DEAD FACTIONS - the Zombie War Narratives - a Novella

by Michael Carr

  Patrick looks over at Richards and says, “Hey Doc! How’s your genius look now?”

  Patrick directs his attention to Corey, “What’s the plan?”

  Corey, with his head on the wheel, “We stay here until the firing stops. There aren’t many zombies left…and then we walk.”

  The sun begins to set and an hour has passed since the last gunfire. Andrew sees the four returning to camp on foot; Tonya appears injured. Running to meet them, he calls out, “Hey! Is she ok? She’s not bitten is she?”

  Corey carrying a closed-eyed Tonya, “No, just banged up a bit. Can we borrow a tent or something? She needs to rest.”

  Andrew points in an area behind the weapons where a small group of tents is setup. Corey walks looking for an unoccupied tent.

  Andrew says, “I guess I owe you a thank you. Whatever you guys did behind the zombies definitely spooked them. They came out of their positions and we took them out one by one. Pop-Pop-Pop! It was beautiful!

  Corey continues towards the tents. Andrew tries to catch him, “Hey, we need to talk about these weapons man.”

  Corey with Tonya still in his arms, just does not care, “They are yours. They are more trouble than they are worth. Trust me!” Patrick nods in agreement as he shoves the Doctor to follow Corey.

  Corey lays Tonya down on a cot. He sits and takes in a moment to do absolutely nothing. It was nice to have a moment of silence, a moment of not having to make an instant decision. He feels his body give into the ache. The soreness of several hard days is now making its presence known. He removes his weapon bag so that he can lay back and rest. The weight of the drill reminds him that it is out of power. He rummages around in the bag to find more batteries. He slowly switches the batteries out and wonders how much juice is left in these spares.

  “Corey?” Tonya asks in a raspy voice.

  “Yeah?” Corey expects more nonsense.

  “Who's Tara?”

  Corey becomes aggravated…Tonya has invaded his privacy. His resentment is numbed. He thinks back and begins to relive the moment, the moment he found her lying in the bed. It was just before the infection was detected...about a year ago. He came home from school and walked into her room.

  “She was my mother.”

  Tonya sits up with her hand over her heart, “Corey, I'm so sorry. I should have never...”

  He interrupts her, “It's OK. Let's just forget about it. There is enough in this overturned world to keep my mind off it. But I have to admit, some days I wake up wondering if she was right. Maybe that is the only way out. That is why I hold on to the letter.”

  Tonya shakes her head, concerned, “No, no, no...Come here, trust me it is not.”

  Corey turns and embraces Tonya but he is unable to cry. They then look at each other, for her it was a moment of feeling something new...feeling close. She senses something new in him, his closeness to his mother, hanging on to his mother’s last words. This endeared him to her even more. For Corey, he wanted to care more, but was unable to at this moment. His head was still a complex place.

  Still holding each other, they find themselves coming close, Tonya’s eyes close. A loud commotion is heard outside. Corey gets up reluctantly, thinking it is probably Patrick and the Doctor having another disagreement. Tonya sits up, eyes blinking in disbelief, “We almost had a moment, why does he feel compelled to get involved in everything?”

  “Where are you, you breather?!?” is heard from outside.

  A Zly rummages through idle stacks of gathered supplies. Corey stands to hear more. “Show yourself! I know you are here.” Others come out to see what is going on.

  “What do you want FREAK?!” Corey says with annoyance.

  The Zly turns towards Corey. “You!” Corey again sees the insignia; the Zly is etched with the Amity tattoo.

  “Shit Thomas!” Corey twists his head from side to side incredulous at the realization. It was Thomas they watched attack the government troops and it was Thomas the Zlys called out to as “Master”.

  Since their last meeting, there had been incidents that echoed “Thomas!” in Corey’s head. He fought the thought and hoped that something along the way had finally stopped Thomas. Corey should have listened…it was only natural for Thomas to become so evil…after all he had finally become the supreme warrior that he admired. Corey’s two failures at killing Thomas would make the feat harder than ever. He would need all the strength he had been gaining…their next clash might be epic.

