I Zombie I [Omnibus Edition]

by Jack Wallen

“We take small, measured steps toward victory,” Jamal said with pride.

  “You’re gonna rock the cliché machine until this fight is finished, aren’t you?”

  “Those who know, do not speak.” Jamal grinned.

  “The Tao of you?” I asked.

  As Jamal made to come back with his snarky best, Raneesha peeked her head into the war room. “The Thelemites have arrived. I’m going to lead them to the wall so we can meet Dane and get our instructions. As soon as he and I are reunited, I’ll hand him the radio so you can lead us.”

  “Thank you, Raneesha.”

  The beautiful woman with the remarkably wise eyes nodded. “You are the one to be thanked, Bethany.”

  Without another word, Raneesha made her exit.

  “Holy sweet hell,” Rizzo squealed. “You’ve got to see this.”

  I raced to the window, the sight nearly knocking me back to the center of the room. Outside, a platoon of naked, blood-soaked men and women marched down the street. They carried swords, compound bows, spears, and other, more abstract tools that could easily end a first or second life…all the while, testicles and breasts swung to the beat of a mighty and free drum. Near the center of the parade, a pair of overly-muscled men pushed a wagon on which was attached the same edifice that once held Jamal. The Thelemites had every intention of wreaking their very own special kind of havoc on the Zero Day Collective. In the process of taking down soldiers and zombies, they’d make sure to torture a soul or two.

  I shouldn’t be okay with this. I didn’t want to accept the new world ideology. Had I really any choice?

  Morgan appeared in the room. “The first ZRT unit has arrived. Josh and I are going to meet them at the wall.”

  Before Morgan could vanish from my sight, I pulled her into a tight embrace and whispered, “You’ve become the sister I never had. Please be careful.”

  Morgan kissed my forehead. “I cannot begin to tell you how much that means to me.”

  “She’ll be back,” Josh’s deep voice rumbled. “I’ll make sure of that.”

  I nodded my approval and the Garcias slipped from sight.

  “Gerrand?” I called out. “How much longer?”

  “Almost complete,” he shouted back. “Worry not, my dear. As soon as we finish the last of the bombs, I’ll make my way to the wall.”

  “Bethany?” My radio crackled to life. “This is Dane. My army is well met and we’re about to ascend the wall. When this battle is finished, you and I are to meet. Is that clear?”

  “Perfectly, Dane. And thank you for your…”

  “No need, Ms. Nitshimi. The enemy of my enemy.”

  I turned to Jamal. “What is it with people waxing cliché before going to war?”

  Jamal shrugged.

  “You’re a lot of help.”

  “I have my strengths.” Jamal winked.

  With perfect timing, Morgan’s voice called over the radio. “We’re with the first team. I’ve instructed them to guard the perimeter. There’s no way those asshats—undead or alive—will reach you, Bethany.”

  “Much appreciated, Morgan.”

  The sound of massive helicopter rotors ripped through the exchange.

  “Jesus,” Morgan hissed.

  “What is it?” I demanded.

  “I’ve never seen a copter this large. The cargo bay door is…oh, shit.”

  “Morgan!” I shouted into the mic. “What’s going on?”

  “There must be thousands.”

  Morgan’s voice was immediately drowned out by gunfire.

  “Zombies,” was the only word I heard before her voice was, once again, overtaken by the sounds of battle.

  I turned to face Jamal. “I don’t know how long I can stay here.”

  “I figured you’d say something like that. I have an idea.” An all-too-familiar twinkle appeared in Jamal’s eyes. I had no choice but to follow his lead. We returned to the boudoir so that Jamal could pull a drone out of hiding.

  “Remember seeing that quad at the Mad Max wannabe city?”

  I nodded.

  “I took a cue from that and crafted my own. It has a camera, so I can fly it over the wall and see exactly what’s going on.”

  “You crafty son of a bitch,” I teased.

  “I do what I can.” Jamal blushed. “Let’s go.”

  Once beyond the confines of the house, Jamal fired up the drone and directed it toward the wall. He placed a tablet on the hood of a car so we could both view the path of flight. The camera immediately picked up the parade of flesh and chaos as it slowly made its way to war. After a few seconds, the copter reached and breached the wall, camera locking in on an epic stampede of Screamers and Moaners…heading directly toward the city.

