by Ramy Vance
Roy came into the war room, talking into his comm. He hung up. "We're mobilizing all of our forces now. Looks like the only big problem spots we have are in large urban cities. We’re hitting New York, LA, Chicago, and DC in the States first. Myrddin has our overseas departments gearing up to handle their shit."
Roy's comm went off again, and he looked down at it. "Shit, it's not just Earth."
Abby had assumed that, but she hadn't heard anything from the other realms. She figured that wherever the Omniverse was, there were going to be zombies.
Terra was leaning back in her chair. "So, what are we doing? A zombie apocalypse should be pretty easy to deal with, right?"
Roy pointed at the holoscreen in the middle of the room as it projected a map of New York. "This is where we're getting hit the hardest. From what we can gather, the zombies are heading toward the Omniverse, tearing up anything in their way. We're going to need you to fight your way through that and get back in touch with the Omniverse."
Anabelle regarded the map. "Can't you just drop us off at the Omniverse? You know, since you have a flying mechanical dragon and all?"
Roy shook his head grimly. "I'm afraid not. There's some kind of disturbance coming from it. Can’t get anything mechanical close to it. My guess is that it's more responsible for this zombie bullshit than any of you were with what you were doing in hell. Either way, you're going to have to haul ass to it while we try to clean this up. If we can."
Abby unplugged from cyberspace and gave her full attention to what was going on in the room. "What do you mean, if?"
"There are millions of corpses coming out of the ground all over the world, and we have no idea when it's going to stop. We're already spread thin, and we haven't even started yet. Now we're getting reports that we're going to have to organize efforts in the other realms as well? This is a shit show that just got tossed at us."
Terra chuckled as she stood up. "Myrddin didn't have a zombie contingency plan?"
Roy headed out the room, motioning for the DGA to follow him. "No, we had a plan. It just wasn't meant for all nine realms at the same time. We didn't have you three as part of it either."
They headed toward the hangar where Alex Bound and the rest of Boundless were waiting.
Alex saluted the DGA when she saw them. "We'll be getting you as close to the Omniverse as possible." She pointed to a table that had three dragon anchors on it. "You'll have to use those. They're makeshift versions of what we have. They won't do much but keep you from falling off."
Abby walked over to Alex and gave her a quick hug. "We haven't seen you in forever. How have you been?"
An unsteady smile crossed Alex's face. "Keeping out of trouble. And you?"
"Just saving the world again."
Alex laughed, and it sounded genuine. "Yeah, never gets old, right?" She turned to face Roy. "Anything else we need to know?"
Roy shook his head, looking grim and uncertain. "Nope. Get in and out fast. Stay off the ground. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for anything else. Good luck."
Chapter Five
The orc capital had been erected in the year since the Dark One was expelled from the Nine Realms. It was sprawling and beautiful, a city that was both a testament to the orcs’ nomadic way of life and their vision for a united future. In that single city, one could see practicality and artistry woven together in a simple execution, built the way only orcs could.
The capital was considered a jewel in the Nine Realms, proof that the orcs were a species capable of great growth and wisdom.
Now that city was on fire, homes smoking, the air filled with ash and the screams and cries of children.
The dead had arrived.
In less than ten hours, the capital had been overrun. A child had noticed the shuffling zombies first. He had called his mother out in excitement. There were strangers at the gates.
The excitement turned to terror as the orc zombies rushed the capital, moving faster than their decaying limbs should have allowed, leaping through the air, tearing into the soft flesh of the living. Seemed orc zombies behaved differently than human ones.
The orcs retreated, not knowing what else to do. They holed themselves up in their homes and boarded up the windows. That did not stop the zombies.
Cire had sent a small squadron of soldiers into the town but had heard nothing back from them. It was nightfall now—no more waiting.
He stood before the squad of Fireflies, who were flanked by the council's private army. There was no time for speeches. Cire climbed onto his phoenix and took off into the night, the Fireflies rising into the air after him as the ground troops marched.
When Cire arrived at the town, he noticed that it was silent. He could see the dead in the streets, frozen as if they had been turned to stone.
Cire brought his phoenix around toward the front entrance of the town and leaped off, landing softly on the ground. He raised his staff as the zombies near him raised their heads, sniffing their air and curling their lips.
The shaman wasted no time. He rushed the first zombie and slammed his staff into its head, cracking its skull, then called forth vines and roots from the ground to swallow the remaining zombies near him.
The rest of the squad swooped through the streets. Their phoenixes blasted bolts of fire from their wings that burned through the zombies, who screamed in rage before they were reduced to ashes. The ground forces swarmed into the town, and the three groups made their way toward the center.
Cire stopped once they got to the town square and looked on in horror.
The streets were filled with fresh corpses. Zombies were hunched over them, cracking chests open, drawing out intestines and lungs, gorging themselves on the bodies of the townspeople.
Cire let out a scream of rage as he drew his sword and ran into the fray. The zombies’ ears perked up, and they left the entrails they were slavering over and raced toward Cire and the orc squad behind him.
