His head bobbed deliriously, but they finally locked eyes. His blustery blues summoned a memory from the Ambassador's office. Hui was smartly dressed in his uniform, and he'd taken meticulous care to present himself to the leadership on the first day of male tryouts. There, in the safety and quiet of the mainland office, his eyes are what grabbed her attention when he walked in. Now, in the plane wreck, the light in his eyes had vanished.
In seconds, she had his seatbelt unlatched, and she shifted her small frame so she had the leverage to get him out of the seat. Others were already on their feet, and the stampede had been summoned. The rank on so many sleeves transformed back into simple cloth. The passengers were entering the most primal mode in creation: every man for himself.
Another wave of hot air blew through the compartment. Her stomach lurched, thinking the fireball had arrived. She'd have one last moment before it consumed her. Enough time to think of mother and father and all the sacrifices they'd made to get her here.
The heat wave passed. In spite of the fatalistic streak, she kept pulling and pushing Hui to get him out of the plane. A few seconds after he stood up, she figured out the heat wasn't from any fireball. The bay door was opening, and the heat of a desert invaded the hold.
"Run, Hui. You have to run," she shouted over a hundred other voices saying nearly the same thing.
I'm going to have to drag him, she thought with dismay. Not that she wasn't willing to do it. He was the son of a wealthy member of the Politburo, after all, so he had his uses. The rest of the plane was filled with a mix of government and military types, each probably thinking they were worth saving.
She pulled him along until he got the message. Hui caught on once they were on the ramp, and he didn't stop running by her side until they'd gotten well clear of the burning aircraft. Only when they were far enough to escape any explosion did she release the tightness in her chest. She'd feared she would die trying to save him, and that angered her. That wasn't how she wanted to go out.
The bright sun and heat of the day reminded her of her training in the Gobi. She blinked the sunshine from her eyes so she could plan their next move. The airstrip had been carved out of the red rock of the desert and seemed to stretch to the horizon. The behemoth transport had come off the end of the runway, but the designers allowed for another mile of cleared scrubland beyond. A long streak in the rocky soil indicated the pilot had used a good portion of that safety net. The green skin of the plane had been pierced in many places on the left wing—those two turbines were on the ground hundreds of meters back. It was an engineering miracle the fire didn't result in an immediate explosion. A carefully typed note of commendation would be due to the pilot.
Flames engulfed half the plane; it was finally succumbing to the inevitable. Trucks shot out the back, as did a continual flow of refugees. None of them stopped, and few shared her concern for the doomed still in the plane.
She passed a glance to Hui, then boldly stated, “Every woman for herself.” It was as if she was daring Hui to object. He wouldn't dare. Not after what he'd just done to cast doubt on the fortitude of the male species. It would be some time—maybe never—before she allowed him to live that down.
She did as they'd been instructed a day and a half ago: she didn't stop running until she saw several bright yellow school buses waiting for her alongside one of the hardened bunkers for the sleek American combat aircraft. As they passed in front of the opening, one of the black planes sat glumly inside. It was a true technological marvel but had no role in defeating germs. The Chinese People's Liberation Army had literally landed next to it. And still it slept.
A hundred other planes littered both sides of the runway. The pilot was due another commendation for getting the chubby beast safely by all those hazards. They'd been left where they stopped after landing. Many had their emergency slides deployed; no one was coming back.
"We made it, Hui. We're going to survive." She believed those words. They'd been drilled into her for months. Plenty of miracles had gotten her this far. Nothing would stop them from finishing their trip. The underground Balearic Moon bunker outside Las Vegas, USA, wasn't far—if they'd landed in the right spot. Surely such a skilled pilot would have gotten that most essential detail correct.
She and Hui ran up to the door of the closest bus and tapped on the glass. The doors separated and a dark-skinned man smiled from the driver's seat. He'd find a friend in the calm man back on the plane. He didn't seem to care that one of the biggest aircraft in the world had just slid by with a flaming, broken wing.
"Welcome to 'Merica." He sloshed something in his mouth, then spat a long, black string of goo into a clear bottle half-filled with it. A wisp of wind carried the stench of the tobacco. It made her stomach turn where even the sight of the bloodied and dead woman had failed.
"You might have't stand," the driver advised as he flashed a chaw-ruined smile into the mirror above his head. Her recoil from his teeth made her consider trying the other bus.
Hui suffered no such doubt. He didn't even look at the man, as best she could tell. She followed him up onto the main deck. The disorderly bus was the very opposite of the one she'd taken to the airport back in Beijing. The faces of three scared teenagers repeated row after row on both sides, all the way to the back. Most were glued to the windows to watch fire consume her plane. But others sat hunched over or stared into space while tears streamed down their cheeks.
The driver shouted. "Doomsday bunker, here we come." Though loud, he spoke with the calm of any number of the dutiful drivers assigned to deliver her to one of the many political summer camps back home. He closed the door and started the engine—leaving her feeling as if she'd forgotten something. A last look at the plane consume itself disavowed any thought of going back to figure out what.
