All for Show (Apocalypse Makers Book 3)

by Matt Hart

  Chapter 43

  Interlude : Boreling Empire : Plannel 113

  Apocalypse Fans Watch Party

  “Print some more of those, what do they call them? Doritos? Delicious!” A red and yellow bag popped into the output tray and was scooped up by a fat Boreling. He took it and sat down in the middle of a long couch that was filled with other Borelings. Tearing open the bag, he scooped out a handful of triangles and stuffed them in his mouth. Each Boreling on the couch was eating some sort of Earth food. Expensive, but easily printed. The Network Scouting Advance Team had sampled the foods and had them ready for sale once the show started, with a few select Mayhem Foods Contest winners receiving early samples of the best ones. Doritos, anchovies, green olives, borscht, and gummy bears seemed to be the most popular.

  In front of the couch was an entire wall of monitors. The largest was a set of four linked together. It showed a craft that was hovering above a horde of bio-creatures. The ship shimmered a sort of blue color, indicating it was camouflaged, but highlighted for the viewers. Then explosions occurred beneath the craft, blowing a hole in the mob. Shimmering blue figures dropped down and began firing on the bio-creatures. They walked in a spiral, destroying hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands. The figures were practically running as they fired. The ship lowered and began firing as well.

  The feed changed to show the point of view of one of the troopers. He fired his weapon and his armor flickered, briefly exposing his weapon and the troopers next to him. He cleared out a hallway and then turned to go back. A loud BOOM sounded and the trooper turned. A human stood in the hallway pointing a weapon at the trooper. It shot again and the trooper stumbled back as it raised its weapon. A third shot hit the trooper and he fell. A sizzle screeched in the air and the human fell into two pieces. The view switched to the trooper who had shot the human. The scene showed the human blowing apart as the first trooper fell backwards, a hole blown in his now fully visible armor.

  The watchers on the couch cheered and yelled as the Boreling trooper died. They exchanged fist bumps, and a few laughingly pulled out some credit cubes and handed them to their fellow fans.

  “Told you the humans were tough!” said one Boreling as he accepted a cube.

  “Yeah, you were right, Jeribsa,” said another, smiling. “I’ll bet you double that the next human kills two troopers before getting blown apart!”

  “They might be tough,” said Jeribsa, “But they aren’t that tough. You’re on!”

  The two Borelings shook hands. Jeribsa got up from the couch and walked to the print room. He put the cube into a slot on the machine and checked the balance, then ordered something from the Random menu. A round, flat item dropped into the tray. It was hot, covered in a whitish substance, with thin, small and round bits of meat. The item was sliced into eight triangles. Jeribsa pulled a slice and the white stuff stretched. He took a bite and smiled, then carried in the rest of the food and sat beside his betting friend.

  “Here you go, Kewslad, this is something called ‘pizza’. It’s delicious!” Kewslad took a slice and chomped it down.

  “Delicious!”

  The two sat back and watched the big screen as the troopers finished clearing out the bio-creatures. Two more were killed, and they laughed as they argued over whether this place had a high concentration of human weapons, or whether it was just that the troopers were especially clumsy.

  Chapter 44

  Interlude : Cambridge, Massachusetts

  Boreling Entertainment Assurance Vessel 2

  “I want NO MORE DEATHS, you got it troopers?!?” yelled Lt. Ultrod. He’d survived so far despite his low armor strength. “See those empty spots?” He pointed at the forward bulkhead. “Killed by armed humans, and one fool overrun by the bio-creatures. Stick together and don’t be stupid!”

  The ship hovered near a domed building and blasted a hole in the mob of bio-creatures below. A lightning bolt struck nearby as a storm built around the city. No rain was falling yet, but the troopers inside the ship looked at each other as thunder shook the vessel. It faltered and dropped a little before steadying. The troopers dropped out the bottom and landed in the street. They immediately began firing on the creatures. They didn’t notice that the Assurance Vessel above them was now visible.

