Sean revved the Land Rover. They were wasting time. “Follow me. We have to go now,” he said, fearing what would come with the quickly approaching nightfall.
Sean backed the Land Rover out of the parking space, turning the machine to the towering power plant. The complex was like a maze, full of twists and turns a different horror behind every corner.
“Come on, Sean… You can do this…” he told himself as he drove to the first corner.
The road was empty. There were no signs of any life around the road, and it looked like no one had ever been down the silent street. The corner was tight, but the Land Rover turned with ease. Sean braced himself, expecting to see a zombie cowering in front of him, but the road was empty, emptier than the one he had just turned off.
“This is just wrong,” Ryan said into the intercom. He was certain they were driving right into a trap. The empty passages of the power plant confirmed his fears.
Nathan breathed in deeply. He agreed with Ryan. The maze was frightening, especially when it was empty. “I think we’re heading into a trap,” he said into the intercom.
Sean carefully turned the next corner, but there was still nothing moving in the tunnels, not even the slightest sign of life. The maze of streets was almost over. By now, Sean was expecting an entire army of zombies to crawl out and attack him. He preferred the zombies to find him in the Land Rover instead of on foot.
The intercom crackled, but no one said anything because the whole scenario was bizarre. The final corner approached, and Sean inhaled deeply, fully expecting a mass of grey skinned, empty-eyed forms sluggishly dragging themselves toward him in the Land Rover.
Still… there was nothing.
He pulled the Land Rover neatly to the curb. Searching the cab, he hoped to find something to defend himself with. He had nothing that could be used, and he wished that he could have a gun or something destructive.
If this were America, he would be able to have a gun to fight with. He chuckled to himself, thinking of the zombies crawling around Texas and being easily picked off by the waiting cowboys with their array of weaponry.
“Sean, what are you laughing at, mate?” Ryan asked as he pulled neatly in behind Sean’s Land Rover.
Nathan joined the other two, hitting the curb as he parked haphazardly. “Yeah, mate. We all need a good laugh!”
Sean grabbed the microphone, pulling it closer to his mouth. “Zombies in Texas. Imagine that!” he said, laughing as he spoke.
Ryan sniggered, tapping the steering wheel. “Can you imagine those cowboys with guns attacking them zombies!”
Nathan arced his eyebrows. He had never been to America. “They get guns over there?” he asked, partially shocked. He knew the cops had guns, but he had no idea that the public were allowed to have guns, too.
Sean nodded. “Uh…” he realized that none of them could see his nodding motions. “Yes, it’s like their rights or something.”
Nathan stuck his bottom lip out. It didn’t make sense to him that it was their right to own a gun, but he had no reason to doubt it. “Oh… Okay,” he said nonchalantly.
Sean turned the key in the Land Rover and the engine fell silent. He could see the main entrance to the building in front; it was an automatic door that was stuck wide open. The glass was missing from the panes. A minefield of shattered chunks littered the ground.
Sean pushed the door open, hopping down onto the pavement. He slammed the door behind him and pocketed the key. Ryan joined him outside the shattered door, wielding a long umbrella.
“It’s pink!” Ryan said triumphantly, popping the enormous umbrella open.
The canvas material was a salmon pink color with a makeup brand stuck all over it. Ryan was proud of his findings. He couldn’t help but laugh at the umbrella alongside Sean. He had always imagined during the zombie apocalypse he would be fighting them with a heavy machine gun or a kickass sword, but instead, all he was armed with was a salmon pink umbrella he’d found in the back of his Land Rover.
Nathan laughed heartily as he joined the other two. “That’s going to frighten them rotten!” he said, roaring with laughter as he pulled his rain jacked around his chest.
Ryan smiled nervously as he swung the umbrella under his arm dramatically. “I just need a bloody top hat to match this damn thing.”
“I have an array of kitchen knives,” Nathan said proudly as he whipped open his jacket. “You wanna buy a sun dial?” he said in a gravelly, mocking voice.
