I Zombie I [Omnibus Edition]

by Jack Wallen

  twelve | bring out your dead

  Rizzo crouched against a wall beside me. “Weren’t you and Jamal going to make portable Obliterators for us to carry?”

  I nodded. “That was the plan.”

  The call of the undead wild drew nearer with each passing second. Something about the sound wasn’t right. I stole a glance at Jamal and tilted my head. He picked up on my curiosity and stood, his hands cupped behind his ears. After a quick beat, he dropped back down and leaned into me. “Those Moaners are traveling way too fast. The average speed of the unladen Moaner is roughly one point two miles per hour. If my calculation is correct, and it always is, that sound is traveling at over ten.”

  We sat in silence, breath held for something epic to erupt. It didn’t take long. The sound of a massive chain clanked against a hard surface. Jamal pointed. I turned to to Rizzo and Echo. “Stay here.”

  Jamal and I crept away.

  “Be Chuck Norris,” Jamal said with a wink.

  “When am I not?” I whispered in return.

  We slipped between two buildings and made our way to the street. Jamal reached into his pack and retrieved a pocket mirror. I snatched it from him and pointed toward the sky to indicate the sun. His eyes went wide at the realization he’d almost made a tragic mistake.

  I stole a peek around the corner and felt my chest go cold and my heart stiffen. A large wooden cart was being pushed by a small group, one of which was all too familiar…our runaway reveler. On top of the cart were chained five Moaners─sounding their cry for fresh brains.

  I turned back to Jamal and mouthed, Thelemites. Jamal rolled his eyes and shook his head. Without losing another moment, we rushed back to the girls and gestured for them to follow. Together, we raced off in the opposite direction of those who’d brought out their dead in standard Inquisitional fashion.

  Once we were far enough away, Jamal broke the curse of silence. “What in the name of Monty Python was that?”

  He so gets me.

  “My best guess,” I huffed, “is that they were trying to flush us out.”

  “Us?” Jamal asked. “As in the pronoun of we?”

  “I don’t know, J, and I don’t care to find out.”

  I picked up the pace; the only thing holding me back was the weight of the loot bag and my backpack. Still, my sprint was quickly bested by youth. Echo and Rizzo zipped past me without so much as a gasp or wheeze.

  *

  “Thelemites?” Morgan spoke with enough doubt to make me wonder if I’d lost my mind. “Care to explain?”

  Jamal took the podium. “We think there are a group of hedonists in the area.”

  Josh stepped into the room, a triple-decker sandwich in his massive right hand. “Yeah, so? This whole damn country was filled to the brim with hedonists before the Mengele Virus made us its bitch.”

  Jamal placed his palms on the table before him and dropped his head. “You don’t understand. I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill hedonists snapping selfies at every opportunity, dancing on tables so the world can snatch a glance at their…” Jamal’s face instantly flushed before he recovered and continued on. “These ass magnets will push every limit of logic and trust the human race can stand. They won’t stop at parties and skinny dipping in bong water. Death will be their rave du jour and teasing it out of hiding their way of life.”

  “Fuck,” Morgan hissed.

  “Yeah, fuck is right,” I added.

  Jamal paced, his arms wrapped tightly around his torso. “If we fall prey to those bastards, we won’t stand a chance.”

  Josh swallowed a mouthful and dropped his meaty hand onto Jamal’s shoulder. “Dude, the best defense is a good offense.”

  “What do you mean, Josh?”

  A great smile spread across the big man’s warm face. “They can’t take us down if we get the jump on them.”

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? If you are,” Jamal’s voice rose into the range I called Nilly. He hated the name, but it suited the sound to perfection.

  “What my darling fiancé is trying to tell you,” Morgan cut in, “is that we’ll find them and take them out.”

  It was my turn. “You understand how dangerous these people are, right?”

  Morgan nodded. “No more dangerous than the Zombie Response Team.” With a smile, she pulled out her phone and tapped a number on the keypad. After a pause, she spoke. “Jessie? Yeah, it is. I need a team sent my way. Six of your best. Covert, armed for silent night. Awesome. Thank you.” She disconnected the call and smiled. “The cavalry is on its way.” She held up an open palm that Josh quickly high-fived.

