“Badass,” Jason says.
As tires squeal against pavement, a woman rushes onto the road. You floor the accelerator and gun the engine, but she frantically stumbles forward, trying to get you to stop, waving her arms in panicked mania. You weave away from her, but at the last second she lunges—and slaps off the front bumper.
You let out a squeal. “Omigod, is she okay?”
“Doubt it.”
“Should we stop?”
Jason looks back. “Nope. She’s fine.”
In the rear-view mirror, you see the woman slowly rise from the road, despite the odd angles at which her limbs now bend. Yep, better keep moving.
Ahead, the hospital parking lot is the epicenter of social decay—over-packed with cars, most having ignored the lines and signs of the lot. Doing the same, you pull onto a flower bed and park atop the daisies at the entrance. With all the chaos, you figure it’s best to bring your firearms with you.
When you run inside the automatic doors, you’re greeted with a directional sign. Where to?
• Pharmacy. If there’s something that’ll help Dad, that’s where it will be held.
• ER. This is an emergency!
• The Morgue. When the dead are rising, it’ll likely be the safest place here.
• Cafeteria. Maybe you can catch a doctor on break?
MAKE YOUR CHOICE
Draconian
“Get inside or get left behind!” you shout, running back in. You slam your hand on the plunger switch and yell, “NOW!!!”
The door begins on its course, rattling down the tracks on rollers that have long needed replacing. Owen sprints in, then Stephen. Craig and Brian come running, but a lifetime of saying “fuck you” to cardio doesn’t give Craig much of a chance, while having his arm chewed like a hungry dog on a rawhide bone has sapped Brian’s strength.
Still, Brian was closer, and it looks like he’ll make it. So you lunge forward, turn, and kick him in the chest. He falls back towards Craig and the door closes. The moaning grows louder, and then the two men’s screams drown out all sound from outside.
“You goddamned bitch!” Stephen yells.
You turn to face him, almost confused by his anger. “Brian was bitten. Didn’t you see what happened to Josh?”
“And Craig?!” he shouts, spittle hitting you in the face.
“You’re still alive, you ignorant fool!”
Stephen punches you in the stomach. It’s a sucker-punch, the breath shoots from your abdomen and you stumble back to Josh’s work station. You grab a large chrome wrench from the desk and turn in a wild swing.
He’s further back than you thought, and you hit only air. You’re still sucking for breath when he swings. You bring the wrench up and he punches metal, buying you a moment of time as he screams out in pain and grabs his bruised knuckles.
“Guys, stop!” Owen shouts, stepping between the two of you.
Stephen elbows his boss in the face and the man falls back. Then Stephen grabs a lug nut off his workstation and hurls it at you like a fastball pitch. You duck down and the next thing you know, he’s tackled you. His fingers wrap around your neck.
Everything goes dull, then red. Your vision tunnels like you’re about to pass out. Then suddenly you can breathe again. When you look up, you see Owen standing over you, with one hand outstretched and the other holding a bloody wrench.
“It was the only choice we had. You did the right thing,” he says.
You take his hand and he helps you up. Stephen isn’t moving. The garage door starts opening again, meaning either Craig or Brian used the employee keypad entrance. Damn them! The dead flood into the garage and with a welded door at your back, there’s nowhere to go. You grab the wrench to fight, but you know this won’t end well.
THE END
Dragon Emperor
The students gather in a semi-circle while Master Hanzo bites on his empty pipe. He clears his throat, closes his eyes, and begins, “This story takes place in ancient China, Zhou dynasty. Before the Silk Road, there was some trade, usually by exiles and hermits. Well, one such was a priestess who wandered all the way from a great civilization in Egypt. She was traveling through China, lost, and found she was without water. She asked a man for a drink, and he scolded her. In those days, women did not speak to men, and this man was a nobleman—so her blunder was double. But she pleaded for mercy.
“She said, ‘All I want in this world is a cup of water!’