The other two men burst out laughing at that. With an umbrella and a small assortment of kitchen knives, they were far from ready to defeat an army of grotesque zombies.
It was hard to control their laughter because they were used to being soldiers. They were used to having bullet proof vests, heavy machinery, and guns—lots and lots of guns—but here they were, having to shut down the power plant with basically nothing.
“Where the honest fuck did you get that shit?” Sean asked, wheezing from laughing so much.
Nathan looked at the knives precariously perched inside his jacket lining. “I stole them from my wife,” he muttered quietly.
Ryan chuckled. “The umbrella is my wife’s, too.”
Sean was impressed at the impromptu weaponry. He felt foolish for not grabbing anything useful before he joined them, and he didn’t have much that would have been any use.
He cleared his throat. “Alright, we have to prepare for a lot of zombies,” he said seriously. “There were none on the roads, so we have to assume they’re lurking around here.”
The other two nodded. He was probably right. The empty roads were not a good sign, and defeating zombies in the Land Rovers would have been the easiest way to defeat the enemy. They would need to be careful.
Sean picked his way carefully through the shattered glass pieces, his thick soled boots protecting his feet as he walked. The power plant was eerily quiet, and the usual whirring noises of the machinery was merely a soft, dull, droning noise.
Crunch.
Sean abruptly spun around, and Nathan stood frozen on the cracked glass underneath his heavy soled boot. Sean let out a sigh of relief, glad it was just Nathan.
“Shhhh!” Ryan hissed at him. They couldn’t afford to make any noises. “We have to be silent.” He whispered so quietly, he was mouthing the words more than speaking them.
Sean returned his attention to the path ahead. He’d cleared the glass minefield and the large, modern lobby spread out before them. The receptionist’s desk was empty, and the leather armchairs were scattered around the room. The mezzanine levels crisscrossed above them, and the once bustling offices were silent.
Everything was silent.
Sean quietly stepped across the dark lobby, and he fished the small flashlight from his vest pocket. It was standard army equipment to have some form of light on each military personnel. The small beam offered very little light, but it was enough to guide them to the far side of the lobby.
“Where now?” Ryan mouthed as they reached the other side.
A towering door was in front of them, and the small pane of glass was smashed through, leaving jagged edges where the window should have been. A snarl came from the cubical adjacent to the heavy door. The first zombie was crouched behind the harsh cubicle wall. He wore a tight suit, and an expensive tie hung smartly from the pressed collar.
Ryan gulped. “Our first fight,” he muttered, swinging the umbrella so the tip was pointing out like a javelin.
Sean pushed the umbrella down. “No…” he breathed out as the idea sprung inside his mind. “On the count of three, I’m going to push through this door, and you and Nathan follow quickly. We’ll slam it on the zombie’s face,” he finished nervously, unsure if the plan would actually work.
Nathan and Ryan nodded bravely, signaling that they were ready.
“One…” he began to count.
The zombie snarled louder, detecting their human scent. He was obviously hungry and ready to feed on the fresh meat.
&nb
sp; “Two…”
The zombie shuffled closer, snarling with every lopsided step. The figure’s eyes were dilated so only black holes stared out at the terrified soldiers.
“Three!” he quietly but firmly said, shoving the door open.
The door creaked open, and Sean stumbled through before holding it for Ryan and Nathan. The two men pushed and shoved their way through next, and the zombie was close behind.
Sean put all his weight on the door again, slamming it shut. The zombie tried to shove his arm through the jagged window and broke the glass further.
“Time to go!” Sean announced, turning to the hallway and starting to jog.
The blue emergency lights bathed the hallway as the three soldiers made their way down the hallway. They followed the lights to the main control room in the middle of the complex.
“Turn here!” Sean said as he skidded around the unexpected corner.
Ryan and Nathan skidded right behind him, not wanting to fall behind. The faint sound of snarls and groans filled the echoing hallway. Another heavy door lay directly ahead of them. The glass was still intact, but the yellow warning sign was scratched and peeling.
The three of them slowed their pace, stopping in front of the warning sign.
