by Jack Wallen
“Well put,” Gerrand whispered.
Another wave of sorrow washed over me. I fell into the glass and stared at the pale flesh of the infant. “I gave birth to that tiny little man.” I beat my fist against the clear wall between us and screamed, “Jacob!” My voice choked against a melon-sized lump in my throat. “Forgive me.”
My knees buckled and I dropped. The weight of the world crashed down upon me from above. The room spun into a vortex of suffering. My vision tunneled. I scrambled to find purchase on anything solid. The group needed me coherent. The world needed me. Jacob needed me.
The last thing I remember seeing was Doctor Gerrand leaning over me, his kind eyes rimmed with sleepless fear and profound hurt.
*
A cold gasp of air filled my lungs. I sat up…too fast. The room spun in an unfortunate and maddening circle. Panic took hold of my mind and a nightmare cascaded from memory to consciousness. From Jacob to Jacob.
Ashes to crashes.
Dust to rust.
“Hey, doll face,” Jamal’s sweet voice swaddled me in calm. “I’d say finally back from the dead, but the connotation given the circumstances would be uncool.”
My arms made a mad dash to wrap around Jamal’s neck. I pulled him in tight until he fell on top of me. His weight was perfectly fitting…I needed the crushing comfort, needed to hide myself away from the world and all its pain.
“How long have I been out?”
Jamal shook his head. “Not long enough to be concerned. We’re still on the train, tucked away in someone’s sleeping quarters. Morgan insisted there was no way she’d leave without you giving the order.”
“What about Faddig?”
Jamal closed his eyes, troubled with the answer. “He’s…alive. Josh and a few other members of the ZRT are keeping watch over him. They’ve attempted to extract as much data as possible from the man, but he seems hell-bent on only talking with you. I don’t trust him, B. Not one bit. On the plus side, we’ve scavenged at least a month’s worth of MREs, a mad-scientist’s lab worth of equipment, and enough weapons to make a militia jealous.”
I attempted to stand. My legs were too weak and I fell back into the makeshift bed. “I want to talk with Faddig; bring him to me.”
“I wouldn’t advise that, B.”
“Why not?”
Jamal stood and paced. “He’s a manipulative prick. I don’t trust him.”
“Do you really think he’ll hold any sway over me at this point, Jamal?”
“I don’t know, B. I want to say no, but absolutely nothing feels solid at the moment.”
I looked up to Jamal and blinked the last dregs of tears from my eyes. “You and I…we’ll always be solid. Bring the bastard to me.”
With a nod, Jamal left me to my thoughts—dangerous as they might be. From deep within the core of my mind a silent scream echoed, calling from a past I wanted so badly to leave behind. Everything in this moment was singularly focused on crushing my spirit and soul.
The second Faddig entered the room, the screaming demons fell silent. All that mattered was this—a battle royale between good and chaotic evil…and I had a loaded d20 in the palm of my hand.
He sat. The smug sneer had been punched from his face. In its place, blood and bruises.
“Give me one reason why I should allow you to live, Faddig?”
Unflinching, he said, “I cannot think of one.”
“I don’t believe this train housed all the remaining members of the Zero Day Collective.”
Faddig laughed and then winced at the pain caused by the movement of flesh and muscle. “You have no idea just how big the Collective is. This was nothing more than a research vessel, charged with developing the next iteration of Subject 001..”
“Which was…?” I prodded.
Faddig hesitated.
“Which was!” I shouted.
“Designed to find and return you to us.”
“To what end?”
Faddig fell silent.
I stood and spoke with quiet rage. “I can do much worse than break your bones, peel your flesh back, or shove bamboo under your nails. How would you like to become one of the undead? Trust me on this, I know, first hand, what it does to people. The fever, the noise, the madness. I also know the transformation can take hours or weeks. Unless you cooperate fully, I will have you infected and locked away to rot until there’s not enough flesh covering your bones to hold you upright.” I grabbed him by the tie and pulled him in close. “Answer me. To what end?”
