One Crazy Pilot (Apocalypse Paused Book 7)

by Michael Todd

  One Crazy Pilot

  Apocalypse Paused™ Book 7

  Michael Todd

  Michael Anderle

  One Crazy Pilot (this book) is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2019 Michael Todd, and Michael Anderle

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact support@lmbpn.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, March 2019

  The Zoo Universe (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2018-19 by Michael Anderle and LMBPN Publishing.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Connect with Michael Todd

  Other Zoo Books

  Books written as Michael Anderle

  One Crazy Pilot Team

  JIT Readers

  Jeff Eaton

  Nicole Emens

  Dorothy Lloyd

  Kelly O’Donnell

  John Ashmore

  Paul Westman

  Peter Manis

  Editor

  The Skyhunter Editing Team

  Dedication

  To Family, Friends and

  Those Who Love

  to Read.

  May We All Enjoy Grace

  to Live the Life We Are

  Called.

  Prologue

  Today would be a shit day. Trevor Bradley was sure of it. Below the black helicopter, miles and miles of sand dunes sprawled like they had nothing better to do. Occasionally, a clump of miserable trees or a few camels chewing at some godforsaken plant broke the monotony, but most of the landscape was simply sand. Bright, almost blinding sand. How anything could live there, let alone want to, was beyond his ability to imagine. But that was exactly why he was strapped into this helicopter with an after-market paint job. Some sort of Garden of Eden was supposed to be growing in the middle of the God damn Sahara Desert.

  Bradley knew there were people who cared about this kind of crap—there were entire rat nests on the Internet devoted to it. Government conspiracies, aliens, God damn environmental crusaders, but no one really knew what was going on in the Zoo, which probably meant there wasn’t a fucking thing happening. The freak flying the helicopter from New Zealand or Australia or wherever didn’t know. Bradley had doubted that he could even fly the helicopter as nothing that came out of his mouth made sense. The military goon, Chandler, who sat across from him wouldn’t say anything either. But then, military only knew six words, “classified” being one of their favorites. Chandler was no exception.

  “Ava, where’s the briefing on this patch of weeds?” Bradley snapped.

  Ava turned from the window and the bright desert light caught her high cheekbones and highlighted her straight dark hair. Damn, she’s hot.

  “It’s in your briefcase, sir. I already highlighted the pertinent sections on water use.”

  “Well then, whip it the fuck out. Jesus.” He shook his head.

  She looked away and turned bright red but, as usual, she obeyed. She leaned over—Bradley used the opportunity to look down her shirt at her ample cleavage—and retrieved the packet.

  “I can’t say shit like that in the office anymore, huh?” Bradley said and flashed the grin he’d perfected for visiting politicians at the soldier.

  “Like what?” the man asked blankly. The moron probably didn’t understand that phrases could have two meanings. Bradley didn’t push it. Chandler had sat at attention for the entire ride and his hands never left his gun. Bradley had thought that at some point, the meathead might have to breathe and stop flexing his bulging neck muscles, but he had missed it if Chandler had.

  “Good one, sir,” Gary Dervin said between smacks of chewing gum. Dervin was a numbers guy whose nose was always stuck up Bradley’s ass. He had a big smile, his head always nodded, and wore his tie too loose. Bradley couldn’t stand him, but the twerp made him look good. The man gestured at his crotch, winked, and mouthed, “Whip it out.”

  Bradley ignored him. “Do you have a drink for me, Tony?”

  Tony Billings had been at the EPA longer than Bradley, but he had no spine so had never been promoted. He was overweight and had a predilection for beige suits. It was somewhat amusing to fly above the desert because Bradley thought the man looked like a sand dune. He had only asked for Tony to come because he always packed booze.

  His companion frowned but pulled a flask out and tossed it to him. He bobbled the catch, but Ava caught it before it fell out of reach.

  “Disinfectant, sir,” Ava said, flashed her gorgeous smile, and handed Bradley both the packet on the Zoo and the flask. She really was good-looking and didn’t have a man either. He would fix that if they had a halfway decent hotel in this shithole.

  He took the flask and the packet. “Was that a doctor joke?” he asked with a smile.

  Before Ava could answer, he said, “Because if it was, it wasn’t funny.” It was always best to keep women guessing, even desperate ones like Ava. It almost pained him to watch her smile fade back into her regular tight-lipped expression. Almost.

  Bradley took a swig from the flask and scowled. “What is this—whiskey? What the fuck is wrong with you?” He tossed the flask back to Tony, who missed and dropped it. The idiot knew he didn’t like whiskey and probably brought it so he wouldn’t have to share. Tony stretched for the flask and his fat gut strained against his seatbelt. Bradley scowled and flipped through the packet.

