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

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  Morana turned in her seat to see what he was talking about and screamed. “I told you the man in the black robe would find us! We need to get out of here now!”

  Mrs. Smith looked in the rearview mirror and saw a tall man wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe standing behind the car. She stared at him trying to determine if he was indeed the Grim Reaper or just a man wearing a black robe. She looked at his face. He had a long jet-black beard soaked with blood and a tattoo of a skull on the left side of his face. It was all she needed to see. The man was human and not some entity from the pit of hell. She hit the gas and left the man behind. She didn’t know why he was dressed the way he was. All she knew was she wanted to get away from him as fast as she could. “Are you all right, Morana?” There was silence. She asked once more ending with the same result. Reggie peered toward the back. He shook his head and looked at Mrs. Smith.

  “She’s passed out. The excitement was obviously too much for her.”

  Mrs. Smith sighed heavily. “You really are a jerk. You don’t seem to have a compassionate bone in your body.”

  “You don’t know a thing about me. I’m sorry I’m not so high and mighty like you are.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean!” She realized she raised her voice and turned to make sure she hadn’t woken Morana. She turned her attention back to Reggie. “Don’t act as though you know everything about me. I didn’t ask to become your chauffer. You made me leave my students behind. I’m the one who is responsible for their safety, not you.”

  He chuckled. “This is why I’m single. Women are too damn dramatic. Everything becomes drama with your kind.”

  “I take it that’s your crack at women. It’s your own fault women are that way. Men cause the drama which leads to us being dramatic.”

  “Oh, please, spare me your explanation. You know what? I’m really regretting ever bringing you with me. I thought you were different being a teacher and caring for all those children at the school. I was even considering not killing you.”

  She slammed on the brakes sending Morana flying out of her seat and into the back of hers. Reggie could see her face writ with anger. “You are planning on killing me! This is the thanks I get for stealing this car and driving you to the airport!”

  “Relax! No! I’m not going to kill you. Once we get to the airport, I’ll leave you there with Morana. I’ll leave you somewhere safe, but you’re not coming with me.” He turned to look at Morana who was rubbing the side of her face. “Besides, who are you going to tell about me? The police already have their hands full. I’m the last one they’re going to worry about.”

  “Do you promise? You’re not just saying that to get me to continue driving to the airport.”

  “Partly.” He smiled and looked at her. “Trust me. I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to. Just get me to the airport and I will keep my word. That little girl has been through enough already. She’s survived the Grim Reaper, so she deserves to live. What do you say? Do we have a deal?”

  She didn’t know if she could trust him, but what other choice did she have? If she refused, she knew he would probably kill both of them right then. If she drove him the rest of the way, they had a fighting chance of surviving. She knew what she had to do. Now she had a ten-year-old girl in the backseat she had to worry about. She continued down the road past several cars with zombies locked inside of them. They were desperately trying to scratch through the glass as she maneuvered around the cars. The entire road had become a deathtrap. It was choked with smashed cars and the living dead. Her mind was cluttered with thoughts. What would happen if the road suddenly became impassable? Would Reggie change his mind and decide to kill them if she couldn’t get him to the airport? She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She secretly prayed so he wouldn’t know what she was doing. She didn’t feel like discussing her religious beliefs with him. She knew he was the type of man who probably didn’t allow God into his life. It was too bad. If he did, she wouldn’t be in the position she was in. On the other hand, maybe God wanted her to be here to help Morana. Just maybe God needed her to be here to save her and to keep her safe. She knew God worked in mysterious ways and this could be one of those moments.

  “Now what?” she heard Reggie suddenly ask. “Stop the car!” He looked out the back window. “We need to go back.”

  “It’s too late,” she said, watching several men dressed in military clothes approaching with their M16s pointing directly toward them. “They already know we’re here. What do you want me to do now?”

  Reggie watched as the soldiers drew nearer. “There isn’t anything we can do but see what they want.” He had a bad feeling about them. Either they knew he was the one who robbed the bank earlier or this chance meeting was nothing but a coincidence.

  “What do those men want?” asked Morana from the back seat. “Are they going to hurt us?”

  “They’re soldiers,” said Mrs. Smith. “I don’t think they’re going to hurt us. They’re probably just as surprised to see us as we are to see them. They probably just want to ask us some questions.”

  The soldiers quickly surrounded the car with their weapons raised. Another soldier approached the driver’s side window and motioned to Mrs. Smith to lower it. She obeyed and looked at him as he did a quick count of all the occupants. “There are only three of you?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Where were you heading?”

  She looked at Reggie, and then back to the soldier. “We were heading to the airport.”

  She watched as he wrote something down on a piece of white paper secured to a clipboard. “The airport is closed, ma’am. I have orders to bring you with me to Safe Zone Nine. The city is being quarantined.”

  Reggie definitely didn’t want to obey the soldier’s orders. “Listen, I know you have your orders, but I need to get to the airport. I have a flight to catch.”

  The soldier looked at him as if he didn’t care what he had just said. “Sir, all flights have been grounded. There aren’t any flights coming in or going out. I need you to exit your vehicle and come with us. We will take you to Safe Zone Nine.”

