by Tristan Vick
Gathering her thoughts, Mia stood alone in the changing room and replayed recent events in her head. She looked over at the drainage gate on the floor where the young man had entered the building. Thinking about Kevin, she smiled. He was right. She couldn’t just leave him alone. He had crossed her. Now she had to break him. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she did.
46
Alyssa’s Mission
San Francisco International Airport, U.S.A.
“You never told me how you and Frank met,” Alyssa said to Gordon Longstaff, as he helped her climb out of the high-wing Cessna 182P single engine prop plane.
Frank, who was already on the ground, just looked up at them and panted from the heat emanating up from the tarmac. Her long tongue hung out the side of her mouth and she seemed to smile up at them.
They had made it from the desert to San Francisco International Airport. Parked at the end of the 19R landing strip, they left the plane behind and made their way down toward the end of the runway where it met the San Francisco bay. Waves crashed up against the concrete barriers that lined the block wall of the runway and shot up a white, salty spray. It was there that they’d wait for the small boat to come pick them up and take them to Hunter’s Point.
Longstaff pushed his cowboy hat back and told her the story of how he met Frank.
“I was up fishing on Lake Eerie after everything went south. Figured I’d catch fish and do some surviving away from Newcastle, Buffalo, Ontario…and all the infested areas. Then, from out of the blue, I saw a woman standing in a clearing. Loyal ole Frank was by her side. Apparently, they had just met one another too.”
Longstaff bent down and ruffled Frank’s ears and scratched her chin then stood back up.
“Whatever happened to the woman?” Alyssa asked.
“She went off to search for answers. She had a bit of amnesia. I offered to let her to tag along with me, but I had no real plans. Frank decided to stay with me since I had all the fish. Isn’t that right, Frank?” Longstaff patted Frank on the head and Frank returned the kindness with a couple wet licks on his hand. “At any rate,” Longstaff continued, “that evening we saw the flashes and the bombs go off as we sat out around the campfire. That’s when we knew it really was bad—that the end of the world had finally arrived.”
“Well, I hope she found the answers she was looking for,” Alyssa said optimistically.
“Me too,” Longstaff replied.
That’s when they heard the small buzz of a Sea Ray 18 Bowrider speed boat fast approaching.
Climbing down the rocks by the water, they waited for the boat to glide up to them. A young man waved to them and then tossed Longstaff a rope.
As Longstaff pulled the rope taught, Alyssa picked Frank up into her arms, climbed aboard, and got into the front of the boat. Longstaff handed her the briefcase, then hopped into the back with the young man.
The man, who couldn’t have been more than twenty-eight by Longstaff’s reckoning, had brownish hair underneath a San Francisco Giants baseball cap. He had an olive tint to his skin that hinted at the fact that he was part Asian. Smiling, the young man took Longstaff’s hand and shook it. “I’m Reggie. Reggie Takamura. But people just call me Reg.”
“Longstaff,” Gordon replied, shaking Reggie’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Shifting the boat into drive, they slowly pulled away from the rocky edge and headed out into the bay.
“We have to go rather slow for the first part to cut back on engine noise. Don’t want to attract a following. Once we get out into the bay we’ll get up to full speed and then it’s smooth sailing all the way to the island.”
“The island?” Alyssa asked. “I thought we were going to meet the ship at Hunter’s Point?”
“Hunter’s Point was completely overrun no more than two days ago. It’s not safe there, sorry to say, so we changed the plan. We’re headed to The Rock.”
“Alcatraz?” the cowboy inquired.
“Yup,” Reg answered with a smile. “The Rock is as secure as it gets.”
“What happened at Hunters Point?” Alyssa asked.
“Apparently, a load of shipping crates were full of some Chinese immigrants that had, umm, expired in the transit. Some genius decided to open a crate up to see what the noise was inside and, well, I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.”
“I think you’ll both find that The Rock is an ideal location for a base of operations, since the only way to get to the island is by boat. No direct land route. Completely safe from the undead and any unwanted guests. It’s perfectly secluded.”
