Z-Boat (Book 2): Z-Topia

by Suzanne Robb

  “So, you want to take over the world, even though it’s crawling with creepy dead things? Are you crazy?”

  “When I put this plan into motion, the infection was seen as more of a nuisance, until the Russians discovered there was no cure. By then things had been set into motion. I couldn’t stop what had been put into motion, and I didn’t want to. I deserve to lead this country.”

  “Great, have fun running a world full of people that want to eat you.”

  Dale worked his mouth for a few minutes trying to come up with an adequate response. He gave up and stared forward, stupid girl was right.

  * * *

  “All right, we’re out of here. Let’s get back to the cars and get a move on,” Ally said as she moved toward the center room.

  “Where are you going?” asked Richards.

  “Need to look after something, I’ll catch up.”

  Ally saw Lana in the corner, unsure if her lack of shaking was a good thing or not. With cautious steps she approached, hand on her weapon. The others they’d tied up were changing and she thought about calling Richards to help, then remembered his secret phone call. If he was going behind their backs and selling them out, this could be her change to make his death look like an accident.

  She felt its presence a second before it touched her. Her hand shot back with her knife popping off the knee cap of the zombie with a squelching noise. The thing moaned and she turned to see Larry with stringy bits of flesh in his teeth.

  Brow crinkled she wondered who he ate as she pulled her gun, shoved it in his mouth, and blew out the back of his head. He went down with no problems, not one of the mutated ones, she thought.

  A click caused her to look up and she stood there mouth agape as Richards aimed his gun and fired. Behind her she felt the spray of something warm on the back of her head and the soft sound of an emaciated body hit the floor.

  “Why is it when I leave you for more than a minute you find trouble?” Richards said with a smile, or his attempt at one.

  “What can I say, I like the wild side. We need to finish those ones there before they turn.”

  Richards aimed without hesitation, the group of infected who hadn’t changed pled for their lives but it didn’t matter. Ally looked away, she knew it had to happen but didn’t like it. The other group of survivors were on their knees and begged her not to kill them.

  “We’re not going to hurt you, but you do need to get the hell out of here. Find a new place to hole up, avoid the zombies, arm yourself, and avoid contact with any of their fluids. Understand?”

  They agreed with nods so sharp and quick she thought their heads might snap off. Ally gave them forty-eight hours before they were all dead. She wanted to do more, to help them, but getting Erdman to his destination and in charge of the country and militia would save millions. Or would it? Her ribs ached, and the injuries in her shoulder burned.

  “Richards, who did Larry eat?”

  “What? No one that I know of.”

  “We need to check the control room.”

  Ally pushed open the door and saw Evan on the ground moaning in pain, his knee caps shot out. Trevor lay in the center of the room, a puddle of blood bloomed around him.

  “Christ, what the hell happened?” Richards asked as he examined the body of his former mole turned traitor.

  “I’ll tell you what happened, that jerk came in here trying to send a message, blew out my knees as a warning to keep my mouth shut. Then Larry there turns around and tears the bastard’s throat out. Never saw that skinny geek move so fast in my life. You gotta get me out of here.”

  Ally noticed the sweat beading on his forehead and the unnatural pallor of his skin. Richards nodded and she left the room. Two shots rang out and a moment later he joined her.

  “Let’s get out of here, I’m tired,” she said.

  When they reached the car Hunter insisted Hank ride with them and Ally go with Richards. Too tired to argue she agreed, but not before taking most of the guns and ammunition as well as the rations. Hunter tried to stop her, but Joseph waved him off. Her suspicions about Joseph seemed to be head on.

  “Where are we going anyways?” she asked.

  “Washington, the Old House.”

  Ally perked up. “Why there? It’s a shithole.”

  “Because that’s where Allgood is heading.”

  “And how the hell do you know that? You a psychic now?” Richards spat.

  “Your militia advanced this morning based on a message sent out by Allgood, he asked them to meet there. We need to get there first.”

  “Great, no pressure then.” Ally sighed and walked to the back of the vehicle.

  Before they got in the car she and Richards used a special powder developed for countries that didn’t have adequate or clean bathing water. As she worked it into her scalp and skin the granules left a burning sensation as they ate away any and all traces of dirt and bacteria.

  In the car with auto-drive selected to take them to Washington Old, her and Richards ate two rations envelopes then nodded off. Ally’s sleep was anything but peaceful and she slipped a Morphoid pill when she knew Richards wouldn’t notice.

  * * *

  He opened a communication channel. Thirty minutes went by before a voice buzzed in his ear and he said, “You’re late.”

  “I had to wait until it was safe.”

  “Everything’s going to plan so far, I need to know if any developments have happened on your end that could screw us up?”

  “No, it’s under control. We should be at the destination point by tomorrow night.”

  He closed the open channel and thought about how things were going. So far every domino had fallen into place, a few bumps along the way, but that was to be expected. The biggest hurdle would be the zombies, they weren’t added into the equation.