  Thomas leaps and lands shoving Corey backwards. The two slide against the loose rubble for several yards. Thomas quickly jumps up lifting an unarmed Corey, smacking him across the face with his large claw. He then jumps and completes a roundhouse kick to Corey's chest knocking him down a hill. Thomas moves to the edge to watch Corey tumble down until he stops...then looks further and takes a step back. Corey on his knees looks at his armband, asking himself is this the time? He then looks up to Thomas standing at the top of the hill. However, Thomas is focused on what is just beyond Corey and retreats.

  Corey is pissed, “Come back Thomas! When did you ever retreat before? You've turned into an infected pussy! Get back here, damn it!”

  Corey stands and thinks to himself, “When will it ever end?” Then he senses it...he does not want to turn around. He just does not want to know, but he has few options. He cannot scale the hill; the ground is too loose. He looks over his shoulder and sees a spaceship fighter with three Swarm warriors standing in front of it, waiting for Corey to acknowledge them.

  “I'm guessing you guys probably don't speak English? Heh?! Comprende? No?” Corey frowns, mockingly. As the Swarm spreads and begins to encircle him, Corey remembers he has a pocketknife. He pulls it out, flips it open and breaks the vial. Corey looks down to feel the sizzle in his veins and drops the knife. The Swarm has him surrounded and connects their staffs with the electric charge as seen before. Corey looks up and his eyes are fully dilated...dark as night. He immediately attacks the Swarm warrior in front of him. Grabbing the staff with one hand and snapping its neck with his other hand. He turns suddenly with the dead Swarm hand still on the trigger. He squeezes its hand to fire the staff at the other two aliens before they can react. He shatters their bio-organic armor with multiple detonations from the foreign weapon. All three aliens lie dead.

  Corey drops to his knees and with his hands in front, palms up. His first experience under the evolving chemical experiment going on inside him is draining. Dr. Richards slides down the hill making his way to Corey with a syringe in one had and a small case in the other. Tonya and Patrick quickly follow. “It’s normal for you to feel exhaustion the first several times when you are exposed to the transformed infection.” The Doctor holds up the shot flicking it.

  “What do you mean transformed?” Corey's speech is a bit slurred.

  “I have exposed you to a drug that works with the infection to aid in heightened strength, instinct and response time…some of which you have experienced anyway without being under complete exposure to the mutation.” Richards attaches replacement vials on Corey’s armband as he continues to explain, “This drug also helps to minimize the negative effects of the bite…well, not completely, but it does slow them down.”

  Corey tries to wrap his head around what he has just been told. “In English?”

  The Doctor smiles as he injects Corey with about half of the drug in the syringe. “OK, well, think of it as the administration of insulin to a diabetic. What I am giving you now is just a booster. The longer you go without the vial...the closer you are to transforming mentally and physically into what you now know as Thomas, but you will be indestructible my good man.” Corey does not like what he hears. He pushes the Doctor away and walks past him.

  Corey still staggering a bit, goes over to one of the dead Swarm warriors. He picks up the staff and begins to cut its hand off at mid arm. Once done he grabs it and makes his way to the ship carrying the hand and the battle staff. He does not even try to turn around...simply asks
as he briskly walks away, “Are you guys coming?” The three grab their belongings and hurry to the ship. The Doctor makes use of the left over drug. He quickly thumps his own vein and injects himself. Patrick and Tonya observe the injection with dissatisfaction.

  Once at the ship Corey looks it over to find an entrance. This ship is different from the one they saw earlier. This one looks to be in a fighter class resembling a U.S. stealth fighter. It possesses the same chameleon defense system that the Swarm uses for their buildings on Kleet. Based on his knowledge of how their weapons work, Corey felt there should be a reader on the outside of the craft near where he was standing. He places the amputated hand on the skin of the craft and runs it back and forth until he locates a reader. The scanner detects the Swarm’s genetic code and activates the ship’s door to slide open.

  “Fascinating!” the Doctor finds gratification in every new ability Corey displays. He finds merit that his drug is near perfection. His only regret is former medical associates are not there to witness it.

