The Z-Strain Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Morris, SJ

  Benning rushed past all of us to help Garrison make the preflight checks, and Abby ran over to Stuart and Troy.

  I walked up to Garrison, who was loving life at the moment. “How long is it going to be before we’re ready to take off? We need to be ready for anything at the moment.”

  “It’s going to take me about three minutes to get this bird off the roof. We’re lucky the UH-60A can fit fourteen people in a maximum capacity situation. Otherwise, we’d have to leave someone behind,” Garrison joked.

  I was just about to respond with a snide comment about how Marines never leave a man behind when the elevator doors on the other side of the roof dinged open, and all hell broke loose.

  The twang of bullets ricocheting across the hull of the helicopter made us all duck and run for cover. I dove behind an air conditioner and looked for where Abby had hidden.

  I looked around frantically and finally saw that Abby was with Troy and Stuart on the other end of the roof.

  As quick as it started, the gunfire stopped.

  “Abby, you have been a naughty, naughty girl. You are never going to get away from me no matter what you do, so why don’t you come on out like a good girl and we can go back downstairs and get some rest. I still have so many amazing discoveries to show you,” Peter said as he stepped off the elevator, shielded from us by four armed guards.

  Abby stepped out from behind the wall where she was hiding with her hands up. “I already know about your super-soldier project, and I’m not convinced you can do it. You’re not as smart as Brigantine was, and even she couldn’t pull it off without practically destroying the world. What makes you think you can do any better?” Abby asked callously.

  What the hell was she doing? Goating the psychopath was not the brightest of ideas, but she did get him to walk a little closer to us, and further away from the protection of the guards. I took the opportunity to pull my M200 Intervention Sniper Rifle from my back and line up the sight with where Peter’s forehead would be. A guard blocked my view, and I feared if I shot him, the rest of the guards would open fire, and Abby would be hit. I decided to keep my scope trained on the area waiting for Peter to come into view, and hopefully when the other guards weren’t in a position to shoot Abby, then and only then, would I take him out.

  Peter motioned for his guards to back up, and he was clearly in my view now.

  I watched through my scope as Peter’s eyes narrowed, glaring at Abby. A vertical wrinkle grew between his eyebrows, and his lips pursed tightly together in anger. “I already told you, Abbigail, you have no idea what I’m capable of. Your daughters are a true testament to what I can accomplish, and now that I’ve engineered them successfully, the sky is the limit, my dear.”

  I pulled my eye away from my rifle to watch Abby’s response, and I have never seen her so furious. She clenched her jaw and balled her fists up at her sides. Her face turned a deep shade of crimson in the pale moonlight from suppressed rage. Before I was able to register what was happening, Abby quickly swung her arm behind her, producing a handgun and pointed it at Peter, pulling the trigger repeatedly.

  Her gun barked out loudly, and Peter’s men responded by firing on Abby.

  Peter was hit in the shoulder and paused long enough to grab his wound for me to take my shot. My bullet exited my rifle at eighteen hundred miles per hour and entered his left eye blowing the right side of his skull all over the ground. The gory pieces of minced grey matter splattered with a sickening noise.

  The four guards were next. I aimed, and out of nowhere, a spear flew through the air, impaling one of the guards, causing the other three to turn in my direction.

  Jet let out a maniacal, “Oorah!” at his success in taking out the guard.

  I focused on others quickly pulling the trigger, moving to the next target before checking to be sure my bullets found their way to center mass as I had intended. I needed this firefight over as quickly as possible, Abby was hit.

  As soon as the shooting stopped and all of Peter’s soldiers were down, I rushed to Abby’s side. From the moment I reached her, to getting into the helicopter, everything was all a blur.

  Abby had been hit in the left shoulder, just under her collar bone, and she was writing in pain.

  Troy and Stuart ran to us, giving me instructions, but my mind was so scattered I didn’t register the words. I picked her up and carried her to the helicopter, where Jimmy and Lynn opened the doors and helped me get her inside. I pulled Abby onto my lap as I yelled out to anyone who would listen, “Get this thing in the air now!”

