Z-Boat (Book 2): Z-Topia

by Suzanne Robb

  * * *

  “There they are.”

  Dale put the car into manual control and headed toward a caravan of dark vehicles. At least a hundred men stood in combat gear and armed to the teeth.

  “Who the hell are they?” asked Janelle.

  “They are my army, and the people who will get this country back under control.”

  His chest swelled with pride and his confidence returned as the men and women saluted him. Each one looked hard as nails and ready to kill for him. This was what the people of this country needed, and he would give it to them.

  “Glad you could meet me here. Have you secured the building?”

  A tall man with dark skin stepped forward. “Yes, sir, building has been cleared of hostiles and is ready.”

  “Thank you, I take it you are the one in charge, Mr.…?”

  “Landers, Tom, sir.”

  “Good, Mr. Landers, lead the way.”

  Dale felt someone close to his side and knew it was Janelle. He glanced down at her and smiled. She returned it lacking her usual attitude.

  “We’ll get you something to eat inside, don’t worry.”

  Mr. Landers led them inside, making sure to check every nook and cranny once again. The personnel seemed terrified, whether of the militia, Dale, or potential zombies was unclear.

  Bullet holes and bits of bone with hair attached riddled the walls of the studio. The door opened from the inside and Dale almost slipped in a slick of dark fluid.

  “What happened here?”

  “Sir, when we arrived the building was being attacked by the creatures. We took them out as well as a few civilians who were bitten or scratched. The survivors guaranteed they can broadcast you on the radio signals, but video is down.”

  Dale straightened his suit and thought about the situation. People needed a face to identify with, to put faith in. He debated until a few minutes before they were ready to go to air and went to the satellite hook-up and enabled it.

  Opening his display panel he patched into the network and keyed in the override code he’d been given by his contact. Hundreds of lights brightened the room and two techs ran to make sure everything was okay.

  “Now we have visual as well, gentlemen.”

  One of the techs stared at him. “How did you do that? Only firm leaders have personal satellites…”

  Dale raised an eyebrow and watched Mr. Landers escort the nosy man out of the room.

  “Anyone else have something to ask me?”

  Dale walked over to the podium and when the man he assumed to be the manager gave him the go ahead, he spoke.

  * * *

  Ally rubbed her eyes for the fifth time in as many minutes. She’d gone over the data files with a more critical eye, looking for inconsistencies she might have missed. The new information made no sense, she felt like a giant puzzle was in front of her but none of the pieces matched.

  A Russian submarine answers the SOS of another one, and then the rescue sub sends out an emergency signal. Instead of keeping it within the firm they hire an outside contractor, and the crew they “add on to help” is full of spies and people with ulterior motives.

  The Betty Loo was a good sub with a great record, but the age alone would have let whoever hired them know they would fail in their endeavor to dive so deep, so why do it? Her first question. Second, why place a bomb on board if they were expected to fail? Not to mention the Russians knew what was happening and waited months to do anything about it. The Koreans wanted to know what was going on and never figured out what the source was. The Israeli firm however would have known everything.

  Joseph prided himself on the intelligence he’d gathered. He knew when people took a crap, so it didn’t make sense for him to act the way he was. Unless he planned to use it to his advantage.

  His hatred of the other firms was well known, so why not kill their leaders while an apocalypse was going on? Then swoop in to save the day in a country that happens to have a well-armed and trained militia at your disposal. Leaving his country would have been easy because his loyalty was always to the United States, Ally should have seen it sooner.

  Joseph and his wife were born here to what passed for upper class families. A strange benefactor appeared and offered him a starting position in the Israeli firm, and from there he rose in the ranks until he became leader.

  Then there was Richards, her enemy. The man hired by Williams to kill them all, the man responsible for Marcus’s death. But then, that wasn’t really true, the bomb had been disarmed, and Marcus died from the infection. An infection Williams covered up as it spread in poor areas and now threatened to take the lives of every living being on the planet.

  Who should she be mad at? Everything was jumbled in her head and she needed a break, but until these questions were answered and she figured out what the hell was going on there would be no rest for her.

  Now Joseph abandoned the group to go to Washington Old, headquarters for the governing system long ago. What would he want there? There was nothing but homeless people and drug addicts, it was one of the most dangerous places in the world, and that was before everything went to hell.

  Missiles had destroyed most of it, rioters and vagrants finished it off over time. Ally flipped through the news channels for a distraction as she tried to put everything together so it made sense.

  Allgood’s voice came through crystal clear as did his image. Interesting. Joseph said only firm leaders had the ability to take control of satellites. Were they working together? Was this whole thing planned out between the two of them?

  If that was the case everyone who died so far was potential trouble, or collateral damage. Richards and she were two loose ends that needed tying up, she wondered if following Joseph was a good idea after all.

  “…heard him say all sorts of things about me, but has yet to back it up with any proof. If I was this horrible person he claims me to be, would I have amassed an army to protect you? Would I be working on ways to help other countries stripped of their ability to protect themselves? He was the leader of a firm, and if we’ve learned anything during their reign it’s that they cannot be trusted.”