  Corey looks at Tonya and Patrick and smiles. Tonya holding her injured arm says, “That was really disgusting, but cool! It is leaking everywhere. You’re making mess, Corey!”

  Patrick is truly puzzled, “How did you know to do that?”

  Dr. Richards feels inclined to answer. “A portion of the injections were Swarm genetic code that was forced to his temporal lobe. He learns quickly and some of the new abilities come to him because they are now innate. This is normally a long process, but he understands quickly.”

  Tonya looks at the Doctor in disgust, “You are sick! Why would you do that to someone?”

  Richards stays calm and poised, “It's how we learn...you certainly wouldn't want to know the things done to bring you modern day medicine. People forget that this is a science, ever evolving to cure diseases that are forever changing.”

  Tonya's sarcasm has blossomed, “Impressive...can I get your card?”

  Corey ignores the banter, finds the pilot seat and looks again for a sensory reader. The control deck in front of him is plain, nothing to see, just a tinted glass-like area. He takes the Swarm hand and begins running it over the table hoping to activate something. As he slowly brings the hand in front of him, a diamond shaped floating hologram appears. He looks back at Tonya and grins with amazement, “This is so cool!” Corey leaves the hand in the hologram and moves it slightly to the left…the ship responds by dragging to the left, across the surface.

  “Maybe you should lift us up off the ground first!” Tonya laughs...the experience is a joyful difference for them. It is like being at a theme park for the first time. Patrick, laughing...slowly stops as he looks over at Dr. Richards who is smirking yet again. He is impressed with Corey's ability to learn how to maneuver the ship. A few moments later, they are up and off.

  “Where are we going? Florida maybe, I hear it’s nice this time of year.” Tonya seems to be enjoying the flight. In the back of her mind, she hopes it is possible they can fly away to an area not affected by the virus.

  “I'm looking for Thomas, he couldn't have gone far. This looks like an infrared scanner. It should show anything giving off body heat.”

  Richards corrects Corey, “Strange… Arachnians are from an insect origin and don't create a lot of body heat, it usually dispenses quickly. But that is based on the size of the insects found here on Earth.” Corey looks at the scanner again. It shows a moving object giving off some sort of energy. Corey motions to the scanner “See! Explain this, Doctor!”

  The Doctor sits back, “I'm guessing their size allows them to radiate heat like us or the scanner is set to measure the amount of heat retained in the thorax. But you have to remember, this is Swarm technology”

  Tonya turns towards Richards, “You are just impressed with yourself, aren't you?”

  Richards continues to watch Corey, “Yeah, I guess I am.”

  The ship starts to descend. Tonya is certain they have gone far enough, “What are we doing?” Corey looks over the controls to bring the ship to a solid landing. “Thomas is fleeing, I am ending it now.” Corey takes the Swarm hand, his bag and battle staff and runs out of the ship not too far behind a running Thomas. Corey stops, aims and holds the hand over the area of the staff that triggers the electrical discharge. The bolt of energy reaches Thomas. He freezes and then drops once the energy is no longer dispensed at him. Once Corey reaches Thomas, he grabs him by the horn. With his head turned awkwardly back, he looks at Corey through his large eyes. Nothing about him physically is human anymore. Nevertheless, even in his mutated state he divulges all he knows, “Corey, I will tell you what this is all about. First, you must know we aren't that dissimilar. Brothers, remember? We are connected, just different sides of the same coin.

  Like me, you are a pawn being used by the Doctor to tweak his own personal scheme. Richards and his family could not deny the power and knowledge they had uncovered. Once I was fully developed to their specifications, I would finalize the plan created along time ago. I was created to build an army to over throw the Swarm and then the government with the abilities they provided me. First, I had to go rogue...look as if I had deserted the army so Richards could stay to continue his research. However, once I saw you were making numerous journeys in and out of the protected city successfully...I knew you had a plan. What, I wasn't certain. To eliminate the possibility of you hampering my mission somehow, I chose to recruit you. Your uninfected brain would provide me what I had explained before. Therefore, I could only have you serve me by being a part of me. Then you ruined that. Now...now you are the chosen one, to defeat me. See, Richards no longer needs me and has developed you to defeat me. It's true, he created chaos to position the world the way he wanted it. Easy to control...now he is having his pawns take each other out. Watch, he will be confronting you soon...to take charge of what he believes is his. You were a test subject like me, used to perfect the drugs for his use.”

