Outbreak (Book 3): Endplay

by Scott Shoyer

  Cheryl was caught out in the open as hundreds of eyes fell on her. Time seemed to stop, as Cheryl didn’t know where to run. If she continued to the warehouse, the aliens would follow her. If she ran back to the Wisent, then she’d lead the aliens to the others.

  Before Cheryl could react, she saw four small, metallic pineapples as they sailed through the air. All four of the balls disappeared into the horde of aliens and she heard them clink as they hit the ground.

  “Get down!” a voice shouted behind the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe.

  Everyone ducked for cover and the four grenades exploded one after the other. The aliens right around the blast were torn to shreds. Body parts and their thick blood sprayed everywhere.

  “Run, run, run!” shouted the voice.

  Cheryl grabbed Stevie and raced toward the warehouse door. The closer she got to the rock wall, the better she was able to see where the hidden door was. She pulled the door and held it open as the others ran inside.

  Over by one of the Bentley Mulsanne’s, she saw Wilder running as he made his way to the door.

  Cheryl stared at him as he approached her.

  “I know,” Wilder said, “back from the dead, right?” Wilder took the remaining four grenades from his tactical vest, pulled the pins, and threw them into the room. Cheryl slammed the door shut, and in a few seconds, they heard the loud explosions in the garage.

  Wilder threw the grenades underneath some of the sports cars, and created a chain reaction of explosions.

  “That’ll slow those fuckers down,” Wilder said.

  Everyone stared.

  “What?” Wilder asked. “I’m good. Actually, I feel great.”

  Steele began to say something, but Wilder cut him off. “When I told Cheryl I was back from the dead, I didn’t mean back from the dead.”

  “I can’t believe it fucking worked,” Stefan said.

  “What worked?” Wilder asked. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

  Wilder noticed that Kimberly was staring at his chest and looked down.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Wilder asked as his hand glided over the smooth skin. “I know I was out for a while, but I remember getting that nasty wound.”

  Stefan explained to Wilder what had happened--that he’d been injured badly and had been close to death when they’d decided to give him some of the fluid from the vial.

  “I guess it saved my life,” Wilder said. “Thanks, I think.”

  “Believe us,” Kimberly said, “it was the only thing we could do.”

  “I know, Kimberly,” Wilder said. “I’m not mad, but just in case there are any future side effects, I think we need to finish what we came here to do.”

  Wilder didn’t wait for anyone’s response and ran toward the alien craft in the warehouse.

  6

  The Fi and Butsko-aliens ran toward the garage when they heard a series of explosions and felt the ground shift around them. When they got to the garage, they entered the aftermath of a war zone, a battle that’d been very one-sided.

  Injured and mutilated aliens lay all around the large room and various vehicles were still on fire. Many of the aliens were around a door that was hidden in the natural rock wall.

  The aliens moved out of the way as the Fi and Butsko-creatures made their way to the door. The Fi-alien was right that the humans would attempt to blow up the scout ship in the warehouse. It wasn’t happy about the loss of alien life, but it still grinned knowing that they had the humans cornered. The only way in and out of the warehouse was the door the Fi-alien stood in front of.

  Even if the humans did manage to blow up the scout ship, they were trapped.

  The scout ship wasn’t needed for anything else and had accomplished its mission many years ago.

  The contents of the vials, though, were needed, and the Fi-alien grinned knowing the vials would be in her hands soon.

  7

  Outside Earth’s Atmosphere

  The four motherships quickly approached Earth. They left the moon and traveled in a diamond shape, not bothering to conceal their existence. The aliens were aware that the Earth had the capabilities to monitor anything big or small that approached the planet, but they also knew there were no human beings left to man those monitors.

  As the ships got closer to Earth, they veered off to their designated locations around the planet. The motherships would strategically position themselves around the globe. There would be a ship at each pole, one centered above Africa, one above China, and the last ship that was now located above America was already moving in position over central Mexico.

  When all the motherships were in place, The Convergence would begin.

  Chapter Fifteen

  1

  “It’s remarkable,” Riker said as he stared at the large spaceship in front of him. “I can’t believe how large it is, and you said this isn’t even a mothership, right?”

  The scout ship was an impressive sight. The craft was as tall as a two-story building and was made of the same material as the object in the upper facility. This craft was also oval shaped and was seamless all the way around. There was a ring around the main craft that didn’t seem to be physically attached to the main body, yet it was firmly in place. Josef had stated that he thought the outer ring was the propulsion system.

  What impressed them the most was the fact that there were no landing gears sticking out of the bottom of the craft. The ship floated about five feet above the ground.

  “You are correct, Riker,” Josef answered. “You’ve already seen the mothership when the wall went up.”

  “Look how it just floats over the ground,” Kimberly said.

  “It’s using the Earth’s magnetic field,” Josef explained.

