Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI

by Vohs, J. W.

  It was beginning to grow dark by the time Barnes reached the inn overlooking San Francisco Bay, but the newly installed solar arrays and wind turbines on the island had no trouble providing power to the greatly reduced population. In any event, a nearby biomass power plant was still functional, though, according to Pruitt’s records, it was perpetually in need of maintenance and repair.

  Barnes was greeted in the lobby by a twenty-something female officer. “Mr. President, it’s an honor to meet you, sir,” she stated crisply as she slightly bowed. “I’m Captain Forrester. The kitchen staff is at your disposal, of course; they currently have an excellent selection of oysters, dungeness crab, sole, and halibut, as well as Châteaubriand and broasted chicken. Lieutenant Cruz can escort you to the Presidential suite,” she nodded toward a nervous-looking young soldier hovering near the elevator, “and he will arrange to have your meal set up wherever you wish.”

  I suppose glorified waitress is an acceptable position for a female officer under my command, Barnes thought. “Thank you, Captain—” He’d forgotten her name already. “I would very much like to settle in before making any dinner plans.” He joined Lieutenant Cruz and forced a cold smile. “Lead the way, Lieutenant.”

  It was a very short ride to the second floor of the low rise inn, but Barnes was pleasantly surprised to find that there were few guest rooms left on this level. His presidential suite was large and luxurious, obviously newly renovated to create a living quarters fit to temporarily house the president of the United States. Barnes decided that Pruitt’s attention to detail could clearly be useful under the right circumstances.

  He turned to the jittery young lieutenant. “Deliver a decent bottle of red wine to my older guest, with my compliments. I’ll take my dinner in the main dining room in half an hour. Inform the younger woman that she’ll be joining me for dinner; I’d like you to be her personal escort, Lieutenant.”

  “Yes, sir!” the officer replied enthusiastically while his feet remained firmly planted in place.

  Barnes rolled his eyes and snapped, “Get moving—you have your orders.” The young soldier sprinted to the door and disappeared in a matter of seconds.

  Luke noted that the wind had finally made up its mind following the passage of the front that had brought the heavy blanket of snow to the region. In a matter of minutes, steady gusts from the northwest increased in intensity and swirled the existing flakes into near white-out conditions.

  He knew that some of the infected were close, but he was still surprised to see a large alpha, followed at a short distance by his pack, emerge from the churning whiteness to the east just thirty meters away. These creatures weren’t howling or snarling, and when the leader looked at Luke, it simply cocked its head and made a small questioning grunt. When Luke didn’t respond, it began to slowly walk towards him.

  Luke kept his drawn bow pointed at the huge male sliding his way, but he knew that the creature posed no threat to him or his friends this morning. This entire group was not a “normal” pack of hunters. A small fire began to burn in the pit of Luke’s stomach as he slowly released the tension on the string and lowered the bow. He raised his visor and locked eyes with the lead hunter; he sensed something familiar and unsettling in their connection. The creature stopped about ten feet away and continued to stare into Luke’s eyes. Whimpers were coming from the direction of the watching pack, but Luke had no idea what the purpose of the noises was; they almost sounded frightened. The leader grunted again in the same questioning tone as before, as if it was asking Luke what to do.

  Luke was nearly overwhelmed with a desire to protect the creatures in front of him. These were not the hunters from the area that his soldiers were planning to destroy. Without thinking about it, he literally roared at the pack as he waved them away. The massive male jumped back in fright, but it didn’t run. The roar did draw Zach’s attention, however, and within a minute or so Luke heard his friend calling out to him through the raging wind.

  In desperation, Luke dropped his bow and leapt toward the lead hunter. He grabbed the creature by his right arm and spun him toward the waiting pack, roaring once more as he shoved the alpha in their direction. The beast seemed to regain his bearings, and with one last look into Luke’s eyes, it finally turned and ran to the protection and companionship of his mates. Together, the creatures soundlessly ran off into the blowing snow.