  “Goddamn,” Jamal whispered. “There’s no way.”

  I squeezed Jamal’s shoulder. “We have to stay positive.”

  “I’m positive there’s no way.”

  My loving grip turned Vulcan and Jamal cried out. “Okay, okay.” He spun on his heels with a yelp. “We can do this. We’ve fought these ass-mites back before; we can do it again.”

  The radio felt heavy in my hand. I knew it to be a metaphor, but couldn’t deal with giving it my attention at the moment. I pressed the talk button. “Morgan, are you seeing this?”

  The sound of gunfire rattled from the speaker. “Yeah. We’re doing our best to hold them off until the other units arrive. We could really use some help.”

  The video feed from the drone was like watching an Edward Lee book come to life. Moaners and Screamers tore chunks of fetid meat from one another in an attempt to reach living flesh, bone, and brain of those nearby. The Zombie Response Team was doing an admirable job of keeping them at bay, but…

  “They’ll only be able to hold them off for another…” Jamal paused, eyes closed to concentrate on the calculation. “Three minutes at best.”

  I turned my attention back to the radio. “Raneesha, we need your group now!”

  Nothing.

  Jamal turned to me, his lips pursed in fear.

  “Raneesha, reply.” My voice rose louder than necessary.

  Once again, we were met with silence.

  “Is it possible the function failed? It was written for a game, not an embedded system.”

  Jamal shook his head. “There’s no way; it was your code. Your code doesn’t falter. Besides, I put it through a rigorous soak test.”

  “Raneesha here. We’ve reached the top of the wall and have engaged. If Gerrand is coming with those bombs, we need them as soon as possible.”

  “On my way,” Gerrand’s voice chimed in.

  Back to the video feed. A pair of Chatterers were slowly making their way up the wall, obvious intent in their eyes. Below them, Moaners were staring upward.

  “Please tell me they’re not…”

  “Following orders?” Jamal replied quietly. “Quid pro quietus.”

  “I see Gerrand,” Raneesha’s voice rang out. “He, Echo, and Rizzo are halfway up the wall.”

  My heart took a metaphoric nosedive into my gut. I yelled into the radio, “As soon as Echo and Rizzo are within earshot, order them back down. Is that clear?”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Raneesha answered.

  Jamal flew the drone to level off with Gerrand’s crew. “I wish I would have added sound to this so you could give those girls what for.”

  We watched as Richard reached the apex of the wall, dug a free hand into his satchel, pulled out a Fry bomb, held the bomb to Echo so she could engage the timer, and dropped the ball. Echo and Rizzo assisted him in that same manner until every single Fry bomb had been unleashed. Jamal immediately flew the drone to the other side of the wall and panned the camera downward.

  “Please let there be a kaboom. I so need a goddamn kaboom,” Jamal growled.

  Instead of an earth-shattering explosion, we were treated to a geyser of blood and viscera as Fry did its job. We waited, holding our breath in hopes of seeing a severely diminished undead
rank and file once the red cloud dispersed.

  “Son of bitch,” Gerrand’s voice was the first to sound off. “The bombs took out a good portion of them, but not nearly enough. What are your orders, Bethany?”

  Orders? I had no orders left to give. My heart, mind, and soul all froze. I finally managed to tilt my gaze up enough to catch Jamal. He offered a knowing nod, giving me the strength to do what had to be done.

  “Retreat,” I said emphatically.

  “No way,” Morgan shouted back. “We have two other ZRT units arriving. I’m not backing down until my men and women have had their say.”

  “Morgan,” I barked into the radio. “Your troops can function without you. I, on the other hand, cannot. Let the units do their jobs and you and Josh do yours.”

  “Understood,” Morgan responded.

  “Raneesha?” I questioned.

  “Don’t bother to ask, Bethany. We came here for a reason and we’ll not back down until we see it through.”

  “Listen to me,” I started.

  “You’re wasting your breath. Dane is the only voice the Thelemites hear, and he’s not about to retreat from a fight.”