  Chapter 45

  Interlude : Boreling Empire : Plannel 113

  Apocalypse Fans Watch Party

  “Look at that!” yelled a Boreling dressed in a one-piece black outfit. A Coke bottle foamed as he shook it at the wall of monitors. The view was showing Entertainment Assurance Vessel 2 as it hovered near the Great Dome of MIT. The blue shimmering was gone and the bio-creatures were looking up at the ship.

  The fans watching stopped chattering one by one as they came to realize that the vessel’s active cloaking had failed. None of them understood how it worked, but they knew that it shouldn’t be turned off.

  Chapter 46

  Interlude – Boreling Empire – Plannel 6

  Grodge closed the door to his fresher and hurried back to his desk. He could hear Pactain the Virulent screaming something incoherent.

  “I’m here, what is it?” asked Grodge as he sat down.

  “It’s that Assurance vessel, it’s lost its cloak! Recall the mission, this could be a disaster if the humans find out about us!” screamed Pactain.

  “Who cares if some humans know,” muttered Grodge.

  “What was that, Grodge?” asked Pactain, leaning into the camera.

  “I said ‘We can’t let the humans know’ sir.”

  “Yes, of course,” said Pactain, leaning back. “Get that ship out of there!” Pactain cut the call and Grodge started tapping on his keys.

  “Stupid doglard… Virulent my bony butt… Pactain the Doglard.” Grodge tapped and looked at the monitor.

  Communications Disruption.

  “Why can’t I reach them?” wondered Grodge. He continued to tap, occasionally hitting his fists on the desk in frustration.

  Chapter 47

  The Professor – Cambridge, Massachusetts

  A bright flash lit up the doorway above the dozing Professor, and the loud crack of thunder quickly followed. The Professor jumped up and aimed his rifle down the stairwell, but there were no creatures. He looked around in confusion, and began coughing. He felt very odd, and stood for a second, trying to discern the sensation. He felt pain all over his body, but he also felt somewhat invigorated.

  Shaking his head, he checked his rifle and made sure the magazine was full. It felt too light. He walked to the center of the stairwell and shined a flashlight down. He could see the pile of bodies writhing around, probably up to at least the eighth floor, but no more creatures were coming up the stairs.

  “Maybe the pile completely blocked the entrance,” he said. Another BOOM of thunder sounded, and he walked up the stairs to the first floor and cautiously approached the balcony. He was startled to see some sort of craft on the plaza below. It looked like it might actually be hovering, but it was a little hard to see from this vantage. He went back down the stairs and opened the armory door, then pulled out a hunting rifle. Back at the balcony, he lay down, then eased over to the edge and looked through the scope.

  He could see the ship, clearly hovering, but he couldn’t see any obvious means of propulsion. His heart pounded in his chest as he realized it must truly be aliens. His fear was confirmed when a bolt of lightning struck near the building and a half dozen or so creatures became briefly visible below the ship. He focused below the ship, waiting for another view of the things. A trickle of rain started as the storm moved in, and another lightning bolt struck nearby. The ship dropped suddenly – perhaps the bolt had struck the ship itself. He heard a distant scream above the moans of the horde. Five creatures became clearly visible around the ship. They were firing some sort of weapon into the horde that crackled with its own lightning, blowing apart an entire line of the creatures. One creature in particular was gesturing and pointing, firing a handgu
n of some kind.

  “The leader?” thought the Professor.

  He chambered a round and locked the bolt, then leaned further off the balcony. He centered the scope on the one that he thought was the same creature, at least it was one with the smaller gun, and let out a breath. He squeezed the trigger and watched as the figure staggered backward. It gained its footing and looked up toward the balcony.