“I don’t know,” Faddig whispered.
“Bullshit,” I screamed, and pulled the pistol from the small of my back. I pointed the business end of the weapon directly at Faddig’s right eye. “Lie to me again, and you get a complete cranial lobotomy.”
Sweat poured down Faddig’s paling face to mix with the tears flowing from his eyes. “The Cradle was only the first phase.”
The door to the car swung open. Morgan peeked her head through. “I hate to interrupt, but we have a very big, very undead problem on our hands.”
“Son of a bitch,” I hissed, and stood. Without saying a word, I exited the room and closed the door tight, sliding a deadbolt in place to keep Faddig locked within.
I caught up to Morgan. “Thank you for stopping that. Cold blood is so not my scene.”
“You seemed to be handling it well,” Morgan replied.
“What’s the problem?”
“Thirty-one flavors of zombies heading our way.”
“What does this train have in the way of weapons?”
We entered the command room. On the monitors, various external views were presented in pixel-perfect color. On one monitor, an army of Moaners shambled toward us. A second monitor displayed a writhing mass of Screamers tearing at one another as they raced toward the train. A third monitor displayed a small collection of Boners lumbering onward.
It was the center monitor that caused my heart to nose dive into the pit of my stomach.
“What the fuck are those?” asked Morgan.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “Does this train still work? Please tell me we can…”
Morgan grabbed my arm and spun me to face her. “Bethany, what are those things?”
“We called them Berserkers. I…I haven’t seen them for a long time. If they reach this train, we’re dead. Dead…dead.”
“Anyone know how to drive this train? Can we count on one of the ZDC soldiers?” Morgan shouted.
Silence.
At the mention of the soldiers, everyone exchanged glances.
“When you guys swept the train, did you see any other soldiers?” The thought leaped from my mouth.
Everyone stared blankly.
There were two possible answers to the question. Either the soldiers somehow managed to hide away or they escaped. It didn’t matter at the moment. Hell was about to rain down on us and, unless the muse punched me in the brain with a brilliant plan, all would be lost.
“What do we do?”
All eyes fell onto me.
“When those monsters converge on one another, it’ll be a bloodbath. Eventually the Berserkers will win, and we’ll only have to go up against─” I turned back to the center monitor to get a head count of the undead alphas─ “five.” I wanted to cry.
“Five is nothing,” Rondo proclaimed.
I took in a deep breath. “Five of those bastards may as well be fifty Screamers or five hundred Moaners. We’re going to need some serious weaponry to take them down.”
Josh set a box on the central table and opened it. “Will a few Hellfire grenades do the trick?”
A tsunami of relief flooded my system. I nodded and felt a grin spread across my lips. “Those will do just fine.”
Jamal stepped forward. “So we just wait until the Berserkers clear the field and then, what, climb up on top of the train and rain down fire on Zombzilla?”
I nodded silently.
The walls of the car vibrated. One glance at the monitors
affirmed my suspicion—the Screamers had arrived and were unleashing their primal rage against the train.
Josh placed a hand on the nearest wall. “Why can’t we just wait it out in here? These walls are, what, at least an inch thick?”
I turned to face Josh. “And the Berserkers will peel it back like aluminum foil and pick their teeth with your bones.”
A crash rang out within the hollow confines of the train. On the monitor, the Screamers and Boners were having at it. One particularly hideous-looking Screamer landed with his feet on the armored shoulders of a Boner and pulled at the bony helmet covering its head. The tendons in the Boner’s neck nearly snapped against the pressure until the armor peeled away. Laid bare, a mask of rotted meat stared back at the monitor. The Screamer then tore at the sloppy flesh until there was nothing left above the shoulders.
The Boner dropped.
The Screamer found its next victim.
