The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 5): United States of Zombie

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  Donnie kept his gaze on him as he stepped onto the bus, keeping his weapon raised. “My name is Donnie Jorsen. Who might you be?”

  “I’m Sergeant Hardwick.” He looked at Angelo sitting in the front seat. “And who are you?”

  Angelo looked at Donnie and then back at Sergeant Hardwick. “I’m Angelo Lopez. Look, I don’t mean you any trouble. What do you want?”

  Sergeant Hardwick looked at him hard as General Cochran got onto the bus and stood behind him. “We don’t have time for this sergeant.” He looked at Donnie. “We’re looking for General Milkwood. Do either of you know who he is?”

  “Unfortunately,” replied Donnie. “We just dropped him off at one of the hangars. I can take you there, but you’ll have to slide the boxes to the back. I think we have enough room for everybody.” He stared at Sergeant Hardwick who stood with his weapon pointed toward him. “Do you have a problem with me? You can lower your weapon. I’m not going to bite you.”

  General Cochran tapped the sergeant’s shoulder. “Lower your weapon, sergeant. I’ll get the rest of the men.” He left to get the men as the sergeant cautiously lowered his weapon. He didn’t like the look on Donnie’s face. Donnie reminded him of somebody he met in a bar several years ago. He had the same kind of face Donnie had. It was one he shouldn’t have trusted. That day still haunted him. He was inside the bar shooting a round of pool when he first encountered the man. He approached the table and slapped down two quarters and said he had the next game. What bothered him about it was how he said it. It was as though the stranger had just talked down to him as if he weren’t worth the ground he walked on. If he would have left it alone, everything would have been all right, but the stranger didn’t leave it alone. He stood making comments on every shot he made, referring to him as a girly man. He had a thick skin and normally words like that would have simply bounced off of him, but the stranger knew exactly what to say. It was almost as if he personally knew him and was trying to ruin his night. He remembered lining up his next shot ̶ the money shot, when all of a sudden, he felt the man push his arm as he made the shot, causing him to scratch the cue ball. He turned quickly to face the stranger with anger coursing through his blood. The stranger stood his ground with a smug look on his face. He could see he was ready for a fight, but he couldn’t understand why. He had never seen the man before. Finally, the stranger informed him who he was.

  “You’re probably wondering who I am. My name is Terry Holtz and my brother is Bryan, the soldier you had kicked out of the military for being ̶ how did you put it ̶ untrainable. You probably don’t know what happened to him once he was discharged from the army. Let me inform you what happened to him. He came back home, purchased a gallon of whiskey, a pack of cigarettes, and a bundle of rope. I don’t think I need to go into the gory details, but I’m the one who discovered his body.” He pulled a red pocket knife from his front pocket and opened it. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but I assure you it’s razor sharp.” His thoughts were interrupted by the general ordering him to move out of his way. He let the general push past him as he kept his gaze locked on Donnie. He tried to shake the image of that night from his mind. Terry Holtz tried to kill him that night with the knife, but he had swung too wide, barely scratching his arm. His momentum kept him moving forward and he was able to use it to his advantage. He quickly punched him square in the back of his head, sending him straight to the ground. Terry fell on his opened knife, pushing the blade through his face. It was the last time he saw Terry. Witnesses backed up his story to the police and no charges were ever filed against him, but he never set foot inside the bar again. He heard Donnie suddenly say something to him.

  “If you don’t want to hit the windshield, I would go find a seat.” He continued to stare at Donnie. “Seriously, you need to go find a seat.” He turned to look at the general.

  “Is there something wrong, Sergeant Hardwick?” asked the general.

  “No, I’m all right.” He moved toward the back of the bus and found an open seat not covered in boxes and sat down. He felt the bus lunge forward. He knew he had to shake off the painful memory. It was in the past and he had to make sure it remained there. That was the problems with memories; they didn’t like to stay in the past. He watched as the bus pulled up in front of one of the hangars and came to a stop. It was a short trip, but at least he had a chance to catch his breath and get off of his feet. He waited until everybody in front of him jumped off of the bus before joining them. He wasn’t eager to get back into action. He just wanted more time to lay back and get some much-needed sleep. He stood up and made his way to the front of the bus and got off and stood behind everybody else as Donnie made his way inside the hangar alone. He quickly made his way back outside after discovering something horrific had happened. He looked at the general excitedly. “I wouldn’t go inside. It looks like a bloodbath.”

  General Cochran didn’t act as though he fully understood what he had said. “Where is General Milkwood? He was here wasn’t he?”

  “He stayed here while we were unloading the bus. Something must have happened to him while we were gone.”

  “Can you confirm he’s dead?” asked the general. “Did you actually see his body?”

  “If he was inside there, I’m sure he’s dead. I don’t think anybody could have survived whatever happened.”

  The general looked at Sergeant Hardwick. “We need to get confirmation regarding whether he’s alive or dead. Go check it out and see if you can find his body.”