  “Josef,” Wilder said, “you’re the closest thing we have to an expert on this ship. Where’s the best place to set the C-4 so it’ll do the most damage?”

  “That’s a good question,” Josef answered. “Just like the object you already entered, this craft seemingly has no weaknesses. But do you feel that?” Josef asked as he held out his hands toward the craft as if he were warming them at a campfire. “There’s a small amount of heat coming from the ship.”

  “And I can feel vibrations coming from it,” Stefan said as he walked closer to it.

  “That must be what’s keeping the wall up,” Wilder said. “Everyone walk around the ship and see if there’s any way of getting onto it. This ship has traveled through space and I don’t think attaching the bomb to the outside of it will do anything.”

  “We better hurry,” Steele added. “It won’t take the aliens in the garage much longer to realize where we are.”

  “Yeah,” Cheryl said, “and I’m sure they aren’t too happy with us.”

  *

  Wilder walked around the spacecraft and looked for any clue as to how he might get into it. If they couldn’t find their way into the craft, then he wanted to take the chance and attach the bomb to the outside.

  Never go down without a fight.

  Wilder scratched his chest where the alien had wounded him and wondered what had been in that vial that’d cured him so fast. Was it another type of nano-biotechnology? Was it another virus? Whatever it was, so far he felt great. Considering the last time he’d gotten a good night’s sleep was about two years ago, he felt alert and vibrant.

  Yeah, but what will I feel like in an hour? A day?

  He pushed back those thoughts and focused on the here and now. He was alive and feeling great right now, and the others needed his help here.

  Whatever else happens, I’m going to go down knowing I tried my best to try and save lives.

  Before his mind entered the dark territory of wondering what he might become, he heard Howard yell from the other side of the craft.

  “Over here!” said Howard. “I think I found something!”

  Everybody ran to Howard’s position.

  “That looks like the same way we entered the other craft,” Stefa
n said.

  The others looked at Wilder and waited for the man to make a move. Wilder reached out and pulled on the level that jutted out from the craft. Without making a sound, a large door appeared in the side of the craft and slid up, while a platform lowered itself to allow easy access onto the craft.

  “I think we should stick together,” Kimberly said. “Besides--if I’m going to die, I want to see the inside of one of these things.”

  “Go, everyone,” Josef said. “Get in there and set that bomb. Just remember, this isn’t a sightseeing mission. Those bastards will be breaking through the door soon enough.”

  2

  Schoepke Springs Property

  The man walked through the woods among the dead creatures. He paid no attention to the motionless bodies, but if he saw a wounded one moving around, he made sure to walk near it and touch it with his hand. The creatures tried to move away from his touch, but many were too weak and the man’s energy was too strong.

  He approached one of the creatures and looked at it on the ground. It looked so helpless and impotent as it lay there. The man kneeled down and placed his hand on the creature’s oddly shaped head.

  Instead of the creature instantly dying, the man’s head filled with images. Of an alien civilization that was destroyed; of large spacecrafts searching the universe for a new home; of an alien race so advanced it could engineer viri to destroy whatever planet it came upon.

  Of a race of creatures that had mutated from human beings into the monster that lay in front of him.

  The man quickly pulled his hand away from the creature’s head.

  “Aliens,” the man said. “You’re aliens?”

  The alien didn’t make any response.

  The man placed his hand back on the alien’s head and saw another series of images. These new images, though, weren’t what had already happened, but were of things to come.

  Five large motherships positioned around the world.

  The motherships altering the Earth’s atmosphere.

  The aliens rounding up the remaining human survivors and putting them into camps.

  The end of humanity.

  But there was one image that wasn’t of a bleak future. This one image was something the man recognized.

  He saw himself standing on the balcony of that hotel as a beam of light shot from the sky and entered his body. He watched as he was flung through the glass door and onto the bed, then as it made his entire glow before being absorbed into his skin.

  The man held his hand against the alien’s head until the creature died and then backed away. He looked at his hands as if seeing them for the first time--as if finally realizing what they were.

  He was a weapon.

  One of the aliens had gone rogue and developed a conscience. It’d no longer believed in destroying life on other planets just so its race could live. None of the other aliens had agreed, so the rogue had created a weapon that could stop the invasion.

  The man couldn’t sense the alien that had created him. Whatever the man had tapped into, that one particular alien was no longer a part of it.

  A collective consciousness? he thought.

  His purpose became clearer after he experienced those visions.

  He started to walk toward the bunker’s entrance when a series of loud explosions rocked the ground.

  The man smiled, knowing he walked in the right direction.

  3

  The Garage

  The Fi-alien waited for more of its kind to assemble. Getting to the garage was tricky now that the main corridor to the underground bunker was destroyed. Fires still burned behind her and the loss of life was unacceptable, but once they retrieved the vials, everything would be all right.

  The Fi-alien planned on personally delivering the vials to the engineers above. It wanted to watch them inject the serum into their systems, thereby ensuring their survival on this planet. Once that was done, the vials would go to the other motherships and inoculate the others.