  Ally watched Allgood lower his face, a gesture meant to make him appear haggard so people would think he was pushing himself to the limit to help them. In reality, she bet he was thinking about what he wanted for lunch.

  “I can’t talk much longer, I need to stay on the move so I can reach my ultimate destination and give the world what it needs, leadership.”

  “So, who you rooting for now?” Richards asked her. “I never trusted Erdman, always seemed to be one step ahead. No matter what we did, he always knew.”

  “Of course he knew, you idiot, he had a spy in your militia as well as in Charlie’s, he knew everything.”

  “No, Ally, personal things, the guy is a creep to the Nth degree. I think he misled us about Allgood.”

  “Please tell me you’re not that stupid. The man tried to have you killed, and he’s currently in charge of your men. How is that misleading in any way?”

  “Maybe if you stopped popping the pain pills you’d use that damn thing in your head, otherwise keep letting it go to waste and even the zombies won’t bother with you.”

  Ally’s arm shot across the area between them, but Richards caught her arm with his good hand.

  “I don’t have a problem.”

  “Whatever.”

  Pulling her hand back she took the small bottle out of her pocket. She rattled it, surprised at how many were missing. Part of her wanted to lower the window and toss it, but a larger bit of her couldn’t do it. She needed them.

  “Screw it.” Lowering her window she threw them out, the pain of her cuts, bruises, and breaks nothing compared to the loss of Marcus she’d been numbing.

  The silence in the car was enough of a response and an indication the conversation was over. Ally didn’t want to trust either one of them, which made her come up with a different theory.

  “L
et’s get to Washington Old, we’ll find answers there.”

  * * *

  Joseph glanced at Trevor but didn’t say anything. He sent a message from his display panel and hoped it went through, though doubted it. The plan he’d worked so hard on seemed to be unravelling at the seams.

  Why was everybody making things so much harder than they needed to be? He glanced in the back of the car to see Hank staring at him with an apprehensive expression. Joseph tried to send him a reassuring smile.

  Soon enough they would be in Washington Old and this would all be taken care of. He just had to make sure everyone was there.

  “Are you sure Ally will know to follow us, Trevor?”

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t she? You’re the one who said she was smart.”

  “She is, but she isn’t omnipotent.”

  “Whatever, she’ll be there. Everyone will.”

  Joseph ignored the cryptic comment. He needed to focus on reaching his destination for now. The small caravan of militiamen giving him some measure of security.

  * * *

  Janelle tapped her implant and listened to the message, plans had changed. She sighed as she was ordered to continue with her mission if she felt safe; if her cover was compromised she was to walk away at the soonest opportunity. Right, with all the armed goons that wasn’t happening.

  She tapped out a response asking what happened, and a quick comment on the fact that she, unlike the others, was able to maintain a cover.

  The soldiers made her feel more secure, but the zombies were more of a threat than people realized. She’d seen the mutated ones. The ones that didn’t die no matter what.

  Dale approached her with a serpentine smile, his wants and desires written across his face and it was all she could do not to shoot him then and there. Instead, she needed to keep him safe from zombies, assassins, traitors, and based on his driving, himself.

  The man thought he was in charge, but someone somewhere had all the strings, and when the cut them everything would change.

  She hoped the right people were in position when it happened. She thought of Lisa, or Ally as she called herself now and wondered if she would be the one to screw everything up. Years of preparation up in smoke because she held a grudge about a dead boyfriend. No matter what promises were made about Ally being taken care of, it wouldn’t be so easy. The woman refused to die.

  “The boys get you something to eat?”

  “Yeah, thanks. Are we going soon? I don’t like it here. The cities are full of those things.”

  “First, you know how to handle them. Second, with my mini army here, we’re safe.”

  “For now. What happens when you run into a group of the ones that won’t die?”

  “What are you talking about? A shot to the head and they’re down, easy.”

  Janelle shook her head. “No, there are some that don’t go down. They’re different.”

  “We’ll be on the move soon and you can get some rest. Your imagination is getting the best of you.”

  She watched him walk away knowing he didn’t believe her. Then gunfire erupted.

  * * *

  Dale hugged a wall and knelt on the ground. Landers came out of nowhere and grabbed his arm.

  “We got zombies approaching, their giving us problems. We’re heading out and letting the others deal with them.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Dale followed, happy to see Janelle behind him. They were ten feet from the exit when screaming drowned out the sound of bullets. The door opened and several of the soldiers came in talking at once. From what he could gather, they were saying “they just won’t die.” He looked at Janelle who raised an eyebrow in an I told you so fashion.

  “Come on, they’re just fresh ones. You know the newer they are the harder the skull. You have to aim for the fleshy parts and shred them apart.”

  The men stared at him and he had the good sense to look away. They’d been doing this for months and he’d never even fired a gun.

