by Jack Hunt
“Do you recall Nikola Tesla?”
I nodded.
“At one time it was said that he had discovered a way to tap into an unlimited supply of energy from the earth and the universe around it. In the right hands it would have liberated the planet that we live on. Can you imagine that? Electricity without burning fuel? Not only would it have provided the world with energy, it would have prevented pollution, depletion of the environment and removed price gouging.” She scoffed. “He wanted to give that to everyone for free. Do you know what happened?”
“Someone didn’t get the memo?” I replied.
She chuckled. “Something like that. J.P. Morgan cut the funding once he knew that Nikola wanted everyone in the world to have free energy. It never saw the light of day.”
“Yeah, I heard about that shit,” Baja jumped in. “It was pure mutiny. What an asshole he must have been.” He shook his head and continued. “In fact, interesting story, that’s why I never turned my lights out on Earth Hour.”
“You didn’t?” Izzy asked, acting surprised.
Baja put a hand up to his mouth and started laughing. “Oh snap! Izzy, I bet you were one of the ones who used to get excited about it. Yeah, you were one of those cheerleading motherfuckers who turned out their night lights. Tell me, what one did you have… a Winnie the Pooh? Nope, you’re not a teddies girl… don’t tell me. Let me guess… Barbie?”
She stuck up her middle finger at him.
“Oh, so cold,” he added.
I found the whole discussion rather amusing being as the power grid was completely down.
“Anyway…” Annora said momentarily before Baja cut her off again to continue his bizarre rant.
“No, fuck that Earth Hour shit. Are we meant to believe that we are doing the world a favor by turning off our lights for one hour? If I did that, how the fuck am I supposed to see my porn?”
Izzy rolled her eyes and jerked her hand. Baja retorted by blowing her a kiss.
“Nah, you know what I did? I turned on all my lights. That’s right. Every fucking one of them. I’m not going to play their bullshit mind games. What’s next? Not using water so we can save the ocean?” He shook his head. “Shut the fuck up and take a seat. No, the only ones benefiting from that bullshit were the energy companies and overly enthusiastic nature-loving freaks… like Izzy.”
“How do you figure that?” Izzy asked.
“Well—”
I cut them both off otherwise we would have spent the next twenty-four hours enduring a mind-bending discussion that would have ended with us more confused than when he began. “Okay, Baja, I think you’ve made your point.” I looked at Annora. “Please, continue.”
Her eyebrows went up as did most people’s after they had experienced a healthy dose of Baja.
“As I was saying. That was then. Now, you are still going to have those who see solutions as a means to control people. That’s the difference between my father and me. He wanted…” she paused. “… Well, those above him want to regain control of a society that is out of control. And there is only one way to do that now. Through the cure.”
“The most valuable commodity. That’s what Birdy said.”
“He was right.”
Wren’s chin dropped and I regretted mentioning her brother’s name.
“But the world doesn’t need to be controlled. It needs to be saved, healed, and rebuilt.”
“And you plan to do that?” I asked.
“With help from you and those out there who are like you.”
I scoffed. “You make us sound like lepers.”
“No, a solution to turn the tide on this hell.”
Rowan piped up. “That’s why I told him he should turn himself in.”
“You said what?” Izzy became defensive.
Rowan tossed his hands up in the air and backed up. “Don’t shoot the messenger, lady. I’m just telling you what was conveyed to me by Tanner.”
“You spoke with him?” Annora asked.
“Yeah. They knew about him.” He looked at me.
“How?”
Rowan raised his eyebrows
Annora muttered Vinny’s name under her breath.
“You know Tanner?” Ben asked.
She nodded.
“Well, handing yourself in isn’t an option. Especially not now,” Ben said.
“Actually I think it might be,” I said.
They all looked at me, surprised. “You said it yourself, Annora. The equipment that is needed for this is inside. They aren’t just going to let you walk in there unless you have something they want. They want me. So let’s give them that.”
“Do you know what you are saying, Johnny?”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do. This isn’t like extracting a small amount of blood from your arm. They need what is in you. They will extract that by whatever means necessary and you will die.”
I took a deep breath and my mind began to think about what Dax had said.
“Well, that’s where you all come in.”
“Oh man, please don’t tell me you have another one of your plans,” Elijah said. “The last time we followed that I ended up with two bullets in me.”
“Well, I guess you’ll have to grow thicker skin.” I smirked.
“And what do you propose?”
“Faux Façade.”
“What do you mean?”
“How long would it take you to get the word out to the rest of the resistance?”
“Not long.”
“Do it.”
“Johnny?” Ben smirked.
“Listen up.”
* * *
There was a lot riding on this. I knew it was probably going to be tough to pull off. An element of luck and a huge amount of risk were involved. I had to lay aside my trust issues and believe that some of humanity was still good.
There was one upside to it all. More people meant there were those who were skilled in areas we weren’t. And for this plan to work it required skill. Timing was key.
