Cheng looked impressed. He didn’t have any idea how devious Ted could be. He felt relieved. He didn’t like Chris, anyway. He associated him with one of the bullies who would often attack him in high school. They were interrupted by one of the guards looking for the two guards who were on duty last night. Cheng and Ted looked at each other.
“There wasn’t anybody here when we got here,” said Cheng, looking at Ted. “They must have gone home to get some sleep. Did you check their homes?”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t have gone home. They’re supposed to report back to the command center once their shift is over,” commented one of the guards. “I guess I’ll go check their homes just in case.”
They left the room as another couple of guards entered the lab with a homeless man that stood over seven feet tall. They had chains around his neck and hands. Cheng approached him and injected a green liquid into his arm.
“Take him back to your jeep. We’re moving him to another location.” He looked at the man who was staring curiously at him. “Don’t worry. You’re going to get cleaned up and fed a proper meal. I gave you a sedative to help you sleep. Once you’re awake, we will talk again.”
The guards led him back outside to their jeep and took him away. Cheng was pleased by how the man looked. He was taller than the last one, but he didn’t have as much muscle mass. Still, a zombie of his size would make a great addition to the park. They once again were going to have their main attraction. They just had to make sure this one didn’t get loose. He looked at Ted. He wished the escaped zombie would have killed him as well. It would have saved him a great deal of trouble. With him out of the way, he knew he could further his research without anybody realizing what he was trying to accomplish. He had been recently in contact with a General Milkwood who had left America and was hiding in England. He had made a deal with him that could make him more money than he could imagine. All he had to do was create a perfect army of zombified animals that would follow orders. He didn’t know why General Milkwood wanted them, and he didn’t care. All he cared about was the money and the chance to buy an island of his own. He looked at Ted and smiled.
“We should leave now, Ted. I’m sure Chris will be waiting for us. The sooner we start the process with our new project, the quicker we can get him on display.”
Ted smiled. He knew this time everything was going to go according to plan. It had to. He just had too much money invested in the park…and so did his boss, Shelton Franks. “Let’s not keep Chris waiting. The last thing we need is for him to get angry with us.”
Chapter Ten
Julie made her way inside the command center to check and make sure there weren’t any noticeable glitches in their operating systems. A great deal of money had been spent on an interactive ride that would let visitors get a closer view of some of the zombies they had on display. When the idea was first conceived, nobody thought it would be possible or even safe for the public, but with careful designing and special cage cars developed, they found a way to bring the ride to life. Their chief designer was a brilliant man from Canada named Owen Clark. The ride consisted of a large track built through a wooded area where the riders would be driven through several zombies chained to posts secured several feet in the ground. The zombies would be out of the reach of the passengers who would be safe inside four passenger cars. The cars would be electronically driven along a specially designed track. They also had a backup battery reserve in case of a blackout so nobody would be left with the zombies in case of an emergency. Every scenario had been considered during the designing phase of the ride. Also, each morning a team of park zombie specialists would take a jeep along the track making sure it was safe and none of the zombies had gotten free during the night. If any had, the ride wouldn’t open until the escaped zombie was found and dealt with.
Julie sat in a chair next to Owen looking at a screen showing the layout of the ride. “How is everything looking?”
“Everything appears normal. There haven’t been any reported problems with the diagnostic check, and all zombies are secure. I have a team doing a ride through in an hour. I’m not expecting any problems. As far as I can tell, the ride will perform as expected.”
Julie was relieved to hear the news. The ride was one of the main attractions of the park. She was sure the lines for the ride would be constantly long. She knew the riders wouldn’t mind the long wait because the ride was going to be worth the wait. Another ride the park was relying on was the ‘Zombie Outbreak’, a dark, interactive ride where you would be taken through a dark building where you could shoot as many zombies as you could for points. When you achieved a certain number of points, when the ride was through, you would be awarded prizes at a prize booth at the exit. She was about to move to another area when Owen’s assistant, Brant Newson, addressed some concerns he had about the ride with the live zombies.
“I think sending people in cars around zombies will be a big mistake. They’re going to be too close to the flesh eaters. It will only take one glitch in the system to get somebody killed.”
“Is this true, Owen? Should I be alarmed about the ride?”
“No, there isn’t anything you should be alarmed about. I assure you the ride is perfectly safe. Brant is being paranoid.”
Julie stared at both of them trying to read them to see if she was being lied to. After a few moments, she decided there wasn’t anything she should be worried about and left to go find Carl and Kylie. Owen watched until she left the room before turning to confront Brant.
“I thought I told you to keep your worries to yourself. She doesn’t have the time to look into any of your theories. Listen, Brant, none of the zombies are going to get loose, and say they do, they won’t be able to get inside the cars with the guests. We control the doors to the cars. Once the doors are secured and the ride starts, none of the guests can open the door from the inside unless we do it for them from the controls.”
“What happens if we lose power and the backup batteries don’t function?” asked Brant. “How will they get out of there then? They will be stuck on the ride around all the zombies.”
