by Jake Bible
“Bullshit, Mel,” Beth said, blocking and ducking as Melissa pressed the attack. “You have Billy. He’s your uncle. And considering what we’ve been through, you’ve got me.” Beth ducked one last punch and grabbed Melissa in a bear hug, pinning her arms to her sides. Beth pressed her forehead to Melissa’s so she couldn’t head butt her and looked directly in her eyes. “We’re family, Mel. You’re all I have. I don’t have anyone else. I was grown in a lab, for fuck’s sake!” She pushed away and waited for another attack, but the fight had gone out of Melissa.
“So, what’s your lame excuse?” Melissa asked Alex.
“My twin brother is dead, my country is in flames and the only person I have ever loved is going on this mission,” Alex smiled sadly. “Plus, Styles needs my extra help when we start the attack. He can fly the BTT, but I’ll be working the weapons systems.” His gaze hardened. “Listen, Mel. As much of a suicide mission as this may be, I don’t plan on giving up. I’ll fight until I’m dead or they are. I promise you that.” He shrugged as a voice called the BTT assault team to the hangar. “And I promise to put Heather’s life and safety before my own.”
“Like hell you will!” Heather protested, but Alex held up his hand and cut her off, his focus on Melissa.
“Understood?” Alex asked.
Melissa thought for a moment, then nodded, fighting the tears in her eyes. “You better keep that promise.”
“With my dying breath,” Alex said, trying to keep his own emotions in check. He grabbed Melissa and hugged her. “You just keep yourself alive. I’ll expect Super Ghost here to help with that.”
Beth laughed, “I’ll do everything I can. As long as she listens.”
“Fat chance,” Heather said, pushing Alex aside and hugging Melissa herself. “She never listened when she was little, I doubt she will now.”
The voice called the BTT assault team once again and Melissa and Heather separated. “I love you, Mel. I always will,” Heather said, turning quickly so Melissa couldn’t see her tears. Alex nodded to them both and followed quickly.
The two girls turned and headed to the lift. They found Billy standing around the corner, wiping at his own eyes.
“What are you blubbering about?” Melissa asked harshly. “You find out there won’t be scabs in the New World?”
“Don’t be a bitch, Mel,” Billy snapped. “We’re all hurting over this.”
Melissa began to protest and Billy jabbed a finger in her face. “I’m not a junkie anymore, Mel. That nanotech zombie shit cleaned that right out of my system. I don’t even have a hint of a craving. But if you keep ragging on me, then I’ll take up a new addiction: kicking your ass!” He began to stomp away, but stopped. “Is that what you’re wearing? What about your suit you made back in Russia?”
Melissa’s eyes widened. “I can’t believe I forgot about that!” She turned on her heel and sprinted towards the hangar. “I’ll be right back! Tell the General to make sure to bring plenty of BC to manipulate! I have work to do! Come on, freak! I need you!”
Beth smiled at Billy and shrugged, running after Melissa.
“Tell the General?” Billy asked aloud, all by himself. “I’ll get right on that, since I’m his favorite person.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Chinese HAVs set the front, waiting for the Three’s military forces to crest the hill and engage. They never expected the line of shambling forms that came at them instead.
The general in charge of the Chinese forces began shouting orders into the com, calling for all HAVs to open fire and move in. Rockets shot from the machines, exploding in the midst of the undead, sending rotting limbs and body parts meters into the air.
Some of the HAV drivers flinched and broke when their windshields were covered in putrid offal, swerving instinctively, smashing into other HAVs next to them.
Chaos reigned and Mr. Stone grinned from well behind the initial assault, his HAV having just broken through the Chinese border shield, the override code provided to them from one of the Three’s spies having worked perfectly.
As flames erupted from many of the Chinese HAVs, and burning troops poured from the wreckage, Mr. Stone gave the order for all forces to attack.
The battle was over in only a few bloody, brutal minutes.
Mr. Stone told his driver to push on and the Three’s HAVs kept rolling, picking up the undead ground forces as they went. Many HAVs held back and waited for the defeated Chinese troops to rise and join the ranks, their undead bodies falling under the Three’s control.