  “Dammit!” yelled the Professor as he quickly chambered another round. The railing above him exploded as something was shot into it. He scrambled backward and into the apartment as the balcony exploded in front of him. He shielded his eyes and screamed as rounds tore through the building around him. Something thumped him in the chest and it picked him up and dropped him back down on the floor. He looked at his vest and saw a small chunk of metal embedded in the ceramic plate. He removed the plate and stared at it. The metal wasn’t lead, but it had spread out to cover nearly the entire plate, with a solid piece in the middle. He tore open his shirt and saw a cut that was beginning to heal already.

  “This day is getting even stranger,” he said aloud. “That should have killed me.” But it barely hurt at all. He stood up and looked around. There were holes in the ceiling and part of his garden had crashed down into the kitchen. Nothing was burning though, so it wasn’t some sort of incendiary explosives. He walked into his bathroom, pulled the shaving mirror from its wall mount, then walked into his bedroom and opened the window. He eased the mirror out until he could see the ship below. He counted six, no seven of the creatures, perhaps more behind the ship. Yes, definitely more behind the ship as he watched a line of zombies blasted out on that side.

  “Why would they create zombies and then come down and kill them?”

  The Professor looked again and one of the creatures zeroed in and shot out his mirror. “Dammit!” He jumped back from the window and flopped onto the bed, breathing hard.

  “They’re going to come up here and kill me,” he thought. He jumped out of the bed and ran down to his communications room. His eyes widened as he saw a drone that was quietly hovering in the corner. He pulled his pistol and fired a single shot. The device wobbled and fell in a shower of sparks.

  “They’re definitely going to come up here and kill me,” he said.

  The Professor sat down at his workbench and recorded a couple of messages, then switched on the HAM radio, hesitated for only a second, then pressed the microphone switch and pressed Play on his computer.

  Chapter 48

  Interlude – Boreling Empire – Plannel 6

  Grodge jumped in his chair, startled, as the feed from the Assurance vessel stopped. All the local camerabots had been switched to broadcast through the vessel, and something was interfering with that. He couldn’t even reset them to their primary feeds since the command had to be routed through the vessel.

  “Grodge, what the blazes is going on down there?” came a yell from a monitor on his right. He looked over to see Pactain’s face screaming at him.

  “Working on it!” he yelled back, then reached over and muted the channel so that he could think.

  “My bridling is well and cooked,” thought Grodge. He cautiously tapped a few keys and was shown the bunker cameras he’d removed from the regular network. He sent them out the holes in the building and put two of them right next to a couple of inactive camerabots. He put them back into the network and switched them live, hoping that Pactain wouldn’t notice the switch.

  He’d have to be quick to disable the ones he replaced.

  He looked back over to the monitor on his right to see Pactain still yelling at him. He unmuted the channel.

  “…offspring of a gardnickly! You better fix this in two…” Grodge muted the channel again and turned his camera to the new bots feeds so that Pactain could see it. He turned the volume back up and moved the camera. Pactain had stopped yelling for the moment.

  “The camerabots were auto-slaved to the vessel feed, and something has malfunctioned. We are unable to contact the vessel, and we can no longer receive its feeds. However, I was able to task a couple of nearby reserve camerabots so that we could see what’s going on.”

  “Ahh, okay then! That’s good thinking Grodge. I’ll assign someone to check into the vessel feeds so that we can be assured it doesn’t happen again.” Pactain cut the feed and Grodge leaned back in his chair with a huge sigh. The chair fell over backward and Grodge bashed his head on the hard floor. He lay there dazed as his doglard walked over to his face and lifted its leg.

  End of Book 3

  Read on to check out a preview of Book 4 of the Apocalypse Makers series.

  Book reviews are greatly appreciated. Even just a line or two letting me know what you think about it – it’s really encouraging!

  What would you do if confronted by a zombie apocalypse? Are you prepared? Go to ApocalypseMakers.com and let me know, and I’ll try to include your suggestions in a future book.

  About the author

  Matt Hart knows a little about survival - especially what not to do.

