Project Zulu

by Waltz, Fred

  Jimmy interrupts. “Mike, what about the men deployed down the road, are we going to wait for them?”

  “We are moving out in two minutes.”

  “Mike…”

  “Damn it Jimmy, I do not want to do this with you again. Those men knew what they were getting into, and they are all aware of what the fall back contingency is. I will give the order to commence broadcasting the rendezvous code over all frequencies, with the zero time for evacuation. Anybody at the evacuation site will be airlifted out.”

  “I am sorry Mike. Do I have time to call the hospital and check on Julie before we move out?”

  “It won’t do any good Jimmy, part of the contingency plan I just recommended to the President involves a total communication blackout, to avoid panic and widespread pandemonium. The government has just started jamming all communication and broadcast channels. Within a few minutes a UH-60M Blackhawk, equipped with Eagle-eye satellite will be giving the president a real time view of what is going on. He will then decide what the next course of action will be.”

  OhAy begins to speak. “General, this is exactly what I told you would happen during my initial briefing. You should call your President back right now, and tell him to wipe this whole area off the map right now, not in a couple of hours, before it is too late. If what I suspect is true, and Azaka is back, then there is no salvaging this situation. I can only imagine why he chose to stay on this plane of existence; he wants to punish who he feels responsible for keeping him imprisoned. He wants to kill as many humans as possible.”

  “Doctor I respect your opinion, but I have my orders. Please get ready to move out. I would like to be at Syscorp in less than twenty minutes.”

  OhAy rolls her eyes and exhales deeply. “General, I would like that weapon now.

  Chapter 30

  Azaka is very happy with the way events are unfolding. Utilizing his new found warfare knowledge he has led his zombie warriors to victory over the human soldiers. He approaches a tightly grouped circle of his zombie warriors, and they part for him. Inside the circle is a live human soldier.

  He places his hands on the soldier’s head and concentrates. Everything the soldier is thinking is being transferred to Azaka, everything. Once he is satisfied that there is nothing more to learn, he twists and jerks his arms violently, tearing off the soldier’s head. The soldier’s body slumps down to the ground and Azaka steps back to allow his warriors to feast. He cracks the decapitated head like a coconut, pulls out the brain and takes a huge slimy bite. He scarfs down the entire organ, licking the gooey sticky blood from his fingers one by one.

  He concentrates on the hoard, sharing with them what he now knows. He communicates that they are going to be moving forward, down the road, toward the Syscorp building. He tells them that there will be more of their kind at the building, and that it is important to attack and infect them as well as all humans they come into contact with. He reaches his thought out to the newest members, the zombie soldiers. He tells them to move ahead of the rest of the group, and to walk backwards, imitating a retreat formation, firing the weapons they hold over the zombie group. His mind is pulled away by the sound of helicopter rotors; he gazes up at the super Blackhawk, and then returns his mind to his warriors.

  Chapter 31

  All members of the White House senior staff, cabinet members and appropriate members of congress have watched the project briefing tape, and have been brought up to speed. The initial shock is gone and they are now all aware, although still somewhat skeptical, that zombies do indeed exist; and are currently rampaging across a small town outside of Pittsburgh. The President and his advisors are watching the images, arriving on the monitors, from the helicopter. The helicopter continues on its path, and the video images continue to fill the monitor screens.

  As the sun begins to rise across the horizon, the devastation is indescribable. Shuffling, meandering groups of the zombies are still ravishing small bands of human survivors. The zombies relentlessly pursue the humans, like wild animals. Flesh and muscle is being torn off the bone by gnashing teeth. Ribbons of ligament and cartilage pulled, like taffy, by crimson stained fingers.

  There are thousands of the shuffling creatures, all moving in the same direction. The helicopter continues along, as similar scenes of carnage flood the monitors. One of the advisors interrupts the macabre images with a question.

  “Mr. President, what are the plans for containment? Will you be asking the Governor to mobilize and send in the National Guard?”

  The President replies, not taking his eyes from the carnage. “No guard inside the perimeter, too much of a chance the Governor will try to impose her influence. The guard can stay right where they are and work an outside containment keep civilians out and babysit the media. I don’t want them getting in the way. We will use Army Rangers, Expeditionary Marines and Navy Seals to jointly set up a containment perimeter; I only want operators with a secret or higher clearance inside the perimeter. 160th Airborne, if necessary, will handle the evacuation flight and Air Force Special Operations will deliver the payload.”

  “Sir, I do not understand.”

  “This is a ‘contain and eradicate’ mission only. General Michael Balchor is currently in the field, with a small team of soldiers and experts. He has a small window to reach an evacuation point. At zero hour, with or without the General being out of the containment area, the Air Force will destroy a one-hundred mile radius around the town of Apollo.”

  “Mr. President, you may want to take a look at the wall monitor; we are streaming a live news broadcast from the area.” On the big screen monitor, an image of a man standing behind a set of wooden barricades flashes to life The scrolling banner at the bottom of the screen reads Live from Apollo, PA.. The president curses under his breath. “Tell NSA to kill all media communication within 300 miles of Apollo. I want a squad on that bridge, ten minutes ago, and I want that reporter muzzled! How the hell did a news crew get on that bridge?”