“Give me an ETA,” Mr. Stone ordered. “Intel intercepted the Jacks’ satellite images and they know we are coming.”
“1,500 kilometers, sir,” the driver answered. “At full speed, our point will hit Lhasa in only seven hours.”
“Good,” Mr. Stone smiled. “Make sure we pick up as many ground troops as we can along the way. But I don’t want the point HAVs to slow down. Let the rear ones gather.”
“I’ll broadcast that now,” the driver said, activating his com.
More fodder, eh, Stone?
“The more the merrier, right? We’ll outnumber them, but after all our failures, Reginald, I don’t plan on underestimating an American again.”
Too bad we learned that lesson too late.
“Too late for you, Reg. Not too late for me.”
Well, that’s a bit harsh…
Mr. Stone didn’t respond, just kept his eyes focused on the landscape ahead.
***
“Good job, Brenton,” the General called over her com. “Those suits you created could possibly keep our people alive back there.”
“Thank you, General,” Melissa responded. “I couldn’t have done it without Beth’s help.”
“I’m currently replicating the design, General, for the rest of our convoy,” Beth interrupted. “I have programmed each suit to be self fitting, so any Ghost can grab one.”
“Perfect, Ms. Laughlin, I wish I could have twenty of you,” the General said.
“No offense, General, but I don’t think twenty of me would want to exist,” Beth responded. “It’s not exactly a full life.”
“Understood,” the General agreed. “I’ll just make do with you then.” He paused briefly, listening to someone not on the com. “The Three’s forces have broken through the border and are pushing into China.” He paused again. “First wave of Chinese forces have been defeated. Second wave has retreated. It’s open land between the Three and us.”
“Alex will slow them down,” Beth insisted, glancing at Melissa, who just stared ahead, refusing to meet her eye.
“I know he’ll try…,” the General trailed off.
***
“We’re here,” Styles said. “Second thoughts? We could always dump the Ghosts and bail.”
“Nice try,” Alex laughed. “Just do a couple sweeps. Let’s get some scans.”
The BTT banked sharply as Styles brought the aircraft around, trying to scan as much area as possible. Soon a holo began to form in the middle of the cockpit and Alex gulped.
“That’s a lot of HAVs,” Alex said.
Styles glanced over and laughed. “There’s more vehicles down there than people up here. Glad I’m staying up here.”
“No need to rub it in, Eddie,” Alex snapped.
“Hey, don’t get your royal silk panties in a bunch, Al,” Styles growled back. “I know your lady is dropping into Hell on Earth, but I need you focused.”
“Who’s in charge here, huh? Me or you?”
“You want me to answer that?” Styles grinned. Alex couldn’t help but grin also.
“Okay, sorry, I’m a little worked up,” Alex apologized. “I just got her back.”
“I understand, man, but you need to suck it up and be ready,” Styles said, his face becoming grim. “Because if we have to, I’m setting the engine cores to red level and diving this thing right into those motherfuckers!”
***
Heather patted her metallic grey-black
body suit. “You’re all Ghosts and have been around the block a few times, so I won’t tell you how this shit works,” Heather addressed the twenty men and women seated in the BTT’s cargo hold. “But something you should know is that since we have all been infected, we can all self-repair. Now there is no way Styles can get us close enough to land without the BTT being detected, so we are going to have to jump.”
“Jump?” an older Ghost, Roger Billems, asked. “From how high?”
“About five thousand feet,” Heather said and the group gasped. “But, before you freak, you can trust me that the nanotech in your body will repair all damage. My niece also added a little something extra. The suit will trigger a full body anesthetic upon impact. It won’t block the initial shock, but you won’t be in agony after you hit. Depending on damage, you should be able to repair in just a matter of seconds. You should all have enough energy to do that and take several mortal wounds before…”
“Before we get zombified?” a woman, Jean Lister, asked. “Before we come back as one of those things?”
