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

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  “Guys, they’re talking about the zombie park on the news.”

  Gus and Marie came into the living room and sat on the couch as the reporter spoke.

  “General Poe promises the park will employ at least four hundred people when it first opens and will add another hundred or so after the first two weeks once they see how many total employees it will take to operate the park. Applications will soon be online. Once the official website is finished, information on how to fill out an application will be announced. There will be a fine dining restaurant at the park where experienced chefs will be needed, a gourmet pizza place selling their signature pizzas and a theme park with rollercoasters and an old fashioned horror house. There will be an interview with General Poe on tonight’s local news, and he will explain the employment opportunities and everything the park will offer to the public.”

  Jake turned down the sound and looked at Gus. “I’m sure they will have a burger booth at the park. You’ll probably get paid more to flip burgers there. That is if they like burnt burgers.”

  “Enough talk about the burnt burgers already. I don’t always burn them. I wouldn’t mind working at the park. It would be a change of scenery.”

  “Wouldn’t it make you nervous to work at a place like that? I mean you could be working at ground zero if anything was to happen there.”

  “Nothing is going to happen. Besides, it would be an excellent place to pick up chicks.”

  Marie laughed. “Yeah, if any of them are desperate enough to date you.”

  “Keep it up, Marie,” said Gus. “Remember who brings home the food.”

  Marie began playing her video game once again. “Remember who has to eat it.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Professor Hollman stared at the chimpanzee eating a banana in a cage. He needed to do an experiment on an animal he knew was intelligent. It was the only way he knew if the serum really worked. He produced a syringe filled with the serum from his lab coat and injected it into the chimp’s arm. It whimpered and dropped the banana it was eating and moved away from the professor and rubbed the area where the serum was injected. The professor placed the empty syringe on a metal table and looked at the clock on the wall. Nothing happened. He then realized the mistake he had made. The chimp was still alive when he injected the serum. He felt foolish and moved away from the cage, but he was grabbed by the arm. He was pulled closer to the cage. He pulled his arm away and peered into the cage. The chimp fell over and lay motionless.

  The professor looked at the clock on the wall. He jotted something down on a piece of paper and peered inside the cage once again. He now knew the test subject didn’t need to be dead for the serum to work. It killed the host itself. He kept an eye on the chimp, waiting for something to happen. He watched the clock for another ten minutes before jotting down on the paper the test had failed. He had done something wrong.

  He moved away from the cage, but once again, he was grabbed. He pulled his arm away and looked at the chimp. It had a strange look on its face. It pointed to the pen and paper he was holding.

  He stared at the chimp surprisingly. “Do you want the pen and paper?”

  It shook its head as if it understood what the professor had asked. He handed the chimp the pen and paper and watched as the chimp wrote something down and handed the paper back to him. He held the paper in his hand and stared at the chimp. It had written the words ‘What are your orders?’

  He couldn’t believe what he was reading. He now knew for a fact the serum worked. He looked at the chimp. “Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I have another banana.” He handed the paper back to it.

  He watched as the chimp wrote something else on the paper. It handed it back to him. “Not a banana. I want fresh meat.”

  The professor was expecting the chimp to want to eat meat. It was now a living zombie. He called out to Carlton to bring the goat into the room.

  Carlton entered the room and saw the chimp inside the cage. He met eye to eye with it and knew what the professor had done.

  “Is this why you wanted me to bring you goat meat?”

  “It asked for it. It doesn’t want a banana. It wants fresh meat.”

  “Of course it wants fresh meat. You went and turned the chimp into a flesh eating zombie animal.”

  “At least we know for sure the serum works.”

  “We already knew it did!” screamed Carlton as he turned to walk out of the room. “We both knew the minute you turned your wife into one of those things.”

  “She was collateral damage.”

  “Collateral damage! She was your wife!”

  The professor smiled. “The key word is was my wife.”

  Carlton glared at him before finally leaving the room. He had heard enough from the professor. He reminded him of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Right now he was seeing the Mr. Hyde part. He went over to a table where he had sliced up a goat. He put on a pair of gloves and snatched a large chunk and took it back to the monkey. It snatched the meat from his hand and devoured it without chewing. Carlton shook his head and told the monkey he would have to wait if he wanted any more. He had the other zombies in the back area to feed. The feedings were a constant thing. They were always hungry for fresh meat. He had to requisition new goats every week to keep up with their feedings. He left the monkey and went back to the back area and stopped in front of Kathy’s cage. She looked at him with sad eyes.

  He took off his gloves and tossed them aside. He needed to take a break. He had a bottle of rum stashed in his desk. He went over to it and took the bottle of rum out of the drawer and poured him a glass and downed it. He sat down and poured himself another glass. As he downed the second glass, he heard the zombies banging on the sides of their cages and moaning. He didn’t look up. Instead, he decided to help himself to a third glass.

