Z-Strain (Book 3): Fallout

by Morris, S. J.

  “I get it, I do. But Chris hasn't been in the same situations as you and I have been. Insane people haven't unwillingly used him to try and end the world like they have to us. Let's just get through this current catastrophe, and we can work on mending fences later when all of our lives aren't in certain mortal danger.”

  “Thanks for understanding, Abby. I won't let you down.”

  Chapter 27

  Christopher Bryant

  I can't believe that little shit Stuart helped Brigantine and Peter. I wanted to wring his neck, but he did have a decent idea. We needed to ensure the safety of the cabin, and that weapon with Troy's serum was the way to do that. I hated knowing I needed Stuart's help, understanding now what part he had played in all of this, but I did. I'd never driven a Stryker vehicle before. I'm sure it was the same as any other military vehicle, and I could handle it, but I was not about to bet my family's lives on it.

  Right now, I needed to focus on getting geared up and getting the squad out of here and to that damn bunker.

  I fitted my team with riot gear, face masks, and all. We taped up the breaks in our clothing and loaded up on ammunition. Everyone got a machete just in case we were forced into hand to hand combat. I was preparing for the absolute worst out there, and I wasn't willing to risk any of my team getting infected in the process. Admiral's guys were so excited to see our weapons storeroom. They were like a pack of dogs with a pile of bones.

  We were planning on taking the helicopter since it was faster, and my team consisted of Stuart, Benning, Arrow, Jet, and Garrison. Everyone else was staying behind to protect our home. Within five minutes, we were strapped and ready to head out.

  I stopped by the security room to say goodbye to Christine and Troy and to see how things were looking outside. The cameras that were still functioning showed the same thing as before. There were masses of the undead piling up on top of one another, building a mound of infected that reached halfway up the wall in multiple spots around our compound. I checked all of the screens, and sure enough, there were super-infected watching like spectators at a sporting event.

  You could tell the super-infected apart by the way they stood. They postured like crazed animals, hunched over with their arms out, waiting for something to get close enough for them to pounce. That and they were nowhere near as rotten and decayed as our slower, more friendly neighborhood zombies.

  “Tyler, I'm leaving you and Kamil in charge. You stay here and watch the cameras and radio to Kamil and me if there are any developments outside. I'll be on station one, and I'll make sure Kamil has a radio on the same channel.” I gave Tyler a brief hug. “You may not be my blood, but I’m proud of you all the same, son.”

  “Don't go getting all sentimental on us. You're going out, nuking the shit out of these zombies, and you'll be back to help us clean up the mess. Don't forget; you have diapers to change too,” Tyler laughed.

  “Oh, Daddy, promise me you'll be okay.” Christine demanded as she hugged me.

  “I will, baby girl. I will. I love you both. See you in a few hours,” I replied, refusing to let my emotions get the better of me and leaving the room before they could.

  I led the team to the door leading back up into the cabin, and Abby was waiting for me. She had tears in her eyes but was standing tall with her back as straight as she could doing her best to appear strong.

  “You come back to us safe and sound, won't you, Santa?”

  I laughed as she called me by the nickname she knew I hated. “I will, Mrs. Clause.” I kissed Abby more passionately than I ever had before. I felt the heat of her body pressed against mine as I pulled her close. Abby moaned softly into my mouth, and I never wanted to let her go, but I did. I had to in order to save our home. I pulled back, bending over to press my forehead to hers. “I love you so much, Abbigail. Stay safe, and I'll be back as soon as I can.”

  She whispered, “I love you too,” as a single tear rolled from her eye and down her cheek.

  Arrow and Jet started making kissy noises behind us. “Save some of that lovin' for me big daddy,” Jet laughed as he poked Arrow in the ribs, and they pretended to make out with each other.

  “Okay, guys. Enough of that. Get your game faces on, boys. Let's go liquefy some of those undead shitbags!”