  “All right, men, you heard the general.” He made his way to the front of the group and headed for the door of the hangar. He didn’t have to speculate if there were zombies inside the hangar. He knew they were inside. He just needed to locate them and dispose of them as quickly as he could. He opened the door and ventured inside. The first thing he saw was the floor covered in several bloody footprints. He bent over a large grouping of them to have a closer look. Some of them appeared to be human, and some of them appeared to have been made by animals. He wasn’t an expert in animal tracks, but he figured they had been made by large cats, perhaps cougars. He turned to look at the rest of the group. “I don’t know what we’re looking for, so keep your eyes open. Half of you check out this side of the hangar. The rest of us will head toward the back. Follow the bloody footprints and be prepared for anything.” He watched as the men split into two groups. He led one of them toward the back where several of the footprints led. There were large chunks of flesh covering the floor as they continued toward the back leading him to believe somebody had been feasted upon, but he didn’t know if it was General Milkwood or some other unlucky person. Right now, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was locating whatever had made the bloody footprints. It was the part he hated the most–heading into the unknown to engage an unknown enemy. This was one of the times he wished he had a drone operator with them to send one of the drones ahead of them. That way they wouldn’t have to venture into danger without knowing what was waiting for them once they entered the back area. Even though he had been extensively trained for situations like this, fear still coursed through his blood like a cancer. He stopped in front of the back area in front of an opened door. He looked at the ground. The bloody footprints continued inside. He wanted to turn and look at his men to make sure they were ready, but something was telling him to keep focused forward. Danger was lurking somewhere directly in front of him. He wasn’t sure what he should do next until he heard growling coming from the room. It didn’t sound human. He raised his weapon and took a step forward and was about to enter the back room, when all of a sudden something leaped over his head and landed on top of one of his men standing behind him. He heard the sound of ripping flesh and one of his men screaming in terror. He quickly turned to see what had happened. A cougar was on top of the soldier, ripping flesh from his body as two more soldiers tried to pry it off of their friend. Sergeant Hardwick placed the barrel of his M16 against its head and fired a single shot. Blood s
howered him and his men as it was sent sliding away from their fallen friend. He turned to look back toward the back room as another cougar jumped into view knocking him off of his feet. He landed on top of the falling soldier as the cougar tried to take a chunk of flesh from his throat. It pinned his weapon against his chest rendering it useless. He struggled to free it, but the cougar was making it impossible to do so. He was powerless to protect himself. The only thing he was able to do was drag his fingers inside the large cat’s eyes, but without result. It acted as though it didn’t feel any pain or discomfort. Sergeant Hardwick became furious at both the cougar and his men. They were standing there watching the situation unfold and not doing anything to help him. “Somebody do something! It’s too strong!”

  “I don’t want to accidentally shoot you,” said one of the soldiers.

  “Do something! Just shoot the damn thing! I’m ordering you to shoot it!”

  A single shot rang out and the sergeant quickly pushed the heavy cougar off of him. He furiously wiped off the blood covering his face and carefully got back to his feet. He immediately closed the door to the back area, and then looked at the two dead cougars lying on the ground. He didn’t know if there were more of them in the back area, but he wasn’t going to find out. He looked at the soldier lying in a large pool of blood. He didn’t have to look any closer to know he had died from his wounds. It wasn’t the first time he had lost a friend to the zombies, but he hoped it would be the last. He was sick and tired of the zombies getting the better of them. He was about to grab the dead soldier’s dog tags when he suddenly sat straight up and opened his mouth, but no words escaped, just a low growl. His eyes were clouded over as if he had joined the legion of the dead. Sergeant Hardwick raised his M16 and fired several shots until he was sure the zombie was immobilized. He looked at the others. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” The other group met up with them after disposing of the zombie. Sergeant Hardwick led them out of the hangar. If General Milkwood had been inside, he didn’t see any sign of him. He found General Cochran discussing something with another general next to a deuce and a half. He made his way over to them. Donnie and Angelo were sneaking their way back toward the bus, but were stopped by two men dressed in black.

  “What is happening here?” asked Sergeant Hardwick, approaching both generals.

  General Cochran was the first to respond. “Sergeant Hardwick, I want you to meet General Jovi Tomes. He is apparently taking over my command and taking us to Safe Zone Nine. He claims General Milkwood is already there waiting for us.”

  “What! That doesn’t make any sense. Why would General Milkwood have left the airport? And what is Safe Zone Nine? I’ve never heard of it.”

  General Tomes extended his hand, but the sergeant dismissed it. “I understand your apprehension, sergeant, but I assure you, I’m here to take you to General Milkwood.”

  Sergeant Hardwick looked at General Cochran. “I don’t like this. General Milkwood would have met us here. He wouldn’t send another officer in his place. Something is going on here and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” He took a step toward the deuce and a half and was met by two men dressed in black, both pointing M16s at his face. “So, this is how you want to play this!”

  “I wouldn’t mess with my men, Sergeant Hardwick. Let’s just say they’re the best of the best. I would just stand down and play nicely. Don’t make me take you away from here by force. Trust me, I will if I have too. Just get in the back of the truck and I will take you to General Milkwood. That goes for the two civilians trying to sneak on the bus. My mission is to make sure nobody is left behind,” said General Tomes, looking at both Donnie and Angelo. “My men will drive the bus to Safe Zone Nine. We’ll get the supplies from the plane later.” He looked at General Cochran. “Yes, I know about the plans to fly to Isla Zomblar. For now, the flight has been canceled.” He looked around at General Cochran’s men. “I’m only giving you this one opportunity to get in the back of my truck.”

