A Conspiracy Come True
It had been three days since Logan’s death. We gave him his own memorial and celebrated his life here on earth. Everyone mourned his departure and his death will not go in vain. There was a reason for that bomb that hit our town and we were determined to find out who was responsible.
I was sitting in the meeting room with Kiere on my knee and Aurora sitting in front of me. I told them what all had happened the day before. We dragged Logan’s body down the road making sure he makes it home. We fought mobs of zombies the entire way back. We didn’t give up. Hoard after hoard came towards us, but it didn’t slow us down. No matter how hard they wanted us they didn’t get us. They fell by the numbers and walked like an unstoppable army. It took us seven hours to get back to Watch Tower and everyone tried to welcome us back, but as soon as we reached our point I collapsed to the ground. I had woke two days later with nightmares that I couldn’t even put on paper because all I could do is relive Logan’s death over and over again.
Aurora grabbed my hand and comforted me, “I’m sorry about Logan. I know he was like your brother.”
Tears filled my eyes again thinking of Logan. Aurora leaned towards me and gave me a kiss on the cheek while whipping my tears away. Kiere also hugged me and asked me to stop crying because she doesn’t want to see me sad.
I took a deep breath and said, “I’ve got to find who is responsible for this. I need to find answers.”
Aurora squeezed my hand and said, “We will find answers, and when we do they will know they screwed with the wrong people. I have only known you for almost a week now, but Atlas I know you are strong and determined. I fell in love with you the moment I opened the door at the church and saw you standing there. I noticed that day you will do anything you have to do in order to save people.”
I looked up at Aurora and gazed into her baby blue eyes as they were locked on mine. I had a feeling in my stomach I thought I would never have again. This girl had found a way to bring out compassion in me instead of hatred. All I have felt lately is hatred and anger. I leaned in to give her a kiss but was interrupted by Piper slinging the door open.
“Atlas, we got an update.”
I handed Kiere to Aurora and stood quickly from my chair. Piper led me to the radio where someone was broadcasting information.
“Attention to whoever may still be listening. Our world has been changing. The zombies have taken over every piece of land that exists. I have been able to contact different places for brief moments to find out that there isn’t anywhere in this world that hasn’t been infected. Signs of the government are faint but not extinct. Bombs have been issued for certain parts of the country. I heard it was for quarantine reasons but if that was the case why hadn’t tried to rescue the non-infected before demolishing cities all over the nation. Unfortunately the government responsible for the bombs inevitably failed to do their jobs. The virus had been spread through……..”
The broadcast was cut off. It seems as if every time we are about to learn something the broadcaster gets cut off. I brushed my hair with my hand on top of my head.
“If the government was completely involved in this, we need to shut down what government still exists.”
Riley walks over towards me and begins explaining information we desperately needed.
“Atlas, before you came to the compound to rescue Brock and Chase I overheard some of the soldiers talking. They said even though Washington D.C. had been overrun and the government went underground there were still some officials located in other major cities. One of the cities was Louisville, Kentucky.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, I know I heard them talking about if this town became too impossible for Project Rev then that’s where they would fall back to,” Riley insured me.
“What is Project Rev,” I asked while searching in my mind for an answer.
“I honestly don’t know. I was stuck working in the garage where you found me, so I didn’t obtain much information on what was going on. It was just an overheard conversation.”
“If there was an extra military base stationed in Louisville, Kentucky than it’s possible that’s where they took my nieces. Fuel the trucks and gather some weapons, we are heading to Louisville in an hour.”
Aurora appeared behind me urging me not to go yet.
“Atlas, I know you need to go there, but you need to rest a little longer. You may not have enough strength yet to travel to Louisville, let alone take on the government.”
I recognized her concern. She was worried about me, but I knew what I had to do.
“I’m sorry Aurora I have to go now. Who knows when they will send the next bomb or what they are doing to my nieces up there. We have to make our stand today because there may not me a tomorrow.”
I saw the anger in her eyes but behind the anger was fear. She held back the tears and stormed away from me.
Shaun approached me and said, “Atlas, were ready to go.”
I looked at Shaun and motioned him to head to the truck. I ran to Aurora and grabbed her hand. She turned around trying to hide her cry and I kissed her lips letting her know I love her and I wouldn’t be doing this if there was another way.
Aurora wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, “You better come back to me. If you don’t I will burn down the whole world to find you.”
“I’m coming back to you,” I said wiping the tears from her eyes. “Tell Kiere I love her too and I will see her soon.”
My dad approached me and I could see the scared look on his face. Like Aurora he didn’t want me to go.
“Listen son, I know you need to do this. I know there’s no stopping you. Just please be careful out there. Everyone lost a good friend because of them they can lose a brother too. I can’t lose my son.”
He pulled me in tightly and I felt his heart racing in his chest.
“I promise dad. I’m coming back.”
We parted ways and Sloan came up behind me with a map of the roads leading straight to Louisville.