Outside torrential rain was falling. A group of us made our way back to Manhattan and headed down to the pier to the location where we were originally dropped off. Wren was familiar with the times that the day shift would arrive in the CH-47 Chinooks. In the day, two would show up. Throughout different locations around the city, two more would land.
They always kept two at the base in the event of a crash.
Crouched down behind a large steel shipping container, I checked the ammo in my AR-15 and signaled to the others to move in. We had been there for just over forty minutes when the first helicopter landed. We knew the pilots never remained on site. Their orders were to pull out as soon as boots were on the ground. From a distance I saw Wren and four others slip around a truck that was positioned behind the perimeter that the Hive had set up. I couldn’t see Ben but he and three others were in the water, sliding up alongside the pier. Everything was timed down to the very second the wheels kissed the concrete. If it went well, no one would be hurt. We needed a couple of them alive at least. We watched as six security guys jumped out. Wind swept their clothes as they moved away from the bird in a crouching position. What they didn’t see was Ben and the others coming out of the water. They wouldn’t have even heard them. The damn rotor blades made one hell of a noise. It also helped that Wren and the others came out with their hands up. This wasn’t an uncommon thing. Some had grown tired of running from the Hive. Those that surrender thought that life beyond the walls had to be better than in the city. They were wrong. But none of them would know until it was too late.
As security moved in on Wren with stun guns drawn, Ben and the others subdued the two pilots inside the helicopters. That’s when we moved out. They didn’t stand a chance. There were more of us than them. It wasn’t a surprise to see them drop their weapons. Even if they knew the Warden would take their lives for it.
“Get on the ground now.”
They dropped to their knees
and we tied off their hands and led them away. Ben and the others had the helicopters flown to a different location. They forced the pilots to leave one final communication with the Hive.
“Mayday, mayday, we’ve been hit, we are going down.”
This too wasn’t uncommon. The Hive had lost helicopters after the resistance had fired upon them. It was just today they were going to lose all four. Across the city in a well-planned attack the resistance fought back and took control of four helicopters.
“Now that’s a good lad,” Baja said to the helicopter pilot as he switched off the homing device that would allow the Hive to locate their position. “Oh, and one more thing. Tell them you are still alive.”
The man scowled but when Baja pulled back the slider on the gun, he radioed it in.
“Hive, we are on the ground. Will seek cover and try to return shortly.”
He brought the radio mic down and we smiled. “Nicely done. Now get out.”
One by one we led them to a metal container where they would be held until the next stage of our plan would begin. On top of the metal container I sat next to Baja, Elijah, Ben, and Izzy. I took a moment to have a cigarette.
“Well, that went off without a hitch.”
“For us, not for the others.”
Reports came in that the resistance had lost a few people in the process of trying to reclaim the helicopters. It was to be expected but at least we had them.
I blew out some smoke and allowed myself to relax a little. I knew the next stage wasn’t going to be as easy as that. There was a lot more that was out of our control. If even one thing got screwed up, we were all dead.
“We’ll get her back, Johnny,” Izzy said.
“I hope so.”
I tried to remain positive but I couldn’t stop the doubts from creeping in.
RATS
HERE’S the thing about plans. They have a tendency to go askew. It doesn’t matter how much thought goes into a strategy or how clever you think you are, life can flip the table on you real fast.
“Z’s!” someone shouted.
I turned my head to see an ocean of faces pushing forward. Snarling, moaning, and gnashing their teeth, it was a sight far worse than what we had encountered to date.
We were still seated on top of the metal container when we saw the tidal wave of undead heading towards us. Now I had seen a vast number in Salt Lake but this overshadowed anything I had witnessed before. Like rats being driven out of the underground. They came from every direction. At first we had no idea what was driving them towards the ocean. Some stumbled forward slowly while others were in full sprint.
Now there had only been a few times in my life that I had truly felt terrified. And this one trumped them all. Time was ticking and working against us. We had one hour before more Hive security would come to find the others. It was a small window that was slowly closing as we realized the predicament we were in.
“No, no, no,” I said before jumping to the ground. I swung up my assault rifle and prepared for the fight of our lives.
“There’s too many, leave your weapons on top. We’ll need them later.”
As the others tossed their weapons up, my eyes scanned the skin-eaters. It would have taken an entire army or fleet of ships to take them out. What were they running from? A few seconds passed and that question was answered. Black smoke billowed from every cavity in the ground. An out-of-control fire was spreading inside the subway system.
All of us looked for a means of escaping but there was none. The only option we had was to get into the water. Moving as fast as our legs could carry us, we ran to the edge of the pier and dived into the frothy waves. A sudden slap of cold shocked my senses. I gasped, feeling my heart pumping like mad. It was freezing cold in the ocean.
“This way,” Ben shouted as each of us surfaced and fought to stay afloat. Pushing away from the pier it was a horrendous sight. The undead trampled each other. Many were on fire, like moving candles dripping flesh from their bones. As they spilled over into the ocean and drifted down into the deep, we were pissed to see the two helicopters go with them. The pure force of them pushing forward tipped the helicopters into the water. It was beyond disappointing, it was another kick in the gut. As if the virus itself was making one final stand to survive. From the safety of the ocean we watched as the city was set ablaze causing even more devastation. Years and years of work, effort, history, and culture were now lost in a cloud of inky smoke. Treading water, all we could do was wait.