  A thunderous noise, then the whole building rattled as windows shattered and metal groaned in protest. People screamed, others choked on the smoke filling the hallways. Light poured into the corridor. Over a dozen zombies entered, nothing about them looked weak or decayed.

  “I’m getting Allgood out of here, you keep them here,” Landers yelled over the protests of the others.

  As Dale ran in the other direction it occurred to him the zombies were dressed just like his men.

  Landers swore as the back door flew off its hinges and more of the creatures entered, he turned to the right and led Dale and Janelle up a set of stairs. Feet stomped the ground behind them and Dale thought he might die. For the first time in his life he tasted his mortality, and he wasn’t a fan.

  Dale became aware they were in some sort of room and Landers and Janelle were moving furniture to create a blockade. He glanced out the window and saw several lumps of flesh outside, zombies munched on a few of them.

  What the hell were those things? This wasn’t supposed to be happening, they weren’t supposed to be here. He felt his chest tighten and clawed at the windows until his nails cracked and his fingers became bloody.

  Dale glanced up as the blockade exploded as if it was made of nothing more than dust. Landers stood between him and the things, Janelle stood in a back corner tapping away at her implant. Seven zombies entered the room, fresh and impervious to the bullets Landers sent to their head.

  On a fluke one went down when the bullet went through its eye and blew out a hole in the back of its head. Eye shots? Seriously, as if it wasn’t hard enough to hit one of those damn things in the head when you were crapping your pants.

  He had to give Landers credit, the man did not give up. Three zombies were down, a spray of bullets from his weapon hitting the eyes. Dale felt his bladder let go when he saw one of the zombies lift Landers by the neck, and bring him toward his mouth.

  The others in the room stepped around and came toward Dale. He closed his eyes tight and begged whoever was listening to make it fast and painless. Landers’s screams of agony dispelled his hope. A slight tremor turned into a full blown rumble and all of a sudden the wall behind him exploded. Metal shards, drywall, and bits of plastic wiring flew everywhere.

  Dale held his hands over his ears, the ringing deafening him to the sounds around him. A man ran in through the dust carrying a massive weapon. He fired several rounds into the zombies and watched as their bodies blew apart. The one holding Landers was cut down at the knees and fell to the ground. Janelle was beside him, screaming based on the shape of her mouth, but he heard nothing.

  The man continued to fire like an avenging angel. Bits of the creatures slamming against the walls and leaving a slimy reddish purple trail as they slid down. The zombie holding Landers let go when they hit the ground and tried in vain to recapture his prey. Two more soldiers entered from the hallway and within seconds the zombies were nothing but a pulpy mess in the middle of the room, with organs and limbs strewn about.

  The man stood in front of him and motioned him to move to the other room. Dale stood and took Janelle with him. The ringing in his ears hadn’t stopped, but sounds were penetrating.

  “I can’t hear much. Thanks for saving us.”

  He heard a few mumbles and a smile crossed the other man’s face.

  “I have no idea what you said, but if you get me and her out of here I’m giving you a major promotion.”

  The man nodded and turned to the others. Dale watched the other men hustle out of the room. Then the man led them through a corridor and down a set of stairs. A large door opened from the outside, one of his soldiers waiting on the other side.

  Their car was there and Dale got in the back and pulled Janelle with him. The man took the driver’s seat, and Landers gave him a dirty look as he sat in the passenger seat.

  “Get us the hell out of here. I want to be in Washington Old as soon as possible. No more stopping, and make sure every available man is there. I wan
t the men here to follow with us, and make sure they bring those guns.”

  The man nodded as he tapped his implant and gave the orders. Dale could see Landers gritting his teeth, but for the life of him he couldn’t bring himself to care. The zombies were different now. They were like the ones he read about in Williams’s files. He’d been trying to create a vaccine to weaponize them. The opposite happened and he’d created something stronger, smarter, and faster. Of course, the idiot let it escape but it should have stayed over there in Europe. How the hell did it get to North America?

  Dale thought about the weapon the man used and wondered what they were designed for, and where he got them.

  “By the way, my name is George Rogers, sir,” said the man.

  “Well, Rogers, you just made it to the head of the class.”

  The older man smiled and Dale ignored the frustrated look on Landers’s face. There is something to be said for experience, and this Rogers fellow had it in spades. Scars littered his face, battle was no stranger to this guy. He was the one you wanted watching your back at a time like this.

  Chapter Twenty—

  Ally stared at the roadside as they travelled. Her stomach gurgled after eating one of the military rations, she was pretty sure fish wasn’t supposed to be freeze dried. She regretted tossing the pills as her hands shook and a gut wrenching pain took hold of her stomach. She needed to focus on something else or she’d never get through this. Then again, her mind was fuzzy on why she cared. Everyone betrayed her, no one had the best interests of the world at heart. All of them were selfish bastards, none of them were like Marcus. And he went and got himself killed.

  “Dammit.”

  “Get back at them, Ally. Use the pain, that’s what I taught you.”