“We need to filter some these out of here. I think we can throw out anything along the fringes of downtown or outside of Minneapolis. Those were clearly acquired for Safety First infrastructure changes. Anything inside the city is a target property we need to search. We narrow it down and formulate a plan from there. Agreed?” Derrick and Shipman begrudgingly agreed. “Okay, then, sooner started sooner done,” Bill said with fake cheer.
Morning arrived and bled into noon. The urgency of their task kept the exhausted trio working on data mining the Syndicate list down to a total of five targets. Two of those were the Government Center and the Minneapolis City Hall, two others were high-end luxury apartment buildings and the last was three floors of Investor Tower.
“I can’t believe a private party owns the Government Center and City Hall.” Derrick said.
Shipman laughed, “The Syndicate leases the buildings back to the government for pennies on the dollar. They would have been crazy not to take that deal.”
“Meanwhile the Syndicate refurbished the basement into their own private torture dungeons right under their noses,” Derrick added.
“As I thought one of these things is not like the other,” Bill said, steering the conversation back to the problem at hand. “Four complete buildings and three floors of another building. I think if Andrew is in Minneapolis this is where we will find him and most likely anything that he stole from Area 51.
“So we are storming the Investor Tower?” Derrick said.
“In a manner of speaking I suppose,” Bill said. “We are going to need your friends back, Derrick.”
“I assumed as much. They are on standby. But they are going to expect payment,” Derrick said while staring at Shipman.
“Oh, yes, of course. It’s only right that I pay,” Shipman said as he rubbed his eyes.
“Are we going at night?” asked Derrick.
“No I think we’ll go straight at them during the day.”
“With all those people inside? That place is a madhouse during the day,” Shipman said.
“That’s why we’re gonna call in a threat and clear the whole building out,” Bill said. He laid out the skeleton of the plan he’d been thinking about.
“I think we can make that work,” Derrick said.
“Then, fellows,” Bill said, “tomorrow afternoon we invade the Crystal Court!”
“You make it sound like some kind of fantasy quest,” said Shipman
“I guess that’s an apt description,” Bill said, “But instead of a princess maybe we save the world.
Chapter 25: The Zombie Dash
The Past
It was only due to Randolph’s quick thinking they hadn’t lost anyone yet except for George, the girl and the dog. When they’d spotted the soldiers amassing at the bridge everyone had fled back the way they’d come. Only through sheer determination had Randolph managed to get in front of everyone and stop them before they gave away the group’s position. He had them all buried in a snow bank just before the first helicopter blazed overhead. It was a cold but effective evasive maneuver.
Since then it had been a game of a lot of cats and a few mice as they ran along the darkened streets trying to find a hiding place. They had stopped in an auto repair shop for a badly needed rest and so he could do a quick headcount of the dazed group. That was when he realized George was missing.
“Where’s George?” He yelled as softly as he could, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. He remembered the sound of gunfire as he lay shivering in the snow bank. If they had lost George they were most likely done for.
“He went after the kid,” Gallegan blurted like he was feeling guilty. “I told him it was suicide but he wouldn’t listen.”
Randolph lunged at him before he could say anything else but it was too late.
“Kid?” Mark yelled and dashed around looking for his boys. Mailue got the idea from watching him and followed suit.
Randolph watched in frozen silence as they scrambled around the room shouting and counting kids. Mark was the first to calm down when he was sure both of his boys were present. Mailue went on scrambling until she realized who else was missing then she exploded into a shrieking series of indecipherable phrases.
“Shit! Calm her the fuck down please,” he said to the room. His men moved to comply but were unsure how to approach the inconsolable woman and just surrounded her with their arms outstretched as though to quell her with a group hug. Tessa cussed and pushed through the men, stepped behind Mailue and wacked her in the head with the butt of her rifle. It was graceless and lacked any semblance of humanity but it was effective as Mailue dropped unconscious to the floor.
Randolph groaned through clenched teeth, unsure what to do about Tessa. She saw him looking at her and yelled, “What? She ain’t dead!”
He continued glaring at her for a moment before turning back to Gallegan. “Tell me what happened to George and the kid,” he said in a clipped tone, his patience wearing thin.
“You were there! Things went to shit, the kid panicked and ran into the middle of the street while everyone was running away and the dudes from the vehicles saw her. I couldn’t get there. I just couldn’t! But I guess George thought he could.”
“You didn’t try to stop him?” Randolph all but shouted in his face.
“Of course I tried; he wouldn’t listen, basically told me to fuck off and ran after her. Last I saw they were heading for shelter in one of the bars across the street. Based on the number of men out there it would be a miracle if they weren’t both captured or dead by now.
Aside from Mark, who was busy trying to wake Mailue, Randolph told everyone else to gather around for a briefing.
“Listen up. As you heard, George is gone and we have no way of knowing his status. He was pretty much critical to our mission. Obviously this puts us in a really tough spot. As you know there are a lot of soldiers out there and I have no idea what their intentions are especially if they find us without George.
“It won’t be long before we’re discovered so we need to move on pronto. As I see it we have two viable options. We either run north, back the way we came and forget trying to get into the city. We have very little food and water and shelter is minimal. If we do this we will likely die, just maybe not tonight.”
