by Jake Bible
***
Zverev’s undead eyes didn’t blink against the blinding rays of the dawn sun as it broke over the buildings of St. Petersburg, illuminating the offal-filled streets and streams of blood flowing towards the sewer grates.
Far off, at the edge of the city, gunfire erupted and Zverev turned towards the noise. Even though it wasn’t the sound of food, his brain was so hard wired from decades of intense military training that compulsion led him in that direction.
After miles of shambling, the sun bright in the sky, warming his dead flesh and the dead flesh of the other zombies that had joined him as he made his way through the brutalized city streets, Zverev met the first wave of the Three’s Shock troops. Their bullets ripped through his body, shredding him and the others until the viral nanotech could no longer repair their forms any longer.
The Shock troops methodically moved from incapacitated zombie to incapacitated zombie, placing one final headshot into each of their brains, ending their existence forever, the nanotech finally drained of energy.
Zverev’s dead eyes looked up at the Shock trooper standing over him and he tried to move his jaw, to snap at the trooper, but he no longer held the energy to do even that. The trooper pulled the trigger and Zverev’s eyes fixed in place, their search for flesh over.
Troopers followed behind the executioners, laying down walls of blue flame, torching the corpses and the nanotech within, turning all into ash that floated lazily in the wake of the forces moving deeper into the city and then onto the Russian landscape beyond.
***
Mr. Stone stared out the front windshield of the HAV as it approached St. Petersburg, his eyes emotionless, but his homicidal tendencies barely kept in check. He longed for the chance to test his new abilities, to wage war without fear of death, to crush and kill without worrying about any bureaucratic repercussions. His hands clenched and unclenched subconsciously and the HAV driver glanced nervously at him on occasion.
You’re fidgeting, Mr. Stone, Reginald said. Relax.
“Relaxation time is long since past, Reginald,” Mr. Stone responded. The HAV driver glanced over at him, but turned away quickly when he saw the violence in Stone’s eyes.
Just a suggestion. Wish I could be there with you.
“You are, Reg. You are.”
“First wave has reported the city clear,” a trooper said over the com.
“Excellent,” Mr. Stone responded. “Let’s move on. Leave one company here for spot checks. ETA until we hit the Chinese border?”
“Twelve hours at full HAV speed, sir,” the trooper responded.
“Then no delays,” Stone ordered. “We push through everything. If we have to level areas to make sure they are cleansed then we do so. I don’t want anything slowing us down. The Jacks have air capabilities and they will use them soon. We need to be as far along as possible before we engage.”
“Understood, sir.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Rise and shine, kiddos!” Billy barked, giving Melissa’s then Beth’s bunk a couple good kicks. “Day’s a wastin’ and we got shit to do!”
“Fuck you, Mr. Cheery,” Melissa grumbled, suddenly in a tug of war with Billy over her blanket. “Knock it off, asshole!”
Beth stretched and yawned, wincing as her feet touched the cold, concrete floor. “Okay, you two, that’s enough.” She walked over and pulled the blanket from both of their hands, tossing it at the foot of the bunk.
“Whoa there, Ms. Pantsless!” Billy exclaimed, averting his eyes from Beth as she stood in the middle of the bunk room and worked the kinks out of her body with only a shirt and underwear on.
Beth laughed. “You’ve seen more of me, Billy. And considering I brought you back from the dead, I’d say we’re family now.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to see Mel’s civvies, either, so I’ll just take my leave,” Billy responded, moving to the door. “The General wanted me to tell you he let you both sleep in, since apparently your non-nano bodies need more rest than us Uber-folk, but you have twenty minutes to shit, shower, eat and be in the briefing room. El Generalissimo has a plan he wants to share.”
“Twenty minutes? Fuck that!” Melissa said, grabbing at the blanket once again, but Beth was faster, pulling it out of reach and tossing it into a corner.
“Come on,” Beth said, pulling Melissa out of bed. “It takes you ten minutes just to shit, so you better get moving.”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t here that,” Billy laughed from the hallway, already gone and moving onto his next task.
***
“You get any rest?” Alex asked from the cockpit door.
Styles swiveled in the pilot’s chair and laughed when he saw Alex’s face. “Damn! I haven’t seen you this happy since those Italian triplets locked you in their room that time in Bern. I’d have to say you got you some!”
“A gentleman doesn’t speak of such things,” Alex grinned, holding up his hand before Styles could respond. “Now onto the business at hand. We need to talk before the briefing.”
“What’s up, boss man?” Styles asked. “You got that look on your face that means trouble. And guilt.”
“It’s both,” Alex said seriously, taking a seat in the co-pilot’s chair.
***
Heather stepped from the shower and grabbed her towel, drying herself as she walked to the locker with her fresh uniform.
“Hey!” Melissa called out. “How are you feeling this morning?”
Heather stopped drying her hair and smiled at the girls. “Good morning, you two. I’m doing fine, best I’ve felt in a long time.”
Melissa glanced at Beth then back at Heather. “You got laid, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yes I did!” Heather laughed as the girls stripped down and turned on the water. “Thanks for the resurrection energy, Beth. Does wonders on the libido.”
“Anytime,” Beth smiled.