She held on to the pole next to the first seat across from the driver. Hui stood there as well, reverting back to the same look of shock she'd sloughed off him earlier. She'd let him stand where he wanted. Just as long as he didn't get in her way.
She'd chosen that spot for a reason: if there was another disaster while driving to her new home, she was going to be the first one out. The young woman she saw in the big mirror above her would be unrecognizable by those she'd left behind. The hair on her right side had been burned off. It looked incredibly unpleasant as an observer, but it didn't register as pain to her. Not yet.
“You're on fire,” a girl called out while tapping her back. In the mirror she acknowledged the blonde teen, and confirmed a small amount of smoke was escaping from her jacket.
She responded in Mandarin. Then, remembering her mission, she said “Thank you.”
The bus weaved its way out of the airport while she unwound herself from the coat. The stiff lapel brushed against her head, reminding her that pain was patiently waiting for her. She tossed it onto the bottom step of the entry. Whatever still smoldered inside was the least of her worries.
She didn't bother looking back when the transport exploded. That was already ancient history.
2
Wen woke up inside the stripped shell of a passenger van. She felt horrible for leaving Felix and Scarlett to the mercy of those drones, and she was sure Elle had thrown her life away by tricking the turret guns into blowing away all those zombies. Elle was vivacious but a bit on the naive side. It was an end much better than she would have guessed for her. For just a second she felt bad Alex had chased Elle inside that tunnel. He would have been useful.
None of that was her concern, now. Once her memories started to flood in she had no choice but to listen to what they told her. All the years of training came back, and it was like discovering a hidden cavern inside the Complex. That chamber was filled with knowledge of the Old World and her home in the distant realm once known as China.
So what if she abandoned Elle. She had to keep running, even as Felix and that girl fell behind.
“I have to get back to Hui. He must survive. There aren’t many of us left.” She whis
pered even though it had been hours since any drones had picked through the wreckage of cars closer to the bridge. If they didn’t find her then, they weren’t going to find her now. She got out of her van and stayed low as she walked for the edge of the parking lot of cars.
She thought of all those kids on the school buses. Her memories of them included driving into the Complex and a few early days where they were all together. After that, her memory faded. Now she could only say with assurance she remembered a mere handful of them. Pug. Tom. Rebecca. Fortuna. Were the rest dead? Had they gone elsewhere? Elle said most been killed, though there was no way to confirm that herself.
And what of the missing bus?
The troubling fact was they were supposed to meet the rest of the group in the bunker. The bus driver said he heard them on the radio during the drive in, but nothing was said after that. When they didn’t show up there was a lot of fuss until the vault doors shut for good. Then no one was allowed to mention it. And now she remembered why.
“That old man sitting in the bench across from me. He was with us. Me, Hui, and—”
She searched for a name. It was on the edge of her mind.
We were a team.
Assuming the old man made it out of the crash he must have gotten on one of the other buses, but where he went after that was unknown. She did remember where he was supposed to end up.
Their mission was to get to the vault. Trios of residents would be assembled and testing would commence as part of a grand experiment to save everyone left alive. It was the culmination of years of training in programming, artificial intelligence, and quantum mechanics.
“Holy shit. I’m a genius!”
She was a genius, and Hui was smarter than her. That’s why she tolerated him.
She laughed to herself as it all clicked.
The heat of the day had made her giddy. She neared the derelict crane. Beyond, she expected to find Elle's crack in the roof of the Complex. If she could find that, she could get back in.
“A bus full of geniuses and a bus full of ancient men and women walk into a bar … ”
She couldn’t think of a suitable punchline, except it triggered her memory of the project name. It was written on everything back in the dorm where she trained with Hui and—Jianyu.
“Yes! I remember. I remember it all. I remember our place in Heaven’s Vanguard!”
With renewed spirit, she ran to find her lifelong companion. He might not have his memories restored, but she couldn’t complete her journey without him. Driven by their shared strength, they would go out and find Jianyu. He was the key.
A fragment of her training percolated through the noise of all the other returning memories. “The computer was built to be run by three operators. You, Hui, and Jianyu will be able to succeed where the Americans and British have failed. That is your destiny, children. You are the brightest flowers of the Chinese people. Never forget your place in history. May all our ancestors smile upon you.”
She ran like the lives of billions of her countrymen depended on her.
Eighty-seven years ago, they did.
###
Author Notes
Thank you for joining me on the second adventure in my Eternal Apocalypse series. I would be honored if you could spare a minute to leave a review. A simple “I liked it,” is all you need to write. Should take less than thirty seconds. Reviews are the life blood of independent authors such as myself and I thank you for helping me out!
I write these books with an outline in front of me, but I have to admit this book fought back against the original direction things were going to go. I guess that happens to me a lot in writing. However, once the group crossed that bridge and got into the tunnels of the Sisterhood I had no idea where things were going to go. It was such a contrast to Elle's bunker that I wanted to explore it as much as I could. Would eliminating all the troublesome men result in a peaceful existence for the women? I sincerely doubt it.
