KILL BOX: A Post-Apocalyptic Pandemic Thriller (The Zulu Virus Chronicles Book 2)

by Steven Konkoly

  He slapped Horton on the back and the team slid out of the apartment, the piercing buzz of the helicopters’ miniguns leaving him with an uneasy feeling. Who the hell was still pushing their luck against guns that fire a hundred rounds per second? Something had gone really fucking wrong in this city, and he couldn’t wait to get as far away from it as possible.

  Chapter 28

  Karyn Archer, call sign Ajax, kept a stone face as she listened to Ecker’s report, even though she wanted to scream and throw someone out the open helicopter door. How the hell could Chang have vanished? Ochoa had reported everything under control, with the scientist in custody—less than fifteen fucking minutes ago! Nobody was going anywhere until they had some answers.

  “This is Ajax. What is your immediate assessment of what happened in that apartment?”

  “Something doesn’t add up. The apartment door was breached with compact charges from the hallway, but the apartment is riddled with bullets that came through the balcony sliders. Ochoa and Ripley both had several gunshot wounds. Whoever fired into the apartment couldn’t have been worried about the VIP.”

  “Or they didn’t care,” said Archer.

  “Someone cared enough to shoot Ochoa in the forehead at extremely close range. Powder burn pattern suggests an execution. It’ll take an FBI forensics team to make sense of the rest of this mess.”

  “No sign of the VIP?”

  “Nothing,” said Ecker. “I’d be surprised if he was ever here.”

  She thought about the situation for a few moments. Ecker was right. Little to none of what she’d just heard made sense. Ochoa had been sitting on Chang’s apartment for several hours, with no sign of the scientist, then suddenly reports Chang in custody—only to be found executed less than fifteen minutes later. This whole thing was a massive cluster fuck. None of the teams had located Chang prior to Ochoa’s report.

  Actually, nothing she’d heard all night made sense. Larsen’s team had suddenly gone offline shortly after landing at Chang’s residence northwest of the city. She had sent Ragan’s nearby team to investigate Larsen’s silence, only to divert her to the city when Archer received a bizarre tip regarding Chang’s whereabouts.

  A 10th Mountain Division emergency broadcast bulletin had been flagged by the CHASE system, detailing a gun battle at a regional airport northwest of Indianapolis. A small group of civilians had somehow managed to blow up a forward refueling point to cover their escape—in an aircraft registered to Dr. Eugene Chang.

  The aircraft had been forced south, mysteriously vanishing somewhere near the downtown area. The coincidence couldn’t be ignored. Chang had piloted the aircraft and was now in the city. She figured he’d take refuge in a familiar location, either his apartment or his research space. Now she had no idea. They’d head over to NevoTech next and take a quick look around from the air. The team originally situated in the Secure Research Facility hadn’t reported in several minutes.

  “Ajax, this is Valkyrie. Did you copy my last?”

  “Affirmative. Head across the street to Chang’s apartment and conduct a search of the premises,” said Archer. “We’re missing something.”

  “Copy. On my way. Keep the streets clear for us.”

  Archer glanced at the intersection next to Chang’s building as one of the miniguns fired a long burst into a mob of infected that had just appeared. The stream of tightly spaced bullets cut a bright red swath through the crowd, dropping most of them in a snarled tangle of punctured bodies and twisted limbs. She wished the idiots behind this mess could be here to see what they’d created. There was no way they could have envisioned things getting this bad when they set it all in motion. She simply couldn’t believe it. A second, shorter burst knocked the remaining survivors on the street under a red mist.

  “The streets are clear.”

  Chapter 29

  David stared at the massive screen, nervously rubbing his unshaven face. The helicopters slowly rose above the buildings and turned toward NevoTech.

  “Did Roscoe shoot at the team along the fence?” he said.

  Hoenig shook his head. “No. Not with a rifle. He fired one of the pyrotechnic grenades at the gate while they were setting an explosive charge—to get them away from the gate.”

