H7N9: The Complete Series [Books 1-3]

by Campbell, Mark

  With the tower out of commission, the radio traffic devolved into a pissing contest between Hock and the sergeants over their next move.

  Finally, there came a message from a radio call sign unfamiliar to him: USNORTHCOM hailing Jayhawk Command on all frequencies—we have no available units in your region to respond to your camp’s distress beacon. Begin decampment protocols.

  It was the last meaningful transmission before the battery died.

  The sudden silence put Teddy’s already fragile nerves on edge. He got up quite a few times—much to Zoey’s annoyance, and peeked into the dorm to make sure nobody wandered in.

  By the time sunset came around, the gunfire waned.

  By nightfall, the sound stopped altogether.

  It would’ve been the perfect time to slip outside and survey the damage firsthand, but exhaustion and hunger had taken a heavy toll on Teddy.

  As darkness fell, he sat slouched against Zoey who lay beside him, unmoving. Both of them were fast asleep.

  CHAPTER 19

  DECEMBER 20th

  2:41 AM

  Teddy’s eyes shot open at the sound of a train horn. He looked around the shower in a sleepy daze and saw that Zoey was awake as well; she stared at him with her ears perked up. How long was I out? He rubbed the crust out the corners of his eyes. It suddenly dawned on him that he had probably slept through the night and missed his chance to work in the cover of darkness.

  His eyes widened. “Shit!”

  He threw the blanket off of him in a panic and scrambled up on his feet. As soon as he peered through the open doorway and saw that it was still nighttime, his nerves settled.

  Zoey wagged her tail and walked up beside him. She cocked her head up at him and stared at him.

  Teddy looked down at her and became a little heartsick… He hadn’t even factored her in. “I’m sorry girl, but you have to stay here.”

  She tilted her head goofily and kept her eyes on him.

  “I’m serious,” he said in a tone that was not too convincing. “You’re on your own now… I’m sorry—really.”

  Zoey lowered her ears and gave an unsteady whimper.

  Teddy ran a hand over his face and let out a sigh. “Fine, girl… You win.” He zipped his jacket, ensured that the FEMA access card was still in his pocket, and headed towards the door. “Come on.”

  Zoey’s ears perked up and she gave a happy little bark in response as she started walking alongside him.

  Outside the temperature had dropped considerably. The melted snow formed a thick sheet of ice across the footpath and large icicles hung precariously from the rooftops. The camp’s sodium-vapor high-mast lamps were without power, but the full moon cast a cold light across the grim landscape.

  Teddy stared down the footpath at the hundreds of people who lay frozen half-buried in the ice. “Dear God…”

  As he walked further down the pathway, the destruction caused by the day’s battles became evident. Multiple dormitories had been reduced to heaps of rubble while others further away gave a flickering orange glow as fires spread unchecked. The bullet-riddled guard towers stood empty with their searchlights shattered. Plumes of black smoke billowed from the skeletal debris on top of the concrete pillar where Jayhawk Control once stood.

  Teddy continued to walk forward, treading carefully across the slick path, and marveled at just how drastically things had fallen apart.

  Zoey kept close to him and sniffed at the half-buried corpses they passed. Her eyes were low and her tail lay flat.

  A few shell-shocked civilians were still wandering aimlessly in the snow, searching the dead for whatever they could find, but they took off running as soon as he approached.

  He thought about calling out to them, but what would be the point—how could they help? After the horrific trauma they experienced he figured that anyone left alive would be damned lucky to escape with their sanity intact.

  Teddy was grateful that there wasn’t a single officer in sight.

  They took a detour around the charred remnants of one of the Humvees from the convoy. The vehicle had smashed against a dorm and had burnt down to nothing more than a skeletal husk.

  He hadn’t seen any of the other vehicles patrolling the streets and alleyways, and wondered if they were still bothering to search for people to kill or had they already written everyone off?