  Leaning back in the seat the monotonous sound of the thick rubber tires on the road lulled him into dreamland.

  * * *

  Ally woke to find Richards rummaging through a bag. She feigned sleep to see if she could catch him doing something bad, but all he did was open a new plaster wrap for his arm. Stretching out she glanced out the window at the landscape, pitch black met her gaze and she wondered what it was like to see things by moonlight.

  Her grandfather told stories he’d heard from his father about when the sky went dark. Right around the time the great nations fell, the world was in chaos. People starved to death around the world. Droughts were rampant causing crops to wither and die, animals followed soon after. Pollution, a catchphrase rather than a weather forecast, did nothing to dissuade people from wanting their life to stay the same.

  As each day went by and the sky thickened with dark clouds, people shrugged it off as if it was not their problem. When the government issued curfews on electricity usage, most people went along with it. When public transportation was enforced, all those on the road in personal vehicles without authorization were fined and stripped of driving privileges. Citizens rose up, but were soon squashed. When kids fell sick with lung disease, needed masks to go outside, they continued to shake their heads at changing their habits. When the sun and moon disappeared, when the ozone was nothing but a patchwork cover to the Earth, and the rain burned skin and crops, people no longer cared.

  Fuel sources were depleted causing regulations to be put in place so only necessary personnel could travel. And then one day, the people rebelled, new blood injected into their veins. A movement aimed at protecting the planet was set into motion.

  Over the course of a few months they took out power plants, fuel depots, ripped up and ignited natural gas lines, and as a final screw you they bribed people in the underfunded military to launch missiles.

  Less than three days later everything was over. No one knew who pushed the button first, but it didn’t matter. Power changed hands over night, and the strict regime people felt they were under became unbearable as troops marched into their cities and took over. The one bright spot, no nuclear on
es were used. The environmentalists made sure of that, they wanted to kill people not the planet.

  The result of their hard work, the rise of the firms, a group of three ruthless ruling systems. Each firm elected someone to be the CEO, the face of the new government. They took over sections of the world, stripping other countries of their weapons and military.

  At first they did things that were beneficial, like improved uranium cores for batteries, though it didn’t matter, no one bothered to work. Millions of families were torn apart, the rich fled the country over night, and once thriving metropolises were nothing but shattered buildings full of ghosts. Money was scarce. Travel limited to the elite. The rich owned the resources, and didn’t share.

  Now, several decades later, Ally saw the results of good intentions. The Earth was dead for all intents and purposes. Everything was toxic, and a new threat had arisen, this time to destroy the human race for good and create something new and terrifying. She wondered if this was how things should be, and they were trying to ward off the inevitable. Perhaps, evolution was a bitch.

  “Hey, you okay? You’re a million miles away.”

  Ally adjusted her body so she was angled in the seat, a quick glance forward caused a frown to appear on her face.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Where’s Joseph’s car?”

  “They sped up about an hour ago, Hunter said good ol’ Erdman was getting anxious to get to the Old House.”

  “Why didn’t you match with them? They could have run into trouble.”

  “Relax, I’m tracking them with this.”

  Ally grabbed a small monitor from his hand. The others were almost thirty miles ahead of them, and if the readings were right—stopped.

  “We need to get going, something isn’t right. They’re outside of Nashville.”

  Ally took over control and pushed the wheel forward, if they were lucky they would arrive at the same spot in just under fifteen minutes. Then again, nothing so far made her believe luck was on their side.

  * * *

  Dale saw the barest hint of light in the sky, a new day. Janelle moved to the back of the car at some point and sprawled out. He took the time to think about his next move. Charleston was only a few miles away.

  The perfect opportunity for him to get back on the news feeds, and fight back against Erdman’s words. He hadn’t provided any proof that caused him to wonder what the guy had planned. In the meantime he would do whatever he had to in order for his voice to be heard.

  Coordinates typed in, he sat back and thought about his speech, what could he say to get people on his side?

  “I’m hungry,” Janelle’s sleep-heavy voice murmured.

  “We’re stopping soon, you can get something to eat then.”

  Her head popped out from behind and she stared at him like he was insane.

  “Stopping where? Have you lost your mind, the world is crawling with things that want to eat us.”

  “Stop worrying, I have it taken care of. When we arrive you have a choice to make, stay with me and my crew or run off on your own.”

  “I’ll let you know when we get there.”

  Dale didn’t respond, the brightening landscape distracted him from conversation. Vehicles littered the highway, body parts were strewn everywhere, smears of blood and darker fluids were everywhere.

  The car sensor maneuvered them through the massive cluster of twisted metal, but it didn’t prevent him from seeing hands reaching out from shattered windows on overturned cars, or ravenous faces staring back at him as they struggled to move away from the vehicles on top of them.

  Skin split, bits of flesh and broken teeth stuck in place, a portrait of death. He tried to look away but couldn’t. The sheer devastation was nothing like he thought it would be. The reports and data transmissions didn’t even come close to predicting the true scale of this outbreak.

