Zed Days (Book 3): Zed Days III

by Harland, Nick

  I thought putting her on the back foot was worth giving away the secret, so I carried on and let my instincts speak. ‘I have a friend back where we have settled and her name in Andrea, she was bitten and she was smart. It took some time, but she turned into what we call a Talker, the ones of you that can speak to and control the others. When she was bitten she wanted us to keep her alive so she could come back to us, and she has.’

  I knew I couldn’t overplay my hand, and that she would know if I was lying. I wouldn’t need to talk to her if I already had all the knowledge I needed from Andrea, so I stuck to the truth, ‘It has only just begun, but she has come back to us. She is fighting to regain control of her body and mind and she has started to win. It won’t be long before we have one of you on our side, helping us.’

  I saw the Hybrids face change then quickly return to the benign smile. I carried on, ‘That scares you doesn’t it. Imagine if we possessed not only all the knowledge you brought with you, but could control those of you that can’t control themselves. Then we would be more than just a drop in the ocean, then we would be the current and the tide.’

  I pushed my upper hand in the cut and thrust of the conversation one step further, ‘But I haven’t answered your question have I, and that’s rude of me. I am filled with you, you can feel the ones you sent inside me, and because of that I can feel you too. You are aliens that have invaded our world, but your research is incomplete. Not all of us have the cells you can take over, mutate, and use to gain control, and I am one of those people, but I am not the only one.’

  I wanted to go on, to tell her about the vaccine, to rub it in her face, but I stopped myself. She only hesitated for a moment, was only uncertain for a moment, but I saw it. She replied, ‘You understand much, and at the same time little. We are not invaders, we have always been here, but we are beyond your understanding, beyond your capabilities to see. We have been waiting a millennia in your atmosphere, watching and evolving, watching you evolve and grasp all the things we have been unable to until now. We have come down before, but failed in our task. It has taken over 650 years for us to rebuild our numbers, and learn from our mistakes, but this time we are here to stay. It matters little that you are immune to us, or that those with you have avoided us, as others may have done. You feel pain and hunger, sadness and regret, and we have no such weakness. We outnumber you by a countless measure, and even if some of you are strong and can fight us, our victory is certain. There will be others like me, and our presence heralds your end.’

  I felt her power build and sensed she was leading up to a conclusion I knew I wouldn’t like, so I asked the only sensible question I could think of that might stop her crescendo, ‘You were the one who asked to talk, what do you want?’

  She paused, her breath held, but it was too late. I turned on my heel and was running towards Lulu even as she screamed the word, ‘Die!’

  The nausea that flowed over me like an avalanche as she screamed made me stumble, but I held my feet and met Esme’s desperate eyes as she held her hand out towards me. Eve revved the engine but I didn’t need any encouragement. I could hear steps and groaning behind me and didn’t have time to check over my shoulder. The moment I was close enough I dove headlong into the back seat and knowing Eve would drop the clutch the moment I was inside, I hugged myself with my arms as I jumped so I wouldn’t get tangled, and waited for the hit.

  Chapter Nine – If they ever start working together.

  I remember saying to Eve shortly after we met that if they ever started working together, we would never survive, and with the Hybrid they were. But that was then, and by then, we were working together too. We’d killed hundreds and hundreds of them between us all. At that moment, as I dove into Lulu’s back seat, that wasn’t what was on my mind though.

  I think Eve dropped the clutch even before I hit the seat and I knew to bring my knees up so the door could shut. The results was that I ended up almost curled into a ball when the acceleration pushed me onto the back seat and I bounced off it to end up crumpled and unable to get up in the rear foot-well. The combined nausea of the Hybrids call to arms and being shaken around in the foot-well without being able to see outside threatened to part me from my breakfast, but Esme grabbed my hand and helped me get upright despite Eve throwing Lulu around like a bobsleigh.

  As I struggled to gain orientation all I could hear was Eve cursing, ‘Fucking bitch, sneaky fucking bitch. Fuck!’

