I was now experiencing what the zombies felt when they finally were able to feast on their victims. It was a temporary release, a pain reliever if you will, that gave them a momentary escape from their eternal hunt. This must be like an addiction to them – they are simply chasing the high. No matter how much they feast, or pass on the virus, the feeling of release expires and they are left to find another victim to ease their pain. I almost felt a sense of pity for them as I felt the ebb and flow of their collective pain.
This is what sent them out in droves, chasing each other in packs as they went after the kill. They weren’t mindless at all, as it was their only objective - to release themselves from the torment and pain of being dead. To that degree, I was more than happy to provide them an alternative prescription to their affliction.
I turned to the crowd still advancing and concentrated heavily on forcing the horde in another direction. Forcing them back south would put them right back where they came from and potentially closer to the controller. This whole event would probably replay itself again if I put them his way and closer for him to regain control. I opted for another direction and sent them west – towards the water yet again. I was hoping that once there they would be taken by the current and give us ample chance to regroup as they would be forced downstream and useless to the controller. They would literally be dead in the water.
As I continued my chant and visualization to the collective on where to go, I could feel their pain and misery increase – which meant that they were no longer feeding and were responding. I was feeling confident that I had helped alleviate the worst of the attack on the compound and opened my eyes to see a mass exodus in progress. I rushed back to the compound to get an assessment of the damages the onslaught had brought.
As I climbed back over the top of the conex box, I found that there were zombie carcasses everywhere. There was still a good amount of gunfire going on to the west, which told me that the zombies who had followed my instructions must have gotten stuck in the compound while trying to complete their mission. I caught up with Justin, who was walking with one of the sentries stationed outside of the situation room earlier.
“You did it,” Justin said as he helped to prop up the wounded guard, “they’re leaving! You did do that…right?”
“I…helped,” I replied, breaking eye contact with Justin and the guard. I could tell by the way they looked at me that they felt uneasy and considered me more part of them now. I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult given my appearance. If the shoe was on the other foot, I’m not too sure that I would be reacting all that much differently.
“It’s bad Griff,” Justin said as he collapsed against the wall in the hallway and slid to the ground, “we’ve lost a lot of good people.”
“How’s our group?”
As I tried to reestablish eye contact with Justin, he instantly looked away and stared at the ground.
“Justin,” I repeated, “how’s everyone in our group?”
“You better get to the infirmary, I think you need to you see for yourself.”
I began heading for the infirmary when I realized that I didn’t have my hat or sunglasses on any longer. I hadn’t made it a hundred or so feet around the corner from Justin when someone yelled out.
“Zombie!”
I didn’t look around for the zombie, as it was all too obvious that I was the one they were talking about. I guess that was the one thing that I hadn’t counted on. There hadn’t been any widespread announcement letting the community as a whole know about my condition before the shit hit the fan, and I didn’t think enough ahead to have Justin chaperone me to the infirmary. I had to find someone familiar with the situation to help out, and I needed to do it fast. I put my head down low and picked up my sprint, yelling as I moved through the compound. Unfortunately, the rounds had already started flying. Lucky for me, being a moving target running through a populated area kept the shooting at a minimum.
“Heading to the infirmary,” I was saying as I ran, “I’ve been bit! Heading to the infirmary with a bite!”
I was almost at the infirmary when I took a round to the shoulder. The high caliber round hit me just on the edge of my collarbone, shattering the bone and sending pieces of me slapping against the wall before coming to a rest on the ground. The impact spun me off balance and I came crashing to the ground face first into a pair of boots. I looked up as I braced for the impact of a round to the skull.
“Cease fire! Cease fire! Friendly!” yelled Tommy.
“Friendly my ass!” erupted from the crowd that had been pursuing me.
“He’s right,” I said as I turned to face them, “you’ve got it all wrong, I’m not one of them!”
“What in the…” was the only audible response as a collective gasp was heard from the group.
“He’s one of us,” Tommy said to the group, “it’s complicated...”
Tommy grabbed my arm to help me up as the wound began to close. The snapping of bones resetting themselves made the closest observers begin vomiting as the bone fragments poking out retreated back below the surface. Tommy even flinched a bit as my shoulder reset itself and the skin began to crawl and stretch over the gaping wound. By the time I was back upright on my own, the wound was completely healed.
“What the fuck! That’s the coolest shit I’ve ever seen!” Tommy said as he looked my tattered shirt over for any other injuries.
I collected myself as if to say, “nothing to see here, move along,” and nodded and smiled to the group of onlookers. Tommy led the way as I kept my head down, trying my best not to draw any additional unwanted attention.
As we crossed through the makeshift doorway into what was designated as the infirmary, there were more injured parties being tended to than I had ever seen – even more than I had seen in the trauma center at Receiving Hospital back in the day. There was an ominous tone to those being treated as well. Every one of them had an armed guard by their side. I didn’t have to guess as to why that was. Tommy saw my reaction and verified my suspicions.
“They’re just waiting on the order.”
I knew what that meant. All of these victims had been bitten and would surely turn. The order would be given for a swift end to their suffering. Unfortunately, once the first showed signs of turning, everyone would be put down in unison. There couldn’t be any pause or hesitation – once the first was executed and the rest of the injured realized their fate there would be complete chaos as they panicked and fought to survive – as they would try to delay the inevitable. We were still in a time when most people who were infected refused to accept that they were going to turn. It was a fate that no one wanted to come to terms with. I could relate, I had been there but was miraculously spared due to my unique genetic flaw. I wasn’t sure if I should feel grateful or cursed, but I felt an extreme sense of guilt for my ability to overcome what they would not.
