Taylor reached across the table for a cinnamon bun. Taking a bite, he growled, “That’s part of the puzzle. Now if we could solve how the Lazarites walk around with the damn zombies!”
Chung nodded in agreement with his friend. “That would be a real score.”
Flanders sat back a serene look on his face. “Howard told me how they do it. A drug. The Lazarites use a drug to walk freely among the zombies.”
For a moment, all three soldiers were silent, and then Nevers leaned forward, eyes intent. “A drug? They take a drug? That’s all there is to it?” The information was so simple, yet so incredible. The Enclaves had been trying for years to discover the Lazarites secret, and all the time it was a drug.
Flanders nodded. “Yes, a drug. From what I know, it’s not hard to produce. Only certain members know where it is or how’s it’s made. New members are given it in food.”
Chung leaned across the table. “But is doesn’t answer the other question. How does the drug work? Blood work’s been done and that showed nothing.”
Flanders smiled. “Pheromones. Living humans, through their sweat, release pheromones. It’s why the zombies can find us, even when they are blind. We smell funny to them. The Lazarites don’t. Unless they bleed. The drug manifests itself in the sweat glands, not the blood stream. Blood smells different, so the protection of the drug is gone.”
Nevers grinned. “We figured that out early on. A bleeding Lazarite is just a hamburger stand to a zombie.”
Flanders turned pale at that way of saying it. “Yes, a crude way of putting it, but true. Blood, warm and fresh from the body, cancels out the pheromone. If a Lazarite bleeds, they might as well be holding up,” Flanders paused, then grinned, mimicking what Nevers said earlier, “an ‘Eat at Joe’s’ sign.”
“So the problems solved,” said Nevers. “Give the discs to the brain boys, we make the freaking anti-virus and bang! No more living fucking dead.”
Flanders licked his lips. “It won’t be that simple. There is a nuclear destruct in place. I don’t know how Benton got his hands on one, but he did. While I am reasonably sure the samples are safe, it’s possible, if they discover Keystone, they could light off the device, destroying everything.” Frustration tinted the professor’s voice. “Including the sample we need.”
Nevers shook his head. “Why do we need that sample?”
Flanders looked angry. “Because the one file I couldn’t find is the final step for synthesizing the anti-virus. Without that sample, the anti-virus could take years to synthesize, if at all.”
Chung slapped his head. “Why the hell didn’t you say that? Now all we have to do is mount a major expedition into a place that might disappear in a mushroom cloud. Fucking great. Sounds just like a job for the BodySnatchers. Fuck!”
Nevers rubbed his chin. “The BodySnatchers and more. I’ll contact the other Enclaves. We have to do this. But Doc, why did Howard do this?”
Flanders looked sad. “Howard joined the Lazarites when it was clear he couldn’t escape and his wealth from TriPharm was useless. He became a member so he could survive, see which side would win. His former military experience put him in good standing. What changed him was discovering that the Lazarites want all of humanity to die, members and Enclavers, down to the last human, leaving the earth cleansed. He voiced his opinion so they made him a flesh slave. His guilty conscience over his helping cause this plague led him to escape, fortunately running into me.”
Nevers nodded. “Well Doc, you’re welcome to stay here. Right now, I have some radio calls to make. Taylor, I were you, I’d start getting the troops ready.”
Chapter 21 - Preparations
Enclave 13
Various locations
18 May 2037
Nevers got the ball rolling and then each of the Enclaves kept it rolling. On a conference call, the various Enclaves began to plan for what they felt would be the biggest action since the Enclave plan was put in motion.
13 was making sure all its airpower was up and ready. This was one area where the Lazarites were the weakest. They had some anti-air missiles but the Enclaves, which included three aircraft carriers, gave their military (when air support was available) a decisive edge in combat. The Lazarites, with their zombie allies, had the numbers, that was true, but those numbers meant nothing when napalm and bombs were falling.