  The Fi-alien looked back at the hundreds of soldiers and knew the time had come.

  *

  The Butsko-alien stood next to the Fi-alien, but didn’t share in its thoughts. It was very careful to keep the images in its head out of The Consciousness. The Butsko-alien knew that the images it saw were unique and were of a life he used to live.

  It knew how important the mission was to find the vials, but there was something else in the back of its mind. It felt something for the humans it was after. Part of it wanted to help the human beings defend themselves.

  The Butsko-alien still had visions of one particular human that flashed through its mind. It thought that human may be able to save the others of this world, but he hadn’t seen him yet.

  If such a person exists, the Butsko-alien thought, he better show himself soon. This war is almost over, and the humans don’t stand a chance.

  4

  The Warehouse

  Wilder led the others through the interior of the scout ship. He kept his focus on the task at hand and looked around for the best place to set the bomb.

  The interior of the craft was similar to the other ship he’d explored. The walls were a smooth, metallic-like material void of any decoration or pattern.

  “I think we should look for a way to head downstairs,” Howard said. “I know I’m basing this on human engineering, but maybe the generator maintaining the energy wall is down there.”

  “Sounds better than my plan of wandering around aimlessly until we find something interesting,” Wilder said.

  They continued to walk around the ship until they came upon an opening that led to the lower part of the craft.

  Wilder didn’t hesitate and went through the opening. Instead of falling, he floated down to the next level. He looked around and kept his AK-47 pointed ahead of him.

  As the last of them, Riker, floated down, he looked back up the entrance.

  “Kinda like an elevator without the elevator,” Riker said.

  Wilder continued to lead them through the ship until they entered a room not unlike the one he’d explored on the other ship. It was a large room with a central control panel-looking object. There were also the same life pods in the room. But whereas the other ship had five pods, this ship housed twenty.

  And twelve of them were empty.

  Wilder and the others stopped in their tracks when they saw twelve aliens walking around the room as they checked instruments and pushed various dials and levers.

  The aliens also stopped what they were doing and stared at the humans.

  The others followed Wilder’s lead and raised their weapons.

  The aliens looked similar to the aliens that tried to kill them in the woods and in the garage, yet they were also different. They had the same body structure and the same physique. Their mouths were full of teeth, but they didn’t look quite as menacing as the creatures that’d come from the cocoons, and their clawed hands didn’t look as deadly as the others.

  “Fuck me,” Wilder said under his breath.

  Before the others could do or say anything, a loud buzz tore through their heads.

  We want the vials back, the aliens transmitted. Give us the vials and you may walk out of here.

  “How are they doing that?” Stefan asked. “How are they inside our heads?”

  The aliens continued to stare at the humans and repeated the message.

  Give us the vials and you will leave this place unharmed. If you don’t give us what we need, we will tear you apart.

  Wilder filed away the fact the alien said “need” instead of “want” as he turned his head to look at the others. “I may not know what the hell is going on here, but I do know a threat when I hear one.” Before the aliens repeated their message, Wilder shot the alien he believed was doing the talking through the head.

  Whenever it was possible, Wilder always preferred to avoid settling negotiations with violence. Violence, in his experience, was never a long-term solution. But Wilder also knew he wasn�
�t dealing with Jihad terrorists, South American drug lords, or dangerously armed militia forces.

  These were aliens that had, for the last two-and-a-half years, proven themselves to be extremely hostile and dangerous. Wilder was skilled at reading the body language of his enemies and judging the possible outcomes of situations.

  He and the others in a room full of aliens knew it wasn’t going to end well. The aliens wanted the vials and would do anything to get them back.

  The alien was dead before it hit the ground.

  The others followed Wilder’s lead and opened fire. The eleven other aliens were blown apart.

  “I didn’t think they were going to play nice with us,” Wilder said.

  “I wish all the aliens were this easy to kill,” Cheryl added.

  “I think we found the spot to set the bomb,” Howard said as he walked toward the control panel. The clear alien blood pooled around the bodies and Howard tiptoed like he was walking through a field of horse shit.

  “I don’t know what any of these controls do,” Howard continued when he reached the panel, “but if the energy wall is being sustained from this ship, then it’s a good guess it is being controlled from here.

  Wilder walked over to Howard and set the remaining five blocks of C-4 underneath the control panel.

  “I’m not putting it on a timer,” Wilder said as he set the detonators. “I want to control when it goes off.” He and Howard rejoined the others.

  “Now all we need to do is remember how the hell to get out of here,” Wilder said.

  Wilder and the others jogged as they made their way through the alien craft. Wilder’s worst-case scenario was that would run around in a circle for a while before finding the exit.

  The ship was one large oval.

  “I think the exit is just up ahead,” Howard said as he ran past Wilder.

  “Howard, wait!” Wilder shouted, but was too late.