“You will want to stay off of I-65 because we all know it’s probably overrun with the dead and abandoned vehicles blocking your way. So you guys need to go down 839 until you connect to 31E. This road will connect you to Highway 150 which will take you under Interstate 265 and allow you to access Louisville without the chance of being seen. It will take some time to get there since you’re not going to take the main interstate, but it’s safer this way. I outlined the entire route.”
I grabbed the map from Sloan’s hands and thanked him.
“Watch over this place Sloan while we’re gone. All of us are heading up there including so it’s up to you, dad, Seth and Emmitt to keep this place safe.”
“Don’t worry about us. We can handle things here. You just be careful.”
Emmitt and Seth began to head out the door but I blocked their way before they could take another step forward.
“I need you two to stay here with Sloan and dad in case we don’t make it back. I need these people taken care of especially Aurora and Kiere.”
Emmitt placed his arm to my chest and shoved me out of the way. I grabbed the back of his shirt and turned him around.
Placing my hand on his shoulder I explained, “Listen to me Emmitt, I know you want to go but I need you to stay here. They are your daughters I understand that, but I need their father here safe for when they come home.”
Emmitt grabbed my arm and tossed it away while turning towards the door again. I grabbed his shoulder one more time to stop him but he turned around and swung his fist at me. I leaned back before he could hit me and before realizing what I was doing my fist connected to the side of his face and he fell to the floor. I stared at him for a second and lowered my hand down to help him up. He smacked my hand away and Seth looked at me with such anger and disgrace I didn’t know how to take it.
Emmitt stood to his feet and said, “You’re a real son of a bitch you know that. Just because you arranged thi
s little team of yours doesn’t mean you can tell us all what to do. Those are my daughters out there dammit and you will not keep me from going to them.”
He raised his fist to me once again, but before he could place his force behind it our dad intervened by locking arms with him.
“Emmitt, that is enough. Let your brother handle this. He has gotten us here and he will bring my granddaughters home. You have to trust him.”
Emmitt breaks free from my dad’s grip and addresses the entire room, “Atlas just wants to be the big hero for everyone. Hey let’s all praise this self-righteous prick who wants to be known for all that he has done. Screw you Atlas.”
Aurora came running through the meeting room door and stood in between me and Emmitt.
I touched Aurora’s shoulder and whispered, “Aurora, it’s okay.”
“No it’s not okay. Emmitt I get it. You’re pissed. I am to but Atlas isn’t trying to hurt you, He’s helping you. Understand what he does he doesn’t do it for glory or recognition; he does it for everyone else. He doesn’t do it for his self. He is your brother and he loves you.”
Emmitt pushed our dad to the side and stormed off into another room. Seth stared at me as if he was agreeing with Emmitt. My heart sank into my stomach and I wanted to break down. Before I fell Aurora placed her hands on my face and Kiere ran to me and hugged my waist.
“Bring your nieces home Atlas. They are waiting for you.”
I smiled at Aurora and hugged Kiere.
“Dad, please….”
“Don’t worry son. They will be fine. Sloan understands and soon they will to. Seth has always had Emmitt’s back no matter if his decisions were good or bad. That was the same way with you and Sloan. Now go.”
I picked up my duffle bag ran towards the front door shutting it behind me and loading into one of the trucks. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it back this time because this is new territory. We may have gone up against a small military section but not the entire government. This mission was new and surprising. I was going to make sure my nieces come home one way or another whether I came back or not. The government took them for a reason and they blew up my town while killing a brother of mine. This wasn’t going to be only about a rescue this was also about vengeance. We are now going to take the fight to them.
No Way in Hell
Mark, Justin, Chase and Brock were in the truck behind me. Shaun, Riley and Zora were in a truck with me. Most of the roads were crowded with abandoned cars and zombies along with stray animals feasting on sun baked flesh. The sun was shining bright with an orange tint surrounding it. The grass all around us seemed to be decaying like the drifters flesh began to do. We were on the outskirts of Downtown Louisville. We parked our vehicles in an old parking garage. We all stepped out with guns loaded watching around every corner. There were a couple of roamers dragging their feet around the building.
As we were sneaking around Riley was whispering where he believed they said which building they were using.
“The old fifty story tower that had a U of L banner hanging from the roof was what they said. They also said that it had been under renovations for months.”
Mark had joined in with the conversation, “I believe I know what building you’re talking about. I came up here to watch a U of L game and while I was walking down the street to the stadium I passed a building with orange caution fences surrounding it.”
“Mark, you take the lead and show us the way to the building. Everyone stay close because if it was as top secret as you say it is Riley, it will be heavily guarded.”
We exited the parking garage in a straight line formation checking every corner and looking down every street as we passed it. The entire journey on foot I couldn’t help but think about Emily and Brislen. They were probably terrified when they were taken not knowing where they were going or what had happened to their dad. I wish I could have gotten to them sooner before they were taken so they could have been safe with us.