The city had become like Times Square on New Year’s Eve, clogged with Z’s. We had to keep swimming in the East River parallel to the mainland until we came out on a shore, a short distance from the Brooklyn Bridge. Exhausted from swimming, we slumped down on the rocky shore, trying to catch our breath. A cold easterly wind blew in off the water, causing me to shiver. If we didn’t get warm fast, we were going to die of hyperthermia. Our weapons were still back at the pier. This couldn’t get any worse. I don’t know what we imagined would happen when we saw them coming towards us. It wasn’t like all of them were going to rush into the ocean. Most of them remained on land. Only the ones who were too near the edge went over.
Clambering up from the pebbled beach, Rowan looked more determined than anyone else.
“Where are you going?” Wren shouted.
“To get some warm clothes.”
It was funny actually to think that while the dead were loose on the world, staying warm was still at the top of the agenda. We dived into the first shop we could find. The windows were already smashed. Mannequins lay all over the floor. Even though it was daylight outside, the store was dark so it was hard to tell what clothes they had. We frantically yanked off our soaking wet clothes and snatched up anything we could find without giving any thought to whether or not it fit or looked good. The sound of snarls and moans could be heard close by. I glanced at the clock on the wall that was still ticking. If the time was right, we had less than thirty minutes.
“Nice tits,” Baja said to Izzy as she tossed away her wet clothes and slipped into the first thing she could find. She scowled at him. It took a little while to find something that fit but eventually we were feeling warm again. As we stepped outside into the light, we immediately became aware of what kind of store it was. All of us looked like punk rockers. Izzy looked like Avril Lavigne from her early days with a white tank top, checkered pants, and a tie, Baja looked like Sid Vicious, and I now resembled the Punisher in an all-black, full leather jacket and a white skull on the front of my T-shirt. It wasn’t ideal but it worked.
Z’s were coming towards us. “Oh shit.”
“We have no weapons and are in the worst possible fucking situation since leaving Cock Ville,” Baja said.
“Try this.” I reached back into the store and pulled out an arm of a mannequin.
“What the fuck am I going to do with that? Give ’em hand jobs?”
“No, you dumbshit, watch this.” Izzy snatched it out of my hand and ran at the three Z’s. This fucking girl was a maniac.
“Batter up, bitches,” she said before swinging it like the hammer of Thor and smashing the shit out of their heads. I had to say her motivation had soared to new heights and ours with it. I’d heard it said that behind every great man was a great woman. I think that was completely ass backwards. Izzy and Jess were never behind us. They were always out front kicking ass. Instantly, everyone grabbed a leg or an arm, except Baja who grabbed a head and made a few sexual gestures before tossing it at a Z’s face.
Yeah, I guess you could say surviving the apocalypse with us was rough. We used anything we could get our hands on. Meanwhile Ben, the smartest of the bunch, went back into the store and tore apart several of the racks to create his own bojutsu long pole weapon. It didn’t take much convincing after he lopped off three Z’s heads with one swipe for us to follow suit.
Of course Baja thinking he was fucking Bruce Lee spun his around and hit himself in the head. Oh he was badass to the core.
“Listen, we aren’t going to be able to make it back for our weapons. There’s no time.”
“He’s right,” Annora said. “Listen, we’ll move ahead and let’s see how this plays out.”
The idea was pretty simple. An exchange. I would turn myself over on the condition that they sent out Jess. We would meet halfway down Rikers Island Bridge. It was the only way in or out except for the air. Now, there was more to it but that was all they would need to know.
The journey back to the Brooklyn base wouldn’t be easy. We had three options. Navigate our way back via Brooklyn Bridge, swim, or locate a subway system that wasn’t on fire. Not one of them was going to be worth the risk.
“You are going to need those pilots,” I said.
“We’ll use the other two helicopters.”
Faux Façade relied on a number of factors to work. I was handing myself in with the intention of getting Jess to safety. Once I was inside and they began work on me, the resistance would get the two helicopter pilots to communicate with the Hive and let them know they had managed to survive and would be returning. However, members of the resistance would be in the helicopters fully armed. Some of them dressed as security. This time however they would return with a large group of the resistance. Once inside, the resistance would take the place by force using a surprise attack. Meanwhile I would use the card that Birdy had to get out. Yeah, there was going to be a fair amount of luck involved and the risk of being killed was very high but there was no other choice. It was the only way to get inside. Once and if they managed to take the island they would be able to begin their own testing.
We were a good distance from sector C, Chinatown. We slipped down through the streets, fighting our way as we went. Attempting to find a car that still had keys would have not only been a suicide mission but impossible. New York was a nightmare when there wasn’t an apocalypse but now it was even worse. New Yorkers had abandoned vehicles. The way some of them had swerved into buildings revealed some of the horror that must have gripped the city as men and women turned on each other.