Jenny looked around the dimly lit room since that was all she could do; after knocking her out they had removed everything from the room except for the chair she sat in.
A loud groan from the heavy metal door startled Jenny out of her stupor. Revs filed into the room dressed in their version of military garb, which consisted of anything they could find like jeans, t-shirts, and leather jackets. Guns were strapped to each of them and, as soon as they were lined up in a half-circle around her, they raised their rifles and aimed them directly at the center of her chest. The red lasers were in stark contrast to the dimness of the room and hurt her eyes. She squinted past them.
“Looks like no one is coming for you, Miss Meldano. What a shame,” Colonel Jenkins said as he moved into the room, skirting around the Revenant soldier standing closest to the door.
“If my father has anything to do with it, someone is,” Jenny spat back in defiance. “And he will come for me.”
Jenkins stood in front of her and crossed his arms over his broad chest as a small amount of light reflected off his bald, gray scalp. Her eyes met his with rebelliousness because, in her gut, she felt that her father would stop at nothing to save the daughter he had thought was dead all this time. That was the only explanation as to why she had never heard from him and why he had been nowhere to be found when she emerged from the burning SUV.
The Revenant startled her as he began to laugh uproariously, almost bent over at the waist slapping his knee laughter.
“You are so misguided, my dear.” He uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his knees, leaning down, so he was eye to eye with her. “Do you really think the Government of Defense would send anyone out to find your father to save you? Do you really believe that they care? After all, you are just one small person and, in the grand scheme of things, you’re nothing.”
“That’s not true, Jenkins.”
She said the words even though she felt doubt nipping at her heels. He was right, but could she let him know that? Not if she wanted to stay alive long enough to see if he indeed was correct in his assumption. She had a nagging feeling it wouldn’t matter, though. A part of her knew that no matter what transpired, Colonel Jenkins would want to inflict her father with as much pain as he possibly could. In this world, there was nothing more painful than watching your long-lost daughter die or become infected.
“But it is, Jennifer. But it is,” Jenkins rebuked.
His insistence was enough to plant the seed of doubt deeper in the recesses of her mind as she stared into the Revenant’s shimmering gray eyes. She shook her head in denial and looked down at her lap, closing her eyes to keep the tears that burned them from falling. She would not cry because then he won, and she would not let him win. Not this time. Not ever.
She would not break.
“Look at me, girl,” Jenkins demanded.
The tone of his voice caused her to look up even though she didn’t want to, and the look on his face caused her blood to freeze in her veins. Hatred peered out at her from behind lashless lids as anger seethed just below his flesh. It caused the fine hairs on her arms to stand on end.
“You know I’m right. Those stiffs with the Government of Defense don’t care about you. They care about what your dad can do for them. That would be the only reason they’d even entertain the idea of rescuing you. Even then, you are useless to them. I can tell you’re a smart woman so just listen to me when I say something. I don’t have a reason to lie to you.”
“How am I supposed to believe you, Jenkins? I’m sitting here tied up to a chair and locked in a room all by myself. That doesn’t make you trustworthy in my books, so why should I believe a word you say?” Jenny asked him.
Her head jerked to the side as pain exploded in her jaw, spreading up toward her temple. A grunt left her lips. Jenkins pulled his fist back and prepared to punch her again, and she was helpless to stop him. With a step toward her, his fist slammed into her jaw again. The second blow caused her to not only see stars, but black spots began to dot her vision. She tasted iron, blood coating her tongue as she bit the inside of her cheek from the punch.
“The truth is much more painful than a lie, Miss Meldano, and it’s about time you learn that little lesson.” His voice echoed off the empty walls as he signaled for his men to turn off their laser sights and lower their weapons. “Plus, I worked with Area 51 with your father and you see what they do to those useful to them. Now that they are G.O.D. nothing has changed.”