  “I want to fuck some shit up,” Josh called out and finished with a hearty laugh.

  Something burned at my insides, a feeling I had to express. “Is that what we are now? Cowards? Every time something gets dicey we call in the clean-up crew?”

  Morgan to my emotional rescue. “You’re kidding, right? We are doing the world a favor it doesn’t even realize it desperately needs…protecting its most valuable asset. Bethany, unless everything changed overnight, you’re still the best hope the human race has for survival. No one understands this virus like you. You hold more keys to the kingdom of life than the rest of the population combined. Our primary job is making sure you survive to take down the pricks that infected the planet with death.”

  There were no words. There were only emotions to exchange. I wrapped my arms around Morgan and hid my tears in her shoulder. When I finally pulled away, the tug of motherhood grasped at my heart. I planted a kiss on Morgan’s cheek and slipped from the room before the tears came out for another dance.

  *

  Baby Jacob lay sleeping in his crib, his tiny belly rising and falling with each precious breath. I stood over him and enjoyed the sweet moment. He coughed lightly and wiggled his arms, but didn’t wake. The scent of powder and baby wafted up to greet my nose. It took every ounce of strength I had to not cry.

  Jamal’s familiar touch landed on my shoulder. He stood beside me and tilted his head toward mine. Neither of us spoke…there was no need to ruin the wondrous and bliss-filled moment.

  When we did step away from the perfect cargo, Jamal smiled. “I have a solution for Jacob’s signal. What if we could modify a few wireless routers and repeaters to spread a sort of net over the entire headquarters?”

  “That’s brilliant, Jamal. With a building this size, we could spread the signal with, what, two routers and a single repeater?”

  Jamal nodded. “This can be done with consumer-grade hardware and very little modification. I once altered an old Netgear with an Atheros chipset to serve as a HAM radio. I know the frequency to block. I’m sure I can scrounge up everything we need from the neighboring houses.”

  I nodded and pulled him in for an embrace. “I love you, Jamal.”

  “I love you too, Bethany.”

  “Are we doing the right thing?” I pulled away and stared deep into the wells of Jamal’s eyes. “Letting the Zombie Response Team do our dirty work?”

  Jamal closed one eye and pursed his lips. “You heard the same Morgan spiel that I was privy to, right? If not, let me summarize. B, you’re too damned important to be chasing undead windmills at this point. We’ve got this guy coming our way, someone who claims to have solved a big part of the puzzle. Without you, his work is meaningless–he’s Link with no Zelda. If the ZRT are willing and able, I say we let them do their thang. Besides, I don’t want to die.” Jamal reached across the space between us and placed the palm of his hand on my cheek. “I have too much to live for.”

  A soft coo rose from Jacob’s crib.

  “And so do you, B,” Jamal added. He planted a soft kiss on my forehead. “I’m going to find what I need. I have a net to cast.”

  “Take Echo and Rizzo with you,” I called as he slipped out of the room. Another sweet sound issued from the crib. I snatched up the signal jammer, shoved it in my back pocket, and scooped up my baby.

  “Hello, my l
ittle man. Did you have a good nappy nap?”

  Jacob kicked and scrunched up his face. Sobs were about to pour from his tiny mouth. I grabbed a prepped bottle and sat down for a feeding. As Jacob drank, I opened my laptop and decided it was time for a little distraction from abstraction.