Heather’s smile faltered a bit. “How are you doing?”
Beth rinsed her face. “I’m fine. Just fine.”
“She’s lying,” Melissa said. “I think I’ve known the freak long enough to know that.”
“Ha-ha,” Beth smirked. “Very funny, Mel. No, really, I’m fine. It’s an adjustment, all the new info from the personalities that I’ve had to integrate, but I’ll get used to it.”
“You said something last night about being only four years old,” Heather said, zipping up her uniform. “Care to elaborate?”
“Yeah, you said we’d talk this morning,” Melissa agreed. “Spill it, Beth!”
Beth looked at each and sighed. “Okay, but it’ll have to be the short answer.”
“Any answer is better than none,” Heather said, pulling on her boots. “Let’s hear the short one then.”
“Cloning,” Beth said matter-of-factly. “My body was grown from embryo to adolescence in three years. I’ve been out of the vat for only one year.”
Heather and Melissa stared at her, stunned.
“You’re a clone?” Melissa finally asked.
“Yep, that’s what I just said.”
“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Heather laughed. “Explains a lot.”
“So… So you’re not real?” Melissa stammered. “You’re like some cyborg thingy?”
“No, I’m real. 100% human flesh. I was cloned from the DNA of a Rachel Capreze. She has some type of genetic predisposition to technopathy.”
“Techno-whathy?”
“Technopathy, Melissa,” Heather said. “It means she can mentally manipulate technology. That’s why she can work BC without touching it.”
“And why I can control the nanotech so easily,” Beth added. “Once I had Dr. Lisbon’s knowledge.”
“Damn…” Melissa said, looking confused.
“Yep…damn,” Beth agreed.
***
“Thank you everyone for joining the briefing this morning,” General Millman announced. “I’ll leave the introductions for later. Right now
we need to dig in and make sure everyone is on the same page. Colonel?”
“Thank you, sir,” Colonel Smithfield said, standing and addressing the room that was now filled with the base’s limited personnel, as well as Heather, Melissa, Beth, Styles, Billy and Alex. “And thank you to those that joined us last evening. The intel gathered has proven invaluable and since most of our fellow Americans have been brutally murdered, the info could prove key to our very survival as a people.”
“Quit the rhetoric, Colonel, and get to the point,” the General growled.
The Colonel took a deep breath and activated a holo of the region from Russia down to the Indian sea. “As of right now our satellites show the Three’s forces are moving rapidly through the Russian frontier and approaching the Chinese border as we speak. Now, while the Chinese have been gracious enough to let us have our little secret outpost here, they will not come to our aid if we are attacked.” The Colonel zoomed in on the symbols representing the Three’s forces. “Now as of 0845, what was a single contingent has now branched into two. Projected routes show the larger of the two forces heading off through China, more than likely on a course to Beijing. I’m sure the Chinese have already noticed this and are reacting accordingly.”
“Aren’t we in communication?” Heather asked. “They are our allies.”
“They cut communication with us the second the forces split,” Colonel Owens interrupted. “Our guess is they aren’t sure if the smaller force is coming to join us or coming to attack us. Our relationship has always been tenuous at best. Recent events have stretched it to near snapping.”
“We don’t think they will attack us, at least we hope not,” Colonel Smithfield continued. “But all bets are off and we have to act as if we are truly on our own.”
“Except for Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Canada,” Colonel Owens added.
“Canada?” Billy interrupted. “Who the fuck is Canada?”
“That’ll have to wait until later when we move out,” the General answered. “Let’s finish the briefing first, please, Mr. Brenton.”
“Move out…? What?” Billy asked, but quickly shut up when Heather kicked him in the shin.
“Please continue, Colonel,” General Millman glared at Billy.
“Right, to the task at hand,” Colonel Smithfield continued. “Regardless of allies, attackers or motives, we cannot hold this post against the forces the Three are throwing at us. We are too small a group and designed for covert intelligence, not for full on battlefield combat. Most of you are field agents and only joined us recently. We’ll have to play to our strengths, not take them head on.”
“Are they really sending that many at us?” a lieutenant asked from the back wall.
“It’s not the numbers, so much as their capabilities,” Colonel Owens answered. “If I may, Your Highness?”
Alex stood and walked over to the Colonel. “It’s Alex, please.”
The Colonel just nodded and pulled his sidearm as Alex rolled up his sleeve and held out his forearm.
“Sorry about this,” the Colonel apologized.
“Has to be done,” Alex responded, gritting his teeth as the Colonel squeezed the trigger.
The whole room jumped, many shouting, their hands instinctively going to their own sidearms, but soon the room was silent as Alex’s wound knitted back together.
“That is what we are up against, folks,” General Millman barked. “Every last one of those troopers can do that. They are unstoppable.”
“Which is why we aren’t going to try to stop them,” Colonel Owens said, taking over the briefing. “We’re going to evac immediately. As soon as this briefing is over.”
“Um, right now?” Billy asked. “Didn’t you say they were barely at the border? That’s thousands of kilometers away.”
“The viral nanotech is not all they have,” Colonel Smithfield said. “Their HAVs are moving at a speed we haven’t seen before. We aren’t sure how, but it looks like they have new mag drive tech as well.”