Owen shook his head in disbelief. “Now you’re just looking for problems. Let’s say for some reason that scenario does happen. We’ll just send one of our people in a jeep to get them to safety. We have already considered every possible scenario that could go wrong. You know that. You helped write the entire manual on the ride.”
“But…”
“But nothing. Next time you go over my head like you just did, there is going to be some big repercussions. Do you understand?”
“Perfectly.”
“Good. Now listen, Brant, I want you to head out to the ride and join the team on the test run. Report back to me if you find anything out of the ordinary. I mean something really out of the ordinary, not something you think is out of the ordinary.”
He waited until Brant had left the area before making a phone call to Shelton Franks. He waited until Mr. Franks answered.
“Mr. Franks, we’re going to have trouble with Brant. He went over my head to Julie about the ride. He’s still insisting the ride isn’t going to be safe. He’s not going to let it go.”
“Where is he now?”
“I sent him on an errand so I could call you without him knowing about it.”
Mr. Franks didn’t immediately say anything. He was considering what course of action to take. He had already warned Brant once about overstepping his boundaries. Now he knew he had to deal with him before he caused a panic throughout the community. He knew he was left with only one option. “Owen, I’ll let Captain Jonas deal with the problem. Do you want me to assign you another assistant?”
“That won’t be necessary. I don’t foresee any problems with the ride. It will be ready for the grand opening.” He hung up and looked around to make sure nobody had overheard his conversation.
Julie found Carl and Kylie at the park museum looking at a display concerning the living and the dead. Carl wasn
’t paying too much attention to it. Instead, he was remembering the look on his mother’s face the last time he saw her. He was angry he had been separated from her. He didn’t want to be at the island. He was angry at his aunt for agreeing to let them come. He spit on the display as he heard his name being called. He turned to look at her angrily. She took several steps back seeing what kind of mood he was in. Julie wished she could say she knew how he felt. She knew it was hard for him, but there wasn’t anything she could do about the situation. What was already done was done, and nothing was going to change. All she could do was try to find a way to help him cope with being on the island. She still had a problem. She needed to tell them that their parents were dead, but she still felt the timing wasn’t right. If she told them now, it would probably send Carl right over the edge, and right now she didn’t have the time for him to do that. She stood in front of them thinking perhaps taking them to the amusement park now could help ease his anger.
“Follow me. I have been given special permission to take you to the amusement park. They’re going to test all the rides today, and you’re going to ride them when they do. How does that sound to you?”
Kylie’s eyes widened. “Can we ride them all day?”
“Well, at least until dinner. We are going to have a pizza party tonight. Everybody on the island will be there. And then you can ride all the rides again when the park is lit up. It’s so beautiful when all the lights are on.” She looked at Carl. “Is this something you’d like to do?”
“I guess,” he finally answered back in a low voice. “If I have to.”
“You don’t have to,” said Julie, hoping he would join them. “I’m sure Kylie wants to ride them with you.”
“I do. Please, Carl, I don’t want to ride them all by myself.”
He looked at her and she smiled back. “All right, I’ll ride them with you.” He looked at his aunt. “What kind of pizza are we having?”
“Any kind you want. Just tell me what you want, and I will make sure they serve it.”
Chapter Eleven
Chris Kaeb and Randus were in the middle of cleaning the enclosure where the park’s main attraction was going to be kept when Cheng and Ted arrived. A truck had pulled up near the enclosure just before they arrived and a large man was unloaded and brought to it. Chris looked at Randus.
“It looks like they’re not taking any chances this time. This one isn’t as muscular as the last one.”
Randus watched intently as the man was brought into the enclosure. He was bothered by how the homeless people were being treated. Even though he was getting paid, deep down he felt remorse. People shouldn’t be treated the way they were being treated on the island. So what if they were homeless, they were still human beings and still had rights. He didn’t want to watch what they were going to do to this man. It was one of the things he wasn’t getting paid to do. He had other things he had to do at the park. He silently pushed past Cheng and Ted and got into his vehicle. He knew he was being watched. He knew Cheng and Ted didn’t trust him and he didn’t care. He wasn’t the evil one on the island. He drove away and made his way to the command center. He had a lot of paperwork to catch up on and now was as good a time as any to do it.