  Shaken, Luke picked up his bow and shouted to Zach to get back to the vehicles. He believed the pack he’d warned away wouldn’t be returning, and he also knew that it wouldn’t take more than the sound of a couple of racing ATVs to hold the attention of the fast-moving flesh-eaters pouring out of the depot and surrounding countryside. The hungry monsters were closing in quickly, and their slower mates would naturally follow. Luke forced himself to forget about what had just happened and stick to the plan. From the sound of things, the hunters pouring over the road were in full attack mode; there was no time for equivocation—these creatures had to be eliminated. The pack he’d just encountered had been an anomaly; he wouldn’t let a few outliers derail the mission.

  “Follow us!” Luke shouted to Zach as he jumped on the ATV with Terry. Luke revved the engine as he circled around a few of the dead cars and tried to gauge the distance to the lead attackers. He could hear the racket the monsters were making over the sound of his vehicle and was grateful for the noise given the continuing poor visibility.

  Luke stopped for a brief moment and switched places with Terry, telling him, “You drive.” He then waved Zach to take the lead. “Follow Zach. If I decide to jump off and take a detour, don’t even slow down. I want you right on Zach’s tail no matter what happens—got it?”

  Terry nodded vigorously and accelerated to catch up with Zach. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Luke jumped off the ATV when it slowed to maneuver around a sideways truck, determined to set off the rest of the air-horns. To Terry’s credit, he obeyed Luke’s orders and followed Zach without looking back.

  Andi had tried to get out of having dinner with Barnes by feigning a migraine. The young officer who’d delivered the unwelcome invitation seemed sympathetic, but he was obviously determined to avoid disappointing the president. He’d made it clear that “orders are orders,” but offered Andi aspirin or painkillers with codeine. He’d suggested that perhaps getting some food in her stomach would ease her symptoms as well, but cautioned that she shouldn’t take any of the pills on an empty stomach. The pills were still sitting on the small table in the entryway when he returned twenty minutes later to escort her downstairs; Andi scooped them into her pocket before joining the baby-faced lieutenant in the hall.

  “Is your headache any better?” he asked politely as they walked toward the elevator.

  “Unfortunately not,” she answered, scanning the hallway. “Do you mind if we take the stairs? It seems silly to use an elevator for such a short distance, and I’m a little claustrophobic.” Though Andi wasn’t actually claustrophobic, she was interested in discovering the layout of the inn and locating any possible escape routes.

  “That’s no problem; the stairs are just over here.” Lieutenant Cruz led Andi into a small alcove full of vending machines across from the elevator. He used a key to unlock what looked like a utility closet door that revealed a lavish stairway leading to the main lobby.

  “This is lovely—why is such a beautiful staircase hidden away?” Andi asked innocently.

  The soldier shrugged. “I think it’s only temporary, until the remodeling is complete.” He gently steered Andi toward the dining room and gestured for her to go in. “I believe the president is waiting for you.”

  Andi couldn’t hide the sarcasm in her voice when she responded, “Lucky me.” Lieutenant Cruz looked startled, then a bit confused as Andi sighed with resignation and walked into the luxurious dining room.

  “Ms. Carrell, I’m so glad you could join me this evening,” Barnes’ voice boomed from across the room. “Come, have a seat by the window. We’ve missed
the full sunset, but I hear the view over the water is spectacular.”

  In her mind, Andi imagined killing Barnes in various ways: choking him with the cord dangling from the window blinds, slicing his neck with a steak knife, dousing him with alcohol and setting him on fire . . . She sat down across from him as he poured her a glass of wine.

  “So what did you think about our little sight-seeing venture today? I have to admit that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the progress that’s been made out here in my absence.” Barnes raised his glass. “Let’s toast to California.”

  Andi raised her glass, but drew it back. “So are we toasting obedience or competency? I’m only impressed by the latter.”

  Barnes chuckled. “Then we’ll toast to competency first, though in our new world the two go hand-in-hand.”