WARNING: HARD HATS, SAFETY GOGGLES, AND PROTECTIVE MASKS REQUIRED BEYOND THIS POINT.
Three long scratches were ripped diagonally down the sign. Someone had been there before. Empty coat hooks lined both sides of the door, and the cubbyholes were empty as well. No protective gear was left.
Ryan hastily ran to the end of the hall. “There’s none here either!” he yelled back, his voice bouncing off the walls.
They had to go in without the protective gear. The power plant was nuclear, and the radiation could be extremely harmful or worse. Sean held his head high; he was ready to sacrifice himself for the safety of the country if that was what had to happen.
“You wait here. I’ll go in alone,” he said as bravely as he could.
Ryan shook his head firmly. “No, we won’t let you do this alone.” His voice wavered as he spoke, fear coursing through his veins, but that wouldn’t stop him from completing the mission.
“Anyway, you don’t really have a choice,” Nathan interrupted, shrugging. “We have the weapons.”
The three men paused for a moment in front of the heavy door. They had no idea what was waiting for them in the control room. Sean shoved the door open, ducking as a steady stream of gas fizzled from the seals in the door. He stepped inside, ready to fight, but there were no zombies in the room. There was only a short, wild haired figure bent over the controls, mumbling as he went.
The man stopped as the door slid shut. He raised his head, sniffing slightly. Sean, Ryan, and Nathan stood in shock at the human before them. He slowly turned around, taking his time to face them.
“Oh, my fucking God!” Sean yelped at the sight of the man’s face.
Ryan’s eyes grew wide. He wasn’t sure if he would have preferred the zombies or the man before him. “This isn’t good,” he muttered.
“He’s…” Nathan grasped for the right words, “he’s…”
Sean gulped. “He’s got a handlebar mustache like a 1980s cop…” he finally stuttered out.
The man gave a creepy smile. His wild hair sprouted from all over the place. His thick eyebrows hung heavily over his small, piggish eyes, and his mustache was greying and made his face look small and greasy. He wore a lab coat that was too small for him, and his pants were filled with creases. His leather shoes were squared at the toes, and he wore a blue plastic cover pulled over the top of them.
The man smiled at Sean, his teeth pearly white. They were whiter than he’d ever seen in his entire life, and they were like a cheesy toothpaste commercial in real life.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Sean Welch.” He slurred, emphasizing each word carefully.
He folded his hands over his stomach where his starch white coat met in the middle. His stomach was so big that the two parts of the coat did not meet in the middle, and his brown shirt poked through, stretched over his beer belly.
Sean gulped. He felt as if he was back in Syria. “What do you want from us?” he asked calmly. He hadn’t expected to run into a greasy old man.
The man threw his head back dramatically, booming with laughter. “We don’t want anything from you, Mr. Sean Fillmore Welch,” he said loudly.
Sean took a step back. “How the fuck do you know my middle name?” he asked, confused and slightly afraid of the man’s knowledge.
“I know everything,” he replied, stroking his mustache. “I know you’re here to turn of the power, too.”
Sean raised his eyebrows. “Why else would we be here?” he asked.
“Hmm.” The man paused. “The coffee machine on the fourth floor provides delicious brews.”
Ryan was tired of the old man playing with them. They were there to turn off the power, and he intended to do just that. “Get out of my way, old man!” he shouted as he pushed his way to the control panel.
The old man in the lab coat shook his head. “Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he said slowly. “Calling someone you don’t even know an old man isn’t very nice, you know.”
Ryan stared at the control panel. There were close to a thousand buttons, none of them were labeled. He urgently tried to think of what the main switch would look like to turn the power off.
“It’s the big red button,” the old man teased, slowly chuckling as the words slid out.
Ryan stared harshly at the man, frustrated and getting angrier as time wore on.
The man sniffed again. “My name is Dr. Roger Ring,” he said proudly. “I’m a chemical engineer.”
Sean snorted into his thick vest. “How much did you get teased for that name?”