  He swallowed when the car stuttered as something thumped underneath it. For the first time since setting out, he wondered if Janelle was right. There would be no one left to rule.

  “Charleston Media Center, arrival in thirteen minutes,” the car chimed.

  Janelle climbed into the front seat, gun in hand.

  “So let me guess, you want to make another speech to try and save face after Erdman.”

  “Something like that.”

  Dale took in the ramshackle homes spread across the countryside. The black clouds wafting into the sky from ahead gave the impression they were heading into the underworld of myth. As they neared the city he realized it was on fire, the world really had gone to hell.

  Chapter Nineteen—

  Ally found the car. The highway was a catastrophe, even with twelve lanes people in panic mode managed to plug it up. The smell of burning rubber and plastic burned her lungs as she got opened the door.

  “What the hell, did they go crazy and play bumper cars out here?”

  “No, just adopted an every man for himself attitude, you know that one.”

  Ally raised her weapon and approached the vehicle Joseph and the others were in. No signs of an accident or struggle. No tracks to follow, and all of their supplies had been taken.

  “They changed vehicles.”

  “What the hell for? There’s nothing wrong with this one.”

  Ally popped the hood and saw a few melted wires and a cracked battery. She walked to the back and didn’t see the extra someone like Joseph would be sure to carry in case of emergency. She surveyed the area and noticed over two dozen zombies put down with head shots. Hunter or Hank. When this happened, if it was dark they might have been spooked. Moved to a vehicle that worked.

  The only issue with this scenario was why they didn’t contact her and Richards. Something was wrong and she felt icy fingertips on her neck, a feeling her grandfather told her to always pay attention to.

  “I don’t like this, you take a look at the engine and tell me what the hell these wires control.”

  When she passed Richards he was playing with a display panel and she slapped him in the back of the head.

  “What?”

  “Who the hell are you talking to?”

  “No one, I was trying to see if I could figure out an alternative route they might have taken.”

  “Just go look at the wires. I know where they went.”

  Ally made sure the battery was secure all the while feeling as though eyes were on her. She made her out with Richards to investigate the lanes of traffic going into the city. Much clearer, and where Joseph and his group switched.

  Another pile of zombies grabbed her attention, all of them taken down with a single shot. Hunter was good, but not that good. Even with the help of Hank they could not have taken down this many in the dark.

  “Richards, did you have a group of men stationed near here?”

  “Yeah, but they would’ve been smart enough to get the hell out. And did you forget Allgood is in charge of them now?”

  “I suppose. Did you figure out what those wires did?”

  Richards’s arms pinwheeled and he screamed as he fell to the ground, his gun fell out of its holster and he scrambled for something to attack the thing pulling him under the car.

  “Dammit, Ally, something’s got me.”

  Ally jumped back from her position near the vehicles and when far enough away she bent down to see what was going on. Richards kicked and swore, gripping the bumper of the truck. Three emaciated things were scurrying around underneath the car. She inhaled a calming breath and aimed at the head of the one gnawing on Richards’s boot. This one melted and the others moved forward not caring about the fate of their friend. Richards pulled himself out and two more shots took care of the rest. As her eyes adjusted she saw shadows everywhere, things moving in every nook and cranny.

  “Get up. On the cars now.”

  Ally hopped on top of a vehicle and almost fell off when a zombie jumped out of a sun roof. She fell back on the hood, screaming out when her broken ribs were slammed once again. The rumbling of a moan sti
rred in its throat as it climbed down her body. Pulling out her knife she jammed it in the side of its head seconds before it took a chunk out of her throat. When she felt the syrupy fluid oozing on her she pushed it off and wiped at it with her hands.

  Forcing herself up, she saw a field of undead closing in on them. Richards was almost to the car, bastard. She hustled as best she could, losing her balance more than once, but never falling.

  At the car she headed for the passenger side when she noticed the driver’s seat was occupied. Before her door closed Richards put the engine into gear. He drove out onto a flat area, might have been a nice field once, but was concrete now.

  “Drive along this until you see the road clear up,” she said, “then we need to cross over at a section change. Hunter took them along the inbound route.”

  “Why the hell would he do that, I thought we were trying to avoid the cities?”

  Ally grabbed more of the disinfectant powder and doused her neck where she felt damp and sticky. She picked up the encrypted display panel she grabbed from the satellite studio and tried to access Joseph’s satellite.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I think Hunter and Joseph have been holding back something.”

  “Okay, so if they’re bad guys too why are we following them? We can’t take them on as well as Allgood. We need to go somewhere and hunker down until this thing blows over.”

  “First, what did those wires control?”

  “They were part of some sort of tracking device, looks like someone was watching his every move.”

  “Good, we continue with the plan. I don’t know who is on what side, hell I doubt there are even sides anymore. Right now the world is in chaos and we have an opportunity to do something about it. As for hunkering down, you can get out at the next available zombie free zone.”

  Richards grunted but kept them on track. Ally took the time to think and continue her search. Don’t trust anyone, she reminded herself. Time to do some spying of her own.