“Nothing,” Ying repeated, whispering to herself. She stared at the floor, surprised that despite several months of constant traffic they retained their glossy appearance. She wondered if Major Wei had his men polish the floors nightly. It wouldn’t surprise her. Even when the world ends, and the dead rise to eat the living, appearances must be maintained, she supposed.
***
“We’ve got to have sterile conditions. Half the work we do goes down the toilet due to contamination,” Doctor Lien said. He stood from his chair, clipboard in hand. The mess hall had been set up so that the scientific team faced Major Wei, 2nd Lieutenant Chen, and two other lower ranking sergeants who sat silently, all staring off in different directions, yawning. All but for Major Wei, who glared intently back at Lien.
“You’ll work with what you got, Doctor Lien,” Major Wei said as casually as breathing.
Lieutenant Chen giggled beside him. The others were smiling as well, apparently pleased with the Major’s response to the white lab coated middle aged balding two PhDs man addressing them.
Lien dropped his clipboard on the table, startling Ying. “This is madness,” he said. “Can’t you understand—”
“I understand this,” Major Wei interrupted, taking his tone a few decibels higher. “You and this scientific team—”
“General Hui Zuocheng promised that—”
“GENERAL ZUOCHENG IS DEAD!” Wei shouted, now standing. He glared across the mess hall at Lien, trembling slightly. “The whole damn State Council is dead.”
Lien adjusted his glasses and sat, staring out at nowhere.
“You don’t know that,” Ying whispered, more to herself than to the Major.
Wei glared at her. “No one has answered our broadcast for over four months. I think we can assume the worst...which means I’m in command now. And I’m telling you that you work with what you got. And you better start showing me some real results...or you won’t have that very much longer.”
Ying rubbed her temples. She glanced at Lien who was still staring off into space, shaking his head. Bai sat on her other side, rigid in her seat, eyes cold and fixed on the table in front of them. She looked at Wei and said, “Look—lets be rational. How can we show you results when we don’t have the proper working conditions? We’re in a desperate situation here. We need each other.”
The Major smiled, his lips curving, almost twitching as he gazed at her. “You need us, the way I see it. I’m not sure we need you at all.”
Lt. Chen hammered the table in his agreement. “Damn right, sir. My thoughts exactly.”
Some of the others nodded.
Wei continued. “I’m not even sure what the hell it is you’re doing. Just what the hell my men are risking their asses—”
“If there was more cooperation,” Ying interrupted, “your men wouldn’t have to risk their asses as often.”
Lt. Chen stood, knocking back his chair. He gestured with his hand at Ying and said, “I don’t appreciate your tone, lady. Keep it up, and I’ll shove that fucking clipboard of yours right up your—”
“I’ve got better things to do than listen to this,” Ying shouted, standing. “Are we finished?” she pushed her chair back under the table and turned as if to start for the door.
“No, we are not finished,” Major Wei said. “Sit down.”
Ying threw her hands up. “What else do you want? We’ve given you the reports for this week. We’ve given you everything you’ve asked—”
“YOU’VE GIVEN US NOTHING!” Wei screamed, slamming his fist on the table. The impact rattled the paper cups, spilling their contents on to the floor. Chen fell into his seat. Wei looked at him and then back at Ying. “Formulas, equations, a lot of fancy terms that don’t mean a thing. I want to know if you’re doing something that’s going to help us out of this fucking nightmare we’re in...or if you’re all in there just jerking each other off, pretending you know all the answers when you really don’t know shit...”
Ying glanced at Lien and Bai and started toward the door. “I’m done.”
“I didn’t say we were finished. Sit down,” Wei yelled after her.
Ying continued toward the door.
“Sit down, or so help me, I’ll have you shot.”
“You’ll what?” Ying whispered, turning to the huffing, red faced Major.
“I said, ‘I’ll have you shot,’” he said slowly.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No, ma’am.” Wei’s red face twisted into a grin. “Have you? I just told you I was willing to kill you if you didn’t get back in your chair. You didn’t get back in your chair.”