The professor’s information, if it proved valid, would pretty much end the threat of the Lazarites. With the zombies, they were a force to be reckoned with, without Zombie allies, the Lazarites would be less of a menace and easier to eradicate.
Forces would be assembled slowly at 13. From there an armored column would move out, destroying anything in its path until it reached Keystone. Command hoped that the convoy could block any Lazarite reinforcements from reaching the area. While this part of the plan was risky, there was still one catch: A team would have to go in and secure the facility. There was no reason to launch an assault if the base was going to be nuked. Again, it fell to Taylor and his men and women to take the nastiest mission. For once, there was no bitching. All of them knew they could be the tip of the spear that ended this war.
“Imagine if this is true,” Taylor said quietly. “This could be the end of it. Finally. Didn’t think I’d live to see the day.”
Nevers looked at his old friend calmly. “Yeah, well until this anti-virus is in our hands, if its actually in there, it isn’t anything. Don’t let your head get clouded over it. We need to stay sharp, Joe.”
Taylor had his back to Nevers. “Yeah, I know. Still it’s nice for one second to dream about a world without those dead fucks in it.” When Joe turned back, his face was serious. “You know I’ll be sharp when I’m out there. But I’m not letting word of this spread around. I don’t need any troops out there mooning about the future. It’s still day to day, right?”
Nevers came around his desk and put a hand on his shoulder. “Joe, I couldn’t agree more. No one knows the truth about this mission – yet. If it’s successful and what the doc says is true, we’ll have a party like no one’s seen in…”
“… at least a decade,” Taylor finished for him.
Before Nevers could comment, Chung came barging in. “I’ve got a great idea!”
Both men looked at him.
“OK, now the plan is for a team of twenty to take the base and hold it until the relief column gets there right?”
Both men nodded.
“Well,” said Chung. “Why don’t we get some of that drug the Lazarites take? We could walk right in and take the freaking base right from under their damn noses!”
Taylor’s one eye opened wide. It was such an audacious plan that it might work. Walk right in under their noses. A regular Boston Tea Party. A light Chung hadn’t seen in a while came on in Taylor’s eye. “Get Flanders. We have to get some of that drug. Maybe he knows where those fucks make or store it!”
Forty miles from Enclave 13
Lazarite supply camp
23 May 2037
With information from Flanders, who while traveling about kept careful track of any Lazarite activities he discovered, the Enclave sent out helicopters armed with infrared scopes. It took a few days and a bit of luck, but they finally discovered what Flanders was sure was a Lazarite supply point. There were no unaligned civilians in the area, and from the large amount of infrared signatures, a signature Zombies didn’t throw off, there had to be something going on. Once discovered, a mission was quickly planned.
Now, Taylor lay in the bushes, five others with him. All were dressed in black, with night vision goggles in place. Before them was a small Lazarite outpost, virtually forgotten except when other Lazarites needed the drug for new converts. Even now, some survivors would rather join the Lazarites then die at the hands of the zombies. Tonight, that drug was going to be taken and this place utterly destroyed.
Feeling rather than seeing Chung next to him, Taylor stared at the zombies in various states of decay who stood around, swaying
and moaning. The years and weather had not been kind to the undead.
Taylor glanced at his watch. In a few seconds, a star shell would erupt right over the former barn, now a storage building. When that happened, all hell was going to break loose here. A commotion from the front of the building got his attention. Two Lazarites came out with a struggling figure. It was a kid, just into his teens. The victim was nude and his hands were bound securely behind his back. Taylor pressed his radio and clicked to the team members around the compound. None of them was to move until that shell burst. No matter what the Lazarites did. Raising his NV goggles, Taylor put a hand on Chungs shoulder. They knew what was going to happen.
At the sight of the naked boy, the zombies began to groan and shuffle. The prisoner was bound to a wooden platform shaped like an “I”, hands above him. One of the Lazarites, a woman with a pierced face put her hand on the boy’s stomach, and rubbed it. Pulling back her hand, she knotted it into a fist and slammed it into his diaphragm. As he slumped in his bonds, she raised a knife and opened him up from his breastbone to just below his navel. The boy screamed as she tugged a loop of his intestines out of the hole and left it hanging there. A nearby zombie staggered forward and began pulling on the organ. Before the boy could bleed out, several other Zombies clustered around him, reaching up into the cavity the woman had opened and yanked more of his insides out.