  I didn’t take long to assess the scene and see what Eve was so upset about. It looked like a horde of Zeds had swarmed around either side of the building and must have been gathering there from the start of the conversation in order to have been ready. Talkers could give vague directions to the Zeds, but she was something quite different.

  Knowing even large groups of Zeds couldn’t stop our vehicles, she had Zeds pushing cars into the road out of the carpark. The shop and carpark was surrounded by a strong fence we would wouldn’t be able to drive though, at least with any chance of being able to get much further afterwards. The Zeds swarmed behind us and the GT so both of us had headed around the carpark to get out, and that was when she had them moving cars into our escape route. She was really smart, I had to give her that.

  With the number of Zeds she had at her disposal, moving cars wasn’t difficult. With the ones that threw themselves in our way as we sped around the carpark towards the only exit hindering us, we never managed to gain much speed. We all knew if we stopped, with the Hybrid in control, we wouldn’t last long, and we were running out of space. The moment I was up, Esme grabbed the radio and started shouting, ‘Now, now, now, we need help now.’

  The Zeds had managed to move two cars across the exit road but at least one was small. Eve shouted, ‘Hang on, we have no choice.’

  I hadn’t managed to get my seat belt on and gripped the back the passenger chair in front of me as Eve hit the cars blocking the way as fast as she dared. We all waited for the hit from the GT behind us and it came quick and hard, its comparatively low form shunting us upward so its bonnet was under our rear wheels.

  We had crumpled the cars in front of us pretty well, but had only moved them a few feet forwards. We needed at least another ten feet before we could escape around them and through a bush. In the moments we were both stopped, the horde swarmed towards us and we were quickly covered with many fingers entwined into the mesh covering our windows. I knew Beefcake’s wouldn’t be far away. The GT reversed and our rear end hit the tarmac with our wheels already spinning. Many of the Zeds to the side of us were shaken free, but with so many fingers pulling on the mesh, the front passenger and rear drivers’ side mesh was ripped free. With the hybrid in control, broken windows were next. If we stopped for even a moment, that would be it.

  The moment came all too quickly as we reversed hard into the GT that had been brought to a halt by the wall of bodies that had swarmed behind it. I looked desperately at Esme as Zeds started to cover us again and elbows started smashing at the exposed glass. Then there was a loud bang followed by the sound of groaning metal and I looked around to see Ben’s giant plough career through the metal perimeter fence and straight into the cars blocking our exit.

  Eve reacted immediately, but not quickly enough to save the glass in the front passenger window. Before we could move, a Zed got its head and arms through the window and started grabbing at Eve and the gear stick. Esme went to lunge between the front seats but I beat her to it and without a weapon in hand I started wailing on the Zeds arms with my fists as they reached for Eve.

  Eve kept her hand on the gear stick, keeping it in first, then rammed it into second as we sped forwards, despite the deep cuts the Zeds was scratching into her hand and forearm. She steered behind the plough to escape through the hole it had made in the fence and by scrapping past Bens plough we shook off most of the other Zeds that had been hanging on.

  I had time to look for the GT and we were lucky that the Beefcake had targeted it not us. It was trying to smash the side g
lass rather than lift it up as the other Zeds were trying to do. If the GT had been anything other than the full princess upgrade, with the strongest bullet proof glass money could buy, and an ass full of lead, it would have gone differently. The glass didn’t crack but I’m sure the Beefcakes hand did. The ten or so Zeds that had manged to find handholds under the sills before it could follow us probably only tore their back muscles.

  Eve swerved to a halt on the dual carriageway allowing all of us to pummel the Zed hanging though the window into submission and shove it out onto the road. By the time it was dealt with the GT was next to us and I was able to concentrate on Ben, Izzy and the plough. It had reversed a little and had started down the exit road the cars had blocked, but it was slower than a tank and before it could gain any speed it was covered in Zeds, the Beefcake roaring with anger at being denied satisfaction.

  Mary and the other vehicles were waiting on the dual carriage way and Esme yelled down the radio, ‘Go help them’.