  You’re listening to WZMB, Zombie Radio; your….personal soundtrack, to the end of the world. That was one of my favorite new bands to come out of the middle of fucking nowhere, before nowhere fucked us all but good. That’s right…Marmozets. Say it with me, people of Earth. Mar…mo…zets. Doesn’t that feel good rolling off the tongue? Like a kiss from a seasoned prostitute. I wonder. Do you wonder? Let’s all wonder for a moment, before we wander off into the nether regions of the mind. Are prostitutes still working their trade? Seriously. Is a good back seat blow job still relevant these days? Or has the apocalypse castrated the whole of the human race? Seriously, who can think about gettin’ they sexual healin’ on when the only kind of moaning you hear is of the undead kind? Not me. Or maybe. Play me the right tune and I might well be willing to ignore the cavalcade of doom and get my sexy on. Ladies and gents of the Zombie Radio Nation, do you want me to play you a song to put you in the mood for love? Or shall I play you a song to put you in the mood for a melody? That’s right…I just schooled you in the art of transition. Funny that, transition. One might say the human creature is in the middle of its greatest transition─from life to death to life. L’chaim. Before I drop a little Plant on you, I have an update for she who shall not be named…or in the Matrix vernacular, The One. The message is, and I quote, “The package is en route.” And with that, my lovelies, I give to you “In The Mood”, by Robert Plant.

  The slow drift of drums and keyboards brought a peaceful beat to my heart. Knowing that Gerrand was on his way, thanks to the DJ, helped soothe my inner savage beast. Had Jacob not been drifting off, belly full, in my arms, I’d be nodding off myself. I wanted to stop time, prevent anything from robbing me of this moment, this singular truth. Me and my baby, our hearts connected and beating as one. Every bit of surrounding tragedy faded into an ashen sky nothing.

  To my surprise, I calmly sang along with the music. My heart soared at the vibrations made within my larynx. I hadn’t felt the urge to sing in so long. Life had managed to crush that bit of joy in me. Now? It was all I could do to contain it.

  I glanced down at Jacob. His sweet, rhythmic breathing assured me that all was precisely how it had to be at the moment. “One of these days, my baby boy, you’ll grow up and lead the world in new direction. I feel that, deep inside of me. I look into your beautiful green eyes and see both the past and the future. You have your father’s tenacity boiling beneath the surface, and I promise you it will serve you well.”

  Jacob let the bottle slip. I caught it and returned it to the table. He struggled with a bit of gas, so I gently placed him on my shoulder and patted his back. “Let’s hope you have your mommy’s intelligence, though.” I smiled at the thought of what Jacob Plummer would have said to that statement. Something about inheriting my sexy and dropping the whole of humanity to its knees by sheer will of desire.

  Jacob released a burp. I could feel a warmth spreading against my skin. I laughed and returned him to his crib. “One of these days, Jacob, I’ll tell you all about your daddy.”

  I grabbed a piece of cloth and dabbed the dampness from my shoulder.

  As the song came to a close, Jamal returned. The second he spotted me standing over Jacob’s crib, he over-exaggerated tip-toeing into the room and surprising me with his hardware haul. I gave him a thumbs up and he left the room in a hush.

  I carefully covered Jacob. He wiggled and then drifted back into the world of baby dreams.

  Once I was certain Jacob was asleep, I whisked out of the room and made my way to Jamal’s work space. He was already spreading the booty out on the bench.

  “Do you have the skills for such a task?” I chided.

  Jamal didn’t even turn to look my way. “Honey, I gots da skills to send you to the moon and back. Reverse engineering a couple of routers is chump change for J-mal.”

  I stepped in close and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I love it when you talk tough.”

  “Because you know I am the antithesis of tough,” Jamal replied.

  “You said it, not me.”

  Jamal spun around and shot me his best pouty face. “So you agree?”

  “You know I don’t like ‘em strong and manly, Jamal. I like my men weak and girly.” I grinned.

  “You’re trippin’, Bethany Nitshimi.”

  I batted my eyes and offered up my best look of innocence. “Mayyyyybe.”

  Jamal turned back to the bench and started to dismantle the first router. “Once this is done, you won’t have to worry about that…” Jamal smiled. “Is that a wand in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?”

  I reached into my back pocket and removed the signal blocker. “Good thing you have that crib rigged, or this would have sent me in a downward spiral matched only by the gloom of…”

  “Early Nine Inch Nails,” Jamal said with me. “I know you too well, Nitshimi.”