  General Cochran looked at Sergeant Hardwick who looked as though he was ready for a fight. “Stand down, sergeant. Now is not the time.”

  General Tomes smiled. “Now is definitely not the time. Now load up, we need to get out of here before we attract any unwanted company.” He stared at Sergeant Hardwick with some admiration. “Good job inside the hangar. I’ll put a good word in for you once we get back to base.”

  Sergeant Hardwick didn’t know what to make of the general, if he was truly a general. He got on the back of the truck and sat next to General Cochran. “We could have taken them all out. They’re not who they say they are.”

  “I know,” said General Cochran. “They have General Milkwood. We can’t leave without him. We have to let this play out and find my friend. I need to make sure he’s still alive.”

  The sergeant stared straight ahead. “They took my weapons. I definitely say we’re not on the same side. I don’t think they’re taking us to see him.”

  The general looked at the two men dressed in black. In a low voice he said, “When the time is right.”

  “When the time is right.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jewel and Erica were awoken by a wailing siren. Erica turned over in her bed in alarm. Jewel was sitting straight up staring toward the hallway as several women staggered toward the bathroom at the end of the hall. Rashida Fey suddenly appeared in the doorway with a scowl. “It’s time to get out of bed. Breakfast is in fifteen. You better use the bathroom while you have the chance.”

  Jewel looked at Erica. “She seemed a little more pleasant today.”

  “Don’t curse it. I’m sure she’ll be back to her hateful self by the time we get to work,” she said, stretching. “I hope this isn’t how every morning is going to start.”

  “I can really do without the siren. I mean, does it have to be so loud? I’m sure every zombie outside heard it.”

  Erica slowly made her way into the hallway and saw there was already a long line formed at the bathroom. “I’m not ready to spend the rest of my life like this. Today has to be the day we escape from this place.”

  “Let’s worry about it after breakfast.”

  “I wouldn’t be in a hurry to eat, Jewel. I heard breakfast is the worst meal of the day here. Everything is supposed to be runny and tasteless.”

  “It’s better than nothing.”

  Erica joined the line to the bathroom. “That is a matter of opinion.”

  Mr. Rooker stood behind Doctor Huan Chang as another male patient was brought in and fastened to a metal gurney. “Are you sure this one will work, doc?”

  “I was up all night working on the formula. I believe I found what was wrong with it.”

  “Do you care to elaborate, doc, or do I have to guess what was wrong with it?”

  “You wouldn’t understand if I tried to explain it to you.” He watched as the doctor filled a syringe with a yellow substance and showed it to him. “You’ve probably noticed the substance in this syringe is a darker yellow than the original one.”

  “I’ll take your word on that. The color doesn’t mean anything to me.”

  “Well, it should. A different color means a different formula. By my calculations, this test should be a success.” He injected the substance into the IV connected to the patient. “This time will take slightly longer than the last one. We have to use an IV this time, so we’ll come back later to check the progress.”

  Mr. Rooker looked annoyed. “Why is everything a waiting game with you? Can’t you figure out how we can have immediate results?”

  “Mistakes are made when you rush the results. If we want to have favorable results, we have to let it take as long as it takes. Now, if you don’t mind, we have to run the IV so we can get the process started. You don’t need to be here for this part. I will have a nurse find you once I know something.”

  Mr. Rooker didn’t like the idea of having to come back later. He wanted the results now and didn’t want to have to wait until a nurse ca
me and found him. His thoughts were interrupted by Lieutenant Reardon.

  “He’s demanding to see you, Mr. Rooker.”

  “I figured he would be. General Milkwood is an anxious man. I’m sure he wants to put a knife through my heart about right now. I guess we shouldn’t make the general wait any longer. Take me to him, lieutenant.”

  “If I might be so bold, sir, why does he hate you so much?”

  As he walked down the hall with the lieutenant, he knew he had to choose his words wisely. Most of the people at Safe Zone Nine didn’t know a great deal about him, and he needed to keep it that way. He knew nobody would understand his true intentions and some of the things he had done in his life to achieve them. Only General Milkwood was aware of the type of man he was. He considered General Milkwood a threat, but he felt if he understood what he was trying to achieve, he just might have a change of heart and help him. He knew he wouldn’t be welcomed at first because he knew the general was trying to get out of the country, and he was holding up his progress, but he didn’t have a choice. He needed the general’s help. If there was any other way around it, he would let the general leave the country, but he knew too much about zombies, and he needed that knowledge to continue with his work. “Let’s just say we’ve worked together before, and we didn’t exactly agree with each other. As I recall, we didn’t agree on anything. He’s a stubborn man. We need to be ready for anything.”

  They continued down the hallway until they reached a room with a man dressed in black standing in front of a closed door. Mr. Rooker looked at the lieutenant. “You put a guard in front of the door? That’s a nice touch. That will have the general on edge for sure.”