“Exactly,” Heather answered. “Now, for some great news. Ms. Brenton has programmed the suits to be open source. They will respond to your will as if they were raw BC. Whatever your skills, they will work for you.”
“Really?” a skeptical Ghost, T.L. Jones, asked. “Even projectiles?”
“Yep, just grab more BC as you need mass for reloading,” Heather responded. “Now, that’s the good news.” Heather took a deep breath. “The bad news is that the suits are designed to reprogram the nanotech if you do die. That in and of itself is not bad, since it means you won’t become a mindless killer, but once you are revived, you will need to feed to build your mass back up. Otherwise you won’t last long, at least not as a thinking person. You’ll revert to zombie consciousness in a matter of minutes.”
“Feed?” Jean Lister asked. “You mean…flesh?!?”
“Yes, sorry, but there’s no way around it,” Heather stated. “And fresh. You’ll need to kill and consume before the body cools. Either that, or you’re lost forever and will have to be put down.”
“Cheery,” a Ghost said from the back. “Eat flesh or die. Great…”
Heather gave everyone a moment for it all to sink in. “Any questions?”
“Why the fuck did I volunteer for this?” a Ghost next to Heather asked.
“You didn’t,” another answered.
“Ahhh, that explains it!”
They all chuckled nervously, but went quiet quickly, left alone with their thoughts. Soon several of them were retching and throwing up red-black goo.
“Yeah, you’re gonna be doing that, too,” Heather stated. “Sorry.”
***
“Heather?” Styles called over the com. “I’m holding steady. Depart when you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Styles,” Heather responded. “Go ahead and unlock cargo doors.”
“Done. Godspeed.”
“Thanks, Styles,” Heather said. She was quiet for a moment. “Can you give me and Alex a private channel?”
Styles looked over at the prince and grinned. “Will do.”
Alex nodded and left the cockpit. “We’re alone,” he said over the com.
“I don’t know all the details of what happened to us,” Heather began. “But you need to know however ugly it got, I have always loved you and will forever.”
“I know that,” Alex smiled. “I always have known that. It’s why I never pressed for the divorce. I knew someday we’d be back together.”
“Too bad we have to die now…”
“That is unfortunate…”
The silence between them was thick with emotions neither could put into words.
“Good bye, my Prince,” Heather sniffed.
“Good bye, Princess.”
***
“Sir, we have something on the scanners,” the HAV driver announced to Mr. Stone.
“Bring it up on holo,” Mr. Stone said, turning his attention from the windshield.
An image lit up and Mr. Stone furrowed his brow. “Zoom in. What are those? Missiles?”
“No, sir, they aren’t giving off any explosives signature,” the driver answered. “It looks like they’re people, sir!”
Mr. Stone zoomed in and his eyes went wide. His surprise was soon replaced with respect. “They’re dropping on us. Get every gun we can on them. The second their chutes open let them have it.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver said, sending the orders to the rest of the HAVs.
Crazy Jacks! Leave it to them to drop in uninvited!
“Quiet, Reg,” Mr. Stone growled. “I need to focus. I’ll call you when I need you.”
You’re the boss, Stone.
Mr. Stone watched the figures fall, checking their position against the altitude reading on the holo. When the first person sped past the safe height for chute deployment, Mr. Stone began to worry. When they all passed the height and kept coming, Mr. Stone activated his com. “Fire! I want every gun blasting those assholes out of the sky!”
“Sir, trajectories show that each body is aimed right for an HAV! I don’t think they intend to deploy chutes!”
“No shit, idiot!” Mr. Stone yelled. “Why the fuck do you think I just gave the order to fire?”
In seconds, the first body slammed into a rear HAV, crushing the front of it, bringing the assault vehicle to a grinding halt. Soon, the rest of the Ghosts impacted and the battle began.
***
“I have missiles fixed on the HAVs that weren’t stopped,” Alex yelled. “Get me as close as possible so I can blast these fuckers!”
