The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 1): Zombie Park

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  “They’re not moving. I think they’re all sleeping,” said Billy, tapping on the glass. “Come on, do something.”

  Mr. Forenstein knew movement would not be a problem for his zombies. He knew they didn’t sleep. People would always have an exciting and enjoyable experience with the zombies constantly trying to sink their teeth into them unsuccessfully. He looked around and watched as Billy walked away toward a cotton candy stand. His wife handed Billy some money, and he bought one. He brought it back to him.

  “Look what I bought, Daddy. Do you want some?”

  “I’d rather get a hot dog or cheeseburger. Why don’t you save the cotton candy for later, and we’ll go get hot dogs and fries.”

  “Can I get a soda with it?”

  “Of course you can, Billy. After we eat, I want to go check out the dolphin show.”

  He ordered two hot dog meals. His wife ordered a chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries. They found an open table outside and sat down. He wanted to take the dining experience for the park further. He had planned on having a fine dining restaurant built in the park. Of course he planned on serving hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and cheeseburgers, but he wanted something fancy for the guests who wanted to relax in a different atmosphere. He also wanted different food carts throughout the park. He wanted one with nothing but candy, one with nothing but snake cakes, and so forth. He knew from the county fairs food brought in a lot of money, and he wanted to capitalize on it. He had several friends who would be interested in setting up their food trucks. He could imagine the smell of fried candy bars, freshly popped popcorn, and elephant ears throughout the park.

  “What are you thinking about, Robert?” asked his wife. “You seem distant today.”

  “I’m thinking about the park. I’m getting several ideas for it.”

  “I figured as much. I knew there was a reason we came today.”

  “Does it really matter? Billy seems to be enjoying himself, and he got cotton candy.”

  She smiled. “I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m enjoying myself. I haven’t been out of Indiana for a long time. It feels good not to do the cooking for a change.”

  He took a bite from his hot dog and thought for a moment. “Gourmet hot dogs. We’re going to serve gourmet hot dogs. We’ll have every topping imaginable–even sauerkraut.”

  “On a hot dog?” asked his wife. “They’ll have to be grilled.”

  “People will claim we have the best hot dogs in the area. Also, we’ll serve different flavored popcorn, and we’ll have a cooking contest in the summer.”

  “Wow! When you dream, you dream big,” said his wife, putting mustard on her fries. “I hope you didn’t forget about ice cream.”

  “Trust me; I didn’t. Now all I have to do is think about entertainment. We can have local bands perform and if we’re lucky, we can get a circus to join us in the summer.”

  “It sounds like you’re going to have everything but you know what.”

  He looked at her curiously until it dawned on him what she was referring to. “Right. Don’t worry; we’re going to have plenty of them. That will be General Poe’s department. The park will be perfectly safe. Security is going to be tight in the park. Nothing will be able to happen without us knowing about it.” He watched as his son finished his hot dog and drank the last of his soda. “Let’s head over to the dolphins. I want to see if they’re doing any new tricks this year.”

  Later that evening, he sat in his bed listening to his wife talk about how she was glad she didn’t have to do any cooking during the day. He had treated them to pepperoni pizza on the way home. He looked at her with a smile.

  “Today was like being on vacation for you.”

  “A well-deserved one. Today was so relaxing. I wish I could do it again next week.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  She rolled over to face him. “Like you have the time to take me somewhere else.”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “Quit teasing me. I know how busy you are with your park.”

  “Seriously. Where do you want to go?”

  “All right, I’ll bite. I want to go to a museum in Chicago.”

  “Is next Wednesday good for you?”

  She smiled and gave him a hug. “Next Wednesday will be fine.”

  Chapter Ten

  Professor Kathy Hollman carefully searched through her notes trying to figure out what she was missing. All of her mathematical equations looked fine, but for some reason, the results weren’t coming out as expected. She looked across the room at her husband who was also trying to figure out why their tests were not meeting expectations.

  “There is nothing wrong with the math,” she said. “According to this, the serum should be working.”

  “Maybe that’s the problem. Think about it for a moment. Perhaps the serum is working. All of our results thus far could be the limit of what the serum can produce. Perhaps our serum can’t produce the results we’re looking for.”

  “So you’re saying we got it all wrong. Are you saying we need to start from scratch? General Poe isn’t going to want to hear we need to start over. We have too much money invested into it.”

  “Or he’s going to have to be satisfied with our current results. He wanted zombies, and that’s exactly what we made for him. I never truly believed we could make zombies who could be controlled. We’re not mad scientists.”

  She stared at him for a few moments, wondering how the general will react to their report. “I need to do one more test before I will admit defeat.” There was one component she wanted to add to the serum. She needed to add blood from an existing zombie. She had been researching everything she could find about zombies and the effects on the human body. There were several theories, but because zombies never existed before now, nobody had any real answers. She thought about telling her husband what she was planning to do, but she knew how he would react. She grabbed a syringe and made her way to the back holding area.