Aside from a few groans nobody said anything to option one, though they did continue staring at him like sheep before a slaughter.
“That leaves option two. We do our best to evade these guys, circle around to the east and try to rendezvous with George and the others down on Main Street, assuming he makes it there.”
“That is also assuming his tunnel even exists and he can find it,” said Tessa.
“Correct,” said Randolph. “I should also add this option will likely result in death and probably tonight.”
“So you are asking us to choose between death and death and it’s just a question of timing?” Mark asked.
“Essentially yes, Mark, but let’s be honest here, we’ve been fubar since the beginning and I’m not talking about just tonight, I’m talking about all of it. We’ve been more than fortunate to have survived this long. I’ll admit it, I am exhausted. I’m not saying I want to die but I wouldn’t argue too hard about it either.”
Nobody said anything.
“Let’s vote. I don’t really give a shit either way aside from to say I’d rather go quickly than starve or freeze to death in an abandoned building. Not to mention what happens if we get hit by a horde.”
The group came to attention with Randolph’s horde comment. It seemed in the excitement of the chase that everyone had temporarily forgotten about the zombies. When the vote was tallied it was unanimous they would go with option two. Ten minutes after the vote, the children were once again divided up amongst the adults. As punishment for losing George and the kid he made Gallegan babysit the prisoner.
They crept out the garage doors to the rear of the shop. Randolph took point and led them out of the alley to a small marketing
firm located on the first floor of a squat office building. Next came a real estate office and then an insurance company. Finally, they were waiting at the corner of Hennepin and University. Randolph heard a sound he hadn’t heard in a few days and it made him freeze in terror. Over the howl of the wind was the unmistakable moan of the undead. Randolph peeked out to gaze down the avenue toward the bridge.
He counted three vehicles. The largest was on fire. Zombies were everywhere. Many of them were wandering in and out of the closest building while others appeared to be wrestling in large piles on the snow-covered street. Then he remembered the gunfire he’d heard while they were running and realized the zombies weren’t wrestling. They were feeding on the bodies of dead soldiers. He felt gorge rise in his throat and turned back around the corner to vomit.
“What is it? What’s the problem, Randolph?” Tessa whispered.
He glanced up at her after he heaved. Somehow she had drawn baby duty. She was rocking the baby in her arms trying to keep her quiet. “Zombies,” he replied as he looked into her eyes. “A shit-ton of them.”
“What are we gonna do?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Just give me a minute,” he said.
“What’s the hold up?” someone called quietly from the back.
“Shhh,” Tessa shrilled. “We’ve got a zombie problem right around the corner!”
Randolph heard the sounds of a scuffle coming from the rear of the line. A moment later someone cursed and a snow-covered figure was running into the street making a beeline for the corner with his hands tied behind his back. It was the prisoner.
“Hey!” the prisoner screamed at the top of his lungs as he cleared the corner and ran into the middle of the street. “I’m over here!” He stopped in his tracks when he saw the scene on the street in front of the bar. He froze for a moment but then he turned back to Randolph and the others with a horrified expression on his face. “RUN!” he yelled.
The others didn’t need to be told twice. Randolph shoved Tessa in front of him but then caught her as she started to slip. Ahead of him Cove was running with Jacob riding on his back. Gallegan and Hawkey were helping Wilbur navigate the icy snowdrifts. Mark was struggling with Sam high-stepping through the snow. Mailue appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the baby from Tessa.
Block by block they ran with zombies popping up from all directions until they were surrounded on all sides by the shrieking monsters. Because of the snow it was like running in slow motion but at least the zombies had to deal with it too. In all the commotion Randolph lost sight of most of the group. He was still behind Cove and one of the children but the zombies were beginning to close in. Randolph saw a zombie dive at Cove and tackle him around the knees. He went down with a scream and Jacob spun into the air. Randolph made a lunge for him just as a helicopter flew in low seemingly out of nowhere. A burst of air threw him to the ground as the chopper shot back up into the night sky.
A hand clamped onto his leg and Randolph kicked as hard as he could without even thinking about it. Something crunched under his boot and he was back up running again. A child was screaming to his left. It was only then he realized he was holding a tiny hand. In one powerful move he swung the child from his side to his back without missing a step.
Risking a quick look at his surroundings he realized he had gained a few feet of distance from the pursing zombies. Up ahead was large municipal parking lot miraculously clear of all but a few vehicles. On the far end of the lot he saw a host of headlights aiming in his direction. If he could only make it to the lights they might be safe. Spurring himself on he put everything he had into running just a little faster, the theme fromChariots of Fire playing in his head. He could see soldiers lined up by the vehicles, weapons pointed in his direction. Another helicopter idled beyond the vehicles in the distance. The plume of their engine exhausts curling into the night like the breath of metal beasts. The soldiers seemed to be cheering him on.
He heard no sound but the sound of the horde. Hundreds of feet chuffing behind him through the snow. A chorus of voices grunting through the first ever undead 5K. He knew he might be shot when the soldiers opened fire but he didn’t care. He only knew he wouldn’t die as zombie food.