“But the man, born to riches, did not know true thirst. ‘I don’t care,’ he said. ‘No one can give me all I want in the world, so why should I help you?’”
Nolan shifts on the floor and whispers, “He’s not very nice.”
The other children nod solemnly.
“‘But, I can give you your desires!’ the woman said. ‘If you give me water, I will give you the power of the dragon, which is the power to have all your wishes granted!’
“The man, who was actually a prince, agreed. He was turned into a dragon, and destroyed all of his enemies. This man became the Emperor of China, uniting the many kingdoms into one, but since he was so cruel to the Egyptian priestess—his gift was actually a curse. His own thirst for greatness could never be quenched.
“The Dragon Emperor began to consume. First, the prize livestock and best crops, but then he desired more. When a master painter completed a great work of art, the dragon would come and swallow it whole. If a tapestry took four or more years to complete, the dragon would come and eat it! If a mother who was unable to have children prayed and prayed and finally got pregnant, the dragon would come and eat—”
“Ewww,” Christian says.
Haley punches him in the arm, and that silences the teen.
Master Hanzo continues, “The people prayed for an end to the terror of the dragon. The Emperor’s own son was coming of age, and the priests were afraid the dragon would consume their future ruler. One man, known for his wisdom, said he would make a gift—the greatest blade that man had ever seen. He took years to complete the dagger, and it was never equalled.
“Just as expected, at completion, the dragon showed up. The wise man offered the blade, and the dragon ate it—but the dagger was made to the exact right size, and caught in the dragon’s throat, killing the Dragon Emperor and allowing his more just and peaceful son to inherit the land.”
Master Hanzo opens his eyes, chews on his pipe and looks around at the students.
“The lesson,” you ask, “Is it to always be generous with your gifts, or your gifts will consume you?”
“What happened to the wise man?” asks Mason. “The one who killed the dragon?”
“Some say he turned into a tiger and left China, never to return. Goodnight,” Master Hanzo says.
The old man abruptly extinguishes the candles with a sweep of his robe, and the room goes dark. The children whisper to themselves for a time, but eventually you all fall fast asleep.
* * *
Sometime in the middle of the night, you’re awakened by an urgent pounding on the doors. It takes only a brief moment to exit the dream-state of sleep before the memories of what’s out there come flooding back.
It’s an urgent, almost animal-like intensity, rapping upon the door, pulling at the handles and groping for a way in. With no streetlights, you can’t see who it is—or how many—out in the shadowy black of night. A huffing voice shouts something, but you can’t make out any words, or be certain there are any to make out.
• Leave the doors closed. You can’t defend against a mob with a wooden sword.
• Open the doors. Bushido demands you help any way you can.
MAKE YOUR CHOICE
Drooling
Okay, so that was all a dream. As in, none of that happened after you saved the Ambassador. In fact, right now you’re asleep on the C-17, headed back to the States. Still, that would be cool, wouldn’t it? To be a zombie-slaying badass superhero? You wish, Sims. You wish.
But you’re to be congratulate
d on finding this book’s major Easter Egg!
If you want to join Agent Droakam and be a superhero for real, check out SUPERPOWERED. If you want to hang out with agents Bertram and Danly in a non-zombie environment, check out MURDERED and put your detective skills to the test.
For now:
Time to wake up.
Early Bird
You jog through the parking lot, which, even in the morning light, catches the attention of five nutters close enough to see you. They give stumbling chase and you go for the nearest entrance—a department store.
Bad news: shit must have gone down after closing time, because the doors are locked. You can see through them to another set of double doors and the darkened store beyond.
• Find another way in!
• Kick ’em down!
MAKE YOUR CHOICE
Eaten
Hefty shakes his head, but doesn’t protest, so as a group of five, you head towards the cafeteria. It’s not hard to find—there are large mural-sized maps with a “You Are Here!” at every trail junction. Getting inside, however, might be a different story.