  “Let them fight, Raneesha. Climb back down the wall and give Dane something to fight for, other than honor.”

  “I wish it were that easy, Bethany.” Even over the radio, I could hear reluctance in Raneesha’s voice. “I made a vow to stand by Dane and I will uphold that promise.”

  “Oh, God,” Jamal mumbled, and pointed to the camera feed.

  The collected Screamers had finally wrapped their liquified thought-meat around the concept of climbing and were ascending the wall. The look in their eyes had taken on a new-found determination.

  Thelemites took aim and launched a wave of arrows downward. A handful of Screamers met their final demise with an arrow tip embedded in their skulls. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of the climbers were taken out before they reached the top and pulled Thelemites over the wall. One by one, the naked men and women were tossed over and to the ground. As they hit the unforgiving Earth, the undead converged on their bodies to tear, rend, break, slurp, and swallow.

  The drone’s camera took it all in with astonishing—and disgusting—4k quality. Never in my life had I so longed for old-school Pan and Scan or a noir-ish black and white.

  “Bethany!” Raneesha’s voice yanked me from the nightmare-inducing video feed.

  “I’m here,” I answered.

  A James Tiberius Kirk-worthy pause stopped time. Jamal’s hand pressed lightly against my lower back, a connection I desperately needed.

  “Raneesha?” I asked hesitantly, terrified of being greeted by more silence.

  “I’m on my way back,” she answered.

  Breath finally escaped both lungs and my every muscle eased.

  I pressed the talk button again. “Doctor Gerrand? Status?”

  “Almost there,” came Richard’s reply. “Worry not, I have the girls in tow.”

  Jamal buzzed the drone over Morgan and Josh. A second Zombie Response Team unit had finally arrived to give them some much-needed backup.

  It wasn’t enough.

  “Goddamn it, Morgan. Get your ass back here now. That’s an order.” Desperation rang clear in my voice.

  “I don’t think she can hear you at this point.” Jamal spoke with a forced calm as he pointed to the video feed.

  The Zombie Response teams were surrounded by the undead. Bullets and arrows flew in every direction, hoping to shut down the never-ending march of death toward the chewy center of the circle. As each Moaner dropped, two more would take its place. The numbers were overwhelming…yet the ZRT continued the fight.

  “Bethany!” Raneesha yelled over the radio. “They’ve made it over the wall. Screamers are heading your way. Hide!”

  Without thinking, I rushed to Echo’s room, knowing that was where she tucked him away while she babysat. My heart locked when I didn’t immediately see him. “Jacob,” I shouted, and was relieved to hear his muffled cry. Echo had stowed Jacob away in her closet. He was carefully swaddled and lying in a basinette. “Oh, my God,” I couldn’t help but cry as he spotted me and offered up his sweet smile.

  I scooped Jacob up just as Jamal entered to lead me out of the building.

  A cloud of dust rose in the distance. I stood, frozen in time. As Jamal grabbed my arm to pull me from the scene, Gerrand, Echo, and Rizzo burst through the dirty fog, legs pumping in a mad dash for life.

  “Run!” Echo screamed.

  Gerrand and the girls flew past us. In the distance, another plume of dust rose to the sky…this one expanding in a spiraling chaos. A maddening scream rose to meet the accompanying visuals. This was a Hollywood wet dream; the perfect climax to what every post-apocalyptic horror film should have been.

  Only this wasn’t a movie.

  “Bethany.” Jamal tugged at my sleeve. “I think we need to go.”

  “We have to wait,” I mumbled.

  “For what?” Jamal turned me to face him. “That cloud you see—you’re looking at the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and they want nothing more than to either eat you alive or take you in as a prisoner of the ZDC. Our only chance is to hide and hope we can regroup to form a better plan.”

  “What better plan?” I shouted. “This was our better plan, Jamal. In fact, after this…we’re fresh out of plans.”

  Jamal piloted the drone so it hovered just above the oncoming storm and then pointed at the tablet. “You see that?”

  I dared a glance…and wished like hell I hadn’t.

  “That’s the end,” Jamal added.

  As I assumed, the cloud was being kicked up by a small horde of Screamers.

  “You have to survive this, Bethany. The world needs you.”