  “And if I refuse?” asked Reggie.

  “You won’t want to do that, sir. Our orders are to shoot anybody who disobeys the orders. Now don’t make me ask you twice.”

  Mrs. Smith looked at Reggie waiting to see what he was going to do next. She half wanted him to challenge the soldier’s orders, but she didn’t want to become that person. She watched as he smiled and shook his head. “You win. I’m going to exit the car now so don’t shoot me.” He slowly got out of the car and stared at the soldier standing next to him. He looked into his emotionless eyes. “That’s right, you need to fear me.” He moved past him and joined Mrs. Smith and Morana as they were led to a waiting deuce and a half. He knew he was leaving his money behind, but what other choice did he have? He couldn’t take it with him or risk having it confiscated. He would have to make a mental note of where he was leaving it and come back for it at another time. Once they reached the truck, they were patted down for weapons. This gave him a false sense of security. He had been a criminal long enough to know when something wasn’t as it seemed. Once they got inside the back of the truck, he whispered in Mrs. Smith’s ear. “I’m not the one you need to fear now.” She looked at him unsure what he had meant by that. As the truck made its way in the opposite direction from the airport, Reggie kept his focus on one of the soldiers. He looked dead, void of any emotion. He knew it was how he was trained. He had been trained to show no fear or mercy. He had been trained to be the perfect fighting machine, but he was human and humans had weaknesses. It was the one thing he knew he had going for him. Wherever they were taking him, he had to find the weakness so he could escape and get back to his money, and then to the airport. He wondered what this Safe Zone Nine was about. He had never heard of such a place. But, how could he? It was most likely some secret government installation. And he wasn’t sure who the soldiers were. They could b
e some civilian militia for all he knew. He had to keep his guard up and keep his eyes open. It didn’t take them long to reach their destination. The truck came to a stop by a large guard shack leading to the rear entrance to Safe Zone Nine. He made a mental note of the chain link fence surrounding the property with barbed wire affixed across the upper edge. He looked at Mrs. Smith. “I don’t like the looks of this. There are only two reasons to have fences built with barbed wire. It was either built to keep people from getting in or to keep people from getting out. I wonder which one is the case here.”

  She looked at him with a blank expression. “I presume it’s to keep the zombies from getting inside.”

  “I hope you’re right, because I still have a bad feeling about this place.”

  “The man in the black robe won’t find us here,” said Morana. “He’s not allowed inside here.”

  He stared at her. The man wearing the black robe was the least of their worries. At least with him, they knew what they were dealing with. With this place, he didn’t have one single clue. The truck continued through an opened gate, and he watched as the gate lowered with two guards standing near it with their weapons raised as if they were expecting something to suddenly appear. The truck continued down a long street toward several large buildings. They came to a sudden stop in front of one of them and were met by a tall man dressed in a black suit wearing sunglasses. He approached the rear of the truck where he was met by the driver. He heard them discussing something quietly for nearly ten minutes before they were instructed to climb down from the back of the truck. They stood in front of the man as he took off his sunglasses and put them inside one of his suit coat pockets as though he didn’t care if they got scratched. He looked at Reggie briefly before turning his attention to Mrs. Smith and Morana. “Welcome to Safe Zone Nine or as we refer to it: Paradise Inn. Before you ask, every new arrival asks, what is Safe Zone Nine, I will give you a brief history. There are twelve Safe Zone installations across the United States. They were built for the purpose of keeping survivors of disasters safe and to continue living in a secured area. Let me put this in simple terms, these installations were designed to protect life during times of turmoil such as a zombie apocalypse.” He looked at Reggie. He knew there was something special about him. He knew he would be the type of man who wouldn’t take things on face value, so he would have to pay close attention to him during the in-processing period. “Do you have any questions so far?”

  “So, you’re saying the fences were built to keep things out,” said Reggie.

  “What other purposes would they serve ̶ I didn’t get your name.”

  “Reggie, and I don’t believe I got yours.”

  “Pardon my rudeness. My name is Gene Allan. I’m one of the senior staff at this installation. I’m a retired major in the United States Army. Now back to the fences. I haven’t heard any concerns about our fences before. I assure you you’re safe from the evils outside them. You don’t have to worry about any of the zombies getting through them ̶ and they’re also electrified, so I wouldn’t get any ideas about climbing over any of them. Does anybody have any other questions that don’t involve our fences?” He waited until Reggie tried to ask a question, and then raised his hand to stop him. “Let me take you on the tour. You will also receive a manual about the place and the rules. You will also have some paperwork work to fill out, mostly for the medical department. We wouldn’t want any of you to miss any of your medications if you take any.” He looked at Morana. “I’m sure you’re too young to worry about any medications.”

  Reggie followed them inside the large building. He still felt apprehensive. He felt as though Mr. Allan was leaving out important information. What he really needed to know was if it was possible for him to escape. He knew the fences were electrified which would be a significant problem. Unless there was a power failure, climbing over them was out of the question. As far as he could tell, he would have to go out through the gate he came in through. He decided to worry about it after the tour. He was hoping it would reveal something useful. At least inside the fences he wouldn’t have to worry about any zombies. He watched as Mr. Allan made his way down a long hall. He wondered if he was the one he needed to worry about. They were met by a tall woman dressed in a white lab coat. She smiled at them.

