Death Squad (Book 3): Zombie Nation

by Dalton, Charlie

  A regular person would have died already. There was no way a human body could survive such injuries. The virus had some advantages.

  “What you want to do?” Guy said to Emin. “You can’t walk around like this.”

  “Wanna bet?”

  She pushed herself up into a sitting position. No small feat in itself. The bones snapped and crunched under the pressure. She sounded like Hawk. “Snap me into place. First Aid me.”

  “We need to get you to a hospital,” Guy said. “There’s nothing we can do with them.”

  “No regular hospital will take me. You know that.”

  With their infected blood and so many injured and dying patients around, a hospital was the last place for someone like her.

  Tommy and Guy shared a look. They didn’t much relish snapping their friend’s bones in place.

  “You guys have wanted to grab my body this whole time,” Emin said. “Now I give you permission and you don’t want to do it?”

  “I never wanted to grab you,” Guy said.

  Emin folded her arms and arched an eyebrow. “You’re convincing nobody, buddy.”

  They gripped her shoulders and snapped them into place. The sound made Tommy’s stomach rile. Emin worked them further into their sockets. Then she nodded to the snapped bones of her legs.

  Tommy picked up lumps of solid wood and metal. He handed half to Guy.

  “What do you want to do with these?” Guy said.

  “Strap them around her legs.”

  Guy shook his head. “This isn’t going to work.”

  “It’d better,” Emin said. “Otherwise I’ll be sunbathing here for a long time. Just hurry up and do it.”

  Emin leaned over and wrapped her hands over her smashed shins. The bones shifted beneath her fingers. Tommy placed a splint alongside them and then added more at regular intervals around her leg. He lashed them together with discarded wire.

  Guy did the same on his side. “Boy, am I glad that’s over. I thought I was going to hurl.”

  “It ain’t over.” Emin raised her arms above her head. “Ribs.”

  The two men shared a curdled look. They bent down and lashed her ribs into place.

  Emin extended her arms. “Help me up.”

  Jimmy fetched a pair of thick sticks over. They tucked them under Emin’s arms as she got to her feet.

  She appraised her legs, moving her ankles in circles. “Not bad.”

  Not bad? It looked like something from a horror movie.

  Emin braced her weight on her crutches. Not fast, but good enough. She looked at up at the others. “Well? What happens now?”

  “There’s only one place we can go,” Tommy said. “Into the base. We have to find Colonel Maxwell.”

  “What about Sam and Hawk? They’re trapped inside the city someplace. They’ll need our help.”

  A viper coiled in Tommy’s stomach. He peered at distant smokestacks beyond the wall. Was his Sam safe? What plans would the Architect have for her? And Hawk. . . was he even still alive? He shook his head. Pointless questions that would drive him crazy if he let them. Stop the virus, and they help everybody—including Sam and Hawk.

  “They’re going to have to take care of themselves for a little while longer,” he said.

  The words choked him. Duty first. Love last.

  * * *

  The fiery smokestacks erupted from a dozen temporary military tents, the smoke blackening the sky. A large jet engine protruded amidst the encampment. A wheel on the turbine turned with the full breathy strength of the wind.

  “The colonel should be around here somewhere.” Tommy led the others to the center of the camp. “This is the command tent. Everyone spread out and look for him.”

  Uniformed body parts lay scattered, doused with dark overlapping pools of blood.

  A man screamed.

  It might be Colonel Maxwell. Tommy shook his head. It didn’t matter who it was. Someone needed help.

  He ran in the voice’s direction. The yell grew louder.

  The man was buried beneath a ton of rubble. Only his top half jutted out. His legs were trapped beneath the heavy turbine engine. He rolled his head to one side and peered up at Tommy’s approach.

  The man’s mouth curled into an arch of fear. It’s me, Tommy thought. He thinks I’m a zombie.

  The man screamed louder still and pushed against the engine that’d crushed him.

  Tommy fell to his knees. “It’s all right. I’m not a zombie.”