  I needed to get Abby home, fixed up, and in the arms of her children.

  Chapter 24

  Christopher Bryant

  I clutched Abby tightly, digging through my medical kit. I grabbed the combat gauze, tore the package open with my teeth, and crammed the material inside her wound as it slowly oozed dark blood. She winced at the pressure but didn’t attempt to speak. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she passed out.

  I felt for a pulse and thankfully found one. Abby was a fighter, and she’d been through much worse before. She would make it through this. Or at least that’s what I told myself.

  Before I could call them over, Stuart, Troy, and Lynn made their way through the others to where I was holding Abby’s limp body.

  Troy spoke up as he reached under Abby’s head, pulling her towards him. “I’ve got her, Chris. Let us take care of her. She’ll be fine.”

  “I hope so,” was all I could manage to get out while Troy slid Abby from my arms.

  Lynn was the more experienced physician, so she took over from Troy and Stuart. Lynn informed me that Abby was shot in the stomach as well, and that was the more severe injury. Both shots were through and through, so Lynn packed the wounds, saying we’d be able to get more information on Abby’s injuries when we were on the ground, and she could be fully assessed.

  I wiped the blood from my hands on my shirt and climbed in front toward Garrison and Benning, who were in the pilot and copilots’ seats flicking toggles and pushing buttons. “Our cabin is in Paradise Lakes, New Jersey. It’s just north of High Point State Park. Do you know where that is?” I yelled over the noise from the rotors that now started turning.

  Garrison picked up a map from the cockpit and showed it to me. “I found this tucked in up under the radio. Is this you guys here?” he bellowed, pointing to one of three red circles drawn on the map.

  “Yep, that’d be it,” I replied, relieved that I didn’t have to try and navigate by dead reckoning in the dark to help Garrison get us home.

  I sat back, watching Stuart and Troy clean up Abby’s wounds as Lynn tended to her. All I could think of was not wanting to make it back to the cabin after everything we had done to tell Tyler that he’d have to bury his mother too. I couldn’t let that happen, but I was helpless to stop whatever came next.

  I was yanked from my depression by Admiral tapping my shoulder and pointing to the medic bag I still clutched.

  Admiral grabbed his shoulder, bright red, fresh blood stained his dark green shirt as he smiled through the pain. “That rescue... it was as easy as sliding off a greasy log backward.” He shouted.

  I handed him the medical kit, shaking my head. “I have no idea what that means, but here.” I handed him the bag. “You better stop that bleeding. We should be back at the cabin in forty-five minutes or so, right, Garrison?”

  “Luckily, she’s all gassed up and ready to go, so forty-five minutes sounds about right, but I think I can get us there in thirty. As we Irish like to say, may the wind always be at your back!” Garrison yelled with a smile as he grabbed the cyclic stick, and we began lifting off of the roof.

  Dozens of soldiers poured out of the stairwell door shooting at our stolen aircraft as we took off. Black Hawk helicopters are made to withstand enemy fire, so we took no damage and continued flying northeast into the night sky.

  Looking out over the moonlit expanse made me even more depressed. There was nothing. No
lights, no fires, no signs of life at all. Were we too late in developing a weapon that could potentially wipe out the infected? Was humanity already totally lost?

  We knew shitty people like Peter had survived the outbreak and everything that happened after - until tonight, that is. Was there anyone left out there that was worth saving everything for? There had to be.

  I made a mental note to ask Tyler to start listening for survivors on the radio again. There had to be more people worth protecting left, and we needed to be more proactive about finding them. It was definitely a risk to bring new people in, but one I knew Abby would want us to take. We had Ella and Kasey to look out for now. They were the beginning of a new generation, and I couldn’t let our efforts to bring people together cease because of them or any other reason. There’s strength in numbers, and we needed to be strong.