Bai stood and screamed. “You can’t shove us around like this!” She trembled, eyes wide and bloodshot.
Lien stood beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He cooed to her quietly, as if reassuring a child. He looked back at Wei. “Since when did this become a military operation?”
Major Wei straightened his green military jacket. Combed a hand through his hair. “Since I took over.” He glanced back at Chen. “Lieutenant, shoot that woman,” he said, gesturing at Ying.
Ying flinched, taking an instinctual step back.
Chen smiled and pointed his finger at Ying and said, “Bang! You’re dead,” and laughed.
“Shoot that woman or you’re dead,” Wei said in a lowered voice.
The giggling faded. Chen swallowed hard.
Wei turned on him, unholstering his 5.8mm QSZ-92 pistol he aimed at Chen. “You think I’m fucking around, Lieutenant? You’re wrong. Now, you got to the count of five, and that’s two you wasted.”
Silence.
He cocked back the hammer. “That’s three.”
Still nothing.
“Four.”
“Sit down, Doctor Ying,” Lien hissed at her.
She looked at him, both hurt and terrified.
“Just shut up and sit down,” Lien implored. Sweat beaded along his forehead. His glasses looked smudged, but she could still see his eyes. Desperate. Pleading. And tired.
“That’s five,” Wei warned and aimed a little higher.
“Alright!” Chen shouted and stood, unholstering his own pistol. He aimed at Ying, his expression contorted in a mix of fear and uncertainty.
“Stop!” Ying yelled. She stormed back to the table. Pulled her chair out loudly and sat down. Arms across her chest. Glaring at the Major, she forced herself to look away. Hot tears itched behind her eyes. Pushing bubbling thoughts of her husband and the promise she had made quickly from her mind. If she dwelled on his face and their last words, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from crying.
Seemingly satisfied, Wei holstered his pistol and motioned for Chen to sit. He walked slowly in front of his table, standing now between his officers and the scientific team. He glanced both ways, taking in long, deep breaths.
“Anybody else have any questions about the way things are gonna run around here from now on?” he asked.
Neither group said anything. Even the officers and sergeants, who just moments earlier had been snickering amongst each other, looked downcast, their gaze set on their hands in their laps.
Major Wei continued. “We’re not on a fucking field trip, people. WE ARE AT WAR! I’m not down here in this cave for my health. I’m down here on orders—”
“Your orders are to facilitate the job of this scientific team, Major,” Lien interrupted. He remained seated, not daring to look at the heated Wei, but his voice was firm. “This is a civilian team, and we don’t have to be subjected to your tyranny.”
Silence hung in the air.
Ying held her breath. She glanced at Wei, unable to read his body language or his facial expression. It was as if he were nothing more than a shell filled with boiling water. There was no telling what he would do. And Lien, she hadn’t known him long, but he had always been very quiet and reserved. For him to be so confrontational showed how desperate things had really gotten.
Suddenly, Wei began laughing. Slow
at first, and then the laughter grew in loud, maniacal bursts. He gestured with his hand at Lien. “Who’s being subjected to what, Doctor? You’ve lost how many from your team since we started this operation? Hmm? Right. None. We’ve lost five good men. Where does it say we have to keep your specimens next door to where we sleep?”
Murmuring from the soldiers in agreement.
Wei continued. “Where does it say we should do anything but shoot those walking, rotting corpses in the head?” He glared at each of the scientific team in turn.
Silence filled the large cafeteria.
The door banged open suddenly, the sound echoing loudly in the large open room.
Ying turned as Doctor Zhang marched into the room. Her lab coat splattered with blood. Fresh, she assumed.
“To answer your question, Major,” Zhang shouted as she approached the scientific team table. “We simply do not have enough ammunition to shoot them all. The time to do that would’ve been at the beginning. No. They have overrun us, you know. We’re in the minority now. Something like four hundred thousand to one, by my calculations.” She pulled out a chair and sat. Looking around she asked, “I haven’t eaten. Is there food?”