Ted hoped Randus wasn’t going to be a problem for them. They had too many other issues they needed to worry about without having to worry about him. He had to trust he would keep his mouth shut and go on with his daily duties as though nothing had happened. He turned his attention to Cheng who was inside the enclosure with the homeless man getting ready to inject him a second time. Cheng was assuring him it would be beneficial to his health. He injected the serum into his arm and told everybody to leave as the guards chained him securely. Once the guards had finished and left the enclosure, Cheng and Chris secured it. A large, black curtain was lowered over the enclosure so nobody could see what was going to occur inside it. Because of the homeless man’s size, Cheng knew it was going to take some time for him to die and come back as one of the living dead. He decided he would inspect the rest of the zombies with Ted before heading back to the lab. He wanted to make sure they had enough zombies to fill the park’s obligations. They followed Chris as he led them inside the adjacent building where nearly a hundred zombies were housed. Chris walked in front of them, explaining how the exhibit was going to be featured and how the zombies were going to be grouped. Shelton Franks had a specific plan for how he wanted the zombies to be displayed. It was more than an exhibit to him; it was more like a show. He wanted it to be the most spectacular thing anybody had ever seen in their entire lives. Chris didn’t have any doubts Mr. Franks was going to get what he wanted. Everything was going exactly as he had planned. Chris watched as Ted and Cheng were engaged in conversation. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he knew they didn’t want him to hear. He didn’t care either way. He knew if he kept his mouth shut, neither of them would be a problem for him. Cheng looked at him and told him he would be back in an hour or so to check on their main attraction. He figured the transformation would have taken place by then. In the meantime, he was told to work on the flashing lights for the enclosures to make sure they were working properly.
Chris didn’t like the way they made him feel as if he didn’t know what he was doing. He was good at his job, but for some reason, he wasn’t getting the proper respect. He didn’t like the feelings they stirred up in him. If he didn’t need the money so badly, he would forget their generous offer and announce to everybody working at the park what had happened. Lately, he felt as though everybody was on his back about something. He looked at the enclosure covered by the curtain. It frightened him what was about to happen behind it. They were about to create another of their monstrosities that could threaten the security of the park. At least this time they were making sure they didn’t have to move it from one place to another. That should prevent it from getting loose; at least, he hoped it wouldn’t get loose. He looked away from the enclosure and made his way to another area. All he wanted to do now was to get a chocolate bar and forget about everything for a while. Chocolate was the only thing right now that would make him feel normal and keep him from losing his mind. He suddenly heard some eerie sounds coming from behind the curtain. He didn’t turn to look; he didn’t care about what was happening. As far as he knew, if he didn’t peek behind the curtain, he would have plausible deniability. He pictured a chocolate bar in his mind and felt more at ease. It was the only thing in his life he could rely on at the present time.
Chapter Twelve
Mr. Franks was on his cell phone listening to the news a friend was reporting about how General Milkwood had rescued Thelma, a zombiefied polar bear. Apparently, the general had his mind set on developing a zombie army using animals, but was at a standstill because the secret lab in Nevada had been destroyed. Now he was scouring the rest of the world trying to find a scientist who could develop the army of animals for him. Mr. Franks was alarmed by the news. If General Milkwood was looking for a scientist to help him, he knew it could lead him to their island. He couldn’t let something like that happen. He couldn’t afford to lose any of his scientists. They all were an intricate part of the park’s operation. Still, the thought of adding a polar bear to his park intrigued him. He didn’t have one in the zombie zoo at the park. It was still in development. Getting the animals he required wasn’t as easy as he assumed it would be. He didn’t want the general anywhere near his park. He didn’t want any outsiders to know his secrets. He had gone to great lengths to hire only the scientists and park employees he could trust. They all had gone through extensive background checks. all the park’s employees knew the punishment for espionage. There wouldn’t be any second chances; they would be tried and imprisoned for the rest of their lives at the prison facility built on the island. So far, he had been lucky with the people he had hired. At the moment, nobody was being held prisoner. He hung up the phone and looked around his office. His spy in America had also informed him the entire United States had f
allen to the plague except for small pockets of survivors who were in hiding, coming out only when they needed supplies. His spy was held up in Colorado in the mountains where zombies couldn’t reach him. They appeared not to be able to climb the mountains without toppling over and falling off the edge. He was also informed his spy had come across a few zombified animals but they didn’t pose any threat to him.
Ted and Cheng entered his office and approached his desk. He didn’t feel much like having a long conversation with them and tried to ignore them by opening a book on his desk.
“We’re ahead of schedule. The exhibits will be ready for opening day,” said Ted.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” commented Mr. Franks still looking at his book. “You know you didn’t have to come over here to inform me of that. You could have called me instead and saved yourself a trip.”
“It’s all right. We were coming over here, anyway. We have some last minute details to follow up on regarding the media doing a story on us during the employee party tonight.”
Mr. Franks looked up from his book. He had forgotten the park was open for the employees to enjoy tonight. It was going to give him the chance to see if everything was going to work according to plan. “Make sure the enclosures are covered. I want the zombie exhibits kept a secret until the official opening day.”
“Of course,” said Ted. “People are spending a thousand dollars a ticket to be one of the first people to see the zombie exhibits on opening day. We want them to get their money’s worth.”
“Have we had any problems lately?” asked Mr. Franks. “Nobody has reported anything to me.”
Ted looked at Cheng and then back to Mr. Franks. “We haven’t heard of any problems.”
“Good. I have one more question. Do any of you know a General Milkwood?”
The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 4): Zombie World Page 6