And the Commander? He and his supertruck are out there, but why look for the aged in the distant wasteland when you can find them closer to home? The next bunker over, in fact. I felt that was more realistic than traipsing out into the wilds on the off chance he'd scare up one-hundred-year-old survivors.
Speaking of which, when I got to the last line I realized this book was going to have a pretty epic cliffhanger. I didn't plan that, but I admit I had a smile on my face when I went back and re-read it. Authors sometimes get in trouble with cliffhangers, but it felt so right I couldn't tack on an ending wrapping things up in a meaningful way. When I get to the next book we'll all know the fate of the Commander and his hostages.
Thank you, as always, for reading my book. You and thousands like you are the reason I can delve into these unique worlds.
E.E. Isherwood
June 21, 2017
About the Author
E.E. Isherwood is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse series. His long-time fascination with the end of the world blossomed decades ago after reading the 1949 classic Earth Abides. He enjoys writing about characters faced with societal collapse, global plagues, and other world-altering events.
Isherwood lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and family. He stays deep in a bunker with steepled fingers, always awaiting the arrival of the first wave of zombies. When they don't show up, he visits Arby's. A restaurant which shows up in a backwards kind of way in Sky Dancers.
Find him online at www.zombiebooks.net.
Books by E.E. Isherwood
E.E. Isherwood currently has six books in the Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse universe. The Eternal Apocalypse series currently has two books. He also has two high-octane post-apocalyptic stories in the Revolutions Per Mile series. Visit his website at www.zombiebooks.net to be informed when future titles are launched.
The Eternal Apocalypse series
Sky Dancers
Dazzle Ships
Book 1: Sky Dancers [BUY ON KINDLE]
Elle leads a typical life inside her Doomsday bunker. Eat. Sleep. School. Repeat. Until she finds a crack in the roof that lets in forbidden sunshine. She realizes much of what she's been told about why she's locked up underground has been a lie. At first she wants to run far away with her newfound freedom, but she's pulled back inside when she learns that not all of the lies were false. The threat to her people is real, and it's been with them the whole time.
Book 2: Dazzle Ships [BUY ON KINDLE]
Elle and Alex are on the run, in pursuit of the man who stole the heart and soul of their survival bunker. As their lost memories begin to return, they realize the extent of the Commander's decades-long program of keeping them in the dark. The world outside had moved on, and other tribes in other bunkers found their own ways to stay alive. Elle's problems follow her into the hardened bunker of one such group. Only after she catches up to the Commander and his captives does she figure out he holds the key not only to their fate, but that of all of humanity.
***
The Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse series
Since the Sirens
Siren Songs
Stop the Sirens
Last Fight of the Valkyries
Zombies vs. Polar Bears
Zombies Ever After
Book 1: Since the Sirens [BUY ON KINDLE]
When 15-year-old Liam goes to stay with his ancient great-grandmother for the summer, he immediately becomes bored around the frail and elderly woman. He spends most of his time at the library texting friends, playing video games, and reading dark novels. But one morning stroll changes everything as the Zombie Apocalypse unloads itself directly into his life. Now he and his 104-year-old guardian must survive the journey out of the collapsing city of St. Louis while zombies, plague, and desperate survivors swirl around them.
Book 2: Siren Songs [BUY ON KINDLE]
Book 3: Stop the Sirens [BUY ON KINDLE]
Book 4: Last Fight of the Valkyries [BUY ON KINDLE]
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p; Book 5: Zombies vs. Polar Bears [BUY ON KINDLE]
Book 6: Zombies Ever After [BUY ON KINDLE]
OTHER TITLES
The Revolutions Per Mile series
A new series of driving adventures from post-apocalyptic author E.E. Isherwood.
Book 1: Post Apocalyptic Ponies [BUY ON KINDLE]
When the world ended, Perth Hopkins was one of the lucky few. She jumped in her father's sports car and drove like a girl possessed to escape the nuclear fires. Today, years later, she drives as a high-speed courier between the small farming towns in the breadbasket of a new nation. She's learning the rules of the road in the safe interior—the pony pastures—but she craves the speed and danger of the interstate. Those routes are run by the older girls... When one of those girls shows up in her life, she's forced to consider whether she really wants to see what's over the distant horizon.
ANTHOLOGIES
The Expanding Universe: An Exploration of the Science Fiction Genre
Inanna's Circle: Flight of Imagination - Thru the Darkness (Inanna's Circle Game Book 5)
The Tide: The Multiverse Wave
Dark Humanity (Boxed Set) / New York Timesand USAT bestseller
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Connect with E. E. Isherwood
Thank you for being a reader of my work. I value your support more than I can say. I also love interacting with fans. To contact me, yell at me, become a beta reader, or find more stories about the end of everything, look for me online:
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