On the outskirts of the town, hundreds of hands burst out of the ground, rotting and grasping for lives to snuff out.
Sarah and Kravis were riding across the Black Plains on hoverbikes, heading toward a gnomish settlement on the outskirts. They'd been overwhelmed with reports of dead gnomes rising from their graves and marching into villages.
They only seemed to have one desire: to dine on the flesh of the living.
A comm message pinged for Sarah. It was Blackwell. "We've put up a perimeter around the area, but they’re still coming for us. There are too many of them. We're going to be overrun soon."
Sarah could see the settlement in the distance. "We're going to be there in a moment."
"Are you bringing reinforcements?"
"There are some following us, but not many."
Blackwell looked over his shoulder and fired. "That's better than none."
Sarah gauged the distance. She was close enough. She turned to Kravis, who was riding beside her. "There's a horde up ahead. I'm going to try and break through. Meet you at the front?"
Kravis pulled his helmet up. "Be safe."
"May the stars always guide you home."
"May they always guide you as well."
Sarah put her hoverbike on autopilot and punched in the coordinates of the resistance up ahead. Then she leaped off of her bike and opened her chakra gates one heavenly portal after the other until she came to the ninth. She took a deep breath and took the plunge.
A burst of energy flew from her and her body vibrated with power, her eyes burning bright white. She leaned forward, concentrating on where she needed to go. Then she shot toward that location at nearly the speed of sound.
Sarah slammed into the wall of zombies who were stacking on top of each other to climb over the wall that protected the settlement.
The sounds of cracking bones were accompanied by an explosion of zombie body parts.
Sarah spun through the air, roundhouse-kicking the zombies in front of her to carve out space for herself. Then she punched the air in fr
ont of her, sending out a concussive blast that tore through the zombies who hadn't given her their attention yet.
She leaped up, her lungs filling with fire, and let loose a bolt that scorched through the remainder of the zombies trying to climb the gate.
Her body returned to normal as she walked past the mayhem she’d created and climbed the gate.
Kravis came around the other side as a general handed Sarah a plasma rifle. "Glad to see you made it," the general said.
After Sarah situated herself on top of the gate, she and Kravis looked out at the plains. They could see thousands of eyes watching them from the dark.
Sarah aimed down the sights of her rifle and fired, taking off one of the zombies’ heads. "This is going to be a long night."
Boundless and Roy were starting their descent into New York.
Terra wished she could have enjoyed her ride on the back of a dragon, but she was too tense. Cire was fighting on the orc world without her. Even though she knew the right place for her was with the DGA, she couldn’t help but worry about him.
Not that he couldn't take care of himself. He was one hell of a warrior.
Below, the streets were pulsing with zombies. Many of them were still moving toward the Omniverse sphere. The rest were hunched over dead bodies. Terra didn't want to think about what they were doing, but she'd seen enough zombie movies to know.
Alex's voice crackled over the comm. "We're going to make a quick dive and free you up some space with our breath weapons. You guys ready?"
Terra flashed a thumbs-up.
The dragons shot toward the ground, launching fire, ice, and ether fire attacks at the streets. They burned away a solid chunk of zombies before Anabelle, Terra, and Abby leaped off of the dragons’ backs.
As Abby landed, she launched a thin, precise laser, spun in a circle, and cleared the area even more.
The zombies slowly took notice.
Anabelle pointed at the Omniverse about four blocks away. "Okay, we move hard, and we move fast. The army is right behind us, so if you see anyone still alive, get them out of the way for the boys in green to pick ’em up. And you keep moving forward."
Terra glanced at the pavement beneath her feet, which was slick with blood and intestines. She doubted they were going to find anyone still alive.
Anabelle let out at a scream as her body filled with energy and she slipped into the Path of the Lost. Terra did the same and drew her axes.
Abby stood behind them. They were going to move in front of Abby to let her conserve her energy until they got to the Omniverse.
Terra slashed at the zombies in front of her, cutting them down like paper dolls as Anabelle broke to the left diagonally, burning through the zombies with her fire.
A zombie came rushing in, moving faster than Terra had anticipated. It hit her in the side, tackling her as more zombies flanked her, threatening to overrun her.
Terra hadn't been expecting them to be this strong. She rolled back onto her feet and slashed outward with her axe, taking off the zombie's head before throwing her axe into the next one. Then she leaped onto the small group in front of her and took care of the rest of them with her hands.
Anabelle fell back a little and threw up a wall of fire. She kicked it and sent it cascading over the zombies.
There was more space now, and the DGA agents moved forward.
As they continued to cut their way through the zombies, Abby put up two plasma walls, one on each side of them, to keep zombies from coming in from the sides.
It was messy, gruesome business and slow going, slicing through the wall of meat that had been built up as the zombies headed toward the Omniverse.
Terra wondered what it was about the Omniverse that attracted them. What was the point of bringing the dead back to life like this, just to have them gather under the sphere? It didn't seem like much of a plan.
The DGA was getting closer to the Omniverse, close enough to feel the effect it was having on the world it was watching. Terra's head was swimming, and it was getting difficult to focus on what was in front of her. Luckily it was just a horde of mostly mindless zombies. All she had to keep doing was punching, cutting, and slashing.