  Chapter Twenty

  Janice had the feeling she was being watched. Ever since she’d placed the phone call to the newspapers informing them of the information she had about the zombie park, she had this strange feeling. Her friend Jerry Lee was still missing. She knew something had happened to him, but she didn’t know where to begin to search for him. For all she knew, he could be buried in a field somewhere in Indiana.

  She was inside the grocery store purchasing cans of tuna before the store ran out. Meat prices had soared over the past few months due to the illness that was killing cows, pigs, and chickens. The only meat people could afford was canned tuna, and the demand for it was causing prices to spike. She placed ten cans in her cart and made her way to the pasta isle. As she left the aisle, she ran her cart into a tall, muscular man wearing a black, leather jacket. His hair was greasy and extended down his back. He smiled at her. She could see he was missing several of his teeth.

  She pushed past him, never saying a word. The sight of him sent chills up her spine. She peered over her shoulder and he was standing there staring at her. She didn’t know if he was checking her out, or if he was the reason she felt as though someone was watching her. In either case, she wanted to get her pasta and get the hell out of the store.

  She placed two boxes of macaroni in her cart and went straight for the checkout lines. She knew she needed a couple more items, but she needed to get back home and lock the doors behind her. She placed her items on the conveyor belt and saw the tall man get in the line behind her. He glared at her as he put three cases of beer next to her groceries. He stood there never taking his eyes off of her.

  “That will be eight dollars even,” said the clerk.

  Janice didn’t hear her and continued to stare at the man.

  “The lady is waiting for you to pay her,” he finally said.

  “What?” asked Janice, as if she were in a trance.

  “You owe her eight dollars,” he said in a deep voice. “Listen lady, I don’t have all day to wait on you. I have a party to get to.”

  Janice looked at the checkout clerk and handed her a ten-dollar bill. “Keep the change,” she said, grabbing
her two bags of groceries, nearly tripping over her cart as she left the line. She ran out of the store, constantly looking over her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if the man was going to follow her to her car. She felt relieved as she made it to her car, got inside, and locked the door. She watched as the man got into a black truck and left the parking lot.

  She breathed a sigh of relief and started her car. The explosion sent shrapnel throughout the parking lot, injuring several people. Several people ran out of the grocery store to see what had happened. Mixed in with them was Mr. Peaks, her boss. He smiled and left the store and walked to his car as if nothing had happened. Once inside his car, he placed a phone call. He waited until a voice answered.

  “It’s done.” He waited for a moment. “Yes, I’m sure she’s dead. Watch the evening news. I’m sure there will be something about it. Don’t worry Mayor Johnson, nobody we’ll ever know you paid me to kill her.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Robert Forenstein woke up early Monday morning after spending an exhausting weekend with his son. He went into the living room and turned on the morning news. General Poe was on the news at the construction site trying to talk over a noisy crowd in the background. He could see several signs being held up demanding the construction be stopped. His wife appeared behind him and glanced at the TV.

  “People these days protest over everything,” she said, leaving to go into the kitchen. “Should we have pancakes and sausage this morning?”

  “That sounds fine. The one thing people don’t realize is when they protest it often produces the opposite effect. This could backfire on them and make the park even more popular than we’re expecting. All this is free advertising for the park.”

  “I’m sure they don’t see it that way. They think they’re going to stop the construction of the park. Don’t underestimate them, Robert. They will see it through until the end.”

  “I’m counting on it. I hope news of the protest stretches across the country. I’m sure it will bring every horror fanatic to our city.” He watched as the reporter interviewed one of the men holding a protest sign.

  He announced he was Donnie Jorsen, the leader of a group called PETZ who were here to stop the construction of the park, and they were going to do it by any means necessary. He talked about the movie Jurassic Park and about a zombie apocalypse. It was what Robert was hoping to hear. With the talk about a zombie apocalypse, people would come from across the seas to see the creatures of the apocalypse. He kept listening to Donnie as he talked about how it would only take one mistake and somebody getting bitten and then…a zombie apocalypse.

  “What are you watching, Daddy?” asked Billy.

  Robert turned off the TV and looked at Billy. “It was the morning news. I was hoping to catch the weather report. Your mother is making us pancakes and sausage for breakfast.”

  “Yum! Pancakes and sausage are my favorites.”

  “I know, Billy,” said his mother. “I made them especially for you.” She looked at Robert. “What are your plans for today?”

  “I’m making a stop at the construction site. General Poe is expecting me to make an appearance.”

  “Be careful. Protestors can get out of hand sometimes.”

  He poured syrup on his pancakes. “Don’t worry. Every cop in the city will be in the area while the protesters are there.” He watched as his son jammed pancakes into his mouth. Watching him eat was always a sight to see. He looked at his watch and realized he was running behind schedule. He drank his coffee and looked at his wife. “I have to run.”

  She gave him a kiss and ushered him out the door. “Be careful out there.”