  It was bullshit. All the interesting sections were blacked out—classified, obviously. There were some grainy pictures of bugs, a lion or tiger or whatever lived in Africa, and some weird plants that had notes scribbled next to them.

  “Is this the only copy?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Ava responded.

  “Then why did you scribble all over it?”

  Her eyes went wide. They did that when she tried to hide her surprise. It was pathetic, really. She finally managed to speak. “Some of those plants are dangerous, Mr. Bradley. I wrote down their identifying features so we’d know them if we see them.”

  “We’re not gonna see shit,” he said. He checked a few more pages but it was as he thought—boring. It was some sort of rule, despite spending far more money than the EPA, that the military couldn’t take a photo to save their lives.

  He turned to look out the window. “Hey, finally something
besides sand.”

  On the horizon was a wall of green. Ava leaned past him to look out the window. Bradley didn’t bother to move out of her way. If she wanted to push her boobs against him, he wouldn’t complain.

  They really were moving at significant speed. Bradley could already see thick black tree trunks that held up the canopy like some enormous green tent. Vines seemed to tie it all together and brought visions of spiders to his limited imagination. He didn’t like the look of it at all. It was far better to focus on Ava pressed up against him.

  “That’s weird. The briefing made it seem like the Zoo was a lot smaller,” she said as she leaned back into her seat and shot him a nasty look. Women. What, was she pissed that he didn’t pinch her ass? “Did we already pass Wall Two?”

  “How the fuck am I supposed to know?” he demanded.

  Across from Bradley, Chandler’s gaze was riveted out the window. “We just passed it.” He didn’t look concerned or anything, but something about the man’s posture seemed even tighter than it had before. If that was even possible.

  “Something’s wrong,” Ava said. “The reports are very clear about the dimensions of this place—”

  “Jesus, calm down,” Bradley said. “The pilot would say something if anything was wrong. If you’re scared, let the men protect you.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking.” An accented voice came over their headsets. “It appears we’re about to hit a patch of turbulence. I’d recommend you buckle up and clench your teeth unless you mean to bite your tongue off.”

  “What the fuck is this?” Bradley said as the helicopter buffeted and shook and seemed to drop ten feet. He bit his tongue as he scrambled to grab hold of his safety harness.

  “That asshole did that on purpose,” he said but everyone ignored him. The turbulence was intense and rattled them around inside the helicopter like cubes of ice in a martini shaker. Ava tightened her safety belt, as did Dervin. Tony chugged his whiskey like it was the end times. Chandler clung to his gun and his gaze watched the approaching jungle. They were practically on top of it and Bradley had begun to really dislike the look of the place.

  In a heartbeat, they flew over endless sand dunes to trees with dark green foliage. He had never seen so many fucking trees. They were too tall—much taller than the little scrubby ones he’d seen back in the desert. Shit, some of them looked to be practically growing. He cursed and grabbed his harness as the pilot swerved to miss one.

  “Where the fuck did you learn to fly?” Bradley demanded through gritted teeth.

  “Watching albatross,” the pilot said over their headsets. “Elegant beast, the albatross. Like my mother, they only come home once a year and never land that whole time.”

  “Well, try not landing,” Bradley retorted. “And for fuck’s sake, watch out. There are things in there.”

  There were indeed creatures amongst the trees. The chopper moved too fast to make out much detail, but Bradley could see something winding through the jungle. Something big enough to bend branches as it moved.

  “The briefing didn’t say we’d go in this deep,” Ava said. She’d grown pale, obviously scared shitless.

  “What are you doing up there?” Bradley shouted and the headset feedback screeched uncomfortably.

  Bugs as big as pit bulls exploded from the tops of the trees. Insect was too kind a word. These things had six limbs like insects, but the similarities stopped there. Their wings resembled broken windshields and their bodies shone like burnished metal. Their eyes, despite being bulbous and faceted, stared into Bradley. He could feel his heart pound in his chest as more of the bugs poured from the treetops.

  “What are those things?” he screamed.

  “Locusts!” Ava shouted.

  The insects swarmed the helicopter and converged on it from both sides. More surged up in front of them, and the pilot banked back and forth as he miraculously dodged the huge insects. As he did so, he smashed into the locusts on their flank. One of them smashed against the window Bradley was looking out of. It gnashed its horrible mouth against the glass and Chandler drew a pistol and fired. The hole in its ugly face was an improvement. It fell away into the trees but another one took its place and snapped menacingly against the now spider-webbed glass. Bradley flinched as another creature struck the window on the other side of the helicopter.