Jenny spat blood onto the cement floor as they did so, not a single word uttered. Jenkins breathed heavily as if the exertion was too much for him. Revenants didn’t actually breathe, so it was obviously out of habit even after almost a decade as one of them.
“You’re a monster,” she bit back.
Jenkins’s fist slammed into her abdomen, causing her to lurch forward. She gagged as she tried to hold down the bile and acid that burned its way up her throat. Pain ricocheted through her entire body, the rope rubbing her wrists even more raw after she pitched forward from the blow.
“A monster is as a monster does, Miss Meldano,” he snorted at what she had meant to be an insult. “Bring me the kit. It looks like the Head Hunter’s daughter needs to learn what the world outside of the Stations is like.”
The Revenant closest to the open door turned and went out, moving to the left toward more of the isolation rooms. He didn’t go far, coming back with a rolling metal table only after a moment or two. Metal tools, as well as an assortment of other things, glistened in the dim white light. The few that she could see with clarity had sharp points and winked at her in the light, making promises of damages and flowing blood.
“Oh my God, please, no,” she muttered under her breath.
Colonel Jenkins moved toward the rolling metal as the soldier stopped between them. He smiled grimly and menacingly as he traced a finger over one of the implements, a blade about six inches long with a sharp and serrated silver blade. Jenkins made a clicking sound with his tongue and seemed to decide against that particular weapon. His hand began to trace another blade, this one the same length as the other, with a smooth edge and a black handle.
Jenny could handle a lot of things. She could take a beating. She could stand to live in the Dead Zone with nothing except for what she could find to survive. She would do it all over again, but she couldn’t take the thought of torture at the hands of the blood-sucking undead. The prospect of the pain she knew was coming was too much.
“No,” she begged as she shook her head and fresh tears made their way down her cheeks, burning her eyes. “Please, Jenkins, this isn’t necessary. I understand.”
“Miss Meldano, this is highly necessary. Mostly because you don’t understand. Not like you think you do. The Dead Zone may have prepared you for a lot of things, but it has not prepared you for the true grit and cruelty of the world, no matter how many of the infected you’ve killed.”
Picking up the blade he touched, he stepped closer to her and slowly waved the knife back and forth. Jenny only watched it. There was nothing she could do but beg and pray that he would be merciful. She hadn’t done anything to deserve his wrath, but here she was. All because of something her father had done when he thought he had nothing left to live for.
The colonel reached up with his empty hand and wiped one tear away, causing her terrified brown eyes to meet his sinister gray ones.
“Now, where do I begin?” he asked in a low voice.
***
Great Smoky Mountains
July 2027
Area 51 – Underground Bunker – Hidden Collar Holdings
“So . . . what are these exactly?” Joshua asked as he leaned over and inspected devices before him.
There were differing shades of the circular rings, each one large enough to fit around a human throat and at least two inches thick with two small LED lights on them. One red and one green.
“They’re an invention of mine. A collar that gives me the power of control if I want it,
but it only works if I can place it on a Cranker before it begins to decay,” Caesar answered with a prideful expression on his face.
“How is that even possible?” Mark questioned with a skeptical look. “They’re dead, and you can’t bring back the dead.”
He was on the other side of the small room, inspecting each collar without picking them up to do so. Caesar leaned against a bare wall and grinned while stuffing his hands in the pockets of his fatigues.
“Even though they’re technically dead, I had a theory that the Syc on their brains can trigger memories until the Syc completely takes over and replaces the brain altogether. I was able to prove it with these collars,” he explained as he pointed to the collar Mark was staring at. “I was able to synthesize a sustainable food source for them with my own blood that I then put into the inner workings of the collar. Kind of like a filter to remove all the crap. The decay. The solution helps to increase the oxygen levels in the blood and make sure the ATP in their systems can be reused so it keeps them going without having to feed. It also sends electrical impulses to their brains to trigger the areas of memory and conditioning, kind of like a—”
“A pet,” Joshua interjected. He stood up and turned to look at the Head Hunter in shock. “You’re turning them into pets.”