  The rest of the flight home was uneventful. Lynn, Troy, and Stuart did what they could for Abby, but she didn’t wake up. Admiral had a superficial wound in his shoulder from a ricochet, and Jimmy took a bullet in the calf. Lynn was seeing to Jimmy’s injury, and the two seemed to be getting quite close.

  Seeing them together made my chest tighten since I didn’t know what outcome to expect from Abby’s wounds.

  I didn’t think our situation could get any bleaker until we got closer to home. The sun had just begun to rise in front of us to the east, illuminating the trees and other landscapes below us. Smoke was rising up in the distance like there was a fire near where our home was.

  Benning yelled from the cockpit, “Ugh, Chris! I think we have a problem up here!”

  I pushed upfront as far as I could go to see out of the windshield. What I saw took my breath away. The infected were everywhere. It wasn’t smoke that I was seeing, it was the dirt their shuffling feet kicked up through the trees.

  I could see the break in the forest where the cabin and our fenced-in fields were, but the undead were all over the area. They had knocked the chain-linked fence down in several sections and were piling up along the concrete block wall. That wall was the only thing that blocked the path of the infected from destroying everything we had built; all of our family and friends were inside those walls. We had to do something, and we had to do it quick.

  “Land inside, over there!” I yelled at Garrison, pointing to the clearing in front of the barn. “We’ll have Lynn and some of the others get the wounded on the ground and to our medical facilities. Then I need you to get us back in the air right away. You’re going to get us down over there, closer to where the dead are stacking up. I’ve got an idea,” I yelled over the noise of the helicopter.

  I turned to the back of the helicopter and grabbed Lynn explaining what was going to happen next. She was going to take Abby, Jimmy, Admiral, Troy, and Stuart with her.

  I grabbed Kamil, Jet, and Arrow, “You guys are going to get out too when we land. Kamil, you take them and get every jug of Troy’s serum, and the gear to spray it. Get Jasmine to help you. I want you four to spread out all over the concrete wall. Use the solar panel platforms to spray as many of the infected as you can. Bowie, Mace, and I are going to do the same from the air!” I yelled at them as we were landing.

  Kamil gave me a nod as the helicopter touched down. Everyone knew what to do and were off as soon as they opened the doors of the chopper.

  We made a great team, all of us. I just hoped that we’d be able to make it out of this alive and with our sanctuary still intact.

  Chapter 25

  Christopher Bryant

  We landed, and the injured were rushed off the helicopter as well as Kamil, Jet, and Arrow. I helped Bowie and Mace strap on the water guns and filled the tanks with the remaining serum we had with us.

  I yelled for Garrison to take us back up, and we rose quickly into the early morning sky.

  My heart jumped into my throat as the undead came into view. We were hovering a few hundred feet from them as they crawled over one another, trying to get to the top of the wall. The first rotting body was about to climb over the top. It must have been a doctor or a nurse when it was alive because he was wearing tattered scrubs. I reminded myself what it was before meant nothing. Right now, this undead creature was a threat to my family and needed to be destroyed.

  I lined up my rifle, took aim, and blew its disgusting face through the back of its mangled head. The body fell into a heap and rolled down the backs of the undulating corpses below it.

  “Guys, you have to get up here now and spray these things down! They are almost over the wall!” I yelled at Bowie and Mace.

  The strong women each took a side of the helicopter, latching themselves to the ceiling and reached out of the open doors as they pumped the plastic guns.

  It seemed so silly to be using plastic kids’ toys to fight against these monsters, but you can’t argue with results.

  Bowie and Mace began unloading the orange fluid into the crowd. I continued to take headshots at the ones closest to the top of the wall, and the infected mound began to sink into a pile of black ooze.

  The rotor wash spread the serum further as Bowie and Mace sprayed the throng of infected.

  “Garrison, take us around the walls. We need to make sure they aren’t building up in other spots,” I yelled.

  “Copy that!” he yelled back in response.

  We hovered and continued spraying the infected all around the perimeter of the fence.