  “They’re working together!” Ava shouted.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we’ll be taking on a few additional passengers. Thanks for flying with us today. Kindly clench your bums and prepare to disembark.”

  He’d barely spoken when one of the bugs flew into the rotating propeller above them and they crashed.

  Chapter One

  “Wake up.”

  The voice was so far away, Ava could almost ignore it.

  “Wake up, Ava.”

  Where was she? The last thing she remembered was a nightmare. Insects—no, locusts—had attacked her while she was tied up. Her boss had been there. Although he had been a staple part of her dreams since she’d taken the job at the EPA.

  “Wake the fuck up, Ava!”

  She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. It took a moment to realize she was upside down and the light that poured into the cab of the helicopter was so bright, it made her head hurt. Her memories flooded back to her. It hadn’t been a nightmare then—or it had, merely a waking one.

  Ava coughed instinctively. Smoke—she could smell smoke, thick enough to blot out some of the light from the sun. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again in an effort to clear her head and force the terror down. She could do this. More than that, she had to do this.

  She hung upside down, still strapped in the helicopter. She could smell smoke…in a helicopter.

  “We have to get out of here,” she said.

  “No shit. Now hurry the fuck up.” Bradley was awake then. He was still strapped into his seat, upside down like she was, and flailed and struggled at the harness that had saved his life.

  Ava looked at the other passengers. Dervin was unconscious and Billings looked worse than that. He had lost a lot of blood from a nasty gash on his forehead. Her pulse quickened. She couldn’t be scared, not now. He wouldn’t survive unless they could stop the bleeding. The military man, Chandler, was nowhere to be seen. Ava tried not to think about what might have happened to him—or worse, what might happen to her if he wasn’t around.

  She clutched her seatbelt. It was hard to think with the blood pooling in her head, but she forced herself to focus. She had to push the button in, then—

  She tumbled and barely managed to break her fall and avoid hitting her head. In silence, she assessed herself for injuries. With relief, she realized that she was a little bruised but otherwise fine. She took a deep breath—not an easy thing to do considering how fast her heart was beating.

  Numb with shock, she surveyed the scene. The helicopter had landed on its roof. The frame was bent out of shape. If the impact had been harder, the doorway would’ve collapsed and they’d all be dead. It was hard to see much else through the smoke which seemed worse now. Heat emanated from behind them, where the engine was.

  “It’s on fire,” she said and forced herself not to panic. That would kill you as quickly as anything else. She had to stay calm.

  “Of course it’s on fire. Now get me the fuck out of here,” Bradley yelled at her.

  At a muffled explosion behind them, the helicopter shook. They didn’t have long. Ava felt the panic rise in her chest like bile. She looked through the thickening smoke. No one else was free. She had to do this. Or, maybe…maybe she could run away. That sounded a lot easier than—

  “Ava, if you value your God damn job, you’ll get me out of here now!” Her boss had stopped struggling long enough to glare at her.

  She looked out into the jungle—the Zoo, she told herself—and back at him. His stare wilted her. She couldn’t leave him there, not if she wanted a future. Even though a tiny part of her
self begged her to, she couldn’t abandon him. He might be a womanizer and not very respectful, but he didn’t deserve to die.

  Ava took a deep breath and hurried to save her boss. She grappled with the buckle despite it being near the creep’s crotch. “It’s broken.”

  “No shit it’s broken. Now figure something out. This thing is gonna explode!” How a man could thrash so much and do so little baffled her. But he was stuck firmly in his upside-down seat, despite his attempts to shake the straps loose.

  She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she had to stay calm. Surely there was some sort of tool somewhere on board. A knife or something sharp enough to cut the restraints, maybe even a piece of the twisted metal frame.

  “Stupid,” Ava said to herself and earned a curse from Bradley as she retrieved her purse from under—now above—her seat. It was sheer good luck that it had stayed there. She scrabbled inside and finally found a razor, fumbled with it, and broke the plastic casing around the blade. Somehow, she managed to cut herself in the process. Funny, she wouldn’t have even brought the thing except Bradley hated it when she wore leggings, so she had to shave every day.

  An explosion from the back of the helicopter tore her from her thoughts and back into the moment. Seeing her own blood made her hands shake. Ava willed her fingers to cut the strap and save Mr. Bradley, but she couldn’t. That was why she couldn’t be a nurse. Rather than confront her fears she’d simply freeze and—