The entry has been barricaded from within. The front of the building is almost entirely made of glass, but every square inch is covered with stacked tables and chairs. Sure would be nice to have that Ditch Witch right about now.
“Think there might be survivors?” Angelica asks.
“Only one way to find out,” Hefty answers.
“Not the front,” you say. “There will be a back way in, and it’ll be less protected.” They follow you around to an Employee Only entrance. It’s locked, of course. “Ty, take off the doorknob,” you order.
The big man nods and hefts the sledgehammer up over his head like he’s doing the strongman test at a carnival. He brings it down cleanly on the door handle, shearing if off in one swipe. You knock the rest away, then push the door open. This door wasn’t barricaded, but from this angle you can see just how crazy the front is—it would have taken hours to clear it from the entrance.
“Smart, Cooper. Nicely done,” Tyberius says.
When you head in, you’re greeted with a terrible stench. It’s impossibly dark and you can’t see very far, what with the barricade blocking the sun from the glass façade. But it’s the moan that raises the hair on the back of your neck.
“Hefty, take the left. Tyberius, right. Jose, with me. Angelica, watch our rear!” you shout.
Moving quickly, the gang rushes in. Hefty proves his worth with that lead pipe, while Tyberius does terrible damage with his sledgehammer. Jose is quick and efficient, trapping heads between the frying pan and cleaver. Your wrench is more than capable of collapsing a skull, and Angelica even manages to batter a former nine-year-old with her candlestick. In a matter of moments, you’ve dispatched more than a dozen ghouls and the cafeteria is silent, save for your heavy breathing.
“Nice work, everyone,” you say. It’s true. Could you have taken that many alone? “This is where the survivors holed up. Let’s check for food.”
The survivors didn’t leave much, and with no power, what little food was left in the refrigerators didn’t hold. Must’ve been a massive blackout in the city while you were trapped at that compound. Still, they died and turned before they ate everything, so you’re able to scrounge up enough for one meal. A meal you’re happy to eat out on the patio.
“That was some good shit, Coop,” Tyberius says, taking a seat next to you. “Where’d you learn to be so cool under pressure?”
“Try running a pit crew sometime,” you say.
“No shit, that was like some Rainbow Six, Call of Duty-level badassery,” Hefty adds.
You don’t respond, instead taking another bite of potato chips. You can barely taste their overly salty goodness through the throbbing in your lower back.
“You’ll have to excuse her,” Angelica says. “She doesn’t trust you because the last men we met—”
You lash out, slapping Angelica across the face, silencing the woman. “If you ever say another word about that place, I swear to God it’ll be your last!”
The sudden outburst surprises even you, but if you’re going to lead these men, you can’t have them thinking of you in terms of breeding stock. No one at the table speaks, much less eats. Everyone sits frozen, staring at some detail on the tables.
Calmly, you continue, “We all did what we had to do to survive, didn’t we? Doesn’t mean we have to talk about it.”
“Fine by me…” Tyberius says.
Hefty nods. “I’m good with that.”
The group goes back to eating, and you finish your makeshift meal without another word.
“We might be wise to consider the zoo animals,” you say afterwards. “For food, I mean.”
“Ummm, yeah, about that,” Hefty says.
“You object?”
“Unless you’re talking about the seals, it’s a no-go. I…uhhh…we let most of the animals out this morning.”
“You did what?”
“Seemed wrong just to leave them incarcerated, considering they’d all starve to death,” Hefty says with a shrug. “And I figured maybe a bull elephant would take a few nutters down on its way out.”
“We’re walking around with wild animals?” Angelica asks.
“Not yet. We just opened the cages. Most were too scared to come out, or too used to the bars to try,” Tyberius explains.
“Kinda like people, come to think of it,” Hefty adds.
“What about the carnivores?” you ask.
“All of ’em.”
“Christ,” you say. “Frightened, hungry predators and the dead? We’re getting out of here.”