  “So it could easily be interpreted as a nonlethal response to a clearly unauthorized and potentially dangerous breach of the campus security fence,” said David.

  “Well, I’m not sure I’d call it nonlethal under the circumstances—” started Hoenig.

  “I’m just hoping that the team reported themselves locked out, with the NevoTech security taking steps to keep them from getting back in. That’s very different than taking them under direct fire with rifles.”

  “I guess we’ll find out if it’s different enough,” said Hoenig.

  “I think we’ll be fine,” said David. “They barely stayed on Virginia Avenue for three minutes, and they don’t have enough people on those helicopters to effectively search this facility.”

  “They might go for the SRF,” said Hoenig.

  “Let them,” said David. “They won’t find what they’re looking for over there.”

  “Yeah. That’s kind of what I’m worried about.”

  “They’ll be in and out if they stop,” said David.

  “And if they stick around for more than a quick look?” said Hoenig.

  “Then we have the tactical advantage. You have a heavily armed security team that knows the campus inside and out. Plus you can see every nook and cranny of the campus—both inside and outside. That puts us at a significant advantage.”

  Hoenig just stared at him for a few seconds, his face giving no indication that he was buying into David’s optimistic musings.

  “Let’s just hope they move along,” said David.

  “If you’re any indication of the quality of operators on those helicopters, then hoping they move along is a much better strategy.”

  “Joshua, can you keep a close eye on the southern and eastern arrays while we focus on this?” said Hoenig.

  “Sure,” said Joshua.

  His son slid into his previous seat behind a trio of oversized monitors and started shifting through camera feeds.

  “I have a job for him when this is over. Part time of course,” said Hoenig.

  “I’m not entirely convinced this will ever be over in the traditional sense of the word,” said David. “But I’m sure he’ll take you up on the offer if it does.”

  The two unmarked Black Hawks arrived over the parking lot, immediately drawing several crazies out of the trees and brush surrounding the field of pavement. Small-arms fire from the helicopters’ open doors stopped them in their tracks.

  “They must be running low on minigun ammo,” said David.

  “Or that wasn’t a big enough crowd to warrant their use,” said Hoenig. “Who knows what they were dealing with over on Virginia Avenue.”

  “Good point,” said David.

  One of the helicopters drifted toward the fence, descending as it edged sideways. A few feet above the ground, two heavily armed, body-armor-clad figures jumped to the pavement and sprinted toward the fence where the ill-fated CHASE team had made its last stand just minutes ago.

  “I don’t like this,” said Hoenig.

  “Neither do I.”

  The two operators dug through the pile of bodies pushed up against the fence, separating the CHASE team from the infected.

  “This is not good,” said Hoenig. “Crazies approaching from the east, along the fence line. They just crossed East Street.”

  The screen split, one side focused on the helicopters hovering over the parking lot, and the other side tracking a fast-moving mob passing in front of the gate that still held Howard’s body. The two CHASE operators continued searching through the bodies.

  “What the hell are you doing?” said David, yelling at the screen like it was a Colts game. “Get the hell out of there!”

  The front of the horde made it halfway
down the fence line before one of the miniguns fired, cutting down half of the group at once. A long pause ensued as the higher of the two helicopters spun in place to unmask its remaining loaded gun. The second burst of concentrated gunfire raked the other half of the approaching mob, knocking them against the swaying fence.

  “Did you see that?” said David.

  “I did,” said Hoenig. “One more—”

  Before he could finish, another burst of automatic gunfire tore into the few crazies still running toward the exposed CHASE operators, most of the bullets striking the already weakened fence. A section of the wrought-iron barrier separated from its supporting post, warping inward under the near simultaneous impact of a few hundred bullets travelling at least twice the speed of sound. The section stayed upright, but an easily passable gap in the perimeter of the fence opened.

  “They’ll be all over that,” said David.

