by Grivante
“Cute,” Judas said, laughing.
“Yeah. I'm thinking it will be a cute and quirky shop, just like me! I’m also hoping you and Jonah will want to retire and come join me?” She smirked, raising her eyebrows.
“Well, I can't answer for Jonah, but I’d go anywhere with you.”
“Hey,” Jonah called out, causing them both to jump. They looked up to find him standing at the edge of the cubicle wall, his expression tight. “What are you two plotting over there?”
JJ smirked at him. “Nothing big, just the rest of your life.” Her grin melted his gruff visage and they laughed as she and Judas walked over. She kissed Judas on the cheek, then did the same to Jonah. “I’m gonna go check in with Nantucket and see if she’s found anything yet.”
Jonah nodded, turning to his brother. “You okay?”
Judas’s smile faltered as he chewed at the side of his lip, staring after JJ. “We’ll get used to this right? This relationship? It’ll get easier, get better?”
“I sure hope so, bro,” Jonah said, wrapping an arm around Judas’s shoulder and squeezing him tight. “All I can say for sure is, she’s worth it.”
They both stared at JJ as she stood behind Nantucket at the computer.
“She is certainly something,” Judas said.
Part XVI - Archives of Anarchy
“Ew, gross!” Nat said.
“What is it?” Judas asked.
“She did tons of research on zombies, including the fact they can still have orgasms after they’re dead. She tried to make babies with zombie sperm.”
“That’s disgusting,” JJ spat.
“It sure is.”
“What happened?” Jonah asked.
“Every one of the ‘volunteers’ turned after inception. It took a couple of weeks or even months in some cases, but it looks like the sperm was viable and created life, then somewhere along the way, it would turn the fetus and…” Nantucket scrunched her nose as she scrolled through the file.
“Oh god,” JJ asked. “That’s…” she shook her head. “Horrible. Is there anything else? Something that tells us where she took Xanadu?”
“No, not yet. It might take a while to sift through everything, but I did read through the information she had on him. It's incredible. Do you think it’s real?”
“It makes more sense than anything I could come up with,” JJ answered.
Judas yawned. “I’m whooped. If it’s gonna be a while, I'm going to find a place to lie down for a nap.” He spotted an old sofa in the corner.
“Good idea,” Jonah nodded. “Let’s take turns trying to catch some rest and then we’ll be in better shape once we know where we’re going.”
Several hours later, Nantucket continued to click away at the keyboard. Jonah sat on the ground with his back against a support beam, his head on his knees, dozing. JJ lay cuddled up on the small couch with Judas spooned behind her, arm wrapped around her belly, holding her tight.
So far, Nantucket had learned a lot, but had no luck figuring out where Dr. Nitsau took Xanadu. She compiled a list of Nitsau Corporation facilities in the state, including ones not publicly listed as such. She also had information on several of the doctor’s experiments. Everything from zombie fetuses, to vape pens laced with her toxin, to modifying brain-eating amoebas that would allow her to control the dead. All of which were dated from years ago.
The only documents she could find that were updated recently and contained information of interest were ones related to the toxic gas.
A sudden scream from Judas caused everyone to awaken and turn in his direction. He shot up on the couch, startling JJ and nearly knocking her off the edge. He panted, sweat dripping from his brow.
Jonah jumped off the floor and ran over as JJ turned to him.
“What is it, sugar? What’s the matter?”
“I— I—” he stuttered holding his right hand out in front of him as if to push something away, then shook his head and took a deep breath. “Whoa. That was crazy.”
“What is it, bro?” Jonah asked as he stopped before them.
Judas looked up. “Sorry, it was just a bad dream, a nightmare.”
“What happened?” JJ asked, putting a palm on his thigh.
“I dreamt we were dealing with an outbreak and this zombie had me pinned, I couldn’t move, and it was coming in for a bite. I didn’t have any weapons, and I snapped, I reached out and bit it before it could get me.”