“To go where?” Angelica asks.
You don’t answer. Frankly, because you don’t know.
“My next idea was the theme park,” Hefty says. “Used to work there, and I know where they store the extra food. Lots and lots of extra food. Got a wall too, but I doubt many would think of it as a shelter. Which means we should have it to ourselves. Safe as can be.”
“Like it was here…before you Jurassic Park’ed the place,” you say.
“Uhhh, guys,” Tyberius says.
He points towards a stroller parking area—and a lion. The king of the jungle takes a cautious step towards you. The scale of the animal is something you didn’t appreciate from afar. He’s gigantic. His nostrils flare as he smells your food.
• Run!
• Stand tall, scare it off.
MAKE YOUR CHOICE
Eat Me
“I’ve got a better idea,” the guard says. “Why don’t you fuck yourself? You know what? If we do come back, I’m making sure we visit this cell last. But hey, if you get hungry, there’s some big Mexican chorizo right there you can choke on.”
And with that, the guard is off. He leaves the food cart right in front of your cell and abandons the prison. The other inmates he hadn’t yet visited howl with anger. But that’s nothing compared to what’s locked in here with you.
“You dumb, white, loco…” he growls.
Celly takes your food tray for himself, and you don’t bother to argue. If you hadn’t tossed his file, things might be different.
* * *
Three more days pass, and you’re weak with hunger. The food trays are tantalizingly just out of reach, and starting to smell. What’s worse, Celly’s starting to look at you funny. Any time you fall asleep, he nudges you to see if you’re only sleeping.
Then you don’t wake up. Celly puts a pillow over your face and that’s that. A starving man is at his most dangerous, and you’re the only food within arm’s reach.
THE END
Emergency Exit
You hop up, and the homeless guy does the same. Your arms go to the big red handle on the back door, while the vagrant’s arms go to you. He grabs you firmly by the shirtsleeves, so you switch focus. You try to shove the guy away, but he’s got a death grip on your arms. He’s frothing at the mouth and repeatedly snapping his teeth.
Other passengers on the bus start screaming.
Leaning back, you plant a foot on the homeless guy’s chest and kick him back. He tears your shirtsleeves to tatters, but then falls away. Not wasting any time, you open the back door and jump out.
Someone screams, and you see that the crazed vagrant now holds a new passenger hostage.
“Hey! Stay put. We have infected in the area,” shouts a street cop, brandishing a baton.
Infected? What the hell does that mean? Beyond the man there’s a line of National Guardsmen defending a wooden barrier, the kind of thing they put up at events for crowd control. But these are armed soldiers, not event security rent-a-cops. What’s going on here? You’re trying to think, but the cop shouting in your face makes it nearly impossible.
• Run past the soldiers. Run home. Just…run.
• Cooperate. Tell him there was a crazed guy on the bus!
• Knock him out; that’ll give you some time to think.
MAKE YOUR CHOICE
Encroaching
Everyone thinks you’re crazy for hiking through the swamps at night, but you explain the urgency. Reluctantly, they nod their heads, say goodbyes, and promise to meet you at Salvation. Still, as you presently slog through the muck, you can’t help but agree with their original assessment.
Where the Kendo armor was hot and muggy during the day, your sweat chills you at night, and the helmet obscures what little night vision the cloudy sky affords. Something moves in the brackish waters and you freeze, your hand on the pommel of your sword.
There it is again—you’re not imagining it. You spring the sword out into the night sky and the steel blade shimmers in the pale moonlight. Focused on the rippling swamp ahead, a shape just beneath the surface catches your eye.
You plunge the blade into the water, if only to slow your would-be attacker. You can’t make out the walking corpse’s head in the murky black, but your armor should protect you. That confidence wavers when your sword glances off the body below, like you’ve just struck a boulder.
PATHOGENS: Who Will Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? (Click Your Poison Book 4) Page 12