Nathan tried to hide his laughter. “Do you have a brother called Bonk?” he mocked.
Sean snorted at Nathan’s words. The scientist turned a red color in embarrassment which made the men roar with laughter. The almighty scientist furrowed his eyebrows angrily.
“Laugh all you want, Sean Welch,” the man said as calmly as possible. “You won’t be able to complete the mission.”
His words stopped Sean right in his tracks. “Tell us how to stop this damn thing,” he said, stepping closer to Dr. Ring.
The scientist cackled in a high-pitched voice. “Never!” he said, clapping his hands like a child would. “In fact, I’m going to quite enjoy watching you.”
Sean pushed past him. “Fine, watch us all you want,” he said, joining Ryan at the control panel.
“No, no, no, no!” he continued to cackle maniacally. “I am going to enjoy seeing you die!” He laughed even harder as he spoke, tears of joy leaking from his eyes.
Nathan hadn’t moved since he first entered the room. “Listen little man,” he began roughly. The short scientist was making him angry.
Dr. Ring smiled at Nathan. “No time for that!” he said, clapping one simple and quick, hard clap.
The walls rumbled as two side panels began to slide into the roof. Dr. Roger Ring cackled as the doors finished sliding. The two hallways were empty, and the bay doors were wide enough to fit a tank through and led right to the outside of the power plant. The scientist cackled widely again clapping one last time, but nothing happened.
Sean was confused. It was like a low budget James Bond movie was playing before them. The villain was trying to summon his minions of destruction, but they were slow, allowing time for the hero to fight back.
The short scientist pulled a small tablet from his lab coat pocket, and the screen flashed to life, showing a stream of red dots flowing towards a small, black box in the center of the screen.
“They’re coming,” Dr. Ring said to the screen happily. “They’re coming!” he screamed triumphantly again.
Sean looked at Ryan. “What’s coming?” he whispered so the mad scientist couldn’t hear them.
Nathan looked at his platoon members. “You fool… What e
lse do you think?” he hissed impatiently. “Bloody zombies.” He gripped a knife in his hands.
The ground began to jitter as the red dots came closer. Suddenly, from the distance, a large ripple of snarling and groaning could be heard. It was like an orchestra of monsters. Dr. Roger Ring cackled as the flow of zombies reached the large bay doors.
Sean had to think fast. He now understood the empty roads of the power plant. All the zombies were right in front of him, and he was empty handed.
“Let the fun begin!” Dr. Ring said, throwing his hands into the air.
Nathan didn’t wait for the zombies to get any closer. He threw the knife, letting it escape his fingers perfectly, and the blade buried itself deep into the zombie. He staggered and fell as the knife clattered to the floor.
Ryan looked at his umbrella and ducked underneath the zombie’s arm, rolling between two more as he reached the heavy control room door. He brandished the umbrella tip at the glass, taking in a deep breath as he quickly smashed the glass.
The jagged shards tumbled from the frame. Scooping one up, Ryan slashed at the closest zombie. The small woman groaned and pushed him as he shoved harder. The glass broke the zombie’s skin, and she stumbled awkwardly to the floor.
“Ryan!” he yelled, needing a piece of glass. A tall, muscular zombie wearing a hard hat was coming towards him. Now he knew where all the protective equipment went.
Ryan nodded. He didn’t want to hurt Sean but somehow had to find a way to get the glass to his friend. “Catch!” he yelled.
The noise caught the attention of a few zombies, and Ryan flicked the glass like a boomerang towards where Sean was by the control panel. The glass sliced the hardhat zombie’s neck as it passed, and a gross grey liquid sprayed out onto the floor before the zombie tumbled to the ground in defeat.
Nathan stabbed another zombie in the forehead, and he smiled as the villain fell to the ground at his feet. He wished he had a better way to defeat the steady flow of zombies than stabbing.
The zombie fell as Nathan stabbed him, and he quickly realized what the undead was wearing. He was dressed in sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt.
Pandemic Z | Book 2 | Pandemic Z 2 Page 14