“Wow,” Jonah said. “That’s pretty gross.”
“Yeah,” JJ nodded. “What happened after that?”
“I’m definitely not gonna try it in real life,” Judas said. “After I bit him, that’s when it got scary. He turned back into a human, only he was missing an arm and half his face. There was blood and mashed flesh everywhere… he screamed and screamed for me to help him. Ugh, it was horrible.” He grimaced.
“Oh, sugar!” JJ hugged him. “That sounds awful.”
“Glad you’re ok, bro,” Jonah said. “I’m gonna go check in with Nat.”
JJ stretched her arms above her head. “Good idea, I’ll join you.”
He helped her up and they walked over to where Nat was scrolling through document after document.
“How's it going?” Jonah asked.
She turned from the screen, blinking her eyes and looking up at them as they approached. “Eh…, I’ve found tons of info, but I don’t know where they’re at. From what you told me and what I’ve seen, she’s spent the last few years diverting all operations into creating more and more of the zombie toxin. Over the last several months she’s shipped five hundred, thirty-thousand-gallon containers all over the world. There are multiple tanks in each major population center. From what I can tell, the final ones shipped out a few days ago. Her attack is imminent.”
“Where did they ship from?” Jonah asked, having an idea.
“They’ve come out of three facilities here in Arizona and one in Australia. More than likely they’re at one of those locations, but there’s no way I can determine which one for sure.”
“Hmm,” Jonah rubbed his chin, blinking his eyes to awaken. “What else?”
“A lot about her experiments into controlling the dead. Everything from engineering brain-eating amoebas to electrical impulse collars she could put on the zombies and control from a master switchboard, but for some reason, several years back, they stopped. As if she found the answer, but there’s no indication in any of the projects that were active then which has given her the control she sought.”
“This is bigger than just rescuing Xanadu isn’t it?” JJ asked.
“Yeah, I’m afraid so,” Jonah said. “She means to destroy civilization and enslave everyone as zombies she can control.”
“Why would she do that? If everyone’s dead, what’s the point?” Nantucket asked.
Jonah shook his head. “I wish I knew. She was determined to win the competition her and the other CEOs had between them.”
A pop-up appeared on the display and Judas asked. “What’s that?”
Nantucket turned back around and read it aloud. “New login for USER ID Nitsau1 from IP address 312.082.7.0, enter password to stay logged in on this terminal.”
A little countdown window displayed next to it. ’44… 43… 42…’
“Oh crap,” Nantucket muttered.
“What does that mean?” JJ asked.
“It means,” Nat replied, fingers flying over the keyboard. “That she’s logged in to the network from somewhere else and the system does not allow more than one instance of her user ID being connected at a time.”
“Oh no,” JJ’s hand flew to her chest. “What do we do?”
“Hold tight,” Nat said. “She just gave us the one thing we needed to find her.”
Jonah and Judas exchanged confused grimaces, turning back to watch as a black screen with a blinking cursor appeared. Nantucket typed like an out-of-control jackhammer, fingers clacking keys in a blur as she entered commands and the countdown contin
ued.
’13… 12… 11…’
“C’mon, c’mon.” Nat grit her teeth as she stared at the monitor.
A message popped up.
‘IP address 312.082.7.0 located at 31.998701, -111.052814’
“Bingo!” Nat shouted. “We’ve got her!” She copied the coordinates, closed the Nitsau Corporation intranet window and opened a web browser, pasted in the GPS location and watched as a map appeared and zoomed across the terrain. With a click, she switched the view from map to satellite and they studied the screen as it displayed a series of old buildings backed by a massive crater in the earth.
“What is that?” JJ asked.
Jonah huffed. “It’s a former mining site, one of those gigantic pits we’ve dug into the planet trying to uncover more minerals or oil or something. It’s out past the San Xavier Indian Reservation, not too far from the Desert Diamond Casino.”
“That’s only about thirty minutes away, isn’t it, Jonah?” Judas asked.
