Zombified (Book 1): The Head Hunter Read online

  He had left the door open a crack, which made it easier for her to shove through it and out into the hallway lined with metal doors made up of a diamond shaped crisscross pattern with a rectangle cut out of the center. Just enough space to put something through. Her door had been solid, replaced obviously to hold someone or something they had never had to deal with before, and she guessed she could qualify even a little.

  The screams of others echoed through the slight cracks at the bottom of the doors, left there to rot for whatever purpose the Revs had for their suffering. One of the doors was open, empty of any occupant that she could see as she moved past it on swift legs.

  She kept going, which made her feel selfish, but there would always be time to come back for them. At least she hoped.

  Pipes running parallel to the ceiling hung down above her and old paint peeled from the walls. Near darkness surrounded her but she ran regardless, with hands out to the sides and fingers grazing the wall to her left to guide her way.

  As she finally seemed to move out of the desolate hallway filled with the tortured and dying, an amber light appeared. Sounds from the Rev she had hurt came from behind her. She froze, knowing the light beyond wasn’t going to be her savior and that the Revenant behind her would want revenge for his broken nose. She looked back but didn’t see him emerge yet and, as her gaze flicked to the light before her, she was confident she couldn’t go either way. Neither direction offered safety from the undead blood drinkers who had unknown plans for her.

  “No. No, no, no, no,” she whispered to herself, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she tried to figure a way out.

  Voices came from both directions now, echoing off the walls so that it sounded as if the Revenants were all around her. She turned and turned, attempting to see something she could have very well missed before, seeing nothing. Of course, it was so dark in there that she couldn’t see much of anything the farther it she got from the tawny lights down the way.

  “You can’t run from us!” the Revenant she had harmed screamed at the top of his lungs.

  The others just down from where she stood went silent, their voices picking up in bass and volume after a few stunned seconds of silence. After one last turn, she stopped. She wasn’t getting out. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Oh, God,” she breathed as she squeezed her eyes shut.

  “I’m afraid he’s not here tonight, Jenny,” a resonant voice came from behind her.

  When she looked back, her eyes met those of Colonel Jenkins, the Revenant who had kidnapped her and brought her to this godforsaken place within the Dead Zone where no one survived.

  “I was going to give you a chance to prove to me you weren’t like your father, but I was foolish,” he said with a sneer.

  Others were coming closer and out of the corner of her eye she saw at least five bald heads bounce through the light and into the near dark surrounding her.

  With a jerk, Jenkins struck her in the abdomen with a closed fist. Jenny doubled over in pain as nausea forced its way up her throat in a burning rush. She gagged and tried to swallow it down, but failed, spewing the meager contents of her stomach onto the floor. Jenkins leaned down as she gripped her abdomen, his lips grazing her ear as he spoke to her.

  “Don’t make me regret not killing you, Miss Meldano. The limits of my patience are a lot lower than they were seven years ago.” He stood up and called out to the men coming toward them. “Take her back to her cell. No one goes in or out of there except myself. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” more than one voice responded.

  “And one of you go check on Wilson. He’ll most likely need the doctor.”

  “Yes, sir,” another myriad of vocalizations.

  “Get her out of here. I’ll deal with her shortly.”

  Chapter 19

  Great Smoky Mountains

  July 2027

  Area 51 – Underground Bunker

  Caesar sat in front of the main computer screen facing Joshua and Mark. Both looked as if they had finally had a restful night’s sleep, but that would be a thing of the past soon enough. Once they left the underground bunker, they wouldn’t be sleeping until they made it back there with Jenny, his precious daughter, in tow.

  That was the most important task of all; to rescue her from the dangerous hands of the Revenants who held her. All because of him and his foolishness seven years prior.

  First, the two in front of him needed to know the entire truth even though he was confident they would state they knew it all. He would laugh, of course, knowing that wasn’t true in the slightest.

  He took a deep breath and began.

  “You two have a decision to make. I am going to go get my daughter, with or without your help. That decision is entirely up to you. But I feel there are things you need to know before you make your decision. All that I ask is that you let me explain without interruption, even if it seems like you’ve heard it all before,” he explained as he eyed both Joshua and Mark.

  Both young men nodded in agreement and adjusted in their seats as they watched him carefully.

  “Years ago, during the time of the old government and before the meteorite shower, there were warnings of what was to come. Meteors, small at first, would strike our atmosphere and break apart or evaporate completely. No one ever noticed, of course. At first, they came down years apart, escaping all notice. NASA decided to explore to find out where they were coming from,” he said.

  “In nineteen ninety-six, NASA launched a rocket into space. Held within it was Project NEAR, a one-thousand, one-hundred-pound robot. Its mission was to land on Eros, a near-Earth asteroid. NEAR successfully landed on the asteroid in two thousand one. For a time, it transmitted data and photographs to NASA’s scientists, and they were certain that Eros would not collide with the Earth since it was only in our orbit,” Genesis continued in her electronic tone.