  I kissed him on the cheek and left him to do his thing. As I exited the room, I felt a lightness in my step and something I hadn’t known for a very long time.

  Joy.

  thirteen | absolute power

  Faddig paced his office. His heels bit into the metal floor with too much purpose. He stopped and faced the large-screen monitor split into numerous displays. As he watched them cycle through the various cameras spread throughout the train, a pounding on the door startled him. He sucked in a quick breath, closed his eyes, and clenched his jaw before shouting, “What?”

  The voice hidden from view by inch-thick metal was muffled, but clear enough to discern. “Subject 001 has returned.”

  Faddig wasted no time in opening the door. The grunt remained in the hall and finished the report. “He has been delivered to the medical car, but…”

  “Please do not tell me what I already know,” Faddig said with a raised hand. “Has he been secured?”

  The officer nodded nervously. “Yes, sir.”

  “Thank you. That is all.” Faddig shooed the young man out of his sight and grabbed for his lab coat. “Looks like it’s time to play doctor.”

  Faddig left the officer’s car and made his way down the hall to medical. He stopped at the entryway and toyed with sending his fist into the thick metal. “Such a rookie mistake would only cost me precious time.” He tossed off the notion and opened the door.

  On the hospital bed rested Subject 001, strapped down tight. As soon as he caught sight of Faddig, his eyes grew heavy and he said, “I failed you.”

  Faddig nodded. “That you did. Fortunately for all involved, it’s not too late to make amends.”

  “I don’t understand. I failed you once, how do you know I will not fail you again?”

  “I assume you will. That is the nature of the parent-child relationship.”

  Subject 001 furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand. I am not a child and you are not…”

  Faddig held up a hand to silence Subject 001. “It does not matter.”

  “What does matter, then?” asked the broken man on the bed.

  Faddig grinned. “Power. That is the only thing of consequence now. Power is everything, and only a very small few may possess it.”

  “I assume you are one of them?” asked Subject 001.

  Faddig nodded.

  “And what would you do to retain that power?”

  Another grin crossed Faddig’s lips. “Anything necessary.”

  “Even kill?” asked Subject 001.

  “Especially,” replied Faddig.

  Subject 001 fixed his gaze onto Faddig’s. “Teach me.”

  “How to kill?”

  Subject 001 nodded.

  “It’s not something you teach as much as you inherit. I can teach you how to use a gun. I cannot, however, teach you to lose all c
ompassion and empathy, as is required to effectively use the gun to take a life.”

  “I don’t understand. I have neither of those traits.”

  Faddig placed a warm hand on the cold cheek of the creature. “You know how to kill…to your core. You were created from the scraps of homicidal rejection.”

  As Faddig spoke, he pulled a picc line from a cart and prepared his arm to receive the needle. “What I am about to do should fulfill your wishes. I was hoping the Cradle would succeed without unleashing what lies beneath my flesh, but it seems my hopes are to take the back seat to the prime directive of the ZDC. During the early stages of testing, a biologist discovered a darker truth within the framework of the Mengele Virus. When the initial experiments failed, I recovered his work…work which became the foundation of the Genesis Cradle.”

  Faddig inserted the needle into the crook of his arm and then connected his line to Subject 001’s. “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him.”

  Subject 001 looked into Faddig’s eyes and whispered, “John 6:56. I never took you for a Christian.”

  Faddig laughed. “Your assumption would be correct. But the search for true power leads the wise down many paths. One such path flows through my veins. Hidden among Gerrand’s work was an undocumented serum. I secreted those vials away from the Collective and brought them here. What we discovered was remarkable. Gerrand had unlocked God within the Mengele Virus. That power flows within my veins and it will lead to my rise over all.”

  The blood of life flowed slowly from Faddig’s arm and crept into the central line. He followed the red wall as it found its way into Subject 001.

  “I remember a saying, Commander Faddig,” Subject 001 said calmly. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

  Faddig smiled wide and nodded. “The commerce of corruption is the new religion of man, and I will be king.”

  “I don’t feel anything.”