Steele took care of the last zombie that stood in front of him. He looked over and saw the older man as he tried to free the nail-studded baseball bat out of a zombie’s skull.
“The only drawback of using Stevie,” the older man said.
“Who the hell’s ‘Stevie?’” Steele asked.
“My bat,” said the man as he pulled it free. “It’s a long story, and I’d love to share it with you, but right now we need to get inside this building.”
“Did you find a way in?” Wilder asked the man with the bloodied baseball bat.
“We found an entrance, but we can’t open it,” said the older man.
Butsko and Wilder looked at each other.
“Show me where this entrance is,” Butsko said.
“This way,” said the older man as he, the woman, and the taller man ran off.
Chapter Eight
1
Schoepke Springs
Spicewood, Texas
“That’s quite a security system for some swimming holes and camping grounds,” the older man said to Butsko. “Where the hell does this door lead anyway? The main house is way over there.”
Butsko and Wilder looked at each other and each shrugged their shoulders. There was really no need for secrecy. The idea of ‘top secret clearance’ vanished the second the nanites escaped from the Hudson Research Labs two years ago.
“Schoepke Springs is just your average, every day camping ground, natural spring swimming hole, and above top secret cutting-edge research facility,” Butsko said. “I’ll tell you all about it when we’re safely inside. The truck wedged in the gate won’t hold those bastards back for long.”
The older man looked at Butsko as though he had a nose growing off his forehead.
“How the hell are we going to get in there?” asked the tall man.
The group was looking at a key pad, a retinal scanner, and a steel door that was at least a foot thick.
“We aren’t,” answered Butsko.
“What’s that now?” Wilder asked.
Butsko turned and walked alongside the building. Shrubs and smaller trees lined the outside of the facility and hid it from the general view.
Everyone followed Butsko as they scanned the area for any of the yellow-eyed creatures. Steele and Wilder were the only ones who had any ammo left in their carbines. Together they had about a hundred rounds left. Steele, who preferred his sledgehammer, had given Wilder the rest of his carbine rounds. Megan, Fisher, and Butsko each had one full magazine left in their Berettas. Mears was completely out.
Butsko walked past the building and down some concrete steps toward what looked like a private natural spring. Wilder figured this spring was reserved exclusively for Schoepke family members. He swung around to make sure nothing was following them and estimated they were a good fifty to sixty feet away from the entrance to the facility.
“Uh, where are we going, Sir?” Mears asked.
“It’s right over here,” Butsko answered.
Right next to the natural spring was a circular indentation covered by the grass. Butsko cleared away the debris, unscrewed the iron cap, and revealed a lever. Using both hands, Butsko pulled the lever up, and ten feet away, a manhole cover popped up out of the grass.
“This is how we get in,” Butsko said.
Wilder stared at Butsko.
“What can I say?” Butsko said as he shrugged. “The government didn’t trust the Schoepke family any more than the Schoepke family trusted the government. They built this entrance just in case the Schoepke’s ever went rogue and had to be dealt with.”
“I’m confused,” said the older man. “I thought this was just camping grounds with a few swimming holes.”
“It is,” Wilder said, “but it’s also a research facility that’s been conducting cutting-edge scientific research since the mid-1940s.”
The noises coming from the yellow-eyed creatures were getting louder.
“Let’s get inside, then we can have some formal introductions and tell each other what the hell we’re all doing here,” Butsko said.
One by one, everyone climbed down the shaft into a room about the size of an apartment’s kitchen.
“Sir,” Mears said as he looked around the room. “I’m not seeing another door.”
“That’s because there isn’t one,” Butsko said with a smirk on his face. Butsko was always the man who knew the secrets, and there was always that side of him that enjoyed having the upper hand over others.
Butsko found a panel on the wall and pressed the only button. The entire room shook as it was jarred awake and began to descend.
“Aahhh,” said Mears. “It’s an elevator. Gotcha.”
2
Underneath Schoepke Springs
Spicewood, Texas
After everyone introduced themselves, Walt explained to Butsko’s group what had brought him, Cheryl, and David to the springs.
“That was a pretty good idea, coming here in search of a steady supply of fresh water,” Butsko said.
“We stayed at the Center as long as we could,” Walt said as he finished his story. “We started off with a much bigger group, but ran into a lot of trouble along the way.” Walt’s heart grew heavy as he thought about all the friends he’d lost.
“Tell them what you figured out about the infected,” Cheryl blurted out.
“What did you find out?” Butsko asked.
Walt gave Butsko the shortened version of how he’d realized antipsychotic drugs might render the infected useless. Butsko listened intently and shook his head as Walt went into the science behind his findings.
“That makes total sense,” Butsko said. “Nice work, Walt.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be too quick to congratulate me,” Walt said. He told them about the empty syringes he’d found in Darren’s hands and how he didn’t think the antipsychotics worked on these new yellow-eyed creatures.