  We exited the cabin, and Garrison ran ahead of us to do the preflight checks on the helicopter. We all prepared to cover him, but thankfully there were no threats to face... yet.

  We got the bird in the air rather quickly, and the flight to the bunker was a short one.

  There was a small open field just big enough to land the chopper with a few feet on each side to spare. I didn't like having the tree cover so close to us since I knew the noise of the aircraft was like ringing the dinner bell for any infected in the area. But you have to work with what you got, right?

  We hustled out of the chopper and hoofed it quickly and quietly to the massive doors of the bunker. It was a large metal plate the size of a double garage door wedged in the side of a hill with a smaller door off to the side for people to come and go. It wasn't very inconspicuous, but I guess the government hadn't proved to be all that smart up until now anyway. Why should I expect them to hide a secret shelter well?

  Stuart made it to the door first and began plugging in the code Troy had reset the doors to, when screams broke the stillness of the forest.

  “We've got incoming boys. Keep your assholes puckered, and your eyes open on that tree line!” I yelled at the men.

  Guttural moans and snapping jaws could be heard all around us. A bloody, mangled hand appeared behind one of the trees as its owner screamed and jumped toward us. I pointed my rifle at the super-infected and fired. The monster dropped to the ground, but a mob of more than thirty filled its place. I looked around, and the zombies were now breaching the tree line all around us. Almost as if it was a planned ambush. Everyone else saw what I did, and the sounds of gunfire fractured the air. The zombies began to swarm tighter around us, but we blasted our way through them.

  A teenage infected with a mangled leg rushed at Arrow unexpectedly and wrestled him to the ground. The undead lifted its head high, and its mouth opened wide as it was about to strike Arrow like a snake. Jet heaved his machete down on the thing, splitting its head, and it fell motionless on top of Arrow. He pushed the gory body off of him and jumped back, grabbing onto Jet to help him stand.

  “Fuck those things are nasty up close!” Arrow shouted.

  I yelled at him as I continued to pick off my targets one by one with headshots, “Make sure you don't get any of their blood in your mouth, or I'll have to put one in your brain next. How's it coming with that door there, Stuart? In case you haven't noticed, we're kinda getting overrun out here!”

  “I've almost got it. Troy added more security measures to be sure Peter wouldn't come back and try to steal the weapons. Give me a few more seconds!” Stuart yelled back.

  I looked to my right, and Garrison was firing away with his Mossberg 500 shotgun. One of the infected broadsided him, but he deflected by turning his body away from the would-be attacker. He lifted his gun, and it landed flush with the bridge of its nose. Garrison pulled the trigger, and the zombie's head exploded with black brain matter and fragments of skull splashing the trees and the incoming undead alike. Another couple of quick shots and the remaining threat to Garrison was down. A giant boom came from my left side as a zombie’s head exploded in a carnage infused spray just feet from me. Benning smiled at me as I wiped the gunk from my visor. “You're welcome,” he laughed before he turned around, unloading his shotgun into the remaining five infected mere feet from him.

  I only had three more revenants in front of me, which I quickly dispatched with one shot each. The scene in front of us was stomach-churning. The sight matched the smell, and I had to breathe through my mouth to keep from puking, but that almost wasn't enough. I would never get used to that smell.

  I could only tell these things used to be people because of my prior knowle
dge of the creatures. If anyone else stumbled upon this site not knowing what had happened, they'd have thought a bomb full of black ink and animal parts had exploded.

  We took the brief respite from the onslaught of undead to reload and prepare for the next wave we could hear coming. It sounded like the super-infected were the first to attack us this time, and the more decomposed zombies were late to the party. We listened to the slow shuffling and moaning of the creatures as they crept through the woods towards us.

  “I got it!” Stuart shouted as the door beeped open, and he pushed the heavy steel inward.

  “Fuck! Sure as shit took your sweet ass time with it, didn't ya,” Jet whined.

  “Yeah, my grandma could've had that door open quicker, dickbreath!” Arrow shouted as he ran past Stuart and inside the bunker.