  I looked past my adrenalin to evaluate the scene and we had done significant damage to the horde. There must only have been thirty or so left, that were a threat at least, and the Hybrid was long gone back into the shop with her retinue in tow. Eve revved to follow the others but I said in what I hoped was a firm tone, ‘No.’

  She turned to glower at me and all I could do was meet her anger with a smile, ‘Lulu has served us well and probably saved our life again, but she’s hurt. She’s one of the team and if it was one us that was hurt, you wouldn’t force us back into the fight just because you were angry. Killing the Hybrid is important though, so by all means grab your guns and let’s go hunting. You’re still hurt, so strictly bullet time for you while Esme and I run interference. Be a love and leave us the odd one though, we do still need to conserve ammo.

  Esme was way ahead of me and had gathered the guns. We got out of Lulu, weapons in hand, and marched through the ruined fence towards the shop. With the others helping, what was left of the horde wasn’t too threatening, but the Beefcake was still up and seemed to have immobilised one of the cars by kicking through the grill. It was a smart move so I figured the Hybrid must still have eyes on the scene. The moment we came into view on foot, the remaining Zeds that still could, charged us.

  Eve picked off the faster ones while Esme unshouldered the Henry and took down the Beefcake before it could get up any momentum. Eve shouted, ‘Esme, I can’t run and I’ll be fine, take Brad and kill that bitch, I’ll cover your backs, now run.’

  She was right, killing the hybrid or perhaps even capturing her was the number one priority. We dashed towards the front doors of the shop but found our way blocked by about eight organised Zeds, and I could hear the gravely tone of a Talker behind them. I figured the Hybrid must be escaping out of a back door so I yelled at Esme to follow me and raced around the side of the building.

  While we ran I panted, ‘Remember, she’s really smart so we have to be careful, don’t risk yourself. They didn’t come through the doors after us so they’ve probably gone back through the shop.’

  I didn’t have high hopes of catching her, but her means of escape was singularly unexpected and I might have laughed if I wasn’t knackered from keeping up with Esme and from having to turn around and run from her parting gift. The bitch had a fucking trials bike and I swear she took delight in waving as she noisily revved away. She left us with two of the biggest beefcakes I’d ever seen, both wielding what I assume were ice picks, and wearing ill-fitting helmets. It was like a scene from a movie and I had never been so glad it also ended up like one, with the good guys winning. We turned and ran.

  We turned the corner to see Eve jogging slowly towards us, wincing with every step and holding her side. We ran towards her and I just managed to say, ‘I really fucking hope you have some bullets left’, before the Beefcakes hurtled around the corner. With brains apparently not essential in Beefcake functioning, it took two shots each to down them, and one got too close for comfort before it fell.

  Eve was smug and superior as always and blew the end of her gun barrels in that sexy way of hers saying, ‘I can’t leave you alone for a minute can I, you can thank me properly later.’

  By the time we all sloped back to the front of the shop the rest of the horde were dead and people were finishing off the stragglers. The hockey guys were the first to reach us and Track was just saying, ‘Sor..’ when Eve interrupted him.

  ‘You don’t have to say a thing. It was a shit situation and you did as well as anyone could. I just wish the Doc was here to thank for being so ridiculous with pimping up that car of his.’

  Then she turned to Esme and said, ‘And on the subject of thanks, if you hadn’t insisted on calling for backup we’d all be dead so...’ Then she grabbed her gently and kissed her while Track and the others blushed.

  Ben arrived a moment later, ‘You guys are unbelievable, you go off on your own for less than an hour and dig up a whole new level of threat and nearly die.’ Then he looked at Lulu and said, ‘Bill’s gonna be pissed.’

  Izzy was the first to ask the obvious question, ‘So did you learn anything. The contents of the shop will be cool and everything, but what did she say, Esme didn’t say much but I gather you met some kind of leader that was more like a human.’

  Everyone had gathered around and I found myself in the spotlight once again. I took a breath and a moment to enjoy the late morning sun on my face before sighing and saying, ‘She said some stuff that was interesting, but it broke down pretty quickly. I think she was only delaying to organise her attack. She said they weren’t aliens as such, they have always been in our atmosphere, watching, evolving, and waiting to take over. She said they came down 650 years ago but failed, and it has taken them this long to get back up to strength, learn from their mistakes, and try again.’