The wind had a slight gust to it and shreds of paper flew into the air while covering the streets. Old fliers with band advertisements and convenient store sales kept sticking to my feet. A cold chill came across my skin and something caught my eye. I didn’t know why I was seeing him, but I saw Logan standing on the street corner with his gun staring right at me. I stopped for a minute because I knew it was just a hallucination but the look on his face was terrifying. He wasn’t saying anything. He was just standing there. I shook my head to rid his image from my mind and as soon as he appeared he disappeared.
Zora stepped to me and patted my back while asking, “Are you okay? You look like you seen a ghost.”
I looked at her and replied with a lying smile, “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Mark said the building is just around the corner. Let’s go.”
As I ran next to Zora I kept staring at the street corner waiting for him to appear again, but he did not. Logan was there and then he was gone like he was in life. We began traveling around a corner when Mark stopped us from continuing further.
“There are snipers on the roof. We can’t go this way.”
I looked around and saw we were standing next to a high vantage point adjacent to the building.
“I need Riley and Chase to head to the roof of this building and use your rifles to take care of those snipers.”
Chase gripped his rifle and said, “We’re on it.”
Chase kicked open the ground floor door and headed inside with Riley running behind him. I stayed at the corner peeking around glancing towards the roof of the tower and saw multiple men pacing around keeping guard.
“Zora, pull out your radio and ask them if they made it to the top yet.”
“Chase. Riley. Have you reached the roof yet? Over.”
Riley came back over the radio and replied, “We are around 5 stories away from the top. You will know when we get there because of the snipers disappearing.”
“Once Riley and Chase take out the snipers we will kick in the front doors and find us some answers.”
Riley’s voice came back over the radio.
“We are in position. We have our sights set on them.”
“As soon as you terminate the snipers you haul ass to the doors, we will meet you inside.”
“Okay, be ready to start running.”
As soon as he clicked off the radio two loud shots surrounded the area. We began to sprint towards the doors when Riley came back over the radio.
“Wait, wait. Don’t go yet. There are two more snipers on the adjacent building. We need to take them out before you go. They are searching around looking for us.”
I pressed the button on the radio, “Can you take them out?”
“Yes, give us just one second.”
Two more loud gunshots pierced the air.
“Go,” Riley’s voice commanded over the radio.
We began running across the road to the double doors firing our weapons to break the glass. I leaped through the shards first as the rest joined behind me.
“Brock and Shaun cover the right side. Zora and Justin cover the left. Mark and I will guard the door until Chase and Riley get here. If you see anyone start walking through this area put two in the chest and one in the head.”
Riley came back over the radio trying to catch his breath.
“We’re coming through.”
“You’re clear.”
Riley and Chase jump through the door and stopped midway through the room.
I walked over to Riley and asked, “Why would there have been two other snipers on the roof of another building?”
Riley placed his hands on his knees breathing heavily while he replied, “I don’t know. Maybe they took over two separate buildings.”
“A couple of us can go check out that building while you check this one,” Chase said walking towards me.
“Let’s do that. Chase will take Justin, Riley and Mark to the other building while Zora, Shaun, Brock and I will check this one. Ren
dezvous back at the trucks in an hour. If you guys aren’t there within an hour we will come knocking down walls and we will find you.”
“One way or another we are going to find what we came here for,” Mark said while shoving my arm with his hand.
I watched them run out of the door and it was almost in slow motion. As soon as Justin ran out of the frame Logan was standing there watching them. I stared at him wondering why I was seeing him here. He died and yet here he was, following us around.
“Atlas, come on,” Zora said breaking my attention.
I looked back at them as they were running to the stairs and I glanced back at the doors and Logan had disappeared. He trailed behind the rest of the group running up the flight of stairs. I caught up to Brock who was standing behind Shaun and Zora. Zora’s hand was raised informing us to hold.
“I hear footsteps coming down the stairs,” Zora said kneeled down.
“They are here,” yelled a random voice above us.
Bullets began flying passed our heads.
“Shoot them son of a bitches,” Zora yelled while firing her gun.
I was shooting my gun above me when I began hearing footsteps below us. I aimed my gun towards the other mob coming our way when I saw a door behind me. I began barging into it until I broke it open. I tapped on Brock’s shoulder and he saw I was able to find us a way out. He then tapped on Shaun’s shoulders who in return tapped on Zora. We ran into the room and slammed the door shut. As Zora and I held the door in place Brock and Shaun scooted a table from the side of the room and placed it against the door. We ran across the room and ventured into another stairwell that was located at the other end of the room. There wasn’t anyone else on that stairwell at the moment so we began climbing upward. I was able to get a short distance away from the group looking through every glass window attached to every door in the stairwell. As quickly as he disappeared the last time he appeared again. Logan was standing inside of the rooms where I was looking through the glass window. I twisted the door handle and it opened to a room full of computers. Logan disappeared again in the split second the door blocked my vision. I asked myself why this room?
Z.E.D.S. Series (Book 1): Z.E.D.S. Rising Page 10