Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Full Series Omnibus: Nobody’s Fool, Nobody Lives Forever, Nobody Drinks That Much, Nobody Remembers But Us, Ghost Walking, 12 Book series...

by Michael Todd

  Soldiers Of Fame And Fortune Complete Boxed Set

  Books 1-12

  Michael Todd

  Michael Anderle

  Soldiers Of Fame And Fortune Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1-12) is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2019 Michael Todd, and Michael Anderle

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact support@lmbpn.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, September 2019

  The Zoo Universe (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2018-19 by Michael Anderle and LMBPN Publishing.

  Contents

  Nobody’s Fool

  Nobody Lives Forever

  Nobody Drinks That Much

  Nobody Remembers But Us

  Ghost Walking

  Ghost Talking

  Ghost Brawling

  Ghost Stalking

  Ghost Resurrection

  Ghost Adaptation

  Ghost Redemption

  Ghost Revolution

  Nobody’s Fool

  Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Book One

  Chapter One

  Holly stepped out of the shower and fumbled for her towel. The tiles beneath her feet were warm, like everything else in the desert. She didn’t much mind it. She was used to the heat of LA, Hawaii, Pakistan, and India. Pretty much wherever the Firm sent her was hot. This new mission wouldn’t be any different.

  She wiped her hand across the fogged-up mirror and towel-dried her hair. She ran her fingers over the soaps and lotions lined up on the counter and selected a lotion. She’s purchased them from one of the small stores that had popped up on the American side of Wall 02. The Firm was American, so it wasn’t surprising that they had recommended that side to her. It wasn’t what she was looking for. The military presence was too large, there was too much structure, and there was too much order. She wouldn’t get the whole story of the Zoo over here.

  Her phone rang from the main room, and she put down the lotion and pulled on her silk robe. “Holly P. Smith here.”

  The voice on the other line was familiar. “Holly, it’s Rod. How’s it going out there?”

  Holly sighed. She was in a small, plain room with a double bed. Military-grade blankets with hospital corners and a small desk in the corner. “Oh, you know, living the dream. If you consider three hots and a cot the dream.”

  Rod chuckled. “Not quite your cup of tea out there, is it?”

  Holly sighed and walked to the window. Below her, a small town bustled. Mostly uniformed Americans but there were a few roughnecks. “It’s not that. I’ve been to worse places. Remember, I slept in a tree-house three years ago. I just don’t think I’m going to get the information I’m looking for over here.”

  Rod sighed. “I don’t know why you don’t take the gig. It would be over and done with by the time you finish your research.”

  Holly grabbed her bra and panties from the end of the bed and shimmied out of her robe. “The Firm wants me to go into The Zoo. That’s not just some walk in the woods. I’ve heard stories. I want to know everything I can about that place. I need to know what I’m signing up for before I make any decisions. Money isn’t a motivation this time, you know that. Shit, I’m not sure you could offer me enough at this point. How much would they have to pay you to pull on one of those fucking suits and parade your ass through an alien jungle?”

  Rod paused. He had a muffled exchange with someone on his end before coming back to the conversation. “You and I called this fuckery years ago. We knew when the Zoo was first created or took over, however you want to look at it, that the Firm would eventually send someone out there. You’re the best chemist the Firm has. Hands down. You scour the ends of the earth for the perfect concoction of ingredients for these drinks. I always knew it would be you.”

  Holly sneered. “Yeah, I was hoping they forgot about me. Whatever. I’m catching a van to the other side. I hear the French, Indians, and Israelites are a bit more open and honest with their opinion of whatever the hell is out there.”

  Rod clicked his tongue. “You sure that’s a good idea? I heard it’s pretty rough over there.”

  Holly threw her head back as she laughed. “Are you fucking serious? First of all, I’m an Indian American. I’ll fit in, no question. Secondly, I’ve been in the pits of fucking hell with roughnecks like these for years. I got this.”

  Rod let out an amused sigh. “All right, but don’t go messing up that pretty little face. It’s your way to good information.”

  “You just worry about holding down the office. I’ll do the heavy lifting, little man.”

  With a smirk, she hung up and tossed her phone on the bed. She looked at her watch and cursed. Holly put a bit of a pep in her step, pulling on her pantsuit and throwing her other things in her bag. She knew the guy that promised her a seat in the van wouldn’t hold it for her and she was determined to get to the other side of Wall 02. She hurried through the hotel, dropping her key at the front desk and rushing out the door. She wrapped a thin scarf around her neck and pulled it over her mouth and nose to block the blowing sand. Until a couple of years ago, the wind hadn’t existed. The Zoo brought many changes.

  She made her way across the small military town and spotted a tall, burly man standing next to a van. She had done business with him before. He moved people from the American side of the Wall to the French, Indian, and Pakistan side. It cost her quite a bit to get a seat, but she had the money to spare. Besides, in this case, information was more valuable than coin. She wanted answers. Real life stories from inside the Zoo. She wanted to know what she would be facing when she, if she, decided to make the trek herself.