  He waved at her and got into his car. He knew what he would be facing once he got to the construction site. He was both excited and nervous about it. From what he had seen on TV, everything looked peaceful, but he knew things had a habit of changing in a hurry. It took him only twenty minutes to get to the site and already the crowd of protesters had doubled from what he had seen on TV. Several soldiers stood in front of them holding M16s. This wasn’t the scene he was expecting to see. As he drew nearer, he could hear the crowd gathered had gotten angry about their presence. He parked his car near several military jeeps and went over to General Poe who was busy with the captain in charge of the engineers. General Poe was whispering something in his ear.

  He heard sirens blaring behind him and several police officers were trying to forcibly move the protesters back with their cars. The scene was chaotic. Protesters were blocking all the areas leading onto the property of the future park.

  The protesters waved their signs back and forth and shouted derogatory remarks at the police. They tried to push the crowd back, but all of a sudden, they were pelted with rocks and glass bottles. A news crew was filming the reactions from the crowd, and a reporter was trying to give the details over the noise.

  It was what General Poe feared would happen. The crowd was getting in the way of their progress. It was time for the soldiers to show their force. He instructed them to make a wall and push the protesters back so the construction vehicles could get through. The soldiers did the best they could to comply, but they weren’t gaining any ground.

  The crowd was now getting even larger and General Poe knew he was going to lose his authority if he didn’t make a drastic move. He made a call to his friend who had the National Guard on standby. He notified him to bring the whole battalion and arrest everyone who was protesting.

  It took them twenty minutes to roll down the street. Three tanks led several military Humvees down the road toward the large crowd. The first tank fired a warning shot in the woods near the standoff. The protesters didn’t seem to care about the tanks and began attacking the police and soldiers. General Poe was shouting at his soldiers to stand their ground and begin arresting the protesters. They were quickly over powered until the Humvees stopped and a battalion of soldiers quickly regained control of the situation. Both sides had suffered injuries during the struggle. General Poe watched as the protesters were handcuffed and gathered next to one of the tanks until a paddy wagon showed up to take them away. Donnie struggled to get away from the soldier holding him back.

  “I guess this makes you feel like a big man now, General Poe. If you continue building the park, you will doom all of mankind. Is this what you want? Do you want us all to become flesh eating zombies?”

  General Poe approached him. “All I want to do is build a park the world can enjoy. There is no chance of any of the zombies escaping. There is nothing for you or your friends to worry about. Besides, all of you are the real threat to the world. We didn’t start any of the violence here. You all did that. This park is going to be built no matter what you try to do to stop it.”

  “We’ll see about it,” said Donnie, spitting toward him.

  General Poe stood his ground. He looked around at all the protesters and shook his head in disgust. “Take them all away. Every single one of them will be brought up on federal charges.” He looked at Donnie. “By the time you get released, the park will be open to the public.”

  “Mark my words, General Poe. Once I get out, I will be back to make sure you pay for this,” said Donnie angrily. “Don’t think for one moment you’ve seen the last of me or my people.”

  General Poe smiled as the protesters were being loaded into the wagon. He looked at the cameraman who had been filming the whole ordeal. “This is what happens when you protest against something you know nothing about. This park is going to be bigger than Disney World. It will be bigger than the Grand Canyon. Whenever a family decides to go on a family vacation, do you know where they’re going to go? They are going to come here. This park will have everything you and your family could ever imagine possible. Forget about the mouse, come see the zombies.”

  Ben Cutler sat in his truck taking it all in. He smiled, realizing his park was moving forward. Next year he was going to have a steady income running the park. He would have more money than he knew what to do with. He drove away to
get back to his vacation. He decided he was going to go to Florida and relax on the beach. First, he would call Mr. Forenstein to let him know of his intentions and find out when he was needed. If everything went according to plan, he would be back when the park opened. It would give him plenty of time to enjoy the good life. He was glad he had decided not to kill Donnie when he had the chance. He kept thinking about shooting him, but deep down he knew he wasn’t a killer. He spent a lot of time watching him, hoping one day he would come to his senses and quit trying to stop the park from being built. Now it was over. He wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore. He left and went home to pack. The next time he came back to Indiana, it would be time to go to work.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  General Poe and Mr. Forenstein were walking around the nearly completed park, trying to decide exactly where everything was going to be. The park was going to be divided into four sections: Zombie area, Dining area, Amusement Park area, and Shopping area. Each area was going to have special attractions. One of the things the general was looking forward to was the large theater with six IMAX screens. On opening day, the theater would show Night of the Living Dead on one of the screens and Dawn of the Dead on another.

  The theater was going to sell twenty different flavors of popcorn and thirty different flavors of ice cream. He also planned to have nachos and cheese, gourmet hot dogs, and a large assortment of different candies. It was one of the largest theaters being built in the state.

  Mr. Forenstein stopped and looked around. He was standing in front of the building where the development of more zombies would take place. Professor Hollman had perfected the serum his wife had developed. He was confident they would be able to produce the battalion of smart zombie soldiers the government was paying for. General Poe was encouraged by the results the professor had been making.