“More like soldiers, actually.”
“You ever stop to think that it could be extremely cruel? Letting them walk around dead. Without souls. Don't you think it’s just better to let them die? Put them out of their misery?” Joshua lectured.
“I actually think it’s kind of cool,” Mark mused.
“What you have to remember, Joshua, is that I worked for Area 51. This kind of thing is what we did. As a scientist, if I can use my knowledge and my resources to put something to use, I will. The Crankers and the Shadows have become useless, and I have the power to make them beneficial to the human race here in the United States, since we are the only people on the planet having to live with them. We can weaponize them to help us fight against the Revenants and the Barbarians as well as the Government of Defense to make the U.S. whole again. I don’t see anything wrong with that, and neither should you. Not if you want to live past the age of thirty,” Caesar said calmly, never once raising his voice. “At this rate, you’ll be lucky to make it through the next year.”
They all watched each other in silence for a few heartbeats as Joshua processed what he had just been told. He had learned so much from Caesar over the last twenty-four hours, and his logic was extremely hard to deny. Everything made perfect sense, but that didn’t mean he had to like any of it.
“And these things work?” Mark asked as he grazed a white collar with the very tip of his index finger, intrigue in his eyes.
That was when Joshua watched a look of pride cross over Caesar’s face, a smile gracing his lips as his gray eyes glinted with excitement. He turned and began to head for the door that would lead from the small room containing even just an ounce of hope for a future.
“Come with me, boys. I have something to show you.”
Joshua looked over at Mark, wondering if his friend would go outside with him. Joshua was apprehensive but just as curious as Mark was at that point. The collars were a fascinating idea, but he still dreaded the fact that those wearing them were walking shells with no souls. No humanity left. Well, as far as he was concerned. Mark stood and stopped in front of Joshua with a look of absolute uncertainty.
“Look, I know you how you feel about this. Trust me, while I do think it’s a cool idea, I worry about it myself. How about we go see what it is he has to show us and take it from there? What do you say? We need any form of help we can get, right?”
Joshua looked into his eyes, exhaustion settling into him just as deeply as the fear and the ambiguity. Nothing was as it seemed and he feared that the Head Hunter, Jenny’s father, would be the same way. That he would come off as the caring father who wanted a better life for his daughter, to save her from the world she was forced to live in, and be the complete opposite despite how genuine he seemed. It burned in his gut and made his head sting but, as he stared at his friend who seemed to want so badly to believe in the good left in the world, how could he say no? How could he deny him that? How could he deny them all a chance at something better?
“I guess you’re right. This whole thing has been difficult. I mean, learning that everything you thought you knew for the last seven years is all a lie. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. It’s just hard to trust anyone you didn’t survive the Dead Zone with, ya know?” Joshua replied, running his hand through his hair and scrubbing it over his face.
Mark placed a large and warm hand on his shoulder, giving it a brotherly squeeze of encouragement.
“I know, but let’s give this a chance. I’m willing if you are. If not, we’ll leave right now and try to figure out what to do next,” Mark responded.
As they stood in the silent room, Joshua looked out the door, Caesar coming back into sight strapping a protective jacket over his upper body. Joshua watched as the Head Hunter picked up two more off the arm of the couch and turned toward the room they stood in, his eyes barely registering the doubt-filled moment between the two of them.
“You two ready?” he asked as his eyebrows raised in interest.
“Yup, we’re coming,” Joshua answered as he shrugged Mark’s hand away and turned to leave the room.
They all threw their protective gear on quickly, which he had to admit wasn’t much. Just a jacket made with a special material that kept them from being severely bitten by any undead so they would not become infected with the Syc parasite. Once zipped up all the way, Joshua noticed that it had a thin layer of Kevlar on the collar to prevent Revenant bites as well. Nothing as advanced as what the Government of Defense had prepped the Stations with, but it would do well enough.