“I’m right here, man,” Styles warned. “You don’t have to yell. I’ll bring us down to 1,200 feet, but anything closer and they might pick us up if they know what to look for.”
“Works for me,” Alex said, watching the altimeter, ready to launch the missiles as soon as possible.
***
For a brief moment, Heather Walton thought she’d die, the pain was so intense. But that moment ended and the anesthetic kicked in and so did Heather.
She pushed herself up and was fighting for her life even before she could get to her feet. The impact of several slugs knocked her about, but she compensated quickly, ducking under a kick from one of the Shock troops while she shoved another into the way of the gunfire. Bullets ricocheted off the Shock trooper’s armor and rebounded around the damaged HAV.
The anesthetic wore off in just seconds and Heather could now feel the BC humming about her, ready for her to grab on and change it at her whim. She blocked a swing from a trooper and planted both hands firmly on his arm, changing the BC suit from the man’s protection to his downfall. The suit compressed until the man’s body was squeezed out of whatever cracks it could fit through, leaving a compacted pile of blood, guts and metal on the HAV’s deck.
“Step up, boys!” Heather shouted. “Time to die!”
***
Ghost T.L. Jones rolled from the roof of the HAV he landed on, pissed he hadn’t penetrated the machine’s hull and done more damage.
He watched the back end of the HAV descend and a stream of Shock troops pour forth. He instantly reinforced his suit, making sure his armor was more than a match for their weapons. Stepping straight into the attack, he shifted his weight, keeping the barrage of gunfire from slowing him down, absorbing the bullets into his mass.
When he knew he was close enough to do maximum damage, he reformed the BC around his arms and shoulders into a dual mini-gun set up. With a grin on his face, he let loose with 850 rounds a second. Even with their armor, the Shock troops were soon cut down, their bodies ripped apart. T.L. stepped to the side and placed his hand on the HAV, taking from it as much BC as he could, creating a bridge between the metal and his mini-guns. He started firing the second the first Shock troop reanimated and came at him. The hull of the HAV slowly came apart as the BC was absorbed and used to reload the mini-guns. When the first gun seized, its mechanism overheated and useless, T.L. l
et the hot BC fall away and formed two new guns, able to keep the attack up with only a moment’s hesitation.
***
Her neck snapped, repaired, snapped again, repaired once more, then was entirely crushed as Ghost Jean Lister fell from the HAV she hit and was run over by the vehicle’s massive wheels.
She tried to roll out of the way when her neck knitted back together once more, but the rear wheels of the vehicle crushed her legs, ripping them right from her torso. She watched in horror as her blood gushed from the nubs that were left. Her vision swam and went grey then black then gone.
When she woke she noticed two things: that her body felt good as new and that she was ravenous. She sat up, but just a split second too late to see the BC boot before it hit her in the face. While she was protected by her suit, her head still rocked back violently. There may have been pain with the attack, but all Jean cared about was ripping the BC armor off the trooper and getting at the hot, pulsing flesh inside. She was on her feet, the BC on her hands shifting into long thin rods in a blink. She slammed the rods into the chest of trooper. Once contact was made she willed the BC suit to melt and reveal the man inside.
Jean Lister flipped her visor up and sank her teeth into the man’s throat before he could ward her off. She didn’t care as fists tried to pull her off of him, and when that didn’t work, started to bash her about the head and back. All she cared about was the blood and flesh filling her mouth and belly.
As she fed, the man’s body cooled and she let herself be dragged away, the power and strength of a fresh feed singing in her muscles. Two more punches was all she took before she let loose on the dozen Shock troops surrounding her, ripping them apart when her natural talent, enormous spikes that extended from her fingers, toes, elbows and the backs of her ankles, kicked in. She knew she shouldn’t feel the joy that she did as she gutted and decapitated the troopers that tried to take her down, but at that moment she truly, honestly didn’t care, the monster side of the viral nanotech suppressing any and all guilt.
***
“Seven HAVs destroyed by missiles,” Alex announced. “Five destroyed and eight damaged by Ghost impact. That leaves twenty-six still fully functional.”