  “My name is Mrs. Virginia North. I will take over for Mr. Allan. On my desk are several stacks of paper. I want you to each take a stack and a pen and take one of the seats in the room behind me and begin filling them out. Fill out as much as possible because your answers will determine where you will work, what diet you will be placed on, and what medications you will need while you’re staying with us.”

  Behind her another man was standing with his hands folded behind his back. “If you have any concerns, I’m here to help you while you’re filling out the forms. My name is Pastor Bradley Zobrist. I will be sitting behind this desk.”

  Reggie thought about a bar joke he once heard involving a nurse and a preacher. He quickly dismissed it and took one of the stacks and sat down at one of the small tables in the room. He read the first page, and then looked up to see if he was being watched. He was already alarmed by the first question. Why are you here? He had only one answer. You brought me here against my will.

  Chapter Twenty

  “It looks clear from here,” said Sergeant Hardwick, looking through his field glasses along the perimeter of the airport. “Wait a minute. I see two guys unloading boxes from a bus onto a plane.”

  “Is one of them General Milkwood?” asked General Cochran.

  “Negative, sir, they’re both civilians. I guess they’re going to try to fly their way out of here. It’s not a bad idea ̶ if they can find somewhere safe to fly to.” He looked at the general. “What are your orders, sir?”

  “Let’s do what we came here to do. Let’s find General Milkwood. We’re supposed to leave on a plane with him. That plane might be the one we’re supposed to leave on, and they might be his men.”

  “Or it could be a different plane, or those men might be stealing the plane.”

  The general thought about both possibilities. “We need to find him and find out what’s going on. We’re supposed to meet him at one of the hangars. Do you see any zombies?”

  The sergeant scoured the area for any sign of zombies. “A few, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

  “You take the lead, sergeant, and keep your eyes open. There might be more of those men inside the perimeter. Until we can determine who they are, we have to consider them hostile.”

  Sergeant Hardwick led them along the fence line toward an area where at least two dozen zombies lingered. On the other side of them was an opening leading inside the airport. He now had to make a rough decision. He could make his way over to the zombies and shoot them all, or he could try to climb over the fence from their position. Both of them had its disadvantage. Using their M16s on the zombies would alert the two men loading the plane of their presence, and if they tried to climb over the fence, they would have barbwire to contend with. They didn’t have anything useful they could use to cut the barbwire without getting cut in the process. He looked at the general. “I suggest we deal with the zombies and then make our way to the two men before they have a chance to react.”

  The general thought about the option and looked at the other men standing silently waiting for his orders. He stared at the fence and then at the zombies. “All right, but let’s make it quick. We don’t want to give those men a chance to get reinforcements.”

  “You heard the general, men, let’s get it done.” Without giving it another thought, he quickened his pace toward the horde of zombies and began firing at their heads.

  Angelo was carrying a couple of boxes off of the bus when he heard shots being fired nearby. He dropped them and looked at Donnie who was coming out of the plane. “What was that, Donnie?”

  “It was gunfire and it sounded close. Jump back on the bus. We need to go check this out.”

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p; Angelo wasn’t enthusiastic about Donnie’s plan. He looked at Donnie hoping he wasn’t serious about going to check out the gunfire. “Are you sure it’s the smart thing to do? What happens if they fire at the bus? We could get killed.”

  “We have to check it out. We can’t let whoever it is find the plane or our supplies. We worked too hard to get all of it, and I’m not going to let anybody come by and take it.” He moved past Angelo and got on the bus. “Are you with me?”

  Reluctantly, Angelo got on the bus and sat down. They heard more gunfire. “They sound like they mean business.”

  “Don’t worry, Angelo, so do I. Hold on, I’m going to give her all she’s got.” He slammed on the accelerator and the bus lurched forward, nearly knocking Angelo out of his seat. Several of the boxes near the rear of the bus slid up to the front. Donnie knew he probably wasn’t making the right decision, but it was what he was known for ̶ making the wrong decision. He knew he should have stayed with the plane and protected it, but all good reasoning was lost when he heard the gunfire. He felt like a moth being attracted to a bright light. He also knew he was scaring Angelo, and he probably thought he had gone stark raving mad. He couldn’t worry about it right now. He continued across the airport and saw some soldiers standing over several fallen zombies. They were near an opening in the fence line. “They’re soldiers, Angelo. I wonder if they’re General Milkwood’s men.”

  “I don’t know and I don’t know if I want to find out. I think we should head back to the plane.”

  “It’s too late for that now. We’ve been spotted, and they’re coming through the opening in the fence.” He continued toward the opening as the last soldier made it through. Sergeant Hardwick stood in front of them with his weapon pointed toward them. Donnie knew he meant business and brought the bus to a grinding stop. Once again, more boxes slid toward the front of the bus. Donnie watched as Sergeant Hardwick made his way to the door of the bus with his weapon ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. Donnie opened the door and watched as he took a step closer. “Who are you?” he asked in a stern voice.