“Yes, it is.” He looked at his brother and nodded, then smiled at JJ. “You ready to go get your dog back?”
“Yes!” She jumped on the balls of her feet, face breaking into a huge smile before she lunged forward and hugged Nantucket. “Thank you, thank you!”
On the computer, a new pop-up displayed, ’USER ID Nitsau1 logged out.’
“Will she know we were using her ID?” Jonah asked.
“Hmm,” Nat peered at the monitor. “Maybe, but not likely. She might wonder why it hadn’t auto-logged her out.” She looked up at the ceiling, searching. “I don’t see any cameras in here, but it’s probable there are some. And if she had any suspicions about why her ID wasn’t logged out, she may check, in which case she’ll know that we know where she is.”
“Then she’ll either run again or be waiting for us,” Jonah said, breathing deep and looking at Judas. “It’s time we end this.”
“Damn straight, brother,” Judas said. “Let’s go.”
“Wait,” JJ said. “We need to get Nat back,” she looked at an old clock on the wall, “well, I guess home. School’s out, huh?”
“Yeah,” Nat nodded. “A couple of hours ago. But no worries!” She held up her phone. “I’ve got an app for that. I’ll take an e-taxi home, I don’t want you guys to lose a minute.”
“Ok. Let’s do this,” Jonah said smiling at Nantucket. “Thank you, again. This is twice you’ve made a huge difference for us.”
Nat’s dark cheeks appeared to darken even more. “No problem, Mr. Jonah. You have no idea what your friendship has done for me at school. I’m not Nasty Natty or Nat the Nerd anymore. Now, I’m just Nantucket, and nobody ever messes with me after hearing about everything we did that day.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” Jonah said.
“Me too,” Judas said, beaming.
They turned to gather their stuff but before Judas could join them, Nantucket reached out, grabbing his hand.
“Judas?”
“Yeah?” He swung back, smiling.
“Be careful. You mean the world to me.” Her voice sounded nasally and she sniffed, beaming up at him.
“Aww, thank you,” he said, slipping to one knee beside her and hugging her close. “You’re the best, Nantucket.”
Part XVII - Last Call
Smoke barreled out of both windows as Sasha tore town the desert highway. Jonah held a cigar to his lips in the driver’s seat and JJ chain-smoked cigarettes on the passenger’s side. Judas sat between them, the remains of his last mint crunching between his teeth.
“You know,” Judas said, “It’s kinda hard to stay quit when you two are both puffing away like that.”
JJ looked over at him and bit her lip then tossed her cigarette out the window. “Crap, I’m sorry—”
“No,” Judas apologized. “I was only playing around, I didn’t mean for you to stop. Believe me, if there’s ever been a time I’ve wanted nicotine, it’s right now. I’m pretty scared about what we’re gonna be walking into.”
Jonah held his cigar in front of him, looked at the smoke drifting from it, and slipped it back in his mouth. “I gotta say, Judas, you’ve got more willpower than I do.”
“Me too,” JJ said, pulling another cigarette out and lighting it.
“Well,” Judas said, “after the number of times I’ve gotten sick from it, I’m kinda over it at this point.”
JJ nodded. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
They turned off the main highway onto a dirt road.
“Where is this taking us?” JJ asked.
“To a birdseye view of what awaits us. She may have a small army down there, traps, or who knows what.”
“Good idea,” JJ said.
“Jonah’s always been the one with the plans.” Judas nodded.
They pulled to a stop a few minutes later, near an overlook that showed the entirety of the compound they believed contained Dr. Nitsau and Xanadu.
“Did you ever come here when you worked for her?”
“No,” Jonah shook his head. “We were only at her facility in the industrial part of town. That’s where we were security guards before the outbreak in the lab, then as exterminators, out of one of her warehouses. I knew she had other facilities, but no idea how many.” He turned to Judas. “Would you look behind the seat and check if they left the binoculars there when they finished the restoration?”
“You got it, bro.”