Before another member from either team could celebrate victoriously, a mind-numbing roar crashed into the walls of the train. There was no mistaking the sound. Jurassic Park meets The Walking Dead in a dark homage to Sharknado.
“They’re here.” I took a seat and grabbed onto the heavy metal desk. “We’re about to experience some serious turbulence, everyone.”
The train car rocked and tilted. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep from tumbling over. Thankfully, everyone inside the train knew to remain calm and quiet. Should the Berserkers notice we were inside before they exterminated the gathering horde, we’d never survive.
Together we watched the bloodbath on the monitors. A Berserker with a bifurcated jaw bit the heads off of Moaners like crunching through lollipops. Boners demolished Screamers under crushing brute force. With every roar, every dismemberment, every raging blow, the train shook.
“We’re never going to survive this,” whispered one of the Zombie Response Team.
“Never is not an option,” Morgan barked under her breath.
Jamal glanced my way, his eyes rimmed with terror. I so badly wanted to grab his hand to give him some semblance of comfort. With the train dancing on its tracks, my body would be flung across the room if I dared let go of the desk. Instead, I gave him a smile and a wink. The gesture was cheesy, but Jamal and I always did share a love for cheese.
I turned to Josh and whispered, “You need to be ready.”
“Me?” Josh responded in fear. “Why me?”
“I thought─” I started.
“I’ll do it,” Rondo cut across us. “I believe I heard through the grapevine that this man is engaged. Wouldn’t want to give him any reason to bail on his bride-to-be.”
Morgan smiled and thanked Rondo. I was the only one close enough to see the tears trickle from her eyes.
Rondo turned his head to me. “What’s the plan?”
One of the Berserkers slammed against the car, causing it to tilt.
“Eleven degrees.” Jamal read my mind and dropped the math bomb. “The standard coupling can only withstand about fifteen degrees before they either unlink or snap. That little tilt shift was eleven.”
I focused my attention on Rondo. “You need to find the nearest roof access hatch. Load yourself up with those Hellfire grenades, go topside, and unleash fire and brimstone on the survivors. This train won’t burn, so there’s no collateral concern.”
“Bethany,” Morgan called. She was pointed toward the monitor.
The time was now; the time was go.
I nodded to Rondo. He stuffed his cargo pockets with grenades until the box was empty. With a curt nod, he headed off. I so desperately wanted to shout good luck, but knew the Berserkers had uncanny hearing─and that luck had nothing to do with our survival.
That did nothing to soothe the beast waging war against my sanity. To make matters worse, our continued existence, at the moment, lay in the hands of a single man.
Man against monster only ever panned out in the movies…and even Hollywood sucked at that formula years before the apocalypse was a smash reality hit. In our case, there’d be no remake, reboot, prequel, or sequel. This was it.
We needed a backup plan.
I just so happened to have one.
Without saying a word, I slipped from the command car and into the hallway. As silently as possible, I sped back to the car holding Faddig.
“Does this train have an external loudspeaker?”
Faddig shook his head. “It does have a rather loud horn.”
That wouldn’t do.
“What’s going on?”
I filled Faddig in on the situation as quickly as possible. I even went so far as to let him in on my best-kept secret.
The Obliterator.
He nodded. “I think I have the solution. We have a transport vehicle on board—meant for moving…ground troops. That truck has a loudspeaker. Do you have the means to play the sound?”
I pulled out my phone. “I have the file on this. It can be played through the music player app.”
Faddig nodded. “If those bastards are affected by this sound, I can make sure they hear it loud and clear.”
I handed the phone Faddig’s way. Before he could free it from my grip, I said, “If I don’t get this back, you die.”
“And if I die, you won’t get this back,” he joked.
“Touché.”
He limped out of the car and took a right down the hall. I closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath, and followed him. It dawned on me that the man could easily take off and never look back, leaving us to fend off the evolutionary nightmares created by the people he’d most likely head for.
With my phone, and all its data, in his hands.