The boy shrieked, his high-pitched screams echoing through the night. Finally, with a gurgling sound he went silent. Chung held his weapon tight, hating the enemy more than ever. If possible, they were more vicious to their own than to captives. Taylor cursed. Where the hell was that star shell? What the fuck were the mortar men doing, taking a nap? As the now dead teen’s legs were pulled away from his corpse, the shell burst. Before the Lazarites could react, the various teams moved. Taylor rose and put a round into the woman who’d sliced the kid open. Her head snapped back, destroyed, dead for good before she hit the ground. Chung raised his weapon and triggering his grenade launcher, fired off a flechette round into a cluster of zombies, blowing their torsos into a pink mist. Another team member with a flame-thrower lay down a corridor of flame to each side of the building’s entrance, allowing a medical team in to get a prisoner and the drug.
Lieutenant Caan smashed through the door into the Lazarites lab. Before the bodyguard could react, he smashed the man’s face with his rifle butt, knocking him unconscious then shot another in the face and throat. The last Lazarite, a rotund man, froze and wisely put his hands up. Two more team members crowded in.
“Take the unconscious one out, take this one too. Bind him. Take all those bottles. Let’s go!”
Outside the building as the demo team planted charges, Taylor tied the last remaining Lazarite to the ‘I’ shaped pole. Slicing away the man’s clothes, Taylor made a neat incision across his abdomen. As the man took a breath, blood began to flow and a small bulge of intestine stuck out.
“I hope the zombies enjoy their meal.”
Taylor ignored the man’s screams (he obviously wasn’t as fanatic as some) as the team took their prize to the LZ. Soon it would be time to bring down the final curtain on this horror show.
The fat Lazarite tried to look cool but the sweat on his face gave lie to this. Chung, standing nearby, was cleaning his nails with his combat knife. He already proved how sharp it was by slicing off the Lazarites clothes. The only cloth remaining on the fat man was a carefully bound blindfold. He was strapped to a chair with plastic wire ties, ties that Taylor had fastened cruelly tight. The man’s flesh practically hid these from view and his hands and feet were white from restricted blood flow.
Taylor sat by the door, waiting for Nevers to arrive. They were in the Enclaves small jail. To most of the individuals lucky enough to live in an Enclave, the jail was a waste of space. Why would there be crime when there was only was death?
Just as Taylor was about to begin the interrogation, Nevers’ entered the room. Hands covered in tight, black gloves, he nodded at two of his favorite soldiers, stepped across the room, and without a word, smashed the Lazarite in the face. The man whimpered as blood began to seep down his face from a shattered nose.
Never’s leaned close. “Listen up scumbag. We know what those drugs we took are. Now you’re going to answer a few questions. It can be easy, or it can be hard. How do you want it?”
Taylor and Chung exchanged looks. They knew that Nevers was a hard man, but they’d never seen him like this, not even in the early days when he was willing to answer nearly any question of his authority with a bullet.
The fat man’s lip, covered in blood, trembled. “I’ll tell you nothing unbeliever. The Blessed will have you all.” He tried to sound brave but the quaver in his voice showed that he was afraid. And why not? A few hours ago, he’d been on top of his world, now he was a captive. Worse, they had discovered the secret of the Lazarites power.
Nevers reached into his back pocket and brought out the object that had given him his nickname. A homemade blackjack, it was made of canvas and filled with lead shot. Taylor could see the faded stains on it from the various humans and zombies whose heads had felt its fury. Never’s looked back at his men. “If you guys don’t want to watch, you don’t have to.”
Taylor shrugged. “I haven’t got a problem. How about you, Steve?”
Chung grinned nastily, the knife still in his hand. “I love to see a master at work.”
