by B. M. Hodges
Of course, the infected were also disoriented by the sudden plunge into darkness. They were just as vulnerable to a quick transition from light to dark as the rest of humanity. Abigail narrowly avoided a three-sided attack by several zombies who had finally caught up to her. When the lights flashed off, they were pouncing. But they missed her by inches, ending in a pile of frenzied punches and bites. She wasn’t even aware that she had avoided a painful death by the skin of their teeth.
Abigail was on her territory now and knew every inch of sidewalk and patch of grass beneath her feet. She took a sharp right, running up a knoll and crossing underneath the apartment building beside Jamie’s. Shrieks and groans were all around. She pressed along the cement wall then streaked across the lot to Jamie’s building. Without power, the lift was out of the question; so she charged up the stairwell taking two at a time, her eyes adjusting to the moonlight peering through ventilation gaps in the walls.
Twice she had to step around gutted carcasses, their crimson blood sticky under her feet. And once she was sure there was an infected climbing behind her. She turned and fired the shotgun when it seemed the zombie was on top of her, but in the flash of gunpowder she saw there was nothing there.
Bursting through the twelfth floor fire door into the hallway, she recalled that she had left the door to Jamie’s apartment unlocked in the event her parents brought her back but forgot their key. With the looting and crazed infected running wild, she realized this may have been a huge mistake. Someone could have already ransacked Jamie’s home or one or two zombies could have found their way inside.
She stopped in front of the door to catch her breath and cocked the shotgun to make sure she had at least one more shell. At the ferry terminal, she recalled that she had to load a shell into the chamber before firing at the locked fence. So, including the wasted round in the stairwell, she should have another four rounds, considering the overall length of the gun’s magazine.
Abigail held her breath as she turned the doorknob.
There was an audible click and she winced.
She placed her foot on the door below the knob, gripped the shotgun firmly in both hands and kicked open the door, aiming for the center of the room and hoping to gain the drop on any opportunistic burglar or infected … or she would scare the hell out Jamie and her parents.
But the room was empty.
After a sweep of the apartment and finding nothing, she lowered the gun and locked the door.
Jamie and her parents hadn’t made it back to the apartment. Her note was still sitting on the table and there was no indication anyone had been inside since she had left a few hours earlier.
She went to the kitchen, set the shotgun against the corner near the doorjamb, then opened the fridge and took out a large jug of cold water. Tilting her head back and gulping the cool water calmed her, much of it running down her neck and chest. Then she went to the sink and, using a combination of liquid detergent and bleach, violently scrubbed her hands, arms and face until they were raw and red. With so much carnage on the streets below, she wanted to make sure she was clean of any blood from her journey through the street chaos.
Then she went into Jamie’s room, peeled off her clothes and changed into a pair of Jamie’s jeans, sneakers and a long sleeve cotton shirt she found in the rear of her closet, a rare item to find in the tropical climate. The jeans would protect her legs and she knew that the cotton shirt wouldn’t stop bites, but it gave her a sense of comfort to have her arms covered. Then she tied a scarf around her neck and another over her scalp and ears for added protection and put on a baseball cap to hold it in place. She looked under the bathroom sink and found some long yellow rubber gloves used for cleaning and she pulled them over her hands. Better than nothing. She would have given anything for her bio-suit from the reality show still in her apartment, but she wasn’t going to chance a trip there, even if it was only three buildings away.
Feeling more secure, she sat on the couch and closed her eyes thinking she would rest for a few moments and then begin her search for Jamie.
Instead, she fell into an exhausted sleep.
Chapter Five
Vitura International Research Laboratory Ship
Singapore Strait/International Waters
Vitura Co-chairman Mondale was livid, “Isn’t possible? Isn’t possible? Well then what the fuck do you think it is Bertrand, an outbreak of the common fucking cold?”
Supervisor Bertrand remained silent.
There was no point in arguing with Dr. Mondale during one of his episodes. It was best to let him run out of steam. Although, Bertrand had only seen him this enraged once, and that was when they thought the initial release of IHS in Guangzhou had developed into a full-blown emergency. The Singapore situation wasn’t much different and Bertrand knew it was only a matter of time before the WHO would have to step in and stop the contamination from spreading.
This unfortunate turn of events complicated Project Earth-Friendly’s timetable. Singapore was going to be the first country to benefit from the IHS project. The Vitura International Research Laboratory ship, VIRaL, had been sailing to the island state when reports came in that IHS-2 had been accidentally released in their downtown area. Singapore was going to be the first in a series of countries to reap the economic and social rewards of inoculating its upper-class and allowing the contagion to cull the undesirables.