  Andi tapped his glass with her own and took a small sip of wine. It was excellent. “I’ll allow that obedience is a necessary characteristic of soldiering, at least from a commander’s point of view, but you consider yourself president of the United States, a nation founded on the principles of liberty and freedom. Human nature strives for freedom, not obedience, and that will be your downfall.”

  “My downfall?” Barnes chuckled again. “I think not.” He waved his hand dismissively. “The masses desire security over freedom, as a historian you should know that. Besides, my armies aren’t human. The infected are ideal examples of obedience, and en mass they become the most overwhelming armies this planet has ever seen.”

  “Obedience to their hunger or their killer instincts,” Andi scoffed. “You only control them through technology. If we dropped you out of a helicopter into a ravenous horde, I’m sure they’d eat you without a second thought.”

  “You certainly seem fixated on people plummeting from helicopters; it’s getting rather tiresome.” Barnes refilled the wine glasses. “And your logic is fundamentally flawed. My hunters, as you call them, don’t have a first thought, never mind a second one. Think of them as remote- controlled angels of death; they go where I send them, attack when I want them to, and never question authority.”

  “There are random packs everywhere,” Andi pointed out coolly, “packs that aren’t part of your army. Do you seriously think you control them—where they go, who they eat? You can’t control the chaos you’ve unleashed, and you know it.”

  “In due time, the noble creatures will hit their expiration dates. Their limited lifespans have always been a factor in my plans. You should appreciate the utility of mindless killing machines that will get the job done then get out of the way.” Barnes smiled. “I know I do.”

  By the time Luke could see the bridge through the falling snow, he would have sworn that one of Barnes’ hordes was following him. Undoubtedly, they’d managed to draw the attention of hundreds of the infected, maybe even a few thousand. He ran up the ramp leading to the bridge, then passed through the semi-trailers holding scores of spear and pike-men. He continued running until he reached the blocking trailer at the base of the trap, where he grabbed onto a knotted rope that was instantly pulled up by the members of one of Gracie’s squads. He saw his wife twenty feet away, loudly issuing last-second instructions to several fighters with compound bows and gave her a thumbs up when she briefly looked his way before he moved on toward his pre-planned battle-post.

  Luke quickly leapt onto one of the flanking trailers and began carefully, but quickly, walking along the slippery surface as he headed back to join the soldiers hiding under the bridge. The killing had yet to begin, but Gracie’s unit was shouting insults at the packs of hunters filling the ambush-site, luring more and more of the beasts into the trap. The crossbowmen and their loaders were still lying low as Luke walked by, trying to stay out of sight so the flesh-eaters would continue to pack into the kill zone as they sought to reach the humans to their front. Finally, Luke reached the rear of the last trailer in the line and slid down a rappel-rope to join the fighters waiting for his leadership.

  He touched down in nearly a foot of Red River water, but his boots stopped more than snake and hunter-bites. The squads picked to block any retreat were huddled up near the road, crouched down between the first piling and the spot where the span emerged from the earthen ramp. This position was the most dangerous one in the battle plan. The soldiers here wouldn’t be fighting from the top or inside of a trailer; they would eventually line up across the bridge and try to prevent any hunters from escaping once the beasts figured out that they had fallen into a deadly trap. While the soldiers here were fulfilling that task, they would be open to attack from the south by stragglers late to the fight. Gracie would command this ambush; Luke would make sure it succeeded.

  The men and women standing on top of the blocking trailer had their helmets off, screaming and shouting at the infected pouring down Highway 8 by the hundreds. The creatures hadn’t seen this many humans since the first weeks of the outbreak, and the sight of so much fresh meat excited them even more than the sounds of human activity that had led them here. The flesh-eaters rushed into the kill zone, howling in anticipation of the food they were about to consume. The soldiers atop the flanking trailers continued to hide themselves, waiting for the signal from Gracie before they commenced their assault. Gracie remained patient, even as the first of the infected reached her position and the spear and pike-men under her command began thrusting their sharpened steel points into hunter flesh.