  “Thank you, Genesis,” Caesar said. He turned to the computer screen and tapped a few buttons, a photo of the surface of the asteroid popping onto the screen. “Eros wasn’t just an asteroid like they had thought, but part of debris that was much, much larger. It may have been part of the moon at some point. Upon inspection of the photos by NASA, they found a photograph that NEAR had taken of what trailed behind it.”

  After pressing another button, a photo of an even larger body came onto the screen, Eros barely an eighth of the size.

  “Oh my God,” both Joshua and Mark whispered at the same time.

  “Trust me, this isn’t even the half of it.” Caesar cleared his throat and continued with the history lesson. “The United Nations gathered its most brilliant minds and, together, they decided that nuking it all was the best option. They named the largest asteroid Leto, and they decided to send another massive launch into space to deal with it.”

  “Seeing that they seemed to change trajectory with the introduction of NEAR onto the surface of Eros, the United Nations and NASA came up with the theory that the asteroids would break apart and burn up once they hit our atmosphere after the nuclear missile broke them apart. Boy, were they wrong,” Genesis vocally sneered.

  “Gen, behave,” Caesar chided.

  “Sorry, Commander.”

  With a grin, Caesar said, “It’s all right, Gen. Obviously, none of this worked out favorably and changed our way of life.”

  After a moment of almost stunned silence, the two soldiers began to laugh and exchange smiles as they sat before him.

  “That’s if we can really call this living,” Mark said as he nearly doubled over with laughter at the prospect of this being the life anyone wanted to live at all.

  “Well, if you’d rather end up like the undead outside we can have that arranged, Mark,” Genesis voiced over the speaker system.

  With a shake of his head, Mark snorted, “A robot with an attitude, huh?”

  “She has her issues with the human mind, to say the least,” Caesar replied.

  “Really?” Joshua said with an amused
arch of an eyebrow. “A robot has an issue with how we think?”

  “I wanted Genesis to be Mother Earth’s voice, in a sense. I programmed her to process information as closely as I could to how a human being would, but she only seemed to inherit one thing from us. She will speak her mind without regard to anyone’s feelings.”

  “The commander is very, very intelligent. As much as I hate to say it because of the direness of humanity’s situation, he is your only hope,” Genesis admitted. As much as artificial intelligence could admit anything.

  “Wait,” Joshua said after clipping his giggles short, putting his hand out toward Caesar. “Is what she just said true?”

  “No, it’s not,” Caesar spat, barely containing his anger at Genesis’s insistence that he was all there was standing between the bad guys and a better world.

  “If there is even the smallest chance that this planet can be saved and we can end this, wouldn’t you do it?” Mark asked.

  As Caesar looked at them, he wanted to give in to their requests, but the empty part of him that had lived alone over the last seven years believed implicitly that he was scum. The lowest of it, as a matter of fact. He was a monster and nothing else. Not a savior of humanity because he was no longer human.

  “Look, guys, there’s nothing I can do. I am not a savior. Not even close. But I’ll tell you what I will do,” he said as he stood from his chair and tapped a couple of buttons to turn off the main computer. “I will take you both back to Station Four, and I will go save my daughter from those bloodsuckers.”

  Joshua stood with him, obviously feeling a lot stronger about saving his daughter than his friend did. “Why can’t we go with you?”

  “Because I don’t take roommates and I travel alone. You two are lucky I let you sleep here overnight, to begin with.” It was harsh, but it was the truth. After being a lone wolf for so long, habits were even harder to break. He preferred his solitary existence.

  “I believe having these two around you would be good for you, Commander. You need humans around you to bring back the humanity you have lost. Maybe you can learn to be empathetic to your fellow humans again,” Genesis articulated.

  “Gen, please,” Caesar pleaded.

  “But, Commander—”

  “Gen, stop. That is enough. Do you hear me?” Caesar yelled toward the empty air.

  Silence greeted him, only followed by the worried stares of the two men in the room with him. They were concerned but more than that, they were intrigued by his sudden outburst. He could see it in the wide but unfrightened set of their eyes.

  “Now, if you still want to listen, I’ll finish explaining everything I can.” He watched them expectantly.

  Mark sat back down in his chair, and Caesar followed suit.

  “Okay,” he whispered with a deep breath. “Once the meteorites landed, they released a substance that was much like pollen. The people who survived it began to call it the crimson fog. It reached at least ten feet into the air. If inhaled, it turned you into the undead that roamed the Earth. And if you happen to survive it, it remains in your bloodstream for the rest of your life. Once you die, the Syc finally hatches from within the cells of the pollen within your cerebral spinal fluid and attaches to your brain. Once it grows enough, it sends out electrical impulses and reanimates the body. This happens within an hour to three days after death. A lot slower than if directly infected with the Syc parasite that is not dormant. That happens much, much faster.”

  “Why the hunger for flesh?” Mark asked, intent on the answer as he leaned forward slightly.

  “There is something called ATP that your body produces to create energy in your muscles. That is what they’re after, which they can get easiest by ripping you open, obviously. Your blood is also what they want. The Syc also causes other side effects like enhanced senses like hearing, smell, and eyesight so they you can hunt down a new host or sustenance.”