  Kamil, Jasmine, Jet, and Arrow came running from the cabin with extra jugs of the serum and the landscaping sprayers. I watched as they all split up and climbed different platforms along the wall before pumping the liquid into the horde that was trying to swallow our home.

  Chuck and others rushed outside as well with rifles and machetes ready to take on anything that may cross over.

  I was so proud of every single one of them for stepping up to defend our home.

  Just when I thought we were winning, I saw one of the super-infected jump up on top of the concrete wall, and it looked like it was screaming. I couldn’t hear over the noise from the helicopter, but the tattered female curled her arms like a mad scientist in a horror film as she opened her mouth in a rage. Others followed behind her.

  I smacked Garrison on the shoulder and pointed in her direction, “Over there! They’re getting over!” I screamed out.

  Garrison jerked the cyclic stick, and we turned sharply in the direction of the infected now flowing into our sanctuary.

  I couldn’t fire my rifle, or I risked hitting my family on the ground who were now engaging in hand to hand combat with these creatures. I was forced to watch as Chuck and my other friends fought off these raving lunatic zombies as they proceeded to tear through their defenses.

  Chuck slashed at one of them with his machete, hitting it in the throat. The wound would have meant death for any other adversary, but it only seemed to enrage the infected further as it jumped on top of Chuck sinking its rotting teeth into his forearm as he tried to defend himself.

  Chuck barely had time to react before he was shaking violently and moving erratically. The infected assailant had done its job and moved on to the next target. I looked on as Chuck changed into one of them within seconds. No longer worried about friendly fire, I took aim and put a bullet in Chuck’s brain ending his life.

  Anger and heartbreak filled my chest watching one of our own get taken by this plague, and I opened fire on every moving undead thing I could see through my scope.

  Bowie and Mace were almost out of serum in their packs, but we continued the assault against the infected. The helicopter circled the walls over and over again, and it seemed like the tidal wave of the undead would never end.

  After what seemed like forever, the herd began to thin. Our fighters on the ground dispatched all of the super-infected that had breached the wall, and Kamil, Jasmine, Jet, and Arrow sprayed the remaining revenants before they could pile up again, leaving mounds of black slime and gore everywhere.

  Garrison landed the helicopter in the same spot he h
ad before, and the rotors slowed to a stop. We had survived a massive invasion by the undead, but barely, and with at least one less of us alive - that I was aware of anyway.

  The team regrouped around the helicopter, and we were all hot, sweaty, and out of breath from the fight. All I wanted to do was check on Abby and the girls, take a shower and get some rest. That was not going to happen, not for a while. There was too much to do. We had to survey the damage and take stock of what or who we had lost in this horrific battle.

  I looked around and saw everyone, except for Chuck, was accounted for. I eyed the faces of my friends wearily and couldn’t help but feel defeated once again.

  Tyler came running out of the house. “What the hell was that?” he asked out of breath from sprinting.

  “It was a massive herd of the undead, and we barely beat them, Tyler,” I replied, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my thumb and my forefinger. “We lost Chuck.”

  Tyler’s face froze. “What? Chuck is gone. He’s dead?”

  I didn’t want to have this conversation now, but Tyler’s face told me he needed answers. “There appears to be a new enemy among the infected. We’ve been calling them the super-infected. They’re much stronger, faster, and smarter than the walking dead we’re used to. They seem to manipulate herds of the slower infected to overrun their prey, and then they swoop in for the attack. At least, that’s what I’ve seen.”

  Tyler’s face, as well as the others around him that didn’t go to New York with us, dropped. “Are you freaking kidding me? These things have intelligence to that magnitude now? Just when we thought we had it under control with that orange stuff, the world throws us another curveball,” Tyler sighed.

  “I know. How are Abby and the others that were wounded doing?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “Mom’s fine. She’s up and feeding the babies now. She told me to come find out what all of the commotion was. Everyone else is good too. Doc and Lynn are taking care of them.”