She fought in a daze as she tried to ignore the blood gushing down the front of her face.
Finally, they were close enough to stop. Anabelle and Terra cleared a perimeter as Abby got set up beneath the Omniverse, constructing a satellite while she linked up with the rest of her drones across the other realms.
Anabelle cast a protective shield around them so they wouldn't have to worry about zombies during the conversation.
Terra watched Abby work. "Kinda gnarly that she can do that, huh?"
Anabelle nodded. "Yeah. Good thing she's not evil or anything. Goddess, I hate to think about what she'd be capable of doing if she turned on us."
Abby looked over and smiled. "Don't even worry about it. Wouldn't ever happen. Who wants to come with me?"
Anabelle jerked her thumb at Terra. "I'll watch the barrier. You two go for it."
Terra walked over to Abby, who held out her hand. There was a headphone bud in it. Terra took it and popped it in.
All of a sudden, Terra was floating in front of the Omniverse. "The Dark One. Where is he?"
Abby's voice thundered nearly as loud as the Omniverse's. "We don't talk until you stop this nonsense. You need us, and you're not getting our help until we know our people are going to be safe."
The Omniverse trembled and flexed. "Souls are in disproportion. Netherverse corrupted. Hell corrupted. Omniverse will stabilize. Understand?"
Abby held out her hand, and it looked as if she were trying to keep something back. "What do you need from us?"
"Stabilize souls. The reckoning is halted. You have twelve moons. On the thirteenth moon, the reckoning will recommence. Disproportions will be rectified. Balance will be restored."
Then Terra was back on the ground, gasping for breath as Anabelle stood over her and Abby, trying to help them both to their feet.
Anabelle took down her mana shield. "I don't know what you guys did, but it worked. Check 'em out."
Terra glanced at the zombies. They were as stiff as statues. She turned to Abby. "You make much sense of that?"
Abby was rubbing her temples. "Some of it. We got the gist of it, and at least now we know we have a time limit."
Chapter Six
The cleanup crew in New York was massive. Most of the city had been shut down, and those in the ten or so blocks near the Omniverse were moved to temporary housing that Myrddin set up. In true Myrddin fashion, it was something to behold…lavish apartment buildings floating in the sky.
The apartments wouldn’t last forever, but they were good enough for now.
After the city was closed off, the practical work began. Quarantine zones were set up around the largest concentrations of zombies. Abby wanted to study them, but only after a two-hour argument with Myrddin did she get permission to go down to the ground.
Terra accompanied her after she verified that Cire was okay and didn't need any help.
The zombies in the other realms had frozen as well. The large-scale attack had been put on hold, but nobody was sure for how long. All the DGA had to go off of was the cryptic message Abby had received from the Omniverse.
Martin was in the process of decoding the dream imagery that had been downloaded into Abby's brain. Until that was done, she and Terra were momentarily left to their own devices.
The two of them wandered through Queens, which had the fewest zombies.
The streets were devoid of life. The air smelled of rancid flesh, the decomposing bodies of those who hadn't been lucky enough to make it to a shelter. The smell of the zombies was nearly unbearable. Terra had to wear a filtration mask that Abby rigged up for her.
It was eerie, standing in a city that had bustled with life, but was now full of frozen flesh-eating corpses whose expressionless eyes stared into the distance.
Every now and the
n, one of them blinked or moved ever so slightly. That was the worst part, in Terra's opinion. The zombies weren't completely frozen, just inactive.
Abby led the way, occasionally stopping to scan one of the zombies.
Terra shivered. "What are you looking for?"
Abby put away her scanner and walked around one of the zombies, watching it closely. "I want to know how they were resurrected. The ghouls the Dark One and Tesla brought back were a combination of tech and the Dark Melody, and we know necromancy leaves a magical aura around whatever is resurrected or composed."
Terra kicked a rock at one of the zombies, and it blasted through its abdomen, not that it seemed to notice. "What difference does it make how they were brought back?"
"Back-up plan in case they come back before we're ready to deal with it. After we did enough studies on the Dark Melody, Creon was able to synthesize a compound to break down the ghouls if anyone tried to do something like that again. It would be better to have the science department work on a solution while we try to figure out what the Omniverse was talking about. Cover all our bases."
Terra nodded approvingly. "You know, you’ve gotten pretty good at this."
Abby smiled appreciatively. "Thank you. You have, as well. Helping run an entire government on another world? That's kind of big."
Terra waved away the compliment. "Nah. Cire does most of the boring stuff. I just punch people when I need to. Got any better understanding of what the Omniverse was trying to tell us?"
Abby shook her head before turning her scanner back on. "No, still waiting to hear from Martin." She sighed as she walked past the ripped-open corpse of an old woman. "You know, we thought stuff like this was over. We beat the Dark One. Even with that, so many innocent people died yesterday."
Terra rested her hand on Abby's shoulder. "You know this isn't our fault, right?"
"Yes, we know. Doesn't make us feel any better.."