“Which is why it made such a good prison,” Alyssa added.
“Exactly!” Reg said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Alyssa as if to say you got it.
“I suppose the cargo ship will be nearby,” Longstaff surmised aloud.
“She’s anchored in the bay near the island,” Reg answered. “First we’ll get you debriefed, and then we’ll take you to the ship.”
Reg looked over at Gordon Longstaff, who was beginning to look nervous. “I can guarantee you,” Reg said reassuringly, “there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“Why don’t we bypass the island and go straight for the ship?” asked Alyssa.
“Because,” Reg chuckled, “Everyone from the ship is on the island. We’re all gonna enjoy one last meal together before everybody ships off.”
“That actually sounds kind of nice,” Alyssa said. She smiled at the thought of sitting down with actual people over dinner and having a conversation. She couldn’t even remember the last time she was able to have a conversation that didn’t involve the words run, hide, and be quiet.
Soon enough they could see the imposing outline of Alcatraz Island manifest out of the mist before them.
“There she is,” Reggie said with a smile.
Alyssa squeezed Frank, who was still wrapped up in her arms and whispered, “Almost there, girl.”
47
Hero till the Bitter End
Mt. Gongen: Eastern Yokohama Region, Japan
Slamming his foot down on the gas pedal, Kevin got the Humvee up to speed. The same Humvee he had hidden under earlier. The same Humvee he had stolen.
It raced across the snow covered road as a pack of decrepit looking zombies chased after them.
Looking out the back window, Chiemi gasped, “I’ve never seen them run that fast before.”
“Those are new,” the Admiral stated.
“New?” Kevin asked, looking in the rear-view mirror at the Admiral who sat comforting a terrified looking Naoko. “What do you mean new?”
“The virus,” the Admiral began, “It’s evolving.”
Suddenly a zombie smashed up against the driver’s side window of the Humvee, startling everyone. “No shit?!” Kevin blurted out as he cranked the steering wheel and shook the monster off the side of the vehicle.
“Can’t you go any faster?” Chiemi shrieked as a zombie’s face smashed into the passenger’s side glass, too.
“I’m working on it,” Kevin growled, as he shifted through the gears. “This ain’t exactly a Ferrari, you know.”
“How can they be evolving?” Naoko asked the Admiral. Her voice trembled with fear as she looked out the window at the extra fast zombies that rushed after them. “I thought they were all dead.”
“Their cellular replication has ceased to function in the typical way,” the Admiral informed. “But our recent virology research has shown that the Resurrection Virus itself is mutating. In turn, whatever host it has infected is also mutating.”
“Mutating into what, exactly?” Kevin asked.
“In something quite frightful, I’m afraid.”
“But how?” Chiemi asked, fighting back tears. “How is any of this even possible?”
“Perhaps it’s best if I start at the beginning. Right after Flight 93Z and the initial outbreak, Tokyo issued a country-wide lock down. Nobody was allowed in or out. Within hours we had our best people working o
n a retro-viral, and within a few weeks they had something promising. They called it the Omega gene.”
“The Omega gene?” Chiemi echoed.
“It was designed to boost the cellular growth of an organism, thus multiplying cell division and regeneration, like a cancer that heals rather than metastasizes. This healing factor made it more likely that an organism could outpace the Resurrection Virus. Basically, a way to speed up biological evolution so that the virus wouldn’t be able to take over its host.”
“I’m sensing a big BUT coming on,” Kevin said, looking in the rear-view mirror at the zombies falling behind in their pursuit.
“Well, the problem was that Omega gene worked a little too well. It activated all kinds of dormant genes, which in turn activated the organism’s vestigial traits. Basically, it turns on genes that evolution had turned off long ago, which, as you can imagine, wasn’t good. The side effects were disastrous. Most of the test subjects died horribly.”
“And the ones that didn’t die?” Naoko asked.
“They changed.”
“Changed into what?” Chiemi whispered, afraid of what the answer might be.
“Monsters,” the Admiral said in all seriousness.