  Genesis returned to the conversation. “The blood helps to keep the Syc parasite alive. Once the blood is ingested it replaces the dead blood caused by the death of the host, which is why each different type of infected human being depends on the blood of those it kills to stay alive. Crankers don’t live very long without ingesting blood and ATP from its victims. The body will decay even more the longer it goes without No blood, no life. On those occasions when someone is bitten, they are instantly infected with the Syc parasite, and they can turn within minutes or hours. And in some situations, the Syc exits the brain to find a new host, typically because of the complete death of the previous host.”

  “So what about the Revs and the Barbarians? They’re infected with the Syc parasite, but why are they so different from the Crankers and the Shadows?” Joshua questioned.

  “That I can explain,” Caesar said as he looked pointedly at both men. “It was one of my greatest creations. The ‘Faith’ serum was supposed to be a cure-all for everything ranging from cancer, the flu, AIDS, Ebola. And all it would take was one shot. The biggest problem was that the government owned it. Namely, Area 51 owned it. I wasn’t to mention it outside of the labs.

  After the meteorite shower, I met Colonel Jenkins at the Area 51 field office in Memphis. I injected him with a small amount of the ‘Faith’ serum and used the rest on myself. Without knowing it, he must have come into contact with some of the remnants of the fog that contained the parasite, infecting him and turning him into what he is now. The first Revenant. Instead of living in the brain, the Syc lives in the heart and eventually replaces the organ altogether, living off the blood it circulates through the body and is replenished when the Rev feeds. This feeds their endless lust for blood and also gives them their strength, as well as some other abilities that we aren’t fully aware of yet. If they bite someone and the victim survives, they will turn. The only ill side effects of infection on this level are the loss of body hair as well as sensitivity to sunlight, much like an allergy. And it can kill them in minutes.”

  Mark’s eyes narrowed and his posture stiffened. “What about the Barbarians?”

  “Because the serum I injected into myself and Colonel Jenkins was the only vial in existence. Scientists with the Government of Defense attempted to duplicate my work using my formula as well as certain aspects of the Syc parasite. When they finally came up with a formula they thought would be the final one, they began testing it on the outlaws. At first it was killing them, then it began turning them into Crankers. Even with these setbacks, they kept on adjusting it and reworking it, resulting in the adrenaline crazed fiends we know as the Barbarians.”

  Genesis continued the explanation. “The ‘Faith’ serum infected their brains and made them instantly insane. While they can reason and sometimes seem relatively calm, their brains are affected so extensively by it that sometimes they can barely tell the difference between reality and hallucination. Once they begin the first stage of infection, they need blood to keep the transformation going as well as to survive altogether. As you most likely saw in the woods, they will remove the blood and later use it to inject into themselves to stay alive. They can use Cranker, Shadow, Revenant, and animal blood, but human blood is like gold to them. It keeps them sustained longest and gives them the most benefits.”

  “You know, with all of this information, we can save Jenny and then go back to the Station. Show those living in the walls and the town just below what is happening,” Mark stated with near glee.

  “With your help maybe we can cure this thing and humanity can rebuild,” Joshua continued.

  “No,” was Caesar’s only response.

  “No?” Joshua asked, rage clearly visible in the stern set of his jaw. “What do ya mean no? This gives us a chance to fix everything. Save the world.”

  “Genesis, pull up video from other parts of the Earth. These two need to see it to understand.”

  As Caesar watched, Genesis projected videos from all around the globe, displaying them in a half circle in front of Joshua and Mark so they could see things clearly. A video o
f what the United States was at that point in time played just above them, showing the stark and terrifying differences. The United States as well as Canada and Mexico were wastelands, mostly desert with the spotting of green across the countries. The Dead Zone, especially towards epicenter of the U.S., crawled with Crankers and Shadows looking for their next meal, while the Barbarians and Revenants took refuge in abandoned underground bunkers to stay away from prying human and G.O.D. surveillance.

  But the rest of the world was a different story altogether. Everywhere else there were bustling people, running from Point A to Point B to live their lives. It all looked as if it hadn’t been disturbed at all. Like the meteorite shower and the widespread infection that proceeded from it had never happened. Caesar has been watching it for the last few years himself, keeping an eye on their progress as he was sure the Government of Defense had been as well.

  “What is this?” Joshua probed.

  “Well, gentlemen, this is the world outside of the United States in its current state. The epidemic that spread after the meteorite shower hit the hardest in the U.S., giving the government no choice but to let the infection run its course. The rest of the world was able to rebuild, but for one major reason. Because of the rate of infection here, there was no way they could cure it enough so the human race in this country could flourish and rebuild. So, we became the grand experiment to see how the infection spread nearly completely unchecked and how humanity would fair if this were the case.

  The rest of the world gathered their sick, infected, and incarcerated criminals and brought them here to take part in this experiment, but there was a catch. There had to be a government of sorts to keep up with how things progressed, as well as to continue any experimentation that needed to happen to make certain the other countries around the world continued to advance. The Stations were built not only to ensure there was a place for any remaining human beings that who weren’t outlaws to live, but also to train soldiers and scientists for this purpose and to make sure the infection did not spread overseas again. And you two clowns are a part of this experiment.”