  “You pack light for a girl so prim and put together,” the large man mused. There was sand stuck in his beard.

  Holly handed him an envelope. “There’s a little extra in there, with my thanks.”

  He looked at the envelope, then eyed her. He opened the cargo van’s sliding door. “Whatever answers you’re after, the Zoo is no place for you.”

  Holly pulled herself halfway into the van. “I paid you for the trip, not your advice. And you’d be surprised what a girl like me can keep hidden in such a small duffle bag.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed, and he grunted. He had probably guessed she was carrying a .32 or something like. She kept it snuggly tucked inside her bag, just in case some thug thought she looked like easy prey. She pulled herself inside and took the only open set, one against the window of the van. The other passengers were mostly burly and unkempt, and all were men. They were mercenaries trying to esca
pe the watchful eye of the Americans. Uncle Sam seemed to care a lot more about who went in and who died in the Zoo than the other side did. The French kept a Laissez-faire attitude about the entire thing. If a few windblown mercs were willing to risk their lives for some money, then by all means, let them go. Not so on the American side. Even a decade after the settling of the Zoo, only a select few were allowed in and out on a daily basis.

  The van door slammed shut, and Holly held her bag in her lap. The man next to her had a five o’clock shadow and wore clothes better suited to the jungle. He clapped his hands together and laughed as the van growled to life. “’Bout time we got away from all them American wankers, eh? Time to relax the fatigues a bit. Get some real work done.”

  His accent was thick. She gave him a small smirk. “Wouldn’t know. I’m an American wanker.”

  His face dropped, and he scratched his head. “Sorry ‘bout that. Just meant they seemed all kinds of pent-up over here.”

  Holly turned to the window, whispering to herself, “I suppose man-eating locusts will do that to a person.”

  The van made its way out of town and rumbled toward the large gate in the middle of Wall 02. It was still standing tall. With the Zoo growing so fast, Holly couldn’t imagine it would be there much longer. She glared out the window as they drove down the makeshift desert road. The buildings came to an abrupt stop at the edge of the town, and what was beyond it was almost impossible to comprehend.

  Just a couple of miles from the van, creeping farther and farther across the sand each day, was the entrance to the jungle. The lush greens of the trees were so bright and deep that Holly squinted just to keep her eyes focused. She didn’t know if it was the stark contrast between desert and jungle or just the way everything seemed to burst forth like a painting, but it was something that made her heart hammer in her chest.

  Large flames plumed out from the edges as men dressed in what looked like hazmat suits attempted to stem the growth with flame-throwers.

  The man next to her put out his hand. “Byron’s the name.”

  Holly looked at his hand for a moment then took it in hers. She figured being on friendly terms with someone on the other side wasn’t a terrible idea. “Holly.”

  Byron shook his head, clicking his tongue in the gap between his two front teeth. “She’s a looker, ain’t she? Kind of like me ex-wife. Gorgeous, enticing, even captivating. But inside, she holds the deadliest of secrets.”

  Holly kept her eyes glued to the Zoo. Vines and thick creepers made their way up the side of Wall 02. “The wall doesn’t seem to do much good.”

  Byron shook his head. “Nah, not since they discovered Salinger Ravine years ago. It’s more like the Grand Canyon, or so I’ve been told. It started out as some sort of cliff then expanded until it swallowed part of the wall. Swallowed it up. That’s why they’re building Wall 03. Should be done in five years or so. I suppose the jungle will keep growing, though. And they will keep building until the thing swallows everything up.”

  “That’s a comforting feeling.”

  Byron sat back and shrugged. “I guess for guys like me, it would be like any other day. Not sure how they would keep the pubs going, which is a problem, I suppose.”

  Holly faked a laugh to go with his. “You’ve been inside.”

  Byron chuckled. “Oh, yeah. This next trip will be number eleven for me.”

  Holly cut her fake laugh short. “Really? There aren’t too many that make it that far anymore. They usually cut and run, or so I’ve been told. You haven’t been hurt in there?”

  Byron chuckled and lifted his right arm, revealing a metal clamp in place of his hand. “It’s tried to kill me, but I’m a tough sonofabitch. Suppose I can say I’m a part of it now.”

  The guy sitting across from them threw out, “Must be hell when you’re tryin’ to jerk it.”

  Everyone in the van chuckled. Holly laughed along with them. She had been around men like that for a long time. Nothing they could say could really affect her. Byron shrugged. “Not in front of the lady.”

  Holly snickered. “You could have at least gotten yourself a rubber one. Chaffing must be a bitch.”

  Everyone else exploded into laughter, but Byron just nodded. “The lady’s got jokes. I like it. You’ll fit in right nice over here.”