  A train horn blared again—he jumped and turned towards the jarring noise. “Those idiots are still bringing people here?” he asked aloud. A morbid answer formed in his mind: yes, but this time they’re bringing cops… and lots of guns. He shuddered at the thought, but, judging by what he had seen, he knew that they had already taken off and left whatever civilians behind to freeze and starve. The way he figured, either the train was simply passing through or the conductor hadn’t heard that news that the Wall of Jericho had fallen and that everything had gone to shit.

  In the distance, he saw the administration building sitting unscathed on top of the hill. It still had power and was lit up like a Christmas tree with every rooftop halogen floodlight powered on and pointed at the ground below.

  Teddy maneuvered past a heap of concrete debris that had blocked off most of the pathway. He turned towards Zoey and smiled. “We’re almost there, girl.”

  She gave an agreeable bark and wagged her tail.

  The footpath opened up to the main avenue that ran from the train station and intake facilities towards the administration building.

  Teddy stopped and took cover at the corner to peer out at the clearing. He held a hand out and signaled for Zoey to wait—she obeyed.

  The chain-link perimeter fence stood mostly intact aside two areas where vehicles had flatted the entire section. A FEMA police SUV sat on flat tires next to an overturned Humvee that had most of its drab olive paint burnt off. Both of the vehicular sally port gates were open and three military flatbeds rolled out of the camp each loaded with officers and crates of supplies. A little further in the distance, Teddy saw the taillights of four more flatbed trucks as they headed down the dirt road as fast as they could—the beds were crammed with officers and forced many to hang dangerously onto the sides of the moving vehicles. “That’s right… Cut and run, motherfuckers,” he said with smile.

  He turned his attention towards the hill and became somewhat dismayed to discover that a skeleton crew of officers had stayed behind.

  The officers escorted a steady procession of researchers and nurses out of the administration building and towards the waiting Amtrak train at the intake dock. The medical and research staff all carried document storage boxes that were piled high with papers and reports stacked in a helter-skelter manner. Many were still wearing their white-suits, sans the hood and respirators.

  Teddy didn’t see Ein or any of the other human test subjects, but he figured that they were being left behind to die.

  “We’ll wait for them to finish and then get the hell out of here,” he told Zoey. He got back in cover and leaned his back against the wall.

  Zoey looked up at him and licked the back of his hand.

  Teddy swatted her away playfully. “It’s too cold for all that, girl. Your drool is going to give me frostbite.”

  Zoey stepped side-to-side, lolling her tongue. She barked at him happily—she was ready to play.

  Teddy crouched down and tried to calm her. He placed a finger on his lips and gave a gentle shush, but she barked again and wagged her tail.

  One of the escorting officers stopped. “Heard that?”

  Another behind him paused and turned towards the noise. “It could be another roach with a gun trying to pick a few of us off—let’s check it out.”

  The two officers clicked on their rifle’s tactical flashlights and headed towards Teddy while the others continued escorting the medical staff to the train.

  Zoey lost her cheerful expression and turned her head towards the approaching men. A warning growl rumbled at the back of her throat as she raised her hackles.

  Tedd
y peeked around the corner and saw the officers coming towards him with their guns ready. “Shit…” He patted Zoey and turned back the way that he came. “Come on, girl, we gotta go.”

  Zoey turned abruptly and followed him. She kicked up fresh snow which was caught in the tactical light’s beams.

  “Movement!” one of the officers shouted. “Someone’s back there!”

  Both of the officers started running.

  Teddy squeezed in between a pile of concrete debris and a dorm and shimmied through as fast as he could manage.

  Zoey clambered up and over the pile and scurried ahead of Teddy. She turned towards him and leered down the pathway, growling, as the officers neared.

  Teddy pressed through the passageway and went towards one of the open dormitory doors. He hurriedly waved at Zoey. “Come on!” he urged.

  She followed him inside.

  An earlier mortar strike had left the dorm in serious disorder. It had knocked a large hole in the roof and left a gaping crater in the middle of the floor. Mangled civilian corpses lay spread around the crater and hung halfway inside.