“Very interesting,” Butsko said. “We’ve been wondering about the seemingly sudden appearance of these yellow-eyed bastards, and the only thing we could come up with is that they mutated from the infected we’ve been fighting for the last two years.”
“That kinda makes sense,” Cheryl said. “We’ve all seen those things get smarter and faster. Maybe those nanites inside them recognized their weakness to the antipsychotic drugs and mutated to eliminate that Achilles heel.”
“You and Melvin would’ve gotten along great,” Wilder said as he hung his head in reverence for his fallen friend.
“What about ya’ll?” David asked as he nodded to Butsko’s group. “Why are you here?”
“We’re here,” Butsko said as the elevator shook once it hit the bottom floor, “because inside this facility might be the way to stop these bastards.”
The side of the elevator-room they were in opened, and the group found themselves standing at the end of a long corridor.
“The government officially decommissioned this facility in 1990,” Butsko explained, “but Uncle Sam knew Heinrich Schoepke wouldn’t just close up shop. Hell, Uncle Sam was counting on him doing just the opposite.”
They all followed Butsko through the dimly lit corridor as they passed by many doors. They could see Butsko was counting the doors they passed, and Walt hoped he had at least a vague idea about where he was going.
Up ahead, the corridor came to a “T,” and Butsko looked confused.
“You okay, Sir?” Wilder asked.
“Um, this wasn’t on the map I had,” Butsko said. “In the original plans, this corridor goes to the left. The Schoepke family must have built upon the original without the government knowing about it.”
“Should we split up?” Wilder asked.
“No,” Butsko answered. “We’ll stick with the original blueprints and head to the left. That’s where they should be.”
“Where what should be?” asked Walt.
Walt’s question went unanswered as they group made their way down the corridor. After they passed another
four doors, Butsko came to a halt.
“If that info was correct,” Butsko said, “they should be in here.”
“Do you have the code, Sir?” Mears asked, looking toward the keypad before them.
“Unfortunately, my info wasn’t that good,” Butsko answered as he moved aside.
Mears smashed the keypad with the butt of his carbine and then kicked the door in.
As they entered the room, the lights flickered on, and they saw that it was a storage room. There were rows upon rows of shelves housing all kinds of equipment. Some of the items looked completed, while others looked like they were works in progress.
“What are we looking for?” Cheryl asked.
Butsko walked over and began reading the numbers on the rows of shelves. He walked past three aisles and stopped at the fourth. He walked between the third and fourth rows until he was halfway down the aisle.
“I found them!” Butsko yelled.
“What,” Walt asked, frustrated, “what did he find?”
“EMP bombs,” Wilder said. “We’re gonna fry those bastards from the inside out.”
3
Underneath Schoepke Springs
Spicewood, Texas
Butsko and Wilder detailed their plan to Walt, Cheryl, and David. They explained what happened to electronic devices after an EMP blast and why they thought this would work with the infected.
“But won’t this ruin communications with other humans?” David asked.
“Hate to tell you this, David,” Butsko said, “but there’s not a helluva lot of radio chatter these days.”
“What about the vehicles you brought with you?” asked Walt. “Won’t those be destroyed as well?”
“There’s a chance they won’t get fried as long as the vehicles are off when the bomb detonates.” Wilder explained. “In traditional EMP blasts, electronic devices that were turned off weren’t affected. We are entering into unknown territory here, though,” Wilder said as he placed his hand on top of the EMP bomb.
The bomb had an ordinary, run-of-the-mill design. There was nothing high-tech about the way it looked. The EMP bomb was a four-and-a-half-foot long, cylindrical object that came to a rounded point at the end. On the other end was a panel door and grooves in the side of the weapon. It looked like the bomb was made to securely fit into some kind of holding device.
“What do you mean?” Walt asked.
“This beauty here has never been tested,” said Butsko bluntly. “We really don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Or if it’ll even work,” added Wilder.
“How are we going to set it off?” David asked. “Don’t we need to drop it from a plane or something?”
“Ideally,” Butsko explained, “dropping it from a plane would give us the best effect. The higher up in the atmosphere the EMP detonates, the wider the area that would be affected. Unfortunately, we don’t have a plane, or anyone who could fly it.”
“What about us?” Cheryl asked. “If we detonate this thing at ground level, won’t we all be killed?”
“No,” answered Butsko. “That’s why we traveled to Schoepke Springs. The EMP research that was being done here was far more advanced than any other facility around the world.”
Butsko walked over to the bomb and ran his hand along the side of the weapon.
“This weapon was designed to cause no collateral damage,” Butsko continued. “The only thing remotely close to an explosion is a tiny charge that expels the outer shell of the weapon right before detonation. That explosion is about as dangerous as an M-60 firecracker.”
“In a perfect world,” Wilder explained, “we’d detonate this in the upper atmosphere. Research has shown that detonation at three-hundred miles up would affect all of the continental U.S., Mexico, and Canada.”