  The van took a hard right and headed through the sand. Byron tipped his hat over his eyes and leaned back. “Time for a little nap. Don’t get those much anymore. Always worrying about what’s out there trying to eat me.”

  Holly smiled and leaned back. She watched the edge of the Zoo disappear from sight. They would make a loop and head back toward the town. She still had trouble believing she was there. She had been just a kid when the “alien” missile was intercepted. Having traveled back and forth from America to India her whole youth, she was very familiar with how climate change was affecting the world. While America still had enough rolling green hills to have flippant views on the subject, India was burning. The population was starving, but it was still trying to combat the effects of climate change as best it could.

  When the American president said he had a solution to the problem, she was all ears. She had no idea that it would be something like the Zoo. She guessed nobody did, not even the president. Not back then.

  Holly flipped open her bag and pulled out her tablet. The reception was shit. The internet really only worked in town, but she had some notes lingering in her head she wanted to get down. She barely took notes when she was talking with someone. There was no need. Holly was blessed with an eidetic memory, which meant she could remember every word of every conversation she had as far back as she could remember. To her, it was a blessing and a curse. To the Firm, it was a priceless commodity that they wanted to retain at all costs.

  In reality, she was still a chemist for the Firm and could take jobs as she deemed fit. She didn’t like to be tied down and definitely didn’t like to be ordered. This was one of those contracts that made Holly’s memory worth keeping her around. They needed to do some research in the Zoo, but the Firm didn’t want the hassle of sneaking illegal equipment inside. That’s where Holly came in. She was to enter the Zoo and observe, collecting the research mentally. She would put that eidetic memory to good use. She would write down her findings afterward, if she got out. That was actually in the contract, “if she returned.” The “if” part certainly gave her pause.

  Holly spent the rest of the ride jotting down notes. She recorded conversations she had overheard and conversations she’d had while on the American side. The van hit a bump and roused Byron, who leaned forward to peer out the window. “Looks like we’re here, little lady.”

  Holly closed her tablet and studied the town. The buildings were taller and closer together here. There were people of all types walking the streets. Very few uniforms. When they stopped, the driver grimaced in the high sun and pulled the van door open. Holly pulled her bag over her shoulder and ducked out of the van. She began looking for a hotel she had been told to find.

  Byron gestured to a five-story building a block down. The second story was lined with balconies. “That’s the best hotel you’ll find out here. Be safe, Holly. Maybe I’ll see you in the thick.”

  Holly blinked for a moment and reached out, grabbing Byron’s arm. “After I get checked in, is there a good bar around here?”

  Byron laughed. “Sure as hell is. Go down about, oh, a few hundred yards from your hotel and you’ll find a bar called FUBAR. Best drinks, if you can deal with the crowd.” He waved as he walked away.

  Holly let out a deep breath. “FUBAR. Okay then.”

  Chapter Two

  The closet door slammed shut, and Holly tucked her gun into the back of her pants. She tugged her dress coat down and checked herself in the mirror. No sign of the weapon. One thing she had learned from her travels was that a girl could never be too cautious.

  Her hotel room was much larger than her place on the American side. It wasn’t fancy by any means, but a
t least there was a king-sized bed and blankets that didn’t feel like sandpaper. It would do. At any rate, she didn’t plan on sticking around for weeks on end, no matter what sort of information she dug up.

  She walked to the side table and picked up the newspaper they had shipped in. The headline read, “Israel Spies Outnumbering the Rest.” She shook her head and tossed it back down. It was no secret that the Israeli military had a big hand in the security of the French side of the base. The base was also flooded with spies from any number of Israeli corporations, but the headlines were missing the point. The base was packed with spies from all over the world, not just Israel. It was simply easy to get a reaction from the French and the Americans when they highlighted the Israeli spies. It was a good way to sell papers.

  Holly grabbed her notepad, wallet, and keycard and left the hotel. On the streets, a squad of armed Israeli soldiers parted the crowd. The French side might have had a more relaxed attitude when it came to mercenaries and soldiers of fortune, but just like the American side, they were tight on security. They didn’t want anything escaping the Zoo and heading for the town, or anywhere else for that matter.

  No one wanted that. Not even the spies.

  As Holly walked along, she couldn’t help but note the attitude of the people on the French side. It looked almost post-apocalyptic. Men crowded together on the sides of the dusty, makeshift road, laughing, smoking, and drinking. Everyone seemed to be dressed in either desert gear or minimalist wear. They all seemed to be on the verge of heading out to grab their suits and their HUDS to go for another trek through the Zoo. The Firm had made everything seem so simple, so safe, but Holly knew better than to believe them. There was a secret to the place. It was something she hadn’t figured out yet, but it was only a matter of time before she did. The Firm might try to hide it from her, but she had been around the block a few times. She wasn’t going to let anyone start fucking with her, especially when her life was on the line.