The Z Directive (Book 2): Mutation

by Thompson, Chris

  “You taken that right yet?” Hades wanted to know. Jack advanced towards the junction again. Looking left, he saw a trio of infected surging forward, their arms clawing at the air as growls escaped their undead mouths. The howling was definitely coming from behind them, or at least it appeared to be, the echoey nature of the chamber making it difficult to be entirely certain, so Jack turned to face the right hand passage. A pair of undead were mere feet away so Jack quickly took aim and fired, a single shot to each head that put the fiends down.

  “Move!” Jack announced, urging his team into making the turn they had been directed to as he pressed on. Seeing more shuffling threats at the edge of his light, he held his rifle ready to fire. He heard a few snaps behind him, shots from his teammate’s weapons that likely brought down the infected advancing at their rear. There were more barks echoing through the chamber now, suggesting the pack was drawing closer. Likely, the undead hounds had their scent and would be in urgent pursuit, and their noises would attract the rest of the infected.

  Jack advanced, already taking aim at the next targets and firing. The distance and the darkness made it hard to hit his mark, but even with a few stray shots that tore through their upper chests and necks, Jack brought them down with headshots moments later. The corridor continued forward for some length, though there were a few left hand turn offs into other passages, as well as room doors here and there. As they neared the first turn off, growls attracted Jack’s attention and he saw a wall of ten infected coming at his team.

  “Left!” he barked, and Tyrone spun to lend his assistance, while Ridgewell and Smith continued to fire on the enemies at their rear. Despite their dangerous proximity, Jack and Tyrone were able to quickly fire on the encroaching infected; shot after shot snapped out, heads were torn open by bullets, brains obliterated by those same projectiles - some passing straight through into the targets at the rear. Behind those initial ten, Jack was able to see there were more behind... a dozen or more, which were advancing quickly, drawn by the gunfire.

  “Gotta move back!” Tyrone announced moments before Jack would’ve given the same instruction. They’d felled seven of the initial ten, but the others would soon take their place.

  “Dogs at the rear!” Ridgewell yelled.

  With few real options, Jack went to the door in the wall on the left of the corridor, and seeing it wasn’t secured by any kind of keycard lock, kicked it with a grunt of exertion, forcing it open. Weapon raised, he advanced into a room that had a line of five washing machines along the right, dryers on the left, and benches in the middle. Jarring as it was to see a laundry room in a place filled with zombies, Jack didn’t linger to question it. It was clear of threats, and after his team had moved inside, Ridgewell slammed the door shut - moments before heavy thumps against it announced the arrival of some form of infected, be it dogs or humans.

  “What’s going on down there?” Hades demanded.

  “Detour into a laundry room,” Jack responded.

  “Dude, what part of ‘follow my directions’ didn’t you get?”

  “The part about what we do when there’s a fuckton of zombies in the way!” Tyrone snapped back.

  “Okay, okay. Provided you didn’t detour too far, there should be another door on the other side. Go through that, take a right and keep going,” Hades responded.

  Jack hurried to the door, grabbing the handle and twisting it before yanking the door open. A human infected lunged at him almost at once. Jack stuck his rifle forward, slamming the barrel into its mouth with enough force to knock out some of its teeth. Instinctively he squeezed the trigger, exploding the back of the creatures head, and then he swiftly kicked out, knocking the body back as another pair shuffled into view. As Jack lined up the next shot with his gore-drenched weapon and executed the encroaching threats, he heard the throaty howl of a hound. He couldn’t ignore such an obvious threat, but with corpses having dropped into the doorway, he couldn’t simply slam the door shut while they made a barricade to fire over. And as Tyrone came up on his right, the cacophony of thuds against the door behind them reached a new fever pitch. Jack glanced back and saw that Ridgewell was braced up against it with Smith taking aim, presumably ready to act if the door gave way.

  As he focused forward again, Tyrone began firing on a hound that had started to approach. Displaying uncharacteristic intelligence however, the creature retreated, disappearing from view. It was barking loudly, the sound becoming a little more distant as it padded down the corridor. Jack opened the door as wide as he could, looking to the right while Tyrone looked left.

  “Clear!” Jack reported.

  “Clear!” Tyrone added.

  “Move up!” Jack instructed as he stepped out into the corridor and moved right. Tyrone stepped behind him, covering the left. Jack heard him firing his weapon, the corridor apparently no longer clear in the few seconds since it had appeared to be, but couldn’t turn to check as ahead of him a half dozen shuffling infected were moving in from a side corridor, and much further off he could hear the screeching howl from a runner. Jack was firing, picking his targets quickly and bringing them down precisely. A shot off to his left was quickly followed by the appearance of Smith, taking a position beside Jack so they could kill the encroaching infected and proceed.