“Hell,” Butsko added. “Even at thirty miles up the range would be around three-hundred-and-fifty-thousand square miles. The bottom line is that we don’t know for certain what the effects will be, but all the information I was able to hack points to a safe detonation that won’t affect us or cause any collateral damage.”
“But it will take out those creatures by frying the nanites in them, right?” Cheryl asked.
“That’s what we’re hoping,” Wilder said.
“Let’s get to it,” Walt said. “How can we help?”
4
Underneath Schoepke Springs
Spicewood, Texas
Butsko was happy to discover that the facility had a state of the art back up generator that immediately came to life when they all entered the facility. As the others loaded the EMP device onto a dolly, Butsko hacked his way into the facility’s computer system to try and find more research on the bomb. He found the trigger sequence and was confident he could safely detonate this weapon and use it to the best of its capabilities.
“How’s it going over there?” Mears asked Butsko as he walked over to the computers.
“Couldn’t be better,” Butsko said. “The firing sequence isn’t complicated at all. There are no safety switches or even a code on the firing mechanism. The scientists here obviously never got to test this baby before the shit hit the fan.”
“That’s good to hear,” Mears said.
From the moment he’d first met Butsko, Mears had been impressed with the man. No matter what the situation, Butsko never panicked, and he never lost his cool. Mears remembered that Butsko had once told him that there’s never a situation you couldn’t think your way out of. With enough time and brainpower, any situation could be figured out.
Mears had met a lot of military brass and higher-ups in his military career, but Butsko was unique. Butsko could think for himself and didn’t just go by the “company line.” Mears remembered that Wilder once told him that, in a battle, there’s no one you would want on your side more than Butsko. Now, in a secret underground research facility—where they were surrounded by zombies and about to set off an experimental EMP bomb—Mears couldn’t agree more.
After the bomb was secured on the dolly, the others circled around Butsko.
“This is odd,” Butsko said to no one in particular. He turned to see the others around him. “Remember the end of that hallway that broke off to the right and left? I was correct. That’s a new section the Schoepke family built onto the original facility sometime in the mid-1980s.”
“What’s down there?” Megan asked.
“I don’t know,” Butsko answered as he turned back to the computer screen. “The computer files are organized according to the sections of the facility. We’re currently in section B, which was part of the original building.” Butsko pointed to the computer screen to show them the various files in the “Section B” computer folder.
“Then there’s Section A,” Butsko said as he pointed to a new folder on the computer. “That’s the section where Heinrich continued his nuclear weapon research back in the late 1940s.”
“There’s no nukes or nuclear material down here, is there?” Wilder asked.
“As far as I can tell, the Schoepke family abandoned that research decades ago in favor of the EMP research. Heinrich wanted to be the leader of new research, not a follower. He blazed the trail in non-nuclear EMP research.”
“What’s in those files?” Fisher asked as she pointed to the folder labeled “Section C.”
“I don’t know,” Butsko said. “Those are protected with an even greater level of security. The only thing I know is that Section C is down the right side at that corner, and whatever was being done there was so secretive that Heinrich and his grandson Josef didn’t want anyone to know about it.”
“You don’t think they were experimenting with the bio-nanotechnology that fucked up the world, do you?” Mears asked.
“No,” Butsko said. “That technology unfortunately came from good old Uncle Sam himself.”
“I know you hate secrets being kept from you,” Wilder said, “but we really need to focus on the mission at hand.”
“Way ahead of y
a,” Butsko said as he looked at Wilder. “I already have an algorithm running on the computer to try and break through the security on the Section C folders.”
“I’m really glad you’re on our side,” Wilder said as he squeezed Butsko’s shoulders.
“But won’t the EMP blast fry these computers?” asked Megan.
“It is possible,” Butsko said, “but if I know the Schoepke’s, they would’ve taken measures to ensure they were the last people on earth with electricity and power. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that they protected themselves from the very weapons they developed.”
Butsko turned in the office chair and stood.
“Excellent,” Butsko said as he looked at the EMP bomb. “You have it secured. We need to see if there’s any way we can get this thing to the roof of the house. The more we can get this thing off the ground, the larger an area the blast will have.”
“I think I found something,” came a voice from the storage rack where the bomb had been found. Steele walked from the rack and dragged some kind of large device behind him on a different dolly. “I noticed this thing had the same number on it as the EMP bomb, but with an ‘A’ after the number. I figured these two things went together, and we might need it to detonate the bomb.”
Butsko ran over to the computer and opened the Section B folder. He found the number Steele had just mentioned and excitedly smacked the tabletop.
“Excellent work, Steele,” Butsko said as he ran over to the man. “You just found the thing that’s gonna give us some height.”
The others gathered around the new device.
“What the hell is that thing?” David asked.
“See the grooves on the bomb?” asked Butsko. “Now look at the inner ring of Steele’s device.”
The device Steele had wheeled out had an eight foot radius at the base and was circular. In the inner ring were metal bars that looked to stabilize the bomb. There was also a control panel arranged on the base that had a clock on it.
Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation Page 26