As we walked through the injured, the signatures I was observing were similar. With Tommy so close to me now, I now verified what I had seen before. His signature, his aura, was different from the others. While they were all unique, they were oddly the same – more or less. Tommy’s was different, as I had seen in Karen earlier in the day. Maybe it was simply an artifact of the friendship we shared, like an early alert system, where the aura represented some sort of bond.
As we came upon the row of private rooms, Andrew was waiting outside one of them. As we approached, he walked forward to greet us.
“Griff, not everyone-”
That was all he was able to get out as I saw Tool, Jamie, Logan, Claire and Eric standing around a makeshift hospital bed. As I approached the wall of bodies, they parted – showing me what was motionless and still on the gurney. It was Karen.
“How bad?” I asked to no one in particular as I looked upon her closed eyes and pale skin. I looked around at the group indicating that I didn’t plan on repeating myself.
Andrew peeled back the blanket covering her and exposed what was being hid
den from view. There was a large blood soaked bandage covering her right bicep and an even larger bandage around her right thigh. It was obvious that she had lost a lot of blood.
“How much time?” I asked.
“Any minute now,” Andrew said, “her breathing has been more labored and she hasn’t responded to any stimuli.”
“Leave us,” I said as I scanned my gaze across the group.
“Griff, you-” was all Eric got out before I made my case.
“Say goodbye and make your peace with her,” I directed to all in the room, “I’m the only one that’s invulnerable once she turns. I want to be the one to do this. None of you needs to be responsible, and none of you needs this to be on your conscience.”
“He’s right,” Tommy said, “he needs to be the one. Let’s say goodbye and be on our way.”
If I was able to cry at that moment, I surely would have produced enough tears to flood the entire island. Seeing the kids say goodbye was the hardest thing that I have ever witnessed. Karen was the closest thing that they now had to a maternal guardian, but now she was going to renew that void that she had filled. Eric was tasteful and classy with his goodbye, and Tool and Jamie were the last in the group to pay their respects as Andrew led everyone out of the room. Tommy had stayed behind with me and spoke with his back to me as he exited.
“Are you going to be able to do this?”
“I’m already dead,” I replied to him, “I didn’t have much of a heart left, and now that’s it’s gone this should be a piece of cake. Look after the kids and make sure they don’t hear the shot, okay?”
“You got it,” he replied as he exited the room.
I stood over Karen and watched as her chest would rise and fall with greater exaggeration in each breath, until finally it stopped all together. Her aura, which was more similar to Tommy’s than the others, slowly dimmed and faded away. She inhaled one final time, gasping a few times with the spasms I had come to expect with those passing over to the afterlife. As she exhaled her last warm breath, there was a peaceful calm that radiated throughout her body. As she passed, I could swear I saw a faint smile across her lips as I grasped her hand. I didn’t want her to feel that she was alone in this moment.
I drew my sidearm as I knew that the time would be near to stop her from turning into a killing machine. I watched as her pale skin turned ashen and the veins in her neck began to pulsate wildly upwards and throughout her face. Her aura began to flicker wildly, coming back into view. If she was turning into a zombie, that shouldn’t be happening I thought to myself. I hesitated a moment too long.
“Karen,” I said to her as I pointed the gun at her head, “I’m sorry for this.”
She let out a moan and cleared her throat as I hesitated. I almost shit myself as I realized what was happening. I holstered my weapon knowing damn well that zombies didn’t clear their throats.
“Uhhhh…how long have I been out?” Karen moaned as she rubbed her eyes. As she opened them slowly to adjust for the light, there was no mistaking the familiar glow that was given off as her blue eyes were now replaced with maze.
“You gotta be kidding me,” I said as she began to sit up.
“Griff!” Karen yelled as she lunged to give me a hug, “No, I’m serious, how long have I been out?”
“I’m not sure,” I replied truthfully, “how do you feel?”
“I…I feel great,” she replied, “which is strange because I had this strange dream that I had been bit…we were attacked…and you were there…and…”
“And…” I said, urging her to continue.
“And…I heard you apologizing to me. What are you so sorry about?”
Epilogue
Tyler could hear the gunshots coming from the north as he boarded the boat that was waiting for him. He was certain that the horde he had commanded was enough to wreak massive havoc on the remaining survivors, even if they did have a controller on their side now. He was almost certain that victory would be on their side
He wanted to stay and finish the fight. He was certain that he could have taken their controller out, but he received his orders to retreat and regroup. He was praised for the intelligence information that he had gathered this day. While the mission was being viewed as a success by those calling the shots, Tyler looked at the incident as a complete failure.
This hadn’t been a search and destroy mission – that would come later. He anguished the fact that there weren’t more casualties to report. He felt as though the enemy had won, and that was a bitter pill for him to swallow.
He didn’t like to lose. He had experienced enough of that back when he was alive. Now that he was something more, something greater, he felt compelled to ensure the destruction of mankind and their social ills. He was part of the global rebirth, with a sense of entitlement as a controller. He would help shape the new landscape of the world.
As for the other controller…he was sure that he would have his revenge on him…soon.
Thank you for reading the fourth installment of Zombie Reign! Only 2 more books to go in the Zombie Reign series! Zombie Reign 5: Panic in Detroit will be coming soon!
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Zombie Reign: Death in Detroit
Zombie Reign 2: Rescue in Detroit
Zombie Reign 3: Refuge
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1 – The Arrival
Chapter 2 – Truth
Chapter 3 – Double Dare
Chapter 4 – First Contact
Chapter 5 – Hunters and Collectors
Chapter 6 – Fundamental Transformation
Chapter 7 – That Just Happened
Chapter 8 – The Unraveling
Chapter 9 – Marching On
Chapter 10 – Losses
Epilogue
Zombie Reign (Book 4): Redemption Page 8