The pounding in his chest and the stitch in his side were telling him he was almost out of gas. He was sucking in shallow breaths of oxygen because the boy on his back was squeezing so hard. He let out a primal scream, closed his eyes and counted out twenty torturous paces. When he opened them he was almost to the vehicles. He took two more strides and dove headfirst past the line of soldiers. He hit the pavement with a wet smack and slid to a stop through the snow. Curling into a ball with his arms around the boy, he waited for the night to come alive with gunfire.
It never happened. His eyes popped open. He and the boy sat up and looked around. The soldiers were still there but most were facing him. They were clapping and laughing in mock cheer. Incredibly, the zombies that had been chasing him were also there. They waited just on the other side of the vehicles like dogs behind an invisible fence, greedily eyeballing the prey they would never catch.
“What is going on?” He asked the short, heavyset man with a buzz cut standing in front of him sucking on the nub of a cigar.
“That was a hell of a run, soldier,” the man said with a grin. “What’s your name, son?”
Randolph wiped his nose with his glove and tugged the listless boy closer to his side and said, “Dimitri Randolph.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Randy. I’m Captain Morgan. You and the boy wanna take a trip in that chopper? There is somebody in the city that wants to talk to you.”
“That’d be nice,” Randolph said. He was still in shock and would have agreed to anything at this point. He was sure George would’ve understood.
Captain Morgan pulled him to his feet and the three of them headed for the helicopter. As they drew closer he could see Gallegan, Wilbur, Mark and Sam were already inside. There was no sign of the rest of his group.
“Was there anybody else?”
“Nope,” Morgan replied. “What you see is what you get. I imagine you lost a few to that deader stampede. Shit, I know I did.”
“I see,” Randolph said. He couldn’t believe what a cluster fuck this day had become. No more Tessa. The poor little baby was gone. The old lady and her grandkid. Cove and Hawkey were lost too. They had been good men.
“Chin up, son,” Morgan said. “We caught a few of your friends earlier tonight. Though they were surprised as hell to see me,” he chuckled. “Fought like wildcats, those three. But they’re still kicking. I am sure you’ll feel better after a hot shower and a nice meal.”
Randolph grunted as he lifted Jacob into the chopper. The boy scrambled into Mark’s lap. A hot shower did sound pretty damn good. It was the small things that made life worth living now. He would take them as long as he could get them. He no longer wanted to die.
Chapter 26: Pieces on the Chess Board
The Past
Dick hadn’t been lying about the security of their new prison. Andrew had been through every nook and cranny trying to find a way out since Dick left. His foot was still smarting from kicking the cement wall that was blocking the stairwell. He couldn’t believe the amount of modifications Dick had been able to complete inside the building without anyone finding out. If there was a fire they were really screwed. In addition to the physical barriers there was also no cell service so his phone was useless.
“I don’t know why you don’t just give it up,” John said from behind his back. “There is no way out. We need to focus on that vaccine. When the Simon Virus finishes incubating it’s going to be utter chaos out there. Hell, we’ll probably be safer in here.”
“Whatever, John!” Andrew yelled. He limped back to his bunk and flopped down on it like a giant baby. He was pouting but didn’t give a crap. But Andrew knew John was mostly right. The vaccine was a waste of time but their other project might still have a chance. He needed to do something to rect
ify the mess he’d helped to create. Where would he go if he escaped anyway? His mom and stepdad were dead. The sum total of the people he knew in the state of Minnesota were three and included, Dick, John and Todd. The phone was still an option if he could ever get a signal but who would believe him? Dick was still a problem. Even if they could’ve created a vaccine he would kill them and take it for himself, probably sell it to the highest bidder.
After a few more minutes he was disgusted with himself for pouting. He grabbed a fresh cup of super-charged coffee and joined John in the lab. He was staring at his computer screen like he’d just watched a live kitten execution.
“What’s wrong with you? Where is Todd?” asked Andrew.
“What’s wrong is this is hopeless. There is no fucking way to make a vaccine. Goddamn virus is too unpredictable and I have no fucking idea were that maniac is. He’s gotta be in here someplace.”
“I told you it was hopeless three days ago. Geez, I’ve been saying that for years,” Andrew said.
“I thought desperation would give us some new ideas.”
“So let’s focus on the other project then. I could really use your help.”
“Shit. You want to waste what little time we have left with that? The control option went into the toilet when Todd shipped out the wrong version of the virus.”
“I agree the original prototype won’t work but we’ve been going about this all wrong. We can’t create a vaccine but we might be able to code the nanotech to mutate with the virus. We have decades of research to pull from. You know that stuff has almost limitless potential. The way it’s networked together means the nanotech is practically a virus itself.” Andrew said.
“Okay, let’s say it does work and that’s a big if,” John said. “It means one host would basically have control over everyone infected with the Simon Virus.”
“Or two or three, however many master doses we are able to replicate before we run out of time. I don’t think we are that far off with the original prototype. Hell, if it works maybe whoever controls it can just shut the virus down completely,” Andrew said.
Running with the Horde (Book 2): Delusions of Monsters Page 24