  Carlton Ross was getting ready to feed the zombies with a fresh batch of goats, which were delivered early in the morning. He watched as she approached one of the cages with the syringe in her hand.

  “Please tell me you’re not going to take a blood sample from that zombie.”

  “It’s imperative I do. I don’t have any time to waste.”

  “Get away from the cage and bring me the syringe. I’ll get the blood sample for you.” He made a move toward her but quickly halted. The zombie in the cage grabbed her by the back of the head, pulling her toward the cage. Carlton grabbed a large pole and rushed over to the cage as the zombie took a bite from the back of her neck. Blood showered the walls and the floor. He hit the zombie with the pole and pushed as hard as he could until the zombie released its hold on the professor. She slumped to the floor in a pool of her blood.

  “Professor Hollman! Get in here right now!” he screamed, bending over Kathy’s body.

  Professor Hollman made his way inside the back area and saw his wife’s body lying on the floor. “What happened?”

  “She got too close to the cage.”

  “What was she doing back here, anyway?”

  The professor jumped back a couple of feet as the zombie tried to break through the cage. He saw the blood dripping from its face.

  “She wanted to get a blood sample from the zombie. I told her I would do it for her, but she just got too close.”

  They both knew there wasn’t anything they could do for her. The professor put his hands on top of his head and looked at an empty cage in the corner of the room.

  “Put her body in the cage,” he said, pointing to the empty cage. “Do it quickly before she turns.”

  Carlton stared at him curiously. “But she’s your wife.”

  “Not any more. She’s the one who made the mistake. She should have known better to try to take a blood sample from these creatures. That’s your job. Now get her in the cage before it’s too late.”

  Carlton was agai
nst the idea of letting her turn into a zombie. He glared at the professor as he left him to do the dirty work. He went over to the cage and opened the door and looked back at Kathy’s body. It was slowly coming back to life. He knew he had little time to transfer her body to the cage. Her eyes suddenly opened and she let out a loud growl which sent chills up and down his spine. He reached for the pole as she stood up and made a move toward him.

  “Damn!” he screamed as he maneuvered the pole to try to force her in the direction of the opened cage.

  He positioned the end of the pole in her throat and tried to move her toward the cage. Seeing all the commotion happening in the room, the other zombies moved to the cage doors and tried to free themselves. Sweat was pouring down Carlton’s face as he fought against the strength of the zombie. She grabbed the end of the pole and tried to free herself, but Carlton was gaining strength over her, and moved her closer to the opened cage.

  His hands were slipping from the end of the pole and it fell free from his grasp. Kathy freed the end of the pole from her throat and tossed it aside. Without hesitation she moved toward Carlton, pushing back toward the opened cage. Suddenly, he was covered in her blood from head to toe, and she fell to the ground. General Poe stood there staring at him.

  “What the hell happened to her!”

  “She got too close to the cages. That one over there bit her.”

  General Poe looked at her body lying on the floor. “Damn! What a waste. She was a remarkable woman. I’m truly going to miss her. Does Nicholas know?”

  “He doesn’t care. To him she’s just another zombie.”

  General Poe was about to leave the room when he saw Kathy’s body begin to twitch. He looked at Carlton.

  “Hurry, get her in the cage. I don’t understand this, but I didn’t kill her.” He helped Carlton get her inside the cage and closed the door. Kathy stood up and rushed the door, trying to grab them.

  “I don’t understand it. I saw you shoot her.”

  “I just missed hitting her in the head. I can see the bullet hole. This doesn’t make any sense. Why did she act as though she were dead?”

  “Is it possible she’s a smart zombie?”

  The general looked at him curiously. “What are you suggesting?”

  “She once told me her IQ was around 150. Do you think it’s possible that all you need is a smart zombie to be able to control them? Perhaps they have been experimenting on the wrong type of people. Maybe, just maybe, unintelligent people make unintelligent zombies.”

  The general found the theory intriguing. He wondered if he injected the serum into a smart zombie, would it cause the desired effects.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, leaving the room. He returned with a syringe in his hand. He asked Carlton to restrain her while he injected the serum in her arm. She fought hard against him, but he managed to inject her without injury to himself. He waited several minutes to give the serum a chance to course through her body. Twenty minutes later, the zombie settled down and stared at him, as if she was waiting for him to give her a command.

  “Sit down on the floor,” he commanded her. He watched as she did as he instructed her. He looked at Carlton. “It works! Her serum actually works.”

  “I guess we don’t need the other zombies then. Should I destroy them?”

  “No!” said the general loudly. “Let’s not waste them. We’ll use them in the zombie park. I think the public would rather see the type of zombies they see on TV. We’ll make both kinds. The smart zombies we’ll develop to create our new army. Let’s just see North Korea cause us any more trouble.”

  “What are the plans now? I mean, are we going to create any more zombies here or wait until the new installation opens?”