  With Tyrone now taking the rear and Ridgewell on the right of the diamond formation, the group progressed to the next intersection. There were dozens of infected approaching from their rear, advancing towards the noise of gunshots and the smell of flesh, closing off the right side corridor. To their left, an even larger group was approaching, a horde of perhaps twenty or more, while dead ahead they were thankfully clear for the moment. Jack turned his weapon right and fired, picking off a few of the undead that were advancing more quickly while Smith went left, the snap of her rifle echoing down in the corridor. Jack was still moving, passing into the seemingly clear forward corridor as Ridgewell and Tyrone covered their retreat. They maintained their formation, passing through the intersection and moving further down the corridor.

  “Keep going straight until the next T-junction. Go left there,” Hades informed them.

  “Dogs!” Tyrone called out, the pace of his shots increasing as a rumbling growling drew closer. Out the corner of his eye, Jack saw Smith turn mid stride, backpedalling as she aided Tyrone in attacking the hounds. Jack remained focused ahead of the group, seeing the T-junction at the far end, just at the edge of his light. There were two more turns before then, one left and one right.

  Remaining just as central in the corridor as possible, Jack looked quickly in both directions as he drew level with them - turning a fraction too late to the right to fire on a pair of infected that shuffled out, their jaws snapping and their hands raised ready to claw at him. Reacting immediately, Jack raised his weapon across himself and exerted his strength in a forward attack that shoved the infected away; growls and moans escaping their undead mouths as they were forced back. With a few seconds of breathing room, Jack brought his weapon to bear and gunned the infected down before they could stumble forward again. Seeing the corridor to the right held only a group of five that appeared to be far enough away not to be an immediate threat, Jack spun to the opposite corridor as a screeching howler came into view. As he prepared to fire, Smith also turned to face the running threat.

  “Going low!” she announced, firing a spray of shots that cut the creature’s legs out. Jack answered by firing a single shot to execute the now crawling creature.

  With a moment to pause, Jack looked back and saw innumerable shuffling figures flowing into the corridor from the turn offs they had already passed; between their legs, a pair of dogs charged through. Tyrone aimed low, firing at the encroaching hound on the right - just as his weapon clicked empty.

  “Reloading!” he announced, but seeing how close the beast was, he let his weapon fall away, hanging from its strap, and retrieved his pistol. He brought it to bear just as the creature lunged for him. In fearless response, Tyrone rear
ed back and launched his powerful fist at the creature’s face, knocking it to the ground. The hound whimpered, as though it were in pain - another distinction between it and the human infected. Tyrone lowered his pistol and squeezed off five shots in quick succession to kill the hound before it could recover. Ridgewell, however, didn’t look as though he was going to be as lucky.

  “Ridgewell!” Jack called in warning as the explosives expert fired at the dog closing in on him. His weapon ran empty as it lunged, and before Tyrone could intervene, the creature leapt up at Ridgewell. He managed to raise his forearm to prevent it from getting higher but it sank its fangs into his arm.

  “Get it off! Shit! Get it off!” Ridgewell called out, swinging his arm and slamming the hound into the wall in the process. Moving erratically, Jack couldn’t get a shot nor could Smith. Tyrone fired his pistol, but owing to those same movements, his shots didn’t connect cleanly. The hound was growling ferociously, attempting to drag Ridgewell down further so it could sink its fangs into his throat.

  “Jack, your side!” Smith called out in alarm; he spun immediately and saw the group of five infected shuffling forward, the commotion incensing them to move as quickly as their limbs could carry them. Jack immediately shifted his aim, lined up the first shot and executed the encroaching zombie while it was still outside of ten feet. Then he fired again, moving immediately to target the third as the gun clicked empty.

  “Shit,” Jack muttered to himself, ejecting the magazine while hearing the panicked sounds of Ridgewell. He reloaded quickly, Smith moving to help him finish off the targets, and in tandem, they brought the infected down before they turned back to aid Ridgewell. Tyrone had snatched the creature by the scruff of its neck and was bringing the barrel of his gun to its head before squeezing off the kill shot. The sudden dead weight on Ridgewell pitched him forward, but with Tyrone’s assistance they dislodged the slavering hound. Jack knew, however, if the fangs had penetrated his armor and clothing Ridgewell was a dead man walking.

  “We gotta move!” Smith announced, firing a few shots into the large group pursuing them.

  Ridgewell ejected his magazine, loading a fresh one as he began to move. Tyrone did the same, switching back to his assault rifle after slotting his pistol back into its holster.

  “Ridgewell, you okay?” Jack asked, continuing along the path designated by Hades.

  “I think so.”

  “Is it bleeding?”

  “It doesn’t feel like it, but it sure hurts like a son of a bitch,” Ridgewell responded. It wasn’t the most helpful answer, but with the undead drawing closer every moment, Jack took it for what it was and pressed on.

  Breaking into a sprint, they put as much distance between themselves and the infected at the rear as they could. At the T-junction however, they came across another wave of infected to the right, a group so large they packed the full width of the corridor.

  “Big incoming, right side!” Jack alerted the group as he turned left, seeing a large number ahead of them, although they were spread far thinner than the dense horde behind them.