Jonah stepped out onto the sandy rock ledge and took a deep drag off his cigar, surveying what lay below them. A series of small, run-down looking buildings lined the long dirt road leading to the main building. It was a large structure built on the side of the vast mining pit that he couldn’t see into from that distance. A chain-link fence surrounded the whole area and ran to the edges of the hole, encompassing a parking lot large enough for a thousand vehicles.
Judas and JJ walked over to him. “Found ‘em,” his brother said, holding the binoculars out.
“Thanks,” Jonah said, taking them and getting a closer look. He didn't notice any activity, even with the help of the binoculars. “No workers, no vehicles… wait, there's something.”
A small helicopter sat on a helipad on top of the building's main entrance. Parked below, near the main doors, was a familiar black van. He couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked similar to the van they’d seen a couple of nights before at Burt’s. “Bingo!” He turned, handing the binoculars back to Judas. “There’s a black van down there by the central building. That’s got to be her.”
“Really?” JJ tapped her foot on the ground and reached for the binoculars. “That means Xanadu’s still here. Thank you, baby Jesus! Let me see!” She took them and zoomed in on the van and the surrounding area.
“So, what’s the plan, Jonah?” Judas asked.
“I didn't spot any obvious traps. We’ll go in slow and see if we meet any resistance. Hopefully, we’ve got the element of surprise on our side. But there’s a helicopter on the roof, something she might use to make a getaway.”
“Wait, something’s moving,” JJ said, turning a knob and zooming in. “It looks like... oh no…”
Dr. Nitsau pulled a chair up to an old metal desk in a large, dimly-lit room. Three men in black fatigues stood at attention near the entries. On top sat a computer terminal and a wire kennel shrouded by a black cloth. She yanked the cloth free, revealing Xanadu laying on all fours at the bottom.
“Well, hello again,” she said, grinning at him. “Miss me?”
Xanadu let out a low growl, to which she laughed. “You scare me even less now than you did when we first met, little mutt. See, this time, no matter what you do, we have plenty of time for me to get to your secrets. Don’t you worry.” She tapped the top of the kennel as if to reassure him before returning to the computer terminal. “Now, where were we?”
She clicked and clacked on the keys for a moment, then tilted her head, squinting at the monitor. “Hmm. Why didn’t that log out?” The noise of h
er fingers on the keyboard amplified as she ran queries and her eyes narrowed.
The screen split into four separate images, showing multiple views of the downtown office building she had left several hours ago. Jonah, Judas, JJ, and some child she did not recognize stood huddled around the terminal she had been using. “Very crafty. Very crafty, indeed.”
She set her elbow on the desk, rested her hand under her chin, and ran two fingers across the mottled surface of her disfigured cheek. The time stamp on the screen read approximately thirty minutes ago. She pulled a long black smoking stick and a cigarette from a drawer, lit it, and glared at the video.
When the group left, she turned her focus on Xanadu, drawing a slow drag from her cigarette. The tip burned bright, turning a quarter of it to ash as she pulled in, then blew it in Xanadu’s face, causing him to blink and his eyes to water. He sneezed, spraying snot onto the desk.
“It looks as if we'll be having company. Your friends know where we are.” She grinned. “Which means it’s time for the spider to prepare her web. First, I’m going to kill them. Then, you and I will resume our little experiments while my gas does its job and turns the entire world into living dead that only I can control.”
She stood, running her hands along the sides of her long, white leather lab coat. The material was once pristine, but now carried many dark brown stains and scuff marks. The click of her heels got the men’s attention, and they turned to her.
“We’re going to have visitors. Open the pens and let them out into the courtyard.”
“All of them?” A tall brown-haired man asked.
“Empty them. If they somehow get past those, we’ll leave my special pets in waiting.”
Jonah grabbed the binoculars and focused on the movement below. A large garage style door on the main building had swung open, and from it came row after row of the dead. His stomach churned as he watched them continue to pour out, hundreds, maybe thousands.