“And we do not know what other tech they may have at their disposal,” General Millman added. “We have known for a while that something was going to happen, but the Three have kept things pretty well hidden.”
“Until they nuked half the continent,” Melissa muttered.
“Yes, Ms. Brenton, until that,” the General said. “But that is the past. We have to look to the future.”
“We will be splitting into two divisions,” Colonel Owens said. “The first division will be made up of several of our most skilled combat Ghosts.” Many of the people present nodded in acknowledgement. “That division will be heading into battle against the Three’s forces, and will hopefully give us enough room to get to our destination. Leading that division will be Ms. Walton. They will be transported by Prince Tartarov’s aircraft, which can get them there much faster than HAV.”
“What?” Melissa shouted, jumping to her feet, her face filled with rage as she turned on Alex and Heather. “You two just came back from the dead! You can’t leave now!”
“Sit down, Mel,” Beth said quietly, tugging at Melissa’s arm.
Melissa yanked her arm away and turned to the General. “No way! They are not going!”
“Ms. Brenton, you are an activated Ghost, am I correct?” the General asked calmly.
“Um, yes, but—”
“Then you are under my command now and will do as ordered. Right now I order you to sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up!”
“General…,” Alex warned.
“I’m sorry for the bluntness… No, I’m not sorry for the bluntness,” the General began, getting to his feet. He started to pace back and forth, his eye falling on everyone in the room in turn. “I’m not sure all of you understand what is going on, so let me explain it simply. We are fighting for our very survival. We have lost nearly 80% of the American population in the world. Eighty fucking percent! I don’t intend to lose much more, but in order for the majority of us to survive, we will have to make tactical sacrifices. That is how this is going to work! Now, we aren’t just running blind. We have a goal. The main division will push as fast as possible in HAVs towards the Indian ocean, where there is a small flotilla of American ships waiting for us, led by a man most of you have run across, Colonel Blue Masterson.”
There were many sounds of surprise and approval.
“Blue made it?” Heather said, surprised. “How? I’m sure he was at the Suffolk base when it was destroyed!”
“He was,” the General agreed, a wide smile on his face. “But if you know Blue, he’s one hard-to-kill motherfucker. Somehow he protected himself, and his son, Charlie, was able to get him out of there along with several techs. They met up with some ships that survived and have been picking up stragglers along the way. It’s not a proper Navy in any way, so we have a limited window to rendezvous with them. If they come under heavy attack they will lose.”
“But, General,” a corporal piped up. “That’s straight through the Dead Zone. Won’t the radiation be too dangerous, even with the HAVs?”
“Radiation?” the General bellowed. “You have access to some of the most top secret intel in the world and you are asking about the radiation in the Dead Zone? There ain’t no fucking radiation in the Dead Zone! That was cleaned generations ago!”
“I like this guy,” Styles whispered to Billy.
“Now, what we do have to deal with is mutant fucking zombies!” the General continued. “And these aren’t viral techno-zombies, either. These are your great-great-great-great grandfather’s zombies, but ten times fucking worse! The former radiation mutated those fuckers so they are mean, fast, strong and downright sneaky. You stop to piss and you’ll have thirty on you before you can get your fly down! Once we hit the atmospheric barrier shield we’ll be pushing through non-stop!”
“Um, General?” another lieutenant asked. “What have they been feeding on? The Dead Zone is, well…dead.”
“How the fuck should I know?” the General bellowed.
“Do I look like a fucking zombie wrangler to you?” The General changed the holo to a view of India. “We don’t have much time, so I’ll make this simple for you all. You see those dark patches?” The General zoomed in. “Those are groups of zombies. Hundreds of them packed together.” He flipped the image about, showing many different regions. “They group like this all over the country. We don’t know why and we don’t know how they stay alive. The original plague that nearly wiped out North America created zombies that would starve and waste away. These do not.” Several hands were raised. “That’s it for question time. You’ll get more info on the road. You’ve all been given your assignments, so load up and get ready to move out! Anything you don’t know you’ll learn on the way. It’s gonna be a long ride to the ocean. Those not going with us, but with Prince Tartarov, I wish you Godspeed!”
***
Melissa grabbed Heather by the arm in the hallway. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Let go, Melissa,” Heather said calmly. “I’m best suited for this.”
“But it’s a suicide mission! What about me? You’re just going to leave me?”
Heather took Melissa by the shoulders. “I don’t know you. I’m sorry, but the Melissa I know is four years old.”
“But those memories will come back!” Melissa insisted.
“No, Mel, they won’t. I got the scans back from the Techs. Where new memories should be, there is nothing but unmapped grey tissue. My brain was repaired, but those memories were lost forever. I’m not the Heather Walton that you’ve grown up with. That woman died on an exam table in Russia and isn’t coming back. It’s time for me to join her.”
“Come on, Mel,” Beth said gently, pulling her away towards the express lift that would take them down through the mountain and the waiting HAV convoy.
“NO!” Melissa screamed, turning and taking a swing at Beth. Beth dodged easily, swatting Melissa’s wild punch. “She’s my family! My only family!”