  Following the left passage, Jack aimed and fired in quick succession, killing one, then a second and a third zombie as the shuffling group slowly turned to face the oncoming soldiers. He picked them off, now aided by Smith, while Tyrone and Ridgewell did their best to limit the number of threats at their rear. The only sounds in the chamber were the unceasing chorus of moans, growls and howls from the undead and the responding gunshots from the soldiers desperately attempting to reach their destination. Spent casings clattered to the floor, kicked around as the team sped onwards. Blood splattered the walls, the floors and around the infected they had gunned down. Jack didn’t have time to think beyond the next movement, the next shot to be fired, and the next hyper-alert response to the threats all around them.

  “Where to next?” Jack asked.

  “You take a right, follow it straight to the end of the corridor and you’ll be at the room housing the physical controls for the self-destruct system,” Hades responded.

  Jack took a deep breath, killed the next infected and pressed forward. There were still a dozen zombies between the team and the right hand turn they needed to make, however. Gunning them down seemed easy enough, until figures began to appear at the corresponding left turn. Jack couldn’t be sure how many there were, but there were enough to make it doubtful they were going to be able to make it to the control room easily.

  “Hurry!” Jack barked out, quickening his own pace and firing faster. His shots were still accurate, but as the new group filled out ahead of them, Jack saw their avenue being closed off. No matter how quickly he fired - now joined by Smith - more of them appeared to swell their ugly ranks. Looking back, he saw they’d put some distance between themselves and the vast horde at their back, meaning Ridgewell might be able to hold them off alone for a few moments.

  “Ty, we need you up front!” Jack declared. His comrade moved to his right almost immediately. The group in front were still coming, a growing horde in their own right, and as they needed to keep pressing forward to escape the larger threat behind, the distance between themselves and the undead ahead was closing rapidly.

  Near unceasing gunshots rang out; so many controlled single shots it seemed as though their weapons were on fully automatic. Zombies fell, heads split open - with some behind having their own craniums devastated by through and through rounds. Jack quickly looked for an avenue of escape, and saw two unmarked doors in the near vicinity - one left, one right. He closed up on the left one, firing as he went, just in case the two groups of undead merged and they needed to take cover inside. He had no sooner reached the door when the infected unexpectedly diminished up ahead, just enough for Jack to believe they might be able to force their way through provided there weren’t more of them about to emerge.

  “Move up!” Jack instructed, and the quartet advanced faster than they had been, lining up the final shots to clear the zombies coming at them. At the right turn, Jack mentally braced himself to see a fresh horde, and was already formulating a plan to keep them alive in the event that he did. To his incredible relief, the corridor was clear. He kept his weapon trained ahead, the flashlight proving they were still clear of threats - at least ahead of them. Behind, the rising cacophony of the undead seemed to be reaching a new height. Hades had claimed there had been a couple of hundred infected down there, but given the unending noise of howls, growls and menacing moans - like those of the previously encountered boney - Jack wondered if there weren’t double, perhaps triple, more than he’d been told.

  “Bossman, we’ve got a problem!” Bridges said suddenly over the radio, his voice laden with alarm.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, sweeping his light left as they passed by another turn off.

  “Someone’s locking down the security system. They’ve already cut Hades out, and from what I can see they’re going to be shutting me out pretty soon too.”

  “Who?” Jack demanded, slowing his forward speed a little so they could conserve energy.

  “I don’t know, but if I had to guess I’d say our friends at Bolvinox. Oh shit, we’re going to lose our connection to their system soon, and with it will go our crystal clear comms.” Bridges warned, the sound of frantic key tapping filtering over the radio.

  “Bridges, you’ve got to protect Emma. Get her and any data you’ve recovered out of the facility,” Jack ordered.

  “I’d love to do that, but I won’t be able to. There’s some kind of security lockdown coming into effect. The last I could tell the town hall elevator was going topside and the internal ones were locked down,” Bridges explained. “And I think we’re going—” He continued, but his transmission cut out.

  “Bridges? Emma?” Jack declared.

  “Jack—” Emma said before static claimed the next few words of her speech.

  “The way this place is built - the density of the construction and the distance between us - we’re going to have a hard time communicati
ng,” Ridgewell announced.

  “Incoming—” Bridges announced. Who or what was incoming, however, was lost.

  “Shit,” Jack growled.

  The team continued, now running, towards the last direction given to them by Hades. It was thankfully clear of enemies, and as the corridor terminated, they saw a solid looking metal door at the end. In faded white paint, Jack could barely make out, was: ‘WAEF-1’. To the right was a key card reader, and Jack immediately doubted they had the ability to open it with the keycard he had collected earlier. The group came to a breathless, exhausted stop, turning back as one to look in the direction they’d come from. With no visual indication that there were any nearby threats - though they could definitely still be heard drawing ever closer - Jack decided it was the moment to check Ridgewell’s wound.

  “Your arm,” he stated simply, gesturing to where the dog had grappled Ridgewell. Nodding, Ridgewell let his rifle hang on it strap then carefully began to roll up his sleeve. There was no blood trickling down his arm, which was encouraging, and when he revealed his forearm there was no indication that the fangs had actually bitten him. Smith approached and gave him a quick examination.