  The entire group turns back to the real time military monitors. The scene now playing is of a small group of soldiers retreating from a large group of zombies. The President speaks again. “Someone get in touch with that pilot and tell him to use whatever weaponry he has to support that group of soldiers, and to land long enough to get them out of there.”

  Chapter 32

  “This is John Macgregor, Chanel Three Pittsburgh, reporting live from the Leonard C. Miller Bridge in Apollo. As you can see from the sign nailed to the wooden barricade blocking the road, no traffic is being permitted into, or out of the Upper Apollo area. If I was able to go over the bridge, we would be able to show you video of a train, stopped in the middle of the crossing, ensuring no vehicular traffic. Requests for Air Chopper Three to fly overhead have been denied by local FAA officials. We have received similar reports from people in the communities of Murrysville, Leechburg, Vandergrift and Burrell, that all access into Upper Apollo has been restricted.”

  The camera man waves his hand to try and get John’s attention, but John continues his soliloquy.

  “This area is obviously no stranger to controversial events. One only has to go back to the final week of 1979, when the now infamous duo of Lesko and Travaglia started on an alleged killing spree that traversed the New Year. One of the last victims of that ‘thrill kill’ spree spent the final moments of his life right where I am standing, and died on this very bridge, which now carries bears his name. Just fourteen years earlier, 1965, the area was again mired in controversy over the then dubbed ‘Apollo Affair’ which saw the NUMEC corporation loose over 200 pounds of uranium. I do not know exactly what is happening now, but I suspect it has something to do with the Syscorp complex and the mysterious vehicle accident that occurred just days ago. Reporting live, from controversial downtown Apollo, this is John Macgregor back to you in the studio.”

  The camera man, Burt Piernersky, takes the camera away from his shoulder. “Ah, hey John, I just thought you should know, that did not go out li
ve. Something happened as soon as you started talking. I got it all on film, so it can be broadcast later.”

  “What the hell do you mean we lost the live feed? Call the station right now, get Harry on the line. We are out here breaking the law, probably risking our lives and that son of a bitch Harry cut our live feed, I am going to have his ass.”

  “John, look man, I don’t think the station did anything, and my cell phone isn’t working either; check yours and see if you have a signal.”

  “Mine is dead too. Huh?”

  “John, what exactly did you mean by breaking the law?”

  “Burt, you dumb ass, we are about five miles inside of a secure containment area. The military might even shoot us if they catch us.” He winks at Burt. “Alright, to hell with it, get in the van; let’s get out of here before the military does show up.”

  Just then, John spots a group of people, behind the train on the other side of the bridge. “Burt, hold on a minute, I think there are people over there.” John points as he dashes across the bridge.

  Burt whines. “John come on; let’s just get out of here.” But he knows better and follows John across the bridge, camera at the ready.

  John slides under the train head first, and calls for Burt to turn on the camera, and do the same. Burt obliges John, but goes under feet first. Burt cries out when John grabs his feet and roughly pulls him through.

  “Knock it off John, that hurts and I almost dropped the camera.”

  He does drop the camera, once he is pulled the entire way through. The camera continues to record, catching the group of zombies bite and pull bloody chunks of flesh from John and Burt. Burt is still kicking and trying to scream when the army jeep pulls up next to the news van on the bridge. Unable to locate the reporter and camera man, the soldiers drive off.

  Chapter 33

  Captain Hellatoni has sent his group ahead and is trailing the four men back to the bunker, after successfully laying down mines and tripwires as an early warning defensive perimeter. He has decided that once the entire group is back together, the ten of them will sweep the hallway in the opposite direction, set up a similar defensive perimeter, and then hunker down in the bunker unless the General says differently.

  The soldiers have turned the corner, just as an explosion resonates from the direction they had just retreated from. “You men continue back to the bunker, set up a perimeter on the opposite hallway, and send one man out to bring in the two sentries. Once everyone is in the bunker, secure the hatch and wait for me. I want to see if any of those things set off the next set of mines.”

  The men follow his order, and continue down the hallway. He checks the ammo clips in both his rifle and sidearm, and then waits. After three minutes, he decides that nothing is approaching, so he turns to go back to the bunker. He stops, only momentarily, when the sound of automatic weapon fire echoes off the walls, followed by screams of agony and terror.

  He begins to run toward the sound, turns the corner and runs right into a zombie. The force of the impact knocks the creature to the ground, and he instinctively levels his weapon and sends three bullets right into its face. The sound of his weapon immediately attracts the attention of four more zombies, and they begin to stagger toward him. He begins to back down the hallway, when he hears one of the mines explode, behind him, over his shoulder.

  Operating only on adrenaline and training, he fires a quick burst into the lock of the first door he passes, slams his shoulder into it and slips inside. As he is closing the door, he tosses two fragment grenades toward the four approaching zombies. After a quick visual assessment, he drags a desk and a couple of chairs in front of the door and then backs into a darkened corner.