  “Not right away,” said Hoenig. “But we’ll need to plug that hole. There’s no way we can retrieve Dan without drawing them inside the perimeter.”

  “We can’t bend that steel back in place,” said David.

  “No. But we can push the armored SUV against the gap,” said Hoenig.

  “They can still squirm under the vehicle,” said David. “Or climb over the top.”

  “We’ll have to post a team out there with suppressed weapons to keep any of the more curious types from slipping through,” said Hoenig. “After we get Dan.”

  “After we get Dan,” repeated David.

  The two-man team finished digging through the pile of bodies a few seconds later, one of them pocketing something before they sprinted toward the nearest helicopter. They hopped onboard with little time to spare, the helicopter quickly rising above a sizable group of crazies that had converged from every direction. With the miniguns out of ammunition, the operators packed inside each helicopter’s cargo compartment fired their rifles and light machine guns at the expanding mob. Before the shooters could make a dent in the swarm, the helicopters tilted east and picked up speed. Hoenig tracked the helicopters with the cameras until they disappeared beyond the low-rise buildings near Chang’s apartment.

  “How long until the SUV is ready to roll?” said David.

  “If it’s not going back out in the parking lot, it’s ready now,” said Hoenig. “No sense in putting a new tire on a doorstop.”

  “The sooner we get that gap filled, the better,” said David, nodding at the screen.

  The crowd of infected in the parking lot had started to disperse, some of them headed in the general direction of the gap.

  “The miniguns didn’t finish everyone off,” said David. “The wounded will draw some of them close to the hole. I’ll head up to the roof and keep them out.”

  “I’ll send Roscoe with you.”

  “Dad, I can help,” said Joshua, standing up.

  “Josh, do me a huge favor and help Mr. Hoenig here,” said David.

  “That’s not fair, Dad. You know I can handle myself. I helped get us here from the plane.”

  “I know you’re not going to believe me when I say this, but I’m not asking you to stay behind because I don’t think you’re capable,” said David.

  “Then what—”

  “Let me finish,” said David.

  “Sounded like you were done.”

  “Are you done?”

  Joshua shrugged his shoulders.

  “I want to protect you—”

  “That’s the same thing!” said his son.

  “Are you going to let me finish or what?” yelled David.

  His son shook his head and sighed.

  “I’m trying to protect what’s in here,” said David, poking his own head. “We’re shooting people out there. It may not feel like it when you’re running for your life, but up on the roof, shooting people over and over again? That’ll stick around and fuck with your head. Trust me. That’s why I don’t want you up there. It’s a bad deal for anyone unlucky enough to be doing it.”

  “I think I’d be fine,” said Joshua, the confidence drained from his voice.

  “Nobody is ever fine with it. No matter what they say,” said David.

  “I just want to help.”

  “You are helping,” said Hoenig. “More than you realize.”

  “And if they break through in numbers that can’t be handled from the rooftop, Mr. Hoenig will send you with the first team that responds,” said David.

  “Really?” said Hoenig.

  “Why not? He can handle himself,” said David, eliciting a partial smile from Joshua.

  “Shit,” said Hoenig, grimacing at the screen.

  David shifted his attention to the live feed on the wall, immediately seeing the problem. Several infected seemed headed for the gap in the fence.

  “This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”

  “And every day after that,” said Hoenig.

  He absorbed the heaviness of Gary’s statement, feeling guilty that he had a way out of this. Then again, David’s “way out” could just as easily break apart in midair, scattering his son and him across one of the endless cornfields surrounding Indianapolis. He hadn’t forgotten Chang’s concern about one of the wings. Or they could be blown right out of the sky by a patrolling Apache helicopter—resulting in the same, cheery cornfield ending. Anything was possible once that plane lifted off the highway.