  The rest of us chuckled at the exchange more out of nervous laughter than anything. We hadn't been that close to being overrun face to face by the infected before. The experience was humbling for all of us, I think.

  Stuart led us to a control room and turned on the emergency power. The lights flickered on revealing more of a supply garage than a bunker. The Stryker vehicle sat in the middle of the space, clearly the main attraction. I had never seen a more beautiful tool of destruction. The truck stood about three feet taller than me, with eight gigantic meaty tires built for rough terrain. The body of the beastly machine was a sandy beige color and had latches and other random handles to strap gear on to all over it. The cherry on top was a Stinger short-range air defense missile system in front of the top hatch. It's two square canon-like towers were a thing of beauty.

  The rest of the boys came over to admire her, as well. All of us were wide-eyed like teenage boys seeing tits for the first time.

  “If you guys are done ogling the Stryker, we should probably roll out,” Stuart chided us, interrupting our gawking at the wonder of modern warfare.

  “Let me radio, Tyler. I'll let him know we're on our way and see how they're holding up.” I pulled the radio from my belt and keyed it up. “Homebase, this is Santa, come in Homebase. Over.”

  “Received, Santa. This is Homebase. What's your location? Copy.”

  “We made it to our desired destination, and we have the package. We'll be incoming in about half an hour. What's the situation there? Over.”

  “They haven't made it over the walls yet, but they're stacking up. Copy.”

  “We're on our way. Radio if they breach. Over and out.”

  “Received. Over and out.”

  I put the walkie back on my belt, and Jet grabbed me into a huge bear hug, chest to chest, bouncing me up and down. “Awe, Santa, what a cute call sign!” He laughed hysterically.

  “Put me down, you psycho. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were experiencing a mental break.”

  “Come on, Santa. No need to get madder than a wet hen. I'm just having a little fun. If you can't laugh and have a good time during the zombie apocalypse, then what's living even worth, my man?” Jet snickered.

  “I get it, but I never want your dick that close to mine ever again,” I laughed, punching him in the shoulder.

  “Awe, shucks, Chris. I thought you liked me.”

  Everyone laughed together again. As odd of an interaction as it was, it felt good to laugh with these guys. These were my men now, my brothers in arms. We had each other's backs through thick and thin, and it felt good to have that brotherly camaraderie again.

  We made sure we had all of the shells loaded with Troy's serum on board, and we packed into the Stryker. Stuart did his thing, the engines roared to life, and she purred like a lioness. Stu pushed the button to open the bay door, and we watched as the sun peaked through while the gate lifted slowly.

  I positioned myself in the upper hatch with my rifle to give Garrison and Benning cover while they ran alongside the vehicle. Garrison and Benning were heading to the chopper to bring it back to the cabin and provide air support should we need it.

  The area outside was still clear of any zombies. I guess without the super-infected to lead them, the regular undead had wandered off with no apparent reason to hang out.

  The Stryker drove over the mauled body parts of the previous battle with sickening crunching noises and the frequent popping of infected skulls under its heavy wheels as if they were nothing.

  Garrison and Benning made it to the chopper with no issue, and they quickly took off. They were flying ahead of us to radio back what we should expect closer to home.

  With the helicopter out of sight, I climbed back inside the Stryker, taking a seat behind Stuart, who was driving.

  “So, Stuart, how do these bombs work? If they detonate too high in the air, won't the serum be useless?” I asked.

  “Well, they're equipped with a proximity fuse that will detonate automatically when the missile gets close enough to the target, or more precisely when the distance between the rocket and the ground becomes less than the predetermined destination. I've modified them to explode two hundred feet from the ground. We need to make sure we let everyone in the cabin know to take cover when we start firing because of the shockwaves. Those can be just as damaging as the missiles themselves.”

  “Copy that. I hope this works.” I took my helmet off and put my head in my hands, rubbing my face in aggravation. I hated not having complete control of the situation.