  The grenades successfully eliminate the four zombies, but the sound resonates all the way back to the bunker. There is a group of zombies inside the bunker that are just finishing off the rest of Captain Hellatoni’s squad, some of them start to walk toward the sound of the explosion; and some manage to stumble into the darkened passageway leading outside.

  Chapter 34

  The trip back to Syscorp takes closer to half an hour. The small group of soldiers, minus two, is deployed in a makeshift defensive perimeter. Mike is sitting on the hood of a jeep, impatiently waiting for a report from the two soldiers he sent forward to investigate the outer wall of the compound. He is rolling a hollow point .45 caliber bullet across the fingers of his right hand. Over the knuckle, under the finger, over the knuckle, under the finger; he could do this over and over, picking up speed with each pass.

  The bullet falls, clinking off of the jeeps hood, when a burst of loud static resonates out of the radio sitting next to him. The two soldiers report back that the secret escape hatch is open, and protected by two trip-wired land mines. Mike tells the soldiers to return, and bends down to pick up the bullet.

  "Hey Mike is everything alright? Did the men find anything up around the wall?" Jimmy asks approaching Mike.

  Mike looks up at Jimmy, the bullet now traveling across his knuckles again. "The hidden escape door is open; it appears as if Captain Hellatoni and his men followed protocol by booby trapping the opening. They tried to reach Captain Hellatoni on the emergency hailing frequency, but got no answer."

  Jimmy sits down next to Mike on the Jeeps hood. "So what are we going to do Mike? We have a group of men that did not make the retreat back here with us; and we have a group of men inside the building that we've lost contact with. Are we just going to leave them all behind?"

  The bullet begins to fall from Mike's hand again but this time he snaps out with his other hand and catches the bullet before it lands. "No, Jimmy, I don't think that we will." Mike is on his feet walking towards the soldier with the satellite phone; his right hand is already subconsciously sliding the bullet back into the clip from which it came.

  "Corporal, I want you to get on the phone to the President and tell him that the building appears to be secured. You tell him that I am going to lead a team inside the building to get positive confirmation and that we're going to need an additional hour to reach the extraction point." He grabbed the walkie-talkie from his belt and barked into it, ordering the perimeter soldiers back to base camp. “Jimmy, I am going to take half the squad into the building and get Captain Hellatoni and his men. I want you to take the other half and go back and find the men we left on the road.”

  The soldier with the satellite phone approaches and waits patiently to speak. “Sir, the President said to tell you that you have thirty extra minutes, and not a second more. He also said that the communications helicopter picked up the men retreating down the road.”

  Mike looked at Jimmy. “I guess this means you get to fall back to the extraction point and do your best to stall if I am not there on time.”

  “Mike, you know as well as I do that the chopper is taking off right on time no matter what I do; and that a pretty big bomb is going to land on that building about thirty seconds later.”

  Mike just grins back at Jimmy and walks off to lead his group into the building.

  Chapter 35

  “Man oh man, no offense fellas, but how long have you guys been swimming around in that swamp? You guys smell worse than the shit house in July.” The black hawk pilot yelled back to the group of soldiers he just picked up from the road.

  None of them answered. They simply sat hunched together, staring at the floor. They had very specific orders from Azaka.

  The airship makes another pass over the hoard of zombies below, and both gunners stop laughing at the pilot’s joke and resume pumping .50 caliber shells into the hoard. One of them stopped suddenly, and got the other gunners attention.

  “I think I see a guy on a motorcycle riding out in front of those things.”

  The other gunner walks across and looks. “Damn; there is a guy on a bike, sweet looking ride too. Go tell Hanuno to call in and see if we should try an extraction.” The second gunner said motioning to the pilot. He walked up toward the cockpit. “Hey Hanuno, me and Drew
are pretty sure there is some unlucky bastard trying to outrun those things on a chopper down there.”

  He gave himself the nickname Han for being the self-proclaimed best helicopter pilot in the Army; his friends combined it with the word Uno, not because of his Hispanic heritage, but because Uno was, in their best estimation; Spanish for ‘solo’.

  “I know, I already radioed it in. Command has ordered us to do a flyby over some compound a couple of clicks down the road and then to get back and refuel for some extraction mission. Hope he has a full tank of gas, because he is on his own.”

  The Blackhawk banked sharply to the left two times, and then was heading away from the hoard, back down the road toward the Syscorp building. The five rescued soldiers are still sitting quietly in the back, not speaking or engaging any of the Blackhawk crew, just looking down at the floor, emitting a foul, rotten odor.

  Chapter 36

  Including himself, but not counting Jimmy, OhAy and the other researchers, there are fifteen soldiers left. Mike sends six to escort the researchers to the extraction point, under the command of Jimmy, and takes the remaining eight with him into the building.

  They disarm the mines at the entrance, and go into the tunnel using a ‘point cover’ formation, one man in the lead, two groups of three and two men covering the rear. They have been in the tunnel less than two minutes when gunfire erupts from the point man. Mike orders the two rear guards to stop and ensure the escape route remains open, then leads the remaining five forward to engage.

  They almost collide with the point man as he is retreating down the tunnel toward them at full speed.