  Despite these possible outcomes, he was willing to take the risk to get his son out of here. The situation inside the city would worsen, inevitably spilling over into NevoTech. He could see that. Anybody could see that. The feds had zero capacity to adequately and humanely respond to a crisis of this magnitude—in dozens of cities across the country. A single hurricane was enough to tip FEMA over. And then there was Chang’s theory about the government somehow being behind this. He really didn’t want to think about that, and it didn’t matter. Either way, the city of Indianapolis, and everyone that remained inside the quarantine boundary, was doomed. Everything they did now to keep this place safe was a temporary solution.

  “We’ll have to skip the rooftop for now. Send Roscoe to the same door we used before. I’m pretty sure I know how to get back to it,” said David before nodding at Joshua. “Ready?”

  “For what?”

  “To hold the line until they can get the SUV in place.”

  “Grab my kit,” said Hoenig. “It’s hanging on the wall behind you.”

  “This is for real?” said Joshua.

  “It’s what you wanted, right?” said David, moving toward the body armor and rifle hanging from coat hooks next to the door.

  When his son didn’t respond immediately, David grinned.

  “Careful what you ask for.”

  Chapter 30

  Joshua ran with his dad down a long, wide hallway, loaded down with a loose, ill-fitted tactical vest and oversized ballistic helmet. Mr. Hoenig was a big guy, and not in the overweight sense of the word. He was tall and stocky, the exact opposite of Joshua. His dad hesitated at one of the four-way junctures before continuing forward.

  “Are you sure this is the right way?” he said.

  “It’s the right way,” said Hoenig in his earpiece.

  “Thanks, Gary,” said David. “The old man still has a few marbles left.”

  “I wasn’t saying that,” said Joshua. “How did he hear me?”

  “I’m just messing with you,” said David. “I set my radio to voice activate, since we’re only on one net right now.”

  “Should I be on that?”

  “No. You talk too much,” said David.

  “He’s messing with you again,” said Hoenig.

  “Want to head back yet?” said David.

  “Nice try,” said Joshua.

  “How far away is Roscoe?” said David.

  “Thirty seconds behind you.”

  “How many are through the fence?”

  “Three. And they’re pretty scattered. You’ll have to go hunting for one of them,
” said Hoenig. “The other two are in sight of the door, but not an immediate threat.”

  “What’s the situation outside the fence?”

  “Not bad. A few looky-loos but no large groups,” said Hoenig.

  “Let me know if anything develops,” said David.

  “Will do. You’re coming up on the door. Be careful.”

  They slowed a little, a green exit sign sticking out of the wall indicating their destination. His dad stopped several feet in front of the sign, crouching next to a window. Joshua mimicked his stance, edging close enough to his father to see outside the building.

  “We have one dead ahead of us. Halfway between here and the fence,” said David, making more room by the window. “Where’s the other one?”

  “To your two o’clock when you open the door,” said Hoenig. “Maybe a hundred feet out.”

  Seemed straightforward enough.

  “So we take them down at the same time?” said Joshua, tightening his grip on the M4.

  “Not with that thing,” said David, looking at Joshua’s rifle. “Suppressed shots only. We’re waiting for Roscoe.”

  “What?” said Joshua. “Then what am I here for?”

  “You’re here in case something goes really wrong out there.”

  “Can you switch out of voice-activation mode?” said Hoenig. “I feel like I’m seated between a bickering couple.”

  “Funny,” said David, flipping a switch on the radio velcroed to his vest.

  Joshua didn’t think it was funny at all. His dad seemed to be mocking him.

  “Why did you bring me along if I can’t shoot?” said Joshua.

  “I didn’t say you can’t shoot. I said we need to do this as quietly as possible, or we’ll drag the entire neighborhood into the campus,” said David.

  “You didn’t say that.”

  “Did I have to?” said David.

  He shrugged his shoulders and frowned.

  “Don’t be so eager to shoot people,” said David.

  “I’m not eager to shoot people,” he grumbled. “I just don’t like to be coddled.”