  Stuart turned to me, smiling. “This is going to work and in epic fashion.”

  Chapter 28

  Abbigail Norrington

  I sat with Tyler and Christine in the security room, watching the video monitors. Lilly sat at Tyler’s feet sleeping quietly. Agh, to live a dog’s life, completely unaware of the tragedies happening all around you.

  I couldn't believe what I was witnessing on the screens. The 'super-infected' as Kamil called them, were looking on as the other infected swarmed the wall around our home. They were piling up on top of one another, almost breaching the top now.

  Movement from one of the screens I wasn't looking at directly caught my attention. I watched as one of the super-infected broke into a sprint for the mound of undead, and when it made it to the top, it looked like it was screaming in victory. Five other super-infected joined the one at the top of the wall, and they jumped down onto the soft grass.

  I immediately picked up the walkie and radioed to Kamil and Chris, explaining what we had seen. Chris and his team were just about in position, and Kamil was upstairs finishing up on the last of the barricades. Kam had closed all of the hurricane shudders on the windows upstairs, locking them up tight, and he blocked all of the doors so the super-infected couldn't get inside without putting in a lot of work.

  Just as Kamil was running through the door of the video room, the radio keyed up.

  “This is Santa to Homebase. Come in Homebase. Over.”

  “This is Homebase. We Copy.”

  “Seek shelter immediately under tables or in doorways. The shockwaves from the explosions might make it a little rough on you all down there. Expect two blasts at a time. Over and out.”

  “Copy that. Seeking shelter. Clear.”

  I turned to Tyler and Christine, “Stay here and watch the monitors. Keep in touch with Chris over the radio to update him on what you see with the infected outside. I'm going to make sure Ella and Kasey are okay.”

  Tyler and Christine both responded with nervous smiles and a thumbs up. I pushed past Kamil, who was standing in the doorway fixated on watching the odd behavior of the super-infected on the screens and ran toward the medical suites. I yelled for everyone to brace for impact and huddle in place because the bombs were being set off momentarily. Everyone seemed reasonably calm, considering what was about to happen. The irony was not lost on me. We had to shell our own home to save it from the undead threat.

  I made it to the makeshift nursery, Lilly trotting along happily behind me wagging her tail, and found Doc and Jasmine both making baby noises at the girls. “It's happening. We need to grab the girls and hide unde
r the tables just in case.”

  Doc handed me Ella, and Jasmine held Kasey tight to her chest as she crawled under one of the tables with me.

  “I hope this works,” Jasmine whispered more to herself than anyone in the room.

  The radio on my belt chirped, “Fire one,” Chris's voice said.

  I looked at Jaz with confidence. “It will.”

  The walls and ceiling around us trembled before we heard the blast. Lilly barked at the commotion next to me on the floor. She was scared of thunderstorms, and this was much worse than any storm.

  The radio chirped again, “Fire two.”

  Everything shook harder this time, and the noise of the explosion was much louder the second time.

  I was surprised that the girls didn't seem to be fazed by the noises in the least. They were both still sleeping soundly in mine and Jasmine's arms.

  We waited huddled together for a while before the radio chirped this time with Tyler's voice. “We've only got two cameras left, but they show the infected are dying in mass. We'll have to go outside ourselves to confirm if they’re all wiped out or not. Over.”

  Chris's voice yelled over the radio, “That's a negative Homebase! We've got eyes in the sky. Eagle Eye, this is Santa, do you read? Over.”

  “Received, Santa. Eagle Eye is coming in hot. Over,” Garrison responded.

  We waited for what seemed like forever before the radio buzzed to life again.

  “Eagle Eye to Santa. We have confirmation that all targets have been neutralized! Over,” Garrison proudly barked over the radio.

  Jaz, Doc, and I smiled as we heard collective hollers, whoops, and clapping from throughout our home.

  “Roger that Eagle Eye. We are headed home. Over.”