  Teddy took cover behind an overturned bunk. He pressed his back against the steel. He brought Zoey close to him and held her against his chest. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Easy, girl, just be quiet…”

  Zoey kept her head low and sniffed the air vigorously. She didn’t try to pull away, but her body remained tense, ready to spring at a moment’s notice.

  Judging by how violently she was reacting every time she saw the uniforms, Teddy wondered if one of the officers had lashed out at her during the unrest. He recalled the blood that was matted in her muzzle and considered for the first time that perhaps it wasn’t Perry’s blood after all.

  Teddy stroked her back to calm her, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. “Easy,” he whispered.

  “Split up and check the dorms,” one of the men said outside the door. “I’ll take the right, you take the left.”

  “Got it,” the other responded.

  “Watch your ass—I guarantee that they’re armed.”

  One of the officers stepped inside and scanned the room cautiously with his rifle’s tactical light. He crept slowly across the board and batten flooring. The wooden planks creaked under his boots.

  Teddy remained motionless with his arm around Zoey. He could smell the cordite that clung to the man’s uniform as he got closer. Please just go away he silently prayed.

  The officer slipped past the bunk where Teddy was hiding and kept walking. He reached the end of the dorm, swept the inside of the communal shower with his light, and then lowered his weapon. “We’re clear in here!” he shouted.

  As soon as the officer turned, he locked eyes on Teddy who sat motionless with his back against the bunk and Zoey in his arms.

  The officer’s eyes widened and he jumped back, terrified. All he managed to emit was a high-pitched Ooooo as he swung his weapon up at Teddy.

  “Easy!” Teddy exclaimed. “I’m unarmed! I was looking for Lieutenant Hock!”

  Zoey tore away from Teddy’s arms and bounded towards the startled officer. She leapt up, shoved her front paws against the man’s breastplate, and bit down hard on the front of his throat.

  The officer pulled the trigger as he jerked backwards and twirled around the floor with one hand on his rifle’s grip and the other above his head like a demented danseur. He kept firing until the rifle gave a defeated click—his gunfire struck the roof and ricocheted off of a few lockers but failed to hit its target.

  Zoey clamped down harder and didn’t let go. Crimson flew freely from her jowl as her teeth sank deeper. She spun around with the man as he tried to knock her off—she wouldn’t be deterred.

  The officer fell down on his back, dropped his gun, and started hitting the assaulting mutt. He kicked his feet wildly as blood spurted from his mouth.

  Zoey crouched atop of him and took his dying punches in stride. She started thrashing her head side-to-side as she kept the man’s throat firmly in her mouth.

  The man’s eyes rolled up in his sockets. His arms and legs fell limp and his head slumped back. His body’s final undignified act was the release of his bladder.

  Zoey shook him a few more times for good measure and then let him go. She hopped off of him and went back to Teddy—blood-red tongue lolling out of her gore-slathered mouth.

  Teddy, stunned at the savagery he had just witnessed, looked over at the dead man who lay just feet away in a puddle of his own blood and piss. He turned his attention back at Zoey and stroked the side of her head with a trembling hand. “Good girl…”

  Zoey, seemingly unaware of the uneasiness in his voice, happily barked in response and wagged her tail.

  A light shone into the dorm as the other officer stepped into the doorway. The beam focused on the man’s mauled corpse laying on the floor. He gasped and took a step back. “Sweet Jesus!”

  Zoey’s grin went away and her hackles stood on end once more. She snarled and bolted out away from behind the bunk and charged towards the officer.

  The officer hastily sighted his rifle and fired a burst of automatic fire at her, but only managed to splinter the wood floor.

  Zoey leapt up at him and opened her mouth, ready to strike.

  He fired again.

  Zoey yelped in pain as a round tore through her right hind leg. She floundered in the air and landed against the man’s chest.

  The officer stumbled backwards and landed on the snow with an oomph.

  Zoey tumbled off of him, rolled back onto her feet, and darted away down the footpath hobbling on three legs.