“The situation in Singapore may not look like zombie fever and the infected may not behave in the manner we’ve come to expect, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not looking at a goddamned uninitiated outbreak. Has your team considered that this ‘rage disease’ as the Singaporeans are calling it may be a mutated strain of your engineered virus? You’re so-called IHS?” Co-Chairman Mondale started poking his own forehead with his finger, “Have you even considered that this outbreak may be an off-shoot of your operation in Malaysia?”
Bertrand hadn’t yet disclosed his pilot project of manufacturing a new strain of zombie fever, IHS-2, along with the vaccination trials in Mersing to his superiors. Co-Chairman Mondale was referring to the zombie fever outbreak orchestrated by Vitura. The Malaysia Outbreak was a final test to check the viability of releasing the contagion, controlling its spread, stopping the outbreak then studying the after effects on the economy and population to verify theoretical data. The Malaysia Outbreak was supposed to be the final release before “Operation Earth-Friendly” was initiated.
Operation Earth-Friendly was the brainchild of Bertrand. Seven years ago, when his then top scientist, Dr. Greer, engineered the first strain of zombie fever, Bertrand realized the awesome potential of the virus as a social engineering tool. After sharing the data with Vitura’s think tank in Belgium, he single-handedly convinced his superiors, including Co-Chairman Mondale, of the superiority of his creation over the population control projects of other Vitura research teams.
He received the go-ahead to conduct trials.
After paying off the Chinese officials, his teams infected one of their citizens in the city of Guangzhou. The result was spectacular. The infection spread as expected and they obtained excellent data. However, his teams hadn’t been quick enough to put down all the infected - so WHO authorities and the Chinese became anxious. They stepped in and bombed the portion of Guangzhou that was under quarantine.
A quarter million Chinese lost their lives that week.
And Bertrand received the same type of scolding from the Board that he was in the middle of now.
“How do you know that this contagion isn’t from the Malaysian Outbreak?” Co-Chairman Cutler interrupted his colleague, who was becoming more and more upset at Bertrand who stood enigmatically in front of them.
Bertrand cleared his throat. Lying to the Board was nothing new. “I do not know that it isn’t. However, the strain of IHS released in Malaysia had the same genetic makeup as the strain we released in Phnom Penh. Anecdotal evidence suggests it is stable. We need to gather some samples from the Singapore contagio
n to determine its origin. Only then will we be able to rule out a mutant strain of zombie fever.”
Of course, Bertrand knew his virus had spread to Singapore from the reality show contestants his team had captured in Mersing. He supposed he could be partially to blame. He had seen them escape by boat the night before and could have ordered their elimination. But in the scheme of things, at least in those late hours of the night, the danger they posed seemed insignificant. Little people with big tales. As he spoke to the Board, his men were destroying all evidence of the IHS-2 study. Aside from the field testing in Mersing, the entire project had been localized in a laboratory on C deck of the research vessel. If the Board found out about his unapproved research, they would have him removed from his post, then sent to a secure location for chemical debriefing and killed for his insubordination.
One of the board members muted their side of the holoscope. The Board began to talk among themselves. Bertrand could no longer hear what they were saying, but he knew it didn’t bode well for the IHS project.
The audio came back on and Co-Chairman Deeks spoke up. “Bertrand, the IHS project is over. Vitura has decided to move in a new direction. However, Singapore requires our attention before WHO issues their containment order. We have it on good authority that they’re planning to issue Directive 12 at dawn. They’ve decided not to send in their paratroopers to evacuate those not infected as it’s too difficult to tell who has the virus. They’re writing Singapore off as a complete loss, Bertrand. But we still have time to gather data. Send a squad to Singapore immediately and get some samples of this new contagion while we still have the chance. When you have your samples, sail back to San Diego and await further instructions.”
“And Bertrand, if we discover that your project has anything to do with this uncontrolled outbreak, you’re finished.” Co-Chairman Mondale concluded before shutting down the conference holoscope, severing visual and audio communication with the Board sitting safely in Belgium in their fortified office building.
The tiny room went dark, leaving Bertrand staring at the gray walls of the ship’s immersive holoscope. He pressed his palm against the wall and it slid open. He stepped out onto the metal floor of the ship, over the mass of cables that connected the holoscope to the satellite receiver. He motioned to the technician sitting at the control station to retract the antennae and shut the device down.
Bertrand strolled confidently through the corridor towards the command deck, straightening his tie as his dress soles clicked along the metal plates.
Directive 12 again, he thought with disgust. Nipping the contagion in the bud was always their answer when they thought an outbreak had the potential to be a global killer. First, it was the bombing of Guangzhou that did effectively stop the first IHS outbreak. Then it was the carpet bombing of Hetang Island. But didn’t they see that Singapore was different? Singapore was a sovereign country with over five million people inhabiting the tiny island. It’s going to take more than ordinary ordinance to wipe out the threat of global outbreak. This time, they’re sure to use nukes. Bertrand estimated that it would take five thermonuclear missiles to completely decimate the island.
