Jack instructed.

  All three stepped out from around the corner, weapons raised and ready to fire. Jack was near the left wall, Tyrone in the middle, with Smith on his right by the opposite wall. Jack and Tyrone fired almost at the same time, both aiming at the head of the ‘boney’ as it was now being termed. Their shots hit it square in the side of the skull, but unlike the other targets they had killed, the boney’s head was simply forced to the side for a moment. It stopped, mid swipe and began to turn towards the source of the gunshots. Jack and Tyrone fired again, their shots ringing out in tandem as they continued to advance towards the infected group. Their bullets slammed into its skull, but none of them seemed to be penetrating its cranium. In the same time frame, Smith had devastated a trio of the regular infected and was preparing to take down another. The boney let out an awful, muffled howl and turned its body towards Jack and the others. They stopped advancing but continued firing, drilling shot after shot into its head - one exploding through its right eye - and yet it was still upright and seemingly unstoppable.

  “Jack?” Tyrone questioned, no doubt wondering what they were going to do about their new foe.

  “I don’t know!” Jack responded.

  The boney started forward, rearing its claw hands back then spreading them wide, the claws scraping along the metal of the walls as it began to take up a more aggressive pace. No longer did it shamble or shuffle,
it was more of a powerful walk that was just shy of a jog as it stalked towards them. Jack and Tyrone started to retreat, Smith following them quickly as they returned to the corner they had advanced around only a few moments earlier. The three were now firing on the advancing boney, holding their position at the turn for as long as they dared. Shots were drilled into its skull, upper torso, and into its legs in an attempt to find a weakness. The bullets easily tore through its flesh, the projectiles ripping the grotesque muscle mass apart with ease, but when they came into contact with the skeletal structure of the creature they were repelled. Unable to cut out its knees, secure a killshot to the head, or tear through the spinal cord with concentrated fire to the torso, the trio were forced to retreat back around the corner. Suddenly the creature broke into a run, lunging forward with a powerful swipe from its right claw-hand, to rip strips and chunks of metal free from the corner they had withdrawn around.

  “We’re going to need a plan B real fucking soon!” Tyrone announced as he ejected his spent magazine, reloading the next as they backed down the corridor. Jack’s mind raced with thoughts he desperately tried to condense into something useful. If the bones were too hard to be penetrated by gunfire then they’d need to do something else. An explosive seemed like a good idea, but they weren’t packing any grenades. Another thought occurred to him in the same instant: if they couldn’t gun the creature down, then burning it might be an option either with fire or a chemical. Their retreat was bringing them back towards the turn off, so Jack made a quick, tactical decision.

  “Ty, Smith, get back to lab one and see if you can find something to burn this son of a bitch. I’m going to try to lure it away,” Jack ordered.

  “Burn it with what?” Tyrone wanted to know.

  “Anything that’ll weaken its muscle mass! Whatever that shit is that can carve through metal has got be heavy, so if it can’t support its own weight—”

  “I’ve got it!” Tyrone responded.

  They came upon the turn off for laboratory three and Jack started down it, ejecting his magazine and reloading a fresh one. It was clear of regular infected, so he turned back and fired on the boney, ensuring it focused on him. Dropping its claw arms, it broke into a run. On the one hand, Jack was happy that his plan had succeeded and he had successfully lured the beast away from Smith and Tyrone - giving them the opportunity to concoct something to stop the creature altogether. On the other, now he was being pursued by a nigh-unstoppable beast and he had no idea how long he would have to keep it occupied. With nothing else to do, Jack turned and started to run. He focused ahead and looked with his peripheral vision into the lab on his right. It was occupied by a dozen or so infected that were being drawn to the windows by the commotion outside: the fleeing soldier and the pursuing boney, which issued another muffled howl. Jack glanced back and saw it was drawing closer rearing back for a deadly swipe with its right hand. He ducked down moments before the strike, getting low to the ground while still moving forwards. The claw hand cleaved into the glass. shattering a pane in the process before it passed over Jack. It roared its frustration and swung with its left arm, cleaving into the steel wall to make an ear-piercing screech as it scraped across it. The attacks were coming in lower - low enough to hit him. Jack darted to the right, accelerating with a burst of speed that was just fast enough to get him ahead of a cleaving strike into the steel floor. Its claws became embedded and the beast was slowed for a few moments as it struggled to rip them free. Jack used the time to put some distance between himself and the monster, causing it to howl in frustration.

  Closing in on the cross junction ahead, Jack risked a brief look back to see the boney was still stuck in the ground, but when he turned ahead an undead was shuffling around the corner directly in his path. He slammed into the creature, barreling it to the ground and stumbling as he nearly fell.