  “But what about…” I tried to get the names out of my mouth, but failed.

  Jamal pointed in the direction of Gerrand’s escape and nodded.

  He was right; I had no choice. We’d worked too hard and come too far to give up. The battle was lost and our only hope was in hiding.

  Jamal grabbed the tablet, placed the drone in hover mode, and together we sped away. As we sprinted from the headquarters, Raneesha called out on the radio. “Bethany, where are you?”

  “Son of bitch,” I hissed.

  “Don’t even think about it, B.,” Jamal gasped. “We can’t go back. Tell her…tell her to meet us at the square where they tried to kill me. Nothing like a little poetic irony, don’t ya think?”

  I wanted to laugh, but barely had the extra energy to speak. I relayed Jamal’s suggestion to Raneesha and then concentrated on keeping as quick a pace as my legs and lungs could muster. Instinctively, my hand brought the radio back to my mouth. “Morgan, please tell me you’re there,” I said with great hesitation. At this point, I was about to give into the chaos and live in ignorance, assuming she and Josh had ridden off into the sunset with the remaining members of the Zombie Response Team.

  Instead of being greeted by Morgan’s lovely voice, a chorus of Screamers rattled my last nerve with their symphony of destruction.

  “This way,” Jamal said, and took a sharp right.

  We zigged and zagged through the streets of New Salt Lake City until we finally arrived at the rendezvous point. Gerrand, Echo, and Rizzo were waiting for us, their breath already returned to some semblance of normalcy. I immediately handed Jacob over to Rizzo so she could secure him to her chest with a kangaroo wrap, before I passed out from exhaustion. I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. I had no idea what I’d have done without her and Echo to keep watch over my child.

  No one wanted to speak. We were afraid of what we’d say or what would be said. Speculation of who survived and who didn’t would systematically undo us, so there was no need to even wonder.

  We did anyway. At least…I did. I couldn’t stop thinking of Morgan and Josh. They were friends…they were family. This was my rabbit hole, my white whale. I couldn’t help but feel absolutely responsible for the
security of those I loved.

  I was about to finally brave speaking when Raneesha ran into the square and insisted we follow her. She didn’t even pause for an update or to check and see who’d survived before dashing past us all.

  Everyone turned to me for direction. I didn’t bother speaking a word…I simply nodded in Raneesha’s direction. We all sprinted off, hoping like hell to catch up with the woman who might have the means to hide us before the cannibal circus arrived to pick clean our bones.

  She guided us through a building, down an alley, and into a gutted warehouse. The second we were inside the massive structure, the stench of blood and rot wound its way into my olfactories and begged a bile slurpy rise from my gut.

  “We can’t stay here,” I balked.

  Raneesha stopped, turned, and took us all in. “There’s a basement. We hide under the floor, and those undead motherfuckers will never find us once we’re sealed inside. It’s our only hope of surviving this shit-storm.”

  I swallowed a shoe-sized lump down. “If they can’t find us, that means Morgan and Josh won’t, either.”

  “No. But when this blows over, we’ll find them.” Raneesha’s kind eyes blinked a flood of tears away. “Bethany, we don’t have much time.”

  The chaotic chorus of Screamers sounded off again, this time nearer, louder, and hungrier.

  “She’s right, Bethany,” Gerrand said solemnly. “If we don’t survive, everything you’ve done was in vain.”

  “Everything we’ve done.” I took everyone in. It wasn’t until my gaze met Echo’s that I realized this was the only choice. My first duty was to serve as the voice of reason, and that voice had to remain tethered to logic. With an accepting nod from me, Raneesha led us through a disorienting collection of halls until we arrived at a door. She pulled it open to reveal nothing more than a closet.

  “I don’t understand,” I voiced my confusion.

  Raneesha entered the closet, bent over, grabbed a metal ring, and hefted a wooden doorway built into the floor. Below the floor was a steeply pitched set of stairs that led us down to an underground system of caves and hidden rooms.

  “What was this place?” I asked quietly.

  Raneesha waved us down. “This warehouse was built over an abandoned tunnel system. We have no idea what the purpose was, but it’s the perfect location to hide away from the apocalypse.”