Ying stared at her, mouth agape—at a loss for words, just as Major Wei and the rest were, she imagined. Doctor Zhang seemed completely oblivious to the situation. Looking more like a battlefield surgeon than a scientist. Hair strewn, tied in a messy bun. Shirt disheveled under her gory, once-white lab coat.
Wei seemed to have recovered. “Doctor Zhang, you were supposed to be here—”
“I know. Doctor Ying told me. I’m sorry. I couldn’t break away. Is there food?” Zhang cut him off.
Wei stepped toward the table. “Listen, egghead. Let me bring you up to date on what’s—”
“Excuse me.”
“Let me—”
“EXCUSE ME!” Zhang shouted over Wei. “Is there food?”
Wei’s face resumed its bright shade of red from before. “I’m running this circus now, Frankenstein, and I want to know what the fuck you’re doing with my time!” His voice trembled as he took a breath. Exhaling he said, “Cause if we’re just jerking off here, I’m going to have my men put a bullet in your precious specimens. And then we’re going to get the hell out of here and leave you and your friends to rot in this stinking sewer!” He paused, breathing heavy. “Is that food enough for you?”
Zhang seemed amused. The corner of her lips twitched, as if she was suppressing a smile. “Where would you go, Major?” She paused, letting the question sink in. “You can destroy my specimens, but what about the millions more that are waiting to greet you outside? Do you really think you can ‘put a bullet’ in all of them?” She looked up from the table and gazed at Wei. “They have you in a hopeless situation, strategically. You’re lost. Well, you’re lost unless...”
Wei waited for the punchline, when it didn’t come, he asked, “Unless what?”
Zhang stared into her palms, silent.
“Unless what, Frankenstein?”
“Unless you can make them behave,” she answered.
The soldiers scoffed and argued amongst each other. Even among the scientists, Ying was having trouble believing what Zhang was saying.
Wei turned and shouted, “All right, shut up!”
Silence returned to the room.
He looked back at Zhang. “What the hell are you talking about, Frankenstein?”
Zhang seemed to stand while seated in her chair. Eyes wide with excitement. “I can show you—Doctor Ying knows some of the progress I’ve been making. Isn’t that right, Doctor Ying?” She glanced down the table.
Ying swallowed and said softly, “Yes. There’s been progress.”
“What kind of progress?” Wei asked. “What are you talking about, making them behave? What does that mean?”
“It means keeping them from wanting to eat us, for one thing,” Zhang said, matter-of-factly. “It means keeping them in check, controlling them.”
Wei looked doubtful. “When are you going to show us something we can understand?”
Zhang stood and pulled a device from her pocket. “I can show you now, if you’d like,” she said.
Ying frowned at the device, it looked like some sort of remote control.
Wei waved his hand. “Yes, please.”
Zhang smiled. Licking her lips, she pressed a button on the remote. Suddenly, across the cafeteria the door banged open again. Everyone turned and watched in horror.
As if unsure of its own footing, a man—or what once was a man, strode into the room. He had wires protruding from several places on his body. One of his eyes was wired open with circuits penetrating its white orb. Under the wiring, its skin was ashen. Whatever it had for hair had been shaved. On its head were cornrows of metallic stitching. Yellowish pus leaked between the orifices. It jittered as it continued to walk toward Doctor Zhang.
Wei unholstered his pistol.
Zhang motioned for him to put it away. “It’s quite safe, Major.”
Wei lowered his aim but kept his pistol in hand.
“Subject Z-68,” Zhang commanded, “present yourself for inspection for Major Wei.”
Nodding, as if it could understand, Subject Z-68 moved around the table and stood in front of Wei. Perhaps noticing the military insignia, it stood at attention and saluted.
“What the fuck is this, Frankenstein?” Wei whispered as he took a step back.
“Subject Z-68 seems to have had some sort of military experience, a memory perhaps. Return his salute and see what happens,” Zhang said, almost giddy.