But Singapore’s fate didn’t worry him too much.
Bertrand was more concerned with saving his position as Supervisor of Vitura’s San Diego Campus. I’ve worked too long and too hard to be ruined now. He knew that after successful implementation of Operation Earth-Friendly he would have been the next choice as Board member. So the Board has decided to end the IHS project. It doesn’t necessarily mean it is dead. So long as this Singapore outbreak can’t be traced to me, I’m sure I can have the project up and running as soon as the current situation cools. The only loose ends, he thought, were those reality show contestants I had let escape. They were the only ones outside my circle who know about IHS-2. They have to be silenced.
“Have Jayden report to my ready room immediately.” Bertrand commanded as he strode through the command deck and into the captain’s room adjacent.
There was a knock on the door a few minutes later.
“Enter,” Bertrand said, stacking the briefing report his staff had gathered about the CARS reality show, which included the team members’ biographies.
Sergeant Jayden entered and stood at attention.
“At ease, Sergeant. You may have heard there is a situation in Singapore. There has been an outbreak of some type of rage virus that the Board is trying to link to our Malaysian operation.” Bertrand continued with his lies. “The only similarity to IHS is that it is transmitted through human to human fluid and that the infected are biting one another, spreading it in a fashion similar to zombie fever.” He pulled out two photos from the stack of papers and handed them to Jayden, “We believe that the virus, while completely unrelated to our work, did come from the Malaysian jungle and was purposely spread by these two girls.”
Jayden studied the photos for a few seconds and looked pained. “Sir, may I speak freely?” Jayden asked.
“Of course.”
“Sir, you have to be kidding. How could these little girls be involved in biological warfare?” He turned the photos and read the back, “This casting sheet says they were participating in a reality show?”
“They were, Sergeant. But at some point, Tomas Overstreet subverted them into spreading this new virus into Singapore with the intent to blame Vitura. It’s industrial sabotage.” The story was weak, but Bertrand figured Jayden wouldn’t probe too much further as he was conditioned to following orders in the Legion. It was the ability to follow orders to the end that made retired Legion soldiers like Jayden an asset for Vitura’s security personnel. Their indoctrination of duty and honor without the dogmatic boundaries of country and patriotism made them the perfect mercenaries.
Jayden knew of Tomas Overstreet. As far as his unit was concerned, he was Vitura’s “Enemy Number One.” For the last four years, his group of saboteurs had been trying to stop Vitura’s work. In fact, Jayden led the attack on Tomas’ group of field scientists in Malaysia the week earlier; detaining most of them to be used as research guinea pigs. Tomas narrowly escaped capture and Jayden wanted another chance.
“Overstreet is here? In Singapore? Sir, with your permission, I’d like to volunteer to lead a team of my own into Singapore to find and eliminate Overstreet.”
“Easy, Soldier.” Bertrand was pleased, “I do have an assignment for you that may get Overstreet in your sights. The Singapore military has put up a defense grid surrounding the island. They’ve made it expressly clear that no ship or aircraft is allowed within five kilometers of their shores. But I think a small team of three on Hoppers could penetrate their perimeter. I want you and Vines on this. Find a scientist who is checked out on a Hopper. I think Eli Henry has been through training and the simulations.” Eli was perfect for this operation, and sending a scientist with the others would show he was following the Board’s orders. “The two of you will escort Eli on a jump into Singapore, locate these two girls and bring them back to the ship. Protect Eli while he retrieves samples of the virus. As for Tomas, he was last seen in Johor. However, I have it on good authority that he intends to infiltrate Singapore and attempt to take the girls with him back to Canada. If you see him, try to bring him back alive. We’re shipping out at dawn. Get the girls and samples and get back aboard by 0600 or you will be left behind.”
“Sir, what about civilians?” Jayden already knew how he planned to handle any civilian resistance, but he still wanted the all clear from his superior, “How do we protect ourselves from the infected while minimizing casualties?”
WHO planned to wipe Singapore clean of contagion and its entire population. Every civilian would be wiped off the map sometime around dawn. So actually, there was no differentiation required between the civilians and infected. Civilians were expendable, considering they would all be carbon dust within twelve hours anyway. But this information was “need-to-know.”Bertrand didn’t believe that telling Jayden would do anything other th
an complicate an otherwise simple extraction.
“Your priority is to get the girls and the samples on board. The confused Singaporean populace is acting like the end of days has come. They’re rioting, settling decade old-vendettas, murdering, pillaging and raping. If they get in your way, kill them.”
Chapter Six