  The man screamed for another minute before Tommy’s words hit their mark.

  “You’re crushed beneath this engine. There’s no way to get you out.”

  “It’s. . . all right. . .” the soldier said. “I can’t feel it anyway. I didn’t want one of those things. . . feasting on me.”

  When a Walker felt no pain, it was commonplace. When a normal man couldn’t feel anything, it was of grave concern.

  “Please, pull me out.”

  The man must have not heard him correctly. “If I pull you out, you’ll bleed to death.”

  “I don’t care. Pull me from this place. Let me look upon the sky one last time.”

  The man’s view was obstructed by the engine. No matter how far he arched his neck, he couldn’t see the sky. Tommy had to pull the man out. He’d end up tearing him at the waist.

  Tommy bent down to get a good grip on the man. “Are you sure about this?”

  “I’m dead anyway, brother.”

  Tommy hooked the man under his arms and pulled. The sound was sickening. The man’s innards spilled from his soft torn underbelly. A small smile formed on the man’s lips as he gazed at the sky.

  “Do you know where the colonel is?” Tommy said, sorry for interrupting the man’s final moments. “He should have been in the command tent.”

  The soldier didn’t take his eyes off the distant blinking dots, just beginning to show themselves. “He came outside when we heard the engine passing overhead. . . I don’t know what happened to him after that.”

  “Your name,” Tommy said. “You never told me your name.”

  And he never would. His eyes had already turned cold.

  * * *

  A scream.

  Tommy turned and ran toward it. By the time he reached it, Emin, Jimmy, and Guy were already there.

  They caught a potentially horrific scene in the nick of time. A woman cradled a pair of young girls in her arms. A gang of zombies wished to do the same to her.

  The zombies pressed forward. There were too many of them for her to deal with by herself. She was cornered.

  Tommy and his gang sprang into action. Emin jabbed at them with her crutches and smacked them over the head when the opportunity presented itself. Once they were down, she beat them repeatedly over the head. Due to her injuries, it also left her open to attack.

  Guy took on the role of protector. He hefted a large rock to bash the creatures over the head with. He downed one before rushing over to deal with a third.

  Tommy had no weapons save his bare hands. He formed fists, thumbs protruding. He rushed the zombies. He wrapped his hands around the creature’s head and inserted his thumbs into its eyes, right down to the knuckles. He felt its brain. The creature struggled. Tommy knew he hit the sweet spot when the creature’s limbs went limp.

  Tommy dropped the creature before moving onto the final one. It took it from behind and wrapped his hand around its chin, snapping the neck back with a forceful movement. It collapsed to the ground.

  The young woman peered at each of them in turn, no doubt concerned about their appearance. She straightened up and maintained a tight hold of her sharp stick. “Thank you. . . for your assistance. I guess you’re the Death Squad?”

  Tommy nodded, surprised anyone outside their unit was aware of their existence. “We won’t keep you long. You need to get somewhere safe. We’re looking for Colonel Maxwell. We know he was near the command center when the plane fell.”

  The woman eyed them. “I wouldn�
��t hold out much hope of finding him alive.”

  “We need to try.”

  The woman looked them over one last time before nodding her assent. She pointed to a jumbled collection of detritus. A large section of the plane’s engine had collapsed right there on top of the command center.

  The woman took the little girls by the hand and led them away.

  “You’re welcome,” Guy said flatly.

  Tommy approached the wing and began to search.

  6.

  SAM

  SHINK!

  The instant Sam heard that sound, she bolted upright and rolled out of bed. She rushed to the door and fell to her hands and knees before it.

  “Hello?” she said. “Is someone there?”

  The boots were visible, as were the trouser legs of the military uniform.

  “Bowl.” The soldier’s voice was deep.

  Hearing it brought a great sense of relief.

  Sam reached for her bowl but didn’t extend it. “Can you help me? There’s been a mistake. I’m a research scientist. I’m not meant to be here—”

  “Bowl. Or your food’s on the floor.”