  Corey looks away and asks again, “Did you ever know anything about my family?”

  Thomas realizes the anguish he caused his friend. Some human emotion still exists inside him…enough for him to respond, “No.”

  Corey unfortunately figures most of what Thomas has said is probably true, but it does not change his feelings, “Are you done?”

  Thomas nods as much as possible with his horn being held.

  “Good, me too.” Corey pulls the modified drill out of his bag. It has settled long enough to find some charge. He looks at it as he pulls the trigger, respecting the violent potential of the spinning bit. He looks down at Thomas…who at first had accepted his fate at his old friend’s hands, now struggles…yet Thomas is no match for the enormous strength Corey has developed. He quickly forces the spinning drill into the monster’s forehead. Corey's frenzy causes his face to become freckled by Thomas' blood. The Zombie Killer looks up and yells in retribution...releasing the rage built from environmental stress and the testing to which he had been subjected.

  The drill stops. Corey pulls it out and squeezes the trigger…the batteries are toast. He figures with all that had happened, he was lucky to still have the drill at this point. He realizes that the drill had served its purpose and tosses it to the side. He lets Thomas' head go, takes one last look at what was once his friend, picks up the staff and hand, and returns to the ship.

  Corey walks up the angled hatch entrance still hyped up from the killing of Thomas. “I guess it’s over. You should sit down now, Corey.” Tonya grabs Corey's arm leading him to a seat, unaware of the information Thomas just gave him. It is almost too much to process. Corey sits and tries not to stare at the Doctor as he puts it all together. So many suffered and died so a few can have the power they craved. Corey wonders how one can be so incredibly greedy…but history has shown this is not the first time. Man will always seek to conquer man and now alien.

  Filled with frustration and anger, Corey stands and grabs Richards by the neck and drags him out of the ship. Tonya confused, runs out to follow.


  Corey extends his arms holding the Doctor firmly around the neck. “I don't know what Thomas told you…but I am your only way to survive. I am the only one that understands your medical condition and I have the means to treat you.”

  Corey grips tighter around the Doctor's neck, “Until you have no reason for me to exist. I am aware of what you are doing, perfecting the drugs for your own use. You ultimately aim to control all at our expense. It is the way our country has run for decades; but we have finally reached a sickening end. I will make sure that you will not have a chance to do anything further, I'm willing to take my chances, you bastard.”

  Tonya is oblivious to what is going on. Becoming frantic, she reluctantly points a gun at Corey, “Hey, you’re making a mistake Corey. I know you're in a dark place right now. But the Doctor is able to help you.”

  Richards is relieved to hear Tonya try to reason with Corey, “You should listen to her, you are very upset right now. Let’s go back in the ship and I can give you something to settle you.”

  Tonya tears up...she was not ready for it to play out this way. “See he wants to help you. Please, let him go and let’s go back to the ship.”

  “Tonya, he is lying...I pulled most of the truth out of Thomas. Trust me, I know now.” Corey sees the Doctor reaching to his back but his lab coat is in the way. Corey quickly reaches in and finds what Richards was looking for and presses it against the Doctor's gut, “A .45 huh?! What were you planning on doing with that?”

  It is no surprise that the Doctor senses now is the time to offer some truth, “Corey, let’s face it. You’re special, you have been able to endure what others could not. You have been given abilities that are incredibly powerful and destructive…talents that together we will use to recreate humanity. Mold it into what benefits you and me. Over the last eighteen hours or so, since we left the military compound you have recognized your advanced gifts. Without me providing these, you and your friends would be dead now. Think about it. I guess you could say you owe me. You owe me the chance to continue making things better. I can make everything the way we want it, you and I will posses all of the control. You must ask yourself, do you want an opportunity at a normal existence or continue as you are now. At this moment you have no guarantees in this world...you have no idea what is next. I am sure that you are without a plan. Let me go and I can give you and your friends back the happiness that is only a memory to you now.”