  “Shit!” Jack exclaimed, though it was more in relief that he had managed to keep his footing. He executed the infected with a single shot to the head, turning to see another trio gunning for him. Jack lined up the necessary shots to clear his current threats, but then a glance told him the boney had disentangled itself from the floor and was starting to move again.

  “Doctor Reed, do you know how to make some kind of acid?” Tyrone asked over the radio.

  “What do you mean?” she responded.

  “We need a compound to dissolve the flesh off an undead.”

  “Why?”

  “Doctor, please.”

  Emma began to relay information on chemicals they could look for, but Jack could only pay scant attention. A nearby screech alerted him to an imminent assault from a runner. He turned at the last moment to see it coming at him from his left. He dodged, running down the corridor away from laboratory three as well as the boney just as the runner lunged towards him. It landed in the junction just as the boney swiped with its massive claws, easily slicing through the flesh of the runner, turning it into lumps of quivering flesh.

  Starting to move again, Jack kept up enough speed to stay ahead of the fiend, but he was now drifting into a part of the floor they’d not even seen. He was passing by laboratory four, a metal wall on his left likely housing a room kept for some unknown purpose. He knew if Tyrone and Smith were searching for chemicals it meant they must have cleared the first lab of enemies; he hoped this meant it was just a matter of time before they had something they could use.

  A full pane of glass in the wall of laboratory four had been shattered outward, and when he looked through the remaining panes, he saw there were infected within already shuffling towards it. One had just placed its hand on the sharp glass, pulling itself out and seemingly oblivious to the cut in its hand that the razor edge had caused. Jack lined up a shot and executed it without breaking his stride, the gory expulsion splashing back onto the zombie behind it. The muffled roar from the boney came again, closer and startling in its suddenness. Jack lowered his weapon and started to run faster and harder. He neared the edge of laboratory four, which led to a T-junction. Taking the right would eventually loop back to the vault door and the ground he had already covered. Nearing the space, and looking to the left, Jack saw that going in that direction would deliver him into the jaws and claws of a dozen infected that were closing in. He didn’t have time to kill them nor did he think he could barrel his way through, so instead Jack went right. He could still hear the instructions Emma was giving over the radio, but it seemed as though their progress was limited.

  “Laboratories sometimes have chemical supply closets, one of you should go check for that,” Emma suggested.

  “I’m on it!” Smith reported. He didn’t like the idea that the team was splitting up further, but if it was necessary he knew Smith could handle herself.

  Starting to feel a little winded, Jack was nearing the corner of laboratory four; one turn to the right and he would pass down its length again, and then he’d be back at the vault door. He rounded the corner, and even though the lights flickered on and off several times, it was apparent that the damaged vault door was in fact open now; whoever had been inside had escaped and was now roaming around the floor. He hoped they hadn’t run into other infected, but there was no time to wonder about where they had gone. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Jack started to run down towards the vault, slowing a little when he detected the stomping was slowing and becoming more distant. He heard a howling and a shattering sound, suggesting it had broken through another window.

  “Ty, Smith, I’ve lost sight of the boney. Be on the lookout,” Jack reported, still advancing towards the vault door, but at more of a slow jog than a full run. He wanted to conserve his energy for when the big one or the group he’d seen behind him caught up. Jack turned a little, looking back for the dozen or so that he’d seen, but there was nothing. Further, the corridor was completely clear. They hadn’t killed all of the infected that had been following the boney initially, but they weren’t even in sight now, so Jack wasn’t sure where they had wandered off to. Despi
te the size of the labs, this floor didn’t seem as though it was as large as the one above, meaning there was more chance that he’d run into them sooner or later. He brought his weapon to a half ready position as he neared the halfway point to the lab, looking ahead for any indication that the zombies were lingering near the vault - just as a terrible howling issued from the wall to the right of him. This was followed almost immediately by an explosion of metal as a section of the wall was torn open. The boney had used its incredible weight and power to punch straight through, effectively cutting Jack off in a display of intellect he’d never seen from the infected. It was rearing its claw back to swipe at him, and with barely any time to react, Jack dropped down to his knees, the smoothness of the floor allowing him to carry his forward momentum into a slide while leaning back in to avoid the swipe. As soon as he was clear, Jack scrambled back to his feet and broke into a sprint, powering towards the vault door.

  “I’ve found the closet, Reed, what am I looking for?” Smith demanded over the radio.

  Behind Jack, the boney roared furiously, its heavy stomping quickening as the creature began to surge after him. Reaching the vault door, Jack went around it and briefly looked inside. It seemed to lead to a series of smaller, glass fronted rooms - about a dozen in total, six on each side - that resembled cells. At the far end was another laboratory, visible through floor to ceiling glass walls on either side of a pair of glass doors. Jack considered which way to go, and decided to head inside the vault area.