  I was about to continue when Eve said, ‘The black death, that was fucking them, it was just over 650 years ago. The bastards wiped out about half of the planets population.’

  Everyone looked dumbfounded, but we were used to the reaction by now so I carried on, I have to admit in a deliberately matter of fact fashion, ‘Apparently they were responsible for the black death, which makes sense from what she said. I wanted to get more out of her and worry her, so I told her about Andrea and it did the job, she was definitely worried about the prospect of a Talker going rogue, even if she tried not to show it.’

  ‘I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been here, at least not like she is, for very long at all. My gut tells me she only recently grew into her powers, and that fits with the development we’ve been seeing. We’ve never seen others that weren’t full Zeds though, and she was definitely mostly human from the outside. Her skin was red and warm looking in the sun so I think she still has at least vaguely normal blood and circulation.’

  I looked at Eve and said, ‘Yes, before you say it, that probably means we can kill the bitch more easily.’

  Esme asked the next question, ‘So, if we’ve never seen what’s basically a human waiting to develop into a Hybrid, where’s she been, how’s she been surviving, and whose been looking after her. We have to assume the Zeds knew not to eat her, and I’m pretty sure there’s no going back once your body has gone all Zombie, so she must have stayed basically human from the start.’

  Izzy piped in with as good an answer as any, ‘Perhaps she’s just been like a slightly smarter and more powerful Zed, wandering around with impunity eating and drinking normal stuff while she developed.’

  I took in what had been said and carried on, ‘This all confirms the hierarchy we’ve been observing, and her mutilating that Zed so we would let it look around the GT is even more evidence. She said the Zed she did that to was only destined to serve as sustenance for others. She must have been talking about when we’ve seen a Talker eat the brains of another Zed. It must be that some of the Zeds will never develop past what they are now, which is encouraging I guess.’

  ‘A while ago the doc described a possible future where all the Ze
ds became Talkers before their host’s wrestled back control. The earth would become populated by Zeds who had regained what they could of their humanity, and they would change the world into what they needed to serve their needs; one great big farm for fresh living meat they could eat.’

  Eve was challenging as usual, ‘Well this all very nice, but it doesn’t help us much. I guess it’s useful to know there are more dangerous threats than Talkers out there, but we’re still in the same fight for our survival. I suggest a pragmatic approach. Let’s loot the shit out of this shop now it’s clear and get the hell out of here just in case she risks coming back with another horde. She wouldn’t have to go far to find a whole bunch of new friends.’

  I was slightly jealous Eve beat me to the crux of the situation, but I was happy to support, ‘Eve’s right, unless anyone objects, I suggest a meeting back at our place for a bit more planning about how to proceed with the supermarket now we know she’s out there. She’s obviously smart and now she knows we’re out here, and is obviously keen on killing us, she’ll want to set traps. She knows we’re geared up so she’ll know food will be our number one priority.’

  I thought we were all done and ready to re-group but Esme stepped forwards and in an unfamiliarly uncompromising tone she said, ‘Fuck that.’

  Briefly smiling at me she added, ‘Brads right about lots of it, but he’s wrong about going home, and we don’t need the stuff in this shop. We need the food in the supermarket and even given an hour she could turn it into a death trap. Right now she’s running scared and although she wants to kill us, she seemed pretty keen on making sure she was safe first. I say we go to the supermarket right now while we still can. If we can’t get in now, we certainly won’t be able to tomorrow.’

  She looked around at the surprised faces, including mine, and added, ‘I’m not saying we clear the place, we probably can’t, and that may not be the best strategy going forwards. The tins are the priority, also dry food like cereal, rice, and pasta if we can get to it. I say we storm in, preferably with the plough through the front door, and cause mayhem. We should use petrol bombs to start fires if we have any. Then a few of us throw as many tins as we can find into trolleys before taking them outside and loading up. Then we get the hell out of there. In and out in five minutes flat, like bank robbers.’