  “Nasty bitch!” the man snarled. He quickly got back on his feet, pointed his rifle at her, and fired as she ran away. He was focused—so focused that he didn’t even see the burly brute approach him.

  Teddy knocked the rifle’s barrel up towards the sky and drove his closed fist against the side of the man’s head with full-force.

  The officer’s helmet flung off of his crewcut head and the lower portion of his jaw snapped to the side. He turned towards his assailant in a bewildered daze.

  Teddy quickly spun the man around and wrapped his arm around the man’s throat in a tight chokehold. He pulled the officer off-kilter and inside of the dorm.

  The officer rasped uselessly for breath as he clawed at the forearm that was wrapped around his throat in a vice grip. He kicked his legs out in unbridled panic and tried to twist and worm away—the thought of using his holstered sidearm never even occurred to him as anxiety trumped reason.

  Teddy gritted his teeth and pulled the man deeper into the dorm. His veins stood out in his arms and he broke out in sweat despite the fact that the temperature was well below freezing. He closed his eyes and squeezed tighter.

  There was a sickening snap and the officer’s body suddenly fell limp.

  Teddy let the dead man drop to the floor, stepped over him, and went outside to pick up the rifle. He picked it up and scanned the pathway and adjacent alley, ready, but saw no one.

  He turned off the tactical light and lowered his weapon as he stared sorrowfully at the splatters of blood in the snow. His eyes followed the drops to Zoey.

  Down the footpath, Zoey stood with her injured leg raised against her body. She stared back at Teddy with her tongue lolling at him. She perked her ears up and seemed to smile at him despite the pain she must’ve been in.

  Teddy stared at her and couldn’t help but smile back. He waved a beckoning hand in the air. “Come here, girl… You did well.”

  Zoey, however, didn’t come towards him. She gave him a few barks, turned, and vanished down one of the many darkened alleyways.

  Teddy was disheartened, but he really couldn’t blame her. His travel companions never seemed to do very well so he figured she was making a better decision than most humans. He turned and went back into the dorm to figure out his next move.

  He knew that getting inside that building would require more than a simple pass card. It woul
d’ve been perfect if those fucking officers had left with the rest of them, but lady luck never seemed to do him any favors so it was not as if he had expected things to be easy.

  Teddy stared down at the dead officer and delivered a volley of swift kicks. “Prick,” he muttered.

  As he stared at the inert body at his feet, he noticed that the man was about the same size as him—he realized with sudden clarity that he had something far better than a simple pass card.

  CHAPTER 20

  The fit wasn’t as close as he had hoped. His legs felt like overstuffed sausages in the black BDU pants and his crotch felt like someone was working him over with a monkey-wrench.

  Despite the shortcomings, everything else fit pretty well. He had ample room in the shirt—thanks, malnutrition—and the padded armor fit perfectly with some minor adjustments to the nylon straps. He didn’t find anything particularly useful in the uniform’s many tactical pockets, but he did find a pocket knife and an extra magazine loaded with thirty rounds.

  Teddy, decked out in in full FEMA police regalia and carrying an assault rifle, managed to walk right up the hill, past two sentries, and into the administration building’s lobby without so much as one raised eyebrow cast his way. The lower portion of his face was obscured by a balaclava and his riot helmet sat tilted atop his head.

  Hell, if he knew it would’ve been so easy, he would’ve tried it weeks ago.

  Smoke hung thick in the lobby and the fire alarms emitted a piercing, ceaseless wail while the emergency strobes flashed repeatedly. Strips of shredded paper littered the floor and bullet-riddled computer drives sat heaped in front of the reception desk.

  A voice came through the Motorola clipped to his duty belt: Alpha-Ten to Command, be advised, sanitization protocols underway—completion time is estimated at twenty minutes, over.

  Hock responded: Command to Alpha-Ten, I suggest that you hurry it up. I don’t like sitting out here in the open. If anything pops off outside, we’re moving out—with you or without you. Copy?

  Uh… the voice hesitated. 10-4, Command, we’ll, uh, make it fast, over.