  - Don't try to hike out of a Nevada desert after your motorcycle gets stuck in the mud - better to head to the lake proper and find help. #heatstroke

  - Don't try to jump over the icy river in your snowmobile - you'll end up standing chest deep in it, holding the machine against the far bank while your cousin rushes back to help you. #hypothermia

  - Don't turn right when driving up Squaw Mountain - that first switchback is icy, deserted, and unplowed. #stuckatmidnight

  In addition to the above near-death experiences, Matt has survived a 14 foot motorcycle jump (alone, no helmet), being shot at (as a teenager, up a thirty foot tree), and having a three wheeler land atop him as he crashed onto a concrete sidewalk after a badly-thought-out jump.

  And there's the snakes, the black widow, the 90 foot drop off…

  Book 4 Preview

  Interlude – Boreling Empire – Plannel 6

  From: Technician Travgrel

  To: Entertainment Assurance Director Drecuref the Annihilator

  Re: Entertainment Assurance Vessel 2

  Dear Director,

  We have yet to ascertain the exact reason for the current communications blackout with Entertainment Assurance Vessel number 2, but we believe that an extremely powerful electrical charge has disrupted its ability to transmit. It is currently on continent one, reducing the number of bio-creatures.

  As you know, this planet has thousands of bunkers, and this is the first time we’ve used a weapon like the bio-creatures. As a result, our three Entertainment Assurance Vessels and their brave troopers have been exposed to potential violence at an unprecedented rate compared with our previous seasons.

  However, we do expect to regain contact with the vessel shortly. Note that a clever assistant producer has managed to task some camerabots to the vessel, so we are able to see what is happening. The feed channel is currently private, off the air, but I have attached it to this email.

  Sincerely,

  - Technician Travgrel

  —————

  The Professor : Cambridge, Massachusetts

  “This is The Professor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You know who I am. I am on the top floor of an apartment building near MIT. I have witnessed some sort of vessel hovering above the square below. It was camouflaged, but nearby lightning seems to have affected its systems. It became visible, then apparently damaged as it dropped near the ground. At least seven, possibly more camouflaged creatures came out of it and began killing the zombies. I say ‘creatures’ because they didn’t appear to be human. They wore armor that became visible in the rain and lightning. They had two arms and two legs, but it seemed like they were hunch-backed. I suppose they could have been humans, but the weapons they fire are not. I suspect some sort of rail gun because it tore up my top floor like a dozen .50 caliber machine guns, but was a small, hand-held gun or rifle.”

  “This transmission is likely to be intercepted by these things, and they will att
ack my bunker. I shot one of them with a .300 caliber rifle. It staggered but didn’t drop. I suspect a closer shot would penetrate its armor, and probably a .50 caliber and maybe a close shot from a shotgun slug, or a .45 handgun. Their armor, camouflage and other systems seem to be adversely affected by electricity, so use a Taser or even a shorted car battery against them.”

  “I’m going to try to evacuate this bunker and head North to another secure location. I’ll be listening if you try to broadcast, but I suggest you use a timed recording. Look for my Ebenezer near the Cribs.”

  The Professor hoped that reference was obscure enough for aliens to miss it, but clear enough that someone from around the Penobscot River would understand that the “Cribs” meant the “Cribworks”, and that an “Ebenezer” was a Bible reference to a stone marker. The Cribworks was about a day’s walk from his bunker, so he could scout it every once in a while for survivors.

  He set the recording to repeat, pressed Play, then headed back upstairs. He pulled on his gear from the bedroom and picked up the rope to toss it out the window, then thought twice about it. He knew he couldn’t make it down the stairs, but maybe the elevator still worked? He walked to it and pushed the button. It “dinged” and opened immediately. He dropped his pack to block the doors and ran back down to his armory and grabbed an RPG launcher and a dozen rockets, then ran back to the elevator. He pulled in his pack and set a rocket into the launcher, trying to remember how it worked.