“So let me get this straight,” Kevin interjected. “You mean to say the Omega gene causes mutations in the human genome that force rapid transformation in its essence, creating actual monsters?”
“That about covers it, yes. The first stable creatures that didn’t self-destruct were named Chimeras because of their bizarre mash-up of biological features.”
“So what’s the next step here, Admiral?” Kevin gazed into the rear-view mirror and searched the Admiral’s eyes for an answer.
BOOM!
The sudden explosion violently shook the Humvee, which veered out of the way, barely missing the small blast crater left in the middle of the asphalt. Naoko and Chiemi screamed hysterically as they rattled around inside the swerving vehicle.
Looking in the rearview mirror at the black smoke rising out of the crater, Kevin yelled, “Holy shit!”
From over the mountain tops came a military chopper. It was an AW101 Merlin, a large transport helicopter. It had been custom painted entirely black. Black, just like the Black Dragons. That’s when Kevin knew she had come after him. Like he said, he knew her type.
“Looks like we have company, ladies and gentleman,” Kevin said, hammering down the pedal and pressing it all the way to the floor. “Hold on to your hats!”
Kevin gave it everything the truck had as they sped toward the tunnel that lay a kilometer and a half up the road. It may not be the perfect option, but it sure beat being sitting ducks.
The engine roared and the Humvee rumbled its way up the icy road. But another loud explosion erupted and Kevin swerved to dodge the rubble and debris kicked up in the blast. A missile had just impacted the asphalt mere meters to their right.
“They’re still shooting at us!” Chiemi screamed.
“I get that!” Kevin said, jerking the wheel to swerve out of the way of a giant piece of smoldering concrete, barely dodging the refrigerator-sized slab.
Without warning, rapid fire shots rang out from the heavily armed Merlin. The bullets chewed up the concrete retaining wall that ran along the highway as if it were paper and produced a landslide. Dirt slid down the mountain side and began piling onto the road in front of them.
“Brace yourselves!” Kevin yelled. “This is gonna get bumpy.”
The girls shrieked and cried as the Humvee jolted hard when it hit the dirt obstacle. The force of the impact caused the vehicle to fly up into the air with a sideways twist. As it crashed down into the snow, headlights first, it flipped onto its roof and scraped along the icy asphalt before skidding to a halt in the middle of the open road. Flaming debris littered the crystal white blanket.
Kevin climbed out of the singed wreckage and helped Chiemi and Naoko get safely out, then he helped the Admiral up. Turning around and inspecting the girls he asked, “Is everybody alright?”
“I’m fine,” Chiemi answered.
“Me too,” Naoko replied, patting herself down as she checked her body for injuries.
“But we won’t be for long if we stick around here,” the Admiral informed them, pointing toward the two dozen zombies tearing up the highway as they raged toward them. They were about a quarter mile away and approaching fast. Meanwhile, there was still that pesky metal menace buzzing around in the sky to worry about.
Kevin looked up at the helicopter that hovered ominously above them, like an angry wasp, and whispered to himself, “You two-faced bitch.”
Unexpectedly, the Merlin turned itself back around and flew off. Spinning around, Kevin shouted out, “Admiral, get these women out of here. Get to the tunnel and get them home for me!”
“What about you?” the Admiral asked.
Kevin drew out his sword. Then, turning back to face the stampede of blood thirsty creatures, he replied, “I’ve got a date with destiny.”
Pushing the girls ahead of him the Admiral drew out the hand gun he’d taken off one of the guards back at the camp. “I never did get your name, son.”
“Kevin Benjamin Russell.”
Admiral Sakaguchi’s eyes widened with the revelation of who he was. “Wait, I know that name. You mean to tell me that you’re my daughter’s…?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Kevin interrupted. “But, yes.” Throwing up his arms, Kevin pointed up the road and shouted above the din of the hovering chopper, “Now get them the hell out of here!”
Without another word, the Admiral silently nodded, then turned and trailed after the women.