I caught up with him just as he was about to enter a car. He stopped and looked shocked to see me nearby.
“What are you─” Faddig started.
“If you think I trust you…”
“You shouldn’t, Miss Nitshimi. But in this case, you can. However, if you’d feel better riding shotgun, I’d much appreciate the extra pair of hands.” He held my phone out to me. I grabbed it and nodded. “This way, Bethany.”
As I followed, I reached back to make sure my weapon was still at the ready. The second my fingers grazed the cold, heartless metal, I relaxed the slightest bit.
“Wouldn’t it be smart to tell your friends what you’re doing?”
As Faddig asked the question, I tapped out a simple message to Jamal.
Putting Plan B in action. Obliterator is going on tour!
He wouldn’t understand the text until the truck rolled out and the monsters fled the scene. Should that even occur.
I climbed into the truck. By some gift of fortune, a tangle of cables lay at my feet—one ending in an eighth-inch headphone jack.
Faddig fired up the truck as I fired up the music app. He tapped a few buttons on the console and a gate on the train car slowly lowered. The hysterical roar of earthbound demons railed against my hearing to make my inner little girl want to come out and fold me in half. I fought her back until I’d regained control of myself.
The truck rolled out of the train.
“Let’s hear it,” Faddig commanded.
I tapped play. Faddig flipped a switch and turned a volume button to ten.
I’d never so badly wished for eleven.
After a brief pause, the sound of glory surrounded the truck. The high-pitched oscillations were a welcome torture.
Faddig tilted his head and lifted his right shoulder to cover one ear. “Oh, that is dreadful.” Faddig winced against the grating storm.
“You’ll change your tune in a moment.” I smiled against the discomfort in my ears.
Faddig drove the truck to the end of the train and turned until we were on the other side—the battle side. Through the windshield, the Berserkers came into view. Small fires were burning around the area, but not a single zombie was alight.
Faddig punched the gas and I turned the volume on the phone to max.
The first Berserker shook h
is head and then opened his jaws to unleash a Jurassic roar against the incoming madness. Soon after first contact, the beast dropped to the ground and slammed his head against the rock. Blood spewed and spattered.
A second Berserker turned on his mate and screamed. When the mate opened wide to roar back, the first shoved his head deep into the bowels of the first’s mouth. The Berserker clamped down and twisted until the neck of the victim snapped. He then turned and slammed his head into the steel wall of the train over and over until it cracked like a hard-boiled egg.
The remaining two monsters sped off in search of silent salvation.
Faddig punched the gas. I retrieved my pistol and pressed it against his right temple. He laughed. “Smart girl, you are.”
“Care to confess your sins, Faddig?”
“Not exactly. But since you’ve got the gun, why the hell not? I’ve failed this mission. The Zero Day Collective will chase me to the end of the road to erase me from existence. The suffering they visit upon me will be legendary. If I remain with you, the chances of your group allowing me to live are slim. My only logical option was to attempt an escape. I should have known you’d best me once again.”
Faddig slowed the transport down and spun the wheel.
I pulled the weapon back and rested it in my lap. “Above everything, I am an optimist. I believe we will pull ourselves out of this ash-filled grave and rise above the hatred and fear. I’m also a realist. I would love to say that we could bring you into our fold so that you could serve a purpose more suited for the human race. But I don’t trust you. You’ve gone out of your way to deliver me unto evil. For that—and for all the hell you’ve put me and my friends through—I cannot forgive you.”
Faddig nodded. “I cannot blame you.”
“But unlike you and the ZDC, I’m no monster. We return to the train, and I put your fate into the hands of the group.”
“Those are not favorable odds for my continued survival.” Faddig fell silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice held a surprising measure of resolution. “But I understand.”
Faddig drove the transport back around the train and pulled into the docking bay. We exited the vehicle. I gripped the weapon tight, making sure Faddig knew it was there and ready to be put into action.