Mark and Joshua followed Caesar’s sure steps toward another door, locked as indicated by the red dot of light above the door. Another room down another hallway with God only knew what on the other side. Joshua began to sweat with anxiety, heat creeping into his face as his body prepared for a fight. He knew it wasn’t coming. At least he hoped not, but his body seemed to believe differently. Of course, he had been fighting almost constantly for almost a decade. Why would any of that change now?
“Genesis, the door?” Caesar spoke out into the vast emptiness of the corridor.
“Yes, Commander,” came the familiar electronic voice. It was very cold and mechanical, nothing like it had been previously.
Joshua knew Genesis was essentially a robot, but sometimes her inflections hinted at humanity. Some level of it, at least, which Caesar had mentioned before that moment.
There was a small beep and the green light turned on, the red fading to black. As the door slid open, a noise filtered through the air that Joshua hadn’t heard until the door was open. The room was soundproofed, which terrified him. The sounds coming from the room, the grunts and the tiny howls, were familiar; a sound he had heard plenty of times in the Dead Zone as well as lining the outside of the walls of Station Four.
As they slowly followed on Caesar’s heels, a white room came into view. There was no hint of the dead in the room. Just a woman with dirty black hair, matted and tangled with sweat and the sickly brown of old blood. Her cheeks were slightly rosy, barely a hint of the gray flesh of the dead, and her eyes held a slight sparkle. A tiny hint of life that was never evident in the Crankers and Shadows he had seen in his life. Her eyes were slightly sunken and she didn’t speak a word; all she did was grunt as if she was attempting to speak to them, but couldn’t quite form the words.
Joshua kept his distance as did Mark, both of them watching as Caesar moved closer and closer to the dead—or undead—woman. Joshua wasn’t certain what to make of what he was seeing, but he wanted to give the Head Hunter the benefit of the doubt. At the moment, he wasn’t entirely certain who he could trust besides Mark and the friends he had met at Station Four. None of the G.O.D. cronies,
that was for sure. Only those who had next to zero involvement with the Government of Defense besides those living within the Station’s walls. Even then sometimes some of those people weren’t trustworthy.
Caesar approached the Cranker or Shadow, whatever this woman was, and Joshua’s heart rate picked up in a panic.
“Caesar, what are you doing?” Mark nearly shouted as he reached out toward the Head Hunter to stop his advance on the woman.
Caesar made a sound that reminded Joshua of one a mother would make when a child was doing something they shouldn’t be.
“No sudden movements, you got that?” he admonished as he slowly pulled his hand away.
He moved to stand before the woman. A soft snarl left her lips, but no action followed the sound.
“At one point after I developed the collars, went to downtown Memphis for supplies, but I also wanted to test the collars out on a newly transformed Cranker if I was lucky enough to find one. I found Myra lying in a pool of blood, her old-world identification still on her. She was barely alive, so I offered her a second chance.” Caesar paused and took a deep breath, gazing with adoration at the woman he had introduced as Myra. “When I placed the collar around her neck, I told her to focus on my face. And she did. When she awoke as a member of the undead, it was like she knew me. Like she remembered me because I had told her to focus on me as she passed.”
“How long do they live like this?” Joshua asked.
He wanted to know how long this woman had been walking around without a soul, trapped on Earth in a vacant body. An indentured servant in some aspect. She was a mess and dressed in ragged clothes that barely held together, but Joshua barely knew about the entire circumstance within the bunker. He only knew what he had seen so far, but Caesar was crucial to saving Jenny from the Revenants so he was doing what he could to remain silent.
Caesar turned to look at him. “As you can imagine, cleaning her up or changing her clothes hasn’t been an option. Myra remembers me, but still doesn’t have the coordination to do it herself or help me do it. And she’s still a Cranker, after all. She’s been with me for two years now.”
Zombified (Book 1): The Head Hunter Page 30