As the oriental soldier finished his sentence, Nevers brought the weapon whistling down on the Lazarites left knee. With an audible crack, the kneecap went. The pain was so sudden and fierce the captive didn’t even have time to scream.
Never’s tore the blindfold off his captive’s face. “I’m not fucking with you fat man. I want to know about these drugs. How long until they take effect? What’s the dosage?”
Trembling, face covered in his own blood, kneecap smashed; the fat man spat bloody mucous all over Nevers uniform. “I will never betray the order or the Blessed!”
Taylor stepped in. “Order? Blessed? They’re fucking walking bags of pus you shit! Betray the Blessed? You’ve betrayed the human face!” With an openhanded slap, the sergeant sent the man’s head rocking. The Lazarite still remained defiant.
Chung came over, placed the tip of his blade inside one of the Lazarites battered nostrils. “We’ve seen the kind of things you fucks do.” With a swift move, he opened the man’s nostril almost to between his eyes. Blood spurted out of the wound, pouring down his face, dripping off his sweaty body until it made a puddle beneath his feet. This time the man screamed. Before asking another question, Nevers smashed his other kneecap.
“So feel like seeing a doctor? How about some answers?”
“NEVER!” The man screamed his voice rising to a falsetto pitch. Nevers turned to his men.
Face cold, the Major said, “Never, the man said never. I think he’s making fun of me.” The blackjack whistled down again, cracking off his right kneecap again. Chung leaned forward, “It’s not too late, buddy. We have a doctor standing by. Cooperate; we’ll fix you right up.”
“We’ll let you heal up, drop you off miles from here. You can tell your Lazarite buddies whatever you want or you can disappear. Perhaps when this is all over, President wants the country to heal, declares amnesty and you’re free.”
The Lazarites fat lower lip, covered in blood, trembled. “Your word?” His eyes went from face to face. “Your word?”
Nevers smiled in a fatherly way. “My word.”
The Lazarites head slumped forward in defeat. “I never wanted to help them, they forced me to. Brainwashed me. They got to me before I could reach an Enclave! I wanted to live; you can understand that can’t you? Where is the doctor?”
Nevers looked as if he were insulted. “The information first.”
“Yes, the information. Take one pill.”
Nevers frowned. “One pill? That’s it?”
A nod.
Taylor and Chung leaned in close, Taylor his
sing, “How do you know if it works?”
The Lazarites gave them a frightened smile through his smashed lips. “If you don’t get eaten, it works.”
Chung consulted some notes from the other captive. Looking up he nodded. The information agreed with what the other, dead nearly ten hours, told them.
Nevers smiled and patted the man’s shoulder. “Now you get your reward.”
The man looked up with hope. “A Doctor?”
Taylor stepped over, .45 in hand. “No.” Before the man could scream a dum-dum bullet smashed into his forehead and out the back of his skull. The face caved in on itself, the force of the bullet distorting the entire skull. A splash of blood and brains splattered the wall behind the Lazarite.
Holstering his pistol, Taylor said, “That’s better than you deserve.”
“I’m glad I don’t have to clean up in here,” mumbled Chung.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Said Nevers. “Time to end this once and for all.”
Enclave 13
Departure for Keystone
31 May 2037
Taylor stumbled out of the toilet, his face pale. “Fucking Lazarite. This must be his revenge.”
Chung looking just as pale was cleaning his pistol. “Yeah, we should have asked the fat bastard about side effects. How the hell can we do a mission when we’ve got the runs?”
Taylor grinned wryly. “Do you think he would have told us?”
Chung shook his head no.
Nevers came in at that moment. Since he would have operational command, he wasn’t going to be in the field he didn’t have to suffer from the pills side effects. As usual, his ‘sympathy’ was less than endearing to the troops.
“You two still shitting yourselves blind? The rest of the freaking assault team cleared up two days ago. We can’t delay any longer.”
Enclave: A Novel of the Zombie Apocalypse Page 50