  The troops knew full well that they needed to destroy the brain to kill the monsters, but the beasts could be slowed with solid blows to the chest. Wounding the creatures carried risks, as one of the new recruits quickly discovered when he didn’t let go of a spear he’d embedded in a hunter’s chest during the first charge. The furious flesh-eater grabbed the shaft with both hands and pulled the soldier from his perch. The young man’s screams continued for almost a minute as the monsters tore him to pieces, leading Gracie to finally put him out of his misery with a .22 shot to the brain. If any of the men had quietly questioned the toughness of their female leaders, such talk ended at that moment: Gracie was a stone-cold killer.

  After administering the coup-de-grace to the soldier who’d been pulled into the mob filling the kill-zone, Gracie turned back to the girl serving as her runner and gestured for her to raise a red flag she’d attached to a long pike the night before. This was the signal ordering the flanking forces to begin their attack. Company and platoon commanders had carefully selected the best marksmen in their units after watching the troops practice with their crossbows, and those soldiers now opened a murderous fire upon the massed infected below them. The result was nothing less than spectacular as far as Gracie was concerned. From her position she could see the entire battlefield, and watching the fifty shooters rise up as one in the falling snow and release their bolts was a sight she’d never forget.

  The crossbowmen had three weapons locked and loaded, so in the space of ten seconds a hundred and fifty bolts slammed into the flanks of the column of hunters who only had eyes for the humans on the blocking trailer. At a range of less than ten meters, the shooters hit flesh every time. The powerful bolts splattered skulls like rifle rounds at that distance, and even the shots that missed the head sent hunters to the snowy surface with horrific wounds to their bodies. The re-loaders kneeling behind the crossbowmen worked frantically to crank the strings back and slide new bolts into place, but during the brief seconds in which the shooting stopped the flesh-eaters below turned their attention to the food lined up along the side of their column.

  The hunters rushed for the nearest trailers, leaping for any sort of possible hand-hold that would allow them to climb toward the humans so tantalizingly close. Now came the time for the spearmen to employ their lethal skills. The rookie soldiers were in perfect positions to kill and maim with virtually no danger to themselves, and they cut the monsters down with ruthless efficiency. Gracie screamed in triumph as she watched a hundred blades thrusting from the slits cut into the sides of the trailers. The flesh-eaters who’d spen
t months showing no mercy to the men, women, and children they’d trapped and eaten alive at every opportunity now found themselves helpless before a murderous foe. The creatures slowly began to realize that there was no meat to be consumed here, and their pack-mates were dropping into bloody heaps in the snow at an alarming rate. The intelligent hunters began to look for a way out.

  CHAPTER 14

  The battle was over in less than half an hour. Some of the hunters had managed to escape the trap; Luke could still see a handful of flesh-eaters running south along the highway, and he suspected that even more of the creatures were hidden by the brush and falling snow. He was fine with that; he’d never expected to completely contain so many monsters with so few soldiers. The purpose of today’s action had been to greatly thin the number of hunters in the vicinity of the Army base. Luke also wanted to insure that his people didn’t get jumped by a horde at an inopportune time, and to make this area safer for nearby survivors. After this slaughter, there was little possibility of the creatures massing in great enough strength to truly threaten his entire force. Scanning the all-too familiar carnage through his hunter-eyes, Luke fervently cursed General Matthew Barnes for unleashing this continuing holocaust upon humanity.

  Terry walked up and stood a few feet away, hesitant to intrude on Luke’s thoughts. After a long moment waiting for his commander to acknowledge him, the teen quietly asked, “What’s our next step, sir?”

  Luke raised his visor and gave new orders to the young soldier. “I know our people are worn out, but we need to do one more thing: mop-up duty. Tell the squad leaders to maintain their lines and slowly move through the kill zone. Put a hole in the skulls of any hunters still breathing. And keep all protective equipment on.”