The officers laughed, if not a little uncomfortably—each sliding their seat back an inch or two.
“You want me to salute this walking bag of pus?” Wei snarled.
“Your ignorance is exceeded only by your charm, Major. How can we expect them to behave if we act barbarically ourselves? Don’t you see? This is the answer!” Zhang gestured toward the undead man.
“Answer? I thought you were working on a weapon. A way to end this war. Not train them to do tricks!” Wei shouted.
“You don’t understand,” Zhang said, her enthusiasm diminishing. “What Doctor Ying and Doctor Lien and Doctor Bai are working on, their research—a way to reverse the process, or even eradicate the problem itself at a molecular level, well, that could take a long time, a very long time. They may never find what they’re looking for. We have a limited supply of chemical agents. Our equipment is hopelessly inadequate.”
Wei looked at the creature before him and shuddered. “This cannot be your solution. We’re running low on ammunition. We’re running low on men. This entire operation was rushed.” He paused, letting out a short laugh. “And I’m telling you, I’m about ready to take the next train out of here.”
Zhang moved around the table and stood next to her subject. “I ask you again, Major, where would you go? There are no other choices. This—” she looked at Subject Z-68. “This is our only option. We can weaponize them, don’t you understand? We can control them. Don’t you see? They are us; they are an extension of us. They are the same animal, simply functioning less perfectly. But we can correct that abnormality. We can make them behave.” She paused again, still gazing at her creation. “Extraordinary, isn’t it?”
“Extraordinary?” Wei whispered. “What the fuck is wrong with you people? They’re dead! They’re fucking dead and you want to shove plugs up their asses and teach them tricks?”
Zhang motioned with her hands. “We must control them, Major.”
“I don’t want them to do anything but drop over!”
“Yes, well...apparently, they’re not inclined to do that for you, Major.”
“Is this all you’ve got? This is your so-called progress?”
“Yes—this is a beginning.”
General Rusk
Part II
Fort Hood,
Texas.
“We’re coming online now, sir.” Captain Morton stood behind a row of communic
ation computers on the second tier of the auditorium-style room, resting his hands on the backs of desk chairs as the occupants nervously inputted the necessary coding linking to what remained of the U.S. governments imaging and tracking satellites. A few feet in front on the next tier the wall was covered with lifeless screens.
Standing behind them on the higher third tier, General Rusk crossed his arms. Squinting at the screens as they suddenly came to life.
There was an exhalation of relief at the sight of the aerial footage on the large displays.
“What are we looking at?” Rusk asked. His tone was brisk, but softer along the edges. He had exhaled too. He hated the feeling of not knowing—and not only that, of being closed in, isolated, as if his area of operation had become a small floating island in a sea of black ink.
“Satellite 2 is entering North American air space now,” reported Morton.
Rusk leaned forward against the rails surveying the screen that now more visibly looked like the United States. Recalled satellite images from before, where major cities looked like Christmas lights—bright white beacons of what he had always considered to be progress. Cities like New York, Washington D.C., Miami, even Houston were now completely dark.
“Lets get a look at our area of engagement,” Rusk said.
Typing from below. The screen switched to a closer view of the state of Texas. There was an intake of shock from the room. The image yielded a higher resolution, showing many details Rusk and the others were unfamiliar with. What was once the greenery of the pines from eastern Texas to the browner, western deserts were now all mostly white, covered in snow and ice.
And there was something else...unfamiliar.
“What is that?” Rusk asked, gesturing to a large section in the vicinity of Waco.
Captain Morton frowned and looked down at stations, whispered to the communications officers who were shaking their heads and shrugging.
“We don’t know, sir,” he reported.
“Can we get a closer look?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Morton said, “Yes, sir. We can link with a civilian satellite.” He gave a few whispered orders to the soldiers before him. A fury of clicks followed and shortly the screen zoomed in closer showing the dark, herd-like formation moving southward.
Planet of the Dead (Book 3): Escape From The Planet of The Dead Page 9