Coming back to the task at hand, Kevin gripped his sword tightly with both hands and planted his feet firmly in the snow as he waited for the first wave of monsters to reach him. It wouldn’t be long now. He could already see the frosted-whites of their eyes.
That’s when he heard a light crunch of footsteps approaching from behind him on the fresh blanket of snow. He thought it was the Admiral coming back to stubbornly make a last stand with him in the battle. But he knew that Naoko and Chiemi wouldn’t last the night without help. Turning around, Kevin began, “I thought I told you to take the girls and get—”
Brushing her platinum blond hair over her shoulders, Mia sauntered up to Kevin with a seductive swivel. A sinful smile stretched across her face. “I’m sorry, were you expecting someone else?” she said in a dainty voice meant to tease, and then she grabbed him by his collar, reeled him in, and kissed him long and hard.
As their lips locked he found himself grabbing her and pulling her into him, almost instinctively, as if he was driven by passion and a sense of lust. Even as he succumbed to the moment, a victim of her wiles, he still didn’t quite understand why he was so attracted to her. All he knew was that he was.
As his fingers worked furiously to undress her, she did the same with him, tearing off his belt and reaching into his pants to find him. Soon he had her breast out and instantly wrapped his lips around her nipple. She moaned in pleasure, and then there another, but this second moan wasn’t hers.
Kevin stopped what he was doing and turned to see a zombie lumbering toward them. “God-fucking-dammit,” he said, annoyed by the rude interruption. Pulling away, he synched his belt up and fastened it, then reached for his sword which was strapped to his back. At least now he had some motivation to kill these annoying monsters. As soon as he finished with them, he would take Mia in his arms and finish what they had started.
That’s when he felt a harsh blow hit the back of his head and everything went black.
Mia, holding a Baby Desert Eagle III pistol, tucked her breasts back into their rightful place, aimed her gun, and shot the Biter that was rapidly closing.
It fell to the ground and landed with a hard thud right next to Kevin’s unconscious body. She smiled at the thought of having so easily overcome him. He would have never suspected she was wearing poisoned lipstick.
> Pulling out a two-way receiver, she radioed the chopper. “I’ve got him, now come get me the fuck out of here.”
Almost as soon as she had tucked the radio back into her jacket pocket the black Merlin chopper came roaring over the hillside and hovered just a few feet off the ground near her position. Three Black Dragon soldiers armed with Heckler & Koch HK416 rifles jumped out of the aircraft and rushed to her side. She motioned for the first two to give her cover fire and she had the third soldier help her get Kevin’s limp body back to the chopper.
As she climbed up into the helicopter with Kevin, her Black Dragon enforcers opened fire on the zombie horde and cut the monsters to bloody ribbons. Once the soldiers had finished the slaughter, they climbed aboard and the black machine rose into the sky with a cantankerous grumble. Its blades chopped furiously at the air to gain altitude. Hanging in the sky, it spun on an invisible dime, and then turned toward Tokyo.
As the Merlin flew away, Mia looked out the open side door, down at the carnage and the gory sight of blood mottled snow, and smiled.
48
The Rock
Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, U.S.A.
The Sea Ray fishing boat cut through a light mist that had settled in around the island giving everything an ethereal quality. Reggie cut the engine and let the boat glide up to the dock. Hopping off, Reg grabbed the rope and tied the boat to the cleat on the dock. Having quickly finished his task he turned back around and helped Alyssa out of the boat.
Impatient, Frank turned an excited circle then leapt off the edge of the bobbing boat and landed the dock. Once on the dock, Frank let out a bark, as if she was pleased with herself for having done it all on her own without the help of anyone. Gordon Longstaff followed after them with the briefcase tucked securely under his arm.
Reg lead them past Building 64, the four story apartment complex that housed the guests and residents, and guided them up the steep incline up toward the main prison building at the top. As they drew nearer to their destination they could make out the lighthouse that towered over everything like an imperious citadel. A guard in the lighthouse tower aimed his riffle at them and Reg waved at the security as if he were expected. The guard pulled his riffle back, nodded reassuringly, and let them continue on their way.