  General Poe thought for a moment. “We won’t create any zombies we can’t control until we move to the zombie park. For now, we’ll only create the smart zombies. I want to make sure all of this wasn’t a fluke. I want to make sure everything succeeds before I start celebrating. You should clean up this area while I notify Professor Hollman of our findings.” He left the room and went to find Professor Hollman. He found him looking at a slide under a microscope.

  “Your wife’s serum works. Well, it only works on smart people, but it works.”

  “What are you talking about, General Poe?”

  “It works on a smart person who has already become a zombie. We need to inject the serum into smart zombies.”

  “Now wait just a minute. You’re telling me Kathy is a smart zombie. And you’re telling me she’ll take orders from you.”

  “Yes. I told her to sit, and she did.”

  Professor Hollman shook his head. “So she was right about the serum the whole time. How could she have figured it out? I’m much smarter than she was. Well, I don’t have to worry about her making me look bad any more.”

  “Doesn’t her death affect you in any way?”

  The professor looked at him. “She knew the risk. If you ask me, she had it coming. She never took any safety precautions. It’s her own fault she became a zombie.”

  “That sounds heartless.”

  “Heartless? You’re the one who wants these zombies made. I’m just the man who made it possible. Now if you will excuse me, I have to pour through her research so I can duplicate her serum.”

  General Poe knew he was right about one thing. He was the one who wanted the zombies created. He now had to make sure everything moved forward with the park. He couldn’t afford any delays.

  Carlton walked into the room. “I cleaned all the blood off the floor and walls. What do you want me to do now?”

  “Make sure nothing happens to our zombies. Also, keep a watchful eye on the professor. Don’t let him do anything to his wife back there. She is the only proof we have that the serum works. Without her, I won’t have the extra funding I need.”

  “You can trust me, General Poe. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ben Cutler was eating a cheeseburger in his hotel room when he saw the news report on TV about the zombie park. A man named Donnie Jorsen was being interviewed by a reporter about the creation of “PETZ”.

  “Once again the military is trying to play God. They’re constantly trying to create things God never intended to be created. The whole idea of creating zombies is insane. How do they think they will be able to control them and keep the public safe from them? People who visit the park are putting their own lives at risk. This park must be stopped before it can be built! I’m here to tell General Poe that I will not let this park become a reality! PETZ is going to become a constant thorn in your side! Mark my words. This park will never be built while I’m still breathing!”

  Ben didn’t know how to react to Donnie’s interview. He would never have thought a group would be formed to try to stop his zombie park. He knew something like this could hurt his financial future. He loved his new truck and new house. He wasn’t going to give any of them up without a fight. He decided he would cut his vacation short and try to locate the man he saw on TV. He knew what he needed to do; he just hoped he was capable of going through with it. He gathered his things and put them in his truck. It was going to take him at least a full day to get back to Valparaiso.

  He switched on the radio trying to find a station playing country music. He was trying to find a particular song he heard sung by Luke Bryan. Even though it wasn’t a heavy metal song, it made him feel confident, and it’s how he needed to feel. He looked at the time on his cell phone. He had a long day of driving ahead of him.

  Carlton stared at the smart zombie. She was still sitting on the floor as if she was waiting for her next command. He thought about all the zombie movies he had seen on TV. She wasn’t acting like any of them. Perhaps the movies had it all wrong about zombies. Of course they did. Until now, zombies hadn’t existed. How could they possibly know how a zombie would act? He moved across the front of the cage, watching as the zombie kept her attention focused on him. />
  “Normally, I refer to my zombies as ‘its’, but you’re different from the rest. You deserve to be referred to as a female.” She continued to stare at him blankly. “You understand me, don’t you?” She nodded to him.

  He looked around the room as though he was surrounded by spectators. “Do you know what your name is?” He watched as she nodded again. His eyes widened. “Something is wrong here. You shouldn’t know what your name is. If you do know your name, it would mean you have awareness. I would then consider it cruelty.”

  “It’s how the serum works,” said Professor Hollman. “It’s the only way we can get the zombies to obey our orders. Plus, it appears to suppress their need to eat flesh.”

  “You monster! How could you do that to your own wife?” He watched as Kathy reached her arms out toward her husband. “She’s aware of who you are!”

  “Of course she knows who I am. Listen, Carlton, you can call me a monster all you want. Just remember it was she who developed the serum, not me.”

  “We should put her out of her misery.”

  “And General Poe was worried about what I would do. I’m afraid I can’t let you harm her in any way. She’s the first of her kind.”

  “What are you talking about? We can’t let her suffer like this. She knows who she is.”

  Professor Hollman reached into his lab coat pocket and brought a gun into view. “I’m only going to give you one chance. You’re either with me or against me. Think about it carefully, Carlton. If you really care about her, I will give you the chance to protect her, to make sure nothing happens to her.”

  Carlton looked over at her and watched as she slowly walked over to the front of the cage. She looked at him as if she were still a human inside her zombie shell.