  So much for developing a relationship with her guard. As she extended her bowl, she leaned forward to peer through the slot at the man’s face. She couldn’t get enough of an angle to see it. He ladled the food into her bowl. A good portion of the soup sloshed onto the floor.

  “Can you get a message out to someone for me?” Sam said. “Tell them I’m in here and—”

  The slot slid shut.

  Alone once again. She picked up the bowl and moved to her bed. She clutched the lukewarm stew close. It was watery and packed with overcooked vegetables. She stared at the wall. She’d never felt more helpless her entire life.

  Her hunger became too much and she supped on her poor excuse for a stew.

  * * *

  It wasn’t until several hours later, lying prone on the bed in a drowsy state that she heard a new noise.

  The creak of a hinge begging for a fresh drop of oil. Heavy footsteps grew louder as they approached her bed. Sam imagined she was on the fringes of an awful dream that replicated the nightmare she found herself living.

  Tap tap tap tap tap.

  Was Felix attempting to contact her again?

  “Up.” The same deep commanding voice.

  Sam rolled over and peered through groggy eyes at the large man standing at the foot of the bed. He wore a pistol at his hip and a rifle clutched in his hands. Sam knew the precise location of each weapon he carried. Tommy wore the same uniform when on a mission. The man’s face was young. He was in his early thirties with rough two-day-old stubble on his chin. A mop of brown hair long since abandoned. His eyes were hard and unyielding. Not easy to wrinkle in a moment of innocent joviality.

  He reached out with his leg and tapped the leg of her bed with his steel toe caps again. “I said up.”

  Sam swung her feet over the side. “I’m glad you decided to show your face. I’m here against my will. I’m a research scientist in the military. I shouldn’t be here—”

  “Follow me.”

  The soldier turned and marched toward the door. He reached the outside hall and turned back. He didn’t utter another word and waited until she stepped out of her cell. The flagstones were cold beneath her bare feet. A flimsy pair of paper slippers sat on the floor. She slipped her feet into them. She curled her toes in their warm enfolds.

  Cells lined the wall in either direction.

  The soldier nodded. “That way.”

  Sam eyed the cell next to hers. She wondered what Felix was up to right now. Within three seconds, she passed his little world. How small our world was if we let it become so. The soldier remained on her heels. If Sam slowed down, he would tread on them.

  At the next junction, he said: “Left.”

  Sam peered around the corner before continuing down it. She felt the unbearable urge to sprint. The soldier was big and muscular, not built for speed. If she could get a little distance between them, she might give him the slip.

  Except you don’t know this place, she thought. He’ll know it better than the back of his hand.

  Felix’s words came back to her. Don’t try to escape. You will fail. And they will hurt you.

  “Stop.”

  He moved to a door between them and took a card from his pocket. He slapped it on the terminal. A light blinked green and the door opened.

  No words this time. He jabbed the barrel of his rifle at her.

  “I guess that means I should go in,” Sam said.

  She held up her hands and feared the worst. Was this to be her end?

  She immediately realized her mistake.

  A multitude of lights at various computer workstations blinked at her. A research center.

  The door hissed shut behind her, obscuring the soldier from view. It was no bad thing. It left her alone with the computer equipment.

  She felt at home amongst the modern equipment that’d become like friends to her over the years. It was a small room, packed with all the equipment she needed to conduct any research she wished. She circled the room, running her fingers over it. The lights blinked, ready and willing to be used. Ordinarily, a team of assistants would have provided a helping hand in a room of this size.

  Bleep.

  She moved to the center terminal. On the screen was a message.

  IS EVERYTHING TO YOUR SATISFACTION?

  Sam peered around the room. A series of cameras bolted into the corners peered down at her.

  She nodded.

  TYPE, IF YOU PLEASE.

  Samantha typed “Yes” into the terminal and hit enter.

  A second bleep signaled another message had arrived.

  HOW DO YOU KNOW IT’S SUFFICIENT IF YOU DON’T YET KNOW WHAT YOUR TASK WILL BE?

  Whoever typed the message was already beginning to get on Sam’s nerves.

  “You’d hardly put me in a room full of equipment otherwise, would you?”

  FIERY. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO CHECK YOUR TEMPER, DOCTOR.

  Sam gritted her teeth. She wanted to do nothing more than bite the guy’s head off, but doing so would only prove him right. The only way to win this argument was for her to remain silent.

  I HAVE A TASK FOR YOU.

  “Why don’t you let me go?”

  SPEAKING ON SUCH TOPICS ONLY WASTES TIME. AND TIME IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.

  A fountain of questions sprouted in her mind. Why am I here? What do you want from me? How long will I be here? And the scariest of all: Are you going to kill me no matter what I do?

  “I’ll work,” she wrote.

  VERY GOOD. WE’RE WORKING ON A PROJECT OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. I REQUIRE YOUR EXPERTISE. YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO ANY AND ALL EQUIPMENT YOU REQUIRE. ALL I ASK IS YOU CARRY OUT YOUR TASK WITHOUT HINDRANCE. NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU.

  The insinuation was clear. Become a problem, and harm would befall her.

  * * *

  Finding yourself busy with work was a real delight when you’d been confined to a narrow cell with nothing but your thoughts to keep yourself entertained. She lost herself to it, focusing on the task in hand. She moved from one terminal to another, carry out tasks in her usual logical manner. When lunchtime rolled around, and the door hissed and snapped open, Sam didn’t even look up.

  The soldier deposited a tray of food on a side table.

  “No!” Sam said. “Not there!”

  The soldier froze in mid-step.

  Sam took the tray from him and placed it on top of the machine she was using. “It’s crucial the results aren’t contaminated.”

  The soldier scowled at the sudden role reversal. He shut the door behind him.

  Sam ate when work allowed. Once her work was done, her results presented themselves on the main monitor. She exhaled a satisfied breath and smiled at a good day’s work. The door hissed open. The soldier gestured for her to follow him into the corridor.

  She never reached it. He met her at the
foot of the door.

  “Arms up.”

  She did as he asked. He performed a body check. It was only once he finished that she realized what he was looking for.

  Weapons.

  Sam cursed herself. She’d been so engrossed in her work she hadn’t even considered taking something with her. Judging by how thoroughly he checked her, she doubted she could have removed anything in any case. But it also told her something else...

  If the cameras picked up her every movement, why was there any need for the body search?

  He led her outside. Instead of leading her right, back in the direction of her room as she expected, he took her left. They headed down a couple more anonymous corridors before stopping before another door. The light blinked green and the door hissed open.

  It was heaven. A bathroom complete with showers and even a few baths.

  “You have ten minutes to shower,” the soldier said.

  Other than Tommy, it was the thing she missed most. She was still grimy from when they had captured her. She entered the stall before removing her clothes. Getting friendly with the guard didn’t extend that far.

  The shower had everything she needed. A bottle of shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, and even a warm fluffy towel hanging from a heated rack. She locked the door behind her. It did nothing to conceal the gap at the bottom. The soldier could see her feet at all times.

  She ignored the armed guard outside and turned on the shower. She made it hot and steamy. If all she had were ten minutes, she was going to enjoy every second she could to relax beneath the warm spray. Finished, she dried herself off and returned to the itchy uniform. She might have taken over the allotted time, but for his part, the soldier never complained.

  He gestured to a pair of sinks. For the first time in two days, she caught a glimpse of herself. She had heavy bags under her eyes, fraught with worry and concern. She had never looked so old. Leaning against the mirror was a disposable toothbrush and single-use tube of toothpaste. She took her time in brushing her teeth, not knowing when she might get to do it again. She rinsed her mouth and was even more surprised to find a small circle of tooth floss.

  Washed and flossed, the soldier returned her to her cell. Alone once more, the room no longer seemed quite so dark and dingy. There was an entire world out there, a base. For the moment, she had access to it. She had knowledge that her captors valued. Yes, they wanted to use it for their own ends, but it gave her a little leverage.